Chapter nine: The Oracle's Predicament

A week later, I found myself standing in the room I could no longer consider as my own, and staring at the mirror.
I still looked the way I did a week ago: Orange shirt, jeans, dark blonde hair with a fringe hanging just a little into my eyes.
I tried to smile at my reflection, but my skin felt taut so I gave up.
Seven days had passed since Annabeth Chase had come home to find me in her house.
Seven days since she and Percy had a huge fight, only parts of which I was able to hear.

"I'm not having her inside the house, Percy!" Annabeth shouted, banging her hand down on what might have been the kitchen table.
"Annabeth, what in the name of Zeus is wrong with you? Since when do you deny somebody, who obviously needs our help, a bed?!" Percy had retorted.
"Let me make one thing clear, Perseus Jackson - We don't know the first thing about that girl.
Chiron told me. Do you even realize what she might be?!"

At that moment they must have noticed the kitchen door was still open, for there'd been the sound of it slamming shut and I couldn't understand the muffled voices that followed.
But I'd heard enough.

At the beginning, I'd thought that it was just lack of sleep, or shock that had made Annabeth Chase take against me so instantly. But as the week progressed, and she continued to behave as coldly towards me as ever, I'd started to realize that things couldn't go on like this.
And so, I'd made a decision.

I'd called my mother to tell her I was coming home and I'd packed the few things I'd bought in the shops of Little Athens. Of course, Mum had been completely mad, screaming at me through the receiver, but I'd managed to tune her out easily enough.
Jake and Jayne, the two people I'd seen the most in the past few days, had tried to persuade me to stay, but I knew that this was the best thing to do.

I would simply go back to Kerritville, be grounded for the rest of my life and pretend that I'd never heard of Camp Half-Blood. It would be the best for everyone.

Mr D's words, as rude and insensitive as they might have been, also clearly conveyed a message:
You don't belong here. You might get us all killed.

I didn't understand how I might be able to harm anybody, but if a God told me I could, I guessed that was pretty much as solid as info can get.

Jake kept telling me to let it blow over, but the situation was simple, really: I wasn't a demigod, so I didn't belong here.
"But you're something different, Erin, you said it yourself!" Jake had argued, as we'd sat together at dinner the day before yesterday. I'd just told him and Jayne what I was planning to do, and they were both looking at me incredulously.
I knew what they were thinking: How could anyone leave this place voluntarily?
But they had a completely different perspective. Their parents were gods and they belonged here.
I didn't.
And so, I had to go.

With a sigh, I came back to the present. I smoothed out the creases on the bed, trying to make everything look untouched and perfect again. There was no reason to make Annabeth dislike me even more.
There was only one thing left to do, really, and that was to visit Rachel Dare.
I hadn't seen her since that time I'd gone by her cave, but I still wanted to say goodbye.
Okay, so maybe I was hoping that she'd seen my future, or could give me a few pointers.
But I really did want to say goodbye as well.

Swinging my backpack over my shoulder, I walked out of the guest room and down the stairs.
I had written a note that I was planning to leave there for Percy and Annabeth to find.
Annabeth probably wouldn't want to read it, but I couldn't just leave without thanking them for letting me stay, and Percy for being so nice to me when I'd arrived.

I know, I know that a letter isn't very personal but I just couldn't face having to explain myself again, okay? Especially with Annabeth giving me the cold shoulder.

I laid the envelope on the kitchen counter and left the house, making my way through the winding streets of Little Athens, thinking how odd it was that everything already felt so familiar.
How could I not belong here? I sighed inwardly.
Feeling melancholic, I bought a cup of hot chocolate on my way out and savoured it's unique taste.
Once outside the town, I began my ascent to Rachel Dare's cave.

However, the nearer I got, the stranger I felt.
The edges of my vision were blurred, and I could feel my legs wobbling with every step I took.
I tried to steady myself by leaning against a tree trunk, but the dizzy feeling just got worse the further up the path I went.
Not this again, I thought fervently, struggling to keep going without passing out.
I hadn't had any major problems since that seizure a week ago, except maybe a few headaches, and I'd be damned if I lost my mind now.
Finally, with painstaking effort, I reached the entrance of Rachel's cavern.

And stopped.

And gasped.

My cup of hot chocolate went tumbling to the ground as I stared down at the sight which greeted me.

The entrance to the cave was open, the curtains torn from their haltering on the wall.
They now lay in a tangled mess, half-wrapped around a red-headed woman, who was lying on the ground, as still as the grave.

"Rachel!" I yelled, and sank to my knees beside her.
I carefully checked for any head injuries before shaking her and shouting "Wake up, wake up!"
But the Oracle lay there, her head lolling from side to side, like a...corpse.
I sucked in a sharp breath. She couldn't be dead. Could she?
For a moment I was too scared to move, but then I grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse.
After a moment of horror I finally found it. It was feeble but was definitely there.
"Thank god!" I mumbled, my heart beating fast.
Thank the gods, a little voice inside my head corrected but I thought back at it, Screw them. I have to help Rachel.

What I needed to do was get help from camp as quickly as possible, but I couldn't just leave her lying there on her own, in the open forest.
So, I grabbed hold of her around her waist and, with strength I hadn't known I possessed, half-carried, half-dragged her inside the cave.
I didn't get as far as the bed, but propped her against a Lay-Z boy instead, trying to make sure she was able to breathe.
Then, once I was relatively sure she was secure, I left the cave and sprinted all the way back to Camp Half-Blood.
My lungs burned and my legs ached, but I kept going as if Hades himself was behind me.

Finally, I broke out of the forest and arrived at the cabins, more or less running into the Apollo cabin door.
There was no time to fetch Healer Solace, as his house was too far away, but I hoped some of the other Apollo kids might be able to help.
The door banged open with a crash and I was greeted by several screams.
I must have looked wild, my face red from sprinting, scratches from branches I'd had no time to dodge covering my arms and my hair like a crow's nest. But I didn't care.

"Quick" I panted as loudly as I could, which to be honest wasn't very loud, as I was completely out of breath.
"Erin?" An incredulous voice asked and I looked up to see Ryan standing there, glasses in one hand and a book in the other.
"Rachel's...u...unconscious...in her..c..cave. Needs...help." I stuttered between gasps for air.
Thankfully, Ryan took me seriously, maybe because I was behaving too madly even for him to doubt me.
"Annie, George and Terin, come on!" Ryan shouted into the room and almost immediately three blonde-haired figures appeared, healing kits at their sides.
"Her cave, you said?" Ryan demanded and I nodded.
The four of them left, sprinting back the way I had just come.
"I'll go tell Chiron" a small girl piped up and rushed out of the door. She couldn't have been older than seven.
"Here," another of Ryan's siblings offered me a hand and I let myself be guided onto a chair.
"I need...to help." I muttered, but the boy shook his head.
"You need to catch your breath and then you can go back. We don't want you fainting from lack of oxygen."

I looked at him, and promptly my vision swam and I swayed. Apparently the dizziness from before had not quite abated.
He steadied me, smiling a little. "See?"
I did see, but that didn't stop me from wanting to go back to Rachel's cave and help her.
After my breathing had become more regular and I was able to stand up without shaking, the Apollo kid let me go back outside.

I was just about to head back up to the cave, when Ryan came jogging toward me.
"Good, you're there. Come on, Chiron wants to see you in the Big House."
"How's Rachel?" I wanted to know, not moving.
"Hasn't woken up yet, but apparently she's not in any immediate danger." Ryan said briskly.
I nodded, and together we walked away from the cabins.

Halfway to the Big House, Ryan held something out to me without stopping.
I looked down at the thing in my hand and realised it was the little knapsack I'd packed all my stuff into.
I stared, having completely forgotten my plans to leave Camp Half-Blood.
Rachel's predicament had erased every thought of going home from my mind.
"Thanks." I mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
Ryan didn't say anything, but he must have understood what I'd been about to do.

Outside the Big House, Chiron was waiting for us.
"Erin." he said, his face grave. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened."
We sat down in the rec room, Chiron rolling inside in his wheelchair.
"I found her at the entrance of her cave." I started to explain.
"She wasn't moving, but it looked like she had fallen over so I checked for injuries and then tried to wake her up.
But she wouldn't move. At first I thought-" I paused, unable to relate the fright of that moment. "I found her pulse and took her inside. Then I ran for camp and Ryan and three of his siblings went to help."
Chiron's expression turned a little suspicious.
"Why exactly did you go up there?" he wanted to know, and his gaze made me feel like I was being X-rayed.
"Just wanted to visit Rachel." I lied nervously, trying hard to keep eye contact. I wasn't a very good liar.
Thankfully, Ryan saved me by continuing the story.
"When we got there we tried to wake her up." he explained, his voice much steadier than mine.
"But she wouldn't. So we decided to bring her down here, 'cause it was the nearest. If she doesn't wake up, though, we might want to consider moving her to the hospital in town."
Chiron nodded, looking extremely worried.
"Healer Solace is with her now. We can only hope she will wake up again."
"Do you have any idea what caused it?" I asked the centaur, who shrugged.
"She is the Oracle of Delphi, Erin, and sadly, Oracles are often subjected to mysterious happenings. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I want you two to return to your activities. I'll make sure you're kept informed."
"Okay," we both said, and stood up to leave.

Outside, there was a moment of silence, and I found it hard to look at Ryan. It was too embarrassing.
"You were going to run away, weren't you?" he suddenly asked, his expression unreadable.
"I was going to go home." I told him, which was answer enough.
Ryan didn't respond, and I took his silence to mean our conversation was over. But there was still something I needed to say.
"Thank you." I said, and finally our eyes met. "For helping me and not asking any questions."
Ryan's dark green eyes had a sheen of sadness to them as he replied.
"Sometimes asking questions causes more problems than it solves."
I didn't know what he meant, but decided not to ask.
As it seemed, my time at Camp Half-Blood wasn't over after all.

There you go, a nice new chapter for you all! :)
Thanks to my new and very wonderful Beta StoryWebber for helping me!
I hope you enjoy this my lovely readers, I'll try to get the next one to you as quickly as possible!
Rights go to Rick, comme toujours