𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter five. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF, "Theo, didn't the prophecy say Percy was only permitted two companions on his quest?" or maybe you're thinking, "But nobody has ever had more than two companions before!" or maybe, if you really know me well enough, you're worried for my wellbeing and crying, "But you hate Percy; how in Apollo's name are you supposed to handle an entire quest with him?"

     All of these are valid statements, and if you thought anything along any of their lines, you would be correct, as I spat out about a billion questions along the same ideas. Chiron did not bat an eye at my horde of questions; on the contrary, he seemed almost pleased that I had so many. When I paused to catch my breath, he held up a hand that kept me from continuing on.

"Theodosia Scott," he said, his voice low and official-sounding, "I give you permission to accompany Perceus Jackson on his quest to return Zeus's master bolt to its rightful owner. You leave as soon as you finish packing. Go, child."

     "Chiron, I'm not doing it." My voice sounded meek and unsure compared to his strong tone, but I tried to keep holding my ground. "It—it's a stupid idea. There are too many red flags; too many things that could go wrong. It's dangerous. You really want to send out three demigods at a time?"

      "Three powerful demigods," he corrected me, arching an eyebrow. "You, Percy, and Annabeth may be young, but you are easily some of my strongest campers. If I were to send any other combination of campers out, I have no doubt that at least one of them would come back in a casket; but you three are trained for battle, talented, and all of you now have an incentive for going on this quest."

     "And what's my incentive?"

     "If you go, I will name you head counselor of cabin seven."

     I stuttered over my next question, taken by surprise. "What about Lee—?"

     "Lee has agreed to the terms," Chiron said, nodding once. "He has only one condition—one which I have to say, I strongly agree with—and it is that you must return alive."

"I'll go on the quest." I tightened my jaw in indignation and stood from the pinochle table, removing from my hair the quartz clip that swiftly morphed into a light dagger. "But Lee can keep being head counselor. I don't think I can handle the mental strain of being responsible for my cabin after spending so long with Percy Jackson. We'll be lucky if I don't have to check into a psych ward."

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

PACKING MY BAG was the easy part, it turned out. All I stuffed into my backpack was my dagger, an extra change of clothes, a toothbrush (which I doubted I would have much time to use; if the quest was as dangerous as Annabeth had hyped it up to be, I figured my main focus would be staying alive), and a hairbrush. I planned on leaving my bow and arrows at camp, but decided it's better to be safe than sorry.

And also, I don't trust Will not to take (see also: break) it.

I met Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Chiron at the top of Half-Blood Hill. They seemed to be exchanging goodbyes, but Grover was playing something on his windpipes that sounded suspiciously like a Hillary Duff song.

I crinkled my nose as I hiked to the top of the hill, calling to Grover, "That song clearly wasn't written to be played by a satyr on windpipes."

"Um, agreed," Annabeth added, nodding vigorously.

Grover frowned. "It's, like, the only song I know. I could play Mozart's Piano Conc—"

"No," Percy said pointedly, his eyebrows raised as if he and the satyr had already had this conversation. "No Mozart will be played. Right, Grover?"

    "Right," he grumbled, stuffing his windpipes into his pack.

     All four of us turned to face Chiron. I could only imagine how stupid we looked: A scrawny kid with a death wish, a lanky archer rolling her eyes, a stubborn blonde with a just-as-stubborn gray gaze, and kid that was half-goat with a bird's nest of curly hair atop his head. Some crew we were, right? If I were Hades, I'd be trembling on my throne of bones.

     Chiron had just gotten to introduce Argus as our chauffer when Luke came huffing and puffing up the hill, panting as if he had run all the way from his cabin to send us off. I wondered whether it was Percy that he wanted to say goodbye to so badly, or Annabeth—I sincerely hoped it was the former. I'd never been too fond of Luke's affection for Annabeth, but I would rather face a minotaur than say such a thing aloud. Annabeth might skin me.

     "Glad I caught you," Luke said, thankfully, to Percy. (but I don't think anyone missed Annabeth's blush.) "Just wanted to say good luck, and, uh—I thought maybe you could use these. Think of it as a gift from Hermes."

     He presented from behind his back a pair of beat-up sneakers. Nothing seemed too cool about them. I was a bit underwhelmed. You would think the son of the god of thievery would be able to scrounge up a better departure gift, right?

     "No offense," I said, my eyes still on the sneakers, "but I've seen shoes on the side of the road that are in better condition than those."

     "You doubt my aptitude for gift-giving?" Luke flashed me a gleaming smile, then turned his attention to the shoes. "Maia!"

     White bird's wings sprouted from the heels. Percy was so startled, he dropped the shoes, which flopped around on the ground for a few moments before the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Gift from Dad. Those served me well when I was on my quest." Luke held a certain glint of sadness in his eyes as he spoke of his quest. I had never asked what happened, but I assumed it was.. somewhat problematic, because I had never heard it referred to directly as just any old quest; it was always 'Luke's failed quest,' or something deprecating or belittling to him. I almost felt bad for him.

"Hey, man," said Percy, extending a hand, "thanks."

They shook hands. Luke patted Grover on the head between his horns, then gave a goodbye hug to Annabeth—who almost passed out of glee—and then, Luke turned to me. He grinned and held out a hand, which I took and shook once. Luke nodded in recognition, then took off down the hill.

"Good thing we've got a daughter of Apollo here," Percy said once he was gone.

I turned to him. "Why?"

"'Cause Annabeth looks like she's about to either pass out or hyperventilate," he said, peering at the blonde. "You can use your medicine things to bring her back to life."

"She let him capture the flag instead of her," I teased, poking Annabeth's shoulder—rookie mistake. In one swift motion, she had her dagger to my finger, her eyes sparkling as if daring me to poke her one more time. I rolled my eyes and knocked the blade away, then hiked down the hill to the white SUV waiting for us.

     Annabeth, Grover, and I all piled into the backseats. I got a hoof to the hip, and I'm pretty sure I might've kicked Annabeth in the mouth while I was climbing to the way-back of the car, but it was an overall successful experience.

     Percy was still at the top of the hill. I watched him through the back window. Chiron handed him a small object—maybe a pencil, a pen?—and, a moment later, said object transformed into a sword of celestial bronze. Percy was almost as taken by surprise as I was. He swung the sword around for a moment, gazing at it. I narrowed my eyes.

     "Great," I said, "now he's got a super-cool, historical sword. Bets on how long it'll be before he brags about it?"

     Annabeth muttered something to Grover, and I kicked her seat in retaliation. She shrugged innocently, but I was pretty sure she had murmured something along the lines of "Bets on how long it'll be before they kiss?"

      I kicked her seat again, for good measure.