a story as endless as the ocean . pjo / allie jackson

0.7 deadly deals

0.7 I Read a Wikihow on Making Deadly Deals with Ten-Year-Olds, Apparently

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and that most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed in annoyance. With a snap of his fingers, the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either (because, seriously, who the hell, other than those awful, preppy teachers, likes Diet Coke?).

Mr. D and Chiron (in his wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. I sat on the other end, my usual spot, which almost got taken by Zoe, but I managed to get there half a second before she did. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo (who seemed to have become Zoe's personal assistant, from the looks of things) took Luke's regular spot right next to me, causing resentment to rise in me at their audacity.

Thalia and Grover sat along the right, on my other side, and the other year-round head councilors— Beckendorf, Silena, The Stoll Brothers (in lieu of Luke), Lee Fletcher, Katie, and Leah— sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had broken limbs during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Zoe started the meeting off. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping. He stopped sheepishly at the irritated glances he received from everybody.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked patiently.

"West!" Bianca said, any former timidness already erased despite only a few days of being with the Hunters, her skin glowing silver like her sisters' all did. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

I clapped my hands together, loudly. "Missing a very important detail, there, girly," I said, a faux smile on my face as I turned towards her and rested my head on my knuckles. "That prophecy was given to me. Which therefore means I'm the one who has to lead it."

Thalia had to force herself to keep from laughing, but I could see her shaking slightly. Then, she composed herself, "And anyway, Zoe, you're also missing something, as usual," Thalia said, drumming her fingers on the table irritably. "The prophecy said that Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe cried. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your," Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr," she pronounced awkwardly. "We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Oh, forget it."

"I fear that the Oracle was clear on the whole thing," Chiron said, trying to be diplomatic and keep us from actually using the weapons that we were all touching. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate, under Allie's leadership."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

Irritation flared through me, along with another jolt of pain from my shoulders. We were getting nothing done, and all I wanted was to get on the road as soon as possible. I clenched my jaw to keep my irritation from spilling out.