Chapter 187 - The quest

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. (Drako loved how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least one of the six are going to die, maybe even two."

"Drako, be careful," Silena said. "You have to be the one to kill the other dragon."

She sounded really worried.

"I know," Drako said.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Beckendorf said. "What could that mean?"

Drako saw Chiron and Zoë exchange a nervous look, but, whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy is right," Silena said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoë stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.

Zoe nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added…

"Yes," Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS DE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Drako didn't know well the Stoll brothers, but it was enough with what had happened before on the game. They were up to something, Drako was sure of that. But Zoë didn't realise anything, and Drako wasn't going to help her. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoë insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

"Hey, what about Thalia?" Drako asked.

It was so strange, Zoë didn't even mentioned her.

"Her circ.u.mstances are strange, just like you," Zoë said. "She was still a camper when the year started, so she is officially both a camper and a hunter. That's the reason why she still sleeps on Zeus' cabin."

"Hey, that's wasn't we accorded," Percy protested.

"No, Percy, she is right," Chiron said.

"Still, I don't think that bringing Bianca with us is going to be a good idea," Drako said.

"I'm the one who takes decisions here, dragon."

Drako shrugged.

Percy was going to protest again, but a look from Chiron shut his mouth off.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Ping ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoë wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered. Drako didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoë thought it was a good thing.

"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"

Zoë looked straight to Thalia; it was obvious who she wanted to join the team.

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

It was obvious that no one was happy with that.

"Whoa, wait a sec," Percy said. "I want to go too."

Thalia said nothing. Chiron was studying Percy, his eyes sad.

Drako looked at him with pity. He understood why Percy wanted to join more than anyone else, but he was certainly the weakest (not counting Grover and Bianca).

The truth was that Drako would rather take him than Bianca, but he couldn't say anything in this case.

"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean… I��ll stay. Percy should go in my place."

"He cannot," Zoe said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"Oh, so now I'm no longer a boy," Drako commented.

Zoe gave Drako a hard look. "Thy're an exception, and thy know it."

"You travelled here with me," Percy reminded her.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a male half-blood."

Smart girl, she changed her words.

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He doesn't count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I have to go," Percy said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

Percy blushed. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"

Nobody rose to his defence. Dionysus looked bored, still reading his magazine. Silena, the Stoll brothers, and Beckendorf were staring at the table. Bianca gave him a look of pity.

"No," Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

"So be it," Chiron finally said. "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoe, Bianca, Phoebe and Drako. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."

................................................…

Percy didn't show up at dinner that night.

Chiron, Grover and Drako came looking for him at his cabin. Chiron and Grover knew Percy for some years and were worried for him, Drako just thought that he has to talk to the guy.

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover said, sitting next to him on the bunk. "I didn't know they'd—that you'd—Honest!"

He started to sniffle.

"It's okay," Percy was obviously lying. "Really. It's fine."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking… I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

"Grover," Chiron said, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?"

"Sure," he sniffled.

Chiron waited, "Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron," He looked at Percy miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."

He trotted out the door, ignoring Drako's presence and blowing his nose on his sleeve.

Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "Percy, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."

"Would you have chosen men?"

"Frankly, no," he said. "You and Thalia are much alike."

"Thanks a lot."

He smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."

"We could handle it."

"Perhaps it's for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call."

"Yeah," he said. "Maybe."

Percy pulled out Riptide out of his pocket and set it on his nightstand. Riptide is his pen that can transforms into a sword.

When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon."

"What do you mean?" Drako asked for the first time that night.

Percy and Chiron turned to Drako. He was so silent that they almost forgot that he was there.

"It's an old story. So old that even some old people like me had started to forgot it," Chiron answered. "So, what do you think, dragon?"

"I would choose Percy instead of Bianca," Drako said. "I don't know what Zoe was thinking back then."

"Maybe is as you think," Chiron said. "But is not that simple. Zoë has been the only lieutenant for a long time in the Hunters, she probably wants Bianca to be another one. Is the same with Thalia."

"I see," Drako nodded. "But that's not enough reason for me. I think that Zoë is making a mistake."

"And for you, Percy," Drako turned to the son of Poseidon. "I understand what are you feeling right now. I will be the same if one of my girls disappear, or maybe even worse than you. You have a bright future ahead of you, I'm sure of it. Slap the faces of the people who didn't believed in you."

Drako thought of inviting Percy to his group, Akatsuki, but it would be awkward to do so in front of Chiron.

Percy muttered a "thanks" towards Drako's words of encouragement, but he was still on a bad mood.

Chiron pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to Percy. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth… I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah."

Yeah, Chiron's dad was Kronos, the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.

"Chiron," Drako said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

His face darkened. He made a claw and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush. Now, dragon, I want to talk with you."

Chiron leave the cabin, but Drako stayed a little bit more.

"If Annabeth is not dead, I will do everything to rescue her. I promise."

Percy didn't even lift his head.

....................................

"So, what do you want, Chiron?" Drako asked to the centaur.

The Centaur turned to look at Drako.

"What is your objective?"

Chiron asked a simple question. Drako understood that that was all this man wanted to know about him.

"Hunt," Drako replied. "The more powerful the prey, the better. Gods, Titans, monsters... I just want to hunt and keep hunting. That's why I joined the Hunters, to hunt."

"Just that?" he asked.

"Your life is directly related to being a teacher, isn't it?" Drako said. "That's why Zeus gave you back your immortality, so you could teach more demigods."

"That's right," Chiron didn't hide it.

"Well, my life is directly related to the hunt," Drako said. "I have to hunt, and keep hunting. Otherwise, I won't be strong enough to survive."

Chiron didn't understand the last thing Drako said. But the answer was enough for him.

"If you stay on our side, I assure you, you will be able to hunt many monsters and the occasional titan," Chiron said. "I can't say the same for the other side."

Drako smiled, understanding what Chiron meant. He was trying to convince him that his side was better than the other.

"I know," Drako nodded. "That's why I joined Artemis, isn't it?"

Without waiting for Chiron's answer, Drako left back to cabin number one.