Chapter 20

"Jarred…You should get some sleep."

"Hm?" He hadn't left the infirmary since Alice had gotten attacked. "Stephanie I'm fine, really." He wouldn't look up at her.

"How is she doing? Is there any progress?" Stephanie asked softly.

Jarred sighed shaking his head. "Not that I know of." He looked back down at the bed, his chest tightening painfully.

Alice lay on the bed, deathly pale, sweating and shivering. She breathes in gasps and twitches every few seconds. Her ribs were quickly taken care of by their best healers but what worried them is the green liquid they recovered from the scratch. They had taken a sample and had sent it to Olympus to be examined.

"I wish we knew what the green stuff was..." A little part of his mind kept saying the same thing over in his thoughts. Poison! It's Poison!

"I don't know..." Stephanie whispered as she looked at Alice's body. It had already been three days since Alice was attacked. She should have been getting better by now because of the near dangerous amounts of ambrosia and nectar she consumed but it seems that she was deteriorating more as the days passed by.

Jarred hadn't left the infirmary since. He often kept himself from sleeping in fear of something happening to her while he was sleeping. Jarred let out a weary sigh, putting his face in his hands. You could've prevented this. How? You could've been there with her. She was on the opposite team! You could've asked Chiron to put her on your team, but you didn't. You could've prevented this.

Alice whimpered in her sleep. Stephanie sadly stared at the small girl before turning to Jarred. "You really should sleep Jarred. I'll tell you if there are any changes."

He tensed, looking at Alice with fear and sadness in his eyes. "Stephanie I really don't th-" He stopped himself, he was starting to get a headache. With a sigh Jarred stood up. "Alright..."

"Take one of the beds. I'm sure they won't mind." Stephanie said. "I'll wake you up as soon as they find something."

Jarred nodded before getting into one of the beds on the other side of the room. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep. Unfortunately his dreams were haunted by nightmares about the attack and the dream he got as a warning. You could've prevented this... Those words stuck in his mind as he woke.

"Jarred. Shh...It's okay..." Stephanie whispered as she brushed a tuff of hair from his face. "Go back to sleep…Everything's okay…"

He could feel her words softly ushering him back to sleep. It's okay...everything's...okay... Those were his last thoughts as he sunk back into sleep.

Jarred found himself standing in a dark place with fog floating across the floor.

Where am I? Jarred looked around the darkness, hoping to find a source of light.

"Jarred...Save my daughter..."

"Who are you? What are you talking about?" His lips didn't move but he could hear his voice.

"Save her...She does not have much time..."

"Alice? Alice is your daughter?" He was drawn back in shock but grew serious again. "I'll save her, I promised to protect her and that's what I plan to do..."

"She is dying...She does not have much time..."

"I promise that I'll save her. I won't let you down."

"Two weeks hero...only two..."

"Two weeks." He repeated, though he worried that they could be too late.

"She is dying...Save her..."

"Jarred! Jarred wake up!"

Jarred sat up wide awake. "Huh? Wh-What? What happened?!" He looked around the room franticly.

Stephanie looked over at him worried. "It's Alice..."

His face grew pale and he got out of bed going over to her bed.

Alice was curled up on the bed whimpering in her sleep. Tears were running down her face as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She had kicked off her blankets and was shivering as if she was freezing. She looked paler than she did the night before. Somehow, Jarred could feel that she was slowly and painfully slipping away.

Jarred went over and took one of the lighter blankets covering her with it. He knelt down by the head of the bed, gently stroking her cheek. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, tears coming to his eyes.

"Cold...so cold...alone...so...alone..." Alice whimpered.

"You're not alone." He whispered through clenched teeth. He wished he could hold back the tears, but they started coming down his face anyway.

Alice curled up tighter as if she couldn't her him. "Alone... all... alone... help... Jarred..." She continued to whimper, shivering violently.

He wanted to scream. Scream and cry and throw a tantrum, but most of all, he wanted to blame someone. He wanted this to be someone's fault, and make them fix this. If only it was that simple... He felt a comforting hand being placed on his shoulder. Looking up he saw it was Chiron. He quickly looked away before he took his anger out upon the centaur.

"Jarred...It's alright..." Chiron said, squeezing Jarred's shoulder in a comforting manner. "The result of the green liquid is back. I have called in a meeting with the counselors and you have to be there."

"I don't want to go." He snapped.

"Jarred...This concerns you as much as it does them." Chiron said.

"Jarred..." twin voices suddenly spoke up.

Jarred clenched his fists. Don't they get it?! Don't they get I want to be alone with her? What good would that do, you can't help her, what have you done to help her? He almost screamed. Instead he glanced at the twins. "What?" It came out bitter and cold. He didn't mean for it to come out that way but it did.

The twins flinched and looked at Jarred with tears in their eyes. "W-we'll watch over mommy...you have to go to the meeting..." They said. "It might help her."

He pulled the twins into a hug. "Alright." He whispered. It pained him to leave her, but the twins were right. This could save Alice.

He could feel the twin's tears as they hugged him back. "W-we'll take care of mommy..."

"I know you will." He told them. "I trust her with you." He pulled back and gave them a small smile.

The twins gave him a small smile back before they settled on either side of Alice who had quieted down.

"Come Jarred." Chiron said, putting a hand on the young boy's shoulder. Jarred stood up and followed Chiron.

When they arrived, Jarred saw that the other counselors were there. Jake, Arcus, Pascal, Stephanie and Nate were there but he couldn't remember who the others were. Arcus, Jake and Nate gave him a sad smile. Pascal on the other hand was staring at the table with dead eyes while Stephanie was resting her head on his shoulders.

Jarred sat beside Nate, he had the same look Pascal had. Pale, sad and almost lifeless.

Nate wrapped her arm around his shoulders, trying to provide comfort. Alice had grown to be somewhat of a little sister to her. He glanced at her, grateful for the comfort. Nate smiled sadly at him as Chiron asked for attention.

"The results for the green liquid we had found on Alice's scratch left by the hellhound." Chiron said.

"And?" Jarred said, as he was away from Alice he looked little less depressed.

Chiron took a deep breath before answering. "It's a kind of rare poison straight from Tartarus."

Jarred felt himself wince. "Great..." he muttered annoyed.

"So in order to get an antidote we have to go to where it came from. The Underworld." Jarred looked up at the centaur.

The centaur nodded. "It's the only way if we are to save her."

"How long do we have..."

"If Lord Apollo is correct...She only has two weeks."

"We'll be back before then." Jarred stood up.

"You need to get a quest from the Oracle." Chiron said, pointing to somewhere beside the forest. "Go along the forest to the Oracle's cave."

Jarred nodded, and began to walk the perimeter of the forest. He was a bit nervous of what the Oracle's prophecy would mean.

He sighed. The cool night air was comforting with everything that happened. The darkness of the night mad a wave of comfort run through as darkness always had. As if it carried away all his worries. Soon, he found himself standing in front of a cave that had string curtains hanging at its mouth. Light shone through the gaps showing that their Oracle was awake.

He was unsure of what to do, so he started to pull the curtains back. "Hello?"

"Oh hello! Hold on a minute but come in! Come in!" A cheerful voice shouted from somewhere inside the cave.

He pushed back the current and walked in cautiously. Jarred remained silent, unsure of what to think about the Oracle.

He looked around and raised an eyebrow. The cave looked like an apartment living room with another curtained area in one side. It was fully furnished and everything that Jarred thought he was somehow teleported back to the mortal world if you don't count the uneven stone walls.

Looks like Oracles even prefer the simple life... He thought, patiently waiting for the Oracle to meet with him.

"Hello there." Jarred turned around as a girl of around fifteen with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes walked out of the curtained area. She wore the camp shirt and a pair of cotton pajamas. It looked like she was about to go to sleep. "Who are you?" She asked, smiling warmly.

"Jarred Mayers, son of Ares..." He said calmly.

"My name's Jenn Micheals. Oracle of Delphi, speaker of prophecies of Apollo and all that jazz." She chuckled, holding out her hand.

Jarred took her hand and gave it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you..." He seemed in a slight rush to get over with the introduction.

Jenn laughed and shook her head. "You're full of secrets here son of Ha- I mean Ares. So I'm guessing you need a prophecy?" A mischievous twinkle lit up her eyes.

She was going to call me a son of another god, I think... Jarred nodded. "Yes, I do. And I don't have a lot of time to spare..."

Jenn nodded and put her hands in the pockets of her pajamas. "Go ahead and ask me then. Fair warnings though, don't freak out and catch me if I fall afterwards alright? I don't want a bump on my head when I just got back."

"Alright then, Jenn, Oracle of Delphi. What do I have to do to save Alice?"

Nothing happened for a few minutes but then Jenn stiffened and a green glow appeared on her eyes. She opened her mouth but when she spoke it was like three others were speaking at the same time.

Children brought together by the sun

A race against time must be won

To west star road they must take a trip

To save the one in death's grip

Seek the truth and get what is found

And bring home the ocean safe and sound

One's true loyalty must suffice

To save a life that comes with a heavy price

Jarred felt a shiver run up his spine, the way she spoke...the way she said those words was...unnerving.

When she finished speaking and the glow from her eyes dimmed, Jenn clutched her head and stumbled back.

"I hate it when that happens." She said, her voice shaky but normal.

"Doesn't seem like something anyone could get used to..." He mumbled to himself, before looking Jenn straight in the eyes. "Thank you Jenn..."

Jenn nodded and rubbed her head. "You're welcome. Good luck with whatever I said." She smiled at Jarred.

He returned the smile slightly, before jogging out of the cave. He would have to tell Chiron what the Oracle had said.

Jarred jogged back towards the Big House, the Oracle's prophecy rang in his head. Yet those last two lines, those two messed wouldn't go away. 'One's true loyalty must suffice, to save a life that comes with a heavy price...' As he made his way up the porch steps, he began to realize how nervous he was.