Changing the Future

Chapter 54

"Andromeda, why are you all of a sudden so interested in learning about the giants?" Chiron asked. I'd been so absorbed in searching the camp's library – one of the forbidden rooms in the Big House unless you were granted permission – that I bumped my head against the shelf, swearing under my breath even though it really hadn't hurt. Somehow I still had the Curse of Achilles, even as a goddess, which really didn't make sense to me, because now I really couldn't die. Oh well, I still stayed clear of my mortal point, just in case.

"Well, history tends to repeat itself, right?" I asked, absentmindedly rubbing the spot on the back of my head that had bumped against the shelf as I stooped down to pick up the books I'd dropped.

"Yes," Chiron agreed. "But only if we fail to learn from our mistakes."

"My case in point." I set my pile of books down onto an old, decrepit table, coughing as a cloud of dust flew into my face. God, my next goal at camp would be to clean this room if it took me a thousand years.

I picked up the copy of Mythology Through the Ages and flipped to the chapter following the first Titan war. Though the ink had faded considerably from the original printing, the writing was still legible enough to make out.

"'After the war with the dreadful Titans,'" I started to read, pointing to the paragraph I was looking at, "'there was a time of peace as the Olympians finally came to power. The original Olympians, the six children of Kronos, were now in charge of rebuilding the Earth as they sought fit. This included repairing the damages that came from the Titans as well as aiding the mortal race from completely dying out from the sudden shifts in the environment as other Titans went into hiding, disrupting the natural order.

"'However, this period of peace and reconstruction would not last long. Though it took several hundred years for the original Olympian council to expand from six to twelve (excluding Hades and Hestia), that was all the time needed for another more ancient and sinister force to stir, wanting nothing more than to revenge her fallen children.

"'And so the Earth Mother awoke from her millennia of slumber, finding solace not in her husband, whose murder she had orchestrated, but in the third eldest primordial, Tartarus. Together the two sired a new breed of monster, one more fearsome and crueler than the Titans ever were: the giants. There were twelve original giants, each one made to oppose an Olympian, and as they had children, those giants came to oppose other gods and goddesses as well.'"

Chiron then abruptly shut the book, his face ashen as he pulled it into his lap, tucking it beneath the blanket that covered his fake legs. "No more of that, child," he said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. "We have just come out of a war against Father. Do you really believe the Earth Mother would want to strike again so soon?"

"I saw her during the war, Chiron," I said. "She killed me in a dream of mine after I refused to pledge my allegiance to her."

He swore in a mixture of Ancient Greek and Latin, seeming more unnerved than I'd ever seen him before. "This does not bode well, then. To kill a giant-"

"You need demigods and gods working together, I know."

Chiron shook his head in disbelief. "This will not go over well with Lord Zeus. But I must inform him of this threat, anyhow. It is imperative that we begin preparing immediately."

Just as he started to wheel himself out of the room, I caught onto the handles of the wheelchair, stopping Chiron. "Wait," I said, ignoring the look of concern flashing in my half-brother's brown eyes. "I don't want you to tell Percy or Annabeth about this yet."

"And why ever not? Annabeth is one of the smartest demigods at camp. If she has time to learn about this threat-"

"Chiron, I respect you a lot, you know that. But I need you to trust me on this. As much as we both know Annabeth's help would be invaluable, please remember that she's only sixteen and just came out of a war that ended with some of her friends dead. Not to mention that she and Percy only recently started dating, earning some well-deserved peace. Let them enjoy this time for as long as possible."