Bubbles escaped from her mouth like clearest of pearls, all of them floating lethargically up to the lighted surface one by one. Cadi supposed she should be worrying about her dwindling supply of oxygen or worrying over the state of her lungs in the case they collapse on her. Yet these logical thoughts were the farthest from her mind; she was more concerned about accidently choking on a stray fish of some kind.
She stared straight ahead of her. Something was moving, causing a disturbance of the sand. It stopped, almost knowing Cadi was observing it. She blinked slowly then opened her eyes widely to see a cloud of sand bloom forth, only much closer to her than before. Her gut told her now was the time to panic. Twisting her body, she hoped to start floating towards the surface, but something appeared to be holding her down. Her caramel colored hair fanned out all around her, reminding her of the feathers of an exotic bird.
From the depths of the ocean floor, the seaweed stood still, as if frozen by time. The seaweed felt like lacey ribbons against her skin, but even with the smallest nudge, it tightened its hold on her, afraid to let her go. As much as she was fascinated by the darkness of the ocean floor, she wanted to be free to roam. Her seaweed bondages weighed her down, and in fact pulled her deeper into the unknown darkness.
Cadi took one last look at the sunlight up above, so far from her reach. She wondered what was up there waiting for her if she even got out of this predicament. She shrugged, figuring it was up to her find out. She had never tried sushi, but nibbling her seaweed chains sounded like a very clever idea at the moment. How bad could it taste?
The warmest of winds stirred Cadi up from her peaceful nap. Pale baby blue eyes peeked out from her eyelids, dully scanning the sky for anything worthy enough to keep her awake. Heaving a yawn of a lion, she rolled over on the comfortable grassy ground, ready round two of napping.
"And how long do you plan on sleeping the day away, Miss Hendrix?" A wooden cane landed within millimeters of her face, yet Cadi did not flinch in the slightest.
"I've been caught." Cadi sighed with an air of mock defeat, but the sly smile on her lips never melted off. "Just resting my eyes and enjoying Mother Nature, Head Mistress."
The Head Mistress Chariclo stared at her with a disapproving frown, but her eyes twinkled with something akin to light-heartedness as well. "You are aware that the whole community has been on their feet since the crack of dawn preparing for the summer festival, and yet here you are, snoozing similarly to a lazy ragamuffin?"
It was the Head Mistress' trademark style to barrage her pupils with questions in order to intimidate them. But Cadi had held her ground since the very beginning of meeting the elder woman, and discovered the woman wasn't fearsome at all, that is if you answer her questions fearlessly and whilst staring at her dead in the eye.
"On the contrary, I have been up earlier than dawn, chipping away at rocks down in the mine for the coal needed at the ceremony tonight. By the time I finished at around noon, I was much fatigued to be of use to anyone else so I decided to rest a bit before returning to work." Head Mistress always appreciated the more complex way of saying things, said it built vocabulary. Frankly, Cadi just wanted the plain, cold cut truth and facts. "Only if that was alright by you, Head Mistress?" She bit her lip to prevent her Cheshire grin from taking over.
The Head Mistress usually had as much fire in Cadi did for a testy argument, yet she merely bobbed her head almost sadly at the younger girl, before her bespectacled eyes drifted to the sunset. Both females witnessed the sun slowly being wheeled out of the sky, leaving brushes of light pink, purple, and orange across the sky. Birds flew ahead of them, crying out to one another to stay in the correct flying formation.
"It appears Lord Apollo has drawn the sun chariot away a little earlier this time around, child." Head Mistress Chariclo stated.
"Perhaps he anticipates our festival tonight, wishing it came sooner." Cadi offered, her eyes dreamily gazing at the stars rapidly appearing against the dark sky.
Chariclo stared at the adolescent girl with skeptical eyes. "I was thinking more on the lines of some foreboding omen." She shook her head and let out a low breathy chuckle. "You always saw the world differently, Miss Hendrix."
"Is that a bad thing?"
The nymph shook her head and patted the girl's thick long hair fondly. "Not necessarily. Although this world is filled with different people, and thus different opinions, I always find yours especially refreshing."
Cadi Hendrix scrunched her nose in distaste. "You make me sound like a drink, Head Mistress."
The Head Mistress ignored the younger girl's retort, and eyed the steadily darkening horizon with one last distrustful glance. "Come along, child. The ceremony and festival are just about to start, yet there are still many preparations to complete."
Cadi shakily stood up to stretch out her sore limbs and arms. She shivered from the sudden chilliness of the air, yearning to crawl back into the grass bed she had embedded her body outline in. Another gentle gust of wind soothed her cool skin, whispering assuring words in her ear that only she could hear. Every time she came to the cliff side, she never really wanted to go. The sight of the royal blue ocean consuming everything as far as the eye could see was just mystifying to her. But now she had to depart from her favorite hide out spot for a while, which already dampened her spirits.
"Ow!" She complained loudly, cradling her "tapped on" skull with the absolute care. She was pretty sure Chariclo saved the hardest hits just for her. Perhaps she should feel special for Chariclo's biased behavior towards her, but then again maybe not.
"We don't have all day, Miss Hendrix." Chariclo scolded. Her grip on her wooden cane tightened and was ready for another prompting tap if necessary. She turned on her heel, quickly leaving the demigod behind her with an air of authority. The demigod imagined the nymph flipping her hair in a sassy manner with much amusement.
"I got it, I got it. I'm coming, I'm coming!" Cadi sprang up on her feet to spring after the surprisingly fast old nymph.
Camp Eirene was situated on an island just a few miles off of the island of Delos, and perfectly fortified by the Mist, which protected its supernatural campers successfully. To the regular mortal eye, the island thriving with teenage demigods simply did not exist. Camp Eirene served as a haven, training facility, and home for demigod children of minor gods. The camp was directed by the wise nymph Chariclo, also the wife of Chiron. Under her command, the demigods have been thriving and surviving for centuries.
The summer festival today was meant to celebrate and enjoy the peaceful times while they lasted. Cadi observed that the event was a particularly sentimental time for Chariclo, of all the sternest nymphs, to organize. For everyone in camp, it was a time to look forward to, to look back on with laughter at the good memories made with friends. To Cadi, it was a well-meant distraction, a rest in the eye of the storm before one had to face the storm yet again.
To kick off the crazy party, a solemn ceremony honoring the gods was first held in the Grand Temple. Chariclo conducted it, but of course, praying to all the gods for their blessing of this occasion and guiding the demigod children to go pay respects to their divine parents' temples. This was one time, out of the whole year, where gods were allowed to interact with their children, at least for a moment's while. The Olympian temples rested on the tallest of the island's cliffs, and the demigods would eventually wander up there, for it was mandatory to pay attention to all the Olympian gods at some point lest their wrath be raised.
Cadi slowly made her way to her father's temple, feeling no rush to get there first since she was the only child he had at the moment at least. Being a wind god, her father's temple was constructed on one of the tallest cliffs, but she wasn't complaining. The mild wind was relaxing in her opinion; her friends always claimed they felt the wind would knock them off the cliff, but she always told them to deal with it. On reaching the white marble steps, she felt thoroughly at home in the temple of Zephyr, god of the west wind.
She lighted all the lanterns until finally facing the statue of her father in his throne. To be honest, she never really liked the representation of her father in this statue. Her father was a wind god, for gods' sakes. No one can hold down the carefree wind, yet here he is, holding down the throne like some uptight military warlord. She knew her father better, he wasn't like that.
"Hey, Dad." She whispered. The gentle hum of the winds grew steadily louder. Wisps of air gathered before her eyes, forming a flashy tornado until a figure of a man was visible. Air waves resonated from his figure, but Cadi held her grown, not consenting to be blown away.
"Hey, Cadi!" He instantly had his arms open, instantly inviting Cadi to partake in his welcoming hug. She obliged with equal affection. "How have you been holding up, kid?" Familiar pale baby blue eyes peered down at her, but the easygoing grin still remained in place, showing his pearly white teeth to the world.
"I'm fine, Dad."
"Great, great' He bobbed his head enthusiastically, but landed his hand firmly on her shoulder. "As much as I want this to be an awesome reunion and all, with you and me catching up on old times, I've got to warn you about something."
Her eyebrows scrunched together in worry. Usually Zephyr always chatted and laughed at ease with her on this day. His abrupt change in disposition put her senses on caution. "What's wrong?"
"Have you ever thought about what life you'll lead outside of camp?" They both sat on the steps of his temple. His arm was around her shoulder in a comforting way as they both stared at the endless stars in the sky.
"Not really." She shook her head. "I've spent the majority of life in camp, so it's hard to imagine."
The aroma of spring time practically rolled off his form. It was one of the best parts Cadi always remembered about her father. He smelled like freshness, and he was also the spring wind which brings change. The young demigod didn't have the luxury of seeing her father every day, so she always tried to commit his image to her memory. He had a tall, imposing figure, but dressed in casual ware consisting of a jean shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt. His chestnut brown hair was gelled back in an artsy, messy fashion. But one of the greatest things about Zephyr in general was his warm hugs. Her father gave the best bear hugs. He was a good father to her, always coming promptly on time to meet her, and even sneaking more time to talk and hang out with her when certain gods weren't regulating interaction time.
"Apollo gave me a heads up about a prophecy the other day. A big one." He sighed, and it was in that moment he looked the oldest, most worn, tired man Cadi had ever seen. He reminded her of Atlas, with the world on his shoulders, with something painful to bear. "It involves a child of Zephyr."
It was oddly silent for a moment. Cadi didn't know what to say, but then again neither did Zephyr. After a few minutes of pondering, Cadi spoke up to point out the obvious, "I guess it's about me, huh?"
"I wish I could fill you in more about what you'll face, Cadi." He appeared strained and very troubled, which worried Cadi tremendously. "But it's against fate and my godly restrictions can only allow me to tell you this much."
By this time, Cadi only wanted the cheerful smile to replace her father's present frown. She nudged him in order to draw his attention and stop the wrinkles from disturbing his face. "I'm a child of Zephyr aren't I? I won't die easily."
The confidence of her gaze lightened up his spirits a bit, enough for him to return her response with a comforted, boisterous laugh. "My little girl wouldn't go down without a fight, of course, how could I have forgotten?"
"Damn right." She haughtily stuck her nose up high in the air with a playful air. He laid his hand resolutely on her thick head of hair.
He looked her fully in the eye with the most serious expression she had ever seen on him. "Just be prepared, Cadi. That's all I'm asking." He took her hands in his own, rubbing them a bit to ease his worry before dropping a thick metallic silver bracelet into her hands. "Hephaestus owed me a favor." He winked at her.
At this precarious time, Cadi knew it was not within her power to ensure her father she would survive whatever prophecy she had to fulfill, even though she wanted to badly. They sat together for an hour, Cadi trying her best to distract her father and her father trying to enjoy what could possibly be the last father-daughter bonding time he had.
Her father's warnings were now a dull ache in Cadi's brain as she journeyed up to the cliffs of the Olympian temples, ready to pay her homage to the Olympian gods and then party with her friends for the rest of the night. Normally, demigods would try to fast forward this process as quickly as possible without coming off as rude. The daughter of Zephyr could already see the last crowd of demigods shuffling off the cliffs as she came up, and they teased her about being such a slow poke.
She never really minded. Even though she would have gladly liked to skip this part of the festival, she would take her time. In fighting monsters, every single second counts and to hesitate for one millisecond could lead to death. Thus, she found it quite satisfying when she stumbled on opportunities to take it easy. To "half-ass" things so to speak, wasn't part of her nature.
She started off praying to Dionysus, thanking him for the joviality of the festival and extending an invitation for him to take part in the merriment, if he felt so inclined.
Each god took up at least five minutes of her time, but Cadi didn't mind. She wasn't in any rush, the party was still going on and would still be going on for the remainder of the night, until dawn at the very least. What Cadi struggled with was coming up with sincere prayers. For some gods prayer came out spontaneously, like Apollo, she could thank for the daily warmth of the sun's rays or something along those lines.
For Aphrodite, she just kneeled dumbly while thinking of something to send to the goddess of beauty. Eventually, Cadi settled down for thanking Aphrodite for the good hair days she had been having lately. Love advice was a usual prayer for Aphrodite, but Cadi wasn't the type to ask for Cupid to shoot an arrow at her crush's behind.
The last goddess was Hera, whom everyone at Camp Eirene found hard to pray to. Her marble status was majestically standing tall and erect. Cadi soaked in the fierce look in Hera's eyes with amazement. She had never noticed that look in the goddess' eyes before.
Hera was the goddess of marriage, mothers, and family. Yet he numerous accounts of her wreaking revenge on her husband's lovers was enough to make every demigod fearful of her. At most, the demigods here would utter a few words under their breath then take off. No one really wanted to get close to this fearsome goddess.
Cadi pitied Hera.
"It must suck," She started out of the blue, not really thinking but just letting her thoughts stream out of her mouth. "Seeing all the other Olympians with many demigod children and knowing you can't have any."
Lightning struck in the distance, which was definitely a sight that Hera was listening and was far from pleased with her comment.
"You must be lonely," Cadi continued nevertheless. "You just want a perfect family. After all, your family has so many problems, but then again which family doesn't have problems? I can sort of understand where you're coming from, Lady Hera."
Now the thunder became more of an agreeing rumble of hesitating agreement.
"I want to thank you for the time I spent with my dad today. I always look forward to his visits," Her expression saddened as she uttered out the last part of her prayer. "And I hope that you could help me forgive my own mother…"
"Cadi! Cadi!" The thundering of steps against the marble caught her attention. She leapt like a child caught in the act of doing something bad. A daughter of Iris stood panting heavily from the excursion she just had to undergo.
"What's up?"
"Cassandra's acting up. She's calling for you."
Cadi Hendrix heaved a big sigh. She was hoping for some down time before another quest. Guess not.
Cadi entered the mysterious tent and was nearly knocked back by the strong fumes. She was always got light headed when she entered the home of the oracle. The fumes of incense and other spices contaminated the clean air in her opinion. But the tent was cozy cramped, with all sorts of ancient Greek treasures of the past that always managed to fascinate Cadi.
"Cassandra, what's up?" Cadi asked, sitting down Indian style on the colorful woven rug. She saw a jar of lotion open and helped herself. Rubbing her hands in circular motion, she inhaled the scent of sweet flowers. Cassandra had always been considerate and left the jar around in case Cadi got overwhelmed by all the pungent smells. She took a breath with her hands cupped around her face, until she decided they were too cool for her liking and warmed them against the fire.
"I think we've got a big oracle with you in it, Cadi." The hippie woman shook her head in distaste, while the beaded waves of her hair also jingled as she shook harder. "You always got a lot of quests. Doesn't do any good, not resting. Messes up your aura." The prophetess had been in the midst of grinding up green tea leaves.
"I guess I'm a favorite hunting dog for the gods." Cadi rolled her eyes. "Everything will be fine, I can handle it."
"A cup of oolong tea should set you up well for this journey." Cassandra nodded. She handed Cadi a few olive branches. "You know the drill."
Cadi tossed them into the fire separating them and clasped her hands together in prayer. "Lord Apollo, I present myself, Cadi Hendrix, a servant before the gods."
The prophetess stood still as her eyes glowed with a brilliant green light and her voice spoke with the voices of priestesses of the past. A hazy mist surrounded them as the prophecy was being proclaimed.
"A child of the West Wind will come forth,
Secrets scattered, tread the path to the evil of the North,
Fall with friends to the cruelties of the depths below,
Divided, the hero will make the very last blow.
Restore the peace of mind of the great,
Lead the unknown hundred in a battle of fate.
Be friend, succeed and earn a seat of wonders
Be foe, lay prisoner in the depths for thine own blunder."
After the prophecy was announced, Cassandra nearly collapsed into the fire pit if Cadi hadn't reached forward to grasp her. Setting the prophetess back in a mountain of pillows, Cadi was about to go consult Chariclo until Cassandra held her back with a grasp of the wrist.
"Do not take this task lightly." The oracle warned.
Cadi exhaled a big breath she had been holding in. "When do I ever?"