O C E A N U S

C H A P T E R   T H R E E

( campfire gone wrong )

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          FOR THE REMAINDER of the day, Malia showed Jason around the camp. Annabeth had made her his tour guide for the day, much to her delight, and she had spent her time showing him around trying to lighten his dampened mood by telling jokes and filling him in on everything that the camp had been through in the past few years. She wanted his spirits to be lifted by the time the campfire would come around so he could enjoy himself. She didn't like the frown he was wearing one bit.

After walking around camp for a while, the sky began to darken and the campers began to make their way toward the amphitheater from the dining pavilion after dinner. During dinner, Malia had sat alone at the Poseidon table, making faces at Jason from across the pavilion. It had been nice to finally relax a bit since Percy's disappearance three days prior, even if it was only for a small moment.

As they walked toward the amphitheater where the campfire would be held, Malia told Jason all about how she had first arrived at camp, and how she had taken the news about being a demigod much better than her brother had (she left out the part about her crying). And mind you, she had been ten, almost eleven when this happened. Shows who the more mature child of Poseidon was, if you asked her.

"When he saw that his old Latin teacher was half horse, I was pretty sure he was going to pass out from surprise. But, eventually, we both got used to the fact that this was our new way of life," Malia finished, letting her hands fall down at her sides from where they had been flying in the air. "Gods, the look on his face when he got told that he hadn't been seeing things was priceless."

Jason chuckled softly. "Your brother sounds like an interesting guy."

Malia nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, he is. An idiot, mainly, but he can be interesting."

They reached the amphitheater in no time. The steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners. Malia never followed the rule of sitting under your assigned banner during campfires, and neither did most of the other kids. She led Jason over to where Annabeth was standing in the front, the two of them taking spots beside her.

As Malia looked around, she could see where the other newbies were. Leo was sitting with the Hephaestus campers, a bunch of burly-looking kids under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. Piper was with the Hermes cabin, each kid looking different as they clustered together. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and lyres were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor and how their grandma got dressed for war. Malia absolutely loved the Apollo cabin-led singalongs.

Everybody was sinking with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. Malia couldn't stop smiling and laughing as she tried to explain the different motions to Jason, who was struggling just as much as any new camper would. Eventually, he gave up with a laugh and just moved his arms around, making Malia double over, tears of joy springing from her eyes. She had never laughed so hard in her entire life for no reason at all.

As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold. Malia had to explain to Jason that the fire responded to the emotions of the campers. If it was a sad campfire, the flames would be a dull gray color. If the campfire was rowdy and happy and energetic, like today, then the flames would be golden.

Finally, the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Chiron trotted up in front of the campers, brandishing 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. Grumbling broke out among the Ares kids, who were dressed in armor despite the lack of fighting and sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.

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

"And kill people!" one of them shouted, making Malia roll her eyes.

Jason leaned closer to the daughter of Poseidon with wide eyes. "Are they being serious?"

Malia shrugged. "Hard to tell with Ares kids. Sometimes they are. . . and sometimes they aren't."

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

He turned to Leo's group. Nyssa stood up, looking uncomfortable under the multiple stares she was receiving. She wore an army jacket with her hair covered in a red bandanna. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl said.

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 said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, and Malia felt her heart stop. She'd almost managed to push past the overwhelming sadness that her brother's disappearance brought her with the help of Jason and Annabeth, but hearing his name made her heart shatter.

She could feel the eyes of the campers on her and Annabeth, and she hated it. She hated pity and sympathy. One of the reasons she hid her feelings behind a shield built out of sarcastic remarks and bubbly smiles. She forced her lips to remain in the smile she was wearing prior to her brother's name being said, and clenched her fists so tightly, she could feel her nails piercing the skin of her palms.

Taking in a deep breath, she pushed the urge to cry back. Chiron gestured to her and she pursed her lips.

"Annabeth and 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 we 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."

Annabeth nodded. "Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out.

Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in the back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.

Malia felt her mood sour.

Everyone else looked surprised. Drew never spoke up and addressed a crowd. Surprising, since she absolutely loved to be the center of attention.

"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 and Malia a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy had started, right?"

Everyone looked to Rachel, who had turned a ghostly pale in the fire light. Malia felt bad for the redhead. Ever since she became the new Oracle, people only really went to her for predictions, not to just hang out with her. And since she was forced to be a maiden forever, having no real friends had to suck. Luckily, Rachel had Malia and Annabeth.

"Well?" Drew called down. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

Rachel's eyes looked scary in the firelight. Malia felt a chill run down her spine. She was still pissed about Hera possessing her and speaking through her and basically taking over her entire body. The goddess had filled her head with knowledge that she didn't want any part of, and being overtaken by a goddess was not a fun feeling. It had left Malia drained and weak, and when Malia saw Hera again, she was gonna punch the goddess right in her snobby little face.

Rachel stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp. "Yes," she said. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Pandemonium broke out.

Malia sighed internally. They had just finished the last Great Prophecy. She'd hoped for a small speck of peace and quiet from the gods for saving their immortal behinds, but no. No reward for saving the world, just another quest and another war to clean up the messes that the gods had made. Story of her life a this point.

Jason looked toward Malia. "Great Prophecy?"

"Bad news." Was all she responded with.

When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redhead mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together. Malia rolled her eyes and shook her head with a scoff. Demigods could be idiots.

"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:

"Eight 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.

Malia looked at him in surprised. "Jason? What's—"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

An uneasy silence settled on the group. Malia's brain raced to translate the words, and it clicked in her mind faster than half of the demigods at the campfire. He was speaking Latin, a language she was somewhat familiar with since she had learned it in order to insult Percy without him being able to understand it. She never thought that learning the dead language would come in handy for anything other than that.

Clearly she had been wrong.

"You just. . . finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. "—An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the 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."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out. "Handsome and smart."

Malia rolled her eyes as the Aphrodite cabin burst into giggles. "Gods, Drew. Can't you go one second without being the center of attention? Or does your mother frown upon that?"

A few snickers filled the amphitheater as Drew's cheeks flamed in embarrassment and outrage. Jason sent Malia a thankful look while Malia caught Piper trying to bite back a grin. Malia was glad her commentary had broken the tension a bit, but it hadn't been enough to ease the nerves. The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of sickly green.

Jason sat down beside Malia, still looking relatively embarrassed, but Malia placed a hand on his shoulder and sent him a small grin. "Hey, it'll be fine. We'll figure out what's going on with you, I promise."

"Thanks, Malia."

Rachel 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.

"Well," Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling that some are here tonight. Some are not here."

The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice 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.

Maybe he didn't mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, the same color as the shirt Jason was wearing.

"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase had begun. A major problem had 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.

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.

Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin and Malia getting possessed by the goddess, which made Malia shiver in disgust. She hated even thinking about that stupid goddess being in her body and controlling her.

Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House. The message Hera had delivered there was exactly what Malia had told Piper when she was possessed. She felt a little nauseous and noticed Annabeth's grip tightening on her necklace. Both girls were infuriated by the goddess's move.

"Jason." Rachel said. "Um. . . do you remember your last name?"

He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.

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

Rachel paused, giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny that Hera chose. Everyone's eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, Malia knew she would have hesitated if she were in his position. And she had been in his position before. Instead, Jason 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.

"Okay," Malia said, glaring at the centaur. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. 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."

At first, Jason didn't seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously, but Malia couldn't help but notice how amazing he looked with his blond hair glowing in the firelight, his regal features like a Roman statue's. He glanced at her, and she nodded encouragingly, trying not to show how red her cheeks were from her previous thoughts about him. Where the Hades had they come from?

Jason reached into his pocket. He pulled out a golden coin and flipped it in the air. It flashed brilliantly in the firelight, 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.

The other demigods gasped. Rachel, Annabeth, and Malia 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 somebody from the Ares cabin.

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

"Electric," Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. "Back away."

Annabeth, Rachel, and Malia got the message. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Malia's arms stood straight up and she felt her heart stop. 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 Malia'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 Clovis, who hadn't even stirred.

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

Malia's eyes were wide, cheeks dusted with soot. She'd only ever seen one other demigod with powers over lightning. Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. She couldn't believe that her suspicions on who his godly parent was were right. He was a child of Zeus, the only other one to exist.

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."

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

Malia felt her lips turn up in a smile. At least Poseidon wasn't the only one to break his oath twice. And it made perfect sense that Zeus was Jason's father. The most powerful god, the father of all the greatest heroes in ancient myths—no one else could possibly be Jason's dad.

Apparently, the rest of the camp wasn't so sure. Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" she 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, but Malia got the feeling he knew. Yet again, Chiron was keeping secrets from her. And she had a feeling that the truth was not good.

"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. 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 eight shall birth,
Daughter of the sea shall change the tide,
And mend the bridge, two worlds collide,
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's voice broke the silence, causing everyone to look 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—"

"Drew," Malia snapped. "Might I remind you that the first time you heard a prophecy, you passed out from fear. Piper is new here and has never experienced a prophecy before. She asked a fair question."

Drew glared at Malia as some of the campers, including a few Aphrodite kids, laughed. Piper sent Malia a smile of thanks that the daughter of Poseidon returned. Though, despite her confident and calm exterior, she was internally freaking out about two of the lines in the prophecy, mentioning a 'daughter of the sea.' There was only one of those in existence at this camp, and she was it.

Annabeth looked troubled. "Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death. . . why would we free her? It might be a trap, or—or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

Jason rose. "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."

Nyssa stood up from the Hephaestus group. "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."

"He was real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Didn't know Aphrodite kids liked talking about themselves in the third person," Malia commented, causing the kids under the pink banner to gasp and glare.

Nyssa sent Malia a grin, to which the daughter of Poseidon responded with finger guns and a wink. "Anyway, we've also got to think—why beware the earth? And what's this giants' revenge? What two worlds? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

No one answered. Malia thought long and hard on everything she had read up on Greek and Roman mythology. What had followed after the first Titan War? Something about the earth mother and her first children. . .

Malia's eyes widened and she turned to Annabeth and Chiron. The three of them shared a silent exchange that went something like this:

Malia: The giants' revenge. . . no, it can't be.

Chiron: Don't speak of it here. Don't scare them.

Annabeth: You're kidding me! We can't be that unlucky.

Chiron: Later, children. If you told them everything, they would be too terrified to proceed.

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 the recent traditions of this camp, he may choose any three companions."

Malia winced. Yeah. . . her and Percy broke the tradition of three a long time ago.

Someone from the Hermes cabin yelled, "Well, you and Malia, obviously, Annabeth. You two have got the most experience."

"No, Travis," Annabeth said. "First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. Now 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 looked like she was struggling to find an answer, so Malia saved her and stepped in. "Don't be jealous because you weren't smart enough to figure it out, Drew. Piper's probably right. If this is connected, Annabeth will find out from the other end—by searching for Percy. As she said, she's not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of Olympus fighting again. But there's another reason she can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "Daughter of the sea shall change the tide / The forge and dove shall break the cage. The daughter of the sea is obviously you, Malia. You're a child of Poseidon, and the only daughter he has. It has to be you."

Malia nodded, feeling dread sink into her stomach. She didn't want to have to save Hera, but it was what was best for the world. She had to think of others before herself, like she always did. Though, she felt her cheeks warm when she met his eyes. He was looking at her like he was relieved she was one of the people going on this quest with him. Whether it was due to her experience, or if he liked her company, she didn't know. But the way he was looking at her made her heart race inside her chest and her body warm up.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that I would be a part of this after she possessed me." Malia ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. "I guess I'll go and free the b—" She stopped when she saw the look Chiron was giving her. Smiling sheepishly, she rephrased her sentence, "I mean, I'd be happy to help save Hera."

Jason grinned at her and her heart did a flip. What the hell?

"The forge is the symbol of Vul—Hephaestus," Jason continued, nearly tripping up.

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."

Malia nodded in agreement. "But with the flying chariot broken and the pegasi being used to search for my idiot brother, what could we use?"

Nyssa shrugged. "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 or look too enthusiastic.

Then Leo stood up. Malia hand't even seen him muddled in with the other campers.

"It's me," he said.

His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted.

"No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied him for a moment. Malia thought for a second that he was going to tell Leo no. Then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist and Malia grinned, glad to see someone was excited for a deadly quest.

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

"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look too excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean. . . Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the fourth quest member. The dove—"

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

"Oh hell no." Malia held her hands up, shaking her head. She couldn't stand Drew on her best day. The thought of going with her on a quest made Malia want to throw up. "You can count me out if little miss 'oh my gods, my nail polish is chipped, I'm dying' is coming along with us. I'd rather be stitched into Hades' underpants than go anywhere with her!"

Half of the campers burst into laughter while Drew sent a heated glare at Malia. Before the daughter of Aphrodite could say anything, Piper stepped forward. "No."

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

"I had the visions of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said. False. Not just anyone could have a vision. "You were just at the right place at the right time." False again. She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things. . ." She looked at Leo in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. And I guess we need someone in case a puddle tries to attack." Drew sent a look to Malia, who was ready to smack the girl into next year. "But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

Malia immediately felt madder. This girl was trying to charmspeak her way into a quest all because she thought Jason was cute? Not that Jason wasn't a literal god—because he was, and Malia could stare at him all day long without getting bored—but this quest could be dangerous, and though Malia hated Drew, she didn't want to see the girl get killed because she was too worried about her lipstick getting smudged.

The campers started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Malia could see Drew winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

"Well. . ." Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy—"

"No!" Piper's voice washed over the campers, and for a moment, Malia felt herself fall under the spell of her charmspeak. But she snapped out of it quickly "I'm supposed to go."

Everyone started nodding, muttering that Piper's point of view made sense too. Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her own campers were nodding.

"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd. "What can Piper do?"

Piper seemed to shrink into herself. Malia thought over everything she had learned about the girl. Piper had fought off storm spirits with a wooden club. She had survived a fall from the Grand Canyon. She'd even survived getting a mental attack from Hera, which is a lot more than Drew has ever faced in her life. Piper was obviously meant to come on this quest.

"Well," Drew said smugly, "I guess that settled it."

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. Everyone stared at Piper like she'd just exploded. Malia looked at the girl with wide eyes, and she internally cheered. A reddish light surrounded the girl, and then she was dressed in completely different clothes.

"What?" Piper demanded.

She turned to look and see if she had a symbol above her head, and then she looked down with a yelp.

Her clothes were something Malia would never be caught dead in. She was wearing a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles, with a V-neck so low it almost showed everyone her entire chest (Malia felt secondhand embarrassment for the girl). Delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, and her hair. . .

It was lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder. She was wearing makeup so perfect it seemed unrealistic, but it made her features stick out. Piper looked absolutely stunning.

"Oh, god," she said. "What's happened?"

Annabeth pointed at Piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. She unsheathed Katoptris and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped in shock.

Malia grinned. "Damn, Piper. You're a knockout."

Over half the campers nodded in agreement, the others looking at her like she was some sort of freak. Drew's face was full of horror and revulsion, and Malia felt smugness swell in her chest. She absolutely loved the look on Drew's face. "No! Not possible!"

"Oh yeah, it's possible." Malia couldn't stop smiling.

"This isn't me," Piper protested. "I— don't understand."

Chiron folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example.

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

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A U T H O R S   N O T E

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The book is starting up, guys! The quest will either start next chapter or the chapter after that. I'm not sure yet. All I know is that Jason and Malia's relationship is gonna be amazing and Malia is a literal goddess I love her.

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.