Demigods

Council Meetings

Glynn
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Once I’d gotten over my shock, I was excited for the meeting. But it took me all of dinner to get over that shock.

The other campers recovered fairly quickly, though they would occasionally glance over to the Hades table. Aisha had explained to me that campers weren’t allowed to sit at other tables, but I guess seniors didn’t listen to that rule. Or maybe getting nearly killed by a giant killer bird allowed exceptions. I wasn’t sure which, but the twins and the Hermes kid were sitting with Mana.

I still couldn’t quite believe what happened. One minute I’m following my cabin leader, Raphael, the next we’re running alongside the other cabins to see the commotion.  At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I’d never seen a real phoenix before. They aren’t as small as Dumbledore’s bird in Harry Potter, I can tell you that. It was much, much larger, and seeing one demigod fight it with a sword by herself was a bit hard to process.

If I’m being honest, she was impressive. We were running towards her, so my view was from a distance, but I could tell that she was skilled with a blade. Heck, I can barely lift a sword, let alone fight with one. But as soon as I snapped out of my awe, I started yelling in my head.

‘Fire, you idiot. A sword isn’t going to do it. You need fire!’ JJ says I’m really bad with anything that isn’t a fact in a textbook. She’s probably right. Fighting? I’m part of the reason we lost Liam. I couldn’t defend myself. But when it comes to the legends and the language, I’m smarter than almost anyone.

It seemed that Mana was good with legends too, because after a moment, she changed her tactics. Standing in the way like that was both brave and stupid. But it worked, and she rolled under making a be-line for the flames.

Then Hermes boy stole a bow for her, she shot a flaming arrow (which is completely unfair. Not only is she a child of the big three, but she can use both swords and bows? I can barely use my dagger!) and we all lived happily ever after. Blah, blah, blah. Everyone knows I was the real hero. Had it not been for me, that phoenix would have reformed and killed us all.

Now the mess hall was, well, a mess. Phoenix’s are fire birds, so nearly every table was scorched. Not mine though. I guess property of Poseidon tables are difficult to burn.

The Hades table was almost black it was scorched so badly, but I guess a black table suits the cabin. Do all death kids dress like gangsters? 

The four at said table were in a deep conversation. Had the circumstances been different, I might have gone over to them and asked “Why so serious?” But I wasn’t that dumb, no matter what JJ says. Every kid there had a sword. Messing with them at a moment like that was not on my to-do list, nor would it ever be. Maybe.

Now council meetings, that sounded fun. Actually, scratch that. It sounded really boring but considering she called it just after a near death by phoenix, I doubted that we would all be sitting there discussing politics.

What I wasn’t sure about was why JJ and I were going. Neither of us were leaders. We hadn’t even been here for a full day yet! But I was grateful to be going. Sitting in the dark while others discuss the important stuff did not seem appealing to me.

Dinner went by fast. I talked with JJ and Aisha for a bit, then before I knew it, I was back in my cabin getting ordered by Raphael to hurry up. I quickly jumped up and followed him out the door towards the Big House.

There were dozens of campers. According to JJ, who had been told by Lex, after the second titan war, Percy Jackson made the Olympians agree to have cabins for the minor gods. Then Jason Grace went back and forth between camps for years building even more after the war against the giants. So there were tons of cabins now. Most minor gods got a monument instead of a cabin, but there were still probably twenty to thirty cabins.

All the talk about previous wars gave me a headache. How many wars did this place have within a year? Plus the name Percy Jackson popped up everywhere. I asked Devin, and she said he was still alive, living in New Rome or whatever with his wife Annabeth. New Rome, a place for demigods to go to college, get jobs, live normal lives. Sounded boring. Safety is overrated.

Mana was the last one to enter. Better late than never. She had stitches in her cheek from where the phoenix claws scratched her. The Hermes kid was right beside her.

“Alright, calm down everyone. Take a seat. We have some serious stuff to discuss.”

“Yeah, try not to tick her off,” the Hermes guy piped up. “She already almost killed me with a skeleton in the med bay.”

“Not on purpose,” she said. “Although that may change. So, to business.”

She looked at every person in turn. Dang, that girl could give a really scary death stare when she wanted to.

“Today,” she began, “has been abnormal, even for us. First two demigods fall from the sky and tell me that they are being hunted by another demigod.” A collective gasp went up from the other councillors, but Mana ignored them. “Then a phoenix attacks me in a place where monsters can’t enter. This leads me to one conclusion; we have a traitor in our midst.”

The temperature felt like it dropped. Seeing as how a bunch of people had magical powers, it probably did.

A boy from Athena table stood. “Maybe not.”

“What do you mean? Do you have a theory, Duncan?” she asked.

He nodded. “You said a demigod was attacking Glynn and JJ? If they found out that the girls are here, a demigod could enter the borders. Maybe they entered and summoned the phoenix from the inside.”

She thought for a second. “You could be right. Either way, we need to find out who is doing this. Which we can’t do from here. So we need a quest then.”

“Seriously?” a Venus girl asked. “We haven’t had a quest like that since…”

“I’m aware, Jaden. I was on that quest,” Mana butted in.

“A quest like what?” I asked.

Lexis explained, “People get quests often, usually ones from their parents. Those are usually repeats of quests other demigods have done in the past. An original quest is strange.”

“What was the last quest about?” JJ asked.

Mattias and Mana glanced at each other. “That’s a story for another time,” Mattias said,

“Back to the point. Last time, we had an exception. Only two people went. However, this quest will follow the normal rules unless Rachel’s prophecy says otherwise. That means three.”

“I’m going,” JJ announced, standing. “Same with Glynn. This started with us. We need to go.”

“That’s why I brought the two of you here. I know it has to be you. As well as me. I got attacked. Out of a camp full of demigods, it targeted me. I’m a part of this for whatever reason,” Mana agreed.

As much as I wanted to figure this out, getting handed the quest didn’t exactly make me happy. Especially with creepy Hades kids. Poseidon and Hades? Not as bad as Poseidon and Zeus but still. Rivalries go way back.

“Whoa, wait. First of all, no way can you guys go now. Chiron needs to approve and the newbies haven’t had any training. Plus, didn’t you say that the demigod wanted three? Isn’t it a bad idea to send three half-bloods to find this dude a bad idea?”

“It’s how quests work, Mattias. You know this. Besides, I wasn’t planning on leaving tonight. We wait until Chiron gets back. In the meantime, Glynn and JJ need to train. Taking two rookies is going to be difficult enough. I want to know your strengths and weaknesses before I’m to take the two of you on a quest,” Mana insisted.

“Hey, we can handle ourselves,” JJ snapped.

To my surprise, that made Mana grin. “Seems like bravery is a trait you have. Good. You’re going to need it.”

With that, she dismissed the council, making everyone go back to their cabins with thoughts and worries in our heads.