THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

SIX

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]

J A S O N

chapter six: breaking news! resident olympian goddess, queen hera, has been arrested, and is requesting bail
__________________________________________

JASON AND the redhead girl, who introduced herself as rachel, carefully set the unconscious piper on the sofa.

her deadweight made her sink lower into the soft cushions, but her breathing was noticeably steady. chandler didn't waste a single second before she disappeared from the room, though the echo of her quick foot steps in her leather boots was distinguishable. she went, most-likely to find some type of medical kit.

annabeth brushed piper's chocolate colored hair was from her neck, checking the underside of her jaw for a pulse. she was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. she seemed to be in some kind of coma.

"we've got to heal her," jason insisted to annabeth, lifting his arm to nervously brush some of his blonde hair from his face stressfully. "there's way, right?" seeing her so pale, barely breathing, he felt a familiar surge of protectiveness. maybe he didn't really know her, but jason had the underlying need to protect piper. she was his friend, regardless of the things they'd been through, or the fact that she most likely thought that jason was still her boyfriend, which was way past awkward.

one thing jason was able to recall about his past was that he protected his friends, and he would protect piper. chiron put his hand on her forehead gently, then tried to hold in a wince, though each person in the room was able to identify it. "her mind is in a fragile state. rachel, what happened to her?"

"i wish i knew," rachel stammered, brushing her red curls from her face in a way that displayed the inner stress she wasn't showing to everyone else, not that jason was surprised. being an oracle must have been a pretty stressful business. "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 her curiously, prepared for the worst possible information since piper had maybe feinted out of fear of the new looming prophecy.

"no," rachel said, her answer immediately shooting chiron's idea down, "the spirit of delphi comes from within. i know how that feels. this was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."

chandler ran in with a leather pouch, practically ripping it open as she knelt next to piper. annabeth stood next to her best friend as she said shakily, "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?" chandler and jason guessed in perfect unison, then stared at each other curiously.

annabeth stared back, and forth between them, no doubt picking up jason's awfully soft smile toward her, and the mildly amused look she returned. now, the blonde knew her best friend was no stranger to other's affections. it was just in her nature. but never had seen chandler actually show interest in another person. the girl dated plenty, but for fun. "how did you know that?" the athenian asked them, her gray eyes studied them.