HORIZON ⸺ jason grace

iii. the oracle narrowly avoids criminal charges

AS IT TURNED OUT, Rachel did not end up killing Piper, but the girl did seem to be in some sort of coma.

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

Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. 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— just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Violet 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, the medicine bag, please."

Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained again what had happened when the room froze — the dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron.

When he was done, no one spoke.

"So does this happen often?" he seemed nervous. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron," Annabeth repeated. "Not your godly parent?"

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

"Always nice," Violet commented.

Annabeth frowned. "I've never heard of 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—"

Violet spun to face Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that."

The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.

At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But..."

"But what?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron closed the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."

"Or now," Violet demanded.

"Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told Violet and I that the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter," Jason said. "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's snarl was even fiercer than
Seymour's. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "Of course it's Hera. Why am I not surprised?"

"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?"