So much for me taking a nap after the cabin tour. Annabeth and I carried Piper to the Big House. She still wasn't waking up. We were running as best as we could. Rachel was a nervous wreck, crying from guilt.  She pushed opened the front door of the Big House. We dragged Piper in, her head lolled to the side. Chiron and Jason both turned to look at us.

"What happened?" Jason rushed over. "What's wrong with her?"

"Hera's cabin." Annabeth gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Vision. Bad."

"I think..." Rachel looked up with tear stains on her cheeks. She gulped when she saw all the attention on her. "I think I may have killed her."

Rachel quickly introduced herself to Jason as Annabeth and I put Piper on the couch. Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Luckily, Piper was still breathing.

"We've got to heal her." Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"

"Her mind is in a fragile state." Chiron placed his hand in her forehead and grimaced. "Rachel, what happened?"

"I wish I knew." She said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth, Ivy, and a Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then-I just blanked out. Ivy and Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Chiron asked.

"It sounded different though." I crossed my arms. "Not the voice she speaks with a prophecy is spoken. It was different. Older."

"Ivy's right. The spirit of Delphi comes from within." Rachel shook her head. "This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."

Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper.

"Chiron, what happened back there- I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different." Annabeth said. "She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her-"

"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.

I turned to stare at him confused.

"How did you know that?" Annabeth stared at him.

Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart. It was a ward against evil.

"Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please." Chiron was handed the bag.

He trickled drops from the medicine vial into Piper's mouth. Jason explained what had happened when the room froze for him- including Chiron and Seymour, the rescued leopard head my dad rescued from a garage sale and granted it life. I walked over to the leopard and scratched under his chin. Seymour purred gratefully. Jason continued to tell us that a dark misty woman claimed to be Jason's patron. I furrowed my brows.

"So does this happen often?" Jason asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you to bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron." Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"

"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."

"That's just weird." I commented, trying to think who his patron and father could be.

"I've never heard of anything like that before." Annabeth frowned, exchanging a look with me. I helplessly shrugged. "You said the storm spirit on the skywalk-he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"

"I don't think so." Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice-"

"It can't be Kronos, right?" I looked at Chiron in desperation. "We defeat him."

"Not Kronos." Annabeth turned to a Chiron as well. "Please tell me it's not that."

Chiron looked miserable. It was like he had an inkling of what was going on, but wasn't allowed to say thing. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.

"It's not Kronos." Chiron told us. "That threat is ended. But..."

"But what?" Annabeth asked.

"Piper needs rest." Chiron closed the medicine bag. "We should discuss this later."

"Later? Chiron, we need to discuss this now." I told him.

"Or now." Jason agreed. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"

"Something worse Titans? Chiron, Percy is missing and something bad is coming. What is going on?" I demanded, feeling frustrated.

"Oh." Rachel said in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."

"Hera?" Annabeth snarled. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"

"Since when was she a patron?" I scoffed.

"I think Rachel's right." Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this-this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"

"Juno? Hera's Roman form?" I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."

"Of Juno." Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."

"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"

"Well," Annabeth crossed her arms, "whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera-"

"Annabeth." Chiron warned. "She is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods' family together."

"If it fits her perfect family model, sure." I rolled my eyes.

"If she truly had been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world." Chiron claimed. "It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera had asked Jason for help-"

"Fine." Annabeth grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago. And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan...?"

"Weren't there giants who captured the gods once?" I tried to rack my brain for the stories. "Something about their giant counterparts...? I can't remember it fully right now."

"Hera said she'd been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month." Jason informed us as he stared at Seymour who was smacking his lips.

"Which is how long Olympus had been closed." Annabeth faced me. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."

"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent Ivy a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods-let then know where she is so they bust her out."

"I wish." I commented, wanting nothing to do with Hera.

"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth." Rachel told Jason. "That's right, isn't it? Their fates are always intertwined with demigods."

"That's true." Annabeth confirmed. "But Jason's got a point. Why him? Why take his memory?"

"And Piper's involved somehow." Rachel added. "Hera sent her the same message-Free me. And, Ivy, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearance."

"I agree. Hera is involved. I just know it." I frowned, staring at the ground.

"Why are you so quiet, Chiron?" Annabeth fixed her eyes on Chiron. "What is it we're facing?"

The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines around his eyes were deeply etched.

"My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."

"What?" I felt my heart sink as I snapped my head up to look at him.

"You've never..." Annabeth blinked. "You've never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy-"

"I will be in my office." Chiron said with a heavy voice. "I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. Ivy, I suggest you rest my dear. You look like you're about to topple over. And Annabeth, you should speak with Jason. Tell him about-about the Greek and Roman gods."

"But..."

The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. She muttered something in Greek under her breath, most likely cursing. Any energy I had was gone. I felt like I could collapse right now and sleep on the floor. I rubbed my face with my hands trying to stay awake.

"I'm sorry." Jason apologized. "I think me being here-I don't know. I've messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."

"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods..."

Annabeth trailed off. I followed her gaze to see Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. She reached over and touched Jason's golden blade cautiously.

"Is this gold?" Annabeth asked. "Do you remember where you got it?"

"No. Like I said, I don't remember anything."

"If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means...Cabin Fifteen." Annabeth nodded as she was scrambling to think of a strategy. "Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?"

"Sure." Rachel promised. "Good luck, you two."

"Hold on." Jason said. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"

"Maybe a way to get your memory back." Annabeth stood. She glanced at me with a pointed look. "If we need to drag you there as well to get you to sleep, we will."

"I'm heading back to my cabin." I slowly nodded. Jason furrowed his brows once he took in my tired state. "I think I can sleep for a little bit. Wake me for dinner if I'm not up."

"If I feel like you need more sleep, I'll let you sleep in. I'll save you food." Annabeth told me.

I was too tired to argue. I nodded and walked over to my cabin. Sitting on my bed, I glanced over to my night stand to see the picture of the dance. My heart ached as I stared at Percy hugging me with a smile. My eyelids started to feel heavier and before I knew it, I was asleep.

🍇

I was back in my family's vineyard. The bus had just dropped me off from school. My Hello Kitty backpack was heavy, my lunch box shoved inside along with my jacket. I had just got a scolding from the bus driver to sit still in my seat a few miles back.

I was walking down the dirt road, humming a song I learned from Music Class. Adults were chatting and tasting wine at the winery. Classical music was playing from the speakers. Mom did a fake laugh at one of the customer's jokes and offered another wine to try.

I walked past the winery building and walked some more toward the back of the property where our house was. Leah, one of the workers, waved at me with a bright smile. I grinned and waved back, happy someone acknowledged me. A blur of purple caught my eye. I stopped in my tracks and turned to see a dark haired teenager trying to run into the back part of the vineyard. They were wearing a purple shirt with four letters. They were too far away to read.

"Hi!" I called out.

The teenager turned around with wide eyes. The girl looked at me in surprise as I waved at her. At her hip was a large black phone case holder. I could see something gold reflect in the sun.

"Hi?" The teen slowly walked toward me.

"What are you doing back here? Are your parents in the front?" I asked.

"I was looking for something." The teen said, a small smile growing on their face.

"I like your shirt." I pointed to the purple t-shirt. I squinted to read the letters on her shirt: SPQR. "What does that mean?"

"Senātus Populusque Rōmānus." The teen laughed at the face I pulled. "In English, it means 'The Senate and the People of Roman'."

"What language was that you spoke first?" I asked.

"Latin."

"Cool." I said in amazement. I saw two gold bands on her wrist. They looked like Wonder Woman's wrist gauntlets. Above her gauntlet was a tattoo of five line marks. Above the lines was a crossed sword and torch. "That's a cool tattoo."

"Yeah, it is." The teen nodded. "Quick question. Do you happen to have a place somewhere that has a triangle symbol?"

"A triangle?" I tilted my head to the side and thought about. "There's a triangle in the winery. It's on the wall."

"Can you show me?" The teen asked.

"Sure!" I skipped over to the winery with the teen beside me. "My name is Ivy. What's your name?"

"Lucy." She introduced herself. Lucy pondered and glanced at me with a questionable expression. She pulled something from her phone holder attached to her waist. A small gold knife glowed in the California sun. "What do you see?"

"A gold knife." I looked at her with furrowed brows. "Why do you have a gold knife?"

"Want to know something cool?" Lucy said. I nodded. "I fight monsters."

"Like the ones I see at school?" I looked up at her in amazement. "There's this weird snake lady that tried to talk to me once."

"Yeah, like those." Lucy frowned. "I think you're like me kid. Or you can see through the veil. How old are you?"

"Seven." I smiled at her, showing my teeth. "I turn eight next month!"

"Happy early birthday!" Lucy told me. "Next time I'm in the area, maybe I'll swing by and say hi. You're not too far from camp. I can teach you some things to protect yourself from the monsters."

"That would be cool!" I jumped up and down. "My mom is starting to not like me attracting the monsters here. Says that it's ruining the family business. But if I can learn to fight, she will be happy!"

"Or I can take you to a safe place. Where monsters can't come and get you and you'll be able to train." Lucy told me, fighting a frown. "I'm on a quest-"

"What's a quest?"

"Like a mission. A hero mission." Lucy explained. I nodded and stepped into the room with the triangle. "When I'm done, I'll come back. Okay?"

"Okay." I stopped in front of the small triangle on the wall. "Here it is. It's behind this wine barrel but I could never move it."

"That's okay, kid. I got it from here." Lucy started to push the wine barrel aside. She placed her hand over the triangle and it glowed blue. "Don't touch this, okay? It's not safe."

"Okay. Have fun on your mission!" I turned on my heel and went back to my house, my stomach growling.

There was a grinding noise. I glanced over my shoulder to see Lucy was gone. With a shrug, I continued to walk away thinking about my after school snack.

So little Ivy had met a Roman demigod before 🤔🤔🤔