The Fleece of the Gods || The Riordanverse

Chapter III: Opal

Opal held her breath.

All the campers sat around a circular table, a chill hung over their heads in the oh so familiar room that rests in the center of the Big House. There were a few whispers exchanged from the Hermes kids and the Apollo kids, except for McKay, who stared down at his lap.

Opal tried to pull his attention towards her, maybe to give him a reassuring smile, but he never looked up. It killed her to see him like this.

She eventually pulled her eyes from him, and looked at the others in the room, observing them.

Cora sat, stoic, next to Chiron. She too was observing the room. They exchanged looks, and for a moment, Opal could see fear in her eyes. She knew why.

After everyone gathered around the tree, staring at the bare branch where the Golden Fleece should be, Cora offered herself to go search for it. She had never been on a quest before, and she told Chiron that she was the perfect one for this task.

After some thought, he agreed. So Cora went to visit the Spirit of Delphi to receive her prophecy. Now they were all waiting for her to say it.

Opal moved her eyes from Cora to Amara, who didn't seem very interested in the meeting whatsoever. She was currently picking at her already chipped nail polish, which she did every time she was bored.

Then Opal looked at the Hermes kids. Everyone called them the Hermes kids, even though some were unclaimed. None of the unclaimed kids liked the title of being unclaimed, and they hated not being a part of a group, so everyone just classified them as Hermes kids. Currently they were all listening to a story Owen had told a million times, about the time he went on a horrible date with an Athena girl, where they ended up at the bottom of the lake.

Hushes fell over the room when Dionysus popped in, ending up on the other side of Chiron. "Let's get this over with, the season finale of the Bachelorette is about to air, and I can not be spoiled by Aphrodite again." He leaned back in his chair, and snapped his fingers, not only telling us to begin, but also teleporting a Diet Coke in his hand.

Chiron looked over at Cora, who smiled with pride.

"Okay, so-" she looked around the room, all eyes on her. She looked over at Chiron who mouthed the word, "Prophecy," and instantly, her eyes went serious, the panic leaving them as if it was never there.

Cora turned to us, and stated the prophecy:

A child of the war god will lead a quest of five

To find the fleece in the maze for which none can survive

Beware the path where monsters dwell

Find help in a place where time has never fell

One shall face a perilous fall

But fate will guide them through it all

Another chill hung in the room.

"That's Daedalus' Labyrinth." An Apollo kid said, breaking the silence.

Cora nodded. "Yes, and I'll need four other half-bloods to accompany me. Any volunteers?"

Nobody met her gaze. Some looked at their laps, others looked at one another, and some even looked at the paintings around the room.

Cora furrowed her eyebrows in frustration.

But soon, a hand went up.

McKay, no. Opal thought.

"I will go." He said, his voice fierce, but his eyes told her everything.