Chapter 9
"Over on the left!" I called out, already stepping forward to jump. The ball sailed in a beautiful arc, I jumped up to meet it and spiked it hard into the ground.
"Nice spike Xavier" Annabeth called out from behind me. My team of 4 other Athena kids came around to congratulate me. I grinned, This is the life.
"I'm shutting you down next time punk" growled a very distressed Clarisse.
I arched an eyebrow. It was true that the Ares campers were probably the toughest of all the demigods when it came to strength. But volleyball was a game of strategy.
"Sorry, brains over brawn is true here too" I taunted.
Clarisse shot another stink eye before turning around to talk to her team.
"Let's do one more and keep it up" I yelled to the group. They all nodded grimly and prepared to receive the serve. While we all knew that almost none of the other cabins could beat us, we hated playing against the Ares cabin the most. While it was true that sometimes, the Apollo kids got some amazing shots because of their powers and maybe the Demeter cabin had infinite reach with their plants, Ares was somehow the most evenly matched. What they lacked slightly in strategy, they more than made up by sheer aggressiveness and power. I gave Annabeth a sympathetic look as Clarisse started to serve.
Annabeth had her hair in a bun, quite different from her usual ponytail. Her conservative two piece swimsuit clung tightly to her body. Her stare was the same one she used when facing down monsters, which I supposed Clarisse was.
I alternated my feet on the hot sand, warming up for another spike. As I watched, Clarisse spun the ball in her hand, starting to emit a hazy red glow. Instantly we heard a command.
"Split!" Annabeth shouted. Five pairs of well trained feet jumped out of the sand, a few feet in each direction, preparing. We knew the drill well. Whenever the receive looked like it would be rough. Annabeth, our best receiver, would tell us to go out of bounds just in case. Even though sweat trickled down my body, I resisted the urge to wipe it off, knowing the next few seconds were crucial.
Bathed in red, Clarisse tossed the ball high into the air, took a running start, and jump served the ball. What happened next was almost too fast to follow. The ball shot straight through the air like a bullet, ready to slice through anything in its path. However, right before it could touch the ground, Annabeth appeared.
CRACK! The receive went relatively well, considering it sounded like she just broke both her arms. The ball soared into the air, a little bit to the left. I shielded my eyes from the sun with one hand, trying to track the trajectory.
"I got it!" Malcolm announced, looking at the sky.
Hearing that, the spikers got ready. As soon as Malcolm touched the ball, we moved simultaneously toward the net. The blockers on the other side watched us nervously as we telegraphed nothing. The ball passed over my head. Is it for me? A quick calculation shot through my brain and I reacted. Gathering my strength in my legs, I plopped them down, bending low to gather more kinetic energy and I leaped forward.
"Two blockers!" came a shout. It didn't faze me.
I watched as the determined Ares campers rose up to match me. As I swung, they grinned. Both of them were taller than me, and their long lanky arms outreached mine. I'm going to be shutout! I realized at the last moment.
I swung at empty air as my neighbor slammed the ball behind the campers.
"Good shit" I praised, slapping him on the back. However, I was the only one congratulating the hit, as everyone else was gathered around Annabeth.
Shit! I rushed over.
"It's not broken" Will Solace announced, he had been on standby as demigod volleyball tended to get rather deadly.
Annabeth winced a little as she moved her arms.
"Nothing a little ambrosia won't fix" she muttered through gritted teeth.
"It's probably best to pull you from the game" Will suggested, already bandaging her arms.
No one argued with that. Everyone, even the Ares kids clapped as Annabeth left. However, it left us one short.
"That was pretty dangerous" Malcolm admitted, "It's not like she can do it every time too. We should have just let that point go."
"Hubris" I said simply, everyone just nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well, time to get someone from the bench" I said cheerfully.
The next few points didn't go well. Without our best defense, some of our steam was running out. Clarisse started to gloat, which wasn't helping our concentration.
"What's wrong Owlheads? Can't do anything without dear old Annabeth?"
I bit back a witty retort, Not going to waste any time talking to that gorilla.
It was match point. All of us were getting tired, but adrenaline kept us going. The same feeling of fighting a monster, or sparring. It happened when we played sports too. Apparently we had gathered a pretty large crowd, as we had gone over our allotted time for the match.
"Come on, just one good receive is all we need" Malcolm whispered under his breath.
Clarisse was serving again. She performed the same ritual, but without the red haze. Luckily, her hit was off and it spiraled towards the edge.
"Mine!" one of my siblings expertly planted himself in the path of the ball, sending it towards the front line.
The ball flew, perfectly to Malcolm. His eyes flitted back and forth between the two edges, debating which one would be best.
The ball went right first, the hit gave a satisfying whack but it was saved by Sherman. I ran towards the net, no longer on the offensive and watched as their setter leaped. The ball went left. I followed, making sure to time my jump. Clarisse soared through the air to meet the ball and I jumped up to stop her, arms outstretched. We seemed to hang in the air for a minute, my mind still calculating every possible outcome and angle.
"One touch!" I yelled, feeling the ball graze against my fingertips. The ball went wide.
"Dive for it!" Malcolm and I screamed, as the camper tripped over herself running after it. Without hesitation, she dug the ball, sending it soaring back to us.
"Alpha!" I shouted, knowing Malcolm would follow through. Before he had touched the ball I was already in the air. The ball spiraled into my hand, and I smashed it.
Clarisse's pudgy hand vibrated with the impact as the ball bounced off. I caught a glimpse of the ball as it ricocheted off her hand behind me.
It's over...
The crowd gasped as the ball seemed to make it's final descent towards the ground.
"Miagggh" Malcolm shouted, diving headfirst into the scorching sand, saving the ball.
"Good shit bro!" I exclaimed, already readying for the next attack. The other spiker ran forward, bumping the ball.
"All you Xavier!" she shouted, watching me expectantly.
I took a few short steps, building up my speed and jumped. Again, Clarisse was already there.
"Not this time.." she grunted, arms looming menacingly.
Can't risk another straight on encounter... Come on brains, you gotta beat the brawn!
It felt like an eternity as my mind furiously analyzed the situation. All of a sudden, it felt like I could really see what was happening. I could see that while Clarisse had the better position, the ball was still above her.
In the air, I swung my arm hard, but stopped short of touching the ball and gently tapped it over. It bounced above her fingertips, dropping quickly. Landing on her upturned face and rolling off.
The roar of the crowd told me that it had dropped.
I helped Malcolm back onto his feet, all the while spitting out sand.
"Why does the sand here actually taste like feet?"
"Hey, we won, it was worth it!" I reminded him.
"Easy for you to say, I'm going to be tasting feet for a week!" Malcolm's glum mood was quickly replaced as everyone else's happiness was infectious.
After being congratulated a whole bunch, a recovering Annabeth and the rest of the campers celebrated by jumping into the lake, cooling off our hot bodies in the refreshing water.
I had hoped for at least one normal day, but it seemed Mom had other plans because Rachel Elizabeth Dare walked up to me during dinner
"Come with me" she said, grabbing my arm. Everyone stared.
"Umm.. Do you have me confused with another person?" I asked, not willing to give up my festive mood.
"Don't worry Xavier, it's nothing bad... Hopefully"
It sounded ominous to say the least. One doesn't simply get dragged away by the Oracle. Nonetheless I followed her to her cave.
"You could just live in one of the empty cabins or something" I told her, ducking down to avoid the ceiling.
"I'm pretty happy being in here, don't you worry."
"So... what do you want?"
"It's a quest. From Athena"
Damn it, of course it is. After all the excitement of camp, I had slightly forgotten the encyclopedia I was supposed to be writing.
"Got a prophecy?"
An offspring of the mark of owl
Shall meet all those both fair and foul
From stony guise shall gain a prize
And reveal the one wearing Death's disguise
Burdened by a loved one's curse
The book of the gods shall slake his thirst.
"Ahh, the recipe of a good quest" I said, joking. Rachel rummaged around a little more in a trunk and pulled out the note.
"There's a map on the back, though I don't think it's that useful"
"Did you see who I would take with me?"
Maybe I should take Katie, or maybe even Malcolm? I'm pretty sure even Billie wouldn't mind coming along
"This is what I wanted to talk to you about. It's a solo quest" Hearing the words was like a slap to the face.
"You're joking"
"Not this time Sherlock, not this time"
"This is totally against tradition"
"I swear I didn't see anyone!"
"So, why drag me out here?"
"Well... " Rachel looked down and shuffled her feet, suddenly very interested in her shoes. "I might have seen some, things. Very naughty things..."
"Just... don't tell Katie. Please? Mom's not really the understanding type when it comes to relationships." the redhead nodded, turning away and blushing.
My festive mood extinguished, I made it back to dinner with a few minutes to spare. Annabeth took one look at me and laid the question.
"When do you leave?"
Some of the conversations around us stopped as Annabeth asked, curious.
"Well, It doesn't seem urgent... But I suppose I should leave soon before Mom comes back to turn me into an owl."