[Sargo] Chapter II: Nobody Likes the Prophecy

Sargo begins his journey to go see his sister but someone is following him-- He also continues to watch the recordings left to him only to have something horrid happen after he does. . .

FOR ONCE THINGS seemed like things were finally looking up for me, I was about to be on my way to go ahead and see my older sister who is attending school in New York City for the first time in three years and I was secretly hoping that we would be staying for the rest of the summer break, which was a little bit under a month, and then the school would start and I would get to see my friends and tell them all about my summer.

I hopped into the passenger seat and set my suitcase on my lap. It took a minute for our Honda Accord to warm up but soon enough we were on our way to the beginning of our journey. I stared out of the window as the world passed us by, or maybe as we passed by the world. I'm not sure which it was if it was even either.

My excitement was cut short because, within the two first seconds, I realized that we were being followed and Mom seemed to notice even sooner because she looked. . . well, tense to say the least.

Now, you may believe that just because you're in your car while you are being followed that you're safe but you would be wrong. This thing didn't have a car but that was because it didn't need one. The creature wasn't remotely human in any prospect, at least in most ways it wasn't, and it was faster than a cheetah. Granted, they can only go twenty-five miles per hour and for a short time but it was still quicker than a human, and this thing was faster than one. I've seen it get away from scenes it wasn't meant to be in and that was with it hardly trying. It's kept up with a school bus before.

To most, it looked human so at first I thought that it could be a skinwalker but I was soon proven wrong. Skinwalkers don't have skin the color of the night or eleven heads each housing bright glowing eyes like Herobrine's from Minecraft's lore. Its legs, torso, and arms were all similar to those of a human but it still had the midnight physique. I didn't understand how I saw its true form, but I did and I feared the fact that others didn't. In truth, there have been times that it would have fooled me as well but I know what to look for. A necklace with the Eye of Horus. Not really, but it was actually a necklace with an eye on it, I don't know that it's from any mythology but so long as it isn't a real eye (it's not, thankfully) I almost couldn't care less about it. Once I figured it out the creature never bothered trying to change form to appear human to me but it still keeps up the charade with others.

I suppose that's just one of the perks of being stalked by someone since you were in second grade.

Gradually, Mom seemed rushed. She hardly ever goes over the speed limit to avoid getting in trouble with the law, especially when we are going somewhere important or we have a time limit. Don't push your luck she tells me, because most people don't have much of it. Especially the Elfa family and since she keeps to her principal I try my best to keep with it. As it turns out, my family is quite unlucky. I won't go into the details because you don't want to hear them, but you must be part of an unlucky family if you started getting stalked at a young age by a creature that there is no information on.

I wondered what mom saw the creature and then I realized I didn't want to know. It was probably the opposite of what its true form was, which as it would turn out its disguise would be stunning. The most gorgeous thing you could ever lay your eyes upon. Suddenly, I wondered what Nashoj would think when I told him about being followed by the creature again. He claims that he's seen it before somewhere but he didn't quite remember and he was the first one to believe me when I first told him about the encounters. So far, he's also the last.

Let me clarify, when we were little kids everyone believed me, that was within my age range at least. The news spread like wildfire but the teachers eventually stopped allowing talk of the "Soul Splitter" as we called it for reasons unknown to us. They claimed it was too distracting and that it wasn't a real creature so we should stop pretending that it was. It was scaring some of the younger kids, she used me as an example though I wasn't exactly scared. And I was the one who told everyone about it.

"Mom," I finally decided to ask, "that person has been tailing us for quite some time now. Do you think that they are following us?"

"That person? No, nobody's following us, Sargo." she smiled, "They probably have to head the same way as us for a while or maybe they're even going to the same place by sheer coincidence. But they aren't following us. Why would anyone stalk us?"

I've been wondering the same thing for five years now but I haven't gotten anywhere with answers, so I decided to stay quiet until we got away from it.

Despite her assurance, she kept looking back. That couldn't have been a good sign or a safe driving technique. Again, what did I know, though? I was only a recently-turned twelve-year-old boy who couldn't even read or write properly, so I wasn't one to judge the way someone goes about things. Unless it involves major planning. Then nobody understands it so it's a horrible idea because we can't do it correctly.

As we continued, Mom looked more and more anxious so even though I doubted that the Soul-Splitter would actually try and split our souls I was getting quite nervous myself. To calm down, I thought of the water, it was my main way in order to relieve stress because I used to be terrified of it but slowly and surely Mom taught me it wasn't so bad. It started as dancing in the rain, then we'd play in puddles, and we'd eventually managed to work up to the ocean. The water is a reminder that even though things may seem terrifying at the moment, they may not be as bad as they seem. Granted, she may have easily taught me that water isn't that bad because she specializes in exposure therapy, but I have a feeling that the true colors of the ocean (despite it being clear) would have been easily visible to me eventually. Maybe later in life but it would have happened, I'm sure.

Mom pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru with the most serious expression I have ever seen anyone have at a McDonald's before. She waited a moment before speaking.

I couldn't help but notice that the creature followed us through.

"Look," she must have noticed the same thing I did, because her face paled," When I tell you to go, run. You'll head to the airport and you won't stop, not until you get inside. It's in about half a mile. You know the way to Starview, correct?" I nodded, "Good. Starview is right next to the airport, run and don't look back. It was Orpheus' downfall and I don't wish for it to be yours as well. History repeats itself only because we let it. Does all of this make sense so far?"

I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded. The order window was two cars ahead of us at this point but my gaze was fixed on Mom.

"Good. Once you make it to New York City and find Camp-half-Blood. It's somewhere in the woods, I don't know exactly where but your sister does. Try to meet up with her at the airport and she'll take you. Also, you will see some strange things, to say the least. You will get used to it but if you're confused or scared don't be afraid to ask for help. Your life may just depend on it."

One car was between the creature and us and I was beginning not to like the fact it was getting so close. Why had Mom decided to pull into here? Some sort of test, maybe, but it's hard to say for sure.

"Now," Mom told me, "go!"

I got out of the car and ran in the direction of Starview and heard Soul-Splitter say something but I couldn't hear exactly what it was I was vaguely aware of Mom saying something to him in a casual tone but I was focused on running.

I might as well mention that the creature didn't only speak English but also a few more languages such as Spanish, ancient Greek, Arabic, and Latin. And those are just the ones that I can guarantee that it knows.

I ran for almost half an hour without stopping, I only slowed down once both Starview and Monumental Airlines were in sight. Luckily, the creature didn't seem to be coming after me but I made one last sprint into the building and slammed the glass doors behind me. As I did in my peripheral vision I saw the dark silhouette of the Soul-Splitter. I sighed in relief, "Just in time, I suppose."

Instead of waiting for the creature to learn how to open the doors, I went through all of the airplane procedures. As I did so I sent a quick prayer to whatever god there was that Mom was okay, I trusted that she would be, but I wanted to make sure. Just as a safety precaution.

After all of the required checks and such I found my seat on the plane and sat down. Fortunately, I was allowed to keep my luggage so that was a plus side in my eyes.

I put my luggage in the little cubby above my seat all except for my phone and a pair of earbuds. I turned on Airplane mode and opened the gallery app and clicked the next video. The thumbnail, like the previous ones, was black but I stared at the screen. I couldn't bring myself to look out of the window, flying was already anxiety-inducing enough without staring down at the ground.

The video was completely silent for a moment aside from the sound of movement, likely the camera. Suddenly Percy, at least I assumed it was Percy since he made the previous one, showed two men who appeared to be in their late fifties. The one on the left cleared his throat.

He sat in a black wheelchair and had brown hair with a matching beard. He dressed in an orange tee with the same words and design as the one I had gotten earlier. He was wheelchair bound but he looked as though he could easily flatten any of his opponents though I had no idea how he could. He also looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place where from. I doubted it was important anyway so I didn't focus on it, though as I focussed on him a little bit more I figured out where.

Mom had a photo in the living room of her class back when she was in sixth grade when the students asked if they could take a few photos of the class because they wanted to be a photographer and even her Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner agreed to be in the picture and Mom decided to keep a copy of it ever since because she never had a class picture like that before. I remembered her telling me that Mr. Brunner even hosted these fake little jousting tournaments which was part of the reason she liked his class, but most of all he helped her more than any other teacher.

Mom used to be what one might call a troubled kid, apparently, there was this one boy in her class whom she always threw her lunch, normally a PB&J, in his hair, all because he walked funny. She says she hasn't seen him since and if she were to, she would try to actually apologize and see how he's doing. She always hopes that it's going well for him and his one friend, despite all the fights they got into. Mr. Brunner helped her change by pointing out her bad behavior and offering actual ways to help. That's what made the school worth it to her.

Mr. Brunner stood up (which Mom would describe as a miracle) but he didn't have normal human legs. His upper half was still human appearing but from below his waist was the body of a white and mighty stallion. If I wasn't mistaken, that was a creature from Greek mythology, a centaur. Though I've always heard that they were called "party ponies" and he didn't seem like much of a partygoer, I could easily be wrong. I didn't think centaurs even existed, though weird this is, it could have been edited but I doubted it. I didn't trust that Percy could even think of managing a feat like that, and after dealing with the Soul-Splitter for five years, I wasn't about to doubt that this actually happened.

Finally, he spoke.

"Greetings demigods, ethereal friends, cocoa puffs, and anyone that doesn't fall into that category." the man beside him scoffed in annoyance as though he didn't fall into it, "Mr. D and I have issued this meeting because Rachel has gotten a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi. There may not be much evidence, but we also have a suspicion that it's beginning to unfurl already."

Some murmuring broke out in a choir of whispers from the attendees of the meeting who weren't confined to watching it by a recording of a man that they never met but they soon got shushed by the man standing beside Mr. Brunner. He didn't look like much, but maybe that's why they were so scared.

He had a look that said Be quiet otherwise I will turn all of you into dolphins as well as an untamed expression as nobody could control him. His hair was unkempt and he had a beer belly as well as a leopard skin shirt, making him not match the other adult, but maybe that was the point. He seemed like he was trying to convey the look of importance,

"Problems, listen up," the man said, "I won't repeat a thing, so pay close attention. And if either Chiron or Rachel tries to because you weren't paying attention I'll make sure to transform them, maybe into a grapevine or something like that, I don't know yet though. Now Rachel Dare, please step forward."

A moderately beautiful woman stepped forward next to the two men on camera. She appeared to be in either her late teens or her early twenties. Her hair was a curly mess of red hair like she had recently had to fight some sort of mythical creature in order to get there and she wore the same shirt that Chiron was wearing with a pair of ripped jeans. Despite probably having been through much worse than a presentation, she looked terrified. She held onto a red College-Ruled notebook so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

She took a deep break and then exhaled as she flipped to a page marked by a Post-It note then read aloud for all who were listening to hear.

"The Mark of the Seas,

Upon this world shall it reap

To finish its creed

That his brother could not mend.

With the Skies the Sea will clash

And the victor is unforeseen

But himself he must ease."

"What kind of prophecy even was that?" the camper sounded horrified by what he had heard. Probably because it wasn't a type of poetry heard by man before that day for a good reason.

"Could it be about a son of Poseidon? It mentioned the mark of the sea, and if it's a son of the sea god we all know who is meant to go on the quest."

"I don't like the sound of the Sky and the Seas clashing, if Zeus and Poseidon are at it again, I don't know that we'd be able to stop them a second time. Convincing gods once is already hard enough."

All of the campers started giving their input on things but their voices began to all seem to merge and sound like a staticky radio trying to find the signal of a station to connect to that just won't work for whatever reason radios decide to malfunction.

Mr. D. Hushed all of them again but a familiar voice spoke up before either he or Mr. Brunner even got a word in.

"Please tell me that isn't the actual prophecy!" Percy broke in when nobody answered he groaned, I assumed it was because everyone expected him to complete it, "This isn't good if so."

He sounded exasperated and exhausted as though he didn't have it in him to deal with even a fraction of another one of the gods' problems. Like he knew that he was set up to fail.

"What's not good, Percy?" Chiron sounded genuinely curious as to what the answer may be and campers started whispering among themselves but I couldn't make out what any of them had actually said.

"I've had a dream," Percy said, "Or rather a series of them. That prophecy. . . it's not good. For about a week I've been having these dreams. Each time someone--I don't know who but it's always the same guy--shows up and speaks the prophecy then something horrid happens. It's all a little fuzzy, I can try to think of some examples if you want me to but I'm drawing a blank right now."

I could swear it looked like Chriron looked as though he had aged twenty years and then became extremely pale, "No, it's all right Percy. Don't strain yourself, but if you do happen to remember let me or Mr. D. know when you do, and if you have any more of those nightmares report them immediately, no matter what the time is."

"Will do, Chiron."

Mr. D. smiled, "A recurring prophecy is always interesting, and it's in the form of a modern type of poem that isn't even well known. Oracular Poems are always a delight to read out loud to Apollo because he gets squirmish around them like he is terrified of them." his grin got wider, "Not to mention this is the first time I've heard of an Oracular Poem being the prophecy, which makes it all the more thrilling! Oh, how I can't wait to see how this unfolds!"

Chiron sighed and then dismissed the campers but before he did he also asked that Percy stay back so that they could talk in private.

The video ended there.

I looked out of the window to see how close we were to our destination only to realize that for one thing, my view was amazing for someone terrified of heights. My window happened to be aligned with the middle of the wing so I couldn't see downwards but I could still gaze at the clouds and the bright blue sky. The second thing that I noticed was that it would be quite hard to figure out where you were, even without the view downwards obstructed when going to a place that you've never been to before.

I was about to turn on the next video and if Percy didn't have any visuals in the next one maybe even stare out of the window to try and help me conquer my fear of heights.

Unfortunately, that's when it all went downhill and the lightning struck.

Author's Note

No notes, thanks for reading though!