Keeper Of Their Hearts (EG/PJO) - Book One

VII. I Get Another, More Immediate Prophecy

If there was ever a word that could be used to describe my emotions as I trekked up four flights of stairs to the attic to get my prophecy from the Oracle, it could simply be described as just straight up.. confusion.

I'm just eleven.

Eleven years old.

Yet, because of fate, here I am getting a prophecy that most likely will involve leaving the protective safety net of camp, and the comforts of being around Katie, Luke, Alabaster, Clarisse, and Lou Ellen.

This was not fucking happening to me.

I thought like the next part of the first prophecy, meeting two on the road, meant like when I had to like take a trip to Olympus or something, not fucking have to do a damn quest for gods' sake.

But yet.. here I was, doing exactly this as I climbed up the last set of stairs and found a wooden ladder leading up into the attic waiting for me. Without hesitation, I climbed up.

If there was any way I could describe the attic to you, I would go with dirty, creepy, and typical for the most part. The only part of this attic that was atypical.. was basically a mummy. Not as in like the cliche wrapped in bandages kind of mummy, but the even more grotesque human body shriveled to a husk type of mummy, in this case that of a female.

She had a tie-dyed sundress on, with lots of beaded necklaces and a headband over long black hair. The rest of her body probably requires no description in order to get across the point that this woman had been dead for a very long time.

Looking at her just sent chills up my back. I couldn't bring myself to look at her for any more than a few seconds to be honest. Then, she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth, and a green mist poured forth from it. It slid over the floor, towards me, hissing like snakes. Then I heard a voice. Mostly like the voice of this woman.

"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Colton Reynolds, and receive your first sub-prophecy."

Sub-prophecy? The fuck?

There is such a thing as a sub-prophecy? I thought to myself. What the fuck?

It was weird, really.. really weird. Either way, I had come up into this attic to receive this prophecy, so no turning back now.

"Fire away then.." I finally said to her. "What is it that I shall do?"

I somehow said that without faltering, which was really impressive given that I can't even make eye contact with this damn woman. The mist swirled more thickly until it basically completely filled the room. The trapdoor had already shut by this point, so I couldn't go anywhere basically. Slowly, but surely, five figures formed in front of me. Judging from what they looked like when they were fully clear to view, I gasped.

In front of me was the illusions of four zombies in Civil War outfits.

The first zombie, wearing the uniform of a Confederate colonel on the left, spoke first in the odd voice of the oracle,"To the great river gorge seven shall go, and find the town that time forgot. A silver of unknown magic shows the way, to what the recipient might find or seek."

Now the second zombie, wearing the uniform of a Union Cavalryman, spoke in the same voice, "Child of sun proves his worth, and finds glory with one he hates and one he doesn't. Two shall be found at where the war ends, and the trail leads on behest then."

The third man, a zombie in the uniform of a Confederate infantry private, spoke next, "Seeker shows off what he hides.. to advance the cause. Southern house of white contains the link to the past, Forge fulfills ancestor's call to last."