Another Love ─── L. Castellan

xxviii. apparently, murder is illegal. who knew?

Annabeth was trying hard not to burst into tears. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "Stay with those two, child," he told her. "Keep them safe. The prophecy—remember it!"

It was much more likely that we'd be looking after her, but it gave Annabeth something to keep her mind of the situation.

"I—I will."

"Um..." I said. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?"

Nobody answered.

"Right, great," I muttered. "Just checking."

"Chiron..." Luke said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—"

"Swear you will do your best to keep Andromeda from danger," he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."

"I swear it upon the River Styx," Luke didn't hesitate, swearing quickly as thunder rumbled outside. I narrowed my eyes at him, stopping Annabeth before she too could swear it.

"Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved...one way or another."

Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. "There, now, child. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope...well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear."

Annabeth nodded, before wrapping her arms around Luke, who soothed her gently.

"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" I demanded. "Where does he get off taking your job?"

A conch horn blew across the valley. I hadn't realized how late it was. It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.

"Go," Chiron said. "You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Andromeda, and let her know you're safe. No doubt she'll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the titan lord has forgotten you!"

"I'm always in danger," I mumbled.

With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, "Pony! Don't go!" 

I realized I'd forgotten to tell Chiron about my dream of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher I'd ever had was gone, maybe for good.

"Tyson, it's alright," I tried to tell him, as Luke led the four of us down to the dining pavilion.

The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. We stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to us later. Then she went off to join her siblings from Six—a dozen boys and girls with startling grey eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, somewhere in the middle of it all as she followed her siblings in.

Next came Clarisse, leading Five. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.

After Five came Nine—six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big sixteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf. Rumour was he could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden.