"Clarisse, how do you feel about going on a quest?"
The Daughter of Ares stopped sharpening the blade of her sword on the rock in her hand and looked up at Aricia and Rahl. The older girl was lounging against the giant landmark known as Zeus' Fist that was an enormous rock formation in the middle of the woods. She regarded the Daughter of Hera with suspicion. "What kind of quest?"
"To find a way to gain contact with any of the Olympians." Aricia squatted down next to the considerably larger girl and began to trace her fingertips in the dirt, as if she was drawing battle plans. "Now, Rahl and I received out prophecy from Rachel a few minutes ago. It called for the two of us plus an additional two. An old enemy and a new one." Aricia paused and looked at Clarisse. "Since there is no denying that you're the old enemy, since you were the first I ever made here though we have long since put that behind us, you are one of the ones Rachel spoke of."
"And the 'new' enemy does that mean Drew has to come with us too?"
Aricia gagged. "No, she's been my enemies for years. Her and my quarrel is nothing relatively new. I suspect one of her minions, her second or third in command must be who the prophecy calls for. Besides, if Drew and I went on a quest together I would guarantee she would not return."
"True, either the monsters would kill her, or you would." Clarisse commented. "I'll come; I promised Silena I'd look after you after all." Clarisse stood up and smirked. "And since Silena isn't here to do this…." She pointed at Rahl. "Who is he!"
Rahl and Aricia flinched. The Son of Apollo nervously stepped around Aricia and tried to smile. "I'm Rahl, son of the god Apollo."
Clarisse glowered down at him. "How long have you two been a thing?" she asked.
"A year, well almost a year." Aricia admitted. "We've kept it secret so the other Aphrodite kids don't ruin it."
"Smart move." Clarisse stated and looked back at Rahl. "Listen kid, you mess with her, or even think of hurting her well…" She smashed one of her fists in to her other hand. "You're dealing with me. Understand?"
"Crystal clear!" Rahl promised.
"Okay, enough of threatening my boyfriend." Aricia said and realized she really liked saying the words my and boyfriend out loud. "We need to go find a new enemy."
"Shouldn't be hard; with Cabin 10 under the control of that charmspeaker, everyone there is pretty much your enemies now save for a select few." Rahl noted. "I'll pack up some healing supplies and other essentials for us all while you go and try to get one of Drew's minions away from her mirror and makeup."
"And I'll go with Ari in case Drew tries any funny business like this morning."
Aricia made her way back in to Cabin 10, and was unfortunate enough to see that like always, no one had bothered to go to activities. All the work she and Silena had done to help the cabin's reputation was rapidly being destroyed by Drew.
"Oh look who is back from her little tantrum." Drew said when she saw Aricia enter the cabin. "Been hanging out with those dogs from the Ares cabin again hun? You're not fit to be seen in this cabin."
"I bet she's even dangerous to be in this camp at all." The blonde at Drew's right hand side said and tossed her white gold locks back behind her petite shoulder. Her name was Britani, with the ani in her name pronounced the same way Gwen Stefani said hers. It made Aricia sick.
Aricia felt her fury surge, but knew she had to keep it in check. Now was not the time for violence, even though she had a good gut feeling on what was coming. "Choose your words wisely Britani." She hissed all the same.
"See?" Britani asked to any of the Aphrodite's who were listening. She clearly saw this as her chance to get in on Drew's good side. Britani stood up and smirked. "How do we now she wasn't working with Silena the entire time? She could still be a spy."
It was enough to set Aricia off, and everyone knew that. However, everyone was shocked to see a small, almost sadistic smile crawl across Aricia's face. "Found her!" Aricia called over her shoulder then looked back at a stunned Britani. "You are going on this quest. Congratulations."
"Wh-what? Wait, NO!" Britani spluttered. "How dare you barge in her and…"
Aricia raised a hand and cut her off. "Or I will ask Clarisse to come back in here and help me convince you to help or you can help willingly."
Drew shrieked in rage. "You're a nobody! You can't just walk around acting like you own the place!" Drew stormed over to Aricia and jabbed her in the chest with one of her freshly painted French manicured fingernails. "I'm in charge now, not you're precious Silena. Except it twerp; your beloved big sister is dead and she died a traitor."
Everything inside of Aricia was demanding she challenge Drew on the spot, destroy her and wrench the leadership of Cabin 10 out of her hands. But she just couldn't, it didn't feel right even though nothing in the cabin felt right anymore. Aricia swatted Drew's hand away and said plainly,
"Maybe you'll get lucky and I'll get killed on this quest. Like it or not, sometimes we need to do things that aren't fashionable or seen as lovable. But we do them anyway, because if no one does, if everyone just stands back then everything is lost to the point we will never get it back." Aricia turned and looked at the rest of the cabin. "Silena may have made a mistake in her choices, but in the end she fought for us, and she died for us so that we didn't have to. You are all alive today because of what she did; she changed the outcome of that battle and you should thank and honor her for that, not spit on her name because of what Drew, who didn't even fight, has to say."
Aricia paused and watch her words set on their minds. Some, like Piper (who had not yet left on her quest), Lacey and Mitchell seemed to take her words to heart as well as a few of the others. Aricia looked back at Britani and sighed. "I am going to do whatever it takes to help out now that things are going bad again. I won't let our big sister's sacrifice be in vain."
Now all the other cabin mates were murmuring in agreement. Aricia wasn't the scrawny little terrified kid Silena had brought to the cabin 3 years ago. Back then, no one would have listened to her, but now that was had grown, people began to listen. Still, there was an unspoken question that was hovering in the air: Why didn't you claim leadership if you feel this way?
Britani gave an elaborate sigh and shrugged, not impressed with Aricia's sentiment in the least bit. "Fine, I'll go with you if it'll get you to shut up."
"Good, now go get prepared because we are leaving in an hour." Aricia said then looked at Piper. "Piper, good luck too."
"Thanks." Piper smiled and nodded to Aricia. "Same to you."
While Aricia left a shocked Cabin 10 for the second time that day she made her way down the row to Cabin 2. Quickly, she made sure no one was around before she swiftly made her way through the door and shut herself inside. She had been keeping supplies and weapons here for a few years in case she ever needed them. No one looked in here besides her, so there was no need to worry. Aricia went over to her bed and clasped her hands together before dropping down on her knees.
"Mother, hear this prayer; I will do whatever I can to see you set free and Olympus reopened. I will not fail this quest, I will not fail you." She promised quietly. "I will not forsake the promises I have made and try to challenge that harpy Drew for the leadership of Cabin 10. I will grit my teeth and whiten my knuckles when her insults land on me."
Three years ago she had come to this cabin for the first time to pray for her mother's blessing. Then Thalia had come, put an arrow to her chest and demand she flee Camp Half-Blood or die. Aricia reached over and slipped a Boston Red Sox shirt under her usual orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. It had been a gift from Athena that same night. It was strong enough to block a Hunter's arrow, not that Thalia had shot hers in the end. When Zeus had captured Aricia on Olympus, it had been Thalia to be the first to speak up for her and with the aid of Silena, Annabeth and of course the other Olympians, Aricia had been permitted to live.
She shut her eyes tightly and beseeched another deity as well.
"Aphrodite, you have shown me favor thus far; please give me the strength to prove your children are more than just pretty faces. Please, so not let the work of Silena die with her."
The Goddess of Love had always shown Aricia considerable favor, and the Daughter of Hera only hoped it would last. She lived in Aphrodite's cabin because the goddess had blessed the baby while she was still inside Hera's womb and thus Aphrodite considered herself to be a 'part' of Aricia's conception.
When the time came to leave Aricia slipped back out of Hera's cabin and made her way to meet the other three. Rahl passed her a backpack and fought the urge to hug her. She was upset, but only Rahl could tell that she'd been crying a few minutes before.
"Ready?" He asked.
"So where are we even going?" Britani interrupted. "I mean you have a plan right?"
"Yeah Calf, you never gave me details on this quest either." Clarisse said, but not as rudely as Britani. "Where are we headed."
"According to the prophecy Rahl and I got, we need to go beneath to find a way to contact above." Aricia explained.
"B-beneath?" Britani stuttered. "Does that mean…."
"The Underworld." Clarisse whispered and then broke into a mischievous grin. "Now that's a quest."