Dawn didn’t come quickly enough. Chiron adjourned the meeting shortly after we deciphered most of the prophecy, claiming that we needed time to rest and to plan where we were to go. But it’s not like I was able to rest at all; and we had already pretty much figured out where we were going to go. There were a lot of heroes, and most of them used swords; but since the prophecy said “with her two companions she shall head west” that cleared up a little bit about where we were going to go, at least to start with.

As I walked out of the Big House, I found myself reaching for the knives at my side. I guessed that training would be a good way to spend the day, but as I headed off to the training arena, Chiron stopped me.

“Evie, you should rest,” he said, his eyes looking down at me kindly. “Your quest will be long, and you don’t want to collapse in the middle of it.”

I sighed, but said “Okay Chiron. I just don’t think I’ll be able to rest, but...”

“You can go pack your bag for your journey,” he said, looking at me thoughtfully. “You’ll need ambrosia, nectar, and probably money, both Greek and American.” He went on, naming things that we should take with us. I stopped him, and told him that I would go pack.

I jammed a bottle of nectar and some squares of ambrosia into my backpack. I looked at my sketchpad, and decided that I would take it with me; who knows, maybe I’ll need to battle a monster with it. Maybe I’ll get a Hydra to autograph my picture of it.

I went to the lake, and sat down with my sketchbook open. I put my pen to the paper, but I was too tense inside to be able to draw. I sighed, and looked out over the water. The fact that I could die, and that the camp could be destroyed if I failed, began to sink in. I was going on a quest. And I had just dragged my only two friends into it with me. I should've thought before asking them to come with me…