▬▬ HELLFIRE▬▬
ii. APHRODITE'S CHILDREN

▬▬▬★▬▬▬

REALLY, THIS WHOLE THING COULD BE BLAMED ON ANNABETH CHASE trusting Sam, Andy and Will of all people to take care of a new demigod without poisoning her mind with shitty jokes.

It had only been a few minutes, and Andy Bessano had probably cured every single damn pun he had at poor Piper McLean. Luckily, though, most of them seemed to go over her head. Sam was starting to get the idea that this girl was a bit of a ditz. Or maybe she just wholeheartedly didn't understand jokes.

"So..." she said aimlessly after Andy had finished his verbal joke abuse on her, "how long have you two been here?"

"Three years, I think." Sam comments, "I don't have it down to an exact science. But we're all year round campers."

"Cool, cool." Piper is obviously straining her brain for any questions to break the ice, "Who are your parents?"

"You mean the godly ones?" Andy crosses his arms.

"Yeah, no shit she means the godly ones." Will says to the shorter boy. Andy sticks his tongue out at Will, before clearing his throat.

He pointedly ignores Will's comment and addresses Piper, who looks as innocent as a new born puppy. "My dad is Dionysus. His dad's Apollo. Her mum's Aphrodite."

Upon seeing the confused look on the unclaimed demigod's face, Will looks at her and says, "Wine god, sun god, love god."

"Oh, alright." All the stress on her face clears as she looks towards the floating debris of her ride to Camp Half-Blood, splattered across he lake, "Sorry for ruining your chariot."

"It's fine." Will tells her honestly, "You weren't the one driving it." Sam can practically hear the giant 'fuck you' to Butch and Annabeth hidden in his words.

The blonde boy takes in a deep breath before jumping into the lake towards the wood pieces floating above the surface.

"Will, be careful!" Andy warns from the shore.

Sam digs and shakes her head at the two boys before smiling softly. Piper catches onto this, her eyebrows raising.

"Is Will your..." Piper smirks, raising your eyebrows.

"My what?" Sam asks, her attention snapping back to Piper.

"You know..." Piper trailed off suggestively.

Sam blinked. "I really don't."

Piper sighed, before clearing her throat and speaking in a lower voice, "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Ugh, gross!" Sam's face curled up in disgust. She almost laughed. Dating Will Solace? That was probably the funniest joke she's ever heard, "That's like incest! He's more like my mother."

"What's so funny?" The son of Dionysus asks, a couple yards away from the pair. He's lugging the broken pieces of wood Will threw onto the shore to higher ground.

"She thought me and Songbird over there were dating." Sam whistles, pointing to the blonde boy in the water, who's screaming at the nymphs.

"Gross." Andy grimaces, "That's like incest."

"That's what I said!" Sam points out, her shoulders dropping. Piper looks really confused.

"Yo, Will!" Andy calls out to the boy in the water, "You good there?"

"I'm fine!" Will yells back, not looking fine at all.

"He's stubborn." Andy notes, pouring back to the son of Apollo who looked like he was about to sink, "I'm going to go make sure he doesn't drown himself by mistake."

Silence settled between the two girls as Andy raced into the water. Sam crosses her arms, "Is the blonde boy... Jason, right? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yeah!" Piper's face admittedly lit up at the recognition of her relationship status. Her cheeks turned a bright pink, "For a few months."

Something about that didn't feel right. As a child of Aphrodite, Sam had the powers to sense others emotions. And even though she wouldn't admit it, the reason she was so good at it was because she was nosy as hell.

And the way Piper's emotions piqued when Jason was mentioned didn't feel right. It felt like it had been added. It felt... fake.

"You guys look cute together." The daughter of Aphrodite said instead, not wanting Piper to seem suspicious. At the campfire, they were definitely going to talk to Annabeth about this.

"Thanks." Piper commented, still blushing. Her love struck looks fades slightly, "Leo doesn't think so."

"Leo?"

"Uhh... short?" Piper tilts her head to the side a bit, seeming muddled by the fact Sam didn't know who Leo was, "Latino? Looks a bit like an elf? Was just claimed by hepatitis or whatever?"

"You mean Hephaestus?" Sam chuckled instantly. She knew if Jamie caught her 'disrespecting' her parent, she would probably end up with a wrench to the back of the head.

"Oh my God." Piper buried her face in her hands, possibly more red then when Sam had asked about Jason, "I'm so stupid."

"Don't worry about it, I was saying Afrodiet instead of Aphrodite for weeks." Sam reassured the girl, feeling her embarrassment radiate off her, "So why doesn't Leo like you and Jason dating?"

"I don't know." Piper says softly, "Maybe because it's weird because his two best friends started dating?"

"Yeah, I get that." Sam nodded in agreement. She was pretty sure she would impale herself if any of her close friends started being mushy around each other. Except maybe Will with his crush. But then again, Will's crush wasn't Sam's friend, "If Will and Andy started dating, I'd probably have an aneurysm."

"But isn't Andy a guy?" Piper asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah?"

Piper coughed and avoided Sam's eyes. "Oh, uh, never mind."

"Hey!" Annabeth came racing from the Athena Cabin, as if on cue. Her hair was still wet, but Sam noticed she had changed into a clean shirt and new shorts, "Sorry I put you on babysitting duty, Sam."

"Don't worry about it, Chase." Sam smiled, "Piper's pretty cool."

"Alright," Annabeth says more seriously, giving a warm look at Piper, "ready for a tour of Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah." The brown haired girl says, a ghost of a smile on her face. She turns to Sam and waves her off as she and Annabeth leave, "See you soon, Sam!"

"You too!" They yelled uselessly at the girl, who was already too far to here her.

Andy appeared behind her, grinning and leaning against a piece of wood that looked like it had been through a 10 food paper shredder. "Totally an Aphrodite kid." He said smugly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Didn't know if you noticed Sam, but her eyes are part purple." Andy points out, "That's not physically possible."

"Oh my gods," Sam says, the pieces clicking together longer then they would like to admit, "you're totally right. Why didn't I notice that?"

Andy simply shrugs, when a loud splash of water disrupts his non existent words.

"I did it!" Came Will's triumphant voice from the shore. The son of Apollo was almost completely soaked, with only his hair dry. Next to him were the smashed debris of what was once the Apollo chariot.

"Yippee." Andy says sarcastically.

"Hey, be more grateful, Andy." Will frowns, ringing out his orange camp shirt, "I just stopped you from getting soaked."

"Our hero." Sam remarks, smirking, before glancing at the Chariot, "What should we do with this?"

"I can get Jamie and Mara to get a couple of their siblings to lug it the big house." Andy says, smiling. Will nods in agreement.

"Where is Mara, anyway?" The blonde asked, looking to the cabins.

Mara Keres was probably one of Sam's closest friends, outside Will and Andy. Taea, Jamie, and Veronica-Rhea were all close seconds, but there's not a lot you can do about two peoples platonic attraction to each other.

Mara was roughly 16, but since she was a foster kid, she didn't really know. She also hadn't been officially 'claimed'. Due to Percy Jackson's agreement with the gods, Mara should have been claimed when she was 13, but the redhead never was. Due to her aggressive nature, enhanced fighting skills and general fire, however, everyone in the camp just accepted she was probably claimed by Ares before she came to camp.

Andy snickered. "Probably humping a sword in a cemetery."

"Why did I even ask?" Sam groaned, looking over to their blonde friend, who grimaced in Andy's direction, "Will, you mind getting Jamie and some Hephaestus kids?"

"No problem." He gives finger guns to his two friends before running off towards the Hephaestus cabin.

The two remains demigods go in the opposite direction towards the Ares cabin. Sam actually, I like most of the people at camp, really liked the Ares cabin. Maybe that was because of them being an Aphrodite kid, though. Aphrodite and Ares kids have always gotten along.

The black cabin was littered with shinning metallic plates and other weaponry on the dying lawn. Jesus Christ, Katie Gardner was going to have a field day with the rest of the Demeter Cabin when Sam told them about the state of the Ares' cabin lawn.

When they finally get to the front door, Andy knocks loud enough to wake the dead. The boy then takes in a large intake of breath before looking at his knuckles, which are now red.

"What?" Comes a growl from inside the door. Sam knows the voice as Tiffany Medndoza, a raven haired girl who could crack bones in half.

"Keep it in your pants, Tiffany." Andy croons, and Sam can practically feel the disgust rolling off from the Ares kid on the other side of the door, "Just here for Mara."

"Keres!" Tiffany growls a little too loudly, "Twin #2 needs you!"

"Why am I called that?" Andy groans, facing Sam, "Jamie isn't Twin #1!"

"Hey, guys." Comes a much softer homie with a small Scottish accent, until Mara Keres in all her redhead frizzy haired glory comes from the cabin, "What's up?"

"Could you and a couple of your siblings come down to the lake?" Andy asks the shorter girl. Sam has always been amazed at how such a hyper kid like Andy and a girl who's literally wearing a Thrasher sweatshirt could ever get along. "The Apollo cabin's chariot crashed and we need to move the debris to the big house."

"Guys!" Mara's deep voice yells to her siblings, "Who's up for lugging lumber?"

With most of the Ares kids in tow, Sam and Andy meet Will and Jamie near the lake. Unconsciously, the Aphrodite child keeps thinking about the new demigods. Why aren't they all claimed? Who are they? Why are they here?

She's snapped back into reality when Will Solace flicks her in the forehead.

"Mara, hey." Jamie smiles at her friend, giving her a small hug, "This is our new camper, Leo."

Mara grimaces, looking like she's about to say something, but Leo beats her to it.

"I've heard all about the curse, Red." He says, giving a pointed look to Jamie, who remains unscathed from his glare, "No need to give me demon eyes."

"Are you an Ares kid?" The boy asks, his attention turned to Sam, raising an eyebrow, "You don't look it."

The other Hephaestus and Ares kids start to work on the lumber as Sam and Leo talk. Sam tilts her head to the side, crossing her arms. "Why not?"

"Because you don't look like you bench press the Empire State Building in your free time." Leo says, picking up a small piece of ragged chariot.

"True." Sam smiles to herself, before turning more so she can face Leo, "Sam. Aphrodite cabin."

"Leo." The boy says in between grunts as he lugs the piece onto the cart his siblings brought with them, "Hephaestus."

"I know." Sam smiles, "Jamie, the one who gave you the tour, is my friend. Never seen a Hephaestus claiming before. Very flashy."

"It was nothing." He scoffs, but Sam can tell he was extremely proud of his claiming.

"Better then Will's claiming." They say instead, heaving a piece of metal on the top of the pile, "He started glowing at 1am and it wouldn't stop till Chiron announced him as a son of Apollo."

"Yikes." Leo simply said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Not a lot of gods are practical with their claiming. Most of them just use it as a time to play pranks on their kids." She laughs, "Especially Apollo and Hermes."

"Valdez!" Nyssa, the Hephaestus head counseler yells, "Come on!"

"See you later, Pretty Lady!" Leo calls out to Sam, winking. The daughter of Aphrodite has a feeling Leo winks at a lot of people, but they still can't stop themselves from blushing a lit.

"He's in for a rude awakening." Will Dolace's voice slithers from behind her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sam turns around and glares at the son of Apollo.

"It means when he finds out what a Godzilla you are—"

"Shut up, Will!" Sam tells him, but both demigods know she's joking. Sam's face suddenly turns mischievous, "At least I don't have a crush on Zombie Boy."

The reaction is instant. Drop a match on a piece of paper and it goes up in flames. Throw a bucket of water on Drew Tanaka and you'll wake up with permanent make up. Mention Nico Di Angelo two miles within Will Solace and his face goes as red as a tomato.

"Whatever." He stutters our, ignoring Sam's gaze, "Let's make sure Taea and Andy didn't permanently destroy the infirmary door."

▬▬▬★▬▬▬

"It's weird..." Sam says, sitting down on an infirmary bed as Will examines the wall behind the door, "those kids, Jason and Piper... something about them doesn't feel right."

"How so?" He asks, not really paying attention. He looks through a cabinet on the side, filled to the brim in pencils.

"I mean, Piper said they were dating." Sam explained, leaving against the door, "And I could feel her love for him, and vice versa. But something about it was... weird. Artificial. Like it had been planted there."

Will stopped shifting through the pencils and looked up at his friend seriously. "What are you saying, Sam?"

"I don't know yet. There's just something fishy about them."

"Well," Will sighs in relief, but his voice is still a little uptight, "doesn't look like the terrible two knocked the door off it's hinges. Left a dent in the wall, though."

"I'm sure Jamie can stop by and fix it." Sam reassures the boy.

Will looks unsure. "I guess..."

Suddenly, Will grimaced in disgust.

"What?" Sam asks, turning their head to the side.

"You did the thing again."

"Oh." Sam subconsciously touched his face, which was now much less feminine and delicate then it had been two minutes ago. He really wished he had a saying in wether or not he transformed.

Whenever Sam's gender changed, didn't matter if he was asleep or hanging off the top of the fucking Zeus cabin for dear life, his form would change along with him. Usually, it was helpful. But your whole body changing in the middle of a conversation must be.... scary, for the other person, to say the least.

"You know, I've been your friend for three years Sam." Will tells them, "But I am never going to get used to that." The son of Apollo pauses, before asking a little more softly, "He/him, right?"

"Yeah." Sam tells him, turning towards the wall, which had a small dent in it, chipped paint decorating across it, "And don't worry about the wall. Come on, it's almost time for the Campfire. Isn't that your favourite part of the day?"

"You know well it's my least favourite." Will scowls. For the son of the god of music and a mortal country singer, Will has a voice that sounds like more like a paper shredder and nail's on a chalkboard.

And Sam would soak up every single second he could to make fun of him for it. It's not like Will didn't do the same, either. Whenever Sam even tried to do any long range weaponry, he would fail spectacularly, and Will would be laughing in the background.

And Sam wouldn't even get started on Will's wide range of 'kleptomaniac' nicknames, even though Sam hasn't stolen anything in two months! Or was it one?

A good friendship has to be balanced out with at least one other friend making fun of another. Andy made fun of Sam being a little too sensitive, Sam made fun of Will's singing voice, Will made fun of Jamie's inability to process human emotions, Jamie made fun of Andy in general. Like the circle of life, except with annoying teenagers instead.

And while Taea was part of their friend group, no one made fun of her. Because insulting Taea was like punching a newborn puppy in the face. With a knife.

"Aww, but what if Death Breath is there? Don't you want to woo him with your singing?" Sam suddenly makes his voice very high, fake swooning into Will's arms, "Oh, Nico, you know, the way your pale, zombie skin shines by the light of the campfire has really done something t—"

Will grunts, and while Sam's eyes closed he is 200% sure his face is lighting up like a Christmas tree. The son of Apollo storms out of the infirmary in a huff, leaving his friend behind.

"Will! Wait up! I'm joking!" Sam says in between laughs as he runs out the door, "Mostly!"

By the time he gets to the campfire, Sam has lost all sigh of Will Solace. He looks to the side, and catches two familiar faces. Mitch and Veronica-Rhea from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Hey, guys." Sam smiles at them, then looks around and notices the lack of Aphrodite kids, "Where's the rest of the cabin?"

"Take three guesses." Mitch says bitterly, his palms holding up his face. Veronica-Rhea looks at him disappointed.

"Are they still getting ready?"

"Bing-bing," Mitch says sarcastically, fighting the strength of his crossed arms, "we have a winner."

"Come on, Mitch." Veronica-Rhea tells her brother, gripping the hem of her cargo jacket. Veronica-Rhea has always been the most mature and calm person in the Aphrodite cabin, "There's nothing wrong with taking a little more time to dress."

"I still don't understand why you can't be head counseler, Veronica-Rhea. You're like two years older then Drew. And way nicer."

"Because... Drew scares me, alright?" She admits honestly, rubbing the back of her neck, "I don't have charmspeak. I could be 35, and she would still kick my ass in battle. She's more powerful then me." Her expressions turn more gentle as she looks at her younger brother, "And she's still your sister, and she loves you. Even if she doesn't show it."

"Mara!" Sam calls out, seeing the redhead talk to Tiffany from earlier the same day.

The dark skinned girl smiles at her friend, giving him a quick hug. Her voice is calm. "Hey, Sam. Where's Solace?"

"I lost him when I got here." He shrugs, "But he's probably with Lou Ellen or Kayla."

"Yeah, the Hephaestus kids told us about the chariot. It's not... looking good." She grimaces, "Especially since the bronze dragon thing went haywire and is somewhere in the woods."

"Want me to find Will for you?"

"No, it's fine." She pushes the question off, before heading back towards her siblings, "Have fun, Sam. See you soon."

"I really hope that blonde kid is in Aphrodite." He hears Mitch gush from behind him, "His skin is super clear. It's like he doesn't even have pores!"

Another familiar face re-emerges itself by the light of the fire. Jamie Bessano, leaning against a tree , fiddling with her tool belt.

"How's the new kid?" He asks her, who smiles.

"Good." She assures, nodding her head, "Just really hyper. Reminds me of Andy."

"Speaking of Andy, he just kind of disappeared with you, d—"

"Howdy, folks." Leo pops from behind his sister, her lack frizzy hair blocking must of his face. He crawls down off her like a spider monkey.

"Leo." Sam grins, "Enjoying campfire?"

"Do I know you?" Leo scratches his hair, "You seem really familiar, but—"

"It's Sam." He said, smiling small. "From earlier today."

A pause.

"But you're a boy." Leo says, one of his shoulders rising and his hip sticking out.

"Yes."

"And... earlier today you were a girl."

"Demigirl, but same idea."

"Alright." Leo shrugs, looking around the campfire, where demigods are singing loudly, "Do you know what we're supposed to do?"

"I'm pretty sure they change the lyrics to the campfire songs every time. Will's from the Apollo cabin, he's also the god of singing, but Will has the absolute worst voice ever." Sam snickers to himself. "Me and my friends take every chance we can go embarrass him." He points out a tall blonde and skinny brunette in the crowd, "See, there they are now."

The two figures of Andy and Will walk over to the three.

"Sam," Andy says, batting his eyelashes in the blonde's direction. For some reason, the scene of the twig figure that is Andy Bessano hanging off Will Solace like a fly to honey is very amusing, "can you please tell Will he has an excellent voice and I would give up my first born for him to sing us a song?"

"Will, you have an excellent voice and Andy would g—"

"No, no, no." Will cuts of Sam's voice brashly, swinging his arm, "I'm not singing for you demons."

"What if me and Leo sing?" Sam says before he can think, grabbing his new friends arm, "Then would you grace us with your amazing music, Magic Man?"

"Hey," Leo backs up, "I didn't agree to—"

"Deal. Nice and loud, Remes." Will grins, before pushing Sam and Leo into the middle of the crowd, "Have fun up there."

Jamie grins at the two.

"I don't know any of the lyrics!" Leo says, his face worried and hectic. He's practically sweating bullets, when Sam places a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Just follow my lead on this, okay?" He says.

"Trin!" Sam yells to the son of Apollo who has his guitar secured tightly in his hand, "Play the absolute worst song ever!"

Trin grins to himself, before starting to loudly strum a familiar tune.

"Is this..." Leo's face twists, "is this Baby by Justin Bieber?"

"Trin has an acquired taste." Sam simply shrugs, before smiling wickedly and getting ready to lose his voice from yelling.

The next 3 minutes 34 seconds were spent belting arguably the most catchy song in existent with a boy Sam didn't even know. And they were some of the best three minutes of his life. It also helped that the two boys weren't alone, the rest of camp screeching the lyrics with equal splendor.

"That was so fun! You know, I was starting to think this Camp Half-Blood stuff was boring, but... Singing Baby with a bunch of kids of the god of war isn't how I thought I would spend my weekend."

"Shh!" Says a brunette from the Athena cabin, giving them a pointed glare, "Chiron's speaking!"

Chiron brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. The Ares kids all grumbled in disdain.

"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" Tiffany from earlier shooter, pumping her fist in the air.

Mara rubbed her temple with her hands, counting her breathes.

"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

Suddenly, most of the campfire member looked at the area Sam was standing in. Leo gave finger guns to a girl across the room, who looked a little like Piper, but Sam couldn't really tell from the distance. He really needed glasses.

The temporary head counseler, Nyssa, grumbled. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded, his blue eyes flashing with a mad glint.

"Really hard," Nyssa gritted through her teeth, looking like she's resisting the urge to strange the blue eyed demigod.

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones—bang, bang, bang—and the campers fell silent.

"We will have to be patient," Chiron announced. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" says a voice so weak Sam can't even pinpoint where it's coming from. He hugs his shoulders. He had nerves personally known Percy, but he had seen him around the camp enough to know his disappearance was hard for everyone. Especially Annabeth.

Chiron gestured to the blonde girl in question. She took a deep breath and stood.

"I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis —everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" Said Drew Tanaka.
Everyone turned towards her.

Sam's breath caught in his throat. Drew hasn't addressed a crowd in like... forever. It just wasn't her thing.

"Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

"Well?" Drew called down, venomously looking at Rachel with her brown eyed glare. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

"Yes," she said calmly, though she looked more scared then Sam had ever seen her, "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Pandemonium broke out, cabins chattering with each other. Sam even noticed some of the Ares kids, who normally looked like they could punch a bear in the face, seemed timid and strangely quiet.

"What's the Great Prophecy?" Leo asked from beside him, his face scrunched up.

"Bad. Really, really bad." Sam whispered.

The demigod from earlier, Piper, locked eyes with the blonde boy across the fire. He mouthed something to her, and she nodded reassuringly, before looking away like it was too painful to stare at him longer. Sam wanted to go across the fire and hug her, but an invisible emotional barrier stopped him.

When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: 'Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered.

Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. "J-Jason?" she said. "What's—"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted, like some magical force had possessed him. And considering where they were, Sam wasn't too weird for considering it. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

An uneasy silence settled on the group. Sam wasn't sure what that language was, but it most certainly wasn't Greek.

"You just ... finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered, breathless. " —An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms tothe Doors of Death. How did you—"

"I know those lines." Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"Stop." Sam interjected, surprising even himself. Piper poked over at him in shock, "Is seriously no one noticing how weird this is? Three demigods appearing out of nowhere, one knowing the fucking prophecy despite not even knowing who he is? Not to mention the fact someone played with their emotions!"

"Sam," Annabeth treaded over her words carefully, looking to the brunette boy, "what are you talking about?"

"Listen, I know I'm not Aphrodite or anything, but even I can tell when someone's feelings aren't real." Sam looked at Piper, who cast a hurt glance at Jason. So she already knew. "And they— someone did something to them. Altered their memory."

"With the mist. Yes, we k—"

"No, it's not just that. I think a god did it. It's way to powerful to be anything else."

"Are you seriously listening to this loser?" Drew scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Who cares if a god mist-ed their memories?"

"Drew." Annabeth hissed. The brunette girl melted back into the crowd.

"I'm just saying..." Sam said much more gently, hoping he wouldn't be bashed in he head by Drew Tanaka tonight at the Aphrodite cabin, "maybe we should be more careful. If he knew the prophecy in Latin, which someone had to teach him, and his memories were taken by a god... He might be the leader of the prophecy."

Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring.

Rachel Dare still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he were watching a play he couldn't interrupt—a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.

"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. Sam, I think you were on the right chance. I have reason... or feeling... to believe Hera was the one who erased their memories."

The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh ... were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured.

"A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once. About a hundred thousand thoughts ran rabid in Sam's head. He had never had an opinion on Hera, but her being kidnapped? He knew that couldn't be good for anyone.

Across the room, Mara looked numb. Her face was blank against the roaring flame of the fire. Another Ares kid hugged her assuringly.

Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention.
She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.

That's great, Sam thought.

Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Drew turned towards the other Aphrodite kids and faked a faint, giggling. Veronica-Rhea stomped on her foot.

Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House. "Jason," Rachel said, turning towards him. "Um ... do you remember your last name?"

He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head no.

"We'll just call you Jason, then," Rachel said half heartily. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone's eyes were on him; there was so much pressure. Sam's feelings of artificial love were running off the charts. But it wasn't just love. He could sense entire motions swirling in Jason's chest. These were planted. Yet the other looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said.

"If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron spoke up, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things ... stir."

The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister —like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.

"Thank you, Captain Sunshine." Sam remarked, "Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. "If he's so important—"

"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

Jason reached into his pocket. A coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance—a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end. Sam's breath hitched.

The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick.

"Wasn't that ..." Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" yelled the kid from Ares cabin that had been hugging Mara earlier.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" one of their brothers agreed.

"Electric," Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. Sam didn't like the blank gaze in his eyes. "Back away."

The demigods got his message, and slowly stepped away. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Sam's arms stood straight up. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.

When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Sam's ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from the sleeping kid Clovis, who hadn't even stirred.

Jason lowered his lance. "Um ... sorry."

Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

No no no no no no no no. Absolutely NOT. Percy 'I'm going to stab fucking Kronos because I'm one of the big threes kids' Jackson was enough big three action for a lifetime. Not to even get started on Nico 'I bet you'd thought you'd seen the last of me' di Angelo. And Thalia Grace? She—

....Actually, she's pretty cool.

"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

Sam cast a look at Piper, who was smiling like crazy. Oh, you sweet little innocent bird, Sam thought to himself.

Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" Annabeth said. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three... their pact not to have mortal kids... how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer, his strong stance wavering the tiniest bit.

"The important thing," Rachel said, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient—the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants' revenge the seven shall birth," Rachel croaked, "The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera's rage."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked into the silence, the only voice speaking. Sam turned at her. "I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy—Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just—"

"Why don't you just shove it, Tanaka?" Sam growled at the girl from across the fire.

"What is your problem today, Sam?" Drew all but whispered, a rarity for the usually loud daughter of Aphrodite, "Acting all high and mighty, defending Dumpster Queen over here?"

Jason rose into the cat fight. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

A girl from Hephaestus cabin stood up—Nyssa, the one with the red bandanna. "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son—our dad—down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," Mitch snickered. Veronica-Rhea elbowed him in the chest.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled at him. "Anyway, we've also got to think —why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

Annabeth took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions."

Travis Stoll from the Hermes cabin almost scoffed, before interjecting, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience."

"No, Travis, Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy."

"It's connected," Piper blurted out, "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance—it's all connected."

"How?" demanded Drew. "If you're so smart, how?"
Piper tried to form an answer, but she couldn't.

Annabeth saved her. "You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end—by searching for Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul —Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry. "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport. The flying chariot's broken," Nyssa continued, "and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."

She didn't sound too enthusiastic at the idea. Jamie patted her shoulders reassuringly.

"It's me." Said a voice next to Sam. He turned over to see Leo Valdez, standing up and looking around the campfire.

Around them, the Hephaestus cabin seemed to awake from the drowsy spell they were under. They grabbed at Leo's clothes and tried to pull him back down, but he swatted them away.

"No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"
He sounded so excited that Sam almost forgot this quest guaranteed certain death. Leo gave him a find smile.

The blonde boy turned his head, examining the son of Hephaestus. We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist into the air enthusiastically.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him, her brown eyes flashing.. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh," Leo said, his voice faltering. He then looked around, like he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean ... Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

"Wait, wait." Jamie spoke up from besides Nyssa, taking a comforting hand off the head counselor's shoulder, "Why does the quest only need three people? Why does the count matter?"

Personally, Sam didn't really understand why Jamie looked so adamant on this quest. If the white teenager and his crazy (but admittedly, nice) friends wanted to go on a suicide mission, that was their choice.

Annabeth's shoulders slumped, her hard gaze flickering. "That's just how it's always been done."

"Yeah, but this is Hera. And if I heard that prophecy right, this is also the end of the world." She stressed. Sam hadn't seen her so clear about something in a while. Why was this so important to her? "Should we chose six people? At least? If someone could capture one of the most powerful goddesses, I have a feeling three demigods aren't going to do much against them. Yeah, no offense, but I'm not leaving my fate to three people who don't even look like they could bench press half their weight." Jamie gave a look to Jason, Piper and Leo, who all seemed to agree with her words, giving each other small glances.

"I suppose..." Annabeth still looked unsure, casting a gaze at the camp director, "Chiron?"

"It usually is three per quest. But these are desperate times. Jason, you may choose one more Hephaestus child, two Aphrodite children, and one of your choice."

"You." Jason pointed to Jamie, who looked kindly piqued at most. "You're good with mechanics, right? You could help Leo with the transportation problem."

Good choice, Wonder Bread, Sam thought bitterly, pick a kid from the Hephaestus cabin because she's 'good with mechanics'. No fucking shit she's good with mechanics. That's like being surprised the Demeter kids like plants.

"Now for Aphrodite..."

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile in two seconds flat, "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours. Honestly, you don't even need another Aphrodite kid! My... talents... could help you more then two other Aphrodite kids put together!"

Piper's hands clenched. She stepped forward. "No."

Drew rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

"I had the vision of Hera. Not you." Piper looked at Drew with more fire then Sam had ever seen someone look at the Aphrodite counseler with, "I have to do this. You don't have anything to do with the prophecy. If anyone should be the Aphrodite member, it's Sam."

Piper pointed at the boy next to them, who almost choked on air. Sam? In a prophecy? Those words weren't ever in the same sentence. Those words shouldn't ever be in the same sentence. Sam was pretty sure if he was in charge of the fate of the world, everyone would be doomed.

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said. "And anyone can have a 'weird feeling' about someone." She glared at Sam. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things ..." She looked at Leo and Jamie in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot. More then you two losers ever could."

"Persuasive? What does that have to do with anything?" Piper stuttered out, fuming, "I had the vision of Hera. Sam could sense the mist when you couldn't. We go."

Suddenly, it was like Drew's spell had been lifted from the camp. The crowd started nodding in agreement to Piper's words, looking thoughtful. Sam noticed that even some of the Aphrodite kids were looking at Piper in agreement.

"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd. "What can they do that's better then me?"

Sam could sense Piper's confidence wavering. His would too, if some girl was basically spewing out a list of insults at her. It didn't help that Drew had charmspeak, which poor Piper didn't know about.

"You're not even claimed. There's nothing you could help us with. And what? Because Sam could sense the mist he should go?" Drew pointed at Sam accusingly, "All the Hecate kids can sense the mist!"

In all honesty, Sam really didn't want to go on this suicide mission of a quest. But seeing Drew wrap herself around the camp's finger and going on the quest solely for that blonde arm candy made him more angry then they probably ever had.

Maybe it was because of his empathy powers, and he could sense the protectiveness Piper had over both of their spots on Jason's team. No one has ever picked him for first choice, especially not for such an important prophecy.

"She had a vision, Annabeth." Sam said to the blonde girl, who looked reluctant, "Doesn't that count for a—"

Suddenly there was collective gasp. Sam turned to face Piper, and noticed the brown skinned girl was glowing. Like a human night light. The girl was adorned in a beautiful white sleeveless dress that went down to her ankles, and a beautiful necklace with gold, ruby, silver and coral lay across her neck.

Her hair was perfect: lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder. She even wore makeup—subtle touches that made her lips cherry red and brought out all the different colors in her eyes.

Sam recognized it immediately as the claiming of Aphrodite.

"What?" the newly-known daughter of Aphrodite demanded. She looked down at her new clothes. "Oh God. What happened?"

A stunned Annabeth pointed at Piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. The girl reluctantly drew it, every part of her body shaking in fear. She looked at her reflection, shock drawn all over her delicated features.

Piper could barley speak as she looked at her reflection through the gold dagger. "I'm..."

"Beautiful," Jason exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Piper, you ... you're a knockout."

"Mature." Jamie remarked, giving him a sideways look. Through all the amazement and chaos, Sam could still sense the conflicting emotions of Jamie and Jason. He had a feeling they weren't going to get along.

"You've been claimed, Piper." Sam told his sister, smiling fondly. He had already known it, but it being confirmed was a different story entirely. He felt a warm feeling rise in his chest.

The only person who didn't looked amazed was Drew, who was having a melt down. Her face was scrunched up in disgust. "No!" she cried. "Not possible!"

"This isn't me," Piper protested to Sam, features gentle and confused, "I—don't understand."

Chiron folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example. Sam had never been happier.

"Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral, "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

Oh, Yeah. There was that whole 'these who go on this quest will die a painful death' thing, wasn't there?

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AUTHORS NOTE
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can i just say i absolutely hate having to rewrite drew/piper scenes bc i can't like,,, capture the essence of drew fighting two people?? and also this was a bitch to write bc no offense to piper but she kind of makes everything about her so it was hard to insert my ocs into this lmao hope i did a semi decent job

the fact chiron wanted three scrawny 15 year olds to rescue the queen of the gods is dumb as FUCK i would have brought at least 20 demigods on that quest but alas! i am a lazy bitch and am not going to write 20 characters interacting. and don't worry the other ocs ARE going to somehow get on the argo ii

i thought my chapters wouldn't get longer but here we are. here we are.