Chapter 19: Meeting those Campers

   Annabeth






   "Wow, it's awesome to meet you." This seriously was an awesome feeling. But we were supposed to be 10 altogether. We were only 9. "Hey, who's missing?"
   "We were hoping that you would know. She left yesterday." Chieko said. "Her name is Glinda. Glinda, the daughter of Aphrodite. Quite the talker. And you're saying you haven't seen her?"
   "We don't know any Glindas." Alec insisted.
   "How should we trust you?" One camper said. She had brown hair with golden streaks. "What if you are lying?"
   "Cylena, stop it! You're making our newcomers uncomfortable. They're the ones in the prophecy!" Chieko said. Wow. She turned to us. "I'm sorry. Cylena is the 'tough' ones. She's a daughter of Artemis."
   Alec began coughing. "So that girl's my sister? She doesn't look like me!"
   "What, you were expecting a twin?" Cylena narrowed her eyes. I noticed she was chewing bubblegum.
   "Well you have to be related. Siblings always fight. Like me and my brother!" Lucas glared at me.
   "Cylena, that's enough of that. Helina, come on out!" A very young and short girl stepped out of the legs.
   "I'm Helina! I'm 6 years old and I'm a daughter of Hera!" The girl said happily.
   Me, Lucas and Alec stared down at the little girl. Sure, I had to admit I was 10, but I  think I'm old enough to use swords and stuff. But 6? I think that's against the law! And I think Lucas might be shocked about his new cousin.
   "Isn't she a little too young?" Alec asked. "I'm 11, so I'm smart enough to know that she is too young!"
   "I kick butt!" Helina insisted.
   We once again stared down at the 6-year-old girl. Seriously! What would you say when a little girl says something like that?
    "It's true." Cylena hugged Helina. "This little girl helped me hunt a deer! So I gave her a bow and quiver also. Evil is on her checklist.
    "Oh. How nice." I said.
    "Uh huh!" Chieko said. "Panda, come on!"
    A boy stepped out of the crowd. He seemed 8 years old, with freckles and stuff. "It's Patrick. Why did you guys have to name me so ridiculous? Oh, and I'm son of Poseidon."
    "I like pandas!" Helina giggled. "They're big!"
    "Last but not least, Graden, A.K.A., Gravy." A boy stepped who had gravy colored hair and eyes. Probably 9.
    "I'm son of Hepheastus. I think I can forge you guys new weapons!" Gravy said.
    "Whoa." Lucas said. He showed Gravy the weapons Celestia gave us. "We already have weapons."
    "Pfft." Gravy said. "You call those weapons? More like mortal axes and giant letter openers! I can forge you weapons made out of Celestial Bronze! Now that's more like it!" With that, Gravy rushed into one of the tents, which looked like it was made of steel instead of cloth.
    "You have quite the campers." Alec mumbled.
    Chieko smiled. "Yep. And the best little troopers!" Chieko picked Helina up, struggled, and set her down.
    "I'm not responsible if she gets killed." Alec mumbled.
    I saw Cylena unsheathe her sword. One side was steel, the other Celestial Bronze. "You're responsible if she dies. My mother is missing, no doubt she is! And I intend to find her, with a full party."
   "You can't have a full party without that Aphrodite girl." Lucas whispered.
   "Glinda. Her name is Glinda. And you better respect that girl. She distracted a pack of demon dogs with her crazy talking! Respect her! If you don't, I'll kill you!" Cylena hissed.
   Chieko sighed. "Cylena, don't scare the ones in the prophecy!" She turned to us. "Would you like to come in for tea?"
   Mmm. I could really use something hot. "Yes, please!" And we all walked into Chieko's tent.

Chapter 18: Across the River and Into the Camp

  Annabeth






   "I think... I caught my breath." I said and let out a sigh. Me and the two sat down on a sun baked rock, listening to a river's roar.
   Waters crashed onto rocks, the current showed no mercy. A cobblestone path used to cross the river was being enveloped by the waters. Just ahead of the river was a forest that had a path. I could see 7 tents lined up in a circle with one burning campfire in the center. Sanctuary!
   "Ok, how are we gonna cross this river?" Alec said. "Maybe I could dry this up with sunrays..."
   "Or I could electrocute it! Then... no, I could use clouds to make a path and..."
   I left Alec and Lucas and wandered to an old tree. Breaking this would be easy! It would make a nice bridge too. I thought. Those guys should thank me!
   I leaned against the tree with all my might, until I heard a tiny female voice.
   A tiny figure appeared in the tree. It was a tree nymph!
   "Girl, you gotta use someone else!" She snapped her fingers, making a Z. "Right now, I'm listening to music! Find another tree, would ya?"
   "Sorry ma'am!" I said and hurried back to the river.
   Then I saw the most hilarious thing I ever saw today; Alec and Lucas wrestling a water nymph; and the water nymph (girl) won!
   Then there was a terrible thing I saw; Lucas was crackling electricity in his hands and Alec was beginning to reach for a sun beam to dry her up.
    "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What's goin' on?" I asked.
    "Those two peculiar boys are trying to cross my river! Probably to get to that  camp I sup..."
    "Whose in the camp?" I demanded.
    "Just 7 demigods trying to find the skull, the lightning bolt and the sun!" The water nymph calmed the river so we could hear better. "Are you the ones?"
    "I'm a son of Apollo, he's the son of Zeus and she's the daughter of Hades, so, I guess." Alec said.
    "The ones?" The water nymph's eyes grew wide. "By, by the River Styx! You must hurry to their camp! Go now!" The water nymph raised the whole river in the air to let us cross.
    "Thanks!" I called as I climbed up to the other side of the river.
    "No problem!" The nymph said. And when she lowered the river, she jumped in and melted into the river. Weird.
    "AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Lucas tripped over a tree root, face to face with a anthill.
    "Get up." A girl's voice rang "You must be hurt. I'll let you in the infirmary tent after a little talk. Lucas stood. We all looked up, facing a blonde girl who had the weirdest blue eyes.
    "Who are you?" Alec asked.
    "Who are you?" The girl asked.
    "I asked you first." Alec said.
    "You are the one who trespassed to our camp."
    Alec looked back at me and Lucas. "She is right."
    "I'm Alec, son of Apollo, he's Lucas, son of Zeus and she's Annabeth, daughter of Hades."
    "I'm Chieko, daughter of Athena." The girl said. "My name means intelligence and wisdom. And we've been waiting and searching for you. I'm so happy you came." Chieko raised her arm to the left, and 5 more campers stood out.
    "Hello! Are you ok? I'm sure we'll be great friends!" One demigod said.



    Ten demigods unite with love... someone's missing.

Chapter 17-The Sock Plan

Annabeth






   "Annabeth, you ok?" Alec asked. Sunlight streamed through the mouth of the cave.
   "Artemis is trapped." I told him. I turned and attempted to wake Lucas up.
   "5 more minutes!" He groaned, and immediately fell into deep sleep.
   I gritted my teeth and took off his sock. Then I dangled it in front of his nose.
   "Annabeth, what are you...?"
   "I got this from the internet. The 'Sock Plan' always works!" I said.
   "Sure... look! He's not waking up!" Alec pointed to my drooling brother.
   Oh how embarrassing this must be for him! I thought in my head, mentally smiling in my head. "Lucas is wasting sunlight..."
   "Like I don't notice that?" Alec pointed to Lucas' other sock. He began slipping it off. "Maybe another sock will work."
   "Ugh! It isn't working!"
   "Yeah..."
   "Maybe if you take off your socks... I'll take my socks off too." I told Alec.
   And so we both took off our sock and plopped it on my brother's face. He still didn't wake up.
   "I think we killed him with our funk." Alec told me. Oh great. "You are daughter of Hades. Can't you make it deathly stinky?"
   "I'll try, though I highly doubt it." I said and tried using my powers. I suddenly felt lots of heat. Sweat broke out. I kept my eyes fixed on the socks, trying to make them deathly stinky. Sure enough, a huge gust of stink broke into the cave. You could even see green waves of funk. I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not.
  "Wow that sure is stinky!" Alec coughed, swatting his hand to push the funk away from his face.
  I coughed in my reply, then luckily Lucas woke up. "AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! STINK BOMB! AAAAAAAHHH! SOCKS ON MY FACE! SOCKS ON MY FACE!"
  "Lucas, calm down. Artemis is trapped! We have to rescue her. I'm not exactly sure who trapped her, or how, but, we have to hurry. Something is taking away her powers, little by little!" I told him as soon as he woke up.
   "What are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Lucas grabbed for his backpack and we all walked out of the stink-infested cave.
   When we were 10 yards away from the Stink Cave, Lucas said, "How come you didn't try to wake me up?"
   "Lu-"
   "And why was there socks on my face?
   "Lucas,"
   "AND WHO DID THAT STINK BOMB?"
   "LUCAS! CALM DOWN! There was no stink bomb! We tried to wake you up by putting decent smelling socks on your face so you would wake up so I had to use my powers to create stinkiness to wake you up and apparently, it did."
   After a long silence, Lucas finally said, "Why wouldn't you wake me up the normal way?"
   "This is going to be a long day." Alec murmured.

Chapter 16~Meanwhile...

   Celestia








  "Are you sure they're alright?" I asked Sara.
  She said nothing. Me and Sara were sitting at a park bench in the camp. We were eating cookies and creme ice cream.
  The orange sky was streaked with purple, pink and red lines. The clouds were a mix of pink and purple and the sun was a bright yellow. What a beautiful dawn.
  "They could've sent me an Iris-message by now. Where do you think they are?" I took a greedy mouthful of ice cream.
  "I dunno. You should've been clearer on that prophecy..." Sara was chewing on her cone.
  "NOOO!" Sam dropped to his knees, a D.S. in one hand. Max was smirking. "My beautiful Pokemon! Why, Max, why?"
  "My Tepig is strong against a Snivy, duh!" Max smiled. "Now, I send Reshiram out!"
  "I hope Zekrom wins." Sam said in a tiny voice and got up.
  "Anyways, I'm going to my mom's house. She probably got stuck in a vase again." I told Sara after an awkward pause and ran off.


  Sara






  I yawned. Me and Celestia had stayed up all night. We practically didn't have any sleep! I threw my cone away and ran to Apollo, who was fixing his favorite sun SUV. He wore dark shades, a bright orange shirt and jogging trousers this time. "Hi Sara."
  "Hello Mr. Apollo." I replied. "Are you the camp director?"
  Apollo's outfit changed into summer wear. His expression turned happy and giddy. "Yes I am! Oh, man! I'm so happy I could use some haiku!"
   I couldn't help smiling. "You are a god of poetry, so, let me hear one!"
   Apollo smiled and said, "Happy sunshine makes me happy today!" Apollo said.
   I pouted.
   "Good, huh?" Apollo said with pride.
   "Man you're terrible." I said. Apollo's sad expression turned his clothes into old man clothes.
   "Let me hear some haiku from you!" The god challenged.
   "Morning dew brings everything refreshed, anew." I smugly replied.
   "Whatever! I'm way better than that stuff." Apollo grumbled and resumed fixing his car.

Chapter Fifteen~Moon Goddess

     Annabeth






     We stopped at a clean cave. Lucas walked in and stopped at a rock sticking out of the wall. A bunch of water was pouring at the other side, from the rainwater.
    "That will be our water fountain." I saw Alec's eyes saw a pile of moss lined on a dry area in the cave. "And that will be our bed.
    I saw some rocks in a circular formation. "I'll make the fire. Lucas, you fix the water fountain so it won't touch that grime. Alec, make the beds more comfy. Let's get to work!"



    Alec

    I waked to the moss and made three sheets of that stuff. I rolled and formed three mosses into rounded rectangles. I cut some lichen from the cave ceiling and wove it into blankets. Using some of my sun powers, I dried them up to be warm and comfy. I looked at the sky, wondering if it was day or not. Of course, it was night. Night...

   The thought of night made me sleepy. I curled up on one of the beds, my rear facing up, making me close my eyes instantly.

   Lucas

  "DOES ANYONE NEED HELP?" I yelled. I peered over the little wall, covered in moss grime. Annabeth was struggling to keep the fire alive, and Alec was sleeping on the new beds. "Annabeth! Do you need help?"

  Annabeth looked up. She made a face. "Ew! Wash your face once in a while, would ya?" She tossed me a towel from Celestia's magic backpack.

  I wiped my face. I walked out of the shower area and Alec woke up. He began laughing at me.

  "You look like Frakenstein!" Alec said and fell back asleep.

   I took a mirror out of Celestia's magic pack and screamed higher than I wanted to.

   Annabeth

     "Stop screaming like a girl." I told Lucas and continued putting small twigs into my fire.

     My hands were seared from the hot embers, but that's basically what the fire was. Hot ember. Would it kill someone to bring a fire starter?

 "I  LOOOOOOOK LIIIIIIIIKE FRAKENSTEIN!" Lucas howled and jumped straight into my baby fire. He extinguished it with his grimy hair.

   "NOO!" I yelped and pushed my brother out of the fire. The hot embers were now just cold lumps of coal. "Look what you did, Lucas!"

    I woke Alec up. "Can you guys just chill? I'm trying to sleep!"

    Lucas glared at me and crashed onto a moss bed. I did the same, and closed my eyes.

   I dreamt I was in a silver room, circled of posters of moon phases. Every single bow or crossbow you could think of was hung on the walls. Way above my head was a skylight, underneath the moon, illuminating the scene. Then I saw pictures of a girl were also on the wall. I moved my feet and realized I was walking bare foot on a silky silver rug.

  A great flash appeared, with a 14-year-old girl standing inside it. She had black hair in a ponytail, with a silver dress on, holding a bow and arrow.

  "Who are you?" The girl asked in a cold tone.

  I knelt down. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of..."

  "I asked who are you, not a backstory!" She girl said icily.

  "Artemis? I thought you were immortal!" I asked the girl.

  Artemis was glowing with hatred. "That is my name, not yours! And I can look 14 than adult! I prefer 14, actually...."

  "I'm Annabeth." I said in a small voice.

  Artemis' face softened. "You already know who I am." She called a white stag up and rode on it. "Would you like a ride?"

  "Yes, your Majesty." I pulled myself onto the stag, and we rode into the sky.

  Everything looked mystical. The moon was so close, I felt like I could grab it. The clouds were like silver pillows floating in the dark sky. The stars were like little lanterns, with owls and crickets hooting and chirping.
  We landed at the edge of a forest clearing. A cave entrance was nearby, and so was a pond. Artemis smiled and swam in the pool.
  I watched the goddess swim freely and silently, but the cave looked familiar. I looked in and saw Lucas and Alec sleeping on moss beds. I even saw myself sleeping on a soft moss bed. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Artemis, dripping wet, gazed into the cave entrance also.
   "The moment of war is rising." Artemis said. She looked down kindly at me. "Your part of war is not as you expected. But you will save lives." She said the last sentence in a you-gonna-die-so-weird tone.
    "What about the prophecy? Celestia said that the moon and sun will take rage on the one who bared the sage!" I waved my arms around.
    "Believe it or not, I'm trapped. I could only send dreams, with my shrinking power." The moon goddess replied. "But the rest of the prophecy, such as that odd sage person part, will be to figure out."
      "Wait!" I said. But Artemis gave me a wink, waved her hand and I woke up with a start.

Chapter 14~The Fate of the World Quest Begins Now

     Annabeth








    I dreamt that I was in a dark chamber. I was paralyzed, only able to move my eyes and breathe. A cold voice echoed around the chamber.
   "GRAAAAAAAH!" The voice echoed, making my heart hurt. "WHO IS THIS? A DEMIGOD?!"
   I realized I was able to talk. "Majesty, whoever you are, free me at once!"
   I imagined the voice scowling. "YOU WILL BE SWALLOWED UP BY ME! THE GIANTS, AND THE FREED KRONOS WILL KILL EVERYONE! THEY WILL TEAR UP MOUNT OLYMPUS! ALL I NEED TO KNOW IS THE LOCATION..."
   I tried to move, but couldn't. "Isn't Mount Olympus up in Greece?"
   I heard a hiss. "I SENT SOME GIANTS THERE, MORTAL! ONCE I FIND MOUNT OLYMPUS, ME AND THE GIANTS WILL KILL THEM AT THE SAME TIME, MAKING TWICE THE PAIN!"
   A flash of lightning lightened the scene, and I realized I was sinking in the earth. I struggled to get out.
   "Why struggle, dearie? Why won't you stay here? With me!" A woman, most likely 90 feet tall shrunk to regular size. Her face was covered, with shifting dirt around her.
   "Dirt Woman!" I breathed.
   "It's Gaea, fool! I am the mighty one, married Uranus! I gave birth to the titans! Be proud of me!"
   I stifled my laugh. Finally, I let it out. "Uranus! Ha," Another wave of laughter hit me. "You married Uranus!"
   Gaea turned bright red, and turned away.
   I finally got a chance to escape, but another voice, one I heard before, entered my brain.
   Oh my gosh Annabeth! Isn't it enough for me to give you this dream for once? To be friends with the immortal daughter of the Oracle, too? Annabeth, I am trying to tell you something! Man, you don't know how hard it is to try to keep you from the Underworld! If I do lose grip, I'll send you to Elysium, the good place! But please, try to return to earth!
   Dad? I thought. Well, how would I?
   You are a daughter of me, right? Just believe in yourself! Oh, here's a pass to go back to earth!
   A ticket appeared in front of me. A soul appeared and punched a hole in it. I began to wake up, hearing things around me.
   Thanks dad. I said and opened my eyes.

                                         ~|*_*|~
  
   I saw four faces, staring at me concerned. A boy's face lit up when he saw me open my eyes.  
  "Annabeth!" The blonde boy hugged me. Was I supposed to remember him?
  Of course. I suddenly remembered that was my brother Lucas. But there was a boy who I didn't recognize. "Who's that?"
  I pointed to the boy. He had dark hair, but kinda like weathered wood color. His green eyes kinda creeped me out. He wore a white shirt with music notes and printed band-aids in it, and blue pants.
  "That's Alec." I turned my head and the other dark haired one, this time a girl, Celestia replied kindly.
  Then I saw Sara's red eyes. "Have you been crying?"
  "Yes. Daughter of Oceanus I am." She blinked, and a tear streaked her face. "Anyways, what did you see when you... died?"
  I told them about the dream.
  "Was that creepy?"
  "Yup."
  "Your dad gave you a ticket to get back to earth?"
  "Yup."
  "Amazing!"
  "You guys should go on a quest!" Alec said. "Celestia, the immortal one! Grant us a prophecy of the quest!"
  Celestia coughed. "Please, that's annoying." Then her eyes turned creepy, glowing green. Dark green spilled out of her mouth, wrapping it around us. Her voice sounded like three Celestias, talking at once.
   "Ten heroes shall unite with love,
     The owl, the starfish shall free the dove,
     The earth's slumber now shall weep,
     As sky goes down, the titan keep's,
     The skull, the bolt, shall let one go,
     As one gets lost in the Kingdom of Snow.


     War of Titans, half gets killed,
     Among the place near the lumber mill,
     End of the war, sun and moon take rage,
    To the one who bares the sage." Celestia finished, and she fainted right on the dot. Alec caught her, as if he expected that.
    We were all haunted.
    "Soo," Lucas said. "That sounds easy."
    Silence.
    "Basically, we meet other demigods, a child of Athena and a child of Poseidon will free a child of Aphrodite. And Gaea will cry, Uranus tries to comfort her I think, and Atlas, the Titan, tries to keep him there. Me and Annabeth have to let someone go, as he/she get's lost in the Kingdom of Snow."
   More silence.
   "And there will be a war with Titan's half of us or them will get killed, near some odd mill. And then...  what was that thing about with the sun of the moon?"
   "'End of war, sun and moon shall take rage.'" Celestia recited. I realized she woke up. "Does that mean Apollo and Artemis will be angry? And I'm not sure what I meant about someone baring a sage! Usually, prophecies have double meanings."
   "Who will we bring? Camp rules: three demigods get to go on a quest." Sara said. "I can't go."
   "Umm... me, Lucas and Alec then, I guess. Celestia's an immortal and you're a, erm, demititan. Besides, I dont trust Max and Sam." I told Sara.
   Celestia spread her hand, and a golden backpack appeared in her hand. "This shall have a lifetime supply of always fresh food and drink, plenty of nectar, ambrosia and greek drachmas, and a Necklace of Delphi. Basically, just think of something you want and pull it out. Lucas, can I have my necklace back?"
   Lucas sheepishly gave Celestia a glowing, emerald necklace. She tied it around her neck. She took another one out of the backpack.
  "If you run out of drachmas for Iris-messages, take the necklace, say the name you want to talk to, and a hologram of the person will appear!" Celestia put the necklace back into the backpack. She took out some swords, daggers, knives, bows with arrows, and blades. "Emergency weapons. Use in case you lose your weapon."
  As we emerged into the field with a sunset background and charred grass, Sara and Celestia waved good-bye. I felt like I was swallowing a rock. "I'm gonna kill you guys if you guys let me get killed."
  "Relax! Sure your first quest will be a 'Fate of the World' quest, but you'll have time to master you powers." Alec pointed to a dead squirrel. "Do something to it."
  I concentrated on reviving the squirrel, and I heard a squawk, I opened my eyes and saw a zombie squirrel, with a beak and wings.
  "The world's first zombie flying squirrel!" Lucas chuckled.
  I whispered, "Sorry." to the bird as we went into the lobby, then back out into pouring rain. Lucas and Alec suddenly stopped, taking in the cold water. I moaned impatiently. "C'mon! Gaea, the Titans and the giants aren't gonna kill themselves!"