Well long time no see. I have been super busy with school and stuff... anywhoo I don't think I got the date right but was the battlle in Manhattan three days or one? i couldn't remember and I didn't have time to reread half the book. But, I know that Percy comes back from the mission one day and the next day he leaves with Nico and the war begins that night... So correct me if I'm wrong...
Disclaimer: I do not the series but I do own Grace :)
Before I knew it August was upon us. The weird thing is that it's hard to remember what happened from the day I arrived to today, but that happens that all the time to me during the summer. Basically, my summer consisted of eating, training, eating, training, eating, and sleeping. Some days, Annabeth was able to spare some time and help me with Ancient Greek, but that wasn't often because of the Titan War preparations. Speaking of the Titan War, Percy keeps leaving camp for several days a time. He's going to see Rachel, of course, but I have to side with Annabeth. Its kind of annoying that the hero of the prophecy runs off to take breaks when the rest of don't get to. And that brings me to today, a week before Percy's 16th birthday.
I woke up this morning wondering what the date was. Galancing at the display screen of my watch, I let out a strangled cry of surprise. August 14? Four days until Percy's birthday, 2 days until the war starts and 1 day until Beckendorf never returns. My stomach twisted into knots as I quickly got dressed and slipped out of the Demeter cabin before anyone else. I sprinted across camp to the Big House and found Chiron sitting on the porch.
"Grace, what is it?" Chiron asked, noting my worried expression.
"Chiron, this week, this is the week!" I exclaimed. He grimaced.
"I feared as much, and now I guess its time for you to let me know some important details about our future." I had completely forgotten that Chiron had promised to let me tell him about the future when the time came.
"Um, not right now, I need to sort out what I'm going to tell you," I said slowly. "Where are the books?"
"That is a reasonable request," Chiron nodded. "Follow me, I have the books inside." I followed the activities director inside the Big House to his apartment. He walked over to a battered, silver safe and quickly dialed a password on the lock. The safe clicked and Chiron opened the door, which creaked as it swung open. Sitting on top of some golden drachmas were five paperbooks.
"The bottom book is the last one," I told him. I noticed that the top four seemed well-worn which is funny since the last time I saw them they were brand new. Chiron slid the book from under the rest of the series and handed it to me. Taking the book in my hand, I smiled remembering how excited I was when The Last Olympian came out. I flipped through the pages and landed on the page where Silena is dying and admits she is the spy. Oh my gods, I completely forgot about Silena.
"I'm-sorry-Chiron-but-I-have-to-go-and-uh-sort-some-things-out," I sputtered. Still grasping the book I turned and fled from the Big House to the dining pavilion. I could see that most of the camp was already at breakfast, so I decided that Silena would be there too.
I slid onto the bench of cabin 4's table right next to Katie.
"Oh, there you are Grace!" Katie smiled at me. "We were wondering where you- what's that book you have?" Katie was staring at the book that was still in my grasp trying to see the title. Quickly, I casually shifted my hand to cover the title.
"Uh, its nothing important." I could tell my other half-siblings were listening to us. Chiron had yet to tell the whole camp about what role I was playing this summer. I dropped my voice to a whisper. "You know, future stuff." I motioned with my head towards the Poseidon table. A look of understanding formed on Katie's face and she smoothly turned to one of our sisters and struck up a conversation. Over by the Aphrodite table, I saw Silena sitting with the rest of her siblings eating breakfast. I sighed as I slipped into a daydream about what I was going to say to her. Maybe if I talked to her, I could save Beckendorf...
"Grace? Uh, Grace?" I immediately jumped at the sound of a voice calling my name. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed that breakfast was over.
"Huh? What?" I managed to utter while my brain was trying to piece back together my scattered thoughts. "Oh, hi Silena." Standing beside me in the now empty pavilion was the one and only Silena Beauregard, the girl I needed to find. I can't remember a time when I was ever this lucky.
"Yeah, uh, listen Grace. I wanted-I was wondering-I..." Silena stammered, twisting her hair nervously. Her face wore an expression of worry and fear and her normal giddyness wasn't present.
"Silena, I need to talk to you." I said sternly. Silena started to sit down, but I stopped her. "Let's go somewhere more private." She nodded and we left the table and headed towards the forest.
Several minutes later, we arrived at Zeus' Fist. Quickly, I checked to make sure no one was around. The coast was clear.
"Listen, Silena. I know about your bracelet." Silena wore an expression of complete despair.
"I-"
"Look, If you give them anymore correct information, Beckendorf may, uh, He may not come back." I finished my sentence slowly, waiting to see her reaction. Right when I said "not come back", she sat down and buried her face in her hands.
"Wh-what I am g-going to d-do?" She cried. I sat down next to her and patted her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"I have a plan, if you're willing to cooperate." Silena lifted her head up and wiped her eyes.
"Let me hear it first before I decide." I considered this for a moment. What if she didn't like my plan and somehow Kronos found out? Wait, why would it matter if Kronos finds out or not. It's not he's going to personally find me and kill me.
"Alright, that's fair. Now here's the plan. Beckendorf and Percy are leaving for their mission tomorrow right? Well, tell Kronos a different day. Tell him they are coming the day after tomorrow and at night. That way his army will be caught off-guard and maybe Beckendorf will be able to escape with Percy." Hopefully this plan worked. I mean I got this from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Harry's leaving Privet Drive. Although come to think of it, the Death Eaters attacked them, two people died and someone lost a body part. Well this isn't Harry Potter, this is real life so maybe it could actually work.
"Do you think it could work?" Silena asked.
"Possibly. They still will probably have to fight some monsters off, but they should be able to escape alive." I answered trying to assure her (and myself) of the solidity of my plan. Silence fell on us while Silena contemplated her options. Finally, she spoke.
"I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. We live for love. Charlie is not going to die and I am definitely not going to be the one who causes it. I'll cooperate under one condition. Don't tell anyone about this, please." She declared boldly. I smiled broadly at her and nodded my agreement. "Good, well, I must be going. My cabin will be wondering where I am." With that, she flounced away leaving me alone in the woods. I leaned back against a rock savoring my victory, when I heard growling noises coming from the trees. Immediately, I jumped up and left the woods, not wanting to get into a monsters way unarmed.
The next day came quickly. I awoke feeling queasy and didn't eat much at breakfast. Silena gave me a weak smile, which I took to mean she activated our plan. Soon it was the afternoon and time for Beckendorf to leave.
"Bye, Charlie!" Silena flung her arms around the son of Hephaestus. "You're going to do absolutely wonderful!" Beckendorf blushed as Silena kissed him on the cheek.
"Yeah, thanks," He smiled at her, his face a light red color.
"Well, hopefully Percy will be ready," Chiron said. "May the gods be with you." Beckendorf mounted Blackjack the peagus, nodded at the small crowd surrounding him and flew into the air. Slowly the crowd dispersed leaving Chiron, Silena, Annabeth, and me standing by the stables.
"Yes, may the gods be with him," I muttered to myself and suddenly it dawned on me. "Chiron, how are the gods going to 'be with them' if they are in the midst of fighting Typhon?" Annabeth looked at me funny, while Silena seemed to pale a bit.
"I don't know, my dear, I don't know."
Okay so for those of you that have read HP7, great! you understood the reference. If you haven't, i tried not to give spoilers and just ignore it, its not important to the story. This was supposed to be longer but... less than 48 hours until SoN! But whos counting...psh, not me, psh... So do you think Grace's plan will work? Did Silena follow through with their agreement? Did Lex the spazz appreciate my HP7 reference? I would like to know what you think!
