If Lea was being honest, Percy's continuous association and friendship with Rachel Elizabeth Dare was highly amusing; even more so when Lea got to watch how insanely jealous Annabeth was about it.
Why Annabeth had never thought to say anything about to Percy, Lea didn't know, but she suspected it was because Annabeth was fond of how oblivious Percy could be no matter how frustrating that it was. It may also be because she knew that for all that Percy befriended that mortal, the boy was more so interested in his soulmates and finding the last of them.
Which was why she had been quick to let the girl know that it most likely wasn't going to go the way that she thought it was when their mom and stepfather took them down to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore. Lea had seen that kiss when Percy left for his mission.
As of now though, Lea was lying down in their cabin, checking over all of her weapons as time drew closer and closer to their sixteenth birthday. Percy was gone on a mission with Beckendorf, and Drew was over in Colorado on a quest, and Alabaster had reported about a few titan bases in Jersey that were cloaked in mageia; he took a few of his cabin mates with him to check it out. Medea had taken Magnus to meet her family before coming back to celebrate the twins' birthday; Lea hoped that they lived so she wouldn't have to grieve them on their birthday.
It gave Lea all the time that she needed to go over everything. A couple of new spells that she wanted to try, more places to store her mageia since Arkas had once more grown to the size of backpack and he wasn't "full" enough to let it go. Her ring was fully charged and commissioned sat wickedly on her ear like a pretty earring clasp. She had a bunch more enchanted knives. The armor that she got commissioned for Salome and that she carved spells and incantations into it just in case one of those trigger-happy idiots on the opposing side tried to take her baby away.
(The tiger kitten was incredibly sad the longer that Hermes was off at war, or at least Lea thought he was at war because she could still not feel him.)
(Where was he? Where was her Hermes?)
Word of her brother's arrival reached her soon enough though she supposed she would have known either way with the tracking spell that she still had centered around his belly button buzzing in her head. The conch horn echoed around the camp, and she was teleporting to his side faster than she could blink—that was from the anchor that she placed on Riptide considering that he never went anywhere without that damn pen.
But when she saw her brother standing there alone and the look on his face... well, her own heart broke.
Beckendorf had became a good friend of theirs. He helped out around Usnavi's store, fixing a few of his shelves and when they ventured down to the Village, he was over there with Silena and Drew helping Mr. Beauregard with his store. Some of the furniture in their apartment had been custom-made by him, and the compliments that it got had Annabeth and Eliza's family commissioning him. He was supposed to be going off to college this fall; him and Silena. They were... they were supposed to do what they couldn't.
Demigods weren't said to live long lives and they were supposed to prove it wrong.
She stepped closer to him, ducking into his side.
Chiron galloped into the pavilion right after, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.
"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where . . ."
Annabeth and Eliza ran in right behind him.
"What happened?" Annabeth grabbed his arm. "Is Luke—"
"The ship blew up," Percy said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where—"
Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her. For a moment, Lea thought something had happened to Drew, but then Silena demanded, "Where's Charlie?", looking around like he might be hiding.
The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House—"
"No," she muttered. "No. No."
She started to cry, and the rest of them stood around, too stunned to speak.
"No!"
She dropped down hands clutching at her chest.
And then she screamed.
Her rage and pain flew out from her like a sonic boom, knocking all of them off their feet. Most of them twisted mid air with the motion to land safely, but some of them didn't have the chance as they hit the ground spraining wrist and ankles or getting knocked into each other. Her scream shook the foundations of the entire camp, her empathic power entirely out of control, stronger than Lea could ever have guessed.
(And Lea had said it once before, actually, she had said it on more than one occasion, she was terrified of that damn cabin! Sure, Silena had been fairly far down the list of who she had counted as threats amongst the Tenth, but not too far. She realized pretty quickly that there was a certain hierarchy within that building that didn't just stop at who was the oldest. There were alliances within there. A competition for who were the top dogs. Oh, if you went after even one of them, the entire cabin was on your ass, but inside? It was a different story. This just served as a strong reminder of just how she ended in the top spots next to Drew, Mirajane, and Brinkley. She was powerful in her own way and she weaponized Love so that it hurts.)
They climbed their way back to their feet and though they couldn't begin to understand the depth of pain that Silena felt—to lose their blessing? It was a risk that everyone took going on missions, but this was the first time it happened— but they did feel sorrow about it. They'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.
Finally, Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. Ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her blessing, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard. Clarisse was dressed in her blood-red combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.
"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."
Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Eliza hovered, wanting to stay and check in with Percy, but also wanting to help her sister. In the end, she stood at his side while Lea absently ran a hand over her arm to heal the scraps that she got from the blast. Annabeth and Chiron had stayed behind with them.
Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."
"Thanks," Percy said. "Me too."
Chiron put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"
Lea could tell that Percy didn't want to relive it, but he did so anyway.
Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."
"Poseidon mentioned another threat," Percy said as Lea scowled. She was so tired of dealing with traitors. She might tear the world apart with her own bare hands if she had let another one get so close to her and loved ones. "Something even bigger than the Princess Andromeda. I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."
"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised, casting a glance at Annabeth.
"One more thing." Percy took a deep breath, reaching out to take Lea's hand. Her brow furrowed as he looked at her in panic and concern before looking back at the centaur. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. We need to know the full prophecy."
Lea inhaled sharply as Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, Eliza, we will show them the truth—all of it. Let's go to the attic."
Lea sat with her head lying against Drew's shoulder as they were gathered around the Ping-Pong table. The younger girl had just made it back to camp, flying in on Ginevre and the moment she had heard about Beckendorf, she abandoned giving her mission report — a success if all the monster dust was to go by—to throw herself at her older sister. Lea didn't know why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils.
There was a small silencing spell buzzing around her head as Clarisse and Michael Yew yelled at each other.
(Lee Fletcher, despite being saved from death last summer, had stepped away from being an active fighter, and instead, poured all his energy into being a combat medic. He stepped down so that Michael could lead since he was leaving to go off to college this summer. Another sad thought considering that Beckendorf was going to be his roommate.)
Her eyes fluttered as Drew shifted, and she turned her attention to the stairs to see Annabeth, Chiron, and Percy walking in. She dismissed her spell.
"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael was saying.
"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."
"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded.
Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."
"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.
"What issue?" Percy asked.
Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"
Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters—"
"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and light when you need us, and not complain!"
"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.
Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D—"
"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, "our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."
"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are any of you going to side with me?"
Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.
"What's going on," Lea asked with furrowed brows. "What are we talking about?"
But she was ignored.
"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost . . . Anyway, I apologize. To you. Nobody else."
Silena didn't seem to register her words.
Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."
The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.
Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."
"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"
Lea slammed her hands onto the table. "What the hell did you do?"
"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"
Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.
"No," Lea snarled. "Her pride? She's not speaking of just her pride. She's speaking of her entire cabin." Her eyes moved across all of them. "You know I thought this when I first got kidnapped and brought here, but I thought you all were the most self-centered, idiotic, selfish, stereotypical jerks. You know what a self fulfilling prophecy is? You know that saying treat someone the way that you wanted to be treated. All of you have this bad habit of picking one aspect of your parents and making it your whole personality. Ooh, look at me. My dad is the god of thievery, let me steal candy from a baby. My dad is the god of music, lets burst out into song like its high school music. Oh, their dad is the god of war so lets bother them until they get angry and then lay victim when they retaliate. Let's do it so much that it seems normal for them to be bullies. Lets do it to the point that they react before you can give them a reason to because that's what people expect of them."
She turned her blazing eyes onto Chiron because he was definitely at fault too. "Lets cast a blind eye ignore the ethics of virtue and know that the bullshit excuse of kids being kids doesn't work in a situation like this and that its no wonder that so many people have walked out on the camp because it all starts at home."
Her voice started to gather power, ancient in a way that she was not. "You were born and raise in the Old Days! You know this truth, and yet you allow it! In the time before time, when fate was untethered and our threads yet unspun, the gods burst from the womb of the void, breaking the bonds of non-being in all their absurd glory, they strode the universe, building the world as they went. And gods begat gods and gods slew gods. Gods and titans clashed. ＡＮＤ ＹＯＵ ＷＥＲＥ ＴＨＥＲＥ!" She thundered, eyes filled with power so similar to her Uncle, he who was the King of the Gods; he who was Ouranos' heir.
"All the while, mortals, so fragile in the face of you divine beings, learned to walk upright and chip axes from stone and wonder about what was and what is and what might be. God and human alike, they loved and hated and fought and dreamed and schemed. And now, look at this world around us, Chiron, son of Kronos, look at the cruel hand that fate has dealt. Look at what you have allowed! This is your legacy! A war of inheritance that has brewed since the dawn of time and all comes to head right now! ＬＯＯＫ ＡＴ ＴＨＩＳ! Chiron, the son of Philyre, man of widespread power, the son of Kronos son of Ouranos, and wild creature of the woods, lover of mankind. You have no right to speak on her pride when you've allowed this! ＬＯＯＫ ＡＴ ＴＨＩＳ! You have no place in the kingdoms of Olympos! By the throne of Olympos—by all the powers of the Seas— I—"
"ＬＥＡ!" Drew yelled, placing a hand on her shoulder, grounding her back to the present. Lea breathed in deeply, the wind that she hadn't even noticed settling down around her, the world no longer vibrating. For a moment no one moved, the air still charged with raw power and the tension from what had transpired. Then, with a soft sound, it all vanished as Lea seemed to collapse back into her seat.
Around her, there were pale faces from the other campers, guilt written into their expressions but even they had nothing on Chiron who could only stare with wide-eyes, guilt and shame lining every wrinkle in his face.
Lea had almost banished him, failing in his duty to teach these heroes. And the power that came from her was raw in its nature. It was... it was almost like standing before the gods.
Drew murmured soothing words to the girl, not even trying to charmspeak her since she knew Lea had placed that spell to resist enchanting voices back up. Lea shuddered the longer that she got herself under control, feeling her core, the seat of her power strained against itself.
"Now," Drew continued, waving them onwards. "if you please, counselors."
It took a moment before Chiron nodded his head, "Yes, Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy—the Great Prophecy."
Annabeth handed him a parchment and Lea felt a bit sick at the sight of it.
Percy's fingers fumbled with the string before he uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read: "A half-blood of the eldest dogs . . ."
"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."
"Oh, right," Percy said and Lea felt a bit of sympathy and a lot of empathy. She knew that the more nervous that Percy got then the worse his reading got and being dsyselxic didn't help matters."A half~blood of the eldest gods . . . shall reach sixteen against all odds . . ."
Percy hesitated, eyes moving to meet Lea's own. A cold feeling spread through her and it was just as drowning as the feeling of her mageia out of control. "And see the world in endless sleep, The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."
Lea tensed, eyes wide in panic. Lævateinn seemed freezing against her ear and she remembered what Percy told her about Riptide and how it had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible their own weapons could get them killed? And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?
"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."
"A single choice shall. . . shall end his days. Olympus to per—pursue—"
"Preserve," Annabeth said gently. "It means to save."
"I know what it means," Percy grumbled. "Olympus to preserve or raze."
The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"
"Not raise," Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but they were startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means destroy."
"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."
"Got it." Lea's heart felt like lead. "Thanks."
Everybody was looking at the twins—with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear.
Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room. "You see now, Percy, Leaneira, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy. You've had enough on your shoulders—"
"Without realizing we were going to die in the end anyway?" Percy said. "Yeah, I get it."
Chiron gazed at them sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure either of them; especially not so soon after Lea had just raged at him.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."
"Sure," Percy said. "A single choice shall end his days. That has tons of meanings, right?"
"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. Maybe we could find this cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"
Lea kept quiet. A few years ago, and Lea wouldn't have even cared about some stupid lines that came from a nursery rhyme. If she died, then she just died. But as she looked at her brother, looked at Annabeth, looked at Drew, and she thought about all the other people she'd be leaving behind... well, if there was a chance to change the prophecy then she would take it.
"Perhaps we should let them think about these lines," Chiron said. "They need time—"
"No." Percy folded up the prophecy and shoved it into his pocket. He met her gaze evenly and for a moment, it felt weird to be on the other side. Did she look like that when she went on about life with no care in the world? He looked defiant and angry, as if he wasn't sure why someone was mad that he didn't care and why he it bothered it. "I don't need time."
Lea nodded, mouth tasting like ash. "If one of us die, we die. We can't worry about that, right?"
"Let's move on," Percy said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."
Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"
Percy told them what had happened on the Princess Andromeda—how Kronos had known they were coming, how he'd shown him the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp.
Lea's fingers twitched. She wished that he had somehow gotten the pendant. She could've cast a spell on it to track the other end.
Silena started to cry again, and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders as Drew clasped her hand.
"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke—like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. I mean there was Et—" He paused as he cast a glance at Drew and Lea who scowled at the table. "It must be somebody who knew him well." Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth next. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly. "Um, I mean, it could be anybody."'
"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies. "Like one of Luke's siblings."
Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.
"Watch it," Lea barked, mageia flashing in her eyes. Her eyes pinned Katie and Connor both in place. It was kind of wild to know that Travis and Katie were soulmates with how much that they hated each other. Her lips curled back into a snarl.
"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and . . . and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob. Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.
"She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."
Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the Princess Andromeda won't stop Kronos forever."
"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."
Percy scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?"
He and Annabeth looked at each other like, It's time.
"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your . . . mortal friends."
Annabeth blushed and scowled.
"Tell me what's happened," Percy said.
Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where they usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Îris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."
The mist shimmered. They saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano—Mount St. Helens. As they watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying "—even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."
Lea knew all about last year's eruption. Percy'd caused it, not that Lea had helped matters. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole.
"Well, in his true form, he's at least three times taller than our Fathers and Uncle."
"How tall is that? How tall are you?"
"Let's see, in true form, Father, Poseidón, and Háidēs are just a bit taller than the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai."
Lea felt the air in her lungs get snatched away. The giant was bigger than anything she'd ever encountered. Even her demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.
"It's him," Percy said. "Typhon."
Chiron nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from a few months ago. Here is what is happening today."
Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. Lea saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path—ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.
"Monumental floods," an announcer was saying. "Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm Lea could see the giant—just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. They saw flashes of light, and Lea realized the giant was trying to swat them. She squinted and thought she saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some kind of huge bird—a monstrous owl—dived in to attack the giant.
"Are those . . . the gods?" Percy said just as a streak of green light darted across the screen and Lea crashed out of her seat, fingers ripping at the fabric of her shirt until it they could see the bandages she woven around her bra, but more importantly, they could see all the blood pooling down her skin as it blazed and burned through the fabric.
"Ermis," she murmured.
There were exclamations of shock as the blood pooled around her feet. Michael Yew and Drew did their best to clean up the wound and stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't. What happened? There had been no contact from him since he went off to battle that Christmas dinner, and the time where her powers slipped from her control in her sleep. And now...
"Yes, Percy," Chiron said as he made his way over to help her. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhôeus is marching forward—toward New York. Toward Olympos."
"How long until he gets here?"
"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."
"But then who's guarding Olympus?"
Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympos."
"It's a trick," Percy said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."
Chiron looked at him gravely, bounding Lea's chest tightly though blood was soaking the bandages as quickly as he did so. Something happened to Hermes, and she wouldn't truly heal until he did. "Something worse than Typhôeus? I hope not."
"We have to defend Olympus," Percy insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."
"He did," Travis Stoll reminded him. "But you sunk his ship."
Lea and Drew shared looks as everyone looked at Percy. They wanted some good news, but they had to be realistic. This wasn't over. The two of them noticed Percy and Annabeth were sharing looks also and when they looked at them, Lea knew that they were all thinking the same thing: What if the Princess Andromeda was a ploy? What if Kronos let us blow up that ship so we'd lower our guard?
"Maybe you're right," Percy said, though it was clear to Lea that he didn't believe it, but she knew that he wasn't going to share his thoughts in front of Silena. Her blessing had sacrificed himself for that mission, and well... Lea was truly starting to understand that these marks were more curses than blessings.
Lea pursed her lips, one hand pressed against the bleeding mark as she thought about how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on their own with a spy in their midst.
Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, Lea or Percy were going to die when they turned sixteen—which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.
"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night."
He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared.
"That's an understatement," Percy muttered.
And the war council adjourned.