It felt like I was just waiting for the sun to rise. I'd barely slept a wink, waving between consciousness and unconsciousness after my prophetic dream. Was what I saw really happening, or just a figment of my imagination? I knew it was commonplace for demigods to experience visions, but to actually be noticed in them? I didn't know what to think.
Peyton was sure to know what to do.
I stormed into his bedroom, the door slamming against the wall with force.
"Peyton, wake up!" I shouted, running over to his bed. His eyes looked like they were glued shut. He snored lightly as I shook his arm. "Peyton. Peyton," I said, shaking with my vigour. Just when I thought about running into my room and grabbing the flowers from the windowsill to chuck in his face, I got an idea.
"Peyton, Lillie's in trouble!"
"Wha-?" Peyton opened his eyes, practically jumping out of bed. "Where? When? How?"
"Calm down," I said. "I just said that so you'd get up. You sleep like a dragon!"
Peyton ran a hand through his hair. It stuck up at odd angles. I dreaded to think what I looked like. The bags under my eyes were probably darker than Tartarus.
"Clara, my mother is the moon titan," Peyton explained. "I'm definitely more of a night owl than a morning person."
"Right, I guess that makes sense," I said. "But, that doesn't matter right now. I have to tell you something."
"I should hope so, otherwise why did you get me out of bed?"
"I had a dream."
"So does everyone, Clara."
"No, stupid, a vision dream. Like, I saw into the future…or the present, or, well, I'm not really sure what I saw."
"You came to tell me you had a dream that you can't remember? Wow, that was well worth getting up at the crack of dawn for."
"Peyton!" I shouted. "I'm trying to tell you that my dream was scary. Like, a nightmare but ten times worse because it was actually happening somewhere. It was about my mother…she's the one in trouble."
Peyton pulled at his hair again. "Let's get Lillie," he said. "I think we're both going to want to hear this."

It didn't take long to tell Peyton and Lillie what I could remember. It was like the dream was burnt into the back of my eyelids. As soon as I closed my eyes, I could see Hera being tortured by the shadows.
"That's horrific!" Lillie cried. She had been anxiously twisting her long hair around her finger so tight; it had turned an odd shade of blue. "So, this creepy…entity has captured Hera, and wants to use her to bring about the end of the gods as we know it?"
"Pretty much," I said, shaking. "My mom's being used as some sort of pawn to cause a riot."
"Because as soon as you take away the mother, the whole family has no one to keep them in line," Peyton said. "Without Hera, no matter how much certain gods dislike her, our world crumbles to dust."
I got the sense that he wasn't being melodramatic. Without Hera, the universe was left in the hands of Zeus, and we all knew he wasn't the most accommodating god in the sky.
"But, who could the plotter be?" Lillian mused. "You're sure it was a guy?"
"Positive," I said. "He was talking about his plan like it was a kind of wife swap."
"Oh no," Peyton said, his face turning as pale as his hair.
"What is it?" Lillie and I both asked simultaneously.
"His plan must have to do with titans, if my mother's involved," he said. "And which female titan was the last we demigods messed with?"
I gulped. "Gaia."
"Exactly." Peyton nodded.
"But, that's not exactly fair. It was Jason and Percy that dealt with Gaia, not us. Why should we be involved?" I moaned.
"Because you're the daughter of Hera," Lillie said, "and can be used to manipulate her and her husband, the lord of the sky."
"And you know how Gaia's husband is?" Peyton's eyes widened.
We all gulped. "Ouranos."
"It looks like the titan sky lord is out for revenge…and we know too much, so have to be disposed of."
"I don't like the sound of that," Lillie murmured.
"But if the sky comes crashing down," I said, "we all die."

Strawberries and cream. The delightful dessert was being served for breakfast. The ripe fruit looked like little hearts, ready to be squashed. Normally, I would have devoured the meal, but seeing something so sweet after news so terrible made my stomach turn.
"Eat up, Clara," Chiron said. "You'll be leaving on your quest soon."
Urgh. Just the thought of actually having to face leaving Camp Half Blood made me want to throw up. I know that, now Ouranos has figured his evil plan, the camp won't be safe for long, but suddenly I knew how Atlas felt, to have the weight of the sky on his shoulders.
Lilac came to sit next to me. "You're going to do great," she said, taking hold of my hand. I thought about telling her how horrible the quest was going to be, and the danger Peyton, Lillie and I would be in, but didn't have the nerve. Let Lilac continue to have the luxury of ignorance. I would be like her if I could.
"Clara, we've got the Pegasi all ready for you," Markus Cloud, resident stable master, called from across the pavilion. "They're ready to go when you are."
Peyton got up from his seat across the table from me. "Come on," he said, coaxing me up. "We better leave now while the sky is still clear."
I got up, hugged Lilac, and then followed Peyton to the stables.
"It is really a good idea for us to be in the sky at this point?" I asked. "You know, when the next most powerful titan is ready to crush the earth beneath his…feet. Wait, does the sky have feet?"
Peyton laughed, a sound I bet I wouldn't hear in a while.
"Let's keep our fingers crossed that Ouranos is too busy torturing your mother to bother with us at this point."
I slapped his shoulder. "Hey!"
"I'm just trying to be optimistic."
"Out of everyone in the camp, why did I have to go on a quest with you?" I said.
"You got lucky, I guess." Peyton gave me a winning smile as we entered the stables.
There were two horses reading for take off. Saddlebags were slung across their backs, filled with all the godly goodies the other campers had given us. Peyton filled me in that Lillian was hiding out in the shadows somewhere, and had planned to ride on the back of Peyton's horse once Chiron had cleared the stable of people not appear of her demi-demon presence.
"Are you prepared, Clara?" Chiron said, clopping into the stables in full centaur form.
"Not at all, sir," I said.
"There's something I want to tell you, Clara," he said. "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
"Yes, Shakespeare, very helpful, Chiron."
"Clara, you were born great. The moment Hera claimed you as her daughter, we all knew you were going to achieve something special."
"But just because Hera's my mom, doesn't make me great. It actually makes me crap, because a lot of people hate me."
Chiron placed his hand under my chin and pulled my face up so he could look me in the eye. "You may feel like you have greatness thrust upon you, but trust me, you've always had it within you."
I looked away. We hadn't told Chiron the extent of our quest, with the Ouranos development because, and I know this is stupid; we didn't want him to worry. But, just hearing his expectations of my greatness made me feel about 10cm tall.
"Good luck, Clara," he said.
"Thanks, Chiron. I'm going to need it."