A/N: Sorry for not updating. won't get into excuses. hope the extra-long chapter makes up for it. REVIEW!
Disclaimer: dont own anything.
Walking to the Big House was the easy part. Explaining it all to Chiron was not so easy. I showed him the letter but I couldn't bring myself to talk about what Tyson had said. Annabeth did that part.
Chiron paced the Big House on all four hooves, which would've been funny had the situation not been so dire.
"This is not good," he said, after a long moment of pacing. "You have much to do, my boy," he said to me.
"Yeah, but I don't understand. What's with this 'deepest ocean' and 'weapon' thing?" I asked confused. I'd never understood why the gods couldn't explain everything all at once. What was it with giving info one bit at a time?
"This is as much as you can learn from the gods, my child. They are not allowed to interfere directly. It is against the ancient laws," Chiron explained.
"I know," I mumbled. Damn the ancient laws to Hades, I thought to myself.
"Well, in any case, he should get a prophecy, right?" Annabeth said.
"Yes," Chiron agreed, "let's talk to Rachel."
-Line Break-
We went to Rachel's cave and told her I had a quest. We didn't tell Rachel anything else. We didn't need to. As soon as she found out that there was a quest, green smoke started billowing from her mouth. She was covered in the green mist and her eyes glowed green.
"How can I save us?" I asked.
Rachel spoke in a magnified voice, as if she and an echo were speaking together:
You shall delve into the ancient oceans,
Yet beware of the treacherous motions;
Two shall face their deepest fear,
To help save what they hold dear;
When you find what you need,
You shall stop a horrible deed;
Even though they'll have to pay,
In the end they'll save the day.
After that she collapsed and Annabeth and I picked her up and put her on a chair.
"Not good, not good at all," Chiron murmured and started pacing again. Would he stop with that, already? It was getting on my nerves.
"I don't understand," I said finally. "Poseidon wanted me to go to the 'deepest oceans' and the Oracle says 'ancient oceans'. Where do we have to go, anyway? And what fears will we face? And then it says we'll have to pay. With what? But we'll save everyone? With the help of that mysyterious weapon? So we'll find it?"
"Um, Percy," Annabeth interrupted my tirade, "the prophecy says you'll do all that."
"But it also said 'two' and 'they'. That means I'm not alone, right?" I contradicted.
"Well, I don't know!" Annabeth said in frustration. She hated not knowing anything. "Its not like anyone can go into the ocean with you. We can't all breathe underwater. Which is probably why you're the only one who can find the damn thing to save us. You're the only demigod who can control the water," she added in even more irritation.
"Relax, my child," Chiron said, "we shall discuss it in the Big House."
-Line Break-
Once in the Big House, Chiron shut all the doors and windows and took wheelchair form.
"Now, Percy, is there anything you've not told me?" He asked.
"No," I said, "why?"
"I'm trying to confirm a theory," he said. "The ancient of all oceans is the Atlantic Ocean. A part of it at least. I believe you know about the Mediterranean sea?"
This brought a huge change in Annabeth's expression, as if she suddenly understood everything. I didn't, though.
"Mediterranean Sea?" I asked in confusion. "How is that ancient?"
"The Greeks believed the sea to be sacred to Oceanus and this is where his power was concentrated. Why do you think it is one of the most seismically active areas of the world? It is because Oceanus and Poseidon's powers collide here, Percy, and this creates the earthquakes in that area. I think this is where the Oracle means by 'ancient oceans', " Annabeth explained, which confirmed my theory that she now understood part of the prophecy.
"But what about the 'deepest part'? I mean, the deepest point of the Mediterranean can't exactly be related to the Greeks' history, can it?" I said confidently.
By now Annabeth was smiling. I felt a flicker of doubt in my theory.
"Ah, but it is! It has a very deep connection with Ancient Greece, Percy!" Chiron exclaimed. "But since Annabeth seems to know so much about it I'll let her explain," he added with a warm smile for Annabeth.
"You see, Percy, the deepest point of the Mediterranean sea, located in the Ionian Sea, is called the 'Calypso Deep'," she explained.
"Calypso deep," I asked in shock. "Like Atlas' daughter Calypso who was exiled to the island Ogygia?"
"Yes, Percy, the same Calypso. Rumour had it that her island was located at that particular point before moving with the heart of the west. Do you know the legend of Io?" Annabeth asked me. She was positively smug by now.
"Io was that maiden, right? The one Zeus lusted after? Then he turned her into a heifer to save her from Hera but she was not fooled. So she wanted Io as a gift. And then she put Argus in charge of watching her but then Hermes came to kill him on Zeus' order. Io was free and Hera cursed her to roam the earth being plagued by a gadfly," I said.
"Yes," Chiron said, "but you see, somehow Io crossed the Ionian sea, which was named after her, and reached Egypt where Zeus returned her to human form and she gave birth to his son."
"And there is another myth about why it is called the 'Ionian sea'," Annabeth continued. "But let's not get into it," she added. "We have to discuss whether or not you're going alone, Seaweed Brain."
"But the prophecy said 'they' and 'two' so I'm not alone," I said determinedly.
"Well," Chiron said, "on that I can agree. But then, who shall go with you?"
"I will," Annabeth said at once.
"Of course," I said, "there's no doubt about that. But who else shall go with us? A quest should always have three people."
"I can't think of anyone," Annabeth admitted.
"What do you think, Chiron? Who should come with us?" I asked.
"Whoever you want, my boy," Chiron said, "its your decision."
"I don't know," I muttered, "can I tell you later?"
"Well, I'd advice you to hurry up, Percy, we don't have much time. I think you should leave tomorrow at daybreak," Chirom advised.
I nodded. "So," I said, "we know that the place we gotta go to is 'Calypso Deep'?"
"Most likely," Chiron agreed.
"But then its really far, right? How will we get there?" Annabeth pointed out.
"Well," I said, "we could always use the boat Poseidon gave me for my birthday. It pretty fast, we could reach there in about three days."
"Three days? Are you sure, Percy?" Annabeth asked.
"Its not like we have much choice," I pointed out. "I can't fly, we can't swim all the way. And we don't have another transportation material."
"Its decided then," Chiron said. "Now you just have to choose another member."
"Yeah," I mutered. "But I still don't know who to take."
"How about me?" came a voice from the doorway.
A/N: who d u think should go with them? review and tell me. 5 reviews and i'll upload the next chapter. what did u think about the prophecy? i'm a great poet! nah, kidding, i'm not that vain. i just know i'm good. btw, that legend about Io and calypso Deep is true. google if u dont believe. the other legend about Ionian Sea is that Ionus was a son of Dyrrhachus who was attacked by his brothers. heracles, a passerby helped but killed Ionus by mistake. his corpse was cast into the sea. i found it on wikipedia. cool, right? i made up the bit about calypso's island being there. might be true, though.