[ chapter thirty-seven: hermia ]
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Once inside, Jason seemed to get his bearings. The house was built in a giant U, and Jason led them between the two wings to an outside courtyard with an empty reflecting pool. At the bottom of the pool, just as Jason had described from his dream, two spires of rock and root tendrils had cracked through the foundation.
One of the spires was much bigger-a solid dark mass about twenty feet high, and to Hermia it looked like a stone body bag. Underneath the mass of fused tendrils she could make out the shape of a head, wide shoulders, a massive chest and arms, like the creature was stuck waist deep in the earth. No, not stuck-rising.
On the opposite end of the pool, the other spire was smaller and more loosely woven. Each tendril was as thick as a telephone pole, with so little space between them that Mia doubted she could've gotten her arm through. Still, she could see inside. And in the center of the cage stood Hera.
Hera definitely looked more different then Mia had thought. Her hair was covered with a shawl, the black dress of a widow, a wrinkled face with glinting, scary eyes. She didn't glow or radiate any sort of power. She looked like a regular mortal woman.
Hermia watched as Leo dropped into the pool and approached the cage. "Hola, Tía. Little bit of trouble?"
She crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. "Don't inspect me like I'm one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!"
Thalia stepped next to him and looked at the cage with distaste-or maybe she was looking at the goddess. "We tried everything we could think of, Leo, but maybe my heart wasn't in it. If it was up to me, I'd just leave her in there."
Hermia didn't know what type of problems Thalia had with Hera, but maybe she would find out soon. But then again there was much more important stuff to take care off.
"Ohh, Thalia Grace," the goddess said. "When I get out of here, you'll be sorry you were ever born."
"Save it!" Thalia snapped. "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-"
"She was disrespectful!"
"You dropped a statue on my legs."
"It was an accident!"
"And you took my brother!" Thalia's voice cracked with emotion. "Here-on this spot. You ruined our lives. We should leave you to Gaea!"
"Hey," Jason intervened. "Thalia-Sis-I know. But this isn't the time. You should help your Hunters."
Thalia clenched her jaw. "Fine. For you, Jason. But if you ask me, she isn't worth it." Thalia turned, leaped out of the pool, and stormed from the building.
"Hermia King, I was hoping you'd show up with these heroes." Mia glanced back at Hera. Suddenly all attention was on Hermia and Hera. Mia didn't know how Hera could possibly know Hermia would be here. Hermia might have been written into the Prophecy, but Mia thought her father was the only God to know she was back. But from the looks of it she was wrong.
"Did you?"
"Yes, I knew Gaea would be foolish enough to wake you up. You were always so strong, only a monster like her would want the help of a demigod to take down the gods."
Hermia shared a glance with Jason. He sent her a small reassuring smile. When Mia turned back to look at Hera she said, "Yeah, well I'm not letting her use me as a pawn anymore. So, I'm making my own decisions from now on."
"Good." Hera said with a smirk. She had obviously caught on to the looks Jason and Mia shared, and she seemed pleased. "I figured paring you with a demigod like Jason Grace would persuade you to change your mind."
Hermia's eyebrows knitted together in thought. What the hell did she mean by that? Mia thought as she leaned from one foot to the other. "What are you talking about."
"Do you really think you coming back was a coincidence?" Hermia watch the goddess in question. "Your destiny was long written before you were even born. Not only that, but also your one true love." The mention of Lysander made Mia freeze.
"You were always destined to spend time in the Labyrinth, but your decision to help Lysander Black caused us to speed up the process. We knew you would be the only one to take on Gaea, with help of course. But before we could even get to you her monsters found you and took you. So I had to change my plans."
"What plans." Mia asked as the group watched in question. Hermia knew there must be a lot of thoughts running through their heads. But at the moment all that mattered was getting the answers she needed.
"You're story has been passed down through centuries. All the demigods in Camp Half-Blood knew about you before you knew yourself. Even Jason Grace knew, why do you think he's had a special connection to you since you met him?"
Mia and Jason shared a glance. Jason obviously looked really confused, but maybe once he got his memories back this will all make sense. But still it hurt Hermia to know that Hera had been behind their meeting. From what Hera had said someone or something wrote her life out in a Prophecy and apparently picked her future husband as well. Mia didn't know what to do with this information.
Could her future husband be Jason? Or would it be Lysander? What if it's someone she didn't even know yet. All these questions were going to kill her.
"I always planned for you to meet Jason Grace on this quest. You two have a connection I can sense it, even Aphrodite said that the only way to get you to switch sides would be to grow closer to him. From the looks of it I was right."
Hermia didn't like how these goddesses had a say on what happened in Mia's life. But sadly she couldn't do anything to change her life now. Mia knew Hera was right, it was basically Jason-and her friends- that made Hermia choose the good side. Not to mention Demetrius and her father also played a big part in her decision making.
But Mia couldn't let herself glance at Jason again. If this was just the goddesses plan to get her closer to Jason, did that mean their feelings for each other was a lie? She didn't want it to be a lie, but in the back of her mind she couldn't stop thinking about Lysander.
Leo cleared his throat as he turned to Hera with grudging respect. "Um, intestinally challenged cows?" He was obviously trying to change the subject, which Hermia was thankful for.
"Focus on the cage, Leo," Hera grumbled. "And Jason-you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion and his girl well."
"I'm not your champion, lady," Jason said as he glanced at Mia. "And Hermia isn't my girl. I'm only helping you because you stole my memories and you're better than the alternative. Speaking of which, what's going on with that?"
He nodded to the other spire that looked like the king-size granite body bag. Was Mia imagining it, or had it grown taller since they'd gotten here?
"That, Jason," Hera said, "is the king of the giants being reborn."
"Gross," Piper said. She was right, Hermia really wished she could be back home with her family. But instead she was stuck here.
"Indeed," Hera said. "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."
"So you're like a heat lamp," Leo guessed. "Or fertilizer."
The goddess glared at him, but Hermia could tell Leo didn't care. Honestly neither did Mia. This lady has literally been making her life miserable since she woke from her slumber. Hermia couldn't help but smirk, Leo totally had rights to rag on her.
"Joke all you wish," Hera said in a clipped tone. "But at sundown, it will be too late. The giant will awake. He will offer me a choice: marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be destroyed. And as we die, Gaea will awaken and she will have Hermia's blood."
Mia didn't like the sound of that. She also hated how Hera had mentioned Mia's blood. What was so special about Hermia's blood? Gaea obviously had plans for it, but for what?
Leo frowned at the giant's spire. "Can't we blow it up or something?"
"Without me, you do not have the power," Hera said. "Not even Hermia's magic will be enough. You might as well try to destroy a mountain."
"Done that once today," Jason said.
"Just hurry up and let me out!" Hera demanded.
Jason scratched his head. He tried to glance at Hermia again, but she was just watching Leo. Jason sighed and turned to look at his friend. "Leo, can you do it?"
"I don't know." Leo tried not to panic. "Besides, if she's a goddess, why hasn't she busted herself out?"
Hera paced furiously around her cage, cursing in what Hermia guessed was Ancient Greek. "Use your brain, Leo Valdez. I picked you because you're intelligent. Once trapped, a god's power is useless. Your own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg-beg him for my freedom and apologize for throwing him off Olympus."
"Sounds fair," Leo said.
Hera gave him the godly stink-eye. "I've watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you."
"But it's not a machine. It's like Gaea thrust her hand out of the ground and..." Hermia watched as Leo paused. "Hold on. I do have an idea. Piper, I'm going to need your help. And we're going to need time."
The air turned brittle with cold. The temperature dropped so fast, Hermia's lips cracked and her breath changed to mist. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Venti rushed in -but instead of winged men, these were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightning. Some had silver arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.
Piper drew her dagger as Mia prepared to chant a spell. Jason grabbed an ice-covered plank off the pool floor. Leo reached into his tool belt and drew a hammer instead.
One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see-an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.
"Oh no." Mia mumbled as she finally glanced at Jason.
"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward, but Hermia and Leo pulled him back. The ground around Thalia's statue was already webbed with ice. Hermia feared if Jason touched her, he might freeze too.
"Who did this?" Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!" Mia held on to him tightly and didn't let go.
From somewhere behind the monsters, Mia heard a girl's laughter, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair.
"You've got to be kidding me." Hermia growled out.
"Bon soir, mes amis," said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. "Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."
Buckle up because next chapter will have the fight scene and Hermia will make her final choice between good and evil.
Remember this line?
"The child of magic holds the key, to freedom or perish the heart
must fall."
What do you think Hermia will choose? Let me know!
Thank you for reading!
Don't forget to leave a comment and vote!