The Forgotten Hero (Book 1)

Chapter 20

All signs of fighting were gone. The snow was melted. The hunters were thawed, the monsters were all gone. I turned around, seeing Jason lying on the ground, unconscious.

I rushed forward, kneeling next to him. "C'mon, wake up." I whispered.

I checked him for a pulse, there was nothing.

My hands shook as I stared at his face. I could hear arguing behind me, but I ignored it. "No. C'mon. Just wake up." My voice sounded broken, and I could barely see because of the tears falling from my face.

Piper sat down next to me. "C'mon, Jase. Wake up." She tried to use her best charmspeak. It would have made anyone wake up, but still, Jason remained unconscious.

"You can't charmspeak someone back to life, my dear." Hera muttered next to us.

I wiped away my tears, placing a gentle hand on his chest. I felt a tug on my back and I closed my eyes. I didn't have the manica, but my father had also said that strong children of Poseidon could have the power.

I opened my eyes and felt a surge of power through me and I gently moved some of it from my body to Jason's. His reddish glow was not as bright as it had been a couple days ago, but it was still there.

I closed my eyes again, and imagined his heart, currently motionless, I just needed to start the blood flow. Then he would be okay. With the manica I had only tried to stop blood flow. It was an evil force, that shouldn't exist, but as I sat there, I had a feeling hemokinesis was only as bad as the person using it.

I felt a rush of blood go through Jason's heart, then more as I let my power escape, and he sat up, taking a deep breath.

My eyes opened and I saw Hera staring at me, both in disbelief and with a look of pride on her face.

I wrapped my arms tightly around Jason. "Don't ever do that again." I whispered as I buried my face in his neck.

"What was that?" He asked.

Thalia muttered behind me. "Her majesty, the Loose Cannon."

"Thalia Grace, I will turn you into an aardvark." Hera growled.

Piper frowned. "Both of you, stop it." Surprisingly, they kept their mouths shut.

"Now, your majesty, we wouldbt have been able to save you without Thalia's help. And Thalia, you wouldn't have seen Jason again, had it not been for Hera. So be nice."

They both grumbled a little, but weren't fighting anymore. "You've got spunk." Thalia muttered. "We could use someone like you with the hunters." She handed Piper a silvery business card.

"Thankfully for this hunter, you have a good point. " He nodded. "At first I wasn't sure why we needed you on this quest, I just knew you were vital. Now I see how powerful you truly are. And you are right about the dangers to come. We must work together."

"I don't suppose that Porphyrion guy just disappeared, did he?"

"No." Her agreed. "By saving me you helped buy us some time. But Porphyrion has risen. Giants can only be defeated by a god and demigods. When you freed me--"

"He ran away." Jason guessed. "But to where?"

"You need to go talk to Annabeth." Thalia urged.

"Thalia." Jason murmured.

"I know, I've lost you here before, and I don't want to leave you anytime soon. We'll rendezvous at Camp. Hera can you get them there? It's the least you can do."

"It's not your place--"

"Your Majesty." Piper warned.

"Fine, yes. But off with you, hunter." She snipped.

"Jason, what happened to you here?" Piper asked. "I mean, you know your mom left you here but you said it was a sacred ground for demigods. Why? What happened once you were alone?"

"It's still murky." He murmured. He looked exhausted. I'm sure we all did. "The wolves--"

"You were given a destiny. You were given to me." Hera nodded.

"Because you forced my mom. You couldn't stand that she had two children with your husband. It was the only way that you would leave the rest of my family alone." He snarled.

"It was the right choice." She remained calm. "It had never happened before. A Greek and Roman demigod born to the same family. We had to separate you. So We put you here, where all demigods of your kind start."

"Of his kind?" Leo muttered.

"She means Roman." He stated. "Demigods are left here to train with the same wolf that trained Romulus and Remus. Lupa."

"And if you're strong enough, you live." She added.

"But what after that? Do they make it to camp?" Leo asked.

"Not Camp Half-Blood, no."

"You went somewhere else, for Romans. But where?"

Jason scowled. "You're not going to tell me the name or where it is, are you?"

"It is part of your destiny to find that out. You will give us hope against the giants, and more importantly, Gaea." She smiled.

"You want us to help you, but you won't give us any information." Jason frowned.

"Giving you those answers would make them invalid." She shrugged. "You must forge your own path. But for today, you have done well. The next step awaits you at Camp Half-Blood."

"And you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we'll have to walk home."

"I did not destroy that spirit. They are creatures of chaos, but I suspect that one will be back. As for getting you back to camp, since you helped me, I can help you. Just this once." She raised her hand.

"Wait." I said. I could have all the answers right then. I could have known why she wanted Percy and me separated She was right in front of me, but she pretended not to hear, and I blacked out as the world flipped upside down.

When the world became visible again I saw that we were in the dining pavilion of the camp.

Piper had landed on the Aphrodite table, Next to Leo and Jason. Leo had quickly leapt off the table and threw up in the nearest trash can shaped object.

I had landed on an empty table and I grumbled as I stepped down, hoisting my large skirts up. I was exhausted, felt like I had died several times, and was especially angry at a certain queen of the gods.

"Jason? What?" Chiron's mouth was slightly open. For someone who had trained a lot of heroes, he seemed surprised by what had happened.

"We're back." Piper shrugged.

I marched over to Chiron. "You've been to Olympus, right? I have some questions for the queen of the gods. How do we get in."

Chiron was still baffled by our entrance. "Get some rest. We'll speak in the morning."