#2 Daughter of Hera: Legend Incarnate

Chapter 7 - I Need Apollo As My Calligraphy Teacher

~Jason Grace's POV~

As soon as we landed on Camp Half-Blood, Will approached us and led us to Apollo's cabin. We all stood there, gathered around the terrible wall of attention.

Percy whistled. "Though Apollo composes terrible haiku, he's quite good at calligraphy."

"I should get him to teach me." I said.

"Me too." Frank said.

"That's only possible if Apollo's no longer an exile." Leo added.

Reyna face-palmed. "Leave the idiotic comments to the boys."

Piper walked up and gingerly touched the gold writings. Annabeth stood beside her, going through the prophecy for the hundredth time.

Twenty-one days, the gods' demise,

In life's hand, the fallen shall rise.

Darkness housed the chained,

The earth's half whose fate shared.

"The first line is easy to understand." Connor said. "After twenty-one days, Tartarus will destroy the gods."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Obvious. We totally DIDN'T notice that." Clarisse sneered.

"Hey! Just trying to help."

"How about the second line?" Lou said, ignoring the two. "In life's hand, the fallen shall rise? Who does life referred to? And most especially, the fallen?"

"The life part might be referring to a god." Butch said. "Maybe the god of life? But I'm pretty sure all gods have the power to give life."

"The fallen part is what troubles me the most." Katie said. "Well, we've been through two major wars. The fallen part may refer to monsters or even great baddies like Kronos or even Gaia, which I'm pretty sure that everyone thinks is not a good thing."

"If it's through life's hand that the fallen will rise, then, it's truly not a good thing." Nico said. His eyes were ghoulish than usual and his skin paler like he hasn't slept for days now.

Percy leaned in and whispered."You okay, bro? You're turning pale."

"I'm trying not to think about ghosts." I muttered, remembering Ithaca.

"Oh! That!" Percy smirked. He patted me in the back. Beside him, Leo snickered. "That's alright. At least, you experienced what was it like to be old and wise, you know."

"What?"

Percy raised his hands and pointed to Leo. "Not me. Leo started it. He told us to spy you guys."

"Whoa there! Why me?"Leo formed a timeout sign with his arms.

"Because the spyglass is yours?"

"Thank you very much, Water Boy." Leo grumbled.

"Don't ever call me that again."

"The third seemed a bit unusual." Frank said.

"Not really." Will said. "Chained could simply mean those beings punished by the gods. Like Prometheus."

"And the Darkness refers to the Underworld?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, turning to face us. Her stormy grey eyes darkened."Or even Tartarus." The name brought a heavy pressure in the atmosphere. Some shifted nervously.

"The fourth line." Chiron frowned as something caught his attention. "Travis. Could you please stop writing on Clovis' face with a permanent marker?" Travis looked up like an animal caught in headlights. He hid the marker that was only a few centimeters away from Clovis' face behind him and gave a sideways smile. Chiron sighed. Clovis shifted, mumbling the word Tartarus in his sleep.

"I hope he isn't dreaming about Tartarus." Percy said, glancing at Clovis with concern. Reyna was about to speak when Nico jerked in his seat.

"What is it, Nico?" Will asked.

Nico looked at us with eyes filled with realization. "Hypnos kids dream powerfully, right?" We all nodded. "What if they can look over at Tartarus and see if they can get anything about the protogenos' plans?" We all looked at each other, trying to process what Nico had said.

"That may work." Annabeth said. "But it's uncertain whether Tartarus can interfere with dreams. Chances are he may try to alter their dreamscape."

"But it's worth the try, isn't?" Reyna asked. "We can't go on without any information about our enemy' movements."

Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Should we try it, Chiron?"

Chiron looked at us. He seemed to age so much since last week. "It's well worth the effort." He nodded toward Clovis. "Please wake Clovis up."

"Is he really sleeping or is he just pretending to be asleep?" Leo asked as the others stood up to help wake Clovis up. I simply shrugged. I don't know how to determine whether Clovis is really asleep or awake but looked like asleep. Yeah, I've been in meetings with him and still, I can't tell the difference.

After a full two minute waking up session, Clovis stirred from his sleep. He gave an almighty yawn and rubbed his eyes. He stared at us with sleepy blue eyes. "Uh...it seemed I fell asleep. Did I miss a lot?" He asked.

"No. Not really." Pollux answered. "Just the discussion about the prophecy."

"Oh."

"Clovis, Nico here." Piper gestured. "Thought of an idea. You guys dream powerfully, right? You think you can look over at the Pit and see if you can get anything about the enemy' movement?"

Clovis blinked. "I think we can do that."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's good." Hazel said. "At least, we got-"

Clovis cut her off. "But." We all turned to him.

"But what?" Chiron asked.

"Well," He yawned. "I rather look out for someone down there in Tartarus. She already offered to serve as our eyes and ears down there but her situation isn't good in any way."

"What do you mean? Who is she?" Percy asked.

Clovis stared at us and spoke casually. "Oh...I haven't told you yet? Christine Galliardo is alive. She's in Tartarus."

__________

~Hermes' POV~

I watched the head demigods discuss things through the window of Apollo's cabin. My disguise perfectly blends in with the demigods gathered outside. I glanced at the blonde girl with an Imperial Gold charm bracelet.

Everything is finally setting into motion.

All we are waiting for is her first move.

__________

~Hera's POV~

The Iris message shimmered before me. Hermes has done well. The fight is just about to start. Not here above but below.

May the Fates watch over you, my dearest daughter.

__________

~Trisha Ledger's POV~

I fingered the dove pendant of Christine's charm bracelet as I waited with the others outside Apollo's cabin. Ever since last week, the camps have been busier and more chaotic than usual. Head demigods from both camps go back and forth to exchange information. Today's meeting has been their longest yet. I glanced worriedly at the cabin door. I wonder what's holding them up. I hope everything is fine.