A/N: I'm back. Not sure if you noticed.
I made my way through camp towards the Oracle's Cave, my mind still reeling from me being given a quest. Not just any quest, but one that seemed quite important, moreso than the average 'Ares lost his spear' or 'Hephaestus' new automaton went mad' style quest.I shook those thoughts out of my head as I came up to the Oracle's cave. It was pretty much what I imagined; gaping cave mouth covered by thin strips of grass with torches belching out purple smoke on either side, adding to the aura of mystery surronding the Oracle. Back in the 'old' days, as in, just over 30 years ago, the Oracle had been a dried up mummy, but a sixteen (now forty six) year old mortal girl had become the new host. I stood around outside the cave awkwardly, not sure what to do. Do I knock on the stone with my sword? Is there a hidden doorbell? Do I just walk in? Thankfully, I was saved from having to decide when a voice came from inside.
"Is someone out there?" asked a woman's voice.
"Uh... yeah." I replied.
"Here for a prophecy?" the woman - almost certainly the Oracle - asked.
"You guessed it." I answered.
"Come in." the Oracle said.
I did so, walking forwards and brushing through the dangling grass (which reminded me of the strips my nan used to have over her back door), and heading in. I had to work hard to stop my jaw from dropping. This was no typical cave, no sir. It was packed withluxury furniture, a music system, smartphone dock, huge 3DTV, and with tunnels leading off in several directions.
"So, how does this work?" I asked after a second of silence, turning to look at the Oracle.
She was pretty average, really. Average height and build, with ginger hair and emerald green eyes. She looked worn out and tired, but in her eyes I could see a gleam that reminded me of the more creative people I knew.
"Just ask me a question and the Oracle will speak through me." the Oracle replied.
"Ok, umm... what is my destiny?" I asked, but nothing happened.
I looked at the Oracle, silently asking for help.
"Try another question." she suggested.
"What is my quest?" I inquired.
Purple smoke gushed out of the Oracle's mouth, and her eyes rolled back. She spoke in an old, almost ancient voice, giving out a very cryptic prophecy. After the prophecy was done, she slumped back on her sofa and blinked a few times.
"Get what you need?" she asked, her voice back to normal.
"Yeah, thanks." I replied.
I left the cave, walked a short distance to a calm spot in the forest, and sat down to think. According to the prophecy, five people would go on the quest, two more than usual. That added to my theory that this would be an important quest, increasing my nervousness and pride at being given command of the quest. I forced myself to concentrate and started trying to decide who to take.
My unclaimed friend Sam was a no-brainer. I don't mean he had no brain (he was blonde, but that sterotype is far from true), I mean taking him was an obvious choice. Him going on the quest might earn him the claiming he so desperately wanted. The gods had sworn thirty years ago to always claim their demigod children, but over time they had forgotten to.
That was one other selected. But who else to take?
Jule, the child of Ares who had lost her half-brother would probably want revenge, and is most likely a fierce fighter, like all children of Ares. I hated to admit it, but if you wanted a good brute force fighter, children of Ares were the best. Did I really want a child of Ares with me though? That didn't really matter, it was a quest, not a social meeting.
Hmm... Who else? Amber? All our combat power was mostly melee focused, and we had no healer, so... Actually, that's not why I wanted her on the quest, but if I told myself enough maybe I could fool myself. Yeah, right. Anyway... One more person to choose. Maybe Henri, the son of Hades. His shadow travel, skeleton summoning and ability to intimidate could definitey come in handy. Yeah, Henri was a good choice.
My companions chosen, I set off to find them. Sam was in the arena, training with the rest of the Hermes cabin. I say training, but it was more of a wild free for all. His opponent was a boy almost twice his height - not exactly saying much, but still. I think he was called Davis. Sam was attacking violently, lashing a kick into maybe-Davis' knee, slamming his fist into the side of Davis' head, and sending an elbow straight to Davis' chest. The taller boy staggered back and Sam whacked the side of his sword into Davis' head, knocking him out. I walked up to him and he spun and kicked me off my feet and into the dirt. All breath left my body and I raised my arms to cover myself from a downwards kick. I rolled to the side and staggered to my feet, then caught Sam's fist as he punched towards me.
"Calm down." I said, "I'm not here to fight."
Sam stopped trying to beat the shit out of me, and stepped back.
"Sorry dude." he said.
"That's ok. You want to come on a quest?" I asked.
"Yeah!" Sam said, "Let's go!"
"You might want to pack first. Besides, I need to get the other three." I replied, amused at my friend's eagerness.
Henri was easy to find. He was walking right past me when I left the arena.
"Henri!" I called.
He vanished and stepped out of the shadows next to me.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Want to come on a quest?" I said.
He waited a moment, then replied; "Why not?"
I opened my mouth to speak but he shadow travelled away.
Jule found me and asked to come on the quest; "Give me a chance to get revenge on them fuckers."
I agreed and she jogged off to pack, leaving only Amber to find. I was planning on going to check the archery range, where the Apollo Cabin spent most of their time. I think they just did it to show off, because their archery was so good they barely needed practice. But then it was lunchtime and I saw her lagging behind everyone else on the way to the dining pavillion. I walked up to her.
"Hey." she said, giving me a smile.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unable to from words, then asked; "Want to come a a quest?"
"Hmm... Sure." she said, "I'll get ready after lunch though, if that's ok with you."
"Yeah, sure." I replied.
Subconsciously, I knew I was like putty in her hands, so I would have said yes even if it wasn't ok with me.
I sat down to have lunch, then remembered that the prophecy had said six, not five. I facepalmed; I am such an idiot.
"What did you do now?" grumbled Grace.
I blushed with embarresment as I explained my mistake.
"You fool." Grace said at the end.
"Can I come on the quest?" Mark asked.
"Please do." I answered.
Mark, as I have already pointed out, was a great friend of mine so I was glad to have him come along. I sacrificed a big slice of my steak to Athena and Tyche, the godess of luck. On a quest, I figured I'd need all the luck I could get. I tore through the rest of my food ravenously. Steak, peas, chips and olives. To be honest I was getting a little tired of having Olives with every meal ever. I know it was mom's sacred food and everything, but that didn't mean I wanted it with every meal.
After me and Mark were finished we went to pack everything we'd need for the quest. We didn't know where we'd end up or how long the quest would take, so we packed a lot of stuff. I filled a rucksack with everything and anything I might need. Ambrosia, nectar, golden drachmas, 5 spare shirts, 2 hoodies, 2 pairs of jeans, underwear, 150 dollars, my tablet, two water bottles, sniper tape (duct tape on steroids, pretty much), a full celestial bronze knife belt, a spare celestial bronze sword, the full list was pretty damn long. I got a sword and throwing knife bandolier and headed out, Mark following me. He had chosen a detachable bow that let him take the two halves apart to carry it easier.
We reached the top of the border hill quickly. The other four arrived around the same time. Sam had a rucksack and was wearing a celestial bronze chestplate under his shirt, almost as a vest. A sword hung at his side. Jule had a sword at her hip and most likely a folded up spear in her bag. Amber had a bow just like Mark's and a short dagger which was a simmilar shade to her auburn hair. Henri was wearing black rather than the Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans everyone else had. His sword was as dark as midnight, matching his attire and hair, and creating a stark contrast with his white skin.
"Everyone ready?" I asked.
Everyone said a variation of "yes".
"Then let's do this."
A/N: Thanks for reading, please review.
