Percy and Grover had to carry the mummy all the way back to the Big House. I sort of felt bad, but I certainly wasn't going to volunteer.
Chiron called an emergency cabin leader meeting. Unfortunately this included me, considering the fact that Katie wasn't around.
Mr. D had arranged Cheez Whiz, crackers, and red wine for all of us. My hand subtly reached for the wine, but Chiron reminded him that we were all underage and he changed it. Damn.
I sat between Connor and Silena Beauregard on the left side of the table, across from Thalia. She was in a very foul mood from Percy almost kicking her ass earlier so every time I looked at her, she would scowl at me with lightning flickering in her eyes.
"This is pointless," Zoë glared at Chiron. "There is no time for talk. Our goddess need us. The Hunters must leave immediately."
"And go where?" Chiron asked.
"West!" Bianca, Nico's older sister, exclaimed. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go!"
"Yes," Zoë said, gesturing to Bianca enthusiastically. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."
"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia grumbled. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We have to do this together."
"No! The Hunters do not need thy help." Zoë looked about ready to shoot Thalia.
"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron sighed. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."
Mr. D almost laughed. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, no? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"
"Mr. D," Chiron said. "With all due respect, whose side are you on?"
"Sorry, my dear centaur." Mr. D said. He didn't seem sorry.
"We are supposed to work together." Thalia was practically growling at this point. Everyone was silent, looking at the table with great interest. Zoë glared at her, but clearly was defeated.
"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. Friday is the winter solstice."
The annual meeting of the gods. Zoë continued advocating for Artemis to be rescued by the Hunters only, and Chiron and Mr. D continued trying to calm her down and come to a solution.
"Three and two." Percy said, out of the blue. Everyone stared at him. "We're supposed to have five. Three Hunters, two Campers. That's more than fair."
Clearly Zoë wanted to argue, but after some internal debate with herself, she agreed grimly. There was talk about what the monster could be, but my mind was racing with who would volunteer. Obviously Percy, Obviously Thalia. Zoë would take Bianca, and one other Hunter. That was the gold star group. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Connor voice.
"That's some serious danger you're facing. It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."
I loved the positivity in this meeting.
"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."
I finally found it in myself to speak up. "And the Titan's curse must one withstand. What could that mean?"
Chiron and Zoë exchanged a look, but didn't speak up.
"One shall perish by a parent's hand." Grover said, munching on ping pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"
"There will be deaths," Chiron pointed out. "That much we know."
"Oh, goody!" Dionysus grinned. We all looked at him in disbelief. "Pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me." He held up his Wine Connoisseur magazine innocently.
"Anyway," Silena started. "Percy is right. Two campers should go."
"Oh, I see," Zoë smirked sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"
Silena blushed, and declared that she'd never go anywhere with the Hunters. Zoë made a stab at her mother, and Silena looked about ready to claw her eyes out with an eyeliner pen.
"Stop. Let's start with the Hunters," Beckendorf said. "Which three of you will go?"
"I shall go, of course," Zoë stood. "I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."
"You mean, the big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis raised an eyebrow.
"The mean one?"
"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?"
"Stop, you three." Zoë snapped. The brothers and I looked down.
"It's just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store!" Travis held up a silver shirt that read ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR.
"It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. Wanna give it to her?" Connor grinned. I had no idea what this stunt was; I hadn't been made aware. But I was sure there wasn't anything good about it. Zoë snatched it out of their hands with a glare.
"As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."
Bianca was stunned. She started stuttering out words about how she was too new. Zoë assured her otherwise. Bianca didn't look any more relaxed. More scared, really.
"And for campers?" Chiron asked. I'd decided on Thalia and Percy already, but I wanted to try my luck.
"Me!" Grover practically fell over. "Anything to help Artemis!"
So the other would be Percy, I was sure. Still... maybe? Zoë argued for a bit, but accepted it when she found out that he could track.
"Very well. And the second camper?"
"I'll go." Thalia and I stood at the same time, then whirled to face the other.
"Are you kidding?" She scoffed. "Demeter? Are you going to defeat Kronos with a flower?"
I stepped hard on the floor, and splinters from the floor rose up behind me, poised to strike. I glared at her, daring her to challenge me again. "You wanna say that again, Sparky?"
"Maddy. That is quite enough." Chiron boomed, drawing everyone's attention away from me and Thalia. It wasn't much like me to burst out like that, but Thalia was always on my nerves and I wasn't going to stand for a direct verbal attack to my mother.
I let the splinters drop, but not without making a show of it. I sat back down into my seat and crossed my arms.
"So," Zoë cleared her throat. "The camper?"
"I want to go." Percy butted in. So it was between the two strongest kids at camp and the one with the flower power. Grover was absolutely panicked.
"I forgot, uh, yeah! One of them can go in my place! I'll stay." I reached over to place a hand on Grover's to slow his frantic stress eating.
Zoë glared at Percy. "I will not have the Hunters travel with a boy." She said boy the same way one might say minotaur snot.
Percy argued against her, but it was starting to sound a bit like complaining. Zoë held up a hand.
"I will not take a male hero. I will take this... insufferable child of Zeus," She turned to me. "Demeter? Are you a tracker?"
It was Connors turn to speak up. "She's the best tracker we have. Other than the satyrs, of course. And she's amazing with close
combat."
"Alright, keep it in your pants." Thalia muttered.
Zoë ignored Thalia's comment — though I'm not sure she even knew what it meant — and just nodded. "Alright. I will take Thalia and... Maddy, is it? With me, Bianca, and Phoebe. We will leave at first light."
Everyone agreed, though some reluctantly.
We all headed to bed. As we exited the Big House, I hurried after Grover. "Hey, bud. I'm so sorry, I know you wanted to look for Artemis. And Annabeth. But really, thank you."
He just nodded and mumbled a small "of course" before heading off to the woods.
I caught up with Connor. "So, I'm amazing, huh?" I grinned, but faltered at his grim expression. "What's wrong?"
"It's just-" He sighed. "No, never mind."
"What is it?"
"Forget it." He trudged off to his cabin, leaving me in the dust. I wasn't giving up that easy. I hurried after him and grabbed his wrist.
"Please-"
"I just don't want someone else I... someone else to die, alright? I don't know if I could live with myself if I let you go out there and you got yourself killed." He said. I could tell he was thinking of his mother. "Happy?"
"Oh."
"Oh." He repeated.
•
hey sexy bitches
half-assed title btw
ALSO i have a ton of random drafted stuff that i didn't use so when i finish this whole story would y'all want bonus chapters of what i didn't put in