A/N: Here's Chapter 2. It's a lot longer than chapter one. Hope you like it. Adios!
Disclaimer: Once again, NOT Rick Riordan. So….I DON'T OWN PJO!
Copyright: I do own J.T., Juno, the plot of this story, and anything else you don't recognize. Steal and I kill you. Enjoy!
Chapter II
Juno
A Brand New Place and A Punch In the Face
When I woke up, my first thought was, Gods, my head hurts. My auburn hair was pulled back, but a couple of strands were loose, covering my light brown eyes. I brushed the hair out of my face and saw three people standing in front of me. One looked like a centaur, half-man, and half-horse. Another looked like a daughter of Venus, especially the way her eyes seemed to change color. The third person, standing next to my bed was…I sat up and punched him in the face.
"What was that for?" The Venus girl demanded, running over to inspect Jason's bleeding nose.
His blond hair and stormy blue eyes reminded me of the first day we had met. It had been an awkward experience. I didn't feel like thinking about it at the moment.
"I'm okay, Piper," Jason promised the Venus girl, pushing her away. He didn't look okay, though.
"Piper, take Jason downstairs to the infirmary. I'll have the Apollo kids look at him," the centaur said.
Piper and Jason nodded and reluctantly left the room. Turning to me, the centaur asked, "So. Welcome to the Big House, uhh…what's your name?"
I started to answer, but a boy then came running in, holding a hammer. A son of Vulcan, I thought, noticing the grease on his clothes, his rough, callused hands, and the way his fingers seemed to flicker with flames.
The boy tripped on his way in and sprawled out on the floor, his hammer slamming into the wall. I hate Vulcan kids. They're too…mechanical. And really clumsy. This one was different than most. His skin was dark, so was his hair, and he had pointy ears that increased his mischievous smile.
"Hey," the boy said smoothly, scrambling to his feet. "I'm Leo." He flipped his hair and I rolled my eyes. I know a lot of Venus kids like this, but I'd never met a Vulcan so…vain. I instantly hated him.
"Juno. Nice to meet you."
The centaur stared at me, and then looked up at the sky. He looked back at me and said, "Your name is Juno?"
I nodded. "I was named after the queen of the gods. Is that…bad?" I knew the answer, of course, but I decided to play dumb. The centaur didn't answer.
"Uh, Chiron?" Leo asked the centaur. "What's going on?"
I answered for him. "Let's just say you came in at a really bad time."
"I'm just gonna go now," Leo said, picking up his hammer.
"Wait! I…uh…need to see something." I stood up and walked over to Leo. I stared at him until my eyes burned and subtly laid a hand on some blueprints in his pocket.
Still staring at Leo, I concentrated on what I knew of my family. My mother's graceful voice, telling me to travel to Camp Half-Blood. Reyna; who was like a sister to me. Even hungry Lupa; who for years had been the mother I never had. I blinked and Leo seemed to glow orange. Time stopped. Everything froze. I could see Leo's family and everything they had done together. It was like watching a flashback of his whole life.
I saw Leo's mom; teaching him Morse code, working with him in her workshop, and smiling at him for the last time before she died. I saw his dad, Vulcan, with his greasy machines everywhere, talking to Leo in a dream. I even saw Jason, helping him build some kind of ship, probably the one the blueprints were for. Lastly, I saw…Time started up again. I lost concentration, staggered, and almost fell. I had seen the last person I expected to see in a son of Vulcan's thoughts.
I had seen my mother. Except, she wasn't my mother. Instead of the goatskin cloak she always wore when she appeared to me, she wore a black…well…everything. She seemed older, more Hispanic, and a lot more evil. I shuddered and sat down on the bed. Leo and Chiron stared at me, obviously confused. Seeing how pale I must've looked, Chiron sent Leo away and knelt down next to me.
"Do you know who my parents are?" I asked Chiron.
He looked like he wanted to say yes, but he honestly shook his head no. "I have suspicions, but not very good ones," he said.
I looked at him as if to say, "Go on."
"The only gods I can think of who would name you after the queen are Zeus and Hera herself."
"But Juno can't have demigod children," I pointed out, hoping Chiron couldn't see the lie in my face.
Chiron nodded. "You're right, and I don't think Zeus would break his oath for a third time."
"Neptune broke his oath five times," I said, trying to change the subject. Chiron raised his eyebrows at me. "That boy who came to camp…Percy Jackson- he said he had three sisters…and a brother."
Chiron stared at me like I was crazy, then finally stood and said, "You must rest. You'll have a tour of camp in the morning."
The centaur left me alone in the room to think further about my vision. I'd always had a thing with families. Back at camp, people would come to me with their problems and I'd help them figure stuff out. Okay, not really. It was mainly with Percy. He had some interesting items, mainly his pen/sword thing. I'd be able to see his past and I'd tell him stories. I was the one to first figure out he was a son of Nep…err, Poseidon, I guess. Anyway, I decided I needed someone to talk to. Someone who really understood.
I sneaked out of the room and went outside. It was still early, but the stars were already coming out. I sat down on a hill and searched for Orion's belt. The constellation wasn't where it usually was, but I figured that was because I was in a different place. I closed my eyes and said a prayer to Diana to call down Orion. A shimmering figure of a man appeared in front of me, fidgeting and tugging at his belt.
"Hey, kid," he said, pointing at me. "Can you ask your mom to loosen this thing? It's getting really tight."
"Nice to see you too, Orion," I said sarcastically. "Besides, that's Jupiter's job, not Mom's."
That did not make Orion happy. "Ohhh, so you can straighten the Huntress's bow, but when little Orion wants his stars spread apart, nooo! Nothing for me!"
I sighed. "Look Orion," I said, trying to reason with him. "That was only because Diana had a knife held to Jupiter's neck. If you want your belt loosened, you'll have to make friends with a god and have him threaten to kill the Lord of the Sky."
Orion frowned and said, "Hmmph. Fine. If you're not gonna help me, then what do you want kid?"
"I had this… call, I guess, a couple months ago. It was from…my mom." This caught Orion's attention. He looked up from fidgeting with his belt and raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded. "She told me I would find Jason if I came here. That I would get my revenge on him for hurting Reyna. So I took Whiteknight and I left, but…this is so…different. The Greeks are a lot more suspicious than the Romans. You know what I mean?"
Orion stared at me, real serious, for about a minute, and then said, "You think Zeus will let me get a belt in a bigger size?"
"Discedo, vos!" I exclaimed and Orion retreated to the skies. (By the way, that's Latin for, "Go away, you!") I groaned and lay back on the hill, thinking. I was almost asleep actually, when Leo sat down next to me, holding a bronze….something or other. "Go away," I told him. He ignored me.
"Hey Juno," he said, handing me the bronze thing. "I made this for you."
I was about to say, "What is it?" when I looked closely at it and realized it was a bronze heart.
"This way," Leo explained. "No matter where you are, my heart will always be with you."
I smiled, tears in my eyes. Then, I threw the heart on the ground, crushed it with all my might, and stomped away.
"Well that was an interesting way to break my heart," I heard Leo say as I walked away.
I felt sorry for the guy, but honestly, he was trying way too hard to impress me. I walked into the woods, not really thinking about where I was going, and a shimmering figure appeared in front of me. Not one of the constellations; she was too beautiful, too…real. And…I knew her.
"Mom?"
A/N: ooooh, CLIFFIE! Hope you liked it. In the next chapter, Juno will have a nice conversation with her mom, and J.T. will get extremely freaked out. (Evil laugh that I don't know how to type) Arrivederci!
