Yeah, second chapter! Also, in the previous chapter, when it says "teacher" I meant to put t-shirt. I'm not entirely sure how I missed that! Anyway, sorry this took so long to write!
Chapter 2:
As Kerry and I approached closer, the figure by the shore stood and turned. The figure obviously saw us, and began to head toward us, before Kerry and I had even moved a few feet closer. "What do we do?" I whispered furtively. I recognized the face, but I couldn't place it. People just don't sit by themselves here, especially not by the water. The Harpies tend to use the shore as their hangout spot and they can can get quite nasty sometimes.
"Morning Rie, Kerry," The figure, now in full-view, was a fiery redheaded girl. She didn't look terribly older than I did, though I knew she wasn't a camper. She wore a pink sweatshirt and blue jeans, also something people didn't really wear around here. Leo was pushing for the camp to act more "summer-camp-ish" and was now enforcing mandatory spirit wear days. Nobody else liked it, but the Hermes cabin was making a killing off the camp store.
"Uh, good morning?" Kerry sputtered out. She looked just as shocked as I imagined I did right then. The girl looked familiar, but in all honesty, I didn't know her. And if I didn't know there, there was no way Kerry would.
"You girls don't recognize me, huh? Kinda surprising considering who I am." The girl crossed her arms and looked at the both of us. I couldn't really tell if she was upset with us or just joking around. She seemed like a girl who had a good sense of humor, but then again, what did I know? I had lived at Camp Half-Blood for fifteen years and I didn't even know her.
"Anyway, the name's Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Rachel Elizabeth Dare uncrossed her arms and forcibly shook our hands, both of us a little too stunned to really do much. At least she wasn't some kind of god. They rarely came to camp, but there were instances when Hermes had shown up and they had never ended well. "Or, as you may know me, the Oracle." Both Kerry and I let out a little gasp. Now I recognized her. She had come over to my parent's cabin often when I was little. I imagined she was around my dad's age, though as the Oracle, she wouldn't age. Not until Apollo had deemed her life well lived and allowed her to die.
The Oracle was responsible for spouting off prophecies and assigning Quests to campers. There hadn't been a Prophecy for years and years, so I guess Rachel just kinda mulled around camp. I knew she lived in a pretty decked out cave, I had heard Grover talk about it on numerous occasions. I did feel bad for not recognizing her, but from what I knew, the Oracle had been a decrepit skeleton before she came along. What was I supposed to expect?
"So, um, Rachel, what were you doing out here?" Kerry spoke with unease, almost unsure how to act. I was right with her. This was the Oracle, the bearer of prophecies, blessed by Apollo, but Rachel was just so...cool. She seemed like a pretty spunky girl with her own attitude and style. The title of Oracle didn't suit her, though it had to if she was the Oracle. Whatever quality had made her the Oracle had to be damn good.
"I was actually waiting for Rie." Rachel's eyes settled on me, and I felt a shiver go up and down my spine. Her eyes were liked a cold fire, and now I could understand why she was the Oracle, just from that look.
"Oh, um, shall I leave, then?" Kerry asked. She already looked like she had one foot out the door.
"If you'd like to," Rachel said politely, nodding her head. Kerry shot me a look and scurried away, joining a few of her siblings in a game of sand volleyball. I looked at Rachel, and fear filled my insides. I felt ok around her, but I knew whatever she wanted to speak about with my wasn't good. It certainly wasn't a conversation I wanted to have. There was something about Rachel that absolutely scared the crap out of me, and it was something other than the fact that she was the Oracle. That part of her was all Rachel.
"Rie, I know Percy spoke to you earlier this morning about signing up to go to Camp Jupiter," Rachel's tone had suddenly become darker, no longer the light and airy beach ton she had carried with us earlier. She was all business now, and she was making sure I knew it. She didn't have to tell me twice. There was no way I was going get on the wrong side of this chick. "You need to do it."
"Why?" I spoke without thinking, the world falling out my mouth before I had any chance of snatching it back. Kerry had tried to convince me earlier, and while she may be right in the fact that I may need to get out sometimes, I just didn't...I just didn't want to go. Camp Jupiter was so foreign. Everything they do there is different from Camp Half-Blood. I am the closet person to Camp Half-Blood. I was born here, I was raised here, I know every nook and cranny and every camper and the insides of every cabin. Going to Camp Jupiter wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be home.
"Something big is coming, Rie. Like your father and your mother, you have to become to hero. Camp Jupiter is where it all starts, and you need to be there." Rachel looked me directly in the eye, but I held her gaze. I wasn't a hero. I wasn't even a proper demigod. There was nothing special about me. I didn't even have my own sword. I had never needed one. Was I sheltered? Perhaps. I knew enough of the mortal world to know I didn't want to step foot in it, and I knew plenty more about Camp Jupiter that convinced me it wasn't where I belonged.
"I'm not even a demigod. I don't have any special abilities," I spat. I was usually never this disrespectful to anybody, but something about Rachel told me she didn't care. She had expected me to act this way, and I was going to.
"You do!" Rachel retorted. "You just don't know it. Nobody ever bothered to even try with you, to see what you could do. Rie, as the Oracle, it's my job to know things like this. You are much stronger than you or anyone else knows." Rachel puts her hands on my shoulders. I'm not exactly ok with her suddenly touching me, but I've heard stories about her. I knew what she could do and I'm not too keen to test that. There was just some things you didn't try and challenge.
"You weren't born here. Your parents aren't the famous Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be their daughter and not be anything they wanted? I don't think you do, Rachel." I spat. I turned away from her. I could feel both the anger and the regret flowing through me. I had never told that to anyone. There was just something about Rachel that had forced it to reveal itself. The moment I had admitted it, I regretted it. My only hope was that she didn't tell my parents.
I began to walk away, though I could still feel Rachel's gaze on me. Kerry was waiting for me by the Poseidon cabin, and she looked concerned. I wouldn't tell what had happened. While I trusted Kerry, there was just some things she didn't need to know. There wasn't a reason to bother to her with information that she couldn't help me with.
"Hey, what happened back there?" Kerry asked. She was concerned, but Kerry usually worried too much about things. I wonder when she had dropped her game of sand volleyball with her half-siblings. She obviously had seen enough of my exchange with Rachel to know it wasn't how it should have been. I merely shook my head.
"Don't worry about, ok? Rachel was just trying to get me to go to Camp Jupiter." Kerry opened her mouth to speak, but I shushed her. I wasn't in the mood to hear more about how I should go over there. It wasn't happening, end of story. As much as I dreaded staying in Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter wasn't the place to get me "outdoors." I was absolutely determined not to go there, and I'm a pretty headstrong person.
Kerry shrugged it off. She knew me well enough by now. We walked over towards the Big House. Neither of were entirely sure what to do at this point. I knew Kerry was itching to play some sort of game, but again, she was a child of Nike. Tying shoelaces at the same time of her turned into some sort of death match. It was just her nature. She couldn't help her parentage.
The door to the Big House opened behind us, and Jason Grace himself stepped out. Seeing him up close and in person, I could see how handsome he was. No wonder the Aphrodite girls gossiped about him so much, his man was truly attractive. Even if he was my dad's age, he still looked good! With tan skin, blonde hair, and electric blue eyes, not to mention his muscles, he truly was a looker. I just hoped he didn't notice us staring so much, though I'm sure he's used to it.
Jason stopped at the stairs to look at us, then continued on his way. Kerry and I shared a look. Her expression was quite humorous, her eyebrows turned up and her eyes displaying her confusion at the small exchange that had just occurred. We both laughed. With that over, we slipped inside the Big House. Technically we weren't supposed to be in there, but this was one of those times I was happy to flaunt that "my dad and mom are the camp directors" excuse.
Inside, we saw Lukas, the boy who had fought with Mitchell earlier. He looked sightly dejected, and there was no sign of Mitchell anywhere. I was brought back to my feelings earlier. I truly had felt bad for Mitchell. He didn't have anyone to connect with, no siblings, no parent yet, Lukas was all he had, and Mitchell didn't know if it was going to get better. I couldn't help but relate.
Kerry walked over to him and sat down next to him. I didn't really know why she wanted to speak with him, as we never had even known the kid until earlier, but Kerry had always been the more personable one. Lukas, however, didn't look entirely pleased that Kerry had decided to speak with him. I decided to join them, sitting down awkwardly in the chair next to Kerry.
"Why are you still here?" Kerry asked him. She was curious, and I knew that. I didn't know how Lukas saw it, though. He seemed like an introverted kid, so Kerry deciding to speak with him may have put him off.
"Chiron told me to wait here until it was dinner. He didn't want me running into Mitchell anymore. He said I could explore the house if I wanted to, but I didn't want to." Lukas explained. At least he answered, though he didn't sound too pleased to be questioned. I was surprised that Chiron had put him on house-arrest, that didn't seem like something he would do.
"You're going to miss lunch, then," Kerry pointed out, checking her watch. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12, and lunch was served at 1. Poor kid. Missing lunch was one of the worst things that could happen. I could already feel my hunger beginning to stir. However, I still couldn't get over the fact that Chiron had forced Lukas to stay inside the Big House. It really, really, didn't seem like a normal punishment, and it was especially odd, since Lukas really hadn't done anything wrong.
Just as I was about to say anything, footsteps could be heard behind us. We turned our heads, hoping that it wasn't Chiron. Would he take kindly to us chatting with Lukas? I doubted it.