(A/N: Enjoy this new part!)
I joined my cabinmates for breakfast the next day. Well, if four people counted as a cabin.
"Where's the new demigod? Has she been claimed yet?" Nico asked excitedly.
I smiled at his enthusiasm. Gotta admit I find it funny how interested and happy he was all the time. It was probably also due to the fact his sister was back in camp again by the request of Artemis.
"Her name's Eliza Farriman, she's unclaimed," I replied.
"Why wasn't she in our cabin if she's unclaimed?" Travis questioned, trying to aim a chunk of bacon at a hunter's before I slapped it out of his hands.
"Do you want to be castrated?" I exclaimed in exasperation.
Nico and Connor laughed while Travis shook his head quickly, a look of slight fear on his face.
"What does castrate mean?" My little brother asked.
The Stoll brothers looked at each other before me. Yeah, no, I'm not talking about that until he gets a girlfriend.
"Anyway, who's the team captain against the hunters?" I inquired, trying to change the subject.
"I think either Percy or Thalia," Connor answered with a shrug.
After breakfast, I joined Grover and Percy in a clearing to discuss a dream Percy had about a cave's ceiling collapsing with Annabeth and Luke involved.
"Do you have any idea what it could mean?"
"Well, demigod dreams never mean anything good," I replied with a shudder.
I had a really weird dream last night with a boy about a year older than me making me promise to 'fix the balance' and stuff. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've seen him before.
"I don't know, but after hearing about Zoë's dream-"
"Wait, Zoë had a similar dream?" Percy inquired.
Grover started looking frazzled, "U-uh, about three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Um... I might've been camping outside of their cabin," he answered with a blush.
"Why?"
"Just to be um... near them."
"You're a stalker with hooves,"
"If you weren't a satyr, they would probably castrate you too," I stated with the shake of my head.
"Heh..."
"Anyway, what did she say?"
"Well, I was hiding in the bushes," I quietly coughed 'stalker' leading Percy to snort.
"Then she was trying to talk to Chiron, but Argus wouldn't let her pass. She got really angry and started talking in an old-timey accent, then she insulted him. A bit after, Chiron came out in his pyjamas and curlers in his tail-"
"Chiron puts on curlers?" Percy gasped.
Grover looked worried before I urged him to continue. "Then she explained that she needed to go out and find Artemis because she was in danger. Zoë said someone kidnapped her!"
"How can you kidnap a goddess?" Percy questioned.
"Well, Persephone,"
"Yeah, but she's the goddess of flowers," Percy argued.
"She's the goddess of Springtime," I corrected him, feeling slightly angered by his comment. She was my stepmom who taught me how to put people into comas with Stygian sleep.
"Whatever, Artemis is way more powerful. Who could be capable enough to kidnap her?" he inquired.
"I dunno, maybe a certain titan lord who wants to destroy Olympus?" I guessed sarcastically.
"But, isn't he like, gone?"
"Gods and titans can't be killed, only weakened. Very few ever actually died, they just fade," I pointed-out.
My father thought it was important to learn about our 'interesting' family tree, like technically my step-mom is my cousin. There's so much messed up with Olympian families.
"If he reformed already, one of the gods would know and alert Chiron. He can't be that powerful yet," Grover said in an attempt to reassure us.
"They're connected for sure,"
After I said this, a satyr ran straight into a tree that used to be a nymph, which Grover commented with "Ah, love," that nearly made me laugh if it weren't for the topic we were discussing.
"We have to talk to Zoë about this," Percy stood up.
"Uh, before you do," Grover preceded in taking out a brochure-like booklet.
"What's that?"
We both read the cover, seeing a headline with 'A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE!', and other captions like'HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU!' and 'A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!' with girls fighting monsters and junk. At once, I knew it was a Hunters of Artemis advertisement.
"I found this in Annabeth's backpack."
"I don't-"
"Well, it seems to me like she was thinking about joining," Grover replied.
To say the least, Percy was not a happy camper after hearing that, strengthening Silena and my theory about how he likes her. I was ninety-eight percent sure she reciprocated those feelings but after seeing that brochure, it dropped to like a fifty.
"Perce, she was probably just considering it, it wasn't like-"
"Did you know about it?" He turned to me, staring me down.
"Um... no, I didn't know she was interested or even how she got an advertisement. Probably picked it up and enjoyed a good read?"
Percy shook his head before plopping down on a hill with me. "C'mon, lighten up,"
He sighed before replying, "Y'know, and I say this with all due respect, I would like to strangle every one of the hunters right now."
I shot him a quick glare but understood why he felt like this. He was worried about Annabeth, so was I, therefore he was funnelling his anger towards the hunters.
I knew he was very distracted because he almost killed an Ares camper in javelin-throwing class. I had to stop myself from laughing or else I'll be kicked out as well.
I knew talking to Chiron would be the best option, but he was busy and I think he would choose the option safest for Percy. Then, I got an idea.
"Come with me," I motioned him to follow me.
I saw Argus and Mr. D watching the dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece, which meant the Big House was empty. If Percy needed help, I know one person who could help. Well, 'person'.
"The Oracle?" he seemed confused when I led him to the stairs.
"Well, if you want to help Annabeth, I have a feeling a certain corpse with a spirit inside could help."
"That sounds disgusting," he replied before walking up the stairs slowly.
I actually never went into the attic, nor have I seen the Oracle. I've been at camp for a while, like longer than Percy technically, if you count saying during the school year. Anyway, all I knew was the Oracle of Delphi was cursed by my father to never have a new host until his children get proper representation or something. I zoned out about then.
Once in the attic, I wasn't at all surprised about how it looked. It was littered with junk, old shields, bent swords, creepy taxidermy, and a corpse by the window. Of course, the only thing in that room that held any value was the spirit of Delphi inside the body.
"Uh, sup?" I greeted uncomfortably.
What else was I supposed to say? 'Sorry my dad cursed you'? Yeah, like that will go smoothly with Percy beside me.
"I have a question," Percy began, "I need to know about Annabeth? How do I save her?"
Silence.
It was hard, again, not to laugh at Percy. He was being stonewalled by a dead body with an Oracle inside, ha!
Gotta admit Percy is a hoot to have around.
"Fine, we'll figure it out ourselves," he spat, seeming annoyed and angered by the silent spirit.
We turned around, I bumped into a table of more souvenirs and knocked some over. Huh, didn't Luke have a dragon claw? The one that caused his scar? I thought to myself before I noticed Percy pick up a familiar-looking pink scarf.
"You brought this here?"
"No, I threw it, didn't I?" I grabbed the scarf and saw it had a label.
"What?"
"Says Annie found it," I threw it back at the table before walking down the stairs first.
I heard Percy practically run down the stairs, earning a couple more laughs. Damn, he must've gotten scared of the body. Being in the Underworld so often is making me accustomed to dead people, dang.
Later that day, we started preparing for the game against the hunters. The playing field seemed even, but we all knew better. The hunters were skilled fighters, how else could they compete with Artemis? Thirteen versus thirteen seems vastly unfair to be honest if we are going against the hunters. They wiped the floor with us when we were at full capacity!
"You go defence and I'll take offence," I heard Thalia tell Percy as I helped the Aphrodite campers get suited up.
Usually, most Aphrodite campers sit around and watch, but because we were versing the hunters, they wanted to fight. Of course, they still didn't want to damage their nails. Well, not all of them.
"We'll show them 'love is worthless'," Silena grumbled as she strapped on her armour. "I'll pulverize them!"
"Chill, this is only a friendly match," I stated in fear of her actually getting into a fight with a hunter.
Son Chiron told us to get to our sides and we headed to the west woods. Then, Thalia told us about her plan. I got my brother to stay with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers at Zeus' Fist, which was where our flag was located, just to be safe. Thalia afterwards told Silena and two other campers to lead the hunters away from us while she and a raiding party goes towards the flag.
"Anything to add, Percy?" I felt somewhat left out, but it was understandable. She didn't know who my father was, and Percy help lead the quest that brought her back to life. That meant Percy had some seniority over me.
"Yeah, keep sharp on defence, it's not a big forest so we have four guards and two scouts. Arina and I'll be roving, call if you need help."
"And don't leave your post,"
"Unless you see a golden opportunity," I pointed-out.
"Just don't leave your post," she scowled.
"Yeah, unless-" Percy agreed with me.
"Percy," she touched his arm and I saw static shock him, but not too much.
"Sorry," she apologized insincerely, "Let's go,"
The horn sounded and we split into our groups. Silena took her group to the left while Thalia's waited a bit before storming the right.
"Sis, where's that new girl you were talking about?"
"Um... not sure, Nico, maybe she needed to contact her parents?" It was weird I haven't seen Eliza since I brought her to camp, but it was understandable if she wanted to miss the game. The whole situation must be overwhelming her.
I saw Percy climb Zeus' Fist to get a better view while I checked around just in case my sister shadow travels over. We were near a cluster of trees so I guess it would be easier to hide.
"Hey, Arina, remember when we found you hear a year ago?" Travis asked me to relieve some of the tension.
"Heh, not really, I was unconscious most of the time," I replied while Nico and Percy gave me an odd look.
"What happened?"
"She went missing for like half a week," Connor answered when I didn't.
"You didn't bother to tell me this?" Percy seemed shocked and slightly upset I didn't.
"I didn't because it didn't seem important," I argued with a nonchalant shrug.
He seemed annoyed still before staring at something.
"What's happening?" my little brother asked, trying to climb the boulder too.
"You guys can hold the fort?" Percy inquired.
"Of course," Beckendorf snorted.
"I'm going in," Percy leaped off the boulder and ran towards the hunters' spot while the boys cheered him on.
"Such a Barnacle Boy," I shooked my head while remaining in the same spot.
"You're not going after him?" Travis questioned.
"Nah, I'll wait for Thalia to kill him from going against her plan," I replied before a familiar dark-haired girl showed up.
Zoë came up behind us, jumping up and gracefully landing on the pile of rocks before grabbing our flag and jumping off. She then dashed towards the boundary line.
I burst into a run, trying to catch up to the lieutenant. I heard someone come up on my left, a glance proved it was Beckendorf trying to catch her too.
I saw Percy trip on something, falling unceremoniously onto the ground with the hunters' silver flag. He got up after and continued running towards the creek. Unfortunately, Zoë got across before him.
The cheering was heard from the hunters' side of the woods as they all came out. Chiron blew his horn, seeming rather disappointed by the outcome of the game.
"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced, his voice devoid of delight.
"PERSEUS JACKSON!" Thalia screamed, stomping towards the spawn of the sea god angerly.
Oh gods... I'll be scraping Percy off the trees after this, I realized with the shake of my head. Thalia and Percy are children of two of the most powerful gods, a fight between them is never good, ever.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Thalia screeched, blue lightning coming off her body as she got closer to Percy.
Percy balled his fists before replying, "I got the flag, I saw a chance and took it!"
"I was at their base! We would've won if you hadn't butted in!"
"There were too many of them!"
"It's my fault then?"
"I-"
"Argh!" Thalia pushed Percy, electricity passing in between them before he landed ten feet back into the water.
Percy's eyes flashed in rage as Thalia paled and the hunters laugh. He summoned a huge wave and doused Thalia in it. She responded with bringing out her spear while Chiron ordered both of them to stand down.
"Guys! STOP!" I took a threatening step between them, an earthquake erupting around us.
The duo looked at me before getting distracted by something behind me. I turned, and much to my shock, the mummified Oracle came walking towards us all, a thick green mist surrounding us. She beckoned Zoë to step forward before uttering,
"Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand." The Oracle announced before sitting down dramatically.
We had a counsellors' meeting after the Oracle gave Zoë the prophecy. I, of course, was not invited because I wasn't a counsellor. However, that didn't stop me from turning invisible and sneaking in. What? The rec room has a lot of shadows.
"This is pointless," Zoë said crossing her arms as she sat at one end of the table.
"Do you even know where to start?" Mr. D inquired.
"West, that was what the prophecy said," Bianca stated, also representing the Hunters as well.
"We shall head out immediately," Zoë declared firmly, "Thou will organize a group of hunters-"
"Will you speak normally?" Thalia snapped in annoyance causing Zoë to cast her a glare.
"Also, the prophecy said 'Campers and Hunters combined prevail', meaning you need campers with you," Thalia argued with her.
"No! We do not need thy help!"
"It's your, no one says thy in like a thousand years,"
Zoë's eyebrows furrowed. She appeared to have difficulties trying to say 'your', instead, saying 'yerr'. I honestly found it annoying that Thalia was complaining about this. Just let the goddamn girl speak how she likes! Geez...
"Whatever,"
"Yes, I'm afraid we do have to work together for this prophecy to succeed," Chiron agreed with the daughter of Zeus as I decided to sit on a discarded chair.
Unfortunately, the chair was rustier than I thought and creaked under my weight, and no, I'm not fat, it's just old. Anyway, because of the noise, everyone looked in my direction in confusion as I tried to stay hidden in the shadows.
"What was that?"
"It's nothing, let's just focus on who will go on this quest. We need five, and it's pointless to fight a prophecy." Bianca stated, casting me a sideways glance.
Of course, she can see me, she's a daughter of Hades and my sister, I thought with a shake of my head. Hopefully, Mr. D or Chiron don't notice me too.
"The winter solstice is coming this Friday, Artemis must be there," Chiron said, "you must embark on this quest as soon as possible.
"Thou will take Bianca and Phoebe," Zoë claimed.
"Hey, I'm going too," Thalia interjected.
"Can I go?" Grover inquired beside Thalia, "I'm technically a camper."
"Hm... no, thy is, moderately creepy," Zoë admitted causing Grover to blush and eat a handful of ping pong balls covered in cheese whiz.
"Told you you were a stalker," Percy stated under his breath.
"I'll also bring... Arina, if she is interested," I had to stop myself from getting excited before realizing I could very well die on this quest.
Percy's eyes widened suddenly, "What about me? I want to go!" Everyone gave him a look of pity, all of us assuming he wanted to look for Annabeth as well. Of course, he didn't take that well when people were giving him that look.
"I want to help Artemis too! I'm not going on this quest just for Annabeth," he argued with all our unvoiced theories.
"I refuse to bring a boy with us, and we have enough people," Zoë explained with a look of annoyance.
Percy slumped in his seat in defeat, seeming defeated and mildly pissed at the hunter. I felt bad for him, he just wanted to help Annabeth- and Artemis obviously, it almost made me want to give my spot to him. Almost.
"Wait, is Phoebe the big, scary hunter that got arrows in my helmet?" Connor questioned.
"Yes,"
"Well, we saw her admiring this shirt and wanted to give her it," Travis held up a silver t-shirt with Hunters of Artemis propaganda on it. "Do you mind giving it to her?" Once Zoë accepted the shirt, I instantly had a bad feeling in my stomach.
Phoebe attacked both of them, now they probably want revenge against her. Maybe Percy will get his wish to go on this quest if she's incapacitated.
"But remember, two of you will die on this quest," Chiron reminded the questers and I.
"Try to avoid deserts," Beckendorf stated.
"And your parents," Grover added afterwards.
"What does the Titan's curse mean, Chiron?" Percy questioned as we tried to unravel the prophecy.
Zoë and Chiron cast each other a nervous glance. I could tell whatever the curse was, they both knew all too well. Zoë was one of the oldest hunters, she must have heard of it while in the Hunt, and Chiron's well, the Titan's Lord son.
I guess Chiron would've wanted to go, but with Kronos rising, the last line of the prophecy could be referring to himself. He's not a coward, but I still find it odd he rather risk our lives than risk his own.
"That is it, meeting dismissed,"