Chapter 17 - The Diktaean Cave
published: Wednesday, 20 March 2019

The Argo II docked into the bay of the island of Crete with a small shudder as Leo lowered the anchor into the depths of the bay's waters.

"We're here!" Leo shouted. He scrambled away from the steering wheel to join the rest of his friends.

The drawbridge began to lower automatically, emitting a groan.

As Leo made a beeline for the land, Jason yanked him back. "Woah, woah, we haven't decided who's standing guard."

Everyone exchanged glances. No one wanted to stay behind.

"I have to go," Piper reminded them. "Charmspeak."

"I was guard last time," Frank pointed out.

Leo raised his hands. "Not it!"

All eyes turned to Hazel and Jason.

"I'm not staying!" they both protested in unison.

"One you has to stay behind," Piper insisted. "We'll rotate. Next time, the other person will stand guard."

Hazel and Jason had a brie starting contest before Hazel let out a reluctant huff. "Fine."

"Thank you," Jason said gratefully as he gave her a one-armed hug. He led the way down the drawbridge.

"You owe me, Sparky!" Hazel called as they left the ship.

The four demigods strolled around Crete, grabbing tourist maps and asking directions to the Diktaean Cave.

Leo had his eyes peeled for any warriors or dodgy-looking people. He didn't want another surprise ambush like the last time.

"It's probably a major tourist site," Jason reasoned. "If we just ask one of the locals..."

Piper approached a store vendor and they had a short conversation in Greek. She pointed to the road straight ahead. 

After a little less than an hour, the demigods has hiked up the right hill and reached the cave. The site was bustling with noisy tourists, rowdy children and loud tour guides.

"We'll have to wait till nightfall at this rate," Jason murmured.

Leo scanned the area. "I could try blocking off the place. But I doubt the tourists would listen to me."

And so they waited.

The four of them toured Crete as the sun slowly set along the horizon. Jason Iris-Messaged Hazel to check on her and to inform her about the delay.

After an agonising wait, the cave was finally closed for the night.

Piper charmspeaked the security guard to sleep as her friends hurried past him.

The demigods creeped into the cave, Leo holding out a flame for light, while the others drew their weapons.

Frank rolled a boulder to block the entrance, making sure that no one would disturb them.

The cavern was sparse, with granite hanging off the ceiling and jutting out from the floor.

"Gaia," Piper called. Her voice reverberated around the enclosed space. "Speak."

The sheer charmspeak in her voice compelled words out of the others, and the three boys promptly burst into nonsensical babbles.

"Not you," Piper hissed, and they fell silent again.

"She's probably blocked off," Frank guessed. "Or any random mortal could call her. There has to be something we're missing."

Leo and Jason scoured the cave, brushing against walls and feeling for hollow walls. 

"Nothing," Jason said with a frown.

"Wait!" came Leo's voice.

Piper carefully stepped down some rocks to where he was. She peered over his shoulder to see what he had found.

Carved into the centuries-old rock was the Greek symbol "Θ", so obscure that no one would find it unless they were looking for it.

"Theta," Leo read.

"Death," Frank realised.

Jason turned to him in surprise. "You read Greek?"

Frank shook his head. "It's short for Thanatos."

Piper recalled that Thanatos was the god of Death, whom Frank had freed, with Hazel and Percy's help, five years ago.

Leo let out a nervous laugh. "Fun nickname."

"Does it need a sacrifice to raise Gaia?" Piper asked fearfully. She wasn't prepared to let any of her friends die; she didn't care if they lost the war.

"Not a sacrifice," Jason said quietly. He stepped up beside Leo. Before Piper could say anything, he raised his sword and cut a light gash into his palm.

"What are you doing?" Piper demanded, scrambling closer to him.

Jason winced as he clenched his palm, letting a few drops of his blood smash onto the symbol, staining the rock a dark red.

The theta symbol suddenly glowed a bright yellow, the warm light engulfing the demigods. Piper brought up her arm to shield her eyes.

A low rumbling filled the cavern, sending some granite stalactites crashing down from the ceiling.

"Watch out!" Piper grabbed Frank, narrowly pulling him away from an avalanche of rocks.

Cracks started to grow along the cavern floor, creating holes and nearly knocking Leo off his feet.

"This was a bad idea!" Leo shouted as he jumped across the widening crack and staggered into Jason.

Piper watched in awe as a large gem of sorts emerged from the cavern centre, as if by a miracle. There was something about the growing gem that enticed her, sending her into a daze.

She stepped toward it.

All she wanted to do was touch it–

"Piper!" Frank yelled as he reached out an arm and pulled her back by the waist.

Piper blinked herself out of her daydream and let out a yelp, clutching onto Frank as she realised she had nearly stepped off the cavern and into the gaping hole.

The shaking gradually came to a stop one the gem had completely emerged from the cracks.

It was an amber colour, with an emerald crystal trapped inside. The entire gem was around six feet in total, nearly hitting the top of the cavern.

Leo was the first to speak. "Woah." 

Piper stared at the gem in wonder as she absently handed Jason a piece of ambrosia for his bleeding hand.

She left Frank's side and approached the gem warily, this time making sure she wouldn't fall off the edge.

It was like a thousand voices spoke in her head at once.

The soft, calming voice of her late father, calling out to her.

Piper, Piper!

In the hardened amber, Piper saw mirages swirling across the surface, memories, and glimpses of the future. Some made her smile; her father teaching her how to ride a bike for the first time, Jason and her kissing under the stars.

But some were depressing. The barren battlefields at Camp Jupiter, her father on his deathbed, her friends lying dead.

Piper stepped away from the amber. "There's something strange about this."

"It shows the past," Frank realised as he stared at it. Piper wondered if he saw his grandmother.

"And the future," Leo said quietly.

"Or what could be," Piper corrected. "It's messing with our heads. These visions might not even be true." She glanced at Jason, whose eyes were wide as his gaze flickered across the amber.

Jason blinked and stepped away from the amber. "It's some kind of barrier."

Piper nodded in agreement. "The gem inside will let me speak to Gaia."

Leo pulled out a chisel from his tool belt. "Well, we'd better get to work then."

He raised his chisel and smashed it down on the amber.

To Piper's astonishment, the chisel went straight though the amber like the gem was made of water, and Leo nearly toppled into it.

"Leo!" Piper lunged and grabbed him by the arm, desperately pulling him back towards her.

They stumbled back and crashed into the floor.

Leo jumped to his feet. "What in Hades was that?"

Jason never took his eyes off the amber. "Time."

After Piper struggled to her feet with Leo's help, she dusted herself off.

The chisel lay in the amber. But something strange was happening, the metal chisel began to darken into a rusty colour, then it slowly disintegrated and collapsed into ashes that gradually disappeared.

"Time," Piper repeated.

"It's a time barrier," Frank realised.

"Kronos must have put it up to protect his mother," Jason said with a scowl.

Leo pulled out an apple from his tool belt and threw it into the amber. Sure enough, the apple began to shrivel up and rot, before it broke into small pieces that faded away.

"How are we going to get to it?" Frank wondered aloud.

Leo thought for a second. "I could probably fashion some kind of device. I'm thinking...a large poking device."

"It'll break before we even get to the gem," Jason pointed out. "The barrier fast-forwards time. We need something that can survive long enough before it disintegrates."

As they entered a deep discussion about the right materials, Piper gazed into the amber.

The young warrior, a soothing voice mused. We meet again.

Piper felt her heart skip a beat. It was Gaia. Gaia's voice.

She inched closer to the amber.

What have you come to seek? Gaia asked. Help? Clues? Your friends?

Piper was momentarily distracted as a mirage danced across the amber. A young boy with shaggy blonde hair and innocent eyes, giggling giddily as he stumbled around a field. A man followed, laughing as he ran after the boy.

Piper recognised the man as Jason – she could spot those blue eyes and blonde hair in a crowd. With a happier smile. But it was, without a doubt, Jason.

Jason grinned madly as he picked up the boy and swung him around. "Daddy!" the boy shrieked in delight.

Piper sucked in a sharp breath.

This was her future. One where they survived and they had a son.

But they would have to live through this quest for any of that to happen. And for that, they needed Gaia's help. 

Before she could completely comprehend her decision, Piper plunged her arm into the amber.

The weirdest feeling overcame her.

It was like she was underwater.

The alarmed shouts of her friends echoed around, ringing in her ears like a faraway call. She could hear Jason's panicked yells and footsteps thundering against the cavern floor as they raced to pull her out.

But her reality had already changed. Images flashed before Piper's eyes.

The time she had fallen off her horse – her arm never felt the same ever again.

Meeting Leo for the first time at the Wilderness School.

Racing through the temple of Phobos and Deimos with Annabeth at her side.

Tartarus' fist smashing into her jaw, making her wince as Percy struggled against his chains.

Piper saw herself sitting in a lawn chair, leaning against Jason as the two of them stared into the sunset.

She saw herself staring into a mirror, seeing the grey streaks in her hair and the smile lines etched into her face.

Her life was quite literally flashing before her eyes.

With her mind whirling, Piper wasn't quite sure what was going on. Voices relentlessly launched attacks on her ears, leaving her reeling and gasping for breath.

And worst of all, the amber clenched around her arm, trapping her and refusing to let her move. It was like plunging her arm into refrigerated honey. The instant freezing feeling made her shiver. Hands grabbed her shirt and pulled her back, but she couldn't budge.

"Piper!" Jason's shout shook her from head to toe.

Piper mustered up her remaining strength and pushed further into the amber. Her fingers were outstretched as she slowly, slowly neared the emerald gem.

She winced with the effort as she neared the gem, visions still flickering through her brain.

Piper's fingers brushed the emerald gem, and she struggled to reach around it. With a last spurt of energy, Piper grasped the gem and roughly ripped her arm out of the amber.

Piper staggered back with a loud shriek, her arm coming unstuck from the amber with a clear "pop!".

She fell down on the ground with a thud, a groaning tearing itself from her lips. Her head was spinning wildly with everything she had just seen and felt, but Piper gripped the gem in her hand like her life depended on it.

"Piper!" Jason called out desperately. "Are you okay? Oh my gods, Piper!"

She coughed as her eyelids fluttered open weakly. Her muscles were sore and Piper had never felt so exhausted in a long time.

"I'm–fine," she managed. Piper reached out and grasped Jason's fingers. He helped her into a sitting position.

"What were you thinking?" Leo said frantically, his voice an octave higher than usual. "You could've died!"

Piper winced as she felt a pang go through her body. Her arms felt like jelly, and her legs ached. "Someone would've had to get it anyway."

"It was still dangerous!" Leo protested. "Don't scare us like that ever again!"

Piper gave him a small smile. "I'll try."

She clung on to Jason's arm as he pulled her to her feet. His brow was knitted with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her legs felt like giving out, as if her body was suddenly too heavy to carry. "Just a bit weak."

Frank pulled out the ambrosia from her pocket and handed it to her. Piper chewed on it in relief, feeling strength start to flood back into her body.

She handed the gem to Leo.

"You don't look any older," Jason noted.

Piper looked down at herself. She felt for her braids, and was relieved to find that they weren't grey like she had seen in one of the visions. "Maybe it doesn't affect humans."

Jason looked unconvinced, but he dropped the subject. 

"How do we talk to Gaia?" Leo asked, turning the gem over in his hand.

Piper plucked the gem out of Leo's hand and observed it under the light of Jason's sword.

The voice of Gaia no longer spoke to her, but Piper had a feeling she was simply hiding.

Following her gut instinct, Piper raised her hand and threw the gem into the ground.

Her friends let out yelps of shock as the jewel burst into fine dust. But Piper's hunch had been right.

Green mist swirled up from the floor where the gem had been broke. It wasn't neon green like the kind that Rachel gave off. It was more of an earthly, calm green that circled the demigods and danced around the cavern.

"Gaia!" Piper shouted.

Who would've thought? came the all-too familiar voice. It echoed around the cavern. My favourite demigods.

Leo stumbled back, terror flashing in his eyes as fire blazed in his hands. "Gaia?"

Frank stepped in front of Leo protectively, his gaze flickering around suspiciously.

Oh, Leo, Gaia cooed. Aren't you happy to see me?

"Leave him alone!" Jason yelled, holding up his sword threateningly.

But even he couldn't fight a cave.

Jason Grace, Gaia said in surprise. My, my, have you all grown up.

"Don't talk to them!" Piper said harshly. "We've come for one reason only. Where's Mnemosyne?"

Silence filled the cave.

"I said," Piper repeated more forcefully. "Where is Mnemosyne?"

Neither here nor there, came Gaia's voice, but it sounded more pained, as if she was trying to resist the charmspeak.

"Gaia, listen to me," Piper yelled fiercely. "Tell me where Mnemosyne is!"

Her voice bounced off the walls, creating multiple echoes.

When the sound faded, Gaia replied, The birthplace of Zeus. The Idaean Cave on Mount Ida.

Piper sighed in relief. They had Mnemosyne's location. The plan had worked.

The cavern began to rumble again.

You think you can keep me under once you have awoken me? Gaia demanded. You think you can keep a primordial like myself at bay?

I am stronger than all of you! All of you combined! No puny demigod can–

"Sleep!" Piper cried.

Her voice was unwavering and the persuasiveness in her tone never faltered.

The rumbling stopped instantly, and the cavern was filled with silence once again. 

Piper nearly collapsed from the amount of energy she had used today. Reaching through the amber, and then charmspeaking the Earth to sleep? She was exhausted.

The four demigods stumbled out of the cave, helping one another and climbing over shattered rocks as they exited. No one said a word.

"The Idaean Cave," Jason said warily, once Frank rolled the boulder back and they stood in the fresh air of the hill. "I guess that's our next stop."

"It's on Crete, isn't it?" Frank guessed. "Should we go now?"

"No," Piper and Leo said instantly.

"It's on the other side of Crete," Leo explained. "We'll have to sail there before getting off again."

"I need a break," Piper said tiredly. "I'm sorry, guys, but I feel like I'm about to pass out."

"Sorry?" Leo snorted. "Piper, you were amazing!"

Frank nodded vigorously. "I've never seen anything like that. Gods, you deserve a good sleep."

Piper laughed. "Thanks, guys."

She started down the hill, before letting out a groan and nearly falling down again.

Her legs throbbed, and now Piper really felt like she was too heavy for her body to handle.

Something felt weird.

Something felt wrong.

As if on cue, Jason gasped at the same Piper finally realised why she had been feeling that way since she had fallen out of the amber.

"Your stomach?" Jason whispered with dread.

Piper sat down on the grass suddenly, grabbing at the leaves in horror. "What's happened? I'm–I'm–"

She glanced down fearfully. Her belly had swelled to nearly three times the size that it had previously been.

What had been an unnoticeable baby bump mere minutes ago was now Piper's incredibly pregnant belly.

"How did we–Why didn't we–" Leo stammered.

"The amber," Piper realised with a feeling of dread weighing in her stomach. "It didn't fast-forward my time." Her hand brushed her pregnant belly and she shivered.

"You've got to be at least in your third trimester," Frank reasoned.

Piper sat down suddenly, feeling rather sick. "What?" She knew enough about pregnancy to know that the third trimester meant that the baby was going to come within the next few months.

Jason knelt down next to her and held her hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

Piper sighed. Her baby could be born into a chaotic world in the middle of a war of the century.

She glanced up warily. "Is it?