Started With A Dare - A POTHENA STORY ✔

We Hear Tales From An Old Half Horse

ATHENA'S POV

  I had a couple of good battles with Clarisse. My skills were already at the point where the two of us created unexpected twists and turns in each one and even though she raged every time I won her, I could tell that she was proud of me. Annabeth and Piper mostly watched us while talking about something in concern, but they both battled me and were insane fighters.

  Chiron finally arrived after two hours or so, and I surprisingly wasn't surprised to see Poseidon gripping a trident as he met me at the big house along with the boys where we found Chiron...who turned out to be half horse.

  I had never been more shocked when I saw the old centaur trot in. Poseidon looked like he was about to fall out of his chair, but the others acted as if they expected it. Annabeth immediately rushed forward and grabbed his arm as he stepped out of his disguise wheelchair and undid the buttons of his business jacket, looking tired and weary.

  "Chiron, we need your help!" she gasped. "We have...visitors who were keen to see you."

  Chiron looked to our direction. His expression was unreadable, even for me, but I had a feeling that he expected us.

  I stepped forward and showed him the piece of paper. Gulping, I muttered so that only he could hear me, "Zeus sent us."

  A loud rumble rocked across the sky, followed by an intimidating strike of lightning. Chiron looked surprised and scared for a moment, but he let out a short sigh and turned to the others.

  "Mr D is busy at the moment, but gather all the available cabin counsellers. We need to have a meeting right now," he spoke with a monotone, but his eyebrows creased in a way that told me he had no good news.

  The campers looked as if they wanted to protest as Chiron just had a full day's work and was probably exhausted, but Chiron held up a hand, telling them to follow his orders. The four young adults exchanged looks of concern and left the house to find whoever they were told to.

  Then the centaur turned back to us. He regarded us with looks of pity and...respect. "In the meantime, I must explain as much as I can. I don't have much time as you two were meant to set off soon and you do not have much time. Now, let me tell you as much about the Olympians as I can."

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  "You two are the god and goddess of the sea and wisdom, whether you want it or not. I believe the lord of the universe had sent you to fulfil a punishment of some sort," he paused as we frowned with questioning looks, "but I do not know more."

  As he finished his sentence, Percy, Leo, Annabeth and Piper returned with a group of young adults either nearing or at their early twenties.

  "Counsellors. You all know about the missing prophecy." Chiron's kind eyes browsed all of us sitting at the table, and all those 'counsellors' nodded. Poseidon looked as clueless as I was.

  "Well, I believe that the two heroes our new prophecy to finding that missing prophecy have appeared." He looked at us expectantly, and the campers in the room followed suit. "Meet Poseidon and Athena, the god of the sea, earthquake and horses and the goddess of wisdom and war."

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  There was a loud, collective gasp, then everyone fell silent. My cheeks started turning beetroot red and even my ears felt warm. Poseidon looked like he just choked on hot chilli.

  Percy stood up. "Sir, you sure you don't have the wrong person? I could not have," he choked, "just taught my father to use the trident."

  Poseidon's heartbeat became audible next to me - or maybe that was my own heartbeat.

   Annabeth was too busy trembling in her seat to even take a glance at me. I was the one who stole a glance at her, and I saw just how pale my daughter had become...no. I was a fourteen-year-old girl who had no idea what was going on. This beautiful young lady had no chance of being my daughter...or did she?

  That was when the Big House erupted into chaos...again. The cabin leaders screamed on top of their lungs at each other and Chiron, giving us suspicious looks and whispering among each other.

  "SILENCE!" Chiron finally hollered his kind, old eyes turning fierce and menacing. "They are your parents, Percy and Annabeth, but they do not remember anything, so you may see them as siblings. We also have a more important matter to discuss, so will you all please rest your voices and calm down?"

  Quiet returned once more.

  "Good." Chiron's eyes returned to their warm state again, just to prove that he could be on rage mode whenever he wanted to. "Poseidon and Athena, let me tell you about the missing prophecy. You see, our camp always had this strange great prophecy policy that no one planned..."

  He told us about how the second last great hero turned out to be Percy, but the prophecy spoke of a traitor named Luke Castellan. As his name was spoken, most counsellors shivered in fear and exchanged grave and nervous looks while Percy looked weary and Annabeth bit her lip, trying not to think of terrible memories. She looked as if she was about to cry. I saw her subconsciously trace a fingertip on the tabletop, writing something. Squinting, I realised what she had written - family.

  Chiron wrapped up by briefly telling us what the last heroes of the last great prophecy had done. He tried to avoid a certain name - Jason. Piper and Leo looked especially pained when he was mentioned. Finally, he went back to Poseidon and me. Then he told us a harpy named Ella spoke of the third great prophecy, which had to do with Apollo's godly form being taken away - something to do with 'the fall of the sun'. I didn't really hear much of it, but I could sense how intense it became in the room as the counsellors recalled memories that didn't need to be experienced twice.

  "Our next great prophecy was revealed by Rachel Dare, our own Oracle of Delphi. Before that prophecy, there was another prophecy which referred to the quest the two of you must accomplish." His expression shifted and became graver as he continued, "we had too much on our hands - two prophecies at once. We have a copy of your prophecy, but we have no knowledge of anything within the great one. Before we could read anything in it, it was...stolen."

Alright, maybe this chapter wasn't all that good but I have a ton of really important exams coming up and my school year is not looking pretty. Updates might be slightly lousier, but I'll try my best.