Through the steps of a deceived and reborn hero,
to the realm with prisoners of eternity.
Bronze and iron, a quiver of arrows,
two sons and two daughters of Greek shall retrieve.
Lose one to the raging sea,
a trick of the eyes that will deceive.
Return later than the solstice,
and the deaths won't be reprieved.
Those words played on repeat in my head. Since the Oracle looked straight at me during the whole prophecy, it was nearly unanimous that I would lead the quest. I hadn't even been in camp for a day, and I was leading a quest? There were some people against that, and I agreed. Not having proper skills with a sword, I probably couldn't even protect myself, much less a whole group of demigods.
Because I wasn't familiar with the members of the camp, I was given another three days to choose my three other companions. There would be one more girl, whom I've decided to be Annabeth. She helped me as soon as I got to camp, and she was really smart. She accepted, thankfully.
Next, I asked Nico. Being my half brother, he was someone I could trust. He shared similar problems with me, and I didn't want to talk to more people. He didn't seem eager to go, but he accepted too.
There was only one more spot left according to the prophecy. Two sons and two daughters; I had two daughters but only one son. I consulted Annabeth about this problem.
"'Return later than the solstice, and the deaths won't be reprieved…'" Annabeth was saying. "Again, it's the solstice. Deaths? And 'Lose one to the raging sea…' Surely it doesn't mean…"
I understood what she was trying to say. "Annabeth, if you're worried about this quest, I don't want to force you to go."
"No, I will go. But it doesn't necessarily imply that someone will die. There have been many instances where… people have the wrong idea of what a prophecy implies. Hopefully, we're wrong about this one too. So what did you come for?"
"I was wondering if you could help me decide on who the last person in this quest should be. Can you help?"
Annabeth grimaced. "That's hard, I-"
"Annabeth!" a voice called, and a guy with dark hair and green eyes appeared, whom I recognized as the infamous Percy Jackson.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain."
"You're going on the quest, aren't you?" he accused, eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Annabeth said, but Percy wasn't convinced.
"You promised me that you wouldn't make me worry," he murmured, stroking Annabeth's hair.
"You don't have to worry," Annabeth said, wrapping her arms around his waist. I was starting to feel like an invisible third wheel.
Percy took his hand out of Annabeth's hair. "You're going to leave me for who knows how long, and you expect me to not worry? I would follow you there even if the gods themselves came to stop me."
"As if you can get anywhere without my help!" Annabeth teased. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"It's going to be dangerous, Annabeth. I'll go in your place."
Annabeth sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, you know the rules. I chose to go." I knew this was becoming more and more private, so I left as silently as I could.
There was some kind of archery practice going on, but I was too nervous about the quest. I decided to practice shadow traveling. Nico showed me once, but there wasn't much to learn from seeing.
I concentrated on an image of the strawberry fields. Trying to blend in with the shadows, I shut my eyes and exhaled. There was a cool feeling of movement, and I was in the strawberry fields.
"I did it!" I cheered to myself. But my arms were weak and my legs were heavy. I should be able to do this again, I thought. After another attempt, I returned in my cabin.
I collapsed on my coffin-bed with satisfaction. Not bothering to change, I got under my covers, prepared to take a long nap.
"Your shadow traveling skills are remarkable," Nico said.
"Gah!" I shrieked (embarrassingly).
Nico seemed amused, which annoyed me to great lengths. "Don't just appear out of nowhere," I grumbled.
"Actually, you appeared out of nowhere." I glared at him, and he quickly changed the topic. "Anyways, have you found the last person in your quest yet?"
My slight euphoria from shadow traveling disappeared. "I'm not even close. I didn't meet many new people today." It wasn't the whole truth, in fact, I met no new people.
"That's fine, you want to go on a quest with people you already know and trust. So why don't you choose someone that you already know pretty well?"
The problem was, I only knew Nico and Annabeth, I thought. I knew some other people from brief introductions, but not well. "I know Percy Jackson, sort of," I said, thinking about the brief encounter where he didn't even look at me.
Nico's permanently sour expression lit up, if only for a millisecond. "That would be awesome!" He seemed to realize what he said. "I mean, for Annabeth," he added hastily.
I didn't want to admit it, but I was slightly intimidated by Percy. Probably because I had never actually talked to him, and because of the aura he had, one that demanded respect. "Nico, do you want to ask him?"
"No," he said quickly. "You should go, because… you're leading the quest."
With a bit of trepidation, I set off to the third cabin. I knocked, hoping he was there. No one answered, so I wandered to Athena's cabin. He and Annabeth were standing in front of the blue and gold building.
"Hi Annabeth!" I said in a squeaky voice. Do you mind if I take your boyfriend on this dangerous quest too? I thought. "Hi Percy!"
"Hello, Elaine," Annabeth said. "I was just going to look for you, there's something I need to ask you."
That caught me off guard. I had been rehearsing a mini-speech on the way there, but this unexpected event knocked the words out of my mouth. "Sure… go ahead."
"I would like for Percy to come with us on the quest," she stated. Her words seemed strained somehow, as if she knew something awful was going to happen.
Relieved that I wouldn't have to make further interactions with Percy, I agreed easily. "I'd love to have Percy go." Distracted by my relief, I didn't see Annabeth's eyes welling with tears, or Percy's nervous glances at his girlfriend.