CHAPTER 8 – THE ORACLE MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A 'SENIOR MOMENT'

Find he who since Protogenos fell

Has slumbered somewhere we cannot tell

Call on the three who have quested so long

Hunter, strife and spider too will come along

Along enemy sworn you shall fight

One shall fall at serpent's bite

But woe indescribable you shall take

For one must fall for a friend's sake

"So, not one of your more 'light-hearted' prophecies, eh Chiron?" Mr D cracked a smile for probably the first time in years.

We (that being me, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, the other heads of cabins, Eris and Arachne) were sitting down around the pinochle table in the Big House. Mr D was once again engrossed in his Wine Connoisseur magazine, searching eagerly for any new clues as to Pinot Noir's comeback.

"Mr D," Chiron said heavily, "I take no pleasure in telling somebody to shut up twice in one evening, but could you please do so?"

Mr D said nothing, only slumping further into Wines 4 U magazine. How many of them did he have?

"So," Chiron sighed, "the last prophecy that this Oracle ever gave. And probably one of the most dangerous to date. I assume you all know what usually follows an Oracle's death?"

Nods all around.

"Good. And now – before we come to the first line – who shall go on this quest? Surely nobody would dare to go on such a perilous quest where death seems to go hand in hand with it.

"Yet there is no need to ask for volunteers. The Oracle specifically outlines seven people to go on this quest. Lady Eris, as goddess of strife, seems fitting to go along. The three who have quested so long – Percy, Annabeth and Grover." Great. Another quest to potentially lose my life on. "And spider –"

"That refers to me, Chiron," Arachne said curtly. She flexed one of her enormous legs – Annabeth almost fainted with terror – and leant over the table.

"Very good, very good," Chiron hummed. "Hunter – since only two hunters seem to remain at this camp, one of whom is still covered in hives…"

Travis and Connor tittered and gave each other a high-five.

"I'll go, Chiron," Thalia said promptly. "If Seaweed Brain, Wise Girl and Hoofy are going, I'm going too."

Chiron gazed at her with glazed eyes for several seconds. Yet again, I could read his face. He was looking at her – almost beseeching her not to go. Yet Thalia gazed back at him, her face firm and resolved.

"Then that is decided. The third and fourth lines of the poem are answered. However, I am concerned as to the answer of the fifth line of the poem."

Along enemy sworn you shall fight. I had severely overlooked that line. An enemy fighting on our side?

"The answer is obviously, but painfully obvious as well. The person who I assume the Oracle is referring to is Luke."

A heavy silence lay thick as butter in the air. I struggled for the words to express myself with, but all that I could force out was:

"Whhgaarghkk?"

"Percy," Chiron sighed, "the English language is a beautiful thing, so please do not continually abuse it like that."

"Luke?" I croaked.

"Yes, Luke," he replied. "Over the past day, Luke has fed us enough information about the current movements of Kronos and his army to gain our trust again, as well as our respect."

"What exactly has he told you?" Thalia spoke out. I could see her narrowing her eyes behind her helmet.

"He has told us about some of Kronos' plans, including the plan to find the Elder Four and use them for his own benefit. This is absolutely critical in the quest that Percy has been given to directly by the Oracle."

"How?" Travis, or possibly Connor, piped up.

"Refer to the first line of the prophecy – find he who since Protogenos fell – and you will find the answer. Do any of you know what Protogenos is?"

Mr D coughed strangely. When stared at, he buried himself into Drinks R Us again. Everybody shook his or her heads.

"Protogenos is the Greek term for 'first-born' It refers to the first gods to walk the world, the ancestors of the Titans. The younger of these gods were Mother Earth, and Uranus, Father Sky. Lady Eris is one of the last members of Protogenos who remains free."

No wonder I kept thinking there was something about her that whispered to me: anti-ageing cream.

"The Elder Four are the four eldest progeny of Protogenos. To refer to them by their Greek names: Tartaros, Hydros, Khronos and Khaos."

"Kronos?" was the general murmuring seeping through the crowd of people stuffed into the Big House. Chiron shook his head, smiling wryly.

"No. There is much confusion between the Titan Lord Kronos and the Protogenos Lord Khronos. The one whom we presently fight represents the destructive element of time – a power that we soon might find resurfacing.

"But to the refer to them by the English names they were given: Hell, Water, Time and Chaos. Now look at the second line – Has slumbered somewhere we cannot tell. The Protogenos Lord of Hell is currently imprisoned beneath Kronos, powering Tartarus. If he slumbered, then Tartarus would be virtually lifeless, and the Fields of Punishment deserted.

"Hydros the Lord of Water, is also awake. If he was asleep, no water would exist and Poseidon would be unemployed. Even the saliva in your mouth would not be there. So, technically, we would all know if Hydros did no exist, partly because we would all be dead. He is one of the older sea gods that Lord Poseidon is trying to appease at the moment. However, Kronos has not enlisted him just yet. Hydros acts of his own accord, and it would certainly take an enormous amount of persuasion for him to join any side in the upcoming war.

"Khronos the Lord of Time is most certainly awake. If he dared to take even a minute's rest, all of time would be frozen. He would be frozen as well, so he would also be unable to amend any damage caused. I do not think that Kronos would need to contact Khronos – Kronos has power over destructive time anyway, which he much prefers. So there would be no need."

"So that leaves us with Chaos?" Annabeth deduced.

"Yes. And the Titan Lord would have ample reason to contact Lord Chaos. They say that he can represent both the order and structure of the universe, as well as the chaos and the paradox of it as well."

"How can he do that?" I wondered aloud.

"Talk about god of oxymorons," Annabeth muttered.

"Nobody has ever met to ask him. He is simply a man of mystery. And we know for a fact that he is asleep somewhere we cannot tell. If he were awake, Western civilisation would be a huge melting pot on which we would be standing on the rim."

"So do we actually know where he could be 'slumbering'?"

"No. The Oracle would at least give a clue. In ancient laws, every place has a name, every place is plotted and every place can be spoken. The Fates have knowledge of everywhere, everyone, every time and everything. The only thing they do not have knowledge of is the unknown."

"Well, that makes sense," I pointed out.

"Think, all of you. Do any of you know of a place where nobody knows what can be expected, where every turn or move is turning a corner into oblivion?"

"The Hermes cabin?" somebody suggested.

"I think Travis and Connor would know if an aeons-old primordial force was sleeping rough under their beds, thank you Lucas."

"A maze!" Annabeth cried out.

"Exactly." Chiron's eyes twinkled in the lamplight. "Or, to be even more precise, a labyrinth."

A/N: Okay, friends, Romans, countrymen (and women), lend me your reviews. As before, both praise and constructive criticism is welcome. Oh, and sorry for the slightly short chapter.

NEXT TIME…in the Chaos Code…

CHAPTER 9: We Screw Up Already

Percy, Luke, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, Eris and Arachne set out on the quest. Already fissures are erupting between Percy and Luke, with the rest of them trying to keep them from ripping each other's heads off.

Oh, and Kronos' regained powers say hi…