lover ≫ percy jackson

iii. a new prophecy

Lorelai watched in both awe and terror as smoke billowed out of Rachel's mouth. The redhead's eyes were closed, and she didn't appear to be human anymore. Lorelai had never personally been in the vicinity of a prophetic announcement by the Oracle before.

"Five will travel west where the land meets the sky,

One will be lost under a friend's watchful eye,

From the daughter of beauty, a choice must be made,

Unlikely allies will save the day,

In the valley of mirrors, one will prevail,

Darkness will win if the final ship sets sail."

The smoke dissipated and Rachel's eyes fluttered back open. She stumbled a bit, gripping the edge of a chair as she regained her human consciousness.

Lorelai turned towards Chiron, who was quickly jotting down the words that had just echoed out of Rachel's body. Annabeth, too, was already notating the new prophecy.

"Five will travel west where the land meets the sky," she muttered. "That's obvious. Five of us will go west, to the mountains, I presume."

"From the daughter of beauty," Percy said, glancing at Lorelai. "This is clearly your quest. I mean, Rachel did come up to you before she said it."

Lorelai's eyes widened. She couldn't recall a time when a child of Aphrodite had been gifted with a quest.

"What?" Clarisse huffed. "Why is it Lorelai's quest? Why shouldn't it go to one of us?"

Some of the other senior counselors nodded in agreement.

Percy glared at Clarisse. "I think it's pretty clear why, Clarisse. 'From the daughter of beauty, a choice must be made.' I don't think the Oracle was talking about you."

"Jackson, I swear to --"

"That will be enough, Clarisse," Chiron scolded. "Percy is right. This quest clearly belongs to Lorelai."

"M-me?" Lorelai had just gotten back to camp, and she was already the head of a quest? It had to be a dream -- or a nightmare.

Chiron nodded. "Yes. You'll leave in the morning," he said firmly. "Four others will go with you."

The rest of the senior counselors each turned towards Lorelai, pleading for her to choose them.

"Take us, Lorelai. You won't regret it," the Stoll twins said.

"You'll want me along, for brute strength," Clarisse offered.

"An archer might be good in the mountains," Will Solace suggested.

"Hush, now. Let Lorelai make her decision," Chiron said.

"Alright," Lorelai took a deep breath. The first two were easy enough -- they'd been through enough quests to know the ropes. "Percy and Annabeth."

The pair smiled proudly.

"I'd be proud to honor Athena by accompanying you, Lorelai," Annabeth offered the daughter of Aphrodite a rare smile.

"And Grover, then. I think a satyr might be good to have on a quest through the wilderness."

Chiron nodded approvingly. "Good decision."

That left one more.

Lorelai thought back to the other campers, the ones who weren't in the room where the decisions were made. Nothing said she had to pick a senior counselor -- and, she didn't want to. Only one face came to mind when she thought of who else she'd want to bring along on the journey.