I'm so sorry I've been virtually nonexistent these past few months but between school, cross country, a massive writer's block and a new addiction called Legend of Korra (I'm in love), I haven't found much motivation to keep writing. But here's the next chapter and I'll try to get another chapter up this week (hopefully).

The next morning was the official start of my Oracle training, which brought a mix of emotions: fear, excitement, sadness, joy, and most of all, anticipation. I was hard at work all morning, but Rachel said that every afternoon and evening I could have off, to do other camp activities.

"Recognizing and interpreting a prophecy is hard stuff, so we won't start that for at least a month. Dream visions can also be hard to interpret, but it seems to me you're quite capable with those already. We can go more in depth later. We'll start with the most mystical form of predicting the future...crystal balls." My eyes, which were previously shining with excitement, rolled upwards in exasperation. She laughed. "I know it may seem like nonsense to you, and most of it is, but they can come in quite handy. Liz used them once, when she first came here, in a dream.'

She took me to a back closet I hadn't seen the day before and took out a large ball, crystal clear. "We usually start out with the big ones, like this, because it provides a larger area to help you focus your visions through. As you get better with being able to summon up a vision on command, I'll get you smaller and smaller balls until you're so good you don't need one. Now place your hands on the ball, here-no not there-yes, that's it. Focus, concentrate."

"On what?"

"Anything. How about that girl you mentioned, Sarah."

"Alright." I stared into the ball, trying to bring Sarah's face to the forefront of my mind. Instead of seeing the brunette's shy face, however, a question was burning ever brighter within me. "If there was no one to teach you when you came here how do you know all of this? I mean, you're so knowledgeable now, but were you always that way? Because that would be really cool and-"

"Abigail! Focus."

"Right. Sorry." I went back to staring at the cloudy sphere of glass, but my mind kept wandering. I would start thinking of how boring it was and then I would realize a couple minutes had passed of me not concentrating on anything. I did try to focus, truly, I did, but my darned mind wouldn't stay in one place. "But, really. How did you learn all of this?"

She sighed in impatience, but I could detect a hint of amusement as well. It's not like she could criticize me, she had been the very same I'm sure. "I can see we will get nowhere when you are so determined to get an answer from me.

"When I first came to camp, it was right after the Titan War, when everyone was still shocked and recovering. I came here and some took it as a sign of peace, others thought I had come for a much darker purpose, especially since I spouted a new Great Prophecy not long after. I had no place to stay, I would never fit in in any cabin, so Apollo, with Chiron's permission, made me this cave. Being magical, it expands whenever I need more room, or, as in the case of you, someone else comes.

"I needed to learn, but had no teachers, so I discovered all of this on my own. Remember that I have had a few years to explore the fine art of Oracle-ing since then. I figured, as I've told you, that using a medium to help with the initial concentration, so here we are.

"However to be an Oracle, you also need to have a correct mindset. There are several mindsets that could be beneficial, so we'll discuss all of them. For all of them, you do need to be open-minded, to a degree, and the differences come up when we talk about what you're open-minded towards."

"Okay," I replied, talking detailed notes as only I could during something this fascinating.

"The first one, the Traditional Mindset, is when an Oracle is open towards all things supernatural (gods/goddesses, deities, supernatural beings, etc.), but tend to be more...close-minded on social topics. After the first few Oracles in Ancient Greece, they started becoming more...conservative in their social views, moving away from the openness of the Ancient Greeks. Only recently was there a move towards abandoning this mindset. Now, I can't technically tell you not to follow this one, but I wouldn't recomm-"

"Yeah, I think I'll pass on this," I said quickly, crossing it off my list.

"Next there's the Modern Mindset, used by the first few Oracles and not used again for a couple thousand years. The Modern Mindset allows you to be open to all things supernatural, as well as to the social issues of the day. This has been used more recently. Mainly just me, since the previous Oracle was a slight Traditional.

"This next mindset I have dubbed the 'Gullible' Mindset, simply because all who possess it are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories and verbal pranks. It would be likely to be partnered with the Modern Mindset." I laughed. "What?"

"Oh, it's just, I've always been far too trusting and therefore extremely gullible."

Rachel laughed along with me. "Well, at the other end of the spectrum there's the Logical Mindset. This mindset is quite...unusual for Oracles. They make decisions solely based on reasoning, so they tend to disbelieve and supernatural occurrences. Whether or not they are open to the social aspects is entirely up to whether they deem it logical or not. These are quite rare, however there were a few in England during the Reformation during the 1500s and 1600s. Now, you don't have to be fully one mindset. Many Oracles were a combination, mainly Gullible Modern or Traditional Logical."

"If you don't mind me asking, which one or two are you?"

"I am most definitely a Modern Mindset, with no other influences." I could definitely see that, especially since no one would dare try to trick her, with her evil redhead glare. I opened my mouth to voice my opinions on my own mindset but she interrupted me. "Don't think that you have to decide right now. Go walk around and we'll talk tomorrow."

"But, but, I don't know anyone!"
"Exactly. You need to go meet new people."

Grumbling, I headed outside, where I discovered that it was time for lunch. Since the cave had its own food supply, Rachel said she doesn't usually go to the pavilion, so I was on my own.

I walked into the pavilion where everyone was already seated and all of my fears of moving to a new school resurfaced, bright and begging to be noticed. Chiron noticed and walked over to where I was standing in the middle of everyone, eyes wide with fear written all over. "Heroes! This is Abigail, a mortal who has been invited to stay here. Welcome her, and treat her as you would any other newcomer."

I blushed a vibrant pink and turned to where I had seen Liz sit down when a voice cried out, "Hey! We already have a mortal here! Why do we need another one?"

As he said that I could feel my vision tunneling and black spots started dancing around everywhere. 'No, not here,' I thought frantically. 'Please, not here.'

Chiron glanced towards Liz, who had stood up. "Why welcome her? Because it's the right thing to do, scheiβkopf!" And then she started swearing, with a mixture of German and English, so fast no one could understand anything she was saying (which was probably a good thing).

I tried to sit down next to her, who was seated at a table with Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo, but Rachel, who happened to also be there for once, said, "Nope, not allowed. You've got to learn how to make friends."

Panicking again, I looked up and happened to make eye contact with a black-haired girl. "Hey, newbie! Come sit with us!"

"Gopher!" One of the blonde-haired boys sitting next to her smacked her. "Her name's Abigail, didn't you hear Chiron?"

I slid in next to her and managed to gulp out a timid "Hi".

"Pardon my friend here," the boy said. "This is Gopher, literal black sheep of the Athena Cabin. And I'm Matt."

"Hi, Matt. Hi, Gopher. So this is the Athena cabin?"

"Yeah." I looked around at the other Athena kids, a new sort of awe filling me. First, genius spies, now children of the wisdom goddess?? I could hardly believe my luck.

"You a big fan?" Gopher asked, smirking.

"Yeah, I've always loved Athena. When I was younger I always wished I could be an Athena kid."

"Well now you can be."

"Really??"

Well, an honorary one, but sure. You look kinda like one and you seem pretty smart, so why not. Do you have a weekly schedule yet?"

I was momentarily speechless, a child of Athena calling me, ME!, smart. Unbelievable. "Not really. Rachel said I have every afternoon and evening off, but not mornings. I think I have lessons then."

"Hey, cool, d'ya think you want to do them with me?"

"Sure, that would be cool."

"You're staying with the freak?" I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around to see an Asian girl in fifty pounds of makeup say, disgust etched in her voice and face alike. "Well I guess that makes sense. The weirdo with the freak and all." One of her friends, who I recognized as the one who yelled out during my introduction, laughed, which put me over the edge. Insults I can handle, but as soon as you go after one of my friends, you're a goner.

"And what makes her such a freak? The fact that she learned something in two years that you'll never be able to?" Everyone at my table gasped in unison and then laughed.

"Well what about you? Have you ever even heard of concealer? I mean, obviously not, but you really should try some."

"Why? I don't care how I look, and besides, I don't have anything to cover up, unlike you." She gasped and turned away, blinking back tears. Immediately I regretted what I had said. Maybe if I had just left it alone.

"That was great!"

"Did you see her face?"

"Sweet."

Everyone around me thought what I said was the best thing ever, but I still felt guilt. "Maybe I should go over and apologize..." I whispered.

"What? No!" Gopher said. "She insulted you, you have the right to insult her back. Besides, that's Drew Tanaka, the biggest bi-"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied, covering her up. "But that last comment was really harsh, wasn't it?"

"No, not at all. Besides, she and her little posse make fun of everyone here. Maybe you put her in her place."

I sighed. "I doubt it. Liz told me that they fight all the time and nothing's ever really changed."

"Well maybe you're the person who's destined to teach her a lesson or two."