anti hero - percy jackson ²

iii. trouble

"like I said, I don't remember anything."

Cassandra exhaled shakily, and opened her eyes. The headache had dulled to an slight ache, but wasn't gone. She glanced around, and released her head from her hands.

Jason and Rachel laid Piper down on the couch, and Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in a coma of sorts.

What the hell just happened? She wondered. She felt her nose drip, and raised her hand to prevent it from hitting her jeans.

When she pulled her hand away, she saw the drop of red and immediately grabbed a napkin from the table, and held it to her nose. She didn't bother checking for any gold specks. She already knew they would be there.

She wiped her hand on another napkin and stood up. She was curious how no one had seemed to notice her episode.

"We've got to heal her" Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"

Chiron put his hand on Piper's forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"

"I wish I knew" She said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Cassandra questioned, walking over to them.

"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me" Rachel responded.

Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper. "Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her—"

"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.

Annabeth stared at him. "How did you know that?"

Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart. To ward off evil. "Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."

He trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained what had happened again—a dark, misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron.

"So does this happen often?" He asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron" Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"

"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."

Annabeth frowned. "I've never heard of anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"

"I don't think so" Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice—"

Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that."

The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.

At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But..."

"But what?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron closed the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."