A knock on Katie's door woke her up immediately. She got out of bed, put some pants on, and opened the door. Chiron stood in the doorway.
"Katie, I need you immediately. Round up the other counselors and come to the Big House now. Oh, and you don't need to get the Hephaestus counselor" he said. She put on her Camp Half-Blood shirt over her tank-top and went to the other cabins. She didn't need to knock on the Poseidon or Athena cabins since their counselors were in the Big House already. She knocked on everyone elses, waking up the counselors and telling them to go the Big House. She went around the recatngle until she came to the last cabin, Gaia. Taking in a deep breath she knocked on the door.
"I'm coming," said Danny. She heard him get out of bed and open the door. When she saw him in the doorway her heart did a frontflip and her mouth watered, her breath stopping in her throat. Danny was standing in front of her without a shirt! He was built, a nice sized six-pack on his abdomen, and two well-muscled pecs, not overy large, but big enough to show he worked out.
"What is it Sky?" he said, looking annoyed and snapping Katie back into the real world.
"Uhhh, Chiron needs you at the Big House now," she said.
Danny sighed. "Okay, let me get a shirt on," he said, closing the door.
"Please don't," Katie thought. She mentally hit herself for even thinking that. The door reopened and Danny was in a half-blood shirt.
"Well Air Head, are we going or not?" he said. She snapped back into reality, again, scowled, and walked to the Big House, him following a good five feet behind her. When she got in there she saw all the head counselors sitting at the Ping-pong table in the rec room, along with Rachel, Chiron, Percy, and Annabeth. She saw Percy and Annabeth sitting as close as humanly possible to each other, looking like they had had the time of their lives. She also saw to her surprise that Jamal was there.
"Jamal, when did you get here?" said Katie.
"I got here last night for the reception. You didn't see me?" he said. At that moment Danny walked in.
"Danny! Wassup brah?" he said, getting up and greeting Danny.
"Wassup man, I didn't know you were getting here now," said Danny.
"Man, I didn't even know that you were coming this summer," said Jamal.
"Wait, you two know each other? said Katie.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" said Jamal.
"How come everyone knew him but me?" said Katie.
"You don't come in the winter or spring," said Jamal.
"Oh," said Katie. She took her seat along with Danny and Jamal.
"Now that we are all assembled, we have an important matter to discuss. We have a lost artifact that must be obtained. It is called the Gem of Destiny. It is an artifact as old as me, even older," said Chiron.
"Pardon me Chiron, but what power does the gem have that we need to go on a quest for it?" said Percy.
"It has the power to let the user become as strong as the gods," said Chiron. Everyone stiffened at the news.
"So who is going to lead the quest?" said Percy.
"Katie is," said Chiron.
"Me?!" said Katie.
"Yes, I do remember I promised you one last week if I don't remember," said Chiron.
"So what do I have to do?" said Katie.
"Follow Rachel to the room, she will give you your Oracle," said Chiron.
"Right this way," said Rachel. Katie followed her into the room. She closed the door behind them and Rachel sat down in a desk in front of her. As she looked she saw Rachel go ridged. Then her eyes turned acid-green.
"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask," she said in a voict that sounded like a hiss.
"What must I do to find the lost object?" said Katie.
"You will go the city where love is bright,
To find the lost artifact with all your might.
In the company of three you'll travel abroad,
The son of the sea, daughter of the wise, and the son of the earth with who you trod.
To open the tomb of the conqueror you must,
but destroy something beautiful along with your sire's trust.
An old enemy lurks who will come from above,
and you will fall for one who you see as an opposite in love." Rachel head lolled to one side and her eyes closed. Just as fast she woke up.
"You got all that?" said Rachel.
"Yes," said Katie.
"Let's go," said Rachel. She led her back to the rec room.
"What did the Oracle say?" said Chiron.
"You will go to the city where love is bright, to find the lost artifact with all your might" said Rachel.
"I know that, that's Paris France," said Sally O'Connell, the head counselor of Aphrodite.
"Next," said Chiron.
"In the company of three you'll travel you'll travel abroad, the son of the sea, the daughter of the wise, and the son of the earth with who you trod," said Katie. Everyone looked to Percy, Annabeth, and Danny.
"Next." said Chiron.
"To open the tomb of the conqueror you must, but destroy something beautiful along with your sire's trust," said Katie.
"The tomb of the conqueror, what does that mean?" said Jamal.
"It means Napoleon Bonaparte, son of Hades. He conquered a large portion of Europe and is buried their. He must hold the answer to the artifact," said Danny.
"And last?" said Chiron.
"An old enemy lurks who will come from above, and you will fall for one who is seen as your opposite in love," finished Katie. A lot of people had no idea what the last part of that line meant.
"We have a lot of old enemies, but what does that mean?" said Katie.
"I do not know, but the Oracle has spoken. You must travel to Paris, France and find it before the forces of evil do," said Chiron.
"I will," said Katie.
"Also, your companions. You will travel to Paris with Percy, Annabeth, and Danny," said Chiron.
What? Danny?!" said Katie.
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Danny. "Someone's going to end up dead if you do that."
"Look, I don't know what's going on between you two, but you have to put it aside for now," said Chiron. "You remind me a lot of two people I knew." His eyes turned to Annabeth and Percy, who looked away blushing.
"Now, you will travel with Percy, Annabeth, AND Danny," said Chiron. looking at her fiercely.
"Fine," said Katie.
"Also, the only way to get to Paris is to fly," said Chiron.
"WOH, WOH, WOH, WOH! FLYING!" yelled Danny and Percy.
"Yes, you will have to fly. The next boat to France will not be in New York until next month and we can't wait that long. You'll have to fly," said Chiron.
"You know you just signed our death certificates when you said that," said Danny.
"He has a point, Zeus has it in for both of us, and he already warned me when I flew," said Percy.
"He won't dare kill you. One, his daughter is on the same flight along with his daughter's daughter. And two, you are on a quest to probably save Olympus, again. You will be able to go on a plane and arrive in Paris," said Chiron. "And also, he dare not attack Danny when he knows what could happen."
"What could happen?" said Katie, looking from Chiron to Danny.
"The matter is not important, you will leave from La Guardia airport tonight on an Air France flight. You will arrive in France in the morning. Once you get there you will find the gem and bring it back, agreed?" said Chiron.
"Agreed," they said.
"Well then pack your things, you'll be in Paris in one day. Remember, the fate of Olympus rests with you. Meeting adjourned," said Chiron. Danny was the first to leave and walk out, heading back to his cabin to pack his things. He also knew that Katie was trailing behind him.
"Danny, wait," said Katie.
"What do you want now?"he said.
"What did Chiron me about you and my dad," said Katie.
"Let's just say that if you're dad does something to me, it's bad news for the world," said Danny. He went back into his cabin and closed the door behind him. As she looked she heard what sound like a combination of rap and rock music play in there.
"What does that mean?" she said to herself.
"That's so cool. You get to go on a quest," said Zetes. He and Calais were huddled around her, listening to the news she was bringing.
"Yeah, but is going with Danny a good idea. You two have been at each other's throats for a week," said Calais.
"Don't worry, I think we can put aside our differences this one time," said Katie. She went over to a corner and pick her things.
"I bet you three drachmas that one of them is coming in a body bag," said Zetes.
"You are so on," said Calais.
Danny was packing his bag for the trip too. He knew that flying in Zeus's territory was liking asking a mobster to point a loaded gun at your head and empty the entire clip. But he knew that if Zeus did something to him, that was it. The thought of Zeus even trying to kill him swelled him up with anger, the memory of a past injustice going through his mind. But he put it aside to focus on Paris.
"I always wanted to go to France," he thought to himself. "And it does give me time to spend with Ka..What the fuck are you thinking?" He didn't know where this was all coming from, but it wasn't good.
"Danny, listen to yourself, you are NOT attracted to her in anyway and you will always despise her," he said to himself. "She's the daughter of your prime number one enemy, and she is already hating on you. But she is hot and...NO, stop it." This was killing him. Was the reason why he didn't like Katie was because of what her father did, or was it because of something he was hiding deep inside himself that he didn't want her to know.
"Why are you playing these games with me Aphrodite?" he said, wondering if the goddess of love was indeed playing with his emotion.s
