CHAPTER FOUR: CONFERENCE

For once in a lifetime, breakfast was pretty quiet.

Everyone was pretty bummed about the disappearance of Sophie and some demigod whose-name-skips-me. They were even shocked about the betrayal of Rip. According to some other people, it was like Luke Castellan, all over again. A majority of his fan girls were pretty upset about it. Some were bawling or did not even touch their food.

At the Athena table, my half-siblings also looked pretty troubled-especially Annabeth. She could not believe that Rip was at the side of the minor gods, but that was not the only matter she was sulking about. In fact, she was not at camp. She was out somewhere in Detroit or Ohio searching for a demigod whose-name-skips-me.

Chiron also looked pretty upset. Not only because of the "stranded" demigods, but he was also worried for the campers. Not even a game of capture-the-flag wouldn't lift up their spirits (yes, they were that upset). As for me, well... I am too upset to even gobble up my food. Wait, I'm anorexic. I am always never hungry.

The silence was broken when the red-headed girl beside Chiron started to turn green. Who was she? She was none other than Rachel Dare, the bearer of the spirit of Delphi. Who was Delphi? Well, she's the oracle who gives out prophecies. In other words, she was giving out a brand new prophecy. Everyone directed their focus towards her, and Rachel said this:

"The Goddess of Magic emerges,

And a servant in the dark arises.

With streets and corners that are now crooked,

An enemy of the past has been recruited.

Once the prophecy was delivered, chattering began and noise returned to the Pavilion. Most of the tables were engaged into serious conversations regarding the prophecy shown. I started to wonder, as well. The goddess of Magic was Hecate. She joined forces with the other rebellious gods. According to Winter, she was there when he encountered Momus. The question was, which city was she in? And who is this servant in the dark? Also, this enemy of the past could be anyone!

Chiron stood and called for everybody's attention. "Silence, please!" he called out. "Clearly, Hecate is now making her move."

I took a small glimpse from the table, which contained Hecate's children. This camp recently just accepted children of minor gods. But with Hecate taking the side of rebellion and all, everyone suddenly treated her children differently. After listening to the prophecy, every child of Hecate had their heads bowed, feeling shame. I felt bad for them; I knew what it was like when the world gave you a cold shoulder.

A Blonde guy named Jason stood from the Zeus' table. "I'll take the quest!" he volunteered.

The centaur shook his head. "No, you're here for a much more different reason, Jason." Chiron said. He was right, though. This guy was carrying a much heavier burden; I could sense it.

While Chiron kept babbling, the other cabins were already competing who would take this quest. Clearly, this quest was going to be exciting but dangerous. The city-whichever it was- would most be probably be shrouded with thick mist. It may be so thick that perceiving reality would almost be impossible. Not only that, a servant was mentioned. Whoever it was, this servant must be very strong.

Soon, another guy from the Zeus' table stood. It was Rain Weathers. "I'll take it." he said.

Chiron arched an eyebrow. He seemed pretty unsure of sending out Weathers, again. After all, he had other problems to deal with. "Are you sure, Rain?" Chiron asked, with a worried look.

"Oh yeah," Rain said, feeling confident. "As long as I get to beat up Hecate." Everyone giggled at his words. I just rolled my eyes; I wasn't that eager for quests. I sipped my cup of water, deciding to sit out of this meeting.

"Very well." sighed Chiron. "I have a feeling this quest would be dangerous."

"Every quest is dangerous." Leo interrupted. One of the Hephaestus kids hit him in the head. Chiron sighed. "As I was saying... Rain, according to the prophecy, streets and corners are crooked." he explained. "I'm sure Hecate manipulated the mist. This quest requires strict vigilance. Now, who will your companions be?"

"That's easy, I pick Lucius." Rain replied, pointing to emo kid. Lucius slowly looked up from his plate and stared intently at Rain. He looked rather surprised, and didn't even respond back like he used to. Rain just gave him a smile. "I know you want to." he said, being mischievous.

The son of hades then stood up. "Count me in." he said. Some people cheered, while other people were mumbling curses. Apparently, they wanted this quest, so badly.

"Who will be your third companion?" asked Chiron. Man, sometimes this centaur sounds like some galactic federation leader. (Hey, I am a nerd. I know what I'm talking about.)

"Eve." Lucius immediately answered. The moment I heard my name escape through Winter's lips, I spat out the water I just sipped. I'm going out on a quest... again? I thought. "W-what?" I spluttered. Winter gave me a look; yup, he was dead serious. He had a pretty good excuse, though. He recently learned a new skill, and he chose me to be his "cage". In case he goes out of control, I have to step in and stop him. If I don't, then...let's just say that bad things would happen.

Did I know what he meant by cage? Heh.

I groaned. "Fine, fine. I'll do it." I sighed. The Athena cabin started congratulated me, and they didn't seem to notice my sulking face.

"Alright, you three know what to do." Chiron said. "Look for Hecate, and stop her. If possible, squeeze out any valuable information."

"I think that won't be a problem." smirked, Rain, who was very eager to torture another god.

"When do you intend to leave?" Chiron asked.

"Tonight."