ELAPSE | PJO

ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ 2

Percy swung his feet.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and--

"Percy, if you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to finish reading this."

"Sorry, sorry. Proceed."

Annabeth held up the paper, squinting. "I don't understand why this wasn't written in Greek."

Jason piped up. "Or roman."

"When have the gods ever made anything easy for us?" Grover deadpanned.

Piper shook her head. "Never."

"Exactly. So why start now?"

"You'd think they'd give us a break, if only a small one," Percy whined.

Annabeth didn't even try to disagree. A break would be great.

"Maybe I could be of assistance," Chiron called from the doorway.

Annabeth sighed. "That would be great, thanks." She passed him the puzzling note that had appeared on her pillow this morning after breakfast. As much as Annabeth loved reading, it didn't come in handy in a hurry-up-Percy's-impatient kind of situation.

Chiron began, "'Chronological Kronos, Gastly Gaia, battles and fights, demigod's might--'"

"Rhyming." Percy muttered. "Always something."

Annabeth flicked his knee and gestured for Chiron to continue.

"'--Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase--'"

"Seriously?"

"'--fulfilling the gods' will, not too much haste. Time is short, sometimes long, don't ever wonder what went wrong. Backwards forwards, whatever we choose, you'll find yourself in familiar shoes."

The demigod's leaned forward in anticipation.

Annabeth's eyes were narrowed. "That's it?"

Chiron began rolling the small piece of parchment. "It was signed by the Fates."

Percy threw his hands up. "Now the Fates send letters! Why am I surprised?"

Annabeth shushed him. "Chiron, what do you think it means? It's not necessarily a prophecy, we didn't consult any Oracle, and if the Fates really were the ones who signed it, then there's a good chance something's wacky."

Chiron shook his head. "I can only guess that the gods have a hand in this. But I don't think it'll be like any of your other quests. There was quite a bit of talk of time in this letter."

Somewhere outside of the Big House, Dionysus' voice raised.

"Ah, I better go deal with that. Let me know if you figure anything out." With a wave, Chiron left the five to ponder over the letter in the room.

Percy and Annabeth wore strange expressions, as if they couldn't believe they were involved, yet they had seen it coming.

Jason was attempting to reread the letter, while Piper teased him for not memorizing it by now.

And Grover chewed on a stray can, his nervous habit. "Percy, Annabeth, what do you think it meant by 'familiar shoes?' Because we don't have the best history with those."

"I think it was more of a figurative thing. Like, experiencing something familiar," Annabeth said. "Of course, we can never be sure with the Fates."

Percy tapped his fingers on his knee. "I've never had my name directly mentioned in a prophecy before," he pointed out.

"This isn't a prophecy," Piper reminded him.

"True, but I think Percy has a point," Jason said.

"He does?"

"I do?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Well, kind of. What I'm trying to say is, maybe one of the gods didn't feel this was worth notifying all of the other gods about, so he, or she, asked the Fates for help, and decided Percy and Annabeth were best for the job."

The rest of them stared at him.

Annabeth nodded slowly. "It's not bad. There's more to it, but we've got to start somewhere."

Percy frowned. "Wonder which god screwed up this time."

Annabeth shook her head. "You're such a--"

Jason, Piper, and Grover jumped and sheilded their eyes as a white, burning flash of light split the air.

When it died down, Percy and Annabeth were no where to be seen.

"Are you freaking kidding me?"