The demigods woke up at 9am. Nico thought about shadow travelling to Percy's or Will's with Hazel but then he heard Percy's voice in his head about the advice he gave Nico. Nico sighed and decided to knock loudly on his door first to avoid another incident like the one in the tent.
"Come out Nico." Hades chuckled from outside
Nico sighed in relief and went out.
"Good morning you two." Nico said to Hades and Persephone
"Good morning Nico." Hades said
Persephone looked startled but managed a good morning.
"I assumed you would shadow travel out of your room." Hades said
"I considered it but changed my mind due to…due to reasons." Nico said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Reasons huh?" Hazel asked from behind Nico.
Nico nodded.
*Time break*
Everybody met for breakfast at 10 am. The dining hall was filled with conversation about the last day and general things.
"You know I've been meaning to ask, which chapter of which book are you guys on?" Thalia asked Hades and Persephone
"Uh, first book, 14th chapter." Hades said
"Lovely. Just one book yet." Nico muttered
The demigods who heard him snickered.
"Let's start the reading." Chiron said with a smile
Everybody nodded and went to the throne room.
"I'll read." Zoe said and picked up the book.
I GET A SNEAK PEEK AT MY DEATH
"I'm guessing you read the prophecy." Apollo said
Percy nodded.
If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news.
The Greek demigods sighed.
Word of my arrival spread… (It's happened— but that's another story.)
"That was a very amusing day." Chiron shook his head as he chuckled
The demigods who were there laughed.
"He just wandered and says 'Hi sir, you ordered a pizza.' The only person there was Mr.D who was just staring at the person and drinking Diet Coke." Connor laughed
"Who ordered the pizza?" Travis asked
"Some random mortal I think." Clarisse said
The gods and demigods laughed.
Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll…he got so excited he fell out of his tree.
Everybody burst out laughing. Connor turned red and grinned sheepishly.
Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp…unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.
Hermes laughed and high fived Connor. Connor grinned.
The demigods chuckled.
"Learnt that the hard way." Silena said
"Why did you have shaving cream?" Annabeth asked
"We have all of the stuff in out bathroom. I took it from there." Silena said
Connor smirked.
He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother…old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.
"I don't if that's a compliment or not." Connor sighed
"Let's take it positively and as a compliment." Travis grinned
Percy shrugged.
"At the time I gave it as a compliment and it's still hard to know you three are related." Percy said
The Stolls shrugged.
"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? ... Maybe he brought souvenirs!
"What kind of souvenirs?" Triton asked
"Maybe like the claw of a monster or some shit." Clarisse said
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Your definition of souvenirs is strange." Triton snickered
I stopped at the dining pavilion…down there to tell them what a loser I was.
"We know you're not a loser Percy." Chris told him
Percy smiled and nodded.
I gazed across the valley…That seemed like a bajillion years ago.
"I swear, I know right." Nico said
"Yeah." Will said
From the dining pavilion…sending up smoke signals as he snored.
Everybody chuckled.
To my right spread the woods…made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area.
Percy clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"Young me." He said
"What's the matter?" Dakota asked
"Twelve is kind of incomplete." Percy said
"I…don't get it." Dakota said, confusing evident on his face.
"I mean that there should've been 14 cabins, not 12. 14 cabins for each Olympian god. Honorary or not." Percy explained
"Oh okay." Dakota said
The Underworld gang and Hestia smiled at Percy. The sea gang looked proud.
"Against the rules." Zeus said
"Does it look like I care?" Percy snapped
Zeus glowered at him.
"Good one brother." Tyson laughed.
Percy smiled.
"Which reminds me Chiron, I want to add five more cabins at camp. Me and Nico thought about it last night." Percy added suddenly
"Five cabins?!" Zeus asked in outrage
"I'm not talking to you Zeus. Keep quiet for once. Our camp, our rules." Percy snapped angrily
Poseidon glared at Zeus to keep quiet. Zeus glared at Percy.
"To which gods?" Chiron asked curiously
"Hestia, Amphitrite, Triton, Persephone and Thanatos." Percy ticked off
Hestia smiled at Percy.
Amphitrite and Triton stared open mouthed at Percy. They knew Percy liked them but cabins at camp was a lot.
"Thanks Perce." Triton swallowed
"Don't mention it. I mostly thought about Aunt Hestia, you and Amphitrite. Nico reminded me of Thanatos and Persephone." Percy said, turning sheepish and apologetic at the end.
"It's quite all right." Persephone told him
She and Hades were looking at Nico who was shifting uncomfortably.
Finally they smiled at him.
"Thank you Nico." Persephone said
Nico choked on air.
"It's-it's fine." He stuttered
Everybody chuckled.
"But Thanatos is the god of death?!" Zeus exclaimed
"SO? I don't care whether he's the god of death or the god of murder. He's a good person." Nico said angrily
"I told you to keep quiet Zeus." Percy said angrily
Triton put a hand on Percy's shoulder. Hazel did the same with Nico.
Zeus glared fiercely at the two cousins but they glared right back.
"We'll work on it once we get back."
Zoe decided to continue.
Farther south were the strawberry fields…paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane.
"I think we should change the color of the big house. Something that resonates with Camp Half Blood. Like a sunset orange." Will said thoughtfully
"We could do that." Chiron nodded
Zeus grumbled.
"We have changes to make then." Annabeth grinned
In some ways, the camp hadn't changed…had gone over to the enemy.
Chris grimaced.
"Hey you came back." Clarisse squeezed his hand
Chris smiled.
The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary…Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks.
Hermes' shoulder sagged. He knew that his kids loved playing pranks but they weren't playing due to stress. The thought was depressing.
The Greek demigods sighed.
"I remember catching Clarisse reducing five demigods to pieces in three minutes." Chris said
"You saw that?" Clarisse asked, turning red
Chris smiled and nodded.
"Nice job with the dummies though." Ares and Frank grinned
Clarisse smiled.
It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.
The gods grimaced. The demigods simple shrugged.
"Sure felt like one during those times." Katie shook her head
Demeter grimaced.
Chiron galloped into the pavilion first…seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.
"Ooh." The demigods chorused
Annabeth and Percy blushed hard.
Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour.
Annabeth looked down. So did Percy.
There had been a few times when I thought maybe…well, we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.
"Into the dating phase." Thalia, Nico and Jason said in sing song voices
Everybody cheered.
Annabeth and Percy blushed fiercely.
"What happened?" She grabbed my arm…."No," she muttered. "No. No."
Beckendorf held Silena.
She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around…it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.
The Greek demigods nodded.
Beckendorf looked stunned. He didn't know that they all thought so highly about him. He knew they liked him but so much was very touching.
Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward…a daughter of the love goddess.
"No not really. I mean Ares and Aphrodite date around so…" Connor said
"CONNOR!" The demigods yelled
"Hey this one wasn't bad." Travis said
The demigods tilted their heads and shrugged.
"Not as bad as the previous ones at least." Pollux shrugged
But ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.
Clarisse and Chris blushed. Silena chuckled.
Clarisse was dressed in her bloodred combat armor…"Thanks," I said. "Me too."
The sea gang sighed in relief.
"Guys I already told you, I don't want to die." Percy sighed
They nodded.
"We know." Tyson assured him.
Chiron put a hand on my shoulder…I didn't mind keeping it a secret.
Nico sighed.
"Sorry Percy. Didn't want to intimidate you too much." Nico said
"It's fine. I kinda intimidated myself. Besides it was scary." Percy said
Nico nodded.
Chiron gazed down at the valley…I hated when they did that.
"It is annoying." The Greek campers agreed
Chiron and Annabeth sighed.
"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised…which was three times more than I wanted to.
"Yep."
"That's true."
"It's creepy."
A ladder led up from the top…being half horse and all, but he didn't try.
"We bring it down." Chiron said, looking amused
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"You know where it is," he told Annabeth…Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.
"You still had that?" Hermes asked
Percy nodded.
Hermes shuddered.
"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?"… "And Grover causing a Panic?"
Grover grinned.
We locked eyes…I was going to die, and she kissed me.
The demigods were wolf whistling. Even the hunters.
Annabeth and Percy were bright red.
"Percy you are crushing so hard." The demigods said
Percy blushed harder.
"Cause this entire time girl you knew, that I've been crushing on you." Silena sang
The Greek demigods and Reyna cheered at the song.
"Oh yes I have, Yeah I've been crushing you." They yelled and sang
Percy and Annabeth were redder than tomatoes and were grinning.
"Oh yes I have. Yeah I've been crushing on you. And you have too." Percy grinned
The demigods wolf whistled. Hermes and Apollo joined in.
The gods chuckled. Hestia smiled at the demigods.
She cleared her throat…" I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."
The demigods booed good naturedly.
Annabeth and Percy grinned sheepishly.
We walked over to the window…Just looking at her made my skin crawl.
Apollo pouted and gave a side hug to Rachel.
Hades grimaced.
Nico and Percy winced.
If you wanted to leave camp during the summer…We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.
"That makes sense." Apollo said
"Yeah and it was less stressful because better to go and do the mission than to know that somebody's gonna die and then do the mission." Annabeth said
Apollo tilted his head and nodded.
Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist…I half expected her to start tap dancing or something.
Everybody burst out laughing.
"Percy the image of the old oracle tap dancing is hilarious but freaky. I think I would pass out." Will laughed
Percy grinned sheepishly.
But she just sat there like she was dead…"Why it's a mummy."
"Yeah I've always wondered the same." Pollux said
"It can't be that Chiron put a mummy intentionally." Castor agreed
Percy, Nico and Will exchanged glances.
"It might come up. If it doesn't then…then we'll tell you." Nico swallowed
Castor and Pollux nodded.
"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy…then apparently changed her mind.
"You knew?" Nico asked, confusion evident on his face
"No. I only knew about Luke's mother." Annabeth shook her head
Hermes grimaced. He regretted what happened to May though he never understood why it happened. He had warned May only because the job was dangerous but he never knew why nobody was able to take host of the Oracle. Well nobody except Rachel…
"Let's just do our job and get out of here"… it's been right there around her neck?"
"I could've read it anytime." Percy whined
"It wasn't the right time." Chiron said
"I know." Percy said
"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said…I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue.
"Yeah that would be freaky." Beckendorf agreed
I didn't know it then… Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.")
Clarisse glared at the sheepish campers.
She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm…kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller.
Clarisse smirked at Michael who rolled his eyes.
Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer.
The Apollo gang winced.
Michael stood four-foot-six with another two feet of attitude.
Michael rubbed the back of his neck.
He reminded me of a ferret…spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.
"Well I don't like that description." Michael snickered
"Sorry Michael. You look good. The height and features suit you." Percy grinned
Michael grinned.
"It's our loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes…"If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"
The demigods chuckled.
Michael smirked.
Around the table, people were trying not to laugh…new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.
A few demigods and gods stared at Percy.
"What happened?" Percy asked nervously
"You promised to know the name of every camper in the last book. At the time you didn't know the name of a couple of demigods and now in this book you know the name of every single camper. At least as much as I remember during the final battle." Katie said
"Oh that. That was nothing. It hurt like heck to see dead campers without their names so I asked Chiron for a list of every current camper." Percy shrugged
"It's a big deal Percy." Pollux said
Castor nodded.
"Very impressive and admirable." He said
Percy smiled at them.
The sea gang beamed at Percy.
Dionysus stared at boy.
"Uh Mr.D could you um stop staring at me. It's making me nervous." Percy said, fidgeting with his shirt
Dionysus blinked and nodded.
Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention.
Beckendorf hugged his girlfriend who looked close to tears.
She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net…when she'd just lost Beckendorf.
Clarisse and Michael immediately looked guilty.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry Silena." Michael said
"Me too." Clarisse said guiltily
Silena and Beckendorf smiled at them and Percy.
"It's quite all right." Silena smiled
Clarisse and Michael nodded.
"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?"… She hasn't spoken for three days."
Clarisse sighed.
"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully…Besides, we have more important matters—
"Chiron I know there were important matters but it's not right to leave an issue which bothers the campers unresolved. They've got some pride and dignity too." Apollo said
Chiron sighed.
"I know now." He said
Clarisse swallowed guiltily.
"Sure," Clarisse snapped…fight when you need us, and not complain!"
"That's not how it's supposed to be." Nico frowned
"She just basically summarized the life of demigods." Thalia muttered.
Zeus and the other gods grimaced.
"But it's wrong for Clarisse. Michael you could've shared the loot." Hazel said
Michael looked down.
"Sorry Clarisse." He said
Clarisse nodded.
"It's fine. I was being a jerk too." She said
Michael nodded.
"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.
"Not helping Connor." Chris glared
Connor winced.
"I'm sorry Clarisse. I-I would hate it too if we were supposed to help without any support towards us." Connor said
Clarisse nodded.
Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D—"…None of them met Clarisse's eyes.
The Greek campers wouldn't look at Clarisse either. They didn't realize that Clarisse was hurt by the fact of not being treated as well or not getting her issues resolved. There was also the fact that the camp lost Beckendorf and Clarisse's boyfriend was insane a summer ago.
Chiron made a decision to attend to even the smallest of problems that would trouble his students…his children. Problems that may seem small to him might be really big to the demigods. It might hold more meaning for them. He remembered what Clarisse had said later 'Always more important things than what Ares needs.' He figured that she was insulted but she thought that as he wasn't addressing her problem, her cabin was inferior. He internally cringed at the thought.
"I apologize for not addressing your problem Clarisse." Chiron said immediately
Clarisse looked a little stunned.
"Thanks Chiron." She said
"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena…Silena didn't seem to register her words
"She's in shock." Will said
Silena nodded.
Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table…no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."
The Greek demigods flinched. They knew that her pride had been hurt but they never realized that she had been insulted as well. They also never dwelled on the fact that some of them had played a part in it.
Some gods stared at Clarisse.
"You would withdraw from the war because of this?" Athena sneered
"I wouldn't talk if I were you Lady Athena." Percy said coldly
Athena scowled and glared at him.
"Your pride is way worse than hers." He said
"How dare you?" Athena spat
"You don't insult my friends without knowing their point of view." Percy spat back
Clarisse gave a small smile to Percy.
"Clarisse, this was wrong of you though." Frank said gently
"I know." Clarisse said
Ares knew that his daughter had pride. He also understood why she said what she did. Though he knew that she knew that she could've controlled her pride there.
"Daughter-' Ares started
"I know dad. Stupid pride." Clarisse said
Ares nodded.
"I'm sorry guys." Clarisse apologized
"It's all right." The campers assured her.
"Have you guys watched fast and furious 6?" Percy asked
The demigods and a few gods nodded.
"I quite like the scene where Owen Shaw meets Dom with the laser gun. Owen says that there is a code everybody lives by and his is precision. He says that Dom's is that he's loyal to a fault. Every time I watch that scene it reminds me of my fatal flaw at fatal flaws in general. That code basically means that. It's not just in our lives but in the lives of mortals and immortals." Percy said
The demigods thought about this.
"That's… that's very exact. A good way to explain it all." Chiron said
Percy gave a small smile.
Zoe continued reading.
The counselors were all too stunned to say anything…But he didn't sound convinced.
Chiron sighed. He realized the deeper meaning of the issue during the readings and it did hurt him.
I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about…"A half-blood of the eldest dogs…"
The eldest gods jumped a little.
"I think you misread it." Apollo laughed
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Of the eldest gods." Poseidon snickered
"Nephew I don't even know what to say." Hades chuckled
Percy grinned.
"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."
Everybody laughed.
"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod…The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets
The Greek demigods nodded.
"A half-blood of the eldest gods…The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."
"I have a question." Travis said
Chiron gestured for him to ask.
"Thalia was released from her tree yet she changed into a hunter. Was it destiny and fate or just will?" Travis asked
"See Travis, will is what leads to your fate or destiny. The choices you make will lead there. Fate is made up of different choices, each choice will lead to a different fate. The choices you make will lead to a fate. Also it was known to the Fates that Thalia would make this choice. They know the choices you will make but they don't change it and nor is it destined. They know the choices you will make which will lead to your path, however your fate goes hand in hand with your free will. Hence in the prophecy, it also says 'a single choice shall end his days' so the he specifies that it's going to be a boy." Apollo explained
"Oh that's complicated but I understood it somehow." Travis said
"Fate's complicated." Hades said
"Oh we realized." Connor nodded
Zoe continued reading.
Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket…world to fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?
"Morpheus or Hypnos." Hermes breathed
"Hypnos is a cool dude now." Percy grinned
Nico nodded.
"I quite like him and Hecate now." He said
"Me too." Hazel agreed
"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."… "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."
"How lovely." Leo said sarcastically
Everybody jumped at his voice.
"You've been awfully quiet for some time." Jason frowned
"Miss my voice?" Leo grinned
"Yeah." Jason said
"I was just thinking." Leo sighed
Jason nodded sympathetically.
"Understandable." He said
"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks"… "Yeah, I get it."
"Everybody dies in the end. Though I'd prefer dying after making things right." Percy said nonchalantly
"Why are you so casual about your death?" Triton groaned in worry
"Because I know it's gonna come. I know I have a difficult life and even if I didn't I know I'm going to die at a point of time and I definitely know I'm not going to try and avoid it." Percy sighed
Triton sighed and gave his brother a side hug.
Nico and his father nodded.
Chiron gazed at me sadly…He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.
Chiron nodded sadly.
"Percy," Annabeth said…That has tons of meanings, right?"
"Yes it does. It means that you have to make a choice. If you make the right one you live and if you make the wrong one you die. Kind of like which door you have to choose to get out of a room." Ares said
Percy nodded.
"I was kinda stressed." He said
Ares nodded.
"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered…this cursed blade and destroy it.
"You can't stop prophecy." Rachel said. She liked being an oracle and having these friends but she didn't like sending people to their deaths.
"If you could have then there were a lot of things we would change. For example in my third quest and my fourth quest." Percy shook his head
Nico, Hades, Thalia and Annabeth grimaced.
Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"
"Nothing's direct in prophecy." Apollo said
I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade…I preferred not to have my soul reaped.
"Ditto." The demigods said
"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines"… If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"
"Percy man how do you put this behind you? Aren't you afraid?" Pollux asked
"Of course I'm afraid. No hero is above fear." Percy said and smiled at his father who gave him a proud one in return.
"Exactly. Being a hero doesn't mean you're invincible. It just means that you have to be brave enough to do what's needed." Piper said
Pollux and the other demigods nodded.
Silena and Aphrodite gave proud smiles to Piper.
Annabeth's hands were shaking a little…Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.
Silena looked down guiltily.
"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably…"Um, I mean, it could be anybody."
"I didn't mean you Annabeth." Connor said
"I know." Annabeth assured him
"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers…grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies
Demeter scowled.
Hades sniggered.
"Good one." He told the Stolls
They grinned.
"It was not fun!" Katie protested
Hades chuckled.
"Like one of Luke's siblings."
"Rude." Connor muttered
"Sorry." Katie winced
Travis and Connor both started arguing with her…Did I mention I hate it when they do that?
"It certainly is annoying." Thalia agreed
"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned…I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like…
"That's wrong guys." Hermes said to Annabeth and Chiron
Rachel frowned.
"Tell me what's happened," I said…I knew all about last year's eruption. I'd caused it.
Zeus glared and Hera scowled at Percy.
But this explosion was much worse…The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing
"You should be relieved that you didn't see his true form." Poseidon said
"It's him," I said. "Typhon"… storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction."
The demigods shuddered.
The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down…Then some kind of huge bird—a monstrous owl—dived in to attack the giant.
"That's one of the most horrifying things I have ever heard of." Clarisse said
The demigods nodded vigorously.
"Are those…the gods?" I said…who has a war of his own to fight."
"You missed one battle person and one non battle person." Percy said
Chiron nodded.
"My apologies." He said to Hades and Hestia
They smiled and waved it away.
"But then who's guarding Olympus?"… This seemed too obvious for him.
The gods froze.
The demigods shuddered.
And in my dream, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come…. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not."
"Anything would be worse than Typhon as things are already falling apart." Lee pointed put grimly
The demigods nodded.
"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted…Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.
Silena winced.
"Crooked one." Nico muttered
"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it…the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.
"That does not sound good at all." Jason said
Nobody disagreed.
"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night."… And the war council adjourned.
"Done." Zoe said
"I'll read." Reyna said
Zoe gave her the book.