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?"
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.
Jason's thoughts were a whirlwind, but the moment Viella was dragged through the door, it all came crashing to a halt. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her limp form, pale and breathing shallowly.
For a second, the air seemed to thin, and Jason couldn't look away. Her hair, disheveled from whatever ordeal she had faced, framed her face like a flame barely flickering. The curve of her jaw, the subtle rise and fall of her chest-he hated himself for noticing these things now, but her vulnerability struck something primal in him. She was stunning even in her unconscious state, and it left him raw with a mix of protectiveness and guilt.
"What happened?!" Jason demanded, his voice sharper than he intended.
The blonde girl who had rushed in with Viella, was breathing heavily, her face flushed with panic. "She collapsed. There was... there was this woman. She-she took over Viella. I don't know how, but-"
Jason's mind instantly linked this to the nightmare. "The woman... in black robes?"
Jason's fists clenched as his gaze flickered back to Viella. She looked fragile in a way that contradicted everything he'd seen of her before-her sharp tongue, her unapologetic confidence. He didn't know her well, but there was something magnetic about her. She radiated power and chaos, and seeing her like this made something deep inside him twist painfully.
"Yes!" Regina-probably her name- nodded urgently. "She had a goatskin cloak. It was like she was trying to communicate through Viella. But it was all so messed up."
Jason turned to Annabeth, who had just entered behind him, her expression tight with fear. "Did you feel that too?" he asked, already dreading the answer.
Annabeth nodded grimly. "The same dream. The woman, the prison. It's the same voice that spoke to Piper. That means it's not just a warning. It's real."
Jason's pulse quickened. "What is happening?" he asked, his voice tight.
Regina, standing beside Viella, looked helpless as she glanced at her friend. "She's been possessed. This woman-she spoke through her. Said something about freeing her, or a king would rise and... and that Percy Jackson is alive."
As Regina continued explaining, Jason struggled to focus, his eyes drifting back to Viella's parted lips. He felt heat creep up his neck and immediately shoved the thought aside. This was serious. People were depending on him. But no amount of logic could stop the electric jolt he'd felt the moment he saw her again.
Jason froze, his heart hammering. "What? Percy? Alive?" His breath caught in his throat as both he and Annabeth looked at each other.
Jason froze, his heart hammering. He tore his gaze from Viella to process Regina's words. But even as the weight of Percy's name hit him, his thoughts kept circling back to the unconscious girl on the couch.
Annabeth's face had gone ashen as she instinctively reached for her necklace. "Percy... alive? But if this woman is trapped, and we don't help her..." She trailed off, her eyes narrowing in worry.
Jason turned back to Viella, still unconscious. "How does she know about Percy? Why now?"
Regina's voice wavered. "She's been trying to break free for a while. But she's weak. She only had enough strength to speak through Viella for a minute."
Jason exhaled sharply, still processing everything. "So... we have to help her? We don't even know who she is."
Annabeth looked at him, her expression somber. "Whoever she is, she's connected to this. And that dream? It's not a coincidence. The timing... it all fits. This woman's prison is connected to the larger threat we've been sensing. She's the key to understanding why Percy is missing."
Jason felt the weight of those words settle on his chest. "We have to find out what this prison is. If this woman's power is tied to Percy's disappearance, then she's the key. But why would she reach out now?"
Suddenly, Chiron's voice broke the tension, his voice more urgent than Jason had ever heard it. He made a three-fingered gesture over his heart, like a ward against evil.
"Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."
Jason then recounted the freezing moment he'd experienced when the dark misty woman claimed to be his patron, with Annabeth and Rachel.
But his attention was constantly pulled back to Viella. The way her hair spilled across the couch, the slight flush on her otherwise pale cheeks-it all left him aching to fix this, to do something.
When he finished, silence hung thick in the air, the kind that made Jason's nerves tighten with unease.
"So, does this happen often?" he asked, half-joking despite the fear creeping into his voice. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"
Annabeth turned to him. "Your patron?"
Jason hesitated. "No, she said 'patron.' She also said my dad had given her my life."
Annabeth frowned, puzzled. "I've never heard of anything like that. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk... he claimed to be working for some mistress who gave him orders, right? Could it be this woman, messing with your mind?"
"I don't think so," Jason replied. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting stronger. Something about a king rising on the solstice..."
Annabeth's eyes widened. "Not Kronos. Please, don't tell me it's him."
Chiron, who had been examining Piper, his face tense with concern, sighed heavily. "It's not Kronos. That threat is over. But..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
"But what?" Annabeth pressed, a hint of desperation in her voice.
Chiron closed the medicine bag and looked at them all, grave. "Viella and Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."
Jason's patience snapped. "Or now," he insisted. "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?"
Rachel, who had been standing quietly by, spoke in a low voice. "Oh, dear. The woman... was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."
"Hera?" Annabeth snarled, her face turning red with anger. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"
"I think Rachel's right," Jason said, his own anger building. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this-this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"
"It is?" Annabeth scowled, confusion flashing across her face. "I've never heard of that."
Chiron nodded reluctantly. "It's the Roman aspect of Hera, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak symbolizes the Roman soldier."
