Chapter 10: Alex's Fish Problem
Disclaimer: I own nothing (except for my OCs and ideas. Those are all mine, people.)
After that little stunt with the giants (and after looking back at Brooke's driving adventure), we all agreed that taxis were no longer a suitable form of transport for us. So, thanks to that idea, we had to walk who knows how many miles to some lousy, filthy bus station with idiots for workers. Seriously, I probably could've walked to California before they managed to get our tickets on a bus that wasn't in Milwaukee or Phoenix. And don't even get me started on the food there. I think the boys were even ready to hurl something with so many colors that even Iris would've been jealous. After waiting for a freaking hour and a half, we finally got a ride out to some tiny town on the New York-New Jersey border. At least those guys weren't brain-dead. Within a half hour, we were on a train and heading west. Even better, we didn't run into a single monster.
"So," Brooke asked, "you got any questions yet?"
Rolling over and looking down at her from my bunk, I asked, "Do you read my mind or something?"
"You just seem kind of curious about things so far, that's all," she smiled.
"Well," I jumped down from my bed, "I actually do. First off, how did you guys get us on a train to cross the entire country and manage to rent two rooms on this thing?" Somehow, Brooke had just walked up to the ticket desk and bought us four tickets and got us two separate compartments on the train with absolute privacy and all of the accommodations in a five star hotel. And it seemed like we still had money to burn.
"Oh that was simple," Nick said, waltzing in to our room with Alex.
"You know," Brooke smirked, "I got us two of these things so you could have your own room. Why are you invading ours?"
"Because we felt like it," Alex answered.
"That and we don't feel like missing any information," Nick said. "Besides, I've got some questions too."
"Same," Alex nodded.
"Okay, well why don't you finish answering Krys's question, mister know-it-all," Brooke joked.
"Alright," Nick smirked back at her. "Well Krys, we got these rooms and tickets because we know what we're doing."
"Could you go into a little more detail please?" I asked sarcastically.
Snickering, he kept explaining. "First off, we've got a lot more money than you probably think. We don't have an endless supply, but it's a pretty good amount still."
"Yeah, all three of us get like ten bucks a week," Alex added. "Our parents call it allowance, but we know what they really want us using it for. It's meant for things like this, or getting supplies that mortals won't have. Basically it's for when we get into demigod trouble."
"Plus, our parents and Chiron totally hooked us up before we left," Brooke put in. "They gave us like six hundred bucks. It was crazy. I don't even know what we're gonna do with all that money."
"Okay, but you guys weren't even challenged at the ticket and rental desks when you didn't have parents," I started.
"Oh that was easy, too," Nick said. "At the ticket desk, Brooke used the Mist on the mortal."
"Yeah, demigods can basically manipulate the Mist, bend it to their will sometimes," Brooke said, answering my question before I could ask. "It's not easy though. It takes a while to learn. That's why I could only knock fifty off each ticket. I just started learning a few months ago."
"Okay," I said slowly, "but what about renting the rooms? How'd you manage that? I mean, you got these things way too cheap and the guy at the desk acted like he was completely okay with minors traveling across the country on their own."
"We got lucky on that one," Alex said. "The guy just happened to be another demigod. Even better, he recognized these two," he pointed at the Brooke and Nick.
"Did you know him?"
"No, but most people recognize us," Nick said. "The mix of looks we have isn't too common in the demigod world, given that Athena and Poseidon don't really get along and neither do their children. A lot of people recognize Alex too, because he looks a lot like is dad. The guy must've guessed we were on a quest and cut us some slack. Now for my question." He turned to face Brooke. "You said Lauren told you guys yesterday that about fifty half-bloods were still at the camp, but the Stolls told us that only about forty were still alive."
"Okay, what's your question?" Brooke asked.
"What else did Lauren tell you guys?"
"Yeah," Alex piped up. "We need to know what all you know. It's only fair, plus we need to know what we're up against."
"Okay, she said that the whole way to the camp, everything was fine," Brooke started. "She told us that they went through Big Lagoon. They didn't start having trouble until about a mile outside of camp. It sounded like it was patrol after patrol finding them. The monsters took them prisoner. When they got in, she guessed that about a few hundred monsters were there."
"That matches what the Stolls said," Nick muttered.
"Well, she said some of the others helped them get out, but she thinks they're all dead now. I guess the monsters caught up when they were escaping. Anyway, they stole cars, snuck onto busses, jumped on trains, basically did anything to get across the country. They had part of the army following them. Jordan died in Ohio, and she was chased all the way to camp," Brooke finished.
"So her info matches pretty well with what we were told," Alex said.
"Yeah, kind of like the early half of this whole mess," Nick agreed.
"Pretty much," Brooke answered. "Now let's put these stories together. There are only about forty more demigods at the camp versus two hundred monsters. There aren't any Big Three kids to do anything. It'll be dangerous heading in through Big Lagoon now, or any town, so we'll probably have stick to the woods if we even want a chance of getting in."
"Well what happens if we do get in?" Alex asked.
"First we have to figure out how to get in," Nick said.
"Um, could I ask a few more questions first?" I put in. The three all started looking around at each other, waiting for someone to come up with an answer. After about a minute of staring and thinking, the boys resigned to looking to Brooke. After another minute, Brooke finally nodded to me. "Okay, could you guys tell me more about the servant? I mean, if there was anything that Chiron missed about it."
"You pretty much heard it all," Brooke muttered. "It serves the titans and kills for them. It has killed eleven half-bloods, a satyr, and a hunter."
"But Chiron said that the gods had a reasonable idea for its purpose. What is that?"
"Not many people outside of Olympus know that, Krys," Nick said nervously. "It's not something really brought up."
"Why not bring it up now?" Brooke said, looking at her brother. "She deserves to know what it is, what she's going to be dealing with. Especially considering where it came from and who it serves."
"What, do you think she's got some kind of connection to it?"
"Maybe, and if she doesn't, then she still needs to know what it's for."
"Wait," I broke in, "do you guys know what it's for?"
"Sadly," Brooke answered, turning her eyes to the floor. "The gods think that it might be some sort of… I don't know. I guess you could call it a gateway or something. They think its purpose is to re-raise the titans from destruction."
"What?" I asked. "But that's impossible. I mean, they were imprisoned for thousands of years before the last war. They couldn't possibly rise this fast because of some monster."
"You'd be surprised. Besides, in this world, this idea isn't totally farfetched. What the gods think it does is it takes, like, a piece of the soul or essence of whoever it kills. The servant is linked directly to Kronos, so whatever the monster takes in goes straight to the titan lord. All the power that the creature was taking has been making the titans stronger, giving them enough strength to rise from Tartarus without the help of demigods and other monsters. The gods think that after the list is complete, the titans will be able to rise again without any struggle."
"The list?"
"Yeah. See, about a month after the monster escaped into the world, Rachel apparently let out a prophecy."
"Well," Alex interrupted, "it wasn't really a prophecy. It was more like a warning, or like guidelines."
"Yeah, guidelines I guess," Brooke nodded. "Basically, we were told the order that the monster had to kill in. And it was pretty blunt about it, too. In total, it has to kill fifteen times before the titans can rise."
"How many more times does it have to kill?" I ventured.
"Two more times," Nick murmured. "It needs an Aphrodite child next. That's why they were moved from California to New York. Our camp is better established, has better security, a stronger training program. It all comes from being around longer. That and California was obviously being targeted, in case you hadn't figured that out."
"How do you guys know this stuff? I thought you said the gods didn't talk about it much."
"You remember when you were told that somebody had seen the monster and survived?" Brooke started, resting her chin in her hands. "Well that girl was me. I saw it when I was walking a friend home. After that, the gods decided to let me in on what it was and all of their ideas. I told these two a few days after that."
"That was with Kasey, wasn't it?" Brooke's head snapped back at me. "You saw the monster when you took Kasey home. She was Athena, right? It…it attacked her, didn't it?"
"How do you know that?" Nick asked.
"How do you know her?" Brooke whispered.
"Like I said, I have a lot of dreams. Now tell me more about this list."
"Fine, the list tells us who will die and in what order."
"It tells you exactly who's going to get killed? Well then why don't you just keep those guys under constant watch in the camps?"
"Because it doesn't say exactly who dies, just who they're affiliated with," Alex explained. "We can't imprison a bunch of demigods for their entire lives. Besides, if we did that, then it would just go after any unaware half-bloods in the mortal world."
"Look," Brooke started, "there's not much we can do about the list or the monster. Let's focus on what we're out here for. How are we going to get into the camp?"
"Do we even have enough info to get in yet?" Nick asked.
"Probably not. So, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want you two to keep in contact with Connor and Travis. They're obviously getting info from somewhere. I honestly don't care where it's coming from, I just want it. We need all the help we can get. Now, do any of you have an idea about this job?"
"Well," Nick said, "we're all powerful, but there's still no way we can take on all of those monsters. We're gonna have to get help."
"And how do you suggest we get help? Nobody with a sane mind wants to get anywhere near the camp, let alone go in it."
"Simple, we don't ask for outside help. When we get in, we need to find a way to release the other half-bloods and get them weapons. After that, we fight the army and take back the camp."
"Easier said than done," Alex muttered.
"Well I don't see you tossing around any ideas, bonehead," Nick shot back.
"Guys, let's not start this here, okay," Brooke sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Why don't you go order some food or something and we'll pick this up later."
"Fine by me," Alex said, slipping back out the door with Nick.
"Finally," Brooke muttered, standing up and pacing the room. "Now do you mind telling me how you knew about Kasey? And I want a better explanation than you saying you have dreams."
"Alright," I said. It took me about five minutes to tell her the whole dream I'd had a few days ago. "See? I really don't know much. I just know that you and this Kasey girl were in the mortal world and that whatever happened, she ended up dead."
"Yeah, she took the place of the Athenian death. But that had to have been at least three months ago. I don't know why you would've had a dream about it."
"Hey, you know, there's kind of a random little question I've wanted to ask you. Those necklaces that I've seen everybody wearing, what are they for?"
"Each bead represents the most important thing to happen that year. They're given out at the end of summer. However many you have says how long you've been at the camp. This one," she pointed at a bead with a mountain covered in clouds, "was my first. It represented the first mix-bloods to ever attend the camp."
"Why is it a mountain?"
"It's the symbol of the mix-bloods. See, each cabin has a symbol for their god, like the owl, the trident, a boar, that kind of thing. Since the mix-bloods hold relation to more than one god, the symbol couldn't be anything that favored one god over the others. So its symbol became Mt. Olympus itself, since all gods and goddesses somehow have a tie back to the mountain. This was my second year." She held up another carved into an endless maze. "It stands for the Labyrinth. Back when my parents were fourteen, the maze's creator sacrificed himself in hopes of destroying it. For a while, everybody thought it was gone. But over the years, the maze had been growing stronger, and its creator was losing more control. I guess it grew strong enough that remnants of the maze survived the creator's death. Since then, it'd been rebuilding itself uncontrollably across the U.S. A few demigods found an entrance into it by accident when they were wandering through the woods. Actually, the entrance is close to where that scorpion was yesterday. And this one," she showed me a bead with a bow and a sword crossed, "was last year. Now that was one crazy summer."
"What happened?" Just as Brooke opened her mouth, a lady walked in with a cart full of food.
"I'll tell you another time," Brooke grinned before digging into the food.
After a half hour of scarfing down cheeseburgers, fries, ice cream, and a bunch of other stuff I probably shouldn't have been eating, I was ready to just drop like a rock. Unfortunately, Brooke had other plans.
"Come on Krys, balance yourself," she told me as I attempted to keep from sliding off the train. She'd decided that my fighting skills still needed work (which I really couldn't have argued). Her idea of training, though, was to stick me on the roof of the train and have a duel.
"Hey," I said through gritted teeth, "remind me why we're practicing on the roof of a train going at least fifty."
"Because you seriously need help on fighting, no offense. And just to let you know, the train's going more like seventy, not fifty."
"Oh, well that's just great. So I can either keep my balance in training or go splat when I fall off and hit a tree?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Sword out, defensive stance," she ordered, flicking her pen into a sword. Huffing, I tapped the sword charm, barely catching the sword as it shot out of the bracelet. "Well, you're getting better at catching that."
"Thanks."
"Turning," she said, looking past me.
"What?" Then the train tilted as it rounded a bend, throwing off my balance. Slipping, I hit the roof and rolled to the edge. Brooke jumped forward a second later, grabbing my sword before it went over and pulling me back up, dropping her own sword off the train in the process.
"It's a good thing that sword is magic," she muttered, staring at it as the train roared away. "Here," she handed my sword back. "And that is exactly why you need to work on balance. Now try to fight me."
"Are you crazy? Either you'll skewer me with your dagger, drown me, or I'll fall off the train and crack my head open. Sorry, but I do not plan on dying today."
"Oh would you quit being a baby and-"
"Hey Brooke, someone wants to see ya," Nick called, climbing onto the roof with Alex.
"Ugh," she groaned. "We're on a quest. Who could possibly be visiting us? Besides, I'm kind of busy here."
"Well, maybe you'd like for me to give you your mail after you get yourself killed by monsters," a man said, climbing up after the boys.
"Lord Hermes," Brooke gasped, bowing to the god.
"Nice to see you, too. Now do you want your mail or not?"
"Uh, yeah I guess. Who's it from?"
"My sons. Would you like to explain why you're getting messages from them?"
"They're kind of helping us. Not sure if you knew, but they're getting info from somewhere about California. I decided we could use the help. Didn't I ask you guys to keep in contact with them though?" she asked the boys.
"Yeah, and we got hold of them," Alex answered, "but they didn't tell us anything. They said they would send you the info, that it'd be easier to figure things out that way. We have absolutely no idea what that means, so don't ask."
"Um, okay. Can I have that please?" she asked Hermes.
"Yeah, and while you're at it, can you explain to your brother and cousin why I can't give them things meant for you?" he smiled and tossed her a box.
"Guys, you know mail delivered by Hermes can only go to the receiver. Quit asking for mail from him if it's not for you."
"We know, but we could save him a lot of time if we just took the messages to the people," Nick said.
"Yeah, right after you snoop through everything."
"Oh, shut up Brooke."
"Well," Hermes interrupted, "I need to be going before Zeus thinks I'm helping out with a quest. Be careful on this, a lot of people are counting on you and we don't need you guys dying. That and a lot of people like you, so I don't think they'd enjoy it if you guys just died. And you," he looked straight at me, "watch your back. Just because the council voted for your life doesn't mean you're without enemies, especially on Olympus." He turned away and started walking down the train.
"Are you?" I called out to him.
"Excuse me?" he said, half turning.
"You heard me. Are you one of them?"
"Krys shut it!" Nick hissed quietly.
"No, I think I want to hear this," Hermes said coolly, walking back towards me.
"You said that I have enemies, especially on Olympus. My question was if you are one of them or not."
"What does it matter to you, Lore?"
"It doesn't hurt to know one's enemies, right? So are you one of my enemies, or are you a friend?"
"I haven't decided how I feel about you yet," he dropped his voice so only I could hear him. "I can't say that I'm happy you're here, but I certainly don't hate you. I know you have power, but I don't see how you're a threat to us. At the same time, you don't seem entirely sure on where your loyalties lie at this point. I will admit that when I first saw you, my feelings toward your father clouded what I thought about you."
"What did my so called father do to you?"
"That's none of your business, now is it? Like I said, I'm not sure how I feel about you now. I wouldn't say that I am your enemy, but don't even think of making the mistake that I am any friend of yours, child. If it means anything to you though, I will say that I voted for your life."
"Why? If my father did something to you, couldn't I be capable of doing the same thing?"
"Oh, I doubt that you will ever be capable of doing even half of the damage that Kronos did. As to why I voted for you, I thought that you deserved a chance. Now I need to be going. Don't forget what I said, that you have enemies in this world. Brooke, can I talk to you one more time?" he called, turning away and walking up to Brooke like he'd never said a single word to me. He started whispering something to her while she kept glancing at me and getting slightly suspicious and confused looks on her face. Nodding to each other, Hermes stepped back and waved his hand. Our backpacks instantly appeared at our feet and the box Brooke was holding had been wrapped tight in what looked like a mix of saran wrap and duct tape. "You guys are going to need those soon."
"Why?" the boys echoed each other.
"Can't say," Hermes smiled. "That'd be interfering if I told you what was going to happen. Have a nice trip guys, and I hope you don't mind diving much. And if anybody asks, I was never here, got it?" Then he started to glow.
"Krys close your eyes," Brooke ordered, snapping her own shut and turning away from the god. Following her, I turned and shut my eyes. Turning back, Hermes was gone and the four of us we're left on the train's roof.
"What was that about?" Nick asked, swinging his backpack on.
"Who knows, gods are strange sometimes," Brooke answered.
"Yeah they are," Alex agreed. "They tell you something really short and confusing, and when you ask for an explanation or something, they say they can't tell you squat. It doesn't make sense if you ask me."
"Yeah, but nobody asked you, remember?" Brooke grinned, throwing her pack on and reaching into her pocket. "'Bout time it came back."
"Wait, what did Hermes mean when he said he hopes we don't mind diving?" I asked.
"Who knows? Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll happen soon. He said we'd need the bags soon."
"Is there even anything to dive into around here?"
"Yeah," Alex smiled sarcastically, "we call it dirt."
"There's water nearby," Nick said, staring off ahead of the train.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Just look around. The ground looks darker, and a little spongy. There's a lot more grass and trees around here, too, compared to the last couple of miles anyway. That means there's more water for them to live off of. That, and there's a sopping wet moose right there," Nick explained, pointing at a moose walking near the tracks.
"Well, aren't you a watchful little half-blood," something hissed. Whipping around, I saw a monster flying above the train. It looked like most of the monsters I'd seen so far: a crazy science experiment gone drastically wrong. This one looked like some supped-up chicken cross-bred with something that you could barely call human. It had a fat body topped off with an old, wrinkled face with razor sharp teeth. Even better, about five more were flying up behind it.
"Harpies, great," Brooke muttered, flicking her sword out.
"Don't even bother," the harpy cackled. "There are more of us to come, Jackson. Not to mention that a horde of hellhounds awaits you at the next station."
"Hey chicken lady," Alex called, "why are you telling us your plan and everything? That's like one of the biggest no-no's in the evil rule book."
"Because you have nowhere to go," she smiled menacingly. "We don't even need to waste our time here on you, although I think a minor attack would certainly be fun." The other harpies were now by her side and shrieking in agreement.
"In your dreams, demon," Brooke sneered. "There are only six of you. We could take you easily. And who says we're getting off at the next station?"
"Who says the hounds would wait for you to get off? Besides, we have flight on our side. All you have is the tiny space of your little roof, which seems even smaller with all four of you on. Face it half-bloods, you're trapped."
"Uh, Brooke, what now?" I whispered.
"Um, let me think," she muttered, looking from the harpies to the train to the ground and everywhere else.
"Brooke, bridge," Nick called, pointing past us. Brooke half-turned to look and the harpy darted for her. Without thinking, I tapped my bracelet, bringing out Nekron and flinging it at the monster. It caught one of her wings, throwing her off balance and sending her spiraling toward the ground, where she exploded to dust under the train's wheels.
"Yeah, nice shot!" Alex shouted, scooping up my discus before it fell off the train.
"Ugh, you pathetic, worthless demigod!" another screeched. "We'll tear you to pieces for that!" The harpies threw themselves forward at us, but I already had my hands up.
"Pagoma!" I shouted instinctively, and the harpies slowed down so much that it looked like they were flying through invisible Jell-O.
"What is this!" one of them screamed.
"It's the reason that you never cross her, witch!" Nick shouted.
"Keep focusing, I've got a plan," Brooke whispered, sliding my backpack over my arms and tapping my bracelet, bringing my discus back to me.
"Brooke, you can start that plan of yours anytime now," I groaned through the strain of my power.
"I know, just hold on. Nick, Alex, get over here." I could just barely see the boys circling slowly around the frozen harpies.
"Dang, you've got one tight hold around them," Nick told me.
"Thanks, now can we move along?" I growled.
"Yeah, almost there," Brooke answered. "Alright, Nick, when I say, grab Alex and get off. Make sure you clear the bridge and don't get any closer than twenty feet before you wrap, got it? I'll take care of Krys."
"Wait, do you mean we're jumping?" Alex interrupted.
"No, we're just gonna take off flying," Nick replied sarcastically.
"Idiots, focus here," Brooke said. "Get ready." One second, two, three. "Almost there." Another second passed. I was about to turn and yell at them to get a move on when Brooke shouted at the boys to go. Their feet pounded against the roof, then nothing for a split second followed by one of the boys shouting. Brooke grabbed my arm and hurled her sword at the harpies. Pulling me along, she bolted to the roof's edge and jumped before I could say anything, pulling me over the side with her. We were free-falling off the train to a small lake over a hundred feet down.
"We're gonna die!" I shrieked, and then started screaming my head off so loud that they probably would've heard me at camp if it hadn't got lost in the wind whipping past us.
"Take a breath!" I barely heard Brooke scream. Water shot up at least forty feet from the lake and wrapped around us, pulling us down into the lake. For a few seconds, everything was quiet and calm and all I could see was water, then I was up again, coughing and spitting up water with Alex while the others just floated around us.
"Okay," Alex choked, "you guys really need to work on landing when you jump off a bridge."
"Yeah, that really hurt," I coughed.
"Sorry, at least we got out of that though, right?" Nick smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, now we're in the middle of nowhere with no ride and no idea as to where we are," Alex shot back. "And I think I've got a fish in my pants."
"Nice to know," Brooke said slowly, staring at him like he was a freak. "I'll be back in a second." Then she dove under. After about ten minutes, she finally came back up with another girl. "Guys, this is Connie and she's one of the naiads here. Um, Connie, could you tell us where we are?"
"Of course," she replied in smooth voice. "You are in the Conneaut Lake."
"And where is that at?" Alex asked.
"In the state of Pennsylvania, near the border of Ohio."
"Great," Nick snapped, throwing his hands up. "We spent all that money to get to Pennsylvania. Well that's just great. Now we're in the middle of a lake with all of our supplies soaked through and we'll probably have monsters tailing us before sunrise."
"Oh chill out," Brooke sighed. "We'll be fine. Um, Connie, how far are we from land?"
"Oh, not even a quarter-mile, child," she smiled.
"Thanks, and which way is it?" Connie pointed off toward a line of trees. After another round of thanks, we swam off for the shoreline, crawling up onto a rocky beach about twenty minutes later.
"Man, that was long," I groaned ringing the water from my shirt.
"I thought it felt pretty good," Brooke shrugged.
"Says the girl related to the god of water," Alex grumbled, shaking his leg.
"What are you doing?" Nick smirked.
"Trying to get it out," Alex growled, hopping around until a fish fell out of his pant leg.
"Wow, you really did have a fish in your pants," Brooke said, staring at the fish flopping across the rocks. "Stick it back in the lake and let's go. We need to cover as much ground as possible before we lose the sunlight." Grumbling about stupid fish, Alex scooped it up and sat it back in the water. He stood up to walk away when the fish popped straight up and whacked him across the face with its tail, sending the three of us into a fit of laughter. Growling, Alex stormed out of the water and shoved past us.
"Dude, wait up," Nick called between laughs, stumbling across the beach.
"Come on," Brooke giggled at me, running after the boys.
We only managed a few miles before Brooke finally decided that the sun was gone and that we needed to get some sleep. Volunteering herself for the first shift of watching, Brooke crawled up a tree while the rest of us attempted to get comfortable and fall asleep on the damp ground. After an hour or so of freaking about monster attacks, rolling around to find a dry spot, and getting poked in the butt by pine needles, I finally managed to fall asleep. And now we cue the dreams.
I see then that you still do not know. My vision came in. I was back in that attic with the same girl staring at me.
You again? Who are you?
I hope someone that you can trust, Krystol Lore. I was once the Oracle of Delphi. I was Rachel's predecessor. I don't know why, but the Fates have allowed me to speak with you.
Yeah, well your little talks aren't very helpful. You keep going on about how we're going to fail, but you don't tell me why. You know, you're acting like the others said the gods act: you tell me something short and confusing, but you won't explain. How am I supposed to know what's going on if you won't talk to me? How am I supposed to keep us from failing?
I'm afraid you can't. There will be no stopping this, only the warnings and preparations that may be offered. I will tell you this though, child, if you wish to know what will cause your failure, then you need simply to ask of the prophecy Brooke Jackson received. Listen to what you are told though, you have already been misled about the prophecy, and you cannot afford to not know the truth.
Wait, did Brooke lie to us? Or did Rachel, like, give her the wrong prophecy or did we get the wrong idea about one of the lines?
I cannot say, child. Remember what I have told you now and what I told you in your last dream: you have been misled, but it was in hopes of protecting.
What the Hades is that supposed-! My dream cut out again as green mist coils wrapped around the Oracle, drawing her from me and waking me back up.
"Why does she keep doing that?" I grumbled, opening my eyes to a bright blue sky.
"Why does who do what?" one of the boys asked.
"Nothing," I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"Well," Brooke started, walking up to me with a bag of trail mix, "here's breakfast. I'd eat fast if I were you, who knows if any other monsters plan on coming after us. Alex, quit pelting pigeons with rocks."
"But it's fun," Alex said. "Besides, they're just rats with wings if you ask me." Two pigeons (who apparently didn't agree with him) flew right over him, leaving a few stains on his shirt as they flew off.
"Uh, ew," I said.
"Why do animals hate me?" he whined, looking pretty disgusted.
"Because you smell like death, duh," Nick smiled.
"Come on guys finish eating," Brooke urged.
"Hey, I'm not gonna stuff my mouth to the point of looking like a chipmunk just so we can leave a little sooner," Alex snapped.
"Same," Nick and I agreed.
"Why do you even want to leave so fast?" Alex asked.
"Because, I just don't want to get caught by monsters," she answered.
"Well, we can fight off any monsters that we meet, so just chill okay?" Nick told her. "And did you look at what the Stolls sent you yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Why are you so edgy?" Alex asked.
"I'm not edgy."
"Yes you are," we three chorused.
"Fine, I'm a little edgy. But who wouldn't be in this position? I mean, monster attacks, first quest, servant, the survival of an entire camp and its demigods on your shoulders, I think I have the right to be feeling a little nervous."
"Okay," Nick started, putting his chocolate bar down, "but this is the fourth year that you've been dealing with monsters, and you've known about the servant since you were ten, which is trying to find Aphrodite's kids right now. And you've wanted a quest for a while now, you just happened to get one where you have to save a camp. So the camp part is the only thing that should really be grinding on your nerves."
"See, even you admit that I should be nervous."
"Yeah, but not this nervous. What's going on sis?"
"Um, well, it's nothing really but, I uh…guys, I have to tell you something."
"Alright, what's up?" Alex asked.
"Well, about the prophecy…"
Haha, you all have to wait again. So, sorry that it took forever to update, but I was on major writer's block, and whenever I tried writing, I kept getting distracted. I promise, I will try to update faster, but I don't have any guarantees as to when. I blame my imagination and wandering mind. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy and thanks for reading and to those who reviewed. R&R people. Oh, and I know that the chapter title isn't really relevant to the whole chapter, but I thought it was cute. Thanks to Roo4life for the name.