Melpomene (PJO)

34. The Oldest Ghost

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ADELA

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Adela had meant to listen to Chiron.

Really.

This time, the eavesdropping had been a complete accident.

She'd been looking for somewhere to take a nap with Gladys. Her cat liked the dark, and so did she. And there just so happened to be a convenient crate pushed up against a wall. The perfect place to curl up in. The crate had the words "DEFINITELY DIET COKE - DO NOT OPEN" stamped over the lid in huge red letters, which Adela promptly ignored and climbed inside. She pushed a couple of wine bottles out of the way and settled down, Gladys already asleep on her stomach. She was about to fall asleep herself when a noise snapped her out of it.

"Why did you call an emergency meeting, Chiron?" a voice asked. "I was in the middle of testing out a prototype explosive at the forge, and I need to get back before the olive oil destabilises the Greek fire."

Silent as a mouse, Adela held Gladys to her stomach and sat up inside the crate, opening it just a crack to see what was going on. Chiron was at the head of the ping-pong table, a worried look on his face. A bunch of other teens were gathered around the table, all of them in various states of disarray, as if they'd had to drop everything and rush over with no preparation. Floating above one chair was an Iris-Message, showing Marion's older brother with a very annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah, and you interrupted me while I was trying to show Casper how to shoot an arrow through an apple!" Marion's brother glared. "Two seconds earlier and we could've taken someone's eye out!"

"I know, and I apologise, Beckendorf. And Michael, nobody was hurt," Chiron said. "But this is an emergency. I have received word from Lord Hermes. He reports that Spirits are unable to enter the underworld. In other words, the realm of the dead is completely locked down."

The campers around the ping-pong table descended into panicked whispers.

"I do not believe that this state of affairs will be permanent, heroes." Chiron held out a hand to calm the counsellors down. "However, recent information makes it much more pressing."

"What could possibly be more pressing than the Lord of the dead shutting down the underworld?" a guy with purple eyes asked. Pollux, Adela remembered someone calling him Pollux at the last meeting. "My brother is in the underworld!"

"Yes, and he's about to have some company," said Chiron. "It seems that something is pulling demigods down into the realm of the dead."

Chaos erupted at the ping-pong table.

Half of the kids shot up, voices overlapping as they yelled so that Adela couldn't make out anything they were saying. A few jumped up onto their chairs, weapons drawn, as if they were afraid that the floor was going to suck them in. In the chaos, Adela saw one of the Stolls pickpocket an expensive-looking diamond watch right from the Aphrodite counsellor's wrist. Marion's brother seemed to be the only one with half a brain. He side-eyed Chiron, like something wasn't adding up.

"Did Hermes tell you this?" he asked. "His job is to take spirits to the underworld, not watch over ones who shouldn't be there. How would he know?"

"No, it was not Hermes. I was hoping to have that conversation with you in private, Michael."

The table went quiet.