The Legacy of the Sky, Book 1: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: I Gain a Whole lot of Unwanted Attention
I was assigned a place in Cabin 1, the cabin for Zeus after the dark-hearted campfire. It didn’t have any living arrangements, no bathroom or anything, just the cot that some people had brought in for me. The cabin was always thundering from the roof with the moving clouds and flashing lightning mosaic, but I found that it didn’t bother me too much. In the middle of the room stood a ten foot tall statue of my father, seated in a throne and dressed in an ancient Greek outfit, complete with shield and lightning bolt. All around the cabin, alcoves were filled with either bronze braziers or golden statues of eagles, Zeus’ sacred animal. I looked around the empty cabin. Earlier, everybody seemed so afraid of me, even the people who brought in my bunk had seemed hasty to get away from me. I hadn’t seen Elissa since the game, but I wasn’t so sure that she would want to see me around anymore, just because my daddy was the stupid King of Olympus. I sat there on my bed, my face buried in my hands, when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I croaked. The door opened and in stepped Percy Jackson. He looked around the cabin and then at me.

“I know what you’re going through. I went through the same thing when I was claimed, being a son of Poseidon and all,” he said. I looked up.

“Why is everybody so shocked that I’m a son of Zeus? It’s like everybody is afraid of me,” I asked.

“Well, children of the ‘Big Three’ are really powerful, so a long time ago, the Big Three gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, made a pact that they wouldn’t have any children, because of the Great Prophecy. It was this big thing that foretold that one of their children would decide the fate of Olympus. Last summer, there was a war with the Titans. Kronos, the big bad king Titan, tried to make a comeback, but we defended Olympus and destroyed Kronos, and the prophecy was completed. I forced the gods into a deal that made them recognize their children, and the Pact of the Big Three was dissolved. So, even if Zeus had a child the day after, he wouldn’t be your age, which means he broke the pact again,” he explained.

“Again? He’s had other children?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have a friend, Thalia Grace, she’s a son of Zeus,” he told me.

“Where is she? Why isn’t she here?” I asked.

“Well, she joined the Hunters of Artemis after one of her friends in the Hunt died. She was made into a constellation you know, the friend who died,” Percy said rather matter-of-factly.

“You’re alone too?”

“Well, most of the time. I’ve got a half brother, Tyson, though he’s also a Cyclops. He works in my dad’s undersea forges, so he’s only around sometimes. Don’t worry, he’s completely harmless, actually pretty lovable” he added after my semi-horrified look.

“I’ve also heard about some other prophecy that people are scared about. Do you think it involves me?” I asked.

“Well, now that we know you’re a son of Zeus, yeah, it most certainly involves you. There’s going to be a war council tomorrow, so we’ll tell you about it then. You should get some rest now though, it’s been a long day,” he instructed, and then he turned and left the cabin, leaving me alone once again.

The next morning I got up and found new camp clothes waiting for me beside my bunk. There were new pairs of jeans, hiking and running shoes, and a few orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. The design on the t-shirt was fairly simple, just the words Camp Half-Blood in Greek style lettering and a solid black galloping pegasus underneath that. I left the cabin as soon as possible, because I felt like I needed to be around people, even if they did fear me because they thought they were going to get smited by lightning or something. Though I thought people would run away or avoid me, people seemed more casual this morning; they looked at me just like any other camper around them, though no one actually approached me.

“Hey, we didn’t get a chance to talk last night,” I turned to find Elissa walking beside me.

“I didn’t think you’d want to, after what happened,” I said glumly.

“About what you did to that Christian Pike? No, I would’ve shot him with an arrow if you hadn’t sent him flying,” she said, and we both grinned as we saw a group of Ares kids give me dirty looks as we passed by their cabin.

“Are you allowed into the war council today?” I asked.

“No, that’s for senior councillors only. I’m just an ordinary camper,” she explained.

“There’s apparently some prophecy that involves me some how, and it’s apparently pretty big ‘cause it’s got the whole camp talking,” I told her.

“Well, good luck at this big war council. I wish I could know what they would be talking about,” she said wistfully.

“Tell you what, if they tell me it’s not all confidential, then I’ll tell you about it,” I said.

“Deal. We’ve gotta get to breakfast though, I’m starving,” she said, and then we ran together to the dining pavilion.

I found myself alone once again, as rules stated that we had to sit at our parent’s table. I gave some toast and eggs and a waffle to the brazier and watched it go up in smoke. After we were done eating, Chiron announced that the war council would now convene, so we all made our way up to the Big House, the camp headquarters. Instead of there being an official meeting room, the council took place in the Big House’s rec room, and we all sat around a ping pong table while satyrs handed out nachos and sodas. I didn’t know a lot of people there, but I knew a few, like Rebecca for Nike, Arthur from Iris, Lily from Demeter, Percy from Poseidon, Annabeth from Athena, and then there was that girl from Ares, Clarisse.

“We are here to discuss the now apparent situation of Rachel’s second prophecy,” Chiron announced, indicating a girl about seventeen with frizzy red hair and tattered jeans covered with various doodles. “It speaks of a son of Zeus, and yesterday, we found out that we have one at this very camp,” he said, indicating me, and I felt twenty pairs of eyes fall on me.

“Uh, what is this prophecy, exactly? People keep telling me about it, but I don’t know what it is, and I would like to know what my stupid fate is, if I’m going to die or something,” I said to the room at large. All eyes seemed to fall on the red-head, Rachel.

She sighed. “This prophecy was the second one I ever issued. It went like this.” She paused and closed her eyes then recited the prophecy.

''“Son of Lightning, know your flaw, ''

''Or risk flying into Terror’s paw. ''

''The great choice of greater or lesser, ''

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

She finished and it seemed like the temperature in the room had just dropped five degrees. Everybody stayed silent until Chiron spoke.

“The son of lightning is clearly Matthew, but the prophecy dictates that he must know his fatal flaw, or it will doom him.”

“Terror’s paw,” Annabeth said, “Could that mean a monster, a god, or just terror itself?” she asked, more herself than anyone else in the room.

“And what’s west legacy’s successor? It could be any one of the places the gods have inhabited since Greece,” piped up the girl I recognized as the one that tripped me with magic last night, who I deduced was from the Hecate cabin.

“Megan’s right, but how do we rediscover it? Has the civilization been lost?” Lily asked.

“Chiron, do you know anything about this?” Rebecca asked.

“Powerful things are at work here. Even I do not know what could possibly be going on, but if my suspicions are correct, then I dare not say anything,” he said gravely.

“But Chiron, if this is something important, you have to tell us. This could be our survival or not,” Annabeth pleaded, but Chiron just shook his head.

“Some secrets must remain secret my child. Now is not the time to divulge such pressing information. Now, we must discuss the other pressing matter,” he said, and whether we liked it or not, the prophecy matter was closed.

“What other ‘pressing matter’?” I asked.

“There is unrest in Olympus. The gods are growing uneasy with a growing threat. As you know, the Titans were not all eliminated last summer with our great defeat of Kronos,” he explained.

“There’s not somebody trying to bring him back, is there?” asked Percy resentfully, and immediately, everybody sat up straighter in their chairs.

“No, Kronos will not be coming back any time soon, if not ever. But as you know, some Titans survived, or escaped Tartarus. Prometheus, for example, and Rhea, though she did not participate in the war. They, like the Olympians, unfortunately, can have children,” he told us.

“Children of the Titans? Like, us children or immortal children?” asked Arthur.

“No, they are half Titan, half mortal. Even the Titans are attracted to some mortals these days. True, there are not as many of them as us, but they are still a powerful force. They have the aid of monsters, some gods and Titans, and even Gaea, in her ever sleep,” Chiron went on.

“They have the favour of Gaea? How is that possible?” asked another girl at the table, probably a daughter of Dionysus because she looked kind of impish with curly black hair and seemingly unfocused eyes.

Chiron sighed. “You see Natalie; they are trying to resurrect an ancient god to destroy the Olympians and their children. They believe that they can bring back Ouranos, the original god of the sky and husband to Gaea.”

Chapter 4: I Go Shopping for War Equipment