Hey, guys, new chapter. Are you excited? Because this is where we start to veer off scri-ipt. Well, kind of. You're probably not excited. I'm excited.

Drew

Drew caught up with Annabeth as soon as the crowd started to dissipate. "What do you think of the new girl?"

"What do you care?" Annabeth snapped. Drew examined her nails with affected disinterest.

"Well, hon, the connection seems obvious to me," she said, flipping a ringlet away from her face. "Percy vanishes, a girl appears with no memory where Hera told you you would learn what happened to him. You're not thinking deep enough. Is this what losing Percy for three days has done to you?"

Annabeth looked ready to lunge for Drew's throat. Then she sighed and motioned for Drew to walk with her. "You're right, I know, it's just...I'm worried."

"Worried?" Drew said. She laughed softly, but there was no mirth in her laughter. Her gaze sharpened, and she raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Really, Annabeth, tell me the truth. We both know you're not just worried."

She hadn't meant to use charmspeak, but the tiniest amount had slipped into her voice. It wasn't enough to make Annabeth do anything she didn't want to, but certainly enough to relax her barriers, do what she actually did want to – spill all her feelings.

"I'm freaking out," Annabeth admitted. "I'm overwhelmed, and stressed, and I have no clue what to do."

Drew smirked to herself. It was certainly...interesting, to hear Annabeth admitting to her, of all people, that she didn't know what to do.

An unexpected surge of emotion rose in her chest. A cross between satisfaction and sympathy. She was a daughter of love – Annabeth's feelings for Percy, how much she missed him, their tragic love story...it felt good, comforting, as twisted as that sounded. But the sadness and desperation in Annabeth's eyes, her frustration...those emotions elicited Drew's sympathies, made her hope Percy was all right, wherever he was.

She shook herself, pushing aside the emotions. "By the way, sweetie, I got Mitchell to exercise his, ah, son of Aphrodite talents on darling Reyna. You're welcome."

The last words were dripping in venomous sugar.

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Annabeth asked doubtfully. Drew laughed lightly, high and sweet. She wound a lock of hair around a slender finger.

"I doubt it," she said. "Subtlety is not Mitchell's strong suit. Worth a try, though."

Annabeth sighed heavily and kept walking. Drew kept pace. They climbed one of the hills that marked the southern edge of the camp. Drew did what she always did when they neared the crest – turned to admire the view.

She remembered the first time she had seen it, six years ago. It had looked slightly different then, of course – the cabins hadn't formed an omega back then. There had been only twelve, forming a U. It had been just as beautiful, just as special. It had been the only place where Drew could be proud of her ADHD and her dyslexia. And it could have looked like any other place in the world and Drew wouldn't have cared – it was the place that marked her as something other than average.

Drew closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, returning to the present. What was wrong with her today?

They hiked a little further until they reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and old swords littered the ground. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered in a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes.

Drew raised a questioning eyebrow at Annabeth. "Why are we visiting Rachel?"

"I," Annabeth said, "am visiting Rachel in hopes that she can help me find Percy. I have no idea why you're coming with me."

Drew sniffed. "I did you a favour, Annabeth. It would be nice of you to remember that. I didn't have to tell Mitchell to figure out what's up with Reyna."

Annabeth ignored her and pushed aside the curtain. She poked her head in, then withdrew with a sigh. "Not here."

Annabeth clenched her fists tightly, a scowl fixed to her face. Drew rolled her eyes, following as the blonde strode away. This was getting ridiculous – for an Aphrodite kid, it was supposed to be a game. She knew that better than most – she toyed with people's emotions, had broken countless hearts. True feelings were never in the picture. Annabeth cared too much about Percy to think clearly. It was sweet...but remarkably irritating.

They walked in silence until Drew stopped dead in her tracks by the entrance to Cabin Two. Her gaze fell upon a dusty footprint atop the threshold.

Annabeth stopped with her. "What?"

Drew didn't answer. She reached out instinctively and pushed the doors. They swung open easily.

"Drew?" Annabeth said, voice rising slightly. She said the name as half question, half exclamation. "Are you crazy?"

Drew walked inside.

Hera's cabin looked – and felt - nothing like Aphrodite's. It felt cold and unwelcoming, without even a window to let in sunlight. There were no beds or furniture.

There was a circle of white columns surrounding a ten feet tall statue of Hera in the centre of the room. The statue was brightly painted, frighteningly lifelike. At its feet, a fire burned in a bronze brazier.

Behind the statue, at a little altar, stood a figure in a black shawl. Only her hands were visible, palms up.

Annabeth gasped from a few steps behind Drew. "Rachel?"

The girl turned and dropped her shawl to reveal a mane of red hair. Without the shawl, she looked like a totally normal seventeen year old She was barefoot, despite the cold floor.

"Hey!" She ran across the room to give Annabeth a hug. "I'm so sorry! I got here as fast as I could."

Drew coughed quietly. She looked Rachel up and down. "Black is definitely not your colour, hon. Got to say, the green looks good on you – ugly blouse, but good colour."

Rachel glanced down at her green top and jeans quickly. She shrugged and turned back to Annabeth. "No news on Percy?"

"None," Annabeth said. "Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters – they're all looking for him. They can't find him anywhere. Do you..."

"Nope," Rachel said. "No visions or dreams. I just came here, because I had a hunch this cabin and Percy's disappearance are connected. I've learned to follow my hunches, especially this past month. Since the gods went silent."

"Me, too," Drew said. "You can't rely on Apollo to send you visions of the future any more than I can rely upon Aphrodite for fashion tips."

Apparently neither Annabeth nor Rachel found that amusing. Both shot her glares, then turned back to each other. Annabeth frowned and said, "Okay, let's think this through. Olympus closed a month ago. Mr. D was recalled, and none of the gods have been answering prayers. No one has been able to get in. Three days ago, Percy disappeared."

"And that's...all we know?" Rachel asked. Annabeth sighed and nodded.

"And that Reyna girl appeared today," Drew reminded them. Rachel glanced at her with a frown.

"Who's Reyna?" she asked. Drew shrugged.

"No idea. She and this other guy showed up not too long ago. Both older than thirteen. The guy was claimed immediately. This girl wasn't, and she claims to have no memory."

"Right," Annabeth said. "It doesn't make sense. This was the first message from any god in a month, and it came from Hera, the least helpful goddess, to me, her least favourite demigod. She lured me to the Grand Canyon by telling me I'd find out what happened to Percy if I went there and looked for the one in a purple shirt. What did I find? Two demigods, the one with the purple shirt being very distinctly not Percy."

"Why are you taking it all out on Hera?" Drew asked abruptly. "In her defence, she never said once that you'd find Percy. Just what happened to him. Seems like Reyna's the answer."

"Something bad's going on," Rachel agreed.

"Yeah, something bad's going on," Drew said mockingly. "That's what your hunch is telling you? I could have told you that last month, when Olympus closed...or three days ago, when Percy disappeared...or today, with Reyna. In case you haven't noticed, there's usually something bad going on."

Rachel opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, her body stiffened. Her eyes began to glow with a greenish light, as if she was about to issue a prophecy. Instead, she grabbed Drew by the shoulders.

"Hey!" Drew tried to back up and extricate herself from Rachel's grip, but the Oracle's hands were like steel clamps on her shoulders.

Free me, Rachel said, but the voice wasn't hers. It was that of an older woman, echoing as if spoken from far away, through a long pipe. Free me, or the earth shall swallow us. It must be by the solstice.

The room started to spin. Annabeth tried to separate Drew from Rachel, but it was no use. Green smoke enveloped them. Drew pinched her arm hard, trying to remind herself where she was, that she was awake, not dreaming. She felt dizzy, like she was about to fall over.

Her suspicion that she was experiencing an extremely vivid hallucination was all but confirmed when the giant statue of Hera appeared to rise, towering over her.

Its mouth opened, filling the room with the scent of horribly thick perfume. It spoke in the same echoing voice as Rachel had: Our enemies stir. The fiery one is only the first. Bow to his will and their king shall rise, dooming us all. FREE ME!

Despite her best efforts, Drew's knees buckled. The room went black.

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