The Beast of the Sea~Chapter 10

“Alright everyone, I call this meeting to order,” Chiron announced as he clapped one of his hooves on the ground. Everyone took their seats and I looked around the room at about twenty cabin leaders, long with a select group of older demigods which had a table closer to Chiron.

Ever since the camp expanded, older demigods would sometimes stay and train the younger generation. Ever since some kind of promise the gods made almost two decades ago, the number of demigods here had grown by a lot, at least that is what I heard. Chiron was having trouble keeping up and Mr. D never trained demigods directly, but that didn’t stop him from taking credit for their achievements. However, older demigods would often stop by during the summer months and help in training the next generation. I had never seen El before at camp, but I rarely stayed here during the summer, or anytime really. However, that display of power during Capture the Flag showed me she wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with. But just like most children of Poseidon, her emotions could change at the drop of a hat and currently she was laughing with Joseph, who looked very out of place with the other older demigods.

“Due to recent events, I feel there is something we must talk about,” Chiron said once everyone quieted down.

“I agree,” said Thresh, which greatly surprised everyone. He wasn’t exactly the smartest guy at camp as he pretty much personified brawn over brains, and he had a lot of brawn. “I say that the Ares cabin should keep the flag as the game was interrupted.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Shizune yelled as she rose from her seat and slammed her hands on the table, causing it to shake slightly. “We won that game fair and square, if anything that interruption as you called it would have helped your team out more than mine!”

“Fair and square? You cheated right from the start by having him on your team!” Thresh spat back, and at first I thought he was going to point at me, but it curved over toward Joseph instead. “He isn’t even in our age range and yet he was on your team.”

As much as I hated Thresh, he had a point kind of and it actually made Shizune speechless for a brief second, but before she could protest his argument, Chiron slammed his hoof on the floor and the room once again went silent.

“Enough! Yes Joseph may be mentally older, but in his current condition he is only about fourteen, maybe fifteen. May I remind you that you had the Poseidon and Hades cabin on your team, cabins each with multiple members, while the Blue team had one child of Zeus. Also, Shizune carried the flag across the border completely unopposed. No demigods were close enough to stop her and those that were nearby were itching themselves on the ground. The flag shall go to the Athena cabin for the week and you can try and win it back next week. Until then we have much more pressing matters to get to,” Chiron said, and it was clear that he wasn’t looking for any kind of response. Thresh crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, obviously annoyed. Shizune ungracefully plopped herself back in her seat and shot Thresh an annoyed glance.

“Now, as we all know the Elementals have remained relatively calm over the past few months,” Chiron stated and everyone seemed to nod in agreement. “However it seems that they have started stirring again, if today’s display is any indication.”

“Why didn’t the borders stop that water thing?” asked Victor, head of the Nike cabin. He had seen the whole thing from his spot on the ground itching like crazy. The effects of the gas had mostly worn off, but every so often he would start itching his arm.

“Unfortunately, the Elementals aren’t like hostile gods or enemy monsters. They are forces of nature that exist everywhere. Image for a second that the borders blocked everything, including the very air we breathe,” Chiron explained, and everyone seemed to understand.

“So how do we stop them from entering the camp and destroying it?” Shizune asked, clearly thinking of possible ways to defend the camp.

“We can set up certain defenses, but they will at best slow them down,” Chiron said. “However, Ashton knows a way to prevent them from attacking.”

Just then every eye in the room seemed to look in my direction and I secretly wished my mom had named me Bob instead of Ash. I also wasn’t sure what exactly Chiron was talking about until I noticed my hand was instinctively going into my pocket for my sword. Demigods always had to be ready for a fight and most would reach for their weapons when nervous, even if they didn’t always notice at first.

“During my quest last winter, the Earth Elemental gave me a sphere that he said could control his realm. He also said that the other three had a similar one to his,” I started before Shizune interrupted me.

“So if we find the others, then we should be able to control the Elementals and get them to stop fighting,” she said and started taking notes in her notebook again.

“It isn’t that simple,” Chiron said. “The Elementals have minds of their own as well. Even if we find their spheres, there is no telling how it will affect them.”

“So where are these things anyway?” Thresh asked, and it surprised me how quiet he had been. It was then that Joseph rose from his seat.

“We’ve been tracking several disturbances in the weather, so the Elementals should be around them depending on the type of weather. There have been reports of tornados all over the country, so the Air Elemental will be hard to catch. However, there have been reports of floods, sinking ships, and weird whirlpools off the coast of Florida,” Joseph said.

“The Sea of Monsters,” I said, remembering that the Water Elemental said she would be waiting for me there. That I knew for sure.

“Yes, however we must be careful as our other missions there haven’t gone so well,” Chiron said. It then accord to me what Chiron was saying.

“Wait, you sent other groups after the spheres?” I asked, as I had heard nothing about this.

“I’m afraid so, as we’ve known about the Sea of Monsters for quite a time now. A few older demigods volunteered to join search parties, but with mixed results,” Chiron said in a low tone, and then looked over toward Joseph for a split second.

“Why didn’t we know about this?” Shizune asked, obviously annoyed that she was left out of something this important.

“We didn’t want to worry any of you,” Chiron answered, but it sounded more like a confession, as if he felt bad for not including us. The room felt silent for a long time, but just then the doors flew open.

“Sorry I’m late!” came the loud voice that was attached to a mop of red hair, the camp’s Oracle. “I hit a bit of air traffic and my pegasi got lost when she took a detour. Then there was this guy at the gate that made me check in or some policy like that. Who came up with that stupid idea anyway?”

“Um…I did,” came the voice of Steven Scale, head of the Nemesis cabin. I hadn’t seen him during the game earlier, but he had obviously heard about the meeting.

“Oh, well in that case I think it is a great idea,” she said embarrassed.

“In any case, please take a seat Rachel Elizabeth Dare,” Chiron said and she ran over, taking a seat in her usual spot in the corner of the room. She looked around the room, possibly trying to figure out the current mood of the room or figuring out what we were talking about. Her eyes then locked on Joseph’s.

“So, didn’t follow my warning, did you?” Rachel said, but instead of blowing up like I expected him to, he simply turned his head and crossed his arms. “So, what are we talking about?”

“You’re the Oracle, shouldn’t you know already?” Thresh said annoyed.

“I speak prophecies, future stuff wrapped in riddles. I don’t know about the past,” Rachel shot back. “And I only just got here now so how would I know?”

“We are talking about going to the Sea of Monsters to try and find the Water Sphere,” I told her, indirectly breaking up a possible fight.

“A few of my friends went there once; they told me all about it. In fact…” Rachel trailed off after saying those last words and I watched as her eyes began to turn green and green smoke started to rise around her. I didn’t know what I said to trigger it, but she was about to speak a prophecy.