The Legacy of the Sky, Book 1: Chapter 12

Chapter 12: I Learn a Secret
I burst into the Big House and literally ran into Argus, the hundred eyed security guard who took us to the bus station at the start of our quest. He looked like some regular Californian surfer dude, excluding the eyes.

“Where’s Chiron?” I panted at him. Argus doesn’t speak, and I don’t really know why, but he points to a door at the end of the hallway. I sprint to it and knock incessantly. I could hear the clopping of his hooves as he approached, and then he opened the door to find me heaving.

“What is it my dear boy?” he asked casually, like I wasn’t dying for air.

“We need to talk. Can I come in?” I asked him, and he nodded. His office was a room plated with bronze panels that were covered with photos of various people, some of them were famous people that I knew from the news and movies and such. The newest one I could see was one of Percy and Annabeth. His office contained a desk with a computer on it, a filing cabinet with a large boom box surrounded by various labelled cassettes, a wheelchair, and a couple of normal chairs for guests. He indicated for me to sit in one, but I remained standing.

“What is the matter?” he asked with more concern in his voice.

“Chiron, I need you to be honest with me. Swear to me that you will be honest,” I instructed him, and he looked at me with an unreadable expression.

“I swear on the River Styx to be honest in answering your questions,” he said solemnly, and I could hear a distant rumble of thunder, like it always did in my cabin.

I took a deep breath before asking the possibly deadly question

“Where’s the other camp for Roman demigods?”

“What do you mean, my child?” Chiron asked with a very slight hint of panic in his voice, but his face only displayed puzzlement.

I tossed him the purple shirt. “It says SPQR. Senatus Populusque Romanus was the motto for the Roman empire. It also says Camp Jupiter. That’s the Roman name for my father, Zeus. I think you catch my drift.”

Chiron looked exasperated as he unfolded the shirt to find the gold designs imprinted on the purple. The letters SPQR inside a laurel wreath printed over top of the name Camp Jupiter.

“How do you know these things about Rome?” he asked, I knew I he was trying to change the subject.

“I learned about ancient Greece and Rome in school. And you swore on the River something that you would tell me the truth,” I reminded him. He didn’t answer, but instead handed over a folded piece of paper, and I realised that it was Emily’s letter. I took it and opened it.

For the eyes of praetors Jason and Reyna only.

Mission Report: Infiltrate the Titan Camp.

Reporting Legionnaire: Emily Parker, daughter of Trivia.

''

''

           I didn’t have to read any further to understand. Emily was a Roman demigod, and thought that we were too, which meant that they didn’t know about us just like we didn’t know about them. I was supposed to give this to Jason, the praetor at her camp.

''"Rediscover west legacy’s successor." ''

The last line of the prophecy finally made sense, and the answer was one simple word.

Rome.

I looked at Chiron, only able to let out one word.

“Why?”

“I am under an unbreakable oath to not explain myself. You must find out yourself,” he said, his eyes downcast. I took one more look at him, and then stormed out of the office.

I was walking back to my cabin when somebody intentionally pushed me to the ground. I looked up to see Christian Pike standing over me, the person who I hit during the capture-the-flag game. He was glaring at me with intense red eyes, a scar over his right eye seeming more prominent in the sunlight of a summer’s day.

“I didn’t get to pummel you down before you left,” he snarled, but I just glared.

“Traitors don’t scare me,” I told him menacingly, and a look of fake confusion flashed across his face. He grabbed onto my shirt and hauled me up so that we could face each other eye to eye.

“Whadda ya mean, punk?” he asked, trying to keep his tough guy demeanour.

As soon as I saw him again, something sparked in my memory from my visit to the control room at Camp Othrys.

''What of Christian? Has he made progress?'' Nathan had asked.

           He has infiltrated them successfully, but he fears their leader has some suspicions, one of his lackeys had reported.

“You’re a spy for Camp Othrys, you liar,” I spat at him. By now, campers were starting to ring themselves around our stand off, looking for a rematch from capture-the-flag, but what I offered them was different. “You’re a demi-titan. You were sent here to spy on us and give your friends details about us, but guess what. You’re gonna be kicked out of camp, sent back in disgrace.”

Campers, especially those from the Ares cabin, started to draw weapons. Teenagers with swords, daggers, bows and arrows, and even a little kid with a basketball, all had their equipment pointed at Christian Pike.

“Get back!” Chiron yelled as he cantered to the disturbance.

“Who’s your parent? Phoebe? Themis? Krios?” I taunted, and I think Chiron understood what I meant immediately, as he slung his bow off of his shoulder.

“Menoetius, Titan of Anger,” he admitted, and it made sense. Christian was a hot headed jerk. Chiron drew an arrow from his quiver and knocked it, pointing it directly between his eyes, and Christian stumbled to the ground.

“You will leave this camp and never return. Sydney!” Chiron called, and a girl with white hair like duck’s feathers stumbled towards Chiron like she had just woken up from a nap. I recognized her from the war councils where she was usually dosing in a corner.

“Yeah?” she yawned.

“I need you to bury his memories of this place, but I fear the damage has already been done. Wipe his entire time here from his memory,” he ordered, and Sydney immediately went to work, bending down over him and muttering some incantations. Before long, Pike was asleep, and Argus came and dragged him away with Sydney still at work. Campers looked at his hefty form being hauled away in disgust.

Chapter 11: I Solve the Puzzle

Chapter 13: Settling Down