It was an iron collar as it turned out. Victoria marched up to Ryker and held out the collar matter-of-factly. "Put it on." She ordered, a smirk on her face. "Now."
For once, Ryker decided that arguing was not in his best interest. He reached out and gingerly took the collar from her, thoroughly surprising her from the shock and suspicion that flashed across her face. "Fine." He shrugged, ignoring the pain that the gesture brought. He studied the collar for a few moments, turning it over in his hand. "So I just put it over the neck and it locks?" He asked.
"That's right." Victoria said, her eyes narrowed as she attempted to ascertain his motives. "You are actually listening to me?"
"And I am guessing that you have the only key?" Ryker said, affecting a heavy sigh, and ignoring her question.
She reached into the neckline of her dress and drew out a silver chain, at the end of which gleamed an iron key to match the collar in his hand. "Of course." She said, a bit smugly. "The one and the only. No other key will work for that collar."
"Good to know." Ryker said, opening the collar.
Victoria's eyes were wide as she watched him slowly bring the collar to his neck. Just before the metal touched the flesh at his throat Ryker suddenly grinned wickedly and whirled on the spot. Before Victoria could respond he had clamped the metal collar around the closest person to him, which turned out to be another Amazon. The girl's hands flew to the metal collar as she turned around, genuine confusion on her face. "Why you…" Victoria's voice had equal parts amusement and annoyance in it as Ryker turned around with a grin on his face.
"You never said who to put it on." Ryker said, smirking. He patted Victoria on the shoulder as he walked past her, confident that he had finally won a confrontation against the Amazon. He should have known better than to actually touch the warrior girl and not expect some sort of physical retaliation.
Sure enough she had grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back before he knew what was happening. My reflexes are shot too. Ryker fumed, wincing as Victoria pulled his arm up a little further. He felt her breath on his neck just as she whispered, "Now that wasn't very nice of you." She said, her words quiet and clearly only for him. "But it's fine. Eventually you will wear my collar."
"Not a chance." Ryker growled back, turning his head in an attempt to look at her. He abandoned his efforts when she strained his arm a bit further.
Victoria laughed briefly before pressing her lips to his neck and releasing him. He quickly stepped away, his hand going to his neck and checking for blood or some sort of mark. Victoria's eyes flashed mischievously once more as she melted back into the party, leaving Ryker be once more. Or so it appeared. The music once again began to pulse and Ryker was swept into the crowd as demigods, gods, and goddesses surged back onto the dance floor. He was annoyed at the pressing of limbs, but as the music intensified he quickly lost himself in the grips of the song and soon was mimicking the others as they danced. He was not certain how long the song lasted, in truth he was not even certain why he was enjoying the music so much. It was loud, repetitive, and did not seem to have any real sort of meaning behind the random bursts of various sounds that melted together to create the song.
When the music finally ended the weary dancers made their way off of the dancefloor, eager to escape in case Apollo had another enchanted song in the works. "That was fun." Annabeth said brightly, her face sheened with sweat. She wore a plain gray dress that shimmered as she walked, hugging her body just enough for her curves to be accented. Percy was at her side, her eyes fixated on her and seemingly oblivious to anyone else around them.
"Yeah." He muttered, taking her hand in his own and gazing into her eyes. "Fun."
Leo and Calypso exchanged a look and rolled their eyes simultaneously, both of them struggling not to laugh. Frank and Hazel exchanged knowing grins, which they both failed to hide from the others. "Those two sure do have things figured out, don't they?" Piper murmured to Jason, their eyes locked just as much as Percy and Annabeth's. "Lucky them."
"Lucky us, too." Jason added, his eyes sparkling with all the electricity of a storm.
Uncertain of how their group had gotten brought together again, Ryker looked from couple to couple and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had seen many of the demigods, and some of the gods, do things like this before but he had yet to truly understand the reasoning behind it. He knew that it had something to do with affection, but he did not see why they were so fixated on one another.
He had just opened his mouth to voice this thought when a massive cracking sound rang out through the camp, startling everyone present. Every set of eyes within a five hundred meter radius of the dancefloor immediately going to the stage where the noise had emanated from. "The Oracle is issuing a prophecy!" Apollo roared, all traces of his former joy at playing music now evidently forgotten. At his side was Silena, her eyes clouded over and clearly elsewhere. The camp was dead silent, no one making so much as a shred of noise as they waited with bated breath for the Oracle to issue the prophecy. Ryker's eyes darted from either side as he studied the couples. All eight of them were watching Silena with the exact same expression, wary despair. To Ryker, it almost seemed as though the eight of them knew that their part in the upcoming trek was nowhere near over.
Though it was only a few seconds, the wait for Silena to begin speaking seemed to stretch on for hours. When she finally did begin to speak, a collective sharp intake of breath could be heard around the camp.
"That which must be destroyed has taken flight,
Five chains must be broken to win the fight,
To the five corners must the chosen go,
Ten heroes that all well-know.
Two to the North,
Three to the South,
Two to the East,
One to the Depths,
And two to the West.
The light and the dark,
To the North they shall embark.
The Flame, the Storm, and the Sea,
To the South will they be.
The daughters of love and wisdom,
To the East they will come.
The newly risen mountain,
Into the Abyss once again.
The War and the Jewel to the West,
These shall be the final tests.
Of these ten that set forth,
One shall cease to be henceforth."
The camp experienced a moment of stunned silence as Silena fell silent and began to fall back. Apollo quickly caught her, evidently expecting this sudden fatigue. Apollo quickly collected her into his arms and exited the stage, presumably to take the Oracle to a place where she could rest. Ryker barely noticed. He, and the others who were standing on either side of him, were immersed in a moment of self-pity and disbelief. The prophecy rang in his mind over and over again, in particular two words. "'Into The abyss once again'." He said in a low voice, barking out a rough laugh and shaking his head.
His laugh seemed to rouse the other demigods around them and the assembled partygoers turned as one on the group, their eyes mixing relief with pity. Ryker could not blame them. He had only been with the camp for a few weeks and already he understood that prophecies carried with them enormous weight. And a very likely death sentence as well. "The Oracle has spoken." The voice of Dionysus rang out over the camp, startling the gods and demigods who had been standing beside him. "A quest, actually, five quests are in order. I don't think the participants of these quests really have any doubt as to whom they pertain to."
"We need time to discuss this." Artemis said quickly, stepping forward and shooting a glare at Dionysus. "To figure out what manner of aid we can provide them, to discuss what we can do. The prophecy did not even say what it was that they were supposed to seek out."
"It sounds as though it is some sort of chain." Vulcan said gruffly, a large blacksmith's hammer held over his shoulder. Ryker raised an eyebrow as he was certain that the god had been in a suit similar to his own just moments before. "Which means that it's big enough so that it won't be very hard to miss."
"Maybe!" Athena snapped irritably, casting a worried look to her daughter. But breaking the chains could mean any manner of things, especially in a prophecy. It could be a reference to some obscure item, or any number of other similes. We need to figure this out before we send them off!"
"I think that your judgement may be clouded here, Athena." A sallow faced god said slyly, smirking and leaning against a stone pillar. "Your daughter is undoubtedly one of those selected for this prophecy. Unless you wish to discuss that as well? A well-known daughter of wisdom. My, who ever could that possibly be? Now, I think my kids are pretty smart but I don't go around claiming that they are the daughters of wisdom itself."
"Orcus." Athena gritted her teeth as she bit back an inevitable insult. "No, I have no issues about who has been issued this quest. But I would like to give them their best possible chance of success."
"You mean give your daughter the best chance of success." Orcus laughed lightheartedly. "One shall cease to be henceforth. Oh, I do so love looming prophecies of death. So interesting to see who it is that is going to bite the big one, so to speak. Bets anyone?"
"Enough, Orcus!" A large bearded man roared, snapping his fingers. The cocky god disappeared in a flash of lighting, much to the relief of the rest of the camp. Jupiter muttered something under his breath and turned to the demigods. "As Dionysus said, you have been issued a quest. We will offer every possible bit of aid that we can, but you will carry out the prophecy as you have been directed. Each of you." He added the last as he turned to glare at Ryker accusingly.
Ryker returned the gaze coolly, shrugging one shoulder. He patted his chest lightly with one hand and smirked easily, ignoring the fact that even the light motion pained him. "When do we leave?" Percy asked finally, the first of the others to pull himself from his self-pity. He raised his chin and met Jupiter's eyes with calm determination. The others seemed to draw strength from Percy's resolve and each of them mirrored his confidence.
"You will leave as soon as you deem yourselves ready." Jupiter informed them.
"Hey, we got this." Leo said confidently, throwing an arm around Percy and Jason. "The three of us? Pssht, we got this."
"You're right man." Jason said, his confidence just as radiant as Leo's. "Who can throw down with the three of us?"
"Don't count us out either." Annabeth warned them good-naturedly, punching Piper playfully on the shoulder. "Your charm speak and my tactics? Whatever Tartarus throws at us has no chance."
"For sure." Piper said with equal gusto.
Frank and Hazel were gazing lovingly into one another's eyes as they exchanged happy grins. "There is no one I would rather quest with." Hazel told him.
"The feeling is very mutual."
Ryker watched them mentally steel themselves and smiled himself, ignoring the tension he felt building in his chest. He doubted that they would force him to return to Tartarus via the River Acheron, but one could never be too sure… "Well that figures." A disgusted Victoria said, shoving her way through the demigods who stood gawking at the soon-to-be questers. "I just get you back and you go off on another crazy quest that you will probably almost die on."
"Yes, because I totally planned for this." Ryker shot back, relieved for something to focus on rather than his somewhat worrying thoughts. "Because avoiding you is worth a trip to Tartarus. Are you out of your mind?"
"Don't you act like you won't enjoy that!"
"It's not an act!" Ryker shot back, annoyed now. He heard Leo guffawing quietly and shot him a glare, momentarily turning away from Victoria to do so. When he returned the glare to Victoria his nose touched hers, her proximity alarming him. He immediately made to take a step back but her hands shot out and locked on either side of his face, immobilizing him. "Let me go." He commanded, ignoring the warmth in her hands.
She fixed him with a stern look, her blue eyes locked on his. "Listen. To. Me." She said slowly, clearly enunciating every syllable. "If you do not return from Tartarus, I will personally go down there and bring you back myself."
"Was that a threat or-." Ryker began to ask. Victoria silenced him by placing her mouth on his. He had seen the others do this several times, and he had even studied two campers who had been kissing, but it was very different to actually experience it. When her lips pulled away from his she regarded him thoughtfully and shrugged.
"Not bad." She said finally, releasing his head. "But we will work on it."
"What?!" Ryker croaked, his face crimson. But Victoria walked back through the crowd of people without answering his question, high fiving one of her fellow Amazons as she went.
The rest of the camp evidently took Victoria's exit as their own cue to leave as well, quickly dispersing back to their various tents and cabins. Ryker and the others stood there, awaiting one of the gods to tell them what to do. Ryker was rooted to the spot as he struggled to contemplate what the hell had just happened. With an angry shout he turned on his heel and stalked back in the direction of the Hunters' tents. He had had enough of people for that evening. As he walked he saw two people emerge from the darkness, hidden away by the woods. He turned to the emerging figures, almost hoping that it was an enemy of some sort so that he could blow off some steam. Unfortunately it was Will and Nico.
"Hey, Ryker!" Will said, jogging up to him. "What happened?! We heard a huge bang and we tried to get back-."
"You are on a quest, congratulations." Ryker snapped, glaring at them.
"We're on a-? What? When?" Nico asked, confused. "When did this happen, who issued…?"
"Ask the others, I'm going to sleep." Ryker growled.
"Wait, why do you have lipstick on your mouth?" Will asked, still confused.
Ryker glared at them, quickly running his eyes up and down both of them. "Why is there dirt in your hair and leaves on your clothes?" He shot back irritably, causing both of them to redden. He rolled his eyes at their reaction. It was a fair question. Sometimes leaves get on clothes. And he assumed it was the same thing with lipstick. Though probably not as often.
