The Wheel Of Time

We walked the last ten feet up the hillside to the cave, looking out over the strawberry fields.

"She really does live in a cave?" Liz said from next to me, looking up at the purple silk curtains, lightly fluttering in the breeze. I smiled and laughed a little.

"Kind of," I said, "But its only the front room that actually looks like it. the back rooms are 'bedroom', snack room', 'game room', and 'storage' as named by Leo. the rest of us just call it living quarters." She smiled now too.

"Why does it look like a creepy cave?" we stopped in front of the curtains.

"Apollo's Ideas, and some more planning from cabin six and nine. She's the oracle, it's supposed to look creepy, on the outside. We just held with tradition." I said, walking up to the curtain.

"Yeah, but-" Liz tried, as she fallowed my to the entrance.

"Annabeth?" I heard Rachel call, but from behind me. I turned around, and there she was a few feet down the hill, back pack still in place on her shoulders. She jogged up to us and tried to strangle me with a hug.

"Hey! How were your cousins?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Good! Still as crazy and annoying as ever." Rachel replied. As I watched, her eyes flicked over my shoulder then came back. Then she looked again, and held someone's eyes. Liz.

"So you're the oracle?" she said, almost a statement, kind of a question.

"Yep. and you're Percy's new half sister." Rachel responded, and Liz looked surprised.

"He was just telling me that his sister was claimed and that he saw her heading in my direction with Annabeth." Liz nodded, and smiled a little.

"Well, Marie told me to meet you as soon as I got here so I figured I should follow the few directions I got." Liz said.

Rachel nodded, and took Liz's hand when she offered it. Her smile wavered, for just a second, and righted itself so fast I almost missed it. Liz said good bye, and started to walk away, when Rachel offered her the 'grand tour'. Liz smiled and waved it off as she made her way down the hill, and towards the Rockwall.

"What was that?" I asked Rachel.

"Nothing. Nothing of any importance right now." She said avoiding my gaze. She turned and walked into the cave entrance, I followed directly after her.

"What happened?" I asked, but she seemed to ignore me, going through the door on the back wall, I continued to fallow her. She walked up to her drawing table, and pulled a large portfolio out of the alcove carved into the light grey stone.

Rachel opened it on the table, pulled out a pencil sketch.. of Elizabeth. She was kneeling on the ground of a cave, with broken shards of ice or glass, standing in the air around her.

"What... No, when did this happen?"{ I asked looking at it from over her shoulder.

Rachel stared at me for a moment, then looked back to the drawing.

"It hasn't yet." She said, plainly. I looked over the other pictures in the portfolio for a few seconds, until my eyes stopped on a small simple watercolor. It was Liz again, but now she was standing over someone in the rain. A blonde someone that looked familiar.

"I'd better go. I don't want to know my future half the time, I definitely don't want to know hers." I said smiling and said goodbye. Rachel smiled and waved over her shoulder, clearly wrapped up in something far away. I walked out of the cave entrance, and stood, the curtains, moving around me.

That man...

He looked just like...

Llike...

Luke.

Notes

OOOH! New/old character! Whoo-hoo! What do you guys think? give me comments please! ;)