He had never felt this livid.

Standing there, under the hundreds of gallons of water he'd summoned to hurl at Thalia, the water whirling around angrily in it's place, Percy was ready to bring it down on her equally cross face.

"Percy!" he heard Chiron plead.

But that wasn't what caught his attention. Noticing something creeping in the woods, Percy immediately lost all his concentration, all the water falling back with a 'splash!' Thalia seemed to be equally surprised, whipping around to see what could have possibly made him this speechless.

Someone... something was approaching. Clouded in a murky green mist that made Percy visibly pale given the familiarity, hunters and campers gasped once it came close enough.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. Percy had never heard him sound so nervous. "It... she has never left the attic. Never."

Yet here it was: the poorly bandaged and worn Oracle shuffling through the crowd of people. The hazy green mist veiled the ground, bleeding onto the snow.

No one dared to move a muscle. Suddenly, Percy could hear its voice hissing words in his head and everyone else seemingly could too, some of them going as far as clutching their hands over their heads.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle regarded Percy with it's cold, jade eyes, as if staring through his physical form, going right to the pinnacle of his soul. Then, the Oracle turned unmistakably towards Zoë.

Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoë swallowed, looking particularly ghostly. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, another heap of green mist pouring out of it. Percy saw a vague vision of a mountain, a familiar auburn-haired girl chained to the rocks. It was Artemis, the chains fettering her down while she kneeled, her hands held out as if fending off an attacker, beads of perspiration and a pained look on her face. The Oracle spoke in a raspy voice:

Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The girl of visions wakened,

The fate of a star to save or to end,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

As soon as it said the last line, the mist retreated, recoiling like a serpent back into the Oracle's mouth and she turned as stiff as a board, sitting on the rocks as if she'd been there for a thousand comets.

Percy couldn't process anything of what had just happened before he heard Chiron's slightly ragged breathing. Others seemed to take notice as well, turning to look at the centaur, watching with dread as he faltered in place, taking steps back, his eyes as wide as saucers staring at the mummy.

Then, as quick as the lightning, Chiron spun around, dashing toward the Big House. Not knowing what else to do, Percy sprinted after; he suspected others followed suit.

Delving deeper into the usually bright house, it looked more like a haunted house from a creepily realistic horror movie. It seemed to get darker and more eerie as they forged forward; Percy was confused, it didn't seem that big from the outside, despite its name. Percy could feel it growing colder, even though he knew there was no possible reason for the sudden temperature change.

He glanced back and saw Mr. D was also following them, which he would've laughed at, considering his pot-belly was bouncing along with each step he took, but Percy had the feeling that whatever he was about to see, it wouldn't fail to cease his laughter.

Reaching to a stop along with the rest of the couple dozen campers and hunters that had followed, Percy waited impatiently in front of a door that Chiron stood frozen at.

Percy wanted to say something, anything. Preferably to ask what on Earth was going on and why he was being so freaky. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say anything, sufficing to rub his sweaty palms on the material of his jeans.

He didn't know how to describe what he was feeling. It was like a fever, blowing into his shirt because of how hot he was but trembling at the cold that prickled his forearms.

Chiron took a deep breath, as if preparing himself and shakily pulled out a pair of keys form seemingly nowhere, inserting it gingerly into the keyhole of the doorknob.

Hesitating slightly before twisting the knob, he swung it open to reveal a figure laying on a bed. The room was rather odd, but Percy didn't pay any mind to anything other than the girl laid on the bed.

Her messy black hair was sprawled across the beige pillows, her eyes closed as if she were asleep. A tiny beauty spot decorated the gentle curve of the right side of her jaw, Percy's eyes following the chapped stage of her lips that were slightly parted, letting out even breaths. Her hands stood curiously by her sides, her entire body entirely still and weirdly unmoving, even if she were asleep. If Percy didn't know that she were alive, he'd have thought she were dead.

He was confused. Why was this random girl here, in the big house, still as silence?

He looked up to Chiron, about to open his mouth to say something, just as he heard a light gasp come from his left. Percy held his breath as he turned to the girl, who was shuffling uncomfortably, writhing as if she were in pain.

No one was doing anything, so Percy took to liberty to rush up to the poor girl and shake her up.

"Hey," he said, still shaking her. Nothing.

He repeated it a little more roughly. "Hey."

It didn't work. As a last resort, he shook both of her shoulders, furrowing his eyebrows. "Wake up!"

The girl sat up straight as if she'd been doused with a cup of coffee. Her hand clawed at her chest, as if she was scared she wasn't breathing, her eyes shooting open.

The sight of her eyes made Percy reel back in shock. You'd expect them to be a vibrant colour, such as blue or green or maybe even violet, but no, her eyes were a veiled dark brown, the most haunted shade that Percy had ever seen in a pair of eyes. The tiny darker flecks were visible even in the dim light; her eyes seemed to glow with darkness, if it made sense.

She continued to take a few more uneven breaths, completely unaware of the dozens of kids right near her. Percy watched her eyes focus on the blanket that was draped over her lower half. Her gaze followed the Percy's hands, following them up to his face, where they just looked at each other.

To Percy, her eyes seemed so familiar. He was sure he'd never seen her before, but something about the terrifying look her eyes reflected seemed to call to Percy. They were an awful thing, her eyes; however, Percy just couldn't bring himself to look away. They were horrible, but they felt like the type of abhorrence that would protect you from the other dangers of the world.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice soft and quiet, yet raspy and broken as if she didn't even know what water was.

He couldn't reply. He didn't even open his mouth, knowing that nothing comprehensible would come out. He just continued to stare at her eyes; it wasn't even like you could call it eye contact, he was just... looking at them. The web-like designs the dark flecks made her eyes and how in some parts, it'd reflect the soft graze of yellow light it fell under, and just for a moment, her eyes would look magnificent.

She seemed to realise that she wouldn't get an answer from Percy, she dizzily turned to Chiron, as if she immediately recognised him as a sort of authority figure. Her eyes seemed to go in and out of focus, following the whisper of scraggly hair that surrounded Chiron's face.

"Can you..." she murmured.

Chiron's face softened into a look of concern as opposed to confusion.

"My dear," he said, his voice steady, yet not enough to get rid of the faint trace of fascination. "Do you know who you are?"

"I think..." she held a hand up to her head as if getting a headache. "I'm... My name is Kia, isn't it?"