Bloody Lover | Piper McLean

CHAPTER 8 : Another Memory & Lesson on the Roman Gods

EARLANA

Earlana and Jason, assisted by the redheaded girl, Rachel, laid Piper on the couch while Annabeth ran to get a first aid kit. Piper was breathing, but remained unconscious. She appeared to be in some kind of coma.

"We need to get her better," Jason said. "There's got to be a way !"

Seeing her so pale and barely breathing, Earlana felt lost, and guilty, as if she should have been there to protect her. She may not have truly known her, she wasn't really her best friend, the fact remained that they had survived the Grand Canyon together. They had made it all the way there together. All she had to do was leave her for a few moments.... and that was it.

Chiron put his hand on Piper's forehead, and winced.

"Her mind is weakened. Rachel, what happened ?"

"If only I knew ! As soon as I set foot in the colony, I had a hunch that was about Hera's cabin. I went there. Annabeth and Piper walked in a few moments later. We chatted for a bit, then I had a momentary lapse. Annabeth said I was talking in a different voice."

"A prophecy ?" asked Chiron.

"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within ; it's a feeling I know well. There, it was like a call from a distance, as if a power was trying to speak through me."

Annabeth came running back, leather bag in hand, and knelt at Piper's bedside.

"Chiron," she said, "what happened back there... I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's voice of prophecy before. This was different. She spoke in a mature woman's voice. She grabbed Piper by the shoulders and said..."

"...to free her from a prison ?" whispered Earlana, as Jason said the same thing a little louder.

"How do you know that ?" asked Annabeth, who stared at the two in amazement.

Chiron held three fingers to his heart, as if to chase away the evil eye.

"Jason," he says, "tell them. Annabeth, the kit please."

Chiron poured a potion between Piper's lips with a dropper, while Jason recounted their encounter with the dark mist woman who had introduced herself as his protector.

When he finished, no one made any comment, which made the Latina even more worried.

"Does this happen to you often," she asked to break the silence with a mischievous voice, "supernatural phone calls from prisoners who order you to deliver them?"

"Your protector," Annabeth repeated. "Not your divine parent?"

"No. She did say 'protector'. And also that my father had given her my life as a gift."

"That's the first time I've ever heard anything like that," Annabeth declared, her eyebrows furrowed. "You said the storm spirit on the bridge claimed a mistress who gave her orders, didn't you? Could it be the woman you saw, playing with your nerves ?"

"I don't think so," the blond man nodded. "If she was my enemy, why would she ask me to help her ? She is a prisoner. She's afraid of an enemy that threatens to become more powerful. She spoke of a king rising from the earth at the solstice..."

Annabeth turned to Chiron.

"Not Kronos ! Tell me it's not that."

The centaur looked distressed. He held Piper's wrist to check her pulse. After a few seconds of silence, he finally replied :

"It's not Kronos. That danger no longer exists. But..."

"But what ?" asked Annabeth.

"Piper needs to rest," said Chiron as he closed the first aid kit. "We'll talk about this later."