antiscians [leo valdez]

»III. going missing means punching

"go away, i'm training my mind for the battle," harley yelled, his back to me.

"you're playing video games," i responded curtly, crossing my arms and leaning against his doorframe.

"exactly. training. now go away, you're distracting me," he said, blowing three guys up in his game. i gave him a light smile before taking of his headset.

"damn, i thought you'd be happier to see me," i said, laughing.

"jocelyn?" he jumped around, not even bothering to pause it. he jumped into my arms, and i hugged him tightly. harley was like my little brother. when we pulled away, he was crying.

"i missed you so much!" he cried, digging his head into my shoulder, sniffling.

"i'll never be away that long again, i promise," i told him.

"pinky promise?" he sniffled. i smiled, holding out my pinky finger.

harley made me walk around with him on my shoulders for the rest of the day. i said my hellos to all my friends, which took a while. i received quite a few punches for going missing.

i was just about to join in on the apollo basketball game, where austin and kayla lake were calling me over, when i saw annabeth and piper.

annabeth was carrying an unconscious piper, and rachel was tunning behind them. i put harley down and told him i'd meet him at the pavilion. i raced into the big house, where i had seen them go into.

i burst into the room, where all eyes turned to me.

"is she okay?" i asked carefully. rachel looked like she was about to cry.

"i think..i may have killed her," i pulled her into a hug and promised her it wasn't her fault.

"we've got to heal her," jason insisted. "there's a way, right?" chiron put his hand on her head.

"she's going to be okay, jas. i promise," i told jason, giving him a confident nod.

"her mind is in a fragile state. rachel, what happened?" chiron questioned. i wondered the same. rachel sighed.

"i wish i knew, 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?" chiron asked.

"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." hera. i was so sick of playing gods games. annabeth ran into the room with a leather pouch.

"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-"