It was odd, the feeling he had. It wasn't envy or desperation, things he was familiar with. It was like a tug in his gut telling him he was meant to go with them. Of course, he had his personal interests in mind, but he could feel that something bigger was giving him incentive to leave with them on the quest.

He just knew that he was meant to go. Despite all his efforts, they were all for naught and it was decided he wouldn't be going.

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

Percy took his seat, his ears ringing. He could feel the sympathetic looks others were giving him but in that moment, all he could detect was pity. He hated it.

Chiron swept over the group with an unreadable glance before settling back onto Zoë. "You do realise what the lines of the prophecy intend, do you not?"

Zoë turned a shade paler, but nodded sternly anyway. Percy looked between the two, decipher what the hell they were talking about.

"The daughter of Morpheus," she said.

Mor-what?

Percy wasn't dumb, contrary to popular belief. He was actually quite smart and he could figure things out, having been given practice questions on it since he was twelve and everyone refused to tell him anything in favour of just brushing it aside as him being an idiot.

With the tone they used, he could tell it meant something very serious, even if he had no idea what that very serious something was.

Percy nudged Grover with his foot. "Who's Morpheus?"

Grover's beard seemed to tremble and his eyes looked like they were about to turn into slits any second now. "Morpheus, minor god, God of Dreams. Definitely not a god you wanna mess with."

Then it clicked. The terrifying, nightmarish look that reflected in the eyes of the girl from the Big House. The way she seemed to be having a bad dream, the way she was asleep, the coldness he could feel, the girl of visions. It clicked.

Percy could feel his face contort into realisation. He put his hands on the table, standing up again. "She can't go!"

Chiron looked stupefied for a moment, not expecting the sudden intrusion of the conversation. Zoë looked as murderous as ever.

He could tell the others were glancing at him in shock while Percy, himself, was also surprised by his actions. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about this, a girl he didn't even know.

Regardless, he forged on, "She just woke up! You can't just toss her out into a quest as soon as she gets up!"

"Now, Percy," Chiron said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "It was in the prophecy, we cannot avoid it."

He hated it because it was true. He knew she was supposed to go, too. That was the worst thing about it all.

Thalia stood up, her face authoritative and fully business. "Grover and I can help. We'll show her the ropes and half-blood life."

Even though she was looking directly at Chiron, Percy could tell she was saying it so it would calm his nerves. It was a sweet gesture, but it did not, in fact, calm his nerves.

"Or she can choose to be a hunter," said Zoë with a snide glance at Thalia, her tone laced with the tiniest bit of challenge.

Thalia rolled her eyes, muttering profanities under her breath. Settling back down on her chair, her eyes flittered around the room, stopping for a moment on Percy's.

Percy couldn't detect anything from the unreadable glint in her eye, but the tone of voice from before was enough to convince him she would take care of her. She looked away before he could read into it any further.

And with that, Chiron concluded the council.

"So be it," he said. "Thalia, Grover and Kia will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."

Percy assumed 'Kia' was the daughter of Morpheus they were talking about. He'd like to say he thought of something deeply philosophical, that he could feel the invisible tie between her name and her presence, but the truth was that the first thing he thought of when he heard it was—

Isn't that a car company?

Yeah, amazing from the dude that supposedly saved the world, like, twice, right? Percy Jackson, everybody.

Feeling particularly helpless, Percy was not feeling like a happy camper. Grumpiness overwhelmed him, confining him to his cabin.

Big mistake.

While he was drowning in his thoughts, which was odd, if you think about it, a child of Poseidon, drowning in his thoughts, the entire carefully crafted train of thoughts was interrupted by Chiron and Grover busting in.

Well, more so Grover.

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover cried, plopping down next to him on the bunk. "I didn't know that they'd—that you'd—Honest!"

Right, because he could totally tell what in the world that meant. Percy scolded his own thoughts, telling them to tone down the snark factor.

He started sniffling and Percy looked on blankly, internally panicking about how if he didn't cheer him up, he'd start crying on his sheets or start chewing up the foam of his mattress. Grover had a tendency to garble up household objects whenever he got upset.

"It's okay," Percy said, you know, as a liar does. "Really. It's fine."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking... I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

Percy nodded, trying uselessly to ignore the giant crater being picked open in his heart.

"Grover," Chiron said. "Perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?"

"Sure," he got out through sniffles.

Chiron stood there patiently, waiting for him to get it.

"Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at Percy miserably. "See? No one needs a goat."

A pang of guilt struck Percy's heart as he watched Grover trot out the door.

Chiron talked about a bunch of stuff: prophecies, Thalia and how her and Percy were similar, Riptide and the severe lacking of its history, and finally, the elephant and the room was discussed.

"Who's Kia?"

Chiron looked up at he ceiling, sighing as if he would rather talk about anything else. While his head was still tilted up, her brought his eyes down, staring through his cheekbones at Percy.

He straightened up again. "She's a daughter of Morpheus."

Percy gave him a deadpanned look. Chiron smiled, his eyes twinkling kindly the way he did whenever he'd find humour in something.

"Does she have her own prophecy?" Percy asked. "How can she go when she's so new?"

"Remember, Percy, you went on your first quest during your first summer here, she is no different," Chiron let out a breath. "But no, she does not have her own prophecy. Not many of the campers even knew she was brought here. But when she came, she was delivered by Apollo by proxy of Artemis. He foretold she would have a part in something very big, very dangerous."

He stared at him, waiting for him to say more. Spoiler alert: he didn't.

Chiron patted Percy's knee, maybe as a gesture of comfort, even though it felt more like a means to say: this conversation is over.

Percy opened his mouth to say more, but then Chiron pulled out a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to him. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth... I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah."

He didn't feel the need to ask any further; Percy knew Chiron's dad was Kronos, evil Titan Lord—even if that was weird to think about, did that make Chiron his uncle?—and other scary titles Percy couldn't care to keep track of.

"Chiron," Percy called. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

His face darkened, a shadow passing over her features. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush."

He said 'your time' the way people did when they thought of the grim reaper coming to visit you. Totally not ominous at all. Percy wasn't sure if the tone he had was as intended, but the look in his eyes made him scared to ask.

For a while after Chiron left, Percy fiddled around with the drachma in his hand, staring at it with furrowed brows. Even though he had talked with Chiron, doubts about the quest and other subjects rose in his head. All the factors—like, two—were pushing him in the direction of going on the quest. The confusion and indecision was stirring within him: about Annabeth, about Artemis, about Kia, about the trail, about Kronos—everything.

Flipping the drachma in his hand one more time, he held it firmly, deciding upon who would be best to go to for advice.

After all, his mom had never failed him before.