Luke Jackson: My Story

Quest and a Prophecy

The two of us swam upwards for a breath of air neither of us stopped laughing, neither did our friends who were still laughing hysterically on the dock.

"Luke, Lauren, get out of the water now!" I heard an irritated voice say. We all stopped laughing immediately, and Lauren and I knew better than to argue with Chiron.

The two of us slouched out of the water and into the beach. We hung our heads low as we approached Chiron. "Chiron, let me explain..." Lauren began.

"You two, and you Marcus, come with me." Chiron scoffed. Marcus, Lauren and I exchanged confused glances as we followed Chiron hesitantly towards the Big House leaving Troy and Ruth standing dumbfounded on the dock.

My bare feet squeaked in my shoes and gravel found its way between my toes and pinched them unforgivingly the whole way. Chiron sent us into the room with the ping pong table where debates and meetings were held I spoke first, "Chiron, I'm sorry we went swimming but this isn't their fault, it's mine. It was a dare and I lost."

"That's not that I'm concerned about." Chiron answered sharply.

The three of us exchanged glances none of us said anything for a long time. "I am concerned about the confirmed rumors of Medusa in the Washington DC area, but after seeing you little stunt of immaturity I think I'll send three others to find them." Chiron said sternly.

Lauren spoke rapid fast after his remark, "Chiron we are very sorry about the lake, we promise it won't happen again. But Medusa? Didn't Medusa die?" Lauren stammered.

"Yeah, my dad cut off her head with uncle Grover and mom, and the Doors of Death are closed, she couldn't possibly be alive." I added.

"But apparently she is, she must've escaped years ago from when the Doors of Death were open. You three are my most trusted, experienced students. I was sure you could handle this, but now I'm beginning to question my standards about you." Chiron kept his eyes on the window.

"Chiron it was my fault and I'm sorry, at least send Lauren and Marcus, they didn't do anything wrong. Don't punish them for my wrong doing." I stepped cautiously towards Chiron.

"You're a good friend Luke, just like your father. Alright fine, you three can go, you leave tomorrow morning at dawn, if I catch any more shenanigans from any of you, your quest is off, understand me?" Chiron turned to face, his eyes narrowed with seriousness.

"Yes Chiron." The three of us answered in unison.

"Good, very good. You two can go, Luke, stay here please." Chiron ordered. Lauren and Marcus gave me worried looks but left the room reluctantly, slowly closing the door behind them. "Luke, you are a great friend, not ratting them out. I know Lauren was the cause for this action." Chiron gave me a sly smile, how did he know the truth?

"No sir, it was me. Was this what you wanted to talk about?" I stuttered.

"Not exactly, but there is something you need to hear. It concerns your quest." Chiron slowly trotted into another room, I followed closely at his heels, or hoofs, or whatever his feet were referred as.

Chiron led me upstairs into the old oracle room, cobwebs caked the walls which made me shudder as well as the scampering sounds of the rats hidden away behind old bookcases and trunks. "Rachel, is now a good time?" Chiron lowered his voice, I was surprised I hadn't seen Rachel, her red hair practically lit up the room. Why was she up here as opposed to her new cave?

"Yes, now is fine. Come here Luke," something about the way Rachel spoke was uneasy, she wasn't her usual, cheery self. I took a small step forward to face her, she closed her eyes slowly then her head jerked back and two gold lights shone brightly in my face.

"A quest for Medusa, and answers you seek.

Two will return and one will be gone, the one you speak highly of has a heart of stone.

Your questions about the past of your parents will be answered.

Sparks shall fly between two lovers, if they make it out alive."

Rachel coughed loudly and dropped to the ground, I helped her stand up and the usual light in her eyes had returned, but the words she had spoken burned in my mind. Two will return and one will be gone, the one you speak highly of has a heart of stone? What does that mean, the one I speak highly of? Who is that? A heart of stone? I had a bajillion questions but Chiron and Rachel shuttled me out of the room in a hurry like they were hiding something.

"You must pack if you still choose to accept your quest Luke Jackson." Chiron spoke, again something about his tone of voice didn't seem right to me.

"Ok, uh, thanks Chiron." I hurried out of the room just before the dinner bell sounded, surprisingly I wasn't very hungry. I needed to be alone, to sort out my thoughts and
dissect this prophecy before talking to Lauren and Marcus about it. I hid in the shadows and behind the tall trees as I disappeared into the woods, in search of the cave I had made with my friends when we were ten.

As I was jogging into the woods I crashed into someone. "Ow gods what's the—oh hi Luke." A girl raised her voice and twirled a finger in her hair. The girl had long blonde hair and fierce blue eyes. She wore way too much makeup, she looked like a clown but I'd never say that out loud.

"Hey Andrea." I put on a fake smile, I hated this girl so much. Drew was her mom, and from what I've heard from my dad, Drew wasn't exactly the nicest person back in the day. Andrea was always flaunting herself on everyone, especially towards me, according to Troy and Marcus that is. Marcus said I was lucky that Andrea would throw herself at me, he said she was hot. But I couldn't see it, sure she was as skinny as a twig but she was such a girl. She didn't like getting dirty or sword fighting or practical jokes, I guess she's kinda a trophy girl. And the worst part was that she went to my school and was in my grade, so I never got a break.

"Where ya goin in such a hurry?" Andrea batted her eyelash extensions.

"Uh, no where, I left my sword back in the ring." I felt my face turn red, I hated being put on the spot.

"Oh, same here, why don't we go get it together?" Andrea purred and took a step closer to me. She acted like a snake, ready to slash at her prey if it made the wrong move.

"Uh, sorry but it'll be faster if I get it on my own." I tried to get away but Andrea caught my arm.

"I'm a fast runner, you've seen me run before, you know..." she paused and slithered closer to me, "in capture the flag and on the beach after I've gone swimming."

My throat was scratchy, this girl freaked me out. I jerked my arm away, "uh, I'm really sorry. How about some other time?" I offered. I could see the flicker of anger and frustration in Andrea's eyes but she kept persisting.

"Come on, we never spend any time together...alone. You're always hanging out with that girl, the one with the brown hair. Why don't we spend some time together, it'll be fun." She narrowed her eyes in strange way, now I really wanted to get away, and 'brown haired girl?' Please. She doesn't understand the half of why Lauren and I are best friends.

"Andrea, you're gonna be late to dinner, how about—"

"We hang out some other time? How about tomorrow night at the campfire?" Andrea's eyes lit up with excitement.

For a second I thought about telling the truth but then my mind hatched a plan, "sure Andrea, we can sit together on the bench, just you and me tomorrow night. I'll see you then." I jerked away, but Andrea still caught my arm, man this girl was strong.

"So it's a date?" Her eyes glinted, blue eyes were now scary to me.

"We are just friends Andrea, it's not a date. See you later." I pulled away even harder, ripping my arm from her hand.

"It's Drea to you sweet cheeks. See you tomorrow night." Andrea finger waved in a way mean girls do in the movies. I didn't answer, I took off running towards the woods, and didn't look back once.