Death's Reason

Chapter 22

AN: AN: Omg I finished the Tower of Nero and no spoilers but I think we can all agree that we need fanart of Nico fighting with a black eye and a cowboy hat

And I've been playing around with an idea for another fanfiction and wanted opinions, so pls comment! Who do you think is more Achilles and who do you think is more Patroclus when it comes to solangelo?

And omg do I recommend the song Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths like u will cry in mythology

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Annabeth- )

.

.

.

Annabeth ran to grab a medkit while Rachel and Jason laid Piper on the couch. Hearing what came through Rachel, something that wasn't the Oracle, seeing Piper's physical reaction to it... If she had woken up right away, it'd been okay. But she wasn't waking up and she looked like she was dying. Even the son of Hades looked worried.

And if he knew what was supposed to happen, why did he look like that?

"Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it," Annabeth stressed. "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, like a ward against evil. Annabeth had seen him do it before and it dreadfully made her remember the war with Kronos.

"Jason, tell them," Chiron said. "Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."

Annabeth listened to Jason's story while Chiron dripped nectar into Piper's mouth. The woman who needed to be freed, Jason being hers. Something nagged at her brain.

"So does this happen often?" Jason 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."

Nico snorted. "Sounds like shit the gods would do."

Annabeth stared at him for a minute, tried to figure out what he was thinking, but he hid everything about the future as he usually did.

She turned back to Jason. "I've never heard anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—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—"

"Piper needs rest," Chiron said. "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?"

"The Titans weren't that bad," Nico mumbled to himself. Annabeth seemed to be the only one to hear.

"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."