Chapter 3 - The Prophecy
published: Wednesday, 2 January 2019

Annabeth opened her eyes and the infirmary came into view. She recognised the smell and the white walls from being in there often enough.

She shifted slowly, feeling herself on a comfortable mattress. To her right, Jason was slumbering peacefully, his face still a worrisome shade of white and purple.

Annabeth glanced to her left, where Connor Stoll was lying on the bed, eyes closed and unmoving. Travis stood next to his bed, catching his hand with tears brimming in his eyes.

Annabeth struggled to get up. The cuts on her wrists were already sealed up, probably from ambrosia or nectar. She spotted the golden drink on her bedside table and took a quick sip. Instantly, she felt a million times better.

Annabeth sighed as the previous day flooded back into her mind.

Piper had been kidnapped. Jason had been stabbed right through his gut. She didn't know how her other friends were doing, but Annabeth made a silent prayer.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked Travis in a low voice.

He glanced up at her with red-rimmed eyes. He didn't reply.

"How is he?" Annabeth glanced at Connor. "What happened.

"The cloaked guy got to him," Travis said miserably. "I knew I should've held him back. I'm supposed to protect him. He's my little brother." His voice cracked at the last word.

Annabeth wished she could hug Travis. He was one of her oldest friends, and they'd known each other practically since she arrived at camp. "It'll be fine." She wished she could give him a more convincing arguement.

"Yeah. He'll be fine." Travis sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.

The infirmary door opened and Will Solace stride in, clipboard in hand and medical coat donned, like a real doctor. "Hey, Annabeth."

He walked up to Travis and whispered something to him.

Annabeth caught some words in their conversation. "...sleep...awake all night..."

Travis started to protest, when Will tapped his clipboard. "Doctor's orders."

Travis reluctantly left after a few minutes, forcing Will to promise to send word if anything changed with Connor.

"Sorry about that," Will told Annabeth. "At least you're awake now."

She nodded. "I feel great."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Really? You passed out from a loss of blood."

"I feel great," Annabeth repeated.

Will walked closer to her and seemed to be having officially in pushing out his words. "Annabeth, while I was healing you, I noticed...have you been eating well?"

Annabeth frowned. "Of course, why would you ask me that?"

"I mean, you're so close to being malnutritioned that it's worrying, Annabeth. From what I've seen, it looks like you're starving."

Annabeth snorted. "Yeah, right. Why would I starve myself?"

Will shifted his weight uncomfortably. "See, there's this mortal condition—"

"Hey, Will," Nico greeted as he walked in. He kissed his boyfriend and then turned to Annabeth. "Oh, you're awake. Just in time. Chiron's calling a meeting of head counsellors. Are you okay to go?"

"Yes," Annabeth said immediately, sliding out of her bed. Will looked like he wanted to protest, but Annabeth shot him a look. "I'm fine," she insisted.

After Will checked up on Jason, the three of them made their way towards the Big House.

As usual, head counsellors of all the Greek cabins sat there. For the Romans, their senators and praetors were the representatives.

Chiron and Rachel were seated at the front of the circle.

"Annabeth, my dear," Chiron welcomed. "Will and Nico. Please, take a seat."

When everyone was present, Chiron began. "As most of you probably saw from yesterday's battle, a demigod was taken."

The mood in the room darkened.

"Piper McLean, one of our bravest demigods, has been kidnapped," Chiron said gravely.

"A quest!" Lacy demanded. She was the replacement head counsellor for Aphrodite. "We need a quest!"

Murmurs of agreement spread across the room, except with Clarisse, who remained silent and unmoving. Her eyes were bloodshot and Annabeth had never seen her so dismal.

"What happened?" Annabeth whispered to Nico.

He followed her gaze to Clarisse. "Chris...Chris was one of the casualties."

Annabeth felt sick to her stomach. Chris Rodriguez, whom she'd known for nearly ten years now. Clarisse and he had been planning to get married soon. Annabeth tried not to think about that.

So many of her friends were gone. Chris was dead, and Connor was still hanging in the balance. Annabeth hadn't even heard the full death toll yet.

"Of course, we can implement a quest," Chiron said. "But for that, we need a prophecy."

All eyes turned to Rachel, who had been fiddling with a paintbrush. She quickly hid it.

No prophecies had been given in the last five years since the second Great Prophecy. Apparently, Python was blocking the Cave of Delphi, and hence, Rachel was unable to summon its power.

In the first year of Percy's disappearance, everyone had asked for prophecies, but none were given. And without a prophecy, there could be no quest. Without a quest, they couldn't rescue Percy. It was a giant loop.

"The people who took Piper," Will spoke up. "Is there any chance that they could be the same people who took Percy?"

All eyes now swivelled to Annabeth, who tried her best to ignore the looks she received. The search for Percy Jackson was still ongoing. No one had given up on him, even with no new leads in half a decade.

Nico nodded. "I agree with Will. The only people who would take Percy is our enemies. They're clearly the invicta. We just don't know who the invicta are working for."

Chiron paused thoughtfully. "I suppose that is a plausible theory. At first, we thought the monsters were simply attacking Camp Jupiter, but I think we can agree that such large-scale, organised attacks can only be the work of someone bigger."

"They would have to be able to control monsters easily," Annabeth reasoned. She glanced at Nico. "Of course, I didn't mean Hades. We haven't heard from the gods since Percy disappeared, so I don't think it could be any of them."

"But the quest," Lacy said, pushing them back on course. "We should at least try asking for a prophecy. Rachel, do you feel any different?"

Rachel shrugged. "Not really. But I never felt the Oracle before either."

"There's no harm in asking," Chiron sighed. "Who shall lead this quest?"

Everyone turned to look at Annabeth. There was no question that it should be her. Reyna gave her an encouraging look.

Annabeth didn't know what to do. On one hand, this could be their chance to find Percy and Piper. But leading a quest to save her ex-boyfriend who cheated on her?

Annabeth pushed that out of her head. She had to do what was best for the camp. Rescuing Percy and Piper was their best chance at beating whoever led the monsters. And finding Piper was definitely a must.

Annabeth cautiously approached Rachel. "Oh, blessed Oracle, how do I find Percy Jackson and Piper McLean?"

Silence filled the room.

Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess nothing changed—"

She suddenly cut herself off as her pupils started to light up green.

Annabeth stumbled back in surprise.

Green smoke started to pour out of Rachel's mouth.

"To the village at the core, five must go,
Face their past and fight new foes.
The key to the sky lies with the day,
the blade to raise with memory.
Power attained with singing praise,
one side will crumble, one side will raze."

Rachel slumped over once the prophecy finished, and crashed into the table. Chiron caught her.

Silence filled the room again. But it wasn't in anticipation this time.

"A quest," Chiron said weakly. "For the daughter of Athena. Who are your quest members?"

Annabeth looked around the room. She knew exactly who she wanted on this quest. "The quest wants five of us. Percy and Piper are gone. That's two of the Seven, that can't be a coincidence."

The other counsellors seemed to agree. No one else seemed to want their prophecy of death.

"Will you come with me?" Annabeth asked her friends. She looked from Leo, to Frank.

A grin spread across Leo's face. "Thought you'd never ask."

Frank nodded too, the hint of a smile on his face. "Of course. We wouldn't let you go alone."

Annabeth turned to Chiron. "All I need is to ask Hazel. And if Jason is in better condition, then him too."

Chiron cleared his throat. "Well, then that's settled. The quest will find our missing heroes. Meanwhile, we must shore up our defences to hold any incoming attacks..."

The rest of he meeting dragged on for Annabeth. She was their main strategist, so organising camps defences was part of her job. But all she could think about what the prophecy, which she kept repeating in her head, over and over.

'To the village at the core', what did that mean? Something tugged at the back of Annabeth's mind when she'd heard that line, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

When the meeting finally ended, Annabeth hurried outside to get fresh air.

Hazel was standing outside, waiting impatiently for them. She instantly rushed to Annabeth for news.

Annabeth filled her in on the prophecy and the quest. Hazel accepted without hesitation and hugged her.

Annabeth informed them that Chiron wanted a meeting of the quest members at the Big House at 3 o'clock. They headed off to find Jason.

He was sitting in his infirmary bed, awake, but still pale and sickly.

"How're you?" Annabeth asked him.

Jason shrugged. "I mean, I just got impaled, so I think pretty good."

They gathered around his bed and filled him in on everything.

"Of course, of course, I'll go," Jason agreed immediately. "There's no way I'm letting you guys rescue Piper and Percy without me."

"I can't believe this," Hazel said quietly. "I mean, it's been five years, and now we finally have a lead on him. What if it turns out to be nothing?"

They exchanged looks.

"At least we'll have tried," Frank said.

"This is giving me such déjà vu," Leo said with a small grin. "The five of us on a quest to rescue our missing friends? It can't get better than that."

"This prophecy is similar to the first Great Prophecy," Annabeth told them. "'Raze' was in it too. Hopefully this'll end the same way as the second Titan war."

"I've been thinking," Jason said. "It's awfully convenient that Rachel can suddenly prophesies again. Am I overthinking it?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I had similar thoughts. Whoever we're up may have removed Python so that we could have a quest, but I don't know why. My only guess is that they're luring is into a trap."

"But we have to rescue them," Hazel protested.

Annabeth nodded. "Exactly. So it doesn't matter why this has happened, but we have to go on the quest anyway. I suggest we just figure it out along the way."

"Leo-style," Leo said. "So any ideas where to start?"

"I was looking into Piper's knife earlier - Katoptris," Jason said, picking up the dagger from his bedside. "And it showed me this."

He slid them a piece of paper with a sketch on it.

Annabeth examined it closely. Jason's drawing was practically indiscernible, but she managed to see a general picture. There was a winding cobblestone path lined with houses.

"I recognise the architecture of the houses," Annabeth explained. "They're Greek. Probably from around 400 B.C."

"You got that from that?" Leo muttered incredulously.

"Why is the sky shaded black?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, that," Jason started. "I didn't know how to draw that part. The village just doesn't have a sky. It's pitch black, and only the torches illuminate it."

Annabeth frowned and pulled the drawing closer. "Doesn't have a sky? That sounds familiar."

Jason picked up Katoptris and showed it to his friends. "Maybe it'll show us again?"

They waited in silence, and the face of the blade changed.

However, the village didn't appear.

A mirage of Piper cowering in the corner with shackles holding her down, and Percy crouching in the middle of the room, bloodied and bruised. His right cheek was bleeding and his knuckles were split open.

Annabeth sucked in a breath. She felt like she'd just been hit by a very large bat.

The mirage dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

"It's them," Frank confirmed. "It's definitely Piper and Percy."

"They've got to be at the village," Hazel agreed. She wouldn't meet Frank's eyes, and Annabeth made a mental note to ask Hazel about that later.

"Where's the village?" Leo asked.

Annabeth sighed, "We don't know."

Leo held out a hand. "Okay, okay, let's think this through. What do we know about the village?"

"It's 'at the core', whatever that means," Hazel pointed out.

"It's Ancient Greek," Jason added.

Leo nodded. "And it doesn't have a sky."

Annabeth suddenly snapped her fingers. "I've got it!" She turned to her friends. "Αγάθη; Agatha. It was a city in Ancient Greece. They were a prosperous city, filled with the best mathematicians, politicians, and soldiers. It was literally their motto to be the best at everything. είμαστε οι καλύτεροι."

Leo grinned. "Done, we've got a quest location."

"Okay, so we just go to Agatha?" Frank asked.

Annabeth winced. "It's not that easy. The myth goes that Agatha's citizens got so arrogant that they tested even the gods. Of course, one of them got angry - Hades. He swallowed Agatha into the earth, and the village was never seen again. It was supposedly embedded somewhere in the ground, that's why they called it 'χωρίς ουρανό'. The village with no sky."

"So by 'core'," Frank reasoned. "The prophecy literally means the core. Like, of the Earth."

Annabeth bit her lip. "Yeah."

"Is that even physically possible?" Leo frowned. "Like, the Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Won't we just combust?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe the prophecy doesn't literally mean 'the core'. Maybe it just means underground."

"Okay, so Agatha is our first stop on this quest," Leo said. "Where is Agatha?"

"It's where Thessaloniki is today," Annabeth explained. "That's in north-eastern Greece."

"Greece?" Leo seemed to be running thoughts for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, I can get us there in under 3 weeks."

Annabeth glanced at him in surprise. "Really? You want to use it?"

Jason looked between them like he was finally realising they knew something he didn't. "What are you talking about?"

A wide grin started to spread across Leo's face.

"What is it?" Hazel repeated.

Annabeth laughed. "No, it's just that Leo and I have been working on a project for the last few years. It's the perfect mode of transport for our quest."

"No way," Frank breathed as he started to realise. "You fixed it?"

"Fixed it, rebuilt it," Leo said dismissively. "Tomato, tom-ah-to."

Jason raised a hand. "Um, I'm still confused."

Annabeth turned to him. Her eyes sparkled. "The Argo II. We're taking the Argo II."