The World Apart (Percy Jackson)

The Greeks and the Romans

I backed into a corner and shot a nervous glance at Annabeth, whose expression was a mixture of pity and fear. In all my years at Camp, no one, and believe me when I say no one, has ever shaken up Clarisse this bad.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Chiron clicked his hooves impatiently. For a man who’s trained generation upon generations of heroes, he looked old and fragile.

Trying to spare the man of his own dignity, I once again diverted my gaze at Annabeth. We locked eyes and she motioned for me to follow her outside. She strolled hurriedly towards the back garden where we were sure not to be overheard by prying ears. A few wood nymphs caught sight of us and melted shyly into trees.

Annabeth came to a halt and turned. She leaned her head against the Great Oak Tree and drew two sharp breathes.  “Percy, are you familiar with the gods’ Roman forms?”

“You mean like Zeus-Jupiter, Poseidon-Neptune; that kind of thing?” I answered, frowning slightly.

She nodded curtly. “Every millennium or so, the gods, both major and minor are given a chance to choose between their Roman and Greek forms. A form they must stick with for the next thousand years. The exchange is said to take place during a total solar eclipse that overcasts the sky, sea and land to represent equal power between the three eldest gods.”

“What does this have to do with Clarisse?” I ask stupidly, suddenly feeling uneasy.

She shot me a look of annoyance; undoubtedly irritated at being interrupted “I’m getting to that”, she snarled and for a moment, she deeply resembled that of her mother Athena. The same olive smooth skin, the same piercing gray eyes.

“I’m sorry” I mumbled, not wanting to upset her. 

“As I was saying, a total solar eclipse has proven to be a dangerous times for the Olympians. He who has the ability to steal each magic item from all 14 Olympians, including Hades and Hestia, would have the power to destroy Olympus.”

“Come on Annabeth; you’ve got to be joking. The gods are under another threat? Didn’t we just save their godly-bottoms from ultimate doom last summer? Don’t tell me the Olympians were idiotic enough to allow-” Before I could finish my distasteful remark, thunder rumbled furiously in the sky. I guess Zeus didn’t like being called an idiot by a seventeen year old.

Annabeth nodded sadly, “When Dionysus suddenly left camp on an ‘urgent meeting’, Chiron suspected as much. That’s why he sent Clarisse on a quest to find out the truth. Rachel, our new oracle told Clarisse to travel west and consult with Ares, hoping that his thick-headedness would provide us with some new leads. ”

“Let me guess, Ares saw through Clarisse’s trick so he attacked her to save himself the shame of admitting that he lost his spear?”  Although Ares is not the most merciful god on Olympus, attacking your own daughter was a bit below his godly level.

“Ares must have gotten mad at Clarisse for poking into his business. From the looks of it, Olympus is destined to fall so you can’t really blame the gods for acting like jerks.” The sky flashed angrily with dangerous lightning.

“Those words were spoken in your favour!” Annabeth argued with the Lord of the skies. I pulled her away into my arms before Zeus could blast her to a million pieces.

“Annabeth, arguing with the most powerful Olympian isn’t going to change anything”, I said, stroking her hair. She made no reply but I knew there were tears in her eyes.

“How long do we have before the world falls?” I asked, bracing myself for the blow.

 “Until the 21st of December at sundown, which leaves us 17 days to track down and return all the magic items or else the thief will rise in power.” Annabeth responded miserably, her voice lost in a distant place.