CLARION

   Inside, even though it was almost time for dinner, three kids were sound asleep under piles of covers. The fire crackled warmly and soft violin music played from somewhere. Clarion briefly thought of how Kayla's violin skills would put it to shame. To keep herself from falling asleep to the scent of fresh laundry, she imagined Jenny, her older half-sister, playing Arctic Monkeys on bass guitar. She noticed Annabeth elbow Jason as his knees about collapsed.
   "Snap out of it."
   He blinked.
   "Cabin Fifteen does that to everyone," Annabeth warned. "If you ask me, this place is more dangerous than the Ares cabin."
   "At least you can learn where the landmines are with Ares, though," Clarion added. "I still remember when Drew got her eyebrows blown off trying to sneak to see Darius — best day ever."
   Annabeth snorted while Jason looked at her in a mix of horror and amusement.
   "Landmines?" He asked. Clarion merely shrugged while Annabeth tried to wake up Clovis.
   "Clovis! Wake up!" Annabeth shook his shoulder, but when he didn't wake, she ended up smacking his forehead about six times. Clarion stifled a giggle when Clovis sat up, disoriented.
   "Wh-wh-what?" He complained. He yawned hugely, causing the other three to yawn too.
"Stop that!" Annabeth said. "We need your help."
"I was sleeping."
"You're always sleeping."
"Goodnight."
Before he could pass out again, Annabeth yanked his pillow off the bed while Clarion pulled him by his feet onto the floor.
"Why must you always choose violence, Clary?"
"Because you can't go a full conversation without falling asleep," she snapped. "It's a choice, not narcolepsy."
Clovis turned to Annabeth. "Give it back."
"First help, then sleep."
He sighed. "Fine. What?"
Clarion stayed standing as Annabeth explained Jason's situation to the Hypnos boy. She couldn't afford to sit down in a place so completely enticing and comfortable. Jason stood close behind her and occasionally Annabeth would snap under Clovis' nose to keep him awake.
Clovis must've been actually interested, because when Annabeth was done, he didn't go back to sleep. He actually stood from the floor and stretched, then blinked at Jason. "So you don't remember anything, huh?"
"Just impressions," Jason said. "Feelings, like..."
Clarion tilted her head. Feelings? Men had those? She internally smacked herself. This was not the time for her internal anti-men monologue.
"Yes?" Clovis prodded Jason along.
"Like I know I shouldn't be here. At this camp. I'm in danger." Clarion thought of Hera's words and all the Roman aspects of Jason's terminology, the marking on his arm, and the coin he had. If Jason was right about anything, it was that he didn't belong at Camp Half-Blood.
"Hmm. Close your eyes," Clovis instructed.
Jason glanced at Annabeth, who nodded reassuringly. He looked down at Clarion.
"I won't let you sleep for a hundred years, sleeping beauty," she assured.
He gave a weak smile, but he closed his eyes.
"Clarion, you might want to—" Clovis' words were cut off when Jason toppled into her from behind. A small squeal escaped her lips and she struggled to keep him up.
"Couldn't he have sat down before you knocked him out?" She snarled. She didn't know where Jason was hiding all that weight, but gods he was heavy. Annabeth helped her maneuver him into a plush chair.
"Sorry that he was hiding behind you like a nervous toddler with his mommy," Annabeth defended.
Clarion gasped. "I am not his mommy."
"I never said—"
"Guys," Clovis interrupted. Clarion looked over to see him kneeling in front of Jason. "I'm trying to concentrate. You mind?"
The girls quit talking and crossed their arms.
"I didn't say you were his mommy," Annabeth whispered. "However, it is a little freaky how you two have known each other for four seconds and you hover around each other like... like... I don't even know."
"Oh really? That's your argument?"
"And you were pretty adamant about taking him to Chiron. He got all anxious when you left and it only got better when you came back. I'll bet it was the same for you."
"I wasn't anxious. He doesn't make me anxious."
"Then why are you pacing?"
Clarion froze in her place. Annabeth was right. She had been pacing without even noticing. "Hera is stressing me out. That's why I'm pacing. Have you ever had a goddess interrupt your shower and set you on a quest? It's stressful."
"Annabeth," Clovis called. Their heads snapped in his direction. Clarion's eyes widened as Jason's tall frame flickered in the chair.
"What the..." Annabeth trailed off, kneeling on Jason's other side.
"Wake him up, Clovis!" Clarion demanded, pacing again.
"Oh this is serious, all right," Clovis said as Jason's eyes snapped open.
"What happened?" Jason asked. "How long—"
"A few minutes," Annabeth said. Long enough, Clarion wanted to say. "But it was tense. You almost dissolved."
"Usually," Clovis said, "memories are lost for a good reason they sink under the surface like dreams, and with a good sleep, I can bring them back. But this..."
"Lethe?" Annabeth asked.
"No," Clovis denied. "Not even Lethe."
"Lethe?" Jason asked.
Clovis pointed at the branch dripping milky drops above the fireplace. "The River Lethe in the Underworld. It dissolves your memories, wipes your mind clean permanently. That's the branch of a popular tree from the Underworld, dipped into the Lethe. It's the symbol of my father, Hypnos. Lethe is not a place you want to go swimming."
Clarion cast a glance at Annabeth. "Didn't Percy go there?"
She nodded glumly. "Told me it was powerful enough to wipe the mind of a Titan."
Jason looked between Clarion and the others. "But... that's not my problem?"
"No," Clovis agreed. "Your mind wasn't wiped, and your memories weren't buried. They were stolen."
Clarion's lip curled into a snarl. That evil, petty, problematic—
"Stolen. How?" Jason asked.
"A god," Clovis said. "Only a god would have that kind of power."
"We know that," said Jason. "It was Juno. But how did she do it and why?"
Clarion cursed. "She blocked me from saying it when you already knew?"
Clovis scratched the back of his neck while Annabeth and Jason looked at her in confusion. "Juno?"
"Hera," Clarion growled.
"Yeah. For some reason, Jason likes Roman names," Annabeth added.
Clovis hummed.
"What? Does that mean something?" Jason asked.
He hummed again, but Clarion realized he was asleep again. While kneeling? Seriously? The kid was talented.
"Clovis!" Jason yelled.
"What? What? We were talking about pillows, right? No, gods. I remember. Greek and Roman. Sure, that could be important."
"But they're the same gods," Annabeth said. "Just different names." Clarion snorted.
"Not exactly," Clovis said.
Jason sat forward in the chair, a new energy on his face. "What do you mean, not exactly?"
Clovis gestured to Clarion. "Her mom's the expert. She'll know more than me." When the last word left his mouth, he slumped against the side of the chair.
Clarion paused in her pacing, staring at Clovis' limp form before dragging her gaze to Annabeth and Jason. "The Romans have gods that strictly belong to them. Janus or Pomona, for example. The major Greeks, however, didn't only change their names when they moved to Rome. They changed appearances, attributes, and personalities too. My dad was one of the only majors that didn't change his name."
"But..." Annabeth faltered. "Okay, so maybe people saw them differently through the centuries. That doesn't change who they are."
Clarion was shaking her head before Annabeth was even done. "Gods change to reflect their host cultures. Apollo likes skinny jeans, skateboards, and boba tea. I mean, Zeus likes tailored suits, reality television, and that Chinese food place on East 28th, right? The gods were Roman almost as long as they were Greek, so of course their personas would've changed."
"Makes sense," Jason said, leaning back.
"Nari knew all this stuff?" Annabeth questioned. She had gone to Clarion's mother's funeral when they were fourteen and had known her for three years before then.
"Clovis does too, but he just wanted to nap." Clarion rocked back and forth on her heels. "The Roman gods are more warlike. They don't mingle with the normies much. They were harsher, more powerful — gods of an empire."
"Like the dark side of the gods?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, no. They stood for discipline, honor, strength—"
"Good things, then." Jason's tone was borderline defensive, causing her eyebrows to raise. "I mean, discipline is important, right? That's what made Rome last so long."
Clarion nodded. "True, but the Romans weren't as friendly. Hypnos is sleepy as a Greek, right? During the empire, he'd kill people who slacked off on the job. They called him Sommus. Don't let Sommus getcha. My mom used to say that when I was slacking off."
Annabeth eyed her suspiciously. "Nice guy, but that doesn't tell us what it has to do with Jason."
Clovis snapped up. "Neither do I, but if Hera took you memory, she's the only one who can give it back. And if I had to meet the queen of the gods, I'd hope she was more in a Hera mood than a Juno mood. Can I go back to sleep now?"
Clarion tossed a pillow at his head and he went out like a light, face first in the fabric.
"Won't he suffocate?"
Clarion snorted, opening the cabin door. "He'll be just fine."
"But I beginning to think that you are in serious trouble."

A/N: hiya folks! how are we doing? hope you're all safe and healthy! I'm currently chilling in my room with COVID and stressing about the election, so if that tells ya anything... haha yeah.

hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it's a bit longer than the others but in order to keep this from being the length of a dictionary, I'm trying to fit the actual chapters of TLH in the chapters here instead of breaking them up.

let me know your thoughts! I love hearing opinions and reactions.
love you guys, stay safe!
xoxo
hadley