Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.5 - So... Piper's Less Of A Tomboy Than I Thought...

       Hold it!" Annabeth said, raising her arms. "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?" Hmmm, maybe because the gods don't tell us anything.

       Chiron didn't say anything, but I had a feeling he knew. I mean, let's be honest, he always knows what's happening.

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

        She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her, and a third ran to the side of the amphitheater 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 green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke came from her mouth, and the voice of the Oracle came from her mouth.

       "Daughter of thunder, now returned,
Four will quest to find what's yearned,
Child of lightning, beware the earth,
The giants' revenge the eight shall birth,
The forge and dove shall break the cage,
And death unleash through Hera's rage."

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

        "Is that normal?" Piper spoke up. "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—" 

       "Drew," Annabeth snapped. "Piper asked a fair question. 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." 

       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 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." That was very true... my technical step-mom was not a nice person.

       "Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

      "Shut up!" Nyssa growled. "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?" 

      No one answered, but I noticed that Annabeth and Chiron were having a silent exchange, and I knew there was something else going on here. There always was.

        Annabeth took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. There are only two 'daughters of thunder', and Thalia isn't here, so that's obviously Elara. According to tradition, and the prophecy, he may choose any two companions." 

         Someone from the Hermes cabin yelled, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience." 

        "No, Travis," Annabeth said. "First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy." 

        I sighed. I wished I could go with her... try to find Percy... but I knew I had to stay on task.

        "It's connected," Piper blurted out. "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance—it's all connected."