Turning of Tides

12. Prophecies

The next morning Chiron moved us to Cabin 3, and although I had my own bed now, I missed the Hermes' cabin. Percy and I had each other; we didn't have to share with anybody. Plenty of room for our minimal possessions, a dinner table in the pavilion all to ourselves, we picked our own activities for the day, called lights out at any time, and we didn't have to listen to anyone else. And we were utterly miserable. Percy had it worse than I did, just when he began to feel like he was accepted he was an outcast again. Cabin 11 became a temporary home for us and it was worse for Percy when that was taken away. Nobody talked about the hellhound incident, but we both knew everyone was talking about it behind our backs. Percy even blamed himself for this happening, saying that if I hadn't tried to protect him, I wouldn't have gotten hurt and if the hellhound hadn't tried to attack him others wouldn't be as scared to be around us. He soon got over it after I had ranted when he apologized for the hundredth time. I assured him that he was my brother and I was always going to be there for him through everything, and come what may we were twins, and we'll go through it all together. I saw the look of guilt in a lot of my friends' faces, but they still avoided us as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with us after what Percy and I had done to the Ares kids in the woods. Despite everyone being scared of him I was proud that his skills were so instinctual that he was able to take on Clarisse and her siblings. We had sword lessons alone with Luke, and he pushed us harder than he had before and wasn't afraid to bruise us up in the process.

"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."

Annabeth still taught Percy Greek in the mornings, but he kept saying she seemed distracted. Every time he would say something she scowled at him as if he poked her between the eyes. And after they'd finish lessons I'd meet him, and she'd look up at me letting out a sigh walking away muttering to herself:" Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan..."

What I found strange was that even Clarisse kept her distance. She would always give me a nod and turn towards her siblings, so I knew she was just keeping her reputation but that's not what bothered me. Every time Clarisse saw my twin, the daughter of Ares had a glare as bad as her father, but still kept her distance. Percy's face drained of color every time he saw her glare from fear that one day she's going to beat him up but then he told me he wished she did, it'd be better to get into fights every day than being ignored. With everyone at camp ignoring us it was evident they didn't want us here, but they made the message incredibly clear when a mortal newspaper found itself dropped inside our doorway. I read the article to Percy since he was still struggling with his dyslexia and it read:

"Boy Still Missing After Freak Car Accident"

by Eileen Smythe.

Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off, and the front axle was broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding. Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident. Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past. Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.