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ELECTRIC LOVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
[ N A T A L I A ]

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NATALIA WAS LIVID, to say the least. She thought she had seen the last of Khione at Boreas' palace, but now she just had to see her again. With her luck, she really wasn't surprised.

"What've you done?" Jason demanded.

"Oh, so many things," the snow Goddess purred, and Natalia clenched her teeth in anger as she watched a dagger of ice grew in her hand. "Your sister's 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." Khione kept her eyes on Jason. "Your sister 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!" Hera shouted. "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."

Khione waved her hand, and ice encased the prison, sealing in the spaces between the Earthen tendrils.

"That's better," the snow Goddess said. "Now, Demigods, about your death—"

"Oh, I see now," Natalia said, her expression absolutely terrifying. "It was you who tricked Hera into coming here and convinced Zeus to close Olympus."

The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. "Patience, my loves. If she wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side. Of course, Natalia Flynn. 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' 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 could've killed us in Quebec," Jason said. "Why let us live?"

Khione wrinkled her nose. "Messy business, killing you in my father's house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would've been lovely if he'd agreed to turn you to ice. But once he'd given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn't openly disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he's still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the throne of the north wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail."

"And to help us with that," Leo said, "you knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head — that was your fault. You're gonna pay for that."

"You're also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us," Piper added. "We've been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip."

"And you told Lycaon about our whereabouts," Natalia said.

"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!" Khione said. "Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to ask Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House." Khione smiled at him. "You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your Demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks have conspired with Giants. It will be . . . delicious."

Natalia, Piper, and Leo didn't seem to understand what she was saying. But apparently, Jason did.

"You'll set Demigods against Demigods," he said.

"It's so easy!" said Khione. "As I told you, I only encourage what you would do anyway."

"But why?" Piper spread her hands. "Khione, you'll tear the world apart. The Giants will destroy everything. You don't want that. Call off your monsters."

Khione hesitated, then laughed. "Your persuasive powers are improving, girl. But I am a Goddess. You can't charmspeak me. We wind Gods are creatures of chaos! I'll overthrow Aeolus and let the storms run free. If we destroy the mortal world, all the better! They never honored me, even in Greek times. Humans and their talk of global warming. Pah! I'll cool them down quickly enough. When we retake the ancient places, I will cover the Acropolis in snow."

"The ancient places." Leo's eyes widened. "That's what Enceladus meant about destroying the roots of the Gods. He meant Greece."

"You could join me, son of Hephaestus," Khione said. "I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these other two 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 looked stunned, and Natalia worried for a second that he would take her up on her offer. He glanced behind him, like Khione might be talking to somebody else.

Then 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 the Demigods, 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.

Leo 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!"

Natalia raised her bow, and the monsters charged.

»»---------------------►

"FUCK YOU, KHIONE," Natalia snarled.

A wolf launched itself at Jason, and Natalia willed her quiver to give her silver arrows. She notched one and shot it right at its snout, making it whine and fall over.

The group all separated. Piper ran towards the Earthborn, fighting with such beauty and grace that they forgot they were fighting her. Jason had summoned an Anemoi (or Venti, whatever) and was riding it into battle. Natalia was fighting the wolves, occasionally shooting an arrow at the Earthborn who kept growing.

Leo had taken on Khione herself. While fighting a Goddess should've been suicide, Leo was the right man for the job. She kept summoning ice daggers to throw at him, blasts of winter air, tornadoes of snow. Leo burned through all of it. His whole body flickered with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused with gasoline. He advanced on the Goddess, using two silver-tipped ball-peen hammers to smash any monsters that got in his way.

Leo was the one warming up the area, countering Khione's winter magic. It began to get so warm that Thalia was starting to defrost.

Khione slowly backed away. Her expression went from enraged to shocked to slightly panicked as Leo got closer, making Natalia smirk.

She had run out of enemies. Jason had taken care of the storm spirits, and all the wolves that dared to come towards Natalia were fallen with silver arrows embedded in them. Piper had stabbed the last Earthborn, making it fall to clay. Natalia then began to walk towards Jason, who was still on his horse.

"You're too late," Khione snarled. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, Demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can ever stop us."

Leo set his hammers ablaze and threw them at the Goddess, but she turned into snow — a white powdery image of herself. Leo's hammers slammed into the snow woman, breaking it into a steaming mound of mush.

Natalia tried to catch her breath, but smiled up at Jason, her heart doing a flip at his ruggedly handsome state. "That's a cool horse, Sparky."

The horse reared on his hind legs, arcing electricity across his hooves. Show-off, Natalia thought to herself.

She then heard a cracking sound behind them. The melting ice on Hera's cage sloughed off in a curtain of slush, and the Goddess called, "Oh, don't mind me! Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!"

Natalia rolled her eyes and followed the other three down into the pool.

Leo frowned. "Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dolt! The Earth is claiming me. Hurry!"

Even though she didn't like Hera, what she saw in the cage wasn't good. Hera was sinking and the ground was rising. "The Giant wakes!" Hera warned. "You only have seconds!"

"On it," Leo said. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

"What?" she said.

"Talk to it. Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I—"

"Right!" Piper cleared her throat and said, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

The more she talked, the more confident she sounded. Natalia wasn't affected, thanks to her mother, but it seemed to have some effect on the cage. The mud was rising slower, and the tendrils seemed to soften. Leo pulled a circular saw out of his tool belt. How it fit in there, Natalia didn't know, but she guessed it was magic (then again, how was her how and arrow concealed into a bracelet?). Then Leo looked at the cord and grunted in frustration. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in!"

The spirit horse jumped into the pit and whinnied.

"Really?" Jason asked.

The horse dipped his head and trotted over to Leo. Leo looked dubious, but he held up the plug, and a breeze whisked it into the horse's flank. Lighting sparked, connecting with the prongs of the plug, and the circular saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "Your horse comes with AC outlets!"

Their good mood didn't last long. On the other side of the pool, the Giant's spire crumbled with a sound like a tree snapping in half. Its outer sheath of tendrils exploded from the top down, raining stone and wood shards as the Giant shook himself free and climbed out of the Earth.

Natalia's seen a lot of scary things in her life. If she thought Kronos (especially with Luke's face, he was frightening) and Enceladus were scary, Porphyrion was absolutely terrifying.

Porphyrion was even taller, and even more ripped. He didn't radiate heat, or show any signs of breathing fire, but there was something more terrible about him — a kind of strength, even magnetism, as if the Giant were so huge and dense he had his own gravitational field.

Like Enceladus, the Giant king was humanoid from the waist up, clad in bronze armor, and from the waist down he had scaly dragon's legs; but his skin was the color of lima beans. His hair was green as summer leaves, braided in long locks and decorated with weapons — daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody — maybe trophies taken from Demigods eons before. When the Giant opened his eyes, they were blank white, like polished marble. He took a deep breath.

"Ah, fuck," Natalia groaned.

"Alive!" he bellowed. "Praise to Gaea!"

Jason made a heroic little whimpering sound, and Natalia glanced over at him. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. No Demigod could take him alone, so it was two of them again. Porphyrion could lift mountains, and he could crush the two of them with one finger. They needed to work together.

"Leo," Jason said.

"Huh?" Leo's mouth was wide open. Even Piper seemed dazed.

"Keep working to get Hera free," Natalia said, notching an arrow. "Jason and I will distract him."

"What are you going to do?" Piper asked. "You can't seriously—"

"Entertain a Giant?" Jason said. "We've got no choice."

"Excellent!" the Giant roared as Natalia and Jason approached. "Appetizers! Who are you — Hermes? Ares?"

Natalia stood her ground, staring up at the giant with hatred so fierce it would make even Clarisse La Rue back down.

"Natalia Flynn," she said confidently. "Daughter of Artemis."

Jason appeared next to her. "I'm Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter."

Those white eyes bored into them. Behind him, Leo's circular saw whirred, and Piper talked to the cage in soothing tones, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed. "Outstanding!" He looked up at the cloudy night sky. "So, Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? And Artemis, you sacrifice your only daughter to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you."

The sky didn't even rumble, and the moon didn't shine brighter. No help from above. Natalia and Jason were on their own.

Jason dropped his makeshift club, and Natalia held her arrow up to the Giant. They had to buy Piper and Leo some time, and she was the only one with a weapon right now. To help Jason, she had to act extremely confident.

"You don't know who I am," she yelled, sending the Giant her most harsh glare. "If you did, you'd be worried about me, not my mother. Well, it's been nice knowing you for these two and a half minutes that you've been alive, because Jason and I are sending you right back to Tartarus."

Jason looked over at her with admiration. Natalia noticed, and she felt a surge of pride flow through her.

The Giant's eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched to get a better look at his opponents. "So . . . we'll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, Demigod. I am Porphryion, king of the Giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from Tartarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the Gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus' queen." He grinned at the Goddess's cage. "Hello, Hera."

"My husband destroyed you once, monster!" Hera said. "He'll do it again!"

"But he didn't, my dear! Zeus wasn't powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny Demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the Earth — and we will destroy you at the roots."

"You wouldn't dare," Hera said, but she was weakening. Natalia could hear it in her voice. Piper kept whispering to the cage and Leo kept sawing, but the Earth was still rising inside Hera's prison, covering her up to her waist.

"Oh, yes," the Giant said. "The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much, much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees — your eldest roots torn out and burned."

The Giant frowned at Piper and Leo, as if he'd just noticed them working at the cage. Natalia stepped forwards to gain back his attention.

"If we're so puny, how did that Demigod kill you?" she asked.

"Ha! You think I would explain it to you? I was created to be Zeus's replacement, born to destroy the Lord of the sky. I shall take his throne. I shall take his wife — or, if she will not have me, I will let the Earth consume her life force. What you see before you, child, is only my weakened form. I will grow stronger by the hour, until I am invincible. But I am already quite capable of smashing you to a grease spot!"

He rose to his full height and held out his hand. A twenty-foot spear shot from the Earth. He grasped it, then stomped the ground with his dragon's feet. The ruins shook. All around the courtyard, monsters started to regather — storm spirits, wolves, and Earthborn, all answering the Giant king's call.

"Great," Leo muttered. "We needed more enemies."

"Hurry," Hera said.

"I know!" Leo snapped.

"Go to sleep, cage," Piper said. "Nice, sleepy cage. Yes, I'm talking to a bunch of Earthen tendrils. This isn't weird at all."

Porphyrion raked his spear across the top of the ruins, destroying a chimney and spraying wood and stone across the courtyard. "So, child of Artemis! I have finished my boasting. Now it's your turn. What were you saying about destroying me?"

Natalia glanced over at the ring of monsters, waiting impatiently for their master's order to tear them to shreds. Leo's circular saw kept whirring, and Piper kept talking, but it seemed hopeless. Hera's cage was almost completely filled with Earth.

She took a few steps back to Jason. "Jason, show off. I need to do something."

"What?"

She looked at him intently. "Please."

"I'm the son of Jupiter!" he shouted, and just for effect, he summoned the winds, rising a few feet off the ground as Natalia silently retreated. "I'm a child of Rome, consul to Demigods, Praetor of the First Legion."

She didn't know what he was saying, but it sounded like he had recited it thousands of times. He held out his arms, showing the tattoo of the eagle and SPQR, and to Natalia's surprise, the Giant seemed to recognize it.

For a moment, Porphyrion actually looked uneasy.

"I slew the Trojan sea monster," Jason continued. "I toppled the black throne of Kronos, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands. And now I'm going to destroy you, Porphyrion, and feed you to your own wolves."

"Wow, dude," Leo muttered. "You been eating red meat?"

Jason launched himself at the Giant, determined to tear him apart. Natalia looked at him with pride, but then kept backtracking until she was behind the cage, hidden from the battle.

"You dare?" she heard the Giant bellow.

Jason yelled, "For Rome!"

"No!" Porphyrion yelled after the sounds of battle calmed down. He regained his balance and glared at the Demigod. "I will kill him myself."

"Yeah right," Natalia scoffed to herself.

"You want to play with lightning, boy? You forget. I am the bane of Zeus. I was created to destroy your father, which means I know exactly what will kill you."

Natalia knew what she had to do. It was her line in the Prophecy: Daughter of the hunt shall bend moonlight, when all goes wrong to make things right. Saying a quick prayer to her mother, she closed her eyes and summoned moonlight in her hands. Natalia focused on the moon, and felt a deep pulling in her gut. When she opened her eyes, the moonlight was shining on her, and she was glowing with a silver aura. She turned around and willed the light to shine right in Porphyrion's eyes, making him yell and stagger backwards. Natalia glanced quickly to her friends, who were watching her in shock.

"Got it!" Leo yelled.

"Sleep!" Piper said, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring.

The stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo had sawed through the base of the thickest tendril and apparently cut off the cage's connection to Gaea. The tendrils turned to dust. The mud around Hera disintegrated. The Goddess grew in size, glowing with power. Natalia felt the moonlight leave her, and she stopped glowing, immediately falling to one knee. That took a lot out of her.

"Yes!" the Goddess said. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair. "Now I shall have my revenge!"

The Giant Porphyrion backed away. He said nothing, but he gave Natalia one last look of hatred. His message was clear: Another time. Then he slammed his spear against the Earth, and the Giant disappeared into the ground like he'd dropped down a chute.

Around the courtyard, monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them.

Hera glowed brighter. She shouted, "Cover your eyes, my heroes!"

Natalia closed her eyes and looked away. A bright light occurred, and once it was over, she opened her eyes to see Jason on the ground, staring up with blank eyes. Her eyes widened, and they filled with tears as she pushed herself up, running towards him.

"Jason!" Natalia called, taking the boy into his arms and shaking him gently. A tear dripped down her cheek. "Gods, Jason, please."

"It's no use, child." Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl.

Natalia could see the aftereffects of Hera going nuclear. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before — still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Natalia's side, her hand on Jason's forehead. Natalia silently said a prayer to Apollo, hoping that since she was his niece he would help.

Thalia glared up at the Goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix him!"

Hera's eyes flickered with power, making Natalia grit her teeth. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um . . ." Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"Mortals can't look upon gods in that form," Natalia said with a choked voice, a tear falling as she looked at the Goddess. "You've killed him."

Leo shook his head in dismay as Natalia focused back on Jason. "That's what our Prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera's rage. Come on, lady. You're a Goddess. Do some voodoo magic on him! Bring him back."

Natalia's eyes widened as she stared at him. "H-He's breathing."

"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Jason," Piper called, putting every bit of her willpower into his name. Natalia brushed the hair out of his face. She could not lose him, so she hoped Piper's charmspeak worked. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."

Nothing happened. Had she imagined his breath stirring?

"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretfully. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"

"Jason," Piper said again, more rich in tone. "Wake up."

He gasped, and his eyes flew open. For a moment they were full of light glowing pure gold. Then the light faded and his eyes were normal again. "What — what happened?"

"Impossible!" Hera said.

Natalia let out a laugh and wrapped him in a tight hug until he groaned, "Crushing me."

"I don't really care," Natalia said, wiping a tear from her cheek as she pulled away, grabbing his hand instead.

Thalia gripped his other hand. "How do you feel?"

"Hot," he muttered. "Mouth is dry. And I saw something . . . really terrible."

"That was Hera," Thalia grumbled. "Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon."

"That's it, Thalia Grace," said the Goddess. "I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"

"Stop it, you two," Piper said.

Amazingly, they both shut up.

Natalia helped Jason to his feet and gave him the last bit of nectar from their supplies.

"Now . . ." Piper faced Thalia and Hera. "Hera — Your Majesty — we couldn't have rescued you without the Hunters. And Thalia, you never would've seen Jason again — I, Leo, or Natalia wouldn't have met him — if it weren't for Hera. You two make nice, because we've got bigger problems."

They both glared at her, and for three long seconds, Natalia wasn't sure which one of them was going to kill her first. She felt bad for the poor girl.

Finally Thalia grunted. "You've got spirit, Piper." She pulled a silver card from her parka and tucked it into the pocket of Piper's snowboarding jacket. "You ever want to be a Hunter, call me. We could use you."

Hera crossed her arms. "Fortunately for this Hunter, you have a point, daughter of Aphrodite." She assessed Piper, as if seeing her clearly for the time. "You wondered, Piper, why I chose you for this quest, why I didn't reveal your secret in the beginning, even when I knew Enceladus was using you. I must admit, until this moment I was not sure. Something told me you would be vital to the quest. Now I see I was right. You're even stronger than I realized. And you are correct about the dangers to come. We must work together."

Piper looked like she didn't know how to respond, but Leo stepped in.

"Yeah," he said, "I don't suppose that Porphyrion guy just melted and died, huh?"

"No," Hera agreed. "By saving me, and saving this place, you prevented Gaea from waking. You have bought us some time. But Porphyrion has risen. He simply knew better than to stay here, especially since he has not yet regained his full power. Giants can only be killed by a combination of God and Demigod, working together. Once you freed me—"

"He ran away," Jason said. "But to where?"

Hera didn't answer, but a sense of dread washed over Natalia. She remembered what Porphyrion had said about killing the Olympians by pulling up their roots. Greece. She looked at Thalia's grim expression, and guessed the Hunter had come to the same conclusion.

"I need to find Annabeth," Thalia said. "She has to know what's happened here."

"I'll tell her when we get back to camp, Thals," Natalia said.

"Thalia . . ." Jason gripped her hand. "We never got to talk about this place, or—"

"I know." Her expression softened. "I lost you here once. I don't want to leave you again. But we'll meet soon. I'll rendezvous with you back at Camp Half-Blood." She glanced at Hera. "You'll see them there safely? It's the least you can do."

"It's not your place to tell me—"

"Queen Hera," Piper interceded.

The Goddess sighed. "Fine. Yes. Just off with you, Hunter!"

Thalia gave Jason and Natalia a hug and said her good-byes. Natalia gave the rest of the Hunters hugs, promising to see them soon. When the Hunters were gone, the courtyard seemed strangely quiet. The dry reflecting pool showed no sign of the Earthen tendrils that had brought back the giant king or imprisoned Hera. The night sky was clear and starry. Natalia smiled at the moon, silently thanking her mother for her moon-bending skills.

Speaking of that, Leo turned to her. "Natalia, that whole moonlight thing was wicked."

"Thank you, Leo, but we have more important matters to discuss." She then looked over at Jason. "You said this was a sacred ground for Demigods, but I've never heard of it. What happened to you here?"

Jason shook his head uneasily, and took her hand. "It's still murky. The wolves . . ."

"You were given a destiny," Hera said. "You were given into my service."

Jason scowled. "Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn't stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he'd fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone. "

"It was the right choice for you as well, Jason," Hera insisted. "The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus' affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect — the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened — two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all Demigods of your kind start their journey."

"Of his kind?" Piper asked.

"She means Roman," Jason said. "Demigods are left here. We meet the she-wolf Goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus."

Hera nodded. "And if you are strong enough, you live."

"But . . ." Leo looked mystified. "What happened after that? I mean, Jason never made it to Camp."

"Not to Camp Half-Blood, no," Hera agreed.

Natalia squeezed Jason's hand tighter, feeling extremely dizzy. "There's another Camp . . . but where?"

Jason turned to the Goddess. "The memories are coming back, but not the location. You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No," Hera said. "That is part of your destiny, Jason. You must find your own way back. But when you do . . . you will unite two great powers. You will give us hope against the Giants, and more importantly — against Gaea herself."

"You want us to help you," Jason said, "but you're holding back information."

"Giving you answers would make those answers invalid," Hera said. "That is the way of the Fates. You must forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you four have surprised me. I would not have thought it possible . . ."

The Goddess shook her head. "Suffice to say, you have performed well, Demigods. But this is only the beginning. Now you must return to Camp Half-Blood, where you will begin planning for the next phase."

"Which you won't tell us about," Jason grumped, and Natalia glanced up at him with an amused look. "And I suppose you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we'll have to walk home?"

Hera waved aside the question. "Storm spirits are creatures of chaos. I did not destroy that one, though I have no idea where he went, or whether you'll see him again. But there is an easier way home for you. As you have done me a great service, so I can help you — at least this once. Farewell, Demigods, for now."

The world turned upside down, and Natalia almost passed out.

When she could see straight again, she was back at Camp in the dining pavilion during the middle of dinner. They were standing on the Aphrodite Cabin's table, and Piper had one foot in Drew's pizza. Natalia was still holding hands with Jason, and ignored some of the looks thrown their way. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment.

Whatever Hera had done to shoot them across the country, it wasn't good for Natalia's stomach whatsoever. She could barely control her nausea and the urge to throw up. Leo wasn't so lucky. He jumped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it — not a very good offering to the Gods.

"Jason?" Chiron trotted forward. He had probably seen a lot of weird things during his years, but this was definitely a new one. "Natalia? What — How—?"

The Aphrodite campers stared up at Natalia with their mouths open, and she guessed she probably looked awful. However, she didn't care, and gave Chiron a small wave with an awkward smile.

"Uh, hi Chiron," she said as casually as she could. "We're back."

★彡

last chapter is next, who's ready?
OH and I got a new cover for these books, they're gorg
ANDDD I'm working on a Harry Potter story ;)