I Get Help From Annabeth's Bestie

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Percy's POV

The least the Oracle could've done was walk back to the attic by herself. Instead, Grover and I were elected to carry her. After that, Thalia tromped up the stairs. She was officially not talking to me now, but she looked at Grover and said, "Tell Percy to get his butt downstairs."

"Why?" I asked. "Did he say something?" Thalia asked Grover. "Um, he asked why." "Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy," she said. "Unfortunately, that includes Percy."

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage.

Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either. Mr. D and Chiron in wheelchair form sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo, who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant, took the other end.

Thalia and Grover and I sat along the right, and the other head councillors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs 'accidentally' during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters.

After a few minutes of arguing over what the prophecy meant and not coming to any solid conclusion, Zoe insisted she take a group of only hunters with her on her quest, when Thalia reminded her that the prophecy said that we had to work together, I had an idea.

"-Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest." "Three and two," I said.

Everybody looked at me. Thalia even forgot to ignore me. "We're supposed to have five," I said, feeling self-conscious. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair." Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense." Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers." "You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her.

"Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everybody looked at Dionysus, he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," I said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?" Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus."

"Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said, I took note of the 'you' and not 'we' "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die." "One shall be lost in the land without rain" Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

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