forged smiles, no more

iii - prophecy! at the dinner table

sage

it's funny how different people have different views on everything. now that leo and piper had made up, sage was spending her time with not only leo, but piper and jason too. she thought it was going to be really awkward when leo first suggested the idea that they all hang out together, but it was honestly a lot easier than sage had expected.

sage assumed that piper would act like the incident with her sister never happened, but instead one of the first things piper said to sage was how sorry she was for "being a total dick" during the campfire that day. there was genuine upset in her voice when she apologized, something sage hadn't heard directed towards her in years. it was a nice feeling, one that made sage feel strangely warm inside.

jason was fun to be around too. sure, he was kind of oblivious, and piper took great pride in making him flustered, but he was a pretty cool guy. for some reason that was unknown to the rest of the little demigod group, jason was always on top of camp gossip. currently his news was all about will solace asking out nico di angelo, and nico saying yes. jason was the most devoted fangirl sage had ever met, even teaming up with connor and travis stoll. when he told sage this, piper called him out for being insensitive, yet sage just smiled. piper's apology had made her realize that good people still weren't perfect. the stolls were annoying, bordering on self-centered, and unable to take anything seriously, but they could still be nice and somewhat funny, and they did care about their campers.

all of this newfound socializing meant that sage was learning a lot about people, and their perspectives. for instance, sage could tell that something had happened between leo and piper. piper would steal glances at him when she thought no one was looking, and leo kept staring at sage. he would look away as his face turned scarlet when she noticed him. however, jason didn't seem to be aware of any of this. jason's life seemed to coincide with the things that he understood and nothing more than that.

all in all, sage was beginning to realize that everyone had different views, and none of them were completely right or wrong. this realization came with a confidence boost for sage. so what if kaitlynn seemed to hate sage for no comprehensible reason? her opinion was only one in a sea of millions.

with this courage, sage decided that today would be the day that she finally went back to eating with the rest of the hermes cabin.

as she walked towards the dining pavilion, the nerves of joining the hermes cabin again after over half a month of avoiding them caught up with her. to calm herself, sage began reciting Greek myths under her breath. she was particularly interested in the more obscure legends, like the part of the prophet tiresias's story where hera turned him into a women, or how apollo escaped delos by turning into a dolphin and commandeering a nearby ship. something about the sheer peculiarity of these stories had always intrigued sage.

right as she was walking over to the hermes table, someone caught her eye. leo was whispering with piper in a corner. she tore away her gaze away from the two and looked for jason. she found him when he ran into her back.

"oh, sorry, sage! i was just distracted, and i didn't notice you. hey, did you hear about-"

"jason, i'm sure whatever it is that you found out is lovely, but something's... up with leo. like, he's been all secretive and piper seems to know what's wrong but i don't want to intrude and ask her about leo, i mean i could ask leo himself but i don't want him to get upset..." sage trailed off. she was rambling, the way she always did when she was worried about something. the toes of her high tops suddenly seemed a lot more interesting then they were before.

when sage looked back up, jason was frowning in the direction of leo and piper, who were still conversing under their breath. "if you want, i could talk to piper later." he offered.

"no thanks," sage said with a smile she was sure looked more like a grimace. "i think i just need to do it myself... thanks, jason." her smile turned a little more real.

just then a shout arose from the middle of the pavilion, and sage whipped towards the sound. rachel dare, the camp's oracle, was standing with her back abnormally rigid, her green eyes glowing and luminous mist filling the air around her. the most unsettling part for sage, however, was where those glowing eyes were looking. rachel's eyes were trained on sage, unblinking and unwavering.

a raspy voice that sounded like it belonged in the mouth of a decrepit old lady and not a teenage girl began to recite a poem. no, not a poem, sage realized. rachel was delivering a prophecy.

"five demigods shall venture far
to challenge gods and cross the bar
one shall perish, by the deity forgot
after, they shall travel to the place left to rot.

two daughters of the goddess by the dove
then one with the knowledge of tales undone
child of lightning, now less than before
and upfront at last, son of the forge.

a key piece of evidence, still they shall miss
then the gate will open, through a true first kiss
the tree of endless warmth shall be revealed
awakened, it shall let love be healed.

but to do so, it asks just one thing
the king of the dead and the queen of spring
must come and listen to its ancient insight
then many's love can again come into the light."

then, as quickly as it had come, the light in rachel's eyes faded and the mist dispersed. she slumped forward, but two campers were nearby ready to catch her and help her sit on a small wooden stool.

the rest of the campers were silent. no one moved until chiron cleared his throat from the head table. "well, this was... certainly unexpected."

then everyone started talking at once.

~~~~~~~~

voices overlapped, causing sage to only hear fragments of conversations.

"five demigods!"

"...looking right at her!"

"why would we need a quest?"

sage was already on edge, and now this, with rachel fixated on her when she was telling the prophecy, made all of the sounds fighting for a place in her head unbearable. she just wanted to leave. she had to leave.

"sage, is everything okay?" jason took her shaking as a no. "if you want, you can go to my cabin, y'know, since nobody's there, and me and piper can talk to you and leo after the head counselor's meeting."

sage looked into jason eyes, and he seemed almost sympathetic. she wondered if people could see things with multiple perspectives, and have multiple parts of themselves to be seen.

sage tried to speak, but couldn't get any words out. instead, she nodded her head. the corners of jason's mouth quirked up in a smile as he led sage out of the dining pavilion. it was only when sage was standing in the doorway of the zeus cabin that she could talk.

"thank you, jason." she said silently

jason just grinned and walked towards the big house.

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word count: 1,248

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this chapter is simply dedicated to 4SeasonsMadison. i do most of the actual writing in this book, and autumn typically comes up with new ideas to expand the story, but autumn wrote the entire prophecy, and it's beautiful in my opinion!

yours in demigodishness,
jessica stone