I 04. I

𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒓𝒆

❝ juno ❞

HER MOUTH TASTED OF BLOOD. She wasn't sure where it came from. It dropped down the sides of her lips, falling off of her chin and hitting the dark floor beneath her. Blood stained the wood and her tongue.

She noticed how the droplets began to swirl and change form; becoming figures with heavy emotions and terrifying looks. They became a gruesome masterpiece. Her breath cling to her throat as her own face took shape, snarling and scowling so fiercely it looked ready to spring from the ground and choke her. Her small figure was holding a bloody sword and the image continued on swirling and swirling.

"Ariadne."

A voice. She knew she was going mad. The last thing she fully remembered was blacking out once Rachel and Annabeth had burst in. Maybe she hit her head and was hearing things, or, someone was making contact, and by their voice she wasn't sure it was a good sign.

"You are the key," another voice spoke up, on her left side. "You must free me. Then, and only then, will you find what you are so desperately searching for."

Percy. She was desperately looking for Percy.

A growl escaped the other. "Lies. If you follow that path, you will end up in the Underworld, and you will never find peace." There was a thick feeling over her face, as if it was smothering her. "Follow me. Let me take you away. There, you will be safe."

That didn't sound good.

Ariadne shook her head. The second voice sounded familiar, like she had met the person. The first sounded much, much older. Dangerous.

A headache flashed through her brain, causing her to wince. The first voice wailed loudly as the dug her nails into the ground for support. Her vision danced purple before fading away, leaving her alone with the second voice.

"You are powerful, Ariadne. You are the key to our success. If you do not free me and learn the truth, the world could become rumble, and worse than what Kronos would've left it."

"Who are you?" Ariadne choked out, feeling as if she was losing oxygen. "What do you want?"

Her head saw the blood rise from the floor in a funnel. It grew and grew until it stopped. Then, it struck. The funnel aimed toward, shooting down her throat, except it was blood no longer, but what tasted like grapes.

Ariadne saw a woman standing tall before being locked in a cage, turning silky and dark. The girl choked and gasped on the floor while fighting the liquid in her throat, which didn't seem to want to be swallowed. Her hands calmed at her skin in sudden urgency.

Another figure stood, holding a sword above their head, and seemed to let out a battle cry. Her and seven others charged forward with their weapons drawn attacking monsters that she had never seen before. She was at the lead, battle two, seeking to make it easy. But underneath them in a field was two armies clashing swords and armies together. There were bodies falling left and right.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and out came a larger figure that seemed to swallow the world. Only the first smaller figure was left with its sword and it was destroying everything. Behind her laid seven other bodies, and hers soon joined them right after.

Her throat opened up and she gasped. She spit the taste out of her mouth but it was lasting on her tongue. Ariadne didn't know what she had just seen, but it worried her immensely.

Wind rushed through her hair. "Free me, Daughter of the Vines. Free me or all is lost."

That was when she woke up.

The last thing she wanted to see when she had opened her eyes was Jason standing over her. He looked pale, and his eyes were continuously darting toward Piper, who laid on the couch, breathing heavily while still unconscious.

His blonde hair was swept to the side, and Annabeth stood next to him with a concerned look on her face.

Ariadne grunted. She swatted the boy's hand away and stood up, only to fall dizzy and have him catch her. Her purple eyes glowed dangerously before he let go in fear of becoming a head without a body like Seymour, who was watching them from the wall. The daughter of Dionysus scowled and had Annabeth hold onto her. She gave Rachel a smile.

"We'be got to heal her," Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"

Chiron out his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state."

Jason looked at Ariadne with pleading eyes. He looked worse for wear. "Isn't there something you could do?"

A strain of sympathy crept from her guarded heart. "Unless you want her mind to literally break, not really." The brunette looked at the redhead. "Rachel, what happened?"

"I wish I knew," she said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Chiron asked.

"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."

Annabeth held a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper, passing Ariadne river to Rachel. "Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her—"

"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.

Her jaw clenched. Ariadne sighed heavily, her mind thinking back on those voices just before she woke up. It made sense how she had realized the familiarity of one, and it was telling her to free it from a prison—it had been Hera.

"Ariadne?" Chiron said gently. "My girl?"

"I'm sorry, Chiron," she said quietly. It was the first time Jason had her voice in that way. "When I blacked out I heard two voices. One was telling me to stay, the other to free them from It's prison. It told me that if I did I would find the one I'm so desperate to seek, and we all know that's... him."

She became so vulnerable Jason was ready for her to crack under the pressure.

Chiron made a three fingered gesture over his heart, like a ward against evil. "Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."

Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained what had happened when the room froze—the dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron.

When he was done, no one spoke, which made him more anxious.

"So does this happen often?" he asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron," Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"

"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."

Annabeth frowned. "I've never heard of anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your kind?"

"I don't think so," Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's in prisoner. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king riding from the earth on the solstice—"

Ariadne turned to Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that."

The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.

At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But..."

"But what?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron close the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."

"Or now," Jason said. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"

"Oh," Rachel said in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."

"Hers?" Annabeth's snarl was even fiercer than Seymour's. Ariadne glared. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"

"I think Rachel's right," Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"

"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."

Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Of Juno. Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."

"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"

Ariadne scoffed. She crossed her arms and stared at the fire on the far side of the room. "Whoever they are, I should thank them. I'm tired of Hera. She's a little bit—"

"Ariadne," Chiron warned, "she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help—"

"Fine," Ariadne grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago. And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan...?"

Seymour and Zoe were smacking their lips like the goddess had tasted much better than a sausage. Ariadne wished she could feed the goddess to the cats.

Jason looked over. "Hera said she'd been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month."

"Which is how long Olympus has been closed," Annabeth said. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."

"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency glare to the other gods—let them known where she is so they bust her out?

"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth," Rachel said. "That's right, isn't it? Their fates are always intertwined with demigods."

"That's true," Annabeth said, "but Jason's got a point. Why him? Why take his memory!"

"And Ari and Piper are involved somehow," Rachel said. "Hera sent her the same message—Free me. And, Ari, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearing."

Ariadne fixed her eyes on Chiron. "Awfully quiet. What is it we're facing?"

The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a mater of minutes. The lines around his eyes were deeply etched. "My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."

Annabeth blinked. "You've never... you've never kept informar from us. Even the last great prophecy—"

"Will be in my office." His voice was heavy. "I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bringer her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And Ariadne, Annabeth, you should speak to Jason. Tell him about—about the Greek and Roman gods."

"But..."

The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. She muttered something in Greek. Ariadne gritted her teeth harshly.

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I think my being here—I don't know. I've messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."

"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell us to talk to you about the gods..."

Her voice trailed off. Apparently she'd just noticed Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. She touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.

"Is this gold?" she said. "Do you remember where you got it?"

"No," Jason said. "Like I said, o don't remember anything."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "We usually use Celestial Bronze. Ari is the only person in camp to have a sword made form gold. The same gold as your sword."

Lunacy appeared in the brunette's hand. It glinted in the firelight, and Jason gulped at the sight of the vines crawling along the blade, the ball of yarn on the base was twisting and turning. It looked deadly. He only imagined how many enemies had truly fallen by its blade.

"If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means..." she looked to the blonde girl, "Cabin Fifteen. Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?"

"Sure," Rachel promised. "Good luck, you two."

"Hold on," Jason said. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"

Annabeth stood. "Maybe a way to get your memory back."

They headed out the door, onto the large porch, but Ariadne stopped them. Her curls flew in the small breeze and the wind picked at her skin, turning it red, making her look as if her nose was a cherry, but it worked in her favor.

Jason still couldn't understand how Ariadne looked that good. Of course, it wasn't like he would have a crush on her. She was happy with Percy, her missing boyfriend, and doubted she would ever feel that way for anyone else.

"Annie, you start heading over. Jason and I will meet you there." Her eyes glinted. "We need to have a chat."

Annabeth gave a wary look. She turned and began walking away. When she was a good enough distance, the brunette gripped the railing, her ring back on her finger. The black windbreaker around her was becoming stiff on her arms. "You know something, Jason."

Jason gave her an alarmed look. "What? No. I...I already told you everything I can remember."

She didn't believe him. "Some part of me wants to take that and run with it. But I've been in this game too long. I've been on five quests since I was twelve, I know when danger is approaching, and it's approaching fast. You're lying."

"I promise you, Ariadne, I'm not," his voice was soft, as if he was a vulnerable prey trying to talk down a dangerous predator—which sort of fit at the moment. "I want to remember more. I do. I want to help you find Percy, but I can't even recall what I had been doing right before I woke up on that bus."

Ariadne twisted her ring. She let out a whisper, "I know. I can't blame you for your loss of memory," she said gently. "It's not your fault. All of that lies on Hera. That bitch."

The blond boy swallowed his heart. "Why—why don't you like Hera?"

"She wanted me to thank her for almost getting us killed. And for sending my boyfriend someplace for so long we thought he had died." Her eyes turned dark. "We don't have a good relationship. It's a mural hate, you could say."

They leaned against the railing. In silence. Somehow it felt as if she didn't hate him as much as he originally thought. Ariadne was just great at making people feel scared and intimidated. And if Percy could deal with that in a girl, he supposed that was a natural talent, and he admired the older girl.

She was strong. There he was, freaking out over not even remembering Piper becoming his girlfriend, and she was there, holding it together while her boyfriend was completely missing, and she was feeling impending doom ready to pounce on them at any moment.

Ariadne Phoenix was some force to be reckoned with.

"I'm sorry you didn't find Percy."

She shrugged. "Like I said, it's not your fault. That's all Hera. If I could, I would throttle her with all my might. But, you know, she's a goddess and all, and I'm just a demigod."

"But, I mean, I've heard a few snippets of what you did during the summer," he said. "You seemed to hold your own. Without you Olympus would be in ash and the world would have fallen. You don't give yourself as much credit as you should."

Her lips quirked up slightly. "You're not as bad as I thought, Peter Pan."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Peter Pan? Is that gonna stick?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm already planning on telling Leo."

They laughed.

She sighed. "But, seriously," she twisted Lunacy into her hand, "try anything and I'll gut you like a fish."

His eyebrows raised. Jason smiled, knocking she was half-joking. The two began heading toward the cabins, and he felt a bit better than he had earlier.

Beneath their feet the ground swirled. Dirt tried to grip onto her feet, but she was too strong, and a wail escaped the green woman, as if all her attempts were in vain.

authors note:

I procrastinated writing this all week so

It's terribly short but idk I've been busy with school and guess what:

ITS MY MOTHERFUCKING SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY TODAY HENNEDNNDEN

MY PARENYS GOT ME BREAKFAST AND THEY ALSO GOT THOSE SIGN LETTERS SAYING 'HAPPY BURTHDAY JASMINE' FOR OUR FRONT YARD

we're getting Olive Garden later but delivered because, ya know, a pandemic and all

I don't have to go to school today because it snowed but I still have to do online

Just wanna say that Ariadne doesn't hate Jason, just hates the fact that he was sent to replace Percy after he had gone missing. She hates hers too much but Jason doesn't know anything so she can't hold him accountable. She just wants to find Percy and leave it at that but can't without getting wrapped up in a while ass great prophecy

And I know y'all want her to keep looking for Percy but I want to develop her and Leo's friendship more before MOA, and give some advice to Piper and Jason on their quest

I also just want her to become exasperated because the trip won't actually listen to her and she feels like a parent for them on a quest and asks herself if that was how her, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were like on all of theirs.

Idk I find it so funny

But yeah I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and whatever idk

I'm gonna go celebrate my sixteenth even though I don't feel any younger. And I literally binged Voltron on Netflix and I literally love Lance so you may expect a story who knows but I have so many drafts I'm not kidding

Please go stream skin, lie lie lie, and only a matter of time! (I would say driver's license but right I heard it too much on tik tok so it took out the joy from me but you can still support it!)

Also go watch the skin video later today which is a great present for me

AND HAPPY FUCKING BURTHDAY TO HARRY STYLES I LOVE HIK SO MUCH SO GO STREAM HIS SHOT CAUSE J WILL AND ALSO LISTEN TO SELENA GOMEZS NEW SOMGS BECAUSE THEY SLAP HARD

I love you guys!

Q: when is your birthday and what age will you be turning this year or already have (of course only answer if you want because ya know privacy)

A: February 1 (obvious) and I'm sixteen!

Love you guys!!!!