I woke up and flexed as much of my body as I could. After a few drinks of nectar, everything but my broken wrist felt almost normal, and I could tell it was almost mended too. Everyone else was on the porch. Percy, Annabeth, Dionysius, Chiron, Milo, Nico, Grover, and someone else.
"Rachel?" I squinted at her, the sun in my eyes.
"In the Oracle-possessed flesh." She said.
"Well, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"Sight-seeing, obviously. I'm here with a prophecy, what else?" she laughed.
"Did Milo tell everyone about my idea?" I sat on the porch swing. The nectar was wearing off.
Chiron, sitting in his wheelchair form, answered. "Yes, and it's the best lead we've gotten so far. It's possible that Pan made his way to the surface somewhere, not long before he died, in the form of a man. His hair was once golden, like Milo's, and the few wild places that are left were some of the only places he could really go. I believe that he met Milo's mother on one of his last excursions to the surface, and she went to Europe while pregnant. She may have died in childbirth, or something else happened, but in the end Milo ended up on the streets."
"That makes sense." I looked at Milo, who seemed at least a little bit happy with the knowledge, but not so much at the idea of two dead parents.
"I am now claimed?" Milo looked to Chiron.
"Yes, Milo, I believe you are." The centaur pulled himself out of the wheelchair and stood to his full height. "You are the last demigod son of the great god Pan."
Grover bowed to Milo, who just looked at him wide-eyed. "Why do you bend?"
"Pan is the Lord of the Wild and the Satyrs, you're kind of like our prince."
"Prince?"
"You are very important to my people, here, let me explain." Grover took Milo off the porch and started explaining the concept of being Pan's son.
Percy turned to Rachel. "So what's this prophecy?"
She pulled out a digital video camera. "Apparently I did this a few months ago. My roommate left the camera on by accident, and we just saw it yesterday."
The video showed Rachel asleep on her bed. She suddenly sat bolt upright and stood up. Green mist billowed out of her mouth.
I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.
Thalia, daughter of Zeus, second of Artemis, this prophecy is yours.
Reseal the twin doors, never opened before.
A Titan scorned, an Olympian born.
Daughter of Zeus has much to gain.
But one must suffer eternal pain.
The mist flowed back into Rachel. She laid back down and fell asleep again.
"So, you said you were the spirit of Delphi, and that's it?" Percy looked at her quizzically.
"What are you talking about?" I said. "I heard the whole prophecy… though that could be because it was about me."
"I heard it too." Rachel said.
"As did I." Chiron took the little camera and watched it again.
At last, he put it down. "It seems a quest is in order. I'll get everything in order. We'll announce it after the chariot race on Saturday, since it didn't give you a deadline." The centaur galloped into the distance.
I looked around for Milo and Grover. They were in the strawberry fields, and Milo was practically in love with a little plant Grover had summoned with his pipes. He was holding it and a little dirt clod in his cupped hands, breathing it in. It seemed to bloom and grow with each passing moment. A little strawberry popped out of it, and Milo looked like it was the first time he'd ever seen something be alive. He looked at me, grinning ear to ear, with a look of happiness that I couldn't help but smile back at. Grover spoke to him a little, and tried to pick up Milo's staff to hand it to him. He couldn't seem to get it off the ground though, and sat there straining like it weighed a thousand pounds. Milo scooped it up and spun it in his hand, looking at Grover and the staff perplexedly.
Rachel seemed to be staring at the staff, and she looked concerned, but then continued talking to Percy and Annabeth.
Nico sat next to me on the swing. "He certainly looks happy."
"That's what happens when you confront the son of the Wild God with new life, I guess." I shrugged at Nico. "Any progress with the lovely Miss Rowan?"
"Not really. She seems to think I'm a really nice guy, but she also said that whenever I'm around she feels cold. For a daughter of Hestia, that must be weird."
I patted him on the shoulder, wincing a little when I realized it was my broken wrist. "I'm sure it'll work out, and if not, leave a demon gerbil in her cabin."
He laughed so hard he fell off the swing, earning him stares from everyone and a bemused look from Dionysius.
"Well, despite how fun this has been, I'm gonna go and… do something else!" The god walked into the Big House, and I heard the fridge door open.
I looked at Milo again, and he looked right back at me. I swear, it was like his eyes glowed so bright I could see them from where I was sitting. A strange look, I now know it was one of realization, rolled across his face. His expression became blank, and he opened his mouth a little, as though he was about to say something. He looked away from me and back at Grover, a smile on his face again, to keep learning the lyrics of the Wild. He never really took to musical magic, and that look of realization was probably my first clue about what would come.