x
I finally woke up around 7:42, giving me a crisp eighteen minutes to get ready for whatever bullshit was about to happen. Kalos continued to sleep, getting silver fox hairs all over my sleeping bag.
“God, I might actually need makeup to hide these crazy dark circles,” I muttered as I examined myself in the cracked mirror hanging by a thread on the bathroom wall. Claudia laughed.
“Oh no, the naturally stunning empousa whose midnight hair is perfectly straight all the time and whose opal skin is made of porcelain might need concealer!” she gasped with theatrical sarcasm.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes, laughing slightly, “Whatever, I don’t have time.”
“Yeah, you should leave it. At least this way, girls can feel better knowing your single complexion flaw is dark circles. Gives them hope, y’know?”
“I get it, I get it,” I rolled my eyes, pushing her slightly as I reached for a sweater.
“Oh, not that one, Bella,” Claudia frowned, snatching it from my hands and tossing me a baggier black hoodie with white blackletter text on it, “This one.”
“What was wrong with the other one?” I frowned, “It was black, too.”
“Bella,” Claudia sighed exasperatedly, “You have to think about the style, not just the colour, remember? You’re wearing fishnets and platform boots, so you need a bigger sweater to create a silhouette otherwise you look like a rectangle! A very cute rectangle, but still a rectangle! Oh, and wear those legwarmers too.”
Honestly, I had no clue what she was talking about, but since she said it so passionately I quickly put on the sweater and legwarmers.
“Yes Ma’am.”
Claudia rolled her eyes and punched me playfully in the stomach. I put my hands up in defence, but spotted something glimmering on my hand.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered. How had I not noticed it earlier?!
It was the sigil, from the dream. As if being a giant golden tattoo wasn’t obvious enough, it flickering like a candle and releasing some kind of glittery particles into the air around it. I didn’t know much about witchcraft, but I knew that some of the sigils Claudia could cast were strong enough to blow down trees or evaporate water, so I could only imagine what this one might do to me. Not to mention how this will make me look when the other campers see it!
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4N722e1K8
“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked.
“I… I had a dream last night,” I scowled, trying to rub the stupid mark off of me to no avail, “And this sigil popped up on my hand whenever I opened a door. But that was just a dream! How is it here in real life?!”
“Take a breath, and lemme see,” Claudia instructed, bringing my hand down to her face, “Bella, these moon and torch symbols… this looks like a symbol of Hecate.”
“Wait, really?” I asked quickly, bringing my hand up to look at it again, “What does it mean? It’s not going to blow me up or anything, will it?”
“I’m not sensing any bad intent. Besides, why would Hecate want to blow you up? If anything, she would be trying to protect you, right?”
“I don’t know anymore,” I sighed unhappily. “Well, what do I do? Even if it’s good, I can’t just leave it on my hand! What if someone sees?”
Claudia thought for a moment, closing her eyes, before snapping them wide open with a smile.
“I got it! Not a permanent solution, but this’ll do for now.”
She dashed to her bag, rummaged through it for a moment, before handing me a squashed ball of fabric. Once I untangled it, I realised they were fingerless gloves.
“Okay,” I snorted, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful you have these, but why did you bring them?”
“Fashion makes no excuses,” she said simply. I just laughed.
“Thanks, Clauds. But maybe next time we only have a few minutes to pack for a life-threatening adventure, pack some more… essential things.”
“These are essential! Essential for a cute outfit!”
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWiL9k7r2I
𓆩⟡𓆪209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrNhc9AX8u
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObp3vz6Hp8
“Took you two long enough,” Nico sighed.
“Got an hour long beauty routine or what, Bella?” Percy mocked with a smile.
I snorted, making sure the sigil was still covered, “I woke up thirty minutes ago. Talk to her.”
“I don’t care where I’m going, I will have a cute outfit.” Claudia crossed her arms as I chuckle, “What happens if I die? I can’t let some shabby mortician pick my funeral outfit!”
“Um, okay, let’s just get started,” Annabeth sighed, motioning towards the only normal building in this giant Greek museum, the ranch house.
“Is this thing still called ‘The Big House’?” I asked, smiling as Claudia failed to withhold a snort.
“Yeah, why?” Percy asked.
I shrugged, trying to hide my own laughter, “Oh, no reason. It’s too bad there’s no god of creativity, you guys could kinda use it.”
“There is, actually, Annabeth huffed, “Hephaestus, god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes. He’s quite well known, especially after…”
“Ugh, there she goes,” I muttered under my breath as Annabeth continued on. I certainly did not miss her extended study sessions all the time.
“‘Volcanoes’?” Nico repeated, frowning in confusion, “Why volcanoes?”
“Who cares,” I grumbled, hoping this would be quick.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRFyMacKWH
Percy opened the door to the baby blue farm house, and we quietly followed him inside. I was trying to rack my memory for the names of the centaur and wine guy camp leaders’ names, but nothing was coming to me. The only thing I could remember was how sacred I was sitting here, waiting to embark on a mission to save America.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXWVTAroHC
At least this time, all of America isn’t about to get wiped out.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlc8o7Mm29o
(Totally fucking jinxed that, by the way.)
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyQM1rAQ9z
“Oddly normal in here,” Claudia whispered to me, “Y’know, with all the fire and weapons outside.”
“Just wait ‘till you see the camp director,” I whispered back, smiling at her confused expression.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplVhwfBzua
“Ah, welcome back, Percy and Annabeth!”
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweUhwNR8pm
Claudia’s eyes widened at the sight of the centaur, but swallowed her shocked gasp. Even for somebody born in New Orleans, the sight of an actual centaur is bizarre.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMB50jbShl
“And I see you brought company,” the wine guy said, quickly following the director into the living room, but the smell of Agiorgitiko wine announced his arrival far sooner. One of my mother’s favourites, but drunk only on special occasions. I think it was still sitting in her wine cellar downstairs.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdouqex74k6
“Come, sit,” Chiron, I finally recalled, told us with a smile, “We’ve spoken a bit more recently, Nico. How are things for you, Bella?”
“Could be better, truthfully,” I admitted, forcing a smile.
“Who is this?” Mr D, the wine guy, motioned to Claudia who sat next to me.
“This is Claudia. She’s a witch of Hecate, sir.”
“A witch?” he said skeptically, “So, you’re mortal?”
“Yeppers,” Claudia beamed.
Mr D just narrowed his eyes on her for a moment, before shrugging.
“So why exactly do you need our help?” Nico asked, a hint of disdain in his voice.
“We would have just done it ourselves, but…” Percy sighed, trailing off as he looked past me.
“The prophecy calls for some very specific individuals,” Chiron explained, “And it would be a fool's errand to ignore such specific instructions.”
“Prophecy?” Claudia whispered to Nico and I in confusion.
“This dead guy tells them bits of their future, and that’s what starts the quest.,” Nico explained quietly.
“...You don’t need to be dead to read the future,” she frowned, even more confused. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZjvGZ5WB2
“Well, they don’t have a witch to do it for them,” I shrugged.
Her frown deepened, “Still, that’s not something you should bother the dead for.”
“What does the prophecy say?” Nico asked.
“A goddess’ seedling unearthed from the ground, stolen to the land of the three headed hound. Monster, occultist, and demigods allied, else the devastation be worldwide; a journey to enlighten,” Annabeth recited.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKx2AShnwzJ
Um. Yikes. I’ll happily skip past being referred to as a monster in order to talk about whatever the fuck I just heard.
“Hold on,” I nearly choked, “Worldwide devastation over one girl?!”
“So it would seem,” Chiron sighed heavily, “We must find this girl and discover her godly parents as quickly as possible. We cannot risk her being capable of such power without guidance and support.”
I couldn’t believe it. Just try imagining a girl like Acacia ever destroying the world, or even having the power to do so. Hell, I didn’t even think she was a demi-god when I met her!
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREpR8C3P7B
“Bella, Nico,” Chiron started solemnly, “I know you haven’t necessarily had the best experience at Camp Half-Blood, which I apologise for, but we do need your help once again. This could be life or death.”
“I guess we have no choice now,” I sighed, “Nico and I both have had dreams about Acacia, so we’re up to speed on the ‘what’, but we need to figure out ‘how’.”
“‘Acacia’?” the centaur repeated, brows furrowed slightly.
“The girl that’s been kidnapped and taken to The Underworld,” Nico clarified, “She’s a classmate of Bella’s.”
“I see,” he nodded thoughtfully, “Well then, let’s get to it. We were hoping that one of your two Underworld beings would have a more… discrete way to The Underworld than we have. We’ve tried reaching out to Hades, but he has been oddly uncooperative.”
“Perhaps not ‘oddly’,” Mr D said quietly as he took a drink from his ever-present can of coke. What did that mean?
“In any case,” Chiron continued, clearing his throat slightly, “It would be best to rescue the girl as quickly and covertly as possible.”
“I mean…” Nico hesitated, “My dad opens a lot of gates wherever and whenever. I found one in the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Arch just a couple hours away from here, and with Bella’s help we should be able to get it open. It spits us out a little past the palace, so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught or being too far away.”
“Perfect,” Percy beamed, “Let’s go.”
“Just a minute, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth sighed, yanking him down by the shirt,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FqV1WRkvC
“Once we get into The Underworld, how are we going to find her?”
“She’s in the palace, that’s for sure,” Nico answered, “I’ve had far too many dreams about it.”
“I can hear her calling me sometimes, too,” I added, “And I think once we get closer I might be able to hear her a little better.”
“You can hear her?” Mr. D asked curiously, “A spiritual connection of some kind?”
“Uh… I dunno. We’ve been communicating in dreams and things.”
“Curious,” he hummed.
“Hold on,” Annabeth frowned at us, “How exactly do you plan to get out?”
“Well, Bella and I are able to come and go whenever, since I’m an Underworld Demi-god and she’s an underworld creature…” he trailed off, unsure of how Annabeth and Percy would get out.
“Claudia can astral project, right?” I looked at her as she nodded, “Maybe there’s a way she can astral project Annabeth and Percy, too. That way, your physical bodies wouldn’t actually die from crossing into The Underworld.”
“Astral projection? Like, separate our spirits from our bodies?” Annabeth asked slowly, looking a little nervous.
“Oh god, no,” Claudia laughed, “You’ll still be tethered to your body, able to do everything you normally would, except without using your real body. Like a ghost!”
“So, we’re unkillable?” Percy smiled excitedly.
“Ohhhh, no, no,” Claudia shook her head, “Nope. If you get hurt in astral projection, it will be just like you got hurt physically. Like I said, you’ll still be connected to your body, just not in it.”
“Oh,” he said simply, looking a little disappointed.
“But the good news is, if you get too hurt, you’ll be back in your body before you can actually die!”
“Don’t say that so cheerily,” Nico muttered to her, “It’s creepy.”
“Sound good?” I asked.
“I’ll try anything once,” Percy shrugged.
We looked at Annabeth expectantly.
“Oh- alright,” she sighed tensely, “You better not kill me.”
“She would never,” I frowned.
“Then it’s settled,” Chiron nodded, “How long will it take for Percy and Annabeth to astral project, Claudia?”
“Gimme twenty minutes and I’ll have those two outta their bodies like it's an exorcism,” she beamed.
“Oh, erm, lovely,” the centaur nodded, looking a little more nervous now.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbBAliUd52
I was almost a little jealous of Annabeth, Percy, and Claudia. While Nico and I went about this quest in our real bodies, those three got to chill in the beds in the first aid room, constantly tended to by the nurses should they get injured. Actually, I’d still prefer to be in my body anyway because, well… um…
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbw1YQOGbw
“Um, are you okay?” Claudia called to Percy as she examined his physical body on the bed next to her.
“Why in the hell can my spirit vomit?!” he groaned from the bathroom.
“U-um, like I said, you can do anything in astral form that you can in people form,” Claudia tried explaining again, but was silenced by the sound of Percy’s retching. She cringed.
“Ugh,” Annabeth muttered, examining her hands and arms slowly, “This is possibly the worst I’ve ever felt before. It’s like I have a fever, hives, and a concussion at the same time.”
“It’ll get better,” I promised her, “You get used to it.”
“You’ve done this before?”
Nico snorted, “She’s the reason Claudia is confident enough to cast this on someone other than her girlfriend.”
“I was stuck without my arm for a fucking month,” I sighed, shooting Nico an annoyed look when he laughed at the memory.
“Oh my god,” he said between laughs, “I forgot about that.”
“Shut up. Hey, are you done over there?” I sighed.
“Hey,” Claudia frowned. “Be nice.”
“He started it.”
“Did not.”
“Uh, yeah you did.”
Unfortunately I couldn’t push Nico, because Percy had finally exited the bathroom after like, fifteen minutes straight of puking his guts out.
“Great, let’s hurry up so I can get back into my body,” Annabeth shuddered, “Not a sentence I thought I would ever say.”
“And you say a lot of ‘em,” Percy snorted, still looking a little green.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAP5i5ChnRf
The sharp smell of wine permeated the air around me, so I looked towards the door. Sure enough, it was Mr. D, but he didn’t come in. He was motioning for me to follow him. He looked a little more serious than he usually did, looking me straight in the eye instead of off to the side with that bored look on his face.
I looked around. How come nobody else spotted him? Quietly, I slipped through the door while everyone else got ready.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpalbCRt8pX
“I don’t usually do this,” he said quietly, his expression like a statue, “But since you are moderately more tolerable than the rest of these brats, I will. There’s another line in the oracle’s prophecy, one that Chiron has instructed me not to share.”
What? Why would he do that? I thought.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc85ZqLLx9p
“Okay,” I said slowly, trying to read his face, “W-what is it?”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVlNxz47rv
“The seedling to sprout, the monster reborn, a child of titan,” he whispered.
“What-” I struggled to think, “What does that mean? We’re going to meet the child of a titan?”
He paused for a moment, like he was considering saying something, but didn’t.
“I haven’t the slightest,” he shrugged, his usual bored expression returning to his face.
The hell? That’s a fucking lie if I ever heard one.
“I thought there weren’t any titans left?” I asked, suspicious.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHgdFP7DKr
"There shouldn’t be,” he muttered, “But Kronos had made his presence very known, and I’ve heard that you’ve had a little chat with the Titaness of Crossroads yourself, so we can’t say for certain the others are not out there.”
“...Why are you telling me this?”
He paused once more, hesitating with his answer.
What the hell is he hiding?
“Annoying as you all are, you’re risking your life, and I’m not an apathetic monster. You deserve the best chance at survival possible, and that means all necessary information to be divulged,” he huffed, crossing his arms and marching away.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kRkswyBgn
All necessary information, huh? Sure.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0NPkukjt3
“Bella, are you ready to go?” Claudia called from the first aid cabin.
I took a deep breath before turning around.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUo3JMmlvx
Should I be sharing this information?
He told me specifically, but it looked like he knew more than he was letting on. If we’re actually going to be meeting -and most likely fighting- the child of a titan…
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9M1e8JBwb
“Yeah, coming.”
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZXIXrCQb6
I should keep it to myself for now.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYpFr8ZGxD
Fuck, I totally jinxed it, didn’t I?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczCTo6qFCG
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxORfz2iuF1
