Chapter FOURTEEN

Four shall leave to pacify the ocean,
Or lest the world be rocked with emotion.
But beware, without doubt, your quest shall end,
When one of your number perishes in the land of gems.
A secret lies beneath the land,
Where a long-lost one shall lend you a hand.

I didn't know how my friends thought of this prophecy, but I knew that I was freaking out.

"That was optimistic," Reyna said in a small voice after a very long period of awkward silence. Lupa barked. Prophecies are never inspiring.

"Yeah," Bobby said, "especially that Great Prophecy thing."

Everybody in the Wolf House looked at Hazel, and then me. I frowned. "What Great Prophecy? How in Pluto's name is that you know it but I've never even heard of it?"

Lupa's ears twitched. During World War Two, the Big Three made a pact to not sire any more children.

"I know," I impatiently said, "but I never understood why, because none of you ever explained it to me!"

Reyna glared it me. "Do you know what kind of fight World War Two was, Jason?"

I struggled to remember my history lessons. "Um...it was Iceland against Hungary?"

Reyna clapped a hand to her forehead. "Your grade is F-minus," she groaned. "That's preposterous, even by mortal standards! Mortals said that it was basically a fight between the Allied countries, which included the United States, England, and France, and the three Axis countries, Germany, Italy, and Japan."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "And it has to do with Jason and I because...?"

Lupa took over and growled, World War Two was actually a fight between Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. The sons of Jupiter and Neptune were the Allied forces, and the sons of Pluto were the Axis.

"I still don't get why this has to relate to us," Hazel persisted. "Just because some half-siblings of ours fought against the children of Pluto, why does that matter to us?"

Reyna sighed, as if we were all incredibly stupid. "Hazel...the children of the Big Three have powers that are far more potent then the other children of the gods."

"Yes," I said. "I think that she has figured that out by now."

Hazel gave me a death glare.

"They could save the world, or they could destroy it. Annihilate it. Raze it."

"Raise?" Hazel asked. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"No!" Bobby broke in. "Those are homophones! You're thinking of r-a-i-s-e. This 'raze' is spelled r-a-z-e. It means to destroy, turn to rubble."

Reyna looked impressed. "For an idiotic son of Mars, you have good vocabulary."

Bobby looked modest. "It's just because it has to do with war. War razes stuff. So I know the definition."

Reyna's look of amazement and surprise immediately melted off of her face, leaving an annoyed expression behind. "I should've guessed that."

Lupa continued where Reyna had left off. They swore on the River Styx to never have children again. Their kids were just too powerful, and they were affecting the course of human civilization. For a couple of decades, everything was fine.

"Until Jason was sired," Reyna finished.

I winced at that comment. Lupa caught my movement and glared at me, warning me to shut up or else I would be in the Underworld a second later. How she knew about my family, I don't know, so don't ask me. Reyna caught my flinch as well.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused. "You're the only child of Jupiter in the twenty-first century."

I swallowed and nodded. "You're right. Carry on."

Reyna still had a look of suspicion on her face, but she wiped it off. "And now, since a new daughter of the Big Three has been openly claimed...well, the prophecy is just becoming more and more dangerous by the minute. Either of you could be the one in the Great Prophecy. Either of you could determine the fate of Olympus."

Hazel threw up her hands in exasperation. "Well, I sure hope that I'm not the one in this 'Great Prophecy'. I hate taking responsibility for other people! It's so annoying, having to look over your back to check if your partners are there!"

Bobby guffawed. "Now, I can see that although you have a temper of the king of the gods, you're not his child. His children like being leaders."

He shot a glance at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

Hazel, however, was not impressed. "First off," she hissed, getting right into Bobby's face, "do I look like a boy to you?"

Bobby shook his head, holding his breath.

"Second, do I have a beard?"

Bobby shook his head again. He looked like he was doing the Limbo.

"Third and finally, do I really have that much of a temper?"

Bobby whispered, "Yeah."

Hazel abruptly stomped to the right wall of the room and stayed there, venting.

"All right," Reyna said, "this talk about the 'Great Prophecy' is interesting and all, but can we get back to discussing out own prophecy? I don't like the sounds of it."

I smiled at her. "You just voiced exactly what I was thinking."

Lupa stood up and shook her fur. I shall leave you to discuss your prophecy in peace. Be ready to leave camp by dawn tomorrow. Remember, the whole world is counting on you. Do not mess this quest up, or else, we shall be drowned in blood by the carnage Neptune's trident will cause.

After Lupa left, Reyna asked in a small voice, "Does anyone else think that Lupa is so optimistic at certain points when your life is on a line?"

Everybody nodded their heads sarcastically.

Bobby sat down, his lets crossed like a pretzel. "Go to the line in the prophecy where it said, 'When one of your number perishes in the land of gems.'"

"Yeah," Hazel agreed. "That part sounds ominous. And what is the land of gems? Some sort of unknown world in outer space? Do we have to steal a rocket and launch? It would be polluting the Earth!"

Reyna asked her incredulously, "Since when were you ever a such a supporter for 'Let's not pollute the Earth!'?"

"We live on Earth," Hazel simply pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. Reyna sighed and said, "Hazel, we are not going on a rocket ship."

"Great," Hazel said, relieved. "I hate being in zero gravity."

She noticed our looks and waved a hand dismissively. "I mean, come on! You forgot that I live a life on the run. I've been plopped in some really weird mental institutes, okay?"

"Jeez," Bobby said, fascinated. "You were locked up in a mental asylum before?"

Hazel frowned. "It is typical for everybody to think that I'm insane when I get mad. Then, bad things happen."

Reyna shoved us all back on track. "Who do you think will be the person to perish?"

"Can we not talk about the more depressing points of the prophecy?" I inquired.

"The whole prophecy is depressing," Reyna said, grinding out each word through gritted teeth. "But I still don't know what this 'land of gems' is."

"And the last two lines of the prophecy," I piped up. "When it said, 'A secret lies beneath the land,' does that mean that Neptune's trident is hidden there?"

Reyna frowned. "Sounds like it is. 'Where a long-lost one shall lend you a hand.' But the question is, who is the 'long-lost one'?"

"Probably someone in the Underworld who used to be famous, but then was forgotten," I suggested. Reyna nodded, her eyes thoughtful. "I think that the person is definitely in the Underworld, but...just exactly who is it that can help us find the location of Neptune's trident?"

"Going back to my question," Hazel huffed, "what is the 'land of gems?'"

Nobody answered her. That was the part that was stumping all of us.

"Maybe a country or a place that has a whole lot of diamonds in it," Bobby put forward. Reyna nodded uneasily. "Perhaps. It's our best bet."

She stood up. "I'm going to dinner. If you guys want to talk more about the prophecy, fine, but I am starving. I feel like I could eat the whole mess hall!"

"That wouldn't be good for your digestion," Hazel called after her as Reyna zoomed out of the Wolf House.

I rose. "I'm going with her. You guys should come too. We don't want you guys turning into anorexics."

Whew! After fourteen chapters, they finally go on the quest. See you guys soon!