[Huff's code dictionary!!] (A=4 or @ E=3 G=6 I=1 L=! or 1 O=0 and comment if u need an explanation for any others! to me those just make sense idk why XDDD) Rachel I blinked. And then I blinked again. Then, I unceremoniously ripped my hand away from Octavian’s. “What does that mean?” I said, my voice rising without me meaning it too. Panic and incredulity was hitting me hard. “What’s a tie? What do you mean our lives are intertwined?!” Octavian’s eye twitched. That happened a lot. Except this time it was so aggressive it looked like he was having a facial seizure. “It means,” he started, “that powerful magic-ancient magic that you puny Greeks wouldn’t know of-has linked us together. We are like in soul and spirit, brethren in heart and-” “Shut up.” I told him. “Stop speaking freak and start speaking english. What does being tied mean?! What’s going to happen to me?” “It means,” Octavian tried again through gritted teeth. “In what you call ‘english’ and I call ‘dumbed speech’’-that if I d13, you d13. If you are c^t, I am c^t. If I get awful pollen allergies in the flower season-” “Then I do.” I finished, eyes wide. Then I tilted my head. “Wait-that makes so much sense actually! I’ve had this irritating cold for weeks, it’s getting on my nerves and-HOLD UP.” Octavian watched me warily with those creepily blue eyes. Unnaturally blue, almost like his inner husky was shining through his face. Icy, cold and chilling to the bone. “What?” “If you do something stupid, like lick a public statue and get germs-am I going to catch the plag^e or something?” It was a genuine question, but Octavian did a double take so hard, he looked like a bobblehead. “Why would I do that?!” He demanded. I shrugged. “You st4b stuffed bears for fun. You’re weird. I mean you’ve obviously got some mental issues, and you expect me to just-” “Enough!” Octavian said sharply and for some strange reason, I listened. I internally smacked myself for my polite instincts. Then an insult crossed my mind that had me reconsider. Perhaps not so polite. Octavian looked surprised at my cooperation as well, but he shook it off, reaching into his weird roman toga-dress thingy and pulling out a paper. “I have been searching the legion’s eldest archives, scouring every bit of our historical records to learn about such things-” “And you look it.” I muttered. Partly because up close his eyes really were rimmed in dark circles and his hair messier than usual. Even his fancy outfit looked rumpled. And partly because I was still sour that he’d basically commanded me to shut up. “Attempting,” He continued, a little louder. “To discover if normal life could still be achieved with our…conditions.” I snorted at the way he said it and he sent me a look that said he wished I would trip right into Tart4rus. Ha, jokes on you, if I did that, you’d fall too! Wait that was depressing and disgusting. Goodness gracious- “Unfortunately if we stay more than six moons apart, we’ll both d13.” Octavian said, matter of factly. But he said it so fast it sounded like ‘Unfortunatelyfwestaymoredanixmoonsapartwellbothdie' so it took a moment to sink in. I blinked. Again. Once more. “WHAT?!” Octavian bit his lip and closed his eyes, looking about ready to drop d34d asleep. It was the most human I’d ever seen him look. “Six moons. Equivalent to six months. Any more than that and our shared life source flickers out and well…” He smiled grimly. “You saved me only to k1!! us both.” Austin “-which is how you play a diminished B seventh on a guitar. Likewise, if you were to hold the fifth fret-right here-and strum this note with it…gives it a sort of-” The door banged open and I dropped the guitar onto my foot, where it skidded across the floor and knocked over my tripod, flipping my phone onto the wood floor. “OW!” Will Solace stared at me, hopping across the room on one foot and simultaneously glaring da99ers at him. What can I say, I’m a talent. “You good?” “No, I’m not good.” I said. “I dropped a twenty pound weight on my foot-” “Four pound guitar.” Will interrupted. “And you just messed up my video! This was already my third take cause Arther walked across the room in only a t0wel and demanded I not post it. And then Kayla corrected me on one of my chords, which frankly, is embarrassing.” I crossed my arms. “And now you come flying in here like a hurricane-PLUS my foot hurts!” Will rolled his eyes. “Drama queen, much? You have like what, five followers? I’m sure they can wait for your latest blog or whatever.” “Actually-“ I said, sourly. “Almost everyone at camp follows me. And if demigods could actually use like-world wide social media-I think everyone in the world would follow.” Okay, okay, I admit it. Maybe I was being a littleeeeeee dramatic. But, hey! Have you met my dad? Heard about the apple and the tree or whatever? It fits, I know.
“Sure.” Will said, unconvinced. He was the DEFINITION of a bossy, annoying older brother. Older half brother. “You need to come down to dinner.” “Yeah, yeah, I know, just let me finish this real quick-“ “Chiron has some big thing to tell us about or something.” Will interrupted. “He wants everyone there, right now. I think it might be a quest.” I squinted my eyes. “Quest for what?” “I don’t know that, do I?” He said, irritably. “Just c’mon.” “Can I just-“ “Nope. Move it or lose it, Lake.” I let out a loud sigh through my teeth. Then I threw a pillow at Will’s retreating back. Man do I love having excellent accuracy with all things hand-eye coordination. Thanks, Dad. Flump. “Austin!” Will called after he tripped down the three stairs leading into our cabin and on to the ground. I just played a triumphant b seventh and turned off my camera. My mouth dropped open the longer I listened to the blond, Roman augur who stood in front of us. Everyone seemed to share the shock. He was going on about fate and destiny and…ties? I had no idea what this all meant. When I glanced over at my half-sister, Kayla, she looked the same. “Which means your Oracle here and I-" “Rachel.” The red-headed girl interrupted, looking a little dazed herself. Octavian shot her an irritated look. “Rachel and I,” He amended. “Will be going on a quest.” The room let out a collective gasp of surprise. Even I did, and I’d been informed before this. What? It was weird. “How does that even work?” Travis Stoll called, standing and pointing at Octavian then Rachel. “You’re not even from our camp and she’s our Oracle. The Oracle is supposed to give the prophecies, not go on the quest.” “This is a special case. And Hunters and people from Camp Jupiter have quested with you before. It will be no different.” “Uh, yeah, it will.” Sherman Yang stood, glaring at the Roman boy. “Aren’t you the guy that nearly got us all k1!!ed?! What about that?” He turned to the crowd. “Maybe you guys forgot but I didn’t. Are we really gonna trust this guy?” There was a rising murmur of agreement. Octavian’s expression went dark. “You don’t have to trust me. Chiron already agreed and so did my-” His lips twisted in disgust. “Partner here. We will need one more if we are to follow your Camp’s typical ordinance. That is all we require however.” “What if we disagree?” “I’m not going, that’s for sure-“ “It’s not even a real quest, you don’t have a prophecy-“ “Quiet!” Rachel commanded, and everyone went silent. Octavian gave her a look that might’ve been respect, but then he looked away. People ran forward to catch the red-headed girl when she swayed. Then she opened her mouth and these words came forth. “ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ᴏғ ʀᴇᴅ, sᴀᴠᴇs ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅ3@ᴛʜ ᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʙᴀᴛʜᴇᴅ ɪɴ ʙʟ00ᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ɴᴏᴡ sʜᴏᴏᴋ, ᴄʜᴇᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴏɴᴄᴇ, ᴀ ᴛᴏʟʟ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʏ, ғᴀᴛᴇs ᴛᴡɪᴄᴇ ᴅᴇɴɪᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴀsᴛʀᴀʏ, ᴏɴᴇ ɢʀᴇᴇᴋ, ᴏɴᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴ, ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ ᴛᴏ sᴇɴᴅ, ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴅᴇsᴛɪɴʏ, ᴍᴜsᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴅ." The smoke dissipated and Rachel’s head fell back, her eyes closed. My mouth was hanging open as I turned to the Roman augur who stood thoughtfully, studying the girl, with a crazy, almost amused expression. “Just as I thought. Mother of Destiny…we call her ‘Necessitas’, but I believe you call her 'Ananke'.” “Who’s that?” I only realized I had said it when everyone turned to stare at me. But I was too confused to be embarrassed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of her." Octavian’s words were slow and drawn out, like he was enjoying them. The only tell of his anxiety was the way his fingers twitched slightly, like he wanted to curl them into a fist, or reach for his da99er. “You wouldn’t. I suppose Greeks really are rubbish with history. Ananke was one of those to set our creation into being. The goddess of all things preordained, inevitability, necessity. The queen of destiny itself.” Everyone was perfectly quiet. “My companion, you and I shall travel to assuage her of our disrespect. And hopefully we shall return from it.” I choked on air. “Me?! You can’t possibly mean-" “Call it being in the right place at the right time. Or the opposite if so be. But I am sure the feeling in my gut is none other than the pull of Fate herself.” He smiled eerily. “And we best listen to her, now hadn’t we?” (Comment to be pinged!) {Current posting schedule: 5-7 days} ~ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢꜱ ᴛᴏ ʀɪᴄᴋ ʀɪᴏʀᴅᴀɴ~ ~ʙᴜᴛ ᴍʏ ᴏᴡɴ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ʟɪʙᴇʀᴛɪᴇꜱ~