Percy Jackson and the Emerald Pearl; Thalia Grace and the Mirror of Aphrodite

The Mirror's Prophecy preview

The Mirror's Prophecy: A Solangelo Quest Story

To Be Published: Mother's Day 2016

~~~~~

     Nico sits in his cabin at noon the day after two of the most important demigods in the camp went on quests, turning his knife in his hand. He sighs. "Oh, how I love being alone," he mutters.

     Suddenly, his cabin door flies open. He spins around to find Percy under his door frame. "Meeting in the Big House. Now. All head counselors. It's important," the son of Poseidon says.

     Nico rolls his eyes. "Lovely," he says. He walks past Percy and looks over his shoulder. "Well, are you coming or not, Seaweed Brain?"

     Percy jogs up to Nico to catch up. Together, they begin to walk to the Big House. "Only Annabeth can call me that! Besides, I'm not your type, anyway."

     Nico crosses his arms. "Are you seriously still hung up on that?"

     "No centaur poop, Nico," he replies.

     Nico shakes his head in disgust. "Anyway...how was your's and Annabeth's little quest yesterday?"

     Percy's eyes widen. "How do you know about that?"

     Nico laughs. "Are you joking? It's all anyone's talking about. 'Power couple Percabeth interrupted by Sea God while on date at Montauk Beach.' That would be the headline if the story was in the newspaper."

     Percy frowns. "Percabeth? What the heck is Percabeth?"

     Nico's jaw drops. "Do you actually not know? It's your's and Annabeth's ship name!" he explains, obviously confused to how Percy doesn't know this.

     They arrive at the Big House, and walk straight into the Rec Room. Travis and Connor Stoll are dropping ice cubes down Clovis from Hypnos cabin's shirt. Katie Gardiner made a seed appear in her glass of water, and is now making a large flower grow out of it. Piper and Annabeth are discussing something quietly across the table. Thalia and Clarisse are arm-wrestling next to Will Solace, who's absent-mindedly wrapping gauze around his arm. Lou Ellen from Hecate Cabin is making the colors on Butch from Iris cabin's rainbow tattoo change. Percy and Nico take a seat.

     Chiron looks at everyone. "Lovely! Everybody's here. Now, children. Here is the plan: Thalia, Grover, and Piper will each take turns telling their sides of what happened on yesterday's quest. Afterwards, the issue at hand will be discussed. Thalia, go."

     Thalia tells everyone how Aphrodite showed up right outside the camp and informed the Hunter of Artemis about her missing mirror. Everyone already knows who was a part of it, so she skips to the church. She stops when she gets to the part where Piper came in with the mirror. Piper proceeds to tell the head counselors about the visions the mirror showed her. When she reaches the part where Thalia passed out, the child of Zeus blushes with embarrassment. Thalia then explains what she saw, and everyone gasps. Voices break out.

     "Could it be her?"

     "It can't be!"

     "But how?"

     Chiron stops his foot, and the clang of his hooves against the wooden floor echoes. The campers silence. "Go on," he urges.

     Grover then shares his portion of the story. "When Piper handed me the mirror, I looked into it to see if it would give us anything helpful. It gave us anything but. It gave us...It gave us a quest."

     Clarisse stands up. "What? How can a prissy pink mirror give a quest?"

     Grover sighs. "Well, it was actually a prophecy. The mirror showed me a prophecy."

      As the voices begin to rise, Chiron hushes everyone. "That's enough!" he shouts. He looks at Grover. "Do you mind sharing this prophecy with us?"

     "No," Grover says. He stands up, and meets everyone's eyes. "Okay. Here it is:

Two shall attempt to fulfill their duty,

To retrieve an article from she of beauty.

Henceforth must come, heir of the Sun,

And from King of Titans, a single grandson.

Along the way, they'll find a lost friend,

One who long ago, met a treacherous end."

     Grover sits down, and Chiron smiles kindly. "Thank you, Grover. Okay! Let's discuss the prophecy, then choose the brave questers. Any thoughts on the first two lines?"

     Annabeth stands up. "Two shall attempt to fulfill their duty/To retrieve an article from she of beauty. That's obviously saying that two demigods need to find something of Aphrodite's. She is the beauty goddess, after all."

     Chiron nods. "Very good reasoning. Anyone else on the next two lines?"

     Percy immediately stands up. "And from King of Titans, a single grandson? That means a child of one of The Big Three. I am a child of one of The Big Three! My answer is: No. I am done with quests! I've done too many quests, I've been through too much to go another quest. No," Percy exclaims.

     Chiron raises his eyebrows. "I suppose we're choosing our questers now, then?"

     Everyone disregards his question. Annabeth puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No one said it's you. It could be Thalia, or Jason, or Hazel, or even Nico for all we know!"

     "Sit down, demigods!" Chiron demands. "Let's discuss this is an orderly fashion!" Percy sits down, and Will raises a hand. Chiron nods at him. "You may speak."

     Will takes a deep breath. "We should talk about the most obvious line: Henceforth must come, heir of the Sun. The quest requires a child of Apollo. And...I volunteer as Tribute."

     Chiron raises his eyebrows. "Are you sure, Will? You've never been on a quest before, and you're not one for the battlefield."

     "That may be true, sir, but I'm a healer. I can help if the second quester gets hurt," he explains.

     Chiron says, "Then the first person is decided! Will Solace from the Apollo cabin! Who will be the second?" He glances at Thalia, Percy, and Nico, the only Big Three children in the room. "Well?"

     Percy shakes his head. "Like I said before, I'm not doing the quest."

     Thalia looks down. "I can't go. Artemis contacted me this morning. Both she and the Hunters are coming to camp sometime this week to retrieve me."

     Nico stands up, and sighs. "I guess that only leaves me."