I knew what had to happen. I had to go on that quest. I had to prove that Hecate was not guilty. That what Lou
Ellen had said was true. It would be a quest to prove it. And I couldn't wait.
______________
At the campfire the next night , Chiron made an announcement. "You all may have noticed , but I will say so
anyway , The Golden Fleece has been stolen." Everybody was talking at once. Chiron banged his hooves on
the hearth to maintain order. "Order , ORDER!" Everyone kept talking. I sighed , I'd have to do the dirty work. I
pointed at the fire and raised my finger. Flames rolled 50 feet into the sky. Everyone stopped talking and looked
at the sky. "Thank you , Tori." "No problem." "As I was saying , The Golden Fleece has been stolen. Someone
will go on a quest to bring it back. " More clamor and hullabulloo. "All right , that's it" , I shouted , "Anyone who
doesn't shut up right now , will answer to me." "Ooh , tough girl" , came a voice from the crowd. I started to point
my finger at him , but was interrupted by Chiron. "Thank you , Tori. Chris , be good." "All right , Chiron" , he
mumbled. "Good , now , who will go on the quest?" A bunch of people said me at once. "Never mind" , said
Chiron , "I meant , who will kindly go phone up th-" "I'm here! Sorry , had tons of homework." A red-haired girl
marched into the amphitheater. She had holes all over her jeans and they were covered in doodles. One hole
had a doodled string hanging off it. It looked kind of like a balloon. "I see you guys got new campers." She
regarded me , May , Hanna , and Mason. "So , what needs a prophecy?" "Um , Tori , May , Hanna , Mason this
is our Oracle of Delphi" , said Chiron. "Rachel , these are our new campers." She waved hello. We waved back.
She sat down and said , "I will see what I can do." We sat there a long time , till finally , she told the prophecy.
Green smoke came out of her mouth. She eerily stiffened and started.
'''''' Five together shall prevail
Through snow , rain , sleet , or hail
Head West till you reach the city land
Then one shall die by a monsters hand
Follow the one who is now scorned ,
From a traitor has been born
To save the fleece one must stay home
To kill the one who was her own
We were all silent. I watched as Rachel swooned , two people caught her , and another brought a blanket for her. Two campers hiccuped in harmony. "So , is that normal? All the death and killing stuff? Something about a
traitor? What do you think of it?" , I asked "I don't know" , said Chiron. We all stared at him. "I'm sorry , but it's
true." "I know the prophecy" , I burst out. Everyone stared. "I just . . . " A memory was just out of my reach. I
groaned. "Tori , are you . . ?" "I'm okay" , I wheezed. I felt like my breath had been knocked out. I was struggling
for breath. I was losing focus. Annabeth started running over to me , but Percy was closer and got there first. "What's wrong? Tori , what's wrong?!" , he said in a panicked voice. Annabeth was there. She sat next to me
and put her hand on my forehead. My head started throbbing so hard that you could feel it through five layers of
pillows. I screamed. My vision turned black , white , and gray , like those old movies. It was starting to get tinted
red. I saw Chiron galloping up the seats. He had two Apollo campers on his back. Kyle and Hanna. I took
another gasping breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I focused on one thing , breathing. I slightly opened my
eyes. Kyle was next to me. He gently pressed my chest , and the air came more freely. Hanna put her hand
where his was , and he sneaked his away. He held my head firmly. I screamed again. Even Kyle didn't seem to
know what was going on. Not even Chiron. My mouth opened to scream again , and something happened.
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