The Blazing Fate

Chapter Four

Jason and Rachel set Piper down on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She was in a deep sleep and was very weak.

'We've got to heal her,' Jason insisted. 'There's a way, right?'

Astrid put her hand on Piper's forehead. 'Her mind is in a fragile state. We can't risk me waking her up with my powers. Rachel, what happened?'

'I wish I knew,' she said. 'As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice.'

'A prophecy?' Chiron asked.

'No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me.'

Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper. 'Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it. 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, a ward against evil.

'Jason, tell them. Annabeth, give Astrid the medicine bag, please.'

Astrid takes the medicine bag and trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained what had happened when the room froze for him – a dark misty woman had claimed to be Jason's patron.

When he was done, no one spoke.

'So, does this happen often?' he asked. 'Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?'

'Your patron,' Astrid said. 'Not your godly parent?'

'No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life.'

Astrid and Annabeth shared a frown.

'I've never heard anything like that,' Astrid said. 'The storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress giving him orders. 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—'

Annabeth turned to Chiron. 'Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that.'

Chiron looked miserable. 'It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But...'

'But what?' Annabeth asked.

Astrid snapped the medicine bag shut. 'Piper needs rest. 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?'

'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.'

'Hera?' Annabeth snarled. 'She took you over? She did this to Piper?'

'I think Rachel's right,' Jason said. 'The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?'

'It is?' Annabeth scowled. 'I've never heard that.'