The End of Everything

Changes

Thia's POV

Something weird was going on around camp. Nothing strange like monsters or the impending darkness but everyone's behavior. Everyone was walking around stiffly like if they relaxed something would slip. The tension in the air was extremely thick. It was a dangerous sort of tension.

Even my parents were acting along with the others. I'd asked what had been discussed in the meeting but the topic was hastily changed. My only conclusion was that whatever it was I wasn't going to like it but that only made me more curious.

Frowning I left the dock behind in search of my cousins. Maybe they knew something or at least had gathered some strands of information. I went to Jaxon first.

He was at the arena running laps and without hesitation I fell in stride with him as he passed by. "How long are you gonna be here for Jax?"

"Give me ten minutes," he breathed.

"Good. We're gonna need to call up an emergency meeting." Jaxon nodded in understanding. We had done secret meetings as kids whenever we got the chance. It was usually about senseless topics until we'd gotten older and more serious things were brought up.

Leaving Jaxon to his task at hand I ran in search of Maria. She was easily identifiable by the bright blonde hair and loud voice. She was at the Pegasus stables chatting away with the horses.

"Okay, Blackjack you and I both know you're too old to go doing tricks in the sky." Maria smiled at the pitch black horse. "Last thing we need is the best war veteran falling like a bird out of the sky. Whose gonna tell the young Pegasi about all the adventures you and my dad went on?"

"Maria, emergency meeting," I called. Her green eyes flicked away from Black jack and she nodded in understanding.

"You got it. Give me a minute or two." Last but not least I needed to locate Grey. If anything he'd be at the archery range teaching the younger kids how to shoot or he'd be practicing on his own. He may not have been an Apollo descendant but he still had killer aim. A skill developed over years of practice.

Sure enough I was right. A group of younger campers were gathering their things and preparing to leave for another class. It was my chance to snag him away before he got preoccupied again.

"Grey. Emergency meeting," I panted, out of breath from running everywhere.

"Vat for?" He asked accent thick. Grey was a bit of a novelty around camp. Of course people of all ethnicities were welcome but as far as I knew he was the only Swiss person around.

"Uh, well, we'll figure it out.," I promised, resting my hands on my hips. "You coming?"

"Of course." He nodded setting his bow down. "I 'ave no more classes for ze moment."

"Wonderful," I smiled, grabbing his arm and tugging him along behind me. I still remembered our old meeting spot. It was a little ways in the woods where a small clearing was located. A fallen tree covered the opening of the little cave entrance but with help from Grey I was able to push it aside.

"Exactly as I remember it," Grey mused, ducking inside. It was dark as usual but I recalled where a small box of matches was tucked behind a rock. We had all taken great care in setting up our little hide out which included smuggling in a gazillion candles.

After feeling around in the dark for a moment and smacking my shin on a rock I finally got ahold of the box and lit a match. The flame gkowed warmly in the dark and I set to work on illuminating the candles that surrounded the cave like room.

Grey sat down cross legged and watched with interest. "I never realized how much zis looked like a cult."

"When you put it that way it's creepy," I laughed. Grey chuckled heartily and the sound echoed off the walls bouncing around in the small space. Once the lighting was taken care of I sat in my typical spot waiting for the others to arrive.