[KASEY]

EVERYTHING BROKE INTO CHAOS, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" she yelled, "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three... their pact not to have mortal kids... how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer, but Kasey got the feeling he knew. And the truth was not good. It never was.

"The important thing," Rachel spoke, trying to change the subject, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy." She closed her eyes and swooned. 

Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. 

"Oh, gods." Kasey whispered, "Not another one."

Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient—the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants' revenge the seven shall birth. The caduceus' pariah, must prove herself to become a messiah. The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera's rage."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked and everyone turned to look at her. "I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy—Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just—"

"Drew," Annabeth snapped, "Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death ... why would we free her? It might be a trap, or—or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

Jason rose to his feet once again, "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the Queen of the Heavens if she's in trouble."

Nyssa stood, "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son, our dad, down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled towards the Aphrodite children before turning back to Jason, "Anyway, we've also got to think —why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the Queen of the Heavens?"

No one answered, but Kasey noticed Annabeth and Chiron having a silent exchange before Annabeth took a step forward.

The blonde took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose up to three companions."

Someone from the Hermes cabin yelled, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience."

"No, Travis," Annabeth declined, "First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy."

"It's connected," Piper blurted out, "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your friend's disappearance, it's all connected."

"How?" Drew demanded, "If you're so smart, how?"

Piper tried to form an answer, but she couldn't.

Annabeth saved her, "You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end—by searching for Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "The pariah of the caduceus. I know the caduceus is the symbol of Mer- I mean, Hermes. But I don't know this place well. I don't know who the pariah would be."

Everyone turned to look at Kasey, "I'm sorry." Connor whispered to her, "I know this isn't what you wanted. Not after last summer."

"I don't have a choice." Kasey replied before standing with a sigh,

"It's-"

"No." Annabeth automatically stated, not even letting Kasey finish,

Kasey and Annabeth made eye contact and held it, both of them refusing to look away. In any other circumstance, Kasey would've looked away from Annabeth's silver gaze, but this was different. 

This was her quest.

It was a chance for her to prove herself. To get everyone off her back.

She had to do it, for Selena.

Jason took a step between them and faced Annabeth, breaking their eye contact, "It's my quest and I get to chose who comes with." Jason turned to look at her, "And I choose Kasey."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, "Then you have a death wish, Jason."

The campers began mumbling and Kasey gave Jason an appreciative nod.

Jason cleared his throat. "Uh, moving on. The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul—Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry. "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport. The flying chariot's broken, and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."

She didn't sound enthusiastic.

Then Leo stood up. He'd been so quiet, Kasey had almost forgotten he was there, which was totally not like Leo.

"It's me," he said.

His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted.

"No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied him for a moment. Kasey was sure he was going to tell Leo no. Then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean ... Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Kasey smiled, now that was more like Leo.

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the fourth quest member. The dove—"

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

Piper stepped forward, "No."

Drew rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew stated, "You were just at the right place at the right time." She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things ..." She looked at Leo in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

The campers started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Kasey could see Drew winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

"Well ..." Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy—"

"No!" Piper exclaimed and Kasey felt like her friend was right. She's supposed to be on this quest, "I'm supposed to go."

It began with the four of them, it will end with them, too.

Kasey looked around and everyone started nodding, muttering that hmm, Piper's point of view made sense too. Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her own campers were nodding.

"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd. "What can Piper do?"

Piper stood there, not knowing what to say, "Well," Drew said smugly, "I guess that settles it."

Suddenly there was collective gasp. Kasey stared at her friend with wide eyes. Around Piper was this reddish glow. Then her clothes changed. She was wearing a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles. Delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, and her hair...

"Holy crap,"

"What?" Piper demanded. She looked above her, but there was no burning symbol like the one that appeared over Leo that she was expecting. Then she looked down and yelped.

"Oh, god," she exclaimed, "What's happened?" Piper pulled out her dagger and checked her reflection,

"Beautiful," Jason exclaimed. "Piper, you ... you're a knockout."

Kasey glanced over at Drew's face, which was full of horror and revulsion. "No!" she cried, "Not possible!"

"This isn't me," Piper protested, "I—don't understand."

Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example.

"Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, Goddess of love."