✦ ༉‧₊˚⋆˚( ⁿᵒᵗ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈˢ )˚⁺✧₊˚.*♡

🍪 - 004. a new quest.

ISA ENJOYED sing-alongs during the campfire no matter how much other campers hated it. It made her feel like she finally belonged. Standing in front of the fire were half a dozen campers with guitars and lyres, were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how their grandma got dressed for war. Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red too range to gold.

The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners. Isa sat with her siblings up at the top steps under a white banner with a rainbow on it. The symbol may be a bit cliché, but still, Isa loved her cabin and her siblings.

Her eyes wondered around many different faces; she spotted the new boy, Jason, in the front next to Annabeth, Vivi and George, who had his hands around his girlfriend. Daughter of Hermes caught her eye and sent her a small, tired smile ( at least the eyebags were a bit gone ). Freya, her best friend, was sitting with her siblings not far away from Isa, under a bluish banner with cornucopia on it. The new son of Hephaestus sat just below Isa, sitting with his siblings under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. And finally, Isa spotted the new girl, Piper, sitting by Rachel, thankfully alive after today's events.

Finally the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Chiron stepped forward to address the crowd of campers, "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first ─ "

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head. Ares cabin.

"Yes," Chiron said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one of them shouted.

"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Leo's group. The girl next to Leo stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket with her hair covered in a red bandanna.

"We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl said. Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones ─ bang, bang, bang ─ and the campers fell silent.

"We will have to be patient," Chiron said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked.

The fire dimmed even further, but Isa didn't need the mood flames to sense the crowd's anxiety. Chiron gestured to Vivi and Annabeth, who stood up.

"We didn't find Percy," Vivi announced, her voice caught a little when she said his name. Isa noticed she was fiddling with a pendant Percy got her for their one month anniversary. A bit cheesy for Isa's taste, but Vivi was enthusiastic when he gave it to her. She couldn't stop talking about the sea-shell pendant that was now on her necklace with Camp beads.

"He wasn't at the Grand Canyonlike we thought." she continued, Annabeth patting her best friend on the back, "But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis ─ everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out.

Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew Tanaka. Everyone else looked surprised. It was surprising that Drew said something during campfires.

"Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends Vivi a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

Everyone fell silent. Isa wasn't there when Rachel first told the new The Great Prophecy, but she made Vivi tell her. Worst decision she ever made.

"Well?" Drew called down to Rachel. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

Rachel stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp. "Yes," she said. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Pandemonium broke out among campers. Isa caught Piper's eye, the girl already looking in her direction. Her eyes widened slightly, but she smiled and then suddenly let out a small yelp when Isaac, one of her brothers, stepped on her foot as he franticly stood up.

"Curse you, Isaac!" Isa mumbled, rubbing her foot for the pain and soreness to go away.

"Sorry, Isa." her brother said, sitting back down.

The dark-haired girl nodded and waved her hand at him. She dared to look up again and noticed that Piper was still watching her with furrowed eyebrows. She mouther, You okay? To which Isa nodded and managed a smile, but looked away quickly, with a small blush forming on her cheeks. When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: "Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall ─ "

Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered. Even Rachel seemed caught off guard.

"J-Jason?" she said. "What's ─ "

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

An uneasy silence settled on the group. Isa didn't have to look around to know that half of the campers had their mouths opened, and other half was trying to translate whatever the boy said. Now, Isa knows Latin to bare minimum, even after so many years at the Camp, so how did the boy who just arrived knew Latin like a mouther tongue.

"You just. . . finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. " ─ An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you ─ "

"I know those lines." Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out. "Handsome and smart."

There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. Isa rolled her eyes. She had some sort of. . . beef with the Aphrodite cabin after they gossiped about her sexuality as the reason she ran away from home. I mean, that was the reason she ran away, but they didn't have to tell the whole Camp about it. Most campers, if not all, were supportive; they just glared at the Aphrodite cabin if they ever said something about Isa.

The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of green. Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring. Rachel Dare still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he were watching a play he couldn't interrupt ─ a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.

"Well," Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The nine demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh. . . were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured. Maybe he didn't mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple.

"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once. Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention. She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk-how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods. Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Isa tried not to go over to Drew and maybe slap her when she noticed the girl pantomiming a faint, and her siblings giggling at her action. Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House.

"Jason," Rachel said. "Um. . . do you remember your last name?"

He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.

"We'll just call you Jason, then," Rachel said. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone's eyes were on him; there was a bit of embarrassment evident on his face, but at the same time he looked brave and determined.

He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Vivi said, her expression gloomy. She wasn't standing with Jason like Annabeth and Chiron were.

"That's correct," Annabeth nodded, "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron spoke up, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things. . . stir."

The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister ─ like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.

"Okay," Annabeth said, glaring at the centaur. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so ─ "

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. "If he's so important ─ "

"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

At first, Jason didn't seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously, then, after a few seconds, reached into his pocket. A golden coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance ─ a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end. The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an icepick.

"Wasn't that. . ." Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had asword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" yelled somebody from Ares cabin.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" one of his brothers agreed.

"Electric," Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. "Back away."

Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Isa's arms stood straight up. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell. When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Isa's ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from the sleeping kid Clovis, who hadn't even stirred.

Jason lowered his lance. "Um. . . sorry."

Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed.

"A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

Isa looked at the boy with wide eyes. How was that possible? The oath clearly stated that the three most powerful gods shouldn't have children ( not that they went by it, but still ). Everything around the girl broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Vivi stood up and raised her arms. "Hold it!" she said. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three. . . their pact not to have mortal kids. . . how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer, but Isa got the feeling he knew. And the truth was not good.

"The important thing," Rachel said, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty ( which they were ). They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient ─ the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning, beware the earth,

The giants' revenge, the nine shall birth,

Daughter of colors will brighten your day,

And be the light to your darkest days.

The forge and dove shall break the cage,

And death unleash through Hera's rage."

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked. Then she must have realized she'd spoken into the silence, and everyone was looking at her. "I mean. . . does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy ─ Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just ─ "

"Drew," Annabeth snapped. "Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death. . . why would we free her?"

Vivi nodded, "It might be a trap, or-or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes. Personal experience."

Jason rose. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

Nyssa stood up, "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth and Vivi. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son ─ our dad-down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled. "Anyway, we've also got to think ─ why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

No one answered, but Isa noticed Annabeth, Vivi and Chiron having a silent exchange.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions. However, this time he needs three."

Travis yelled, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth, or Vivi. You've got the most experience."

"No, Travis," Vivi said, shaking her head, "First off, I'm not helping that goddess. No, thank you. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning find Percy with Annie and George.

"It's connected," Piper blurted out, "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance ─ it's all connected."

"How?" demanded Drew. "If you're so smart, how?"

Piper tried to form an answer, but she couldn't.

Annabeth saved her. "You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end ─ by searching for Percy. As Vivi said, and I agree with her, we're not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "Daughter of colors? That could be Arcus. . . sorry, Iris' child. Because of the rainbow. When we think of the rainbow, we usually associate colors with it."

And that's when everyone looked towards Isa. She gulped. Get this ─ while Iris had five children, for some stranger, very stranger reason, Isa happened to be he only girl. There was Butch, the oldest one, head counselor. Then there was Conan, who were the second oldest ( and non-binary ). Then Isa, the middle child, of course. Isaac is the second youngest; and finally Danny who only came to Camp few weeks back and was claimed immediately.

"Um," Isa cleared her throat and stood up, her legs shaking a bit from all the eyes upon her. She never liked attention. She felt Danny's hand slip into hers as she nervously looked at faces of campers, "Yes, like Jason said, colors usually associate with the rainbow. . . and hence I'm the only girl out of all my siblings, the prophecy might be about me. . ."

"Although," Butch stood up, standing in front of Isa.

Did she mentioned they were super overprotective of her? No? Well, yes, all her siblings were protective of her, but Butch the most since he knew how long she sat unclaimed in the Hermes' cabin waiting for their mother. Maybe Isa was here the longest, but Butch took on the responsibility of leading them all; and the girl was grateful for that.

"It could also mean about child of Apollo." Butch said, their siblings nodding along to the statement.

"Butch," Isa said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder and pushing him to sit back down, "It's okay." she took a deep breath, "The prophecy said daughter of colors, I'm the only daughter of Iris, so, if Jason accepts it, I will accompanied him on his quest."

Jason nodded, looking at her with admiration for accepting a quest with mere strangers. "Come abroad."

"Right," Jason said after a few seconds, "The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul ─ Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry.

"If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport. The flying chariot's broken, and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."

She didn't sound enthusiastic.

Then Leo stood up. He'd been so quiet, Isa had almost forgotten he was there. All eyes flew to him, "It's me," he said. His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted. "No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied him for a moment, then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean. . . Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the fourth quest member. The dove ─ "

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. Isa raised an eyebrow at the girl and her action. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

"No." Piper said suddenly. She stepped forward and Isa didn't try to hide a small smile that appeared. But she quickly shook her head, sealing her lips together.

Drew rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said. "You were just at the right place at the right time." she turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things. . ." she looked at Leo in disdain. "and pride parade is alright. . ." she looked at Isa who had her mouth agape at what she had heard, "But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

The campers started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

"Well. . ." Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy ─ "

"No!" Piper spoke with much more persuasion in her voice, "I'm supposed to go."

Everyone started nodding, muttering that hmm, Piper's point of view made sense too. Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her own campers were nodding.

Isa smiled to herself knowing where this was going.

"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd. "What can Piper do?"

There was silence.

"Well," Drew said smugly, "I guess that settles it."

Suddenly there was collective gasp. Everyone stared at Piper like she'd just exploded. Inside of Iris cabin ─ none of the goddess's children are straight, but are we really surprised? But, Isa hated herself for that for years while still living with her father and took some time to open up while at Camp. She doesn't label herself, nor do her siblings. You can be whatever you want and that took a long time for Isa to learn. Thankfully, she has an amazing group of friends and people who helped her understand that. She's grateful to have them in her life.

It was still a bit hard to accept that she has a crush on a gender same as she, and Piper was not helping her situation. The girl was adorned in a one of the most beautiful white sleeveless gown Isa had ever seen. Delicate gold armbands circled her biceps andn intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest.

"Oh, god," Piper said. "What's happened?"

A stunned Annabeth pointed at Piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. The girl unsheathed her dagger and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade. Her hair was perfect: lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder.

"Beautiful," Isa said, a bit too loud, but she didn't exactly care right now, too stunned looking at Piper. "Piper, you. . . holy fuck. . . you're fucking stunning."

Drew's face was full of horror and revulsion. "No!" she cried. "Not possible!"

"This isn't me," Piper protested. "I don't understand."

Chiron folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example. "Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

niki speaks!

i'm getting better at making prophecies
and i love it.
just y'all wait.

this chapter Isa is all over the place
and i love her chaotic yet calm personality
she's just the sunshine of the group

have a nice day/night!
bye!