Chapter 2: Rayne
It was a normal day at camp, the Apollo cabin was practicing archery, the Vulcan cabin was working on some project in the forges, the children of Minerva were studying various war strategies, and of course, my brothers and sisters, the children of Mars, were training with various weapons and some were picking fights with younger campers. Every day was the same; we would wake up at the crack of dawn, study Latin and the history of the Roman Empire and the gods. Around noon, we would break for lunch and then after that we'd practice our various skills until dinner. After dinner, we'd usually have a council of upcoming war strategy. But ever since Jason's disappearance a week ago, the camp has changed. It felt like a shadow has been blocking the sun. Everyone looked to me to be the new praetor, being the second in command, but there was a part of me that just felt torn. I missed Jason so much, more then he could possibly fathom. I wasn't going to let anyone know this though. Ever since the fall of Kronos, we sort of have been dating. Not in the open though. Relationships in the Legion were forbidden. Lupa had once told me that it was too large of a distraction.
I sighed when I noticed Lupa walking calmly toward me. The large wolf, who had become my mentor over my ten years at camp, yes, I have been a member of the Legion since I was five. Lupa had a teenage boy with jet black hair following her at her heels. He looked around my age and he wore a plain purple shirt with the Legion's logo embroidered over the heart and dirty jeans. He had an aura about him that reminded me of Jason.
'Rayne, daughter of Mars, this is Percy Jackson. He is a new camper here and has just passed his trails. Acquaint him with the camp; I feel that he will be your guide to Jason.' The wolf looked deep into my eyes, and I saw an image of three teenagers, one I recognized immediately to be Jason with his short blonde hair and his brilliant sky blue eyes. A girl with choppy brown hair with thin braids down the sides, her eyes seemed to change color, she stood extremely chose to my Jason. The third was a Latino boy, who seriously looked like an elf. His curly black hair seemed to be smeared with grease. I began to ask what was that about, and who were those people, but Lupa read my mind and responded with, 'in due time, daughter of Mars, in due time all questions will be answered.'
Lupa turned and left, leaving me alone with the boy. I studied him closely; he seemed to be extremely concentrated on something. His sea green eyes focused far off in the distance. I waited for Lupa to be completely out of view. I didn't plan on waiting for answers, if this boy knew where to find Jason…
I unsheathed my golden gladius, and pointed it straight at the boy. I wasn't going to play games. I was going to get answers. "Who are you?" I screamed and the boy just looked at me blankly.
"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon," the boy 'Percy' said. His sea green eyes seemed to burn into mine.
"Poseidon? Do you know where you are kid? You're in the Legion, the greatest camp for children of the Roman gods. Where did you come from? How have you survived for so long outside of camp?" I asked. I could feel anger surging through my veins.
The boy scrunched his eyebrows together, as if thinking extremely hard. "I don't know," he answered, simply. "I just know that I woke up with Lupa standing over me and a splitting headache. Anything before that is just a blank, if I try to remember..."
I growled and pushed him to the ground out of anger. He didn't resist. "Well you should try to remember. Our leader has gone missing, and I have a feeling that you're our guide back to him. So it'd be in your best interest to talk."
"Rayne, stop! He's telling the truth, can't you sense it? Well, I suppose you can't. But I can. His memory has been severely damaged," I dropped my sword to my side at the sound of a familiar voice. I turned to face Hazel, daughter of Apollo and my best friend at camp. Her golden brown hair was braided down her back, and her hazel eyes seemed to glow. She had an extremely thin face and was filled with kindness. She had a golden bow was slung over her shoulder, and a quiver full of arrows over the other. Her purple legion t-shirt was faded from countless hours in the sun and she was lightly tanned. She always had a way of knowing, she was not only one of the top hunters in our camp, but she was also our oracle. Her father had given her the gift of prophecy when she was eight, but she really didn't like to talk about that, even to me her best friend.
"He can lead us to Jason, Hazel," I whispered. A tear rolled down my face. She was the only person I wasn't afraid to show weakness to. She knew about Jason and I, and she was actually the person who saw it happening.
"That may be true," she met my eyes before continuing in a mere whisper, "but you two need to come to the big house, I made another prophecy."
"The mother Earth shall rise,
All the children shall hear the gods cries.
A daughter wisdom shall be taken,
The son of the sea has been formally mistaken.
The city that never sleeps awaits,
In its depth the pain shall elate.
Two other warriors shall join him on the quest,
To unite two great forces, for the best.
The daughter of Mars, shall face a choice,
For love, for death and to obey her inward voice.
The daughter of Apollo shall see the way,
If all shall fail, the world will stand in dismay.
The world will shatter and we will bow,
Life as we know it, changes now."
Hazel finished reciting the prophecy. I cleared my throat and looking around the room at all of the camp leaders. Bobby, who had become a closer friend to me since Jason has disappeared, he was a son of Minerva. His gray eyes focused intently on the piece of paper that he had written the words of the prophecy on. To his left was Alyssa, daughter of Vulcan. She smiled sadly as my eyes crossed her. To Bobby's right, sat Dakota, son of Mercury, his dark eyes focused in on mine and he gently pushed his long black hair behind his ear. To Dakota's right, sat Gwendolyn, a daughter of Venus, she usually meant well, but she was too focused on trying to force forbidden relationships on unsuspecting victims or checking out her own reflection. Needless to say, she wasn't one of my favorite people, but I did respect her. My eyes went around the table and met everyone's eyes, even Percy's, who looked extremely uncomfortable like he had didn't belong. My eyes finally came to rest on Hazel, who was sitting directly to my right. She nodded, and I began to decipher the prophecy.
"So, The mother Earth shall rise / all the children shall hear the gods cries. I'd assume by mother Earth, they mean Terra, everyone in agreement?" Everyone nodded, so I continued. "By the second line, I'm going to assume that Terra is going to attack the gods."
"Terra was the mother of the Earth and mother of the Titans. She married Uranus, the sky god at that time and then had her son Kronos chop Uranus into pieces with Uranus' own scythe, so that he could take over the world. Messed up much, right?" Bobby spoke, clearly intrigued by the story.
"Yeah, pretty messed up. Okay so, 'a daughter of wisdom shall be taken' – so a daughter of Minerva will be taken, I can only assume that she'll be taken by Terra. So does anyone have any idea who this girl is?"
"Annabeth…" I heard Percy whisper, almost not inaudible.
"Who's Annabeth?" I asked.
"Before I woke up here, I had a dream that I was on a beach, and a girl with blonde hair and stormy gray eyes sat down next to me. During my tests, I saw the same girl being speared by a minotaur. But she'd have to be dead after that, wouldn't she? I can't remember how I knew her, but I have a feeling that she's our girl." The son of Neptune spoke with confidence, I knew deep down that he was dead on with who it was.
"Well, that makes sense, because the next line says that the son of the sea has been mistaken. For the test, I don't know how Lupa does it, but she somehow finds the person that means the most to you to test your loyalty. Okay, so Percy is on the quest, obviously. Next stanza, the city that never sleeps awaits, in its depths the pain shall elate. Sounds like we're going to New York city, and in the depths there will be pain. Yeah, yeah, okay, next… Two warriors shall join him on his quest, to unite two great forces, for the best. So three warriors should make the journey-"
"A daughter of Mars and Apollo," interrupted Bobby. "Clearly, that means you and Hazel. You're our two best fighters, so it'd only make sense strategically for you two to go on the quest."
"Right, all in favor?" Everyone raised their hands, I sighed. "Okay, well, then there's the lines about: If all shall fail, the world will stand in dismay. The world will shatter and we will bow, life as we know it, changes now. So change is coming, but that isn't always bad, right?" I tried to sound optimistic, but failed miserably. I glanced out the window and looked out into the sky. I added quietly, "if we fail to rescue this Annabeth girl, then Olympus will fall to Terra."
Author's Note: Here's a quick update (mainly because my Lithograph class was cancelled today, which freed up a bunch of time!) – Once again, let me know what you think! If you love my story, tell me! If you hate it, tell me! I don't care, critique the bejesus out of me, I promise to not cry. It will help me become a better writer. PLEASE REVIEW, I can't read minds, and I would really like to know what you guys (my readers) are thinking! – Ash
Key to the gods (as appearing in the story)
(Roman : Greek)
Neptune : Poseidon
Apollo : Apollo
Vulcan : Hephaestus
Minerva : Athena
Mars : Ares
Mercury : Hermes
Venus : Aphrodite
Terra : Gaia (Earth)
Uranus : Ouranos (Sky)