The King bearer three

Part 2: Chiron

The woods were quiet that night. Not the good kind of quiet. Deathly quiet, almost as though the gods were displeased. Not even the wind could be heard, nor a single breath between the two. The silence was inevitably broken when Mr. D. spoke up. "Are you sure this is the right way?" he grumbled, grumpily following as the centaur lead him farther into the dark woods, stumbling ever so slightly as if he was drunk – which, regretfully, he wasn't. "Mr. D, I'm only following the instructions!" "WHAT instructions, Chiron?! I don't have time for these games!" The God of Wine grumbled. Of course, didn't, he was too busy complaining about how useless everyone was. As much as Chiron disliked admitting it, Mr D occasionally got on his nerves. This entire week was one of those occasions. "THE instructions, Mr. D!" Chiron sighed, trying to ignore the irritation slowly building within him

Mr. D paused, "You mean the ones from--" "YES, Those instructions. Now follow me and be quiet." As Chiron continued through the forest, he sensed Mr. D stiffen at his words, his large hands balling into fists at his sides. "You may be a teacher, Chiron, but I am a God. And so, I'm telling you to not forget your station, lest I throw you out--"

"Stop." Chiron said suddenly, holding a hand behind him and stopping in his tracks. Mr. D nearly bumped into Chiron, he stopped so suddenly. "...did you hear that?" Chiron muttered, now seeming to be uncharacteristically unnerved. ".... hear what?" Mr. D replied, rolling his eyes at Chiron, thankful for the darkness, but Chiron was too on-edge to even notice Mr. D's actions.

Chiron looked above, but saw nothing, He heard... nothing. This wasn't right, there was meant to be something. The world had gone to Madness, absolute chaos, but he was told there was something here. He looked again to the sky, the dark void filled with not even a single star, and....he couldn't help but feel at least slightly uneasy.

..Was she wrong?

Did they interpret her words wrong? Maybe if they had had more time, they would have known, but one thing was clear from the poor girls' words, the one thing that she stated over, and over, and over again, clear as day; "Time is of the essence. Too dangerous to be left Forgotten. Beware..." 'Beware'. What followed that word changed every time she spoke. It was always something mundane, ordinary, a laughable threat. Yet no word from her was ever laughable.

..Prophecies never change, so.... why do her words change with every time she speaks of this one prophecy. This one prophecy that seems to carry so much weight for the world that it has to be told multiple times.... why do the words of it change?

Mr. D clearly got tired, tapping his foot in irritation as he gives up waiting for Chiron to answer him. "Screw her 'instructions'," He grumbled, glaring at Chiron and gesturing for air-quotes when he says the word. "Perry Johansen or whoever the heck she says next can do this crap." This was to be one of the many times Chiron regretted telling Mr D not to swear. Gods wonder why he had to go out of his way to make everyone's lives worse, no matter how he did it.

Chiron narrowed his eyes at this, glancing back at Mr. D. "I'm sorry, but would you rather some demigods trying to deal with this threat? Which, as of right now, we don't even know ANYTHING about." "I'd rather some demigods just hole up and die, so yes, I Would." And with that he stormed off, with Chiron just watching in exasperation. 'This grumpy man in his thousands', he thought to himself. 'Is but living proof that a god can be a Toddler.'

He sighed, shaking his head as he listens to Mr. D's stumbling footsteps thunder through the forest, storming back to the Big House. "...He never learns, does he...?" Chiron mutters, before his thoughts turn to the task at hand.

The Prophecy. "Mayhem's heir...", "Sire of Death..."

..What does it all mean...?

There has not been a single prophecy for months, not after the Prophecy of the Seven. Life was peaceful, no wars or quests for demigods to be killed over. Nothing had happened... other than the camp being rebuilt, and with all the Gods finally claiming their children.

It never seemed to be possible. A time of peace, in Camp Half Blood. A time where nearly every demigod had been claimed.

So what has caused this prophecy to exist? And why then, at that moment, of all times?

However, that was not the worst of it.

As Chiron wanders around the edge of the camp, trying to figure out what the instructions were trying to say. It almost feels like a goose chase, a red herring of sorts. But the Oracle hadn't ever done this before. So why then, why now?

Wait. Something caught his eye, a flicker in the darkness, a low, shimmering thrum of light, and then the smell of burning wood. His eyes were drawn to it, curious, confounded, wary. The "...What in the...?" Chiron mumbled, trotting closer to the tree nearby, now an otherwise ordinary tree, within a forest of trees. It was still scorched. The light went out.

"How could this be...?"

He reached out, inching closer towards the tree. The tree was warm, it's trunk... blackened. Looking like it had caught on fire recently. His hand reached for a strange shape on the wood. The tree burst into flames, and the light returned, and this time, Chiron could see it had shape. It formed glowing letters etched in wood, burning with strange, detached fire. The fire made out words, a combination of runes. It seemed to be writing, of a sort, trying to convey a message encrypted in thousands of languages, ancient tongues in written word. The Greek was all he could read from it, and those words read; 'He. Is. –' suddenly, the fire went out.

The tree returned to normal.

Chiron sighed, rubbing his temple. The gods controlled the world, he even worked with one, so why wouldn't they tell him? He would swear on the Styx to never tell a soul, if only he knew what he was swearing to keep secret. It's driving him mad, being unable to understand this one prophecy. For all the previous prophecies, he was able to understand them. Some, even as soon as they came from the Oracle's mouth ..but not this one. Not this constantly changing, indecipherable prophecy.

Perhaps he didn't want to, however. It was hard to chase after what you were so afraid of. He was afraid of this prophecy, the meaning behind it, it's meaning for the world. He knew he'd been given a sign, but it was yet another thing he couldn't decipher. He looked long and hard at the tree, at its surroundings, but found nothing. Sighing in defeat, he made his way back to the Big House. Around halfway there, he was stopped in his thoughts by nearly tripping over a small rock with a peculiar inscription, akin to the runes on the tree earlier. He picked it up, examining it carefully. The rune had an eerie resemblance to those on the tree bark. It gave him a peculiar sensation. Dé ja vu, he thought, that must be this feeling. Unable to confirm the significance or origin of the rock, he tossed it absentmindedly away and continued. He had no time for the consideration of insignificant rocks.