ELAPSE | PJO

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 4

Campers all around looked on in interest. Annabeth knew most had never heard this news, and it did come as a shock. They hadn't even heard what the prophecy foretold.

Percy winced and looked at his younger self.

Annabeth looked around. "Wait...this didn't happen in our past. Shouldn't we be cautious about things like...quests and information and––"

Chiron smiled faintly. "No worry, my dear. I have an inkling that everything will go back to the way it was, as if none of this came to be."

Percy sighed, very audibly. "Thank the gods!"

"Minus Hera."

"Oh, yeah."

The other campers watched with so much amusement on their faces, Annabeth almost laughed.

"Great," Annabeth said. "So now I can explain what I think is happening. But first, we need to know what has happened. What signs of this trouble have you actually seen?"

"Karma," Katie Gardener said.

"Oh my gosh," Percy said. "Katie, you look so young!"

Katie raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Karma?"

Chiron quieted the campers. "Yes, or so it seems. Everything appears to backfire."

Annabeth and Percy stared blankly at the group.

"What?"

Malcolm tilted his head. "Destiny or fate, following as effect from cause. Karma, of course, isn't something everyone takes seriously. It's more like a cause and effect type of thing. We do something, and the result comes out of nowhere."

"It's lethal," Beckendorf added.

"Lethal Karma," Percy said. "Now I've seen it all."

Annabeth flicked his arm. "I don't understand why this is such a big problem. Your actions have consequences, there's nothing new there. Just––make better choices."

Annabeth almost laughed at the thought. Can we go home now? It's all solved.

Luke laughed bitterly. "It's a little more complicated."

"Okay," Annabeth said curtly. "Elaborate."

Luke stood. "Just the other day, I was walking through the barrier with a satyr, and one of the unclaimed campers started attacking us."

Percy looked up. "What?"

Luke nodded. "I didn't want to fight the kid, but he was rogue. He just started charging, and his eyes were glowing this weird gold color. I, uh, I had to knock him out."

Percy and Annabeth shared a look. Gold, glowing eyes were never a good sign.

"What if they're being possessed by those weird spirit things?" Percy asked. "Like the things that got Leo and made him fire on the Romans? The eido––edo––"

"Eidolons." Annabeth scratched her head. "It could be. But why would that be so...important? I'm sure a camp full of Athena kids and the offspring of ancient deities could figure that out, at least after a while. I mean, the Seven got it pretty quickly."

Chiron watched the exchange with awe. "Eidolons did enter my train of thought, but the attacks aren't the only thing."

Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Let me guess. Some kind of evil Greek creature with bad hair is out for blood."

Chiron froze, mouth open mid-air. A hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Possibly. We don't actually know. We've had...time issues."

Percy and Annabeth went wide eyed.

"Time?" Percy repeated.

Annabeth nodded slowly, grimly. "We shouldn't be surprised. The prophecy thing was...oh."

"What?"

"Chronological Kronos, Gastly Gaia..." Annabeth didn't have to finish.

"You don't think..." Percy rolled his eyes. "Not him again."

"I don't know." Annabeth turned to Chiron, eyeing Luke out of the corner of her eye. "Please tell me you're sure your father has no part in this."

Chiron grimaced. "I was readying to say that I suspected he had a hand."

Annabeth groaned, and the camp watched in confusion.

Past Annabeth spoke for the first time. "You mean...Kronos?"

Annabeth looked at her twelve-year-old self. "I wish I didn't."