Chapter 4: Promises to a Baby Horse
Now it used to be that the Oracle was an old mummy in the attic of the Big House. Now the spirit of the Oracle rests in the soul of a mid-thirties woman named Rachel Dare. The problem was she was
stationed at our recently made west camp about thirty miles from where we were. The problem was that if you wanted to get to the west camp you had to walk. There was no road or path to take it
was just a long stretch of forest behind the capture the flag area. I was not looking forward to this. Before we could set out, Chiron insisted we have a council meeting. All meetings were held in the
big house.
"We've got to save those campers!" Jeff head councler of Apollo cabin declared,
"And how do you suppose we do that?" James replied sharply, "Ouranous is the father of the titans; there's no way a bunch of Demigods can stand up to his full power."
"Maybe if we hit him with everything we have..." Jeff began,
"No! It won't work!" James snapped
"Even so!" Herman from Ares cabin declared "Will we let our friends suffer torture and death to the monsters that lie within the bowels of Tartarus? No! We must fight no matter the odds against us
We are heroes, so let us act as heroes!"
I nodded in agreement and in wonder. A son of Ares had never spoke with such wisdom and power.
"And so," Herman continued, "Since the children of Athena are too frightened to go on this mission, then I will!"
"I will go too!" I volunteered,
"Pipe down Jackson!" Otis from Hephaestus cabin replied "You are not even a demigod, besides you had your round with Ouranous and you failed!"
I balled my fists "At least I tried!" I said angrily "Where were you, playing with your stupid trinkets!?"
"We don't have time to bicker amongst ourselves." Chiron interceded "Now Otis, AJ has trained all of his life for this chance, and this is it. I say he desrves to lead this quest."
"Bah!" said Mr.D "He is not even a half-blood. How could he possibly defeat Ouranus? He can't even win a game of capture the flag."
"It doesn't matter." Chiron replied coolly "AJ doesn't just have a point to prove, his parents are in danger as well!"
"Why would that make a difference?" Mr.D responded,
"He's highly experienced, probably the best since his father! This quest needs him."
"Fine! Mr.D surrendered, "The boy can go, but I leave you PJ..."
"AJ," I corrected
"CJ, with this reminder, if you fail the consquences will be fatal to us all."
"AJ, which companions will you take?" Chiron asked,
I thought about this question, "This quest is different." I said "I think I need one member from each cabin."
"There he goes!" Mr.D complained "Breaking all the ancient laws just like his parents did!"
"I suppose you're right." Chiron said ignoring Mr.D's complaints "That means all that are here shall go. Now once you are ready make for the west camp. There you will consult the Oracle and hopefully
the Minor gods' children will want to help out too, this meeting is adjourned."
I packed rather fast, a pack of fresh clothes, two bottles of water, a baggie of ambrosia, and a canteen of nectar. No one was quite ready yet, so I went down to the stables. This was one of Jordan's
favorite places. Thanks to her, all of the pegasi got a good meal every day. As usual the stables reeked distantly of poop and hay. When I was in sight, the pegasi were all a little shocked to see me
instead of Jordan.
"Um my lord, where is the master?" one of them asked
"Yes!" another agreed "Master smells good, like perfume!"
"Well it's nice to see you too guys." I said going for the horse feed.
"No offence meant my lord, but we much prefer our master."
I didn't have the heart to tell them what really happened to Jordan. I just told them she went away for a while.
"Like a vacation!" one of them said exited!
"Yeah," I lied "Something like that." I poured the feed into their bowls, and I filled their water buckets. At the very back of the stables was Jordan's very own pegasus. It was given to her as a gift for
the charity work she did with all of them everyday. Her pegasus was rather little because it was born only a few months after Jordan came here two years ago. Her name was Penelope.
"Hi little one." I said trying to smile and give her the feed."
She looked at the food, and then at me, "Why did master leave without saying good bye?" she asked
Uh-oh, I thought in my head so I thought up something "You know what" I said "She said she had to leave in a , so she told me to tell you that she loves you very much, and that she will miss you and
will see you in a couple of days. Oh and she told me to give you this." I stretched out my hand and there were two sugar cubes in them. She ate them happily.
"You are a good boy AJ." she said "giving me messages and all." I smiled, and adjusted the strap on my bag. Penelope noticed, "Are you going aways too?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah," I said "I'll make sure the other campers look out for you." Penelope looked up from her bowl gratefully. "Well I have to go," I said
"Ok, have fun on your va- va-"
"Vacation?" I offered,
"Yes,"
"Ok thanks," I said going for the door,
"And AJ?" she said, I looked back "Will you promise to take me on a vacation one day?"
"I promise," I said smiling, but inside my brain was like "LIAR LIAR LIAR!" Then I turned to leave. Twilight was now approaching, and I knew we had to leave soon. I made my way up to the cabins
where now mostly everyone was assembled. Only Telemachus from Hermes cabin and Lauren from Aphrodite cabin were not ready. I walked over to Chiron.
"You ready for your first quest?" he asked,
"I hope so." I said
"Well you're on the clock now AJ. Now I must tell you something, Ouranous couldn't have come to this world unless the sky hit the ground somewhere, my guess is Mt. Tamalpais."
"Doesn't Atlas hold up the sky there?" I asked
"Yes AJ, your parents have fought him before, but this... Not even Atlas would give up his load and allow Ouranous to escape."
"How come?" I asked "Ouranous and Atlas are both evil"
"No AJ," Chiron said, "In the first ever struggle of power, the titans sought to overthrow Ouranous, their father, for he had thrown their brothers into Tartarus merely because they were ugly."
"That's awful!" I commented,
"Yes AJ it is, now Atlas and the other titans all banded together to fight him, but none prevailed."
"Then how did they win?" I asked
"I'm getting to that part be patient." Chiron said a little annoyed, "My father Kronos was the titans' only hope, and he wielded a scythe. Kronos stood against his father and defeated him. Kronos was
then king and Ouranous lie broken and weak. Now as you know, Kronos became corrupted by his power, and the Gods revolted against him, and when the gods won Atlas's punishment was to hold
upp the sky so Ouranous may never return. For even Atlas knew that if Ouranous ever returned, not only would the gods be destroyed, but so would he for his treason against him."
"Then what could have happened?" I asked
"I don't know." Chiron admitted "But in case you fight Ouranous again, I want to give you this." Chiron held out a sheathed sword about five feet long.
"But I don't need a sword, I have Riptide."
"Anaklusmos is a good companion in battle, but to face Ouranous you will need yet another cursed blade." I unsheathed the sword. The blade was bizarre. It had a celestial bronze side and a steel side.
"Its name is Backbiter." Chiron said
"I know this blade." I said quietly "Mom used to tell me stories of it when she told me about her adventures. This is the sword of Luke Castellan, the sword of Kronos."
"Then you would remember this blade's origins?" Chiron asked
"Yes," I said "This sword is the same stuff that was in Kronos' scythe."
"Exactly." Chiron said, "This is Ouranous's bane, his only weakness." I took the sword and strapped it to my waist. Chiron then wished me good luck and trotted off. I looked back and noticed
Telemechaus was now ready.
"Where is Lauren?" I asked a little annoyed,
"Probably still packing her Italian shoes and eyeliner." Hermen joked, Telemechus and Belerius from Diyonysus cabin laughed.
"Oh my gods! We have to leave now! We have less then three days!" I said angrily and marched off toward Aphrodite cabin. I knocked on the door. Lauren answered with a facemask. "Oh hi Aj what's up? Lauren asked,
"Whats up? really? I said "We're about to leave and you- you are-"
"Prettying up for the big quest what's the big deal?"
"We have three days, plus why would you care how you looked, we won't be doing anything great for the next couple days."
"You always have to be prepared, if a cute spirit or god comes along.
"Are you kidding me? Ok you are done so clean that stuff off your face we are leaving."
"Ok! Ok!" Lauren said "I'll be out in a sec." A few minutes later she came out with five bags.
"Are you really going to carry all of those?" I asked,
"Well I was hoping you would carry a few." She said and then gave me the puppy dog eyes look.
"Yeahhh- no that only works when- Never mind."
"When what? Lauren persisted
"I said never mind, now put all of those back, and only bring what you can carry." She disappeared back into her cabin, and came back with one bag.
"Now if I was Jordan you would have carried all five of those bags wouldn't you?" she asked as she passed. She laughed when I didn't answer and nudged me. Then we went to join the others.
"Alright," I said, "It looks like we are ready to go."
"bout time." someone said, followed by snickers.
"We will make our way to the west camp through the forest." I said "Lets move!" by now it was dark, so I tossed a few people flashlights. I looked back at Camp Half-Blood one last time. Then we pressed forth into the darkness.
(Author's note) I know this chapter didn't follow up the last with the action it deserved, but please sit tight; the next one is pack full of it. I'll post it whenever I can… Glad you guys liked the first three chapters. I hope this story is standing strong. Please tell me what you think.