It had been a while since I had woken up.
At first I hadn't recognized where I was but then, when Annabeth face appeared before me, I knew.
It took me a few minutes to gather the strength to sit and eventually stand up.
This had never happend before but my legs felt like they were made out of jelly.
Strangely I had woken up refreshed since I had always felt heavy and stiff whenever I woke up.
There was also this feeling of lightness in me, like all the weight on my shoulders had fallen off.
By now, considering I had been knocked out for two days straight, the entire camp had become aware of me being my father's son but there was something in my blood. Something that no one, not even Poseidon could have possibly known about and it was currently crashing and breaking through the limitations and dormancy it had been forced into.
I could feel how the energies mixed and fought inside of me. I felt how music resonate throughout my body, bouncing of my blood vessels and slowly encroaching onto my vocal cords. I felt it plucking on them like they were and instrument and when I opened my mouth, just out of curiosity, a Soundwave broke out, carrying with it the sound of a song. I could see how the Soundwave traveled and crashed into the wall before me as it bounced back, scattering through the room and creating cracks in the wood and stone.
There was the energy of death, undoubtedly from the Void walker-Bloodline, and it mixed with several other energies.
Then there were the demonic energies, both those of sinners and demons. They mixed incredibly violent and the result was even more chaotic. I could feel how the world around me folded and trembled from the pure potential of this mix.
There wereany more energies but the one that caught my attention the most was the thing that was going on with my connection to my father's domain andy own domain, the "Deep Sea". The very moment these had touched it was like an earthquake had rocked my entire body. From one second to the other I knew I could call upon the horrors of the dark zone, I knew that my body alone was now able to withstand the pressure down there. The last thing I noticed, long after the resulting increase I physical strength, was that my connection to the general sea, lakes and rivers, had increased to a semi-Divine level. Oh, what am I saying. What semi-divine? Of course it was actually divine but it appeared half baked and incomplete compared to my connection to the deep sea.
There were many more subtle changes but none that were truly noteworthy right now.
After I had left the cabin, as it appeared that the campers had already brought my unconscious body into cabin three, I made my way to the big house as I was suddenly very aware that the strings of fate were drawing closer, alongside a song, divine in nature and almost unrecognizable as it had been twisted beyond mortal recognition.
I knew the oracle had a prophecy read for me so, after Chiron had caught a small glimpse of me, I entered the attic, waiting for the oracle to temporarily resurrect. And then finally it did. With a voice that sounded like a middle aged woman and a subtle hissing.
"Child of Poseidon, Perseus Jackson, you have come for your first quest. Now listen close and listen well.
You shall go west, alongside the demigod of Wisdom and a soon to be searcher.
In the wild, where eyes of stone and metal will meet, the priestress seeks her kin.
In the West, where siblings meet and monster will suffer, you will find the God who was turned.
Suffering will find it's way to you, below the land and fall to the Abyss you will to save a longstanding friend, by a known hand.
Good luck, Percy Jackson."
And with this, the oracle had spoken its prophecy and the green smoke retreated back into the mummy.
I descented the stairs and was immediately met with the face of an overly concerned centaur and satyr.
" Percy, I know you have been here for only a few days at most but you need not take this quest on your own. Please tell me the prophecy.aybe I can help you figure some things out before you leave."
Chiron words warmed my heath, if only for a second. I already suspected several ways the prophecy could unfold and didn't realy need much input. Beside, compared to Chiron, I definitely had more experience with stuff like this than he had, considering my recent nightmare as "the Pale One". Hearing, seeing and interpreting prophecies had been my bread and butter during said nightmare. But still, I couldn't possibly deny him as it would only worry the half horse more than he already was.
So, I decided to recite the original prophecy since it would give Chiron something to think about and it would keep things interesting for Grover and Annabeth.
"That.... doesn't sound like a prophecy I would ever want you to carry out Persus, you have had almost no training during this time. I believe it is best to send Annabeth Chase with you, as she is the most suited for this quest. The last member will be of your choosing though."
"Thank you for the consideration, Chiron." I said sarcastically. I mean, did I know she was supposed to come along? Yeah. But that didn't mean I wanted someone that wasn't even part of said quest decide who would participate.
"So I'm guessing she's already here?" I "asked", though it was more rethorical than anything since I had already sensed her before leaving the attic.
"You are right. I am already here. Who knew the sea-spawn would have brain-cells to spare."
As mentioned previously... Rethorical.
"I'll go call Micheal Varus, my brother. Mother knows we will need him if you are on this quest." She said.
Can I kick her out of the quest before it even started? No? Fuck.
"And who made you the team leader? As far as I know, I'm the one who got the prophecy and the one with the leader position. I'll ask someone I actually want to be on this quest with me."i said, throughoutly annoyed by her, glaring at Annabeth.
" Fine but if you mess up I reserve the right to tell you, I told you so."
After this I headed into the forest to look for my favorite hooved friend.
A little while later I found Grover in a clearing, practicing his reed-pipes.
I approached carefilully, not to disturb him and sat down just outside of his periveral vision.
I listened to him playing for a time until Grover was done and then I spoke.
"Hey Grover?"
"Hey Percy, how have you been?"
"Oh, you know. Same old same old. I got a crazy uncle accusing me of theft and a niece that makes me want to throw myself into the Styx."
"Sounds hard. I heard you got offered a quest?"
"Yeah, well. Not offered, really. It was more like, do this or your uncle will kill you and start a third world War."
"So why are you here right now? I thought you would be looking for quest members right now?"
"There isn't much to look for. The prophecy pretty much told me who to pick. Even if it ultimately was Chiron that forced me to suffer through one of their presence. The other one is fine but he hasn't said yes yet."
"Oh." at this Grover looked up for a moment, disappointment visible in his eyes.
"Then again I haven't really asked him yet. Do you happen to know a satyr willing to go with me into the Underworld? Preferably one that doesn't have his license yet?" I asked with a mischievous grin on my face.
This got Grover attention and then he slowly, questioningly pointed at himself.
I just nodded, keeping my grin as it slowly spread, growing bigger.
" Yes you, Grover. Who else? We will meet today in the evening, at the border after the dinner and offerings. Then will will begin the quest. So go and prepare your things. I will go and see if that annoying niece of mine has already figured our schedule out."