The First Son of Artemis: The Lost Hero

Jay, Son of Artemis

Even before the random blonde-haired kid showed up on the bus, it was already a rough day for Jay. Any other half-blood would have been easily fooled by the trick with the mist, however he was a son of Artemis and it would take more to throw off his senses. He looked up towards Hedge at the front of the bus, and when the old goat met his gaze, he simply nodded in the direction of the new kid. He put his hand up, letting the old Satyr know that he would handle the situation.

He had been searching for Percy night and day for three days now out west, he had gotten little sleep. He had searched almost the entire state of Arizona. He was originally going to move onto San Francisco to search, the idea he had was that a rouge Titan that was left after the war had kidnapped Percy and brought him west. Mt. Othrys had crumbled after they beat Kronos, but he thought that maybe he had brought him somewhere else out west. He was about to move on, when he got the message from Annabeth.

She had been a wreck since Percy went missing. So, when she called him and demanded that he and Hedge wait for her at the Grand Canyon, he wasn't going to argue.

He had been at the school for almost a month now. It was about a week until Christmas, and he had been settling in nicely. In the months following the war and victory against Kronos Jay had been having a… difficult time readjusting. The nightmares, day terrors and voices in his head had not stopped since the battle for Olympus was over. So, after a few months of mental fatigue and torture, Annabeth, he, Percy, his sister Alex, and Grover had been at the school he used to attend in New York, watching his… friend? To be honest he didn't know the word to describe what Nikki was to him but that besides the point. They were watching her basketball game at her school when Grover gave him the idea.

He told Jay how Gleeson Hedge was currently on assignment at the Wilderness School with two demi-gods he had to rescue. He didn't dare tell the old goat, but the council of cloven elders had told Grover how they were… well worried about the old goat's ability to get two half-bloods back to camp safely. After seeing meeting the coach himself he knew those reports were wrong. However, the council of elders was still worried and asked Grover to assign another Satyr to help Hedge. Grover, Annabeth, Percy, Alex, and Nikki all approached him in an intervention style meeting- which he was not thrilled about- and explained their plan to him. Grover would tell the council that Jay himself was willing to go help Hedge, and Jay could go on what Annabeth called a 'relaxing wilderness retreat.', he could clear his head, get some combat training in, and help two demi-gods.

Jay had said yes just to get them off his back. However, Annabeth's idea of a 'relaxing wilderness retreat' was apparently running miles upon miles on a red track while Hedge blew his whistle at him.

Then three days ago Annabeth had called him and told him about Percy. He flew out on Agatha, his falcon that moment to look. He had come up with nothing for three days. His 'relaxing wilderness retreat' had turned into a rescue mission, one that Jay was determined to succeed in. The idea of his best-friend being kidnapped or missing, knowing the types of people and monsters in the world, a lot of pretty bad things would have killed to take Percy Jackson hostage, worried him to no end. When he got the call from Annabeth saying for him and Hedge to meet her at the Grand Canyon, with how distraught she was, he wasn't about to say no.

He had lost too much already. He would NOT lose Percy too.

He had right away introduced himself to Piper and Leo right when he got there about a month ago and became friends with them, he didn't tell them anything about half-bloods and demi-gods yet, he wanted to wait for Annabeth now. Also, he knew that once a demi-god knew of their parentage, their scent intensified. Hedge and he could take down almost anything, but Jay didn't want the two of them in too much danger. The trip to the Grand Canyon, was where he was supposed to be meeting Annabeth, but now a random kid was sitting next to Piper holding her hand. Whoever this kid was, he had some serious Mist skills, because Piper and Leo were treating him like he belonged there.

"Jason? Are you okay?" Piper asked the boy.

Jay pegged Piper as a daughter of Aphrodite as soon as he met her. It was an assumption of course; however, he was normally correct about these things. Other than the fact she was incredibly beautiful, with her choppy dark brown hair, and kaleidoscope eyes, he had recognized the power she emanated. He sensed it before in the other children of Aphrodite back at camp. She was wearing faded jeans and a blue ski-jacket, no makeup, like she was really trying not to draw attention to herself. Jay had taken to her right-away, and in the few weeks he'd been there… he thought that she'd even began to have a bit of a crush on him. That was another reason he worried; she was holding this kid's hand as if he was her boyfriend. Jay had enough of a screwed-up love-life, to know how bad it hurt. This boy or whoever put him there, probably had inserted fake memories of a happy relationship into Piper's head and that terrified him. He was NOT about to let Piper be hurt, either way by this kid.

"Jason?" He thought. Oh great, Jay was going to have a great time with this one. Jason was his name, despite the fact he preferred Jay all the time.

The kid blinked a mile a minute and looked completely lost. "I… I don't, what-."

He was cut of by Hedge from the front of the bus. "Alright cupcakes! We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partners, and don't lose your worksheets! If you do, I'll personally send you back to campus the hard way!" He bellowed out, picking up his baseball bat.

He swung it around, like he was going to hit one of the other students. Jay couldn't help, but sigh and roll his eyes, Hedge had some serious work to do when he was blending in.

Jason still looked confused and looked over at Piper next to him. "Can he… talk to us like that?"

Part of Jay wanted to get Piper away from the kid, pull out his bow and demand to know what he was doing here. However, he stayed his hand after he saw the obviously confused look on the boy's face. He was still hesitant, but he wasn't going to turn the poor kid into a pincushion, not yet anyway. He couldn't get over the one fact. Nobody just up and appears out of nowhere. Nobody up and appears and has everyone around him thinking that he's been there before. He either had some serious Mist powers, or he was placed here by someone, someone powerful. If that was the case… he might have had an even more serious situation on his hands, then he thought.

Piper rolled her eyes and looked back up to the kid. "Always does, this is the Wilderness School. Where the kids, are the animals." She said with a smile.

She looked back up at Jason like they'd shared that joke a hundred times. Jay remembered that Piper HAD made that joke before with him and Leo. However, Jason didn't exactly seem amused, just even more confused then he was before. He locked eyes with Jay for a second, and he seemed to panic.

He knew, that Jay knew he wasn't supposed to be there. And that seemed to scare him.

"There's some kind of mistake, I… I'm not supposed to be here. I… I don't belong here." He said, letting go of Piper's hand.

Jay was about to say something to try and calm the poor kid down, but Leo beat him to it. He laughed and looked at Jason with a wicked grin.

He also knew that Leo was a son of Hephaestus as soon as he saw him make a helicopter out of pipe-cleaners and rubber bands.

"Oh yeah totally. None of us belong here! I didn't run away from the orphanage all those times. Jay over here didn't get kicked out of seven different schools. Piper didn't steal a BMW-."

"I didn't steal that car Leo!" Piper hissed.

Leo chuckled. "Oh yeah sorry you 'politely asked' them to have it and they gave it to you."

When Jay heard that story, he knew it was charmspeak. He had experience dealing with daughters of Aphrodite that could charmspeak. Drew back at camp tried to use it on him almost every-day after she learned that he was single. It had never worked on him, he didn't know why, probably because his love life was more messed up then any sappy teen romance novel on the planet. Or maybe it's because he was just smarter than everyone.

Piper turned to him. "Jay, your sister is a medical student. Do you think somethings wrong with him? Maybe he has amnesia or something?"

When Jay was on video chat with his sister Alex back in Brooklyn, Piper and Leo may have walked in and she may have lied and told them she was a medical student at NYU. His sister in reality was an Egyptian magician, descended from Ramses the Great Pharaoh of Egypt. She was also younger than him, so how Piper and Leo believed her was beyond him. She can be very persuasive his little sister, especially with her magic.

Jay took on longer look at Jason, trying to determine how he got here, and what he wanted. However, he saw the look of complete confusion and worry on the kids face.

He shook his head at Piper. "Don't worry Pipes, he probably just bumped his head a little too hard. I'm sure it'll come back, I'll call Alex later or-."

"Or Annabeth." Leo said wiggling his little elfish eyebrows.

Piper giggled, and he sighed, rolling his eyes. One night after he had come back to his dorm room after searching for Percy. He had a video call with Annabeth back at camp to give her the bad news that he hadn't found him and trying to console her the best he could. In the middle of their conversation, Piper and Leo walked in, they had a serious not knocking problem. Thinking on his feet, which had ended up being a seriously bad idea, he clicked end on the video chat and stammered out that Annabeth was his girlfriend from back in New York. He realized as soon as the words left his mouth that Annabeth would kill him for what he said, especially with how she'd been lately, but it was too late to go back on it now.

The fact Piper was giggling also worried him. When he had idiotically blurted out, he had a girlfriend, he remembered the disheveled look on her face. It made him worry even more than he already was if it was somehow possible. Had this kid erased and manipulated Piper's emotions with the mist? Only gods had that kind of power. The more he deduced from the situation the more he didn't like it.

If this kid had somehow made himself show up, and implanted some fake memories into Piper's head, it was a serious problem. He hadn't even seen that level of skill with the mist from the children of Hecate back at camp.

Jay sighed and eyed the both of them, "Yes, or Annabeth, I'll call one of them and see what's up. No need to worry." He said in a relaxing tone, letting his eyes meet Jason's.

When Jason met his eyes, he still looked absolutely confused. Jay was starting to feel bad for the kid. If he really had been put there by someone, he was just a pawn in a much bigger game. However, Jay couldn't rule of the possibility of the kid being a threat. He would let the kid hold Piper's hand and come with them, but he would be sure keeping an eye on him. They currently had bigger problems.

There was a monster that had infiltrated the class, both Jay and Hedge knew it. It was just a matter of figuring out which one. He cautiously scanned his eyes in the front of the bus but couldn't make it out. He was pulled back by Leo speaking up again.

"Anyway, I hope one of you have your worksheet, because I used mine for spit wads ages ago…why are you looking at me like that? Did someone draw on my face again?" He asked Jason, feeling his face.

"I don't know you." Jason said worriedly.

Leo gave him a crocodile grin. Jay rolled his eyes and smiled; Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf. His long nimble fingers tapped against the seat of the bus, and his fiddled with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket.

"Sureee me and Jay aren't your best-friends, we're their evil clones!" He said dramatically.

Jay loved being a son of Artemis. A part of his powers were his heightened senses, which allowed him to have basically the nose of a Satyr, and the perception of a falcon. He wasn't fooled by mist tricks, or monsters disguising themselves as humans. When he was younger, he used to need to be under the moon or in the forest in order for his powers to have any effect. However, after finally mastering them over the years they were available to help him now. He said a silent thank you to his mom, if he had been fooled by this trick of the mist things would have been all the harder for Annabeth and Hedge.

"Leo Valdez, problem back there!?" The coach yelled from the front of the bus.

He must have let his curiosity get the better of him and was checking on them. Leo turned and winked at them.

"Watch this!" He said excitedly.

Jay internally sighed and laughed at the same time. He was curious to see what Leo had planned for the old goat this time, although he thought nothing would beat the time that he had set the coach's pants on fire.

"Sorry coach, I can't really hear you, maybe you could use your megaphone?" Leo shouted back to the front.

Hedge grumbled and reached for his bullhorn, seeming to actually be happy that he'd get the chance to use it. He held it up to his mouth and continued to give instructions… but his voice came out sounding like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up; the coach tried again but this time the megaphone blared 'the cow says moo'. The kids howled, and the coach slammed his megaphone on the ground.

"Valdez!" The coach yelled, as Jay tried to contain his laughter.

Piper stifled a laugh, "Haha, my god Leo how did you do that?"

Leo twirled a Philip's head screwdriver in his hands and slipped it into his pocket, "What can I say? I'm a special boy."

"Haha that you are." Jay told him, finally letting out a laugh. He hadn't done that much in the last few months, it made him appreciate Leo all the more.

After their laughing died down, Jay carefully watched how Jason was still eyeing them, looking at him in particular now. Jay didn't want to meet his eyes he didn't want to let on how much he knew now.

"Guys seriously, what am I doing here? Where are we going?" Jason pleaded.

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you serious?"

"No! I really have no idea-."

"He has to be joking, right Jay?" Leo told him. "He's probably trying to get us back for that whole Jell-O and shaving cream thing, isn't he?"

Jay racked his brain and he could not remember what Leo was talking about. However, he decided to play along with the joke.

"Ha, that was a good one. Come on Jason, you seriously don't remember anything?" Jay asked. He put emphasis on the word 'anything', so the kid knew it had more meaning.

Jason stared blankly at them.

"No, I think he's serious." Piper said, trying to take the kids hand.

Jason pulled it away, causing a pained look to appear on Piper's face. Jay had the strange urge to punch the kid after that one.

"No," He stammered, "I'm sorry I don't-I can't-."

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front of the bus. "The back row just volunteered for lunchroom duty this week!"

The whole bus cheered, and Jay rolled his eyes. The Satyr would really need a lesson on his mortal world etiquette soon.

"That's a shocker…" Leo muttered.

Jay eyed Piper who looked at Jason and she didn't seem to know whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Jason shook his head. "Worse, I don't know who I am."

Jay felt a cold tingle run up his spine. His senses were going a mile a minute. He had been in more life-threatening and dangerous quests then most demi-gods and he learned one thing over those years. That was to always trust his instincts.

His instincts now were telling him that he had an even more serious situation on his hands then he thought.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The bus had dropped them off in what Jay could only describe as the National Museum of Nowhere. A big red stucco complex that ha da large skywalk leading out to the Grand Canyon. It was cold as was to be expected in December. Jay was wearing a white and blue windbreaker with comfy, warm black sweatpants over his orange camp half-blood t-shirt. He decided it would be important to wear so Annabeth and her ride would be able to spot him if they had a hard time. Jason was looking at himself like he was really trying hard to remember dressing himself that morning. He was tall probably around the same age as Jay, with short blonde hair, icy blue eyes and a small scar right above his lip. He wore jeans, sneakers and a thin black windbreaker over a purple t-shirt. Jay tried his best to read what the shirt said but had no such luck. He was dyslexic and the letters flew off the shirt.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said in a helpful tone. "Jay and Leo's Wilderness school crash course, care to start off Silver man?"

Jay rolled his eyes but decided to play along with Leo's game. "Alright well it's really quite simple. We go to the 'Wilderness School'" I said with Leo adding sit quotes. "Which means were 'bad kids' Your family, or the court, who whoever sent you, decided you were too much trouble." He told the kid, trying to send another veiled message to the kid.

Jason seemed to receive the message because that caused him to gulp.

"So, they shipped you off to this lovely prison-sorry, 'boarding school'- in Armpit Nevada, where you learn valuable skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daises into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with his baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?" Leo finished for him.

"No" Jason said glancing apprehensively at him.

Jay internally sighed, he was getting tired of hearing 'no' from this kid. He glanced around at the class twenty guys and half as many girls who were apparently hardening criminals. He knew there were no more half-bloods in the group, but somewhere there was a monster. Jay was worried about finding himself stuck between two enemies potentially. He was one of the most powerful demi-gods in camp, probably the most powerful with Percy gone, but he had been well rusty, and hadn't been training as much as he should have the past few months.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out huh? Okay well me, you and Piper started here the beginning of the semester, about a month ago silver surfer over here got sentenced- I'm sorry I mean transferred." He said smirking at Jay.

Jay scoffed and managed a small laugh. Leo continued. "We're totally tight you do everything I say, do my chores and give me your desert-."

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Fine. Ignore that last part, but the four of us are friends. Well you and Piper here are a little but more then friends the last few weeks-."

"Leo stop it" Piper's face turned red. Jay say Jason's face heat up too, the whole entre situation still didn't sit right with him, and the more he heard the more anxious and angrier he got. If whoever placed this kid here had also given Piper fake memories made from the mist, he would be very, very angry.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed, "Who Coach Hedge? He may try to heal Jason by mashing him over the head with a baseball bat."

Jay couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, maybe that'll work." I said shrugging.

Piper shot him a look. "I'm serious, he may have a concussion or-."

"Yo Piper!" One of the boys from the other group came over and wedged himself between Piper and Jason.

As soon as he did that, every single alarm bell in Jay's head started buzzing. It was as if the fire alarm had gone off in the fire station and now all his cells were springing into action. The kid had a dark superman style haircut, a deep tan and teeth so white they looked like they belonged on a box of Colgate plus optic white toothpaste.

It was without a doubt the monster who had snuck its way into the class.

"Don't both with these bottom feeders." The kid said looking pointedly at Jay. "You're my partner remember?"

He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey with cowboy boots and jeans. He smiled like he was god's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jay scanned his vast monster repertoire for any recognizable scent he could but couldn't. The look he had gotten made Jay know for a fact the monster knew he was a half-blood and one who knew. Every muscle wanted to click the silver wolf charm bracelet on his wrist which would elongate into his silver bow and turn the kid into a porcupine.

However, he needed to be sure that no more monsters were around, and what kind of monster he was up against if possible. He had learned from Annabeth that every monster had a weakness and it was best to go into a fight knowing what it was. Never rush in blind.

"Go away Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm around Piper's and dragged her through the museums' entrance.

Piper looked around her shoulder and looked at Jay, it was one last look that clearly said 911.

His finger- nails dug into my palms.

"We don't leave any demi-gods behind, one giant family." He heard through his head.

Jay scowled and ran his hand through his hair. Her voice was still ringing, and he knew it would for a long time. However, he was going to do what he promised.

He was going to save his friend.

He quickly reached and pulled Leo up off the ground. "I hate that guy. I'm Dylan I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! Will you date me instead?"

I shook my head and turned to the door. "Come on, both of you, we need to follow them." He said, his tone full of ice.

Leo looked at him surprised. "Oh, come on Jay, Dylan's a creep but Piper's not in-."

Jay started speed walking towards the museum.

"Man, why is everyone acting so weird today…" he heard Leo grumble behind him as he pushed open the door.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jay didn't take his eyes off her. He barely even recognized what the museum was showing. Why did they need a museum for the grand canyon anyway? Dylan kept trying to slip his hand into Piper's, but she kept pulling it back. Leo was behind him talking to Jason more about what his 'amnesia' had wiped away from him. Coach Hedge would stop occasionally to lecture about exhibits. The coach didn't seem to notice the monster yet, but Jay didn't take his eyes off him. He was here for Piper and Leo; they were the entire reason he had come out into the middle of Armpit Nevada. He was having a perfectly good school year sitting in Brooklyn House, spending most of his time on the couch eating Cheetos and watching ESPN with Khufu the baboon.

Then after the whole incident rescuing his friend Gwen Stacey, from his cousin Nikki's basketball game from being eaten by a cyclops his friends had had their little 'chat' with him. He felt physically fine, a little strained and out of shape, but overall fine.

But was he fine mentally?

Well the ten mile runs through the cacti everyday certainly didn't help.

They made their way through the building with Hedge's microphone alternating between sounding like a Sith Lord and saying, 'the pig says oink'. Jay probably should have been more focused on the random kid that had shown up on the bus, but his focus was on getting this monster to reveal itself so he could get Piper away.

Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan as well. Jay recognized Isabel and her 'Popular Girls'. Part of him though they were evil, demon, vampire, empousi when he first met them. However, he had learned he was wrong, they were something even worse, they were mean high school bullies.

Coach Hedge began going on in-front of an exhibit that talked about the Hualapai tribe that owned the museum.

Isabel snickered and said, "Hey Piper does your tribe like own this place? Do you get in for free if you like, do a rain dance?"

The other girls laughed. Even the monster Dylan had to work to suppress a smile. Piper's fist were hidden inside her snowboarding jacket, Jay knew that they were clenched inside it. Coach Hedge had told him that they had to let Piper and Leo 'fight their own battles' as he called it. He said that they needed to push them to train in any way they could before they were brought to camp that day. Jay had agreed with the old Satyr so he had restricted himself from turning Isabel and her click of mindless followers into silver pin-cushions the last month. While to his standards he was out of shape, he had done his best to help Piper and Leo condition themselves for camp. They had look at him oddly when he effortlessly scaled trees, and ran 6 miles before breaking a sweat however.

There were times when his patience was tested however, like right now. Piper and Leo may have been demigods he was going to rescue, but they were also his friends.

"My Dad is Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai, of course you would need a few brain cells to know that Isabel." She spat back.

Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry is your mom part of the tribe? Oh yeah that's right you never knew your mon."

Piper charged her, and Jay was looking forward to seeing Piper put the girl in her place. However, Coach Hedge stepped in-front and stopped it before anything could happen.

"Hey! Calm down back here, set a good example or I'll have to break out my baseball bat!" He howled at them.

Jay sighed in relief. The Satyr must have been blessed with the gift of good timing. The group shuffled to the next exhibit. The girls kept making small snide comments towards Piper.

"Is it nice to be back on the rez?" One chided.

"Her dad is probably to drunk to work," Another said. "That's why she turned klepto."

Piper ignored them, but Jay could see how much it could bother her. At that moment he finally lost it. He strode forward, fully intending on turning all those girls along with Dylan into porcupines, but Leo caught his arm.

"Woah keep it cool Jay. You know that Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be bowing down saying 'we're not worthy.' You know that."

Jay sighed, "You're right…" He said admittedly.

Jay had laughed when she learned Piper's dad was Tristan McLean, he remembered he acted in the popular 'King of Sparta' movie. As with most Hollywood movies about Ancient Greece, the mythology and facts were off. However, it had a lot of action, swords, handsome guys and girls, so it made a truck load of money. He understood what it was like having a famous father. Before he died Jay's, father was Joshua Nicholson, renowned and famous professor and author about Ancient Greece and Egypt.

He also happened to be blood of the pharaohs and a powerful Egyptian magician.

He wasn't nearly as famous as Piper's dad, but he could sort of understand where she was coming from.

"Who's her dad?" Jason asked from behind them.

Leo laughed in disbelief. "What, you're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad is-."

Hearing the word 'girlfriend' made Jay wince.

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad." He said.

Leo whistled. And Jay studied the kid more closely. He looked so familiar, but he couldn't place why. His face was what looked familiar, he swore he had met someone before that had a face just like his. He was really good at that. If you looked at him and his sister Alex, they had the same exact face, high cheek bones with a slender and sharp jaw, just like their shared father. They both had light brown hair, but Jay of course had the bright silver eyes he inherited from his godly mother Artemis.

"So, you really don't remember anything Jason, or anyone?" Jay asked him.

Jason shook his head, and Jay could see the look of worry on his face. He looked like he was going to say something, but Coach Hedge interrupted them.

"Alright cupcakes, you're about to see the Grand Canyon, try no to break it! The skywalk here can hold the weight of up to seventy jumbo-jets! So, you featherweights should be okay. Try to refrain from shoving each other over the edge! That would give me extra paperwork…" The coach grumbled.

All the kids started making their way out of onto the skywalk. It was a large horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass that you could see right through. He was walking past Coach Hedge when the old goat gripped his wrist. The rest of the kids filtered out and the Coach spoke to him in a low rumble.

"So, random kid shows up on the bus… do I whack him now, or later?" he said eagerly.

Jay looked out at Jason walking along with Leo. He turned to the coach and shook his head. "No, not yet. Let me get him alone and talk to him, see he's an ally… or an enemy."

The coach looked disappointed, but I had a feeling he would get to swing his club soon. "But I did find the monster though." I told him.

The Coach's head perked up right away. "Which one!? Let me at him!" He said excitedly.

Jay laughed a bit and nodded over to Dylan. "Kid in the Cowboys jersey. Let me see if this Jason kid is bad news or not, then we'll get Piper away and take him out. I'll give you a signal"

The Coach nodded eagerly, and he made his way out towards the skywalk with Leo and Jason. As soon as he walked outside, he knew something was wrong. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead, casting shadows overhead like angry faces across the cliffs. The gods must have been in a seriously bad mood. Not that he would know, since they had gone silent on camp half-blood since before, he left. The storm seriously sent major warning bells off his head, every single sense in his body was telling him he was in danger.

He came out and saw Jason looking at something in absolute awe in the palm of his hand. It was a piece of solid gold the size of a half-dollar. Jay thought at first it may be a gold drachma. However, he came over, and took a closer look at the coin in the kids' hand. It was stamped on one side with a battle-axe. On the other side was a guy with his head wrapped in laurels.

"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked him. "You been holding out on me!"

Jason put the coin away. Jay knew it was more then just a coin. He fiddled with the wolf charm that was attached to the bracelet on his left wrist. If he pressed the charm, it would elongate into a slender, long silver bow, that all he had to do was pull the string back and arrows would materialize at will. His missing best-friend Percy had magic ballpoint pen that all he had to do was pull the cap off, and it would elongate into a sword. His old… friend, ex, love interest? He didn't know what to call her, but his close friend Nicolette Cassidy back at camp had a magic amulet shaped like the sun. If she pressed it should would become incased in full gold Greek combat armor with a matching golden Greek sword. Her father Apollo went a little overboard, but she wasn't complaining.

Jay knew a magic weapon when he saw one. That coin would turn into a deadly weapon. He now knew one thing for sure, Jason was a demigod. From the looks of the storm clouds that kept piling up around them, he had to be a powerful one.

Now it was just a matter of finding out if he was an ally, or an enemy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jay didn't pay attention to the worksheet. He was too busy flinching whenever thunder boomed overhead. Zeus and he weren't exactly on good terms, what with him being the first ever Greek demigod who also had the powers of Egypt running through his veins, or the fact his mother Artemis had sire him. She didn't actually 'make' him with his father per say, they just fell for each other and as soon as she did, he was born. It was complicated but he didn't like to think about it.

His mouth dropped however when he saw Leo launch a helicopter into the air made completely out of the junk he had found in his pockets. Its pipe cleaner blades spiraled and took it halfway through the canyon before it spiraled down into the void.

"How'd you do that?" Jason asked.

Leo shrugged, but Jay knew exactly how. He hadn't seen a child of Hephaestus so talented since Beckendorf, who re-programmed that metal dragon that was currently raging without him to control it.

"Would've been cooler if I had some rubber-bands." He said.

"Seriously," Jason asked, "are we all friends?" he asked casting a side-ways glance at Jay.

"Last I checked." Leo said before Jay could say anything.

"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?" He asked desperately.

"It was…" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD man, you can't expect me to remember details. Jay what about you, you remember don't you?"

Their eyes turned to Jay and he shrugged his shoulders deciding to play along for now. "I… can't seem to recall either. You're right Leo that ADHD is a killer." He lied.

Jason seemed to see right through his lie. He looked between Jay and Leo. "But if I don't remember either of you at all. I don't remember anyone here. What if-."

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

Yes, that is exactly what happened. Jay mentally slapped himself. The answer had been bobbing around in his head the entire time, but to hear Leo say it. He realized as Leo said it out loud, that it was the only logical answer. He was going to try for more information, but he saw the black reach of storm clouds starting to cover the skywalk. Something was coming, he needed to act now or never.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of rolled up dollar bills. "Hey Leo, mind going to grab me a soda from that vending machine?" I said pointing towards the museum door, and coke machine sitting outside.

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah, and what's in it for me?"

I rolled my eyes and managed a chuckle. "Get yourself one too. I'm going to see if I can do something for out amnesiac."

He handed Leo the cash and the son of Hephaestus bowed. "Be right back."

Leo walked away and for the first time he met Jason's eyes alone. Before the kid could say anything, Jay shook his head.

"Not here. Come with me." He said, getting up and dusting off his jeans.

Jason didn't protest. He looked over at Hedge who was keeping a close eye on Piper with Dylan. He was leaning on his baseball bat, ready to spring in a moment's notice. He noticed her trying to fill out her worksheet, but 'Dylan' wouldn't stop trying to hit on her. He kept putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. Her eyes found the two of them as they walked, and to Jay's surprise and slight annoyance she looked at Jason and gave the blonde-haired kid a look that clearly said Throttle this guy for me.

Jason motioned for her to hand on and followed Jay out onto the skywalk. When Jay finally made it out of ear shot of all the kids, another loud blast of thunder boomed. Jay could practically smell the ozone. Whatever was coming, it certainly wasn't friendly.

"Did you do this?" Jay asked, with his arms crossed.

He looked back at Jason who took a step back. "Do what?" He questioned.

Jay growled and turned back to face him; his silver eyes met the kid's icy blue ones. "Leo and Piper aren't here; you can drop the act now. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

He didn't mean to sound so forceful, but no matter if the kids was a demigod or not. He needed to make sure he wasn't dangerous.

A mixture of confusion and relief. "You mean… you don't know me?" He asked. "I… I haven't been going to school with you guys here?"

Jay sighed and shook his head. "Never seen you before today. I don't know what trick you or whoever pulled with the mist, but it won't fool me."

Jason let out a relieved sigh. "Look… Jay was it?"

"Jason, my real names Jason, but everyone calls me Jay."

He stammered a moment and looked at him, probably also realizing the confusions they were in for now.

"Look, Jay I really don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here." He pleaded.

Jay sighed, he wanted to keep up the tough guy act, but he just felt so bad for the kid. However, he learned that in the crazy world of gods and monsters if you let your guard down, it got you killed.

"Look you're right about that." Jay leaned in and lowered his voice. "When I came out here a month ago, I was told Hedge only found two half-bloods. You got quite a way with the mist, you won't fool me and Hedge though. I've already identified our monster, but now that you're here… I need to know if you're a friend, or an enemy. You don't smell like a monster, you smell like a half-blood, but I know better then to assume all half-bloods are on my side. So, I'll ask again, who are you, and where do you come from?"

Jason looked baffled for a moment but managed another worried sentence.

"I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. Please, Jay you have to help me!" He pleaded.

Jay didn't want to believe him. However, he felt he could tell when people were being truthful or not. He glanced over at Piper who was still trying to stop Dylan from flirting with her and met Coach Hedge's eyes. He held up a finger to let him know only to hold another minute.

He turned back to Jason and sighed. Something about his face, he had met him, or someone related to him before, and he decided that if he could, he would try to help.

We never turn away a demi-god in need.

That's what Camp is about right? Helping demigods.

Jay shook his head to get her voice to stop and looked back to Jason.

He sighed heavily. "This complicates things but… fine. I'll help you as best I can, maybe Annabeth or someone from camp will have some answers… but I wanna make one thing clear."

He took a step closer to Jason and got practically nose to nose. "If I get one inclination that you're here to hurt Piper and Leo, you'll find yourself filled with arrows before you can blink. Understand?" He told him.

Jason took a step back and nodded in understanding. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, I swear! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods, are they codewords or something?"

Jay chuckled, how he wished they were just codewords. After thinking about codewords his head shot back up and looked at Jason.

"Are you it!? Are you the 'special package' is that it?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked back.

Jay sighed and shook his head. "No… you can't be. If Annabeth knew then she would have told me what the package was, or who it was. Look I don't know who you are kid, but I know you're a half-blood, a powerful one to boot. Piper and Leo alone send up signals to all monsters nearby, with you? Good thing I came, Hedge wouldn't have been able to fight them all off by himself." He said, to himself and Jason.

He turned to Jason again. "Look I got a message from Annabeth at camp. They're sending an extraction team today, to pick up a 'special package'. Hedge and I say fine Piper and Leo are pretty powerful, older than most-."

"What do Piper and Leo have to do with this?" He asked.

Jay laughed a little and shook his head. "Ha, they don't know anything about all of this yet. If they did every monster for miles would already be here. Annabeth doesn't get frantic easily, but now she is flying out to pick up a 'special package' then you pop up."

He had known Annabeth for a long time, she was one of his best-friends. When she had frantically told him to get to the Grand Canyon so she could come pick up, Piper, Leo and a 'special package' he wasn't going to question it. He couldn't help but wonder if any of this had to do with Percy disappearing. It couldn't all be a coincidence, the gods going silent, Percy going missing, this kid arriving. It all had to be connected, there were no coincidences in demigod life.

A pained looked flashed in Jason's eyes, like he was trying so hard to remember something his veins were going to pop. He stumbled and Jay leaned over to catch him before he could fall.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there. You said you have no memories? Fine. Hedge and I will keep an eye on you too until Annabeth gets here for extraction. Our director will hopefully be able to help out back at camp." He told him.

"Who's Annabeth?" Jason asked. "What camp, what director?"

Jay shook his head. "Don't worry reinforcements will be here soon. I hope you know how to use that weapon." He told him.

"What weapon!?" He asked exasperatedly.

"The coin. It's obviously a weapon if you flip it or touch it a certain way, I have a weapon just like it. A fight's about to break out, but hopefully Annabeth and reinforcements will get here before-."

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind and thunder picked up sending worksheets flying into the Grand Canyon. Jay and Jason both stumbled, Jay grabbed the skywalk for support. He heard kids screaming, and Coach Hedge yelling into his megaphone.

"Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!" Hedge yelled.

"What's happening!? I thought this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.

Jay regained his footing and looked up. His mouth dropped, as he saw the giant black tornado of clouds starting to come down towards them.

He looked over to Jason. "Under normal circumstances I'm pretty sure," He agreed. "But these aren't. Come on, we need to get to Piper and Leo, I'd get that coin out!"

A/N: Here we are everyone! It is finally the long awaited first Chapter of The First Son of Artemis: The Lost Hero! Here we start out the Heroes of Olympus arc with The Last Hero. A strange mysterious kid with the same name as him shows up randomly on the bus, what is Jay's reaction!? What are you guys looking forward too this book? I really wanna know! I need you guys to leave me reviews with your thoughts, ideas, and just how I can improve. I love hearing everyones opinion and guesses as to what's going to happen!

For those of you who are new, I humbly welcome you to my profile and my story! This will be Book 4 in my first son of artemis series. The first three books covering the Percy Jackson and the Olympians arc are on my profile and completed for you to catch up! If you don't feel like it that's fine, a lot of things will be brought up again in this story!

I hope you all enjoyed our first chapter! Next chapter Jay and Jason Jasonx2 fight the Venti and Dylan! What will happen, how will they mesh? What will happen when we get to camp!? Follow and leave a review, and you'll figure out!

See you guys next update!