Hi again. I'm not surprised to see that not many people have come back to my fic (I deserve it), but I am thankful to the handful that have viewed this story since I've updated. This is the next chapter; I hope that all of you enjoy it.
Disclaimer
Annabeth POV
Everyone around the table was tense, their faces set in hard lines on their pale faces, weapons and knives gripped in calloused hands. Only Ryl seemed to be at ease. It wasn't that she was careless or foolish; she probably just didn't understand what the camp had been going to through.
Every day monsters would come to the border, raiding, screaming, shouting curses and throwing Greek fire. It was a miracle if anyone got a full night's rest with that racket going on. Peleus was practically half dead from protecting the gold fleece and the camp border's magic.
Everyone was living in fear basically; too scared to go out of the borders for fear of a surprise attack. We didn't need anyone dying now; the camp was low enough on supplies and campers already. Everyone had gotten a crash course in healing and the basic first aid just in case, and the Apollo and Demeter kids were half asleep from staying up all night to gather herbs and supplies to tend to some of the wounded.
During meals, what had once been a cheerful pavilion filled with the buzz of people chatting and laughing with each other had turned into a tense silence where everyone nervously ate and left; the sooner the better.
Camp had gotten from what used to be a happy home into a gloomy grave. It was obvious to see that one day our luck would run out. I just hoped that my death would be a fast one.
I sighed, running a hand through my dusty ponytail, and wincing as my fingers got caught in the many snarls and tangles. There wasn't even enough time to take a decent shower or comb your hair. What had this place become?
Still, I would just have to power through. One day, someone magical would come, like Jaffa or maybe DoubleH or something, and maybe the Chaos knights would be able to help. Then maybe we would be ready.
"Ok everyone. DoubleH has some news for everyone." I announced, glancing at DoubleH. All the cabin leaders looked at her.
DoubleH spoke up.
"Ok guys, this is it. At my hideout, I've received quite a bit of news. You're not going to like this at all." She said, leaning forward, twirling a slender dagger between her fingers.
Clarisse grunted, lifting her mud caked boots, and planting them on the table in front of her.
"Since when did we ever like any news as of late? What now, Gaea's somehow magically recruited another ally? What do we call him, the son of light, or what?" She sneered, crossing her arms across her chest, and glaring angrily at DoubleH.
DoubleH sighed.
"Actually, you're not too far from the mark. The only thing is…" DoubleH trailed off. Ryl leaned in.
"The only thing is?" She prompted. DoubleH rubbed a hand over her face.
"We all know who she recruited." DoubleH looked at me meaningfully. And it hit me like a sack of potatoes.
"Shoot." I breathed slowly, and everyone looked over at me curiously. DoubleH nodded solemnly.
"Yeah. They somehow managed to bring Jaffa back to life. She's currently brainwashed, and is now on their side."
DoubleH POV
This day could not get any worse. Did I mention that before? Because I'm serious when I say this. We are out of the frying pan, and into the fire.
Around me, I could see the shocked faces as the campers registered what I had just said. Katie frowned, biting her lip.
"That's impossible; how would they manage to bring back Jaffa? I mean, Gaea was the reason she died anyways, and then after that weird stunt with the phoenix ball of light, I thought Nico said that her soul was literally ripped into shreds; that there was no way she could come back." She mused thoughtfully.
I grimaced.
"About that. Well, I have a theory. Actually, Kaze, Fear, and Blaze agree with me. There's another thing that we're missing, and that's obviously how they managed to bring Jaffa back. I feel stupid when I look back on it. You see, there's only 2 or 3 objects and substances with enough power to bring back someone who's dead beyond dead. Someone who's faded beyond faded. And the sad thing is that I think I know what it is, and you're definitely not going to like it when I tell you." I said. Travis waved his hand.
"Go on. I doubt anything could ever be worse than our current situation." He said flippantly. I frowned.
"This isn't funny, Stoll. In fact, if you think that nothing could get worse, you're wrong. Horribly wrong. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Do you know what I know? Know my knowledge of the world? Know just how freaking horrible it feels when history repeats itself? Well you don't because you weren't alive for long enough. And let me tell you; this fight it like a grain of sand in the war to come. You don't even know the half of it." I snapped, feeling anger build up.
These campers were smart. They were good fighters, and they were resourceful. But somehow, their careless and foolish attitudes were so irritating it was all I could do to not kill them. Sadly, I had the feeling that I would somehow make matters worse. After all, it was my unlucky day today.
Travis scowled, suitably chastened, and Katie rubbed his shoulder soothingly to keep him from lashing out anymore. I took a deep breath.
"Look, people. I know we're all tired, and we're all hoping that this nightmare will end soon. But it won't, and you have to live with it. If you want to give up and dream up a world where this is the worst life can get, then dream on. But just know that when you wake up, the reality will shake you to the core.
What I wanted to tell you was that I have way more information. See, Eta… you all remember Eta, right? Well apparently he's arrived at my hideout, and is currently unconscious due to the fact that Gaea wanted to kill him. I don't know whether or not I should believe him, but I have to try.
He said that Gaea is planning a full scale invasion of your camp borders. He doesn't know the details, but what I gleaned from the information is this: Gaea has planted a spy among you. He doesn't remember who it is or what they look like because he somehow managed to get amnesia from bonking his head on a rock or something.
He said that the spy would basically act like a camper until it was time for the invasion, which is when the spy had collected enough information on everyone. I know, it's like the Last Prophecy all over again. Still, what he says is that apparently, the spy will find something important… something that will help bring down the camp borders long enough for Gaea and Nyx to attack.
And when they do, they'll bring the whole underworld with them. And that isn't even the worst part. While we were talking, Kaze, Fear, Blaze and I came to an agreement. Gaea has a weapon. A powerful weapon. It's… a magic paintbrush."
Mystery POV
Man, I was sure I would be skinned alive when I heard DoubleH's news. The worst part was that Eta had escaped. Eta had escaped because Gaea wanted to kill him. Eta. My friend. Yes, yes, say what you want.
I'm the spy that DoubleH was talking about. But I don't want to believe her. I don't want to listen to her horrible news.
My instructions had been simple. Get in, get information, and relay it every week in a secret code on the ground. Gaea would gather the code, and decode it to get my information before sending me back new instructions. But this… this wasn't what I had expected.
Sure every little spy probably dreams about getting the wondrous job of bringing about a full scale massacre. But not me. I think I've somehow gotten soft. Before I would do as I was told… heck, I had done this more times than I could count.
Get in, get info, break the walls, storm the castle. It was that simple, really.
But somehow there was that clamoring little voice demanding that I take pity on the poor people before me. To take pity on the worn and heavy hearted campers who had just been told that the odds of living in this fight was 1 to a couple million.
Where that voice had come from I had no idea.
I had been so scared when DoubleH had mentioned the spy. It was like falling into a bath of ice cold water. Luckily no one had even considered me to be the spy. And I could tell that they were slowly doubting who was on their side or not.
Was that Gaea's plan? Send Eta to the Chaos nights under the pretense that he was going to be on their side, and tell them enough information to get them to know that there was a spy, and they might be the death of everyone. Then everyone would doubt their friends, doubt their counselors. And when it got to be too much, with the tension running high and high-strung nerves, it was pretty obvious that someone was going to snap, and soon.
And now, suddenly, I feel like I'm drowning.
What decision should I make? Maybe DoubleH was lying, maybe she wasn't. I'll ask Gaea about it tonight. But… then she'll know that Eta escaped. As much as I am bound to Gaea, there is no way I could ever double cross Eta despite the fact that I met him like a week ago.
I feel like I know him. Like I've known him well. It's almost like relearning the back or your hand. And then there also that little soft part that keeps tingling and urging me to save lives and go to the right side, but I can't. I just can't.
Because of Gaea.
I am bound to her tightly.
What am I supposed to do?
Annabeth POV
Ryl had asked to go outside. The poor girl looked quite a bit shaken. I guess it was probably because she hadn't been to an actual war before. Even though she had killed monsters and fight for her life on the streets, I had the feeling that she was a peace maker. But then there's that feeling that I'm off about something, but I suppose it just nerves.
Jabbing a finger at the dusty, crinkled page before me, I glanced around to make sure I had everyone's attention.
"This is it." I said confidently.
Dwyer, the leader of the Apollo cabin (look at the 'Daughter of Fire and Chaos' fanfic) leaned forward.
"So… this is the paintbrush?" He asked, somewhat confused. DoubleH leaned and observed the worn pages.
"Yes. That's it." Looking at his skeptical glance, she rolled her shoulders.
"Look. This isn't just any paintbrush, buddy, this is a magic paintbrush." She said in a half irritated, half exhausted kind of way. Clarisse clunked her boots on the floor and stalked over to us.
"Then do tell us about this paintbrush already." She snapped. DoubleH frowned.
"Have you ever read the Chinese folktale about a magic paintbrush? There was a man called Ma Liang. He was really kind and generous to people, and received a paintbrush that was magic. Basically, it had the power to bring whatever it painted to life." She said. Clarisse stared.
"You mean to say that you think that Gaea has a paintbrush that can literally create anything by using it to paint." Clarisse asked incredulously. DoubleH shrugged.
"Well, when you think about it, it makes sense. They would be able to create some sort of bond that would bring Jaffa's soul back together by painting it up, and then they would be able to brainwash her by simply imagining and painting up some weird sort of poison or something so that she'll be their loyal slave.
What's more, it explains how Gaea still has the upper hand on us. The doors of death are closed. She can no longer bring back to life monsters in the underworld, and yet she still is beating us. We've got new troops, new powerful allies, and even though Jaffa's on Gaea's side, we have the force and strength to beat even her.
The only plausible reason would be an extremely powerful weapon, which just so happens to be the paintbrush." DoubleH reasoned calmly. I ran my hair through my tangled hair again.
"Clarisse, DoubleH is right. Either Gaea is supremely lucky, or she has the paintbrush. That or she has another weapon just as powerful." I said forcefully. Katie spoke up.
"So… you mean that this paintbrush might not be in Gaea's hands, and we could just be playing right into a trap?" She asked stiffly. DoubleH ran her hand over her face again.
"Look. I know this is all scary and what now, but you have to learn to take some risks. If you take the right ones, you'll end up in the top. And I think that this risk is one that I'm willing to take. I think it's the right risk to take." She said.
I looked at everyone. Their faces were hesitant, but when I met their eyes, they met mine with a strong resolve.
"All in favor of a quest, say—" what I was going to say next was cut off as the door was yanked open. It was Ryl.
She stood, drenched in water, bangs plastered to her forehead, leather jacket ripped and smoking.
"You guys… the camp's under attack."
Ryl POV
Dear gods.
I thought after dodging a blast of fire. The hellhound that was currently obsessed with making me into it's little ragdoll howled and bounded towards me, it's bloody maw open wide so I could see it's beautifully sharpened teeth.
Leaping to the side, I clubbed it on the head with my wrists, and the imperial/celestial mix from the spiked wrist bands immediately dissolved the monster into yellow sawdust. Looking around, I saw Annabeth running into the fray, a cap in one hand, dagger in the other.
DoubleH was scowling as she stabbed another monster in the stomach, and then flipped behind the hellhound that was coming up behind her to stab it in the back. She was definitely not happy.
Wearily, I turned to face my next opponents, who were a couple of dracaena, intent on killing me. Casually flicking off a bit of ash on my shoulder, I took my stance, warily waiting for them to make a move on me. The first dracaena threw her net, which I dodged easily.
When she thrusted at me with her spear, I sidestepped, spun on my heel before catching the shaft and snapping it in half. The other dracaena surrounded me, their spears at the ready. Before they could stab me, however, I back flipped over their head, and used the broken shaft of the spear, to stab one of them in the back.
Then, I used the shaft to block the oncoming attacks from the spears. Eventually, I managed to lead them over to a jar of greek fire, which I tossed at them. They went up in flames.
The raid had come out of nowhere. One minute, I was standing there, wondering what kind of person hated the world right now, and the next, I heard the baying of hellhounds, and the screeching of harpies. How had they all appeared? I just barely managed to keep myself from catching on fire when a jar of Greek fire crashed near me.
Looking around, I saw a group of demigods surrounded by laistrygonians. Among them was a boy from the Hermes cabin. I think his name was Justin. One of the hellhounds pounced on an unfortunate camper, and without thinking, I willed a bunch of chains to come up from the ground, and throttled the monster. Jogging over, I helped the camper up.
It was Leo.
"Woah, girl, where did you learn a stunt like that?" He panted, wiping some grease from his forehead, and rummaging in his tool belt for something.
"No idea." I lied, kneeing another laistrygonian before punching his lights out. As you can see, I prefer close combat.
Leo found what he was looking for, and drew out two hammers. I raised my eyebrows. Where had those come from?
"Magic tool belt." Leo explained, beaning a monster on the head. We stood, back to back, fighting.
"I see." I commented dryly. Then, I felt a sudden heat. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Leo had set his hammers aflame… in fact, he was on fire. I blinked. Leo was a son of Hephaestus which meant… oh.
"Fire user?" I asked. He grinned proudly.
"Yeah… hey! How did you know about fire users?"
But I was already gone, dodging monsters. I heard him curse, and I grinned despite myself. Playing with these people was so fun. As I ran, I let my magic run from my fingertips, fire sparks dancing on my hands. Every monster I passed was instantly fried and killed.
Eventually, I noted that the monsters were retreating. Several campers were running after them, slowly spreading out, spreading thin. If they didn't stop, they would accidentally run over the border and be easy meat. Looking around, I caught Annabeth's eye.
"Draw back!" I shouted, pointing frantically at the campers. She nodded, and shouted something to Chiron. He blew into a conch horn. The campers immediately drew back, leaving their fights and coming back into the camp.
Some monsters screamed abuse, and threw some more weapons and Greek fire, but they remained outside of the borders, slowly trickling into the woods.
Running up to Annabeth, I scowled.
"Ok. Someone needs to tell me what's going on." I said. Annabeth sighed.
"Here. Follow me." I rolled my eyes, but motioned for DoubleH, and followed her to behind the big house.
Annabeth sighed.
"Ok, so you walked out when we were talking about the magic paintbrush."
I raised an eyebrow. The paintbrush. Of course.
Annabeth POV (sorry for all the switching around… this has got to be the, what, third time I've written in her POV? Well, anyways, sorry J)
"Do tell me about this lovely paintbrush." Ryl said sarcastically, running her hand through her damp fringe. I sighed and explained everything. When I finished, Ryl cocked her head to the side.
"Alright. Fine. So we go on a quest to find this magical paintbrush… and hope that somehow we'll manage to capture it from Gaea and Nyx." Ryl said, running her fingers through her fringe again.
"Don't forget, the paintbrush has a keeper… since Ma Liang is probably dead, we have to believe that a descendent of him got it or something." DoubleH concluded thoughtfully. I tilted my head in concentration.
"Not necessarily. Ma Liang might be alive despite the fact that he is technically the hero of his story. Besides, he could easily draw up a magic barrier for his paintbrush. There are a lot of factors in this." I said.
Ryl scowled.
"Let me get this straight. We are going on a quest out of the camp borders… where giant hellhounds and giants are currently lying in wait for us to eat our tasty little bones, and find a paintbrush. Not just any ordinary paintbrush, but a magic one that could possibly ruin the entire world with one drawing. Let's not forget that the guy… Ma Liang, might have you know, broken the paintbrush, or somehow magically painted up obstacles and curses for his paintbrush that could, you know, kill us with one touch… and let's also not forget that a possible descendent who could possibly be holding the key to the world will have it, and might not be on our side, and have you even thought about the fact that the paintbrush might not be real?" She asked dryly.
DoubleH sighed, and shifted her weight.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I've got to add to your little rant. I won't be able to go on the quest; I need to get back to base."
I clenched my fists. Going over it in my head made me realize just how hopeless the mission was. But if there was the chance… even a spider's thread of hope, I had to take it.
"We have to do this." I said slowly. Ryl met my eyes. She sighed.
"Ok. But who'll be going to take the quest?" She asked.
I looked out to the Big House.
"I think we finally need to talk to the oracle."
End of chapter 11
I hope that this is starting to pick up to my faithful readers who have stuck with me so far.
Review and tell me what you think about everything; as I said before, those who guess correctly what will happen will be rewarded with a special treat!
Thanks everyone who read this chapter.
