CHAPTER FIVE

The Prophecy

"Pandora's Box…What's that?" Fillip asks.

"Pandora was created by Hephaestus, out of clay. When Prometheus introduced fire to man, Zeus took vengeance by giving Epithemus, Prometheus' brother, the key to Pandora's Box. Zeus was sure Epithemus or his brother would open the box, but in the end, it was Pandora that opened the box out of curiosity. From the box, many evils escaped, such as envy, hatred, sickness, disease, disasters, you name it," Annabeth explains.

"The box was cast away before any more evils were let out, however we didn't anticipate so many people would try to search for it," Zeus says.

"Why would someone want to obtain Pandora's Box?" Annabeth asks.

"Some do it for historical research, others do it out of evil reasons," Zeus says.

Imagine if the box were opened here in Olympus," I say. "It would single-handedly destroy the empire."

"So where do we find this thing?" Percy asks.

"We hid it in the Lost Desert," Zeus says. "You may know it as the Mojave Desert."

"That's in California," Annabeth says.

"Beware, as many dangers wait. Many of the warriors that seek the box never even reach the temple. It's called the Lost Desert for a reason. Some go crazy in search for it in the sandstorms. You don't have to go, but if you want your wish granted, that's what you have to do." Zeus says, waving his finger and flashing out in a cloud of dust.

"Anything you want…" Fillip says behind me.

Annabeth puts her hand on my shoulder and turns me around. "You're not really thinking about going, are you?"

"I refuse to live in hiding, always running away." I say with a blank face.

"There has to be another way. Maybe another god will help you!" Annabeth says.

"You heard him; all the other gods would take my sisters' side. Zeus only grants me mercy because he's my father." I reply, looking straight into Annabeth's eyes.

"Pandora's Box is out in the middle of nowhere. We stand no chance!" Annabeth says.

I put on a look of hopelessness. "What other choice do I have?" I say, walking away, back to the elevators. I stop to turn around, with one more comment. "You don't have to come. In fact, I ask that you don't."

"No one's gonna keep me from an unconditional wish!" Fiona says, pushing the others out of her way to run up to me. "I'm gonna help you destroy that box, and I'm gonna ask for my vision back. With vision, I'll be unstoppable."

"I'm gonna ask for super-strength!" Fillip exclaims, joining me.

"C'mon Annabeth, think of how honourable it'd be to destroy Pandora's Box! A task even the gods cannot do. You would be a hero to all of Olympus." Percy says to Annabeth.

I turn around to see Annabeth's reaction. "You all really want to do this?" She asks.

We respond with a unanimous nod and she rolls her eyes. "Fine," she says. "But Chiron's going to be real mad at us for leaving like this."

"Not if you come back as heroes," I say.

We stand at the edge of the courtyard beside the elevators, looking down on New York.

"So how are we planning on getting to California?" Annabeth asks, after a minute of silence.

Nobody answers because nobody has one.

"Why not just take a road trip?" Fiona suggests.

"Road trips are too long. We would be too vulnerable. Planes are our best bet," I say emotionless. "I will pay for all of our tickets. I have no use for my money anymore."

"Okay then," Percy says. "When do we leave?"

"Right now," I reply, walking away from the railings and towards the elevators.

XXX

We arrive at the airport and eat lunch as we wait for our plane.

"So what's our plan once we land in California?" Percy asks.

"We take a taxi to the Mojave Desert and look for Pandora's Temple." I say, biting into my burger.

"Just don't expect Pandora's Temple to be easy to spot," Annabeth says. "Zeus said that most of its seekers get lost in the desert."

"But we have Zeus on our side," Percy says.

"Don't forget, we also have the Fates, and they're not on our side," I say.

Before anyone can reply, a message over the intercom says our plane is ready to board, and a large group of people dispersed in the airport all rush to the gate.

"That's our plane," I say, putting my bag over my shoulder and getting up.

We board the plane with no interruptions, and take our seats. "I'm surprised nothing happened to us on the way here," Fiona says.

"The Fates must not know where we're going, because if they knew we were on our way to destroy a covenant historical artefact, they would never leave us alone." I reply, putting on my seatbelt.

The flight attendants say something about safety and emergencies but I tune it out and fall asleep. My nightmare starts the second I close my eyes.

I'm in an open field, lying down and looking up at the sky. People walk by with no emotion on their faces. Most of them just lie there doing nothing. I sit up and look around. A woman dressed like a belly dancer walks up to me. Her scarves and sleeves flow but there's no breeze.

"Who are you?" I ask. "Where am I?"

"I'm the Oracle. You're in the fields of Asphodel."

I sit up and look around. I'm dead. I'm in the fields of Asphodel, where the ordinary mortals stay. They stay here, and lie down, looking at the sky. Forever.

"Why am I here?" I ask.

"This is your destiny," she says. The word destiny sends shivers down my spine. "Your only chance of ever living a full life and possibly ending up in Elysium lies in the destruction of Pandora's Box."

"Tell me how to find the box," I say, standing up to meet her eyes.

The Oracle puts her fingers on my forehead and her face lights up. Her eyes turn blank white as she starts to speak.

Conquer the temple by the power of night

Find despair in your life entombed in light

The path is shown by the hero's bane

Eternity lies in the hero's vain

Satisfy your wish by destroying the urn

But destroy a friend on the way for they will turn

When the Oracle says her last word, I black out and wake up, freefalling through the air in a thunderstorm.

I thrash my head around looking for my friends.

"Annie!" Percy says from above me. On his other side is Annabeth, Fiona, and Fillip. He holds out his hand and I reach for it. I reach for Fillip's hand and the five of us make a circle in mid-air.

"Zeus, help us and soften our fall!" I shout at the top of my lungs. "Please father!"

Suddenly, a strong breeze from below hits us and we fall slowly. We land on a cloud of air, and hop off.

I let go of Percy and Fillip's hands and catch my breath.

Looking around, I see we're alone. Dead bodies surround us and the plane that flew us is in a hundred pieces on the ground behind me. The place is deserted and it looks like the ground has never seen rain before today. There's no greenery or roads here, either; only cracked soil. The intense storm suddenly stops and the sun comes out again. "What happened?" I shout, wet and confused.

"A storm broke loose out of nowhere. It hit the plane," says Percy.

"It definitely did not come out of nowhere," Annabeth says, examining the terrain.

"You think the Fates did this?" Fiona asks.

"They must really not want us to reach Pandora's Box, especially if they're willing to spare all these innocent lives," Fillip says.

"We need to find out where we are," says Fiona.

"Why don't we just start walking until we reach a road?" Percy suggests.

It takes me a long time to recover from the shock of falling from a plane and I remember my dream on the plane.

"By the way, the Oracle of Delphi came to me in my dream, and spoke a prophecy."

Everyone in front of me stops. "What?" Percy asks.

"I should have told you earlier, but I just remembered it now," I reply.

"Well what was it?" Fillip asks.

My eyes point to the sky as I try to remember the prophecy. "Conquer the temple by the power of night, and find despair for your life entombed in light. The path is shown by the her's bane, eternity lying in the hero's vain. Satisfy your wish by destroying the urn, but destroy a friend on the way for they will turn."

The group takes a minute to think, and then Fiona breaks the silence. "Well I can only draw two things from that. Two things of which I'm certain. One, that destroying that box is the only way for each of us to see our greatest wish, and two, one of us will betray the rest."

I stare at the ground for a minute and figure out how I should reply, but Percy takes the words out of my mouth. "It doesn't matter. If I learned anything from quests, it's that we can't let prophecies distract us. Everything will come together, we have to maintain focus."

"He's right. Right now, our objective is to find out where we are." I say, walking ahead.

I climb up onto a hill and see it's a cliff. I'm looking down a giant desert, coated by a sandstorm. Everything below me is obscured by blowing sand and I realize where we are.

"The Fates didn't drop us here," I say. "Zeus did. He dropped us in the middle of the Lost Desert."