Rising Heroes Book One: When Angels Met Gods

Chapter Six: Tiresias

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes of Olympus or Violet Eden

Chapter Six: Tiresias

Piper gasped and dropped the dagger, horrified by what she had seen. When she picked it up carefully, but the image was gone.

"Pipes?" Jason mumbled sleepily, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Piper said as she climbed back into bed. "Just dropped something on my way to the bathroom."

Jason mumbled something else, but was too sleepy to make any sense. Piper tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, the scene of the baby flashed before her eyes. Eventually she gave up and lay awake, watching as the night gave way to a bleak dawn.

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Violet stretched as she cracked open her eyes. The room was filled with a pale grey light from the rising sun, but it was light enough for her to see.

"Lincoln?" Violet swung her legs over the edge of the bed and shivered as her bare feet touched the cold floor. "Linc?"

She was about to call out again when the door swung open. Withing seconds, Violet had her dagger in her hand and was in a defensive stance.

"Whoa, relax! It's just me." Lincoln raised his hands in surrender as he handed Violet a coffee cup.

"Sorry," Violet said. "I'm just on edge, I guess."

"It's okay, we all are." Lincoln took a sip of his own coffee. "We have a long ride ahead."

Violet shuddered. "Don't remind me. Those pegasi still make me nervous."

Lincoln smiled. "Well, once we reach Tiresias, we might not have to ride anymore."

Violet took a sip of her coffee before kissing Lincoln on the cheek. "Thank you for the coffee. I shouldn't drink it, though.... it's not healthy for the baby."

Lincoln shrugged. "Actually, I've been talking to Griffin. He said that since we're both Grigori, our firstborn child will have an aura of death from all the exiles we've killed."

"So they'll be a Grigori," Violet realized. "Will they have to embrace? Will they have the same powers as us?"

Lincoln shrugged. "Yes and no. Yes, they'll have to embrace, but at fifteen instead of seventeen. They'll have a mixture of both our powers, which they'll get when they turn fifteen."

"What about our other children?" Violet asked.

Lincoln shook his head. "They won't be Grigori."

Violet was quiet for a moment. Then she whispered, "Linc, when the baby's born, and a couple years old... we should tell them. I'd hate for them to think we were lying to them, or god forbid, react the way I did."

"You mean sleep with an angel malign?" Lincoln asked, grinning. Violet rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," she said.

"Yes, I do." Lincoln sighed. "I guess we'll have to figure it out as we go along."

Violet squeezed his hand. "Okay. So I can drink coffee? Since the baby's a Grigori?"

Lincoln chuckled. "You can drink coffee."

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Half an hour later...

Piper climbed onto the pegasus behind Jason, carefully positioning herself so that she was comfortable. Today the group would be riding to Los Angeles, and from there they would find Tiresias.

"How far of a ride is it?" Violet asked as she climbed on behind Lincoln. They had let one of the pegasus fly back to Camp Half-Blood after he got too tired.

"Only a couple hours," Jason replied. He urged his pegasus on, and the two demigods and two Grigori took flight. After hours of hard riding, they finally touched down in Los Angeles.

"Good job, guys. You can fly to Camp Jupiter now," Jason said as he patted the pegasi, who nickered and flew away.

"You can speak horse too?" Violet asked, wide-eyed.

Jason laughed. "No. But the pegasi can understand humans."

"Oh," Violet looked disappointed for a moment, but soon snapped back to battle-ready. "I thought that Camp Jupiter was under attack?"

"They are," Piper said as she studied the building's entrance. "But the pegasi will find food and rest there, and will be able to help. We'll be fine on our own."

"I hope for our sake that you're right," Lincoln said.

Piper pursed her lips and inspected the door. "I think it's safe. I can't see any traps."

Suddenly the door swung open, revealing a dark corridor.

Violet raised her eyebrows. "That's not creepy."

Jason swung his sword in his grip as he entered the building, with Piper behind him. Lincoln and Violet followed next with their daggers drawn.

"Hello?" Piper asked as they walked in, slowly. "Tiresias?"

"Here, my dear," a voice said from the shadows.

Violet started before turning towards the voice. "Can you come where we can see you? We won't hurt you."

Tiresias shuffled forward, revealing a wizened old man clutching a cane. His white hair stuck up in every direction, and is eyes were a milky white.

Tiresias shuffled forward and gestured to the ground. "Put your weapons down."

Lincoln reluctantly threw his dagger onto the ground, and the rest of the group followed suit.

"Good." Tiresias sat down on a stool in the corner and gestured to four chairs before him. "Sit."

Piper sat down hesitantly, Jason beside her and then Violet and Lincoln.

"Why have you visited me?" Tiresias asked.

"We seek two things- the location of Dionysus' Immortality Stone and the interpretation of a prophecy uttered by the Oracle of Delphi." Jason said smoothly.

Tiresias nodded. "Yes. I see it now. Your lives have had much death, but there is still more to come."

"You saw our future?" Violet looked at him, intrigued. "What did you see?"

Tiresias was quiet for a moment. "I am impressed that you managed to find me, as I am well hidden. So I will answer one of your questions for free. But for the answer to the other... you must complete a task."

"Can we have a moment to talk?" Piper asked sweetly, putting charmspeak into her voice.

Tiresias nodded and shuffled towards the opposite side of the room.

"We need the answer to both," Jason said. "the prophecy speaks of death. We need to understand it to try and prevent this death. But we need to to know the location, too."

"Let's get the prophecy first, then do the task for the location," Violet said.

Lincoln nodded. "Agreed. The prophecy might have information about a death that happens during our task, so we should know as much as possible."

"Good idea," Piper said. Turning to Tiresias, she said, "we'd like to know the definition of the prophecy first, and we will do your task after."

Tiresias hobbled back over to them and sat down. "Very well." he cleared his throat.

"Two children will be born," he said, pointing at Piper's stomach and then at Violet's. "But a child will die. One child must die."