I pressed in Rachel's number quickly, and impatiently tapped the bright red sides of the English-style phone booth I was standing in. The dial tone's low hum echoed in the telephone's speakers for a good few seconds, and shortly afterwards someone picked up the phone.
"This is the Dare residence," a nasally voice spoke. I paused for a second. What was I supposed to say? Rachel was part of a rich family, so that must have been one of her butlers.
"Hello. May I speak to Rachel, please?" I asked awkwardly. I'm not one with much courtesy, if you must know.
"Yes, you may. I will go and fetch her," the voice stated curtly. The phone was put on hold, and I was once again held waiting. I gulped at the thought of how much this could cut into my battling practice, but I continued to stand. This was too important to simply hang up on.
"Hello?" a familiar voice spoke.
"Rachel? Is that you?" I replied really intelligently.
"Of course it is," said Rachel. I could feel her voice ease as she recognized who I was. "What do you want? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I have a favor to ask you. I had a weird dream and I have a feeling that it may involve a prophecy," I replied simply.
"Oh," her voice faltered. "Look, I'd be happy to help you, but I haven't felt anything strange. If there really were a prophecy, it would've shown itself by now, and you would kn-"
Rachel's voice faded, and then eventually came to a stop. I was clutching the phone apprehensively. I had no idea what had happened to Rachel or why she decided to just stop the conversation. Then my brilliantly quick mind just realized what it was.
The prophecy.
"The victor of the quest preceding,
shall not leave in triumph in this meeting.
To teach a lesson to the tyrant is a goal,
the factor that will save them as a whole."
Rachel was breathing heavily on the other line. "W-what just happened to me?" she murmured. "Did I just give you a prophecy? Gods, I can never get used to that. Being an oracle is tough."
"I'm sure it is," I replied. "I know this is, well, rude, but I have to go. I'll fill you in on the details when I find them."
"Okay, well, talk to you later," she said sadly. I felt real bad about that, but I had a negative feeling that this quest-or whatever it was-was going to have to take place soon.
I woke the next morning, feeling normal, strangely enough. The sun was rising in a palette of pink, yellow, and blue hues. It seemed like the typical summer sunrise. That boosted my confidence some, so I hopped out of bed and prepared for the day, which mainly consisted of archery practice and caring for Mrs. O'Leary, my hellhound. It's a long story about how I got her.
After getting dressed, I raced down to where all of the other campers were. Kids from the Athena and Apollo cabins were already there. Annabeth smiled at me. She was wearing her Yankees cap, and the usual orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. "How'd the call yesterday go?" was the first thing that escaped her mind as I sat down next to her.
"I got the prophecy, but I don't really understand it…" I began shamefully.
Annabeth laughed. "'Course you don't, Seaweed Brain," she responded. "Tell me what it was." I explained what happened, and I told her the prophecy word for word.
She scratched her head and furrowed her brow. "I think it's easier to decipher than the other one," she said finally. "You're going to have to face whatever she throws at you. I'm guessing things will go smoothly even if you lose, like I said yesterday."
"Makes it so much more clear, thanks," I replied sarcastically.
"No problem," she smiled. Annabeth put her hand on my arm. "We're here for you, don't worry. All of us. You've saved all of humanity before, and we trust you to do exactly that this time," her eyes were shining, and she had a trace of wistfulness in her voice.
"Wow. A compliment." I stared up at the gloomy gray sky. The slight breeze told me that there would be heavy showers soon. And I'm not kidding about that. So we headed towards wherever we needed to go, and the day carried along as planned.
Later in the day, we were called to the bonfire area. The flames were burning high, the warm coals occasionally scattering about due to the extreme humidity. After Dionysus finished kindling the fire, he cleared his throat.
"Attention, all campers," he began, "We have another one of you joining us tonight. Apparently someone found her loitering around the camp grounds." He paused. Seemingly out of nowhere, a girl with long, curly brown hair and bright amber eyes stepped into the lighted area. The girl looked as if she were twelve or thirteen. She wasn't making eye contact with anyone, and I assumed she was too shy to speak.
"I would like for you all to welcome the newest member of the camp, Victoria." She reluctantly sat in an empty spot on the ground.
"Wonder whose kid that is," I whispered quietly to Annabeth. She simply shrugged and turned her attention towards the girl once again.
Dionysus gave me the evil eye, motioning to me that I should refrain from talking. "No words from your mouth until I am finished. Understand, Peter Johnson?" he inquired. Dionysus was forced by Zeus to work at the camp as punishment, and it was clear as day that he hated every second of it.
After he finished announcing all of the news, we spent the next half hour talking leisurely with each other. It was not until near bedtime when a strange light appeared above Victoria's head. Everyone noticed and looked in her direction. Victoria noticed seconds after, and looked above precariously.
It was a shimmering sign, a symbol of a god or goddess, I later came to realize. A deity was claiming the young child as their own. It looked like a crown of leaves, or one of the objects that a victor of an Olympic event would receive. "Impossible," murmured Chiron.
Chiron stood up and announced, "Attention, all. We can now declare that Victoria is the child of…Nike, the goddess of victory." There was a huge moment of silence. I guess that no one really knew much about her.
I gulped, startled and appalled. Annabeth looked at me, her face pale; expressing feelings of worry and confusion. We both had a bad feeling about what this meant.
"Dear gods," I could hear Chiron mutter under his breath. "Now it is time. All campers must go to their cabins and prepare themselves for bed. Perseus, you and Annabeth stay behind. I need to speak with you…about some important matters," his voice boomed. "Victoria, stay with Dionysus and he will inform you on what you should do."
"If you insist," Dionysus complained. He led Victoria to the main center, probably to tell her everything about our camp.
All campers stood up and retreated to their cabins-except for Annabeth and me, of course. When the campgrounds cleared, Chiron headed towards us. "Now, Perseus-If I am correct, your conversation from a day earlier-it was about the newcomer's parent, was it not?" he said calmly.
"Y-yes," I stuttered in reply. "I forgot to tell you about it. I received a prophecy from the oracle, and it was about Nike, sir."
Chiron had an unreadable expression on his face. "Tell me," he decided. "What did this prophecy contain?"
I told him everything. Annabeth informed him on her theory, plus the information I stupidly forgot. Chiron still appeared cool and collected, but we all knew this was a serious matter.
"I am not sure, but I have a foreboding feeling that this girl who, strangely enough, arrives the day after you are informed about the prophecy is a key element in our problem. That is what I have contemplated, however this girl may be innocent and we cannot immediately blame her," Chiron finished, with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
Annabeth stared at me and nodded slightly, telling me that she agreed with Chiron. I nodded back, acknowledging her opinion, silently concurring with them as well. "We agree," Annabeth said. "We'll just have to wait and see what kind of girl Victoria is. The prophecy will unfold sometime."
Chiron nodded brusquely. "Keep an eye on Victoria. Do not act hostile, but do not create a strong bond with her. We do not know for sure if she has motives similar to these at all. I've had little experience with Nike, but I do know her one goal is to win. She will play dirty to remain victorious; however she does not always technically win. "
Annabeth and I exchanged looks. We both knew that we were going to help each other in this mission. After a few seconds, Chiron instructed for us to go to our cabins and go to bed. Annabeth stood next to me and gently grasped my hand. She said quietly, "We're in this together." We relished those couple of seconds together in peace.
I grinned wearily as I headed towards my cabin. Hopefully things were going to work out for Annabeth and me.