Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. Let's get into it:
"This is pointless," Zoe declared before the meeting even fully started. It was being held at the Ping-Pong table in the rec room of the Big House. Dionysus and Chiron in his wheelchair sat on one end while Zoe and Bianca sat on the other. Grover, Percy, and Thalia sat on the right side of the table while Charles, Selina, and the Stoll Brothers sat on the left. All of the Ares Cabin were laid up with broken limbs from the game, and all the Apollo kids were tending to them. That left me, awkwardly sitting in a corner away from the others, but still close enough to hear what was going on.
"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped in utter delight. Dionysus had magically supplied snacks for everyone to partake in, but so far only Grover was interested, coating crackers and plastic balls with the stuff.
"There is no time for talk. Our goddess needs us, the Hunters must leave immediately," Zoe continued, ignoring Grover in the process.
"And go where?" Chiron asked.
"West!" Bianca said as if it was obvious, "'Six shall go west to the goddess in chains', we can take six Hunters and go."
"Yes! Artemis is being held hostage, we must free her!" Zoe agreed.
"You're missing some things, like usual. 'Campers and Hunters combined prevail'. We're suppose to do this together," Thalia said.
"No, the Hunters do not need thy help!" Zoe arrogantly declared. Thalia looked like she was going to say something, but Chiron spoke up before she could.
"I'm afraid that the prophecy is quite clear on the matter, you do need our help if you want to succeed," he said. Zoe looked like she wanted to press the issue some more, but a quick glance around the table told her there was no getting out of it. Finally, she let out a sigh.
"Very well, but how shall this be done?" she asked.
"Three and three," Percy spoke up, "three Hunters, three Campers, that's fair." He looked a little odd sitting there with just one eyebrow, it made him look like he was constantly questioning everything.
"I would prefer to have a number advantage, but if this is how it must be….very well, but only female Campers," Zoe said. Almost everyone else at the table began to speak up in protest, but a hand from Chiron silenced them all.
"I am afraid that won't work either. 'The Son of Fire knows the trail'. There is only one among us that truly fits that description," he said. With that, all eyes turned and looked at me. I gave everyone a small, half wave.
"So can I come out of the corner now? Or…" I trailed off. There was about five seconds of silence after that.
"Absolutely not! He goes against everything our matron stands for!" Zoe declared for the second time since the meeting started.
"His tactics during the game were utterly barbaric," Bianca added. I cocked my eyebrow in her direction. She'd only been a Hunter for two days, and already she was talking like she was a twenty year veteran. It didn't hurt, per se, it was just annoying.
"You got hit with a fart arrow, didn't you?" I asked. Although she refused to answer, she did give me a glare that would have probably been replaced with a dagger in most other settings.
"First of all, it wasn't 'his tactics', he was following MY orders. And secondly, you don't have any choice. You want to take a chance and go against the word of the Oracle?" Thalia asked, ignoring me. I was a little surprised that she stuck up for me. Given how she had acted, I was under the impression that she was mad at me. Yet, here she was, sticking up for me and arguing for my place in the quest.
"I'm afraid Thalia is right. Going against the word of the Oracle never has good results. Do you really want to risk that, with everything that is at stake?" Chiron asked.
"I dunno. 'One shall be lost in a land without rain'? 'One shall perish by a parent's hand'. It sounds like going along with the Oracle's word won't be healthy for everyone anyway," Mr. D said, not even bothering to look up from his wine magazine. It was only when he realized that everyone was staring at him like he'd grown a second head that he even bothered to look.
"Mr. D, with all due respect, who's side are you on?" Chiron asked. The god of wine simply shrugged.
"Just trying to help, my dear centaur," he replied before going back to his reading.
"The fact remains that young Jackson must accompany you if you wish to succeed in your quest," the old centaur finished. I grit my teeth at the use of my full name, but otherwise kept my mouth shut. Apparently this was the right course of action, because Zoe finally relented in her stubbornness.
"Very well. But who else should come?" she asked. Everyone turned and looked at me again, which suddenly made me feel a cold sweat in my boots.
"What are you all looking at me for?" I asked.
"The Prophecy says that you know the trail, it might be a good idea to have your input on this," Conner Stoll said. I shot a glare at the brother in question.
"Just because I got mentioned doesn't mean I know what I'm doing! In case you've forgotten, I've never been on a quest!" I defended. Zoe's already sour face seemed to sink even further at that.
"Perhaps I need to reconsider," she muttered to herself.
"Hey! Just cause Jack's never been on a quest, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have experience. And besides, Percy's idea is a good one. It should be three and three, and you've already got one from each side down," Selina Beauregard spoke up. I flashed the Head of the Aphrodite Cabin a grateful smile. While I had never cared much for her brothers or sisters, I'd always found Selina to be more down to earth and easier to get along with. Of course, her clean cabin rating standards were beyond absurd, but that's a story for another time.
"And I suppose you wish to volunteer?" Zoe asked, turning on Selina with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Selina blushed.
"Don't look at me! I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters," she replied. But Zoe had smelled blood, and she went in for the kill.
"A Daughter of Aphrodite that doesn't want to be looked at, what would thy mother say?" she scoffed. That must have struck a nerve, cause Selina went to launch out of her chair at the Hunter in question. Only the quick movement of the Stoll Brothers stopped her and held her back.
"Enough!" Charles' voice boomed. Instantly everyone relaxed, with Selina sinking back into her seat and Zoe's smug look vanishing. Charles had this ability to command a room when he wanted to. His size, his deep voice, and the fact that he rarely used either seemed to make people listen more when he spoke. There was a reason we in Cabin 9 looked to him as our leader.
"Let's start with the Hunters. Which two will go with you?" he suggested, turning to Zoe.
"Phoebe. She is our best tracker," Zoe answered after some pondering.
"You mean the big girl that likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked.
"The one that put arrows into my helmet?" Conner added.
"Yes, why? Does thou have any objections?" Zoe challenged.
"No, actually, we have this T-shirt she was looking at in the camp store. It's a collector's item," Travis explained, holding up a silver shirt advertising a hunting trip with Artemis from 2002. My eyes narrowed as I watched all this going on. The Stoll Brothers were about the farthest thing from generous as you could get in camp. If you didn't pay them in gold or cash, it would be through some other means. 'Stolls Always Collect' was the term most commonly used, and it was one of the first things taught to newcomers.
Apparently, Zoe wasn't as well versed in the pitfalls of camp as some newcomers, because she took the shirt with little more than a sigh of resignation.
"As I was saying, I'll take Phoebe, and I wish Bianca to go as well," she said. Bianca looked stunned.
"Me? But, I'm still new, I wouldn't be any good," she said.
"You will do fine. There is no better way to prove thyself," Zoe insisted. Bianca's mouth closed and she fell silent. If she had any further objections, you couldn't tell by looking at her.
"And what of the Campers?" Chiron asked, "Aside from Mr. Green, of course." Before Zoe could speak, Grover sprang to his feet so quick he bumped the table.
"Me! Anything for Artemis!" he volunteered. Zoe wrinkled her nose as he went to brush cracker crumbs off himself.
"I think not, satyr. You are even a half blood."
"But he IS a camper. And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic," Thalia spoke up, "you can play a tracker's song, right Grover?"
"Absolutely!" Zoe seemed to waver at that. Not even she could deny the usefulness of satyr magic in the wilderness.
"Very well, and the final camper?" she relented.
"I'll go," Thalia declared, standing and looking around, daring anyone to challenge her. I looked at her with a frown. Her going on the quest meant that she was putting her life in danger. The line about someone dying to a parent's hand quickly sprang to mind. But, I saw that look in her electric blue eyes, and I knew that no amount of convincing would change her mind. Unfortunately, with her little declaration, we reached the party limit, and the first one to realize that was Percy.
"Whoa, hold on a sec, I want to go too," he spoke up. Grover was quick to realize that having two powerhouses would be better for the quest's chances and tried to step down, but Zoe was having none of it.
"I will not have Hunters travel with a boy," she said.
"You traveled with me here," Percy pointed out.
"That was a short term emergency, not a cross country trip involving many dangers," Zoe countered.
"What about Grover and Jack?" Percy demanded.
"The satyr is not technically a boy, he does not count," Zoe said.
"Hey!" Grover defended.
"Well, there's like, six of the old stories that just got dismissed," I muttered to myself. Before anyone could reply to that, Percy pressed on.
"And Jack?"
"He's definitely male," I thought I heard Thalia whisper. I wasn't quite sure how to take that.
"I only allow him because the Prophecy names him specifically. In any other situation, I would leave him as well," Zoe stood her ground.
"I have to go on this quest," Percy pressed, but I could tell his argument was losing steam. Sure he was one of the camp's best fighters, and a child of the Big Three to boot. But he couldn't come up with a better reason than going simply because Annabeth had been taken. With Zoe in charge, there was simply no way it was happening. I could only look on and watch as Chiron declared the members of the quest final, and the meeting over.
I stood under Thalia's tree, looking down the hill at the van that waited for us. Part of me felt bad for Percy getting shafted out of the quest like that, but then I remembered what had happened at the creek, and I got over it. Truth be told, I simply didn't know what to do for the guy. Sure, having him along would be another powerful ally on our side, but I had trouble convincing my cabin mates to bring me food from supper, much less getting Zoe to travel with more males than she had to. Even if Bianca or the other Hunter had to dip out at the last second, Percy's chances were slim at best. Zoe had made her stance on the subject perfectly clear, and I couldn't wait to see how she was going to make my left over the next few days miserable.
My rucksack was already packed for the quest. It wasn't much, but it's not like I had a lot to call my own to begin with. Thalia stood a short distance away from me with her own bag, looking like she'd rather be turned back into a tree than go anywhere in a van with Zoe or any of the other Hunters. Speaking of, we appeared to be down one person. In fact, Zoe was currently yelling at Chiron about the situation at the bottom of the hill. Turns out that my hunch was correct about Travis and Conner being up to no good. The shirt they'd given to the Phoebe girl was coated in centaur blood, which I wasn't even going to bother asking where they got it at this point. As a result, the Hunter in question was now in the Infirmary with severe burns, the Stoll brothers had their revenge, and the quest was shy one person of a full roster.
"Think she'll let Percy come now?" I asked, watching as Zoe continued to rant about her sister in arms and Chiron stand there and take it with the sense of patience that only a few thousand years of dealing with hyperactive teens could grant you.
"You'd stand a better chance of convincing Mr. D. to call us all by the correct names," Thalia replied with a snort. I cast a sideways glance at her. We hadn't really spoken since the end of the meeting, or the end of the Capture the Flag game for that matter. I didn't really know how to approach the subject, so I was letting her take the lead here. At the time, it seemed like she was content to just bury it and never speak on the matter again.
"Wait!" came a yell from behind us. We turned to find a huffing Beckendorf trotting up the hill toward us. I cocked my eyebrow at him. It wasn't usual to see him away from the forge at this time of day.
"You'll need this," he said as he thrust a lump of leather toward me while he was out of breath. I took it from him and realized that it was a new watch just like my old one, only with a leather strap. I tapped the stopwatch button, and was instantly rewarded with the watch expanding outward and forming into a shield. To be exact, it was the metal alloy shield that he had been working on. My jaw fell open as I looked back up at him.
"I know your shield got wrecked. Hopefully I'll have it fixed by the time you get back," he said.
"Charles...man, this is all your work, I can't take this," I said.
"Take it. I'm going to do everything to make sure that my brother comes back alive," he replied. I shank the shield back into watch form before sliding it on my left wrist.
"Thanks, brother," I said. We clasped forearms and gave short bro hug before he headed off back down the hill. I watched as he went, slowly shifting my gaze from him to the valley as a whole. For the second time in almost a decade, I was leaving this place for the unknown again. It felt like a light coating of ice was lining the inside of my stomach. I inhaled through my nose, and then let out my breath in a huff. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thalia cock her eyebrow in my direction.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I'm not use to looking at this view like this," I answered.
"What do you mean?"
"It use to be I came up here to think when the forge was too loud, or just to get away from people when they wouldn't stop pestering me," I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"I dunno. It felt...peaceful, I guess. Like I could actually feel calm for once, and not have to worry about something going wrong," I tried to explain. Thalia was quiet for a moment.
"And now?"
"Now I feel like I might not see this place again," I said. I heard her let out a breath that I wasn't sure even she was aware that she had been holding.
"I know how you feel," she said. Just as we started to turn away and head down the hill toward the van, some movement caught my eye, and I looked again. To my surprise, I saw John Henry hurrying up the hill toward us. I stopped, curious more than anything else to see what the Son of Dionysus wanted that was making him move so quickly.
"Wait!" he called out, clearly out of breath. He panted hard and put his hands on his knees when he finally got to us.
"You need to work on your cardio, Thompson," I said.
"Bite. Me. Green," he painted.
"Weren't you in the Army?" Thalia asked as John Henry stood upright, his breath much more under control now.
"I'm retired. Plus I just ran at full sprint here from Cabin 12." he explained. I cast a glance at Thalia, and she returned it.
"As flattered as I am that you're here to send us off, I don't think we're worth a half mile run at top speed," I said.
"I've got a reason," he replied before holding out a small leather bag to Thalia. The Daughter of Zeus took the bag and peaked inside. After a moment, she looked up at John Henry with an eyebrow cocked with confusion before dumping it into her palm. It was a square, smooth black stone with what appeared to be a golden four sided diamond sitting on top of an X carved into it. My eyebrow went up as well as I looked back to the man out of time, waiting for him to explain himself.
"Is this your lucky rock or something?" Thalia asked.
"In a sense. It's a runestone, and it really helped me when I was in France," he answered.
"No offense, but that really doesn't fill me with confidence," I said. John Henry had been in some kind of magical coma and buried alive for almost a hundred years before he had been found this past summer. Needless to say, I'd rather be awake for Christmas this year.
"No, No! You misunderstand! This is meant to help guide you home should you get lost," John Henry explained. Thalia looked back down at the stone and ran her thumb across the rune carved into it.
"Thank you, but...why? We don't really interact all that much besides passing each other at meals and booing at bonfire singalongs," she said. John Henry looked down at his boots for a short time.
"I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. I keep seeing you two, over and over again...I think...I think the Fates may have a plan for us," he said.
"Demigod dreams are weird, John Henry. You should know that more than any of us," Thalia said.
"I know that...it's just...it's just that my gut is telling me to do what I can to make sure you two come back. I can't go on the quest with you, but I can send my lucky rock with you," he explained. Thalia looked down at the stone again before putting it back into it's pouch and stuffing it into her jean pocket.
"We'll come back, John Henry, don't worry about a thing," she said, patting where she had put the stone. John Henry's face brightened into wide smile, and he shook both of our hands with enthusiasm. With one final wish of luck, the young winemaker turned and went back down the hill toward Camp.
"You think he was telling us everything?" I asked when he was well out of earshot. Thalia shook her head.
"No. But, I get the feeling he actually wants to help us. And at this point I'm willing to take pretty much anything we can get," she answered.
And cut. Well as you can see, I'm not dead yet (although not from a lack of trying on death's part). Please remember to read, review, and let me know what you liked or didn't like about the chapter, and I'll see you all in the next one.