νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 4-2: War council except I am foretold my death

PERCY

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I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.

A ladder led up from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.

"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please."

Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."

The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual. Old hero trophies were stacked everywhere- dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: STOLEN FROM CHRYSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988. There was also a bunch of other stolen stuff with Tempest's name on it, since she's our number one spy and a huge thief.

I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter M. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth. On the other side of the tag I saw the words THIS WAS IN MY LEG LMAOOOOOOOOO -Tempest.

I caught Annabeth reading the note longingly, and I quickly put down the blade. "Look, why can't you two just-"

"We need to get the prophecy."

I frowned. "Prophecy. Right."

Don't get me wrong. I want my two best friends to get together for their own happiness, but for mine, too. Well, more like for my own mental stability. I can't mention Tempest to Annabeth or Annabeth to Tempest without Annabeth looking like she's about to break into tears or Tempest literally bursting into hysterical laughter. It's absolutely crazy, and if they don't get something figured out soon, I'll probably kill Annabeth and get the problem solved that way.

We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle- a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress. Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.

If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.

Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist- the spirit of the Oracle- that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved. Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message. I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I half expected her to start tap dancing or something.

But she just sat there like she was dead- which she was.

"I never understood this," I whispered.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Why it's a mummy."

"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden. The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me she was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."