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chapter five. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF, "Theo, didn't the prophecy say Percy was only permitted two companions on his quest?" or maybe you're thinking, "But nobody has ever had more than two companions before!" or maybe, if you really know me well enough, you're worried for my wellbeing and crying, "But you hate Percy; how in Apollo's name are you supposed to handle an entire quest with him?"
All of these are valid statements, and if you thought anything along any of their lines, you would be correct, as I spat out about a billion questions along the same ideas. Chiron did not bat an eye at my horde of questions; on the contrary, he seemed almost pleased that I had so many. When I paused to catch my breath, he held up a hand that kept me from continuing on.
"Theodosia Scott," he said, his voice low and official-sounding, "I give you permission to accompany Perceus Jackson on his quest to return Zeus's master bolt to its rightful owner. You leave as soon as you finish packing. Go, child."
"Chiron, I'm not doing it." My voice sounded meek and unsure compared to his strong tone, but I tried to keep holding my ground. "It—it's a stupid idea. There are too many red flags; too many things that could go wrong. It's dangerous. You really want to send out three demigods at a time?"
"Three powerful demigods," he corrected me, arching an eyebrow. "You, Percy, and Annabeth may be young, but you are easily some of my strongest campers. If I were to send any other combination of campers out, I have no doubt that at least one of them would come back in a casket; but you three are trained for battle, talented, and all of you now have an incentive for going on this quest."
"And what's my incentive?"
"If you go, I will name you head counselor of cabin seven."
I stuttered over my next question, taken by surprise. "What about Lee—?"
"Lee has agreed to the terms," Chiron said, nodding once. "He has only one condition—one which I have to say, I strongly agree with—and it is that you must return alive."
"I'll go on the quest." I tightened my jaw in indignation and stood from the pinochle table, removing from my hair the quartz clip that swiftly morphed into a light dagger. "But Lee can keep being head counselor. I don't think I can handle the mental strain of being responsible for my cabin after spending so long with Percy Jackson. We'll be lucky if I don't have to check into a psych ward."
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
PACKING MY BAG was the easy part, it turned out. All I stuffed into my backpack was my dagger, an extra change of clothes, a toothbrush (which I doubted I would have much time to use; if the quest was as dangerous as Annabeth had hyped it up to be, I figured my main focus would be staying alive), and a hairbrush. I planned on leaving my bow and arrows at camp, but decided it's better to be safe than sorry.
