It's a Date
On the flight back Kassandra didn't hold up her end of the deal, keeping her mouth shut the whole way. It would probably be better if Chiron explained everything since she was lacking in the knowledge department.
Since there were now 6 people in the chariot, she sat on the end with her legs dangling out. The chariot lurched back and forth, bumping around, but she kept her grip firm. Meanwhile Annabeth toyed with some navigational device and Butch handled the reins.
She was promised monsters, and according to blonde boy air spirits at that. She hadn't left the camp since arrival so she was looking forward to some real combat just to be disappointed like that. At least these three would provide some sort of entertainment for a while.
"This is so cool!" said the elf, who she now knew was called Leo. He spit a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?"
"A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."
"Half-Blood? Is that some kind of bad joke?"
"She means we're demigods," Jason said. "Half god, half mortal."
Annabeth looked back. "You seem to know a lot, Jason.But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom.Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."
Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"
"Got a problem with that?" Butch said.
"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."
"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth said. "He gets along great with the pegasi."
"Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered.
"I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.
"And... uhh what's your name again?"
"Kassandra."
"Who's Kassandra's parents?"
Annabeth and Butch shuffled awkwardly. She hated it when people hid things from her, things about her father the most.
"Kassandra is different. No one's got the full picture on her."
The daughter of Rome rolled her eyes. 'No one's got the full picture on her'. It made her sound like some sort of special case or object, not a girl who missed her parents.
"Demigods," Piper said. "You mean you think you're... you think we're-"
Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!"
So it was. In addition, dark forms began to take shape in the clouds around them. They resembled pegasi. Maybe she would get the fight she had been craving after all.
"Why are they-" began Piper.
"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth said."Sometimes humans, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."
Butch flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. Kassandra's head ached a little as their surroundings whizzed past, and she had to push Piper back into the chariot before she could fall out.
Soon enough though they arrived at their destination. A cold grey lake stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Home away from home.
Unfortunately, their wonderful view was stripped from them when both the chariot wheels popped off and they were sent plummeting.
"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"
Damn the lake, then she'd get wet.
Grabbing the person closest to her, that being Piper, she held her tight in a bridal position before jumping off the plummeting vehicle.
"What the...!" screamed Piper as the ground came closer and closer to impact.
Furrowing her brows, Kassandra concentrated on the ground they were to touch down on. She had to time this correctly or they'd both die. It was risky, sure, but what is life without risks?
Directing all her strength into her legs, she proceeded to straighten them out as she hit the ground hard enough to leave a metre deep hole. Her timing was correct, and they had both survived. One of them was a little more shaky than the other, eyes locked open and holding onto the ex-huntresses chest rather tightly.
"Listen, I'm not complaining about it, but do you want to take your hand off of my-"
Piper fell out of her hands and onto the floor, throwing up. Kassandra made sure to jump out of the way. She didn't want her new sandals to get covered in that sort of muck.
Offering a hand, it was accepted, Piper pulling herself up.
"That was..."
"Fun, just say it was fun."
"I was going to say crazy."
"Well would you rather be with those guys?" she said, pointing to the lake. As she did, the chariot hit the lake hard.
"Point made," said Piper, clearly a little dizzy.
Kassandra touched her shoulder with her palm, and a wave of refreshment washed over her.
"Come on now, let's hope they're not dead."
Luckily, they weren't dead. The four where already out of the water and onto the shore, surrounded by campers handing them blankets and asking questions. One kid ran up with a leaf blower and dried them all off.
"Annabeth!" Will Solace pushed through the crowd, a face of frustration clear as day. "I said you could borrow the chariot,not destroy it!"
"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."
Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper,Leo, and Jason.
"These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"
"Claimed?" Leo asked.
Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Percy?"
"No," Annabeth admitted.
The campers muttered to each other in annoyance. Percy was a good guy who apparently her father approved of, so she could understand the disappointment.
Suddenly, a girl burst forwards. One Kassandra had learnt to be rather dislikable.
"Well," Drew said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."
Leo snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"
"No kidding," Jason said. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"
"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew-" she frowned at the glamour girl- "all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."
"Hey," Piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."
Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"
Piper stepped forward, looking ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, "Piper, stop." Luckily she did.
"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome,"Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."
"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked. Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. A red light illuminated on everyone's faces.
Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image- a fiery hammer.
"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."
"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.
"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse-"
"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed-"
"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"
All eyes turned to him.
"Jason," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"
"I'm not sure."
"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"
"Here we call him Hephaestus," Kassandra said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."
The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him.
"The god of what? Who?"
Annabeth turned to Solace.
"Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine."
"Sure, Annabeth."
"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"
"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.
Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason. She studied him like he was a complicated blueprint. Finally she said, "Hold out your arm."
When he did show his bare arms, inside of his right forearm was a tattoo.
"I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"
Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."
The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at Jason's tattoo. The marks seemed to bother them a lot, almost like a declaration of war. Well if they really knew what it was, it would be a declaration of war.
"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed.
"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching. "I mean... I think so. I don't remember."
Kassandra had been keeping her mouth shut. She had an issue with yapping and yapping until she said something she needed to keep secret and this was a secret that needed to be kept.
What on Gaia was a Roman doing in the Greek camp? It was lucky no one knew that that was the sign of Roman ownership, kind of like a dog tag. Thinking about it, her father lacked one, but he was a god so different rules and all that.
"He needs to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth decided."Drew, would you-"
"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's. "This way, sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's... an interesting guy."
"He's a great guy!" retorted Kassandra.
She flashed Piper a smug look and led Jason toward the big house.The crowd began to disperse, until only Annabeth, Piper and Kassandra were left.
"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Jason in some kind of trouble?"
Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper. Come on, I'll give you a tour. We need to talk." She turned her gaze to the ex huntress. "Come with?"
She didn't have anything on today that was more important than this.
"Oh why not."
It was clear Annabeth was half-hearted, talking about everything the camp had to offer with no enthusiasm. As they climbed a hill at the edge of camp after doing the rounds, they could see the whole camp. 21 cabins, all unique and designed with a classical yet modernised style.
"The valley is protected from mortal eyes," Annabeth said."As you can see, the weather is controlled, too. Each cabin represents a Greek god—a place for that god's children to live."
"You're saying mom was a goddess."
Annabeth nodded.
"And you're from a goddess?"
"Yeah. You know, you're taking this awfully calmly,"
Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So who's my mom?"
"We should know soon," Annabeth said. "You're what —fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal."
"The deal?"
"They made a promise last summer... well, long story... but they promised not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen.Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. Should happen for you soon.Tonight at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."
"Why thirteen?"
"The older you get," Annabeth said, "the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. 'Round thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into the schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."
"Like Coach Hedge?"
Annabeth nodded. "He's- he was a satyr: half man, half goat. Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."
"What happened to him?" she asked. "When we went up into the clouds, did he ... is he gone for good?"
"Hard to say." Annabeth's expression was pained. "Storm spirits... difficult to battle. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, will pass right through them unless you can catch them by surprise."
According to her uncle, imperial gold was stronger than celestial bronze. It could cut through monsters easier but came at the price of being rarer.
"Jason's sword just turned them to dust," Piper remembered.
"He was lucky, then. If you hit a monster just right, you can dissolve them, send their essence back to Tartarus."
She doubted it was just blind luck. He looked to be a skilled swordsman.
"Tartarus?"
"A huge abyss in the Underworld, where the worst monsters come from. Kind of like a bottomless pit of evil.Anyway, once monsters dissolve, it usually takes months, even years before they can re-form again. But since this storm spirit Dylan got away—well, I don't know why he'd keep Hedge alive.Hedge was a protector, though. He knew the risks. Satyrs don't have mortal souls. He'll be reincarnated as a tree or a flower or something."
Something on Piper's face showed she was afraid. What she was afraid of though was less obvious.
"It'll be okay," Annabeth promised. "You have friends here. We've all been through a lot of weird stuff. We know what you're going through."
"I've been kicked out of five different schools the past five years," she said. "My dad's running out of places to put me."
"Only five? Piper, we've all been labelled troublemakers. I ran away from home when I was seven."
"Seriously?"
"Oh, yeah. Most of us are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or dyslexia, or both-"
"Leo's ADHD," Piper said."Right. It's because we're hardwired for battle. Restless,impulsive—we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Percy-"
Her face darkened. "Anyway,demigods get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?"
"I steal stuff," she said. "Well, not really steal..."
"Is your family poor?"
Piper laughed bitterly. "Not even. I did it ... I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble."
"I.. I couldn't really relate. But you said you didn't really steal? What do you mean?" asked Kassandra
"Well ... nobody ever believes me. The police, teachers —even the people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed,they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things. And they give me stuff.Even a BMW convertible. I just asked. And the dealer said,'Sure. Take it.' Later, he realised what he'd done, I guess. Then the police came after me."
"Well that's interesting. If it were your father who was the god I'd say you were a daughter of Uncle Hermes. But since that isn't the case, there are a few other options. Any come to mind, Annabeth?"
Annabeth shook her head, apparently mystified. Wasn't that just rare. "I don't know. With luck, your mom will claim you tonight. Come on, there's one last thing I need to do."
"I think I'll turn back," said Kassandra, "You guys, just be back for campfire."
"Alright, see you," responded Annabeth, turning around.
"Uhh, yeah, see you Kassandra. Thanks for saving me by the way," and the Cherokee girl followed after the daughter of wisdom.
As the two disappeared into the forest, she turned and began to make her way back to camp. It was slowly getting darker with the winter weather.
"Hey! Hey, Kassandra!" a voice from the trees called out.
That sounded a little like...
"I've been trying to find you since yesterday, have you been avoiding me?"
It was Aspen, trudging up the hill and through the forest. She was wearing a flowing white dress that complimented her marble white skin, compliments from the tree she was birthed from. Her hair was in beautiful messy waves.
"Oh, I'd... I'd never. I've just had a lot to do, that's it."
She stood just a step away from the goddess, staring her in the eyes. There was a significant height difference between them that she hadn't noticed before. Had she grown overnight?
With her hands on her hips and a pout as powerful as Medusa's stare, Kassandra desperately looked around for some way to get out. Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye, a pink mist. From that pink mist came a person, barely dressed and almost translucent. It was the goddess of love herself.
The daughter of Bellona didn't look directly at her though, with Aspen bringing the attention back to her.
"You know it's rude to do something like that to a girl and not follow up right?"
Aphrodite slithered over to behind the tree nymph, leaning on her shoulder.
"I must admit it was a little sudden, but I've seen you looking at me for the last month."
Hades, she needed to learn to be less obvious. Meanwhile, Aphrodite pointed at herself and grinned. That random urge to kiss her crush; that was her! She was so unbelievably mad.
"Well, I uhh, I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry if I was too forward, is there any way I could make it up? To say sorry?"
The Lady of Lust winked at her. Gods she was so annoying. She wondered how much of this her father had to put up with.
Aspens dainty fingers travelled up her chest like a pair of legs. Her dress flowed freely in the wind.
"I can think of a few things," she teased in a gentle voice. Kassandra shivered at the thought.
"Like?"
"Like maybe a little time together first."
"A date?"
"Are you asking me on one?"
This girl. It was a good thing the ex huntress had a thing for her or else they'd probably hate each other.
"Yes. Aspen, will you go on a date with me?"
The nymph giggled, and Aphrodite vanished like she'd never been there.
"Of course."
"Well then, I expect you to come to me next time," she said with a wink, skipping away.
Kassandra's knees wobbled a little.
Giggling like she had just won the lottery, which in her mind she had, she skipped through camp, earning funny looks from everyone she came across. But that didn't matter because she had a date with her crush!
Then the worry hit her. What was she going to wear? What if she did something wrong and embarrassed herself? What if she couldn't go and disappointed her? What if...
"Kass, come help us," someone shouted over to her.
"Yeah, what do you... Why is Piper unconscious?"
Much to her confusion, Annabeth and Rachel were carrying an unconscious Piper together.
"Just take her for us, won't you?"
She sighed and trotted over, taking the girl from them and slinging her over her shoulder. She was snoring.
"Are you kidnapping her or-"
"We'll explain in a minute. Just bring her to Chiron with us."
Good enough for her. Luckily either Piper was really light or she was stronger than she had last checked, so they got to the Big House quickly.
They burst through the door and were greeted by Chiron and Jason, the two caught up in conversation.
"What happened?" Jason rushed over. "What's wrong withher?"
"Hera's cabin," Annabeth gasped, as if she were the one carrying the girl. "Vision. Bad."
Rachel looked up, her eyes red from crying."I think..." She gulped. "I think I may havekilled her."
Kassandra set down Piper on the couch whilst Annabeth rushed off to grab a med kit. From the scraps of information she had, her father would've just touched her with his palm and whatever was wrong would've miraculously healed, but unfortunately she wasn't her father.
Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"
"I wish I knew," she said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then- I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."
"A prophecy?" Kassandra asked, playing with Pipers hair. (Remember that despite being a god she's still 7 months old).
"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."
Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper.
"Chiron, what happened back there- I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her-"
"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.
Annabeth stared at him. "How did you know that?"
Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart, a ward against evil.
"Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."
Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained something about a room froze and a dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron. In all honesty, she was too entranced with Piper's hair to listen.
When he was done, no one spoke.
"So does this happen often?" he asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"
"Your patron," Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"
"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."
Annabeth frowned. "I've never heard anything like that before. Maybe it's similar to when I got blessed by... never mind. You said the storm spirit on the sky walk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"
"I don't think so," Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice-"
Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it'snot that."
The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist,checking her pulse.At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat has ended. But..."
"But what?" Annabeth asked.
Chiron closed the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."
"Or now," Jason said. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"
"Oh," Rachel said in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."
"Hera?" Annabeth's snarl was even fiercer than the head on the wall. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"
From what Kassandra understood, Hera and Annabeth had been on bad terms since forever. She didn't know how it started, but it was kind of funny. She had different opinions about the queen of the heavens though. Despite never meeting, she assumed she wasn't too bad because she personally blessed the marriage of her parents.
"I think Rachel's right," Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this- this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"
"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."
Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."
"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"
"Well for all I know it could have been MY DAD!" snapped Kassandra.
Annabeth crossed her arms. "Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera-"
"Annabeth," Chiron warned, "she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods'family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help-"
"Fine," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago.And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan... ?"
"Hera said she'd been trying to breakthrough her prison bonds for a month."
"Which is how long Olympus has been closed," Annabeth said. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."
Well she had seen Hermes since then, but decided to keep quiet about that.
"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods- let them know where she is so they bust her out?"
"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth," Kassandra said. "Make slaves of them. Their fates are always intertwined with demigods."
"Yes," Annabeth said, understanding what she was getting at, "but Jason's got a point. Why him? Why take his memory?"
"And Piper's involved somehow," Rachel said. "Hera sent her the same message- Free me. And, Annabeth, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearing."
Annabeth fixed her eyes on Chiron.
"Why are you so quiet,Chiron? What is it we're facing?"
The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines around his eyes were deeply etched.
"My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."
Annabeth blinked. "You've never... you've never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy-"
"I will be in my office." His voice was heavy. "I need sometime to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And Annabeth,you should speak with Jason. Tell him about- about the Greek and Roman gods."
"But..."
The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. She muttered something in Greek. Kassandra stood up and clapped her on the shoulder.
"Not nice being in the dark is it? To have information at your fingertips stripped away when it concerns a loved one. It's crushing and frustrating"
Annabeth turned around and stared at her, almost looking into her soul. There were a range of emotions in that girls face from anger to empathy. They didn't speak, but mentally conveyed an entire conversation
"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I think my being here- I don't know. I've messed things up by coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."
"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods..."
Her voice trailed off. Apparently she'd just noticed Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. In all fairness, so had Kassandra though. She touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.
"Is this gold?" she said. "Do you remember where you got it?"
"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."
Imperial gold. Her dad had a sword made of the stuff, and she had faint memories of him letting her play with it. She hadn't picked up one since arriving at camp though, relying on her dagger when her bow wasn't an option.
Annabeth nodded, like she'd just come up with a rather desperate plan. "If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means..., Cabin Fifteen. Rachel and Kassandra, you two keep an eye on Piper?"
"Whatever you say," said Rachel.
The three girls sat on the couch together. Kassandra was still playing with Piper's hair, Piper was still unconscious with some sort of knife sheath in her hand and Rachel seemed to be attempting to nap.
"Did... did you know my father?" asked Kassandra out of the blue. Rachel's eyes snapped open as if she were some reawakened zombie.
"Sort of. I met him when we travelled through the Labyrinth and at the Battle of Manhattan."
"Do you know what happened to him? After the battle of course."
"I think you know what my response is going to be."
The daughter of Bellona threw her head back and promptly fell onto the floor. She rubbed her back, then got back onto the couch.
"Everyone I've asked has either said they don't know or that it's not their place to say. From what I've gathered, Percy, Annabeth and Chiron know exactly where he is and just aren't telling me. And now apparently you do too."
Rachel shuffled awkwardly in her spot.
"It's not that no one wants you to know the truth. It's probably for the best."
"Would both my parents abandoning me be for the best? I don't think so."
Dare sighed. She knew all about being abandoned by parents.
"How about we meet in the middle. You ask me whatever you want besides after the battle and I'll do my best to respond."
"Really?"
"Really."
She scratched her chin. What exactly did she want to know about her dad...
"What was he like when he was a demi-god?"
"He was different. Not in a bad way, but he ran on a different level than anyone else when we were in that Labyrinth. I guess being a few thousand years old does that to a person."
"How about on the battle field?"
"He was a force of nature. He accessed a higher state of godhood at one point in the battle and fought Kronos himself one on one, winning too. It was a little weird sometimes though. I watched him reattach his arm when a helicopter fell on him at one point."
Kassandra stared at Rachel blankly and looked down at her own arms. Did she have that level of regeneration/healing?
"Did he ever speak of me or... me or my mother?"
The prophecy reader shook her head.
"Well, he mentioned he was married once, which got a good shock out of Annabeth. But no, he kept you a secret up until your arrival. I'm sure he had a greater reason though."
Yeah he did. If anyone at camp found out her mother was a strictly Roman goddess with no Greek form, who knows how they'd react.
They were interrupted from their questions when Piper reminded them of her presence by coughing and spluttering.
"Huh, we should probably get her to the healing bay."
"Yeah, I'll go call Argus."
The muscular head of security arrived swiftly and took Piper to the camp office where there was a bed for her to properly rest on. Though she woke up pretty much as she was set down on it.
"Where..." her voice faltered when she caught sight of Argus.
"Aww, don't worry about him. This is Argus, our head of security. He's really just a big softie."
He nodded, the eyes on his chin winking.
"Where..." Piper tried again, but failed again.
You're in the Big House," Rachel said. "Camp offices. We brought you here when you collapsed."
"You grabbed me," Piper remembered. "Hera's voice-"
"I'm so sorry about that," Rachel said. "Believe me, it was not my idea to get possessed. Chiron healed you with some nectar-"
"Nectar?"
"The drink of the gods. In small amounts, it heals demigods, if it doesn't—ah—burn you to ashes."
"Oh. Fun."
Eyeing up the emergency pouch on the table next to Piper, Kassandra leaned over and snatched it, greedily drinking its contents. She couldn't get nectar from the magic cups in the mess hall, so she took it whenever she could.
It wasn't necessary for her survival to drink the stuff, but it was good. Kind of similar to how a child craves candy and chocolate.
Rachel sat forward. "Do you remember your vision?"
"Something's wrong with the goddess," Piper said. "She told me to free her, like she's trapped. She mentioned the earth swallowing us, and a fiery one, and something about the solstice."
In the corner, Argus made a rumbling sound in his chest.His eyes all fluttered at once.
"Hera created Argus," Rachel explained. "He's actually very sensitive when it comes to her safety. We're trying to keep him from crying, because last time that happened... well, it caused quite a flood."
Argus sniffled. He grabbed a fistful of Kleenex from the bedside table and started dabbing eyes all over his body. The ex huntress moved over to help him.
"So... what's happened to Hera?"
"We're not sure," Rachel said. "Annabeth and Jason were here for you, by the way. Jason didn't want to leave you, but Annabeth had an idea—something that might restore his memories."
"That's... that's great." Aww, now she looked like she was about to cry too. Kassandra took a packet of tissues and offered it to the new girl, who smiled and accepted.
"Don't worry." Rachel squeezed her arm. "Jason seems like a good guy. He had a vision too, a lot like yours. Whatever's happening with Hera- I think you two are meant to work together."
"Hey," Rachel said. "No need to cry. You'll figure it out."
Piper wiped her eyes with the tissues. "How can you know what I'm facing?"
Rachel shrugged. "I know it's a hard choice, and your options aren't great. Like I said, I get hunches sometimes.But you're going to be claimed at the campfire. I'm almost sure. When you know who your godly parent is, things might be clearer."
Piper sat up. "I hope it's Athena."
"Piper, I don't blame you. Truthfully? I think Annabeth is hoping that too. You guys are a lot alike."
Kassandra had other thoughts.
"Another hunch? You don't know anything about me."
"You'd be surprised."
"You're just saying that because you're an oracle, aren't you? You're supposed to sound all mysterious."
"When you know her you wish she was more mysterious," grumbled Kassandra.
Rachel laughed. "I am a very cool person Kass. And don't be giving away my secrets, Piper. Don't worry, things will work out, just maybe not the way you plan."
"That's not making me feel better."
Somewhere in the distance, a conch horn blew. Argus grumbled and opened the door.
"Dinner!" Kassandra's eyes sparkled.
"Dinner?" Piper asked.
"You slept through it," Rachel said.
"We did?!"
"Time for the campfire. Let's go find out who you are."