( ZOYA CARDAN )

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⁀➷｡˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ ༄

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑. a sacrifice. a sacrifice zoya had made time and time again for the people at camp half-blood. she had given herself up to kronos when he returned for the hope of saving a few more lives, for the idea that luke and ethan could escape. the risk that silena and charles could run quick enough. she had learnt too late though that it hadn't been enough.

she found herself sitting on the chariot floor behind annabeth and butch's legs, next to jason, across from leo and piper. the latter looked extremely deep in thought and zoya hadn't missed the small glare she sent her. jason may have tossed himself off the chariot if he could've.

meanwhile, leo was being annoying "this is so cool!" he spat a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "where are we going?"

"a safe place," annabeth said. "the only safe place for kids like us. camp half-blood."

"half-blood?" piper was immediately on guard. she hated that word. she'd been called a half-blood too many times-half cherokee, half white-and it was never a compliment. "is that some kind of bad joke?"

zoya stared at he girl with a raised eyebrow before speaking up "calm down, she means-" the girl was cut off by jason's voice, the blonde sending her a thankful smile.

"that we're demigods," jason said. "half god, half mortal."

annabeth looked back. "you seem to know a lot, jason. but, yes, demigods. my mom is athena goddess of wisdom. zoya's is hera goddess of marriage. butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."

leo choked at her words "your mom is a rainbow goddess?" zoya understood his confusion, butch seemed more like the son of ares or something from his stature and the way he held himself. but she knew he was just a soft ball of macho cuddles.

"got a problem with that?" butch said.

"no, no," leo said with a playful smirk "rainbows. very macho."

"butch is our best equestrian," annabeth said. "after zoya. they get along great with the pegasi."

a gift zoya had. she had a connection with animals due to the fact she could speak to them. maybe one of the most useful things she'd inherited from hera. that and the fact she could control the wind and read people's minds to an extent.

"rainbows, ponies," leo muttered.

"i'm gonna toss you off this chariot," butch warned earning a small whack from zoya to the back of his calf.

"but isn't hera married to zeus?" piper spoke up as she looked at zoya with confused eyes "is your dad zeus? that'd mean your a god" zoya understood how it may have been confusing but the story to her birth was more than simple to her.

her mother had been lonely and angry that zeus couldn't stay faithful, so she did the most reasonable thing. she'd had a child more powerful than most by herself from her mind. and then she did what most gods did, abandoned them.

"my mom actually-" zoya was cut off from the start of her explanation as lightning flashed. the chariot shuddered, and jason yelled, "left wheel's on fire!"

zoya scooted back, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot. the wind roared. zoya glanced behind them and saw dark shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits spiralling toward the chariot-except these looked more like horses than angels.

piper started to say, "why are they-"

"anemoi come in different shapes," zoya said. "sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. hold on. this is going to get rough." before she hopped up and grabbed joined annabeth's side.

butch flicked the reins. the pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. zoya squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared herself for the transition past the camp border before she felt her stomach flip and she flickered her eyes open, she was home.

she knew her eyes would probably be glowing their natural gold now, they were only brown outside of camp due to the mist. there would never be a good enough explanation to why she had glowing gold eyes so she accepted the fact she were to hide who she truly was

a cold gray ocean stretched out to the left. snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. directly below them was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. there were a cluster of buildings like ancient greek temples, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that seemed to be on fire. but before zoya could take it all in again, their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.

annabeth and butch tried to maintain control. the pegasi laboured to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of six people was just too much.

zoya made a split decision in that moment that may have risked them their lives "the lake!" she yelled. "aim for the lake!"

before she knew it she had flung herself out of the carriage besides jason and leo, piper throwing herself off the side as well as butch and annabeth. the biggest shock was the cold. she was underwater, so disoriented that she didn't know which way was up.

zoya had been swimming in these waters time and time again with percy, but as she felt herself sinking down without the son of poseidon next to her to drag her up she suddenly forgot what swimming was. it felt as if she hadn't grown up in those waters.

then faces appeared in the green murk-girls with long black hair and glowing yellow eyes. they smiled at her, grabbed her shoulders, and hauled her up. zoya was glad she had decided to befriended the water nymphs at a young age, them now being there to save her life.

they tossed her, gasping and shivering, onto the shore. she didn't even give herself time to steady as she ran for the pegasi and picked up a piece of broken chariot, cutting their reins free. fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere.

jason, leo, piper, annabeth and butch were already on shore, surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions. kids fell into the lake a lot, because a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blowers- looking things and blasted them with hot air; and in about two seconds their clothes were dry.

zoya made sure the pegasi were free before stomping through the now wet sand towards the others, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. she turnt to face a slightly grinning drew tanaka who held a towel in her hands. zoya let her annoyance subdue for a second before throwing her arms around the girl and hugging her.

she didn't have the best relationship the the daughter of aphrodite, not liking the way she'd use her charm speak to get her way but she couldn't lie and say they didn't have their moments. perks of growing up alongside someone she would blame it on.

"you're soaking, off. you have so much explaining to do later" drew laughed as they pulled back quickly before she pushed zoya towards the others. zoya just giving her a small smile and rushing to the other's sides.

there were at least twenty campers milling around-the youngest maybe nine, the oldest college age, eighteen or nineteen-and all of them had orange t-shirts like annabeth's. a second later the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch.

zoya could only think of how much shit annabeth was about to be in with will and found herself searching the crowd for the blonde boy who always lightened her day. the other campers only stared at her with small or large smiles considering she'd been found.

"annabeth!" there he was. will who had a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the crowd. "i said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!" he hadn't seemed to notice zoya yet.

"will, i'm sorry," annabeth sighed. "i'll get it fixed, I promise."

will scowled at his broken chariot. then he sized up piper , leo, and jason. "these are the ones? way older than thirteen. why haven't they been claimed already?"

"claimed?" leo asked.

before annabeth could explain, will said, "any sign of percy and zoya?"

"right here, sunshine" zoya spoke up from behind jason and leo and pushing forward to meet the smiling face of will solace. one of her most trusted friends who she knew she could count on till the end of times.

the boy with the arrow and quiver on his back rushed forward to pick the girl up in his arms as he hugged her close, the girls wet clothes dampening his own but that didn't seem to mind either of them like it had bothered drew. "what about percy?" he asked looking between the two girls with a hopeful smile.

"no" annabeth said with disappointment, zoya's smile weakening quickly.

the campers muttered. piper had no idea who this guy percy was, but his disappearance seemed to be a big deal. drew stepped forward-tall, asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewellery, and perfect makeup. she managed to make jeans and an orange t-shirt look glamorous.

she glanced at leo, fixed her eyes on jason like he might be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at piper as if she were a week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a dumpster.

"well," she said, "i hope they're worth the trouble."

leo snorted. "gee, thanks. what are we, your new pets?" may as well be with the way drew plays, zoya thought to herself as she stood close by will and started shaking from the cold.

"no kidding," jason said. "how about some answers before you start judging us-like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"jason," zoya spoke up, her voice bringing the boys annoyance down, "i'll explain. i promise we'll answer your questions. and drew"-she frowned at the glamour girl-"you know all demigods are worth saving"

"but I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped." annabeth continued knowing she'd be the only one able to explain. the camp listened to zoya as well as annabeth showing the three that they were important in camp.

"hey," piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

drew sniffed. "and nobody wants you, hon. does your hair always look like a dead badger?" zoya only frowned deeply.

piper stepped forward, ready to smack her, but annabeth said, "piper, stop." piper did. she wasn't a bit scared of drew, but annabeth didn't seem like somebody she wanted for an enemy.

"we need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," annabeth said, with another pointed look at drew. "we'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"would somebody tell me what claimed means?" piper asked.

suddenly there was a collective gasp. the campers backed away. floating over leo's head was a blazing holographic image -a fiery hammer. zoya's worry started to grow again, the memory of a prophecy issues a while ago filling her memory.

"that," annabeth said, "is claiming."

"what'd I do?" leo backed toward the lake. then he glanced up and yelped. "is my hair on fire?" he ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"this can't be good," butch muttered, him obviously thinking the same as zoya "the curse-"

"butch, shut up," annabeth said quickly "leo, you've just been claimed-"

"by a god," jason interrupted. "that's the symbol of vulcan, isn't it?" there he goes with the roman names again. all eyes turned to him.

"jason," annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"

"i'm not sure." zoya had to remind herself quickly that jason was amnesiac.

"vulcan?" leo demanded. "i don't even like star trek. what are you talking about?" zoya found herself rolling her eyes at his idiocy.

"vulcan is the roman name for hephaestus," zoya said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire." the fiery hammer faded, but leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him.

"the god of what? who?"

annabeth turned to will "will, would you take leo, give him a tour? introduce him to his bunk-mates in cabin nine."

"sure, annabeth." will nodded before placing a kiss to zoya's head and making a move towards leo. zoya began to feel the cold hit her again and was beginning to crave a warm shower.

"what's cabin nine?" leo asked. "and I'm not a vulcan!"

"come on, mr. spock, i'll explain everything." will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.

annabeth turned her attention back to jason. she studied him like he was a complicated blueprint. finally she said, "hold out your arm." zoya saw what she was looking at, and her eyes widened.

jason had taken off his windbreaker after his dip in the lake, leaving his arms bare, and on the inside of his right forearm was a tattoo. it was darkly etched, impossible to miss: a dozen straight lines like a bar code, and over that an eagle with the letters spqr.

zoya looked over him, she saw how he was quite a pretty boy and had to snap herself out of her staring quickly having the idea that someone else saw her staring and wasn't necessarily happy with it.

"i've never seen marks like this," annabeth said as zoya joined her side "where did you get them?"

jason shook his head with a tired look in his eyes "i'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."

the other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at jason's tattoo. the marks seemed to bother them a lot-almost like a declaration of war. "they look burned into your skin," annabeth noticed.

zoya reached her arm out to grab his arm and pull it up, ignoring the way the boys eyes watched her. she let her fingers lightly trace over the markings and could feel that they were indeed burned into his skin.

"they were," jason said. then he winced as if his head was aching. "i mean, i think so. i don't remember." his arm still in zoya's hands.

no one said anything. it was clear the campers saw annabeth and zoya as the leaders. they were waiting for their verdict.

"he needs to go straight to chiron," annabeth decided. "zoya, take him, chiron probably wants to see you as well"

"alrighty." zoya nodded as she dropped jason's arm and nodded him to follow "this way. i'll introduce you to our director. he's an interesting guy..." she trailed off as she led jason toward the big blue house on the hill.

the crowd began to disperse, until only annabeth and piper were left.

"who's chiron?" piper asked. "is Jason in some kind of trouble?"

annabeth hesitated. "good question, piper. come on, i'll give you a tour. we need to talk."

𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 by explaining how jason was brought by the mist and all her memories were fake annabeth had taken piper to grab a weapon and then on a tour of the cabins.

"we started with the twelve olympian gods," annabeth explained. "male gods on the left, female on the right. then last year, we added a whole bunch of new cabins for the other gods who didn't have thrones on olympus-hecate, hades, iris-"

"what are the two big ones on the end?" piper asked.

annabeth frowned. "zeus and hera. king and queen of the gods."

piper began heading that way, and annabeth followed, though she didn't act very excited. the zeus cabin reminded piper of a bank. it was white marble with big columns out front and polished bronze doors emblazoned with lightning bolts.

hera's cabin was smaller but done in the same style, except the doors were carved with peacock feather designs, shimmering in different colours. unlike the other cabins, which were all noisy and open and full of activity, the zeus and hera cabins looked closed and silent.

"are they empty?" piper asked.

annabeth nodded before slightly shaking her head. "zeus went a long time without having any children. well, mostly. zeus, poseidon, and hades, the eldest brothers among the gods-they're called the big three. their kids are really powerful, really dangerous. for the last seventy years or so, they tried to avoid having demigod children."

"tried to avoid it?"

"sometimes the.. um, cheated. me and zoya have a friend, thalia grace, who's the daughter of zeus. but she gave up camp life and became a hunter of artemis. my boyfriend, percy, he's a son of poseidon. and there's a kid who shows up sometimes, nico-son of hades. except for them, there are no demigod children of the big three gods. at least, not that we know of."

"and hera?" piper looked at the peacock-decorated doors. the cabin bothered her, though she wasn't sure why. she remembered what zoya had said on the chariot and wondered if it was true.

"goddess of marriage." annabeth's tone was carefully controlled, like she was trying to avoid cursing. "she had zoya on her own and she doesn't have kids with anyone but zeus. so, yeah, one demigod"

piper raised her eyebrows at the fact that hera had zoya on her own but didn't question it guessing it'd only confuse her further "you don't like her," piper noticed. wouldn't that be odd if annabeth didn't like her best friends mom.

"we have a long history," annabeth admitted. "i thought we'd made peace, but when percy and zoya disappeared i got this weird dream vision from her."

"telling you to come get us," piper said. "but you thought the others would be there."

"it's probably better i don't talk about it," annabeth said. "i've got nothing good to say about hera right now."

"what about zoya?" piper asked, annabeth seemingly confused before understanding.

"you're not the only person with a bad relationship with a parent" annabeth chuckled darkly making piper nod. piper looked down the base of the doors. "so who goes in here?"

"no one but zoya. the cabin was just meant to be honorary, like i said. only zoya goes in."

"well someone else did." piper pointed at a footprint on the dusty threshold. on instinct, she pushed the doors and they swung open easily.

annabeth stepped back. "um, piper, i don't think we should-" zoya didn't even enjoy sleeping in there so whoever was in there at the moment had a death wish.

"we're supposed to do dangerous stuff, right?" and piper walked inside.

hera's cabin was not someplace piper would want to live. it was as cold as a freezer, with a circle of white columns around a central statue of the goddess, ten feet tall, seated on a throne in flowing golden robes. in the corner of the room a large bed with a gold bedframe and on top pictures she couldn't see clearly. besides that she couldn't see anything else that was normal. piper had always thought of greek statues as white with blank eyes, but this one was brightly painted so it looked almost human-except huge. hera's piercing eyes seemed to follow piper.

at the goddess's feet, a fire burned in a bronze brazier. a stone hawk sat on hera's shoulder, and in her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower. the goddess's hair was done in black plaits. her face smiled, but the eyes were cold and calculating, as if she were saying: mother knows best .now don't cross me or I will have to step on you. for a goddess of marriage and home, hera's cabin reminded piper of a tomb.

no, this wasn't her mom. at least piper was sure of that. she hadn't come in here because she felt a good connection, but because her sense of dread was stronger here. her dream-that horrible ultimatum she'd been handed-had something to do with this cabin.

she froze. they weren't alone. behind the statue, at a little altar in the back, stood a figure covered in a black shawl. only her hands were visible, palms up. she seemed to be chanting something like a spell or a prayer.

annabeth gasped. "rachel?"

the other girl turned. she dropped her shawl, revealing a mane of curly red hair and a freckled face that didn't go with the seriousness of the cabin or the black shawl at all. she looked about seventeen, a totally normal teen in a green blouse and tattered jeans covered with marker doodles. despite the cold floor, she was barefoot.

"hey!" she ran to give annabeth a hug. "i'm so sorry! i came as fast as I could." they talked for a few minutes about annabeth's boyfriend and zoya and how there was no news except finding zoya, et cetera. piper noticed how relieved the redhead was at the news of zoya's return and wondered how many friends zoya had at camp half-blood.

finally annabeth remembered piper, who was standing there feeling uncomfortable. "i'm being rude," annabeth apologized. "rachel, this is piper, one of the half-bloods we rescued today. piper, this is rachel elizabeth dare, our oracle."

"the friend who lives in the cave," piper guessed.

rachel grinned. "that's me."

"so you're an oracle?" piper asked. "you can tell the future?"

"more like the future mugs me from time to time," rachel said. "i speak prophecies. the oracle's spirit kind of hijacks me every once in a while and speaks important stuff that doesn't make any sense to anybody. but yeah, the prophecies tell the future."

"oh." piper shifted from foot to foot. "that's cool."

rachel laughed. "don't worry. everybody finds it a little creepy. even me. but usually I'm harmless."

"you're a demigod?"

"nope," rachel said. "just mortal."

"then what are you-" piper waved her hand around the room.

rachel's smile faded. she glanced at annabeth, then back at piper. "just a hunch. something about this cabin and zoya and percy's disappearance. they're connected somehow. i've learned to follow my hunches, especially the last month, since the gods went silent."

"went silent?" piper asked.

rachel frowned at annabeth. "you haven't told her yet?"

"i was getting to that," annabeth said. "piper, for the last month, well, it's normal for the gods not to talk to their children very much, but usually we can count on some messages now and then. some of us can even visit olympus. me and zoya spent practically all semester at the empire state building."

"excuse me?"

"the entrance to mount olympus these days."

"oh," piper said. "sure, why not?"

"annabeth was redesigning olympus after it was damaged in the titan war," rachel explained. "she's an amazing architect. you should see the salad bar-"

"anyway," annabeth said, "starting about a month ago, olympus fell silent. the entrance closed, and no one could get in. even zoya, which is beyond weird considering she's basically a key into the place. nobody knows why. it's like the gods have sealed themselves off. even my mom won't answer my prayers, and our camp director, dionysus, was recalled."

"your camp director was the god of wine?"

"yeah, it's a-"

"long story," piper guessed. "right. go on."

"that's it, really," annabeth said. "demigods still get claimed, but nothing else. no messages. no visits. no sign the gods are even listening. it's like something has happened -something really bad. the zoya and percy disappeared."

"and jason and zoya showed up on our field trip," piper supplied. "with no memory how they got there."

"who's jason?" rachel asked.

"my-" piper stopped herself before she could say "boyfriend," but the effort made her chest hurt. "my friend. but annabeth, you said hera sent you a dream vision."

"right," annabeth said. "the first communication from a god in a month, and it's hera, the least helpful goddess, and she contacts me, her least favourite demigod. she tells me I'll find out what happened to zoya and percy if I go to the grand canyon skywalk and look for a guy with one shoe. instead, i find you guys, and the guy with one shoe is jason. it doesn't make sense."

"well at least you know hera wouldn't actually let anything happen to zoya" rachel spoke up to which annabeth gave her a questioning look, "it's the truth" rachel argued throwing her arms up in the air. "something bad is still happening though"

piper felt an overwhelming need to tell the girls about the vision she had though but before she could start, rachel's body stiffened. her eyes began to glow like zoya's had but with a greenish light, and she grabbed piper by the shoulders.

piper tried to back away, but rachel's hands were like steel clamps. free me, she said. but it wasn't rachel's voice. it sounded like an older woman, speaking from somewhere far away, down a long, echoing pipe. free me, piper mclean, or the earth shall swallow us. it must be by the solstice.

the room started spinning. annabeth tried to separate piper from rachel, but it was no use. green smoke enveloped them, and piper was no longer sure if she was awake or dreaming. the giant statue of the goddess seemed to rise from its throne. it leaned over piper, its eyes boring into her. the statue's mouth opened, its breath like horribly thick perfume. it spoke in the same echoing voice: our enemies stir. the fiery one is only the first. bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. free me!

piper's knees buckled, and everything went black.