The Chloe Chronicles: The Lost Goddess

Andrew was confused, and that didn't happen often. As a son of Athena it was rare for him to be caught off guard. That night though, Andrew felt as if the cards in his deck were showing, and he didn't like it.
As he walked back to his cabin, bowing his head low, he tried to hide his disdain.
Another child of Poseidon? Could she possibly be the on- No. It is impossible.
Andrew's mind wandered to weeks earlier, he was sitting on his bunk alone, when he felt an odd disturbance in the room. He turned and glanced at the desk across the room, Annabeth's desk. An old book sat on top of blueprints and old sketches of buildings his sister had designed. Andrew was alone in the cabin, and his curiosity compelled him to move forward.
He stood, looming over the desk and picked the book up gently, it looked fragile. Andrew flipped through the pages and grimaced. There were no words on any of the pages except at the very beginning.
Only the wisest can reveal my secrets. Take me to the sea.
The calligraphy was beautiful, unlike anything Andrew had ever seen. This was obviously a gift from his mother to Annabeth. She was the most favored child in their cabin.
Andrew glanced around the room quickly, the only thing watching him was a statue of an owl a sibling had made in arts and crafts. He silently walked back over to his bed and stuffed the book into his pillow. Hopefully, Annabeth wouldn't be able to find it.
It was weeks later now, and Annabeth had no idea the strange book even existed. His brothers didn't even know about it, he didn't tell anyone.
Andrew sat against his bunk and gazed out the Athena cabin window. In the distance he could see the Poseidon cabin, glowing in night. Chloe's prescience had caused quite an outrage in his cabin. The only camper there who didn't seem to mind was Annabeth.
Once the lights were out, Andrew slipped the book from it's hiding place. He opened the fragile leather cover to the first page and gasped. The original writing was gone! The only thing on the page was a map of the camp. The cabins and training areas were marked but it was as if the book was hiding something from him.
Why had the original writing disappeared? Was he the one the book spoke of?
Andrew closed it before one of his siblings awoke and he shoved it back under his pillow. He glanced back out the window, towards the Poseidon cabin.
Welcome to camp, he thought. I'm supposed to hate you, or am I?



Once Andrew fell asleep, he wasn't sure what was happening. A first, he was standing in the middle of nothing but darkness when a bright glowing light appeared. He squinted to make out the figure's shape, but it had already disappeared.
Andrew turned in his bed, the dream didn't make sense to him. The most logical explanation for it was that he would run into a ghost somehow or, it was a sign he would become a god. The golden colored light resembled the aura of a god's true form.
Andrew dreamt of finding glory and fame all his life. His father, Senator Maxwell Henderson of Nevada didn't have to try all to hard to win an election.
"All you have to do boy is smile and wave," his father told him once. Andrew wasn't all to close to his father. The senator was always introducing him to new girlfriends, some close to his age, and expected him to be nice to them. In fact, his father was engaged to an eighteen year old pageant queen before she disappeared "questionably".
Sometimes Andrew couldn't see how a woman like his mother, the wisest goddess, could fall for such a bum.
Andrew closed his eyes, squeezing them shut, trying to shut down his thoughts for the night.
It's no use, he told himself. You need a distraction.
The book seemed to call to him from under his pillow. Andrew gently drew the leather bound mystery from it's hiding place and held it in his arms.
"What are you trying to tell me?" He whispered.
Suddenly the leaves outside his cabin crackled. Something was outside, staring at him though the window. Andrew froze, his eyes connecting with the shadowed creature. A hand pressed up against the window and motioned for him to leave his bed and come outside. The nails on the hand looked clawed, and scarred. Could it be a harpy?
"Andrew..." He heard the monster hiss. "Andrew...."
Andrew jumped from his bed and turned on the lamp, closest to the window. Staring at him through the window was an haggard looking creature. She turned her head, smiling at him, calling him to join her in the darkness of the night.
None of his siblings stirred, something the monster was doing kept them asleep.
"The answer which you seek lies with the enemy, but be warned so of Athena, some secrets are meant to be hidden...forever."
The old hag cackled and Andrew drew his sword, clutching the book to his chest. "Who are you?"
"Remember..." The hag muttered. "Remember my darling...you must remember. Oh yes, I will remember!"
"Who are you!" Andrew shouted, stepping closer to the glass.
The hag's eyes glowed bright red in the night, casting an evil shadow over the room.
"They won't remember what day it is! Oh, I am terrible! Do be careful Andrew Henderson, I would hate for you to forget that the book you hold, is the key!"
Andrew glanced down at the book in his hands, and looked back up, hoping to meet the old lady's eyes when nothing stood outside the window. Andrew slumped back against his bed. Was this all a dream? What was she warning him about?
"Andrew..." He heard a voice say again, his skin prickling from the sound. "Andrew...go to sleep Andrew..."
Andrew looked around the room wildly, the light showing no stray figure in the musty cabin. Andrew shoved the book back into his pillowcase and pressed his sword against his palm. If anything dared come near him, it was going to be pieces.
The next morning when his siblings rose, they acted as if everything was normal. No one mentioned anything about him and a creepy, old, wrinkly woman waking them up in the middle of the night.
Andrew was silent during breakfast, his stomach refusing food that was brought to him. Andrew's mind focused on the book and what had happened the night before. Whether he liked it or not..he would have to talk to Chloe.
Andrew glanced up silently from his table and over to the big three. Percy was absent but Chloe sat alone, staring down into her plate of food.
Andrew sighed and stood up from the Athena table, causing a few of his siblings to glance upward.
"Excuse me Annabeth, I uh..I need a moment."
Annabeth nodded and Andrew silently walked away, focusing his attention on Chloe.
Chloe, I'm sorry I was acting like such a jerk last night, but I need your help.
Andrew groaned. He was going to sound a pretentious snob. Andrew cleared his throat when he arrived at the table, and Chloe's eyes met his.
His mind blanked for a moment, the bright emerald color distracting him.
"Uh..hi?"
Chloe frowned. "Uh, what do you want?"
Andrew bowed his head and sat down beside her. "Listen, I'm sorry I was being such a jerk last night. It's hard to explain but, I want your help with a problem I have."
Chloe sat silently for a moment. "Tell me one thing first."
Andrew shrugged. "Okay."
"Do you possibly know anyone, perhaps a goddess that hangs out here that has red hair?"
Andrew chuckled. "The gods don't come here. It's against the rules for them. Sometimes we'll see Hermes once in a while, just like last night; but a goddess? No, it's impossible a goddess was here."
Chloe shifted in her seat and looked soulfully towards the direction of the infirmary. Andrew realized Nico hadn't bud into the conversation yet because he was there. Something had happened to Chloe the night before as well.
Andrew motioned for Chloe to follow him. "Common, we should go talk in a more private setting."
Chloe followed him from the mess hall, and Andrew noticed a few of his siblings glaring at him. Andrew then wondered if Annabeth noticed this as well.
Chloe elbowed him as they exited the mess hall and pointed towards an area past the climbing wall.
"Who lives over there?"
"The oracle, Rachel." Andrew said. "She isn't here right now, and from what I've heard she had a thing for your brother before he started dating Annabeth."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, I don't know too much about it. If you want to more you could ask him. He is your brother."
Andrew motioned for Chloe to sit on a bench, which rested softly under the shade of an oak tree. The breeze blew strands of her blonde hair towards him, the wild strands trying to escape their entrapment of her bun.
Andrew looked around and reached into the pocket of his jacket and withdrew the book, which seemed to have a dark glow in the morning sun. Chloe gasped as he brought it closer to her, and flipped to the first page.
"The reason I wanted to talk to you is because..well..I think you are the only one who can help me. One day I was in my cabin and I found this, lying on a desk. It looked old and the pages were dusty so I didn't think that any of my siblings had taken it from our library. I flipped though it and the only page that has anything written on it is the first one. It said 'only the wisest can reveal my secrets'."
"Then why did you want me?" Chloe asked. "I'm not a child of Athena."
"I think you triggered the page to trip when you arrived here somehow. I'm confused about it because at first I had a theory that you would have to touch the book physically....It doesn't make sense."
Chloe put a hand on Andrew's shoulder and gave him a small smile. "Well I have a theory, if I am allowed to infer based on the evidence presented before me."
Andrew grinned, Chloe's eyes seemed to draw him closer to her.
"I like you, and I hypothesize that you feel the same about me." Chloe stroked a finger down his chin and lowered her voice. "Am I correct?"
He felt hypnotized under her stare, and he loved it. Andrew leaned closer, his lips tingling with the angst he felt when Chloe pulled away begun to look around wildly.
"Oh my gods, I think, I think I figured it out!"
"What?" Andrew asked, he held out the book to her. "Does it have to do with the book?"
Chloe nodded and looked back towards him. Her eyes seemed out of focus, her gaze falling on places around him. Chloe's eyes finally met his and she pointed to the book.
"I think...I think that is the old camp."
"What?"
Suddenly the air was filled with a deafening roar and Andrew drew his sword out of instinct. Chloe drew something from her pocket, a dagger and stood beside him, her eyes still looking around wildly.
"The anthró̱pini̱! I knew they were coming!" Chloe shouted, tears streaming down her face.
"What? Who are the anteaters?"
Chloe grabbed his arm and started running towards the forest when she halted instantly.
"We're too late. They're in the borders!" She screamed. "Our only chance is to run and hide! They'll eat us if we're caught!"
"Whoa!" Andrew said, trying to catch his breath. "You still haven't told me who these things are or..were."
Chloe looked at her dagger and it changed into a sword right in front of Andrew's eyes. Chloe pointed to above he treeline.
"When Chaos reigned over the world, when Gaea wasn't in power, there were monsters so big, so powerful, that even the gods are defenseless against them. To early mankind, they were mistaken for titans but they are larger and not immortal. The anthró̱pini̱ short for
anthró̱pini̱ peína, were the most powerful monsters Chaos created. When Zeus and the gods defeated the titans, Chaos began to awaken and with him...his creations..."
A tree sailed past Andrew's head and he pointed his sword towards the direction it came. Chloe held back her head and screamed, "They're here!"
That was when everything Andrew ever knew, turned upside down.

Notes