The next morning, Heather was in the strawberry fields. Under the careful supervision of the Demeter Cabin-and her half-brother-she was attempting to help the little berry plants sprout their fruit and ripen. The berries were late this year, so campers were assisting the satyrs with the growing and hoped to harvest them in a little over two weeks.
"Is this too much? Am I straining them?" Heather asked for perhaps the fifth time. Pollux rolled his eyes.
"If you were doing it wrong, I wouldn't be standing here calmly."
Heather sighed in slight exasperation, but broke out in a wide grin. In response to her emotion, a few dozen flower blossoms opened in a shower of white, making her jump in surprise. She laughed in surprise and more flowers opened, making her laugh harder with delight.
Her giddiness faded as she took note of Mr. D standing under a solitary tree at the base of a hill, watching her. She smiled in his direction, but simply returned to her work, turning the hillside white. As she inquired of the Demeter campers what to do next, her half-brother slipped away to join his father.
"Pollux," the wine god greeted him, not taking his eyes off his dark-haired daughter. Pollux returned the greeting and joined him in watching. Father and son were silent for a long moment as the Demeter campers directed Heather to go get a satyr for the next step. Their eyes followed her as she vanished down the hill and down to the volleyball pit.
"Well she's doing better," Mr. D commented. "What happened?"
"I have no idea," Pollux admitted. "Yesterday she finally came out of her little 'mood' and asked what she could do to help. What caused it is her business."
The wine god nodded to himself, his face thoughtful. As Heather came back up the rise-a pair of Satyrs following her-the few strawberry plants that hadn't blossomed did so, hiding all the green vines. As she looked for her brother, Pollux jogged back up into the white petals, trailed by his father. Upon the arrival of their master, the goat-men bowed low. Dionysus waved them aside, only having eyes for his daughter.
"Hello," Heather greeted him, her eyes downcast, as if she were ashamed. Mr. D returned the greeting, trying to appear uninterested and failing.
"Did you see the blossoms open for me?" she asked, finally looking him in the eye and smiling. "I've never done that before."
"I saw," her father answered, returning the grin, though it was a bit strained. Heather nodded, satisfied and turned to watch the bees-summoned by the saytr's reed pipes-get busy pollinating, unafraid of the potential stings she could receive. Unprepared, she nearly jumped a foot in the air as a teenaged boy appeared out of thin air. Well, not really thin air, but rather out of the shadows the forest cast. She barely had time to take in his dark hair and pale skin before he walked up the hill, toward her and Mr. D.
"Dionysus," the young man addressed the camp director. "No time for formalities, I'm afraid; the Oracle sent me to get your daughter."
"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, sir!" Heather cried, taken aback. "Rachel did what now?"
"Are you Heather Hayes?" he asked briskly, his dark gaze sweeping over her. Heather brushed her hair from her face.
"Yes that's me. Now who in the blazes are you?"
"Nico di Angelo," he replied coldly. "Son of Hades. The Oracle sent me to get you. Something about a prophesy."
Heather felt a chill run up her back. Child of Destiny...the words came back to her now. Chosen to protect the world from the dangers that would threaten it... Was it her time already? Okay...that was fast.
"So, where's the Oracle at?" Heather asked. "And how am I getting there?"
"Shadow travel," Nico replied. Before Heather could question him any farther, he seized her wrist and pulled her down the hill. She stumbled after him, completely bewildered, straight into a tree. Or rather, through the tree into a chilly black wasteland, filled with whispering voices. Before Heather could make up her mind on whether or not she should scream, she was tripping over a concrete curb before an enormous manor. Nico didn't even hesitate in his stride as he released his grip on her arm.
"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "Rachel's waiting for you."
"Hold up a second!" Heather cried, chasing after him.
The house was even more impressive inside, like something out of a movie. In the middle of the hall, Rachel waited, wearing her usual paint stained jeans and ratty T-shirt, her red hair frizzy. The redheaded oracle smiled when she saw the two demigods enter and stood to meet them.
"Sorry for the abrupt summons," she apologized.
"It's fine," Heather laughed. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon."
"Rachel," Nico interrupted, "you were saying something about a prophesy? Something we needed to hear?"
The oracle rolled her eyes as he said it, gesturing for them to follow her upstairs.
"Yes, there is something," she answered, sounding a bit exasperated. "Came out of nowhere, but who am I to ignore the spirit of Delphi? Once we're in my room, I can tell you the prophecy."
"Prophesy?" Heather began, but she got no farther, silenced by a dark glare from Nico. The redhead guided them into her attic bedroom-which was very well furnished, for an attic. Heather was taking in all the artwork over the walls when she heard a faint rasping sound. She turned and gasped.
Rachel was sitting on her bed, her face slack and her eyes glowing green. As she opened her mouth to speak, Heather instinctively shrunk away, unsure what was happening. The voice in which Rachel spoke was not her own, but deeper and more raspy:
The daughter of wine and child of death
Will go south on the promise of one's dying breath
Both must work and rely on each other
Else doom will come from the wandering brother
One shall halt deaths' touch and give another reply
The other will look true madness in the eye
Upon the conflict in the final hour
Mercy's touch shall bear the most power
As soon as the Oracle finished speaking, Rachel fell back on her bed, panting slightly. Heather slowly stepped forward, wanting to help, but still afraid. The redheaded mortal sat up after a minute, fixing her wild hair by tying it in a bandana.
"So, what did I miss?" she asked, much to the younger girl's surprise. Nico gave Rachel the one-minute version, reciting the words back at her with perfect memory.
"So..." Heather dared insert once he'd finished. "That was a prophecy. Now what does it mean?"
Nico watched her with silent, calculating eyes, making her squirm uncomfortably. At length he finally answered her with a single quiet sentence.
"It means that we are going on a quest."
A/N: Yeah, so this just became a quest fic. I was running out of ideas for the story, but I was struck by inspiration lightning and added Nico. The quest is still kinda in the air right now(writing my own prophesy was really hard!), but I know how this ends now. Stay posted for more!