The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging Chapter 9: Someone Please Get Camp A New Oracle, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

BIANCA: Italics.

SARAH: Yeah, Italians.

.ೃ࿐ CHAPTER SIX .ೃ࿐

( volume one ) the weight of living

vi Someone Please Get Camp A New Oracle

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THAT NIGHT, SARAH DOES NOT SLEEP WELL AT ALL, THE NIGHTMARES SHE HAD DREADED FOR CENTURIES RETURN ⸺ KRONOS RETURNS TO TORMENT HER AFTER YEARS OF SILENCE. Everything about these nightmares are worse than she remembers. His voice sends shivers down her spine, the person he is speaking with terrifies her even more ⸺ Atlas, he is speaking with the titan, Atlas.

Luke is there too, he looks like his he is in excruciating pain, his blue eyes dart around, he holds back screams of pain. He is holding up the sky for Atlas, she realizes and Sarah wants nothing more than the run and help him with it but she finds that moving, even running is like wading through knee deep molasses.

"When Thorn gets down here with that Demigod brat, she will take your place. The brat will be the perfect bait for that damned Goddess, she always did have a soft spot for young maidens," Atlas explains, barely sparing Luke a glance.

Luke struggles to ask who Thorn as managed to get, through the pain. Atlas does not answer him, Kronos laughs coldly, his voice echoing around them.

"It does not matter who it is, she will help you, you must to trick her into taking the sky from you. Without her we cannot trick Artemis. There is no way this could go wrong if you do what is instructed of you."

Luke struggles to nod his head, he grounds out an "Of course, my lord." through a pained cry.

Sarah struggles closer to Luke, he is just out of reach, her fingertips are millimetres away from grazing his face. Her blood runs cold as she feels Kronos' look at her. He doesn't have a physical body, but he can sense when she has made her way to him in her dreams, and he knows she's there now.

He lets out a cold laugh "Little witch, I knew you would come if I called. Even after all these years, you never learned to ignore me . . . Do you not think that is a sign?"

Luke chokes out something that sounds like her name among a questions. Tears prick at the corner of his eyes and Sarah, forgetting what Grover had told her earlier and all the rage and betrayal that had come with it washes away as she tries to touch him, to offer some semblance of comfort but she finds it even harder to move.

"Get him out of there! You're going to kill him," Sarah screams, stretching her fingers out desperately to reach Luke.

"The intent is not to kill, Little Witch, the intent is to trick," Kronos croons out.

"Artemis won't fall for it, you underestimate her, you cannibalistic bastard," Sarah snarls, not daring to look away from Luke who is freely crying now.

Kronos growls, the ground beneath her feet, pitch black, rumbles dangerously, neither Luke or Atlas react to it so it must be in her head. She tries not to let her emotions get the better of her as it feels like the ground might collapse from underneath her feet.

Luke croaks out her name. Her fingertips graze the scar on his cheek, feather light. Sarah hardly realizes she's almost reached him, Luke certainly doesn't feel it.

"I had hoped that Thorn had got you instead, Little Witch, but I suppose that this child will do," Kronos says, deciding not to comment on her insult.

Her blood runs cold as it all falls to pieces in front of her eyes ⸺ Thorn, he means the Manticore! Which means he means Annabeth.

At this moment, Annabeth stumbles into sight. Uninjured as far as Sarah can see, her face red as she demands for Thorn to show himself.

"No," Sarah chokes out, "No! No! No!"

Atlas and Kronos expect Luke to trick Annabeth into holding up the sky? He wouldn't do that to little Annabeth, he loved her! He wouldn't do that, would he?

Kronos laughs loudly, so loudly that it vibrates through out Sarah's surroundings, rattling her bones as she cries out for Annabeth to turn and run. And then suddenly her eyes fly open and she's met with a panic-stricken Phoebe.

"No," Sarah cries out feebly.

"Did you have the same dream," She whispers to Sarah.

Sarah blinks, feeling distraught and confused as she tries to take in her surroundings. All the Hunters are up and Zoe is storming out of the door.

"What ⸺ what is happening?"

"Zo, she had a dream, claims that Artemis is in danger! Did you dream that too," Phoebe clarifies, gripping on tightly to Sarah's shoulders.

Sarah remembers that Atlas and Kronos are planning on tricking Artemis, as for why, Sarah doesn't know all she knows is that Annabeth is in danger and Artemis will be soon.

Sarah blinks again, words failing her.

"Zoe," Naomi calls out, "Wait, Sarah has seen it too, she should go with you!"

Zoe is already out the door, out of sight, whether or not she heard, none of them knew. Hunter throws Sarah a pair of boots, she barely catches them as she sits up.

"You should go with her, you're way more friendly with these camp folk!" They say to her as they pick up Sarah's jacket, "She'll start a fight if they don't listen to her, which I doubt they will, but maybe they'll listen to two."

Sarah nods, stumbling as she shoves on her boots and sits up "You ⸺ you're right!"

Hunter helps Sarah put on her jacket and Sarah mumbles a thank you, they pat her shoulder in response.

Sarah stumbles after Zoe, who is a lot faster than Sarah had ever cared to notice before. As she struggles to catch up with Zoe, she catches sight of Grover, who is also following Zoe.

"Hey," Sarah calls out to him, he freezes and slowly starts to turn to her, "Were you camping outside our cabin?"

His eyes widen and he shakes his head like a little liar.

"Grove, that is so weird! How many of you are doing that?"

"Er ⸺ ( "Grover!" ) ⸺ four of us! None of us looked in the windows, we wouldn't do that, well, Acacius did ⸺ tried to ⸺ but we sent them to sit at the time out tree! If you'd like to use them for target practice we have plenty of apples and we'll pretend not to see!" Grover bleats out nervously.

"Satyrs are so weird when it comes to us ⸺ ugh! you know what, it doesn't matter! Zo and I need to speak with Chiron and Mr. D, Artemis and Annabeth are in danger! Do you think you can get Argus to let us in to the Big House?"

Grover nods eagerly "Of course!"

And with that both following after Zoe again. By the time they reach her, she's already starting a fight with Argus. Sarah can barely understand what Zoe is saying, when she gets distressed Zoe resorts to speaking at a rapid fire pace and often uses very olden insults. Whatever she is saying does not sit well with Argus who orders her to go back to her cabin, telling her that it can wait until morning.

Zoe disagrees and she snaps viciously "Lady Artemis is in danger, thou boiled-brain lout! Now let me speak with Chiron, my sisters and myself must leave immediately to help Lady Artemis!"

Hundreds of Argus' eyes narrow at Zoe "It is the middle of the night, you flagitious girl! You may speak with Chiron in the morning, now go back to your cabin before I call the Harpies upon you."

"Hey! Hey, let's not throw insults around like we are twelve," Sarah comes up the steps, fixing Argus with heated glare, "We need to speak with Chiron, it is urgent."

"It is two in the morning," Argus retort giving Sarah an annoyed glare with several of his eyes.

Sarah flexes her fingers, the air grows hot around the group, suffocatingly so, she glares at Argus, the wind picks up, mimicking the whispers of the dead "It doesn't matter what time it is, Lady Artemis and Annabeth Chase are in danger and both myself and Zoe have witnessed it in our dreams. They are going to be held captive on Mount Othrys by Atlas, Chiron and Mr. D must be informed so they can take action immediately."

Argus shifts uncomfortably, several of his eyes dart around as he tries to hear what the wind is whispering. But most of his eyes stay focused on Sarah with a calculating look.

A thin trickle of blood begins to drip from Sarah's nose and she curls her fingers into fists. The air grows hotter, the wind picks up sounding like the cries of the dead, it was almost as if the group was actually in the Underworld.

"Please, Argus, this is seriously important."

Argus relents, huffing angrily as he tells them to wait here before disappearing back into the Big House. Sarah drops her little parlour trick, even something as simple as what she did was tiring to her. She could never understand why Kronos targeted her when her other half-siblings when they were alive, were so much stronger.

Sarah exhales relieved that he listened, Zoe holds out a tissue in front of Sarah's face before Sarah can even think to grab one herself. From the corner of Sarah's eye she can see that Zoe looks mildly impressed, but she looked more concerned than anything. It's understandable, Artemis is Zoe's entire world, the Hunt and the Huntresses are all Zoe has known for more than a millennia.

Eventually Chiron comes trotting to the door with Argus at his side. He's in his festive pyjamas and his tail is in those fancy curlers from the 60s or whatever. He looks both alarmed and tired at the same time "Argus tells me that you've both had some concerning dreams, please come inside. I will make you some hot chocolate while you tell me everything."

Zoe and Sarah nods eagerly and slip inside.

"Grover . . . What are you doing here," Chiron asks perplexed as he spots Grover who had been hiding behind Sarah.

Sarah looks over her shoulder to see Grover's eyes go wide as an owl's and he stammers some lame excuse about not being able to sleep when he seen the two Hunters having trouble with Argus and thought maybe he could help. Chiron absolutely does not buy it but he doesn't say so, instead he tells Grover to go back to his bed in his home, putting emphasis on the 'his home' part. Grover nods, probably blushing all the way down to his adam's apple as he turns on his hoof and begins sulking off to the forest.

Chiron tells Argus to make some hot chocolate for them and gestures for them to take a seat in the living room. Sarah takes a seat but Zoe, who often paces when anxious, does not.

Chiron starts to ask for them to explain their dreams but he hardly gets a word out before Zoe launches into the details and demanding permission to leave camp.

THE NEXT THING SARAH KNOWS SHES BACK IN BED IN CABIN EIGHT, SHE BOLTS UP, AND LOOKS AROUND WILDLY, THE OTHER HUNTERS ARE ALL ASLEEP, LOOKING RESTLESS AS THEY DREAM. The only thing that tells Sarah that last night had not all been a terrible nightmare is the fact that her coat is on her.

"Morning," Zoe mumbles grumpily from the bed next to her.

Sarah turns to look at the older girl, she's wide awake and completely dressed.

"Thou must have passed out, Chiron asked thou about thy dream but thou did not respond . . . The blasted Centaur did not give us permission to leave, he said that we must wait until he discusses everything with Lord Dionysus," Zoe explains, thoroughly and rightfully disgruntled.

"You cannot go, Zoe! Of course, he did not let you leave! Atlas will not hesitate to strike you down now that he is free if you were to tread into his territory," Sarah whispers anxiously.

"I do not care, I will not let him harm Lady Artemis. I had this dream for a reason and I will go with all of you to rescue Lady Artemis. She left me in charge, I am her lieutenant ⸺"

"Zoe, be rational! Lady Artemis would rather you be alive than be the one to rescue her. Let Phoebe and I handle this, we are the oldest after you ⸺"

"It doth not matter, the Centaur denied us, there is . . . There is nothing we can do." Zoe grumbles, looking pained to admit that there is really nothing any of them could do without getting into serious trouble.

Sarah doubts that Zoe will listen to Chiron, she's surprised she hasn't woken up the rest of the Hunters and told them to start packing up their things. But, Sarah is quick to reason that Chiron must have said something to appease Zoe, to not have her recklessly leaving in the middle of the night with the Hunters at her side.

"Yet, I'm assuming," Sarah says, "Chiron must have something in the works, we just need to be patient."

Zoe nods slowly, she does not look happy "I would much rather be on our way to find Lady Artemis but the Centaur said he would contact the Olympians first, see if they can find Lady Artemis before she falls victim to whatever he is planning. But that is only if these dreams haven't already come to pass."

"Then we must hope they haven't," Sarah sighs, trying to sound reassuring, "Tonight, after Capture the Flag, if they have done nothing or told us nothing than we shall leave and by we, I mean Phoebe and I. Hey, no ands, ifs, or buts! Zoe, as much as you want to you cannot come!"

Zoe doesn't disagree, just smiles softly and tells her "You'd make a fine lieutenant, Sarah, despite your shortcomings."

Sarah would much rather Zoe had disagreed and put up a fight.

WITH THE REVELATION THAT LADY ARTEMIS WAS SOON TO BE IN DANGER, NONE OF THE HUNTERS WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO CAPTURE THE FLAG LIKE THEY WERE AT DINNER YESTERDAY. Sarah was helping Bianca get her armour on, even though the young girl hadn't agreed to become a Hunter yet, they had asked if she wanted to play on their team to even things out.

Camp Half-Blood's team had seventeen members were as the hunters had fourteen with Bianca. Sarah was sure that they'd be fine without Bianca on their team but Zoe and Phoebe thought it would be a good way to show her what it would be like on the Hunt. Bianca had agreed so Sarah didn't say anything against the idea.

"Did you really have to antagonize her, Kiera," Mal is saying to one of the newer members of the Hunt, a girl from the 80s. Sarah looks over to see that Kiera looks proud as she shrugs her shoulders.

Mal shakes her head "Silena never plays ⸺"

Sarah had heard the name before, she thinks that Mal is referring to one of her Demigod siblings on her mother's side. And then she remembers young Silena, her last name started with a B but Sarah couldn't really remember other than it was a fancy B name. Silena had been so nice and curious towards Sarah during the summer of the missing Masterbolt, apparently Silena had really been into Historical Documentaries at the time and had recently watched one of the Salem Witch Trials which mentioned Sarah. She had told Sarah that the drawing that someone did of her did not do her justice, especially her nose. Sarah thinks that she had been talking about a drawing that Giles did.

"And so she won't be like a threat, why are you so angry?" Kiera questions, unaware of what Mal had an issue with.

"Silena is a decent fighter, she's even better when she's with Lorelei who is a very skilled swordsman! And 'love is worthless' . . . Really, Kie, a bad fight to pick with an Aphrodite kid," Mal shakes her head.

"Well, it's true, love is like totally stupid," Kiera says defensively.

Mal rolls her eyes "While I don't quite disagree, I would like to point out that Lady Aphrodite is the Goddess of love, not specifically romantic love, although she specifically caters more towards romantic love, her children, however do not. Not all love is stupid, not all love is worthless. Besides Lady Artemis, what do you think binds all of us together? It is storge or philia ⸺ familial love. After this game, you are to apologize to my sister for attacking her values."

Kiera grumbles to herself but nods, Mal's scolding expression softens and she smiles "Good."

Sarah gives a tug on Bianca's armour "Does this feel right ⸺ feel protected?"

Bianca smiles shyly "I think so . . . It's not as heavy as I expected. Er, why are we the only two wearing armour?"

"The girls think they're untouchable ⸺"

"Please," Hunter snorts, "We are untouchable."

"If you say so Mx-I-Trip-Over-My-Shoelaces," Sarah retorts teasingly.

Hunter blushes right up to the tips of their ears and falls silent, scowling playfully at Sarah.

"Anyway, the armour is just extra protection for me, and it is required to be worn by the campers during capture the flag. And since, you are technically a camper, you should be wearing it," Sarah explains, Bianca nods and looks relieved.

"So, Nico will be wearing this too?"

"Absolutely! He's going to be fine, he'll be well protected, more than likely Nico will be put on guard duty with a few others. Guard duty is one of the easier positions," Sarah reassures Bianca, "You and I will be on Guard Duty for our team."

Chiron's hoof thunders on the pavilion floor, signalling that the games is about to start.

"Heroes!" Chiron calls, "You know the rules! The river 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!"

"Magical items," Bianca asks skeptically as she follows Sarah and the rest of the Hunters to the east woods.

Sarah nods "Yeah, some Demigods have special weapons and us Hunters, well, some of us have enchanted arrows and enhanced bows. While playing capture the flag though, I prefer to use my dagger."

"The one you gave me to use?"

Sarah shakes her head "No, the one I gave you is one I got from camp's armoury since we have no swords or daggers of our own that we can spare you. My dagger is here," Sarah explains, patting the sheath on her belt, "Only children of the Underworld can properly wield my dagger as its iron comes directly from the Underworld."

"Oh," Bianca says, looking mildly overwhelmed, she nods and falls silent.

Unlike Nico, it seems that Bianca was struggling to wrap her head around everything. She had her moments today where she was taking things way too easily like Nico but then there'd be moments where she'd freeze and look so lost. Nico, seemed to have just accepted everything but that doesn't mean he's processed it. Sarah's pretty sure that Bianca is torn between just accepting things as is and trying to process it at the same time. Sarah wished they had better introduction to their world then the one they got.

"You seemed to do real well with the bow and arrow yesterday, so I recommend using that if you find it more comfortable. You'll find that my bow is made of celestial bronze so feel free to use it as a bat if you have too, it won't break."

Bianca nods slowly, looking owlish as she stares at Sarah with wide familiar dark eyes. If she has any more questions for Sarah, she doesn't ask them.

She looks so familiar, Sarah has many questions for Bianca but she doesn't ask them either. She doubts Bianca has the answers.

Maria, her mind tells her, but she doesn't really understand why. Sarah had briefly known a woman that she called Miss. Maria back in the early 1930s, she worked in a hotel that her dad would often go to meet up with Persephone during the summer in secret. Sarah's memories of this time are blurry because she suffered a severe head injury all thanks to Zeus who struck her down upon learning of the Great Prophecy. At least that's what her dad and Lady Persephone told her.

Sarah doesn't understand why she thinks of Maria at this moment perhaps Bianca and Nico stayed at that hotel, which was possibly a type of Lotus Hotel, similar to the one that her and the gang had been stuck in during the Lightning Thief quest. It would explain why her dad and Persephone constantly chose that Hotel to meet up during their secret summer meet ups. This would explain why the Di Angelos looked familiar, it would explain why she connected Bianca to Miss. Maria. Still, something about her theory doesn't sit quite right with her.

And she doesn't dwell on it long as Bianca tugs gently on her jacket sleeve and asks if she's alright. Sarah blinks at Bianca then nods her head, plastering a smile on her face.

Phoebe goes over their strategy once more, it was similar enough to all their other strategies from times at camp, however this time Sarah would not be going with Phoebe and Zoe to get the flag. Still, even with Sarah not with the leading ladies she was sure that the Hunters would win. Phoebe's almost over the strategy when Chiron blows the conch shell signalling the game has begun.

Phoebe, Mal, Cel, and Zoe take the lead with Josephine, Naomi, Olive and Hunter taking the right flank. Shauna, Jackie, Norma, and Kiera taking the left flank. Leaving Sarah and Bianca to guard the area in which they put the flag.

Guard duty was somehow more boring than she remembered it but somehow Bianca was enjoying it so Sarah kept her complaints to herself. Bianca's eyes dart around the expanse of land looking for any sign of the enemy, she keeps a firm grasp on the sword that Sarah had given her.

"So do we actually use the swords," Bianca asks as she rocks on the balls of her feet, dark eyes flitting around at every sound .

"Yes! But only aim for the armoured areas of your opponent, it's okay if you get them in some other area just as long as you don't intentionally try to maim or injure them."

Bianca nods her head, looking still slightly uncertain but her grip on the hilt tightens more.

"It's all a little strange isn't it," Sarah remarks, a small smirk pulling at her chapped lips, "Took me a solid decade to fully wrap my head around it, I think, not even a trip to meet my father in the literal Underworld made things easier. I went with it at first because it's all I really had . . . But, a week later I was baffled that it was all true. It'll take awhile to get used to everything but I assure you that you will get used to it in your own way. It won't always feel so strange."

Bianca smiles at Sarah, standing up straighter as she whispers out a "Thank you."

Sarah nods, smiling gently "Any time, kid."

The fall into silence for several minutes, they canvas the area around their flag. It's painfully boring and then finally Sarah catches sight of two campers, Aphrodite kids by the looks of it, she recognizes Lorelei who was most definitely an Aphrodite kid. Sarah remembers her from the summer of the missing Masterbolt, she had what Luke described as 'beef' with him. And thus Lorelei had made it her mission to torment not only Sarah but Louisa May Danvers as well.

Sarah never paid much mind to it, it was just pettiness, only bothering to cut in for Louisa's sake. Luke didn't even seem bothered by Lorelei's vicious remarks unless he heard her say something about his siblings, Annabeth, Sarah, or Louisa. Sarah isn't even sure of what issues Lorelei had with Luke, she was pretty sure it had something to do with swordsmanship. Something along the lines of Lorelei wanting to be the best but always being overshadowed by Luke by pretty much the entire camp. But, it had been so long since Sarah had thought about it, she couldn't say if that was all there was to the matter.

Sarah points the group out to Bianca, telling the younger girl that she was going to handle them while Bianca should hang back and guard the flag just in case the group was just a distraction. Bianca easily agrees, standing guard rigidly around their flag, casting a concerned glance at Sarah who gives her a smile before turning to run off.

Now, Sarah doesn't want to underestimate the Aphrodite kids because it would be presumptuous and also she in her 300 years of being alive had met some pretty badass Aphrodite kids but she wasn't too worried about this group. She knew that Lorelei was almost as good as Luke the few times she had seen them spar that summer, she knew that the other girl with Lorelei, Silena, could spar quite well too but Sarah was ultimately faster, stronger, and all around a better fighter. However, there was still a chance she could be severely humbled by these campers so she wasn't going to let her guard down. It would be incredibly stupid and arrogant of her and while she wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, she was not arrogant.

The group paused upon seeing her, however none of them looked nervous. Lorelei, grinned viciously, looking like a cat who just caught the canary.

"Well, well if it isn't Luke's little girlfriend." Lorelei taunts.

Sarah tries not to but she bristles at the taunt even if it was lame. She had heard the voices, the implications from the time she had arrived with Luke and the others at camp, she had it heard it all when she showed up again during the spring and summer of the missing Lightning Thief. Everyone, not just the Aphrodite lot, had been interested in whatever she and Luke had going on which was nothing and something all at the same time. It hadn't quite bothered her the first time around and she refused to let it bother her now.

But, Lorelei must've noticed how Sarah's grip tightened on her weapon, she must've seen Sarah jaw set as she straightened herself out because Lorelei's grin widens.

"Lore, come on," Silena says, "Don't bring Luke into this."

Lorelei rolls her eyes "Oh, Lena, all is fair in love and war."

"But this isn't war, this is capture the flag."

The boy snickers, he's the oldest of the group but not the leader so Sarah merely spares him a glance. The three of them share the same kaleidoscope-like eyes, they were all Aphrodite kids. This wasn't just a distraction, this was revenge for what Kiera had said earlier.

Sarah sighs heavily.

"It's all the same to Lori, Silena. But, you're right. Lori, don't bring Luke into this. It won't work, she never gave a shit about him, she's just another cold-hearted Hunter." The boy snorts, sneering at Sarah.

She scowls back at him because how dare he assume she never gave a shit. No one knew how terrible she felt having to turn him down when he was the first person to worm his way into her heart since her days as a Salem villager. No one knew how she wanted to be with him but it didn't feel right, all she had known for so long was the Hunt, how could she give that up so easily.

"You're right, Colby . . . This was personal, so we should make it personal. And I know just how to get under her skin." Lorelei draws out, looking smug as she brandish a weird looking celestial bronze weapon.

Sarah rolls her eyes because she doubts that Lorelei knows how to get under her skin. She'd be better off challenging Sarah to a fight. The girl, Silena, pales and looks at the weapon with disbelief, even the boy's demeanour drops into nervousness.

"Isn't that Randall's?" Silena asks, frowning at her half-sister.

An Ares' kid weapon? Okay, that was a little concerning but Lorelei didn't look ready to fight so Sarah holds her ground. She subtly reaches for her own weapon it seems to go unnoticed by the group.

Lorelei grins "It is! 'Ris got it for me, Randall's always losing it, he won't miss it. It's time for us to have some fun."

"Don't you think this is a little too personal," Silena argues softly, "I mean, she wasn't even with the Hunters who were teasing us."

"Please," Lorelei snorts, 'All Hunters think the same."

"That's presumptuous of you and also bold coming from a daughter of Aphrodite. You want me to be like the rest of the Hunters, fine, I'll be like the rest of the hunters. What are you even doing here, Barbie, don't you have some nails to go paint." Sarah taunts sarcastically, it's not her best work but she doesn't really care, she just wants one of her sisters to get the flag and for this to be over with.

However, Lorelei takes this very personally. She snarls, drawing the strange-looking sword up and Sarah is quick to draw her own dagger but Lorelei does not strike and Sarah is caught off guard by the weapon catching on fire.

Sarah lets out a yelp but it's drowned out by Bianca yelling for help, seconds later Percy is sprinting past them, in between Sarah and the group of Aphrodite kids. He's too focused on winning or else she was sure he would have noticed the fire. Part of Sarah wants to yell for his help, desperation makes her weak, but another part of her knows that it's not fair to involve him. Percy would definitely help despite being on different teams and that could cost him the game and Sarah couldn't ask him that considering her past treatment of him and his twin.

Beads of sweat pool on the crown of her head as the fire consumes her vision, normally Sarah is okay with fire when it's on the ground but it's on a sword and dangerously close to her. She swears she sees a group of vaguely familiar villagers standing behind the Aphrodite siblings but she knows that's ridiculous. Sarah tumbles backwards as Lorelei jabs the burning sword at her.

She falls to her feet, the coolness of the snow against her hands jolts her out of her panicked stupor ever so slightly. But she can still see the point of the sword directed at her, getting closer. Sarah feels trapped, tears threaten to fall but Sarah refuses to give them that satisfaction ⸺ it's just sweat, she'll say if anyone dares to ask.

Lorelei is laughing loudly, just pointing the weapon at Sarah "Look at her ⸺ who's the weak one now?"

Both Colby and Silena are saying something to Lorelei but Sarah cannot make out what they're saying. It just sounds like jeering. Witch. Murderer. Devil child! Get her! Sarah knows that it's not that all but she can't make out any of the sounds so maybe that is what she is hearing.

They're going to burn her, Sarah struggles to breathe, the flames are burning hot against her skin. They're going to burn her, no one is going to save her, she's going to ⸺ stop! No, stop. She chokes on her own breath, leaning forward, something sizzles and the smokes fills her nose.

Lorelei curses something, her laughter stops and the heat is gone. And everything was just in Sarah's head. But, the smell of something burning still lingers.

Silena is kneeling by Sarah's side "She's having a panic attack, Lore! Honestly, what did you expect to happen! And her hair, her beautiful hair, Lore! You could've seriously burned her.

Sarah is vaguely aware of Silena's fingers running through her messy hair.

"I don't think it's too bad, it barely got to her scalp but it may still blister. If she doesn't report you to Chiron, I will! You took this too far."

Silena helps Sarah stand up, pressing cold snow into Sarah's hand "I heard the cold helps with panic attacks, at least that's what Lou tells everyone. You're alright, I'm sorry about my sister, she gets really . . . Well, she does some seriously morally messed up shit when it comes to capture the flag. I'm sorry you ended up being the target and I'm sorry she chose that way to mess with you. Neither Cole or I were expecting that."

Honestly, Sarah doesn't really care but she finds that Silena is right the cold does seem to help ground Sarah, and Silena did have a very soothing voice. Sarah nods half-heartedly, she just wants to know whether or not the game was over and if her team had won. She'll keep these three distracted by acting more dazed then she feels.

"Unfortunately she got a good chunk of your hair, it looks pretty bad but I can fix it. I'm really good at giving stellar haircuts." Silena soothes.

And Sarah frowns at this, she didn't particular care about beauty and stuff that goes hand in hand with it but she did like her hair well enough. All the girls in her village had been hilariously jealous of it and Sarah did find fun in creating different hairstyles in her free time. During the eighties, she rocked Princess Leia hairstyles all the time.

"Hey, don't give out haircuts to the enemy," Lorelei snaps but she doesn't sound nearly as aggressive as before.

"You nearly maimed her, I think I can very well give out a whole makeover if she wants me too," Silena snaps back.

Their argument is cut short by Percy letting out a miserable cry in the distance. Sarah tries not to smile because of the weapon Lorelei is armed with but she is pleased that her team had obviously won.

The three Aphrodite kids groan but make no move to retaliate against Sarah. In fact Silena continues to treat her nicely and Sarah decides that she definitely likes Silena.

Bianca comes over, apologizing profusely for letting Percy get the flag but Sarah assures her that it's okay and that the game is done, there is always next time for her to do better. With that they gather around Chiron who miserably announces that the Hunters have once again won.

On Chiron's back sit two kids that Sarah recognizes as the Stoll brothers ⸺ Luke's half brothers. They have a handful of arrows sticking out of their Helmets, Sarah sighs and shakes her head at her sisters' antics.

"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yells, storming towards the son of Poseidon, smelling like rotten eggs due to the Hunters' arrows. Blue sparks flicker across her armour, she's seething.

Everybody cringes at the sight of her shield, Aegis. Even Bianca, who's never heard of it before, shivers and leans into Sarah's side.

"What in the name of the Gods were you thinking," Thalia bellows.

"I got the flag, Thalia!" Percy snaps, shaking the said flag in her face, "I saw a chance and I took it!"

"I was at their base," Thalia snarls, "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won."

Sarah pinches the bridge of her nose, knowing that this was going to get bad but she does nothing to stop it because part of her wants to see how it turns out. She'll stop it before anyone gets too injured, she decides, unless Chiron gets to that first.

"You had too many on you!" Percy counters, a good argument but Thalia obviously doesn't think so.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Thalia twists his words, narrowing her almost glowing eyes.

'I didn't say that.' Percy says.

Thalia growls pushing Percy, sending a shock through his body that blows him backwards three metres into the water. If he had not landed in the water, Sarah would've put herself in between them but now they were on fair ground. Some of the campers gasp and a couple of the Hunters stifle laughter.

"Sorry!" Thalia says sincerely, turning pale. "I didn't mean to ⸺"

A wave erupts from the river, blasting into Thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe. Sarah holds back laughter, and Cher comes to stand next to her, looking nervous as she gnaws on her thumb.

"Should we stop them," An Athena kid asks Cher, his grey eyes wide with concern as he looks between the water and Cher.

"Nah," Cher says although she sounds nervous, "We should either let Chiron handle it or let them tire themselves out.

Percy stands up, fists balled at his side as he spits out that he didn't mean it either.

Thalia, breathing heavily, obviously doesn't believe him, she holds out her spear despite Chiron ordering both of them to stop.

"You want some, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia taunts.

"Ooh, bad move." Cher mutters to the Athena kid.

Bad move indeed, Sarah thinks as she watches Percy's eyes darken and his body trembles. The water becomes restless. This was going to get ugly, Sarah looks to Chiron who looks exasperated as he struggles to control the situation.

"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!" Percy retorts, raising Riptide.

Thalia yells, summoning lightning to strike her spear and kickstart it before Percy can barely defend himself. She slams it into his chest, he lands back down hard, his clothes sizzles but not catching on fire thankfully.

"Thalia!" Chiron snaps, "That is enough!"

Percy struggles to his feet, the entire river rises up with him but in a much sturdier fashion. It swirls up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.

"Percy!" Chiron pleads.

Percy moves to send the funnel Thalia's way but it falls back down with a thunderous roar, his mouth hangs open as he stares at something behind Sarah. She can hear it, a whispering a thousands of snakes speaking in words that she cannot make out. Thalia is so surprised by Percy's reaction that she turns to look to, everyone else follows suit.

The oracle was approaching, shrouded in a murky green mist, there's a collective gasp from the crowd.

"Holy shit," Cher breathes out, hiding behind the Athena kid.

"This is impossible," Chiron gasps, sounding so nervous that it made Sarah even more nervous, "It... she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet the withered mummy that holds the Oracle shuffles forward until she stands in the centre of the group. Mist curls around everyone's feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

No one dares move, then her voice hisses inside Sarah's head. And not just hers but several others, campers and Hunters alike, clutch their hands over the ears.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice says, Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle regards Percy with its cold, dead eyes than the Oracles turns to face Zoe. Sarah's stomach drops, and she lets out a choked gasp.

Approach, seeker, and ask The Oracle instructs, unmistakably referring to Zoe.

Zoe swallows but stands up straighter and asks: "What must I do to help my Goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opens, green mist pouring out. Vague images of a mountain and a girl standing at the barren peak. Lady Artemis, but she's wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She kneels, hands raised as if to fend off an attacker ⸺ or as if she's holding up Atlas' burden!

The Oracle speaks the prophecy:

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,

Two 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 with everyone watching, the mist swirls, retreating like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sits down on a rock and becomes as still as she'd been the last handful of decades, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

The last line echoes in Sarah's head and she feels this heavy weight settle on her shoulders because she knows that last line is about Zoe. There is no way that it is not. And there's nothing that Sarah can do to stop it because this is now Zoe's quest.

( nulla ) The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging

the author's commentary

I have a headcanon that the lotus hotel is not the only one of its kind but rather a chain of hotels and casinos spread through out america!! however the one that bianca and nico were in is the same one as the one scene in the lightning thief!! also sarah definitely played mythomagic with nico while the gang was stuck in the lotus hotel during the lightning thief!!!

zoe nightshade is the love of my life!! she's my bby girl and i wish that i could save her but her death is pretty permanent and no matter what i try there's no logical way that i can save her without messing up the prophecy completely, if only uncle rick hadn't used the word perish then there might've been some hope but alas!! i just know, even though i've just only started the rough draft of zoe's death, that it's going to be SUPER painful for me to write!!

Anyways that's all I have to say for this chapter!! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, please don't be shy, let me know what you thought of it in the comments!!!

WORD COUNT ⸺ 7,186 words