Still Match 1st
Percy's point of view
"Welcome back to Camp Half Blood Percy. We've been expecting you."
I turned around to face the amused smirk of the daughter of Zeus.
"Haha, very funny Thalia."
Thalia had a hand on her hip and the other dangling to her side. Her hair was pulled up in a pony-tail, with the exception of the blue-highlighted bangs hanging in her eyes. She had on her usual clothing that would make most little kids cry, a black T-shirt that, in big red letters read 'GOOD-BYE KITTY' and had a picture design of hello kitty as a zombie, along with skull printed red capris and silver boots.
"So I didn't freak you out, not even a little?" She pouted, but it was obviously fake.
I chuckled. "Next time hold in your laughter till after you've attempted to scare someone."
"Aw, but I couldn't resist! Seeing you and Nico call flat on your face is enough to make anyone bust a gut!
"I resent that!" Nico called.
Thalia and I started laughing, and Nico glared at us once he got up off the ground, but the grass in his hair just made us laugh harder. He tried to keep an angry face, but eventually started chuckling, then finally started laughing uncontrollably with us. Man, I missed these guys.
We stopped laughing after a few minutes due to the amount of odd stares we got from the other campers.
"So, Thalia, do you know why we're here?" I asked.
"Nope. All Chiron said was to get the heads of the cabins here for a meeting."
I sighed. "Typical."
Thalia shrugged. "Eh, you get used to it over time."
"Be that as it may, it never gets any less aggravating."
Nico and Thalia laughed at my comment.
oOoOoOoOo
When we got to the Big House, I wasn't surprised to see most of the other campers already there.
Annabeth scolded us for being late but still gave my a side hug when we arrived. Clarisse smirked at me, and pointed the knife she was currently polishing in my direction. I smirked back and nodded. That was our way of saying 'Sparing match afterwards?' The Stole's didn't even notice us come in. Travis was too busy flirting with Katie and Conner was laughing at him being turned down. Drew was to busy filing her nails to acknowledge us, and Jake grinned and looked up from the new invention he was working on. Will smiled at us. I even saw Grover sitting beside Mr. D. He waved enthusiastically and Mr. D simply grunted and got back to his diet coke.
Chiron sat at the head of the table (read: Ping-Pong table) in his wheelchair form.
"Ah, hello children, I'm pretty sure your wondering why I called you here."
I mentally screamed 'Yes' but didn't want to be rude and interrupt.
"Well, it wasn't really my doing, but more like our Oracles wish." He said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, you mean Rachel?"
Chiron gestured to the corner of the room where a girl with Fiery red hair stood with her arms crossed and a sketchbook tucked under her right arm.
"How did we not see her standing there?" Thalia asked.
"Don't worry, none of us noticed either." Annabeth said, examining the wall behind her and trying to figure out how she could sneak in without anybody seeing her.
Rachel's red hair was braided over her shoulder with random strands sticking out over her face and shoulders. She was still in her school uniform, even with he book bag hung over her shoulder. I wondered how she could have gotten from her school in New Hampshire to camp in such a short amount of time, but I decided not to question it, seeing as this was the girl to hijacked my Pegasus a while back.
"So, wait a minute." Clarisse said. "You said that this was going to be a war meeting, meaning that something bad is happening, and now your saying that we're here because Red over there wanted us to be here?"
Chiron looked at her. "From the way Miss Rachel describe the situation she believes we are in, I had every right to call a war meeting."
"Oh, for the love of the gods, please tell us what's going on, the suspense is killing me!" Thalia said what I thing we all were thinking.
"I think Olympus is in trouble." Rachel said from her corner.
"Olympus is always in trouble!" Travis said.
"Yeah, what else in new?" Conner replied.
Katie smacked both of there heads.
"This is not the 'In Trouble' that we're used to, however. Olympus itself won't be effected as much as the Olympians will."
"Okay, I'm confused." I said.
"That's a shock." Clarisse said. I glared at her.
"What do you mean by that? Like, do you mean the Olympians or-"
"What Miss Rachel believes is, someone is trying to steal the nectar and ambrosia supply of Olympus." Chiron interrupted.
All our eyes widened.
"Exactly." Rachel said. "Now, I'm not a demigod, but I know enough to know you guys get hurt." Her eyes darted to me. "A lot."
"How can you be sure this is actually happening?" Jake asked.
Rachel tossed her sketchbook over to him, and he was barely able to catch it before it hit the table. He opened it and placed the sketchbook in the center so we could all see it.
It was a drawing of a monsters silhouette, and even though it looked extremely realistic its body was made up of Greek words and terms, most of them simple objects like 'gold' or 'spear'. The monster itself was huge, red skin and blank black eyes. I was only seen in shadow so I couldn't make out any details.
"So, is this supposed to be the monster that wants to steal the nectar and ambrosia?" Will asked, leaning over the table to get a better look.
"Yes." Chiron said.
"I've never seen a monster like this." Clarisse examined. "How do you know this type of thing even exist?"
"Oh, it exist." Chiron confirmed. "They're called Trollia's."
"What the Hades are Trollia's?" Travis asked.
"Please don't use my dads name as a curse word!"
"Trollia's are monsters who, at birth, absorb an object and become fused with that object, creating their appearance as strange and repulsive. They are usually very peaceful with the Olympians, which is why demigods don't hear about them often." Chiron explained.
"Then why are they causing trouble now?" Thalia asked.
"I don't know, but their trouble making started about three months ago when demigods started going missing."
"So they were kidnapping half-bloods, and now they want to steal the main healing element for Olympus." I recalled. "But that doesn't make any scenes! What possible motive could they have to gain from all this?"
"That's the thing, we don't know."
"The motive doesn't matter." Rachel said, placing her hands on the table. "What matters is that if nectar and Ambrosia are stolen, it means a lot of demigods will die. I mean, the healing abilities of the Apollo cabin are amazing, but sometimes it's not enough, and lets face it, most of you would be dead right now had it not been for nectar or ambrosia."
There were murmurs in agreement.
"So, what are we going to do?" Drew asked, being the first time she lifted her head from her nails since this meeting started.
Chiron looked at Rachel. "My dear, I believe that is your cue."
She nodded, then suddenly her eyes lit up green and the mossy green fog circled around her. Her mouth opened, and the immortal voice of The Oracle came out.
"The bond of strength, and speed and stealth unite
A mortal relative of strength shall join the fight.
A lair of thieves rest beyond the sea
where a brother a sister pay a painful fee.
A cheater of death given a secret of life
a skill discovered at the hands of a knife.
When all seems lost, say a final word
and the reason of fate will finally be heard."
Rachel collapsed in a nearby chair, her eyes returning back to the usual emerald green.
"Well, I think we have a quest." Katie said, leaning back in her chair.
Clarisse smirked. "Strength, speed and stealth, huh. Well, I think we all know who the strength is." She threw her head back smugly.
"Now wait a second." Annabeth said. "The prophecy said that the three share a bond, and lets face it Clarisse, you don't have a bond with anybody."
Her nose scrunched up in Annabeths direction. "Well, who do you think should go on this quest blondie?"
Suddenly eyes traveled over to where Nico, Thalia and I were sitting.
"Why are you all looking at us?" Thalia asked.
"Well, you three do share a strong bond." Annabeth said.
"And, Thalia, speed. Lightning tends to be fast. So, that rules you in for that category." Will said. Thalia grunted, leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and sighed.
"Nico, Stealth is practically the same as being sneaky." Conner pointed out. "And if anyone is sneaky, its you. I still don't know how you suddenly appeared behind me literally right after I entered my cabin."
Nico blushed, which showed up brightly on his pale skin.
"And Percy, you have saved Olympus more times than Travis can count." Katie said, pointing her thumb to the son of Hermes sitting beside her.
"Yeah!" Travis agreed. "Wait...hey!"
I looked at Nico and Thalia. We all starred at each other for a few seconds as if reading each others mind, and we all nodded.
"Alright, we're in."
"Okay, now that that's settled..." Drew said, starting to stand up from the table but got pulled back down by Jake.
"Now wait a minute, there still that one line, 'A mortal relative of strength shall join the fight.' Who's the mortal?" He looked at me, but I shrugged.
"Hey, maybe its Rachel." Conner said. "Didn't you two have something going on?"
"NO!" Rachel, Annabeth and I said simultaneously.
Grover looked at me from across the table. "Percy, I think the mortal might be..." he trailed off and gave me a look that said I should know what he's talking about.
I did. "Oh no. No no no no no. No way."
Annabeth had caught on and placed her hand on top if mine. "Percy, I think Grover might be right."
"Its not happening." I said. "I'm not putting her in that kind of danger."
"What are you people talking about?" Clarisse asked.
Thalia, who had also caught on, sighed. "Mirra."
"Who's Mirra?" Jake asked.
"My sister."
Mirra Blofis Jackson. She's Paul's daughter from before he married my mom. Her mother died in the car crash that put Mirra in a coma for three years. Mirra is 8 years old, with beautiful hazel eyes and strawberry blond hair that, at one point only went down to her shoulders but since she's been growing it out, reaches the small of her back. She looks like a normal 8 year old girl, but she's very intelligent and, when given a sword, can kill a monsters almost as good as a demigod.
"Oh yeah, little Merrie!" Travis said and looking at Conner, who smiled and nodded. (Now that I think about it, I don't think they've ever met my sister, at least not when I was around. I'll have to ask them about that later.)
"Percy, I do believe Grover is correct on this." Chiron said. "Mirra is part of this quest."
"But that can't be right! I mean, she's only 8, and-"
"And can kill monsters with only her first time using a sword." Annabeth pointed out.
"Your not helping." I whispered.
"I like this girl already." Clarisse mumbled.
I sighed. "Okay, so lets just say Mirra is part of this quest, I still don't think its a good idea."
"Percy, I'll be okay. You'll be there to protect her." Annabeth said.
"Yeah! And I will to!" Thalia said. "No way anything's happening to my little sister!"
I crossed my arms. "Fine, I suppose that makes me feel a little better."
Chiron cleared his throat. "Okay, Percy, Nico, Thalia. You leave tomorrow. Percy, if you want you can return home to fetch your sister."
I nodded.
And the meeting was adjourned.
Mirra appears in the next chapter!
