Slavic Huter [OC PJO Crossover]

CHAPTER 9 - Meeting with a Tour in Bonus

15th /16th December 2007

     When one thinks of a council of elders, one does not associate it with a recreation room where twelve people are grouped around a ping-pong table. So much for the theory. However, as I learned many years ago, Camp Half-Blood belongs to that small group of places where a theory can be shoved... you know where. Among those present (besides me) were Zoe, Bianca, Chiron, Mr. D., Thalia, Jackson, the satyr Grover, and four campers: one girl I knew from Aphrodite's cabin, Beckendorf, and the Hood brothers (or maybe Stoll... devil knows), whose eyes made me want to make jokes.

     The meeting started with a rather intense discussion between Zoe and Thalia (I kept wondering what could have happened between them in the past), but – after Jackson's mathematical proposal on how to divide the group into a mission and Zoe's swipes at Aphrodite's daughter – it was possible to somehow separate who will go: Grover will set off from Camp plus Thalia, and they will be joined by Zoe, Bianca and Phoebe. The Hunters will remain on Long Island in the meantime. At the end of this discussion, I also added my two cents:

     - I'll drop you off in Washington if you want: the vehicle will be just right for the six of us, and I have a few errands to run in your capital. Zoe nodded, and the campers seemed to notice that I was at that table too (hide in plain sight – I'm very proud of this skill). Beckendorf said.
- What about the second part of the prophecy? What is it supposed to mean? Why did the smoke change color and why did she speak in a strange language?
- So many questions and so few answers. - Dionysus muttered under his breath. I, on the other hand, looked at Chiron, who also looked at me with his eyes, "Do, as you want."
- This is a fragment of a prophecy that I received many years ago. – I explained– There is another part of it, unfortunately forgive me, but I will not share it with you...
- And who are you exactly? – asked one of the brothers.
– I am Sparrowhawk... And for now, that must be enough for you – for the same reasons as before. Simply there are things that the time for disclosure has not yet come. If you want, I can translate what you have heard into English. – and without waiting for their answer, I translated it for them.

The hour is near, oh heir of the Eagle's might,

If you embark Westward, your nightmare shall ignite.

Even if you endure, Judgment day draws close,

Your fate in the future will be plagued by woes:

Beloved ones fate cruelly will seize,

And an enemy may perch on your bones with ease.

     Most responded with even more question in their eyes, except for Chiron – who had trained this inscrutable way of looking for millennia – and Zoe: who was one of the few who knew this prophecy, yet her eyes expressed sadness that resulted from several thousand years of experience with prophecies. Beckendorf spoke again, remarking,
- You're strangely calm for someone who has heard a probable death sentence. Besides, why such a strange prophecy: conjectures, the possibility of changing fate? As if it were not the product of the Oracle.
- Because it is not. – I replied – My culture... My ancestors believed that nothing is written in stone, that the future can change. That is why in our lands there were no such situations as, for example, with Theseus' father or Oedipus' family – because what the Guslars predicted to them was simply a warning against one of the versions of future events.
- Guslars? - asked Beckendorf
- Half-prophets, half-healers, full-time priests.

     - So you are not afraid of death? - Beckendorf asked
- No. What was decided Up there - whether it was God or Fate - will happen, so what remains for me, is to live until Death knocks on my door. But in this case, we deviate from the topic. My question is to the five who's gonna set off on a mission: how do you want to get to the West?
– We do not know yet. - Thalia said before Zoe could answer; I really needed to find out what happened between them - Why are you asking?
- Because I have to be in Washington tomorrow, so I can drop you off those 600 kilometers.