A/N (I recommend reading this): I'm going to MAKE THIS CLEAR. Just like I mention on my bio page about every other fanfiction I done: I DON'T OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIAN SERIES or AND THE KANE CHRONICLES OR IT'S CHARACTERS as the rights goes to Rick Riordan. Also I suggest you guys start paying attention to the Author notes and my warnings that I left on EVERY chapter of EVERY story.

Sorry if this chapter is too much like the book.

This is a The Tales of version of the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles crossover and takes place after 'The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series. So if you haven't read them yet read before reading this story as stuff that happened in them will be mentioned:

The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Early Adventures
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Lightning Thief
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Sea of Monsters
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Titan's Curse
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Magical Labyrinth
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Stolen Chariot
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Sword of Hades
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Bronze Dragon
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Last Olympian
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Staff of Hermes
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Quest for Buford
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Son of Sobek
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Staff of Serapis
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Crown of Ptolemy

Also if you haven't got the chance feel free to read:

The Tales of Classical Mythology

A crossover with The Tales of series with my dictionary on Greek/Roman Mythology where The Tales of Percy Jackson tells his version of stories behind famous names in Greek and Roman Mythology.

And if you are a fan of Stephen King:

The Tales of the Heroes of the Stand

Which is basically a crossover of The Tales of series with one of Stephen King's best novels The Stand.

Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed as long as you inform me about it.

Saving the Grove of Dodona is now Officially My First Trial

I was a dramatic god.

I thought my last statement was a great line. I expected gasps, perhaps some organ music in the background. Maybe the lights would go out just before I could say more. Moments later, I would be found dead with a knife in my back. That would be exciting!

Wait. I am mortal. Murder would kill me. Never mind.

At any rate, none of that happened. My three companions just stared at me.

"Four other Oracles," Rachel said. "You mean you have four other Pythias—"

"No, my dear. There is only one Pythia—you. That's what makes Delphi unique."

Rachel still looked like she wanted to jam a number ten bristle paintbrush up my nose. "So, these other four non-unique Oracles…"

"Well, you're already aware of one: Sybil of Cumae," I wiped the sweat off my palms. (Why must mortal palms sweat?) "She wrote the Sibylline Books—those prophecies that Ella the Harpy memorized."

"That's the Harpy at Camp Jupiter, right?" Meg asked. "The one everyone had hopes to get prophecies from before communications cut."

Chiron smiled. "Yes, Meg. Years ago, she somehow came across a copy of the prophetic books, which we thought were burned before the Fall of Rome. Right now, our friends at Camp Jupiter are trying to reconstruct them based on Ella's recollection. That's why we were hoping to rely on her memory and keen observation until Rachel regain her prophetic powers."

Rachel crossed her arms. "Okay. I can forgive about the author of Sibylline Books for Ella. But what about the other three Oracles? I am sure none of them was beautiful priestess whom you praised her… what was it?... 'scintillating conversation'?"

"Ah…" I was not sure why, but it felt like my acne was turning into live insects and crawling across my face. "Well, according to my extensive research—"

"Some books he flipped through last night," Meg clarified.

"Ahem! There was an Oracle at Erythaea, and another at the Cave of Trophonius."

"Goodness," Chiron said. "I'd forgotten about those two."

I shrugged. "Someone obviously remembered them as it was in one of Will's books. And I got the feeling if we could ask Percy, he might find them in the book he got from my son Halcyon. In fact I was thinking back on that book when I decided to do my own research." I left out the part about Athena's part about wisdom.

"And the fifth oracle," Rachel reminded me.

"Right. The Grove of Dodona," I said.

"A grove," Meg said. "Like trees."

"Yes, Meg, like trees. Groves are typically composed of trees, rather than, say, Fudgsicles. Dodona was a stand of sacred oaks planted by the Mother Goddess Rhea in the first days of the world. They were ancient even when the Olympians were born."

"Rhea?" Rachel asked.

"Queen of the Titans, the mother of the first generation of Olympian gods. Her sacred trees could speak. Sometimes they issued prophecies."

"The voices in the woods," Meg guessed.

"Exactly. I believe the Grove of Dodona has regrown itself in the woods at camp. In my dreams, I saw a crowned woman imploring me to find her Oracle. I believe it was Rhea, though I still don't understand why she was wearing a peace symbol or using the term dig it."

"A peace symbols?" Chiron asked.

"A large brass one," I confirmed.

Rachel drummed her fingers on the couch's armrest. "Rhea probably got into some hippie phase. Percy mention Iris acting somewhat the same way when he Hazel and Frank saw her on the way to Alaska."

I had a flashback of last time I saw Iris. Iris—goddess of rainbows—was in a vegan hippie phase, not caring about her position among the gods. Although Rhea was acting even weirder than Iris, I realized Rhea must be going through the same thing. Rhea always was a gentle soul for a Titan after all.

"Whatever phase Rhea is in; I think she wants us to succeed. She doesn't want her grove in the hands of our enemies."

Chiron's tail twitched. "My friend, Rhea has not been seen for millennia. Her grove was burned in the ancient times. Emperor Theodosius ordered the last oak cut down in—"

"I know." I got a stabbing pain right between my eyes, as I always did when someone mentioned Theodosius. I now recalled that the bully had closed all the ancient temples across the empire, basically evicting us Olympian gods. I used to have an archery target with his face on it. "Nevertheless, many things from the old days have survived or regenerated. The Labyrinth has rebuilt itself. Why couldn't a grove of sacred trees spring up again right here in this valley?"

Meg pushed herself deeper into the cushions. "This is all weird." Leave it to young McCaffrey to summarize our conversation so effectively. "So if the tree voices are sacred and stuff, why are they making people get lost?"

"For once, you ask a good question." I hope such praise would not go to Meg's head. "In the old days, the priest of Dodona would take care of the trees, pruning them, watering them, and channeling their voices by hanging wind chimes in their branches."

"How would that help?" Meg asked.

"I don't know. I am not a tree priest. But with proper care, these trees could divine the future."

Rachel smoothed her skirt. "And without proper care?"

"The voices were unfocused," I said. "A wild choir of disharmony." I paused, quite pleased with that line. I was hoping someone might write it down for posterity, but no one did. "Untended, the grove could most definitely drive mortal to madness."

Chiron furrowed his brow. "So our missing campers are wandering in the trees, perhaps already insane from the voices."

"Or they're dead," Meg added.

"No." I could not abide that thought. "No, they are still alive. The Beast is using them, trying to bait me."

"How can we be sure?" Rachel asked. "And why? If Python already controls Delphi, why are these other Oracles so important?"

I gazed at the wall formerly graced by my picture. Alas, no answers magically appeared in the whitewashed space. "I can't be certain, but as I said before the other four oracles rely on powers outside of Delphi for prophecies. It could be because of that; the enemies want to make sure we are stuck in Catch-88. Without a way to see and direct our fates, we will wither and die—gods and mortals alike, anyone who opposes the Triumvirate."

Meg turned upside down on the sofa and kicked off her red shoes. "They're strangling our taproots." She wriggled her toes to demonstrate.

I look back at Rachel, hoping she would excuse my street urchin overlord's bad manners. As for why the Grove of Dodona is so important, Python mention that it was the one Oracle he could not control. I do not understand exactly why—perhaps because Dodona is the only Oracle with no connections with me. Its power comes from Rhea. So if the grove is working, and it is free of Python's influence, and it is here at Camp Half-Blood—"

"It could provide us with prophecies." Chiron's eyes gleamed. "It could give us a chance against our enemies."

I gave Rachel an apologetic smile. "Of course, we'd rather have our beloved Oracle of Delphi working again. And we will, eventually. But for now the Grove of Dodona could be our best hope."

Rachel shrugged. "I didn't argue when it was brought up trying to get prophecies from Ella, I'm not going to argue against using the Grove of Dodona. I will even groom it once it is saves if it means finding ways to free Delphi. I took on my destiny because the spirit was suffering without a new vessel, and now it seems the Python is causing it to suffer once more."

I flinched at the reminder of what the last oracle went through. Back then the spirit was stuck in the mummified remains of the previous oracle because Hades had cursed her until his children is treated fairly and no longer must hide, in revenge for a prophecy she made that she predicted Nico and his sister Bianca would have part of. She was not wrong to say the di Angelo kids were involved, but back then children of Hades were thought of as threats because most of them turned out to be evil rulers and because of its Zeus was out for every child of Hades he could find to destroy.

Meg's hair swept the floor. Her face was now the color of one of my sacred cattle. "Aren't prophecies all twisted and mysterious and murky, and people die trying to escape them?"

With any oracles, Meg had a point, but not with this Oracle. "Meg," I said, "you can't trust those reviews on . The hotness factor for the Sibyl of Cumae, for instance, is completely off. I remember that quite clearly."

Rachel put her chin on her fist. "Really? Do tell."

"Uh, what I meant to say: The Grove of Dodona is a benevolent force. It has helped heroes before. The masthead of the original Argo, for instance, was carved from a branch of the sacred trees. It could speak to the Argonauts and give them guidance."

"Mm." Chiron nodded. 'And that's why our mysterious Beast wants the grove burned."

"Apparently," I said. "And that's why we have to save it."

Meg rolled backward off the couch. Her legs knocked over the three-legged coffee table, spilling our Arizona tea and crackers. "Oops."

I ground my mortal teeth, which would not last a year if I kept hanging around Meg. Rachel and Chiron wisely ignored my young friend's display of Megness.

"Apollo…" The old centaur watched a waterfall of tea trickling from the edge of the table. "If you are right about Dodona, how do we proceed? We are already shorthanded. If we send search teams into the woods, we have no guarantee they'll come back."

Meg brushed the hair out of her eyes. "We'll go. Just Apollo and me."

My tongue attempted to hide in the depths of my throat. "We—we will?"

"You said you gotta do a bunch of trials or whatever to prove you're worthy, right? This'll be the first one."

Part of me knew she was right. I remember what Alabaster said about saving the oracles was part of my trials. I was now certain he really was referring to more than just Delphi when he said that, even though he was not aware of it. But the remnants of my godly self-rebelled at the idea. I never did my own dirty work. I would rather have picked a nice group of heroes and sent them to their deaths—or, you know, glorious success.

But the best options are scattered across the country, and the closest one is Percy Jackson made himself clear he was only assisting but not taking full part of it unless the Fates themselves made it clear he has too. I thought of going to New York City and try and convince Percy his part was mandated by the fates, but I got this feeling that having him take part of this quest was just not meant to be.

Besides the longer it will take for me to save the Grove, the greater risk I would be facing of the Beast killing Austin and Kayla, and I cannot let that happen either.

Plus Rhea had been clear in my dream: finding the Oracle was my job. And thanks to the cruelty of Zeus, where I went, Meg went. For all I knew, Zeus was aware of the Beast and his plans, and he had sent me here specifically to deal with the situation… a thought that did not make me any more likely to get him a nice tie for Father's Day.

Rachel put her hand on my knee, which made me flinch. Surprisingly, she did not inflict pain. Her gaze was more earnest than angry. "Apollo, you have to try. If we can get a glimpse of the future… well, it may be the only way to get thing back to normal." She looked longingly at the blank walls of her cave. "I'd like to have a future again."

Chiron shifted his forelegs. "What do you need from us, old friend? How we can help?"

Alabaster came to mind of someone who might be of use. The way Hecate forewarned him about leaving camp… no. Alabaster made it clear last night he hated my guts along with every Olympian. It must be just Meg and me.

I glanced at Meg. Sadly, I could tell that we agreed. We were stuck with each other.

"Meg is right," I said. "We have to do this ourselves. We should leave immediately, but—"

"We've been up all night," Meg said. "We need some sleep."

Wonderful, I thought. Now Meg is finishing my sentences.

This time I could not argue with her logic. Despite my fervor to rush into the woods and save my children, I had to proceed cautiously. I could not mess up this rescue. And I was increasingly certain that the Beast would keep his captives alive for now. He needed them to lure me into his trap.

Chiron rose on his front hooves. "This evening then, Rest and prepare, my heroes. I fear you will need all your strength and wits for what comes next."

A/N: Today is my birthday and I had a good one. But for Percy Jackson fans this isn't just my birthday but the birthday of one character of the Percy Jackson series: Thalia Grace. Too bad she doesn't have a roll in this chapter though.

Now with this chapter I hope I ended your day/evening good too.