To Disturb the Harmony~Chapter 8

Chapter Eight~Midnight Meeting
Chiron walked us into the Big House, leading us to the living room where his wheelchair was sitting. I watched as he pulled a few curlers from the fur in his tail and eased himself into the wheelchair, which seemed to absorb his body into it.

“So, someone managed to pull the sword out,” he said looking at me and I looked away in response. “As for the ancient customs, you are allowed to pick two of your fellow campers to go with you.”

“Look, it was an accident,” I tried to defend. “I pulled the sword out by accident.”

“Accident?” Chiron said as he raised an eyebrow. “When you have lived as long as I have, you learn that there are very few events that can be defined as accidents.”

“Well this one was,” I protested. “The only reason I could pull the sword out was because I made it believe that I was its owner to fend off that girl’s cat!”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” Chiron said and his attention shifted over to Aisling, who in all the excitement forgot to hide her furry friend. “I don’t remember allowing you to have a pet on camp grounds.”

“Um…about that,” Aisling said as she started shifting nervously in her seat. She held her cat closer and patted its head a few times. The cat seemed to push into her hand and started purring. She then thrust the cat in Chiron’s direction. “But just look at her, she is so cute! I had to bring her along for the trip!”

“Regardless,” Chiron said before patting the kitten on the head. “A camp filled with demigods isn’t exactly the best place for a baby Nemean Lion.”

“Wait…how is that even possible?” I asked surprised. “Isn't there only one Nemean Lion?”

“Well, that is true. However my little kitten is only half Nemean Lion,” Aisling said, but the cat seemed to let out a kind of angry growl.

“Half?” I asked. “How did that happen?”

“Well the last time the Nemean Lion came to visit my dad, it kind of found his way into the Philadelphia Zoo and well, even monsters fall in love sometimes,” she said.

“Ok, I get the picture,” I said as I tried not to think too hard about it.

“Anyway, let’s get back to the topic at hand. Ashton, as much as you may not want this responsibility, by fault or design, the sword is now in your possession and you must fulfill the prophecy,” Chiron said as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “If it turns out that you are not the true owner of that sword, you can come back to camp at any time and give it to its true owner. In the meantime, please pick at least two people to go with you.”

“I’ll go, pick me!” Aisling yelled as she raised her hand in the air over her head and started bouncing up and down on the couch like a child who knew the answer to a question in class.

“It seems he have a volunteer,” Chiron mused as he smiled at her. “And who will be your other companion?”

There was a long silence as I thought about who else would go. I mean I didn’t spend a lot of time at camp, meaning I didn’t have that many friends. I had only just met Aisling today, but she seemed more interested in just going on a quest regardless of who the leader was. Just then, the hinges of the door creaked open and for a horrifying minute, we all thought that Aisling’s loud voice had woken Mr. D, something that other campers had done before and paid with their sanity. Mr. D would almost always revert them back to normal after awhile, but they would be plagued by the other campers with stories of what they had done while insane. Instead, Kimi poked her head around the corner and looked into the room. Her hair was kind of messy and she was wearing a pair of Camp Half-Blood pajama pants that she most likely picked up from the camp store. However, once she got a good look inside the room, a guilty expression crossed her face, as if she just walked into an important meeting, which she kind of did.

“I heard someone talking down here and I was trying to figure out where it was coming from. Am I interrupting something? Sorry,” she said and she started to turn away back into the hallway.

“And her!” Aisling yelled and jumped from her seat, then ran across the room and wrapped her hand around Kimi’s wrist. She then lifted Kimi’s hand into the air. “She is the other member of the quest!”

“Wait wasn’t this my quest?” I asked Aisling. I felt like even though I was the one with the sword, she was the one calling the shots.

“So you admit it is your quest,” she said, and just like that she had me trapped. This was my quest and I was the one to lead it. Kimi on the other hand was looking around, obviously very confused by what she was witnessing and I didn’t blame her. With all the excitement Aisling was stirring up, I was having a hard time keeping track as well.

“Now Aisling, this isn’t your decision to make. If Kimi would like to go, it is her decision and no one else’s,” Chiron said in a calm voice and Aisling started to pout. Chiron then turned in his chair to face Kimi, who had managed to at least get her hand away from Aisling. “Now my dear, Ashton has managed to take possession of the sword and is to lead the quest to find the one that is waiting for him. You can go if you wish, but it is up to you.”

Kimi’s face was filled with uncertainty. She looked at the floor for only a moment, but lifted her gaze and started looking around the room at Aisling, Chiron, and then it turned to me. Our eyes met and lingered there for a second.

“I think…I think I’ll go with you,” She said and Aisling jumped up and down with joy.

“Then it is decided. You three shall go forth on the quest. You will leave at first light, however until then I recommend that you all get some sleep,” Chiron instructed and most of us nodded. The small cat from earlier let out what could only be described as a yawn and Aisling picked it up from beside me.

“Come on Nala, we have a fun day ahead of us tomorrow. Time for bed,” she said and ran from the room past Kimi.

“Where does that girl get her energy,” Chiron said and started wheeling back to his room. “Good night everyone.”

“Um, good night Ashton,” Kimi said and left the doorway, also leaving me alone in the room and I hoped I didn’t get picked off the by harpies on my way back to my cabin.

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive