"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."
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?"
Annabeth crossed her arms. "Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera—"
"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. 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." I concluded. 
"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 Eliana 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?"
"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 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—"
"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 it wasn't complimentary toward centaurs.
"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?"
"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."