𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 , pjo

♛ Call to Adventure

The rest of the night went on as any other Friday night was expected, at least, most of it.

Romá received special recognition as most valuable player for that week, and the cabin of Hermes gushed over her for the rest of the night. Lin had begrudgingly given her friend two drachmas (the currency used in Ancient Greece), upholding the never-ending deal that every time one of the girls won a Capture the Flag game, the other would have to pay up.

Dinner was as rowdy as ever. The smells of sweets, barbequed chicken, and even salad dressing wafted around the large pavilion as demigods sacrificed half of their meals to their parents. Usually Lin might offer her food to Hermes, but that night she offered it to Hestia. The goddess had always stoked the flames of Camp Half-Blood's fire, but people had only started paying more attention to her after the war.

She then sat back next to Romá, and ate her meal peacefully.

Every night before curfew, Lin would use the bathroom so she didn't get in trouble for getting up in the middle of the night. Around that time no one was in the stalls anyways, so the girl could take as much time as she pleased.

She leisurely washed her hands under the warm water, which reminded her of the days she used to swim in murky lakes with her half-brother, Keith, under the scalding rays of the summer sun. Now the only lake was Long Island Sound, and Keith was not there.

Her thoughts had entangled her, leaving Lin immobile as water sprayed from the fountain all over her orange camp shirt. She stumbled backwards with a small huff of annoyance, her injured knee trembling with a sudden fear. The fountain continued to cry, letting her know that a pipe had burst. It traveled all the way to the door she had opened, where the fading sunlight crept on the floating droplets of water.

Lin was ready to make a full on sprint to the Hephaestus cabin and ask one of the kids to fix it before she could get in trouble with Chiron, but her knee abruptly gave out, slamming against the hard tile floor with no mercy. The stream of water soaked her clothes, but that was pushed to the back of her mind as a colorful ray appeared in the liquid.

At first glance it looked a normal rainbow. After all, they most often appeared when the sun was setting, but Lin knew better (Ferrell). This was an Iris Message, looked over the goddess of rainbows herself.

An image flickered to life in the hues, pulling the air from Lin's lungs. It was him. The hero.
She had seen him around camp before, but he was always out on quests to save the world and other stuff like that. Everyone acted like he was no big deal, and treated him like an equal, but Lin knew he was so much more.

Percy Jackson himself had Iris Messaged her.

The Iris Message was perfectly clear, as they usually were, but it still sounded as if the son of Poseidon was fading in and out.

"Is this Camp Half-Blood?" Percy cried. His black hair was ruffled, ash covered his face, and his eyes screamed out for help. Dust floated behind him, creating a thin cloud of fog.

"Uh- Uh, yeah. Yeah, this is Camp Half-Blood!" Lin's voice hardened when she finally registered that this was truly happening. Behind Percy, loud booms sounded. She strained her eyes to peek at the blurry background, and couldn't help but gasp when she saw it. The sight was horrid.

Large feet stomped at the ground furiously, each time they connected to the earth below was another time Percy hit his head on the roof of the small cavern he seemed to be cowering in. A small figure darted back and forth between the monstrous legs, and Lin could barely make out the blonde ponytail adorning them. It could be no one else but Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and girlfriend of Percy Jackson.

"I can hurry and get Chiron," Lin offered hurriedly, trying to get off her uncooperative knee.

"No!" he shouted. "There's no time! You have to listen carefully!"

Lin couldn't breathe. Her vision was fading in and out. How did Percy expect her to take in anything, let alone remember it? Despite everything, she nodded.

"We're in trouble, Annabeth and I," Percy stuttered as if Lin couldn't already tell. "You need to get someone over here."

A shrill scream sounded, and Lin was finally able to jump on her feet, simply out of instinct. Percy's breath caught in his throat as he looked behind him. Annabeth was gone from Lin's sight, and the booms were beginning to veer in Percy's direction.

"Where's 'here'?" Lin asked, giving her knee a quick punch as if to silence its quivering. The son of Poseidon looked back at her slowly, tears welling in his sea green eyes. "Percy! Where is 'here'?"

Lin had never seen anyone's emotions change so quick, like lightning flashing in the sky. His tears of sadness morphed into tears of anger, and he watched Lin with steely eyes.

"Michiga-"

Lin watched in horror as his message cut off, and her rainbow dissipated to mist.