THEY STARED AT HIM. "Four other Oracles," Rachel said. "You mean you have four other Pythias-" Apollo cut her off "No, my dear. There is only one Pythia. You. Delphi is absolutely unique" he assured her. "So these other four non-unique Oracles..." Rachel prompted. "Well, one was the Sybil of Cumae" Apollo wiped the sweat off his palms. "You know, she wrote the Sibylline Books. Those prophecies that Ella the harpy memorized"

Meg looked back and forth between us. "A harpy... like those chicken ladies who clean up after lunch?" She asked. "Yes but Ella is different, she's special" Cassidy said. "Years ago, she somehow came across a copy of the prophetic books, which we thought were burned before the Fall of Rome. Right now, our friends at Camp Jupiter are trying to reconstruct them based on Ella's recollections" Chiron explained.

Rachel crossed her arms. "And the other three Oracles? I'm sure none of them was a beautiful young priestess whom you praised for her... what was it?... 'scintillating conversation'?" Cassidy almost laughed at the awkward, uncomfortable look on Apollo's face as he spoke "Ah... Well, according to my extensive research-"

"Some books he flipped through last night" Meg clarified. "Ahem! There was an Oracle at Erythaea, and another at the Cave of Trophonius" Apollo said. "Goodness, I'd forgotten about those two" Chiron said. Lester shrugged. "And the fifth was the Grove of Dodona"

"A grove, like trees" Meg said. "Yes, Meg, like trees. Groves are typically composed of trees, rather than, say, Fudgsicles. Dodona was a stand of sacred oaks planted by the Mother Goddess in the first days of the world. They were ancient even when the Olympians were born" Apollo said. "Please tell me you don't mean Gaea" Cassidy said.

"No, thankfully. I mean Rhea, Queen of the Titans, the mother of the first generation of Olympian gods. Her sacred trees could actually speak. Sometimes they issued prophecies" Apollo said. "The voices in the woods" Meg guessed. "But the voices I heard didn't sound like prophecies, more like screams than anything" Cassidy drummed their fingers on the table.

"That's because in order to understand the grove you need to attach wind chimes to the branches. I believe the Grove of Dodona has regrown itself here in the woods at camp. In my dreams, I saw a crowned woman imploring me to find her Oracle. I believe it was Rhea, though I still don't understand why she was wearing a peace symbol or using the term dig it" Apollo said. "A peace symbol?" Chiron asked. "A large brass one" Lester confirmed.

"If Rhea is a Titan, isn't she evil?" Rachel asked. "I'm pretty sure Apollo's mom was a peaceful titan" Cassidy said. "Exactly. Not all Titans were bad, Rhea was a gentle soul. She sided with the gods in their first great war. I think she wants us to succeed. She doesn't want her grove in the hands of our enemies" Apollo said. Chiron's tail twitched. "My friend, Rhea has not been seen for millennia. Her grove was burned in the ancient times. Emperor Theodosius ordered the last oak cut down in-"

"I know. Nevertheless, many things from the old days have survived or regenerated. The Labyrinth has rebuilt itself. Why couldn’t a grove of sacred trees spring up again right here in this valley?" The ex-god pointed out. Meg pushed herself deeper into the cushions. "This is all weird" she stated. "Welcome to demigod life. It doesn't get any less weird from here" Cassidy replied dryly. "So if the tree voices are sacred and stuff, why are they making people get lost?" Meg asked. "For once, you ask a good question. Like I said before, in the old days, the priests of Dodona would take care of the trees, pruning them, watering them, and channelling their voices by hanging wind chimes in their branches" Apollo explained.

"How would that help?" Meg asked. "I don’t know. I’m not a tree priest. But with proper care, these trees could divine the future" Lester said, Rachel smoothed her skirt. "And without proper care?" She asked 'The voices were unfocused. A wild choir of disharmony" Apollo paused "Untended, the grove could most definitely drive mortals to madness" Chiron furrowed his brow. Cassidy shifted nervously. "So our missing campers are wandering in the trees, perhaps already insane from the voices"

"Or they’re dead" Meg added. "No. No they're fine" Cassidy cut in sharply, they hoped the others didn't notice the note of desperation in their voice. "Cassidy is right. The Beast is using them, trying to bait me" Apollo said. "How can you be sure? And why? If Python already controls Delphi, why are these other Oracles so important?" Rachel asked. Apollo gazed at the wall where his face used to be "I’m not sure. I believe our enemies want to cut us off from every possible source of prophecy. Without a way to see and direct our fates, we will wither and die. Gods and mortals alike, anyone who opposes the Triumvirate"

Meg turned upside down on the sofa and kicked off her red shoes. "They’re strangling our taproots" She stated, wriggling her toes. Apollo shot Rachel an apologetic look. "As for why the Grove of Dodona is so important, Python mentioned that it was the one Oracle he could not control. I don’t understand exactly why. Perhaps because Dodona is the only Oracle that has no connection with me. Its power comes from Rhea. So if the grove is working, and it is free of Python’s influence, and it is here at Camp Half-Blood-"

"It could provide us with prophecies. It could give us a chance against our enemies" Chiron’s eyes gleamed. "Of course, we’d rather have our beloved Oracle of Delphi working again. And we will, eventually. But for now, the Grove of Dodona could be our best hope" Apollo agreed. "Aren’t prophecies all twisted and mysterious and murky, and people die trying to escape them?" Meg asked. "They do" Cassidy confirmed "And sometimes people die or go crazy while fulfilling them"

"You can’t trust those reviews on RateMyOracle.com, I expected better from somebody of the nine" Apollo chided. Cassidy raised an eyebrow "There's no way RateMyOracle.com is a real thing" they said. The ex-god continued as if he hadn't heard them "The hotness factor for the Sibyl of Cumae, for instance, is completely off. I remember that quite clearly" Rachel put her chin on her fist. "Really? Do tell" Cassidy snickered under their breath.

"Uh, what I meant to say: the Grove of Dodona is a benevolent force. It has helped heroes before. The masthead of the original Argo, for instance,
was carved from a branch of the sacred trees. It could speak to the Argonauts and give them guidance" Apollo said. "Mm. And that’s why our mysterious Beast wants the grove burned" Chiron nodded "Apparently, and that’s why we have to save it" Lester said. "No shit smartass" Cassidy muttered.

Meg rolled backwards off the couch. Her legs knocked over the three legged coffee table, spilling tea and crackers. "Oops" Apollo ground his teeth. "Apollo… if you are right about Dodona, how do we proceed? We are already shorthanded. If we send search teams into the woods, we have no guarantee they’ll come back" Chiron warned. Meg brushed the hair out of her eyes. "We’ll go. Just Apollo and me"

"We- we will?" Apollo stammered. "You said you gotta do a bunch of trials or whatever to prove you’re worthy, right? This’ll be the first one" Meg said. "I'll help" Cassidy volunteered then rolled their eyes at the way Apollo immediately perked up. "With this trial and only this trial sunshine" they clarified "I'm not trying to get mixed up in prophecies or godly messes but this grove has my friends and we need to get them back"

"I'm coming too" Fluffy said. Cassidy nodded "Fluffy's coming too" they translated. Rachel put her hand on Apollo's knee, causing him to flinch. Cassidy thought that was an odd reaction. It could be nothing but they filed it away for later anyway. "Apollo, you have to try. If we can get a glimpse of the future… well, it may be the only way to get things back to normal" Rachel looked longingly at the blank walls of her cave. "I’d like to have a future again"

Chiron shifted his forelegs. "What do you need from us, old friend? How can we help?" He asked. Apollo glanced at Meg and Cassidy. The three of them were in silent agreement. They were stuck with each other. They couldn’t risk anyone else. "Meg is right" Apollo said. "We have to do this ourselves. We should leave immediately, but-"

"We’ve been up all night. We need some sleep" Meg finished. Cassidy opened their mouth to protest, argue if they had to but Fluffy shook his head. "You're still healing" he reminded. Cassidy chose against arguing with Fluffy this time. Chiron rose on his front hooves. "This evening, then. Rest and prepare, my heroes. I fear you will need all your strength and wits for what comes next"

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[Edited?: Yes]
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