YOUNGER

Chapter 4

Third Person

"...To save the cursed, stop his demise."

Helena finished reciting the prophecy to Chiron, heart racing. She felt a cold, comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You're okay," Nico whispered — Helena couldn't tell whether he was talking to her or himself.

Chiron sighed before turning towards the young daughter of Thanatos. "What do you think of the prophecy, young Helena?"

Helena bit her lip. "What do you mean?

"Well, 'child of Death' seems to only be able to refer to you."

"What about Nico?" The girl glanced at her brother.

Rachel stepped forward as she cleared her throat, but another voice answered. "Technically, Hades isn't the god of death. He's the god of the dead, but in this case Nico seems to have been referred to as the 'child of darkness'."

The group all turned towards Annabeth, who'd just entered the room with her boyfriend in tow. Nico pushed in front of Helena as the son of Poseidon glanced in their direction. Helena caught his gaze for a moment, seeing the anguish and guilt in his eyes, before Nico blocked him from her view.

Chiron looked between the demigods, eyebrow raised. He dismissed the conflict for the moment. "Well, Annabeth, who do you think might be apart of the prophecy?"

The daughter of Athena straightened, a slight glint in her eye. "So the prophecy mentions like, 5 demigods? I'm assuming they're demigods. There's 'the child of darkness', who I've already established as Nico. 'Child of light' could be one of Apollo's campers," — she nodded towards Will — "and 'child of Death' does seem to refer to Lena. As for the 'children of rubies and animals galore', who could fit that better than Hazel and Frank?"

Percy grimaced at Annabeth's last comment. "You do remember that they're both praetors now, right?" Annabeth glared at him causing him to look back at the carpet, ashamed.

"They were, for a while, but they both... retired, in a way. Like they're still apart of the big meetings occasionally, but they're just in New Rome now," Nico corrected. "Plus, my sister would do anything for Lena." He gave the girl a rare grin, ruffling her hair.

Helena rolled her eyes, trying and failing to hide a smile, before her face fell into a grimace again. "What about the last two lines? It says 'him of madness', and 'to save the cursed, stop his demise', what could that mean?"

Will glanced at his boyfriend. "It could refer to Dionysus, or maybe one of his kids? We could ask him."

In that moment, another figure entered the room. It was indeed Dionysus — the camp director. Campers referred to him as Mr D.

"Speak of the devil," Percy muttered, yelping when his girlfriend nudged him at little harder than needed.

Mr D. nodded grimly when he saw the children of Thanatos and Hades before turning towards Percy. "Perry Johnson, causing more pain I hear." His voice was almost venomous. Percy paled, intimidated even though the god had seemingly forgotten his name yet again.

"I-I'm sorry I don't know what-"

"Save it." Dionysus slowly turned his gaze away from the boy, eyes again resting on Helena. "As for your prophecy, it indeed refers to my children. I have talked with Apollo and he agrees that I must tell you the location of the twins-"

"Twins?" Will exclaimed. "There's two of them?"

Dionysus sighed. "Yep. A girl and a boy, Emily and Declan. I trust they'll arrive at camp safely." The god pointed towards Percy. "Your step-father might know something about them." He grabbed a Diet Coke out of the small fridge in the corner before leaving the room.

Chiron looked at Annabeth before also leaving. The daughter of Athena took a deep breath. "Okay. Now that we know what we have to do, although Percy and I technically aren't apart of this, we should still all talk." She motioned towards the couches.

The demigods and Rachel sat on the couches. Helena sat between Nico and Rachel, with Will next to the son of Hades. Percy and Annabeth sat on the opposite couch, considerably less squished.

"Helena," Percy started, guilt lacing his words. "I wanted to apologize for... before... I don't know what came over me. I-" The son of Poseidon swallowed. "I have no excuse. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to the rest of you as well." He looked at the floor, unable to meet anyone's gaze.

"It's okay Perc-"

Nico stopped Helena. The boy was seething with anger. "No. It's not 'okay'." Nico stood up, only restrained by Will. The son of Apollo stood with him.

"Neeks..."

"No, it's not okay." The pale boy glared at Will. "He tried to kill my sister." He turned back to Percy. "How would you like to be tortured by someone simply because they were scared of you?"

Helena stood, catching her brother's arm. "Nico! Stop! Sure, what Percy did was stupid, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve another chance."

"Plus, I think we deserve a bit of an explanation for whatever happened before. Lena?" Annabeth gestured towards the girl.

The demigods sat back down, all looking at the daughter of Thanatos.

"It's definitely a 'kid of Thanatos' thing, but what did you mean when you said you could help me?" Will queried.

Helena sighed. "It's something we learnt about when I was in the Underworld with Hades and Persephone. I can bring people back from the brink of death, but I don't know if it's actually healing, now that I think about it."

The demigods sat in silence.

"Hey guys?" Rachel broke the silence. She'd stood to pace around the room a little while ago. "What should we do about the prophecy?"

Percy and Nico both started speaking at the same time.

"I think we should ask my stepdad about the twins."

"Go to New Rome to get Hazel and Frank."

The boys glared at each other.

Nico scowled. "You're not even apart of the prophecy."

"Well Mr D said my stepdad would know about the twins!" Percy countered.

"Boys, calm down. It's not technically either of your choice." Annabeth pulled Percy to sit back down on the couch.

Everyone looked at Helena. "What?"

"You're kind of the leader of this quest, Lena," Nico replied. "It's your call. Should we get Hazel and Frank or the twins first?"

Helena smiled. "Well, I honestly think we can do both at once. Nico, you could shadow travel to Camp Jupiter to get Hazel and Frank while Will and I to talk to Percy's stepdad. Simple."

"Shouldn't someone go with Nico?" Will asked. "What if he overexerts himself?"

Nico sighed. "Taking an extra person for both journeys would cause me to overexert myself. Will, I love you, but this is one time that it's better if I go by myself. Plus," he glared at Percy, "Someone needs to be here to protect Lena."

"Nico! I don't need-"

"I wouldn't hurt her again, but I understand your thinking." Percy caught the attention of everyone in the room. "I can sort something out with Paul while Nico gets Hazel and Frank."

Helena nodded. "Thank you Percy. So, Nico will get Hazel and Frank while Will and I stay back to talk with Percy's stepdad."

Everyone nodded.

"Great. Nico, when do you think you can leave?"