Rewind

Chapter 12: Adventure Time, Come On Grab Your Friends. . .

Immediately, whispers broke out, lots of kids shouting "what happened?" and "what did the Olympians want?"

"Settle down!" Chiron neighed, stomping his hoves on the ground. The camp quieted down as quickly as it got loud. "Theo, Percy, what did the Olympians want?"

Theo and I traded a glance. "We need a quest, pronto."

Chiron's face turned grim. "Follow me."

Soon enough, me and my brother were in an old, dusty attic with a hipster skeleton. As soon as we were in front of the dead Oracle, green smoke flowed out of her empty eye sockets and gaping mouth.

The Oracle's head turned to Theo.

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,

"You shall take what has been stolen, and see it safely returned,

"You shall be betrayed, by one who calls another friend,

"You shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."

The Oracle then turned to me.

"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,

"You shall find what you seek, and make it your own,

"Your friend will fly home alone."

As cheery as I remember. Although, my prophesy did seem shorter than last time.

"This calls for a meeting. Go downstairs while I call the cabin councillors, and make sure you memorize the prophesy you were given," Chiron called, making me and Theo jump and turn to the attic entrance, where Chiron was spying from.

Theo and I nod at Chiron, watching the centaur awkwardly climb back down the attic ladder. How was he even able to get up?

That was a mystery I needed to solve on a later notice.

Theo and I sat down on the cushion chairs and waited for all the cabin councilors to file in. We got a few curious glances, but those kids got distracted by the cheese wizz on top of the pool table.

Once everyone was seated, Chiron folded his horse half into his wheelchair and called for everyone's attention.

"Two quests have been issued today."

Immediately, all Hades broke loose. Everyone started yelling at each other and demanding to know what the quests were.

"Silence!" Chiron bellowed, his eyebrows raised in irritation. "Percy, would you announce your quest?"

I nodded and repeated what the Oracle told me, seeing various degrees of hope and excitement enter the other councillor's expressions.

"Wait, what are you trying to find?" The cabin councillor for the Athena cabin asked, scratching the back of his head. I think his name was Malcolm.

"Well, I was thinking about how the camp barriers could be fixed so that everyone would be safer from monsters. . ." I say, shrugging.

"It would have to be a powerful object in order to heal Thalia's tree," the Apollo councillor piped in, resting her arms on the pool table we were sitting around. Hums of agreement echoed around the room.

"I have to go on the quest," Clarisse suddenly budged in, sneering when she looked at me. "As far as I know, I'm the only one that has a ship with dead warriors on it."

I nodded at Clarrise, giving her an extra sugary, fake smile full of overexaggerated enthusiasm.

"But that still doesn't tell anyone where you're supposed to find the magical object!" The Demeter councillor scowled, crossing his arms. He must have forgotten to eat his cereal for breakfast.

"Actually, I know where we're supposed to go."

Everyone's head's snapped to look at me and I felt a bit uncomfortable with the way they were looking at me.

"Me, Clarrise, and whoever else comes are supposed to go to the latitude and longitude points 30, 31, 75, 12."

"And how do you know that?" The Aphrodite councillor, Drew, asked, playing with her hair and looking at herself with a compact mirror.

"The numbers kept popping up in my dreams. I think my father sent them to me," I explained, running a hand through my hair

"Why doesn't your father just give you the magical object, then?" The same Demeter councillor drawled, rolling his eyes. I don't think I've ever seen a Demeter kid so grumpy.

"I would watch how you speak to me and my father, if I were you. I wouldn't want you to have a miserable rest of your life because you decided to insult the creator and heir of the universe," I replied, choosing to have the sort of nonchalant tone that would make him question whether or not I was joking.

Of course I wouldn't ruin his life for such a petty comment, but spreading negativity at an already dark time like this was a no-no.

The room was silent for several seconds before Chiron cleared his throat.

"Who do you want as your second quest partner, Percy?"

I glance around the room before my gaze settled on a certain Hermes councillor.

"Luke."

If possible, Luke looked angry and happy at the same time. In his defence, if I was given the quest that I've always wanted after I joined Kronos, I would feel conflicted to, almost as if I was being mocked. But, perhaps I can convince Luke to be neutral as we go through the quest.

"Why me? Why not a healer from the Apollo cabin, or a strategist from the Athena cabin?" Luke asked, his lips pressing into a thin line.

I thought over how to phrase my response. After all, I couldn't just say that I wanted Luke to stop working for Kronos. What quality from Hermes kids would be useful on the quest?

Stealth, travel, and stealing. Boom.

"Well, for one, your Dad's the patron of travellers, and we may need to go onto land to get supplies or something. Secondly, be honest. How many Greek heroes went up to someone, asked for a magical object, and got the object scrape free? I think we may need to steal whatever we need, and the person who steals the magical object needs to be stealthy. Who better than a trusted child of Hermes?" I ask, intentionally putting in the "trusted" part to make Luke doubt his side, at least just a little bit.

Luke stared at me in silence, with wide eyes, as if I suddenly gave him all the answers to the universe.

"Don't be a wimp!" Clarrise snarled, picking at her gums with a toothpick (where in the world did she get a toothpick?).

"Okay," Luke said, leaning back in his chair, faining an easy carelessness.

Chiron nodded. "Now that that's settled, you can relay your quest, Theo."

Theo nodded and told everyone his quest, his brows furrowed in nervousness. Theo's quest was more straight to the point and clear, but it was also depressing.

A heavy feel of suspence settled in the room after Theo repeated what the Oracle said.

"I want Annabeth and Grover to go on the quest with me," Theo continued, wringing his hands this way and that way. Theo usually did that when he wanted to leave an awkward conversation.

Chiron nodded. "That's it, then. Everyone go back to your cabins. If you're going on the quest, you leave at sunrise tommorow. Theo and Percy, you both only have a week to complete your quests. Thalia's tree doesn't have much time left, and Zeus is not known for his patience. Use your time wisely. Meeting adjourned."