pme1955: aw, thanks. Here you go!
Readers, go to my bio page and vote who you think Pandora is!
Warning: Police authority tries to arrest a minor.
Amelia Bones might not tell anyone, but they weren't exactly quiet when Ron and Ginny led the demigods out of the Ministry.
So they used a public floo to travel, not to the Burrow, but to Frost. All covered in floo dust and hearth soot, the Greeks introduced the Romans to the house. Ron called Hedwig from her jaunt in the woods outside.
The snowy owl swooped through the trees, gliding silently and so gracefully that everyone fell silent.
"Hey," Ron said, holding an arm out for Hedwig to perch upon. "Any chance you know if Harry's safe?"
"You can talk to owls?" Frank asked, impressed.
"What? No, this is Harry's owl. She's tuned to him. She ought to know…"
Ron trailed off when Hedwig hooted low. She squatted and prepared to sit on his outstretched arm permanently.
"She's not going anywhere," Annabeth figured. "Probably for the best, Harry wouldn't want her hurt."
Hedwig hooted again. She allowed Annabeth to stroke her feathers gently.
"Floo's blocked," Ginny called out, standing in front of the mantlepiece. "If it's anything like the London attacks last year, they probably shut down transportation all over the country. We caught the final grate."
"At least we didn't get separated," Gwen said, ever the optimist.
They managed to dust the soot off of their clothes by the time Bianca and one of her Hunters, Natalie, shadow-travelled into the living room with the Spirit of Delphi and Haydn.
"Stay!" Bianca snapped at the wraith. The creature wisely sat on the floor by the couch, pouting but otherwise silent.
"You brought that thing here?" Annabeth groaned. "And where's Mrs. O'Leary?
"Lee Lee was gone before we could find her," Bianca scowled. "She'd woken up some time ago and left the cell they locked her in."
Nico exhaled, relieved. "At least she's safe. But what do we do with ghostie here?"
Haydn snarled at him and Nico glowered back. Ginny gawked at it. Ron murmured, "But… what the bloody hell is this thing?"
"It's a wraith," Thalia explained. "Harry made it when he died the first time."
"Of course he did," Ron said faintly.
Ginny faced him, incredulous. "Harry's wraith? Like he died and left a murderous ghost? These things eat flesh you know!"
"We know," Nico said, laying back on the couch.
Ginny punched Ron's arm and Hedwig took off, flying upto Annabeth's shoulder.
"You never told me!" Ginny berated Ron.
"OW! Bugger off, Gin!" Ron shoved her away. "What makes you think Harry told me in the first place?!
"He's never mentioned it?" Jason asked, strangely amused. "This would be a hell of an icebreaker if he did."
"If only," Ron shook his head. "Harry really isn't the sharing sort… but I guess he's always been curious about the ghosts."
Ginny gave him a dirty look. "That didn't set off any alarms?"
"Who's not vaguely interested in ghosts? Hogwarts is full of 'em! But I always thought it strange that Harry could manhandle Peeves."
Nico raised his head. "That poltergeist you guys have?"
"That's the one."
Nico frowned at Haydn. "Poltergeists are more mischievous than wraiths. But they're the same kind of deviations from ghostly apparitions."
Haydn bared his teeth. He may have been smiling or preparing to eat them all, it was unclear.
"He looks like Harry," Ginny said, hesitantly.
"Like a dead Harry," Nico said bluntly. "That's how old he and Percy were when they were murdered in that house. You couldn't torture that information out of Harry."
Bianca shot him a look. "Watch your tongue, Niccolo."
Nico grumbled but fell silent.
Jason and Reyna shuffled the large pithos beside the armchair. She asked, "So, this fireplace connects all houses?"
"Floo system," Ron answered, still watching the wraith. "Frost's grate is protected by additional enchantments so we can hunker down here for a while. Mum would kill us for leading an Auror entanglement to the Burrow."
"Mind you, she'll kill them for barging in the first place," Ginny sighed, dropping to the couch by Nico's legs.
"We just wait then?" Ethan asked, dubious. "Wraith and cursed jars are fine. I just don't want to be anywhere near her."
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Rachel's corpse, still happily inhabited by Delphi's Spirit.
Annabeth spun on her heel. Hedwig flapped her wings unhappily. Annabeth accused, "You planned this whole thing."
"Yes," the Spirit answered.
The house fell silent. Even Haydn watched her.
"Why?" Hazel asked carefully.
The Spirit smiled. Rachel's face pulled as her lips curved. It looked less inhuman than when she smiled before, like she was getting used to the body.
She walked towards Nico who sprang up to a sitting pose. His bandaged arm was still tucked to his side. Ginny froze and neither of them moved as the Spirit dug her hand into one of the pockets of her jeans and brought out two tiny clear marbles.
She offered them both to Nico. "You asked me for Pandora's identity. This is the best I can do."
Nico gawked up at her. "What… what are they?"
The Spirit shook her hand and Nico held his uninjured arm out. She dropped the marbles into his palm.
Nico held them close to the eye, confused.
"Haydn," the Spirit called. The wraith jolted. It looked up at Bianca warily.
"No sudden moves," Bianca told Haydn, one hand clasped around her silver bow. The gesture was enough of a warning.
Haydn carefully kneeled up. He touched one of the marbles in Nico's hand and it activated. It grew to its full size, a crystal ball with a prophecy weaving inside like soft smoke.
Ron gasped in a strangled voice. "Did you… did you break into the Hall of Prophecies for that?!"
The Spirit smiled. "Of course. I needed Haydn because these two are Harry and Rachel's prophecies."
Annabeth blinked. "Rachel too? Wait, they both have prophecies related to Pandora?"
"Shh!" Nico said. He held up the crystal ball. In the presence of Haydn, words appeared within the glass sphere and the prophecy recited itself to everyone in a low woman's breathless rasp.
Brothers of Destiny, ruled by prophecies,
Broken chains, gained by tearless eyes,
What one lacks, the other receives,
Born from when innocence dies.
Only rebirth shall set them free,
Breaking the strength of lies,
United by Love so deep,
By the hand of Life.
Annabeth backed away from the sphere and Hedwig took off. Nico had gone pale and Ginny's hair began to spark.
"Who recorded this?" Reyna asked hushed.
The Spirit of Delphi smiled. "Lily Potter. Wonderful seer. She gave this prophecy a few weeks before she died, can you believe it?"
The sun slowly set.
The shadows extended. The skies grew red and orange, late sunbeams sneaking through the scattered clouds and lighting up the falling snow around Surrey.
Percy sat up and stuck his tongue out for a snowflake to land right on it. He grinned to himself.
"Time to head back?" Harry suggested.
His smile dimmed. Percy let the snowflake sit in his mouth. He sensed the tiny crystalline edges smoothen and melt from his warmth into a tiny drop of cool water.
"It's below zero," Percy said.
Harry nodded, gesturing to the thick blanket of snow around them.
"We're not freezing," Percy pointed out.
Harry shrugged. "We've never frozen.
"When was the last time you were sick?"
Harry thought it over. "I guess… does swallowing a snitch count?"
"Nope."
"Huh. I had a cold once."
Percy frowned in thought. "Your nose was all red, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"Right before you and Mom dropped me, Annabeth, and Thalia off at Westover Hall."
"To pick up Nico and Bianca," Harry recalled.
Percy laughed. It was a bright burst of energy and Harry could have sworn some of the snow melted from the mere sound.
"Guess who else had a cold at that exact time?" Percy chortled.
Harry tried to think back to those days. Things had seemed strangely simpler in hindsight. Despite the Titans rising and the Triwizard Tournament looming over him, they knew who were the enemies and allies. And they knew themselves.
Things were up in the air now. Luckily, Harry was good at catching things.
"Who?" he finally asked, unable to figure it out and needing the answer.
Percy was still giggling to himself. "Rachel! She sneezed right behind me and I nearly skewered her with Riptide!"
Harry exhaled. His warm breath rose in a soft white mist. They were in freezing temperatures but he was pretty comfortable, sitting in the snow.
"No such things as coincidences," Harry said, smiling.
"She was as red as you," Percy said, dreamily.
"Funny."
Percy fell onto his back and made his twelfth snow angel. Harry tossed a handful of slush at him. Percy didn't even flinch. The cold snow hit his face and instantly dissolved, absorbed under his skin.
"How does it feel?" Harry asked.
Percy stopped waving his limbs. His face was perfectly dry. "Like the ocean… like I can reach out and feel all the snow in a five-mile radius. I can hear the blood pumping in my body and I can tell that I took in a lot of water from the Ministry."
Harry sat cross-legged. "Did you absorb it all?"
"Most," Percy said, his smile waning. "I think I hit a limit somewhere. Made me feel bloated. Sucked ass."
Harry's body shook as he choked back a laugh. Percy pointed at his hair and said, "It's all frozen. It'll probably break off if you move it too much."
Harry touched his hair carefully. Points of ice had formed over the strands and Percy was right. Tufts of hair had frozen under thin ice and might actually break his hair if he crushed it.
"Calidus," Harry said and warm air blasted through him, heating up the space around him. Ice and snow turned to water which evaporated away as a blanket of white vapour. His hair relaxed freely having been blow-dried.
Percy nudged him with his foot. "Show off."
"What?"
"No wand."
Harry examined his hands. "I can feel my blood too, you know."
"Like… not in the normal way, right?"
"Right."
Percy sat up. The snow did not cling to him.
"What if I hurt them again?"
Harry didn't say anything at first. This would always be Percy's first fear. No amount of cajoling would brush it away. He might not recall exactly what happened to Nico, but he understood he'd hurt the boy.
In the same way, Percy knew that Harry didn't want to talk about Haydn or the events from Halloween, 2001, Harry knew that Percy didn't want sweet and empty promises.
Harry said, "Light up."
Percy sucked in a tight breath. "Harry—"
"Trust me."
In the same way, Percy knew that Harry would always help him, Harry knew Percy would always trust him.
The demigod grabbed some snow and held up his hand in between them. The snow melted. But instead of being absorbed into his palm, the water turned to vapour and then plasma. Azure light licked his skin, disintegrating his hoodie sleeve again. The surroundings had grown dark enough that his power lit up both their faces, bathing them in ominous blue.
It didn't crackle like fire or electricity. It was almost silent until Harry leaned in and heard the high-sweeping hiss of the power.
He reached into the blue space. Percy yanked his arm back, but Harry grabbed one of the light ribbons, twisting his wrist up to conjure the black glittering shield nonverbally.
Percy flinched. Harry was fine. He was smirking, in fact.
In Harry's hand was a small sphere the size of a snow globe. Through the translucent surface that glimmered like the night sky, was a tiny spark of Percy's light, still flickering and alive inside it.
Harry brought his fingers closer, shrinking the shield. The sphere closed in on itself, extinguishing the blue light and leaving behind nothing.
"Reparo," Harry said and Percy's sleeve rebuilt itself. Again.
Percy gulped and whispered, "Time to head back."
They didn't activate the other crystal ball.
Nico had seen some of the words and knew that it was the same one Rachel gave just a month after the Second Titanomachy. Even the Romans had heard of the one called the Prophecy of Heroes. But they didn't talk about it now.
The Spirit of Delphi had relaxed into the single armchair. Jason snatched Pandora's pithos away from her.
After another ten minutes of waiting, they received a familiar ostrich Patronus. Amelia Bones's voice echoed from it, "Stay put. Do not leave your location. Floo tracking will end tomorrow at nine."
The Patronus dissolved, leaving most of the demigods speechless. Annabeth frowned. "A.M.? We can't just stay over."
Nico looked around. "Why not? This place is big enough for everyone."
"Yes, but we have a wraith and a rogue Spirit of Delphi here," Bianca said exasperated.
They turned to the Spirit. She raised her hands and said, "No more shenanigans from me. For the week at least."
None of them believed her.
"My brain is fried," Travis announced. "Does this house have food?"
Gwen and her girlfriend, Mako, sat on the couch. Reyna and Jason were talking in low tones. Ron, Frank, and Hazel joined Travis in the kitchen. Annabeth, Thalia, Bianca, and Natalie were also discussing furiously. Ethan, Ginny, and Nico moved to the floor, effectively forming a barrier between the Spirit and the pithos.
"What are the chances that your Ministry found Jackson and Potter?" Ethan finally asked Ginny. "They might be under arrest right now and we're sitting ducks."
Ginny shared a look with Nico who smiled wryly.
"Harry doesn't like staying put," Ginny said. "And Percy… well, it goes without saying, that nobody can clap him in irons."
"Harry regenerated really fast this time," Nico recalled. "I think he did get Percy out of harms way. If he really disapparated—"
"He did," Annabeth and Thalia chimed in from across the vast living room.
"With Percy," Jason added. "Just 'pop!' Into thin air. That mortal, Kingsley, allowed them to leave the building. He spoke in Latin."
Thalia smiled. "You caught that, huh? British witches and wizards use their magic through Latin spells."
Reyna frowned. "If I may ask, if the wixens are Latin-inclined, it's surprising they befriended Greek demigods first, before the Romans."
Nico shrugged. "Blame Harry and Percy. They met each other and never unmet."
Even Ethan chuckled at that.
"How close are they?" Gwen wondered.
Nico held up the first crystal ball that had spewed Lily Potter's prophecy. "This close."
"So they met at your camp?"
"England. Surrey, we were just there. The run-down house you guys saw? That was the Jacksons'. They were two years old."
Reyna nodded. "I'm guessing they were integral to your plan to unite Camp Half-Blood with students from… Hog-Warts?"
"Hogwarts," Ginny said. "Yeah. A bunch of us got together and had a serious meeting and everything. Last year, right in this house, actually."
Jason nodded. "Good open space. Far away from your castle and camp, though."
"Neutral enough," Nico said. "We also had a party here."
Thalia smirked. "That's what people like to remember."
"The one Sky crashed," Reyna guessed.
"Yep."
"It's been a while since I've been to a proper party," Mako said wistfully.
Nico smiled. He'd like that too. Imagine all the wixens, Greek and Roman demigods just getting drunk and spinning on the dancefloor. Gaia wouldn't know what hit her.
And Pandora wouldn't stand a chance against them.
POP!
They heard a loud sound from the dark backyard. All the demigods were on their feet. The others from the kitchen rushed out and everyone gawked at the two figures that were walking across the bare ground towards the back porch of the house.
Harry was way too relaxed to be covered in dried blood, yet he was. Percy was way to nervous to be walking to all his friends, but he was as well.
Annabeth was first out the doors.
She made a running leap at Percy, wrapping her limbs around him and madly yelling so fast her words ran into each other.
"OI, THEOI! YOU'REOKAY?YOUHURT?HOWCOULDYOUSCAREMELIKETHATSEAWEEDBRAIN?!"
"Hi to you too," Harry told her.
She waved a hand and smacked him on the shoulder in thanks. Percy got over his nerves pretty quickly and kissed her in plain view of everyone.
Hedwig flew from the kitchen, hooting happily. She settled on Harry's arm, nuzzling the clean side of his head. Ron burst out and caught Harry by the arm, furiously checking the drying blood. Thalia shoved Harry's shoulder before hugging him tight.
"I'm good, it's okay!" Harry said. "You guys alright?"
"More or less," Ginny said, looking over her shoulder to where Nico was.
"News is that the floo will be open by nine tomorrow," Thalia informed him. "We figured it was best to wait for you both because we have some not-so-keen guests here.
Harry grimaced at the sight of Haydn. "I'll take full responsibility for the wraith. But the Spirit of Delphi is on her own."
"Agreed," Thalia said, short of snapping. "But can you get us to camp? The floo is out. Lee Lee escaped and Nico won't be able to take all of us."
"I can try—" Nico began but Bianca, Hazel, Harry, and Thalia scowled at him.
Harry gauged everyone in the house. Eight Greeks, six Romans, two wixens, and one Spirit of Delphi. He could get Ron and Ginny to the Burrow. But for the demigods, group apparitions were discouraged for a very good reason because if Harry's concentration slipped even a tiny bit, he'd splinch all of them.
"I'll stop you right there," Ginny said, pointing fiercely at Harry. "You're pale and cold, you need as much rest as Nico. We can all stay here till tomorrow morning."
Harry sighed. "I'm not cold. It was snowing in Surrey, okay?"
Percy finally pulled himself away from Annabeth. "Don't listen to him, he needs the break."
Travis waved a hand over him. "And maybe take a shower. You don't stink, but the bloody look is so last season."
Harry tried to send a Patronus to camp, Sally, Mrs. Weasley, and Remus. It was hard to do without a wand so he coached Ron through it and managed to send it after a few attempts.
They spent the rest of the night setting up mattresses in the living room and pushing the furniture to the wall for everyone to get some sleep. Nico got the couch despite ingesting enough ambrosia to make a difference to his arm. Mako, a Roman daughter of Apollo, also tried her brand of healing while wrapping a fresh bandage around the burned skin. Percy apologized another four times before Nico shoved a throw cushion into his face.
"I'm serious!" Percy said, frowning deeply. "I could have really messed things up for good this time! It was pure luck we got outta there!"
Gwen shot him a quick smile, "You did your best to get away from us. You were trying to head down to Harry in the first place. That wasn't just luck, Percy."
"Hear, hear," Ginny said, raising a glass of butterbeer.
They had a supper of various fruits. Harry warned them to stay away from his beloved greenhouse. He also conjured a shield around the wraith.
"Will it hold?" Bianca asked, folding her arms and staring Haydn down. The wraith poked at the translucent sphere from inside, unhappy about the barrier. But he hadn't made a move to attack anyone the whole night. He was particularly wary of Bianca, Hazel, and Nico for obvious reasons. He was also frustrated with Harry.
Oddly enough, it was the Spirit of Delphi who Haydn stayed away from. Anytime she glanced at him, Haydn dropped his head and fidgeted with his dirty clothes.
"It'll hold," Harry said decisively. "It worked with the pithos, it ought to work with him."
Frank spoke aloud for the first time in over an hour. "What? You mean Pandora's jar?"
Everyone turned to look at the clay jar standing tall beside the coffee table. Nico tilted his head and clearly saw the shine of the magical shield pulsing around it.
"Whoa," Nico said, impressed. "Is it permanent?"
Harry frowned. "I can make it permanent… but this will fade if I die again."
"Okay," Thalia nodded. "That means we have like a week."
"Bugger off, Thals."
She smirked. Hazel offered treats to a hesitant Hedwig. Annabeth shared her bowl of orange slices with the others. She carefully asked, "So… are you gonna tell us what happened?"
Harry dug into his papaya and lettuce salad. He didn't look up until his mouth was full. "Meh, fthigs jid burg ood."
Ron was curious but Percy nudged him gently, "It's chill. Things got out of hand, that's all."
Haydn chuckled. Harry glared. The wraith ignored him and crawled away like a hamster in a plastic ball.
"Since there are so many of us, we can easily take turns keeping watch," Reyna decided, getting to her feet.
"This house is safe," Harry promised. "You can all turn in."
"I don't sleep," Delphi's Spirit said unexpectedly.
The others stared at her. Ethan said what they were thinking, "Um… you are not keeping watch."
"I could."
"No," Jason decided. "Rey and I will take the first watch."
They settled in for the night and turned off the lights.
Surprisingly, Harry was the first to fall asleep. By 4 am, they were all slumbering, even the assigned watchers.
Even the Spirit of Delphi.
The wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see. And Rachel had excellent vision.
Trees stood iron and dead, petrified like stone without their spirits. The ocean was still like a mirror reflecting the orange-red skies. The wind had died alone with the heroes and no sound emerged from what was once a dense and magical forest of Camp Half-Blood.
The fires of the pyres had crackled down to nothing, echoing eerily until silence enveloped her. They were charred black and quiet like the mounds of graves underneath cracked earth.
This wasn't her world.
"How do I get back?" Rachel asked.
Harry gauged her carefully. He seemed around nineteen, maybe twenty or older. It was hard to tell through the angry twist in his face.
"Not my problem," he finally said and walked away, leaving Rachel in a mass grave.
She turned back to see the pyres and graves of all her friends. Everyone from Nico to Octavian, from Ginny to Draco, from Chiron to the last forest nymph—all dead.
"This can't be it!" Rachel gasped. The land didn't reply.
She ran from there. Her feet pounded on the cracked ground leaving no footprint or dust in its wake. She headed for the beach, searching for a familiar face.
Percy was gone, possibly dived under the ocean for a reprieve. But Rachel was there. Nineteen-year-old Rachel sat on the damp sand, picking the dry blood from underneath her fingernails.
The other Rachel, the dead one, the younger one came to a stop beside the immortal and yelled, "This is not the future!"
The immortal woman exhaled. Her veins glowed gold, the light climbing up her limbs and neck, trickling into her face, and lighting up her eyes like a goddess of the old.
"Not this," she told a startled Rachel. "But I am."
She stood up from the sand and held her arm out. The gold staff jumped into her palm.
Rachel backed away from her. This older version of her had magic? No. She would not accept it.
Red hair curled around the goddess like a halo. She spoke, "Wake up."
She had a crick in her neck.
Rachel raised her head carefully. She stretched her limbs and turned over in the armchair.
Odd. When did Olympus have armchairs? Wasn't she working on Annabeth's laptop checking on the throne's design drafts? Yes, that's what Rachel was doing with Bolt up in Olympus while Annabeth was off to the Grand Canyon to pick up two unclaimed demigods.
Rachel rubbed her eyes. No, they weren't fooling her. She was in the living room of Frost mansion in Gretna Green. At her feet were at least a dozen others asleep on mattresses on the floor. Cold morning air breezed through one of the open French doors that led to the backyard.
Bolt, when did we get here? Rachel thought.
She received no answer.
Bolt?
An owl hooted from outside. Hedwig swooped in through the door with a flap of her silent wings. She eyed Rachel closely, eyes wide as though trying to gauge if Rachel was a friend or foe.
Harry apparated onto the porch outside. The sound of his arrival was a loud 'snap' of the air. Some of the sleeping teens stirred.
" 'Arry?" Rachel croaked, sitting up. Her body was strangely not stiff from inactivity that sleep usually brought her.
Harry gasped. He ran in from the back porch, sliding to his knees in front of her. He clasped her wrist and pressed two fingers to check her pulse.
"It's you!" he whispered.
Rachel squinted. "Of course it's me, you weirdo. Who else am I supposed to be?"
Harry choked a tight laugh and yelled, "Wake up, you wankers! Rachel's back!"
Annabeth was first to shoot up from the floor. Her eyes lost sleep immediately and she stared at Rachel in shock.
"Rach's awake!" she announced, smacking Percy's back.
Rachel sat up slowly. "Was I asleep for long?"
Nico pushed himself up with one hand. To her complete surprise, he scrambled up and hugged her.
"It's so good to see you!" he crowed.
Rachel patted his back, confused. Bolt, what's going on? Can you hear me?
The others sat up, sheets falling, still half-asleep and befuddled.
"Hey, Dare!" Travis announced, grinning wide. "You're a sight for sore eyes!"
"Thanks…? Um, what're you doing here?"
"We slept over," a tall, chubby boy answered. He went pink when she stared at him. "I don't know you, but I'm also glad you're back. I'm Frank, by the way."
"Hi, Frank-by-the-way," Rachel teased him. He grew pinker.
"Rachel!" Ginny gasped, sitting up as well. Rachel gawked. That's when she realised there were way too many people to count this as an uneventful sleepover.
"Did something happen to the quest?" Rachel asked Annabeth and Hazel, the latter of whom had just woken up.
Annabeth grimaced, sharing a worried glance with Harry.
"I'll tell her," Percy said quietly.
Bolt was dead.
Rachel had seen visions of her beloved tiger's entrails strewn around, months ago. But she'd dismissed.
And now her beautiful, smart, brilliant companion was gone forever.
Rachel let Annabeth and Percy hug her. Annabeth had apologised over and over for summoning the Spirit of Delphi to ward off Ajax, but that was secondary. Percy was almost crying when he spoke of how Ajax murdered her darling Bolt.
Ajax, who'd been sent by her parents to pick her up.
Her parents, who were working for Gaia.
Gaia, who'd waged war against the pantheons.
The gods, who probably didn't care that Bolt's blood was spilled on their hallowed marble floors.
Rachel wondered who mopped up those floors and packed up Bolt's body. Or did someone just snap their fingers and make her disappear?
She stayed on the armchair while people fussed over her. She watched Bianca, Nico, and their sister, Hazel, stand around a tiny live corpse in a soap bubble. The body looked a lot like Harry with the colours leached.
"Rachel, here's some water."
"Or maybe you wanna freshen up? Washing your face can help."
"Do you want some tea?"
"Tea? Really?"
"It's want my Mum does when someone's upset."
"Oh, my grandma too!"
Rachel dripped the arms of her seat, fingernails digging into the soft stuffing. She breathed carefully. A little slip and she'd break.
Bolt was dead.
And she hadn't been able to do anything.
The doorbell rang.
Everyone paused. Harry stood up, scowling at the front door.
Percy gulped. "They're here for me."
"Stay back," Harry warned. "They won't get in."
Rachel let her ears do the work. The demigods lingered about, waiting for the hearth to reopen in order to floo to Percy's apartment in Manhattan. Ron and Ginny were waiting for the all-clear from their parents. Harry and Percy were waiting to be screamed at by Sally (who they'd forgotten to inform about everything that had happened the previous day).
Rachel had been out for no less than two entire weeks. The world had continued to spin chaotically in her absence. Like she hadn't mattered at all in the grand scheme of things.
She heard Harry open the door and say, "Auror Dawlish. Fancy seeing you here!"
"Not another word, Potter," a smug voice spoke. "We have a warrant right here."
"How about you talk to my attorney first?"
"No. See these delightful papers are for you or any of your freaky little friends. The warrant is for the arrest of one Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
Eyes darted about in confusion. Rachel frowned. That… didn't sound right.
"Excuse me!" Harry blurted.
She heard the snap and rustle of papers. Footsteps barged into the house and Dawlish and his team of aurors arrived at the entrance to the immense living room. He nodded at Rachel, still frozen on her armchair, flanked by four others.
"Stand up, Ms. Dare. Hands behind your head."
She stared, uncomprehending.
"Are you serious?!" Percy snapped, stepping in between her and the Aurors, blocking their view of her.
"What are the charges?" Annabeth asked, equally furious.
"Read the warrant," one of the Aurors retorted.
"It's because she broke into the Department of Mysteries," Harry announced, waving the arrest papers in the air.
"And for stealing two prophecies," Dawlish added. "Ms. Dare, let's not delay."
"She's not going anywhere," Nico said, fuming.
"Says who?" Dawlish barked.
Nobody said a word, but everyone gathered close, standing in front of Rachel to face down the Aurors. Everyone.
Rachel's breath hitched.
"Obstruction of justice," one of the Aurors whispered.
"Did you forget what happened yesterday, you little twerps?" another spoke up.
"Oh, yeah," Thalia said, grinning, electricity crackling between her fingers, same as Jason. "Round Two, let's go."
"We're not fighting," Percy said evenly, holding an arm in front of Thalia. "You are going to turn around and walk out of here."
"Bold words from someone who nearly destroyed an entire building full of people!" Dawlish snarled.
"But he didn't," Harry said, stepping forward. His voice chilled the air. He wasn't messing around.
"She thieved from the Ministry," Dawlish finally snapped. "Two prophecies! I don't even get all this Divination bahooey, but it's a crime, plain and simple!"
"What if we told you why she took them?" Annabeth suddenly said. "Only people who the prophecies are about can take them out of the department, correct?"
Two Aurors whispered in the back. Dawlish scowled. "What's that got to do with anything? Our warrant states—"
"Then perhaps those prophecies had something to do with her?" Annabeth said.
"What are you saying—"
"Talk to my attorney," Harry repeated. "Rachel just picked up her prophecies. That's not a crime."
"She did not have an appointment! And if she took something out of the department that didn't belong to her, that's a crime!" Dawlish shrugged. "Are you so daft to actually believe in prophecies and palm-reading?! Where's the proof that they were her recorded prophecies or even words describing her? Explain that, what was so important that Dare had to go get them?!"
Rachel's body jerked forward. The air was punched out of her throat and she fell back, out of her body.
"I always thought it was rude to push my host to the side to deliver answers."
What? Who said that?
"I am the Spirit of Delphi, my dear," a green silhouette made itself known. She and Rachel were floating in space, utterly untethered to reality.
"Would you like to see us in action?" the spirit whispered kindly.
After a moment's hesitation, Rachel agreed.
The living room came back into view. Things were fuzzy and frozen.
Rachel saw her own body, seated on the armchair. Her hands were crushing the arms of the chair, her torso forward but head tilted back. Her eyes had rolled up in her head, not just showing the whites, but also glowing green. Green smoke bellowed around her, curling through the feet of all the teenagers and Aurors in the room.
She was watching herself host the Spirit of Delphi and deliver the Prophecy of Heroes.
HEROES SHALL SAIL TO ANSWER THE CALL,
TO PANDORA'S OATH THE KING MUST FALL,
CURSED ICE TO THAW WITH HER LOVE'S DEPTH,
AND FOES BEAR ARMS TO THE DOORS OF DEATH.
The terrible voice emerged from Rachel's throat. She watched the spirit use her body to doom her friends again. And this one included Pandora.