Chapter 7: The Quest
We rounded Zeus's Fist, a large pile of five rocks, and crouched in wait. "Okay, so the Athena cabin should be sending scouts this way soon," Rachel whispered. "We'll climb up above them and then strike. Watch out for the ones with the spears." I nodded and gripped the hilt of my short sword. "They'll look for your weakness, so you've got to be quick," she continued, drawing her bow. "Oh great," I gulped, shrinking lower onto the ground. I heard a twig snap. "Shh!" she mouthed and became still as a statue. Slowly, Rachel nocked an arrow, and I unsheathed my weapon.
"Go!" she indicated the rocks above us. I nodded quickly and began to silently climb the huge boulders, Rachel following behind me. I pulled myself up on top of the rock and, to my fear, saw two Athena warriors right below us. Rachel drew back her bowstring, preparing to strike. I crawled closer to the edge and my foot slipped, sending me head over heels on top of one of the campers. "κατάρα σας!" Rachel hissed. The camper I had knocked over was on her feet again in a few seconds, and drew her bow. I scrambled backwards on the ground, trying to escape. *whiz!* An arrow came sailing down and imbedded itself in the Athena kid's shoulder. She yelped and dropped her sword, clutching at the wound.
"Get up, Katie!" Rachel snarled, jumping down from Zeus's Fist. "Sorry!" I grabbed my shield and sword from a pile of leaves. "And you..." Rachel turned to the other scout. "Go get help." He nodded quickly and scurried off. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked, kneeling beside the wounded camper. "No," she coughed. I gently slid her helmet off. "Astrid?" I gasped. "The one and only," Astrid grumbled. "What's the big idea?!" I rounded on Rachel, bringing myself up to my full height. "It's our job to interfere!" she said, dropping her weapon. "So you send a foot and a half long arrow into her shoulder?" my voice was rising. "And then you send for help? It was your fault in the first place!"
Rachel looked back at me defiantly. "It's the way the game works. Or did you think it was some happy-go-lucky board game where everybody wins?"
"Guys, stop it," Astrid glared at us. "It doesn't hurt that bad, geez. It's actually kinda cool. Just think, I'm gonna have a battle scar!" She tugged lightly at the arrow and gave a yelp of pain. "Liar," I snickered. "Don't pull on it, that'll only tear out flesh," Rachel sounded bored. I glared at her. A galloping sound issued in the distance. "Looks like Chiron's here," she said, standing up. Sure enough, the chestnut centaur came cantering into the clearing. "Astrid, are you all right?" he asked, kneeling beside her. "Yeah," Astrid grimaced. "Come, we must get you to the infirmary." He motioned for her to climb onto his back. She looked hesitantly at him for a second, and then obeyed.
The Athena team ended up winning...as usual. Rachel and I were still sort of on stiff terms, but still spoke to each other.
"Congratulations to the Athena team, again," Chiron presented the opposite flag to them. "And a record has been set, since only one camper was injured this t—"
"Who? Who was it?" a voice called, interrupting him. Chiron looked mildly surprised. "Astrid Nightin—" he was cut off again as a boy came springing through the crowd. "Noah?" I raised an eyebrow. I gave me a brief smile before dashing off towards the infirmary. "That'll give Astrid a nice surprise," I chuckled to myself.
I later went up to the infirmary to see her. The healers said that her shoulder would be fine, but that she'd have to rest for a couple days. "Ughhh," Astrid complained, "get me outta here!"
"Dude, you just had a foot and a half long arrow yanked out of your joint! You've gotta chill," I said, rolling my eyes. "But I'm bored! All I do is sit here and watch my pillow!" she whined. "Oh, yeah. I'm sure you were very bored when Noah came up to visit," I smirked. Astrid blushed. "Not even funny," she muttered, turning onto her side. "Aw, look! He even got you some flowers," I said, thoroughly enjoying myself. "There is no proof that those are his," she sniffed.
"Who else would they be from?" I asked dryly. "The janitor?"
"I don't know!" Astrid snapped. I looked more closely at the flowers. They were carnations. I looked up in pure shock. The dream. Thanatos had been walking in a field of carnations. I stood up quickly. "Where are you going?" she asked, cocking her head.
"I'll be back soon. I just remembered something very important!" I called over my shoulder, racing out the door. I sprinted down the hill and around the U shaped cabins, heading for the Big House. "C-Chiron!" I panted, stoping in front of the chestnut centaur. "Katie? I thought you went up to visit Astrid?" he said, looking up from his game of pinocle. "I-I did, sir," my chest heaved from running at full speed. "But I just remembered something extremely important!"
Chiron motioned for me to continue.
"I had a dream," I began, "that Thanatos visited me." Chiron's eyes filled with worry. "Continue, child." "Well, he showed me an island. A very beautiful island; it looked sort if like the strawberry fields. There were a few people on it, souls I think. They were standing at the shoreline, and then all of a sudden they started to vanish. Just into thin air! Then I heard Thanatos's voice again. He told me that if someone doesn't act soon, that the Underworld will cease to exist."
Chiron stood up to his full height and paced the ground. "This can't be happening..." he murmured.
"What? What do you mean?" I asked queasily. Chiron stopped and looked at me, his face grim. "Find Annabeth and Nico di Angelo. Bring them here. Hurry!" he ignored my question and ushered me off. I stumbled off and raced to the Athena cabin. It was modeled after ancient Greek style, so the entire cabin was made of marble. Huge, white pillars stood at the front entrance, and the outline of an owl was carved into the marble slab on top of them.
Without bothering to knock, I flew open the intricately designed doors. "Hey guys, is An—" I stopped when I saw none other than Annabeth herself wrapped tightly in the arms of Percy Jackson. I grimaced. Leave it to me to ruin a tender moment.
I coughed. It seemed to startle them both and Annabeth drew away, flustered. "Katie, w-what are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes turning stormy.
I took a step back instinctively. "Chiron needs you and Nico at the Big House. Now." I thought I saw a flicker of rage in Annabeth's eyes, but a moment later they were calm again. "Fine. Come on, lets go find the 'Ghost King'."
I nervously nodded. Percy started after us, but I stopped him. "Er, not you. I mean, Chiron was specific not to bring anyone else."
"Oh." his sea-green eyes looked slightly amused. "Okay then."
"I'll see you later," Annabeth mouthed to him. Percy nodded and we left the Athena cabin.
Annabeth and I didn't talk the entire way to the Hades cabin. She kept her eyes straight ahead, but that did nothing to ease the unspoken tension. I tried to focus on finding Nico, and not on the fact that they had been about to kiss before I interrupted.
We reached the Hades cabin within a minute or so. It was made of black obsidian, and was slightly isolated from the other cabins. There was no barbed wire or anything like that on the outside, like I'd been expecting, but it instead seemed creepily peaceful (in an eery kind of way).
"Why don't you go and knock?" Annabeth asked, crossing her arms. "O-Okay," I said, silently thinking, 'Please don't hurt me!'. I walked up the shiny, dark steps and rapped softly on the oaken doors.
"Who is it?" came an annoyed, yet familiar voice. "It's me, Katie," I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets.
"Come in." Nico's voice lost its irritation. I hesitantly walked inside. Nico sat on a bed close to the ground, sharpening his sword on something shiny. I briefly glanced around. For a Hades themed house, it was beautiful, if you don't mind slightly emo things. The walls were painted a dark gray, and a large crack ran through the cold, black floor. On one shelf, there were a collection of sharp knives, and on another sat a lone, golden figurine. I looked curiously at it. Why would Nico keep such a childish thing?
"So why are you here?" Nico's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Oh, well I went to see Chiron about a dream I had, and he wants you and Annabeth down at the Big House." I said. He looked up. "Must be important; Chiron never calls me for anything."
I nodded, motioning for him to come. "Okay," Nico stood up and stretched, the silver chains on his pockets jangling. We met Annabeth outside and she raised an eyebrow. "What took you so long?" she smirked. "Shut up," I muttered, a slight blush coming to my face, "we were only talking." "Uh huh, sure."
Nico, listening to our exchange, glanced awkwardly at the ground and shook his hair so it covered his eyes.
Annabeth and I continued to bicker until we were back at the Big House. Unfortunately, Chiron had called Mr. D to handle the situation as well and they were talking over two glasses of coke. "Chiron, I've got them," I said, politely waiting until they had finished their conversation.
"Ah, thank you, child," Chiron looked up (or rather down) at us. "Annabeth, Nico, take a seat." He gestured at the two empty chairs beside him. "What's going on?" Annabeth asked, concerned. Chiron looked grave, and recalled my dream, as well as his suspicions.
"...and I believe that once again, the Doors of Death have been opened." he concluded, folding his hands. "That's impossible," Nico said bluntly. "I've been to the Underworld multiple times this month and my father hasn't shown any sign that there's something wrong." Annabeth pondered this. I looked at both of them, trying to analyze their expressions, and said, "But why would Thanatos appear to me?" "Because he's a freak demon," Nico snorted, crossing his arms.
"Well actually, according to ancient descriptions and Percy's memory, Thanatos is very beautiful and—"
"Shut up, Annabeth," he and I said at the same time.
Annabeth blushed and looked down. "Well, it's true..." she muttered.
I rolled my eyes. "Look, if we don't decide something soon, Elysium is going to die," I said, unsheathing my short sword and using it to pick dirt off my shoe. "Well, technically..." Nico mimicked Annabeth in a high pitched voice. Annabeth glared at him and gripped her dagger.
"Enough!" Chiron stamped his hoof. "What we need...is a quest."
My heart jumped to my throat. Annabeth looked unsurprised and Nico bored. "Okay. Who'll go on it?" Annabeth asked, drumming her fingers on the table. "That remains uncertain. Someone must go to Rachel, first of all," Chiron said.
"That mortal brat had better stay out of it," Mr. D spoke up for the first time during our conversation. I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" I asked defensively. Mr. D looked dryly over at me. "You heard me. Quests are for demigods only."
"I'd agree to differ," I retorted. "Rachel went on a quest once!" "Katie, don't provoke him," Nico murmured in my ear. Mr. D narrowed his fiery eyes and said lowly, "Don't test me, mortal. I am capable of unspeakable things, scenes that will haunt your mind forever. You are lucky I haven't already strangled you."
Chiron stepped between us and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Now is not the time to argue, Katie," he whispered. "Now go with Nico and see Rachel. Annabeth and I will sort out Dionysus."
I nodded grudgingly and stood up out of my chair. Nico di Angelo followed and we walked away from the pinocle table. "Don't think this is over, Kate. I'm watching you..." I heard the god shout. I broke into a run, terrified, and left Nico trailing behind.
I ran until I had put a good distance between the Big House and myself, slowing down. My chest felt like somebody had tried to acupuncture my lungs, and I doubled over, coughing.
"Katie!" Nico came stumbling down a hill. "Are you okay?" I managed to shake my head no. "Asthma," I hacked.
"Oh, snap! Oh, uh—geez, are you okay? Oh gods, this is bad!" he started to freak out. I smiled slightly. "Dude, it's fine. I just need my inhaler." Another cough racked my body. "Where is it? Do you have it with you?" Nico pushed his scraggly hair out of his eyes. I nodded. "It's—*cough*—in my bag up at Rachel's cave."
"Okay, er, come on then," he held out his hand. "Where are we going," I asked. "To Rachel's cave, duh," Nico said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Just trust me."
He helped me up and muttered, "This might be a little awkward," before sliding one of his arms around my waist. I stared at him. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, it's the only way I can shadow-travel with another person," Nico muttered sheepishly, adjusting himself so we were in the total shade of a tree. I racked my brain for what shadow-traveling was again before a feeling of icy coldness washed over me. I looked up in fear at Nico, to see that he looked perfectly calm and was using his other arm to press against the trunk of the tree. "Just stay calm," he said, concentrating even harder. "It'll help the process." I tried to calm my nerves, but with my lungs so tight it was nearly impossible to stay focused. Slowly, my vision went completely dark and I found the cold feeling intensify. "Nico!" I panicked.
"Don't worry. I'm right here." I heard his voice say, and I felt his grip around me tighten. I allowed my shoulders to relax, and I tried to concentrate on breathing. All I could see was complete darkness, and there was no ground beneath my feet. Then, it was over as quick as it had come. The solidness of the grass met my feet and my vision became clear again. I looked around and saw that we stood right in front of Rachel's place. "How...?" I looked up at Nico, who had still not removed his arm from around me. "Like I said, shadow-traveling," he looked slightly tired. We walked through the cave entrance and into the modernized living space.
"Katie? Nico?" Rachel looked up from a sketch pad she held in her hand. She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I see you two have gotten awfully friendly." Her eyes strayed to Nico's arm.
He withdrew almost instantly. "Shut up, Rachel. Katie was in the middle of an asthma attack and we had to shadow-travel!"
I nodded in agreement, my face burning. I walked over to my bed and rustled through my bag, taking out my inhaler. The cool medicine immediately relieved my ragged breathing, and I sighed in contentment.
"Uh huh," Rachel sounded like she didn't believe a word he said. "Do you WANT to get on my bad side?" Nico said lowly, his hand sliding onto his sword hilt. "No, Mr. Emo," she rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, Rachel, I have something to ask you," I said, interrupting them. "Ask away," she smiled, all former tension between us gone. "Well," I took a deep breath, "Chiron said we need a prophecy." "Oh..." Rachel stopped moving her pencil. "Yeah...so...how does this whole Oracle thingy work?" I asked, drumming my fingers on my leg.
"Well, you probably already know how the green mist spews out of my mouth," Rachel said. "So I dunno, I guess they just come to me."
I nodded, slightly creeped out. Suddenly, her whole body went stiff. "Crud. Here she goes," Nico said, backing a few feet away. Just as I had read, a greenish smoke began to tumble out of Rachel's mouth and nose. Her eyes glazed over.
"Three shall go to the place of the dead
Through fire or water, the fields many tread,
One who's soul is pure and wise,
must face her fears through cunning demise,
Never shall the brave one die,
but fate will reap the silenced cry,
The choice is his to leave behind,
death and love as one intertwined."
Her voice sent goosebumps up my spine, and I began to shake. The mist faded from Rachel's mouth and her eyes returned to normal.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again," I half joked.
She sank back into a chair, weary. "What happened?" Rachel asked bleakly.
"Prophecy. Nothing major," Nico said, sarcastically. "Well, then," Rachel smiled, "now you know what it's like." I nodded, the image of her possessed body still haunting my brain. "So...what now?" I asked.
"Well, normally the person who receives the prophecy leads a quest..." Rachel hesitated, tapping her pencil thoughtfully. "No way!" I immediately rejected, "I'm not leading a quest!" "The choice isn't yours," Nico said grimly. "The prophecy was given to you."
I looked helplessly back and forth between the two. "Do I have to go alone?" I whimpered. "Pftt, heck no," Nico snorted. "You can take two people of your choice with you."
I felt a little pressure lifted off my shoulders. "Great. So, do I like, report back to Chiron?" I questioned, grabbing my bag.
"Yeah, I suppose. You might want to pack incase you're leaving immediately," Rachel looked up from her drawing. "Make sure you have only necessary stuff and leave your entertainment behind."
I scowled and dropped my phone onto the bed. "Don't let Shane crush it," I grumbled, shouldering my bag. Rachel grinned. "I won't."
I thanked her and began to walk outside. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around to see Nico following me. I raised an eyebrow. "Going somewhere?" he asked. "Back down to Chiron, dumbo," I said obviously.
"Dude, that's a mile walk down steep, rocky hillside," he stated. I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. "Yeah, so? There's no other way to get there."
"Well..." Nico trailed off. "I'm not shadow-traveling again," I said, flatly. "That was terrifying."
"But you're still here, safe and sound," he pressed. His words brought a Taylor Swift song to my mind, and I found myself humming. "But still, I felt like I was drowning in darkness," I said, cutting myself off. "It's better than this sweltering heat," he gestured to the muggy air all around us.
"And bugs, and sweat, and—"
"Okay! That's enough!" I butted in. "Fine. I'll do it."
Nico looked like he'd just scored a touchdown. "Okay, um, come over into the shade then."
I obeyed and stood in the shadow of a giant sycamore. He once again pressed his hand against the trunk and held out his other. I uncomfortably scooted closer and, before he could snake his arm around me, blocked him by merely holding hands. Nico paused for a moment as I did this, but then continued focusing. Slowly, my vision started to fade again and the temperature dropped. I shivered and closed my eyes, trying to block out the feeling of suffocation. I started to tremble, but with a reassuring squeeze from Nico's hand, felt slightly more confident. A few seconds later, I felt the solidness of the ground return and the the temp shoot straight back up to 100.
I opened my eyes again to see us back at the Big House. I hastily let go of Nico's hand, not wanting any more prying speculations, and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. Mr. D was gone from the pinocle table, and Chiron and Annabeth sat talking. I cleared my throat. "We're back," I said, "with a prophecy."
Annabeth's eyes filled with worry. Chiron's eyes stayed emotionless. "Continue," he said.
I took a deep breath and recited the prophecy. Chiron stroked his beard when I had finished. "It's sounds like you'll be taking a visit to the Underworld," he said grimly.
I gulped, and looked nervously over at Annabeth. "But what about the whole 'reap the silenced cry' thing?" I asked. She shrugged. "Prophecies never have clear meanings."
"No duh."
Chiron cleared his throat, interrupting us. "I believe that it would be best if we kept this prophecy and quest a secret for now," he said, swishing his tail. Annabeth opened her mouth in protest. "You mean, I can't tell Percy?!" Chiron nodded apologetically. "The less people who know, the better."
I nodded in agreement. "Now, only one thing remains," the centaur turned to me. "You must choose your companions."
My mouth went dry. "Okay," I squeaked. I pondered in thought. "I'll take Astrid," I decided, not wanting to be completely unfamiliar with my traveling buddies. Chiron nodded. "And who else?"
"Hmmm," I furrowed my brow.
"I'd like to go," Nico, who hadn't spoken the entire time, stood up. I glanced at him, unsure. "Think about it," he said, crossing his arms. "If we're going to the Underworld you'll need a guide. I've been there multiple times, and I know the place back to front."
"He's got a point," Annabeth mused. I considered this. "Alright," I decided, "you can come too." Nico nodded curtly. "When do we leave?" he asked.
I turned to Chiron. "I would think it would be wisest to wait until morning," he said, "so you are well rested for the long journey ahead."
"Okay." I nodded and stood back up. The sun was already setting, and the pinkish-orange glow on the horizon was slowly shrinking. "Can you tell Astrid that she needs to be ready at 7 tomorrow morning?" I asked Annabeth. "Sure," she agreed. "I'll go tell her now." She left us standing there on the porch and began to head back to the Athena cabin. "You too, Skullboy," I hit Nico playfully in the the arm.
"Don't call me Skullboy."
