Book Cult (New and Improved)

Jason VIII

"Jason VIII," Artemis began.

Jason and the redhead, who introduced herself as Rachel, put Piper on couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up.

At least she's breathing. Aphrodite tightly gripped Ares' hand.

She seemed to be in some kind of coma.

If Hera put my child in a coma, I swear... "How long does it take for a person to wake from a coma?" Aphrodite asked.

Athena shrugged.

"Sometimes days, months, or years. Some unfortunate people never wake up."

I swear her husband's cheating will be the last thing for her to worry about. Aphrodite impatiently tapped her foot.

Meanwhile, Connor, Travis, and Leo were playing three-way rock-paper-scissors.

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

There better be. Aphrodite thought.

"You can't do that!" Leo protested when the two boys pointed finger guns at his rock.

"Sure we can." Travis smiled.

"You said 'shoot', that obviously means there is a gun included in the game." Connor, with a matching mischievous smile, added.

"What? There are no guns in rock-paper-scissors. It would be called rock-paper-scissors-gun if there was."

"But you said 'shoot'."

"That means draw one of the three choices."

"Then why didn't you say 'draw'?"

"Because-"

"Silence!" Zeus shouted at them, tried of their bickering.

The suddenly quiet boys exchanged looks before turning their attention back to the book.

Seeing her so pale, barely breathing,

Aphrodite's grip on Ares' hand tightened.

Jason felt a surge of protectiveness.

Maybe he didn't really know her. Maybe she wasn't his girlfriend...He'd left her side for a little while, and this happened.

Aphrodite gave a strained smile at that. 

...."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.

Leo searched in his tool belt for things to do.

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

A few people laughed at this.

"No," Percy said with a small smile. "We usually have to deal with supernatural phone calls demanding us to stop convicts from breaking out of jail."

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

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