The mountainside was on fire.

Smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air. There was a helicopter coming toward them, maybe firefighters or reporters. All around them was carnage. The Earthborn had melted into piles of clay, leaving behind only their rock missiles and some nasty bits of loincloth. Construction equipment lay in ruins. The ground was scarred and blackened.

"We need to get out of here, quick," said Emilia as Coach Hedge began to stir. "The Earthborn could start to reform any minute."

Coach Hedge sat up, rubbing his head. He blinked and looked around at the battle scene, his canary yellow pants now the color of Dijon mustard mixed with mud. "Did I do this?"

"No–" began Emilia.

"Yeah, you wanted some hoof?" said Hedge, standing shakily and raising his club. "I gave you some hoof, cupcakes! Who's the goat, huh?"

Leo cracked a smile, Jason started to laugh, and it took everything in Emilia to not fling Hedge into the crater with Enceladus and call it a day. Piper rushed to her father as he staggered forward, eyes hollow and shell-shocked. He looked ready to crack. Emilia wondered if they'd be taking him back to camp so Pollux and Will (or one of his siblings) could help him recover.

Piper caught Mr. McLean in a hug, sighing and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Can you make us a bullhorn or something?" whispered Jason to Leo as Hedge kicked rocks and made rude gestures at the piles of clay. "Piper has some talking to do."

Her charmspeak was so good (especially on mortals), that the Park Service copter immediately landed. The nice pilot was glad to fly them to the Oakland Airport.

"No," Mr. McLean muttered deliriously. He refused to be loaded onto the helicopter. "Piper, what– there were monsters– there were monsters–"

They had to hoist him up together as Hedge gathered their supplies. He sobbed and sobbed, muttering all sorts of things about the monsters, about machines with six arms. The pilot was skeptical about transporting him once she saw his condition, and Piper had to try extra hard to make her forget he was Tristan McLean.

They gave Piper her space to talk to her dad. He rambled on about real monsters, about Grandpa Tom's stories, about the realization that Piper's mother was Aphrodite. Leo fiddled with a lug nut from his tool belt, Jason gazed at the valley below– the roads backing up as mortals stopped their cars and gawked at the burning mountain. Emilia looked as far west as she could, imagining her aunt at her lunch break, watching the footage and wondering what was going on there.

Emilia tried not to intrude as Mr. McLean told Piper how proud he was, as he listened to her story of how they got here. This man, this terrified and traumatized man, he didn't look at any of them with disdain. Not even Emilia. He seemed so impressed by her, by Jason and Leo, especially by Piper.

"What's that?" asked Mr. McLean as they passed over the hills into the East Bay. Jason seemed just as curious, like something about this place was familiar. He pointed down at the Caldecott Tunnel, and Jason's mouth moved like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. At last, Mr. McLean sighed, "Monsters... I live in a world of monsters."

Piper had to convince the air traffic control personnel at the Oakland Airport to let them land unscheduled. They unloaded onto the tarmac quickly, and Piper announced, "First thing... I-I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."

"Oh," said Leo, his face falling. "I mean, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from here."

"Pipes, no," said Mr. McLean, stumbling with a blanket around his shoulders. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't–"

"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.

Piper stared at him. "You?"

"I'm a protector," said Hedge. "That's my job, not fighting." He sounded crestfallen, having heard Piper retell the story of him getting knocked out. "Of course, I'm good at fighting too. But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."

"But..." Piper hesitated. "Dad." They embraced again, and the others stepped away to give them some privacy while they waited for Piper to be ready to go. At last, Mr. McLean drank from a small vial and slumped forward. They rushed to hold him, and propped him up while they waited for Piper to arrange their travel back home. Apparently, the potion in the vial had wiped all the recent memories Mr. McLean had. He wouldn't remember Piper was a hero, but he'd also be cleared of the trauma he'd experienced.

"You cupcakes take care of this girl, you hear?" said Hedge as he hugged Piper. "Or I'm gonna make you do push-ups."

Emilia was not at all afraid of him, but she promised all the same. If it was in her power, she wasn't going to let anything happen to Piper, Jason, or Leo.

Once Mr. McLean's plane made for the runway, Piper began to cry. Jason hugged her, Leo offered Kleenex, and Emilia had no clue what to do, so she simply reached into her pack and distributed some ambrosia to everyone. At least with a munch of that, Piper could taste something that reminded her of home.

Suddenly, the air began to shimmer behind Jason. "It's an Iris message!" said Emilia. An image appeared in the air– a dark-haired girl in silver winter camouflage, holding a bow.

"Thank the gods," said Thalia as the image became crisp and clear. The scene behind her was hard to make out, but they could hear yelling, metal clashing on metal, and explosions. "We've found her. Where are you?"

"Oakland," said Jason. "Where are you?"

"The Wolf House! Oakland is good; you're not too far. We're holding off the giant's minions, but we can't hold them forever. Get here before sunset, or it's all over."

"Then it's not too late?" cried Piper.

"Not yet," said Thalia. "But Jason– it's worse than I realized. Porphyrin is rising. Hurry. Remember... our last trip. The park. Jack London..."

Jason looked like he'd been shot. Somehow, this triggered more memories than 'Glen Ellen.' They rushed to the helicopter as Thalia's image disappeared. Jason decided that Leo should fly the helicopter, since it was too dangerous to take a mortal into a battle.

Emilia tried to stay comfortable as they flew over Richmond Bridge. Jason was retelling the story of Jack London, and somehow he insisted that he was a son of Mercury. He wrote about his personal experience with wolves, with not knowing his father.

Jason seemed to be remembering more and more just being in California. He insisted the Wolf House was sacred ground, that that was where Jack London started his journey as a child. He claimed he'd started his journey there, too. That if Gaea claimed it and used its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion, it might be enough to awaken her fully.

Leo kept heading toward a storm cloud ahead, right over where they estimated the Wolf House to be. Mortals would think it a regular storm, but Emilia was sure it had something to do with Porphyrion rising. When they had thirty minutes remaining, Leo offered for them to nap. Jason and Emilia did so immediately, needing to recover after their battle. Emilia hoped that it would be a bit darker at the Wolf House; she didn't want to feel as exhausted as she had with Enceladus. Night-time battles were the best but they didn't seem to happen often.

They woke with a start as an ice storm swirled outside, sleet pelting into the windshield. Jason crawled to the window, "We've got to be getting close."

"It's not supposed to be this cold up here," said Emilia, bewildered, wondering if she was either very unaware of the weather further north of San Francisco or if something was just very wrong. "I've never heard of snow in Glen Ellen or anywhere else in Sonoma Valley. It's cold but not that cold."

Leo was wrestling with the stick, trying his hardest to keep the chopper steady. Below them, the ground was a dark quilt of trees and fog. The ridge of a hill loomed in front of them and Leo yanked the stick, just clearing the treetops.

"There!" shouted Jason.

A small valley opened up before them, with the murky shape of a building in the middle. Leo aimed the helicopter straight for it. All around them were flashes of light. Trees cracked and exploded at the edges of the clearing. Shapes moved through the mist. Combat seemed to be everywhere.

He set the helicopter in an icy field about fifty yards from the house. There was a whistle, and a dark shape hurtled toward them out of the mist. Leo yelled for them to jump out, and they barely managed it before a snowball– a chunk of snow, ice, and dirt the size of a garage– flattened the helicopter.

"Ice and snow," said Emilia venomously. "It's as cold as it was in Canada." Suddenly the crop top wasn't doing her any service, but the darkened sky overhead let the shadows converge on her. Without long sleeves, it was easier for the others to see how the shadows constantly coiled up and down her arms, like snakes slithering around her body to shield her.

The fighting was all around them. Behind them was Jack London's dream home– a massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams. Thalia called out, appearing from the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow was in her hand, but her quiver was almost empty. She only made it a few steps toward them before an Earthborn burst out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each of its six hands.

Leo yelled for her to look out, but Thalia had it under control. She launched herself into a flip, notching an arrow as she pivoted like a gymnast and landed in a kneeling position. The ogre got a silver arrow right between the eyes and melted into a pile of clay. It was so impressive, Emilia temporarily debated two things: becoming a Hunter and learning more about Thalia. Both thoughts left as soon as they came because she knew she wouldn't enjoy the first thing and that Thalia wouldn't enjoy the second.

"That was my last one," said Thalia, trying to retrieve the arrow, only for the point to snap off. "Stupid ogre."

"Nice shot, though," said Leo.

Thalia ignored him but hugged Jason and Piper, as well as giving an awkward half-wave half-salute to Emilia. "Just in time. My Hunters are holding a perimeter around the mansion, but we'll be overrun any minute."

"By Earthborn?" asked Jason.

"And wolves– Lycaon's minions." Thalia blew a fleck of ice off her nose. "Also storm spirits–"

"But we gave them to Aeolus!" protested Piper.

"He tried to kill us," said Emilia. "And it's too cold... it might not be Aeolus himself. Boreas wasn't exactly happy with the prospect of us rescuing Hera, was he? Oh gods– where's Hera?"

"Inside," said Thalia. "We tried to free her, but we can't figure out how to break the cage. All these monsters keep reforming as fast as we can kill them. We took the Wolf House with no problems: surprised the guards and sent them straight to Tartarus. But then this freak snow storm blew in. wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we're surrounded. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera. It's only a few minutes until the sun goes down– Hera thinks that's the moment when Porphyrion will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night. If we don't free Hera soon..."

"I'm also stronger at night," said Emilia darkly. "Come on, quickly."

They rushed to the mansion. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, Jason collapsed. Leo caught him, "Hey! None of that, man, what's wrong?"

"This place..." Jason shook his head. "Sorry... it came rushing back to me."

"So you have been here," said Piper.

"We both have," said Thalia, expression grim. "This is where my mom took us when Jason was a child. She left him here, told me he was dead. He just disappeared." Emilia remembered a few snippets of Jason's conversation with Leo after they met Thalia, something about their mother being unstable after she learned she captured Zeus's attention, Jason being two and Hera 'claiming' him.

"She gave me to the wolves," murmured Jason. "At Hera's insistence. She gave me to Lupa."

An explosion shook the building. Just outside, a blue mushroom cloud billowed up, raining snowflakes and ice like a nuclear blast made of cold instead of heat. Once inside, Jason seemed to get his bearings. The house was built into a giant 'U,' and Jason led them between the two wings to an outside courtyard with an empty reflecting pool. At the bottom of the pool, just as Jason had described in his dream, two spires of rock and root tendrils had cracked through the foundation.

One of the spires was much bigger– a solid dark mass about twenty feet high. Underneath the mass of fused tendrils there was the shape of a head, wide shoulders, a massive chest and arms, like a creature rising from the earth.

On the opposite end of the pool, the other spire was smaller and more loosely woven. Each tendril was as thick as a telephone pole, with so little space they couldn't even get their arms through. Inside was the woman Emilia had seen in her dream– Hera. Dark hair covered with a shawl, the black dress of a widow, scary eyes.

Leo dropped into the pool and approached the cage. "Hola, Tía. Little bit of trouble?"

She crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. "Don't inspect me like I'm one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!"

Thalia stepped next to him and looked at the cage with distaste— or maybe she was simply looking at the goddess within. "We tried everything we could think of, Leo, but maybe my heart wasn't in it. If it was up to me, I'd just leave her there."

"Ohh, Thalia Grace," hissed Hera. "When I get out of here, you'll be sorry you were ever born."

"Save it!" snapped Thalia. "You've been nothing but a curse to every child of Zeus for ages. You sent a bunch of intestinally challenged cows after my friend Annabeth—"

"She was disrespectful!"

"You dropped a statue on my legs."

"It was an accident!"

"And you took my brother!" Thalia's voice cracked with emotion. "Here— on this spot. You ruined our lives. We should leave you to Gaea!"

"Hey," Jason intervened. "Thalia— Sis— I know. But this isn't the time. You should help your Hunters."

Thalia clenched her jaw. "Fine. For you, Jason. But if you ask me, she isn't worth it." Thalia turned, leaped out of the pool, and stormed from the building.

"Let's just get her out of there," said Emilia, kneeling beside Leo as he examined the cage. "Porphyrion is almost risen. Look at how the earth connects them... Hera's power is being channeled into regrowing him."

"So you're like a heat lamp," said Leo to Hera. "or fertilizer."

She grumbled. "Focus on the cage, Leo. And Jason– you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion well."

"I'm not your champion, lady," said Jason. "I'm only helping you because you stole my memories and you're better than the alternative."

Hera spoke in a clipped tone. "To the matter at hand, everyone. At sundown, it will be too late. The giant will awake. He will offer me a choice: marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be destroyed. And as we die, Gaea will awaken."

Emilia's head spun and she had to stop herself from thinking of what a marriage between Porphyrion and Hera would even be like. Leo frowned at the giant's spire, "Can't we blow it up or something?"

"We don't have the power for that," said Emilia, which Hera nodded to. "I don't know if I have the power to toss something back into Tartarus. Our only option is to free Hera. Leo, is it possible to break the cage?"

"I don't know," he said worriedly. "Besides, if she's a goddess, why hasn't she busted herself out?"

Hera paced furiously around her cage, cursing in Ancient Greek. "Use your brain, Leo Valdez. I picked you because you're intelligent. Once trapped, a god's power is useless. Your own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg— beg him for my freedom and apologize for throwing him off Olympus."

"Sounds fair," said Leo.

Hera gave Leo the godly stink-eye. "I've watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you."

"The prophecy said the forge and the dove would break the cage," said Emilia. "Leo, Piper, whatever you're going to do, do it. Jason, I think we need to help with the battle outside. There's nothing we can do here, we'll be more useful out–"

The air turned brittle with cold. The temperature dropped so fast, Emilia coughed out a little mist cloud. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Venti rushed in– but instead of winged men, these were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightning. Some had silver arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.

Piper drew her dagger. Jason grabbed an ice-covered plank off the pool floor. Emilia conjured Incubo. Leo reached into his tool belt and drew his hammer. One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see– an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.

"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward, but Piper and Leo pulled him back. "Who did this?" His body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!"

A girl's laughter rang out, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair. She regarded them with her deep brown eyes, just as cold as they'd been in Quebec. Emilia hated that she'd been right about who was behind this.

"Bonsoir, mes amis," said Khione. She gave Leo a frosty smile. "Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."

"What've you done?" demanded Jason furiously.

"Oh, so many things," purred Khione. "Your sister is not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once." The wolves snarled appreciatively. "Yes, my dears."

"Your wolves?" said Emilia, cringing at the insinuation that maybe Khione and Lycaon were close.

Khione turned to Emilia. "You and Thalia Grace almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world."

"Traitor!" shouted Hera. "You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world."

Khione sighed. "Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia." She waved her hand, ice encasing the prison, sealing in the spaces between the earthen tendrils. "That's better. Now, demigods, about your death."

"You're the one who tricked Hera into coming here," realized Jason. "You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus."

The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. "Patience, my loves. If he wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side." She looked fixedly at Jason. "Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It's easy for me to whisper to the other gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus's ear that he should issue an order to kill demigods. It is a small service for Gaea, but I'm sure I will be well rewarded when her sons the giants come to power."

"You're so sure that she'll reward you, but when do any of them really give their pawns anything?" snapped Emilia. "You don't see me on any fucking throne despite all the promises Kronos made me. You're being used. And if you wanted to stop us from getting here, why not kill us in Quebec? What, didn't want to upset your daddy? Snowstorms have been after us the whole time... you failed even with that reach? You really are a D-list goddess if you let us get here."

"Au contraire, Child of Tartarus," said Khione. "It was important that you and Jason come to die here, at the Wolf House. Your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. One, a source of power, another, an anchor for our strongest. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks conspired with the giants. It will be delicious."

"And you really think no one will figure out the truth?" said Emilia. "You're even stupider than we already thought. You won't pit demigods against demigods and you won't harm the roots of the gods."

"That's what Enceladus meant," realized Leo. "Destroying the roots of the gods– he meant Greece."

"You could join me, son of Hephaestus," said Khione, glaring at Emilia then turning to Leo. "I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these other three were to die. Reject that ridiculous destiny the Fates have given you. Live and be my champion, instead. Your skills would be quite useful."

Leo laughed so hard, he doubled over. "Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can't believe I thought you were hot."

Khione's face turned red. "Hot? You dare insult me? I am cold, Leo Valdez. Very, very cold." She shot a blast of wintry sleet at them, but Leo held up his hand. A wall of fire roared to life in front of them, and the snow dissolved in a steamy cloud.

He grinned. "See, lady, that's what happens to snow in Texas. It– freaking– melts."

Khione hissed. "Enough of this. Hera is failing. Porphyrion is rising. Kill the demigods. Let them be our king's first meal!"