Percy Jackson: A Spark of Betrayal Complete

Chapter 7

MARCUS POV:

I wandered back to the cabin after my audience with the Oracle. Stupid rag was spewing out riddles and none of them made sense to me. Something about unity among former enemies. Chiron might have known something but refused to say. I slipped into the bed. Perhaps things would be clearer in the morning.

ANNABETH POV:

I sat typing away at Daedalus' laptop. I thought about him. Percy Jackson. I had lost him. Well, maybe he wasn't the only one. I had let my pride get before me on one other occasion it cost me. And my fragile web of lies must still stand. Still, I pushed through the grief and resumed typing. I was making a new program. I was going to allow the laptop to scan the world for any magical energy, such as the kind that refined celestial metals give off. We definitely needed all the weapons we could get. Wherever it might be, this will pick it up. It could sense the energy even if it came from the bottom of the ocean. As I entered the last components of the program, I let out a sigh of sadness. Fate was cruel. But I have to push on. I shut down the computer. I'm going to have Chiron take a look tomorrow. I lay back and soon fell into a rare and restful dreamless sleep.

TIME LAPSE (Still Annabeth's POV)

"So this thing will allow us to pick up all sorts of energy that only refined metals give off." Malcolm asked.

I nodded. "We need to have any sort of help we can get. Last time we fought the Titans, we lost quite a number of weapons. We need to see if there are any other ones that we can find."

Clarisse sat forward. "She's right. I don't think that we were the only ones to have ever used a godly metal. There were many other civilizations with their own gods and possibly with their own magical weapons."

Chiron looked interested.

"Well, child, let us see what that you have come up with this time." He said with a twinkle in his eyes. I looked around at the assembled campers. They all looked interested to say the least.

I started the program and watched as the radar screen sprang to life. It ran a few systems check and when it was finished; we all leaned forward, watching with baited breath. All of a sudden, blips started to pop up all over the globe. There was a cluster down at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, quite a few up on the peak of Mount Everest, and a few in Australia. But as we watched a couple more seconds, we saw that another cluster had appeared. It was a lot bigger than any of the other ones we had just seen. And this time, it was a lot closer. This cluster was in Alaska.

I looked up from the screen. "Chiron, this is your camp. Based on this information, it's your call whether you want to send a team to get the weapons."

Chiron appeared to be deep in thought. He looked at the map.

"Obviously we can't send a team all the way to the peak of Mount Everest. And sending one to Australia and to the bottom of the Atlantic is out of the question. Our only bid for now is in Alaska."

I nodded. "But is it your decision to commission a quest to bring back these weapons?"

The old centaur nodded. "Give me a couple minutes. I'll call a meeting."

Fifteen minutes later, the whole camp was clustered in the arena. The campers all looked down to where Chiron and the rest of the godly campers sat. I recognized a few of them. Clovis slept. Clarisse was sharpening her spear. Thalia and the Hunters were off in their own section. Chiron stood and all the campers fell silent.

"We have been called for a quest; a quest for the retrieval of magical weapons. As most of you know, most of our weapons were either lost or destroyed in the Titan war. Our resident God of Architecture and computer programmer has constructed a program that allows it to scan the world for any magical auras."

I stood up.

"So far, we have detected multiple groups of weapons, the closest of which is in Alaska. Our Hephaestus campers have kindly assisted us in creating radars for the three questers."

Chiron nodded at me and I sat down. I sneaked a glance at Marcus. He looked bored in this particular meeting.

The old centaur cleared his throat.

"Do we have any volunteers?"

Three hands went up. One of them was Malcolm, my brother. Another was Samuel Jenson, son of Thetis. And the third was Lina Hall, daughter of Aphrodite. Chiron called the trio down to the floor.

"Do you three accept the responsibility of each other on this quest?"

The trio nodded. I looked at each of the three. I stepped forward.

"Heroes. A moment of your time, if you please."

They followed me out of the arena. When we reached the campfire, I looked each of them in the eye.

"You probably have not yet had the experience of a quest. There are many dangers in the world waiting you. Trust in each other, and all will be well. But there is another reason I took you three aside. Find Percy Jackson. And when you find him, please, bring him back."