Andromeda Jackson

Andy

I get caught up on everything at dinner. Jason tells me about his vision of Hera, and how Piper passed out in her cabin. A part of me feels guilty, like I should've been there. But what could I have done against a vision? If anything, maybe I could've finally smacked Hera upside the head and claimed I didn't recognize her as Juno. 

I sit beside Jason and Annabeth in front of the campfire. Fifty or sixty kids fill the rows behind us, clustered into groups under their various banners. 

I look up at my green-blue banner. It's just me under it, now that Percy is missing. I force myself not to think about it too much. If I think about all the possibilities of his whereabouts, I start to panic. Not having him here by my side already makes it hard for me to breathe. I feel like someone has stolen one of the lungs out of my chest. Or one of my hands. Or, more accurately, one of my lungs and one of my hands. So yeah, panicking is a no go for me. 

Instead, I watch as the Apollo cabin dances around the fire, leading their song about how their grandma gets dressed for war. Everybody is singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. As the energy level gets higher, the flames do too, turning from red to orange to gold. 

I usually would join in, but I can't bring myself to do it. Besides, with Jason sitting beside me looking so gloomy, I don't think it would be appropriate. 

Finally the song ends with a lot of rowdy applause. Chiron trots forwards, wielding a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first-"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yells. Grumbling breaks out among the Ares kids. 

"Yes," Chiron says. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" One of them shouts. 

"However," Chiron says, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turns to the Hephaestus cabin. The new kid, Leo, catches my eye and shoots me with a finger gun. Nyssa stands beside him uncomfortably. "We're working on it."

More grumbling. 

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demands. 

"Really hard." She says. 

Nyssa sits down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which causes the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamps his hoof against the fire pit stones, bang bang bang, and the campers fall silent. 

"We will have to be patient," Chiron says. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" Someone asks. The fire dims even further. My heart sinks into my stomach. 

Chiron gestures to Annabeth and I. I take a deep breath and stand beside her. 

"We didn't find Percy," I announce. My voice catches a little when I say his name. 

Annabeth squeezes my hand. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis, everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" I hear someone call.

We all turn. The voice came from the Aphrodite cabin. Drew is standing.