Sorry it took a while to write this. Enjoy! First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1251840016 Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1279485868/ Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1252642319/ Chapter Four: I sat straight up. I just saw my mom for the first time, even if it was just a . . . memory? I took a deep breath and glanced at my clock. 2:49. I laid back, but I couldn’t sleep with having seen my mother and not knowing her. She had just left. She didn’t even say anything to my dad. All my parents left me. ————————————————————————— I don’t know how, but I fell asleep. I opened my eyes again at 6AM and decided that was late enough. I got dressed and had to just sit in my room until breakfast at 7:30. I thought about how my mom ghosted us and didn’t even bother to claim me now. Soon, it was time to eat. Percy convinced Chiron to let me sit anywhere since I wasn’t claimed. Only Bree and Tate voluntarily ate with me. Tate smiled at me and I joined her at the end of the Athena table. The others slid down the bench so they didn’t have to be by me. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why they’re so mean sometimes.” “It’s fine,” I replied. “I’m new and no one really knows me yet.” “I have no clue why they wouldn’t want to get to know you,” Tate responded. I smiled back at her. “What are you doing after this?” I asked, switching the subject. “I was going to climb the lava wall. Want to join me?” I gave her a look of shock. “It’s a rock climbing wall with lava.” “I know that,” I said. “But why lava?” She laughed. I joined in and it felt . . . good. ————————————————————————— By lunch, I was exhausted. The lava wall was much harder than I expected and Tate insisted we play volleyball with some satyrs. While we were eating, a red haired girl entered the pavilion. She started to spew . . . green smoke. A raspy voice started to say, “An army of bronze and brains shall rise, the world will say its great goodbyes. Tamed by the daughter unclaimed, to the west she must quest.” She collapsed and a few people helped her, but others acted like this was somewhat normal. “What just happened?” I asked Tate. “A prophecy,” she breathed. She blinked and added, “That’s Rachel, our oracle. She is the source of all our prophecies.” “Does that have any connection to that one sun guy, Apollo?” “Yeah, since he’s the god of prophecy. He doesn’t have full control, but . . . actually, I don’t quite remember what he can do.” I laughed a bit before asking, “What does all that mean?” Tate smiled and said, “I have no clue and neither does anyone else.” ————————————————————————— “What does bronze mean?” someone asked. “Maybe Celestial Bronze weapons,” another added. We were in the big house with all the head counselors. Tate wasn’t liked after befriending me, but had been here longest. “They’re just my siblings,” she had said earlier. “They’re not true friends if they don’t like me being friends with you.” Most of the people here looked either bored or mildly interested. “Wait, is there anyone unclaimed except for Penelope?” Tate asked. “She is the only one currently,” Chiron said. “And I have a feeling she’s the one the prophecy tells of.” Murmurs filled the space and I could feel my face burn. “So, I’m the ‘daughter unclaimed’,” I realized. “I’m not going to be claimed.” Chiron nodded grimly. I took a deep breath and said, “I can handle it. I’ll do it.” ————————————————————————— We were preparing for the quest. “You need to go west, but it doesn’t say where or how far west,” Chiron said. “Bronze may mean something like a car factory or something, maybe a junkyard.” I noticed Percy taking deep breaths. A blonde woman about his age rubbed circles on the back of his hand. An emo guy from Hades, around late teens to early twenties, also appeared unnerved. “What if it’s like . . .” he started. “It won’t be, Nico,” Percy reassured. The room was silent except for that conversation. “They’ll be fine.” Nico took a deep breath and turned away. Now the silence was awkward. Chiron cleared his throat. “So, who wishes to accompany Penelope?”
Tate automatically volunteered, but she was the only one. “Maybe another camper that’s not a head counselor wishes to go,” Chiron said. Lena snorted. “Who would want to go on a quest with her?” she sneered. Chiron opened his mouth to speak, but I retorted, “Well, I don’t think you have ever been on a quest, so the new, ‘weird’ girl has one-upped you.” “You’re going to need a lot more ‘one-ups’ to reach me,” she said. “You mean ‘one-downs’,” I replied smoothly. Tate grinned. “I’d need ‘one-downs’ to get to your level. In height and popularity.” “I see. Everything they say about you is true.” I didn’t elaborate and she couldn’t think of anything better to say, “Ugh!” Lena flung open the door and stormed out. “Great job,” Tate told me after. “You show Lena who’s boss.” I laughed and my instincts took over. I felt my hand reaching out and taking Tate’s into my own.
