misplaced || l. valdez

8 || piper actually passes out this time

° ~ •. ♆ chapter eight ♆ .• ~ °
"piper actually passes out this time"

Hera's cabin was the complete opposite of the Poseidon cabin. It was cold, dark, and unwelcoming, with a circle of white columns around a central stature of the goddess, ten feet tall, seated on a throne in flowing golden robes. Mari had always thought Greek statues were just white marble with blank eyes, but this one was so brightly painted that it almost looked human— except huge. Hera's piercing eyes seemed to follow Mari everywhere.

There was nothing in the cabin, no beds, no furniture, no bathroom, no windows, nothing that anyone could actually use to live. The only thing in the cabin was a bronze brazier that had a fire burning in it. The fire was the only source of light for the otherwise very dark cabin.

Piper was standing in front of the statue, but she didn't seem that interested in it. Instead, she was staring at something, or someone, behind it. There was a little altar in the back, where a figure stood in a black shawl. Only their hands were visible, palms up. They seemed to be chanting something, like a spell or prayer.

Annabeth gasped. "Rachel?"

The figure turned. She dropped her shawl, revealing a mane of curly red hair and a freckled face that didn't go with the seriousness of the cabin or the black shawl. She looked about seventeen, a totally normal teenager in a green blouse and tattered jeans covered in marker doodles. She was barefoot despite the cold floor.

"Hey!" She ran to give Annabeth a hug. "I'm so sorry. I came as fast as I could."

They talked for a few minutes about Annabeth's boyfriend and how there was no news, et cetera, until finally Annabeth remembered Piper and Mari, who stood uncomfortably by the side.

"I'm being rude." Annabeth apologized. "Rachel, this is Piper and Mari, two of the half-bloods we rescued today. Piper, Mari, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our oracle."

"The friend who lives in the cave." Mari guessed.

Rachel grinned. "That's me."

"So you're an oracle?" Piper asked. "You can tell the future?"

"More like the future mugs me from time to time." Rachel joked. "I speak prophecies. The oracle's spirit kind of hijacks me every once in a while and speaks important stuff that doesn't make any sense to anybody. But yeah, the prophecies tell the future.

Mari blinked at her while Piper shifted from foot to foot. "That's cool."

Rachel laughed. "Don't worry. Everybody finds it a little creepy. Even me. But usually I'm harmless."

"You're a demigod?"

"Nope." Rachel said. "Just mortal."

"Then what are you..." Piper waved her hand around the room.

Rachel's smile faded. She glanced at Annabeth, then back at Piper and Mari. "Just a hunch. Something about this cabin and Percy's disappearance. They're connected somehow. I've learned to follow my hunches, especially the last month, since the gods went silent.

"Went silent?" Piper and Mari asked in unison.

Rachel frowned at Annabeth. "You haven't told them yet?"