¹𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 ! - percy jackson

-005

DIONYSUS CALLED THE COUNCIL of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy.

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of them were underage. Buzzkill. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers, the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoë and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoë's personal assistant) took the other end. Thalia, Grover, and Percy sat along the right, and the other head councilors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, the Stoll brothers, and Lee—sat on the left, along with Stella. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs, accidentally, during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Technically, Stella wasn't supposed to be there as she wasn't the head councilor of the Apollo cabin. However, nobody ever protested her attendance. Lee had begun bringing Stella to the meetings years ago, and it just became an unspoken rule that she was allowed to attend.

Zoë started the meeting off on a positive note: "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.

"There is no time for talk," Zoë continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said.

Stella was amazed at how different she looked after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoë's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose and dark eyes. She looked like she'd been working out, and her skin glowed faintly, like the other Hunters, as if she'd been taking showers in liquid moonlight.

"You heard the prophecy. Six shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get six hunters and go," Bianca added.

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

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoë said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your," Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoë. Get with the times."

Zoë hesitated like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "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 Stella could tell Thalia had scored a point.