Forgotten prophecy

Chapter 31

When the group of demigods materialized at Camp Jupiter, appearing out of the shadow of a bannister, they immediately noticed their missing companion. Percy and Annabeth, who had been holding hands with Ryker, looked to each other in confusion and released their now joined hands. A piece of paper which had been placed in between their hands fell to the ground and Annabeth quickly scooped it up off the ground. Percy saw her eyebrows shoot up and immediately went to read it as well when Annabeth handed it to him. I.O.U one demigod. Hope all is well. –Hunters of Artemis

Percy handed the note to Nico and they each took turns reading the note, all of their eyes filling with surprise with the exception of Will who scowled before returning his attention to Silena. "They better take that shard out of his chest." He grumbled, clearly unhappy to have his patient taken from him with no warning. "Otherwise it could work through his ribs and puncture a lung."

"Why would the Hunters take him?" Hazel wondered, handing the note back to Annabeth.

"Artemis did claim his life as her own." Piper mused, "But I'm sure we will find out soon enough."

"You're back!" A very familiar Praetor's voice called, relief in every letter. Frank ran over to them, literally sprinted to Percy's amusement, and wrapped Hazel in an embrace. He then stepped back and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just really good to see you. Things have been... crazy. By the way, who's that?" Frank asked, staring down at Silena.

"A very old friend." Percy told him, glancing around pointedly. His message was clear: not here. Their arrival had begun to draw attention of the Romans and they had already accumulated a small crowd. "Who needs medical attention. Private medical attention." He looked meaningfully at Frank and the Praetor immediately understood.

"Alright everyone, clear out." Frank commanded, authority ringing in his words. "They just got back, plenty of time to gawk at them later. Make way."

Will assisted Silena in getting to her feet, her arm around his shoulders as he assisted her in walking. Nico placed her other arm over his shoulders and together they half-carried, half-dragged Silena out of the public's eyes and into the medical tent. Percy followed them inside, closing the tent flap after everyone had filed in. "So who is this?" Frank asked again, crossing his arms.

"Where is Jason at?" Annabeth questioned back. "Everyone should be here for this. Reyna too."

Frank's face became drawn and tense. "Jason is at Camp Half-Blood. Reyna... Reyna disappeared two nights ago."

"Two nights?" Percy echoed, shocked. He then frowned and considered something. "We've only been gone two nights..."

"You've been gone for a week." Frank said slowly, one eyebrow raising.

The demigods exchanged bewildered glances. "But... no we haven't." Piper insisted.

Frank pulled out a cellphone and handed it to her. Percy did not even have to see the phone to read Piper's reaction perfectly. "How?" Hazel asked simply.

"The chamber." Nico said, gnawing his lip and glaring at the ground. "The chamber must have had some sort of spell on it that influenced the rate at which time passes in there versus the outside world. It explains why Ryker looked so beat up when we got to him. The chamber must have been able to both increase and decrease time passage."

"So Ryker could have been fighting those dragons for who knows how long before we got there?" Percy asked, slight awe in his voice.

"Dragons?" Frank demanded. "What dragons? I thought that you were fighting one dragon. And speaking of Ryker, where is he?"

Annabeth handed Frank the note rather than explaining Ryker's disappearance. "Python was guarded by a chamber filled with dragons. There was a set of doors that led to them and they locked when he went through. Long story short we got to him and kicked dragon butt. Then we got to Python and-." While Annabeth continued to recount to Frank the tale of how they fought and defeated Python Percy turned his attention back to Silena.