I burst into the mess hall, panting like an Olympic runner after a 400 meter. Chiron wheeled over to me again and stared at me, expectantly. Carmen was standing next to him, giving me the same look. "Well?" Chiron asked, "What did she say?"
"Who?" I asked, dumbly.
"The Oracle! What did Rachel say?" Carmen was face-palming, giggling quietly at my idiocy.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, "Rachel was completely silent for a while until she started to spasm and shake, her eyes turning white and going wide as she did. Then, she started talking. She said:
12 for 12, god for god
Eldest are the first to fall
Demigods born and raised
Dictate again Olympus's fate
First is found in the Land of the Dead
Next resides in the briny depths
Last are found in the mind of the dreaming
And the leader's loss shall keep him grieving.
That's all she said before she went back to sleep." Chiron squinted and rested his head on his hand, deep in thought.
"All right, Carson. I feel I must reveal information for you. But, it must only be known by both you and Carmen, and only you both alone." Chiron led us out of the Mess Hall and into the Big House. He led us into the basement of the Big House, which I didn't even know existed until now. The basement looked like a regular basement that you would find in any regular house. There was a carpet on the floor, a bed in the corner, lamps and torches hung on the walls, and at least 3 bent swords hung on the walls.
"What is this place?" Carmen asked me. "It gives me the creeps." I admit, it did look a little bit scary in this lighting.
"Don't worry about what this place is. It's what I have to tell you that you should be worried about. Carson, you know you are to lead the next generation of gods. But, to do so, you must follow the gods' lifetime. You will fight Titans, Giants, and monsters that haven't been seen in millennia. They will try to kill you, but you must keep fighting. As I have told you before, Western Civilization depends on the Gods, correct?" I nodded.
"Well, what do you think happens when the gods disappear?" He asked. My eyes went wide.
"Everything… Will… Be… G-g-gone?" Carmen stuttered. Chiron nodded gravely.
"Yes. Everything. The roads, the building, the technology, the culture, everything that we have ever cared for will cease to exist. That is exactly why you two were chosen over any other demigods out there. Answer my next question honestly; have either of you ever been confronted by bullies or strangers in your lifetime?" Chiron looked at each of us for a time while we nodded our ascent. "Have you two ever inexplicably hurt them, or subdued them?" Our eyes went wide. "What? What is it?"
"Carmen, do you remember that time at Navy Pier, the sleazy gangster guy who looked like Al Capone tried to kidnap us?" I asked her. She nodded, trying to follow my train of thought. "Remember how we got away?" Her eyes went wide again.
"Yeah... I remember." Chiron looked at us quizzically.
"Well? What is it? What happened?"Chiron demanded. I flinched a little at how forceful he sounded and answered him.
"One summer, when we were younger, our mom took us to go see Navy Pier. She told us to keep our heads down and not to make eye contact with anyone as we explored the Pier. It was a great trip overall, but the most interesting thing was not any of the rides or the attractions; it was the sleazebag Al Capone look-alike. We were walking to go to the Ferris Wheel when we got separated from our mom. She started to go sit down, but we kept on walking. When we were out of her line of site, we were already at the Ferris Wheel, marveling at its size. Suddenly, we felt cold metal press into our backs, along with the sound of clicking. I identified it immediately. There were gun barrels pressed against our backs.
'Man, were you two some of the easiest marks that I had ever had to hunt? Now, unless you want to fell metal in your body, follow me.' We obliged, afraid of getting shot, and he led us to a big, white, stereotypical van. 'Get in.' He ordered us, but we didn't budge. Instead, we both just screamed our heads off. Al Capone cringed, covering his ears with his hands and dropping his guns. Suddenly, I heard the crackling of electricity around me, and saw sparks flying from every object that used electricity in the area. On instinct, I punched the man in the stomach, and he went flying, bending a lamp post all the way onto its back. He was knocked out, and we ran back to the Ferris Wheel, where our mom was waiting, trying to find us. I don't remember what happened next." Chiron was still trying to figure out what to say next when an explosion rocked the ground under our feet.
"Up the stairs! Now!" He yelled out at us, trying to get us to run. We followed his lead and bolted up the stairs, Chiron close behind. We exited the Big House, picking Rachel up out of her beanbag chair and bringing her with us. The scene we saw outside was horrid.
The Camp looked like a war grounds, there were large craters in the ground and patches of Greek fire burning in some places. Campers' unconscious bodies were strewn around the camp, and I ran to see what was causing the mayhem, when another explosion rocked the ground under me. Monsters were pouring in from the woods, and I saw at least one giant fighting against the Ares kids that fought me. "What… What is this?" I yelled out. I tried to enter the fray several times, but failed each and every time. Then, a wave of anger flooded through my body. How dare these monsters even think of attacking my camp. There was no way I was about to let this slide.
I had a gut feeling that my sword wouldn't do much against monsters like this, so I ran to the Mess Hall, searching for the weapons of the 3. I found them at the Zeus table and took them in my arms. I stuffed them into my backpack, except for the Master Bolt, which I stamped into the ground three times once I exited the Mess Hall.
The first time, the bolt extended to full size on impact, electricity crackling around me. The second time, thunder rumbled around the camp, and then when my the bolt hit the ground for the third time, bolts of lightning shook the ground, turning monsters into dust. I charged into battle with the bolt held like a spear, raised over my shoulder. I whipped it at the giant, and it turned him into dust.
I shot bolts of lightning at a group of Hyperborean Giants and turned them to ice shards, while the others fended off various monsters. I swept a few of them into the sky with the Bolt, and used the bolt as a spear to shish-kebab at least four Empousa. After what seemed like another eternity of this, there were no monsters left, just a few spoils-of-war, and a lot of monster dust, which was swept away by the wind. Panting, I stumbled to get to the big house, and collapsed at the feet of the stairs, my vision turning black as my head hit the floor.
Authors Note: Thanks for reading, peoples! My next chapter should be out in the time frame of now to five days. Until next time, rainstorm24 OUT!