𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter four. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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AFTER THE SCRAWNY, ANNOYING NEW KID was claimed as Poseidon territory, you would think people were flocking to his side in apologetic whimpers for the way they underestimated him and his powers—at least, maybe Percy had been expecting for people to do that—but no such luck. In fact, the kid became more of an outcast than ever before. He lived by himself in cabin three, ate by himself at the table for cabin three, did activities all by himself (seeing as he was the head counselor for cabin three.)

I had not a sliver of empathy for him. Nada. If he wanted my pity, he shouldn't have been such a douchebag towards me.

     And I'm not saying it's his fault he's Poseidon's son, but I am totally blaming him for being so insufferably annoying.

     To my pleasure, it was a few days until I saw Percy after the game of capture the flag. Either I managed skillfully enough to duck and weave when he came around, or he took it upon himself to not be present where I was; but either way, I was back to spending my free time the way I liked it: With either Annabeth, Will, or any of my other siblings, sparring and doing normal camp activities.

      Not much happened, though, since Percy's claiming. It was like Poseidon had made this big decision to announce that Percy was his son, and now the gods went silent in preparation for Zeus's response.

And by the looks of it, he was about ready to unleash it. The skies over camp were a dark gray—sorta like the color Annabeth's eyes are when she's upset—and the winds were picking up. If I didn't know better, I'd say a storm was brewing; but this is Camp Half-Blood, and storms literally can't brew here.

     It was four days after capture the flag that Annabeth rushed up to me with the glee of a kid in a candy store. She was breathless—perhaps from running all the way from wherever she had chugged four gallons of coffee—but still grinning from ear to ear. I could swear she was shaking. Maybe it was the electricity from the growing storm in the air, but her hair looked to be on edge, too.

     "Something...wrong?" I asked, for lack of a better word, setting down my bow. She had interrupted my archery lesson with Cass, a second-year Apollo camper. I gestured for Cass to wait a second, then led Annabeth off to where we could talk in private.

     "Percy's going on a quest." Her eyes literally sparkled. I wasn't sure I heard her correctly at first, but she swallowed and repeated (very quickly), "He's going on a quest, and I think I'm gonna get to go with him, and we're gonna get Zeus's lightning bolt back!"

      I scoffed of surprise. No way Percy was going on a quest. He was too dimwitted, and Chiron must have known it would be too stupid to send him out so quickly after being claimed as a child of the Big Three. Percy must have been playing a prank on Annabeth.

     "Annabeth," I said, "your mom is the goddess of wisdom. You're supposed to be smart."

     Her smile fell and she gave me an eye roll. "He's not tricking me," she said, glancing over her shoulder. I followed her gaze to see Chiron and Percy standing on the porch of the big house, both staring back at Annabeth intensely. I tilted my head to the side, intending to ask, but Annabeth read my mind.

     "Chiron approved it. He gets to bring two companions."

     I nodded slowly, taking it all in. "You and Grover, I suppose? Wow, what a power trio."

She rolled her eyes, then glanced back over her shoulder and ducked in like Percy would be able to hear her next words from all the way at the top of the hill. "Look, it's not like I would choose to go on a quest with him—but the prophecy, Theo! It's supposed to be me."

I spread my hands in innocence. I wasn't about to disagree with her, but I couldn't tell if it was the storm clouds hanging overhead or some minor god of bad choices that gave her this idea.

"Let me talk to Chiron," I decided after a moment's thought, shaking my head to clear my mind. "You go.. pack, or whatever. I'll be back in a few."

He looked to be waiting for my arrival. Which was fair, really, because he had been watching me climb the entire hill. Still, he sent Percy away as soon as I stepped foot on the porch, and the son of Poseidon left with a sideways glance at me. I bristled, then shook my head as if to tell him to just walk away.

"Chiron," I said, as soon as Percy was out of earshot, "are you crazy?"

He merely gave me a tight-lipped smile, tilting his head as if in thought. "You tell me, Theodosia. Am I crazy for sending Percy out on the quest to find and return Zeus's stolen bolt?"

I stared at him blankly. "You know I hate it when you speak in riddles."

Chiron chuckled, then turned over his shoulder to walk back into the Big House. I followed suit, shutting the door behind me. The faint scent of fermented grapes traced the air. I scrunched my nose and said, "Did I miss Mr. D?"

"Probably for the better," Chiron advised, nodding. "He was in one of his nastier moods."

"When is he not?" I mumbled, taking a seat across from Chiron. He had compacted himself back into his wheelchair form. I waited for him to explain why in Hades' name he had just permitted a quest for Percy Jackson, but he merely stared back at me. I blinked slowly, shaking my head. "Chiron, you can't let him—"

"Tell me, child, do you know what Zeus's master bolt is?"

I shifted in my seat, taken aback by the sudden change of subject. "Heard of it, yeah."

"Then I assume you know of it's importance?"

Confused, I racked my brain, then shrugged. "Sure, it's.. it's really important."

"Zeus's bolt has been stolen," Chiron explained patiently, his hands folded across his blanket-strewn lap.

"Who would have done that?" I asked, my brow furrowed. Only someone with a death wish would steal anything from Zeus. Even my father didn't have the guts to do something like that. "Do you know?"

"Poseidon," he answered. My mouth went dry. It was fairly easy for me to connect the dots, and I did so very quickly, as Chiron probably expected. "You're wise, Theodosia. You do the math."

"Percy's going on the quest to make amends for his father stealing Zeus's bolt," I guessed. I almost laughed at the insanity of leaving the risk of a war between the gods in the hands of Percy Jackson, who, until about a week ago, was just some random kid. "Well, did Poseidon steal it? Or is this Zeus just speculating again?"

A crack of thunder came in reply. I rolled my eyes. Right, the god of the skies is a drama queen. Sometimes it's easy to forget details like that when your own dad is basically the god of theatrics.

"I wouldn't put it as harshly," Chiron admitted, "but, essentially, yes. Zeus believes it was Poseidon that took the bolt, but the Oracle has just told Percy to face the god in the west. This god, you can imagine, is—"

      "Hades," I cut in, raising an eyebrow. "He has the bolt?"

      Chiron nodded. "He is the only possibility."

      I let his words sink in for a moment, my fingers fidgeting with the tassels hanging down from the tablecloth before me. The last thing this world needed was a war of the gods, and if the Oracle was talking about Hades as the god in the west, then Chiron had to have been right. Hades, the god of literal death, would absolutely benefit from a major war. The sheer amount of souls that would end up in his clutches was a grim enough thought that it gave me a shudder.

I swallowed and looked back to Chiron, feeling much more solemn than before, and asked the question that would effectively ruin my life: "And why are you telling me this?"

"Because," he said, "I would like you to accompany Percy on his quest."

And that, my friends, is where our story really begins.