We got to camp at half past two. Third lesson had just ended and so we were instantly run up to by all the campers - which was a lot of campers. Alfie was approached by his cabin, looking as serious as ever but relieved that their brother and head counsellor was safe. Cabin Seven went to Helia - of course - and Cabins Four and Ten went to Sofia and Dean. Satyrs rushed to Lucas, and he told them of the tragedy that was the loss of his reed pipes.
Amber came up to me and I felt a rush of affection. I hadn't realised how much I missed the daughter of Hermes, and quickly hugged her.
"Thank you." I told her. "For the prayer. Your father gave us this flying chariot… so thank you."
She grinned at me. "I'm just pleased to know you're safe, kid."
"Heroes!" Chiron called, and we all looked down Half-Blood Hill to look at him. It must have been one hell of a sight - all of us standing on the hill. "Fourth lesson will be terminated. It is time for the burning of the shrouds!"
"What's that?" I asked Amber, and she merely winked at me before her, some Cabin Eleven, Athena and Apollo campers lifted me up. My friends all got their siblings - or satyrs in Lucas' case - and we were carried down to the amphitheatre, where the bonfire blazed high and strong; a bright shade of red. The five of us demigods were parked down, while the rest of camp sat around on the rising seats. Chiron joined us and he was smiling brightly.
"Congratulations." He told us sincerely, before I received an unexpected hug from the old centaur. "I told you so."
"Thanks. And shut up." I grinned, as he turned to check on Helia. The campers were all settled, and so the shroud burning began.
Firstly, my shroud was carried out by the Hermes cabin. They had done it quite well; it was navy blue and tightly knitted, with an eagle on the front. They lifted it up.
"Scarlet-Rose Swan, Daughter of Zeus and quest leader, first hero since Heracles to steal an Apple of Immortality!" Chiron boomed loudly
Everybody cheered as some of the Hermes campers put my shroud in the fire.
"Why are they doing that?" I asked.
"If you die," Helia explained, "they wrap it over you and burn it. The burning of it without you just celebrates you being alive."
I nodded and looked around. Not everybody was cheering at my survival… Kieran and the Ares campers seemed pretty pissed off, but that didn't bother me.
"Helia Underwood, Daughter of Apollo!" Chiron announced, and some of Helia's siblings ran over, with a shroud of pure gold material. We cheered her survival, before the Athena campers made their way to us.
"Alfie Harper, Son of Athena!" Alfie's shroud was brilliant; grey silk with an embroidered owl on the front. Dean's was also pretty – plain blue, with grass woven in, and Sofia's was pink and silky - and stunk of perfume, which I worried would do havoc with the fire.
"As you know," Chiron shouted again, once Sofia's cheers had died down, "head counsellors are picked by how long they've spent at camp, or by how many quests they have undertaken. By this rule, I decree that Sofia Moretti and Dean Crown are now head counsellors for their respective cabins!"
The campers all cheered again, as Sofia looked apologetically at Alexandra - who seemed perfectly fine with the arrangement - whilst Dean looked pretty happy - and Rebecca annoyed. We were told to sit down, for Mr D to make his speech. His was one face I certainly didn't miss.
"Yes, they survived." Mr D sounded unimpressed. "What a joy. In other news, due to the head counsellors of the Zeus and Athena cabins returning - our current Capture the Flag team captains - the game will be continuing on Friday. To other head counsellors, who have been covering Cabin One, Six and Seven's morning chores, the rota is now back to normal. Wonderful. Now let's eat."
"Eat?" Dean asked, confused, as campers began to stand again and make their way to the dining pavilion. "Dinner isn't until ages!"
"This is the feast. They present us with laurels." Helia grinned and we proceeded to follow.
Even though I'd had a brilliant breakfast that morning - made ever so sweeter by the fact it was paid for by my father - I had been looking forward to a good camp meal. I was no longer bitter about being on my own… much… and sat comfortably down in the centre of the pavilion. I did forget how strange it was the tables on either side of me (2 and 3) had no campers, so I was pretty much marooned on my own, but once the nymphs started handing out barbecue, I soon forgot that, and was able to proudly throw in the brazier a slice of pizza for Zeus.
Once we had finished, Chiron called the six of us (this time Lucas was allowed to be involved) and placed Ancient Greek laurel wreaths on our heads, something which I knew I'd treasure for the rest of my life. Lucas' looked a bit odd - as it just fitted around his horns - but we were all beaming.
And just when I thought the celebrations had ceased - and I was planning to go to my cabin for the first time in nine days - we were all taken down to the beach for a party… which Mr D avoided. He complained of a headache and went back to the Big House.
It was the beach where everybody wanted us to tell them the story of our quest, but none of us wanted to. We weren't quite ready to relive it. Not just yet. Although another topic of conversation was rife, and that was Capture the Flag on Friday, and this time… I was captain, and against Alfie. That alone was enough to make me want to win.
"You are going to lose, big time." I threatened. He just scoffed at that. Once I'd gotten myself a drink, I rushed over to Amber and she happily agreed to be on my blue team. I headed to Sofia and Dean, who were also more than willing. Helia had already liaised with Alfie, so I'd be against her too. Zeus and Athena cabins were Kieran's least favourite and I didn't particularly want him on my team, but I figured that, if I couldn't have the war goddess' cabin on my team, I should probably have the war god's. It took him a while to agree, and even though we still wanted to kill each other, I agreed to do his morning chores for him. Kieran and I had made a deal - and so he gladly agreed to be on my team. I couldn't help but groan, however, when he told me with glee that on Wednesdays he was supposed to sort Chiron's messages. I was feeling pretty pleased until then that I had no chores to do in the morning. But oh well. If I wanted to beat Owl Face, sacrifices must be made.
Also on side were the Hephaestus cabin. I remembered the Greek Fire from the last game and how we wouldn't have even known about it if I couldn't of flown, so I hoped that, with me on their team - and if they could sort out a trap just as concealable - it might work.
I realised that I soon had pretty much every cabin on side, other than Athena, Apollo and Dionysus, but I didn't let that make me feel more confident. Alfie was a terrific planner, and Helia had the second biggest cabin in Camp Half-Blood, and they were all trained archers, which could be concerning. The Dionysus cabin didn't concern me after their performance in the last game…but they were under Kieran's rule then. With Alfie, they could be more dangerous.
I had just finished talking to Adam from Hephaestus - who was a lot nicer when you weren't fighting him - when I saw Amber with her two siblings by the sea. I then remembered what I found out during the quest. So I headed over in their direction – to ask her about it - and when she saw me coming she left her siblings and joined me.
"You sorted out your team now?" She asked me and when I told her yes, she nodded.
"But, Amber," I couldn't help but grin, "I've heard about your end of summer pranks."
"Well, you're just going to have to wait and see about that."
I laughed, and then heard Lucas shouting at me to get my fat arse back to them and I looked at Amber apologetically.
"Go and see your friends." She told me, and I left her be. I got back to our spot on the beach and my five best friends cheered.
"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.
"We're cheering our successful quest leader!" Helia informed me brightly. I looked down disbelievingly, before turning back to Sofia and Dean.
"Hey, congratulations on the head counsellor thing." I told them.
"I can't lead to save my life!" Sofia cried, and we all groaned. We did not need a repeat of this. "Oh… yeah, I'm sorry. But I have to do Cabin Inspection tomorrow."
"I have to sort Chiron's messages out as well."
"No you don't." Alfie frowned. "You're next chore is on Thursday; Cabin Inspection. Kieran's supposed to be doing that tomorrow."
I couldn't believe Alfie had actually memorised the chore timetable, but I told them of how I agreed to do a week of Kieran's chores, all in aid of Capture the Flag.
"You actually want Kieran on your team?" Dean shook his head.
"I still want to kill him, but for the game purposes, he will be good." I shrugged.
Before anyone else could say anything, Chiron approached us.
"Scarlet, if you don't mind, we do need to talk about the outcome of your quest."
"It's cool." I jumped up. "Guys, I'll be back in a bit."
Chiron and I roamed around the empty camp – as everybody was at the beach – and I reluctantly told him all that had happened after we stopped Iris-messaging in Bristol. He listened intently, and was relieved when I told him that Hera wasn't going to kill me. He couldn't help but ask questions about his previous campers - Katia and Greg - and he regarded me sadly as I told him about Zeus' visit.
"But, all in all," he told me brightly, "your quest was a success."
"It was…" I agreed uneasily. "But, Chiron, something doesn't make sense."
"Carry on, child."
"Well, a line in the prophecy never happened. I mean… 'You shall get what you set out to steal' was obviously the apple. 'Present it to Hera and seal a deal' was the deal we made on Olympus that if I don't cause trouble she'll leave me alone. 'But you fail to gain what you set out to achieve' was that Hera still doesn't trust me, nor like me, but then there's the last line. 'And you will be granted a reason to grieve'… well nobody died. And then there was all the warnings we had on the quest of approaching death. Yet it never happened."
It was Chiron's turn to look uneasy now; his tail flicked nervously. "Scarlet, my dear, prophecies often have double meanings. Do not dwell on this, the prophesised 'death' may not have meant that at all, and what it was instead may have already happened without you realising. I remember Eliza's tale, and it is a very sad one, but she's been rambling about death since she became in that condition. Try not to think of it."
I noticed how he desperately wanted me to forget about what I'd heard and I regarded him carefully, faltering to a stop by the forges.
"Chiron… this has something to do with the Great Prophecy, doesn't it?"
Chiron looked at me, and I could see in his eyes I was right, and he realised this so didn't try to protect me with lies.
"Scarlet, you don't even need to think about this prophecy until you're nineteen. That's over five years away. During that time, I am going to train you as much as I can, and as there are no quests for you to undertake, you can stay here at camp and train. We'll worry about it this time in five years when your nineteenth birthday will be a couple of weeks away, but you have a very long time until then."
"That's if I choose to stay year round…" I grumbled and by the look on Chiron's face I knew that's exactly what he wanted me to do. "Chiron, the way you're acting… is the prophesised death me?"
Chiron was ashen faced, but he shook his head. "I do not wish to answer that. As I told you earlier, prophecies are uncertain, and often have double meanings, so I'm not going to tell you an answer when it could turn out I'm very wrong."
I thought about this, and then had another question to ask. "My mum… do you know if she's okay? And Harry?"
Chiron smiled; relieved that I had changed the subject. "I believe they are fine, yes. I informed your mother of your quest shortly after you left, and she has been highly anxious. Especially when you hit the headlines yesterday… I managed to manipulate the Mist and make the authorities and the mortal world forget all about you, but your mother knew the truth and so she still remembers. She was terrified, but when I told her that I'd been informed of you staying on Olympus, she relaxed slightly."
I started to miss my mum greatly. I never thought she'd be that concerned about me on the quest, and it made my decision whether to stay year round or be a summer camper that much harder.
"And Harry?" I asked.
"Well… let's just say your brother knows more than he did when you left…"
"He knows I'm a demigod?" I gasped, and Chiron laughed.
"It's not as uncommon as you think. I know you were trying to protect him by concealing the truth, but from what I could gather, he's taken the truth brilliantly. He now realises why you've been so difficult all your life. He even asked if his disappearing father was a god."
I shook my head vigorously. "I remember Peter, probably more than Harry does. He was no god."
Chiron laughed again, and told me I should get back to the beach. Just as I was about to part from him, he called me back.
"Oh, and Scarlet." I turned. "You did well. You did as I advised."
"Which was?" I grimaced as I tried to remember.
"You didn't do it alone. The fact that all six of you arrived back tells me that you listened to me and accepted the help of your friends. You were a true leader, but you didn't go solo. You led a team, not just yourself."
"Oh…" I remembered this now. "I guess so. Didn't as much at the beginning, though." I thought back to the first day, where I hardly spoke to anyone, and just led the quest, getting annoyed when people like Alfie imputed.
"But you learnt to." Chiron smiled, and then galloped off, leaving me to head back to my friends. Sofia and Dean were kissing, a little away from the rest of us, and Alfie, Lucas and Helia were laughing at some joke.
"What did Chiron want?" Lucas asked me.
"He just wanted to know about the quest."
"Took you pretty long." Helia commented.
"Yes, well…" The three of them seemed to guess what else we were talking about but said nothing.
"Scarlet, are you going home at the end of summer?" Helia asked.
"I don't know, Helia." I groaned. "I'm just going to enjoy the rest of summer. My birthday's on the nineteenth of August, near the end of summer. I'll start worrying once I'm fourteen."
"Those two are going, aren't they?" Alfie jerked his head towards Sofia and Dean.
"Wouldn't it be strange for you to stay here, if Sofia was gone? Wouldn't you be worrying about her all the time?" Lucas grinned at me.
"Nah." I looked at Sofia, and smiled slightly. "She can look after herself. She'd be fine."