Integrity
Chapter 6
Reyna Reads again
Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait. I hope that it's meets everyone's approval. As I've said before I don't own Percy Jackson & the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Rick Riordan does, including everything in Bold which is the book text.
The daughter of Bellona cleared her throat and began to read the next chapter.
Chapter 6: An Old Dead Friend Comes To Visit
"What?" Leo replied bewildered.
"It'll be explained in the book, Leo." Annabeth sighed.
Reyna continued on.
The morning after breakfast, I told Grover about my dream. We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did.
"Not surprising." Luke commented. He ignored the glares from the new demigods, as well as Zoe and Bianca.
Nico gave the son of Hermes a empathetic look. He had a feeling that he would be getting the same reactions. At least once they found out what he did to Percy in the the past.
Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.
When I told Grover my nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur.
There were a few raised eyebrows at this sentence.
"A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.
"Yeah. What the heck does that mean?"
Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed-"
Zoe looked over at the satyr, her eyes narrowing. "How did thee know I had a dream about that as well?"
Grover blushed and looked away.
Reyna then cleared her throat and continued to read.
"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream like that?"
"I... I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked. "
"And you know this how?" Annabeth asked curiously.
"Wait, how do you know this?"
Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin. "
Chiron raised his eyebrows at the sentence.
"Creeper!" Leo yelled.
The three huntresses glared at the satyr who was still looking at his hoofs.
"What for?"
"Just to be, you know, near them. "
"You're a stalker with hooves. "
They all laughed at Percy's statement. Chiron chuckled in response.
"Exactly my thoughts Percy!" Leo grinned.
"I am not!
"Are too!" Leo shot back.
They rolled their eyes and smiled at Leo's antics.
Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the wholething. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."
I tried to imagine that.
They all paused trying to imagine how a fight between the two would go down.
Argus was the head of security for camp-a big blond dude with eyes all over his body. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. I wouldn't want to place bets on a fight between him and Zoe Nightshade.
"So who do you think would win that fight?" Leo had a mischevious look on his face.
"We'll get back to you on that Leo." Piper told him. "Later when we have a break again."
"What did she say?" I asked.
Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout... I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her-"
"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?"
The huntresses from the past listened intently as the daughter of Bellona read.
"I... Well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and-"
"He wears curlers in his tail?"
The other demigods had the same thoughts.
They glanced at Chiron who pretended that he hadn't heard the last line.
Grover covered his mouth.
"Sorry, " I said. "Go on. "
"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said... " Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"
"She does have a point," Piper admitted.
"Thank you." Zoe replied.
"What do you mean lost? Like she needs directions?"
They demigods all face palmed while Chiron, Grover and Coach Hedge just sighed and shook their heads.
"Honestly Percy." Thalia rolled her eyes.
"What?" The son of Poseidon said innocently.
"No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped. "
"Kidnapped?" I tried to get my mind around that idea. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"
"Yes, it is." Nico mumbled absent mindedly. His Stepmother, Persephone, came to his mind.
Will glanced over at the son of Hades when he spoke.
"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone. "
"But she was like, the goddess of flowers. "
Grover looked offended. "Springtime. "
Nico closed his mouth as he had been about to correct Percy.
"Whatever. Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"
Grover shook his head miserably. "I don't know. Kronos?"
"He can't be that powerful already. Can he?"
They all exchanged worried looks at the last few lines.
The last time we'd seen Kronos, he'd been in tiny pieces. Well... We hadn't actually seen him. Thousands of years ago, after the big Titan-God war, the gods had sliced him to bits with his own scythe and scattered his remains in Tartarus, which is like the gods' bottomless recycling bin for their enemies.
They all laughed at Percy's thoughts and shook their heads.
Two summers ago, Kronos had tricked us to the very edge of the pit and almost pulled us in. Then last summer, on board Luke's demon cruise ship, we'd seen a golden coffin, where Luke claimed he was summoning the Titan Lord out of the abyss, bit by bit, every time someone new joined their cause. Kronos could influence people with dreams and trick them, but I didn't see how he could physically overcome Artemis if he was still like a pile of evil bark mulch.
They snorted once again in laughter.
"I don't know, " Grover said. "I think somebody would know if Kronos had re-formed. The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like-"
"They're connected, " I said.
Everyone on the ship looked somewhat concerned at the last sentence.
"That can't be good." Reyna frowned.
"Definitly not." Clarisse grumbled in agreement.
Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran toward her. Pop! She turned into Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed, "Ah, love, " Grover said dreamily.
They smiled and shook their heads at Grover's actions.
I thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after mine.
"I've got to talk to Zoe, " I said.
"Um, before you do... " Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said-about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might've been scouting us. "
"Scouting?" Hazel frowned, looking confused.
"It means that we were looking for some more candidates to join the Hunters of Artemis." Zoe explained patiently.
"Scouting us? What do you mean?"
He gave me the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! and A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!
"I found that in Annabeth's backpack, " Grover said.
The rest of the demigods, Zoe, Chiron, and Coach Hedge looked at Annabeth in surprise.
"You were thinking of joining them?!" Thalia looked shocked.
"I was considering it." Annabeth admitted.
"What's with the dramatics Thalia?" Leo said. "You actually did join the Hunters of Artemis."
"Yeah, well," The daughter of Zeus said. "That's different."
"How so?" Frank said curiously.
"It doesn't matter." Nico interupted, "Let's just continue reading, so we can get back to saving the world...again."
Reyna continued on with the reading.
I stared at him. "I don't understand. "
"Well, it seems to me... Maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining. "
I'd like to say I took the news well.
The truth was, I wanted to strangle the Hunters of Artemis one eternal maiden at a time.
Zoe glared at Percy. "I'd like to see you try boy!" The huntress clutched her bow in her hand. Bianca looked surprised at the last sentence and the other demigods, along with Chiron and the two satyrs raised eyebrows in response.
The rest of the day I tried to keep busy, but I was worried sick about Annabeth.
The mentioned girl smiled at that line.
I went to javelin-throwing class, but the Ares camper in charge chewed me out after I got distracted and threw the javelin at the target before he got out of the way. I apologized for the hole in his pants, but he still sent me packing.
"Wow, you must have been very distracted." Frank observed.
"Yeah, I just couldn't stop thinking about Annabeth." Percy replied sending a smile towards daughter of Athena; which she returned and squeezed his hand.
I visited the pegasus stables, but Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin was having an argument with one of the Hunters, and I decided I'd better not get involved.
"Good idea." Will told him. He remembered exactly what happened when the Hunters came to camp that time. The Aphrodite kids and the hunters went head to head. The Huntresses had been going on about how love was worthless and the Aphrodite kids got really angry, really fast.
After that, I sat in the empty chariot stands and sulked. Down at the archery fields, Chiron was conducting target practice. I knew he'd be the best person to talk to. Maybe he could give me some advice, but something held me back. I had a feeling Chiron would try to protect me, like he always did. He might not tell me everything he knew.
Chiron sighed at the last paragraph.
"Would you have?" Percy asked him.
"Most likely, yes." The Centaur admitted.
I looked the other direction. At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Mr. D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
Then it occurred to me: no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else... Something else I could ask for guidance.
"Whoa, whoa wait." Rachel interupted. "Something else? You're talking about the Mummified oracle aren't you?"
The others looked over at Percy for an answer. "Yes, I am."
Reyna continued to read the chapter outloud.
My blood was humming in my ears as I ran into the house and took the stairs. I'd only done this once before, and I still had nightmares about it. I opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.
The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk, just like I remembered. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.
"Well that's um... interesting." Hazel offered.
"Yeah, lets go with that." Piper agreed.
Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle.
I made myself walk toward her. I waited for green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth, like it had before, but nothing happened.
"That's because it wasn't supposed to be your quest Percy." Grover commented.
"Yeah, I know." He said. "But I had to try to help save Annabeth."
Chiron smiled at Percy's response.
"Aw! That's so sweet!" Piper beamed.
"I know, right?" Leo added with a grin.
Reyna shook her head and continued on.
"Hi, " I said. "Uh, what's up?"
I winced at how stupid that sounded. Not much could be "up" when you're dead and stuck in the attic.
"True." Nico commented dryly.
But I knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. I could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.
Hazel shivered at the last line, leaning into Frank, who sat next to her.
"I have a question, " I said a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth. How can I save her?"
No answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air.
I waited longer.
Then I got angry. I was being stonewalled by a corpse.
"Bad luck man." Will said sympathetically.
Percy shrugged in response. "Doesn't matter I still got to go to save Annabeth anyways."
"Only because you snuck out of camp." Nico responded.
"All right, " I said. "Fine. I'll figure it out myself. "
I turned and bumped into a big table full of souvenirs. It seemed more cluttered than the last time I was here. Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins, or stuff that held painful memories. I knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up here-the one that had scarred his face.
Luke winced at the reminder, and touched his scar self-consciously.
The other glanced over at him and the son of Hermes ducked his head to avoid their gazes. Reyna decided to read on.
There was a broken sword hilt labeled: This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999. Then I noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. I picked up the tag and tried to read it:
SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE
RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. , BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSON
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover smiled lightly at the memories of that quest.
I stared at the scarf. I'd totally forgotten about it. Two years ago, Annabeth had ripped this scarf out of my hands and said something like, Oh, no. No love magic for you!
Percy grinned at the reminder.
I'd just assumed she'd thrown it away. And yet here it was. She'd kept it all this time?
And why had she stashed it in the attic?
I turned to the mummy. She hadn't moved, but the shadows across her face made it look like she was smiling gruesomely.
"Okay, that's creepy." Bianca said rubbing her arms.
I dropped the scarf and tried not to run toward the exit.
That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at capture the flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, and about the same number of campers.
Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess Zoe had told them about her nightmare.
"I did." The huntress confirmed Percy's thoughts.
On our team, we had Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from the Ares cabin (though it still seemed strange that Clarisse wasn't around), the Stoll brothers and Nico from Hermes cabin, and a few Aphrodite kids. It was weird that the Aphrodite cabin wanted to play. Usually they sat on the sidelines, chatted, and checked their reflections in the river and stuff, but when they heard we were fighting the Hunters, they were raring to go.
Piper shook her head once more at her siblings previous actions.
"I'll show them 'love is worthless, '" Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "I'll pulverize them!"
Zoe snorted at that line in disbelief as if to say, 'Yeah, right.'
That left Thalia and me.
"I'll take the offense, " Thalia volunteered. "You take defense."
"Oh. " I hesitated, because I'd been about to say the exact same thing, only reversed. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"
The demigods glanced at each other wondering how this would end.
Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa.
"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense, " Thalia said. "Besides, you've had more practice at defense. "
I wasn't sure if she was teasing me.
"I wasn't." Thalia said.
I'd had some pretty bad experiences with defense on capture the flag. My first year, Annabeth had put me out as a kind of bait, and I'd almost been gored to death with spears and killed by a hellhound.
Annabeth winced at the memory. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine, Annabeth." Percy assured her.
"Yeah, no problem, " I lied.
"You should have just talked to me about it," Thalia frowned, "Instead of pretending to be alright with it."
"You might have killed me or something." Percy replied.
"What?! No, I wouldn't have." She denied.
"We weren't exactly friends then Thalia. You kind of hated me at that point in time."
"I guess you do have a point there."
Reyna went on with the chapter.
"Cool. " Thalia turned to help some of the Aphrodite kids, who were having trouble suiting up their armor without breaking their nails. Nico di Angelo ran up to me with a big grin on his face.
"Percy, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. I wondered if there was any way I'd looked that ridiculous when I'd first arrived. Unfortunately, I probably had.
"Thanks Percy." Nico commented sarcastically.
Will couldn't help but grin at the mention of young Nico and at his actions.
Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"
"Well... No. "
"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"
"Yes, but not if we fall in battle." Bianca corrected her younger brother.
"Yeah, I know that now." Nico said tersely.
She couldn't help but feel there was an underlying meaning in his statement.
"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides-"
"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and-"
"Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt. "
Chiron nodded at Percy with approval.
He stared at me, a little disappointed, and I realized that I'd just sounded like my mother. Whoa. Not a good sign.
"Actually, I disagree." Chiron told him. "It shows that you're maturing."
"Percy maturing?" Thalia said shocked. "An apocalypse must be coming!"
"Actually there is." Jason replied. "You know, we're trying to stop Gaia from killing everyone and everything."
Thalia stuck her tounge out at her younger brother who returned the gesture.
I patted Nico on the shoulder. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast. "
Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.
"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team-Camp Half-Blood-shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis-red team-shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"
The demigods all leaned forward in anticipation for what was to come.
"Sweet, " Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"
I was about to break it to him that he didn't, when Thalia said, "Blue team! Follow me!"
They cheered and followed. I had to run to catch up, and tripped over somebody's shield, so I didn't look much like a co-captain. More like an idiot.
"Good job, Percy!" Leo commented cheerfully.
Percy shot a mock glare at the tinkerer who just grinned in response.
We set our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist. It's this cluster of boulders in the middle of
the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking
out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let us call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.
The demigods all laughed at that. "I know that I should probably be offended by that since it's my father." Jason began.
"But you're right and it's so hilarious." Thalia finished. The two siblings cracked up once again. The daughter of Bellona gave them time to calm down before moving on.
Anyway, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and
really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.
I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.
Bianca shot him a grateful look while Nico huffed in annoyance.
"We'll send out a decoy to the left, " Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that. "
"Got it!"
"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise. "
"Jason, I didn't know you were at camp Half-Blood before Hera did her whole swirtcheroo." Leo said. The others rolled their eyes.
"She meant Jason Abernathy from the Ares cabin." Annabeth pointed out.
"I don't remember seeing him at camp." Piper said confused.
"He died in the second Titan War." Clarisse replied gruffly.
"Oh," Leo said. Everyone fell silent for a few moments before the female praetor read on.
Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.
Thalia looked at me. "Anything to add, Percy?"
"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help. "
"And don't leave your post!" Thalia said.
"Unless you see a golden opportunity, " I added.
Thalia scowled. "Just don't leave your post. "
"Oh no," Annabeth groaned, "This isn't going to end well."
"Nope," Percy told them.
"Do I even want to know what happens next?"
"Not really, no, but you'll find out soon anyways."
"Right, unless-"
"Percy!" She touched my arm and shocked me. I mean, everybody can give static shocks in the winter, but when Thalia does, it hurts. I guess it's because her dad is the god of lightning. She's been known to fry off people's eyebrows.
"Sorry, " Thalia said, though she didn't sound particularly sorry. "Now, is everybody clear?"
"Sorry about that." Thalia said sincerley this time.
"No problem. It's in the past now." Percy said good naturedly.
Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.
Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few
seconds, then darted off toward the right.
I waited for something to happen. I climbed Zeus's Fist and had a good view over the forest. I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for something like that-one huge charge that could overwhelm us. But nothing happened.
"How very boring." Leo commented letting out a fake yawn in the process.
I caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts. They ran through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then I spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready.
They must've spotted Thalia.
"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.
My mind was racing. Thalia would never get through,
"Great to know that you have so much faith in me Percy." Thalia snorted.
"Sorry." He replied sheepishly.
but the Hunters were divided. With that many on either flank, their center had to be wide open. If I moved fast..
I looked at Beckendorf. "Can you guys hold the fort?"
Beckendorf snorted. "Of course. "
"Yeah, Percy of course they can." Leo added in. "Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?" The mechanic went back to working on his drawing which now included Tyson and Ella.
"I'm going in."
The Stoll brothers and Nico cheered as I raced toward the boundary line.
I was running at top speed and I felt great. I leaped over the creek into enemy territory.
They all listened intently as Reyna continued to read.
I could see their silver flag up ahead, only one guard, who wasn't even looking in my direction. I heard fighting to my left and right, somewhere in the woods. I had it made.
The guard turned at the last minute. It was Bianca di Angelo. Her eyes widened as I slammed into her and she went sprawling in the snow.
Nico didn't even react to the revelation.
I was ten yards away before Bianca managed to yell for help. I thought I was home free.
ZIP. A silvery cord raced across my ankles and fastened to the tree next to me. A trip wire, fired from a bow! Before I could even think about stopping, I went down hard, sprawling in the snow.
"Bad luck dude." Will shook his head sympathetically.
"Percy!" Thalia yelled, off to my left. "What are you doing?"
Before she reached me, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed around her team. They started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods-the horrible smell of sulfur.
"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"
They all laughed at Thalia's comment.
I got up and started running again. Only a few more yards to the creek and I had the game.
More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.
I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone-Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.
"No!" I yelled, and poured on the speed.
I was two feet from the water when Zoe bolted across to her own side, slamming into me for good measure. The Hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking grim. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.
"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced without pleasure. Then he muttered, "For the fifty-sixth time in a row. "
"Well, there's always next time." Hazel commented optimistically.
"Yeah, you never know." Frank said, "Next time you might get lucky."
"Hmm... maybe." Percy said after a moment.
"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yelled, storming toward me. She smelled like rotten eggs, and she was so mad that blue sparks flickered on her armor. Everybody cringed and backed up because of Aegis. It took all my willpower not to cower.
I balled my fists. I'd had enough bad stuff happen to me for one day. I didn't need this.
"This isn't going to end well." Jason grimaced. The others looked equally worried about the confrontation between the Son of Poseidon and the daughter of Zeus.
"I got the flag, Thalia!" I shook it in her face. "I saw a chance and I took it!"
"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" Thalia yelled. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won. "
"You had too many on you!"
"Oh, so it's my fault?"
"I didn't say that. "
The other demigods cringed and looked like they were expecting the world to end at that point. This fight between the two of them could only end badly.
"Argh!" Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water.
"Well, at least you landed in the water." Annabeth pointed out. "The water heals you."
"Yeah," Pery nodded in agreement.
Some of the campers gasped. A couple of the Hunters stifled laughs.
"Sorry!" Thalia said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to-"
Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe.
"And you got revenge too." Leo added. The fire-user then flinched remembering Nemesis and the encounter with you.
The others noticed his reaction and shot him concerned looks. "Are you okay Leo?" Piper asked tentatively.
"Yeah..." He offered weakly. When the others shot him disbelieving looks he sighed. "Just revenge made me think of Nemesis which made me remember Hazel's and my encounter with her." Leo admitted.
"That stuff Nemesis said wasn't true, Leo." Percy told him. "You do have a place with us. Heck, we wouldn't even be on this quest without you."
"You built the Argo II and saved us multiple times on our first quest together." Jason added.
"And you rebuilt Festus so that we could go on our quest to save Hera in the first place." Piper continued.
"You saved mine and Hazel's lives in Rome, remember?" Frank reminded the latino boy.
"That was only because I opened the fortune cookie Nemesis gave me." Leo argued. "And then Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus."
"Whoah, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute." Percy spoke up. "You can't honestly believe that Annabeth and I falling into Tartarus was your fault."
Leo looked away avoiding their gazes. They all knew the unspoken answer there.
"That's ridiculous Leo!" Annabeth exclaimed.
"Well, I opened the Fortune cookie."
"If you hadn't done that then Frank and I would be dead right now Leo." Hazel told him, "And Gaea would have already risen."
"Let's just keep reading this okay?" Leo interrupted their arguments.
"This isn't over Valdez." Piper said sternly. The daughter of Aphrodite then turned to Reyna and gestured for her to continue.
I stood up. "Yeah, " I growled. "I didn't mean to, either. "
Thalia was breathing heavily.
"Enough!" Chiron ordered.
But Thalia held out her spear. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"
Somehow, it was okay when Annabeth called me that
"Because you like her!" Leo said in a sing-song voice.
Percy splashed him with some water in retaliation.
The fire user spluttered in return and used his fire powers to dry himself without burning his clothes. He was wearing the ones that Calypso had made for him before he left her Island.
Percy just whistled innocently in reply before shooting the son of Hephaestus a grin.
-at least, I'd gotten used to it-but hearing it from Thalia was not cool.
"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!"
I raised Riptide, but before I could even defend myself, Thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into my chest.
"What the hell were the two of you thinking?!" Annabeth demanded. "You could have killed each other!"
They both mumbled apologies and Reyna continued to read the chapter.
I sat down hard. There was a burning smell; I had a feeling it was my clothes.
"Thalia!" Chiron said. "That is enough!"
I got to my feet and willed the entire creek to rise. It swirled up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.
"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.
I was about to hurl it at Thalia when I saw something in the woods. I lost my anger and my concentration all at once. The water splashed back into the creekbed. Thalia was so surprised she turned to see what I was looking at.
The demigods glanced at each other, wondering what it could be.
Someone... Something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.
"This is impossible, " Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous. "It... She has never left the attic. Never. "
And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.
They all looked nervous at that part, wondering if the mummy leaving the attic was a good thing or not.
None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.
I am the sprit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.
The Oracle regarded me with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. Approach, Seeker, and ask.
Was this when Zoe and Bianca were brought into the future? They wondered or just after the prophecy was spoken.
Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"
The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:
Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, The Titan's curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent's hand.
Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.
"That's the end of this chapter." Reyna announced. She passed the book to the daughter of Zeus, who cleared her throat and began to read the next chapter.
Author's notes: As you can probably tell from this chapter I am continuing this on Fanfiction. No one has actually told me that it's against the Rules, So until I have someone tell me that it is. I might as well continue it.