I lay in my sleeping bag in the Hermes Cabin, staring up at the chat screen.
After the events of the game, the Cabin heads had all gone to the Big House in order to discuss the Prophecy. Penny and Grover had both been 'volunteered' to take the Oracle back to the attic.
Of course, Uta and I weren't able to go to the meeting since we weren't the leaders of our cabins. Which meant we'd have to wait for Thalia to finish and then send back word on the results of the meeting.
If I had to guess, however... Four and two. Four Campers, Two Hunters, for a total of six.
Three and three might have been balanced, but Penny would certainly insist on going. And Thalia would very heavily insist on both Uta and myself going- as was planned- so the total would need to be four campers, including Thalia herself.
I thought back to the lines of the prophecy, going over them in my mind...
The prophecy- no doubt due to the presence of both myself and Uta, as well as our victory in the Capture the Flag game- was different than the one I remembered.
There was one big difference in the Prophecy I had noticed compared to the original. A vital difference.
There were no mentions or guarantees of death.
In the original prophecy, there were two instances of certain death... The first was what would become Bianca di Angelo's, when she stole the Hades Figurine from the Junkyard for her brother. It would awaken the Talos Prototype and ultimately result in her death. One shall be lost in the land without rain.
The second was Zoe Nightshades, who had once been one of the Hesperides- a Daughter of Atlas. After being poisoned by Ladon when helping Percy and Thalia getting past safely, she would suffer a fatal blow from Atlas that resulted in her death. She would then live on in the stars as a constellation made by Artemis- the Huntress.
However, those 'death flags' had been removed from the prophecy entirely. Instead, it only made mention of a bronze giant in the land without rain, and any mention of a parent killing their child had been completely removed from the prophecy.
In other words, it was very likely possible to change the destined deaths of both Bianca and Zoe.
That was... Honestly good news if you asked me.
While I wasn't the biggest fan of how the hunters looked down on others and acted like assholes, Zoe was one of my favourite characters from the Percy Jackson series of books. Even though I knew a relationship between her and me was essentially impossible- after all, this wasn't a fanfiction where Zoe was willing to throw away everything for a man- I still wanted to save her because deep down, she was a good person who had just been hurt and had never truly let herself process things and move on.
As for saving Bianca... Nicole didn't deserve to lose her sister, and Bianca didn't deserve to prematurely lose her life. Both should have been able to live long and happy lives, even if Bianca had joined the hunt and Nicole hadn't.
I let out a heavy sigh... God, I was such a fuckin sap. I didn't really care if Kronos won or not, I just wanted my favourite characters to live on. That was all.
Otherwise, I wouldn't really care what happened to this world.
I was snapped out of my thoughts as Thalia messaged the chatroom, locking my focus onto it.
Thalia: That was fucking exhausting.
Uta: How did it go?
Thalia: Ugh, it was so annoying... First was making it clear to Zoe that I was the one leading the quest, not her. And if I said we'd do four campers and two hunters, then we would be doing four campers and two hunters... Then, Grover wanted to come along, and I had to politely decline him... I made it clear it wasn't that I doubted him, but there was every chance we might run into something like a Titan, and we needed more raw power for that. He was really reluctant, but he finally accepted it.
Yuno: No offence, but why was Grover even in that meeting? He's not on the Council of Cloven Elders, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't usually sit in on Camp meetings like that.
Thalia: That... Is actually a good question, and now I'll be thinking about that for a while you dick.
Uta: What else happened?
Thalia: After dealing with that, Zoe threw a total fucking fit when I said you were one of the people I wanted to come on the quest. Kept talking about how she 'would not endure a filthy male coming on the quest.' I basically told her "then don't fucking come on the quest! Send another Hunter instead, maybe they'll be able to handle the fact that a guy is coming with us!"
I rolled my eyes... Typical Zoe. All she knew about me was that I had a penis, and yet she was already so against me. Hating men was fine but at least have a good reason beyond the fact they have a penis!
Yuno: So, is she coming or not?
Thalia: Yeah, she is. She finally realised I wasn't going to back down and basically just said that as long as you leave her alone, she'll deal with it.
Yuno: Then it sounds like we're good to go...
Both of you get some sleep, and remember. We have trained for this. All that practise using our abilities has led to this mission. We're going to save Artemis from under the sky and save Annabeth. We'll make it out on the other side, no matter what.
Our time is now.
Uta: ... For someone who claims to be anti-social, you're really good at speeches aren't you?
Yuno: Just speak from your heart, just make sure you filter everything through your brain first though.
Thalia: Sounds good. I'm going to get some sleep though.
Yuno: Thalia, remember... If you don't want to stay in this world, other worlds are always available for you- like Byleth's.
Thalia: I'll... Remember that, Yuno. Thank you. Goodnight.
Uta: Sleep well, Thalia!
Yuno: Get some rest. You and I should too Uta. We've got a long day tomorrow.
Uta: Yeah, sounds good. Sleep well!
Yuno: You too, Uta.
I closed the chatroom and took a deep breath as I rolled over in my sleeping bag, closing my eyes.
No more training. No more spars.
Tomorrow... It was the real thing.
'We'll succeed… No matter what…'
I drifted off into Morpheus' realm.
.
.
.
I sat under Thalia's tree, near Peleus- the dragon that guarded the Fleece. The dragon was still young, but it would grow rapidly and ensure nobody would take the Fleece away and weaken the camp.
I had arrived early to the meeting point at the top of the hill- after sending a message to Thalia and Uta that I'd meet them and the others there. I just wanted some time to clear my thoughts and relax in the silence, overlooking the view of Camp Half-Blood.
Despite my words to Uta, I felt nervous. How could I not? All the training we had done, all the hard work we'd put in the last six months living in this world... It had all led to this mission. A mission where death was definitely a possibility.
To face down Atlas and free Artemis from holding the burden of the sky.
I opened up my bag, which was full of helpful things: a change of clothes, some rations, along with some mortal money and drachmas. Of course, I had even more things stored in my System Inventory, I'd just act like I was pulling them out of my bag if they were ever needed.
After double checking what was in there, I sealed it up and looked at the hill right as I heard footsteps approaching.
I kept my expression neutral as I saw it was Zoe and Bianca- I guess Zoe had chosen to leave Phoebe behind in favour of getting Bianca some experience.
Bianca gave a polite nod, while a look of disgust came to Zoe's face. Still, she seemed to swallow back whatever nasty thing she wanted to say and simply looked away.
It was very early in the morning, with the sun barely breaking over the horizon as Apollo began his daily job of dragging the chariot across the sky.
I just gave them a nod in return as I waited patiently. I pulled out one of my decks and began to idly shuffle it in various ways, I had picked up various shuffling techniques out of boredom one day and shuffled my cards to occupy my mind.
"Oh, you play Mythomagic too?" Bianca asked as she looked at the cards.
"No," I responded. "I play a game called Duel Monsters. It takes inspiration from various forms of media and mythology or concepts and turns them into cards."
"Oh... Okay," she gave a nod, clearly uncomfortable given she knew nothing about the card game.
"Bianca, do not waste thy time on the male," Zoe spoke in a stern voice.
"Understood," Bianca nodded and gave me a brief look of apology before she began to speak in soft murmurs together with Zoe about attack formations and such.
I slowly rose to my feet as Thalia, Uta, and Penny all made their way up to the hill. I noticed Penny, in particular, seemed to be very tired- as though she hadn't slept at all.
Hm... Come to think of it, Penny must have encountered the Ophiotaurus last night... And also have spoken with Nicole about keeping Bianca safe.
She was the most tired one out of everyone here... And yet, simultaneously, she seemed to be full of energy and prepared for the quest.
"Argus has prepared the truck for us to use, given the circumstances," Thalia told everyone. "So, we'll need someone to drive the car."
I didn't yet have a driving skill; I prioritised my Duel Monsters abilities before getting the driving skill- which was fairly cheap.
"I will drive," Zoe said. "I learned how to drive automobiles in the days of their infancy, T'will not be an issue."
Thalia grimaced. "You don't look old enough to drive, what if we get pulled over?"
"Art thou a fool?" She scowled. "We can control the Mist. 'Tis a simple matter to fool the mortals."
"Next question, where 'west' are we going?" Uta spoke up. "We know we need to go west, and we'll likely pass through a desert if the prophecy is right. But that isn't much to go on."
"I wilt cast a spell," Zoe answered. "'Tis been many years since I last cast it, but I remember the spell well. Twill lead us on Milady's trail."
Thalia slowly nodded. "That seems like our best bet... Any chances of a mistake?"
"I said tis been many years since I last cast it, not that I am incapable of casting correctly," Zoe frowned at Thalia's words, clearly offended at the thought that she might cast the spell wrong.
"Enough," I cut in. "It's our only way of tracking; we'll accept it and move on."
Thalia gave a sharp nod. "In a fight, I'll expect Zoe, Bianca, and Uta to take the high ground and attack with arrows. Penny, Yuno, you'll attack up front with me."
"And if things go awry, improvise?" Penny asked.
"Improvise might as well be a demigod's core tactic," Thalia grunted. With so many things capable of going wrong, improvising was practically gospel for demigods. It was practically their first commandment- if something can go wrong, it will. So, improvise.
"Well then, let's all get to the van," Thalia nodded firmly as she led the way, all of us trailing behind her.
I cast a glance back at Camp before we left. So quiet and peaceful... As if the Camp itself was unaware of the danger that could come should Artemis fail to attend the Solstice Meeting.
We all piled into the Van- Zoe and Bianca into the front, while the rest of us all piled into the back. I ended up sat beside Thalia, while Uta sat beside Penny. "Those of us in the back, make sure to take the chance to get a bit more sleep if you didn't already," I spoke, giving Penny an obvious look. "We'll need all the energy we can."
Penny gave me a grateful nod before Uta pulled a small pillow out of her bag. Penny gladly took it and put it under her head, falling asleep in mere moments.