The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

A half-blood of the eldest dogs ... sorry that's gods. Not dogs

Great prophecy read,

Delightful fate lies ahead,

Destiny unfolds.

***

Word of Rhea's arrival spread as soon as she walked out of the ocean.

The beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it. People don't just appear on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza delivery guys. (It's happened—but that's another story.)

Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin. When he spotted her, he got so excited he fell out of his tree. Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet the girl.

Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humour. He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.

He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way Rhea can tell them apart.

"Rhea!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?" Then he saw her expression, a miserable look, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Selena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out ..."

As if she wasn't the actual reason for her boyfriend's death. Rhea thought. Which I thankfully avoided, I hope the naiads are taking good care of him. Her eyes glanced back at the sea.

They climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming toward them, smiling and excited.

Rhea stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them.

Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY THER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.

"Rhea!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where . . ."

Annabeth ran in right behind him. They had been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing—usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armour.

"What happened?" She grabbed Rhea's arm. "Is Luke—"

"The ship blew up," Rhea said. "He wasn't destroyed."

Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed, and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.

"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.

Rhea glanced at Chiron and the old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House—"

"No," she muttered. "No. No."

She started to cry, and the rest stood around, too stunned to speak. They'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst.

With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.

Finally, Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever and many campers said the same—a daughter of the war god and a daughter of the love goddess, in Rhea's opinion it made sense, have you seen Aphrodite and Ares?—but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.