6. The divine message

I stood frozen in shock. I still couldn't believe the line: Where one hero shall release their final breath. Someone would die and didn't know who. I continued anyways.

"Well, the Oracle said," I took in a deep breath.

Five half-bloods shall go to the east,

En route they shall encounter the eternal beast,

They will arrive at the city of the eye,

Recover the power of four gods tied,

They shall travel south to the land of Hercules,

Recover the ladies' power and ignore the pleas,

They will arrive in the city of love until death,

Where one hero shall release their final breath,

find the power of the four gods, one a pearl,

Lastly, they shall arrive at the heart of the world,

to find the power of the small ones,

and to return home and find the labor done."

Everyone was quiet. Nico broke the silence.

"Well, the first line speaks for itself," he murmured gravely, "the half-bloods will travel east."

Annabeth said, "En route they shall encounter the eternal beast," she paused for a moment, "maybe that eternal beast is a monster that never dies, or something so large it seems eternal, or that it consumes too much of your time battling it."

"The line that says arriving at the city of the eye, maybe it talks about a city with a monument that looks like an eye," said Percy, pausing for a moment, "that city might be London. Me and my parents went there last summer and we rode on this giant Ferris Wheel called the London Eye. That's probably what it means."

Travis, one of the Hermes cabin counselors, said, "That line where you recover the power of four gods, one being the god of sky probably means that you recover the orb containing the power of four gods, and one of them is Zeus."

"The next line of the prophecy speaks of traveling to the land of Hercules. I thought about Greece at first, but I remembered that when Hercules performed his twelve labors, he broke the mountain where Atlas was," said Chiron.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Justin.

"Well, when he broke the mountain, he connected the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, and the mountain was between Spain and Northern Africa. It can't be Africa since the orbs are in Europe, so the prophecy speaks of Spain," concluded Chiron.

"The prophecy speaks of recovering the power of the ladies' and ignoring the pleas. That means in Spain, the orb containing the power of four goddesses will be recovered, and you'll ignore a request of some sort," sputtered Paul.

"The next line sounds like it talks of Rome," said Connor, the other Hermes counselor, "Rome could be called the city of love, one of the heros on the quest shall die," he paused.

Everyone in the room did a gesture that is putting three fingers on your heart, and pushing out. I recognized it because Colt told me of it once.

"Also," Connor continued, "I still believe it's Rome because you recover the power of four gods, but one is a pearl. Apollo was considered one of the most important gods in Roman Mythology, which is basically the same as Greek."

"They shall arrive at the heart of the world. That is probably Greece because it was considered the heart of the western world. To find the power of the small gods made one," she stopped and looked deep in thought.

"That means," she continued, "you'll find the essence of the minor gods in one orb. Lastly, you'll return home and find the labor done. So after the trip, when we come back, the Gods will be back."

Everyone stopped for a moment, meditating the meaning of the prophecy.

"Vince," said Chiron, "it is time to select who you'll take on this quest."

I turned towards my friends. Wait a second, if it said five half-bloods shall travel east, that means that me and all of my friends could go! But one would die. . .

"I choose. . . . Justin." I said.

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

He ran towards me and got behind me.

"Now I choose. . Cynthia."

"No!" yelled Justin, putting on his best sad face.

"Shut up!" yelled Cynthia. She walked up to me, gave me hi-five and got behind me along with Justin.

"Next, Addie."

"Great!" she said. She got behind me.

"Lastly, I choose. . . ."

Paul was jumping up, yelling, "Oooh, pick me! pick me!"

"Paul," I said with finality.

"Score!" he said. He got with the rest of the group.

"Well," said Chiron, "I guess you have selected a rowdy bunch. You will leave first thing in the morning. Percy will take you to Brooklyn in his car, and from there you're on your own.

"But Chiron," said Percy, "why Brooklyn?"

"Because, Perseus, the monsters in Manhattan know you too well. If they smell you with the most powerful half-blood besides you and Thalia, well, it wouldn't be pretty," said Chiron.

After everything was settled, I went to my cabin and started to pack. In a Camp Half-Blood knapsack, I put in a change of clothes, my lightbulb ax, a bag packed with ambrosia and nectar, both healing foods of the gods, and another bag full of regular money and some golden drachmas.

When I was sitting on my bed, shutting the knapsack, I realized there was something else. It was a glow stick. It glowed blue, flashing rapidly. There was an arrow pointing towards the top of it.

Unlike regular glow sticks, it didn't have a glowing liquid inside of it. It was hollow except for a note. I unrolled it and read it with my limited Greek knowledge. It read aeras trechouses elenchos. I translated it as air current control.

What was this supposed to be? On the back it read Dias. Zeus. It was a note from my dad. But was was air current control supposed to mean? Was he warning me of something?

I read the note out loud.

"Aeras trechouses elenchos."

Suddenly, a powerful wind started up inside my cabin. Experimentally, I put my hands together, leaving a small space in between, like if you were carrying a ball. The wind spiraled and went inside my hands.

I opened the shining door of my cabin, and looked at the Poseidon cabin, to my right. I walked outside and aimed my hand at the cabin. Heh, that would really annoy Percy, my cousin.

"Ischys afxisi!" I yelled, which meant "increase power".

I channeled the wind towards his cabin. I heard stuff moving around inside of his cabin.

"Hey!" yelled a voice from inside, which I recognized as Percy's

He ran out of his cabin and saw me.

"Stop that!" he said furiously.

"Fine! He-he." I yelled and stop the flow of energy.

My knees buckled and I started falling, and my vision went black.

My eyes fluttered open. I felt better. I was in my cabin with Percy sitting across from me.

"Finally! You woke up! You've been out for hours! How'd you do that?" he asked in a rush.

"I don't know," I said, "Zeus sent me a letter telling me the words to do that."

"I guess your just like me. I could control water since my dad is Poseidon. You can control lightning and air since your dad is Zeus. Seems like we got a family rivalry on our hands. He-he," he said mischievously.

"Go to bed," he said, "you have to wake up bright and early for us to lead you into the city."

Next thing I knew, he was out of my cabin, and I was asleep.


What shall happen next? I think it's pretty obvious, but whatever. On to chapter 7! Please review if you want to see this story get longer!

-cpcboy123