Tori's pov
I was in shock.
"Jason!" Piper kept calling his name as she held him, but I could tell she'd almost lost hope. His body was steaming, his eyes rolled back in his head. I couldn't tell if he was even breathing. But this is my best friend, my brother. Jason Grace has saved my life multiple times, he's never given up on me no matter how bad my situation got. He's stayed by my side. In the end, it was always him and I. I was not giving up on him.
"It's no use, child." Hera stood over us in her simple black robes and shawl.
I came back to my senses. "Yeah, I don't care. Fix him." I said.
I didn't see the goddess go nuclear. Thankfully I'd closed my eyes, but I could see the aftereffects. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No sign of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that we'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.
Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Piper's side, her hand on Jason's forehead.
Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"
"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"
"Fix him!" I yelled at Hera. "Jason Grace is my best friend, my brother. Through everything in my life, his friendship never faltered. He never gave up on me, so I'm not giving up on him." A few tears were involuntarily coming down my face. "Fix him, Hera. Or by the gods, Jupiter will be that last thing you should worry about!"
I felt my hands heat up, like fire was trying to push out onto my hands. But I took a breath and the heat subsided—but not my melancholiness.
Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told you all to close your eyes before I revealed my true form."
"Um..." Leo frowned. "True for is bad, right? So why did you do it?"
"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."
"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed him!"
I felt nauseous again. I fell down to my knees. Tears started to make their way down my face. I heard Leo talking about a line in the prophecy. Death unleash, through Hera's rage but it sounded so distant like a whisper. The only stable person in my life, the only one I was certain I could trust. My friend. My best friend. My brother. Jason "golden boy" Grace, was dea–no, he couldn't be. My golden boy could not die. Not on me. I never gave up on him, he can't give up on me. But he did. I lowered my head and let the tears flow.
Then Piper announced, "He's breathing!"
I looked up and wiped off my glasses (that somehow stayed on my face this entire time) and my face.
"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true child, but no mortal has ever—"
"Jason," Piper called. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."
"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretful. "Even I cannot fix this girl. He has a mortal spirit—"
"Oh do shut up." I interrupted. "Your the reason we're in this mess." I lowered my head again as I start to cry again. Please, I prayed silently to Pluto, let him live. Take my life in exchange if you have to but let him live.
"Jason," Piper said again. "Wake up."
He gasped, when I looked up, his eyes flew open. For a moment they were full of light—glowing pure gold. Then the light faded and his eyes were normal again. "What—what happened?"
"Impossible!" Hera said.
Piper wrapped him in a hug until he groaned, "Crushing me."
"Sorry," she said, she laughed while whipping a tear from her eye.
Thalia gripped her brother's hand. "How do you feel?"
"Hot," he muttered. "Mouth is dry. And I saw something...really terrible."
"That was Hera," Thalia grumbled. "Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon."
"That's it, Thalia Grace," said the goddess. "I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"
"Stop it, you two," Piper said. Amazingly, they both shut up.
I stood up and walked over to Jason, I looked at him for a second and we made eye contact. And I slapped him so hard that there was a red imprint of my hand on his right cheek. Then I got down and hugged him.
We didn't say anything. Words weren't needed. It was like that for a good minute.
"I'm okay, Jacks." Jason said in my ear. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You do know that if you ever pull something like that again, I will murder you." I said. "I will legitimately go to the Underworld and murder you."
We laughed a little bit. I sat up and wiped off my eyes and glasses.
Piper and I helped Jason to his feet and give him the last nectar from our supplies.
"Now..." Piper faced Thalia and Hera. "Hera—Your Majesty—we couldn't have rescued you without the Hunters. And Thalia, you never would've seen Jason again—I wouldn't have met him—if it weren't for Hera. You two make nice, because we've got bigger problems."
They both glared at her, and for three long seconds, I wasn't sure which one of them was going to kill her first.
Finally Thalia grunted. "You've got spirit, Piper." She pulled a silver card from her parka and tucked it into the pocket of Piper's snowboard jacket. Then she walked over to me and did the same. "If either of you ever want to be a Hunter, call me. We could use you."
Hera crossed her arms. "Fortunately for this Hunter, you have a point daughter of Aphrodite." She assessed Piper, as if seeing her clearly for the first time. "You wondered, Piper, why I chose you for this quest, why I didn't reveal your secret in the beginning, even when I knew Enceladus was using you. I must admit, until this moment I was not sure. Something told me you would be vital to the quest. Now I see I was right. You're even stronger than I realized. And you are correct about the dangers to come. We must work together."
Just by Piper's face, she wasn't sure how to respond to Hera's compliment, but Leo stepped in.
"Yeah," he said, "I don't suppose that Porphyrion guy just melted and died, huh?"
"No." Hera agreed. "By saving me, and saving this place, you prevented Gaea from waking. You have bought us some time.But Porphyrion has risen. He simply knew better than to stay here, especially since he has not regained his full power. Giants can only be killed by a combination of god and demigod, working together. Once you freed me--"
"He ran away," I said. "But to where?"
Hera didn't answer, but a sense of dread washed over me. I remembered what Porphyrion had said about killing the Olympians by pulling up their roots. Greece, I looked at Thalia's grim expression, and guessed the Hunter had come to the same conclusion.
"I need to find Annabeth," Thalia said. "She has to know what's happened here."
"Thalia..." Jason gripped her hand. "We never got to talk about this place, or--"
"I know." Her expression softened. "I lost you here once. I don't want to leave you again. But we'll meet soon. I'll rendezous with you back at Camp Half-Blood." She glanced at Hera. "You'll see them there safely? It's the least you can do."
"It's not your place to tell me--"
"Queen Hera," Piper interceded.
The goddess sighed. "Fine. Yes. Just off with you , Hunter!"
Thalia gave Jason a hug and said her good-byes. Whem the Hunters were gone, the courtyard seemed strangely quiet. The dry reflecting pool showed no sign of earthen dentrils that had brought back the giant king or imprisoned Hera. The night sky was clear and starry. And when I looked closely, I saw 4 stars that shined the brighest of them all, they felt special to me, and I knew why now, though, I wished I didn't.
The wind rustled in the redwoods. I remembered I used to climb them all the time when I was a kid. I would come out here with Jason and... well, someone else who I can't remember at this moment. The three of us would just sit up high in the trees and just talked and hung out away from the Legion at night.
"Jason, what happened to you here?" Piper asked. "I mean--I know your mom abandoned you here. But you said it was sacred ground for demigods. Why? What happened after you were on your own?"
Jason shook his head uneasily. "It's still murky. The wolves..."
You were given a destiny," Her said. "You were given into my service."
Jason scowled. "Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn't stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he'd fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone."
"It was the right choice for you as well, Jason," Hera insisted. "The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus's affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect--the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened--two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all demigods of your kind start their journey."
"Of his kind?" Piper asked.
"She means Roman," I said. "Demigods are left here. We meet the she-wolf goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus."
Hera nodded. "And if you strong enough, you live."
"But..." Leo looked mystified. "What happened after that? I mean, Tori and Jason never made it to camp."
"Not to Camp Half-Blood, no," Hera agreed.
"You two went somewhere else," Piper said. "That's where both of you been for all these years. Somewhere else for demigods--but where?"
Jason turned to the goddess. "The memories are coming back, but not the location. You're not going to tell us, are you?"
"No," Hera said. "That is the part of your destinies, Jason. You must find your own ways back, you and Victoria. But when you two do...you will untie two great powers. You will give us hope against the giants, and more importantly--against Gaea herself."
"You want us to help you," I said, "but you're holding back information. Do you see the flaw in your plan?"
"Giving you answers would make those answers invalid," Hera said. "That is the way of the Fates. You must forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you four have surprised me. I would not have thought it possible..."
The goddess shook her head. "Suffice to say, your have performed well, demigods. But this is only the beginning. Now you must return to Camp Half-Blood, where you will begin planning for the next phase."
"Which you won't tell us about," Jason grumped. "And I suppose you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we'll have to walk home?"
Hera waved aside the question. "Storm spirits are creatures of chaos. I did not destroy that one, though I have no idea where he went, or weather you'll see him again. But there is an easier way home for you. As you have done me a great service, so I can help you--at least this once. Fare--"
"Wait." I said and went up to Hera so the others wouldn't here. "I want my necklace back. Ever since I got it when I was ten I have never taken it off. Next thing I know, I wake up on a school bus in nowhere, Nevada with no beaded necklace. I want it back."
Hera rolled her eyes, but she waved her hand and there it was and she gave it to me. "Thank you." I said and I went to Jason's side.
"Farewell, demigods," Hera said. "For now."
The world turned upside down (A/N: Isn't that from a musical?), and I almost blacked out.
When I could see straight again, I was back at camp, in the dining pavilion, in the middle of dinner. We were standing on the Aphrodite cabin's table. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment.
Whatever Hera had done to shoot us across the country, it wasn't good for my stomach. I could barely control my nausea. Leo wasn't so lucky. He jumped of the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it--which was probably not a great burnt offering to the gods.
"Jason, Tori?" Chiron trotted forward. No doubt the old centaur had seen thousands of years' of weird stuff, but he looked totally flabbergasted. "What--How--?"
The Aphrodite campers stared up at Piper with their mouths open. I figured they thought she looked awful.
"Hi," she said, as casually as she could. "We're back."