{Kiara}
Kiara hesitated. "When I was—" She stopped. She wouldn't tell Chiron about the voice of the old woman. Not yet. "When I was on the skywalk at the Grand Canyon, I got this feeling of danger. And the same feeling returned when I was on the chariot." She paused, searching for the words. "It's as if someone forbade me from being high up in the air."
"Oh gods." All of the color had drained out of Chiron's face. "That's bad."
Kiara shot to her feet. "What's bad?"
Chiron looked at the girl in front of him. He looked sad and... scared. He shook his head. "That cannot be possible," he muttered. He looked at Kiara, then at Jason. "You two, are the children of the Big Three. I knew you were powerful, but..." He trailed off, leaning back in his wheelchair.
In the corner, the arcade game made a sad pew-pew-pew-pew sound, like a Pac-Man had just died.
"Your presence here could be a disaster," Chiron said.
"Thanks," Kiara said. "You must be an inspiring teacher."
"I am sorry, my girl. But it's true. I had hoped that after Percy's success—"
"Percy Jackson, you mean. Annabeth's boyfriend, the one who's missing," Jason guessed.
Chiron nodded. "I hoped that after he succeeded in the Titan War and saved Mount Olympus, we might have some peace. I might be able to enjoy one final triumph, a happy ending, and perhaps retire quietly. I should have known better. The last chapter approaches, just as it did before. The worst is yet to come."
"Ohh-kay," Jason said. "So—we are really powerful demigods and a lot of bad things will happen. Sounds fun, but can we go back to the part where I'm supposed to be dead? I don't like that part."
"I'm afraid I can't explain, my boy. I swore on the River Styx and on all things sacred that I would never..." Chiron frowned. "But you're here, in violation of the same oath. That too, should not be possible. I don't understand. Who would've done such a thing? Who would dare bring you here?"
"Probably the lady in the mist," Jason suggested. He was at his feet now, sword drawn. He was glaring at Seymour.
Kiara furrowed her eyebrows. "Weren't you just sitting... Why do you have a sword drawn?"
"I hate to tell you this," Jason said, "but I think your leopard just ate a goddess." He told Chiron and Kiara about the goddess who had apparently made a frozen-in-time visit, the dark misty figure that disappeared into Seymour's mouth.
"Oh, dear," Chiron murmured. "That does explain a lot."
"Then why don't you explain a lot to me?" Jason said. "Please."
Before Chiron could say anything, footsteps reverberated on the porch outside. The front door blew open, and Annabeth and another girl, a redhead, burst in, dragging Piper between them. Piper's head lolled like she was unconscious.
"What happened?" Kiara rushed over. "What's wrong with her?"
"Hera's cabin," Annabeth gasped, like they'd run all the way. "Vision. Bad."
The redheaded girl looked up, and Kiara saw her eyes were puffy and red as if she'd been crying. "I think ..." The redheaded girl gulped. "I think Imay have killed her."
"What?!" Kiara demanded. "What do you mean you might've killed her?" She would never admit it out loud, but she cared about Piper very much. It would kill her if Piper was dead.
Chiron wheeled towards them. "Put her on the couch," he said. "Annabeth, go get a med kit."
Annabeth rushed down the hall to do as she was told, as Kiara and Jason laid Piper down on the couch. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.
"We've got to heal her," Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"
Seeing her so pale, barely breathing, Kiara felt a surge of protectiveness. Maybe she didn't really know her. Maybe she wasn't really her best friend. But they'd survived the Grand Canyon together. They'd come all this way to Camp Half-Blood together. Kiara felt as if she had already lost a lot of the people she loved. She couldn't bear to lose Piper.
Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"
"I wish I knew," she said. Kiara was trying hard not to lash out at the girl. She didn't remember what had happened, and Kiara knew exactly how that felt. So, why was she so angry with Rachel? "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?" Chiron asked.
"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like a long distance, a power trying to speak through me."
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?"
Kiara didn't hear the rest. She had already zoned out. She sounded like an older woman. Could it be the same woman who had spoken in Kiara's mind? Was she the enemy, or an ally? And why did she care so much about Piper? She didn't even know her! She zoned back into reality.
"I don't think so," Jason was saying. "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."
"Or now," Jason said. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"
"Oh," Rachel said in a small voice that made Kiara turn to look at her. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."
"Hera?" Annabeth's snarl was even fiercer than Seymour's. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"
"I think Rachel's right," Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—this goatskin cloak."
"That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?" asked Kiara.
"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."
Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."
"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"
Annabeth crossed her arms. "Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera—"
"Annabeth," Chiron warned, "she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods' family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help—"
"Fine," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago. And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan...?"
Jason looked at the leopard's head. "Hera said she'd been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month."
"Which is how long Olympus has been closed," Annabeth said. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."
"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods—let them know where she is so they bust her out?"
Kiara sighed silently. They had forgotten about her again. Maybe it was because she blended well with the shadows. She plumped down next to Piper on the couch and gazed at the girl, admiring her beauty.
Her chocolate brown hair was like a halo encircling her gorgeous face. Thin strands of braids showed here and there, tied at the ends with bird feathers. Her tan skin reminded Kiara of the earth.
She focused back on reality when Annabeth spoke. "Why are you so quiet, Chiron? What is it we're facing?"
The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines m around his eyes were deeply etched. "My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."
Annabeth blinked. "You've never... you've never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy—"
"I will be in my office." His voice was heavy. "I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And Annabeth, you should speak with Jason and Kiara. Tell them about—about the Greek and Roman gods."
Annabeth turned her gaze to Kiara, as if just noticing that the girl was there as well. "But..."
The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. She muttered something in Greek, and Kiara got the feeling it wasn't complimentary toward centaurs.
"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I think my being here—I don't know. I've messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."
"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods..." Her voice trailed off. Apparently she'd just noticed Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. She touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.
"Is this gold?" she said. "Do you remember where you got it?"
Kiara's mind went directly to her own sword. It was disguised as one of her rings. Back at the Grang Canyon, she had instinctively took off her ring, which had then turned to a sword. A sword made of gold and dark iron. A sort of iron that seemed to attract shadows.
"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."
Annabeth nodded, like she'd just come up with a rather desperate plan. "If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means... Cabin Fifteen. Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?"
"Sure," Rachel promised. "Good luck, you three."
Kiara didn't want to leave Piper's side, but reluctantly, she got up and walked over to Annabeth's side.
"Hold on," Jason said. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"
Annabeth stood and looked over at Kiara, then back at Jason. "Maybe a way to get your memories back."
As the three demigods started walking towards the exit, Kiara stood in front of Rachel. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," she told the redhead. She nodded at Piper. "Take good care of her, please."
Rachel smiled a warm smile at Kiara. "I will. Don't worry."