~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

The Prophecy

{Piper}

Piper ran after Kiara until they reached the end of the amphitheater, but the dark haired girl was much faster than Piper was. She stopped eventually, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up to her. She would talk to Kiara the next day, when, hopefully, everyone had calmed down a bit. She returned to the center of the amphitheater, where everyone was gathered.

   "Well," Rachel was saying, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

   The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh... were you calling roll?"

   "Go back to sleep, Clovis!" someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.

   "Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

   "Or worse," Chiron murmured. Maybe he didn't mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, the same color as Piper's dream.

   "What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

   Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.

   Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention. She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.

   Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Piper tried to keep a calm expression, even when she noticed Drew in the back row, pantomiming a faint, and her friends giggling.

   Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House. The message Hera had delivered there was so similar that Piper got a chill. The only difference: Hera had warned Piper not to betray her: Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. Hera knew about the giant's threat. But if that was true, why hadn't she warned Jason, and exposed Piper as an enemy agent?

   "Jason," Rachel said. "Um... do you remember your last name?"

   He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.

   "We'll just call you Jason, then," Rachel said. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest." Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny.

   Everyone's eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, Piper thought she would've buckled in his position. Yet he looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

   "You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

   "That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."