What is this, high school? Seriously, why did everyone have to get so worked up over the little things? And by little, I mean me sitting with Nico at his table. He’d waited for me at the edge of the cabins while I changed into jeans and an ugly orange camp Tee so that we could walk to the mess hall together. Everyone stared and whispered as we passed. Talk about awkward. I didn't even know these people for Christ's sake! They had no right to judge.
"Why the hell is everyone staring? Is this really such a big deal? Annabeth sits with Percy, right?" I muttered. I had a no tolerance level for drama and these campers were on the line.
"Don't worry about it, Naida. It’s not you that they’re talking about. I tend to keep to myself so that's why everyone's in shock. It's not like everyone here wants to hang with a son of Hades."
"Well that's just stupid," I harrumphed. "It's totally junior high. I mean get over yourselves."
Nico laughed. It was a beautiful, rich sound that had me sinking in my seat. How could anyone not want to be friends with him?
Breakfast between the two of us went pretty good for the most part. He and I talked about the most random things and I found that I couldn't stop laughing half the time. I was even able to ignore the stupid people that kept talking crap.
I was almost done eating my buffet meal when Annabeth called me excitedly. "Naida, come here. We have someone that we want you to meet."
I glanced at Nico but his face was drawn into an almost emotionless expression. He nodded once at me, signaling for me to go talk with them. I didn't like how cold he'd suddenly turned but I ignored it. I went over to the Poseidon table and saw a fourth person that I hadn't yet met. She was pretty with hair even more brightly red mine, freckles all over and blue eyes. She wore a paint-splattered T-shirt and her jeans had marker doodles all over them. She was settled a little too closely to Percy but Annabeth didn’t seem to mind so I ignored it. Obviously whatever relationship they had didn’t worry Annabeth. "Naida, this is-"
"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I'm the oracle."
I arched one eyebrow. I knew from paranormal movies that an oracle was supposed to predict the future. "You're an oracle? You don't really look like a seer.”
Rachel shrugged. Suddenly her easy-going smile vanished and her eyes grew wide. Greenish smoke sputtered out of her and she looked like she was in a trance. "The three old maids have little time. They've been trapped in the needle's eye. It's up to the six to return destiny. Or Fate is lost for eternity."
I stared wide-eyed as Rachel slowly returned back to normal and collapsed in her seat. Some part of me knew that while I stared at the oracle in shock, the rest of the camp was looking at me with the same worry. "W-what the hell was that?"
"A prophecy," Percy answered. "You've just been given a quest, Naida."
"A quest? What exactly does that mean?" Needless to say, I was freaking out pretty badly. "I just got here. Why do I have to do it?"
"Naida, relax," Annabeth tried to sooth me with no luck. "You heard it: there's going to be five others with you. You won't be alone in any of this."
Nico ghosted to my side. "Maybe we should get her up to Chiron," he said, his tone all business. "He'll be better at explaining this stuff than we are. Plus I'm pretty sure that he's going to want a say in this. I doubt that he'll want six people to go on this quest."
"Why? That's what she said."
Nico's eyes darkened even more. "Three is a classic number in Greek mythology. Last time there was a quest with more than three people, two of them died, including my sister Bianca."
"We did it," Tyson argued. In all honesty everything they were saying was going straight over my head and I didn’t like the thought that I was somehow out of the loop.
"Yeah, but Nico's still right. Three's an important number: three fates, three furies, three gorgons, three Moirae- oh!" Annabeth's sudden outburst made me jump. "That's who you're looking for. The Fates."
“Fates?”
“Yeah, they’re these three old grannies that control destiny,” Percy said. “And then there’s something about a thread.”
Annabeth shot him an are-you-kidding-me? look. “It’s the thread of life. They say how long a person lives for. You’ve seen them cut their thread before.”
Percy shrugged in response.
“Well I believe in free will, not destiny, so why do I have to find them?”
Nico snorted next to me but didn’t comment on my sassy remark.
Annabeth frowned. “It’s not just mortals’ destinies that they control. They have a say in a monster’s destiny, too. If the Fates can’t cut a monster’s string then we can’t kill them.”
I don't know how, but I was certain that Annabeth was right on the nose with this one. I had to find and free Destiny. Great.