There were 48 hours left until the 7th of August struck, which gave only 48 hours for the hero of Olympus to create a plan that would destroy the Titan King. The demigods from Camp Half-Blood were preparing to leave their precious camp and make their way onto Manhattan, where the final moments of many would occur. For a while, Camp Half-Blood was not the cherry summer camp full of normal demigods. It was now a training ground for the soldiers of Olympus, who needed to fight for their survival against the titans.
Cabins that were usually very happy and care-free had lost their demeanor. Everyone was on edge, and understandably so. While the normal campers ran around and gathered their weapons, the cabin leaders all met on the Big House. They were all nervous, as they had experienced first-hand how destructive the war was going to be.
But not all the cabin leaders were present on the war room of the Big House of the demigod camp. Annabeth Chase and Alexander Pond, daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon respectively, were together in the attic of the Big House. Close to a window, on a three legged stool, sat the Oracle of camp, a mummy with hippie clothes.
"She gives me the creeps" Alex told Annabeth as he looked the Oracle mummy up and down
"You've been here before"
"Doesn't make it any less creepy"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Let's just do our job and get out of here"
Alex looked at the mummy with confusion and nervousness, "So what now?"
Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her hands, "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy"
The son of Poseidon looked at Annabeth with a raised eyebrow, "well, that was all for nothing"
Annabeth paid no mind to the comment, approaching the mummy and unclasping one of its necklaces. She then turned to the demigod son of Poseidon, holding a Native American medicine leather pouch. The daughter of Athena then opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky finger.
"Uh no, impossible. I did not spend almost four years wondering about the stupid blasted prophecy, AND IT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME" Alexander shook his head in disbelief
"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Alex, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still get nightmares because of it"
"Ok, can I read it?"
"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of...you know"
The pair headed back downstairs and joined the other cabin leaders. The cabin councilors all had gathered around the a Ping-Pong table. Instead of sitting down calmly, however, a big discussion was taking place. The Ares cabin counselor, Clarisse LaRue, was yelling at the newly appointed Apollo Cabin counselor, Michael Yew. The other cabin counselors did not pay mind to their discussion, actually grinning over it. All except Silena Beauregard, who had just lost her boyfriend Charles Beckendorf on an explosion.
"SHUT UP" the son of Poseidon yelled
"Not until Michael stops being a selfish jerk" Clarisse growled
"Look who's talking!"Michael Yew said
"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted, "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin"
"What are you talking about?" Alex demanded
Pollux, son of Dionysus, cleared his throat, "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days"
"Best three days of my life" Travis Stoll said wistfully
"Ok, can you guys settle that matter later?" Alex asked. "I kinda have a life-changing prophecy to read"
The senior councilors all shut their mouths instantaneously, curious about this Great Prophecy. Annabeth handed Alex the dry and cold parchment. The son of Poseidon uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:
"A half-blood of the eldest dogs..."
"Er, Alex?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs"
"Oh, sorry," Alex said. "A half-blood of the eldest gods-hey it's changing"
"That's the prophecy?" Connor Stoll asked bewildered
"Alex, your dyslexia isn't that bad. The next line of the prophecy does not even resemble 'hey it's changing'" Annabeth said
"No, I mean the prophecy is changing. See?" Alex showed the parchment to Annabeth
The daughter of Athena blinked her eyes, trying to make sense to what she was seeing. "It's changing..."
"Alex, child, could you give me the prophecy for a moment?" Chiron asked the demigod.
Once Alexander handed the prophecy to his centaur mentor, Chiron looked at it with his eyes wide open. "It isn't supposed to do that"
"Wait, so what's happening?" Katie Gardner from the Demeter Cabin asked
"So you know that prophecy that has been the cause for almost all my near-death experiences? Well it turns out that it's changing out of nowhere. But you know, no big deal" Alex said with sarcasm laced on every word.
"It stopped moving" Chiron told suddenly, "The first verse is different"
"What?" Annabeth asked
"Clarisse, you should read it" Chiron held the parchment up
The daughter of Ares looked up, "Me?"
Chiron nodded, handing the small piece of paper to Clarisse. The demigod looked around the table, feeling weirdly uncomfortable with having to tell everyone the Great Prophecy.
"A-A halfblood of the eldest full-blooded god,
Shall reach sixteen against all odds,
And see the world in endless sleep,
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap,
A single choice shall end his days,
Olympus to preserve or raze" Clarisse finished reading the prophecy with a pale face
The demigods from around the table stared right at her.
"On the bright side, Alex won't die"Travis tried to lighten the mood, which earned him a slap on the back of his neck from Katie Garned, "hey!"
"Who's the eldest full-blooded god?" Pollux asked, voicing the same question everyone had in their minds.
"Ares, Ares is the eldest-full blooded god," Clarisse breathed out
"Wait, that's not true" Annabeth said
"Yes it is. Athena was born from Zeus and Metis, and Metis was a titan. Ares was the first-born of Zeus and Hera, making him the first full blooded god." Clarisse reasoned
"I wasn't talking about Athena. There is another god that was born much before him, a son of-"
"Hera and Poseidon" a male voice said from the now open door of the war room. The senior counselors all stood up and drew their weapons, glaring at the teen.
"Who are you?" Michael Yew asked, aiming an arrow to the teen's head.
"Wow, I leave camp for four years and suddenly I'm unrecognizable? We live in a society..."
"Hector, my child, what are you doing here? And what are you talking about a son of Hera and Poseidon?" Chiron asked
Hector smiled, "Well I'm here to help, of course. Can I sit down?"
"You know full well that this war council is not open to every camper" Alex told with a hint of jealousy
"I know, it's for senior counselors. Fortunately for me, I have a cabin just for myself, making me the senior counselor of my cabin" Hector grinned, making his way to be besides Michael Yew, who looked at him in distaste
"Oh don't look at me like that cuz" Hector said sitting down
Chiron's eyes widened, "Hector..."
"Yeah, I'm a son of Artemis. Surprised? So was I. Now let's get back to business 'cause we have a war to win in two days."
The demigods stayed silent, surprised that Artemis, the man-hater, had a son. A son.
"How do you know that it's going to be in two days?" Clarisse LaRue asked
"Because my birthday is in two days..." Hector said as if it was the most obvious thing ever
"Why does your birthday matter?" Clarisse further asked
"I'm the grandson of Hera and Poseidon, figure it out."
The members of the cabins had a minute of thought, but nobody seemed to be able to reach a conclusion.
"Oh for gods sake, his father is the eldest full-blooded god, making him the child of the prophecy" Annabeth blurted out
Once again, everyone turned their face onto the son of Artemis, who just declined himself on the chair. "What brainiac said is completely true, I'm the one who's going to die by a cursed blade."
"But how can we trust you if you fled camp at the same time Luke did?" Alex pointed out
"Do you want my whole life story?" Hector asked, earning lots of no's. "Well, I'm going to tell it anyways so you guys can trust me and so you can learn a little history on the way."
"It all started when my mom met my dad. My dad was a banished god and my mom was, well Artemis. Time passed, they fell in love and got married. Then, in 1993 they had me, but they had to give me away because of Zeus. Then I grew up here, as you all know, and then fled when I was 12 due to personal reasons. I then trained with Hera for two years. I met my mom in Maine, my dad while we were rescuing my mom, and found out that they were my parents thanks to Atlas. Then I fled once again, lived in South Dakota for a while, then moved to Massachusetts, and these last few days I was in Puerto Rico, which took me a long time to figure out I was there. Any questions?"
"Who's your dad?" Alex asked
"Perseus, god of time, tides, hospitality, childhood, feelings, sacrifice, and I feel like I'm missing some, but you get the giz"
"Did you say Perseus?" Silena opened her mouth for the first time
Hector turned his head to look at the camper he once considered to be his sister and glared, "yeah, what's up to you?"
"He's the one that helped me and a lot of my siblings to arrive safely at camp" Silena confessed
Hector nodded, not wanting to make conversation with Silena at the moment.
"Well then, now that we know that I am the child of the prophecy and who's going to sacrifice himself for the sake of Olympus, I think it would be a good idea that we ignore that and get moving to Manhattan. What do you think Chiron?"
The centaur looked sadly at his student but nodded nonetheless, "yes, everyone gather your cabin mates and let's meet at the Camp entrance"
The cabin leaders exited one by one, until only Alex, Annabeth and Hector remained on the war room.
"Hey, un, Annabeth" Hector tapped her shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Yeah," the daughter of Athena replied, "I'll catch up to you later Alex"
The son of Poseidon glared at Hector.
"Dont be so jealous Alex, that breaks up most relationships" Hector grinned.
Alexander Pond's face flushed red. He then turned around and left the room, leaving only Hector and Annabeth alone. The two of them stayed in an awkward silence, unsure of what to say.
Truth was that Annabeth had thought, for some strange and stupid reason (ironically), that she would not see Hector again in her life. This is why she filled the void of her heart with the next great thing, the supposed Child of the Prophecy. She had kissed him once in the beginning of summer, and both her and Alex were unsure of the meaning behind such kiss.
Hector, on the other hand, had stayed with Hera for the majority of the time, which gave no space for any new love interests. The closest would be Enyo back in Puerto Rico, but he knew that the goddess of bloodlust simply wanted to bring his guard down. At least he hoped so, being with such a goddess would be a very weird experience, one he was not sure if he wanted to go through.
"How have you been?" Hector asked Annabeth, breaking the awkward silence
"Good" Annabeth replied quickly. "Well, to be honest, not so good. There have been many demigods fleeing camp, and I fear that we are not enough to stop Kronos"
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I've been reading-"
"You can read?"
"Yes I can read, and better than you, mind you. As I was saying, I was reading lots of Apollo's books, and along with the advice of Enyo, I figured out a way to destroy Kronos."
Annabeth raised her eyebrows, "really? That's so awesome! So- wait a minute, who's Enyo?"
"I thought you knew all about Enyo. Goddess of a lot of morbid stuff...don't you know about her?" Hector asked genuinely curious
"What was she doing with you?" Annebth questioned
Hector raised his arms, "Am I on trial here? What about you and Alex?"
Annabeth blushed, "there's nothing going on between us"
Hector scoffed, "oh please. He's jealous and you're blushing, I'm not stupid enough to not notice these things. You're with him!"
"And why do you care?! Last time you told me to move on! But now that I did, here you are busting my metaphorical balls!"
"Well yeah, I told you to move on, but I didn't expect you to move on so fast."
Annabeth put her hands in her hips, "it took me three months for me to get over you."
"And soon after you went to the Big Thing, right? The son of Poseidon, Child of the Prophecy...just like you did when we were twelve"
"That does not mean anything. It's not my fault that you have trust issues" Annabeth said
"I trusted you with my every being, and next thing I know, you're with that bastard" Hector told with a loud voice
"What did you want me to do?! Why are you being so difficult?!" Annabeth opened her arms in desperation
"Because I love you, and it hurts to see you with another person" Hector confessed.
"Hector...I'm not with Alex"
"Do you still love me?" Hector grabbed the hands of the daughter of Athena.
Annabeth looked eyes with Hector. Her grey eyes began to shed tears as she told the words that would break Hector's heart.
"No...I loved you once, but something has changed. You broke my heart last time, and I don't think it will allow me to be with you anymore" Annabeth retired her hands from Hector's, turning around to leave.
"So that's it? It's over?" Hector stared at Annabeth's back
Annabeth paused for a second, "we are simply friends Hector, remember that from now on" she continued to walk, leaving Hector to dread alone on the room.
It was as if suddenly an ice cream truck full of sadness had run over his heart while starving children stepped on his heart. He knew they couldn't be together in the end, but it still hurt that the little hope he had was now gone. To put it in a way, Annabeth was the mortal anchor to Hector, meaning that it was the only thing that held him in mortality.
The son of Artemis knew that this wasn't a happy love story, and that once his "mortal anchor" was gone he would gain immortality because that was the only thing holding him from achieving it... No, he was simply left emotionless. He could care less if he survived or died in the war. To sacrifice himself for his family seemed to be the most noble act of death, and so Hector made his peace with that.
In the end he was going to have a sad ending, which he deserved. He had not been the best son, friend, nor lover. Were his parents mean towards each other? Or was this some personal trait that did not come from his mother or father? The answer did not matter, as he only had a little more than 48hrs left to live.
Hector Carib Troy left the big house and headed towards the entrance of Camp Half-Blood, where only the Aphrodite and Deméter cabin were present. He noticed Silena amongst the Aphrodite campers and decided to confront her about the incident in South Dakota.
"Hey Silena" Hector greeter the camper
"Hi Hector" She said trying but failing to mask her sadness
"Listen, we have to talk. It's something serious"
"I can't leave my siblings here alone. We're living really soon"
"They won't leave without me. And it will only take a minute." Hector took Silena's arm, paying no mind on the strength he did it with, "Hey Drew! You're in charge, alright?"
An asian Aphrodite camper winked at Hector, "of course Troy, anything for you"
Groaning, Hector pulled Silena with him towards the woods. Searching that nobody had followed them, the ex-camper let go of the daughter of Aphrodite's arm.
"Ouch, you grabbed too tight" Silena complained as she saw the red hand print that was left on her arm.
"You're a spy" Hector said
Silena stiffened, "n-no I'm not"
"Yes you are, you told me yourself in South Dakota"
"Please don't tell anybody, I didn't want to do it" Silena cried, falling to her knees.
"You clearly knew what you were doing. You and your friends SHOT ME, or do you not remember" Hector said angrily
"Let me explain everything Hector, please, for old time's sake"
Hector looked at Silena and how pitiful she looked bowing on the ground. "Fine, you have one minute"
"Some time ago, before I even liked Charlie, I liked Luke. He knew this and convinced me to join him. He said he was going to save the demigods, and I trusted him. Later on, I found out the truth, but he said that if I left then he would hurt Charlie. I couldn't let them hurt Charlie" Silena cried out
Hector bent down and hugged Silena, "hey, don't worry. I understand you, and I won't tell anyone sister"
Silena nodded and cleaned her tears away, "thank you for listening Hector. It really means a lot"
"I don't have much time left alive and I already screwed up one friendship, I better not lose anybody else" Hector joked
Silena frowned, "Proohecies have double meanings, you know that right?"
Hector shook his head, "I don't know, there's something about this one that just makes me feel very sure about what's going to happen. But I've made my peace with it. After all, Elysium must be the biggest party of the millennium, like, all the cool people are there"
Silena grinned, "that's true"
Hector stood up and stretched his arm, which Silena gladly took. They walked together to the entrance of the camp, where almost all the campers stood. Looking around, Hector noticed how there was only one cabin that was missing.
"Where the Hades is the Ares cabin?" He asked the Stoll brothers
"Clarisse said they're not coming" Travis still replied
"What do you mean by they're not coming?"
"Clarisse said that we don't appreciate the Ares cabin, or something along those words. Point is, she's mad and her cabin won't be coming" Connor Stoll answered for his brother
"You know what? If they're not coming then they're not coming. We have to go now" Hector told them. The son of Artemis ran towards the front, where Alex and Annabeth were standing. Without even acknowledging them, Hector turned to the demigods.
"Everyone! Tomorrow and the next day we will fight for our lives, for our parents, for our siblings, and for everyone we know and love. Some of us may die, but we will all be remembered as heroes. I was part of this camp for twelve years, and returned today for the sole reason of leading us to victory. DEMIGODS! WE WILL WIN! WE SHALL AVENGE THOSE LOST ON THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRITH! WE DO IT ALL FOR US! FOR OLYMPUS!" Hector gave his speech, raising his Bellona blessed pirate sword. By the end, the Greek demigods were all roaring and banging their shields to make the most noise.
"LETS GO!" Hector said, walking in front of the Greek demigod infantry. Unknowingly for many of them, that would be the last time they ever saw Camp Half-Blood.