THE WHOLE CAMPFIRE idea freaked Briar out. It made her think of that huge purple bonfire in the dreams, and her soulmate tied to a stake.

What she got instead was almost as terrifying: a sing-along. The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners.

Briar spotted Jason in the front next to Annabeth. The brightest haired people sitting together. Leo was nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and strange, old-fashioned harps — lyres? — were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how their grandma got dressed for war. Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Briar had ever seen — one of those campfire songs that would've been completely embarrassing in daylight; but in the dark, with everybody participating, it was kind of corny and fun. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

Finally the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. A guy on a horse trotted up. At least in the flickering light, Briar thought it was a guy on a horse. Then she realized it was a centaur — his bottom half a white stallion, his top half a middle-aged guy with curly hair and a trimmed beard. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head. Mars?

"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

Same thing, Briar thought. Mars. Ares. Whatever. For some reason, she felt a rush of anger at the god's name.

"And kill people!" one of them shouted.

"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Leo's group. Leo winked at Briar and shot her with a finger gun. The girl next to him stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandana. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl said.

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones — bang, bang, bang — and the campers fell silent.

"We will have to be patient," Chiron said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, but Briar didn't need the mood flames to sense the crowd's anxiety.

Chiron gestured to Annabeth. She took a deep breath and stood.

"I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis —everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out.

Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. Briar looked down and pulled up her sleeve slightly to look at her tattoo. The dove on there was identical to the one on the banner. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.

Everyone else looked surprised. Apparently Drew didn't address the crowd very often.

"Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

Briar whispered to Rachel, "What's she talking about — the Great Prophecy?" The term felt familiar, but so alien at the same time.

Then she realized everyone else was looking at Rachel, too.

"Well?" Drew called down. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

Rachel's eyes looked scary in the firelight. Briar was afraid she might clench up and start channeling a freaky peacock goddess again, but she stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp.

"Yes," she said. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Pandemonium broke out.

Briar caught Jason's eye. He mouthed, You all right? She nodded and managed a small smile, but then looked away. And here I thought Jason was the cheesy one, she'd said sometime in the past. She shivered. They did know each other at one point.

When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:

"Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

The words were familiar. Briar knew it. Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered. If they'd known each other in the past, then he'd have to know the words.

Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. "J — Jason?" she said. "What's—"

"An oath to keep with a final breath," he chanted. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

An uneasy silence settled on the group. Briar could see from their faces that several of them were trying to figure out what he'd said. She knew the lines. But it sounded different in her own ears. Why?

"You just . . . finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. "—An oath to keep with a final breath / and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—"

"I know those lines." Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out. "Handsome and smart."

That's why it sounded different. Jason had said those lines in Latin. Briar frowned. How does she know Latin? Probably something in her past life. Fuck amnesia.

There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. It didn't do much to break the tension. The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of green. Briar rubbed her temples.

Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring. He just looked at Briar, and she just shrugged.

Rachel Dare still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he were watching a play he couldn't interrupt — a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.

Romeo and Juliet, Briar thought. Then her head hurt. Naturally. For never there was never a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

"Well," Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh . . . were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured.

Maybe he didn't mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, the same color as Briar's dream.

"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.

Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention.

She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk — how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.

Then Rachel told them about Briar passing out in Hera's cabin. Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House. The message Hera had delivered there was so similar that Briar got a chill. The only difference: Hera had warned Briar not to betray her: Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. Hera knew about the giant's threat. But if that was true, why hadn't she warned Jason, and exposed Briar as an enemy? Was it because he was her best friend, and he'd trust her unwillingly whatever she did?

"Jason," Rachel said. "Um . . . do you remember your last name?"

He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.

"We'll just call you Jason, then," Rachel said. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone's eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, yet Briar knew that he had been in this situation before. That both of them had been in this situation before. He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron spoke up, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things . . . stir."

The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister — like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.

"Okay," Annabeth said, glaring at the centaur. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. "If he's so important—"

"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

At first, Jason didn't seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously. He glanced at Briar, and she sent him a small smile, mimicking flipping a coin.

Jason reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance — a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.

The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick.

"Wasn't that . . ." Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" yelled somebody from Ares cabin.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" one of his brothers agreed.

"Electric," Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. "Back away."

Annabeth and Rachel got the message. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Briar's arms stood straight up. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.

When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Briar's ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from the sleeping kid Clovis, who hadn't even stirred.

Jason lowered his lance. "Um . . . sorry."

Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

It made perfect sense. Jason, son of Jupiter. The words made sense to Briar. She'd known this somewhere in her subconscious all along.

Apparently, the rest of the camp wasn't so sure. Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" she said. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three . . . their pact not to have mortal kids . . . how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer, but Briar got the feeling he knew. And the truth was not good.

"The important thing," Rachel said, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient — the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants' revenge the seven shall birth, The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera's rage."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Briar asked. Then she realized she'd spoken into the silence, and everyone was looking at her. "Does she spew green smoke a lot? This has happened twice now, people, come on!"

Was this really the way to get prophecies? It didn't make sense to Briar. Then again, nothing really did.

Drew pursed her lips. "She just issued a prophecy — Jason's prophecy to save Hera! This doesn't happen daily, sure, but—"

"Drew," Annabeth snapped. "Briar asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death . . . why would we free her? It might be a trap, or — or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

Jason rose. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory and Briar's. I need it back. We need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

A girl from Hephaestus cabin stood up — Nyssa, the one with the red bandanna. "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son — our dad — down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled. "Anyway, we've also got to think — why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

No one answered, but Briar noticed Annabeth and Chiron having a silent exchange. Briar thought it went something like:

Annabeth: The giants' revenge . . . no, it can't be.

Chiron: Don't speak of it here. Don't scare them.

Annabeth: You're kidding me! We can't be that unlucky.

Chiron: Later, child. If you told them everything, they would be too terrified to proceed.

Briar knew it was crazy to think she could read their expressions so well — two people she barely knew. But she was absolutely positive she understood them, and it scared the shit out of her.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions."

Tradition? Briar frowned. She remembered choosing three people to come with her on quests sometimes. She then rubbed her temples as her head hurt. It really must be tired of this.

Someone from the Hermes cabin yelled, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience."

"No, Travis," Annabeth said. "First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy."

"It's connected," Briar realized. "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance — it's all connected."

"How?" demanded Drew. "How do you know?"

Briar tried to form an answer, but she couldn't. She just had this gut feeling that all of this was orchestrated by the same person.

Annabeth saved her. "You may be right, Briar. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end — by searching for Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul — Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry. "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport."

Briar was about to call out that Jason could fly. But then she thought better of it. That was for Jason to tell them, and he wasn't volunteering the information. Maybe he figured he'd freaked them out enough for one night. Also, could he even carry two people at once?

"The flying chariot's broken," Nyssa continued, "and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."

She didn't sound enthusiastic.

Then Leo stood up. He'd been so quiet, Briar had almost forgotten he was there.

"It's me," he said.

His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted.

"No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied him for a moment. Then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean . . . Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Briar snickered under her breath. She adored Leo. She wished that she knew him in the Wilderness School.

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the third quest member. The dove—"

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

Briar stepped forward. "Wait. It's me."

Drew stared at her. "Why?"

"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said. "You were just at the right place at the right time." She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things . . ." She looked at Leo in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

The campers started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Briar could see Drew winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

"Well . . ." Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy—"

"I'm supposed to go." Briar insisted, and her voice sounded different — more insistent, richer in tone.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Everyone started nodding, muttering that hmm, Briar's point of view made sense too. Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her own campers were nodding.

"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd, suddenly hostile. "What can Briar do?"

"Besides for having a better fashion taste than you?" Briar crossed her arms. "I have a motive for going." She heard that voice from the dream: Do our bidding, and you may walk away alive. She shivered slightly, and hoped that no one could see it.

"As Jason pointed out earlier, I've lost my memories as well," Briar continued, the half-truths pouring out of her mouth. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to remember small details about your old life, only to have them taken away from you, replaced by a sudden headache? I need to get my memories back from Juno. She took them, and she's the only person that can give them back. Besides, I can fight," — she flipped her knife out from her pocket, and it shined a brilliant platinum — "probably better than you can, because I've had at least ten years of experience. How do I know this? Well, I have the same tattoo as Jason does."

She took her jacket off, throwing it on her log. The campers stared at her as they looked at her tattoo, and the dove and the ten score marks.

"So what can I do?" Briar laughed, though it wasn't a happy one. "I'm Briar Lovelace. I'm the daughter of Venus who's beloved by all of the gods. I've fought Cyclopes, werewolves, and drakons. I defeated the Titan Koios single-handedly. I'm a Centurion of the Fifth Cohort. I almost became Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And, most importantly, I'm better than you."

Suddenly there was collective gasp. Everyone stared at Briar like she'd just exploded. She was still reeling from her speech. Then she realized there was a reddish glow around her.

"Cat got your tongue?" Briar smirked.

But she looked above her, but there was no burning symbol like the one that appeared over Leo. Then she looked down and her eyes widened.

Now she was adorned in a beautiful blue dress that went down to the ground, with a leg slit so high it was almost embarrassing. She had heels on just so the dress would touch the ground. Delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, and her hair . . .

"I didn't ask for this," Briar pursed her lips. "Where'd my red dress go? And what's up with my hair?"

A stunned Annabeth pointed at Briar's other dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord along with the knife she'd came with. Briar unsheathed Katoptris and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade. Her hair was perfect: lush and long and golden blonde, golden ribbons and flowers woven into her hair as it cascaded down her back. She even wore makeup, less than what Briar usually wore — subtle touches that made her lips pinker and brought out all the different colors in her eyes.

She was . . .

"Beautiful," Jason said. "That's my best friend!"

Briar couldn't resist the small smile that appeared then faded on her face.

Everyone was staring at her like she was a freak. Drew's face was full of horror and revulsion. "No!" she cried. "Not possible!"

"I don't understand," Briar looked at herself. "What's going on?"

Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example.

"Hail, Briar Lovelace," Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

Well, at least Briar was right.