The Lost Hero - JingJing Zhu (good books to read for adults txt) 📗

Jason could hear Piper calling to him, pleading him to come back. But he couldn’t. Why couldn’t he? He tried to remember what had happened. There had been great explosion…a flash of light…he had seen something, something terrible…and then everything went dark.
Was he dead? If he was, why was he not in the Underworld? Jason lay there thinking over these questions for a long time. Soon he couldn’t even hear the sweet sound of Piper’s voice anymore. Jason felt a surge of panic and suddenly he wanted desperately to be alive. He struggled against something he couldn’t see, all the while thinking, please, don’t let me be dead. I can’t die yet.
Then he saw a glow, a soft light that slowly grew to engulf his entire body. The light blinded his eyes and Jason squeezed his eyes shut until the heat of the light faded.
Jason blinked. Where was he? The ruins of an old house stood by a few old gnarly trees. He stood up and brushed off his jeans; they were covered in dust, as if he had been lying there for months.
It was early morning, and the birds were just getting up to look for worms. Jason shuddered. The cold wind was blowing harshly against his bare arms. He definitely wasn’t dressed for the weather. All he had was a purple T-shirt on, and Jason was afraid he was going to freeze in this weather.
He was irresolute on where to go, and had not idea where he was. Then as if answering to his hesitation, a set of paw prints appeared in front of his shoes. They continued to appear, making a trail for Jason to follow. As Jason ran along side the paw prints, he noticed that they were leading him into the forest. Jason felt that he had been here before, but couldn’t remember when. He couldn’t remember anything. Not even his name. This thought troubled him and he almost ran into a small boy hiding behind a tree.
“Whoa! Sorry! I didn’t see you”, Jason said in a rush.
The boy stared at Jason. All of a sudden, his eyes grew wide. He gasped, “You’re— you’re, that guy!”
Jason stammered, “Wha— what guy?”
But the boy was already jumping up and down like he had won the lottery. “Oh my gods, I can’t believe I was the one to find you! Me!” he shrieked.
Jason was completely baffled. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re Jason, right? Jason Grace. You’ve been missing for 3 months. And now I found you! No one’s gonna believe me!” he did a little happy dance around the tree.
Jason Grace. That was his name. Then, a flood of memories came rushing back to him like an avalanche. He remembered where he was and why he was here. There had been a battle. After Piper and Leo freed her, Hera unleashed her power to destroy the rest of the monsters. She had warned Jason not to look, but it had been too late. He remembered the piercing light of Hera’s pure form and the burning of his body. He should have died. But he didn’t. And now he was alive again, three months since the battle. Suddenly he had a horrible thought.
“Piper!” Jason blurted, “Where is she?”
The boy cocked his head and asked, “Who’s Piper?”
“I—,” Jason started, and then sighed, “Oh, never mind.”
Shrugging, the boy said, “Okay. Oh, by the way, my name’s Max. And I’m supposed to lead you back to camp. So follow me.”
Jason followed, still trying to recollect his thoughts. He hoped Piper was okay. And Leo. Leo, his best friend. Where were they? And where was this boy leading him to? What camp? Camp Half-Blood? No, that was all the way in New York, and this place definitely wasn’t New York.
They must have walked at least a mile before Max stopped. There was a golden archway fifty yards ahead.
“Whoa. Cool entrance.” Jason gawked.
“Yep. Wait, you don’t remember this place?” Max exclaimed, surprised.
Jason shook his head, “No. I don’t remember anything about this place.”
Max’s face drooped. “Oh, well, I guess we can fix that. Really, you don’t remember?”
Jason shook his head again.
“That’s a bummer. Anyway, come on.”
The walked through the gate and a little further until they reached a large pavilion. There were picnic tables spread out around the area with kids talking and eating breakfast. Everyone was wearing purple T-shirts, like the one Jason had on. But as soon as Max and Jason arrived, everyone became silent and stared at Jason like he was a god.
Jason waved awkwardly, “Um, hi.”
No one spoke, just continued to gawk at him. Finally a tall, dark-haired boy stood up and walked over to him. He had green eyes that reminded Jason of the sea. The boy was gazing at Jason with the most queer expression.
The boy said, “So you’re Jason. Glad you’re here. Do you by any chance know of a place called Camp Half-Blood?”
Jason started, “Yeah, I do. How did you know?”
“Just a hunch,” the boy replied. “My name’s Percy Jackson. I used to go to that camp.”

To be continued in the sequel, The Son of Neptune

by Rick Riordan…

Publication Date: 11-06-2010

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