Chapter 7

Percy was allowed to leave the infirmary not long after Thalia left. It was good that the two of them were on alright terms, they probably wouldn't be back to the way they were ever again, but they were going to be okay. Percy knew there were still people he needed to see. He made his way from the Big House towards the forest, knowing the way to where he wanted to go.

Before long, he found himself in the clearing that held the Council of Cloven Elders. In the middle, with his back to Percy, was Grover. He looked the same, his hair was just as curly, but now had sprinkles of grey in it. His horns now protruded from his hair to be visible, unlike when Percy first met the satyr eight years previously. Percy began to walk around the clearing to get a look at Grover's face. When he was far enough around, he saw that Grover had grown out his beard. The look suited Grover perfectly, it made him an almost exact doppelganger for Pan, whom Grover had dedicated his life to.

"Are you just going to stand there Percy, or are you going to come and say hello?" Grover finally said.

"You knew I was here?" Percy replied, walking over and helping Grover up.

"The empathy link never shut off. It wasn't part of your Dad's magic, it was mine. Plus, you had the Breath of the Wild from Pan." Grover explained.

Percy smiled. He actually, properly smiled and pulled Grover into a tight hug. "It's good to see you, G-Man."

When they released each other, they both laughed a little, then wiped away at the dirt in their eyes. Only to laugh again when they realised they were copying each other's movements.

"You aren't mad then? About me going away?" Percy asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

"No Perce. I could feel what state you were in. Do I wish you had sent a post-card or two, yeah of course I do, but I understood how you were feeling and that was enough for me."

Grover threw his arm around Percy's shoulder and led them into the woods. Bringing him up to speed on his life over the past couple years. Grover explained how there was a bushfire in the woods, some explosion in Bunker 9. How Juniper had been alright, but quite singed, and had taken a long time to recover. How the nature spirits had been at war with the Hephaestus kids ever since, and how that meant no one wanted Cabin 9 on their capture-the-flag team since it meant fighting nature itself. How he and Juniper had two children, a baby girl satyr named Lily, and a boy nymph named En.

"En?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"Short for Enchilada." Grover explained.

"You're kidding?" Percy asked.

"Juniper's idea. I was all for it."

"No way. You're pulling my leg."

"Wait and see!" They walked into a clearing, and there was Juniper. Her hair was shorter, but when Percy looked at her tree, there were very few leaves on one side. Luckily for Juniper, the short hair, which she had styled into a pixie cut was a perfect look for her.

Percy spent the day with Grover and Juniper, and the two children, the nymph-ling indeed being named Enchilada, which led to laughter from all three of the grownups. Juniper explained it was so that Grover's love of Enchiladas made sense to her.

When Percy made his way back into the camp proper, on the outskirts of the woods, he found himself stopped by the figure waiting for him. Piper.

"You were in there a while." She said, coldly.

"Where I go isn't any of your business anymore." Percy said, all traces of good humour gone. He shoved his way past her and continued into the camp. He made his way to the dining pavilion and sat at the Poseidon table. A moment or two later, Elizabeth sat across from him.

"Shouldn't you sit with the hunters?" Percy asked, watching the flicker of annoyance cross his sister's face.

"If Artemis were here, I might have. But it's complicated." She answered.

"Artemis isn't here?"

"Olympian council meeting. Guess whose fault that is."

"You know what— "Percy started, only to have a flash of light in the middle of the dining pavilion interrupt him.

Everyone looked at the god's arrival, and were shocked to see Apollo, still looking like he had in Delphi. A number of campers got up and knelt to him, but he waved them off. He looked around, spotted Percy, nodded, and walked off into the woods. Quite a number of campers looked confused by his actions, and Percy saw Will Solace get up and go after his father. Percy frowned, and followed, the fight with his sister could wait.

Percy followed the glowing light that was Apollo until he was deeper into the forest than he'd ever been. He was cutting through bushes upon bushes with his sword (not Riptide, the blade had stopped materialising when he removed the cap of the pen not long after he left camp) until finally he found himself alongside the god and Will in a grove.

"Dodona." Apollo said, his face taking a grave look while Will gasped.

"Sorry, what's Dodona?" Percy asked.

"This is the Grove of Dodona, the first Oracle. It's sacred to Rhea." Will explained.

Apollo moved towards the largest tree in the grove, and conjured wind chimes. He hooked them on a branch and all wind in the grove stopped. Before a gentle breeze picked up, seemingly carrying words.

The start of the divide

Is where the secret lies

When restored from the fire

The sea's son shall be lighter

Friends united again lead the way

For all the gods to join the fray

Power earned not gained

Is the only chance to save the child of Aenir

The three of them stood in stunned silence. Apollo turned to Percy gravely. "You wanted a prophecy."

"It wasn't very clear." Percy replied.

"They never are. So I'll give you a hint. The two companions you'll need are your sister and Piper."

"No way. They hate me."

"You still need them. It's the only way." Apollo said firmly. "I may have lost the Sight to see prophecies, but I still understand them once I know them. You need them, Percy."

"How long do I have to "save the grain"?" Percy asked.

"Until the world is cold." Apollo replied. "I must return to Delphi; my strength is fading quickly. Camp is that way. "Apollo pointed a direction and flashed away while Percy and Will followed his finger.

O.o.O.o.O

Percy and Will walked back into the dining pavilion, to a curious crowd. Percy walked over to Malcolm, who looked up at him sheepishly, only to look relieved when Percy asked for a pen and paper. Percy quickly wrote down the prophecy.

Percy walked up to Chiron and muttered a quick explanation about a quest from Apollo, calling a camp councillors meeting. Chiron called for all the councillors to meet at the Big House as soon as possible.

Percy met them there, when he arrived, nearly all the councillors had arrived, with the exception of Cabin 9's Clara and Travis Stoll.

It wasn't long before the two of them arrived together, Travis pulling twigs and leaves out of Clara's hair. She explained that she had gotten too close to the tree line.

When they were all seated around the ping-pong table, Percy called them all to order. He quickly summed up how he and Will had followed Apollo, and then allowed Will to explain about the Grove of Dodona, which received a gasp from Chiron. Percy then took back over and read out the prophecy he had received.

"Very well then, Percy. You were the one to receive the prophecy, who will be your companions?" Chiron asked, gravely.

"Piper and Elizabeth." Percy said, knowing what was to come.

Piper simply stood up and walked out of the Big House. A lot of people frowned and looked at Percy, who just nodded in a "that's about right" manner. Percy also explained how Apollo said that they had until the world "goes cold".

"What does that mean?" Clara asked, looking to Malcolm.

"It could mean any number of things; it could mean there is no time limit on the quest?"

"Not usually how it works." Percy said, to a murmur of agreement.

"It could also be literal. That would be bad." Malcolm continued, receiving a laugh from around the table at how simply he put that. Percy didn't laugh, he thought of what Apollo had said to him at Delphi, how he nearly faded, and how the laws of nature meant he could likely fight Poseidon to a standstill. If Apollo faded, the world would certainly go cold. The others were joking around, but Percy knew it was a real threat.

"I should go as soon as possible; we shouldn't delay just because we think we have time." Percy said.

"Good idea, Percy." Chiron said. "But you still need to convince Piper and Elizabeth to go with you.

Percy groaned but got up. The council was dismissed and Percy went to find Elizabeth first.

It didn't take long to find Elizabeth, she was at the Archery Range with the hunters, practicing. She wasn't very good with a bow, but she was better than Percy, though not by much. Percy couldn't help himself, so he said what would do the least to help persuade her. "Shouldn't Hunters be good with bows?" Percy watched her face go crimson.

"Why are you such a jerk?!" She exclaimed, storming off. The Hunters broke into fits of laughter at Elizabeth's expense as she left the arena, leading to her breaking into a sprint. Percy looked over at Thalia, who wasn't laughing, and winced sheepishly. He pointed at the sky questioningly, only to receive a shake of her head. The Olympians were still in session. Percy took off after Elizabeth. He spotted her entering their cabin, and found himself moving over to it. He paused out the front, deciding it would be better to give her a few minutes alone. He moved around the U-shape of cabins to Aphrodite's cabin. He knocked, and Piper opened the door, only to close it again.

"Piper!" He said, banging on the door.

"Go away!" Came the sing-song voice of Piper, full of charmspeak.

Percy turned and walked a few paces before he realised what had happened. He turned and tried the door handle, it was unlocked. He opened the door and stood in the doorway. Piper sat on a bed and looked up at him over a magazine.

"I'm not going. I'm done with quests." She said.

"I don't want to ask you to. But Apollo said I had to, and I'm not going to deny a god on something so important."

"I'm still not going. Take Drew, she can charmspeak too, I'm sure she'll come in handy." Piper said as she turned the page of her magazine.

"I could try that, I'm sure she'd be better company. But Apollo said I needed you, and fate has a tendency to find a way to make people do what it wants."

Piper's nostrils flared as she put down her magazine. She stood up and pursed her lips, looking at Percy. "I heard that prophecy." She said.

"I know. I read it to you." Percy replied.

"No you idiot, I heard the lines. It wants us to go back there, to where this…divide began."

"It wants us to save Walt. If you were listening, you'd know that too." Percy said, turning to lean his back against the doorframe.

"So we fix this— "she gestured between them, "—by fixing our mistake?"

"That's the idea." Percy said.

"Or what?"

"I think…if we fail, Apollo fades, the sun goes out slowly, and the world dies."

"That's bad."

The two of them gave each other a small smile. "We'll have to follow my path. How it came to be this way." Percy said.

Piper nodded, and grabbed a rucksack from under her bed. Nodding to Percy in goodbye, he closed the door.

He made his way back to Cabin 2, where he opened the door slightly, so he could see Elizabeth, who was crying into the shoulder of a slightly older Artemis. Sighing, he opened the door, and received a harsh glare from the goddess. He moved forward and knelt in front of Elizabeth.

"I'm so sorry, Liz." Percy said, quietly. The girl froze, and Artemis examined the interaction curiously. "I'm sorry that I've been such an asshole since I got here. You're my sister, we should be on the same team."

Elizabeth looked at him through puffy eyes. "Don't call me Liz."

"That, I can't promise, but I can promise to try to be a better brother. And I promise to have your back, always. I swear it on the River Styx." Both Artemis and Elizabeth's eyes widened at the solemn oath. "I'm glad you're here Artemis, I need your help. Both of you."

Artemis narrowed her eyes at Percy. "What is it that you're asking?"

"I assume you know of your brother's condition? His weakness on this plane?"

Artemis nodded cautiously.

"I've been issued a quest. Apollo explicitly told me I would need Piper and Elizabeth. But I think I'm going to need you as well. He said our time limit is until the world goes cold, I think that means if he fades we fail. But if we succeed, he will be restored to the Olympian council and healed."

Artemis's eyes widened, and she shifted herself apart from Elizabeth's embrace. "Do you have the prophecy?"

Percy nodded and passed her the paper. He went over to his bunk, and lifted the mattress near the pillow. As he expected, a notepad was there, the cover page adorned with images of owls. He flipped it open to one of the grey paper pages, and quickly jotted down some coordinates. He ripped out the page and turned back to Artemis. They traded pieces of paper.

"Meet us there, don't go inside until I arrive. If you do, bad things are certain to happen. It's cursed.

Artemis nodded, and got up to leave. Before she did however, she leaned in close to Percy's ear and whispered. "If you make her cry again, I will end your life." Percy paled and nodded. Artemis left the cabin.

Percy turned back to Elizabeth. "Will you help me?"

Elizabeth nodded and pulled out a backpack beginning her packing at once. Percy turned and did the same.