The Wheel Of Time

I sat in the chair by the fire, my head in my hands.

Chiron stood across the room. He- along with Rachel, Percy, and Annabeth- was silent; thinking over what I had just told them. The only difference between them was that Chiron knew what I was talking about; the rest of us were confused.

"If the quest has been given and not requested... Run out of time... Again..." I heard Chiron mutter.

"Chiron, you don't mean that it's..." Rachel said, letting the end of her sentence hang when Chiron nodded.

Then it clicked.

"This quest has been given before." Chiron looked up at me and nodded, the worry in his eyes penetrating his perfectly composed features.

"Did the others fail?" Percy asked, coming to his feet. I watched him shoot a worried glance towards me.

Only two weeks of knowing me and already I had a new older brother, who would worry about me, unnecessarily... Okay, he would worry about me too much. Either way, I loved him for it, but it gets annoying pretty darn quickly.

"No." Chiron said. But there was something in his voice; something he wouldn't say.

"None of them ever came back." Again it was a statement not a question. I knew that they didn't come back, but I didn't think they died, either.

"No, they didn't. but I suspect that they didn't die during the quest." Chiron said watching Percy worry.

"Where is the scroll?" Chiron turned to me, confused for the first time.

"The quest has been given before. The same prophecy, unfortunately, was probably used each time." I stopped: All three of them were looking at me weird.

"What? Percy's prophecy was given almost eighty years in advance. It only makes sense. Annabeth back me up." I said. Percy turned to Annabeth as she began to nod.

"It makes sense." She said nothing more, but it was enough to get the ball rolling.

"Rachel." Chiron said.

"I know where." And she was around the corner of the door in seconds.

"Technically, the prophecy has changed since the first time. You will be following the second prophecy. " Chiron said and closed his eyes, only to open them moments later.

Just like that, she was back and handing the scroll to Chiron; But he shook his head, refusing it.
She shrugged and turned towards me. I took it, My calm composure faltering just enough to let my hand shake slightly. She smiled a little and nodded once turning back to her seat on the couch.

I unrolled the scroll. It was blank, but still shiny. Then the page shimmered, like seeing the ocean with the sun glaring down on it.

The words began to appear.:

Five half-bloods go to reach the shore
To Follow those who went before
Each test again they have endured
The knowledge needed again procured
The five alone never to see again
Lest the cave fall and they be slain

I read it over in my head. As the others were silent, I assumed they were doing the same thing.

"How many other quests have followed this prophecy?" I said, not looking at Chiron.

"Two, not one of the ten of them ever came back. Nor any of the original five." Chiron said, almost breathlessly.

"Five?! How many people go on these quests?" Percy asked standing up again.

"It's right here Percy. It's pretty self explanatory; 'Five Half-bloods go to reach the shore'. It isn't that hard to decipher." Then I saw Annabeth. She looked confused.

"You can't see anything on this page, can you?" I asked as our eyes met. She shook her head 'no'.

"The person given the quest is rather Isolated. They alone can read the scroll until the other four have chosen." Chiron said, sounding almost defeated. I watched him, and he looked up at me with sad eyes.

None of use ever thought about it, but Chiron had been alive for thousands of years. He had trained, nurtured, and even raised hundreds of thousands of half-bloods. He had already lost fifteen of them to this cursed Quest. Now, he could only imagine the other four he would lose, along with me.

For the first time since I met him, Chiron looked old.

The smile lines around his eyes emphasized the redness in his eyes. the way is head hung slightly bent, showed off the scattered grey in his hair. And his eyes; they had the look of a thousand battles, and untold loss. and I was about to be apart of that.

"What does it talk about around 'knowledge'?" Annabeth asked.

"That they would find the knowledge needed. Wait. I didn't say anything about that, did I?"

"No. It's just that it's the only word on the page. That I can see any way." She said looking around at us. Percy however was looking at the scroll.

"Endured..." I heard him whisper.

"'Each test again they have Endured, the Knowledge needed again procured '. That's the the second part of the prophecy. You... You two..." I said trailing off when I remembered what Chiron had said: 'Have chosen.' Not that they will Be Chosen. They choose to come.

"Well... that's three of the five." I said quietly and saw Chiron nod out of the corner of my eye.

"How come Annabeth chose first?" Percy asked, watching her. He had walked over towards Rachel to ask her a question when She had spoken up. He now moved back towards her. she looked up at him and answered.

"Because I knew You would most likely end up choosing to go." Annabeth said, and he sat down and held her hand, looking off somewhere.

"What about the other two?" I asked. How would we know who it would be? Would we hold up the parchment at breakfast and wait for someone to ask?

"I'm coming." I heard him say and was about ready to smack him when David came around the doorway to the porch.

"Really? What can you read?" I asked incredulously, Holding up the parchment.

He took a moment of scanning the page, before responding with, "'Footsteps'. That is the only word." I nodded. I sank back down onto the couch.

I sat straight back up and tensed when I heard footsteps in the hallway. The door was pushed open and a blonde someone looked up from a the book he had his nose in.

"Chiron could you tell me... Where...?" Luke said, his voice trailing off as he looked around the rather crowded office.

"I'll comeback later then." he said and started to turn but not without looking at the parchment and mouthing something.

I stood up. "Stop." He froze and I knew with complete certainty that he was, for the moment, terrified.

"What was the word you saw?" I asked making Percy and Annabeth swing around to look at him.

"'Slain'... Why is it important?" He asked slowly turning around, only looking at me.

"It just means that tomorrow we are all leaving." I stood stalk still, almost unable to move under his eyes.

"Where are we going?" He asked. Not even a who or why.

"Mount Olympus... Greece." I said quietly, and stood still as the chaos ensued.

Notes

Sorry it's taking me so long in between updates, guys. I will try to keep it within every ten days at the maximum.
Thank you for reading!
And, please: Comment, request, ask questions!
~LCCabin3