"The soul of the truest dark, will guide the path of a luring task,
To carry the burden of the masked,
To seek the life at the sea of told,
When one is given the wish to uphold,
And to break apart of once earth,
In the southern island of ancient most,
Where once lava is abroad and fear is sufficed,
In the valleys of death where once is met on hand,
North in the chasm of depth, where one will fall to their death,
Will open a gate hither to which ever command,
Where silk will lay in the deep treasured stone,
To fall into the hands of nox's mortal bone,
Guarded by the progeny of both love and war,
The mantlet will once be given to its rightful holder,
And the gods will bring upon terror,
And one will reveal the face of deception,
Till the Night be whole again"
Cressida gulped, processing this. She was then interrupted by a cacophony of the stairs when a girl with red hair and freckles bolted up, her shoes thumping the wood planks. It was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Cressida thought. She was the oracle of Camp Half-Blood. Cressida kept a tenacious grip on the parchment and everyone looked at Rachel as she came running to Cressida.
"Hey," she said breathlessly. She smirked uneasily and wrung her heads, "Hope I'm not late, had to finish an exam," She exhaled, looking at everyone. "You know – for school?"
Cressida eyed Rachel and her paint smothered shirt and jeans. "Uh – you're coming too?"
Rachel cocked her head. "No! Of course not," She said incredulity. "But I have a message for you! Well – Er, sort of."
Jack and Dominque exchanged odd glances. And the dark haired boy stood up with furrowed eyebrows. "What about us? Do Hazel and I seriously have to do this?"
Rachel pursed her lips, eyes sad. "I'm sorry, Nico. I have no control of that… Fate – Well, Fates – are playing a cruel game. But I'm only delivering a message to Cressida, not a prophecy, I couldn't see anything about that…"
Nico 's shoulders slumped, he nodded and he looked at Hazel, her golden eyes were glistening. Cressida wondered why she looked so sad, and why she and Nico were reluctant or shall she say, furious, to proceed on this quest.
Rachel clapped her hands. "Anyway – Cressida," Cressida faced her. "I have something to say, and it's short so I won't hold you guys up," Rachel swallowed and looked seriously at Cressida. "You make your own destiny,"
"That's it?" Jack said, sniggering. "That's your message?"
Dominque smacked Jack's arm and Rachel stared at him. "Yes," she said, undisturbed.
Cressida shook her head lightly. "I don't get it,"
'Well it's pretty self-explanatory, if you ask me," Dominque said, her grey eyes amused. "I mean – right?" she glanced at everyone individually, expecting them to side with her in understanding.
"What is it you don't get, Cressida?" Rachel asked, curious.
"Why isn't my fate decided?" Cressida asked. She didn't get this whole thing – why, why, why? That question was left unanswered constantly. She couldn't get a straight answer out of anything, lately. Not in this godful world.
Rachel lowered her eyebrows slowly and levelled her green eyes to Cressida. "Isn't it obvious?" Rachel said. "You're the only demi-god daughter of Nyx, and you are the fates blood. Of course you have your own destiny,"
There was a stretched silence. "What?" a cold voice said. "She's the daughter of Nyx? As in Night?"
It was Nico. His pale face perplexed and Hazel's eyes were wide with shock. Didn't they know? Thought Cressida. Cressida averted her dark eyes, inching from foot to foot.
Rachel frowned. "I thought you guys knew."
"No. It seems like we haven't been getting the information out of anyone or anything." Said a soft voice. Cressida looked up and saw that Hazel had talked, her lips were pursed thin and her gold eyes glittered. "And an offspring of Nyx… Why does this concern us? Why do we have to go on this quest?" her voice wasn't angry or anything, though it shook with each word she uttered. Hazel's eyes were cold and she didn't even glance at Cressida.
Cressida felt her blood run cold. And she spoke before Rachel could, "You were chosen specifically," she said. Everyone looked at her. "Nyx – my Mother, said so herself. You each play a role."
Dominique looked oddly pale. Jack arched his eyebrows. Rachel spoke, "Exactly. Um… I'd say you guys should go,"
This was it. The time to start off the journey to a place unknown to them all. No one knows what will transpire. Nico stood up abruptly and looked around expectedly, his eyes focused lastly on Cressida's. They didn't look so friendly. "Well, let's go then. What are you guys waiting for?"
"Err, where do we start off?" Jack inquired. "I mean… we can't take a plane, too dangerous. And we don't even know where were going."
Nico stared at him. "You've never been on a quest before, have you?"
Jack shut his mouth. Dominque stood up, flicking her long dark hair behind her, "Well, I think I know where." She walked up to Cressida and snatched the parchment that contained the written words of the prophecy and skimmed her eyes over the lines. "…southern island of ancient most. Santorini. That's where we head off too,"
"How do you know this?" Cressida asked, puzzled.
She cocked her head, regarding Cressida. Then spoke in a snobby voice that exuded the fact that she knew everything and spoke as if they were all children, "Santorini is one of the ancient islands of the gods and is located in the southernmost point,"
"What the hade's a Santorini?" Jack said, eyebrows high into his hair and he was grinning.
"It's in Greece," Hazel said.
"How can you be so sure?" Cressida couldn't help it, she had to ask.
Dominque rolled her eyes and plucked her lips. "Near Santorini there's an island…" she said and everyone waited for her to continue. "And near that island there's a volcano, look," she pointed at the parchment and read the lines. "'Where once lava is abroad and fear is sufficed'… I don't know about the fear part, though."
"Figures," Jack muttered. Dominique shot him a condescending look.
"You guys have better get going," Rachel said. She had been quiet for a while, standing there with her paint splattered clothes. Her voice seemed to be laced with fear and apprehension. "Now…"
"Till quests do us part," Jack said lightly, shouldering his bag. "May we not fall, friends,"
Nico exchanged a look with Hazel. "You ready?" he whispered to her, squeezing her hands.
Hazel nodded, and mouthed, "Yes,"
Cressida watched them with fascination. Then Dominque snapped her fingers in front of her face, "Hurry up, Nixie,"
The journey had commenced. All of them chosen to participate in this quest had their bags full of essentials, treading down the strawberry fields and past the cabins whilst all the campers gazed at them. The sun was high in the sky, clouds like marshmallows seemed to happily daze while sending silent foreboding messages. Cressida looked beside her, at Jack who grinned at her and gave her thumbs up. She felt nauseous, but she didn't say anything.
No one talked when they had left Camp Half-Blood.