Legend of Perseus 3: Curse of Atlas

~Chapter 10~

The rest of the day I tried to keep busy, I put the thought of what happened aside and tried to train my skills. I went to javelin-throwing class, but the Ares camper in charge chewed me out after I got distracted and threw the javelin at the target before he got out of the way. I apologized for the hole in his pants, but he still sent me packing.

I visited the pegasus stables, but Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin was having an argument with one of the Hunters, and I decided I'd better not get involved.

After that, I stayed near my cabin training on my own as I tried to get used to the weight of Gram. Using my shadows as training dummies. I stayed there for over a few hours training when I looked the other direction. At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Mr. D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.

Then it occurred to me: no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else... something else I could ask for guidance.

My blood was humming in my ears as I ran into the house and took the stairs. I'd only done this once before. I opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.

The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk, just like I remembered. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.

Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle.

I walked toward her. I waited for green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth, like it had before, but nothing happened.

"Hey, what's up?" I said. "I don't know if you can hear me but I really need some help. Maybe a prophecy or something?"

I winced at how stupid that sounded. Not much could be "up" when you're dead and stuck in the attic. But I knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. I could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.

"I have a question," I said a little louder. "I need some guidance, my powers although strong have started to fail me slightly. I ran into two children of Atlas that proved to be a greater force than I could stand. What advice can you grant me, Great goddess Python?"

No answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air.

I waited longer. Then I got angry. I was being stonewalled by a corpse.

"All right," I said. "Fine. I'll figure it out myself."

I turned and was about to leave when the entire room changed into the once familiar cavern as a voice spoke up making me grin.

"My god you are impatient child."

"Lady, Python." I greeted, bowing slightly. The giant black snake smiled down at me. "Why did my powers fail me?" I ask, my voice tinged with frustration and confusion. "I hold so much power and strength that I could defeat gods yet couldn't beat two demigods withought help."

Python regards me with her piercing gaze, her eyes seeming to hold the weight of centuries. "Strength does not solely lie in power, Percy," she begins, her voice a melodic echo in the chamber. "It is often intertwined with one's history, with memories and emotions that shape who you are through your life, perhappes you have past regrets that you havent been able to let go."

I feel a pang of regret as memories of Viper and Hyper-Monkey flood my mind. My friends and students from a past life, comrades I had had made in my life. Their faces, their laughter, their betrayal– all etched into the fabric of my being.