The Hidden Follower

11.

  "Hold it!" Annabeth 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?"

Damn, for Annabeth to be the 'smart one' in camp she sure as hell had a hard time understanding Chiron was trying to tell her what Jason was.

  "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. Hector and Ryan two Apollo campers both about 16 rushed forward and caught her. Giulia, another Apollo camper slightly younger than the boys ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, they been trained for this, soon after Rachel became the Oracle some Demeter kids found out it slightly burned when they touched Rachel during a prophecy and didn't when Apollo children did. 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 her eyes opened they turned into the normal greenish color that held the power of the prophecy.

  "Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants' revenge the seven 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.

  Delta had heard part of that prophecy before. Only 'the seven shall birth' and the 'death unleash' part but still, it was brought up to Delta a lot before, he wouldn't stop talking about it, he made a theory about it and turns out he was right. At least so far he was.

  "Is that normal?" Piper asked. "I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

  Delta heard the high-pitched voice before it even spoke.

  "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. "

  "Real ugly," snickered David, just another bitch from Aphrodite's cabin.

  "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 Delta noticed Annabeth and Chiron having a silent exchange and went into their heads.

  Annabeth: The giants' revenge ... no, it can't be.

  Chiron: Don't speak of it here. Don't scare them.

   Annabeth: You're kidding me! We can't be that unlucky.

  Chiron: Later, child. If you told them everything, they would be too terrified to proceed.

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. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions. "