Reborn in The Lightning Thief

Harley the Seer

Chiron flinched as the arrow embedded itself into his tail, exhaling slowly as if trying not to lose it. I stifled a laugh into my hand as the centaur pulled the arrow out, dropping it to the ground. "Oh gods..." Percy looked horrified. "I'm so sorry, Chiron, I-"
"It's fine, Percy." He managed a smile. "Everyone makes mistakes. In fact, this isn't the first time this has happened." This seemed to relieve Percy a bit. He gave the bow back to an Apollo camper. "I guess archery isn't my thing either."

Chiron made his way to my side. "You're not alone on that one." I laughed sheepishly as he nodded towards my rouge arrows. Only three had actually made it on the target, and they were all on the outer rings. The rest had flown and landed somewhere behind the target. Percy laughed. "You didn't get a single bullseye!" I raised an eyebrow. "You literally hit Chiron in the tail. And missed every other shot."

Before Percy could retort, someone laughed from behind us, and we turned around to see Annabeth standing there. "How is that even possible? He was behind you," she said, clearly suppressing the urge to continue laughing. Percy grumbled something incomprehensible before storming off to try foot racing with the nymphs instead.

"Well, this is quite the predicament," Chiron said after a moment. "What do you mean?" I asked, giving my bow and arrows back to the Apollo camper. "Usually, when we get a new camper, it's not hard to tell who their godly parent is. The looks, personality, smarts, strengths..."
"Take me, for example," Annabeth offered. "Blonde hair, gray eyes, straight A's? You're almost definitely an Athena kid. And Hermes kids- usually brown or blonde hair, brown eyes, mischievous personality, tendency to steal or travel a lot."

Chiron nodded. "That's why we have them do activities like these to see what they're skilled at. It makes it easier to determine their godly parent. Nike's children would be very competitive. Apollo's children would excel at archery, or maybe in the medicinal field."

"Huh. Wouldn't it be hard to identify someone who's a kid of a more minor god? Someone who doesn't really have traits that stand out?"

"That's why they claim us instead. Well..." Annabeth trailed off. She was probably about to mention the older campers who were still unclaimed. "Most of the gods have certain traits that are difficult to miss," she finished. One of Annabeth's siblings (at least I assumed he was based off his blond hair and gray eyes) called her over, and she jogged away. "See you later, Chiron, Harley!" She disappeared down the green valley.

Ah... I don't really want to be alone with this guy. Don't get me wrong, I trusted Chiron and all (I read the books, I didn't remember him secretly being evil or anything), but after what happened last night, I wasn't exactly looking forward to hanging out with him.

As I waved a halfhearted goodbye, Chiron continued with his explanation. "This is where it gets puzzling with you and Percy," he said. "We've done most of the activities already, and yet it seems like there isn't anything you're particularly great at."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Oh, you know what I mean." Something flashed behind Chiron's eyes as if he'd remembered something important.

"Besides that, Harley, is there anything in particular that you feel... connected to, perhaps?"
"Huh?"
"You see, well... take the children of Demeter, for example. Many of them have a power over plants, vines, and flowers. They've always felt connected, in a way, to nature. Basically, elements related to Demeter." I paused to think about the question. "I mean..." Don't say anything. Nothing good will come of it. "Not really. No." Chiron looked a bit disappointed. "Ah... I see."
"Are you sure I'm not just a clear-sighted mortal?"

My eyes widened. I realized my mistake too late. It took the centaur a split second to notice. Within a second, he had his bow and arrow out, the sharp celestial bronze tip trained on me. "You shouldn't know that term yet. Who told you?" He'd went from the friendly Latin teacher/wise old man to a cold interrogator within moments. I raised my hands in surrender, staring at the arrow. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You are so incredibly bad at this.

Normally, he probably wouldn't react like that to someone who shouldn't know that word saying it, but if it was me? He was already suspicious. I could eat an apple slice and he'd watch me like a hawk.

All my instincts were going off like alarms, telling me to run unless I wanted an arrow through my head. "Woah, Chiron. Listen, I-"
"Follow me to the Big House." I was confused until I realized that some of the campers had stopped to watch, bewildered.

Slowly, we began to walk. Chiron put his bow and arrow away, thank the gods. "Listen, Harley. I know you're a good person. I can tell. You grew up with Percy too. But..." I knew what he was trying to say. "I know. I would probably do the same." At least he doesn't think I'm an evil supervillain or something. "I apologize for pointing a weapon at you, it's just that I was... alarmed. I'm sure you have a proper explanation though." He shot me a wary look as we entered the house. "Um... right."

My explanation was in no way proper. I didn't know how to go about this in the first place. Clear-sighted mortals didn't appear in works of fiction or actual Greek mythology in this world. Annabeth had never taught us about that. I couldn't just say that I'd made it up on the spot and that it happened to be an already existing thing. That was an impossible coincidence, and I was already pushing it with the whole Fury thing.

Chiron waited impatiently as he seated me at a table (probably to make it harder for me to run). "Okay, listen. I- I uh..." I drummed my fingers nervously on the wooden table as I glanced around the room to avoid eye contact. "Um..."

Chiron sighed, and I thought he was going to whip out the bow and arrow again. But instead, he rolled back into his wheelchair form. The difference in height relieved me a bit (his centaur form was taller than I'd imagined). He wheeled around next to me.

"I'm not a fool, Harley. I've been watching you and Percy since the beginning of the school year. You aren't the children of any minor god, that's for sure. The amount of monsters you two attracted were ridiculous. I had to call in groups of half-bloods to fend them off at times."

I didn't really want to know where this conversation was heading.

"I noticed some odd things about you especially. Whenever a monster appeared nearby, you steered Percy away when Grover wasn't there to do it. For a demigod, your grades were excellent, despite your ADHD and dyslexia. Your sheer knowledge of Greek mythology is astounding for someone your age. However, your father did tell me that you were always interested in it."

Chiron's words creeped into my mind. I felt completely and utterly exposed. They were just supposed to be words, but they had an edge to it. Something unnerving that I couldn't describe. Almost like he knew everything. This is it. I'm done for. He's gonna know, and then they're all gonna know.

"And then the museum incident happened. You knew exactly what Dodds was, calling her a Fury. You pretended you didn't remember anything about her after the fight. You didn't even look scared, shocked, or confused. It was as if you'd been waiting for that moment your entire life. Of course, you explained that to me, but we both know that was a complete lie, and before you interject, I'll have you know that not a single lie can get past me. And now you mentioned a term that you shouldn't even know yet."

Chiron stared at me with a hard look, and I reluctantly met his eyes. "Harley, your eyes are weathered. They show wisdom and age beyond anyone else here, but you're still just a child. Tell me, who are you?"

I swallowed. I can't say anything. I'll ruin the whole story- the whole future- if I do. "I'm... I'm just me. Chiron, I don't-"
"Tell me the truth. Please." His eyes softened as if he remembered that he was talking to a 'child.' I sighed. I'd just have to compromise. But no lies- maybe a half truth? Would that work? Besides, Chiron was wise. He wouldn't go on blabbering about this. He was thousands of years old.

"Please don't tell anyone about this," I said, standing up and peeking out the windows to make sure no one else was nearby. "How important is it?" he asked.
"Extremely. God-level important."
He nodded, taking me seriously, which I'd only half expected. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone else what you're about to tell me." Thunder rumbled above, sealing the deal. So that's what it's like to swear on the Styx.

"Okay, listen. Don't freak out, but I..." How do I word this without lying? I wondered as Chiron leaned in curiously. I took a deep breath.

"I can see the future."