Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝕐et another prophecy

Nicki smiled, almost proud of Jason. Apparently, the rest of the camp wasn't so sure. Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" she said. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three... their pact not to have mortal kids... how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer and Nicki frowned before trying to play it off.

"Maybe he's just good at slipping under the radar I mean you were just with Sparky and Luke before camp."

The girl sent her blonde friend a look that clearly said 'drop it.'

"The important thing," Rachel intervened, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfil, which means he will need his own prophecy."

She closed her eyes and swooned.

Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheatre and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool.

They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth.

Without the fire, the night was dark, but a green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet.

When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient — the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning and Mover of Mist,
Beware the earth.
With the son of balance, who shall assist,
The giants' revenge the nine shall birth.
The forge and dove shall break the cage.
And death unleashed through Hera's rage."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed but her helpers were waiting to catch her. Rachel's helpers carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked. Then she realized she'd spoken into the silence, and everyone was looking at her. "I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy; Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just—"

"Not everyone can be a genius like you, Drew," Nicki snapped back.

Sure she didn't have a particular reason to care for Piper, but she had more than enough reason to dislike Drew.

"Piper asked a fair question," Annabeth quickly spoke worried something bad would happen. "Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death... why would we free her? It might be a trap, or—or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

"Least of all to children of the Big Three," Nicki added, receiving nods from the campers. "Especially not children who are her husband's."

Jason rose. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

Nyssa, one of Hephaestus' daughters, stood up.

"Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son —our dad— down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled.

Nicki coughed subtly, raising herself to her feet and staring at the Aphrodite cabin, which was now falling silent. She was terrifying at that moment.

The daughter of Hephaestus shot Nicki an appreciative look.

"Anyway, we've also got to think  —why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"