The Daughter Of Night (Original Version)

50- I'm Always Sarcastic

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"I believe that I need to talk to Apollo," Chiron said. I followed him out onto the porch.

"...I thought we were here to see a centaur." I heard Meg say.

"And here I am," Chiron answered her, "Apollo, its good you are here. We need to talk about the disappearances."

"Wait disappearances?" I looked from Will, to Nico, to Chiron, but none of them answered me.

"He's really a centaur." Meg gawked.

"Well spotted," Apollo commended her, "I suppose that the lower body of a horse is what gave him away?" Meg punched him.

"Chiron this is Meg McCaffrey, my new master and wellspring aggravation. You were saying something about disappearances?"

Chiron also didn't seem to want to answer him, which made me feel better about myself.

"Welcome, Meg." Chiron smiled at her, "I understand you showed great bravery in the woods. You bought Apollo here despite many dangers. I'm glad to have you at Camp Halfblood."

"Who disappeared?" I insisted.

"Let's talk inside." Chiron told us, "Will, Nico could you please tell the other campers we'll gather for dinner in an hour. I'll give everyone an update then. In the meantime, no one should roam around the camp alone. Use the buddy system."

"Understood," Will looked at Nico, "will you be my buddy?"

"You're a dork," Nico announced.

We made our way back into the house and sat down in the Rec room again. Chiron settled into his wheelchair.

"I am sorry Mr D is not here to welcome you." Chiron apologised.

"Mr Dee?" Meg asked.

"Dionysus," Apollo explained, "the god of wine. Also the director if this camp."

"And my favourite God." I grinned.

"Do I detect sarcasm?" Apollo frowned.

"Always." I grinned.

"After the battle with Gaia Mr D never returned. I hope he's alright." Chiron mused.

"I don't know anything." Apollo admitted.

"Well that's a first." I muttered.

"Do you have something you want to share with the group?" Apollo shot me a glare.

"Not a thing." I replied.

"So what is your crisis?" Apollo changed the subject.

"You know during the war with Gaia the Oracle if Delphi stopped receiving prophecies. In fact all known methods of divining the future suddenly failed. We hoped that once the war was not over the Oracle might start working again. When it did not, Rachel became concerned."

"Who's Rachel?" Meg asked.

"Rachel Dare," Apollo said, "The Oracle."

"I thought the oracle was a place." Meg instead.

"It is."

"The Rachel is a place, and she stopped working?"

"The original Delphi was a place in Greece," Apollo said, "a cavern filled with volcanic fumes, where people would come to receive guidance from my priestess, the Pythia."

"Pythia, that's a funny word," Meg giggled.

"Ha-ha. So the Oracle is both a person and a place... When the Greek gods relocated to America back in 1860 I bought the Oracle here to continue speaking prophecies on my behalf. The power has passes down from priestess to priestess over the years. Rachel Dare is the current Oracle." Apollo rattled off.

"So why is it not working?" Meg asked.

"Whilst he," I nodded my head towards Apollo, "was hiding on an island, a monster named Python was released from Tartarus, he took the cave of Delphi back and he's probably enjoying the lovely volcanic fumes right now, probably reminds him of home, the lovely acidic smell off..."

"The larger problem," Chiron interrupted me, "is that we have no other source of prophecies."

"Who cares?" Meg asked, "so you don't know the future. Nobody knows the future."

"Who cares!?" Apollo shouted, "McCaffrey, prophecies are the catalysts of every important event- every quest or battle, disaster or miracle, birth or death. Prophecies don't simply foretell the future. They shape it! They allow the future to happen."

"I don't get it."

"Imagine prophecies are flower seeds." Chiron explained, "with the right seeds, you can grow any garden you desire. Without seeds no growth is possible."

"Oh." Meg nodded, "that would suck."

"So where is Rachel?" I asked.

"She was supposed to visit in her Winter vacation." Chiron said, "but she never did. It might be nothing, but it might be part of the larger problem, travel and communications have become difficult in the last few months. We haven't heard from the Romans in weeks. No new demigods have arrived. Satyrs aren't reporting from the field. Iris messages no longer work. And recently phones have stopped working altogether, even the archaic emails aren't working."

"How come I didn't know anything about this?" I asked.

"You're very unobservant," Apollo shot at me.

"I convinced myself it was nothing but an inconvenience." Chiron continued, "the the disappearances started."

"Tell us about those," I insisted.

"Three in the last months," Chiron said, "First it was Cecil Markowitz from the Hermes cabin, one morning his bunk was just empty. Then Ellis WakeField from the Ares cabin. Finally Miranda Gardiner head councillor of the Demeter cabin."

He waited a moment before saying anything else.

"Something is very wrong," he continued, "these problems may not be as alarming as the awakening of Gaia or the rise of Kronos, but in a ways find them even more unsettling, because I have never seen anything like this before."

"These demigods..." Apollo said, "did they act unusual in any way? Did they report... hearing things?"

Chiron raised an eyebrow, "not that I am aware of. Why?"

I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Apollo asked me.

"Away." I replied.

"Remember the buddy system?" Apollo said, "no one goes alone."

"He's right, I can't let you go off on your own in the present circumstances, even if you are immortal." Chiron told me.

"I'm not alone." I reminded them, "I'll see you at dinner."

Chapter number 50... wow... this book is gonna be long!
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~Em xx