Been a while, eh? Sorry about the many months of silence, I was struggling with motivation and stuff, but I have the chapter out! Finally! Enjoy :)


{5} We Enjoy A Relaxing Woodlands Walk to Our Doom.

The view from the top of Hill of Athena always took my breath away, and today was no exception.

The small of cluster of buildings dotted around the green hills and forests were quite mesmerizing. I always loved seeing what buildings I could name from all the way up on the hill, the monster field, the armoury, the gardens, the arena, the amphitheatre, the chariot track, lake, the battlefield, the cabins of Camp Athena, and of course, the New Athens city centre

Connor led us down the steps of at the side of the hill, the temple shrinking behind us more and more every step.

The boy, Jake, spoke first.

"Can I ask a question? Or many questions?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Connor said, his voice was gruff and deep. He turned, revealing his lightly tanned face and short, disheveled black hair. His arms were muscled and covered in scars and bruises.

Jake spoke again,

"Where am I?"

"New Athens." Connor answered simply.

"Where is that?"

"Hard to say." Connor spoke without looking at Jake.

"That wasn't a good answer but whatever. So, what is this place?"

"Only safe place on earth for people like us."

"People like us?" Jake's voice bubbled with impatience.

"Half-bloods." Connor answered like Jake was stupid.

"What the hell is a half-blood?"

Connor hesitated before answering, looking at me for help.

"They're children of, um, gods." I answered.

"Gods?" The irritation in Jake's voice was obvious.

"Yes," Connor said in a deadpan voice.

"W-what, gods? Like, but-ahhhh," Jake put his head in his hands, "I have a headache."

I couldn't blame him, my first day at Camp Athena was rough, but no way near this rough.

"It's hard to explain." I said, attempting to make Jake feel better.

Jake just mumbled in response, continuing to massage his temples as we moved, not looking up other than to see where Connor was going.

We walked in silence for a while, through trees, grass, marble pathways and less well-kept pathways. All the time curious nymphs and dryads would ogle at us from rivers and trees and run off, no doubt to spread the gossip to their faery friends.

Our walk was coming to an end as we walked into the circle of temples, just outside Camp Athena proper. As you may have guessed, the circle of temples was a large, vaguely circle shaped area with temples of all different kinds lined the outside of it, with the inside being a circle of grass, which itself was surrounded by 12 large, stone chairs in an oval shape. We walked along the perimeter of the circle, passing many of the different temples, one was completely made of a black, sleek, marble-like stone with a symbol of tree branch over the top, what was it called? White poplar? Something like that. Another one was made of fine wood and silver, the doorway topped by a symbol of a length of a grapevine. Another we passed was less of a temple and more of shack, the walls were made of wood, with metal linings along some of the corners and the doorway. Over the top was a golden circle with a winged staff in the centre. The staff was flanked by two snakes coiling around the it. I knew the symbol on sight, a caduceus.

I stopped in my tracks to look up at the symbol, and down again through the entrance and into the chamber of the temple. The inside was fairly basic, with no notably features other than the alter in the centre.

"Uh, hey, are you alright?" Jake asked quizzically.

"Oh!" I was shaken back to my sense by Jake's voice "uh, yeah I'm fine, let's keep moving."

Jake gave me a questioning look, but Connor just nodded with a look of understanding on his face and kept walking.

Eventually, we stopped outside a temple saying, "We are here." He looked to Jake, "Me and Molly will handle this, so don't worry." He gave Jake a small smile before walking in.

The temple was golden, and I mean that in the most literal sense. All the walls were golden, the roof, the floor, all of it. Above the doorway was a symbol of a golden lyre, and I knew where we were, the temple of Apollo.

Walking inside, there was some touches of marble and silver here and there, but it was mostly gold. Sitting on a chair at the centre of the room was a girl of about 16, sitting over an altar. The girl was had golden brown skin and brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail. She looked up to greet us, giving us a hearty wave, her blue eyes surveying us as we walked in.

"Hiya!" she said, "New recruit, I would assume?"

"Yes, we would be honoured if you could read him for us, Katie." Connor said, stepping aside, leaving Jake in the centre of the room.

"Uh, hi?" He said, his confusion doing a bad job of not seeping into his voice.

"Hello, I'm Katie." She waved at me before turning back to Molly and Connor, "I'll just be a minute, getting my stuff ready, I wasn't expecting a recruit at this time of the evening," she said cheerfully, her ponytail bobbing as she jogged away.

"W-what'd she mean by 'reading'?" Jake questioned, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Don't worry, she won't hurt you or anything, she's just going to read some omens to see if you can join the camp." Connor said matter-of-factly.

"Omens? You know what? Forget it, none of this makes sense and I just want to go home and lie down." Jake responded, his voice cracking as he said the last few words.

Connor and I exchanged worried glances, but I decided not to pile onto Jake's already horrible day.

The awkward silence continued until Katie came back with an ornately designed gold and jade covered knife and a bag with a pile of animal guts in it.

Me and Connor barely flinched, but Jake did a much worse job of hiding his disgust.

"Oh, don't worry yourself, it's just a cow liver, we get them from some of the butchers across Athens." Katie said like it was no big deal.

She sat down again at the alter and placed the liver on it. She sliced it up, staring at the many different spots, occasionally going "Hm," or "Ah."

Overall, the process took about 10 minutes, and by the end, Katie's hands were covered in blood, and she wore a troubled expression. I'll admit it, I was bracing myself for the worst.

She turned to the three of us and spoke.

"Yes, he can join the camp, but I've found something strange in the omens as well." She looked at the liver again for a few moments, like she was rereading an essay. "It's kind of unclear, but the future seems troubled, not bad, just troubled." She looked up at the three of us. "Nearly every reading I do has some sort of bad omen in it, but this, it's different. I don't want to cause panic, but it may have to do with a quest of some sort, definitely some great ordeal, but I can't be sure, the readings are vague. I'm sorry." She placed her knife on the alter. "Well, that's all I have to say, you can stop by anytime, ok?" She gave us a small smile.

"Yeah sure, see you later, and thanks." I said as we walked out of the temple.

The three of us walked out back into the sun, and being honest, I was ecstatic. I wasn't dead, the boy wasn't dead, and the weather was really nice.

A few metres outside the chief camper was in deep conversation with a boy. The boy looked just a little younger than she, maybe 16. He had the same calculating, grey eyes and blonde hair, although his hair was a little curlier and more disheveled. They were obviously having some kind argument. As we approached, the two still didn't notice us, and I started picking up on tidbits of their conversation.

The boy spoke in a hushed, urgent tone, "I don't see why you trust him so much!"

Sam responded likewise, "Look, we need any chance we can get right now, ok? Things like this don't happen by accident!"

"Yeah, I got that, but not every kid who comes in here is part of the prophecy! I know you want it, but not every person who comes in here is going to be important, and we don't even know he's a demigod!"

"He saw through the mist didn't he, and he has all the other signs- "the chief counsellor saw us approaching and stopped immediately, her face tight and her jaw set. Seeing my downright cheerful expression, she loosened up a bit.

"I assume it went well?" she said, looking at me and smirking.

"Y-yeah, it went pretty well. Katie said that Jake was allowed into the camp." I responded, though I neglected to tell her the rest of what Katie said.

"Good," Sam spoke again, a small smile played on her lips, "any sign of a godly parent?"

"No,"

"Ok, well, that settles it," she looked at the boy to her side, "Molly, you could probably take Jake for a tour, and while you're at it, you can explain all this to him as well."

I glanced at Jake, and the expression on his face was some kind of cross between excitement and fear.

I said my goodbyes to Connor and Sam, leaving only me and Jake left outside of the temple to Apollo.

"Well, I guess I owe you an explanation."