CHAPTER ONE:
WHEN THE GODS SPEAK

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ANNAIS MIN KNEW FROM the moment she woke up on the way to the fucking Grand Canyon — Hades kill her now — that Jason Grace could not be trusted. The blonde boy, so boyish and innocent, certainly didn't look like a monster but Annais had seen enough monsters in her lifetime to know someone didn't have to look wicked to be wicked. Take Luke Castellan as an example. He was blonde-haired and bright-eyed with a pretty smile to match. Yet underneath, he was housing Kronos in his body like some sort of dodgy air bnb — yes, you heard her right, the fucking titan who ate his children and reigned terror down upon Gods and mortals alike was living in Luke Castellan's body like an off-brand Lord Voldemort. This Jason Grace with his blonde hair and bright eyes and pretty smile was not going to fool Annais Min!

The Wilderness School wasn't her first choice on the list of places to celebrate defeating Kronos and his army, but due to recent events Annais would go anywhere as long as it kept her away from Camp Half-Blood. So when Chiron came to her two weeks after the battle to ask if she'd accompany Gleeson Hedge on a quest, Annais jumped at the chance. She didn't even ask for the details. The thought of escaping the suffocating clutches of camp was far too appealing to pass up — though maybe, if she'd known her job was to befriend and protect Leo Valdez and Piper McLean at this school for troubled kids, she would've thought twice. Dealing with douchebag teenagers like Dylan — Annais almost pitied him, who names their kid Dylan? — for three months without running him through with her sword. Not to mention pretending to be an ordinary mortal (bleh) it was almost painful for the daughter of death.

The excursion to the Grand Canyon happened to be one of those days that were particularly worse than the rest, though not for the reason Annais initially expected. They were woken at the ass crack of dawn by Gleeson Hedge patrolling the hallway outside the dormitories with a megaphone. Then they had to squash together on a tiny dingy bus to travel for hours on end just to look at some mountains and valleys (can you tell Annais doesn't get out much?) To top it off, Piper had the luck of the draw and got a seat to herself while Annais was stuck cramped beside an antsy Leo Valdez, her arm constantly jostled by his as he drummed his fingers against the cushioned seats, swept his curly black hair out of his eyes, fiddled with the buttons and loose strings of his army jacket. It wasn't his fault with his ADHD, but then he started deliberately chucking little pieces of rolled up paper into her hair or flicking her ear whenever she tried to nap against the window.

"Would you quit it?" she hissed as one bit of paper missed her hair entirely and bounced off her forehead.

"You're getting brave, Valdez," Annais heard Piper chuckle from behind them but she didn't have a chance to turn and look at the girl, instead narrowing her eyes into a glare when Leo smiled innocently and pinched her right cheek between his fingers.

"You know you love me, Annie," he cooed. "All the ladies love Leo."

"Call me that again and I'll end you."

"Jason, you okay?" Piper asked with a tinge of concern.

Before Annais was able to ask who she was talking to (there were no Jasons in their grade) a deep voice muttered right behind her, "Um, I don't—"

In an instant, Annais was shoving Leo's hand away from her cheek and looking around. In the empty spot that was previously beside Piper sat a blonde-haired boy looking awfully confused. Piper had a hold of his hand that he quickly shrugged off, hunching over slightly like a deer in the headlights. Annais didn't know who he was or how he'd gotten on that bus, but she would bet on her life that she'd never seen him before. Despite Piper and Leo seeming comfortable around him, Annais was on edge, her brows furrowed into a defensive line that both of her friends were quick to notice.

"Damn, Annie, what has Jason done to you?" Leo snickered.

"Leo, I swear to Hades—"

"Oh, I'm so scared of you and your Hades, whoever that is."

The first time Annais accidentally name-dropped father dearest, Leo and Piper were incredibly confused. It was the first and only time they ever saw Annais Min looking flustered as she struggled to explain why she was cursing a Greek God, but thankfully they didn't question it. Now, it was a normal occurrence for Annais to look up at the sky and curse whatever God she was feeling that day.

"Alright, cupcakes, listen up!" Gleeson — or Coach Hedge, as the Wilderness kids knew him by — shouted from where he stood at the front of the bus. His baseball cap was pulled low to his eyes — it would be awfully hard to explain why he had horns growing out of his head — and he wore a particularly sour look on his face as he scanned the row of rowdy teens.

One of which had the nerve to call out, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

If this was Camp Half-Blood, Gleeson would've challenged them to a duel. Instead, he inhaled like he was fighting the urge to whack him over the head with his baseball bat, then continued with what he was saying. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partners, don't lose your worksheet, and if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up his baseball bat and swung it through the air. As he did, his eyes met Annais' uneasy ones and a frown formed. He'd known Annais since she was a skinny ten-year-old, he knew how to read her expressions even if she tried her best to hide them. Something was bothering her, so he scanned the bus again for any signs of danger. Immediately, his gaze settled on the strange boy right behind the Min girl. Annais sighed in relief at the look of confusion on his face. So Gleeson didn't know him either.

But that left the question of why he was there.

Speaking of Jason, Annais heard him whisper to Piper, "Can he talk to us that way?"

She rolled her eyes. Gleeson did what he wanted. It didn't matter if this was a quest. As long as he got Leo and Piper to Camp Half-Blood in one piece, he was happy.

"Always does. This is the Wilderness School where 'kids are the animals.'" At that, Piper laughed like it was some sort of inside joke between them, but Annais had never heard her or Leo say that before. Something was very wrong, and she didn't like it one bit.

"This is some kind of mistake," Jason muttered, shaking his head like the movement would give him an indication of why he was there. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Yet here you are," Annais said darkly, though she was drowned out as Leo let out a loud bark of amused laughter.

"Yeah, right," he said. "We've all been framed. I didn't run away, Piper didn't steal a BMW, Annie didn't break a boy's jaw—"

"My name isn't Annie," Annais scowled at the same time as Piper protested, "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Piper," he rolled his eyes, fingers absentmindedly moving to drum on the seat again. "What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" Before she could insist it was the truth — Annais believed her, though everyone else definitely didn't — Leo was turning to Jason with a grin. "Anyway, I hope you've got your worksheet 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago."

"Of course you did," Annais groaned in disgust.

"Don't knock it until you try it, Min," he tutted. "Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

Jason was staring between the three of them like they'd just killed his pet dog. Annais clenched her jaw at the look. He was rather convincing, she'd give him that, but she didn't believe it for a second. "I don't know you."

Oh, he went for the cherry on top.

"Sure, I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."

"Leo Valdez!" Gleeson barked when he caught the boy twisted in his seat. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at Jason and Annais, muttering a 'watch this' before turning back to the front and shaking his head. "Sorry, Coach. I was having trouble hearing you. Can you use your megaphone please?"

Annais sighed. Leo had told her all about his plan to rig Gleeson's megaphone — warned him against it, too — but of course he didn't listen to her. Meanwhile, Gleeson grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from where it was attached to his belt and continued giving directions. A snort unintentionally slipped past Annais' lips when his voice came out distorted like Darth Vader's, followed by a 'the cow goes moo!" Leo was an idiot, but he could be funny at times.

"Valdez!" Gleeson fumed as the other kids laughed.

"My God, Leo, how'd you do that?" Piper asked through muffled laughter.

Leo grinned proudly, giving a not-so-modest shrug as he said, "I'm a special boy."

"Guys, seriously," Jason spoke up pleadingly. He was paying no attention to Gleeson's directions as he glanced down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them like he couldn't believe they belonged to him. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Piper bit her lip anxiously, tucking a strand of uneven brown hair behind her ear. "Jason, are you joking?"

"No, I have no idea—"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo interrupted. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the jell-o thing, aren't you?"

"The what?" Annais scrunched her nose up.

"You remember," Leo waved his hand dismissively at her. "I told you all about it."

Neither Annais or Jason had a clue what he was on about. Piper was the first to notice this, eyeing Annais weirdly before looking back at the blonde boy (what was he to her, exactly?) with worry. "I think he's serious, Leo."

"Can't be."

Piper tried to take Jason's hand again but he was quick to pull away, shuffling in his seat to create space between them. Her face slackened with hurt, and Jason was quick to apologise with a wince. "I'm sorry but I can't—"

"That's it," Gleeson yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered while Annais just sighed. The amount of detentions she'd gotten in the past three months were off the charts, but she supposed that came with befriending someone like Leo. He was always getting into trouble, both intentional and unintentional, dragging Annais and Piper into it as they tried to help him out.

"Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."

Annais wanted to laugh but figured neither Piper or Jason would appreciate it. He genuinely seemed to believe in his story but it just didn't make sense. If he was a normal boy, he would've been on that bus since the start of the trip. He wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere with memories that everyone but Annais seemed to have of him. She'd catch him in the act soon, she just had to watch and wait.

The bus finally stopped outside of a big red stucco like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. The moment they were parked, Gleeson opened the bus door and started to guide students outside, Annais and the trio around her being some of the last to leave. Annais' eyes never left where Jason idled beside her, a hand instinctively gripping the ring around her right middle finger.

"So a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo clapped his hands together. "We go to the 'Wilderness School' which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever decided you were too much trouble so they shipped you off to this lovely prison — sorry, boarding school — in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats."

"My favourite sport," Annais smirked as she and Leo flanked Jason and Piper moved a few steps in front. What was the saying again? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?

"Annais' favourite sport," Leo repeated with a grin. "And for a special treat, we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball hat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

Jason shook his head. "No."

Leo rolled his eyes while Annais huffed. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the four of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—"

"Leo, he does not," Annais interrupted with a glare. On the off chance that Jason wasn't a monster and he really did have memory loss, Annais didn't need Leo convincing this boy that he was Leo's slave.

"Fine, ignore that last part," Leo pouted when Annais didn't budge. "But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks..."

Annais raised an eyebrow as Piper blushed madly, smacking Leo's arm while refusing to meet Jason's uneasy gaze. In the three months Annais had known Piper, not once did the girl express interest in anyone, least of all this Jason. He didn't seem interested in her either, awkwardly shuffling on the spot.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said to get the attention off her. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."

Annais snorted. "You're not wrong there."

"Leo, Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or—"

He's a monster? Annais thought but didn't say out loud. Again, it was one of those comments she didn't think anyone would appreciate. However, before she or Leo or even Jason himself could reply, an arrogant laugh came from somewhere to their right.

"Yo, Piper," Dylan called out as he neared the group. He wedged himself between Leo and Jason to get to the girl in question, knocking the former to the ground and forcing Annais to help him up. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

"Go suck a dick, Dylan," Annais scowled at him. "Piper's with me."

"That's not what Coach decided," the boy shrugged with an easy smile. "Sorry, Min, I guess you're stuck with these weirdos."

"Just go away, Dylan," Piper huffed and inched away from him. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Come on, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day." Dylan hooked his arm through her own and began to lead her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look at her friends, eyes blazing with annoyance as if to say 'call 9-1-1.'

"I hate that guy," Leo sighed as he brushed off his jeans, whispering a half-embarrassed 'thank you' to Annais as she handed him his discarded bag. He quickly shook away the humiliation, offering Jason and Annais his arms like they should go skipping inside together. "I'm Dylan and I'm so cool. I want to date myself but I can't figure out how. You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!"

Annais muffled her laughter, shaking her head at him. "You're something else, Leo."

"Why thank you, Annie," he grinned, and any appreciation she had towards the boy disappeared.

They walked through the building at a slow pace, stopping here and there for Gleeson to lecture them with his megaphone. The machine was still distorting his voice to sound like a Sith Lord or blaring out random comments like 'the pig says oink' which greatly amused the already bored students. Among them stood Leo, who kept pulling out nuts, bolts and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together. On one side of him was Jason staring at his feet with a frown and on the other was Annais, who was watching the back of Piper's head warily when she heard a group of girlish giggles from not far behind them.

Isabel, the resident it girl that Annais despised — though she could say with great satisfaction that Isabel was terrified of her — finally approached where Piper was standing beside Dylan. "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

Her friends immediately laughed. Even Dylan, Piper's so-called partner, was suppressing a smile as he looked Isabel up and down. What a pig.

"My dad's Cherokee," Piper grumbled through gritted teeth. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Annais cackled as she, Jason and Leo stopped beside them. Isabel immediately spun around at the sound, her eyes wide as they met Annais' challenging gaze. Piper knew how to defend herself but Annais had always made it known that she was there to step in if needed. Isabel didn't falter for long, however, spinning around to smirk at Piper again.

"Oh, sorry! Was your mum in this tribe? Wait. That's right, you never knew your mum."

Piper looked ready to rip her hair out at the roots but before a fight was able to break out, Gleeson was shouting back at them, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I won't hesitate to break out my baseball bat!"

The group reluctantly dispersed, Annais turning back to an uncomfortable Jason and Leo while Piper followed behind Dylan, ignoring Isabel and her friends as they continued their smart-ass comments.

"Good to be back on the rez?"

"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another sighed with fake sympathy. "That's why she turned klepto."

Annais clenched her jaw at the blatantly racist comments. If there was one thing she hated about people, especially mortals, it was their inability to see the world as anything but black and white. Jason seemed to feel the same way. He stepped forward as if to confront the group, which he probably would have done had Leo not quickly caught his arm.

"Hey, be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles, not even Annais."

"If she'd just let me at them..." Annais grunted.

"What, and risk you going back to court for breaking another kid's jaw?" Annais rolled her eyes. That was just the story she and Gleeson used to justify why she was 'troubled' but Annais would be more than willing to make that story a reality if it meant knocking some sense into Isabel's daft head. "Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be bowing down to her and screaming 'we're not worthy.'"

Though Annais hated to admit it, Leo did have a point. "True."

"Why?" Jason frowned as he looked between them for an explanation. "What about her dad?"

Leo laughed in disbelief while Annais pursed her lips and angled her head away. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad—"

"She's not my girlfriend," Jason corrected. "Look, I don't even remember her, much less her dad."

"Whatever, man, we'll have to talk about this when we get back to the dorm." With that, Leo wandered ahead, leaving Jason to linger awkwardly beside a scowling Annais.

"Hey, Annie—"

"It's Annais, actually," she said. "Leo just calls me that to annoy me."

"Right, sorry," he muttered. "Annais, do you remember me?"

She stared at him for a long moment. He seemed so genuinely confused, one of the best actors Annais had come across in a while. It was almost amusing how dedicated he was to pretending he was just a normal boy with amnesia. Almost. It happened to make Annais' job a whole lot harder than she wanted it to be.

"You're dedicated, I'll give you that much," she said. When he just kept looking confused, she pressed her lips into a stern line. "No, I don't remember you, okay? I've never seen you before in my life and I wish it stayed that way."

Then, before he could say anything else, she was glancing him up and down warily before following after Leo. Her mission was to get him and Piper to Camp Half-Blood safe and sound. She wasn't about to let some stranger get in her way.