And presenting, chapter 3! Thank you guys, you are the best reviewers ever!

Ryan

The girls had to be around here somewhere. Ryan knew that they can't have disappeared into nowhere.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't entirely true, because Ryan had seen the things Aurora could do, like make things temporarily invisible or make a portal to another location. But Ryan didn't see that as Alex's style.

The only place they could've gone at this point was the Big House, which was currently being guarded by a drowsily moving Mr. D. Ryan looked over to Jack and Erick and pointed his sword towards the door. "Well, what do you say?"

Jack stared at Ryan in disbelief. "Look, I know we're bros and all…"

"What he means to say is, you're pretty damn stupid if you think we can get into there without getting caught," Erick translated to Ryan with a fixed glare. "Besides, Jack's got a broken arm that needs to be set."

Ryan narrowed his eyes. He seriously hated it when Erick stepped in like he was the one in charge. Sometimes it was easier to get along with Alexandria than Erick, which was saying a lot. Ryan didn't ask for his opinion, it was a rhetorical question!

"Fine. I'll go by myself," Ryan stated, turning his back on them and marching towards the front porch. He was still sopping wet from the little river episode Alex had pulled, but that didn't matter as long as he got his revenge. And when he did, even the children of Nemesis would be jealous.

Well, maybe not to that extent. Ryan would never really hurt Alex in any way, it was just part of the game they played. Even it had imaginary rules that were never actually set. Even if there were no rules, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her anyway.

Maybe if she wasn't so god damn amazing and perfect in every way.

Whoa, Ryan. Where did that thought come from? He asked himself, but then remembered immediately after.

That's right. His mind, soul, body, everything. So, Ryan had a little problem that he had recently discovered about maybe a month ago.

He, meaning Ryan, Ryan Princeton, was in love with the Alexandria Hayden.

It was still taking a little bit of time for him to accept this fully. They'd been enemies ever since she'd come to camp! They'd fought against each other, forced one another to become even more advanced in the struggle to see who was stronger, and grew up into their own personalities together, but as enemies. That was how they lived.

But then things started to change. Whenever Jack obsessively talked about Alex in the cabin at night, so much that their sister Delany had to drown herself in music, Ryan started to feel a weird sensation boiling in his heart. He'd consulted Noah Reed from the Aphrodite cabin about it, and his response was, "It's jealousy, dude. I can't believe it even took you this long to figure it out, man!"

Ryan started to notice the little things about Alex that he hadn't before, like the different ways she braided her hair or the glint in her ocean blue eyes when she accepted a challenge. He found himself beginning to enjoy the retaliating attention she gave him, and tried to make it clear (without being to obvious) to Jack that she was giving the main attention to him.

That's when Noah told him, "It's love, man. In my cabin, we call you Rex."

To which Ryan's response was, "What the Hades does a freaking dinosaur have to do with me and Alex?"

Dionysus groaned and pushed aside a bottle of grape wine, snapping Ryan out of his lovesick thoughts that ashamed him so. He was a son of Zeus, he must keep his eye on the game!

Ryan ducked around the greenery surrounding the house, still watching Mr. D.'s every move. Of course, he had to be careful. Mr. D. was a god, and his senses could probably tell whether he was being spied on or not. It was a risk Ryan was willing to take, however, if it led him to the girls.

Girls, Ryan cursed as he remembered that now he was the one that was outnumbered rather than Alex. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all to come alone.

Scratch that. He had to show Erick that he wasn't in charge, and by doing this he would prove that he was still the leader at this camp. No son of Apollo had anything on Ryan.

Dionysus fumbled with the playing cards a bit, unsuccessfully trying to assemble them neatly back into the box. After a few minutes of that, he groaned and threw them back on the table and took another swig of the bottle on the table.

But then, something unexpected happened. Mr. D. cleared up and started to act like his usual unpleasant self. Apparently, being the god of drunkenness gave the ability to not be drunk when wanted.

Ryan's breath hitched as Dionysus straightened, stood up from the chair, and promptly walked through the screen door with his intentions clearly written on his face.

Dionysus knew that the girls were inside somewhere. And they were in definite trouble, by the looks of it.

Swallowing that new revelation, Ryan stepped out from his hiding spot behind the bush and pressed his foot on the first wooden step on the old porch. He tried to imagine what exactly had been going through Alex's mind when she had decided to go inside the Big House, but he honestly couldn't figure it out. Women.

And he knew for a fact it was Alex that decided to hide out in the Big House because Ally was too sensible and didn't do stupid things like that and he knew it wasn't Aurora's style to hide in a closed and limited space. Besides, it was just the kind of impulsive thing Alex would do.

The wood threateningly creaked with each step Ryan took, and he was sure Mr. D. would discover him coming in after the girls. Well, if he was going to get in trouble and have to do the dishes, at least he wouldn't be alone.

Once Ryan was in, he was almost immediately able to follow the trial just by the smell of grape wine. It led him to the staircase. And not just any staircase, no, this was the one that led to the forbidden attic.

Forget about dishes, Ryan would be attending a funeral. Dead.

Ryan hesitantly peeked around the stairwell, just in time to catch a great view of Mr. D.'s backside as he climbed up the ladder and joined the girls up in the attic. He decided to take a chance and finished stepping up the stairs until he was just to the side of the attic opening, enough so that he could hear the conversation.

"How old is this prophecy?" Rory's voice said, probably in response to some other statement that Ryan missed. But what was that about a prophecy?

"Eh, couple decades. Doesn't matter, just more brats to do heroic things and die," Dionysus irritable voice answered.

Someone stepped to the side. "Who were the demigods who had to take this?" Ally pressed, making Ryan unconsciously lean closer to the opening.

"What ya talking about? Are you a spawn of Athena or what? This prophecy hasn't been carried out yet. In fact, since you so graciously dug this up, now I have to call a meeting for all you brats so that it can be done with!" Mr. D. complained loudly.

"Well, that's nice," Alex said, speaking up for the first time. "We'll just go now and spread the word. Goodbye! Have a nice day!"

Ryan comprehended what was about to happen a second too late. Alex jumped down from the attic with such force that she slammed straight into Ryan, with her friends right behind.

"Ryan! What are- never mind, we've got to get out of here," Alex said in surprise, grabbing Ryan's arm and pulling him down the stairs. He tried his best to ignore the pointed and amused looks from Ally and Aurora, but it was a little humiliating.

As soon as they were all a safe distance from Dionysus's wrath, Alex punched Ryan for the second time today.

"What the Hades was that for?" Ryan asked, taking a step back and rubbing the newest forming bruise on his chest.

Alex shrugged and started to walk off. "Just finding out how much of our conversation you overheard. And making sure I won, don't forget that," she said in a simple voice.

Ryan was going to retaliate, but Aurora sliced her hands across her neck and shook her head. Ally turned around and repeated the same motions, but actually said something, probably so as to not make it suspicious. "Don't forget to remind everyone about the counselor meeting!"

"Okay, thanks!" Ryan called back, though he didn't really have any intentions on telling anyone anything.

His mind was too focused on this prophecy problem.

Alice

Ally was seriously freaked out about that stupid scroll. If she hadn't been nosing around, none of this would have happened.

Okay, granted that the whole trip to the attic was actually a little exciting. Ally had always been curious about what could be up there that Mr. D. and Chiron didn't want the campers' business in.

Rumors had had it that the attic was once the home of the oracle, but Ally couldn't really see why anyone would want to live up there. She was pretty sure there was more to the story, but everything concerning the Titan and Giant Wars was considered forbidden topics that should not be repeated. But Ally wondered how they were supposed to learn from past mistakes if they weren't even allowed to speak about them. It really didn't make much sense.

However, now Ally had more important things to worry about. Like the prophecy for example. The dusty scroll felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket, and she asked herself why she had exactly picked it up in the first place. As usual, her mind responded with a complicated and reasonable answer that Ally didn't want to admit was true.

Ally turned over on her bed. She'd been there ever since she had parted ways with Alex and Rory after spreading the word about the head counselor meeting, mulling over the million things going through her head.

She was glad that her siblings had the sense to find somewhere else to be other than the Athena cabin, because Ally felt like she was ready to snap.

What could that ridiculous prophecy mean?

The god of death shall see it through

That two of the creator of voodoo,

And one of storms and one of sea,

Plus the daughter and the tender of the olive tree,

Well, that part at least was pretty obvious. Hades, the god of death was obviously decreeing the following demigods to go through with the quest. Creator of voodoo had to be Hecate, it would only make sense. The next line was easy too, a child of Zeus (storms) and a child of Poseidon (sea).

The daughter and the tender of the olive tree. Ally definitely knew who the daughter of the olive tree would be, after all, it was her own mother who created it. Daughter of Athena, then. And who tended to olive trees, or maybe just trees in general? That would be a Demeter kid, most likely.

Shall face trial and tribulations abound

To find one who won't come back around

All for the price of Harvest's need,

Double the lives has been decreed.

Now to the scary part of the prophecy. The parts that Ally didn't quite understand yet. Maybe she'd just wait until the meeting to decipher it, that way other fresh minds could help and contribute ideas.

Ally looked at the digital clock next to her bedside table, and found that the head counselor meeting was in just a few minutes. Sighing, Ally fingered the scroll in her pocket and forced herself up from the bed.

The promethean boards scattered around the walls were blinking their red lights in almost an ominous way, the lights reflecting across the windowpanes.

Ally drew the curtains, pushed her black hair back into a ponytail, and walked out the door.

She could see all the other counselors making their own ways to the Big House meeting room, and by the looks of it she'd be one of the last to arrive.

Way to make an impression, Ally, she thought to herself as she physically forced herself up those stupid wooden steps. None of this would've happened if she had just reasoned with Alex and found another place to seek safety.

Granted, she wasn't completely innocent. Ally hadn't stopped her because she herself wanted to know what was in the attic. Well, congratulations! Now she knew and had basically sentenced herself to the quest.

The meeting room, or otherwise known as the recreation room due to the ping pong table situated in the middle and the assorted random objects all around, was already full with heads from all cabins. Some more interested than the others, who were causing many different kinds of trouble depending on who they were.

Ally was, in fact, the last person to arrive. Her seat was reserved, however, between the head counselor from the Zeus cabin, Delany, and Alex. She slid in the tightly arranged seat, and Alex snorted.

"Nice of you to arrive on time," she commented as Chiron rose to take the meeting to order. Ally noticed that Dionysus had not bothered to show up. Probably drinking again or something.

Chiron nodded in greeting to everyone, and Ally found herself avoiding his eyes. She almost hated the way he looked at everyone. That look that said she could do better but also one of years of sadness due to death of demigods he had personally known.

"Now, it has come to my attention that a prophecy has been recovered from the attic-"

"The attic?"

"What was somebody doing in the attic?"

"So not fair!"

Chiron held up a hand to indicate silence to the campers, which did so immediately. "It seems as though this prophecy has arisen in quite the time of tragedy. Dionysus has been called back to Olympus for an emergency meeting. Does anyone have an idea why?"

Across the table, Carson raised a hesitant hand after a few moments of no volunteers. "It's Persephone, isn't it? In order for the seasons to change from death and despair to new life, Persephone has to return from the Underworld. She hasn't returned, has she?"

"Very good," Chiron praised, and Ally found herself a little taken aback by the information Carson had known all along. She wasn't the only stunned one, all the other heads wore a similar look of surprise. A few though, some of the less mythologically educated looked confused.

Chiron shifted over to explain, his hooves clacking on the wooden floors. "Centuries ago, Demeter and Zeus had a daughter who we know as Persephone. Demeter prized Persephone and kept her hidden from the gods who showed interest in her, such as Hermes and Apollo. However, Hades had fallen in love with her, so Zeus allowed him to abduct her against Demeter's will."

"That's messed up," Kristen, an Apollo girl commented.

Chiron ignored her and carried on with his story. "Demeter didn't know where her daughter had gone, and she searched the world for her. She forbade the earth from fertility and neglected all her responsibilities as a goddess. The world fell into great famine."

"Hmm. Why does that sound familiar?" the head counselor of the Ares cabin, Jordan said. Ally met eyes with her for a moment in agreement, but she soon looked away.

"Finally, everything was so bad that Zeus was forced to tell Demeter where Persephone had gone. Before she could be retrieved though, Hades tricked Persephone into eating some pomegranate seeds from the Underworld, and by doing this she could never really leave. She was obligated to spend a third of the year in the Underworld, while the rest was spent with the other gods for the rest of eternity," Chiron finished.

Alex leaned her chair back and rested her feet on the ping pong table. "So I'm guessing that prophecy is for getting Persephone back because Demeter is having emotional issues without her daughter?"

"Alexandria, would you please word your words a little nicer?" Chiron lightly asked her. "But yes, in answer to your question."

Ally pulled the scroll out and flattened it on the green surface of the table. She quickly recited it and shared her inferences. "And so according to this, we need a child of Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Demeter, and two children of Hecate. Any volunteers?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the only child of Zeus in the room. Delany moved her hands uncomfortably. "Uh, actually, I'm going to turn 18 in less than a week. And I was thinking about retiring to New Rome, so that puts Ryan in charge as Head Counselor…"

"Great! So Ryan gets to go," Ally said brightly, trying to bite down a laugh, just because she knew which child of Poseidon was now for definite going to volunteer.

As if on cue, Alex raised her hand. "I'm the child of sea, I'll go!"

Ally smoothed out the paper and smirked at her prediction. "Okay, well that leaves the Athena, Demeter, and the two from Hecate."

"Aurora and I will be going for the Hecate cabin," a firm voice from the corner of the room said. Ally nearly jumped because she forgot about Sansa even being there.

"Thank you, Sansa. So who's the Demeter kid? Carson, what do you say?" Ally asked, meeting his green eyes across the table.

Carson pressed his lips together and gave a deep breath. "I suppose I can do it. Isabella would probably want to stay here and help out." he said with distaste. "And you, Ally?"

Ally felt a wave of emotion come crashing into her. She'd almost forgotten about the child of Athena. How could she? She was suddenly aware of how unprepared she was for this. What if something went wrong? Everything would be her fault. Ally was supposed to have a plan!

"Ally?" Alex asked in concern.

Ally swallowed. "Y-yes," she said, stumbling over her words, "I'll go."