~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

The Ghost

{Kiara}

Kiara quickly pushed the thought away. Her feelings and emotions had started to freak her out lately. She kept thinking about Piper, and nothing seemed to stop it. And the way the shadows sometimes took the forms of people didn't help at all. She had started to think she was going crazy and started to hallucinate.

   "Do you remember anything?" Thalia asked, dragging Kiara out of her reverie.

   Jason shook his head. "I woke up three days ago on a bus with Leo and Piper. Kiara doesn't remember anything either."

   Thalia looked at Kiara, who smiled at the hunter awkwardly.

   "Which wasn't our fault," Leo added hastily. "Hera stole his memories."

   Thalia tensed and turned to Leo. "Hera? How do you know that?"

   Jason explained about their quest—the prophecy at camp, Hera getting imprisoned, the giant taking Piper's dad, and the winter solstice deadline. Leo chimed in to add the important stuff: how he'd fixed the bronze dragon, could throw fireballs, and made excellent tacos.

   Thalia was a good listener. Nothing seemed to surprise her—the monsters, the prophecies, the dead rising. But when Jason mentioned King Midas, she cursed in Ancient Greek, which Kiara didn't understand.

   "I knew we should've burned down his mansion," she said. "That man's a menace. But we were so intent on following Lycaon—Well, I'm glad you got away. So Hera's been... what, hiding you all these years?"

   "I don't know." Jason brought out the photo from his pocket. "She left me just enough memory to recognize your face."

   Thalia looked at the picture, and her expression softened. "I'd forgotten about that. I left it in Cabin One, didn't I?"

   Jason nodded. "I think Hera wanted for us to meet. When we landed here, at this cave... I had a feeling it was important. Like I knew you were close by. Is that crazy?"

   "Nah," Leo assured him. "We were absolutely destined to meet your hot sister."

   Thalia ignored him. So did Kiara, but for once, she agreed with Leo.

   She tensed. What the hell was wrong with her. She couldn't find a girl attractive. That was weird. If she told anyone about this, she would be seen as a freak.

      "Jason," Thalia said, "when you're dealing with the gods, nothing is too crazy. But you can't trust Hera, especially since we're children of Zeus. She hates all children of Zeus."

   "But she said something about Zeus giving her my life as a peace offering. Does that make any sense?"

   The color drained from Thalia's face. "Oh, gods. Mother wouldn't have... You don't remember—No, of course you don't."

   "What?" Jason asked.

      Thalia's features seemed to grow older in the firelight, like her immortality wasn't working so well. "Jason... I'm not sure how to say this. Our mom wasn't exactly stable. She caught Zeus's eye because she was a television actress, and she was beautiful, but she didn't handle the fame well. She drank, pulled stupid stunts. She was always in the tabloids. She could never get enough attention. Even before you were born, she and I argued all the time. She... she knew Dad was Zeus, and I think that was too much for her to take. It was like the ultimate achievement for her to attract the lord of the sky, and she couldn't accept it when he left. The thing about the gods... well, they don't hang around."

   Kiara didn't remember anything about her parents except for that dream she'd had back at Camp Half-Blood. Pluto had told her mom that he couldn't stick around because of 'godly stuff'. Anna hadn't seemed like she wanted Pluto for herself—she had looked like she was sad because Kiara wouldn't be able to meet her father.