「003. chariot racing: the musical 」
WITH THE fact that chariot races were being reinstated, cadie wanted to get away from all of that as quickly as she could. others might be excited, like the rest of the apollo kids, but she certainly was not. there was a reason the chariot races were banned a while ago. and that's because of injuries and deaths. and although most of her cabin was excited, they all still hated the fact it was reinstated. but since the prize didn't sound half bad, they didn't mind.
but it was too late to properly care about that now. she wasn't participating and was only being forced there because of both her friends. cam refused to take part, another way of him trying to prove how much of a pacifist he was. and lilly was told her inhumane speed might be counted as cheating by tantalus, so she was told she couldn't actually be on a team either. which at least brought a common enemy to the group of friends. but they never liked the new director anyways, so this just made them hate him more.
"if we can't even participate," cadie whined, "then why are we going?"
"because we can," shrugged lilly, "and also because i'm currently feeling like i want to watch some dumbasses fall of their chariots."
"that's nice of you isn't it," cam commented sarcastically before looking over to cadie, "and don't worry. i didn't exactly want to go either."
"that's because you refuse to drop your pacifist thing," lilly noted.
"it's not a pacifist thing," huffed cam, "it's a way you should treat everybody. nicely and without violence."
"yes but i've seen you on multiple accounts turn into a raging, violent, psychopath," lily explained.
"you also nearly knocked a camper out when you whacked them with your leg," piped in cadie.
"i don't know what you're talking about," cam shrugged.
"denial's always the first step to acceptance, cam," cadie's sing-song voice called.
"go back to ogling jackson, why don't you cadie?"
look. whatever anybody tells you, cadie didn't mean to kill a bunch of demon pigeons. and she swears that she didn't use the song either (no, for real. she didn't). she'd been minding her own business, not watching the chariot race at all, when she spotted a flock of them trying to peck at someone's chariot. percy jackson's chariot, to be specific. she didn't know what godly force suddenly took over her body, but within a blink of an eye she was holding her piccolo in position to play. and with another blink of an eye, she'd caused two of the demon pigeons to fall dead to the ground. it wasn't like the death song... but it still caused them to die. another high note rang out and one of the pigeons... literally blew up. add that into the mix of percy, annabeth and tyson doing gods knows what... well-
look it wasn't her fault.
and she'd keep bluffing her way with that lie, until she died. which was approximately in... around three years. but the sad thing is, cadie is a shit liar. so... her lie lasted for about-
"oh no it wasn't just percy jackson and his little friends- no! the- you! yes you- what's her name- cadencia diaz!"
well... you can see where it all went to shit. and to add to that, it went bad real quick. within seconds she was tugged away and shoved away. tantalus sent them to kitchen patrol- which they'd have to face after dinner.
"i thought chiron said no singing!" cam spoke, poking cadie's shoulder, "so what was that?"
"i swear i didn't sing," cadie spoke, holding up her hands, "i swear it. it was-"
"whatever it was," lilly cackled, "it was amazing. did you see clarisse's face? or percy's?"
"no," she mumbled, looking down, her face a bit red, "i'll have you know i think i was a bit preoccupied with the fact i just killed a bunch of demon pigeons."
"i don't even really have anything to say against their deaths," cam finally admitted, "they're terrible things. sort of glad you killed them."
lilly let out a shocked gasp, "cam. are you okay? are you sick? goodness is this the end of the world as we know it? are you breathing okay? are you-"
"shut up," grumbled cam, "this is the only time i'm glad you killed an animal. those demon pigeons are creepy and seriously annoying."
"cadie," whispered lilly, "i think he's gone insane."
but all cadie could do was sigh. she had no sarcastic or awkward comeback, or even a teasy jab at cam's 'pacifist' act. she'd never killed something with just an instrument before. to be honest, before the bulls- she hadn't really killed anything before. wherever she looked as she made her way back with her friends, she saw stares. and she hated it. she was suddenly getting all this unwanted attention- and she really disliked it.
some part of her was a bit happy- but cadie told that part to shut up. because it had no idea of the consequences. not only was cadie's anxiety currently having a dance party in her mind, but doubts started to wriggle their way into her mind. if people kept looking at her- they might soon know about her prophecy. and she didn't know what scared her more. the fact that people might start talking to her- or the fact more people would think she was important. they might set up this big pedestal she had to reach.
what was she supposed to do now? was she supposed to just sit and let them stare?
the sudden interest was never meant to happen. she was meant to have a calm and nice summer- try not to dry up the river again and perhaps just try not screw things up. she was okay with being the worst demigod (prided herself on it sometimes) but after all the things that were happening- she didn't feel comfortable. she felt anicked, scared. and worst of all, she had the urge to sing.
kitchen patrol sucks, by the way. she spent all of her afternoon, scrubbing pots and platters in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies along with annabeth, tyson and percy. they ignored her, which she was fine with. she didn't really want to speak to anybody, far too exhausted and uncomfortable with all the unwanted attention she'd gotten today. to be honest, she'd be perfectly happy if it stayed that way. if everybody just suddenly forgot who she was bar her friends. she wouldn't mind that all. at least then they wouldn't come up to her and be like, wow you killed demon pigeons! you're so cool. because no, bella- she wasn't. or maybe they'd stop saying, wow you and i should be friends! because no jamie- she had two friends and that currently filled her slot for friends. come back never. thanks.
it started out quite and tension filled the air. she glanced to percy and annabeth who were on the opposite side of the underground kitchen with tyson. the heat was basically unbearable since harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra clean sparkle and kill all the germs, so they were all dressed in asbestos gloves and aprons.
as she said. it was noticeably quite at the start. she suspected annabeth and percy had gotten into an argument, because neither of them had spoken a word to each other. they refused to look at each other every time she turned and they didn't speak. it was oddly silent, even with the clanging of pots and the squawks from the harpies.
she worked alone, which she didn't mind. what she did mind was how many extra plates there were. tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate clarisse's chariot victory- a full course meal featuring country-fried symphalian death-bird. his excuse had been clarisse's victory- but cadie could tell the old donut-chaser just did it out of spite.
she cleaned another plate, watching as a harpy inspected it before drying it quickly and lying away. it was a bit of a rhythm, or maybe that was just cadie imagining it. because soon, she began to tap her feet and tilt her head. the spraying of the lava had a distinct sound, and with the tapping of her feet towards a steady tempo and the swishing of the harpies wings- it sounded almost like an underdeveloped melody for a song.
she began to hum to herself (although forcing herself not to sing the 'death song' as she'd called it) and began to bop her head along with it. smiling as she continued. it was a happy little major tune, improvised heavily as she went. but somehow, it made the harpies around her nicer. they squealed along softly- pitching them to fit with the key of her tune. soon, there were three harpies helping her finish her large stack.
she washed the plate in the lava before passing it onto the next harpy, who inspected it before passing it to the next- who dried it, before passing it onto the next who flew it over to the big stack of freshly washed plates.
she thought she was done after a while, but was heavily disappointed when she saw that another two stacks where pilled behind a big pot and the harpy brought it over to her. she nodded in thanks, continuing her humming.
it wasn't that bad. and after a while, she heard percy and annabeth start to talk. she could just barely hear them over her humming and the tuned squawks of the harpies. they were talking about somebody, that she was sure of.
"so does that happen usually?" she heard percy say, "i mean... who even is she?"
"i've seen her around camp," annabeth spoke, "she doesn't really hang out with anybody else bar her friends or the apollo cabin."
"so she's an apollo kid?" guessed percy, "i thought they were always really hyper and extroverted, y'know? like really upbeat and stuff. so why isn't she?"
"dumbass," huffed annabeth as cadie slowed down the pace of her humming, the harpies following her accordingly. call cadie a bitch- but she wanted to know who the two of them were talking about. "didn't you hear her at the campfire last night? she was singing!"
"that was her?" percy said in a shocked voice. "wait... really? she seemed so... confident!"
"i know," nodded annabeth, "i guess that's what happens when she sings. but she's crazy powerful- i'm shocked i never picked up on that. she's been at camp for three years- and i'm pretty sure i've never seen her do that before."
"she killed those bulls with her voice," percy spoke.
cadie almost stopped humming. finally, she realised. they were talking about her. but... what was so interesting about her? she hummed a little quiet, just so she could hear them better.
"and remember when we went to visit chiron?" annabeth spoke, "he was talking to cadie. about... a prophecy? i think that's what he said."
"she has a prophecy too?" percy spoke, "do you know the lines?"
"i've never heard about anybody else having a prophecy if it;s not for a quest or... well in your case."
"so we don't know what it's about?"
"no clue," annabeth said, "but i have a feeling it has something to do with her whole singing and her killing those two bulls. it's linked. i know it."
she stopped her humming completely, and she turned to the two of them. she could do it- she could say something. it was three- no four simple words. i. can. hear. you. you can do it, she said to herself, be a functioning human being for once in your life.
"you can hear you." she blurted out.
oh great job, dumbass.
"huh?" they said, turning around to her.
"i...." she took in a deep breath, "i can hear you. you know- talking about me. i'm not deaf..."
the two of them looked so shocked that they just turned around and muttered apologies.
they started talking again. and thankfully, this time it wasn't about her. the two of them spoke in hushed tone, although she could hear them perfectly fine (but perhaps that was her unnaturally good hearing. one of the weird things about being the daughter of the muse of music was that she had freaky good hearing). percy spoke quietly of a dream he'd had whilst annabeth listened intently (along with cadie- but he didn't know that. actually, neither of the two of them did).
"if he's really found it," annabeth murmured, "and if we could retrieve it-"
"hold on," percy said, "you act like this... whatever-it-is grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. what is it?"
"i'll give you a hint," annabeth said, "what do you get when you skin a ram?"
blood? cadie thought to herself, is annabeth an arsonist or something?
"messy?" supplied percy.
she sighed, "a fleece. the coat of a ram is called a fleece. and if that ram happens to have golden wool-"
"the golden fleece. are you serious?"
she heard annabe scrape a pile of what she assumed to be death-bird bones into the lava. "percy, remember the grey sisters?"
no, i don't, cadie spoke before she hissed to herself, well yes cadie you're not percy, are you? dumbass.
"they said they knew the location of the thing you seek. and they mentioned jason. three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the golden fleece. you do know the story of jason and the argonauts?"
"yeah," percy spoke, "the old movie with the clay skeletons."
she could practically hear annabeth rolling her eyes, "oh my gods, percy! you are so hopeless."
"what?" he demanded, "what did i say-"
"just listen, you idiot," huffed annabeth, "the real story of the fleece. there were these two children of zeus, cadmus and europa, okay? they were about to get offered up as human sacrifices-"
"human sacrifices? what the fu-"
"shut up and listen. look- yeah it was questionable. besides the point. they prayed to zeus to save them. so zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in greece and carried them all along the way to colchis in asia minor. well, actually it carried cadmus. europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important-"
"it seems important to her."
"the point is," continued annabeth, "when cadmus got to colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the fleece in a tree. in the middle of the kingdom. the fleece borough prosperity to the land. animals stopped getting sick. plants grew better. farmers had bumper crops. plagues never visited-"
"that sounds nice."
it was at that point annabeth stopped trying to tell percy to shut up, and just continued with her story time, "that's why jason wanted the fleece. it can revitalize any land where it's placed. it cures sickness, strengthens nature cleans up pollution-"
"it could cure thalia's tree," percy finally spoke.
annabeth seemed to accept this interruption. "and it would totally strengthen the borders of camp half-blood. but percy, the fleece has been missing for centuries. tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."
"but grover found it," percy said, "he went looking for pan and he found the fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. it makes sense, annabeth. we can rescue and save the camp at the same time, it's perfect!"
annabeth hesitated, "a little too perfect, don't you think? what if it's a trap?"
there was silence for a moment- as if percy was now just considering this idea. there was a weird faltering noise before percy said, "well what choice do we really have? are you going to help me rescue grover or not?"
"percy," annabeth said quietly, "we'll have to fight a cyclops. polyphemus, the worst of the cyclopes. and there's only one place his island could be. the sea of monsters."
"where's that?"
she assumed annabeth had stared at percy like he was dumb, "percy. the sea of monsters. the same sea odysseus sailed through, and jason, and aeneas and all the others."
"you mean the mediterraneans?"
"no. well, yes... but no."
"another straight answer."
"i'm bisexual, what did you expect?" snapped annabeth- causing cadie to nearly let out a loud snort, "look the point is that the sea of monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. it used to be in the mediterranean, yes. but like everything else, it shifts locations as the west's centre of power shifts."
"like mount olympus being above the empire state building," said percy, "and hades being under los angeles."
"right."
"but a whole sea full of monsters- how could you hide something like that? wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening... like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"
"of course they notice. they don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of ocean. the sea of monsters is off the east coast of the us. now, just north-east of florida. the mortals even have a name for it."
"the bermuda triangle?"
"exactly."
"okay... so at least we know where to look."
"it's still a huge area, percy. searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters-"
"hey, i'm the son of the sea god. this is my home turf. how hard can it be?" percy spoke, trying to sound optimistic.
"we'll have to talk to tantalus," annabeth frowned, "get approval for the quest. he'll say no."
"not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. the whole camp will hear. they'll pressure him. he won't be able to refuse."
"maybe... but we'd better get these dishes done. hand me the lava spray gun, will you?"
thank goodness they'd finished shortly after everything she'd heard. she wanted nothing more than to just get out and actually try escape what she'd heard. these two ambitious idiots wanted to go on a quest that could have them potentially killed? .... again? are quests like drugs? she wondered to herself, is it like if you have one you just get addicted or something? she frowned as she trudged ahead silently, fiddling with her car keys.
"cadie!" called annabeth from behind her, and suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.
she let out a yelp, jumping before she turned to annabeth, "uh- hi?"
"sorry about talking about you... you know- in front of you," percy said awkwardly.
"it's alright," mumbled cadie, looking down with a red face, "it's whatever."
"i just have one question," annabeth spoke, "you have a prophecy... what is it about?"
"... it was nice talking to you all," nodded cadie, "but i have to go tune my guitar for tonights campfire."
she lied. she'd already tuned her instruments.
rosie speaks!
we back we back we back!!
ik i already posted one today—
but um no idc i'm inspired and
i wanna just try collect all
that bullshit as much as i can
so yes.
ly !! thoughts ??
word count; 3,214 words