Memories 22, 23, 24

[divinewisdom]

Memory 22 / Trivial Positive
Annabeth does Obedience School. (LT 283-299)
Jabberwock, Day 233(ish). Hand mirror, look in to receive. [1/7]

Memory 22 / Significant Neutral
Percy reads the final Prophecy. (LO ch. 3)
Dream, Day 237. Sugar holly berries/leaves, eat to receive. [1/5]

Beckendorf dies; Silena gets distraught. Etc etc Chiron decides it's time to show Percy the full prophecy.

I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter M. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.

"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked.

Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?" We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.

She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."

"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."

We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle—a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress. Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl. If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.

They talk about the Oracle, and how this one was cursed so that she couldn't stop being the Oracle even after she was dead. They take the prophecy and go downstairs to the War Council. Ares is fighting with Apollo over who gets to keep the spoils of war.

uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:
"A half-blood of the eldest dogs . . ."

"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."

"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets. "A half~blood of the eldest gods . . . shall reach sixteen against all odds . . ."

I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started m my fingers as if the paper was freezing.

"And see the world in endless sleep,
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade? Chiron once told me Riptide had
brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed? And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?

"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."

My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.

"A single choice shall. . . shall end his days.
Olympus to per—pursue—"

"Preserve," Annabeth said gently. "It means to save."

"I know what it means," I grumbled. "Olympus to preserve or raze."

The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"

"Not raise," Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means destroy."

"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."

"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks."

Annabeth then shows how jealous she can be over Percy spending time with Rachel, Iris shows them Typhon as he throws things around on Mt. St. Helens, they realize that all of this army is heading towards Olympus, the council ends.
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Memory 24 / Trivial Negative
We Meet the God with Two Faces and a Mothering Goddess (BoL ch. 6)
Eliza's Brother, Day 238. Flax, tie around finger. [1/3]