Chapter Twelve: Visit Reginae
The Queen's Visit
The last thing she saw had been an abyss of blackness. It was funny in a dry sort of way because this epitomizing of darkness was also the first thing Thalia met the moment she opened her eyes.
Or maybe her eyes were still closed.
So this must be her punishment for defying Lupa's grand rules. Thalia snorted at the irony. Of all the people she had just met in this place, Lupa was the biggest hypocrite she had ever met. Lupa could surely get away with breaking her own rules, but Thalia couldn't? The woman certainly did have that whole 'they're my rules so I could break them if I wanted to' attitude. And here Thalia thought camp directors like Lupa were supposed to set an example.
Thalia grappled blindly in the darkness, her hands searching for something to help her stand up. There was no object within any distance of her. Her palm shot out and hit something smooth and solid. It was a wall and that was an immediate clue as to where she was. Most likely Thalia was trapped in a dark room. Blowing her bangs from her face, she leaned up against the wall and used most of the strength from her legs to push herself up. Her legs were shaky in the process of standing, and she was close to stumbling and falling back down again.
How long had she been unconscious?
In all honestly, Thalia felt like a large truck had hit her.
"Hello?" she openly greeted the darkness. Thalia somewhat knew that she wouldn't get a response back, but it had been worth a shot. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Stupid question.
Paranoia was getting the best of her. What if she was in that one room where people were watching her but she didn't know where they were? Lupa was probably one of these people, watching her every move with observation and detail. The woman was probably expecting Thalia to go crazy in this dark room all by herself. She could imagine Lupa waiting for Thalia to crack under the involuntary pressure, just for Lupa's private amusement.
Thalia simply sat back down, realizing that there was no way out of this room. All her hands met were solid and thick walls that withheld her from the outside. Legs stretched out, arms crossed loosely on her stomach, and her head leaned back against the wall. She wasn't getting out any time soon, so she might as well make herself comfortable.
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer," Thalia started singing the ridiculously easy song, biting her lip from laughing at herself. "Take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall…"
She was pretty sure the gods and goddesses were laughing at her from wherever they were watching her. Their home was Mount Olympus, wasn't it? Was there a roman counterpart for that place too?
"Seventy-six bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-six bottles of beer," Thalia sang after a couple of moments. "Take one down, pass it around, seventy-seven beers—no, it's seventy-six bottles right? Or was it seventy-five? Aw, damn it. I can't even get through a simple song."
She was talking to herself.
Oh, this had to be the first sign of insanity.
Thalia repeatedly banged her head against the wall, in an attempt to keep herself occupied with something. And even that got boring after a while, and plus the fact that it was giving her a major headache.
"Dad?" she tried, speaking to her godly father, wishing that she could hear his voice in her mind in the usual way that they seldomly communicated. As expected, he didn't answer.
Well, he was the god of all gods, after all. He didn't have time to sit back and chitchat with anyone. Not even if that person was his daughter. It was okay, though. She didn't mind having a busy father.
But a sudden noise made her jolt upright.
"Hello?" she said again, her eyes darting wildly in the blackness. It proved useless, considering she saw nothing. "Who's there?" she demanded, her hands going for the clip that was usually adorned her hair.
Her hands couldn't find any of that cold material belonging to the golden barrette, and for the first time that day—or night, who knows? — she noticed that her hair was loose.
She took her golden barrette. Lupa fucking took her barrette.
"Bitch," Thalia muttered lowly, anger starting to seep in at the thought of the she-wolf.
"No, but I have been referred by that name before. You are not the first to call me that," the voice answered by wryly.
The voice was a woman's. It sounded very regal and elegant. You know this woman, a voice whispered in her head, and Thalia was surprised her father was answering her. A little late, but better late than never. You know her.
"I do?" she asked back.
She's my wife.
Piper could hear whispers around her, flying around so carelessly as though she was immune to them.
When she opened her eyes sluggishly, she noticed that the first thing she saw was Jason's face. Just looking at him made her swoon, and the fact that he had been there made her even happier. The only letdown to her waking up and seeing Jason was the fact that Gwendolyn was there also, but she looked upset about it.
These two demigods weren't the only ones with her. There were two brunette kids, and a honey blonde haired girl in the same room, and the five teenagers seemed to all have a conversation with each other, not noticing the fact that Piper had woken up.
She tried to be stealthy, to listen into their conversation, but once she had shifted on the infirmary bed, all five heads snapped to her at once.
"Piper," Jason let a relieved smile break out on his face. "You were knocked out for a couple of days. We were worried for you there."
"We?" Gwendolyn shot back acerbically.
Jason glared at Gwendolyn, choosing to ignore the girl. His gaze softened upon turning back to Piper. He shot her a gaze that said not to mind the daughter of Pluto, to which Piper responded by rolling her eyes.
Piper used her hands to push herself up into a sitting position, she noticed a swelling ache burning at her right forearm, prompting her to take a curious peek at it. She gasped softly, forgetting that five other people were in the room with her. Where once her forearm had been bare, now laid a tattoo of a majestic eagle with the letters SPQR tattooed in dark ink over the bird. It was the same tattoo she saw on Thalia's and Jason's arms.
"How—when…?" she sputtered, but she couldn't get her words straight.
The honey blonde haired girl smiled gently. "You got the tattoo while you were unconscious. Lupa doesn't like to wait for anyone, so she ordered your tattoo a couple days ago. I'm Reyna by the way, daughter of Minerva. This is Hazel, daughter of Apollo," she pointed over at the light brown haired girl, who grinned, "and this is Kenneth, son of Mercury," she pointed at the brunette boy, who only nodded in response. "And I'm sure you know who Jason and Gwendolyn are already."
"I do," Piper said a bit dazedly, still dumbfounded by her new tattoo.
"You passed Lupa's judgment, which means you get to train here with us," Jason said.
"This place is split into five legions," Hazel explained, sitting on the side of the small bed. "The First Legion is the highest, and the Fifth Legion is the lowest. Based on your judgment, Lupa put you in the Third Legion."
Piper was surprised. "But she nearly killed me out there. Shouldn't I be in the Fifth Legion?"
Hazel smiled, shaking a head. "Don't doubt yourself too much. While fighting you, Lupa must have sensed some potential in you. She put you in the Third Legion because you were pretty adept in lasting the fight, but you still lack a few fighting abilities. You're here to train so we could help you."
"And what legion are you all in?" Piper asked the lot of them.
They all answered at once. "First."
Immediately after, Piper felt insufficient.
"You're a charmspeaker," Gwendolyn pointed out, dark brown eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you charmspeak Lupa instead of wasting your time in getting your ass kicked all over the place? You were given powers for a reason."
Piper surged forward, arms raised to punch Gwendolyn, but Hazel held her back in place. "To charmspeak, you have to speak," she talked slowly, making sure the other girl was hearing the words clearly. "I couldn't charmspeak because I didn't have time to open my mouth and talk. If you didn't notice, I was busy defending myself."
Gwendolyn didn't like the way Piper was talking to her. Piper talked to her as though Gwendolyn was stupid.
"You know, I agree with you wholeheartedly when you said you should have been in the Fifth Legion."
"Gwen," Jason started, sighing.
"Why do you think that?" Piper threw back, not backing down.
"Isn't it obvious?" Gwendolyn strained her eyes coldly on Piper, stripping the daughter of Venus to the core. "You're the reason why Thalia's being punished. So thank you, Piper, for taking our consul away from us."
"That's enough," Jason gritted through his teeth, his hand clasping hardly onto Gwendolyn's elbow. "Go back to your quarters, Gwen," his eyes blazed with hard fire. "That's an order."
Gwendolyn's jaw clenched as she took a step back. Her eyes swept back and forth, before finally setting upon Piper's one more time. She glared at her with so much malice, Piper had no doubt this girl was a daughter of Pluto. Gwendolyn then stormed outside the infirmary room, but if looks could kill…
All this time, Piper hadn't noticed.
Thalia wasn't here.
Piper's eyebrows pulled together. "What did she mean by saying Thalia's being punished because of me?"
No one really wanted to answer her.
"Well," Kenneth spoke up for the first time, his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "Thalia broke the rules by coming in to help you. No one is supposed to have help on his or her judgment, and Thalia just jumped in and stopped Lupa for you."
"But technically, Thalia had a right to jump in," Hazel added. "Lupa surpassed her limit. She was only supposed to fight you for an hour at most, but she went on much longer than that."
Piper remembered it all now. She remembered feeling useless and helpless out on the arena grounds, and remembered Thalia standing over Lupa before she barged in and attacked Lupa. Thalia did save her.
Piper asked the fated question. "Where is she now?"
At this, Kenneth looked down, his eyes downcast. Hazel had an anxious look on her face, in which she shared that look with Reyna across the room. Jason too, had a troubled look about his handsome face, but he was the one that spoke next.
"We don't know where she is. She's been missing ever since your judgment."
Thalia wondered if she should bow in the presence of the Queen.
She didn't know what difference it would make, considering she was still blinded by the annoying blackness.
"Should I refer to you as Hera or Juno?" Thalia finally asked.
"Let's go with Juno," the Queen of the gods answered back shortly. "It does not matter, since we are playing with darkness, but I want you to be more familiar with your Roman terms. I'm sure you must be confused as to why I put you here."
Wait a minute.
"You…" Thalia couldn't even say it past her disbelief. "You were the one who put me here? Did you take my memories away too?"
"Yes."
Thalia sat, shocked as she let her head fall limply against the wall. For weeks—nearly a month, she had been wondering why she was here and why her memories had been taken away from her like a gamble. And now the sole reason was right here in this trapped dark room with her. If only she had her sword with her right now…
"I sense that you are angry," came Juno's quiet, calm voice.
"No shit, Sherlock," Thalia snapped back. "Why wouldn't I be angry? I still don't know who I am or why I'm here! You took everything away from me! My life, my memories, my friends—"
"All for a good reason," Juno interrupted.
"And what reason is that, my Queen?" Thalia snarled in a mocking manner.
Juno smiled, even though Thalia couldn't see it. "I needed a hero, Thalia. I'm very picky in the heroes I choose, and of all the demigods I have considered, you were the perfect one."
"Don't you hate all children of Zeus or Jupiter?" Thalia retorted.
"There is always an exception to the rule."
Yeah, right, Thalia thought bitterly. She played like that against Lupa's rules and look where that got her.
"You do not know it now," Juno continued when Thalia decided to remain silent. "But you are the most important player in what is about to come. Another war is stirring amongst the titans, and they are unsettled with the outcome of the last war. They are even allying with the giants. I suppose you should think of this as a chess game between the gods and the titans."
Thalia snorted. "A war is a chess game to you? What am I, your pawn?"
Juno chuckled lightly. "Did I not say earlier that you were my hero? A hero is not merely a pawn. In fact, Thalia, you are my rook. The rook's value is bigger than that of a knight of a bishop, but smaller than that of a queen's."
"I know that," Thalia rolled her eyes.
"Of course you do," Juno smiled with practiced patience. "The titans have already snatched away the queen piece. Now the rook can move along the ranks and files of the chessboard as long as it doesn't bump over another piece, which gives the piece one of the higher advantages. There is no limit as to how many spaces the rook can move, as long as it is within the same color. In essence, you can strike anywhere as long as it is within reason."
"You're the stolen queen, aren't you?"
"In literal terms, yes," Juno answered. "I cannot tell you where I am, but I am trapped. They are draining my powers to awaken something that should not be woken up. Do you know how a pawn becomes a queen or any other higher piece?"
Thalia bit the inside of her cheek, deep in thought. "Doesn't the pawn have to reach the other side?"
"Correct. The board must be cleared for the pawn's safety to move to the other side. Or the pawn must find an opening to get into the other side. The king must be protected, so he must not move. Since the queen has been taken, that piece is out of the question too. The only pieces useful are the knight, the bishop, and the rook. The bishop can move diagonal, and the knight can jump over pieces, but it can only move four places in an 'L' shape. The rook can move straight left and right or up and down, no matter how many places without having another piece in its way. You, my rook, must clear the chessboard so that the pawn becomes a queen. And once the pawn becomes a queen…" she let Thalia continue.
"Then you'll be returned to the gods," Thalia finished.
She had to save the Queen of the gods.
"But why me? Why did you choose me as your hero?" Thalia asked, wishing she could look at the Juno's face amidst all this darkness. "Besides you thinking that I'm the perfect and right hero for you."
"I want you to list all the heroes you know. It doesn't matter if they are Greek or Roman—just list them."
"Okay," the blue-eyed demigod pondered for a moment, her index finger tapping thoughtfully at her chin. "Well, there's Achilles, Hercules, Odysseus, Theseus, Perseus…"
At the name 'Perseus', Thalia's heartbeat sped up. She had no idea why she was feeling that way though. There was something familiar about that name, like she knew a boy with the same name as the Greek hero.
"Do you not see the problem?"
Thalia tilted her head to the side. "There's a problem?"
That earned another chuckle from Juno. "All these heroes are male. A female has yet to make a name amongst the list of the greatest heroes. It is time for the world to see a heroine, I should say. Not mainly for the cause of feminism, but we need more heroines in this world. I never asked, but will you be my hero?"
"I don't have a choice now, do I?" Thalia replied sarcastically, almost laughing at the end.
"No, you don't," Juno smiled, and it went unknown to the demigod. "This is your first task. Once it is finished, I will tell you your second one. Clear the board and make the pawn a queen. Set me free, my rook."
A quiet pop signaled that the Queen was gone. Thalia wondered how Juno made it here to speak with Thalia, if Juno had been trapped the entire time by the Titans. Maybe the whole thing was a hallucination.
In the same moment, light cascaded in the dark room, nearly blinding Thalia's eyes. Thalia squinting against the painful light, making out a figure blurred against the sudden lights.
"Did you have fun?" It was Lupa. "You're punishment is done. I hoped you learned something after this, little pup. You are free to go back to your headquarters."
The light allowed Thalia to look at her surroundings.
She had been in an empty closet the entire time.
A/N: I remember when I used to update almost every day. Man, those were the good ol' days... Anyway, enjoy this one! I put Piper in the Third Legion because she has more potential than what she's shown, she just doesn't realize it yet. And don't stop the reviews!