Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series or The Lost Hero or any of the characters they all belong to Rick Riordan.

Ok so just pretend that Thalia quit the hunters and is dating Nico and this takes place a few months after The Last Olympian. Oh and Reyna and Jason are just friends.

Chapter Eight

Jason VIII

"Jason VIII," Artemis read.

JASON AND THE REDHEAD, WHO INTRODUCED herself as Rachel, put Piper on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.

"We've got to heal her," Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"

"Awww aren't you just the cutest," Connor said in a high-pitched voice to a blushing Jason, while Aphrodite nodded her head in agreement.

Seeing her so pale, barely breathing, Jason felt a surge of protectiveness. Maybe he didn't really know her. Maybe she wasn't his girlfriend. But they'd survived the Grand Canyon together. They'd come all this way. He'd left her side for a little while, and this had happened.

Both Jason and Piper were blushing bright red as Travis and Conner made kissing faces at them.

Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"

"I wish I knew," she said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Chiron asked.

"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."

"Five bucks it was Hera," Percy said.

"I'm not betting that because for once I actually agree with you Percy," Nico said.

Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper. "Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her—"

"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.

Annabeth stared at him. "How did you know that?"

"Annabeth you're losing your touch, Jason knows so much more than you," Travis said and Annabeth pulled out her knife and traced the edge of it.

"That may be Travis," She started," But I can still kill you in 10 seconds. Do you want to test my theory?"

Travis gulped loudly and said," No thanks I like my intestines."

Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart, like a ward against evil.

"Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."

Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained what had happened when the room froze—the dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron.

When he was done, no one spoke, which made him more anxious.

"Maybe its time I teach you guys how to make someone feel comfortable." Percy said with a smile.

"So does this happen often?" he asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron," Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"

"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."

Annabeth frowned. "I've never of heard anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"

"You are really slow in the book," Connor said to Annabeth.

"Fine right now we know it's Hera, but me in the book never saw her," Annabeth replied.

"I don't think so," Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice—"

Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that."

"No I think it's something much worse than Kronos," Athena said and her comment made everyone worry, what could be worse than Kronos?

The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.

At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But …"

Annabeth was thinking about what her mother said, something much worse than Kronos, and there could only be one person. Annabeth decided to wait and see if her suspicions were correct.

"But what?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron closed the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."

"Or now," Jason said. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"

Everyone became worried as they thought of having to fight in another battle between something even worse than Kronos-well everyone except Piper and Leo- but they were worried as well.

"Oh," Rachel said in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."

"Hera?" Annabeth's snarl was even fiercer than Seymour's.

Everyone silently agreed with Annabeth in the book, they all felt some hatred towards the Queen of the Gods.

"She took you over? She did this to Piper?"

"I think Rachel's right," Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"

"Juno? That's Roman for Hera, but I never knew the goatskin represented her," Annabeth said mostly to herself, but everyone else heard her.

"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."

"Yes we know you didn't know that because of your terrible whispering skills," Connor said and he got a slap in the head from Annabeth.

Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."

"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"

"Someone everyone should praise," Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth crossed her arms. "Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera—"

Everyone in the room burst out laughing, except for Hera of course.

"Annabeth," Chiron warned, "she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods' family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help—"

"Fine," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago.

"Did you have to mention that." Artemis muttered as even Apollo became angry remembering the time his sister was captured.

And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan … ?"

Jason looked at the leopard's head. Seymour was smacking his lips like the goddess had tasted much better than a Snausage. "Hera said she'd been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month."

"Which is how long Olympus has been closed," Annabeth said. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."

"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods—let them know where she is so they bust her out?"

"Because…" Travis said. "Actually that's a pretty good idea, why didn't you do that? " he asked Hera who merely shrugged her shoulders in response.

"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth," Rachel said. "That's right, isn't it? Their fates are always intertwined with demigods."

"That's true," Annabeth said, "but Jason's got a point. Why him? Why take his memory?"

"And Piper's involved somehow," Rachel said. "Hera sent her the same message— Free me. And, Annabeth, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearing."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Hera," If you did anything to him I swear-"

"Annabeth calm down we can deal with this later," Percy said trying to clam her down and not say something that would make Hera turn her into a cow or something.

Annabeth fixed her eyes on Chiron. "Why are you so quiet, Chiron? What is it we're facing?"

The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines around his eyes were deeply etched. "My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."

Annabeth blinked. "You've never … you've never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy—"

"Great now you can be clueless like the rest of us," Connor said smirking at Annabeth.

"Uh Conner I would shut up if I were you," Percy said looking over at a very pissed off Annabeth.

"I will be in my office." His voice was heavy. "I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And Annabeth, you should speak with Jason. Tell him about—about the Greek and Roman gods."

"But …"

The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. She muttered something in Greek, and Jason got the feeling it wasn't complimentary toward centaurs.

Everyone laughed as Annabeth blushed.

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I think my being here—I don't know. I've messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."

"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods..."

Her voice trailed off. Apparently she'd just noticed Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. She touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.

"Is this gold?" she said. "Do you remember where you got it?"

"I don't remember anything remember," Jason said.

Annabeth shrugged," I geuss it was worth a shot."

"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."

Annabeth nodded, like she'd just come up with a rather desperate plan. "If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means … Cabin Fifteen.

"What's Cabin fifteen?" Jason asked with a frown.

"That's Hypnos's cabin," Annabeth said remembering finishing building that cabin 1 week ago.

Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?"

"Sure," Rachel promised. "Good luck, you two."

"Hold on," Jason said. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"

Annabeth stood. "Maybe a way to get your memory back."

They headed toward a newer wing of cabins in the southwest corner of the green. Some were fancy, with glowing walls or blazing torches, but Cabin Fifteen was not so dramatic. It looked like an old-fashioned prairie house with mud walls and a rush roof.

"I did not expect that to be what it looked liked," Leo said.

"It's help them sleep longer," Annabeth answered again.

On the door hung a wreath of crimson flowers—red poppies, Jason thought, though he wasn't sure how he knew.

"You think this is my parent's cabin?" he asked.

"No," Annabeth said. "This is the cabin for Hypnos, the god of sleep."

"Then why—"

"You've forgotten everything," she said. "If there's any god who can help us figure out memory loss, it's Hypnos."

Inside, even though it was almost dinnertime, three kids were sound asleep under piles of covers. A warm fire crackled in the hearth. Above the mantel hung a tree branch, each twig dripping white liquid into a collection of tin bowls. Jason was tempted to catch a drop on his finger just to see what it was, but he held himself back.

"Good to know, Me and Conner are planning our next target to be that cabin," Travis said.

"Conner and I," Athena corrected.

"You and Conner are targeting that cabin to? I never knew you pranked Lady Athena," Travis said with confusion all over his face.

Soft violin music played from somewhere. The air smelled like fresh laundry. The cabin was so cozy and peaceful that Jason's eyelids started to feel heavy. A nap sounded like a great idea. He was exhausted. There were plenty of empty beds, all with feather pillows and fresh sheets and fluffy quilts and—Annabeth nudged him. "Snap out of it."

"Actually just reading about it is making me sleepy," Thalia said with a yawn. Mostly everyone in the room was yawning.

Jason blinked. He realized his knees had been starting to buckle.

"Cabin Fifteen does that to everyone," Annabeth warned. "If you ask me, this place is even more dangerous than the Ares cabin. At least with Ares, you can learn where the land mines are."

Travis and Conner probably would have commented, but they were probably really tired, because both of them were on the floor sleeping.

"Land mines?"

She walked up to the nearest snoring kid and shook his shoulder. "Clovis! Wake up!"

The kid looked like a baby cow. He had a blond tuft of hair on a wedge-shaped head, with thick features and a thick neck. His body was stocky, but he had spindly little arms like he'd never lifted anything heavier than a pillow.

"I'm pretty sure the pillow is heavy enough to lift," Percy said chuckling.

"Clovis!" Annabeth shook harder, then finally knocked on his forehead about six times.

"Wh-wh-what?" Clovis complained, sitting up and squinting. He yawned hugely, and both Annabeth and Jason yawned too.

"Stop that!" Annabeth said. "We need your help."

"I was sleeping."

"You're always sleeping."

"Good night."

Before he could pass out, Annabeth yanked his pillow off the bed.

"You should send your daughter to an anger management class Athena," Apollo said as both Athena and Annabeth glared daggers at him.

"That's not fair," Clovis complained meekly. "Give it back."

"First help," Annabeth said. "Then sleep."

Clovis sighed. His breath smelled like warm milk. "Fine. What?"

Annabeth explained about Jason's problem. Every once in a while she'd snap her fingers under Clovis's nose to keep him awake.

Clovis must have been really excited, because when Annabeth was done, he didn't pass out. He actually stood and stretched, then blinked at Jason.

"That must be a first for him," Nico said with a smirk.

"So you don't remember anything, huh?"

"Just impressions," Jason said. "Feelings, like …"

"Yes?" Clovis said.

"Like I know I shouldn't be here. At this camp. I'm in danger."

"Hmm. Close your eyes."

Jason glanced at Annabeth, but she nodded reassuringly.

"Won't that mean that I'll be asleep for eternity," Jason said looking worried.

"No I'm sure Clovis is just trying to figure out what happened to his memories," Annabeth answered.

Jason was afraid he'd end up snoring in one of the bunks forever, but he closed his eyes. His thoughts became murky, as if he were sinking into a dark lake.

The next thing he knew, his eyes snapped open. He was sitting in a chair by the fire.

Clovis and Annabeth knelt next to him.

"—serious, all right," Clovis was saying.

"What happened?" Jason said. "How long—"

"Just a few minutes," Annabeth said. "But it was tense. You almost dissolved."

"Dissolved?" Leo asked," That actually sounds pretty cool."

Jason hoped she didn't mean literally, but her expression was solemn.

"Usually," Clovis said, "memories are lost for a good reason. They sink under the surface like dreams, and with a good sleep, I can bring them back. But this …"

"Lethe?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Clovis said. "Not even Lethe."

"Lethe?" Jason asked.

Clovis pointed to the tree branch dripping milky drops above the fireplace. "The River Lethe in the Underworld. It dissolves your memories, wipes your mind clean permanently. That's the branch of a poplar tree from the Underworld, dipped into the Lethe. It's the symbol of my father, Hypnos. Lethe is not a place you want to go swimming."

"I wouldn't go swimming anyway," Jason said looking at Poseidon.

"Just like I'd never go flying," Percy said with a chuckle.

Annabeth nodded. "Percy went there once. He told me it was powerful enough to wipe the mind of a Titan."

Jason was suddenly glad he hadn't touched the branch. "But … that's not my problem?"

"No," Clovis agreed. "Your mind wasn't wiped, and your memories weren't buried. They've been stolen."

"I bet Travis and Conner would love knowing how to do that," Nico said looking at the two sleeping brothers.

The fire crackled. Drops of Lethe water plinked into the tin cups on the mantel. One of the other Hypnos campers muttered in his sleep—something about a duck.

"Stolen," Jason said. "How?"

"A god," Clovis said. "Only a god would have that kind of power."

"We know that," said Jason. "It was Juno. But how did she do it, and why?"

Clovis scratched his neck. "Juno?"

"He means Hera," Annabeth said. "For some reason, Jason likes the Roman names."

Annabeth frowned there has to be some connection with all this Roman stuff she thought.

"Hmm," Clovis said.

"What?" Jason asked. "Does that mean something?"

"Hmm," Clovis said again, and this time Jason realized he was snoring.

"Clovis!" he yelled.

"What? What?" His eyes fluttered open. "We were talking about pillows, right? No, gods. I remember. Greek and Roman. Sure, could be important."

"But they're the same gods," Annabeth said. "Just different names."

"Not exactly," Clovis said.

"Aren't they?" Percy questioned. "What's the difference between them?" No demigod –besides Jason-could answer his questions and the gods could not also without revealing about the Roman camp.

Jason sat forward, now very much awake. "What do you mean, not exactly?"

"Well …" Clovis yawned. "Some gods are only Roman. Like Janus, or Pompona. But even the major Greek gods—it's not just their names that changed when they moved to Rome. Their appearances changed. Their attributes changed. They even had slightly different personalities."

"How does he sneak in studying with all the sleeping he does?" Piper asked, but everyone just nodded their heads, they didn't know the answer.

"But …" Annabeth faltered. "Okay, so maybe people saw them differently through the centuries. That doesn't change who they are."

"Sure it does." Clovis began to nod off, and Jason snapped his fingers under his nose.

"Coming, Mother!" he yelped. "I mean … Yeah, I'm awake. So, um, personalities. The gods change to reflect their host cultures. You know that, Annabeth. I mean, these days, Zeus likes tailored suits, reality television, and that Chinese food place on East Twenty-eighth Street, right? It was the same in Roman times, and the gods were Roman almost as long as they were Greek. It was a big empire, lasted for centuries. So of course their Roman aspects are still a big part of their character."

"Makes sense," Jason said.

Annabeth shook her head, mystified. "But how do you know all this, Clovis?"

"Oh, I spend a lot of time dreaming. I see the gods there all the time—always shifting forms. Dreams are fluid, you know. You can be in different places at once, always changing identities. It's a lot like being a god, actually. Like recently, I dreamed I was watching a Michael Jackson concert, and then I was onstage with Michael Jackson, and we were singing this duet, and I could not remember the words for 'The Girl Is Mine.' Oh, man, it was so embarrassing, I—"

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Clovis," Annabeth interrupted. "Back to Rome?"

"Right, Rome," Clovis said. "So we call the gods by their Greek names because that's their original form. But saying their Roman aspects are exactly the same—that's not true. In Rome, they became more warlike. They didn't mingle with mortals as much. They were harsher, more powerful—the gods of an empire."

"Meaning Greek gods are nicer? No offence, but that's kind of hard to believe," Nico said. The gods didn't mind they were hoping that the demigods wouldn't have to know about the Roman camp, but that chance was slim to none.

"Like the dark side of the gods?" Annabeth asked.

"Not exactly," Clovis said. "They stood for discipline, honor, strength—"

"Good things, then," Jason said. For some reason, he felt the need to speak up for the Roman gods, though wasn't sure why it mattered to him.

The Jason in the current room was nodding along, he knew it was important he respect the Roman gods.

"I mean, discipline is important, right? That's what made Rome last so long."

Clovis gave him a curious look. "That's true. But the Roman gods weren't very friendly. For instance, my dad, Hypnos … he didn't do much except sleep in Greek times. In Roman times, they called him Somnus. He liked killing people who didn't stay alert at their jobs.

"Well that isn't warming me up to the Romans, how about you guys?" Leo asked and everyone, except the gods who weren't paying attention and Jason who respected the Romans, nodded along.

If they nodded off at the wrong time, boom— they never woke up. He killed the helmsman of Aeneas when they were sailing from Troy."

"Nice guy," Annabeth said. "But I still don't understand what it has to do with Jason."

"Neither do I," Clovis said. "But if Hera took your memory, only she can give it back. And if I had to meet the queen of the gods, I'd hope she was more in a Hera mood than a Juno mood. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"I doubt Hera has a good side," Annabeth muttered.

Annabeth stared at the branch above the fire, dripping Lethe water into the cups. She looked so worried, Jason wondered if she was considering a drink to forget her troubles.

Annabeth frowned she'd never dare drink it, she doesn't want to forget everything no matter how hard it may be.

Then she stood and tossed Clovis his pillow. "Thanks, Clovis. We'll see you at dinner."

"Can I get room service?" Clovis yawned and stumbled to his bunk. "I feel like … zzzz…" He collapsed with his butt in the air and his face buried in pillow.

"Won't he suffocate?" Jason asked.

"He'll be fine," Annabeth said. "But I'm beginning to think that you are in serious trouble."

"That's the end of that chapter," Artemis said.

"Yes I think it's time you all go to sleep," Zeus said," And this time stay in your own rooms." He finished with a glare towards Nico.

A/N: 3 chapters in one weekend that's my new record. I hope this makes up for my lack of updation-if that's a word- last week. Anyway please review, favourite, and comment.

Love,

Angel