Seriously. The crush was miniscule. So small, he had looked up that word just to use it for this situation.

Several thoughts were coursing through Percy's mind as they neared the Big House. Most of them had to do with what disaster had occurred that was urgent enough to come get Chiron during the middle of class. Maybe the Big House had caught on fire, or flooded, or maybe a monster had broken through the border and was wreaking havoc. What if the Minotaur had come back for revenge? Percy's pulse quickened at the thought. The Minotaur was still the scariest monster he had ever faced, and he had done it alone, at twelve, with no training at all.

Not a happy memory. Also, not a very plausible explanation for the panic, but Percy still felt hugely relieved when he heard no telltale roars and crashes and screams. In fact, he heard almost nothing at all. He couldn't decide if that was worse.

The group of Athena kids around him finally slowed to a halt in front of the Big House. It didn't look like anything had caught on fire. "What do you think is happening?" Annabeth asked breathlessly.

Percy shook his head, trying to ignore the way her golden hair was falling out of its ponytail and being lit up by the sun like a halo. "I don't know. I've ruled out fire, flood, and Minotaur though, so we should be fine."

He was being mostly serious, but Annabeth laughed. "Well, thank the gods it's not another Minotaur. We both know how that went the first time."

She was there that night, Percy remembered with a start. He'd completely forgotten. After he had killed the Minotaur and reached the Big House, Annabeth was there to nurse him back to health. But she'd never really addressed him after the tour she'd given him the next day, other than the occasional glance across a crowded room or duel in class. She had never even explained how she had been the one to find him that night, while the rest of the camp was asleep in their cabins.

Now he was confused as well as slightly turned on. What a stellar combination.

"Should someone go in?" a girl asked. Percy looked around to locate the speaker and realized the crowd in front of the Big House had grown substantially.

Annabeth noticed him craning his neck. "What is it?" Her head was at Percy's shoulders so she couldn't see over the crowd.

She had a dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks. How had he never noticed that before?

"There are a lot more people here already," Percy explained through the tightness in his throat. "Like, a lot more." He recognized kids from several other cabins pushing in from the outside, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Makes sense," Annabeth commented. "My cabin isn't exactly small. All of us running somewhere in a group like this is bound to get some attention." Percy nodded in agreement, then noticed someone finally climbing onto the porch and approaching the front door.

"Isn't that Malcolm?" he asked, pointing.

Before Annabeth could reply, the camper carefully opened the door. He peeked inside, then screamed and jumped back. "What the—?"

Percy felt Annabeth grab his arm and was so distracted he almost missed her awed whisper. "The Oracle," she breathed.

Percy had heard of the Oracle, of course, and the rumors that she lived in the attic of the Big House. But he had also heard descriptions of her as a beautiful woman, the pride of Greece. He had been picturing someone with dark hair and eyes, tan skin and expensive fabric slung loosely around her shoulders and hips; at the very least, someone human. Nothing that came close to describing what he now saw in front of him.

The Oracle was a mummy. There was no other way to put skin was dessicated and dry, her face wrinkled and shrunken to reveal teeth crumbling into dust. Her face didn't even look like a face anymore, just a skull with paper stretched across it so tightly that it was ripping in a few places near her jaw. She wore a sleeveless floral top over tight pants that ballooned at the bottom, the bright colors faded and dirty. A lei of flowers was draped over her hunched shoulders, half hidden by shriveled hair that fell in front of her face and swayed like the most disgusting curtain ever. It might have been beautiful once. A long, long time ago.

Percy wanted to look away, to shriek or stuff his face in his trembling fingers, but he was petrified by the sunken, flat eyes transfixed on him. They glowed an ominous green and something was crusted all the way around them, like the Oracle had been unable to wipe them clean for hundreds of years. Her gaze climbed into his chest and squeezed until he could barely breathe, until all he could see was the walking skeleton twenty feet from him.

Annabeth's grip on his arm tightened. "I've never heard of the Oracle walking before," she said in a low voice. "At least, not in recent history."

The crowd of demigods surrounding them seemed to share Percy's horror. Several campers screamed and scrambled back from the wooden deck, as if the Oracle was about to hop down and chase after them. If Annabeth hadn't been holding onto him, Percy might have joined them.

Chiron cantered through the door behind the Oracle and addressed the group, desperately trying to regain control over the situation. "Campers, please, do not panic. The Oracle has done this before, and she will not harm any of you!"

Percy wasn't sure he believed his old teacher, especially since Chiron was treading lightly around the thing himself. His lower half struggled to keep all four feet planted at once, like a horse spooked. "When was the last time we got a prophecy?" he asked Annabeth out of the side of his mouth. He forced himself to take a deep breath, to fight the pressure growing on his chest. This wasn't a big deal, right? The Oracle showing up out of nowhere could mean any number of things. Even if she kept glaring at him, Percy could easily take her in a fight anyway. This was fine.

A shadow passed over Annabeth's face. She shrugged nonchalantly, still watching the Oracle like a hawk. "I've never witnessed one. I don't know anyone who has. Maybe twenty years ago? I'm not sure."

"Then why is she out now?"

Annabeth finally tore her gaze away to fix Percy with a look. "Probably to give us a prophecy, Seaweed Brain," she said flatly.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, are we at pet names already?" he asked playfully, unable to resist teasing after he saw the blush of mortification rising on her cheeks.

"Just… shut up!" She hit him with her shoulder. "Not the time."

He laughed, but it died in his throat. Unable to ignore it any longer, he asked, "Annabeth? Uh, is- is that thing looking at me?"

"Yes, Percy, I'm sure the Oracle of Delphi is so taken with you that when she finally comes outside for the first time in decades, it's to look at you."

"I'm serious." Percy nudged her, his voice cracking. "She's staring at me."

Annabeth squinted. "No way."

But he could feel it. Her milky eyes were fixed on him balefully, and something kept him holding her gaze no matter how hard he tried to focus on anything else. Dread clutched at his heart painfully. He wanted to move, to run, to say something, but his feet were frozen to the ground. Ice cracked in his veins. Annabeth's nails dug into his arm and she pressed a little closer to him.

The Oracle's mouth opened loosely and green mist poured out, piling around her sandals and rolling across the porch like a heavy fog. Chiron's hooves stamped nervously. A spider climbed out of her mouth and down the neckline of her dress. Annabeth let out a little yelp, then clamped her hand over her own mouth, cringing into Percy's side.

When the Oracle began to speak, the hairs on the back of Percy's neck stood on end. The voice was raspy from disuse and age, and it sent chills down his spine. Her first words were enough to make his heart beat so quickly he thought it might explode.

"The son of the sea fights a king long forgotten.

A daughter of wisdom knows wisdom no more.

The throne room lies empty, of its own sin begotten.

A race to the keys that will unbolt death's door."

As soon as the final word left her mouth, the Oracle's eyes flashed brightly, then faded. She stood for a second longer, swaying on her weak legs, then collapsed forward. An unlucky girl below caught her and let out an ear splitting scream, then shoved the Oracle at one of her friends, who leaped back and let the corpse fall to the dust at their feet. Chiron raced down the stairs to pick her up again.

Percy noticed none of this. His brain was working overtime, trying to reason away what could be the only explanation for the prophecy's first line. Surely Poseidon had other kids out there, right? Maybe Tyson or one of his nonhuman brothers?

But no. As far as he knew, there was only one demigod son of the sea.

The prophecy is talking about me.

Percy blinked and looked around. His brain struggled to process the sensory information it was being given, like the prophecy had overloaded it. Everyone around him, it would seem, had reached his same conclusion. They had formed a small circle around him and stared unabashedly. Even Annabeth had taken a step back, but her eyes were vacant.

She looked as confused and scared as he was. Even though they had only just started getting to know each other, he wanted to reach out and take her hand, reassure her that everything would be okay. He wanted to promise her that they would both be fine, but he knew he couldn't.

Then a thought occurred to him. A daughter of wisdom knows wisdom no more. One of the girls in her cabin was also a part of the prophecy with him. She would "know wisdom no more."

She would die?

Percy suddenly understood the vacant horror on her face.

This all took only a few seconds, during which Chiron had slung the Oracle over his back and hurried over. "Come, Percy." he said, grabbing his arm. "Let's go inside."

His voice startled everyone out of their reverie, and there was an eruption of noise. Questions, fears, repetitions of the prophecy, they all blurred into a wall of incomprehensible gibberish. It was too violent a change after the shocked silence. Percy just wanted to get out of this mob of bodies and heat and questions he couldn't and didn't want to answer. He could feel his face start to warm, his pulse quicken. The ice in his veins melted into flame. He was going to hyperventilate soon or completely lose it if he didn't get out.

But before Chiron dragged him through the mass of demigods, Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and towed her along behind him. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because she looked like she was three seconds away from a meltdown as well, her jaw clenched and her eyes unfocused. Maybe it was because he liked the way her hand felt in his and he needed comfort right now, in any form.

They practically sprinted up the stairs and into the blissful silence of the Big House. Chiron shut the heavy door, muffling the roar outside, and they were alone. Away from the chaos and confusion of the outside world.

Alone with the chaos and confusion of his own mind. Alone with his thoughts. Fears. Worries. Doubts. Concern for Annabeth, whom he had really only just met and was already feeling protective of, shock from seeing and hearing the Oracle, helplessness, vivid flashing images of how he would get himself killed, get Annabeth killed. He could feel himself start to freak out, but he couldn't silence the voices clamoring in his head behind a door like everyone else's.

Maybe it would have been better to stay outside after all.