Daughter of Pluto | Wattys2017

VI

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out. Something popped up in front of Aimee's eyes. A memory of a boy with blonde hair stabbing a teddy bear,she realized that this memory was triggered by the Great Prophecy.

Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.

Everyone else looked surprised. Apparently Drew didn't address the crowd very often.

"Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

Aimee whispered to Annabeth, "What's she talking about—the Great Prophecy?"

Then she realized everyone was looking at Rachel, too.

"Well?" Drew called down. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"

Rachel's eyes looked scary in the firelight. Aimee was afraid she might clench up and start channeling a freaky peacock goddess again, but she stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp.

"Yes," she said. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Pandemonium broke out.

Aimee saw Piper catch Jason's eye. He mouthed, You all right? Piper nodded and managed a smile, but then looked away from him and Aimee. Aimee could tell it was too painful for her seeing him and not being with him.

When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:

"Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

Jason shot to his feet,Aimee sitting up slightly behind him. Their eyes looked wild, like they'd just been tasered.

Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. "J-Jason,Aimee?" she said. "What's—"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," Jason chanted while Aimee spoke normally. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

An uneasy silence settled on the group. Piper could see from their faces that several of them were trying to translate the lines. Piper could tell it was Latin, but she wasn't sure why her hopefully future boyfriend and best friend were suddenly chanting like a Catholic priests.

"You just ... finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. "—An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—"

"We know those lines." Aimee winced and put her hands to her temples. "I don't know how, but we know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out referring to Jason. "Handsome and smart."

There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. God, what a bunch of losers, Aimee thought. But it didn't do much to break the tension. The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of green.

Jason sat back down next to Aimee, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring. Aimee felt a pang of jealousy from Piper and wondered how she could feel what the other girl felt. Piper felt that it should have been her next to Jason, comforting him.