Chapter 3

Troy didn't get much sleep that night. He kept wondering where Marcus could have gone off to. After discovering that the Hades cabin was empty, Troy and the others immediately told Chiron. Chiron seemed pretty worried as well, but knowing that the children of Hades could use Shadow Travel, which meant they could travel by slipping into the shadows from one place to another, he probably wandered off somewhere to get away from the Camp, and Troy.

"Wonder where that slimy rodent went off too." Troy said to himself for the twentieth time. It was morning time by then, so he got up, got dressed and walked outside.

The mood in the Camp was unusually somber. The Aphrodite children were either crying or teary eyed. Chiron seemed distracted, and at times angry. Mr. D was somewhat irritated. Troy approached Chiron cautiously.

"Chiron, what's going on? Why does everyone seem out of it today?" he asked his teacher. Chiron looked down.

"I'll explain it all later Troy. But just know, something horrible has happened, and I fear it may cause a war." Chiron said sadly. Troy looked shocked. He turned around to see Amy and Matt approaching him. He walked over to them.

"Troy, what's going on dude?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. Why does everyone seem so down?" Amy also asked.

"Chiron didn't tell me. He said he would explain it later, and that it was bad enough that it could cause a war. A war against whom I don't know, but I have a feeling this could get really bad." Troy told the two. Amy and Matt exchanged glances. They knew Troy well enough to know that he would get himself involved somehow.

"Campers! Please gather around!" Chiron yelled. A tall girl with red hair, green eyes, and freckles.. Her name was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She held the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi in her, and was the new Oracle (well, somewhat new, even though she became the Oracle three years prior). All the Campers gathered around Chiron, and Rachel, along with Mr. D, who had joined. "Mr. D has something to tell you all." Chiron said.

Mr. D cleared his voice. "Last night, well early this morning, whatever you want to call it, I was summoned to Olympus by my father, Zeus. It was an emergency meeting, and two Goddesses were missing; Queen Hera, and Lady Aphrodite. According to my father, the two had been kidnapped. By whom, we don't know. However, he has a pretty good idea on who it is." Mr. D told the group. The Campers looked at each other. Who would even dare to try and kidnap a Goddess?

Troy stepped forward. "Who does King Zeus believe kidnapped them?" he asked. Chiron hung his head.

"Evidence leads us all to believe it was Hades, Lord of the Underworld that took them." he said sadly. There were angry shouts from the Campers, tears from the Aphrodite children, and yells from Chiron for everyone to calm down.

"Guys! Let Chiron talk!" Troy yelled. Everyone ceased their yelling.

"Thank you Troy. I must ask that you all remain calm during this time. If it is true that it was Hades that kidnapped the two Goddesses, then surely war will breakout between Olympus and the Underworld." Chiron said. And with that, he walked away. The camps were silent, except from the crying and sniffling from the Aphrodite campers, who walked back to their cabin.

Troy pulled Matt and Amy away. "I'm pretty sure Marcus had something to do with this." he told the two. Amy and Matt exchanged looks, and then looked back at Troy.

"Troy, we know you despise Marcus with a passion, but to blame him for this is kind of unfair dude. All we know is he disappeared last night." Matt told Troy sternly. Troy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, after Chiron told him not to go anyplace. He leaves, and two Goddesses are kidnapped? Does that not say coincidence to you?" Troy asked Matt. He then turned to Amy, who decide to play with one of her earrings. "Amy what do you think?" Troy asked her.

Amy looked away. "I think Matt has a point. You are kind of being unfair to Marcus for blaming all this on him when there is no proof he did it." she told him. Troy threw his hands into the air angrily.

"Seriously? Am I the only one who thinks that he did it?" he asked the two.

"I don't know if anyone else thinks that. But out of us three, yeah you pretty much are." Matt said. "I mean, Hades did kidnap Persephone and made her his wife."

"Yeah, and she ate the pomegranate seeds, and now has to return there for 6 months every year." Troy finished the story.

"Troy, will you listen to yourself? You are accusing a Camper of kidnapping two Goddesses! If it was true, Zeus would destroy him in a second! You can't go around saying things like this!" Amy shouted. Troy just shook his head, and walked away.

It was later that day that either Matt and Amy approached Troy. He was practicing his sword technique when they walked up to him. "Troy?" Matt asked. Troy stopped, and looked at the two.

"What's up?" he asked.

Amy cleared her throat. "We're sorry about earlier. I guess we both didn't seem to think about how much thought you put into this, and we're sorry." she said meekly.

"Not a big deal. I probably over reacted." Troy said, giving the two a smile. Amy beamed and threw her arms around him, hoping her hug showed him how sorry she was. He responded by returning the hug. Matt pretended to gag.

"No love for the Matt man? What's wrong with this picture?" Matt asked, in a fake tone of sadness. Amy turned and giggled.

"I'd give you a hug, but I'm not sure how it would feel giving my boyfriends best friend a hug." she said. The three laughed and headed back to the Camp area.

It was later that night during the bonfire, that Chiron cleared his voice. "Campers, I hope you all are doing better than this morning." he said, despite the fact the bonfire was low due to the attitudes of the Campers. "It is understandable that you are all upset, but do not fear, as we will find the culprit responsible for this tragedy."

"Let's hear a quest! Let a Camper go on a quest to find the Goddesses!" an Ares Camper yelled out. They all looked at Rachel, who attended the fire as well.

"I can't just force out a quest you know. It has to come from the spirit." she told them.

"Our mother is gone, and all you can say is you can't give us a quest?" Veronica Solan cried out, tears of frustration running down her face.

"Yeah, what she said!" Matt called out, joining her, and rubbing her back. She swatted his hand away, and Troy laid his head on Amy's shoulder.

"That poor, miserable boy." Troy muttered. Amy giggled, and patted Troy's head.

"We need to give him woman pick up lessons." she said. Suddenly, all the Campers gasped as Rachel s head went backwards, and her eyes turned white. A raspy voice then came out of her mouth:

"The unclaimed one shall go on a trip

With the sun, and the messenger on an unknown ship

Through a sea of evil to an island that few dare

To rescue the goddess that is being kept there."

Rachel's voice, returned to normal, and she returned to her normal self. Chiron stepped forward.

"A prophecy has been made, and so has a quest. Now we must decide who will go on it." he thundered.

"Troy's one of them! He's the unclaimed one!" a Demeter Camper yelled.

"Yeah! Go Troy!" an Aphrodite Camper yelled. "Get out mother back!"

"Dude, we don't even know if it's your mother is there." Matt shouted.

"Alright! Let's move on to the other two that are supposed to be on the quest!" Troy said. "The sun and the messenger."

"Well Hermes is the messenger God, and the prophecy said messenger, so I'm in." Matt said.

"Who said you could do it?" an Athena child snapped. Matt put his arm around Troy.

"Best friend to the unclaimed one. Son of Hermes. The prophecy said Messenger. Therefore; I'm in." he said again.

Troy nodded. "Man's got a point". he agreed. "As for the sun."

"That would be me." Amy said quickly. Troy gapped at her.

"I don't want to put you in harms way." he said. Amy smiled, knowing Troy cared that much about her to not have her go.

"My father is Apollo, the sun God, and it said the sun. And as your girlfriend, I call dibs." she said matter of factly. Matt put his arm around her.

"She's got a point dude. Who else would you rather have going on a quest with you other than your best friend and girlfriend?" he asked Troy.

"Why do I get myself into these thing?" Troy wondered out loud.

"No idea bro. Just keep the kissing and other crap couples do to a minimum. And I do mean.." Matt began before Amy smacked him in the stomach.

"Keep it clean Matt, or you won't make it through day one of our quest." she warned him. Matt just rubbed his stomach.

"So where are we going?" he asked. Troy thought a moment, and then turned around.

"Sea of Evil, and an island few dare. Pack up ship-mates. It looks like we're going through the Sea of Monsters." he said sadly.

"Any other Hermes kid want to go? I don't like the sound of the Sea of Monsters." Matt groaned.