Rising Phoenix - Sequel To Forgotten Power

Chapter 25

"I swear I didn't do anything!" Leo protested, wiping his hands on his shirt. As soon as the fire had been put out, Hazel and Arelyn had dragged Leo into Hades cabin to ask him about it.

Hazel rolled her eyes, "Well, who would you suggest did it then?"

"How should I know? I was just sitting in my cabin! Maybe it was the Nev-"

"Nope." Arelyn interrupted from her spot by the door, "Nice try. But I've worked with the Neverseen long enough to know their tactics. That fight against the Chimera likely dealt a pretty big blow. They won't be using monsters anymore, which means they won't be after Camp Half Blood anymore. Starting a fire here would be idiotic. Besides, if they really wanted to prove a point, they'd use Everblaze."

"Um...what?" Hazel asked.

"Everblaze." Arelyn rolled her eyes when they just stared at her, "It's a kind of fire that doesn't burn out, even with water. Get it? Ever blaze?"

That got them to finally understand, and Leo grinned, "That sounds awesome!"

"Yeah, until you burn down all of camp and not even Percy Jackson can save it. It's not as fun as you think it is."

"So if it wasn't the Neverseen, then who was it?" Hazel asked, glancing between the two of them.

Arelyn shrugged, "Maybe it's Marella. She's an elf," she added when another confused look crossed Hazel's face, though, since Leo seemed to know exactly who that was, it kinda seemed like a worthless explanation, "Or some other demigod who can control fire?"

"Why would Marella be here, though?" Leo asked, "Has she ever even been here? As in out of whatever you call the place where elves live."

"Don't ask me," Arelyn protested, "I don't even entirely know her. Mostly just heard of her."

"And Leo's the only demigod who can control fire that we know of." Hazel added, "So that's pretty unlikely as well."

The silence was tense. Everyone was trying to come up with a solution and nobody could actually succeed. The chances of it being an elf are slim, but the chances of it being another demigod are the same. And the possibility that it was just some arrogant human who threw a match onto dead plants...that's even less likely. So who....

An idea suddenly burst into Arelyn's head, "The Phoenix," she mumbled under her breath, her eyes instinctively darting towards the window.

"Who?" Leo asked, turning to the window to see what Arelyn was looking at.

"You sho- nobody... I'm gonna get some fresh air. The tension in here is suffocating."

Arelyn walked out of the cabin without another word, shutting the door behind her. What she'd said back there wasn't exactly true. Sure, the tension was bad, but that was all. It wasn't "suffocating." She knew what suffocating felt like. She just needed to get out.

After the "forest fire fiasco" had calmed down, many of the campers had decided they'd had enough for the day. Most of them went to their cabins while the rest were either chilling in the Big House, by the lake, or on Half Blood Hill. The sun was slowly setting and pastel colors were leaking onto the horizon, so that meant that the whole camp would probably be lights out shortly. That or they'd be eating dinner. Arelyn had no clue. All she did know was that she didn't have a ton of time - Maybe a few hours at most.

Hurriedly she went to where the fire had occurred. The flames hadn't damaged much, but there was still a bunch of Half burned trees and the ground was black. Arelyn didn't focus on that though. Her hands shook as she pulled out the fortune cookie Nemesis had given her. Carefully she turned it over in her hands.

Do I really need to use this? I could just look for the Phoenix around here. Except that you'll have no idea who they are, her mind countered itself, Nemesis said breaking the cookie came at a price. How bad could the price be?

How good could it be, either? No matter what I do something bad will probably happen. So, my choices: A. Don't break the fortune cookie and possibly lose the Phoenix, the Neverseen maybe comes back, and the Lost Cities are destroyed, along with maybe the Forbidden Cities as well, or B. Break the fortune cookie, hope it actually leads me to the Phoenix, hope the Phoenix will actually help me get rid of the Neverseen, and maybe restore peace at some other cost.

I guess the option with hope is the better one...

Hesitantly, Arelyn broke the cookie and pulled out the slip of paper. It read, Congrats! I'm pretty sure you beat Leo with "best wish for Nemesis to fulfill". Look left.

Arelyn turned to the left and frowned. Nothing was there. Just burned vegetation and some trees. Confused, she looked back at the paper and turned it over to see if she missed anything. There was more writing, The other left. I take back my compliment, you're just as bad as Leo.

Arelyn couldn't help but smile as she looked to her right. The growth was more dense in that direction, but she could barely make out the outline of a person among the trees. Cautiously, she made her way towards them, even though she was anxious to figure out who it was.

As she walked, the figure became clearer. A small boy, standing by one of the partially burned trees. His hand was running against the black side of it, as if he'd couldn't quite believe it was there. His hair and clothes were covered in soot, so it wasn't as easy to figure out who he was as Arelyn would've liked. Suddenly, he turned towards her, as if he could sense her approaching.

Now, even through the ash on the boy's face, she could tell who he was. Stopping a few paces away from him, she smiled.

"Hi, Bren."

Yay!!!! I did it! I updated two days in a row! Man, it's been a while since I've done that. But, on another note.... I think there's only 2 or 3 chapters left in this story! I know, crazy, right? But don't take my word for it, I'm pretty sure I said there was only five chapters left at, like, chapter 13, or something. But I do know that this story, along with my entire crossover, is coming to a close. So, on that extremely delightful note, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see y'all later! Bye!