Chapter Text
"Percy. Percy! Percy, wake up!"
"Huh, what?" Percy snapped out of his sleep, and pulled Riptide from his pocket, or tried to at least. He looked down, he was wearing his pajama bottoms, and pretty much nothing else. And was he lying on a ping-pong table? Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around, he was no longer in his bedroom under the sea in his father's palace.
"Wait, was I sleeping on the ping-pong table?" Chiron's amused facial expression, coupled with Grover his, former, best friend's barely disguised chuckles were all the reply he needed.
Grover's chuckles turned into unapologetic guffaws and Percy turned to glare at him. "Actually Percy," Chiron schooled his face to be calm and turned to Percy, "We came down here to discuss something and found you here. I take it you don't know what you are doing here either?"
"No!" Percy protested as he swung himself off the ping-pong table, he wobbled as his feet touched the ground, "Whoa, not used to the land yet, give me minute."
"Here," calming himself, Grover grabbed a chair for Percy, "Sit down, man."
"Thanks, dude," Percy sat down with a grateful sigh, "Like I was saying, I have no idea what I'm doing here. I went to sleep in my bedroom, under the sea, yesterday."
Chiron looked slightly worried as he rubbed his chin, "This is certainly very strange."
"Maybe I can help?" The trio turned to the doorway.
"Rachel!" Percy got up from his chair as Rachel walked toward him, "Long time no see!"
"Percy," Rachel wrapped him in a hug,"You're looking good for 26."
"Man, I forgot," Grover bleated, "Happy Birthday, bro!"
"Thanks, goatboy, Rachel," Percy shrugged, "So what's with the getup?" he gestured to Rachel's clothes, instead of her usual paint splattered jeans and Camp Half-Blood shirt, she wore a pastel-y sundress, albeit with a Camp Half-Blood shirt on top.
"Excuse me, I think this looks très fashionable," Rachel sniffed, and then laughed, "Katie and some of the other campers are going shopping for Katie's dress and they asked me to wear something cute and feminine. They never said I couldn't wear anything on top of it."
Percy laughed, "So you have to wear a dress to buy another dress?"
Rachel looked shocked, "It's not just any another dress! Don't tell me you forgot?" seeing Percy's blank look she continued, "Katie's wedding dress? For her wedding? She and Travis are getting married in a couple weeks and I distinctly remember them sending you an invite!"
"Oh, gods!" Percy exclaimed, "I totally forgot! Well, those two have been acting like an old married couple for so long now, I think I kind of forgot they weren't really married."
"Let's get back to the topic, everyone. Well, Rachel," Chiron turned to her, his tail flicking nervously, "You said you could help figure this out?"
"Yeah about that," Rachel coughed, "I felt a prophecy coming on so I hurried down here-"
"You can feel a prophecy coming on? Like a sneeze?" Percy interrupted, laughing.
"Exactly, Percy. You're really concentrating on the most important issue here," Rachel snickered and Percy pulled a mock-angry face, Rachel continued to Chiron, "Anyway, then I saw you and Grover, and Percy on the ping-pong table, and I put two and two together. Maybe the Fates need him to hear this prophecy."
"Well then," Chiron stepped away from her, and motioned to Percy and Grover, "Let's give her some space."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Rachel's eyes glowed green and smoke flowed her around her like a veil. Percy shielded his eyes as Rachel started glowing and a wind picked up in the small room, "Children of storm, fire, strength, charms / Magic and wars are called to arms / Led by maiden and son of seas / Must finish the pact and restore peace."
Grover backed away from Rachel and tripped over a chair, "Wow, that's some prophecy."
"What was it?" Rachel looked pale in the face.
"Um," Percy thought for a moment, "Children of storm, fire, strength, charms / Magic and wars are called to arms / Led by maiden and son of seas-"
"Must finish the pact and restore peace," Chiron rubbed his chin, "This doesn't sound like an immediate prophecy, this might take longer to be fulfilled."
Percy shook his head, the prophecy mentioned seven heroes, and the only seven heroes he knew lying around that fit that description were the Seven. For the war against Gaea almost a decade ago, seven heroes had been chosen, four heroes from the Roman camp and three from the Greek.
Jason, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Piper and Clarisse. Even though they were separated from each other now, Percy knew they still kept in touch.
"I don't think so, Chiron," Percy voiced, "I mean, the demigods have got to be the Seven. Storm is Jason, fire Leo, strength and charms are Reyna and Piper and magic is most probably Hazel. And wars, well you would normally say Ares or Mars is the god of war, not wars, so maybe that means two children of his, which are Frank and Clarisse."
"I think that's right," Rachel pulled out a chair and took a seat, "What do you think Chiron?"
"I think so too, but I will discuss this with Lupa also soon," Chiron trotted around the room nervously, "As for the maiden and the son of the seas, we can safely assume Percy is the son in question but what about the maiden?"
"Ah," Rachel spoke up, "We refer to Artemis as a maiden right? So maybe it's one of the hunters."
"And," Grover said, fiddling with his pipes, "It might be good to remember that today is exactly ten years from the day Kronos was defeated, so maybe it's someone who was close to Luke. It could explain why the prophecy was announced today."
"If that's the case then it's Thalia or," Chiron glanced at Percy, "Annabeth."
At the sound of her name a lightning bolt went through Percy. A name he had tried to forget but couldn't. A name ingrained into his very senses. A name that had once meant the world to him, and still did, even though he would deny it with every fiber of his being.
A girl he had had immense respect for, and which respect might have grown into something else if she hadn't taken the offer of Artemis and become a Hunter, without so much as a backward glance at him. Even if they had only been 14 at the time, even he had known there was something between them, but apparently she hadn't thought so. She had broken Percy's heart, but in the end, it was what had motivated him to take up the offer of the Gods' and become an immortal himself.
Percy sighed, "So what should we do first?"
Chiron glanced at Grover and then at Percy, "I will talk to Lupa and Artemis, Grover talk to the Council and Gleeson, see what they think. Rachel contact the demigods of the prophecy. Percy, you should talk to the Gods."
"Maybe this will be a easy prophecy?" Grover bleated.
"I doubt it, goatboy," Percy sighed.