Child of Zeus {Interactive Story} (PJO/HOO/TOA)

TWELVE: Choice Two

In the morning I woke unsure of my decision.

To pack, we each got a back-pack from the camp store, along with both regular money and drachmas (weird name, but they were round coins that we could use with Greek beings), extra clothes, toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant...), nectar and ambrosia, rations (granola and fibre bars, crackers and spreads), flashlights and batteries, blankets and bed rolls, a water bottle, and whichever personal item we so chose. I packed in my pillow pet.

To suit up, Diana and I wore normal clothes (mine had been shredded, so I got a blue 'GREEKS RULE' shirt from the camp store), Johnny wore pants and fake feet to cover his sheepy-ness, looking just like he had when I first met him; human.

Diana, seemingly gifted with the talent of multi-weapon use, had a sword in her bag and a ring on her right hand that turned into a bow, with a quiver stocked with arrows magically appearing on her back when activated.

"You don't need to be the daughter of the archery god to be able to use a bow, but I do prefer the sword and wits above it." She had told me.

I strapped my own, non-transforming dagger around my waist and prayed that people thought it was just a cool, non-threatening belt. Eleo stopped by my table and handed me the collapsible shield she had promised me, wished me luck, and went back to her own table for breakfast. I fastened it as a bracelet around my wrist. Cool.

"What if they see the dagger?" I asked Johnny. Freddy and Thomas were ogling me, like it was so cool that I was going on a quest. I hadn't paid them any head, I wanted to focus completely on doing this right and not killing everyone.

"Did I not explain mist to you?" Johnny asked nervously. "It's like a shield to mortal eyes. That's why the kids couldn't see the Panthers and blamed us; all they knew at the time was that there was danger."

"Why are you scared again?" I dropped my voice so the two Hermes kids couldn't hear. "This quest isn't going to fail like your last one. I'm leading it, aren't I? We're going to prevail."

"I'm not nervous about that." Johnny said.

"Then what?"

"Exactly what I just said. I got the paper from yesterday, you know, to chew and stuff as a small snack. Then I noticed the front cover. We need to keep our heads low during this quest; we're wanted for murder in the first degree, and attempted murder. There's a man hunt on us now, way worse than that news report before..."

My face fell slack. "Because why wouldn't this happen to us?"

~

Argus looked very similar to my best-satyr-friend.

They shared the same blond hair, the same light soft skin, even the same baby-blue eyes. Only, where Johnny had two, Argus had hundreds, and they blinked up at me from every inch of skin he had showing. He smiled with tight lips, lifted the brown hat off his head in salute, then pulled our packed bags into the back of the white 'Delphi Strawberry Co.' van.

Chiron and Rachel stood beside the van. Eleo, Freddy, Thomas, Jordan, and Mike stood at the front of the campers who'd all followed us down the hill to wish us luck on the quest. Ryder and Lee weren't part of the crowd.

Diana pulled Johnny and I aside.

"Well, where are we going?" She asked.

"I don't know if you're right or not, but I trust you. Prometheus does have a better-looking motive. Where are we headed, then? Where is he?"

"I don't know where he is, obviously. Not precisely, anyway. But I know someone who does. We'll talk more in the van." Diana said matter-of-factly.