The dining pavilion was mostly empty when we got there. I'm still a bit unsure on how the stuff around here is powered (I've been told it's just magic but I don't know how the logistics of that works) but clearly, that source is very large, as everything was still firing despite the emptiness. Honestly, I kind of like the place. The pavilion is framed in Greek columns on one of the steeper parts of camp—a hill, specifically, that overlooks the sea.
Obviously, with my connection to the sea, I've always felt at peace around here. That, and being able to eat and drink the blue version of any food has always made me feel right at home. Our first stop felt like it should be an open-and-shut case.
You see, there aren't any walls or pillars, or even a roof that covers the dining pavilion. If Gerald the Rhinoceros was hiding anywhere in here, we'd be able to see him from our spot on the hill. And so far…nothing.
I squinted my eyes. Torches blazed from the outer columns and a central fire burned brightly inside a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. The whitetrimmed tables were all empty except for one. I frowned, trying to place the girl at the table. Gerald aside, there really shouldn't be anyone hanging around here right now- most of the campers have organized activities, and even if they don't, no one really sits here unless it's for food.
I got her basic details—Silena Beauregard, level forty, mostly [CHA] and [INT] based, with a bland backstory and an allegiance to no one in particular. Interesting. "Silena? What are you doing over here?" SiLena's one of the Aphrodite kids. Pretty obvious, even without the gaming powers, if you ask me. She has dark hair and eyes, and a fair complexion. Her figure's slim, and I've heard a few of the other guys comment on how it's 'impossible not to stare' at her when she walks by.
"Oh, hey, Percy," Silena said lamely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked like someone kicked her puppy. Scratch that—it looked like someone took her puppy, drop-kicked it, and then tossed it into a meat grinder. "I didn't know anyone else was going to be here."
"We're looking for my rhinoceros," Malcolm supplied, picking up on Silena's mood. Holding his arms out to indicate the size of the animal, he continued, "His name is Gerald. He's really soft."
"I bet he is, cutie," Silena said, a small smile forming on her face. I ruffled Malcolm's hair—his emotional intelligence is farther along than I'd expect from a little kid. "Where'd you last see him?" Malcolm launched into his day again, and even Silena looked impressed.
She smiled at him again, "Wow! You're a capable little man! You even managed to get the Percy Jackson to help!" Silena stood up, a smile forming on her rather pretty face. I grimaced, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, relax, wonder boy," Silena replied smoothly, the sadness still visible in her eyes. "You don't do much except for train and eat around here. Half of us don't even know what you look like. Us Aphrodite kids get a bit more from Piper, but even she's pretty tight- lipped. We just know you're a powerful demigod, you fought and defeated Ares, you have a soft spot for Athena's kids—Annabeth and Malcolm, specifically. Oh, and that you're a tank. Not much to go off. It's pretty cool to see what you actually look and act like."
"You fought Ares!" Malcolm said, his tone shifting to disbelief. His body shook nervously. "But…he's a god! Anna said that's really dangerous!" I resisted the urge to smack my forehead.
This is why I don't go out! I reached up and patted Malcolm's head. "Easy, kiddo. I'm fine."
Silena watched the interaction with great interest. "Anyway, sorry about your rhino. Hope you find it."
"You should come with us!" Malcolm invited her with a bright smile— is this kid trying to kill me today? He covered my eyes. "See! Percy can't even see! We need help!"
"I mean…" Silena clearly sounded conflicted. As Malcolm's hands moved, I saw her shift awkwardly. She looked at my face for approval. "I don't know." Internally, I grimaced. I wanted this to be an open-and-shut case, a ten-minute quest! However…there's something that's undeniably off about Silena.
Maybe, if I allow her to come with us, I'll be able to work out what exactly that something is. Looking at the expression on Silena's face, I understood a bit of what the guys were talking about now. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Her face was tough to look away from. It felt weird.
My eyes were drawn to every little curve of her face. The gentle dip of her lips, the glinting colors of her eyes. The high cheekbones that stood proudly on the upper half of her face seemed even more prominent.
I blinked.
Yeah, nice try. I've been hit with the love ray by Aphrodite herself. This is more of a love zap—it's like getting shocked by a small wire after getting hit by a bolt of lightning from my uncle's master bolt. It was a commendable effort, but it ultimately failed. I smirked. "Nice try, Silena."
"You're an odd case," Silena said good-naturedly, rolling her eyes. "What kind of guy can resist that?"
"I'm special," I said, ignoring Malcolm's impatient pokes. Sharing a look of understanding with Silena, I nodded toward the camp. "Let's go. We're burning daylight, Silena."
"Yay!" Malcolm was beside himself as Silena walked alongside us. "Gerald Rescue Force—move out!"
"Does he always do that?" Silena wondered aloud, and I just laughed. She had no idea. We walked down from the pavilion, Malcolm guiding us over to the porch of the Big House, where there was thankfully no one sitting around. "So, tell me about yourself, wonder boy," Silena said as the rickety stairs of the Big House creaked under our feet. "Likes, dislikes. Favorite movie?" "Uh, well, I'm from Brooklyn, kind of, and I used to go to Yancy Academy," I said, a bit miffed at the nickname that she just didn't want to drop. "I like blue food, blue drinks, blue candy- blue anything, really. I guess I dislike bullies and snobs, and my favorite movie would probably have to be Shutter Island."
"Mm," Silena replied, her fingers running over some of the old wood. It wasn't lost on me that she didn't offer up anything about herself. "Interesting. So, Malcolm, where did you finger paint?"
"Around here somewhere," Malcolm said with a frown, craning his neck. "I don't see my painting anywhere, either!"
"Is that it?" I said, my enhanced reflexes easily making out a paper stuck to the doorway, pinned there by the summer breeze. Malcolm nodded, and we all walked up to it.
I took the paper in my hands. It looked…like something. Real, descriptive, I know, but I seriously was having a hard time discerning what the picture was. I could see two vaguely humanoid shapes, a taller one and a smaller one. They were both pointing at a big apple or something, and the smaller one had a long, curved stick. It kind of looked like a boomerang, honestly.
That wasn't the weird part. The weird part was how in-depth everything was. Full disclosure, I was completely startled by the level of detail. The figures were hard to make out, but the rest of the drawing looked like it was taken straight out of a storybook. The leaves, the grasseverything was drawn to the smallest detail. Even the big, golden apple looked like Malcolm had just taken an apple and somehow transported it onto his paper. I've never been particularly gifted in the arts, but it was still insane that anyone could do this by just finger painting.
"Aw," Silena cooed from over my shoulder. Evidently, she wasn't sharing my feelings of bewilderment. She pointed at the smaller figure. "Is that you, Malcolm?"
"Yeah!" Malcolm said happily, proudly pointing at the bigger figure. "And that's Percy!"
"What, uh…what are we doing?" I found the words, still looking at the picture with great interest. It looked so lifelike.
"I dunno," Malcolm said truthfully, biting his lower lip in thought. "I think we're going on a trip! I have my wand! See!" I laughed, "A trip?"
"To San Francisco!" Malcolm continued, pointing at the picture. "And we stopped in a garden to eat because we were hungry."
Silena clearly knew something I didn't. She picked up Malcolm off of my head and placed him down on the porch. "Hey, buddy, go check inside for Gerald! Percy and I will look out here!" Malcolm nodded, a determined look falling over his face as he ran through the door to the big house. His little footsteps disappeared into the hardwood. I turned to Silena expectantly. "All children of Athena are gifted in the arts," Silena explained, still looking at the drawing. Her eyes flicked up to meet mine. "I'm guessing you don't understand the picture."
"Not…really," I admitted, sighing. "I thought it was just a fun drawing that a little kid made?"
"Maybe," Silena agreed. A moment later, she rested her finger on the golden apple. "Maybe not. That apple, well, I'll just come out and say it. I think it's an apple of immortality." I stared at her blankly. "I've, uh, mainly studied myths about monsters and warriors…"
"Typical," Silena huffed. "The Apples of Immortality are golden apples that grow in the Garden of the Hesperides. They're guarded by the dragon Ladon and were a wedding gift to Hera from Gaea, not Zeus, like most people think. Like the drawing, all of that is in San Francisco. You probably don't know this, but before you got here, the last quest had been to that specific garden."
"Luke," I remembered, a sudden chill settling in my bones. "Luke was sent there—I remember now. That's how he got his scar."
"Yep. Price for serving the gods," Silena said lightly, but I could see her eyes darken. Ah, so that's what she's trying to hide. "Again, like you said, this could just be the drawing of a little kid with an overactive imagination, surrounded by the myths of old, but I don't know. I can't even tell what the thing in his hands is."
"Me neither," I admitted, my brain still working in overdrive. I don't think this picture is any sort of glimpse into the future, but even if 1% of it is true…I can't think about that right now. I already have a lot on my plate, and preemptively planning a trip into the garden of immortality or whatever just isn't going to help me in any way. "We should drop it for now."
"Your call," Silena said carefully. We fell into a companionable silence as she hummed, staring out into the strawberry fields. "So, Atlantis?"
"Word travels fast," I remarked but ultimately nodded. "Yeah. My dad wants to train me personally."
"You're quite lucky," Silena reminded me, glancing down at her nails. "Lots of kids around here go their whole lives without even knowing their godly parent, let alone training with them."
"Yeah, I know," I said, leaning against the railing. Some of the Demeter kids waved at us as they walked out of the fields. My theory was starting to seem all the more plausible now. I baited her, "The gods need to shape up with that."
"Percy Jackson," Silena gasped, dramatically holding her hand to her chest. "Libel against the gods? What would little Malcolm say?"
"Ha, ha," I replied, a smile forming on Silena's face. I frowned to myself. "Just because we're demigods doesn't mean we should sit around and let the gods do what they want. They don't really deserve special adoration just because they're powerful, or nice, or whatever. They judge us based on our actions—we should treat them according to their own." Silena listened to my little rant with unwavering attention. "So, you don't believe in them, then?"
"Nah, I do, as much as I believe in Clarisse to wear a sparkly red dress," We both chuckled a bit. "Realistically, though, they aren't, I don't know, bad people. Just a bit weird. Some are complacent because of the peace, others are prideful, and some are a mix. They aren't the worst; they just need a little kick."
"And you'll deliver it?" Silena asked skeptically. I saw Malcolm's shadow run across the window, it was accompanied by a wheeling noise. Chiron's gruff voice floated past the windowpane, muffled.
"Who knows? I'm just a guy with an opinion. All I know is that the gods are key to our survival, just like we're key to theirs. We need to work together and hold each other accountable. They're also way better than the other rulers this planet has had. They're dicks, but the Titans, for example, were way worse. To them, mortals were just playthings. Flesh bags. I'll do whatever it takes to stop them from taking over again."
Silena was quiet. "I see."
"Yeah," I replied, just as quiet. I nudged her. "So, was I what you expected to be?"
"Meh. I think I like the wonder boy Jackson better than the real one," Silena replied as Malcolm came out of the door. "Although, who knows? Play your cards right, and I could end up liking this one, too."
"Here's to hoping," I laughed, picking up Malcolm, who was wailing. "Don't worry buddy, we'll find him!"
Listen...I've done a lot of hard things in my life. Obviously, my childhood was super rough, growing up with Smelly Gabe and switching schools every year. My first few weeks as a demigod were tough. The training was hard. Fighting gods was hard. Finding Gerald, though, wasn't just hard- it was nearly impossible. I swear to Zeus, it felt like we'd turn the whole camp upside down looking for the stuffed rhinoceros. We'd left the Big House, spirits high, swinging by volleyball pit, where Malcolm had claimed to see Gerald playing volleyball with a harpy.
Silena and I had shared a weird look, but we decided to swing by the pit anyway. To my immense disappointment, Gerald was in fact not there, and neither was his supposed harpy opponent. Malcolm was even more disappointed than I was, kicking the sand in the pit and saying that 'Gerald wouldn't leave the pit unless he'd lost!'
By this point, I'd already wanted to get back to training, but I stopped myself from leaving in the middle of the search. Malcolm was getting decidedly more determined, and Silena's mood was starting to get a bit better, so whatever- I told myself I'd stick around for an hour more, tops.
That was four hours ago.