Updating two days in a row? Who's she?

None of you will forgive me after this chapter, though MWHAHAHAHAHA :D (it's only going to get worse from here, whoops)

Love y'all, and enjoy!

We were all antsy as the sun moved across the sky, the wind growing increasingly colder as night approached. Even the Hunters' wolves, which were typically fearless, seemed on edge, skittering away from the forest whenever they were too far away from their Hunter.

He's coming, they warned each other. And he is angry.

Great, I thought to myself, fiddling with my silver dagger's hilt whenever I got bored. As a safety precaution, I handed Thalia and Bianca little packets of silver powder, something I'd kept with me ever since I first ran into werewolves when I was sixteen.

Not all werewolves were dangerous, but the ones that ran with Lycaon were the worst of the worst, the kind that found a sick sort of pleasure in turning young children and needlessly killing anyone that happened to come across the pack, especially on the nights of the full moon.

Luckily for us, the next full moon wouldn't be until next month, not to mention that this fight would be over around sundown.

Once Thalia was absolutely certain that the Hunters couldn't do anything else to secure the Wolf House, she finally sat down on the stone steps, a blank look on her face. Bianca and I both joined her, knowing that we weren't needed elsewhere at the moment.

"This is the place Mom left Jason," Thalia said softly. She pointed to a little clearing just a little ways away from where we were sitting. "That's where she parked the car. If only I'd known…"

She shook her head, laughing sadly. "You know, after that day, I cut my hair like this, so that Mom could never use it against me again. It was so hard to keep my hair short when on the run, but somehow, I managed."

"I'm sorry," Bianca said, giving Thalia's hand a gentle squeeze before returning to fiddle with the skull ring that rested on her finger, a gift from Nico. "But you have found Jason again. Don't let Hera keep you two apart again."

"Oh, I won't. If she touches a hair on his head again, I will storm right up to Olympus myself and punch her in the face."

"She can hear you, you know!" Hera shrieked from inside the Wolf House; Thalia replied by giving the goddess the middle finger, ignoring the string of Ancient Greek curses that came afterward.

The three of us laughed, an action that seemed so out of place amongst the solemnity of the situation we found ourselves in. The temperature noticeably dropped to the point where most of the Hunters shivered despite their warm clothing.

I set up a fire in the middle of the field, warming up the nearby Hunters. For the others, I tried to create that weather dome that Artemis was so skilled at, but all I managed to do was block the stronger winds. Chilly breezes still wormed through my makeshift barrier.

"It'll do," Thalia assured me, clapping me on the shoulder as she passed by. "Believe me, the wind is worse than the snow."

"Agreed," one of the Hunters said, rubbing her hands together as she brought them up to her mouth, hoping her breath would be enough to warm them.

As the sun neared the horizon, the temperature dropped another five degrees, the wind blowing so violently around us that the smaller plants threatened to snap in half. I watched as some of the Hunters near the end of the border had their hair whipping in their faces, causing them to scowl as they hurriedly pulled it back either in a ponytail or a braid.

To make matters worse, it was starting to snow. But not snow in the sense that you look forward to on Christmas day – no, it was as if a blizzard had just descended over the Wolf House, reducing visibility to almost nothing.

Then a piercing howl broke through the otherwise quiet forest, and I knew that the fight had begun.

"Hunters, take your aim!" Thalia commanded, an arrow already notched onto her bow, her fingers curled around the string. There was one more second of stillness before the first wolf broke through the tree line, only to be shot down by Thalia, who yelled, "Fire!" the moment she released her arrow.

The clearing outside of the Wolf House became utterly chaotic as werewolves launched themselves from every which way. I did my best as the goddess of wolves to tell them off, but werewolves weren't proper wolves, and now that they had their minds so focused on tearing our throats out, it was damn near impossible to order them around like I did to that beta yesterday.

I cut down any werewolf that got too close with my dagger, aiming for the back of the neck or the throat, some of its most vulnerable areas. The problem was getting to the vulnerable areas, and if the scratches I had sporting across my collarbone were anything to go by, these werewolves knew how to fight.

But just as the werewolves started dying off, the winds whipped up again with so much fury that there was no point in keeping up the protective barrier anymore. "Stupid storm spirits," I muttered, ripping my dagger out of a werewolf's side and kicking it to the ground, its body fading into the snow.

Even worse, in especially muddy areas, these huge Earthborn started to form, ugly, wet, lumpy, misshapen clay that had been stepped in. However, seeing as each one was easily seven feet tall and sporting six hands, I eyed them with concern.

"They're not dying!" a Hunter cried out, shooting her final arrow at an Earthborn, nailing him right in between his beady eyes, making him look like the world's ugliest unicorn. He quickly melted into a pile of clay. She scowled as she reached for her hunting knives, clearly preferring her bow as her choice of weapon.

"Macy's right!" yelled another Hunter, cutting an Earthborn clean in half at his waist, watching him crumble into dust before her very eyes. But just as quickly as he'd died, the dust swirled in the hectic winds, solidifying into an earthen mess once again.

"Disperse the dust!" I told the others.

At that very moment, a storm spirit hit me square in the chest, sending me flying backwards into one of the marble columns at the entrance of the Wolf House. Despite my aching head, I scooped up my dagger, filled it with electricity, and flung it at the faintly glowing venti (in this case, Latin is so much easier than the Greek), watching it explode in a cloud of blue sparks.

This continued for what felt like an eternity – minus the getting thrown into columns – until nearly all the Hunters were forced to use their hunting knives or their swords, having run out of arrows.

Thankfully, they'd heard my message about dispersing the dust. And while this didn't prevent the Earthborn from reforming entirely, it took them significantly longer, giving the Hunters a very much needed reprieve, even if it was only a few more seconds.

"Jason!" I heard Thalia call out, her form quickly vanishing amongst all the snow and fog.

I followed after her voice, stabbing an Earthborn through the chest before it could bring one of its six clubs down on one of the younger Hunters, the girl sprawled on the floor from tripping over a hidden tree root. I helped her up before returning to chase after Thalia.

"That was my last one," Thalia was muttering, kicking a pile of clay. "Stupid ogre."

"Nice shot, though," Leo said.

Thalia ignored him as usual. She hugged Jason and nodded to Piper. "Just in time. My Hunters are holding the perimeter around the mansion, but we'll be overrun any minute."

"By Earthborn?" Jason asked.

"And wolves – Lycaon's minions," I added. "Also storm spirits-"

"But we gave them to Aeolus!" Piper protested.

"Who tried to kill us," Leo reminded her. "Maybe he's helping G-"

"Don't say her name!"

Leo flinched at my outburst. "Sorry, mother earth again."

"I don't know," Thalia said. "But the monsters keep reforming almost as fast as we can kill them. Andy took out the guards by the time we got here, so we were able to secure the mansion. But then this freak snowstorm blew in. Wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we're surrounded. I don't know who or what is leading the assault, but I think they planned this. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera."

"Where is she?" Jason asked.

"Inside," Thalia said. "We tried to free her, but we can't figure out how to break the cage. It's only a few minutes until the sun goes down. Hera thinks that's the moment that Po…that the Anti-Zeus will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night. If we don't free Hera soon…"

"I'll give you as much time as I can spare," I said, "but we need to get moving. I'll know when I need to step in. Follow us."

Leo, Jason, and Piper followed both of us into the ruined mansion.

The second Jason stepped over the threshold, he immediately collapsed.

"Hey!" Leo caught him. "None of that, man. What's wrong?"

"This place…" Jason shook his head. "Sorry…It came rushing back to me."

"So you have been here," Piper said.

"We both have, remember?" Thalia said. Her expression was grim, like she was reliving someone's death. "This is where my mom took us when Jason was a child. She left him here, told me he was dead. He just disappeared."

"She gave me to the wolves," Jason murmured. "At Hera's insistence. She gave me to Lupa."

"That part I didn't know." Thalia frowned. "Who is Lupa?"

An explosion shook the building. Just outside, a blue mushroom cloud billowed up, raining snowflakes and ice like a nuclear blast made of cold instead of heat.

"Maybe this isn't the time for questions," Leo suggested. "Show us the goddess."

"I got it from here, Thals," I said, grabbing ahold of her wrist, preventing her from going any further into the Wolf House. "The Hunters need you. Oh, here, you might need this."

I tugged on one of my charms, my bow and quiver appearing over my shoulder. I took off my quiver and thrusted it into Thalia's hands, wishing her luck before I beckoned the trio to follow me further into the ruined mansion, not waiting for Thalia's reply.

"Down here," I said, pointing at the decrepit stairs that led down into the pool, where Hera was being held. "Watch your step."

Leo dropped into the pool and approached the cage. "Hola, Tía. Little bit of trouble?"

She crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. "Don't inspect me like one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!"

"Thalia, some of her Hunters, and I tried to open the cage earlier, but we couldn't do anything," I explained. "I think only you can be the one to break the cage, Leo."

He blinked twice. "No pressure or anything. Okay, I need time. Just keep an eye on that thing, whatever it is."

"Speaking of which, what's going on with that?" Jason asked, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the growing spire on the opposite side of the pool.

"That, Jason," Hera said, "is the king of the giants being reborn."

"Gross," Piper said.

"Yes, horribly gross, and Hera's been used as a power source," I cut across Hera as she went to speak again. "We don't have time for this little talk. We have until sundown, or he will rise."

"Okay, I think I have an idea," Leo said. He turned to me and Piper. "Piper, I'm going to need your help. And we're going to need time."

"Got it," I said, holding out my hands, muttering in Ancient Greek as a golden glow started to cover the room. I didn't dare spread the spell farther than this room, knowing that magic grew exponentially weaker the thinner it was spread.

Right at the edge of my spell, a goddess came flying into the room, ricocheting so hard that she fell into a pile of wolves, causing them to snarl. One of them dropped a newly made statue – Thalia.

"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward, but Piper and Leo pulled him back. The ground around Thalia's statue was already webbed with ice. I'd never dealt with enchanted ice before, but I'd read enough about it to know that if you touched it, the ice would spread to you as well.

"Who did this?" Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!"

"They can't hear you," I told them. "Time is frozen in here, but not out there."

"Can't you do anything about it?"

I bit my lip, contemplating my options. I could spread the spell out as far as the entire Wolf House, but one blip in my concentration could spell disaster for us all. I didn't know if I had enough strength to do such a thing in the first place.

"I'll try," I said, the sinking feeling in my stomach growing as I moved towards the center of the pool.

"Andromeda, no," Hera scolded. "You don't have the strength to hold up such a powerful spell for that long."

"Then I'll die trying." I turned to the trio. "But promise me something. If the spell breaks for whatever reason, do not try to help me. Your job is to get Hera out of that cage before the king is reborn. Am I clear?"

"Andy, we can't let you-" Piper protested.

"Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Leo muttered, sounding extremely unhappy.

"Good. And one other thing."

"What now?" Jason asked, his face already showing how distraught he was over my decision.

"If I start glowing, like going supernova, look away. That means I've slipped into my godly form, and I still can't control that yet. I don't want anyone to die because of me," I warned. "Be on your toes, alright? Okay, get going. I'll see what I can do about this time spell."

But before Jason got too far away, I handed him Epithymia, telling him that he needed it more than I did. I walked into the middle of the room, held my hands high above my head and started raising my voice as I chanted in Ancient Greek, picturing the dome expanding to capture the entirety of the Wolf House and everyone inside it.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Andy, if you cast the spell inside the Wolf House, then won't the people inside keep attacking? Technically, no. I could choose who I wanted to be able to move in frozen time, but then again, this was new territory for me, so there was the very real possibility that I wouldn't be able to choose who got reanimated or not.

Sure enough, as the golden glow spread past the room we were in, some of the more chaotic storm spirits managed to break free. Jason yelled as he charged after them, keeping them away as Leo and Piper worked together to break Hera's cage.

Luckily for the trio, Khione and the wolves were still as frozen as ever, snow clinging to their bodies, appearing as if they'd been left to chill in amber for millions of years. But just as Khione and the wolves remained frozen, so did the remaining Hunters – those who hadn't been turned into human popsicles, that is.

"Piper, I need you to talk to the cage," Leo instructed, his hands fumbling inside of his tool belt before pulling out a huge circular saw.

"What?" she said.

"Talk to it. Use everything you've got. Convince mother earth to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I-"

"Right!" Piper cleared her throat and said, "Hey, mother earth. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

"Pathetic daughter of that worthless love goddess," I heard Gaea whisper in my mind, her voice reverberating around me. "She thinks that her weak words will be enough to stop me, me, the most powerful primordial! It is not too late to join me, my dear granddaughter. We would be grand together, you and I."

"You're insane," I mumbled, sweat pouring down my face. "I will never join you, you crazy, murderous psychopath."

"It would be so easy to let Hera die," she crooned. "She never liked you much anyways, only saw you as a means to an end. All the gods see you as such, granddaughter. That is no way for a princess to be treated."

"I helped kill my father. Why do you think I'd help you?"

"Because I have something of yours, something you care about dearly."

"And what would that be?"

"Your friends. I have Luke Castellan and Will Solace with me, hidden deep in the earth. Oh, how my husband enjoys playing with his new toys." I shivered violently, thinking of all the horrors Tartarus could be inflicting on them. But there was no way to prove that this was real. "You will join me, Andromeda, this I vow."

Then I heard the anguished screams of my boyfriend and my best friend fill my mind, their wrecked voices shouting for me, for help, for mercy.

"Jason, look away!"

A low, guttural scream tore itself free from my throat as all my anger and frustration channeled itself through my spell. I shouted one final time, an explosion ripping its way through me, before I collapsed onto my knees, completely spent.

"Oh, gods," someone muttered, shaking my shoulders slightly. "Andy, please wake up. We need you to wake up."

"Try being more forceful?"

"WAKE UP!"

I sat up so abruptly it was a miracle I didn't bang my head into anyone else's.

"Gracias a Dios," I heard Leo say before pulling me into a tight hug, his face resting between my shoulder and my collarbone. He stayed there for a few more seconds before pulling away, reaching up to touch his face, which was now stained with ichor from the werewolf scratches I'd sustained. "Erm, sorry about that."

"It's fine," I waved off, cringing at the feebleness of my voice. I groaned as I felt two sets of hands slowly prop me upright. "Oh, my head."

"That's to be expected after going into one's true form for the first time," Hera said. She forced a silver goblet into my hand. "Drink."

"How do we know you didn't just poison her?" Thalia retorted, her hands on her hips.

"Watch your tongue, Thalia Grace, or so help me-"

"What? You'll send some intestinally challenged cows after me, too?"

"She was being disrespectful!"

"Stop it, you two," Piper said. Amazingly, the two shut up. "Here, why don't we have Hera test it first? If it was poisoned, she wouldn't drink it."

"It's not poisoned," I assured my friends, lifting the goblet to my lips and taking a cautious sip. "This isn't the first time Hera's taken care of me after something like this."

"But I thought this was your first time going supernova?" Leo asked. "Which, thanks for the heads up, by the way. Jason nearly had his brains fried."

"I was occupied at the moment," Jason huffed, the tips of his ears a bright red. "When you started glowing, I was distracted by a storm spirit that had pushed me into the big spire."

"Speaking of which," I said, pleased to see that neither spire was there anymore. "What happened to our giant friend over there? And Khione?"

"Gone," Thalia said with an affirmative nod of her head. "The second that the spire exploded into a pile of gold light, Khione fled, taking the werewolves, storm spirits, and Earthborn with her."

"Wait, did you say the spire exploded?"

"Like confetti," Leo confirmed, an excited smile on his face, like he'd just come up with an idea on how to recreate the explosion with a confetti cannon. "All that was left afterwards was this sword." He gestured to the sword sheathed at Jason's waist.

"So, the Anti-Zeus was never reborn?"

"Nope," Piper said. "And thank the gods for that, too. The dirt had nearly consumed Hera by the time we managed to break the cage, and Jason was being attacked from all sides. Not to mention, Khione made it her goal to freeze all of us before we could finish."

"I got to shoot fire at her!" Leo said excitedly. "Because that's what happens to snow in Texas. It – freaking – melts!"

I laughed weakly, glad to see that even Thalia and Hera were smiling slightly, amused by Leo's sense of humor. I stopped when my head gave another painful throb, and I took another sip of the goblet, feeling the warmth of the nectar running down my throat.

"In any case," Hera began, "by saving me, and saving this place, you prevented my grandmother and her son from waking. You have bought us some time. Giants can only be killed by a combination of god and demigod, working together. Once you freed me-"

"I'd stabbed the spire, on accident," Jason said, realization sinking in. "And then Andy went supernova. We killed him. That's why he turned into confetti."

Hera nodded grimly. "Exactly, my champion. But he will be back, maybe sooner than any of us would like. We must be ready for when he does."

"I'm coming with you lot," I said, pushing myself up to my feet, much to Thalia and Piper's chagrin. I didn't sway or anything, but Thalia refused to let go of my arm, her hands as cold as ice. "I know I'm not one of the seven half-bloods, but I'll be damned if I'm not a part of your quest."

Piper raised her eyebrows at me. "You want to be a part of a quest that will most likely kill all of us? Why would you do that?"

"Because my grandmother just kidnapped my boyfriend and my best friend is letting her new hubby torture them to his heart's content," I hissed, angrily kicking some of the nearby rubble.

Thalia's expression fell. "She has Luke?"

"And Will."

"That little-" Thalia started cursing Gaea out with every swear word under the sun, in English, and Ancient Greek, to the point where Leo was covering Jason's ears with his hands and saying, "There are innocent children here!"

"They were those blond boys, right?" Piper asked. "The ones that you hung out with after bringing us to camp?"

I nodded my head. "I've known Luke just as long as I've known Thalia – almost ten years. And Will's been one of my best friends for the past seven or eight years."

Thalia scowled. "I need to find Annabeth. She has to know what's happened here."

"Thalia…" Jason gripped her hand. "We never got to really talk about this place, or-"

"I know." Her expression softened. "I lost you here once. I don't want to leave you again. But we'll meet soon. I'll rendezvous with you back at Camp Half-Blood." She glanced at Hera. "You'll see them there safely? It's the least you can do."

"It's not your place to tell me-"

"Queen Hera," Piper interceded.

The goddess sighed. "Fine. Yes. Just off with you, Hunter!"

Thalia gave Jason and me a hug and said her goodbyes, promising that she'd bring Bianca with her when she stopped by camp. When the Hunters were gone, the courtyard seemed eerily silent. The dried-up reflecting pool showed no sign of the earthen tendrils that had once held the giant king or imprisoned Hera. The night sky was clear and starry. The wind rustled in the redwoods.

"Jason, what happened to you here?" Piper asked. "I mean – I know your mom abandoned you here. But you said it was sacred grounds for demigods. Why? What happened after you were on your own?"

Jason shook his head uneasily. "It's still murky. The wolves…"

"Won't come back until we're gone," I said. "Lupa senses a threat to her pack."

"Aw, man," Leo grumbled. "What else is going to jump out at us, the boogeyman?"

"No, not exactly," Hera said, giving me a warning glare. I shrugged, knowing that the Fates didn't care if I said anything right now, seeing as I was still able to interfere at the moment. "You were given a destiny, Jason. You were given into my service."

Jason scowled. "Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn't stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he'd fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone."

"It was the right choice for you as well, Jason," Hera insisted. "The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus's affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect – the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened – two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all demigods of your kind start their journey."

"Of his kind?" Piper asked.

"She means Roman," Jason said. "Demigods are left here. We meet the she-wolf goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus."

Hera nodded. "And if you're strong enough, you live."

"But…" Leo looked mystified. "What happened after that? I mean, Jason never made it to camp."

"Not to Camp Half-Blood, no," Hera agreed.

Piper paled a bit. She held onto Jason to keep her steady. "You went somewhere else," she said. "Somewhere else for demigods – but where?"

Jason turned to the goddess. "The memories are coming back, but not the location. That's how I know Andy. But, you're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No," Hera began, but I cut across her, saying, "Hera can't, but I can. In due time, of course," I added after the goddess started glowering at me yet again. "So, Hera, about that ride back to camp…?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Farewell, demigods, for now."

She waved her hand, and the world turned pitch black.