Chapter 15!
"He's what?!" I shouted.
"Jo," Grover said. "Don't freak out".
"Freak out?" I said. "That's the understatement of the century!"
"Jo," Mandy put a hand to his forehead. "Calm down".
"How can I calm down?" I said. "You've been lying to both me and Grover!"
"She's got a point Uncle Mandy," Grover admitted.
"Don't call him that!" this was just too weird.
Suddenly I heard a horn, and then dozens of war cries.
"Capture-the-flag is over," Grover said.
"Go," Mandy said.
"No, Mandy," I said, calming down a little. "You're hurt". I pointed to the wounds from the dragon.
"I'll be fine," Mandy said. "Besides, no one else can know I'm here".
"But—"
The horn blew again.
"Go!"
Grover grabbed my arm, and we sprinted through the forest. We ran recklessly through the trees and underbrush, tripping every so often.
"Grover!" I called. "Why did we leave Mandy?"
"He told us to!" Grover said, not releasing his grip from my wrist. "I think Mandy can take care of himself!"
"But what will happen to him? What if we never see him again?"
Grover didn't answer.
Suddenly we stopped near the edge of the forest, close to the camp. There was a crowd of campers cheering around Annabeth and Katie Gardener, who were holding a flag that shimmered silver with an owl.
When Grover and I approached the crowd turned and fell silent.
"Grover, Jo," Annabeth said, relieved. "There you are. Where were you? We were about to send search parties".
I was about to answer when suddenly a voice yelled, "You demon!"
I turned to find Clarisse, half of her spear in hand, stalking toward us. "You demon girl! How dare you threaten this camp!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
Clarisse grabbed me by the collar. "Oh, you know, you filthy little imp. Bringing your mishap here. Do you think I don't see your scheme?"
"Woah," said Chiron, who galloped over. "Set the girl down Clarisse".
Clarisse did so.
"What are you talking about Clarisse?" Chiron asked.
Clarisse pointed to me. "This girl has summoned Typhoeus".
The camp gasped. I looked around. All the demigods were looking at me as if I had committed a horrible, unforgivable sin.
"Jo," Chiron said, deadly serious. "Is this true?"
"I don't know what she's talking about," I said. "Who's Typhoeus?"
"Don't lie," Clarisse growled "I saw to with my own eyes. and I have proof too". Clarsse handed to Chiron a smooth, gem-like object. I looked at it more closely and realized it was a dragon scale.
Chiron scrutinized the scale, then looked at me with a look of stone. "Everyone back to your cabins," he said in a cold voice. "We'll have a war meeting tomorrow".
Everyone, even Clarisse, headed back to their cabins. I looked up at Chiron with a trembling lip. "Chiron," I said. "I swear—"
Chiron raised his hand for silence. "I don't know exactly what is going on," he said, "But I hope I will soon find out. It's getting late Jo. Go to your cabin".
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
That night I had a dream. And even though my dreams had gotten worse sinse my coming to camp, this one was a whopper.
I was in a subway station, but there were no people. In the center, a young apple tree blossomed white flowers, though there was no soil. Standing next to the tree was the woman in the amber cloak. At her feet sat a monkey, nibbling at an apple blossom.
"How dare you…" said the cloaked woman.
I took a step back. "What?"
"How dare you," repeated the woman. "Acting like you're welcome without proving your worth".
"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Who are you?"
The woman took a step towards me. She lifted her hands and pulled back the hood, revealing long black hair and silver eyes. though I had never seen her face before I immediately recognized her. "Mom".
"Don't call me that," Ate said with cold eyes. though we looked much alike, except that her hair was straight and mine was curly, the personality conflict made us seem like twp completely unrelated people. "You dare think that you can just come all willy-nilly into my arms without proving yourself? You are a pompous oaf".
I was taken aback by this woman's language. "I am not a pompous oaf! How dare you call your own daughter that!"
"If you're not, then prove it!" Ate shouted. She crossed her arms and said, "I thought my daughter would have been raised better than this".
"Maybe I would have if you had been there," I said. "Or, oo I know! Maybe if you hadn't let Dad die!"
"I can't control the life of a mortal," Ate said. "But it's still no excuse for the pampered behavior you're showing".
"Pampered?" I said. "How is living life without a mom or dad pampered?"
"Most of your life was spent in a mansion," Ate said. "You could have anything your heart desired with just the snap of a finger. You were only asked f one thing: to prove yourself worthy of my inheritance, but you still couldn't live with having to do something that requires work other than your pranks".
"I thought you would be proud of my pranks".
"I am proud of your pranks," Ate said. "But you have to do something other than that to show me you really care about your position as the daughter of mischief".
I fell silent. Had I really let spoil get in the way of things? Was I really asking too much, just assuming that I didn't have to do anything for Ate to accept me? I looked up at my mother. "What can I do?"
Ate uncrossed her arms, sensing my sincerity. "I'll give you one last chance. It will present itself to you soon".
Ate started to fade.
"Wait!" I shouted. "I need to know about my bad Luck! What do I do about it?!"
"Don't push away from it," Ate said, still fading. "Embrace it. For your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength".
Then suddenly I was falling, falling in a dark pit.