Most days, she hated being alive.

It was simple to hate everything. She wasn't sure she fully felt it, but it was easier to think of things that way. Hate meant certainty. Adding on a sense of dread to that only served to make it worse, made things inconclusive and out of her control.

She was not supposed to be afraid of things, but this, a possibility of another evil coming to them, that did scare her. Could it be that she was terrified of being alive? That might explain a lot of things.

Dinner was boring. Leo was present with his Hephaestus siblings, and Jason was made to sit with the Hermes Cabin, but aside from a worried look plastered on Annabeth's face, no one had any real information on what was going on. Rachel Dare, the Oracle, had come to help with the search for Percy, and even she looked shaken, as if there wasn't good news.

Still, no one said anything. Pollux told Emilia that the campfire would probably be informative. Most nights, she tuned it out. She didn't enjoy the singing, not because it was bad, but because she couldn't maintain the upbeat attitude through a chorus, much less an entire song.

Jason sat beside Annabeth, and Piper arrived from the Big House, having missed dinner. Emilia sat in the darkest part, the shadows wrapped around her to keep her warm. No one was bothered by this anymore, they simply thought of it as her wearing a big cloak.

Pollux came to sit beside her, technically uninvited. She supposed that was what friends did. She wished she could be a good friend to him. Yet somehow, he didn't seem to mind how she acted. Whatever she was doing was enough for him. He kept coming back for more of her pathetic attempts at being normal.

The Apollo cabin was leading the sing along with their lyres, chanting a strange song about a grandmother getting dressed for war. When they finished, Chiron trotted up to them, holding a spear with toasted marshmallows impaled on it. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, 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–"

"What about capture the flag?" called out one of the Ares kids. Grumbling broke out among the other siblings, all eager to have another game. Emilia had yet to experience one and she wasn't sure she wanted to. She'd only been in one real battle, and that wasn't friendly in the slightest. She wasn't sure she was ready for a normal competitive match against campers who were still skeptical of her.

"Yes," said Chiron, "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one shouted.

"However," said Chiron, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

Nyssa mumbled, "We're working on it."

One of the Ares kids demanded, "How, Nyssa?"

"Really hard!" She huffed as more campers began to yell, Pollux included. He'd told Emilia a week ago that if she was going to be the one to watch at the next capture the flag– everyone would want to see who'd pick her: Clarisse or Annabeth.

(Clarisse had acknowledged she was a great fighter even though she truly disliked her. Annabeth, of course, treated her just fine and knew what she was capable all the same, but being a much better strategist, no one was sure if her kindness would mean picking Emilia or figuring out how to deal with her.)

Chiron stamped his hoof to get everyone's attention. "We will have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" asked Travis Stoll hopefully. The campfire dimmed, and Emilia felt the shadows wanting to surge forward. She pulled them back.

Annabeth took a deep breath and stood. "I didn't find Percy. 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 willfind him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

Emilia sat up straight as Drew called out, "It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?"

"Drew?" said Annabeth, confused. "What do you mean?"

She spread her arms, "Well, come on. Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?" Everyone turned to Rachel. Drew called, "Well? You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

Without you, it all falls to chaos, the woman had said ominously. Prevent it this time, don't cause it.

Rachel's eyes glowed in the firelight. She stepped forward calmly, unafraid. "Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun."

The fire burst up as everyone panicked. A typical response, one she never shared until now. Not that she sprang up flailing her arms. Still, Emilia felt a pit growing in her stomach, and she tucked her hands tight around her, the shadows pulling closer.

The last Great Prophecy hadn't gone so well for her. She'd helped carry it out, she'd brought out the worst in it. This couldn't be good. Everyone else was just as confused and concerned. They'd lost enough, enough at her hands.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said once the conversations subsided, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm of fire the world must fall–"

Jason shot to his feet out of nowhere. "J-Jason?" stuttered Rachel, confused. "What's–?"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted, as if in a trance. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

There was an uneasy silence. Pollux lowered his voice, "I think I know who one of the eight is."

"You just... finished the prophecy," stammered Rachel. "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 said, wincing and holding his temples. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," said Drew. "Handsome and smart." Her siblings giggled, but Emilia didn't find it funny. This didn't seem normal in the slightest. Jason looked embarrassed, Rachel was glancing at Chiron for guidance, but overall no one seemed to be able to come up with an explanation for what'd just happened.

"Well," said Rachel, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, 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. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

Clovis, son of Hypnos, called out sleepily, "I'm here! Oh... were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis!" yelled Connor, making everyone laugh.

Rachel continued, "Anyway, 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 Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured. Emilia noticed how many of the campers glanced at her uneasily, then tried to look away before she could see them. But even if she hadn't seen it, she would have sensed it. The worries, the disagreements, the way everyone was wondering if it had been wrong to keep Emilia here, if it was still a good idea to let her keep her head attached to her body...

"What we do know," said Rachel, "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."

It was much harder to silence the demigods this time. Emilia wasn't worried about Hera, she didn't know her at all, but the idea that any of the gods could be taken prisoner again was a sure sign something powerful was stirring. Rachel began to explain as soon as everyone quieted down. She told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin after Hera spoke to her through Rachel, she told them about a vision Jason had in the Big House, where Hera asked him to free her.

Suddenly, her dream made sense. The woman in the dark robes must have been Hera. The woman asking her to free her was the Queen of Olympus, the goddess who now expected her to keep chaos from forming. How the hell was she going to do that?

"Jason," said Rachel, "Um... do you remember your last name?" He shook his head. "We'll just call you Jason, then. It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Though this probably scared him a bit, he set his jaw and nodded, "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil. Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," said Annabeth. "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 added, "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. It is a day when things... stir."

Annabeth seemed to think things were getting too dark. "Okay, thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so–"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" someone from Ares yelled. "If he's so important–"

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

Somehow, Jason seemed to know what to do. He reached into his pocket, flipped a golden coin, and when he caught it, he was suddenly holding a lance– a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.

"Wasn't that..." Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," said Jason. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

Emilia had to admit, it looked cool. "Dude, I want one!" yelled Sherman from Ares.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer," one of his brothers said, snickering.

"Electric," Jason murmured. "Back away." Annabeth and Rachel moved, and when Jason raised his javelin, there came a clap of thunder, lightning arcing down through the golden spear point and hitting the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.

Emilia leaned back, the shadows flooding away as she stared at Jason in shock. Zeus had had another son all along? How had they never known about this? "A little overkill," said Chiron, "perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean, Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

Everyone started to burst out questions (even Pollux started to muse much louder how it was that Zeus had managed to break a promise twice) but Annabeth quieted them down, "Hold it! 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?"

"The important thing," said Rachel, "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. The two closest demigods caught her before she could fall, and a third brought a stool for her to sit on. Emilia felt the shadows growing as the fire subsided, emerald smoke issuing from Rachel's mouth.

She began to speak in a raspy snake-like voice, "Child of lightning beware the earth, The giant's revenge the eight shall birth. The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash Hera's rage. Strife carries the amends unmade, Hope to rebuild or eight shall degrade."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers carried her away from the hearth expertly, laying her in a dark corner to rest. Everyone was silent for a moment (especially Emilia, whose head was starting to hurt as the word 'strife' echoed in her head like 'free me' had in her cabin that morning...) until Piper spoke up.

"Is that normal?" asked Piper. "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? Why would the eight 'degrade' if this isn't accomplished? It might be a trap, or– or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

Jason rose. "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."

"Maybe," said Nyssa, "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. "Anyway, we've also got to think– why beware the earth? And what's the giant's revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of heavens? Why does this entire quest seem to determine whether the eight of the prophecy can come together or not?"

No one answered, but Chiron and Annabeth seemed to be having their own private conversation, as if they knew what was going on but didn't want to say it. Annabeth gave a deep sigh, "It's Jason's quest. So it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions."

Travis called, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience."

"No, Travis," said Annabeth. "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 boyfriend's disappearance– it's all connected."

"How?" demanded Drew, apparently considering Piper her personal enemy. Emilia supposed she should be thankful she wasn't more of a threat to Drew. Maybe being drop-dead gorgeous was a good thing this time around. "If you're so smart, how?"

"You may be right, Piper," said Annabeth, saving Piper from answering. "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 forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul– Hephaestus."

Nyssa's shoulders suddenly slumped. "If you have to beware the earth, 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."

Emilia could sense discord within her, she was disagreeing with herself. One part wanted to go because she felt she could be useful, the other part was far too worried about the curse on the cabin to go anywhere. Not to mention that deep down, she was nervous. She didn't know Jason, she didn't trust him, and she sure as hell didn't seem up for any quest that required going into the unknown.

"It's me," said Leo suddenly. His siblings tried to pull him to sit, but he rose, "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, then smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

Leo pumped his fist up. Nyssa warned, "It'll be dangerous. Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." Leo's expression dropped. "I mean... oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering. Let's do this."

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

"Oh, absolutely," said Drew, flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

Pollux snorted, then let out a choked gasp as Piper stood, "No." Emilia felt the pressure change in the air, she leaned forward wondering if it was finally time for Piper to beat the living daylights out of Drew.

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! 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."

Pollux leaned down to whisper, "Charmspeak," which made Emilia nod slowly. She had learned about it after Drew managed to get her a driver's license with virtually no barriers. Drew had a point, she could come in handy if they came across any mortals that tried to get in their way. They couldn't exactly blast them aside and it was unlikely Jason– powers aside– could manipulate the Mist in his favor.

Annabeth seemed torn about whether Drew should go, or Piper. "Well, Given the wording of the prophecy–"

"No!" Piper shouted. "I'm supposed to go." The other campers started to nod– even Emilia agreed this sounded convincing. Why? She blinked several times and wondered why she'd agreed with Drew and now wanted to agree with Piper. Unless...

"Get over it," Drew snapped. "What can Piper do?" When Piper didn't retort, she smirked, "Well, I guess that settles it."

There was another burst of light, but this one was more pink instead of blood red. It flowed down to Piper, and Emilia had to narrow her eyes to shield herself from the light as it bathed Piper, her clothes disappearing. Suddenly, she had been placed in a beautiful low-V-necked white-sleeved gown that went down to her ankles. Gold armbands had appeared on her biceps, a necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, her hair had grown and came out lust, fluffy, and braided with gold ribbons.

"Oh, god," said Piper, stunned. "What's happened?" She drew her new dagger and looked at herself, eyes widening when she realized she was now wearing makeup.

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

Drew shrieked, "No! Not possible!"

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

Chiron bowed, urging the campers to follow. Emilia slowly lowered herself as he said, "Hail, Piper McLean. Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

Drew was furious. Jason immediately accepted to Piper coming on the quest, and in her rage, the girl burst out, "Well, what about the final line of the prophecy? The first line is for Jason. The next, I suppose–" she glared at Leo and Piper as if they were pieces of gum at the bottom of her shoe, "are for them. But the last one mentions something else."

Annabeth was the first to react. "Strife carries the amends unmade, Hope to rebuild or eight shall degrade."

"I'm telling you," said Nyssa, "it sounds like some... link that holds everything together. It could mean you hope to rebuild or that hope needs to be rebuilt, otherwise the eight of the prophecy can't meet or can't... stay together. But amends unmade? Strife?"

"It's about me," admitted Emilia, so quietly no one but Pollux heard. He nudged her and she said louder, "It's about me."