🌊 Percy 🌊

Once everyone was settled, Chiron called everyone to attention, his lower half concealed in his wheelchair. He clears his throat and waves his hands around to grab everyone's attention.

"Another prophecy has been brought to my attention. And from what I have heard, it is very significant." He said after a moment.

"So who's dying this time?" Clarisse asks as she cleans her nails with her knife.

"No one will die," Chiron said before facing Percy. "Percy, could you please recount the prophecy in lieu of Rachel."

I slide out of my chair, everyone turns their eyes to me. I clear my throat awkwardly and recite the prophecy.

"It's referencing Annabeth." I summed up after I finished.

"What makes you say that?" One of the leaders pipes up. "It could be talking about Athena herself for all we know."

"It clearly states half-blood. It has to mean Annabeth." I insist.

"Fine, what about the magic bit? Despite the fact that magic actually exists, no one actually knows how to use it." The girl from Athena said, blowing away a piece of honey brown hair.

"Excuse me? What am I? Chopped Hellhound?" Lou Ellen cries out with indignation.

The Athena girl shakes her head. "Sorry, but you guys bend the mist. It's not the same."

"Tell that to the Roman Legion we turned into piglets." Lou Ellen argued back.

"Enough!" Chiron said sternly, nodding back at me. "Percy, continue."

"I mean that was pretty much it but okay," I say.

I sat down in my chair, shaking from the stares of everyone. Some were pitiful, others were more accusatory as if they blamed me for another prophecy. Or for Annabeth leaving.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and see Miranda Gardener patting my shoulder sympathetically. I nod my thanks and she sits turns her attention back to the others. I look over and see Chiron rubbing his beard, deep in thought.

"You know something, don't you Chiron?" Pollux said quietly.

"It's nothing." Chiron hesitated.

I shake slightly. "Chiron, if it involves Annabeth, we need to know."

He sighed before straightening up. "If it is what I believe it is, this not something I can reveal to just anyone. I have sworn on the River Styx not to reveal this unless it was critical to do so."

Everyone stares at Chiron with varying degrees of disbelief.

"Would anyone object to me going on this quest?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at the others. Its quiet for a moment until someone kicks their feet onto the table.

"Screw it, you can go and get yourself killed this time." The nemesis councillor said, leaning back in his chair.

"Thanks," I say sarcastically. Chiron motions for me to follow him as he wheels himself out of the rec room.

"Bring me a t-shirt on your way back," Connor called out as I followed Chiron out of the room.

Clarisse cracked her knuckles behind us. "Ok, who wants to arm wrestle?"

We turn a corner and I lose them. I feel bad for whoever challenges her. Chiron closes the door behind us and I wait as he circles around the room, deep in thought.

I approach him cautiously from behind. "What is so important that it couldn't be said in front of the rest of the cabin leaders?"

Chiron sighs before leaning back into his chair, his eyes older than I'd ever seen them as he intertwines his fingers.

"Before I tell you, you must swear on the River Styx to not tell another soul outside of this room what you will learn."

Confused, I agree and swear on the River. Chiron's shoulders visibly relax, his hands coming down to rest at his sides.

"Long ago, Hecate created a new race of humans. You know of Medea, one of Hecate's most prolific followers?" He raises an eyebrow at me, as if he was my teacher again waiting for an answer I didn't have.

"Jason's told me stories." I start slowly.

"Ah yes, that particular encounter." Chiron turns around to a heavy bookcase and starts thumbing through the books. "Well, by any means, these people she created were not like Medea. She had to learn how to shape the mist through many years of study and devoted service. These people she created were born with magic running trought their veins. She taught them to harness it and sent them out into the world. They eventually chose to recluse themselves from the mortal world, just as we have. Four of these particular people set up a school in Scotland for others like them."

I could lie and say I see where this is going. I don't, I'm lost.

"Who were these people?"

Chiron selected a book off of the self and handed it to me. I glance at the cover and see a man and a woman wearing funny looking clothes and moving.

"In today's terms, most mortals would call them Witches and Wizards."

"That's not possible." I gape at Chiron, the book still in my hands.

"Says the son of the Ancient Greek God of the sea."

"Fair point." I pause, looking at the moving people again. "But why tell me now?"

"If I'm correct, the Prophecy Rachel issued refers to this specific school."

I nod, starting to understand. "Okay.. but why all the secrecy?"

"Hecate made me swear many, many years ago to not reveal the Wizarding World to the Gods or to anyone else. She reiterated that promise in 1998 after her world had broken out in a war." Chiron leaned forward, his mind elsewhere.

"I'm sorry they what?"

"Too long a story." He waved his hand dismissively."Suffice to say, I believe that this situation fufils her terms of dire emergencies."

This time, I raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"

"Magic." He flipped open the book in my hands to a moving diagram. "As Samantha pointed out, Hecate's children have an affinity with bending the mist, not fully controlling it. The prophecy clearly references magic."

"So..." I trail off. he lost me again.

"So this likely means that your quest will take you to Hogwarts."

I pause, looking at the book in my hands.

"I'm going it alone, aren't I?" I say quietly.

"The prophecy mentions six people, however I doubt that it means six people from camp." Chrion confirms. He wheels himself to the doorway before looking back.

"Perhaps you should take one other person. I fear that any more may make your journey harder." 

"What about the threes thing?" I ask. The last person who broke that rule was...

"I think that this time we can forego tradition. Considering the delicate nature of this quest, we need as few people as possible to go."

I nod and Chiron leaves. I put the book away and leave the big house, passing the empty rec room on my way out. 

I wander around camp until I end up at the lake. I fish for a drachma in my pocket and create a mist when I find one. The mist filters through a rainbow and I throw the drachma in.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Nico Di Angelo, uh, I don't know where is he right now."

Iris must've been in a good mood because she connected me anyway. Nico's pale frame came into focus.

"Hey Nico."

"Percy." He says curtly. He's pissed.

"I have a favour to ask." I blurt of quickly.

He sighs, gripping the pommel of his sword. His eyes seem to bore into me.

"Depends on what you want."

"Help finding Annabeth."

His eyes widen in surprise. "I'm listening"

I cross my legs and sit myself down in the grass. "Get comfortable, this is a weird one."