heavy bones [jason grace]

23. i insult a goddess

note: very important question at end of chapter, pls answer!!!

*

Thalia leads us inside, and Jason takes it from there.

The house is shaped like a horseshoe. It kind of reminds me of the cabins back at CHB — before we added the newer cabins, anyway. Jason guides us, between the two wings to a courtyard with a reflecting pool. It might've been glorious in its heyday, but now the pavement is cracked and the reflecting pool is empty save for the two rock spires Jason had told us about. Within the taller of the two spires, maybe twenty feet high, is something that looks too close to a body to comfort. The body appears to be rising. That must be our buddy Porphyrion. 

Great.

Hera stands in the spire at the opposite end of the pool. The tendrils that make up the bars of her cage are so thick and close together that it's hard to see inside. I have to squint to spot Hera in between the bars. She doesn't look as regal as I remember. She looks like Leo had described his Tía Callida, shawl and all.

Speaking of Leo, he drops into the pool and greets Hera, "Hola, Tía. Little bit of trouble?"

She's not amused. She folds her arms over her chest and lets out an annoyed sigh. "Don't inspect me like I'm one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!"

"We tried everything we could think of, Leo," Thalia says, coming to stand beside him. She glowers at the cage. Or maybe at Hera? Or maybe both. I'm going to go with both, "but maybe my heart wasn't in it. If it was up to me, I'd just leave her in there."

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

Thalia's eye twitches and she grits her teeth. "Save it! 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—"

I wince and look away while the two bicker. Now that we're in the courtyard, I can get a clearer look at the remains of the Wolf House. The fire did quite a bit of damage, but enough survived that I'm kind of tempted to go exploring. For some reason, my gaze is drawn to what must've been a chimney once upon a time.

It isn't until Thalia stomps off that I jolt back to reality. Piper's looking at me, a glimmer of concern in her eyes. I offer her as comforting a smile as I can possibly manage, but it doesn't seem to do much to convince her I'm actually okay.

"Intestinally challenged cows?" Leo asks Hera, looking almost impressed.

"Focus on the cage, Leo," she tells him. "And Jason — you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion well."

Jason raises his chin. "I'm not your champion, lady. I'm only helping you because you stole my and Cordy's memories, and you're better than the alternative. Speaking of which, what's going on with that?"

He gestures to the other spire which has, unfortunately, grown taller since we've arrived. I grimace and shift closer to Jason.

Hera confirms my suspicions. "That, Jason, is the king of the giants being reborn."

"Gross," Piper mutters.

"Major ick," I agree, crinkling my nose. At least when Kronos was reforming, he had the decency to do it in a sarcophagus where we didn't have to see the process.

"Indeed," Hera says. "Porphyrion, the strongest of his kind. Gaea needed a great deal of power to raise him again — my power. For weeks I've grown weaker as my essence was used to grow him a new form."