I feel weirdly giddy every time I read reviews. Sorry, then, if it's short. Don't have much time...doing proj. for school to post more. Thanks to those who did, by the way!
-The Drummer
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Only my OC, Sienna Harper.
"Damn! WHO DID THIS?" Clarisse shouted, her eyes glinting red.
Some of my siblings cowered. I couldn't blame them, Clarisse was a beast when she wanted to be. (Which, actually, means all the damn time...) She looked at each of us, and when no one answered, growled. She was holding something in her hands, I recognized it as a shield with a wild boar imprinted on it. The boar's eyes were ruby-red and it glared at all of us, as if challenging us to defy it. My face drained of blood. That was the shield Silena used when she…left.
She was probably the most tolerable Aphrodite daughter I've ever met. One of the most beautiful, too. Now, I don't usually use beautiful as a way to describe nearly anything but I dare you to find a word that most suited her. She had long silky black hair the color of ink and olive colored skin that she spent months on until she deemed it flawless. Not an ounce of acne (or facial hair) could be found on her face. Her eyes were stunning cobalt that shone with absolute mirth. She helped Chris Rodriguez, a son of Hermes, and my sister Clarisse get together and ever since, Clarisse was her personal body-guard and best friend.
"I'll take it to the forges, Clarisse." I volunteered. Clarisse's head snapped towards me, she raised an eyebrow questioningly before grudgingly giving me the dented shield. I handled it carefully, knowing full-well that if I even so much as scratch it, I'd be sleeping with the fishes. And Percy wasn't here to translate what they're saying for me.
I cursed.
I almost dropped it. Clarisse glared at me.
"Be careful." She growled, ready to snatch the celestial bronze shield away from me any minute. I gulped. "Yeah," I assured her. "Don't worry." She gave me a look that practically screamed, "You better be!" and let go.
"Butt-kisser!" One of my brothers hissed, scowling at me. I bared my teeth at him (He knew full well that butt-kissery was something we all did from time to time-I mean, I don't do butt-kissery!) and gave him a Don't-Mess-With-Me look that I learned to imitate from Clarisse. Needless to say, he backed off.
I was walking near the Hephaestus Cabin when I saw the new determined demigod, Leo. Will was showing him his cabin when I overheard what they were talking about.
"That old lady…" Leo started, "What's she doing here?"
Now, I lived in camp for almost half of my life. Starting from when my mother sent me here when I was nine after my first monster attack, and I've never seen, nor have I heard of, an old lady or any adult besides the gods and Chiron that could come here. Much less stand at the middle of camp. Will tried to follow his gaze but I guess he didn't see her because he said,
"What old lady?"
I looked where Leo was looking and gasped. Standing there was a woman-an old woman-,just like what Leo said. She had intense dark eyes that seemed to look into the very core of your soul-I was lucky she wasn't looking at me-and thin leathery skin. She wore some kind of black dress with a shawl over her head. Who was she?
"Dude, the old lady. The one in black. How many old ladies do you see?" Leo stated, still staring at the woman in black. Guess you're not alone, buddy. I see her, too, I thought. I didn't get to see Will's reaction because I was blinking profusely. I wanted to see if she'd disappear. Unfortunately, she didn't.
"I think you've had a long day, Leo. The Mist could still be playing tricks on your mind. How about we head straight to your cabin now?" Will said. That freaked me out even more because I'm sure as Hades that this wasn't the Mist. Gods, I hope it is.
I started walking away, carefully avoiding looking at the woman in black. If you don't see her, she doesn't see you. I was afraid she'd look at me like she was looking at Leo. It was creepy and I was still hoping that she wasn't real and I've just inhaled something that Leo somehow inhaled, too. I passed by the two boys and heard Leo say,
"Just messing with you, man…" But I blocked out the rest because I was sorely hoping that I was messing with me, too. I was tempted to go up to him and tell him that I saw her as well, but I didn't want to make a fool of myself, what if he really was messing with Will? Gods, I wish it was that easy.
Suddenly, a weird shiver ran down my entire body and I stopped walking. My body seamed to move on its own accord and turned towards the place where the woman was. My breathing hitched. There was the woman and she was looking at me. She slowly opened her mouth and green smoke poured out, like when the Oracle would when issuing a new prophecy. But this time was way creepier.
She spoke in an old raspy voice, the kind of sound you'd expect to come from an old broken radio,
"Help them, demigod…" She started. My whole body shook-she was addressing me. "Help them free me from my prison…Help…them…" She spoke before slowly disappearing.
When she left, I suddenly gained control of my body and in my haste, I staggered back and fell to the ground. My mouth was wide open and so were my eyes, I quickly stood up and ran towards the Big House. I was praying to any god who was listening, that Annabeth or Chiron should be there. I was clutching Silena's shield like it was my life line, my knuckles were white from nerves.
I stopped in front of the door to compose myself, I was still a little shaken but Annabeth wouldn't like it if I just barged in without notice. I was about to knock when I heard what they were talking about. I wasn't sure why I decided to listen in but I did. Maybe because I had a sister who was dating a guy who was practically a world-class snoop and was forced to acknowledge his existence like everyone else because he was a living proof that Ares kids actually did have a heart. (And it was Clarisse who showed this, kind of ironic, huh?)
"A prophecy?" A voice I recognized as Chiron's said. What? Another prophecy? The gods have so many problems.
"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me." I heard Rachel say. A clear-sighted mortal who had red hair, a freckled face and green eyes. She's the new Oracle of Delphi, starting from a few months ago when Apollo asked her and she agreed. She gives us prophecies when we need it or just randomly recites it whenever. Either way, she's the one responsible for giving us our rhymes of death.
"Chiron, what happened back there-I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her-" Annabeth was talking frantically but was cut off. My heart pounded against my chest. What were they talking about? Older woman? Was it possible that the old woman that they were talking about was Leo's old lady? She talked to them, too?
"To free her from prison?" A boy's voice, one I recognized as Jason's-a "new arrival"-,supplied. My breathing hitched. Free her from prison? That's what she told me…she told me that I should help them. Help who? Piper? Jason?
Annabeth's voice interrupted my thoughts, "How did you know that?"
Jason began explaining what happened a few minutes ago. At every word that came out of his mouth, I became more and more anxious. Goat skin? I never heard of that in Greek mythology. But, what the woman told him, to free her from prison…does that mean I have to, too? I felt a rush of excitement that seemed to come whenever I was in battle, some people call it adrenaline rush. But Ares' kids are much, much, worse.
They continued talking but what they were discussing didn't prove much interest to me, not until Jason said something that made me drop Silena's shield and probably get mauled by Clarisse,
"She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice-" That had done it, a flurry of emotions erupted inside of me which made me drop the shield. The room instantly silenced and I heard multiple shuffling. I picked up the shield immediately, ready to turn around, when the door opened and lo and behold, Annabeth.
"Harper? What're you doing here?" She asked me, accusation written all over her voice. Normally, I would've been offended and pointed it out but this wasn't normal. I forced myself to look at her dead in the eye. "I was looking for Nyssa." I said smoothly, lying had been one of the traits I picked up from Chris. And, I must say, I'm good at it. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Didn't you know she was in the forges?" She eyed the shield in my hand, obviously not believing me. "I didn't remember. Thanks…" I said, starting to walk away. But Annabeth stopped me. I cursed under my breath; I knew thanking her was overkill.
"You're a natural liar. A little stiff but a natural, nonetheless." She said. I gulped. Please… "How much did you hear, Sienna?" She demanded, I turned to face her and forced my face to show confusion. I'm not going down without a fight.
"What do you mean, Annabeth? Something you're not telling the camp?" I asked, the question was the most normal I could think of. Meaning: not normal, at all. I saw her grit her teeth and her jaw tensed. She was angry. I guess Percy's disappearance and Jason's arrival was finally getting to her. I am so dead.
"I know you didn't come here because of Nyssa." She stated matter-of-factly. I furrowed my brow. Rule number one, Chris had said, never admit your crime. And that's exactly what I was going to do. I stood there, my face calculated to look puzzled.
"No…I'm pretty sure I came here because of Nyssa, Annabeth. You see, Silena's shield was dented." I told her slowly, as if I was talking to a toddler who couldn't accept that she couldn't have a cookie anymore. I even showed her the shield more clearly to prove my point. She gave me a suspicious look, a look that said she didn't believe what I had said one bit. Damn Athena for producing a girl like Annabeth.
As soon as I thought that, thunder boomed. But Annabeth didn't seem to mind, her eyes flashed with anger for a moment but she didn't seem to care. Maybe it was because they were being silent but a tiny ounce of disrespect and they go wild. I must admit, I'm hating the gods more.
"You better get that shield to the forges, Harper," Annabeth said, giving up. It took all the willpower I had not to go wide-eyed. Annabeth never gives up. Never. "You know how important that is to the Ares and Aphrodite cabins." She said, a little more softly now, before closing the door. A stood there for a moment, not believing what just occurred. I snapped out of it after a few minutes then walked away.
I looked at the shield. Oh gods, Silena. I remembered how much trouble she caused for Clarisse and Chris. Nevertheless, she was okay.
More than okay, actually.
She led our cabin to war when Clarisse wouldn't. Probably the bravest but most troublesome Aphrodite kid ever. She was a hero.
No. I could practically hear her reprimanding me. I smiled. A beautiful hero, then.
Better. I looked at the shield in my hands. In Elysium and still causing trouble.
I can see why Clarisse liked you, Beauregard.
