Time at camp passed quickly after that. I trained nearly every day from dawn until dusk. It didn't matter how tired I was, just standing in the sun would energize me. The climbing wall proved to be a little challenging, but I got used to it. After scaling walls to get away from monsters, scaling a wall to get away from lava wasn't so different. Me and my siblings trained on the archery field every morning without fail. Sky taught me speed, Chevy taught me accuracy, and Rex taught me long-distance shots. I, in turn, taught them strength shots. Shots so powerful, soon we could all pierce shields and some armor. The kids from cabin nine, Hephaestus' children, both hated this and loved it. It presented a challenge for them: try and make armor that the Apollo kids couldn't pierce.
After hours of grueling archery practice, sometimes with Percy and Annabeth, or a few of the other cabin kids, we'd have lunch then go do something else. This was a circulation, the only thing that changed with each passing day. After lunch, we may decide to hunt in the woods, or go canoeing, or train with swords. Sometimes we'd just stay in the forge making arrows and extra bows. Sometimes we'd craft new instruments in the arts and crafts building. Or times we'd help Chloe and her brother, and the Dionysus twins with the strawberry fields. Some days we'd practice the guitar, or the lute, or the lyre. Sky taught me how to play, and I was quickly becoming more adept at it. Other days we'd just go back to the archery range and practice some more.
October passed without much incident. Percy Jackson returned home to his mother, so Annabeth started to hang out with the other cabin kids more, particularly us since her archery was less than ideal. Translation, it was horrible. November also passed without anything interesting happening. Rex told me that usually they had a capture the flag day every week, but with such few campers there was really no point. On really slow days we'd just lounge on the porch of our cabin playing songs that we had mastered for the rest of the camp. The satyrs and the nymphs liked this quite a lot and joined in sometimes.
It was a chilly December morning when Sky got a letter from her mother. Her mother had returned from Europe and wanted her home for Christmas. Sky was sort of upset about it. She wanted to see her mother, of course, but well, there was no point to Christmas. But she decided she'd go back home to Maryland for a few days to see her mother. That's when the family questions started to arise in our cabin, and that's when I became closer to my brothers than ever before.
"Mitch, where were you born?" Chevy asked one chilly morning. It was mornings like this that made me thankful that we had the warmest cabin. Hail the Sun God. The three of us were huddled around the fireplace, which was roaring with hot flames. We were only dressed in shorts and short sleeves, in Rex's case, a sleeveless shirt. I sighed, thinking about it. I had to really remember the town's name.
"Bellingham," I finally recalled, "Washington. Right near the border to Canada. What about you two?" Rex sighed with a slight smile.
"Diamond City, Arkansas. A tiny little town, not even a thousand people live there. I am so glad to be outta there. Monsters found me way too easily. Not enough mortals to mask my scent, you know?" I nodded a bit. Olivia and I always had trouble in smaller towns compared to big cities. Traveling between the cities was a nightmare, always.
"St Regis Mohawk Reservation," Chevy answered with a mild shrug. "Nothing really special about the place, it was just home for a while. But it was a small population, and too many monsters were popping up. When Danny found me, I left without thinking about it." He smiled a bit. I nodded a little, smiling weakly back. Danny was a super nice satyr that helped a lot of kids find safety at camp. He always had a joke to say, or a funny story to tell. He always made the trip a little easier. The transgression from the mortal world to the demi-god world was a lot easier with him helping you.
I sighed a little, crossing my legs and looking at the flames. I still didn't accept my father. In fact I was edging more away from him. Every accomplishment that I did while at camp was my own. I didn't get why some kids thanked their god parent when they did something well. Sorry, but not sorry, my achievement, not yours Father. Chevy and Rex knew how I felt, but didn't really comment on it. Sky, however, agreed with me. She loved Apollo, no doubt, but she rarely thanked him when she scored a monster kill.
"Where have you lived, Mitchell?" Rex asked softly. I looked up at him. He was the eldest of us. He had just turned nineteen actually. Chevy followed him at seventeen. I followed him at fifteen almost sixteen and Sky followed at fifteen closer to fourteen. It sort of upset me that Apollo had seduced and slept with all of our mothers in such a short period of time. I wanted to ask them if any of them had mattered. But I didn't talk to him, not even while giving my food to the fire for the gods. I didn't make any comment to him. I didn't want anything to do with him still.
"Hey, Mitch, you in there?" I blinked as Rex snapped at me. I chuckled weakly.
"Sorry. I was just thinking," I said gently, looking back at the fire. "Where haven't I lived is an easier question. Los Angeles, Denver, numerous small towns in the middle of the country. I've been everywhere, just running," I said indifferently, though I felt my heart swell and my gut twist. The entire time I didn't have a real home, but I had Olivia. She had been my home and I had been hers. And now she was in the sky and I was stuck on the ground, forced to continue living on, chasing one cheap thrill after another. I wanted a quest, desperately, just to fill my time with proper hunts. "What about you guys?"
"Just here, pretty much," Chevy replied, getting a guitar. Rex nodded in agreement.
"Diamond City and here," he said softly as he laid back. I followed suit as Chevy sat back down and started to play the guitar. The tune was familiar but I didn't realize what it was until Rex started to sing softly. Welcome Home by Radical Face. I sighed a little and rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes, listening to the music.
Suddenly, and without warning, the fireplace exploded in heat. I jumped up with Rex and Chevy and we scrambled backwards, away from the heat that seared our skin. We usually could handle high heat, better than even the Hephaestus kids, but this was hot, as well as bright. I was blinded by white light. I covered my eyes with my arm as Rex told Chevy to run and get Chiron. I heard the clatter of the guitar falling to the ground and then the sounds of footfalls on the marble.
And just like that, as quick as it happened, it was gone. The heat faded and the light was gone. I lowered my arm to find a young man standing in front of the fireplace, dusting what looked like ash off his white shirt, which looked way too tight on him. He wore dark blue jeans, aviator sun glasses, and black loafers with no socks. His skin was a dark tan, and his hair was a light blonde. I didn't need an introduction. He looked like he did several months ago, when he sent Olivia up to the heavens.
"Father," Rex breathed, walking towards Apollo. I stayed rooted as Apollo patted Rex on the shoulder, greeting him. It was a little bizarre seeing this. Apollo looked Rex's age, though a little taller, a little stronger, a bit more godly. When he smiled, it seemed to light up the entire room. It was like his happiness was light. I wanted to strangle him. There was no reason for him to smile. His daughter had been murdered only a couple months ago.
He looked over at me but before he could say anything Chiron and Chevy entered with Annabeth not far behind. Chiron visibly relaxed as Chevy grinned widely, going to greet Apollo. I wanted to say I was annoyed with my brothers for treating him like a father, but I couldn't be. They had every right to love our father. He didn't abandon them. Apollo took his sunglasses off and put them on the top of his hand as he smiled at Chiron.
"Ah, excellent. It would've been utterly annoying if I had to find you, Chiron. Would've taken up too much time, to be honest, and I need to be heading west very quickly," he said, his voice similar to Rex's, though much deeper. A bass tone, gripping our attention. I wanted to ignore him, but it was hard to do. He also sounded so carefree and happy, like he hadn't a care in the world. I frowned when he went to pat my shoulder, like he used to do when he was Seth. I stepped back and he sighed heavily, his blue eyes expressing sadness.
"Mitchell, I hope you will forgive me some day."
"I have. I don't have to like you." I replied coldly. The air seemed to suddenly grow cold then I realized it did. It seemed Apollo had sucked out all of the warmth of the cabin. I suppressed a shiver, and raised my head proudly, looking Apollo in the eye. I couldn't read the expression on the god's face. Great, I managed to piss of the god of the sun. I swallowed a bit, wondering if he would smite one of his own children.
He chuckled suddenly, the warmth returning to the cabin. "Relax, Mitchell," he said gently. I slowly did relax, putting my hands in my pockets, eyes flickering over to my brothers. They shrugged a little. "I've come to give you a quest."
I blinked then narrowed my eyes. "There's a catch."
"Why would there be a catch? You want a quest, you want a proper in the wild with proper dangerous monsters quest. Here I am giving it to you." He said, putting his sunglasses back onto his face, obscuring his blue eyes from everyone. I wondered if he did that so we couldn't guess what he was feeling or thinking. He grinned as if he knew what I was thinking…then I realized he probably did. I scowled. Get out of my head.
"Sure, sure," he said aloud, putting his hands into his pockets. I realized how similar we looked and I quickly crossed my arms. He smirked a bit, but didn't move. "I want you to fetch something for me. It seems Luke has stolen something precious of mine." He paused, head turning just slightly towards Annabeth, who flushed. I couldn't tell if it was in anger or in embarrassment. Knowing her, though, it was probably anger.
"What did he steal?" I asked softly, lowering my arms which were basically like lowering my defenses. He smiled widely at me, as if he were proud that I was considering the quest.
"A white raven." I frowned a bit. A white raven? He had turned all of the ravens black because one told him one bad piece of news, which was, in my opinion, a bit of an over dramatic move. He shrugged as if he were reading my thoughts. "What can you do? I was young and foolish then. Regardless, this is the only true white raven left. He's immortal and is sort of important to me. He can see the future, and he loves talking about it." I blanched at that.
I had heard enough about Luke from my siblings and from Percy. He had been a camper, but he betrayed the camp and Percy, and left to bring the Titian Lord Kronos to power. There wasn't much any of us could do. There was a rumor that Percy was at the center of this huge prophecy about it, but that wasn't confirmed. I did know that Luke was a traitor and he hated the gods, particularly Hermes, and if he had a raven that could tell the future…well that was bad news for everyone. So, even though I did not want to please my father, I knew I had to accept this quest. It might've meant helping stop the end of the world, and save all of the innocent mortals, not to mention my family. I had to protect them.
"I accept this quest." I said with finality. Apollo grinned widely, and patted my shoulder. I let him this time, and he squeezed my shoulder like he used to when I was younger, when he was Seth. I frowned a little, looking at him.
"Then I have a gift for you, Son of Apollo," he chortled, lifting one hand. There was a bright flash. I looked away just in time. When I looked back, my father was holding a quiver filled with those magical bronze arrows that he had given me before. On the edge of the quiver was a small hook. "You can hook this to Bruhmastra," he said and demonstrated by snapping the quiver onto my bracelet. A second later, the quiver had shrunk and looked like a charm for the bracelet. Truth be told it looked a little, well, girly, but I didn't complain. That would be easier to deal with than with a fucking quiver on my back all the time. "The arrows will return to you after a while, so don't worry about running out." He looked pleased with himself, but I just gave him a look of indifference. I was used to magical weapons by now. He didn't seem to notice my look, however, and just continued to talk.
"And, unless I'm mistaken, which I'm not, you get to choose two people to accompany you…as well as get to have an audience with my lovely Oracle. Be careful, however. Side effects can include depression, insanity, and death." He smiled charmingly, nodding at Chiron and Annabeth. He then shook each of his son's hands, leaving me last. I sighed and shook his hand, though a bit reluctantly. He smiled, a bit more genuine this time. "And I part by leaving you my blessing. Good luck!" He grinned, letting my hand go as he started to glow. I turned away as did everyone else as he exposed his true form before vanishing.
Chiron sighed, shifting on all four of his feet, looking down at me. I took a deep breath, and then sighed it out, glancing around the cabin. "Go and speak with the Oracle. Then you can decide whom to take with you," Chiron advised. I nodded, pulling on a jacket and my shoes. Then I caught Annabeth's eyes, and I realized she wanted to desperately go on this quest with me. I hid my emotions from her, keeping a blank face as I left the cabin followed by Chiron, her, and my brothers. We trekked up to the Big House as I thought that I would never bring her on a quest that had anything to do with Luke. There were too many rumors about her being in love with him for me to be comfortable with that. But that decision would have to wait until after the Oracle.
I entered the Big House and smiled weakly at my brothers, who returned the smile just as meekly. Then I turned and started up the stairs to the trap door that led to the attic. I swallowed thickly, and pushed it open. Inside, it was dark and musty. I climbed up into the attic, and glanced around. There were a lot of treasures here, spoils of war. A few hell hound pelts that me and my siblings had gained while hunting in the forest littered the floor like rugs. I swallowed a bit and stepped over them towards a mummified woman in a tie dyed dress. Suddenly her head turned towards me, and green mist or smoke started to fill up the room.
And there she said the prophecy.