The Prophecy
"How delightfully boring," Alec muttered up to the ceiling as he lay on his bed. "We've been stuck in our rooms for at least four hours. I feel like a child being punished, and I am not a child."
"Alec, would you be quiet?" Megan's voice held a tinge of annoyance to it. "It hasn't been that long. Besides, it's really hard to read when you're talking."
"Harry Potter?" Alec asked.
"Duh," Megan responded, not looking up from her book. "Just because I've read them all through at least three times doesn't make them any less awesome."
"I see." The son of Hades gave a sigh of sheer boredom. He pulled a dart out of his dartboard (no one was quite sure why he had one) and threw it at a poster on the wall.
"Alec!" Megan whined. She did look up from her book this time. "Why did you throw that at my poster of Taylor Lautner?" She reached up and pulled the dart out of the poster. "Look, now he's got a hole in his face!"
"He looks better that way."
Megan gave an indignant huff. "How can you say that? He's totally hot!"
"He has nothing on me," Alec replied.
Megan stared at him for about five seconds and then burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but are you serious? You, hotter than Taylor?" She was almost rolling on the floor, she was laughing so hard.
"At least one of us finds mirth in our predicament," Alec said dryly. In annoyance, and mostly to block out the sound of his half-sister, Alec placed some earphones in his ears and turned on his mp3 player. "That's better."
Crystal was thumbing through one of her old magazines when she suddenly heard a knock at the door. She looked up, startled, but then just went back to reading.
"Crystal, it's your turn to get the door," one of her half-siblings informed her.
"Fine," Crystal grunted. She rolled off of her bed as the knocking persisted. "I'm coming," she grumbled. She opened the door, half expecting to see Mr. D or Chiron, but instead was shocked to see Katie standing in front of her.
"I've got some news about the new half-blood!" she whispered.
"What are you doing?" Crystal hissed back. "Aren't you supposed to be in your room? If Mr. D finds out . . ."
"He won't," Katie insisted. "Now are you going to let me in, or what?"
"Alright, but if you get caught . . ."
"I won't. I never do," Katie responded confidently as she stepped inside the Apollo cabin. "Alright, so here's the news . . ."
"Hold on one second," Crystal interrupted, "I want to know, how did you get this information anyways? How did you get out of your room?"
Katie rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to get me to answer such trivial things?" When Crystal continued to stare hard with her bright blue eyes locked on Katie's. the Hermes camper sighed. "Fine. Really, it's quite easy. I mean, no one's actually guarding our room or anything. Besides, if someone did check on the Hermes cabin, they wouldn't notice if one or two people were gone. Our cabin's always full of kids. That's what happens when you have to take in all the noobs. Anyways, I just snuck out and listened outside of a few cabins and then spied on Chiron."
"You were spying on Chiron?" Crystal's voice rose.
"Shh! Not so loud!" Katie hissed. "Anyways, he had the new kid with him. Sarah, or whatever her name is. He was talking about being responsible and a leader and all this other crap. Well I was able to piece everything together and I figured it out," Katie's voice dropped. "We've got another kid of the Big Three on our hands."
"Another?" Crystal tugged on her hair thoughtfully. "Man, it seems like Zeus, Hades and Poseidon have been working overtime to get the number of their kids back up ever since the prophecy came true." Crystal tapped her chin a few times. "I bet you five bucks she's a daughter of Hades.
"What makes you say that?"
"Seriously, she's totally daughter of Hades material! Just the way she looks and acts."
"We only saw her for five minutes at the most," Katie said, then added, "I'll take that bet. Daughter of Zeus for sure."
"You're on," Crystal grinned, "just make sure you've got my money ready."
"Getting cocky, aren't we? Oh, and there's something else I should add, something really weird . . ."
"What? What?"
"Well," Katie gave a dramatic pause, "she's sixteen."
"So?" The information seemed unimportant to Crystal at first, then suddenly it hit her. "Wait a minute, she's sixteen? What the . . . but she . . . she just came to Camp Half-Blood, how could she be? I mean, monsters smell out most of us at around twelve, and if she's a kid of the Big Three, then how . . . shouldn't they have sniffed her out faster? She can't be a kid of the Big Three then—it just doesn't make sense. She's probably just a Dionysus camper or something." Then she realized something even more important. "But what about the deal Percy made with the gods . . . about them claiming their kids by the time they're twelve? Would they break it so soon?"
"Look, I know what I heard. It doesn't add up to me either, but I've got a feeling that she is a kid of the Big Three, and if I've learned one thing over the years it's to trust my instincts." Katie was about to leave when she stopped and turned back to face her friend. "Oh, and there's one other thing I should add. I'm not the only one who snuck out of my cabin. There's a creepy looking Zeus girl sneaking around."
Crystal froze. "Is she platinum blonde? With bright green eyes and a scar on her arm?"
"Yup," Katie said, "that would be her. You know her?"
"In passing, but I uh . . . became 'well acquainted' with her today, when I uh . . . broke her arm during the squabble between cabins."
"You broke her arm?"
"I swear, it was an accident!"
Katie gave a laugh. "Actually I was going to praise you! That'll teach the Zeus cabin!"
"I'm going to get in so much trouble," Crystal buried her face in her hands. "She said she'd get even with me! Now she's probably waiting to break my arm."
"Oh, come on, you can take her! Plus, she wouldn't attack you in your own cabin!"
"I don't know," Crystal said hesitantly. "All the same, I'd rather not get caught by her."
"Well you can come back and hide in my cabin if you wish," Katie suggested, "it's all the same to me." She opened the door. "You coming?"
Crystal gave a sound that almost sounded like a yelp. "She's right outside the door! Close it, Katie!" Crystal slammed the door shut, panting heavily. "This is not good, this is so not good!"
"Oh, come on, Crystal," Katie rolled her brown eyes, "she's not that tough."
"Are you kidding me? She'll kill me!"
"She won't kill you, but if you're really that terrified of her, then come on." Katie pushed her way past all the members of Apollo cabin to the back of the room to the single window the room possessed. She pushed up the glass and climbed out of it. "Come on," she repeated.
Crystal hesitantly came over.
"What are you doing?" one of her half-brothers asked. "When Mr. D finds out, there's no telling what he'll do to you."
"He won't find out, because you're not going to tell him, right?"
Crystal's siblings looked at each other and grinned. "No, the Apollo cabin looks out for its own. Good luck!"
"Thanks," Crystal smiled, and climbed through the window.
"Come on," Katie urged her, "we have to get out of the open." She pointed to a few buildings on the other side of the field. "We can hide in those if you want, but we'll need to get back to our cabins before anyone finds out that we're gone."
"Right. Let's go." Crystal gave a nod and started sprinting across the field. The two reached the buildings with no problem and slipped inside. The room was totally quiet. In fact, it was so quiet it was a bit unsettling.
"Come this way," came a voice from the next room, followed by the clapping of hooves.
"It's Chiron!" Katie hissed. "Crap, he's coming this way! Hurry! Over here!" She dragged Crystal around the corner and pulled her into the shadows. They waited for a few painful minutes and finally stood up. "I think he's gone."
"Where are we?" Crystal asked.
"Not sure actually," Katie said. Suddenly she stiffened. "Quiet! Chiron's coming back!" She pulled Crystal back and started down a hall. "Down here."
Suddenly they could hear someone mumbling to himself. "Mr. D!" Katie looked around frantically. "We're trapped! They're going to find us!"
"Hey, what about this?" Crystal pointed to a door that Katie had missed in her first quick scan.
"It'll do! Let's go!" Katie said in a hushed whisper, then opened the door and slipped inside. Crystal quickly followed and closed the door behind them.
"That was too close," Crystal muttered. Then she looked around. "Hold on, where are we?"
"This is so not good!" Katie hissed and backed up. "Look!"
Crystal broke out in a cold sweat when she saw what Katie was pointing to. "It's. . . the Oracle."
Sure enough, Rachel Dare was sitting on a chair reading an art magazine.
"Come on," Katie urged, "let's get out of here before . . ."
"Hey, aren't all campers supposed to be in their rooms?" Rachel asked as she looked up.
"Umm . . . Right. About that. We just . . . uh . . ."
"Had important matters to discuss with you!" Katie quickly put in.
"Oh, okay," Rachel tilted her head to the side. "Like what?"
"Like, uh . . ." Katie drew a blank.
"Like . . . why'd you come to camp?" Crystal asked.
"Nice save," Katie whispered.
Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're not just using this as an excuse to be out of your cabin?" She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged as if it didn't really matter. "Well, I felt this calling, like I needed to come here for some reason. Plus I wanted to say 'hi' to some old friends. . ."
"Percy and Annabeth?" Crystal guessed.
"Yeah, but it appears as if I've missed them." She changed the subject. "The camp is looking really nice, and it's much fuller than it was the very first time I was here, after the war with Kronos. Of course, I've been here several times since, but it still looks as if there are a lot more campers than last time."
Katie nodded. She didn't remember the war. She hadn't arrived at camp until several years later, but she knew the stories. How Kronos tried to destroy Olympus. Percy Jackson and his friends had stopped him, but a lot of campers had died in the process.
"Yeah, well we better get going," Crystal began.
"Oh, I understand," Rachel smiled, then suddenly she dropped her magazine and hunched over. "Not again!" she cried. When she looked back up her eyes were a creepy green.
Crystal's eyes went wide, Katie felt faint. The Oracle was giving them a prophecy. Rachel's voice sounded hollow and far away as she spoke:
"Eight children must go where no one desires
Daughter of wisdom and son of fires,
Child of sky, daughter of health,
Offspring of death, girl of stolen wealth,
An unknown camper will make a pivotal choice,
She will discover her parent and find her voice,
The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard,
The children will leave, though it seems absurd,
A once defeated foe shall rise again,
The path will be hard and full of pain
Good fortune will come if you pass the test,
Camp Half-blood will ring with your success,
But are you prepared to pay the cost?
Choose wisely or all will be lost."
Then, just like that the Oracle's eyes returned to normal and she collapsed. Katie and Crystal stood frozen in place, still recovering from the shock.
"Did . . . Did you hear that?" Katie asked in a shaky voice.
Crystal nodded slowly. "What did she mean, an unknown camper?"
"This is really weird. Like, really weird. R-Rachel, what did you mean?"
"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, fully recovered. "Oh no . . . Did I give you a prophecy?"
Katie and Crystal glanced at each other and an unspoken message passed between them.
"No . . ." Katie said. "No, we were just about to leave."
"Alright, come back and talk to me anytime!" Rachel said cheerfully, accepting their lie easily.
"Bye!" the two girls called back, hiding their fear, as they left the room.
They sprinted down the field and quickly climbed back through the Apollo cabin's window.
"Crystal, where have you been?" One camper asked, "You've been gone for ages!"
"Ages?" Crystal shook her head in disbelief. "Has Mr. D been here?"
"Yeah," one of Crystal's half-sisters said, "but we were able to conceal your absence. He told us we're all going to have to clean all of Camp Half-Blood inside and out because of the fight we had . . . Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen the Oracle."
Crystal gave a nervous laugh. "Seen the Oracle, that's a good one." The members of her cabin glanced at each other.
"Well," Katie cut in, "I'd really best be going. Uh, have fun you guys!" She quickly retreated out of the room.
"So," one Apollo cabin member began. "What have you been doing?"
"Well," Micaela gave a sigh and rubbed her forehead, "your guess is as good as mine. You really should tell Chiron about this."
Crystal and Katie exchanged a nervous glance.
"No that's fine," Katie said quickly. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. We just need to take the prophecy apart, bit by bit."
Micaela gave another sigh. "Fine, as long as we get it all done before curfew."
"Deal," Crystal said. "Now, let's get started."
"Alright," Micaela began, "well the first thing y'all have to remember is that the prophecies of the Oracle of Delphi often have hidden meanings. Probably nothing we guess will be right. But then, there's the odd prophecy where we can pick out the true meaning right away, so we'll try anyways. The first line is a bit tricky. Obviously it's about eight campers going somewhere no one else wants to go, but I have no idea where that is, so we'll just move on. Alright, so the next line I think is talking about who will go. 'Daughter of Wisdom'is definitely a daughter of Athena . . ."
"Which you are," Crystal cut in.
Micaela gave her an annoyed glare. "Well, obviously, but that doesn't mean I'm the one the prophecy is talking about. There are lots of Athena campers. Anyways, moving on, who do you think the 'Son of Fires' part is talking about?"
"Well not the Poseidon cabin, that's for sure," Crystal pointed out.
"Jeez, thanks Crystal," Katie retorted sarcastically. "We really thought a son of the sea god would be referred to as the 'Son of Fires'." She rolled her eyes.
"Well it's also not the Aphrodite, Dionysus, Zeus, Demeter, Hermes or Athena cabins," Micaela added.
"Hmm, well, possibly the Apollo cabin since he's the god of the sun, but I highly doubt that. Also, the Hades cabin seems unlikely . . ." Crystal said.
"What about Hephaestus?" Katie suggested.
"I was about to propose that idea, and it seems the most likely option," said Micaela.
"Alright, next line," Crystal cut in. "'Child of Sky' can only mean a Zeus camper, but what about 'Daughter of Health'? Who the Hades is that supposed to be?"
"Well . . ." Micaela leaned back in her chair and tapped her chin. "I do believe it's you, Crystal."
"What? Me?"
"Do I really need to explain everything? Isn't it obvious?" Micaela asked. "Oh . . . right. Sorry, I forgot you're not an Athena camper. Well, Apollo's the god of healing, right? So 'Daughter of Health' must be an Apollo camper, and it would only make sense if that person was you, since you pretty much have to be part of the prophecy. Seeing as you were one of the people Rachel gave the prophecy to."
"Makes sense," Katie said. "Now, next line. 'Offspring of Death'?"
"Hades," Micaela answered. "It's definitely the Hades cabin, and since there are only two Hades campers it's obviously both of them."
"Alright, and 'Girl of Stolen Wealth' is . . .?"
"You," Crystal cut in, "Hermes is the god of thieves, and as Micaela said earlier we have to be in the prophecy."
"You're really getting the hang of this," Micaela grinned. "I'm a good influence on the two of y'all."
"You? A good influence on us? Hold on," Crystal began.
"Guys, we're getting side-tracked, and the sun is already setting," Katie interrupted. How about this next line? 'An unknown camper will make a pivotal choice'."
"I'm certain the unknown camper is someone who isn't claimed," Micaela said. "So this person is obviously going to do something important. Now the next line seems to state that she will discover who her parent is and be able to speak up."
"Makes sense," Katie agreed. "The next line is, 'The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard'."
"Well, Apollo's the sun god, so he's probably pleading for help or something," Micaela offered.
"What? My dad's in trouble? That's not good . . ." A worried look crossed Crystal's face.
"Crystal, calm down," Micaela soothed. "It's just a suggestion." She looked back at the piece of paper in front of her. "Now the line, 'The children will leave, though it seems absurd,'is probably saying that the eight campers answer Apollo's pleas and go . . . some place, which obviously is going to seem absurd."
"Wow, I'm glad we have you along! You're cutting through the prophecy like scissors through paper! It would have taken me and Katie much longer to figure this stuff out by ourselves."
"Katie and I. But, thanks," the Athena camper grinned, then went back to work. "The next two lines are also pretty simple. It's talking about some sort of test that, if you beat it, will cause good stuff to happen . . ." she paused. "But I don't like the sound of this next bit. It seems to me like something's going to have to be sacrificed for the reward . . ."
"Styx," Crystal sighed. "I hate sacrifices."
"My words exactly," Katie said, taking the piece of paper off the table and rolling it back up.
"Y'all really need to talk to Chiron about this," Micaela stated.
"We'd get in so much trouble for sneaking out!" Crystal protested.
"Fine, suit yourselves," Micaela stood up. "I'm going back to my cabin now. It's almost curfew. I'll see y'all tomorrow, at the water-balloon toss." Turning on her heel she briskly walked back towards the cabins, leaving Crystal and Katie alone with their thoughts.