Chapter 11
MEG POV
Wooo, finally get to use the response section.
Geek Without Glasses- Thank you, for being the first constructive critic of this fic! Technically this is my third, I have two one-shots about Tratie and Percabeth respectively, but this is my first multi-chapter. Not saying anything about the villain yet buuuuut…
(A/N You guys should be used to this by now, I own nothing but my OC's and the plot. Also we're finally starting the quest, 10'000 words in. *cue 500 miles music*)
The next morning, Meg met up with Clarisse and Chris in the Big House, along with most of the cabin leaders, beside Percy, who was in the infirmary watching over Annabeth, Damien and Chiara from Nemesis and Tyche, (who were who knows where doing who knows what) Will and Nico. Will was apparently still passed out, and Nico had taken him back to the Hades cabin. Apollo's cabin was being filled in by Austin Lake, who was talking as Meg walked in. "We know who's going on the quest, Clarisse, Chris and a Demeter camper. It says 'Child of the forest masterer.' Demeter is literally a goddess of plants." Meg spoke up. "It's me. I'm the 'Child of the forest masterer.'
"But so is any other Demeter camper." The head for Hephaestus, Christopher Long looked confused. When half the room glared at him, he quickly backtracked. "I'm not saying it's not you, just that… maybe we could send someone else. We could get Katie or Miranda in… and they could do it instead." Chris seemed to be trying to find reasons to keep Meg at camp. It dawned on her what was happening. She needed to remedy this, fast.
"First of all, I had a dream from my mother last night. She told me to go on this quest. Second, 'forest mastered doesn't mean Demeter. That wasn't one of her titles. She was Lady of the Harvest, or Goddess of Agriculture. And think about it. Master-er. That implies the person we're talking about took time to learn about plants, instead of just having complete control and understanding of and over them. My father is -was- a descendant of Plemnaeus, who was blessed by Demeter. He recreated the seeds of the Meliaeds, and I planted them. If it was Master, then it could be any child of Demeter. But it says masterer, and my father definitely mastered the forest and plants. I might not have fought in any of your wars, but I've done other stuff. I can summon Karpoi, I helped Artemis take down Tarquin. I killed Nero, I helped Apollo defeat Python and return to Olympus. I'm going on this quest." Meg didn't speak the third reason out loud, the fact she promised Percy to keep Clarisse and Chris safe. She knew how much they loved each other, and had seen it firsthand from Chris. She thought she had no-one like that, but seeing Chris's face when she made it clear she was going, maybe that wasn't quite true. Whatever, sort out your maybe-crusher later, do the quest now. Meg looked around the room, daring anyone to challenge her. No-one did. Clarisse looked impressed at her resume. Austin looked slightly dumbfounded at her response to him saying 'a Demeter camper'. Chris wouldn't meet her eyes, and the others didn't seem to have any strong opinions. Chiron, who had been sitting and listening to the conversation, cleared his throat and spoke. "Well, now we know who's going, where are you going. Clarisse, can you tell us the other lines. Clarisse obliged.
Go by land then 'cross sea, to water's child's living foe,
Do not despair, fight the dragon of old.
Malcolm scratched his head in exasperation. "There's too much in here that depends on other parts of the prophecy. For example, which dragon of old? That could mean Ladon, or one of Ares's sacred dragons. It could be a Drakon, or a Hydra. Prophecies are normally unclear, but this one is plain messy." Clarisse pushed off the wall where she had been standing.
"We can narrow it down a bit. It couldn't be Ladon, because he's on the other side of a continent up a mountain, not by land then 'cross sea. I slew the Lydian Drakon in Manhattan, which is not a fast reformer, and Ares probably wouldn't want his kid killing his dragons. Presumably we would need more info about where it is to find what it is. Water's child is Percy, so we need to find his living foe. Someone want to go get him?" Meg raised her hand, then walked out the room and down the corridor to the Infirmary. She found Percy leaning over Annabeth's bed, stroking her forehead. Meg cleared her throat, and Percy almost fell out the chair. Hiding her smile, Meg told Percy what was up. He nodded.
"Give me a second." He went over to Annabeth's bed and kissed her cheek, then rejoined Meg. She must have been staring, because Percy looked at her oddly. "You alright?" Meg shook herself.
"I'm fine, just.. thinking." Percy nodded knowingly.
"You were looking at me and Annabeth, and wondering if there's someone like that for you. I'll tell you, there is. I'm not a big believer in soulmates, but I do believe people deserve happiness. If there is someone out there for you, you'll find them." Meg shook her head in amazement.
"How could you tell that from just looking at me?" Percy chuckled. Picked it up from a friend. You remember Jason?" Immediately Meg flinched, drawing up memories of a giant boat, lightning flashing all around, a dead body of a hero on the beach. Percy looked apologetic. "Sorry, my bad. His girlfriend, Piper, was a daughter of Aphrodite. She believed in soulmates and stuff. After Jason's death, she moved out to Oklahoma. About a year ago, my old 'friend' -Percy said that word with venom- "Dr Thorn, the manticore, reformed and went after them. Piper managed to take him down, but not before her dad was killed and she was severely injured. Emergency services didn't get there fast enough, and found the body of a young woman strewn in the wreckage of their house. The Mist made it look like a terrorist attack, a racist idiot with a gun and explosives. Of course, the demigods knew what had really happened. It was hard on all of us when she died. Piper was one of the main cores of the Argo II. She helped us stick together. But after we burned her shroud, I asked Nico to sense where she was in the underworld. He told me she was in Elysium, with the love of her life. Her, Jason, Silena, Beckendorf, they're all down there reaping the reward of heroes. The moral of the story is, life can be short, but love is eternal." Percy paused and shook his head. "Wow, she really rubbed off on me. If you want to wait until after the quest to sort out your feelings, that's fine, You could do it before, and that's fine too. But for now, let's go and figure out the quest itself. Meg nodded, and led the way back to the games room.
(A/N Sorry for accidentally killing off Piper, I was writing and went into the haze, next thing I know, then there was five. At least she's in Elysium with Jason! Also sorry about the fake out A/N at the top, I write the ones at the start of the chapters along with disclaimers before I write the actual chapter, so I thought I was sending them on the adventure, but I ended up killing off Piper instead. Next time I promise the quest will start, and I'll try to avoid killing off the seven in various ways.
Vaya con Queso,
DamaSENDhimafriend
