Heirs of Olympus

Chapter 5

Lou Ellen stood up in shock, the taste of the potion still on her tongue as she focused her powers on the cup before her. She could see the Mist wrapped around it but with intense concentration and effort, she was able to push it aside and see the dregs of the potion she had drank. Someone had wrapped the Mist to make it look like a normal drink so she wouldn't notice what she was drinking! She looked around at her siblings and focused on their cups but hers was the only one affected by the Mist.

Looking around the pavilion she saw Clarisse talking to Chris and Will and headed over to them quickly.

"Clarisse!" Lou Ellen said firmly but not too loudly. She didn't want to cause a panic.

Clarisse looked annoyed with the daughter of Hecate but she relaxed a bit when Chris's hand briefly touched her shoulder. "What is it?" she finally asked.

"Something happened and I don't know what it means" Lou Ellen said looking around the pavilion to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them.

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"I was eating breakfast and took a drink from my cup and thought it tasted strange, but I didn't really think too much about it. Then, when I took another drink, I realized something was wrong" Lou Ellen said looking at all of them.

"The nymphs messed up your coffee ?" Clarisse asked sarcastically.

"No, because it wasn't coffee" Lou Ellen answered sharply, she was getting angry. "Someone slipped me a potion and used the Mist to make me see it as coffee" she told them and saw their faces change to worry. "And just so you know, not everyone could pull something like that off on me. What's worse, I don't even have a clue what the potion is supposed to do."

"Could it be an attack?" Clarisse was suddenly very attentive.

"Maybe it's just a prank?" Chris asked knowing his own siblings weren't above such a thing and trying to calm things down a bit.

Lou Ellen shook her head. "This potion was different. I can usually get a sense of what it should be doing or at least the kind of magic it is, but this was different. It feels...incomplete. A prank...no, this was definitely sinister" she said with certainty.

Clarisse and Chris started arguing about what it might mean when Lou Ellen saw Will take a drink from his own cup and she felt a shiver run down her spine. Focusing on the cup she sensed the Mist and using her magic she pushed it away revealing the same potion she had drank and she yelled and grabbed his cup causing Will to startle.

"What the?" he yelped causing Clarisse and Chris to both turn to look at him.

"Will's cup too" Lou Ellen said seriously. She looked over at Clarisse and saw her and Chris's dishes. Pushing her magic towards their cups she felt the resistance to her spell so she increased her concentration and was able to dispel the illusions on their cups. "And it looks like both of you as well" she looked at Clarisse whose face was furious.

To Clarisse's credit she didn't explode but instead got even more focused. Turning to Lou Ellen she growled "Search the pavilion, find out who else was targeted."

Lou Ellen nodded and Chris walked with her as Will touched his tongue to the remains of his drink and tasted it to Clarisse's shock.

"WILL!" she yelled.

"It won't make a difference Clarisse, I already drank too much" Will said absently. "But if I can help Lou Ellen analyze it, we might know what happened."

"I know what happened" Clarisse snarled. "It's got to be the Romans!"

Will didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't think how they could have gotten someone in their camp let alone this early. All of their information told them that the Roman demigods were still quite a ways away and while he guessed some scouts could be close, this seemed too complex. "I taste apples" Will mused after a moment. "I also agree with Lou Ellen...this potion isn't something on its own. It is missing something" he mutters.