Chương 897: 5
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"Come in."
I pushed the door and entered Chiron's office. The centaur was sitting in his wheelchair and some mist was fading behind him. He must have ended an Iris Message.
"Yes, Jade?" Chiron prompted.
I licked my dry lips before answering. "I, uh, wanted to tell you more about what Luke said and what he was doing before I found Percy near the river."
Chiron's face set into a more grave expression and he snapped his fingers as if to distort the Mist, but this time I felt something shift outside of his office as though to form a barrier around the room.
"Speak," he commanded.
"Well, Luke was near Zeus' Fist," I began slowly. "I think he found an entrance to the Labyrinth."
At that Chiron's body went slack with burden and he rubbed the lines on his forehead.
"He also gave me this," I said quietly and pulled out the jewelry Luke had given me, the silver necklace with the scythe charm on it. I placed it onto Chiron's outstretched hand.
"A scythe, the weapon of the King of Titans," Chiron muttered as he examined the silver charm dangling on the chain.
"He said he was going to give it to Silena, but that I could have it instead to contact him. I could feel some magic coming from the thing, but I still don't know what it can do," I confessed. Chiron sighed, his shoulders growing heavier with every word I said and continued to watch the scythe charm spin in the air.
"Is there anything else, child?" He asked softly.
I pursed my lips and nodded. "I've been having dreams. Some of them were about Luke talking to the Titan of Time, but I had another one this week where I met Achilles."
Chiron got caught off-guard at the sudden mention of his past student.
"He said that-"
Annabeth burst into the room, shouting, "Chiron! Percy's waking up!"
Chiron turned to me. "We'll finish this discussion later," he promised and motioned for me to follow him and Annabeth to the infirmary next door. I was relieved to see that the color of ash had disappeared from the sea boy's skin. He definitely hadn't looked so good when I had found him at the river with the halved dead pit scorpion next to him. Percy was stirring in his sleep while sipping on nectar although a little was drooling down the side of his mouth. Annabeth quickly grabbed a washcloth from a basin of cool water and dabbed away the excess nectar, moving from his mouth to his forehead. Annabeth probably would have killed, or threatened, me if I told Percy about how much she had worried over him the past few hours. The room held its breath when Percy's eyes began fluttering. He groaned and his green eyes blinked at the light exposure from the ceiling.
"Here we are again," he croaked in a raspy voice. I handed Annabeth a glass of cool water with another straw so she could feed it to him.
"You idiot," she said. Her voice sounded steady, but her eyes were rubbed red though I doubted that Percy noticed because he looked like he was still unfocused from this world due to the after effects of the venom. The day had been particularly difficult for her. Learning about Luke's betrayal and experiencing Percy's close encounter with death were the last things she wanted to hear after the close conclusion of a successful summer. I thought she was going to burst into tears when I had first told Chiron and her about what had happened with Luke.
"You were green and turning gray when Jade dragged you in. If it weren't for her or Chiron's healing..," Annabeth choked out.
"Now, now," Chiron placated her. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit."
I briefly wondered what 'constitution' meant in Chiron's sentence and aimlessly stared at a wall while Percy exchanged heated words with Chiron. Percy-boy was frustrated at how he couldn't chase after Luke even when the gods had declared the matter closed. Chiron was equally exasperated because the centaur knew the prophecy, but he also knew the consequences of demigods attempting to interfere with their fates. I imagined that these kinds of recurring situations with demigods never failed to aggravate the centuries old teacher.
"Jade."
I returned to the conversation in front of me. "Huh?"
"Thank you," Percy said earnestly and he stared into my eyes, or at least tried. Percy's eyelids sagged downwards as though gravity was weighing them down. As Annabeth energized him with a little splash of water to his face, I pulled the snapback on my head further down so that my eyes would be more concealed. Too many people fell asleep at the full sight of my face so I've always had to minimize how much of my profile I exposed in public.
"No problem," I said casually and stuffed my fists into my jean pockets.
"Now Percy, I'm sorry about the physical strain it may cause you, but I called for an emergency meeting in the Rec Room. Since you're a head counselor of your cabin, your attendance is required," Chiron said apologetically, but Percy shook his head.
"It's fine, I can do it."
With Annabeth's help, he managed to wobble over to the Rec Room where all the head counselors had already gathered and were sitting on chairs around the ping-pong table. Voices of concern and questions arose at the sight of Percy leaning heavily on Annabeth, but Chiron gained control of the room by commanding for silence so that everyone could take a seat first. Katie Gardner was sitting next to the Stoll brothers for some reason with Clarisse at her other side. They most likely had to send the Connor and Travis when no one could find Luke or me to represent their cabin. Down the row sat Lee Fletcher, Silena, Castor, and Charlie. Annabeth, Percy, and I took the remaining seats at the opposite end with me taking the chair directly next to the Stoll brothers. Chiron went to the middle of the table and even though he was sitting in a wheelchair looking physically disabled, his authoritative demeanor told us otherwise.
"First, I will remind everyone here, everyone, that what is spoken in this meeting will remain unspoken out of this room and will not be shared with other campers unless we have decided otherwise," Chiron stated firmly, casting a stern eye over all the demigods. I unconsciously felt my spine straighten at the order and noticed everyone reacting the same way. Although all demigods had ADHD to varying degrees, we all knew when Chiron was serious and called for business.
"I called an emergency meeting due to recent events. For the sake of time, I ask that you remain silent and listen, we will go through questions after," Chiron proposed and waved at Percy. Percy-boy obediently stood up, swaying on his feet, but managed to recount his events for how he had gotten poisoned. The head counselors' reactions ranged from extreme shock to anger, however there was more shock than anger. The few people who were angry about Luke's betrayal hid it well from their facial expressions, but their stiff postures and tight jaws sent a different message. Silena's face only grew paler and paler as Percy spoke. At the end of Percy's tale, Chiron had to hold up a hand to calm people down when they had exploded into questions.
"Jade, your turn," he motioned to me. I froze in my comfortable, laid back posture in the chair when the spotlight suddenly swung to me. I chose to remain sitting and cleared my throat.
"Right, er, I actually saw Luke after he left Percy in the woods and talked to him when he was at Zeus' Fist," I began and followed through my story, making sure that I made brief eye contacts with Chiron to check if I was allowed to reveal certain parts of the story. The centaur basically let me say everything, what Luke had told me, his contacts with the Kronos, the entrance to the Labyrinth, and how he was probably going to gather an army of some sort, demigods or monsters or both. When I finished, everyone was silent, juggling their own emotions and thoughts while I desperately wished for water since my throat was parched from speaking.
"We will open for questions," Chiron said and surprisingly, the room stayed hesitant as opposed to its first reaction.
Lee spoke up first with a caution evident in his tone. "Just so we can lay some facts down, Luke is gone for sure, right? Like, he turned his back on us for a titan."
Rage flashed across Annabeth's grey eyes for only a brief second as her head jerked into a nod. I eyed Silena when she nearly flinched at the statement.
Lee continued slowly, "And there's an entrance to the Labyrinth inside the borders of camp that Luke knows about, so anything can get in."
"Correct," Chiron affirmed. "Which is why we will set up a guard rotation duty from now on. As it is summer, most of you will be leaving so you do not have to concern yourself over it until next year when you come back. Argus and I will maintain security this summer. I only expect that everyone carry this responsibility with utmost professionalism when we resume camp activities next year. The entrance to the Labyrinth and the news about Luke's departure will be the only pieces of information that will be given to the rest of the campers."
"So, about Luke." Connor maintained his half-brother's name carefully as the mention of the former Hermes cabin leader seemed to have turned into a taboo in the room. "Does this mean our cabin needs a new counselor now?"
"Yes," Chiron acknowledged. Katie literally slumped in her chair, fearing the worst outcome.
"I vote for Jade," Travis piped up immediately to everyone's surprise.
"No," I said flatly.
"I second Travis," Connor advocated, ignoring my glare.
I turned to Chiron so that he would put some sense into them.
"It should be Connor and Travis, I'm not even claimed."
Chiron rubbed his eyes. "Connor, Travis, she is right."
"But Jade's got more years than us," they protested.
"She has yet to be claimed, and therefore cannot represent the Hermes cabin as she is not even a daughter of Hermes," Chiron stated. It made perfect sense and I had come to terms with it years ago, but there still was a little sting of embarrassment. Four years at camp and not claimed? It's like the ultimate cold shoulder of getting ignored by your godly parent. And worst part was that I was sure my godly parent knew that I thought of him, but he doesn't acknowledge it. Maybe he does, but I wouldn't know.
I actually wasn't too bitter about it. There have been moments where I couldn't help but feel that he was watching over me, and even though he's never shown himself, I've been comforted by other subtle signs.
"However, we still need her in this meeting, so please stay seated, Jade," Chiron finished and before he could continue to the next agenda, a dryad swept into the room, holding one of the camp's dinner plates in front of her.
"How is this stain supposed to get cleaned off the plate?" The wood nymph wailed. Everyone paused for a moment because we were in the middle of a confidential meeting and the unexpected intrusion caught us off-guard. Dryads normally didn't come to Chiron for any problems since they generally knew how to take care of their own businesses and only went to him if a camper did something bad to their trees.
"The Harpies wouldn't stop yammering about this stain and forced me to show you guys," she grouched and for some reason, handed it to me as though to have me see the damage for myself. I made a 'tsk' sound as I flipped it, examining the green scorch mark, because these plates were nearly indestructible, so it was baffling to know how something could have stained it.
"You should use Ajax," I suggested, breaking the awkwardness, and made a move to pass the plate to the Stoll brothers, thought better of it, and gave it to Annabeth instead. Without even looking at it, she handed it to Percy and frowned.
"...Ajax the Greater, like the demigod?" She asked.
"No, Ajax the soap, stronger than all of grease." There was a beat of silence and Percy sniggered weakly, his body still taxed from the effects of poison. The plate somehow was now in the hands of Charlie, who was deeply engrossed in the metalwork of the kitchen object. I looked around the table, noticing blank faces.
"You guys do know that Ajax is a dishwashing detergent, right?"
Katie narrowed her eyes. "Was that a pun?"
I leaned back, proud of myself. "Intended, yes, it was a pun."
As multiple people groaned, Chiron stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I remember Ajax. I had trained him alongside his cousin, Achilles. A very strong lad, but more importantly, he was very intelligent in anything related to combat, saved his cousin a number of times because of that."
"He was one a lot of soldiers respected," Annabeth added randomly, and her input reminded me about how she, as a daughter of Athena, approved of any warrior who used their mind in a fight.
"Committed suicide," I offered.
Annabeth slammed a hand on the ping pong table.
"Not helping," she growled. "Can we get to the second topic already?"
Chiron cleared his throat, "Of course, Ajax aside, Jade, I'd like you to recount your dream of what Achilles told you."
I did a double take. "Wait, you want me to explain now?"
Chiron nodded. I swallowed hard when I felt eyes on me again.
"Well I had a dream during the Trojan War, the Achaeans hadn't sent the Trojan Horse yet, but it was being built. Basically, Achilles said...that there's always a deceiver." My voice grew smaller as I said this.
"So...someone who lies?" Castor speculated.
Chiron stroked his beard. "No, if this was Achilles, a deceiver to him is not simply one who lies, but someone pulling a trick, taking another identity, such as when the Achaeans hid in the wooden horse to enter Troy. A spy, or even a traitor, perhaps, to enter our camp and well..." Chiron didn't finish the analogy. Everyone's faces at the table grew pale and worried at this interpretation.
"Uh, are we supposed to be Troy?" Lee guessed. No one answered him back, because no one liked the implication of repeating what happened to Troy back in Camp Half-Blood.
"Thank you, Jade, for sharing this dream with us," Chiron said and I nodded. "We must simply take this as a warning and also to stay calm."
Clarisse cut in, "Isn't the traitor Luke then?"
Chiron shook his head. "He could be, but he has already left with intentions made known to us. As this is a dream, we won't know of the true meaning until the time comes, but until then, I wish for everyone to trust each other. We cannot fight amongst ourselves or we will only be splitting camp apart."
The centaur looked around the ping-pong table before asking, "Are there any other questions?"
At our silence, he finished off saying, "And remember, all things stated here is not to be shared with the rest of the campers. I will be the one giving announcements to the rest of camp. If any camper asks for more details, send them directly to me." Chiron gave us a hard look before dismissing us.
"Vegas rule," Travis muttered as we rose from our chairs.
"Ever been to Vegas?" I asked in a low voice.
"We have," Percy murmured next to us. The Stoll brothers' eyes lightened and slung arms on either sides of the son of Poseidon's shoulders.
"You gotta tell us all about it!" Travis exclaimed and with Connor, he dragged Percy out of the meeting room. Annabeth trailed after them, scolding the brothers for rough housing when the son of Poseidon was still recovering. I moved to follow them out, but before I could take another step, a hand stopped me at the shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Chiron.
"Sir?"
"Take me back to my office, will you?"
I felt a little honored because Chiron usually didn't let everyone steer his wheelchair when he was in it. Once we were inside the office, Chiron took out the silver necklace with the scythe charm and held it out for me.
"I want you to hold onto it. We need to figure out what Luke is up to," he said.
"Me?" I asked in disbelief.
"Luke has always confided in you when he kept secrets from me and Annabeth. I believe he sees you similar to Thalia even though you are of different ages. That aside, I have complete trust in your abilities and your loyalty to this camp. I'm very grateful for all the summers you've stayed here, Jade," Chiron said warmly. I tightened my jaw in efforts to keep my teary eyes from spilling. It's been awhile for someone to praise me besides my mother and I've always had a hard time taking in compliments or praises.
"Thank you, sir. I won't let you down," I promised and gripped the necklace. "I'll Iris Message you to let you know if I find out anything."
Chiron patted my hand comfortingly. "I'm sure you will, but I know that you've been staying strong for Annabeth with all that's happened and I want to tell you that you're not alone. We all felt Luke's betrayal. Feeling hurt and saddened by his decision is not something to be ashamed or guilty of. It was his choice," he assured me with a crestfallen expression. I wondered how the centaur felt about the news since he had already known about the prophecy.
"You know I tried to tell him," I muttered. "But he was so angry at the gods."
Chiron made a deep sigh. "It was my own fault for not noticing his anger earlier. I could have prevented it."
I shook my head, trying to convey that all the blame shouldn't fall on Chiron's shoulders. He shouldn't have to carry the burdens of hundreds of his student demigods' mistakes.
"Finish packing up, Jade. There won't be much time left to gather your belongings."
I thanked Chiron and headed out, embracing the warm sun and feeling physically lighter in some ways and emotionally heavier in other parts.
I went to Cabin Eleven because I was worried that Connor and Travis were probably in the process of unleashing chaos as it was the last day of camp. I passed by Annabeth who was carrying her luggage down the hill where a family of four was waiting in front of a van.
"Trying the step-family?" I inquired.
Annabeth nodded. "Percy said I should give it another chance. I'll be in San Francisco for the year. What about you?"
I looked to the side where a camper was chasing Travis to the Big House. Something must have happened.
"I'm going home, the usual. My mom is getting married though and I'm going to have two step-siblings," I told her.
"Be safe and I hope it goes well,"Annabeth said with sincerity and I gave her a small smile.
"Thanks, you too."
We hugged and I waved from the hill until the van drove away. Before reaching the Hermes cabin, I stopped by Cabin Ten.
"Silena!"
The beautiful daughter of Aphrodite turned around and came closer when I beckoned her away from her cabin. I could hear the children of the love goddess inside frantically searching for any missing items like precious designer articles of clothing or makeup brands. They must take a long time packing up all of their stuff.
"What's up?" She greeted easily, but I could see a sort of wariness swim in her eyes at my call.
I made a wry grin. "Hey, could I talk to you for a second?"
She followed me further away from the circle of cabins and I made sure there wasn't anyone eavesdropping. To start the conversation, I commentated on her jewelry.
"Nice bracelet," I said nonchalantly. Silena self-consciously made a move to cover the silver scythe charm on her wrist with the friendship bracelets surrounding it.
"Did you get that from Luke?"
"Y-yeah, how'd you know?" She asked in a startled voice.
I dug into my pants pocket and showed her my own present from the son of Hermes. Her eyes widened at the similar charm. The two jewelry items looked like they belonged in a set and her face fell as though she had a depressing thought.
"I was going to take it off after hearing about him," she admitted, her face growing pink with embarrassment. "And now I guess it wasn't even that special of a present because, I-I, um, k-kind of thought that he might have liked me...Were you two ever..?"
I made a face. "No, I think he was actually interested in you, but we were friends. Are you going to keep the bracelet?"
She unlocked the silver chain off her wrist. "Do you want it instead?"
"I personally prefer gold over silver," I said dryly. "The reason I asked about it was because I think Luke did something to the bracelet."
Silena bit her lip. "He told me that we could talk to each other using this," she whispered. "I got really scared during the meeting because I was thinking that I was that traitor your dream had warned us about."
"Silena, you're an amazing person of great integrity, you'd never betray us like that," I said firmly. "Chiron is letting me find out what Luke is up to and I was wondering if you wanted to help? If not, I could take the charm from you if that's alright with you."
Silena furrowed her brow, gripping the charm between her fingers before releasing the pressure. I saw the indent of the chain and scythe charm on her palm as she handed me the bracelet.
"Take it. I'm not keeping something he was going to use to take advantage of me. A child of Aphrodite would never be tricked into having their feelings manipulated," she said finally with determination. A corner of my mouth quirked upwards and Silena mirrored my smile, but with more triumph on her expression. Someone help me. A beautiful girl with a sensible brain.
"Thanks, Jade, and let me know if you ever need help," she said as she went back to her cabin.
I waved back. "Thanks to you too, see you next year," I responded cheerfully. I dumped the matching bracelet and necklace back into my pocket and headed back to Cabin Eleven.
Ah, I guess I'll play the role of the traitor, I mused.
My mom wrung her hands anxiously.
"Jade, I know you just got off the plane, got a taxi, and came here to the studio by yourself and that you're exhausted from all the traveling and I shouldn't have to ask so much from y-"
"Mom, it's fine," I cut in and I dropped my travelling bags next to my mom's boxes full of costumes. The sudden shift of weight on my shoulder upset my balance and I shook my head. I had gotten a small headache from the long ride in the taxi.
Woah, vertigo.
I took a quick look around the filming studio for the upcoming film, King of Sparta that everyone was excited for ever since the release of the movie poster that featured Tristan McLean's naked and chiseled torso. He was sort of a small name actor who had snagged the lead role for the movie so the press was excited. People were bustling, yelling, finding other people, getting equipment ready, talking to each other, running all over the huge area. It was the kind of disorder I was used to since I had been a theater person in the past. Not an actor, but a backstage manager and assistant director. Being behind curtains and cameras always gave me a sense of nostalgia and peace.
"What do you need?"
"They need a stunt double."
I didn't even blink and shrugged off my jacket, stuffing it into my backpack.
"Do I fit the physicality? What happened to the hired double?"
"Yes, you fit and you have to go through makeup and hair. The crew never hired one because they didn't think they'd need a double. It wasn't until today when they realized that the actress couldn't do the stunt. You'll get paid by the hour for training with an additional sum for the late notice," she explained and began to lead me to where a middle-aged man with a cap was reprimanding a crewman. When the worker scampered away, we approached the disgruntled man.
"Director Gordon, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Jade. She's the one I told you about," my mom said. I shook hands with him.
"Nice to meet you, sir, I'm a huge fan of your films. I really liked Odysseus and how you focus on Greek myths for your plots," I said out of social courtesy. His movies were actually okay in my tastes.
"Nice to meet you too, Jade, just call me Gordon," he responded briskly. "Now, your mother tells me you're familiar with swords and stunts?"
"Yes sir, learned a lot about it at summer camp," I said easily. My mother gently squeezed my arm in approval of my honest reply. Sizing me up, he rubbed in hands together in anticipation.
"Let's see what you can do. Do you think you're up to the task?" The director gave me a challenging look. I wanted to laugh aloud, but I knew my mother wouldn't be happy with that kind of response so I held in the amusement.
"Yes, sir," I parroted and followed him to where the stunt master was waiting.
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