NAOMI HAD NEVER BEEN to a council meeting, seeing as she wasn't a cabin leader, but to Mr. D's dismay (another brat with an opinion, he'd grumbled), Chiron decided it was best she join this time around—since, eerily enough, the Oracle had addressed her, too.
The council was held around a ping-pong table in the Big House's rec room, with snacks supplied by Mr. D. The god in question and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoë and Bianca di Angelo (who had sort of become Zoë's personal assistant, from the looks of it) took the other end. Silena pulled up a chair between hers and Miranda's for Naomi to squeeze in, offering her a reassuring smile when she noticed Naomi's nerves.
"Don't worry," she leaned over and whispered. "It's pretty informal here."
That wasn't hard to believe, given the Cheez-Whiz and Diet Coke provided.
On Silena's other side, Beckendorf and the Stolls sat, and across the ping-pong table was Percy, Grover, and Thalia (who was still fuming). The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but it seemed they'd all ended up in the infirmary from capture the flag.
Zoë started the meeting off with a stern, "This is pointless."
"Cheez-Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and ping-pong balls and spraying them with topping.
"There is no need for talk," Zoë continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."
"And go where?" Chiron asked.
"West!" Bianca said. "You heard the prophecy. 'Six shall go west to the goddess in chains.' We can get six hunters and go."
"Yes," Zoë agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."
"In case your brain is melted from all those years of immortality, the Oracle approached Naomi, too," Silena broke in, not bothering to hide her contempt for the Huntress. "She has to go."
"Plus, the prophecy says, 'Campers and Hunters combined prevail,'" Thalia added. "We're supposed to do this together."
"No!" Zoë said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."
"Your," Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in like three hundred years, Zoë. Get with the times."
Zoë hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."
"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "The Oracle approached a camper and a Hunter. The two groups must cooperate."
"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it was a fancy wine. "One shall be lost. One shall greet death. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"
"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"
Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."
"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"
Zoë grimaced, but it was clear Thalia had scored a point.
"Fine," she conceded. "I will accept Naomi's presence on the quest."
"It's Naomi's quest, too," Silena said with a scowl. "You don't have to accept her, she's going regardless."
Zoë rolled her eyes at the daughter of Aphrodite, but said nothing on the contrary.
"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."
"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."
"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."
"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.
"Yes, Lord Dionysus."
Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."
"I must agree with Zoë," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest with Zoë and Naomi."
"Three and three," Percy said.
Everybody looked at him. Even Thalia forgot she was ignoring him.
"We're supposed to have six," Percy said, looking uncomfortable. "Three Hunters, three from Camp Half-Blood."
Zoë looked at Naomi, and she realized she was waiting for her input.
"Oh, yeah," she said. "Yeah, that makes sense."
Zoë grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."
"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."
Zoë picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."
Everybody looked at Dionysus, probably because he was the only god present and gods were supposed to know stuff. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."
"Chiron," Percy said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"
Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."
"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. "It sounds like at least half of the questers are going to die."
"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf recited. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."
There was a muttering of agreement.
"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"
Naomi saw Chiron and Zoë exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it.
"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez-Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"
There was heavy silence around the table.
Something like dread settled in Naomi's stomach. Could an Olympian parent really turn against their half-blood child? It didn't seem possible, but gods were violent, and even some mortals killed their children. What would stop a god from doing the same?
"One shall greet death as an old friend," Miranda recited. "That could go two ways, couldn't it?"
"It could mean death as in the god of death, Thanatos," Thalia pointed out.
"Or it could mean death in the literal sense," Mr. D spoke up.
Another heavy silence. Chiron shot the god an exasperated look.
"Well... here's to hoping for the first one," Travis said.
"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."
"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.
Everyone stared at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, Pinot Noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."
"Percy is right," Silena said. "Three campers should go. Naomi's already going, so that leaves two more spots to fill."
"Oh, I see," Zoë said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"
Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"
"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoë scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"
"That's it, you little—" Silena started to get out of her chair, but Naomi and Connor grabbed her arms, pulling her back down.
"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people listened. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"
Zoë stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."
"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis asked cautiously.
Zoë nodded.
"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor asked.
"Yes," Zoë snapped. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"
Naomi knew the Stolls were up to no good—they always were. But Zoë didn't know them that well. She just sighed and took the shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."
Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But... I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."
"You will do fine," Zoë insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."
Bianca closed her mouth. Naomi felt bad for her—she remembered her first quest, barely a week after she showed up at camp. That kind of responsibility at such a young age was terrifying.
"And for campers?" Chiron asked.
"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"
Zoë wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."
"But he is a camper," Naomi said, jumping at the chance to have her friend along. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"
"Absolutely!"
Zoë wavered. "Very well," she said. "And the second camper?"
"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.
"Whoa, wait a sec," Percy said. "I want to go, too."
Thalia said nothing. Chiron just studied him, his eyes sad.
"Oh," Grover said. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean... I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."
"He cannot," Zoë said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."
"You traveled here with me," Percy reminded her.
"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."
"Wait, I get a say in who goes, too," Naomi said. "The Oracle approached us both."
"I'm centuries older than you, girl, I have seniority," Zoë said coldly. "I will have the final say."
"That's not fair," Naomi argued. "We're both supposed to lead this quest."
"Have you ever led anything?" Zoë asked her point-blank. "You're a child compared to me. I won't compromise my goddess's safety to bolster your self-esteem."
"I have to go," Percy argued. "I need to be on this quest."
"Why?" Zoë asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"
Percy's face turned red. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"
"No," Zoë said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."
"Chiron?" Naomi asked, hoping he'd impart some sort of wisdom.
The look he gave her was one of thinly veiled pity. "Zoë has a point, Naomi. It may be best to let her take point for now."
Naomi sat down, defeated. If she hadn't already felt like the world's worst friend for letting Annabeth get taken, now she really felt like the worst. She couldn't even look at Percy—she felt awful.
Chiron cleared his throat. "The matter is settled, then. Naomi, Thalia, and Grover will accompany Zoë, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."
❊
Naomi didn't have an appetite that night, so when she noticed Percy wasn't at dinner, she slipped away from the Demeter table (taking an orange to keep Miranda from scolding her about her nutrition) and walked to Cabin Three.
She knocked, and when the door opened to a sullen-faced Percy, she held up the orange. "Peace offering?"
Percy sighed, waving her inside as he took the fruit. "You didn't need to bring a peace offering," he muttered. "But thanks."
"I'm sorry I didn't try harder to get Zoë to agree to bring you," Naomi apologized. "I don't even know why the Oracle would approach us both. It's not like Zoë'll ever let me take the lead."
Percy peeled the orange, handing her a slice before popping one into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "Take it anyway. The Oracle wouldn't have called on you both if you were just supposed to tag along."
"You know it's not that easy," Naomi mumbled. "Zoë's got experience—I don't. I've never led anything."
Percy bumped her shoulder lightly. "There's a first time for everything."
Naomi twisted her ring, frowning at the floor. Here Percy was trying to comfort her when she'd come to comfort him.
"I'll find Annabeth," she promised. "No matter what it takes. Even if I have to take Thalia and Grover and go off on our own search while Zoë isn't looking."
Percy leaned his head against the top of hers. "I know you will," he murmured. "Just be careful. The way that prophecy sounds..." She felt his jaw clench against her temple. "I can't lose you, too."
Naomi opened her mouth to promise she'd be okay, but at the last second, she thought better of it. If she didn't make it back from her quest—and from the sounds of the prophecy, there was a fifty-percent chance of that—she didn't want her last words to her best friend to be a lie to haunt him in the aftermath.
Instead, she just sighed quietly, and prayed to the gods this wouldn't be their final goodbye.
❊