It’s been two months since I was taken to the holding cell but the trial still isn’t over. Reyna visited me often. None of the things she told me sounded good.

“Oi, prefect!” A guard said, banging on my cell gate, waking me up. “The praetor’s here, again.” I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as the gate opened and Reyna walked in.

“Praetor you have five minutes.” The gate closed. Reyna looked around. The holding cell was small. The bed was half the size of my bed back in the barracks. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a small wooden stool.

I stood up and walked to the stool, gesturing for Reyna to sit on the bed. Reyna shook her head.

“How many times do I have to tell you ‘I’m fine standing’ ?” she asked me.

“Several,” I replied.

“Can I please have Octavian suspended?” she asked me.

“Hey, you don’t need another reason for him to hate you, do you?” Reyna scowled.

“Impurae matris prolapses ab alvo,” she mumbled.

“Woah, Reyna. Language. You can’t exactly do anything about my situation,” I began.
“Octavian has a habit of turning people against us. It’s nothing new.”

“Selene! This is different! You can be exiled!” Reyna said. She sighed and pressed two fingers to her forehead. “I’m the praetor. The final decision still rests on me. I can-”

“Reyna I know what you’re thinking,” I said suddenly. “You can’t allow me to go free. Octavian will use it against you. He’ll call you a biased judge and that you always rule in favor of your friends.”

“You don’t think I know that?!” she yelled. She sank onto the bed and put her head in her hands.

I stayed quiet. I didn’t know what to say. I ran through all the Camp’s rules in my head, trying to find a loophole. I’m usually good at that. Every rule had one, you just had to dissect it just right. I did find a few but none could help in my situation.

“I hate this,” Reyna said, breaking the silence that descended upon us. “For four years, during my entire stay in this Camp, I always, always put my duty to New Rome before any personal feelings or relations. But for once, I want to do something for me.”

She looked up at me as if waiting for me to anything, anything at all to help her decide.

“I know it’s hard, Reyna. But you have to go with what Octavian wants,” I said, grimacing as I did.

It’s true. If Reyna rules in favor of me (which she wants to), and if most of the senators vote against me (which they obviously will) there would be grounds for a mutiny.

Reyna drew in a shaky breath.

“I’m so sorry, Selene,” she said quietly. I shook my head.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything. You do what you have to.” We stayed quiet.

“One last minute, praetor,” the guard called out.

“Selene, I doubt I’ll be able to talk to you again but if ever you do get exiled,” she paused for a moment before continuing. “find him. Find Jason.” I nodded.

“I won’t stop until I do.”

---

Just as Reyna said, the Council agreed to exile me. I was declared a dedecus, a disgrace.
Reyna’s eyes were full of pain, sadness, and frustration as she delivered my sentence in front of the whole Legion.

"I, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, declare that you, Selene Lia Averilla Rivera, are to receive a missio ignominiosia, a dishonorable discharge.” She hesitated.

“Keep talking,” Octavian seethed.

“You are officially stripped from your rank as the Praefectus Castrorum,” two senators stepped forward and removed the royal blue cloak hanging on my shoulder.

“and from now on, you will be known as a dedecus.” Reyna paused and looked at me again.
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“You are hereby discharged from service in the Twelfth Legion.” Her voice grew louder. “All proof of your existence in this Camp will be destroyed. Your position shall remain vacant and shall never be filled again."

I knew it was bound to happen but it still hurt. I looked at Reyna and her eyes tried to convey an apology she couldn’t say out loud.

My throat suddenly felt dry. I said nothing as all my medals were removed and handed to Reyna. I turned around and looked at the rest of the Legion. Dakota, Gwen, Hazel, Bobby and my other friends all looked upset. Elena, a friend from the Fourth Cohort, opened her mouth as if to say something but she closed it after I lightly shook my head.

I then turned and headed for the Caldecott Tunnel. As I passed Reyna, I felt her slip something into the pocket of my jeans. I said nothing and continued on my way.

“As for everyone else, you are not to speak of her ever again. Act as if she never existed,” Reyna said, addressing the Legion.

She then shouted “Form ranks” in Latin and the sound of the Legion carrying out the order followed.

It was hard not to look back so I increased my pace and soon enough I was out of Camp Jupiter. My vision had started to go blurry so I closed my eyes and sighed heavily.

I summoned Maelstrom.

What happened, Chief? He asked. I put my hand on his mane.

“Please don’t call me Chief,” I said quietly.

I adjusted my baldric and made sure that my dagger was still on it. I checked the things Leila packed into my knapsack. A few extra shirts, my leather jacket, couple of jeans, some rope, a pouch full of denarii, a wallet with mortal cash, a baggie of ambrosia, a flask of nectar, and my belt bag which probably contained more supplies. I noted that Leila also packed one of my royal blue capes and a wolf medal:–symbols of the Camp Prefect. Then again, nobody’s ever going to hold that position again.

I sighed, already missing my friends, then climbed on Maelstrom.

Where to? Maelstrom asked. I reached into my pocket and brought out whatever it is Reyna slipped in. It was the Naval Crown, a bronze badge shaped like a ship.

---

“Guys, over there,” I said. I was on my pegasus. Jason was riding the winds while the rest of Fifth Cohort were riding giant golden eagles. We were flying over the Pacific Ocean. Ships carrying an army of monsters were sailing towards the San Francisco Bay.

Our mission was to board the ships, defeat the monsters before assuming control over the vessels.

Once we were above the ships, Jason gave us the signal to position ourselves over pre-selected vessels. Unfortunately for us, there was a telekhine on patrol. It noticed us and sounded the alarm.

“Fifth Cohort! Evasive maneuvers!” Jason shouted. I forced Maelstrom to veer to the left. A flaming arrow whizzed past us.

I thrust my hand out and I felt a wrenching pain in my gut as a wall of ice appeared in front of the ship directly beneath me. It tilted upward, causing the monsters aboard it to topple backwards, some falling into the cold water. Maelstrom landed on the deck as the ice disappeared and I dismounted. I signaled to Jason that I had boarded the ship.

---

That was the day Father sent me my sword and shield: Labina Nivs, fens of snow. Avalanche.

I shook my head. I was twelve when that happened. It was all in the past.

“Maelstrom, let’s head to Colorado. I have a safe house there.” Maelstrom whinnied in complaint.

Ah c’mon, Chief! That’s so far away! He said. I shook my head.

“We’ll stop for donuts along the way. How does that sound?” My pegasus snorted.

Bribery won’t get you anywhere, Chief. I shrugged.

“It was worth a shot.”

Maelstrom sighed. Fine. I need to stretch anyway.

For the first time in quite a while, I genuinely smiled. Nothing like an ego-filled pegasus to brighten up your day.

---

Maelstrom and I arrived in Colorado quite late. The sun was no longer in sight. Though he insisted that he felt perfectly fine, I could tell that my pegasus was exhausted.

We settled down in a forest. I ate one of the sandwiches that Hazel bought for me before I… left. I didn’t make a fire. It attracts attention. Besides, I function better when it’s cold.

I haven’t had much dreams in a while. For the past two months, they were mostly wishful thinking (one involving Octavian tripping and landing on the weapons rack).

I sighed and lay down on the grass. It didn’t take long before sleep took over. And with sleep, comes dreams.

---

I was in the backseat of a school bus. I looked down and I was holding hands with some random girl. Wait what? I looked up and saw the girl's appearance. Her hair was chocolate brown, kind of choppy and uneven, and had thin strands braided down the sides. Her eyes seemed to change color. Judging by her physical appearance, she was a Cherokee.
However, there was something about her that screamed 'DEMIGOD. DEMIGOD.'

I looked out the windows and saw bumpy terrain. The bus was rolling on a desert. Kids were sprawled over the other seats listening to iPods, talking, sleeping... you know, mortal teenager stuff.

The girl squeezed my hand.

"Jason, you okay?" she asked. Wait what?! Jason?! This is where he ended up? Why is he holding hands with some random girl? I let go of the girl's hand or rather, Jason let go of the girl's hand.

"Um, I don't-" Jason started. A teacher at the front of the school bus suddenly shouted.

"All right, cupcakes, listen up!" He was some sort of coach. He wore the typical coach outfit: baseball cap, polo, whistle, megaphone the like. Though there was one thing that was a bit not "coach-y". His height. He was around 5 feet. Pft. Jason's like a foot taller than this guy.

He stood up on the aisle and some kid shouted, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" he said. His eyes looked around, hoping to find whoever the offender was. Instead, his eyes fixed on me, erm... Jason. He seemed to realize that Jason didn't belong to the company of delinquents. I half-expected Coach Hedge to call Jason out and do gods-know-what but he looked away. Odd. He cleared his throat.

“We’ll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don’t lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way.”

He picked up a baseball bat and swung it, pretending that he was hitting one of his “precious little cupcakes”.

Jason turned to look at the girl beside me, I mean, him (this is confusing.) "Can he talk to us that way?"

She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. ‘Where kids are the animals.’”

She sounded like that was a common joke but hey, this is a dream. I don't really know what exactly happened before this period. I just know that my best friend just popped up in a school bus with a bunch of people going on a field trip. Not only that! He was also holding hands with some random girl he has never met before. What twisted joke is this?

I numbly "sat" through the rest of the dream, not really caring about some of the stuff that happened until a really irritating, cocky guy named Dylan began dissolving into smoke. Well, his body did but you get the point. His face remained the same but his eyes seemed electric and his form was of swirling black vapor. A ventus. Wait, so a ventus was pretending to be a student? Two more venti appeared. This didn't look good. Dylan blasted Jason in the chest with lightning.

I sat up with a jolt. Jason was alive, that's for sure. I wasn't very worried about the fact that he was blasted with lightning. That happens to him all the time.

He's also with a random pretty girl, a Latino dude, and a faun, erm, satyr. With dread, I realized another thing. He doesn't remember anything. He doesn't remember me. Or any of his other friends.

I sighed. In my dream, Jason was in Colorado. I doubt he’d stay there for long.

If ever his memory came back, the first thing he would remember would most likely be… the Wolf House. Lupa. If I get to the Wolf House, I could meet up with Jason. Hopefully, I can help him regain his memories.

I began to feel a little bubble of hope. I punched the ground. The bubble popped.

Even if I did manage to bring Jason back to Camp Jupiter, Octavian will just find a way to twist the truth.

I shook my head. I’ll just head to the Wolf House. It’s the only thing I can think of doing right now. Maybe Lupa can help.

However, it’s not safe to travel alone. Guess it’s a good thing I know a few people here. The only problem was finding them.

Notes

A/N: Full Author's note can be found at the tumblr blog: fenrir-glacies