Demigods: The Curse of Zeus

Chapter 2

"Actually, Kylie is the last thing I want to hear when I wake up." says Ken. She yawns and closes her eyes shut, preparing to sleep again.

"Well, I don't want to leave you here and let you miss fettuccine for breakfast, do I?" I say in a mimicked voice, trying to tease her. By the time the word 'fettuccine' leaves my mouth, Keandra jerks up and she runs into the bathroom. I let out a small grin.
I can hear the sound of water droplets hitting the raven black floor.

"Are they really going to make fettuccine today?" Kean shouts with an unclear voice. I could barely hear it because of the sound the shower makes.

"No, it's going to be chicken porridge again."

"Like yesterday?"

"Yes, and like ten years ago."

"I really want Cerberus to eat you!"

I laugh and leave Keandra alone with her curse words. I need to make sure I close the door shut before heading outside to the pavilion. And guess what?

They do serve fettuccine. I guess that is one of the perks of being Apollo's child. You can literally see the future, as it is proven by me predicting something important: Breakfast. I'm like the oracle of food. And here I am, trying to get away from the thought that today is different. They don't serve fettuccine without a special occasion.

"What's up?" I greet Val, the daughter of Nike. Friendly reminder that she challenged me in archery once, that ended up with a sword just above my throat. Tip: don't ever accept a challenge from Nike's children, they don't fancy losing.

"Ay Barnes! don't you think today's breakfast kinda marches to a different drum? The last time they served this piece of heaven, was on Percy Jackson's birthday. Which was almost, three hundred years ago? And everything was blue!"

I bite my tongue.

"Exactly, but what's special about today? I don't recall Chiron mentioning about anyone's birthday last night and we definitely haven't won any battle yet because, man, it's been years since our last quest?" I babble out words while trying to find an empty spot behind me. I turned around only to find Val talking to a new camper and I feel neglected and it just feels like she decided that listening to me was a total waste of time.

I've never felt more upset before. One shall never leave an Apollo's child in the middle of the conversation. We should be praised by haikus and great musics.

"You sound like an Aphrodite's girl, Barney," I heard a voice behind me, and I realize that I was saying my thoughts out loud.

"It's Barnes, Austin," I growl. I take a plate and fill it with fettucine and some extra cheese. Austin is sitting beside me, chanting a familiar song about meeting someone at midnight in a hanging tree.

"What is that?" I ask.

"Oh, it's a soundtrack of Hunger Games, you know, a movie with Katniss Everdeen in it? She's burning hot!" he says, snatching three strawberries into his pocket. Something Hermes' children would be likely to do.

I nod my head and walk to Apollo's table. Penelope is reading a book about Greek Mythology. Beside her, Alie and Pierce from Poseidon's cabin are talking about how beautiful the stars were last night. Wow, so important.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Poseidon's table?" I ask. Pierce turns away to look at me.

"Aren't you supposed to to brush your hair?" he asks. I squint my eyes a little before flipping my hair.

"See? There's nothing wrong with my hair." I say.

"And there's nothing wrong about sitting at this table," he says before giving Alie a high-five.

"You have a death wish." I glared at him.

"Ah, the pleasure is mine," someone says. That voice belongs to a blonde girl with green eyes. She has sharp cheekbones and a structured jaw. Her lips are perfectly covered with a thin layer of lipstick. I let out a wide smile to the best warrior that this camp has ever had, Lala Grassi from Poseidon's cabin.

"Lala, seems like you just got back from your pegasus' shelter? It's been a year," Alie throws a joke. Lala's cheeks turn red as she laughs. Lala and her obsession with pegasus is a thing every campers knows.

"Pierce, you wouldn't like it if my pegasus cracks your head open like a watermelon because you prefer sitting here with your sweetheart instead of sitting at our cabin's table right?" Lala says as she winks to Pierce and walk away. Pierce lets out a deep sigh before saying goodbye and moves to his table.

"I can't get over the fact that Lala Grassi is so intimidating," Penelope says.

"Yes like, she can ask us to do her a favor by jumping into a cliff jokingly and half of us will gladly do it," Alie continues.

"I would not be one of those people who jumps," I say.

"Your statement is irrelevant. It is-wait, what is the Oracle of Delphi doing there?" We turn our head at the sudden remark. I can see The Great Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Elizabeth Dare standing rigidly with visible green mist developing from her bodice. Really? We haven't heard from the Oracle since Percy Jackson died. Which is hundreds of years ago. Can't the Oracle retire and take a vacation?

"RACHEL!" Someone from Demeter cabin stands with two people trying to hold him from running. An ultimate fail. He runs swiftly to the Oracle.

"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach seeker, and ask." Her voice sounds like it comes from the back of my mind.

"Yes, yes." His voice trembles with fear. "Is there any prophecy you wish to speak?"

The Oracle lets out a hissing sound and we stop whatever we were doing.

"The sky is in inferno.

Scintillating a flame, earth is a mayhem.

Pieces of the beauty and the wolves are the vacancy.

The whole world held the pieces.

The best is the worst yet the worst is the best.

Goddess of flame shall take all the blame."

No one says a word. Earth is a mayhem, my mind travels back to the time when I realized the global warming is getting stronger. When the water nymphs complain about the lack of clean water. When Troy Jacobs jokes about the uselessness of Hades' children because the flowers are dead anyway. The bitterness in Demeter's children faces when they can no longer hear the voice of trees growing. The sky is in inferno. Inferno as in, hell? Is Hades responsible for all of this?

A scream breaks the silence. Troy stands up in shock.

"NO! KEANDRA!" he shouts. Then the whole room is in chaos. Everyone looks pale. Francis from Ares' cabin is pulling out his sword, ready for anything that ought to happen.

Loud thug of footsteps can be heard from the distance. Keandra runs in panic. Her cobalt blue eyes, they are filled with fear. Her orange shirt is torn apart. Troy moves abruptly through people with a hurry.

"For the sake of Hades, Kean." Troy shakes Keandra's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Kean nods, her body is shaking and her breath is getting unstable.

"I'm fine but Rei is not," she says.

Rei Undertale. Zeus' most trusted warrior.

"He is burning."