Dawn Of The Golden Age

" And if you hear from me again I'll be a whole new level of badass!" I clicked the red button on the side of my tape. Man I was a crazy little kid, then again that was almost three years ago. Now camp demigod is running rampant with new prodigies. Me, Emma, and Thesus have been moved up to Demi Counselors. It's like a camp counselor but instead of grubby little kids we deal with grubby little Demigods. But it has its perks, extra rations, we can stay up later, and we have more contact with the outside world.

Me and Emma got closer throughout that time. And she got more beautiful if I'm being honest. She changed her hair, she grew stronger but still looked like a lady. Now she takes a course in world knowledge so she gets smarter day by day. It's amazing and she's good with kids. She's made for this place

Thesis has calmed down slightly, only because he can't force the kids to battle anymore. As hard as he tries, " training for the battle of a lifetime" isn't a valid excuse for little Demi's to practice stabbing each other. He's still hanging out with us and we're still pretty close friends. Speaking of friends, I haven't seen Marco since I found out who my father was, and I just forgot about him since. Makes me feel kinda sad. Maybe I should send him a letter after dinner. I ran over to the dinning hall to eat with everyone else, I looked around and saw no one else was there. But my plate was sitting there all hot and steamy. I sat down and began eating the nice steak and potatoes that lay in front of me. After roughly about an hour of eating I went to my cabin to make good on my letter to Marco. I grabbed a pen and a good piece of paper and began to write about him, my journey, Emma, Thesus. As I was about to sign my name on the bottom, something pounded on my cabin door.

" Josh open the fucking door!" The voice sounded deep but raspy.

"Open the fucking door man!" The voice shook my core

My curiosity conquered my fear and I went to open the door. Suddenly Marco comes flying in and crashing on the floor. I turned around in astonishment.

" Marco! What the hell are you doing here!" I screamed at the body on my floors.

He looked skinny and disheveled. His hair was a mess, he had what looked like the beginning of a beard. It looked like he hadn't eaten in months.

After I composed myself I pulled him off the floor and sat him down. Seeing his whole face was worse. His eyes put raccoons to shame. But his eyes, they were almost glowing.

" Josh, I have something to tell you." He said in between raspy coughs.

Just as he's about to speak again Emma rushed to the door.

" Hey Josh there having seconds in the dining hall! Do you want any.." her words trailed off into a joking silence at the sight of the man sitting next to me.

" holy shit Marco is that you? You look horrible" she said somberly

" well since you're here sit next to Josh I have some news" he said calmly

Emma sat right next to me on my bed. I was too distracted by Marco to even get excited about her sitting next to me.

" I've discovered something very unearthing. I don't know any other way to say it. I'm the oracle" he said shaking

" your the what!" I screamed at him.

I felt Emma's heart pounding. She was close to tears, I could see it in her eyes.

" I'm the oracle! I was taken a few years ago by two men. They knocked me out and tied me up. When I woke up I was surrounded by men of all ages, the tallest one called my name and said ' Son it is time to carry your family's legend. ' as he stood there I got a better look, I realized it was my father. I was in shock. I haven't seen him in what felt like a century. Before my excitement could take over he touched my forehead. My head tilted back and all I could see and feel was a golden glow. During this I gained the memories of oracles past, I started to cry. My father spoke again and said ' you my child are the next seer and shall follow our legacy. You are the next oracle'. And after that things went black and I woke up in a different place and from there on my body turned off and my mind began to take control, for years my mind was training. I haven't eaten, I've drank near to nothing. I haven't slept. My mind has been controlling my body to breathe, walk, talk, everything. My body is a puppet for this oracle of delphi"

I could tell Emma was hearing the same thing I was because she had the same look of shock as i did. I couldn't formulate any words to describe what I wanted to say, I was too shocked. I couldn't believe that he was here, I was excited to say the least. I looked over to Emma to see if she felt the same, but tears started to flow down her face,

"what?" I managed to say. "What do you know?" Marco and Emma both looked down, as if the floor had become the most interesting thing to look at.

"Tell me!" I said, venom dripping from my voice.

"All the previous oracles have died, they say the spirit of pythia is cursed." A new voice said. I looked over and saw that Borus was at the door, for who knows how long,

"The spirit has been the oracle for the god Apollo and all the others for centuries." He continued. But before he could utter another word I cut him off.

"What is the CURSE." I said, trying to remain calm. Borus met my fierce gaze with a calm one.

"The spirit of the oracle will not change bodies, until the children of hades are no longer outcasts. I don't know how they got the spirit into your body but, that doesn't matter. As long as you're the oracle we will protect you." I could feel myself getting angrier, so I bolted out of the room to the arena. "Josh wait-" Marco called. I ignored him. I had to find a way to release my anger, luckily when i got there Thesus was hacking at a dummy. "You. Me Now." I spat. Before he even turned around he said, "So Marco told you about Hades' Curse of Deplini then huh?" "Yeah, how can you still feel like an outcast?" I screamed at him. I thought I was his friend, I thought I could call him my brother. "WHY" I screamed. He remained calm, not saying a word. "You want to know why? I see the way you look at Emma!" Then it hit me, he likes her too! That enraged me even more. "I thought we were friends. What happened?" I said, trying to deescalate the situation.

"What HAPPENED!" He screamed at me. This wasn't like Thesus, "Your incessant swooning over her drove me mad." He kept screaming. I tried to think of what to say to calm him down, I tried to think of what could be wrong. "Maybe he's possessed, like Ares?" I knew that was it, hiding his feelings and letting them fester wasn't like him. I had to figure out a way to stop him, I noticed his body began convulsing. The shaking kept getting faster and faster, the faster it got the faster my fear rose. I had to help him, his head sunk down, then his voice came out low and raspy, "Josh...help me.. This isn't me…. Don't let me be taken over by that bastard.." Then a new voice came from his body, "It's too late, foolish son of hades, I AM RISEN!" As if on cue Theseus fell to the floor in a heap, I tried to rush over but in that instant a new voice came from his mouth. "Tis I, Porphrion, King of Giants, Bane Of Zeus! Finally I rise again!' Theseus's body began to float, he looked at me, "Thank you mortal, you and all the other foolish demi gods drove him to a point of mental weakness, then it was easy pickins for me to take over.. A little whisper in the ear. And his body is mine." He let out a booming laughter, all I could hear after that was the sound of camp DemiGod getting ready for war. "COME ARGOS" I thought. Once I opened my eyes my good friend was standing there, good as new. He turned and faced the possessed Theseus, "If we want to save him we need to restrain him first" He said in my head. "Easier said than done, MUTT" Thesus body barked back. Once I knew he could hear Argos, I attacked, not the wisest choice considering I got blasted back by pure air, I couldn't even get close. "Careful, fool" Argos said. I had to restrain my friend, I jumped up and swung my fist. Just like last time, I got blasted back on my feet. A hearty laugh echoed through Thesus mouth, "This vessel has some resistance, I like a challenge!" He said smugly. He's fighting him, "Theseus DON'T LOSE TO HIM" I screamed. I went to jump up again, but a new voice erupted in my action, "HYDRA!!!" Someone screamed. I froze, "HA, they have arrived!" Porphyrion said. I glanced back at Theseus, knowing that wasn't him anymore. I could feel myself wanting to cry, instead I said, "I WILL be back for you, brother." I raced to the front of the camp, where the noise and sounds of burning came from. I got closer and thought, the Hydra. I knew the beast from a class I had taken earlier in the year. I ran through the details in my head, "Three heads, middle one breathes fire, DON'T CUT THE HEADS!" I thought to myself. I got in front of the beast, I realized something. It was covered in armor! "Archers! FIRE!" A nearby demigod screamed. "CEASE FIRE!!" I screamed. "They are mine! Get everyone out of here, wounded to medical, and CLEAR THE ARENA!" I barked out commands, I had no say in the rank of our military forces but out of sheer respect and fear for me the demigods followed my orders. I drew my weapons, and slowly walked towards the beast. I heard one voice behind, "Give Him HELL!!" Someone screamed. Then the demi gods behind me started cheering for me, I could feel myself giving off a cruel smile, "Ready old friend " I thought. "Always" Me and Argos advance with smiles on our faces. That hydra didn't stand a chance, but as I got closer I noticed that it had some backup. I noticed some skeletal soldiers, and some chimera. "Great, I hate chimera." I said. But I had to focus on the big beast in front of me first. I lit my blades a flame, like the tag team we were Argos began to grow until he matched the hydras size. They began to fight, biting and clawing at each other. I snuck onto the beasts many necks, and sliced its left head off. Making sure to burn the wound so a new one could grow back, I jumped from neck to neck slicing each head like it was nothing. The beast collapsed and began to disintegrate, I called to my comrades, "FIRE ARROWS!" They instantly understood.

"FIRE!!" I screamed. The first row of skeletal warriors was knocked back, I looked at the massive Argos, and pointed my blad at the mob of walking bones. All he had to do was rush them, he advanced, kicking a dozen soldiers every time he took a step. I sprang into the fray, slicing and dicing soldiers left and right. Then before I knew what hit me I was surrounded by a pack of chimera. I slowly spun in a circle to count how many there were, I counted four. "Too Easy" But there was something different about these ones, they seemed weird, I looked at them closely. Then I noticed they had foam coming from their jaws! "There RABID!! Don't let them bite you!!" I screamed. They advanced slowly, jaws wide open, I looked down on their gullets and saw something orange, then I remembered, They breathe FIRE! I wouldn't have time to move, "Oh crap" I thought. I tensed every muscle in my body, summoning my darkness. I crossed my arms and before I imploded from too much darkness, I let out a scream and flung my arms in the direction I wanted my darkness to go. Straight at the chimera's heads. Once I let go they flew back, bullet shaped holes in their heads. I was enjoying myself now, just flexing my muscles, but as I raced from monster to monster I began to notice the increased appearance of demi god soldiers. And some of them looked familiar! No way they betray us, I couldn't fathom it. Only when I began to realize that they were slowly surrounding me, I began to recognize faces. Leta from Ares cabin, Luke from Hermès cabin and Mason from Hephaestus cabin stood around me blades drawn. "What do you think of us now shadow boy!" Mason barked. "Come on guys! Drop your blades!" I tried to talk them down but no dice. They attacked simultaneously, one from above, below and in dead center. I felt like it was in slow motion, their blades slowly nearing my body. Closer and closer, I could feel my body tensing up. "God damn it fight!" I recognized Emma's voice instantly. "Kill or be killed!" She kept screaming. "She's right, I can't die yet. It's either them or me. And god damn it it'll be me." I thought to myself. In a flash, I sliced Mason's neck, stabbed Leta in the gut with my dagger, and with one quick slice of the sword I decapitated Luke. All three bodies dropped like a sack of bricks at the same time, "god damn it, the world is a cruel place" I thought to myself as one lone tear slid down my cheek. "Get off me!" Someone screamed. I looked toward the sound, I saw Emma surrounded by even more Demigod soldiers. They tried to kidnap her, I could see the ropes. My rage began to build, I could see the sky darken. I felt this burning sensation deep in my chest, I looked down and saw the symbol of my father was burning through my shirt. It felt like it was burning my insides, but instead I raced off towards Emma. By the time I got there my shirt was completely burned off, I was wearing no armor. I was like a berserker, all guts and no brains. But I didn't care, this time I attacked the Demi gods without a second thought, the only favor I did them was kill them quickly. But even that wasn't fast enough, I managed to kill three of them. But I didn't see the rest sneak up on Emma, they grabbed her by the neck and knocked her unconscious. I could feel my rage growing, burning like an eternal flame. I couldn't contain it anymore. I finally exploded, knocking away anyone within a three foot radius. All began to see red, my body moving like a man possessed. Everytime i felt someone come close to me all I had to do was simply look in their direction, and it was like their life force faded away. I was killing them with a glance and I didnt give a damn. They tried to hurt the one person in this god forsaken world who actually didn't see me as a freak, a killer or some child sent from the heavens. I had to get her back, I surged forward but only then did I realize I could feel myself burning. My darkness was killing me! I tried to fight it but i couldn't, i thought I was about to die when a calm voice played in my head, "Find the calm in the Chaos, my child, for the calm is the real weapon." I had no idea who that voice was, but I was thankful. I began to see colors again and the burning sensation subsided, I began to look around frantically for Emma, thankfully I saw her getting carted away on a medical cart along with around ten other soldiers. They all had burn marks on their exposed skin, "Oh crap, was that me?" I thought to myself. I began to look around with even more urgency, I realized the enemy army had retreated, but our army was sprawled out on the ground. Burn marks everywhere, I could feel the fear rising inside my chest. I tried to find Borus, he was standing off to the side, a large burn on his arm and left leg. He met my gaze with shocked fear, and that's when I knew, I did this.