Chapter 1
Jake
I sat in the Strawberry Fields, away from the noise of the other campers. It had been two months since Shane, Tess and I arrived at the border of Camp Half Blood; the place we now call home. The moment I saw CHB he couldn't believe the sight that greeted him...well, I shouldn't have been considering the three of us did fall out of the sky.
I don't recall much, my memory is kind of fuzzy. All of our memories are. One minute I was laying in my nice, warm bed in San Francisco, then the next thing I knew I was dreaming about a woman in white. Turns out it wasn't a dream. Oh and that 'woman' turned out to be the Greek Goddess Hera. I don't remember much, only that Shane and Tess were there with me. All of us only remember snippets of what Hera said. Something about a prophecy and a curse, it all sounded a bit depressing to me. She mentioned the Land of the Lost. Whatever that was. And something about a quest. Anyway after that I remember falling from the sky and landing next to a rather large dragon guarding a Golden Fleece. Which I also found out was THE Golden Fleece. The campers tell stories about the quest for the Golden Fleece. Around about thirty years ago, a bunch campers and a satyr went on the quest for the Golden Fleece in the Sea of Monsters. The guy-Percy they said his name was defeated Polyphemus with the help of a girl called Annabeth and Grover the Satyr (who was wearing a wedding dress for some reason). Other stories go around the Camp quite a lot of the time, also about other campers like Leo, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Frank, Hazel and Nico. Apparently they stopped Titan Wars and a rival war between Camp Half Blood and a place called Camp Jupiter. Camp Jupiter doesn't exist anymore; it was completely destroyed in a war against Gaia. Now camp half blood is almost triple the size of what it used to be and has other 50 cabins to honour the Gods.
You each belong to Godly parent. Shane discovered he was the son of Ares during a game of capture the flag. The red glowing Sword above his head completely freaked him out which resulted in him nearly being impaled by a spear. Next was Tess. She's the daughter of Athena. Smart, beautiful, shy...anyway. That left me. I was the one that caught everyone's attention. It just happened to be during the campfire. The flames from the fire turned as black as charcoal, and grey mist appeared all around me. A black object in the shape of a Scythe appeared over the top of my head. I thought it was normal, I mean glowing objects appeared over everyone else's head. But no. I am Jake. Son of Thanatos, God of Death. I mean there was that creepy kid, Nico that was apparently Son of Hades. But nobody had been claimed by Thanatos before. Thanatos was a minor god, but a lot has changed since then. Gods have become more powerful. Much more powerful.
It was getting late, almost time for dinner. Shane and Tess never came to look for me. They knew where I was. They just know not to bother me. Apparently been dark and moody is a perk of having Thanatos as your Godly parent. I stood up and brushed of grass from my jeans. I never really looked forward to dinner. You sit with your cabin. This means I sit by myself. Don't get me wrong, I like being alone now and again, but when people stare at you and whisper about you, it's not all good. Plus people think it's a bad sign that I've been claimed by Thanatos, a curse.
I decide to skip dinner, and turn up to the campfire in the evening instead. There I see Shane and Tess sitting on a log together even though it's still early and the campfire doesn't begin for an hour or so. We're an unlikely group of friends. The son of Ares, daughter of Athena and Son of Thanatos. But we all had the same freaky Hera dream and fell out of the sky together so we've been friends ever since. I walk over and Shane and Tess automatically make room for me in between them.
"Dude where have you been? You missed dinner. We had steak." Shane piped up, slapping me on the back.
"Wasn't hungry." I replied. Tess gave me a questioning look but didn't question me.
"I've been studying more architecture recently. Seeing if I can make anything out of what Hera said about The Land of the Lost." Tessa said, looking at me. I caught her staring at me and she quickly turns her head away, her cheeks going slightly red. I smiled to myself.
"Shouldn't you just give up? You could be spending your time doing...better things." Shane replied, putting his arm over Tess's shoulder. She laughed and moved out the way.
"Ha, not happening tough guy. Plus don't you have the hotts for some girl in the Aphrodite cabin?" Tessa teased.
"I said not to mention that!" Shane stated, blushing slightly.
"You know for a Son of Ares you're quite the big softie eh?" I laughed.
"Keep laughing and I'll kill you with my rather lovely sword, death boy." Shane Joked.
The Campfire was the same as usual; we sing songs and the fire changes colour based on our mood. Christine picked a fight with some weedy kid in the Apollo cabin, the tree nymphs were coming out from the woods. It was a typical night.
"CAMPERS! ATTENTION!" Chiron announced. Everybody quietened down to listen to the announcement.
"Tomorrow we will play Capture the Flag! Reds verses Blues. You know your teams, games will commence at 10am tomorrow!" Chiron concluded. There were many cheers then people began to move around as the campfire was slowly coming to an end.
"I don't know about you Jakie boy but tomorrow's game is going to be epic!" Shaun said.
"Well for you yeah, I'm stuck on the opposite team to both of you, plus I'm the only one in my cabin." I sighed.
"Don't worry about it." Tess replied.
Suddenly, the remains of the fire blazed up in a giant flame of red. Talk from the campers came to a sudden halt. Shane, Tess and I looked as confused as other campers.
"Look it's the Oracle!" Someone shouted.
True to his world, a path cleared, and the oracle walked through. Eyes were transfixed on her. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was her name. She was here back when Percy and the others were campers here. She was older now, obviously. But not by much, oracles tend to age slower than demigods. Silence filled the camp.
"I have been visited by the spirit of Delphi." Rachel started, then all of a sudden her eyes rolled back and green smoke misted around her.
Three must travel to The Land of the Lost,
and succeed their journey at any cost,
Neither fire, water or air will help them there.
An impossible task only one will bear.
What was once dead Earth is renewing
The fate of the world depends on the final choosing.
Rachel collapsed onto a chair that two campers must have brought over. Campers began to leave without a word. Neither Shane, Tess nor I moved. None of us knew what to say. That was the first time we had witnessed a prophecy. Somehow I just knew I had to go.
"Dude?" Shane said, "The whole thing about The Land of the Lost...that was in our freaky Hera dream wasn't it?"Shane asked.
"I think so. All three of us had the same dream. It can't be a coincidence." Tess concluded.
The small weedy kid that Christine was picking on earlier ran over, panting out of breath.
"Chiron-has held a meeting." He panted. "Wants all campers...at pavilion in 5." He finished, and then ran off in the same direction he came from.
"Come on guys." Tess said, getting up from the log and dusting herself off.
We walked to the pavilion in silence, lost in our thoughts. But somehow I knew-I think we all knew- that this quest was up to us.