The ground shook. The flame in the middle of the campers went from orange to blue. The world was silent. Boom. Boom. Boom. Chiron and Mr D moved toward the sound. Percy leaned towards the sound. When he saw the cause, he covered his mouth. The Minotaur.
It was banging on the barrier, in attempt to break it. Annabeth looked at the beast and gasped. She looked at Chiron and her question was clear; Can you kill it? Chiron shook his head. Percy stood up, and everyone looked at him. He, reluctantly, started to move towards the bull-man. He unsheathed Riptide. Percy made his way around the monster without being seen. A twig cracked.
Percy cursed in Latin, and the Minotaur must've sensed him. The creature charged at Percy, who could only think, Snap, before leaping sideways. He fell on the muddy ground. The Minotaur grunted before slowly turning around and charging again. Percy used a tree as a kickstand, before jumping off it, and onto the hairy, smelly back of the Minotaur.
Percy used Riptide to slash off one of the Minotaur's horns, consequently making the monster run randomly into a tree. The impact nearly all of Percy's teeth out.
Percy jumped off and stabbed the Minotaur with his horn in his furry ribcage. Percy watched as the Minotaur dissolved into golden dust, and had the time to wonder if the Minotaur really had been wearing Fruit-of-the-Looms.
Everyone was silent. The flame went from people to green, then orange. The camp cheated and rushed down the hill to meet me. Chiron was smiling. Piper and Leo were cheering the loudest, Lisa jumping next to them. Percy looked around and caught Annabeth's eye. He grinned and she followed suit. Then the flame turned pink. Or at least that's what Percy first thought had happened.
Then he saw the symbol of Venus, or Aphrodite as Annabeth called her. It was a vivid, bright pink dove hovered above Piper. She gulped. Then something insane happened. Her clothes changed. From a shirt and jeans to a sleeveless gown that went down to her feet. Her hair became longer and more luscious. Piper gasped. "W-what's happening?" Percy turned to Annabeth. She pointed to Piper's weapon. Piper seemed reluctant, but unsheathed the dagger. Then she went wide-eyed. Vision stepped forward and bowed, the rest of camp following suit.
"Hail," Chiron announced gravely,"Piper McLean. Daughter of Aphrodite, Last of doves, goddess of Love."
Piper looked like she wanted to scream. Then Chiron stepped forward and everyone turned to him. "We have more pressing matters at the moment." Chiron nodded towards Percy. "It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" The source of the voice came from none other than Drew. "What do you mean?" Travis asked.
"It has to be connected. Jason's disappearance. Then Annabeth gets a dream telling her to go to the Grand Canyon. She comes back with three demigods, one who has no memory," she turned to Rachel,"You're the Oracle. Tell us; has the Great Prophecy begun?"
Rachel looked worried, frightened even, but she stood and shouted to everyone at camp, "The Great Prophecy... has begun. For those who do not know it, out goes like this:
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call-" Percy stood up like he'd been electrified. "Ut cum spiritu postrema sacrementum," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."
"P-Percy? You... just finished the prophecy."
"In Latin, as well. An oath to keep with a final breath/ And foes bear arms to the doors of death." Annabeth added. "How did you-?"
"I don't know," Percy replied, pressing his fingers to his temple. "I just know that prophecy." It was quiet for a few seconds. Then all Hades broke loose. People shouting, screaming, hiding in the back muttering, "It will be okay, it will be okay."
Chiron stomped his foot on the ground, but it took a while before Rachel got the attention of the fifty campers. "But we know what happens now. A hero must lead a quest. As... uh... Percy do you remember your surname?" Percy thought about it. It started with G? Or J? Percy shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.
"We'll just call you Percy, then. As Percy here has seen, we must free Hera, from a trap." Rachel turned to him. "Do you accept this quest?" Percy didn't jump on it. He knew what happened when people went on quests. Some received fame, glory, happiness, peace. Others... not so much. "Ok. Let's do this."
Rachel looked at him. "A terrible evil is rising. One that has trapped the queen of the gods. It must be done in four days; the winter solstice. We know of the first Great Prophecy, so this second one might be just as bad."
"Or worse," Chiron muttered gravely. He probably didn't mean anyone to hear it, but all the campers did. "The winter solstice... It's a time of great darkness. It is when the gods come together to keep their power from evil magic. Ancient magic. This... this is far worse than anything I have seen. It is beyond my power." An uncomfortable silence ensued. The flame turned from green to purple, to grey. "Let's... uh... hear the prophecy,shall we?" Annabeth looked at Rachel. Rachel was about to open her mouth when someone said, "How come he hasn't been claimed? Why does he get to-"
"He has been claimed." Chiron said. "A long time ago. If you will, Percy, my boy." Percy suddenly was aware of all of the eyes staring at him. He looked at Chiron, then Annabeth, then Piper. Piper nodded encouragingly, and motioned the clicking of a pen. Percy understood and took out his pen. He clicked it. Gasps were heard through the crowd. The pen was replaced with a meter-long golden sword. "Lanioaestus. Anaklusmos. Riptide. The blade of Hercules." Chiron introduced. "Dude, I want that!" Someone shouted.
"Better than the Stolls' water spear." Somebody else agreed.
"Water..." Percy thought. Water, beach, Riptide, power... "Stand back." Percy warned Annabeth and Rachel. They got the message and stepped away. He focused his energy on the moisture in the air. He raised his hand. He got a touching feeling in his gut. He raised his hand and opened his eyes. He stood on a hurricane. Gaping mouths, and staring eyes at the storm. He let it subside.
"Well," Chiron said. I think we know who your father is."
"Neptune." Annabeth raised an eyebrow and giggled slightly. "You mean Poseidon, Seaweed Brain."
Percy blushed, but nodded. "That's what I meant. Poseidon; Lord of horses, God of the sea. Earth shaker and Storm Bringer." Everybody went into chaos, discussing to their neighbours before Annabeth raised her arms, and said, "Hold it! If he's a son of the Big Three, then how come we didn't know about him until now?"
Percy turned to Chiron, who looked very pale. "What matters is that he's here now." Rachel spoke again. "It is clear Percy has been given a quest, and that means a prophecy." Rachel closed closed her eyes and swooned. Two people caught her before she fell, a third person behind them, carrying a three-legged stool. They placed Rachel on the stool and stepped away. Rachel sat up and opened her eyes. They were flowing brightly. Emerald mist erupted from her mouth.
"Child of the ocean, beware the earth,
The giants' revenge the seven shall birth.
Forge, Dove and Owl, side by side,
And death unleashed by Hera's stride."
At the last word, Rachel slumped, but the two people caught her. The third one carried the stool away. The flame turned a dark blue colour. Everyone looked worried. Percy turned to look at Annabeth. She was having an "eye conversation" with Chiron. Percy could only catch glimpses of it. This is how it went:
Annabeth: Wait... Giants' revenge? Does that mean-?
Chiron: Don't say anything. The three of them are still new. And we can't have anybody else being too worried.
Annabeth: But Chiron, we have to tell them what they're up against!
Chiron: No, Annabeth. We have to keep everything safe. Jason's missing, Percy and the others are in... he's watching us.
Annabeth: What?
Chiron and Annabeth turned to look at Percy, who quickly averted his eyes from them. "Okay," Annabeth said. "Now we have to figure out this prophecy. It is clear that Percy is the child of the ocean." Percy noted how bitter she sounded when she said that. Like she wanted him to be something else. Chiron nodded, but said nothing else. Piper suddenly spoke up. "It's connected."
Everyone turned to look at her. "You must know that much, right? Your boyfriend's disappearance, um... what was his name, again?"
"Pe-Jason. Jason."
"Yeah. Him and our arrival."
"You might be right Piper. But if Hera is going to unleash death, why would we want to save her?"
"Well, no matter what, I have to go. She has my memories and I need them back." Percy thought about the prophecy. The forge, the dove, and the owl. "The forge is the symbol of Hephaestus, right? So we're going to be somebody from there." Nyssa, who Percy learned was head of the Hephaestus cabin, looked like she was being forced to carry a huge anvil. "The project says to beware the earth. So you're going to need some air transport."
"That's gonna kill you." Chiron said.
"What?" Annabeth asked, glancing worriedly at Percy.
"Percy here is the son of Poseidon, which means the only way he can go into the sky is with a pegasus."
"Which we are using to look for Jason." Nyssa nodded. "Unless we can take at least one Percy off the search team-"
I'll do it. Percy wheeled around to find Blackjack behind him. Everybody looked alarmed. Even Chiron looked surprised. Um... is this the wrong time?"No, Blackjack. It's just nobody was expecting you," Percy told the pegasus.
I am good at camouflage. Blackjack nodded, satisfied, as if it all made sense. You are gonna need me, boss, Blackjack warned. Jason's ridden on me once and concluded that pegasi are not for him.
Percy grinned. "You're in." Blackjack whinnied happily before trotting off, probably back to the stables.
"Well," Percy said. "Now I've got my ride secured, how are we going to get everybody else?"
"It's me." Percy recognized the voice and turned to face face Leo, who was standing, looking straight at Percy. Some of his cabin members tried to pull him back down, but he resisted. "You need a ride for everyone else, right? I have an idea."
Everyone turned to Percy. "We started this, let's end it. You find us a ride and you're welcome to join us." Leo cheered. "It's gonna be hard. You might suffer a lot. Or die, you may die," Nyssa warned.
"Oh." Then Leo remembered people were watching and smiled. "Suffering? I love suffering!" A few people raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. "Well, I'm going to work on the transport. See you!" Leo ran off.
"Now we have to work out the rest of the prophecy."
Annabeth nodded. "It says forge, dove and Owl. Forge comes from Leo. The dove-"
"Oh, absolutely." Drew flung herself next to Percy. I'll be right by your side. You're going to need charm. And who better to give it than the leader of the Aphrodite cabin?" People started nodding their heads, as if it made sense. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like he suddenly understood of Drew's presence. "No," Piper's voice rang out. "It's me."
Then people started nodding at her, as if Piper was the one to go for the quest. Chiron nodded, satisfied and said, "Piper should go."
"What? But... b-but... You need me."
"But Piper is more useful," Annabeth nodded, agreeing with Chiron.
Drew sat down, grumbling angrily. Annabeth then said, "The owl, then."
"Oh, that's easy," somebody said."It's obviously you, Annabeth."
"Oh, no. I am not goin anywhere to save the goddess who ruined my life. Anyone else want to go?" Nobody said a word. Chiron looked at Annabeth, who looked back. They started at each other for a while, before Annabeth sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."
"Dismissed." Chiron said.