CHAPTER FIVE:
SON OF LIGHTNING

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ANNAIS ARRIVED SLIGHTLY LATE to the campfire. After failing to find Ezra when she ran out of the Big House, she'd retreated back to her cabin where she ended up passing out and sleeping right through dinner. It'd been a very long day and an even longer four months. Nowadays, she felt like she was running on fumes, stretched thin under the weight of expectations she just couldn't meet. Every moment of sleep was a pivotal one but Mel wasn't going to let her miss the first night back. As suspected, when Annais was a no-show at dinner, Mel made her way over to the Hades cabin and knocked repeatedly on the door until her cousin finally answered.

"What?" she snapped the moment the door was open, her eyes bleary as they blinked against the setting sun.

"We're late to the campfire," Mel told her, grinning casually under the heat of Annais' glare.

"I don't care." She went to shut the door again but was stopped by Mel's foot lodging in its way.

"And I don't care that you don't care," she shrugged and held out her arm for Annais to take. "Come on, we're going and that's that."

Annais let out a sigh but didn't protest, reaching for her leather jacket to shrug on before following Mel outside. The sky was a pale pink-orange hue as they made their way down to the amphitheater. The closer they got, the louder the distant singing seemed to get, causing Annais to not-so-subtly roll her eyes and shoot Mel a dirty look for dragging her along. Mel only smiled again and linked their arms together, forcing Annais into her side in case she changed her mind and tried to turn back. She'd always hated the sing-along, even as a young girl. But fortunately for her this time, the singing came to an end as they made their way down the amphitheatre steps. There were easily fifty demigods grouped together under the various banners representing the Gods. They chatted eagerly with each other while the music played by the Apollo kids faded to silence, their laughter encouraging the bright orange flames in the centre of the pit.

In the crowd, Annais spotted several familiar faces. There was Piper sitting with the Hermes lot, looking awfully out of place amongst those yet to be claimed. Leo was surrounded by the burly campers of the Hephaestus cabin, just as uncomfortable as Piper but trying not to show it as he plastered on a classic Leo Valdez grin and talked his closest sibling's ear off.

At the front sat a frowning Annabeth with Ezra on one side of her and Jason on the other. Normally, Annais would go and sit with them, but she wasn't in the mood for anything Ezra had to say after what happened earlier. Instead, she led Mel over to the Hades flag — normally, her cousin would sit with Ezra but she too seemed distanced from the blonde — and sat down with reluctance.

At the same time, Chiron trotted up to stand by the flames, brandishing a spear into the air with a toasted marshmallow line impaled on its tip. The noise finally went quiet as he cleared his throat, voice echoing around the pit, "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, the camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

Before he was able to continue with his announcements, somebody yelled out, "What about capture the flag?"

Grumbles erupted amongst the children of the Ares cabin, most of which Annais knew were eager to get back out there and battle the other cabins in their monthly competition.

Chiron also knew this, for he let out a sigh and said, "Yes, I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people," one of them shouted much to the amusement of his siblings.

"However," he continued like he hadn't been interrupted. "Until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

Everyone turned to the Hephaestus kids with hopeful expectancy. None of them did anything for a moment before the leader — a girl named Nyssa who was a year or two older than Annais — stood from Leo's side uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket that, now that she thought about it, reminded Annais a lot of the one Leo always insisted on wearing, along with the classic red bandana she used to keep down her dark head of curly hair.

"We're working on it," she said, only to be met with more annoyed grumbles from everybody this time.

"How, Nyssa?" one of the Ares boys demanded, his eyes narrowed beneath dark blonde curls.

"Really hard," she sighed, then sat down before anyone could say anything else.

Yells and complaints erupted around them, the fire spitting chaotically as it shifted from orange to gold and Ezra stood up out of her seat to pace along the edge of the bench. Annais caught sight of her from the corner of her eye and nudged Mel's side to get her attention. They watched cautiously as Chiron spared the girl a glance over his shoulder and gestured for Annabeth to sit her back down. Then, he stamped his hoof against the stone pavement and shouted for everyone to be silent. When they finally complied, he spoke again.

"We will just have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

The fire dimmed back to orange in a blink, almost as if it sensed the incoming anxiety from the group. "Percy?" someone from Athena's clan questioned nervously.

Even if she was one of the newcomers, Annais would've been able to tell just how much everyone cared for Percy Jackson. He was the heart of Camp Half-Blood, and nobody knew what to do without their heart to keep them going.

Chiron gestured over to Annabeth, who squeezed Ezra's hand one last time before standing like Nyssa to address them. "I didn't find Percy." Everyone seemed to deflate before her eyes. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up, we've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis - everyone's out looking. We will find him." She paused, allowing everyone to take in the new information, the dark orange flames now a pale yellow. "Chiron's talking about something different right now, a new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" someone called out from the back of the crowd. Annais scanned the rows of teens before coming across Drew standing beneath the rose-coloured banner depicting Aphrodite's dove emblem. Both she and Mel rolled their eyes in unison. Of course it was Drew who asked.

"Drew?" Annabeth frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on," she scoffed. "Olympus is closed. Percy disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods and a Min in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?" She turned to look at Rachel, prompting everyone to stare at her too. "Well? You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

"Hades, just shut her up already," Annais muttered to Mel, who's lips twitched in amusement before she reached out to hush her.

Like everyone else, they turned to look at Rachel. Her eyes appeared dark under the firelight as she rose to her feet, eerily calm as she stepped closer to the flames. "Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun."

In the chaos, Annais caught Jason's eye. He was already looking at her with furrowed brows but he quickly turned away when he saw she was watching. Annais truly didn't know what to make of him anymore. She hadn't forgotten what Chiron had said when he first saw him. You should be dead. Who was Jason with his ability to fly, his skilled fighting and his memory loss? Just as he said himself, why was he chosen to save the Queen of the Gods and why did Hera want Annais with him?

The questions formed an endless loop in her head, repeating over and over. Just when she thought that maybe things would work out, Jason said or did something else that only served to confuse her. Annais didn't like being confused. She liked knowing things. Jason took away her knowledge, therefore she didn't like him. Oh no, the off-brand Superman might have everyone else (aka Drew) kissing his feet, but Annais wouldn't be one of them.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel continued and effectively brought Annais out of her thoughts. "The Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this..."

She paused, ensuring she had everyone's attention before she said it. This was the first time they explicitly mentioned the Great Prophecy to everyone. It was a rumour ever since Rachel arrived at camp, but not one Chiron or any else really liked to talk about. Prophecies were a curse for demigods, especially ones like the great prophecy. It sounded super easy, right?

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire, the world must fall—"

In a flash, Jason was shooting to his feet. Annais caught the movement from the corner of her eye and flinched almost defensively, fingers reaching for her ring in a way that immediately had both her and Mel on alert. But Jason made no move to attack. He simply stood there with a wild expression in a complete daze.

Rachel was also caught off guard. She turned to look at him with a frown. "Jason? What are you-"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he exclaimed, his voice deep and distant. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

When it became clear he wasn't going to say anything else, an uneasy silence settled. Annais had stood when he started to chant, tugging Mel down the steps and over to the side of the main pit. Jason had just said the rest of the prophecy in Latin. Annais wasn't too familiar with the language but she knew enough words to know what it was. The two Mins took the empty seats beside Ezra, making the girl's shoulders stiffen as she sensed their presence. She was too busy keeping her attention focused in Jason's general direction. Like Annais, she didn't trust him.

"This is getting ridiculous," she whispered to them. Annais was beginning to agree.

"You just finished the prophecy," Rachel exclaimed, provoking surprised whispers from the crowd around them. It was clear she wasn't sure what to do as she looked between Jason and Chiron, occasionally glancing over at the Mins closely monitoring the scene. "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you..."

"I know those lines," Jason breathed out with a wince. He swayed where he stood and pressed his hands to his temples, a move Annais had seen from him a few times now. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out with a sly smirk. "Handsome and smart."

A scowl overtook Annais' features and she rose to her feet, moving to stand beside an embarrassed Jason as giggles came from the Aphrodite cabin. "This isn't a joke, Drew." The sound of her voice shut everybody up. Drew's cheeks bloomed the shade of the flag behind her as the crowd looked between the two known rivals. "If all you're going to contribute to this discussion is useless, then I suggest you sit down and shut up."

No one said a word. Drew pursed her lips but did as she was told, lowering herself into her chair between two of her sisters. Jason sat down on the bench again, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck as Annais strode over to hover beside him. She didn't look at him, but she could feel his eyes lingering on the side of her jaw as she watched Rachel Dare move forward again. She looked shaken but knew she had more to explain.

"Well," she said. "That's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof, it's just a feeling. But like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The seven demigods and — whoever they are, they haven't been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight, and some are not here."

The tension was thick but quickly broken by a loud snore and a voice hurriedly calling out, "I'm here! Were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone from the Hermes cabin yelled back, and a lot of people laughed, albeit still nervously as the fire flickered from orange to green.

"Anyway," Rachel continued without so much as a glance in Clovis' direction. She was well and truly used to the son of Hypnos' random interruptions. "We don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second and — the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured, but unlike everyone else, Annais didn't pay much attention to him. She wanted to know why Rachel kept stuttering, almost like she was trying to stop herself from revealing something she wasn't supposed to. What was their oracle keeping from them about the prophecy?

"What we do know," she continued. "Is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the Queen of the Gods, has been taken."

Shocked silence followed. At first, no one knew what to say, then everyone started talking at once. Three seats down on the bench, Ezra stood back up with anxious movements, a hand running through her blonde locks as she tried to calm the chaos brewing inside her. As the daughter of Eris, Ezra always reacted strongly to the presence of chaos. Her veins ran with it, so when a situation grew particularly tense, she was the beating heart of it.

With a hand on her shoulder from Annabeth and Chiron frantically pounding his hoof against the ground again, they finally got the curious campers quiet once more. Rachel finished telling them everything she knew. From the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk and what the spirits had warned them of to Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Finally, she finished with the vision that came to Jason and Annais — wisely choosing to leave out Hera having a daughter since everything was already chaotic enough — and what it might mean. There was silence again.

"Jason, do you remember your last name?" Jason inhaled sharply but shook his head. It was only getting clearer just how much his lack of remembrance bothered him. "We'll just call you Jason then. It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

He clenched his jaw but nodded nonetheless. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel declared, eyes almost pitying at the thought. "Some sort of King from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the Winter Solstice, which is only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the Gods," Annabeth explained for those who looked confused. Annais wasn't sure how anyone could be confused given this was their heritage, but she didn't comment as she waited for Annabeth to continue. "If the Gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The Winter Solstice," Chiron spoke up with his hooded eyes locked on the purple firelight. Orange, red, gold, green, purple; what a roller-coaster of a campfire. "Is also the time of greatest darkness. The Gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The Solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the Gods themselves. It is a day when things... stir."

"I don't like the sound of that," Annais said, leaning back in her chair so only Jason could hear her. He nodded in agreement, their shoulders brushing as the sun finally dropped below the treeline and the sky got dark.

"I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Then why hasn't he been claimed?" a girl from the Ares cabin yelled out. She had Clarisse's dark brown hair but Annais knew that Clarisse was away at College. This was just another annoying Ares daughter having her say. "If he's so important—"

"He has been claimed," Chiron declared. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

Annais wasn't sure what their mentor meant but she nudged Jason out of his seat anyway. He looked at her questioningly, golden hair glowing bright, making her nod. She knew he would prove himself, he'd done so several times already. He reached into his pocket then, a coin flashing in the air before transforming into some sort of lance made of gold with a spear tip at one end. Annais shifted away with Annabeth and Rachel, the three girls sharing a wide-eyed glance. Annais had no clue the coin could do that. She'd been expecting the sword, not this.

"I thought you had a sword," Annabeth frowned and looked at Annais as if she could somehow explain the anomaly before them. She just shrugged in response, equally confused as she was cautious.

"Um, it comes up on tails, I think," Jason murmured, deep in thought. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one," one of the Ares boys whined.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer," his brother agreed with a yearning sigh. Those Ares siblings and their fascination with weapons... though Annais couldn't talk. She treated her sword like it was her baby.

"Electric," Jason murmured in realisation. He made his way over to where Annais was seated, delicately grabbing her wrist and drawing her to her feet much to her suspicion. He led her over to where Rachel and Annabeth hung back, making both girls step further away as he ushered them with the spear. "You need to stand back."

Once he deemed them out of the firing line, Jason raised the lance and thunder clouds erupted in the dark purple canvas above them. Right before their eyes, lightning flashed and arced down towards the spear point. The air around them sizzled and roared with the intensity, the ground shaking with the force of a miniature earthquake. Annais coughed as smoke filled her lungs, reaching absentmindedly for Ezra's shaking arm as the girl stumbled into her side. She quickly let go once the fog cleared, her breath still caught in her throat as she gaped at Jason.

Remember what she said earlier about him always finding a way to surprise them?

"Uh, sorry."

Chiron blinked and brushed some ash from his shoulders. He didn't look pleased as he turned back to Jason. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"No kidding," Ezra grumbled as she leant into Annabeth's side. After being separated from an uncomfortable Annais, she'd reached out until Annabeth saw her and grabbed her hand.

"Jupiter," Jason declared with a hint of pride in his voice. At everyone's confused stares, he clarified, "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."