" You shall go west,
Where Artemis begun
With two companions,
Plus twins of the sun
On all's first quest,
Friendship will grow,
Only to be destroyed,
With an arrow and bow
Tempted by evil,
Two shall be, twice
A sacrifice made,
To free from gneiss. "
On the last word, Rachel collapsed. Luckily, Chiron was there to catch her. She woke up quickly and blinked,
"So... how was it?" She asked us.
"... freaky." I told her, sincerely.
She seemed sad, dissappointed maybe, though I didn't know why,
"Aw. I guess my monkey dance didn't work then..."
"Uh no. May I ask, what was that for, anyway?" Chiron asked
"Well, Apollo told me to do the monkey dance the next time I recited a prophecy, because it was kind of like... magic, to make the person less scared of me." She looked at our faces and only then she realized what had happened. "OH THAT SUN GOD! UGH! I swear, he was more likely to have been Herme's twin than Artemis' ! I can't believe I fell for it. ugh, I should have known!"
"Well," Annabeth spoke up, "Let's discuss the prophecy shall we?"
"Oh, what was the prophecy anyway?" Rachel asked. "I wish I could remember my prophecies.."
" You shall go west,
Where Artemis begun
With two companions,
Plus twins of the sun
On all's first quest,
Friendship will grow
Only to be destroyed,
With an arrow and bow
Tempted by evil,
Two shall be, twice
A sacrifice made,
To free from gneiss " I told her.
"Well that was a long prophecy." She said.
"Tell me about, even longer than my Great Prophecy." Percy said
"Okay, so the first two lines... what does it mean?" Lizzie asked
"Think," Chiron said, "Where did Artemis begin? Where was she born?"
I tried to remember the myths. Seems like that was gonna be my life now, anyway. Where was Artemis born? I remember Hera was mad that Zeus has gotten Leto pregnant, and so she cursed her and said she would give birth 'where the sun never shone'. "Delos!" I remembered.
"Indeed." Chiron said.
"But I suppose Delos moved too, right Chiron? It's somewhere in America?" Percy asked
"Yes. Latouche Island, to be exact."
"But that's all the way up in Alaska!" Sophia exclaimed
"Moving on," Annabeth continued, "Julie, according to the third line, you get to choose two people to go with you."
"Plus twins of the sun." Percy reminded us.
"Well, the two people I'll decide later, " I turned to Andrea and Henry, "But I guess you two are coming with me, twins of Apollo." I smiled.
" 'On all's first quest, friendship will grow.', that's a good thing." Cecilia pointed out.
" 'Only to be destroyed with an arrow and bow' " The mean girl from the Aphrodite cabin sneered
"Drew has a point..." Annabeth agreed.
"It will be so funny knowing one of you will die because of each other." Drew laughed. "Bow and arrow... that's what the Apollo kids use isn't it?" She looked at Andrea and Henry, "Looks like one of you will kill a friend."
"Drew, enough!" Chiron yelled, "Andrea, Henry, don't worry. You know prophecies always have double meanings."
"Tempted by evil, two shall be, twice." Evan said. "That doesn't sound too good. Do you think Kronos might be rising again?"
"Impossible. We've just destroyed that old fool!" Clarisse said. "Besides, we would know wouldn't we? Isn't that why we're not in school?"
Now that I thought about it, I realized we were supposed to be in school. "Why aren't you guys in school?" I asked.
"Gods, don't you know anything?" The African American girl that was always with Drew said. She was really pretty and, unlike Drew, didn't wear much makeup. She had a beautiful, long, brown, curly hair, and chocolate brown eyes.
"Give her a break Aisha, she just got here." Sophia defended me
Aisha rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
"Chiron asked if we could all stay year round this year because of the last war. To make sure, in case anything happened. " Annabeth explained.
"Oh." I tried changing the subject, "So, 'a sacrifice made, to free from gneiss' what could this mean?"
Annabeth shook her head, "I have no idea."
Travis Stoll, or was it Connor, decided to lighten up the mood with some crappy joke, "WOW! Little Annie doesn't know?"
All Annabeth did was roll her eyes, "Not now Travis, not now."
"So Julie, I guess Andrea and Henry are coming with you?" Chiron asked
Andrea and Henry nodded.
"That means you have to pick two more people. Don't worry, you have until tomorrow night to think. You'll leave the day after that. Tomorrow Thalia will come by to talk to you. It's late, everyone, back to your cabins!" Chiron ordered.
As I walked back to the cabin area, I tried to think of who to choose. It was already bad enough having Andrea and Henry with me, I didn't want to lead them into a death trap. That's right, a death trap, this is was it was. How did all those people expect me to lead them? I spotted Annabeth and Percy,
"Hey Annbeth, hey Percy. Listen, would you guys do something for me?" I asked, hoping they would say yes.
They looked at each other. "Depends." Annabeth said.
"Will you guys come with me on this quest? Please?"
Percy smiled, "We would. But we can't."
I frowned, "Why not?"
" 'On all's first quest, friendship will grow.' This has to be the first quest for everyone going. Me and Percy went on two already." Annabeth explained.
"Oh." Then I realized something, "Only two?"
"Yep." Percy said, "When we went to retrieve Zeus' Lightning Bolt, and when we went into the Labyrinth."
"What about the Sea of Monsters, or when Annabeth was kidnapped?"
"Techincally, those weren't our quests. The Sea of Monsters was Clarisse's, we snuck out. The same thing when I was kidnapped. Though, maybe it did count since Percy joined the group." Annabeth said. "Come on, it's getting late, let's go get your stuff into your new cabin, sister." I smiled.
Annabeth and some of her, and now my, siblings helped me get my stuff. I didn't have a lot. I said goodbye to Lizzie, Evan, and the other Hermes kids, and made my way to cabin 6. I felt someone tap my shoulders and turned around to see a boy around my age, maybe a little older. He had shaggy and messy black hair, pale olive skin, intense black eyes with a gleam of genius or madness, and was wearing a pair of ripped black jeans, and a black shirt. He was sort of... gothic.
"Um, hi." the boy said.
"Hey,"
"So, you're Julie right?"
"Yep, and you are?"
"Nico. Nico di Angelo."
I put my hand out and he shook it, "Nice to meet you Nico. Annabeth told me all about you."
He gave a small grin, "Um listen, would it be alright if I came on the quest with you guys?"
"Yeah, of course! But haven't you been in other quests before?"
"Technically, no. The Battle of the Labyrinth wasn't a quest for me, I just happened to be there. Besides, I've been on my own for a while, so I know some pretty cool tricks."
I smiled, "We could really use them. You're in."
"Thanks."
"So, see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely."
I walked in my cabin and noticed most people were already sleeping. What a night, I thought. I changed my clothes and fell asleep instantly.
I guess my prophecy turned out alright... haha. Was it that bad?
VOTE! Who should go on the quest with Julie, Andrea, Henry, and Nico? Place your suggestions in the reviews.
(: