Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry to keep you all waiting for the next chapters. I have been very busy with school. I will most likely always post new chapters during the holiday breaks since this is when I have the most time to write. I will try to post multiple new chapters weekly. Anyhow, I am sure you all are dying to see what happens next. Thanks for reading, and be sure to like, comment, and follow this story! Happy reading!

"Nope you can't go," Apollo said, shaking his head back and forth.

"How did you even know I was going anywhere?" I stood in the front door frame of my cabin. I couldn't even shut the door because Apollo was in the way.

Apollo tapped his head. "Duh, I am a god. I know everything without you even saying a word."

I rolled my eyes. This guy is impossible.

"Plus," he continued, "you clearly look like you're going somewhere with a back pack stuffed full. And I've been around long enough to know what a questing-demigod looks like. But no, you can't go."

"I wasn't asking for your permission." I shouldered myself around Apollo, pulling the door shut behind me, and trudged down the steps. I looked out over the burning hearth in the middle of all the cabins and saw the sun rising over the tree line. I heard Apollo scamper down the steps after me and to my side.

"That is very true. But you can't go. You're untrained and inexperienced. You don't even know where you are going or what you will face."

I kept walking. I figured I would head towards the infirmary. I'm assuming the exit is where I saw the dragon, since dragons normally guard the entrance and exit to places. That was just a guess though. If I was wrong I would figure something else out. All I knew is I had to go somewhere for answers.

"Look," I said, "I know it's dangerous. But my mom came to me last night. Kids are dying because of something that my family has done. My dad isn't exactly around to fix it, and my mom is useless at the moment, so someone has to do something. And I guess I'm the only one who can fix it." I kept on walking

Suddenly, Apollo jumped in front of me. "Okay, okay. You are stubborn and aren't going to listen to me. But you really need to go get read a prophecy if you are going to go on a quest."

"A prophecy? Like a crazy delusional telling of the future?"

"I prefer the term complex future insight. It is not crazy, so don't go hating on it," Apollo said frowning.

"Oh yeah. You're the god of prophecy. My bad." I hadn't meant to offend Apollo, but I really needed to get him off my back. I wanted to leave camp before anyone else woke up. If I could leave avoiding any death-threatening stares that'd be nice.

"Alright," I continued. "Give me the prophecy. Lemme here it."

Apollo crossed his arms across his chest, clearly not amused. "That's not how it works."

"C'mon. I need to go. Can we just make it fast however you do it."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Very impatient aren't we?" He then snapped his fingers and I felt my gut pull. In a literal blink of an eye, the scene around me changed. I was no longer standing in the middle of all the cabins. I now stood in the middle of the woods. In front of me were two large oak trees forming and archway.

I looked over at Apollo who stood beside me. "Where are we now?"

"You said you wanted a prophecy, and here is how you get."

I looked back at the oak archway. "Um, from a talking tree?" I asked sarcastically.

"Precisely!"

"Um, I was kidding."

"Well, I'm not," Apollo said. He pointed towards the archway. "You just walk through there into the Grove of Dodona. Go to the giant tree in the middle with the wind chimes on it and ask a question. Preferably something about you quest, not like, you know, about what the winning lottery numbers are or something like that."

Apollo kept his eyes unwavering from the archway. I shook my head and took my back pack off of my shoulder and placed it on the ground. I can't believe I am going to do this. In the past 24 hours, I have seen some ridiculous things, but this is by far the weirdest. A talking tree? You've got to be kidding me. But I went along with it anyway.

I trudged on forward and walked under the big oak trees. The grove looked peaceful. I kept walking straight. After about 50 yards into the grove, I finally came across a big tree. And boy was it big. It looked very old and ancient. The tree's trunk was larger than any of the others, and the branches extended high into the sky. Sure enough, there was a wind chime on one of the branches just like Apollo had said.

I looked up at the tree. "Um…hello there," was all I could manage to say.

What was I supposed to ask? I mean, I've never really spoken to a tree before. I could easily ask it who my father is, and it may give me the answer. But, deep down, I knew that that wasn't the right question to ask. I needed to find out how to save those kids from being attacked.

"Uh I was wondering, could you tell me how to stop the attacks from the Chimeras and save the other demi-god children?"

I waited for the tree to respond with some kind of extravagant event. Maybe the wind would pick up and blow everywhere. Maybe the ground would shake as a new revelation would occur. Maybe mist would appear out of no where and answer my question. I waited for a minute or two, but of coarse nothing happened.

"Figures," I said under my breath and turned around to walk back out the grove.

Suddenly, though, a buzz filled the air, and a woman's voice spoke.

Ohhhh, you'th are an interesting one.

I quickly spun around and looked up at the tree. "Uhh huh, did you talk? To me?" I said pointing a finger at myself.

Undeniably. Lend your ear and receive what has to be said.

I nodded as I was at a lost for words, a thing that has become a part of my life now apparently. The tree spoke again.

The child of a peacock must journey to find

A lineage that was once declined.

Seven old foes that defeated the earth

Will aid in finding her worth.

A father and son of the sun shall follow

Into horrors in which they cannot swallow.

All journeying foes shall peacefully survive

Except the child who shouldn't be alive.

On the last word, everything went silent. I stood stalk still, hoping that the tree wouldn't end on that last line. I was hoping that the tree would be like, "Hey! LOL just kidding! Here's your real prophecy!" But that didn't happen. I wish that wasn't my prophecy. I mean, maybe it gave me the wrong one? I shook my head. No, it was definitely mine. I was the child who shouldn't be alive. My mom wasn't supposed to have children. I shouldn't have been born. I stared down at my feet. This journey of mine to fix problems and find out answers wasn't supposed to end with me dying. I know that I was going to have some tough challenges, but I never thought that I would die because of it. It can't be that hard, right?

I suppose Apollo was right in saying that I'm inexperienced. I don't even know what to do if I came across a monster or even the person who is behind all of the Chimera attacks. Would I fight them? I mean, I wasn't exactly a great fighter in capture the flag. I hardly fought against the Chimeras. It was by sheer luck I had survived.

I then thought about how others may not be that lucky. I couldn't even imagine what the Chimeras would do to a poor 8-year-old. If it was hard for me to escape an attack, it is surely impossible for them.

I sighed. I wish I wasn't the type of person who 'chooses to do what others can do, but no one wants to do and doesn't do', but I am. It's a saying I have always held myself accountable to. And I knew that, even if it meant my death, I would save others in a heartbeat; because there is nothing worse than living knowing that you could've saved another life. I took one last look at the big tree, waiting for it to say something else, but it remained silent. I bit my lip and headed back towards the grove's exit.

When I walked out the grove, Apollo was standing right where I left him. He was singing. And oh how he could sing! It was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. He was signing "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran. I didn't think anyone could sing it better than Ed himself, but Apollo made the original sound like a recording made by a 5-year-old. For the few seconds that I heard him sing, he made me forget all about my worries and unanswered questions. For a minute, I was at peace.

When he saw me walking towards him though, he stopped, and all of my fears came flooding back to my brain. Once I got to my back pack and put it on my shoulder, I looked at Apollo. Bits of his hair were glinting gold where the sun's rays peaked through the tree line and hit the top of his head. The right corner of his mouth was lifted slightly, creating a dimple across his cheek. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Well c'mon," I said. "Snap your fingers and take me to the camp exit. I really need to go."

Apollo laughed. "Not without you telling me what the prophecy was."

I looked down at my feet. "I can't remember."

"Yes you can. Lemme here it. It can't be that bad. I've heard so many about the world ending. And I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to end for another hundred-centuries, so it definitely can't be that bad."

I clenched my jaw. I don't know how I was able to remember all the lines, especially after hearing it only once. But I guess when you hear a prophecy about you, it's kind of ingrained in your brain.

I recited the lines just as I had heard it, being sure not to miss any words or syllables. After I was finished, I looked at Apollo, hoping that it was indeed not as bad as I had thought. But his facial expression told me otherwise. His jaw was now clenched, and he was staring at the ground in front of him. He seemed to have lost his glowing confidence.

After a few second, he finally spoke again. "If it requires the help of the Seven and me, then this is indeed 'that bad'."