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𝐖𝐎𝐖, 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐄,
𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄
𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓
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CHARLIE HUMMED IN DISAPPOINTMENT. It had been minutes since she had woken up, gasping for breath and fingers clawing at her face, ripping up the claw marks that had already began to scab over. Annabeth had been the one to calm her down, holding her hands tightly, squeezing them every time Charlie began to zone out of question if this was reality.

''And then you totally went all 'Lady Macbeth' on us,'' Rachel added in unhelpfully, cutting into the explanation Annabeth was offering Charlie. Annabeth laughed slightly, so it must have been a funny joke. Charlie didn't get it though. Maybe it was a school thing.

And then Chiron had walked in, demanding answers, but Charlie spoke in circles, looping them back round to the beginning whenever Chiron thought he was getting somewhere with her. It went like that for a while before Chiron gave up. Charlie was rather pleased with herself, maybe she should join that purple cat from Alice in Wonderland. Two iconic partners in crime. She'd even get herself a snazzy purple suit.

''Well, I've completed what my quest was,'' Charlie shrugged. ''Hera sent me a dream of the Grand Canyon, she spoke in tongues about saving people and the end of the world — you know, the usual stuff.''

''And now what are you going to do?'' Rachel said from her left, hands squeezed into her tiny pockets as she kicked a pebble that was in her way, the three of them wandering around the outskirts of camp.

''Dunno,'' Charlie said with a shrug. ''Might go back to Chicago, I have people there. Who knows, maybe you'll see me in the news one day—''

''For what? Failed mass robbery?'' Annabeth said with a teasing smirk. Charlie narrowed her eyes at her. Percy wasn't even here and his effect on her was still strong.

''I was going to say for taking over the world, but yeah, sure, let's go with that. The less you know the less you say under interrogation I suppose.''

Rachel laughed, head tilting backwards and bright red hair bouncing with her movements. ''What would you even do with the world in your hands?''

''Glad you asked,'' Charlie said, holding up a hand with a small 'hold on' uttered under her breath as she straightened up, holding the air in her lungs for no apparent reason as she used two fingers to fish around her pocket before pulling out a folded sheet of paper, already slacking back to her usual horrible posture. With a flick of her wrist, the paper unraveled to reveal a rather long list. ''First thing's first—''

A conch horn blew, interrupting Charlie's plans and cutting Annabeth and Rachel's laughter short. ''Looks like your world domination plans are going to have to wait,'' Rachel said, sharing an amused look with Annabeth before the two began to walk off again. Charlie hesitated and the two looked back at her. ''You are coming, right?''

Charlie opened her mouth, closing it again as she took a second to think her words through. ''I think I'll leave. I've already done my quest, and I've had enough of this life. I was free, back then. It was just me and the wind.''

''One more campfire,'' Annabeth said, holding up her pinky finger. ''One more campfire, for old time's sake, and then you can leave.''

Charlie smiled, taking a confident step forward, linking their fingers without hesitance. ''One more campfire. For old times sake.''

Rachel smiled, jumping between the two as her arms wrapped around her friend's shoulders. ''Who knows, maybe they'll even have your favourite song on.''

They did not, in fact, have her favourite song on.

Charlie grimaces, elbows on her knees and palms clasped over her ears to try and block out the music, but the rhythm still pounded against the blockage, as if it's existence was purely made to make her miserable.

Someone plonked into the seat next to her and she turned to see a smiley Jason, she had never felt such a welcoming atmosphere before. ''Isn't this great?'' She yelled over the music and Charlie nodded, her lips tucked into a very unbelievable smile, but if Jason noticed it, she took no offence and went back to talking to Piper. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he song ended. Charlie was so relieved, she felt like she could melt into a puddle — she could only listen as people pranced about singing of their grandma dressing for war, for so long. There was a rowdy applause. Chiron trotted up. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows, and Charlie nearly smiled.

''Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached.'' He glanced at Charlie and she shook her head. He gave the slightest nod. She figured he thought she wanted everyone to know she was alive in her own time, but she was actually wanting to leave with as little resistance as possible. ''In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—''

''What about capture the flag?'' Somebody yelled and despite the probability of it being an Ares kid, Charlie beamed. It had been a while since her last game, the feeling of victory was still sweet on her tongue. Grumbling broke out among the kids in armour, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.

''Yes,'' the centaur said, ''I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games.''

''And kill people!''

''However,'' Chrion said with a strong look at the direction of the voice. ''Until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?''

He turned to Leo's group and Charlie's eyes found his almost instantly. He winked at her and shot her a finger gun. The girl next to him shuffled uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. ''We're working on it.''

More grumbling.

''How, Nyssa?'' An Ares kid demanded and Charlie felt like launching her shoe at their face.

''Really hard,'' she said, sounding exasperated. Just how much was this camp crumbling? Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones— bang, bang, bang —and the campers fell silent.

''We will have to be patient,'' Chiron said. ''In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss.''

''Percy?'' Someone asked. The fire dimmed further and a frown stretched its way onto Charlie's face. Though she couldn't go around singing about how she and Percy Jackson were best friends, the two were still close, how could they not be after all the quests and butt-kicking they had done together?

Chiron gestured to Annabeth, who took a deep breath and stood.

''I didn't find Percy,'' she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name. ''He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis— everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest.''

Charlie zoned out, maybe this was the excuse she would tell Chiron in a note after she had long gone, (you know, just for safety measures). She was out looking for Percy, and whilst it wasn't strictly a lie, Charlie would be able to travel the world again, and help look for her friend. It was a win-win situation.

''It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?'' A girl called out and Charlie's heart pinged so loudly, it snapped her out of her thoughts. Drew stood at the center of attention, directly underneath a rose-coloured banner with a dove emblem. The Aphrodite kids had been chatting amongst themselves and weren't fully listening until their leader spoke up. Drew had been sat almost exactly like Charlie had been, elbows on knees and hands clasped under chin. Charlie hadn't seen her so serious before.

''Drew?'' Annabeth said. ''What do you mean?''

''Well, come on,'' Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. ''Olympus is closed. Percy's missing. Hera sends you a vision. You comeback with three new demigods and a supposedly dead camper. All in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?''

Whilst Charlie truly believed that the key focus of that conversation should be the prophecy, multiple campers focused on the whole 'back from the dead thing'. Charlie winced and she spotted Leo, Piper and Jason giving her looks again. Annabeth nudged her side from where she sat,

With a groan, Charlie raised to her feet. ''Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Wow, big whoopie, round of applause and all that. Merry Christmas again, bye.'' And she sat back down to what sounded like a riot.

Drew cleared her throat loudly. Charlie half expected her to send her to her death, but instead she took the attention off of her. ''We can get to Charlie being yet another traitor later.'' A few mumbles of agreement broke out and Charlie sent her a small smile of thanks, but it dropped the second she spotted Drew's icy glare. ''Well, Rachel? You're the oracle, has it started or not?''

Rachel's eyes looked scary in the firelight. She stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp. ''Yes. The Great Prophecy has began.''

Once again, Pandemonium broke out.

When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step towards the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny, red-headed mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.

''For those of you who have not heard it,'' Rachel said, ''The Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August and goes like this: 'Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall'—''

Jason shot to his feet. Hie eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered.

Even Rachel seemed caught off-guard. ''J-Jason?'' She said. ''What's—''

''Ut cum spiritu postema sacramentum dejuremus,'' he chanted. ''Et hostes ornamenta adent ad ianuam necem.''

Charlie blinked once. Twice. Why the fuck was Jason being possessed by some Latin priest? The words felt like a mantra and they echoed around her head, as if they were haunting her. An uneasy silence settled among them. Charlie could see everyone trying to translate the lines.

''You just... finished the prophecy,'' Rachel stammered. ''—'An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death'. How did you—''

''I know those lines,'' Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. ''I don't know how, but I know that prophecy.''

''In Latin, no less,'' Drew called out. ''Handsome and smart.'' There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. Charlie gulped, only months ago she would've been hidden amongst their ranks, laughing and teasing Drew about her newest crush, never would she have thought she wouldn't be supportive of her best friend. But hey, she guessed there was a first for everything.

But their giggling did nothing to ease the tension, the campfire kept spurting a chaotic, nervous shade of green.

Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring. Rachel Dare still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he was watching a play he couldn't interrupt — a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.

''Well,'' Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. ''So yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof or anything. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff if happening. The seven demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here.''

Charlie did not like the sound of that. Maybe she could escape before she could get looped back into it all.

''We don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad.''

''Or worse,'' Chiron murmured.

Maybe he didn't mean for them to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple. 

''What we do know,'' Rachel said, casting the centaur a warning glance. ''Is that the first phase has began. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken.''

Shocked silence. And then they all started talking at once.

Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get their attention back.

She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk — how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.

Then Rachel told them about how Charlie passed out in Hera's cabin. Charlie tried to keep a calm expression, but then she noticed Drew in the back row, pantomiming a faint and her friends giggling.

Rolling her sleeves up, she stood from her seat. ''That's it, you little whore.'' The insult left her tongue familiarly, before they had often called each other names — but this was different. This time, she meant it.

A few campers gasped, watching in surprise as the two they had always thought to be inseparable were now at each others throats. Drew stood from her seat, more than prepared for a round two, especially when about half of her bunk-mates stood with her.

Charlie marched on her own, not at all faltering at their numbers. She was grumbling incoherent things to herself and everyone moved out of her way.

Charlie had always been rather violent, she preferred to think with her fists and speak through insults, but it had never bothered anyone before. They all knew that whilst she had been on multiple quests, she was more for show than for use. But with her sleeves rolled up and the firelight enhancing the shadows, she looked terrifying, her scars and injuries glowing in the dark. She clearly had the new skills to back up her words.

Annabeth, Rachel and the new three campers were beginning to discourage her, only just processing that she was for real. But even when Chiron stomped his hoof she kept walking. She was a girl on a mission. And right now that mission was wiping the smug smirk off of Drew's face.

Unfortunately, she only got to see it waver ever so slightly when the distance between them shortened, as once she passed by Rachel, the girls eyes rolled back and she passed out.

Momentarily distracted, Charlie caught her before she could hit the floor. A few other campers, who looked like they had been trained for this, moved towards them with a chair, letting Charlie place her down.

Deciding her friends well-being was more important than a fight, Charlie hovered a few feet away from the redhead, right at the exit of the amphitheater.

Green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient — the sound a snake would make if it could talk.

''Child of lightning, beware the earth,
The Giant's revenge, the seven shall birth.
The forge and dove shall break the cage,
And death unleashed, through Hera's rage.
Daughter of thieves, shall have to stall,
Or must be forced to break their fall.''

Oh no, you don't. Not today.

Spinning sharply on her heel, Charlie vanished into the night.

( 2733 )

Did Charlie give us potential second-hand
embarrassment when she went for Drew?
Most probably. But I love her for it. I also
needed a way to show that she's grown
mentally and physically over the last six
months since she left camp, so...
If you got embarrassed, my bad ig.