gilded lily, p.jackson

008, meetings by a ping pong table

CHAPTER EIGHT.
meetings by a ping pong table

—— Connor and Travis entered the Hermes cabin, all bandaged up thanks to the Apollo kids. "Come on, Danica. Council meeting."

Danica wasn't an official member of the cabin, but as Nyx didn't have a cabin at Camp Half-Blood, her ten year old self had forced Chiron to make her Councillor of unclaimed campers or those like her.

The council was held around a ping pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and snacks appeared: Cheez Whiz. crackers and several bottles of red wine that Danica tried to steal.

"Put it down, Danica"

"asteria, put the bottle down."

Danica grumbled. "Worth a try."

Mr. D snapped his finger, the red wine turned into diet coke. Chiron and Mr. D sat at one end of the table, Zoe and Bianca, who was now a personal assistant to Zoe, sat facing them. Thalia, Grover, Percy and Danica sat along the ride side, squished together. The rest of the Camp Councillors faced the four. The Ares campers were sent to represent their cabin as Clarisse wasn't around, but they'd all broken something or been in serious injury to attend and we're currently resting up in the infirmary.

"This is pointless."

Grover gasped, "Cheez whiz!"

"There is no time to talk." Zoe continued. "Our Goddess needs us. the Hunters must leave immediately."

Danica rolled her eyes at the Hunter. "And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. Danica turned to look at her, as if just noticing the girl now. Her dark hair was braided back like most of the Hunters, you could see her face. She has a hand full of freckles along her nose, her dark eyes were similar to those of something famous but Danica couldn't quite place it.

"You heard the Prophecy. 'Six shall go west to the Goddess in chains.' We can get six Hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing a few things, as usual." Thalia butted in. "Campers and hunters combined prevail.' We're supposed to do this together, and let's not forget 'A daughter of the night shall be kidnapped.' It's so obvious it's talking about Danica! She's the only daughter of Nyx!"

"No!" Zoe said. Danica pulled an offended look as Zoe insisted, Connor, who was already looking at her, covered his laugh with a cough. "The hunters do not need thy help."

"Your." Grumbled Thalia. "Nobody has said thy in like three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times!"

Zoe hesitated, as she tried to form the word. "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help."

"Chiron is right, Zoe. Both of us have to cooperate. As much as you don't like us, you can't deny what the prophecy says...it's the only way we can help Artemis." Danica chimed in.

"Or do they?" mused Mr. D, swirling his diet coke under his nose like he once did with wine. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. One will be taken. That sounds rather nasty doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate."

Danica scowled at Mr. D. "Who's side are you on?"

The God turned to look at her. "You, little shadow, should not be allowed on this quest. If i remember, only a couple year ago Zeus had to ask campers to keep you under control because of your...what's the word? Chaos? Havoc? Lawless behaviour?"

Danica slummed back down into her seat, a small feeling of shame and embarrassment knowing he was right. Zeus had to ask campers via dreams to get Danica under control. It was how the friendship between Lee Fletcher and herself had startled.

Chiron signed. "With all due respect, Danica is right, what side are you on?"

"Sorry, my dear, Centaur. Just trying to be helpful.

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoë grimaced, but you could tell Thalia has scored a point. "Hey, Dani, write down, Thalia: one, Zoë: zero." thalia's whispered to the girl beside her. Whether Zoë heard them or not, didn't matter to Thalia.

"We must not delay." Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy." Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yea, lord Dionysus."

Mr D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and three." Percy spoke for the first time. Everyone looked at him, even Thalia had forgotten to ignore him.

"Were supposed to have six," he said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Three hunters, Three from camp half blood. that's more than fair."

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."

Zoe grunted. "i would prefer to take all the hunters. we will need strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. the prophecy was clear: the bane of olympus shows the trail. what would your mistress say? 'too many hunters spoil the scent.' a small group is best."

Zoe picked up a ping pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. i have hunted at lady Artemis' side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everybody looked at Dionysus, probably because he was the only god present, and gods were all knowing and shit. he was flipping through a wine magazine, but once everyone grew silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. i'm a young god, remember? i don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. they make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," said Percy. "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "i have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. he was truly a bane of olympus. or the sea monster keto. but if either of these were stirring, we would know it. they are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. your father, poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. i fear this monster may be more elusive. perhaps even more powerful."

"well, that's totally not terrifying." muttered Danica to herself.