The Last Olympian [Book Five]

Sour Departure.

While other campers are out enjoying the day, I remain in cabin five alone. Towards the back against the wall is a long table flushed against the wall. Scrolls, maps, and blueprints lay scattered across the surface, but all I care about is the crinkled piece of paper that my father had given me the last time we had spoken to each other. The folded creases are worn, evidence of the many times I had folded and unfolded the single piece of paper. I'm staring at the zigzagging patterns that seem to form a cross that is perfectly positioned on top of a mound. A grave? I shudder at the thought and frown even more, lines settling deeply into my face. Eventually, every dash and stroke begin to swim across the page recklessly and a throbbing headache begins right behind my eyes. Groaning in pain, and straighten my back and rub my eyes, anger rising at my inability to decipher this "map". I was beginning to doubt that it was even a map to begin with. Where does it even lead?

"What's that?" Annabeth questions behind me, and I jump in surprise, but before she can look at it even more I grab the paper and hastily crumple it into a wad and shove it into a pocket.

"Nothing." I reply evasively. "Clarisse wants me to start looking over some plans for our next capture the flag game."

I feel terrible for lying, and yearn to tell Annabeth about the map. I've only got more questions then answers, and since then Ares hasn't reached out to me to tell me anything else. I'm completely left in the dark, but I can't tell Annabeth. Percy's birthday is in a month, and if the Prophecy is to be believed, he's going to die. There's a war going on, and everyone is miserable. She doesn't need to be bothered by anything else, even if she could possibly help me. There's a second of surprise on her face, and I can already tell she wants to know more, but fortunately she drops it.

Annabeth watches me. "You're going to miss lunch. The bell already rang once."

"Oh, really?" I ask, frowning still. "I hadn't even heard it... I guess that explains why none of my siblings have returned yet."

Lunch is the usual, with offerings and prayers to the gods followed by chatter filled with war strategies, ideas for an edge, and quiet arguments of disagreements. Everyone is on edge, and while the children of Ares are planning and listening to everything Clarisse says between bites of food, I'm quiet and distant. The wadded up map practically burns against my leg. It fills my head constantly, as though the image has been perfectly burnt into my skull and I can't forget it. It has to do less with intrigue and more with irritation that I still don't know what it means, despite constantly looking over it for all these months. Annabeth is trying to catch my attention from her table, I can feel her eyes on me, but I'm doing everything in my power to just stare at my barely touched food and try not to look constipated like I'm certain I do. But it's harder then it seems, and I'm grateful when others begin getting up to scrape their remains into a trashcan and leave the dining pavilion. I quickly follow suit and leave as quickly as I can, glad to get away from Annabeth for once. I walk into the camp store slowly and hear the little bell chime above my head.

"Get BACK HERE!" Katie shouts angrily, and I quickly move aside as the Stoll brothers, both laughing hysterically, dash out the door with, as I'm guessing, stolen camp store goods. Katie lets out a sigh of frustration as the twins make their escape, and she turns and stomps back to the check-out counter. As though remembering her manners, she offers me a somewhat tired smile. "Hey, Reagan."

I nod in return and look at her for a moment, then blink and begin to walk the aisles slowly. "Hey, Katie."

She frowns at my morose tone and expression. "What's wrong?"

My stomach growls as it remembers it's hunger, and I blush slightly in embarrassment and grab a small bag of potato chips off the shelf, "just tired," is my response with a shrug. I toss the bag onto the counter in front of her and wait for her to charge me.