The Prophecies of Typhon: The Forbidden Quest (IN EDITING) (DISCONTINUED)

Let's Steal Some Happy!

Sydney

The next morning, I was up at four. I had never slept well in new places. I looked around the cabin. Malcolm was still out, along with most of the cabin. Annabeth was sitting up in bed with a book and a small flashlight to read it by.

I slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb anyone. I know how it is to have someone interrupt your reading, especially when you're deep into the book. I carefully made my bed and grabbed my backpack, planning on getting ready for the day in the bathrooms. "Where are you going?" An accusing voice said behind me. "The sun's not even up yet."

"I'm going to get ready," I said, quickly running from the cabin. I could feel the stares from the other campers as I bolted out the door.

"Wait!" Annabeth ran after me. I ran harder. I had been on the track team back home. I sprinted forward, no longer aiming for the bathroom, but for the Zeus cabin.

I burst into the Zeus cabin, causing a rumble of thunder from the sky as well as a cranky Courtney sitting up. I ran to Courtney's bed.

"What's so important that you have to come bursting in here before the sun graces us with its presence?" Courtney grumbled behind me.

"I- I don't know," I muttered shamefully, sitting down.

Courtney looked confused at this, but quickly recovered to her grouchy expression. "So, what you're saying is that instead of going to the bathroom, or even the Poseidon cabin, you decide to burst into my cabin?" She started to get out of bed.

I could see bits of electricity sparking between her fingers. "Oh, no," I said, backing up a bit. "Courtney, look at your hand."

She looked down, and her anger turned to happiness. "So that's how I did it!" She laughed and let electricity run up her arm and through the air around her. Jason finally sat up.

Bleary eyed, he stumbled forward and out of the cabin, backpack in hand, and hit the wall head on. He shook his head, then fished in his bag for his glasses. Not able to find them, he stumbled through the room and finally out the door, slipping on the last stair and falling on his face. Courtney and I held back a giggle as she closed the door.

"I saw that Malcolm was up late last night," I said, poking Courtney a bit. She blushed lightly, ducking her head.

"Come off it!" She said, pushing me playfully back.

"How did the meeting go?" I asked, changing the conversation. I knew that if I kept going, I'd pay dearly for it later.

She suddenly looked very upset. "They're ignoring the prophecy," she said.

"What? They know better than to ignore it!" I was getting upset as well. "Don't they remember all of the problems that happen when they just ignore it!? Like, most of the time it happens anyway!"

"Courtney? Sydney?" Shayla peeked her head in the door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course! Come take a seat!" I said as I patted a spot on Courtney's makeshift bed. Courtney seemed to perk up at her step-sister's company.

"Thought I might find you two in here." Shayla plopped down. "What were you two talking about?'

"Well," I said, "Courtney has the inside scoop on the prophecy."

"Really?" Shayla looked excited. "What's the plan? Who are we sending on the quest?"

"That's the thing," Courtney said. "No one's going on a quest, they're ignoring the prophecy."

"What?!" Shayla looked outraged. "How can they just do that? Do they not remember the last two times that they've done that?"

"Hey," Jason peeked through the door. "I'm going into Cabin 3 if you need me." He started to leave.

"Wait," I said, suddenly remembering why I'd been up so early in the first place. "Is it possible to let our parents know where we are? Maybe leave and let them know and then come back?"

"No," Jason said, panic glinted in his eyes. "No, you can't. Especially not Courtney and Shayla. Your auras are too strong together. The second you step out of camp, every monster in a ten mile radius will know where you are and want to kill you." He started backing off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Cabin 3." His head disappeared.

A plan was forming in the back of my mind. I was worried about my dad. He was very overprotective, and we'd been gone for awhile. Looking over at Courtney and Shayla, I could see that they were suddenly very concerned as well.

"Okay, here's the plan," I started. "Let's sneak to Bunker 9 at night, bring anything you want to take with you. We'll sneak onto the Argo II and take one of the life boats. We can then fly to Mississippi and tell our parents, fly back, and be back before sunrise. No one will need to know that we'd gone, and then we can let our parents know as well."

Shayla perked up at the mention of the Argo II. "I can get us into Bunker 9! Oh, and make sure we don't get blowtorched by Festus when we get there."

"Perfect!" I said, now remembering the metal dragon. "We'll meet in the bathroom three hours after sunset."

**********************
During the day, I spent time bonding with my other Athenian siblings. We ate food, laughed, did some crafts, sparred, and went to the armory and got a weapon. I got a dagger. It was a great day. As night fell, Annabeth called lights out, and we all went to sleep. I waited for three hours, careful to pretend I was sleeping when anyone checked on us. Still fully dressed, I slipped out of bed, grabbed my backpack, and  silently exited the cabin.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" I asked as I crept up to Shayla and Courtney. They nodded, and we started to sneak to the woods.

"We have to be quiet," I said as we neared the edge of the cabins.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"Uh," I stopped. Jenny materialized right in front of me, stopping our escape.

"You're going on that quest, aren't you?!" She demanded, inching forward.

"You got a problem with that?" Courtney elbowed passed me.

"Hold on!" I stopped them before they argued again. "We aren't trying to fulfill some prophecy, we just want to go tell our parents where we are and come back."

Jenny's expression was skeptical, but she didn't question my explanation. I pushed passed her and into the woods, Shayla and Courtney right behind me.

"You won't make it back in time!" Jenny called after us. I stopped and turned around. "Well, what do you suggest?" I said with a sigh.

"Nico's out on an errand for our dad," she explained, "so you can stay in my cabin for the day. Then, tomorrow night, you can sneak off to Mississippi or whatever."

"What's the catch?" Shayla said, raising an eyebrow.

"I have to come with you," Jenny said. "I need to get out of this place, I've been here for far too long."

"No way!" Courtney said behind me. "We can't trust her! She's a child of Hades. Besides, they'll wonder where we've gone."

I weighed the pros and cons to this situation. We could stay here for the day and have more time tomorrow, but then we'll have to explain ourselves when we get back. Or, we go now, potentially be late coming back, and still have to explain ourselves. There was also that little detail of coming back in broad daylight in one of the Argo II's life boats.

"We'll stay," I said, feeling the evil stare of Courtney on me, "but only if you swear not to tell anyone where we are or what we're doing."

"I swear on the river Styx," she said. Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"Okay," she said, sounding more cheerful. "Let's go!"