tartarus and back ⇩

5. I make the dumbest decision in my life, but I don't know yet

After Percy got claimed, the camp treated him like a disease. I'll have to admit, even I was a little jealous of him. I tried my best not to treat him differently, but the only thing I could think of when he was around me was how easily his father claimed him and the possibility of a quest.

I was sitting along the coast of the canoe lake, trapped in my own thoughts when I heard a voice speaking from the water. At first I ignored it, but I became much too curious and leaned closer to the water. The voice got louder, but it was still no louder than a whisper.

"My daughter... My child..."

"F-father?"

"Beware of your journey. You will soon face great troubles."

"What troubles? Who are you? " I asked, splashing around in the water. For a second, I swore I saw an old face with green hair and something coming out of its head.

"Um... am I interrupting something?" A voice said behind me.

I yelped and fell forward into the lake.

"Oh shoot! I didn't mean to scare you!" I stood up and saw Percy standing there. "Wait- your dry?"

I looked down at my clothes and saw that I was, in fact, completely dry. I looked down back at the water, but it was its normal blue-green color.

"Hey Percy. What's up?" I said, getting out of the water.

"I just got offered a quest. If you are are up to it, I want you to come with me and Annabeth. Oh, and Grover will be there too, as our protector or something." He said

For a moment, I just stood there. I was gonna go on a quest. This was my chance to prove myself, and find out if whoever talked through me through the water.

Percy snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Kai?"

I jumped up and gave him a huge hug. "Yes! Oh gods, yes! I need to go pack!"

I let go of him and took off running.

"Meet us at Half-Blood hill at noon!" Percy called.

⇩⇩⇩

The camp store loaned us one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas.  Chiron gave Annabeth, Percy and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food,Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

Percy hadn't packed much, just a spare change of clothes and a toothbrush.

I however, filled my backpack to the brim. I stuffed three changes of clothes, a jacket, and underwear into the bottom. On top was a hair brush, toothbrush and toothpaste, dental floss, and deodorant. Finally on top was a bunch of water bottles and snacks. Annabeth laughed at me when she saw my backpack, but I simply told her that I would enjoy clean clothes while she was all dirty.