Remember (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

17. Not cool, bro

Jason POV

Piper and I had recently arrived at Camp Half-Blood again from Camp Jupiter. I had to finish off one of the minor god's shrine on Temple Hill so that he wouldn't throw a fit and destroy anything. Nobody needed that.

When I wasn't building any shrines or cabins or temples, we would spend most of our time at the Greek camp. For some reason, even though I grew up at Camp Jupiter, I found that being in Camp Half-Blood is more...relaxing, for the lack of a better term.

Piper was catching up with her siblings in the Aphrodite cabin so I was basically alone. The other campers had activities to do and I didn't want to intrude or disturb them. So I resorted to the next best option.

Playing pinochle with Mr D and Chiron.

The first time I had seen someone play pinochle was when I first arrived at camp all those years ago, I had no idea what was going on. Chiron ended up teaching me and I have to say, I kind of enjoyed the game. It was simple and fun to play. Not to mention, it was amazing seeing Mr D's reaction when I had a better hand than him.

Interacting with Mr D was more tolerable now. Ever since...Percy disappeared.

Whenever I thought about Percy, tears would make their way to my eyes. It's been more than four years since anyone had last seen him. Every time the thought of Percy wound its way to my mind, I would always think about where we went wrong. 

Why did Percy leave us? Did we do anything to drive him away? Did I do anything that would have encouraged him to leave?

I was so busy thinking about Percy again, I didn't even realise that Mr D had won the round and was celebrating. It happened sometimes. When I was too absorbed in my thoughts, I subconsciously tuned out everything around me. 

I felt someone tap me on the arm. I looked up to see Chiron looking at me with sad and understanding eyes. I smiled sadly and nodded. He always knew what I, and all of his students, was thinking. I guess those were the perks of being a teacher for millennia. 

The topic of Percy's disappearance was a sore topic for everyone at camp, even Mr D. He was everyone's friend and our leader, and something inside all of us broke when he left.

I sat up and sighed before giving my cards to Mr D, who was already reshuffling the deck. We were just about to start a new round when we heard a sharp sound pierce the air. I sat up straighter and grinned when I realised it was a hunting horn. 

The Hunters' hunting horn.

I looked over to Chiron to see him smiling at me. As soon as he nodded at me, I got up from the chair and ran over to Half-Blood Hill. I could see some of the campers had stopped their activities to greet the Hunters. The last time they had been at either camp was a few months ago and I had missed Thalia greatly. I would hardly see her since she was always with the Hunt and I couldn't wait to see her again.

When I reached Half-Blood Hill, the Hunters had already entered the borders. I could see Thalia in front of the group of roughly twenty-five Hunters. I wanted to go up and hug her but I knew the Hunters wouldn't appreciate a male hugging their lieutenant, even if I was her brother.

I felt Chiron trot up next to me in his centaur form to greet the Hunters. As soon as I saw Artemis leading the group next to Thalia, I immediately dropped down into a bow, the campers in the vicinity doing the same.

'Lady Artemis,' Chiron said with a slight dip of his head 'To what do we owe the pleasure?'

Artemis smiled at Chiron as everyone straightened from the bow, 'We have come to some, ah, new developments on Olympus.'