the gang put their heads together and try to decipher this prophecy 

/ 

Nayeon and Jihyo were waiting for her when she exited the cave. They turned to her with curious and expecting gazes. 

“Well, what did she say?” 

Momo opted to hand them the scroll instead. Jihyo unfurled it while Nayeon hovered over her shoulder. 

”Oh man,” Nayeon raked her hand through her hair as her eyebrows furrowed, partly in worry and partly in excitement. “This quest sounds like a handful!” 

Jihyo bit her lip as she tried to analyze the riddles. “We should get this to Chiron. Maybe he can help decipher these lines.” 

Nayeon and Jihyo were debating back and forth about the prophecy as the three of them walked back to the Big House. Momo wasn’t really paying attention; she was just trying to process her whole visit with the Oracle and the spooky green voice thing. 

Before she knew it, they were back in front of the Big House. Still lost in thought, Momo trailed behind the other two as they approached Chiron’s office. Jihyo politely knocked before the three crowded into the room. 

“Ah, Miss Hirai. I trust your visit with Rachel was eventful?” 

“Yeah—eventful pretty much sums it up.” 

Chiron looked amused at her words. He waved a hand at the seats in front of his desk. Jihyo and Momo took a seat. Nayeon opted to lean against the wall instead, fiddling with Chiron’s old record player and the crate of vinyl records that sat next to it. 

“Well then, let’s see what the Fates have in store for you.” 

Momo took the cue and unfurled the scroll, spreading it on Chiron’s desk for all to see. 

Everybody took a moment. 

Chiron looked up after a long collective moment of silence. “It seems the Gods have decided to burden you with a long journey Momo—if the mention of Hercules and his Twelve Labors is anything to go by.” 

“As quest leader, you are allowed to bring up to two companions with you. Any more than that will invite disaster and tragedy.” 

Momo caught a glimpse of something in Chiron’s eyes. Like a flash of nostalgia and regret before it vanished altogether. 

Chiron folded his hands together on top of his desk before continuing. “I suggest you take the necessary precautions before venturing out into the mortal world. It can be quite dangerous out there, especially for demigods.” 

“When you are ready, Argus will take you to your quest’s first location using one of our camp vans.” 

Hearing the finality in his words, the girls got up ready to leave the room. Chiron spoke up once again. “One last bit of advice, Miss Hirai. Prophecies often have double meanings. Don’t overthink things, The Fates often work themselves out.” 

/ 

Momo stepped out onto the deck of the Big House, flanked by Nayeon and Jihyo. Her eyes gazed over the strawberry fields. Dusk had just settled and the camp was lit from the enchanted lanterns and torches. 

She breathed in a deep breath before letting out an even longer one. 

Her feelings were a mix of confusion, anxiety, and excitement all rolled up into one big mess. She only found out that she had demigod blood flowing through her veins just two weeks ago. Now she had a quest shoved into her lap and a prophecy thrown in her face by the Fates themselves. 

Oh, and don’t forget about the fact that her quest involved Hercules’ Twelve Labors. Which apparently took him twelve years to finish — 12 years!  

Momo let out another sigh. 

Ok Momo. Take a breather. That was back in the old days, when they didn’t have cars and phones and the internet. 

“What now?” Momo said out loud. You could hear her meek and resigned tone from a mile away. 

Nayeon and Jihyo exchanged a worried look. They knew quests were dangerous—from first hand experience, of course. But add a child of the Big Three to the mix and that’s just asking for the pot to boil over! 

“Well, you should start preparing supplies for your trip. Oh! And a plan!” Nayeon helpfully quipped in. 

Jihyo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you should get yourself properly ready for this quest. You’ll be needing all the help you can get.” 

Jihyo scanned Momo’s face, and if anxious worry and helplessness could be physically manifested, then that would be her expression right now. She reached out to squeeze Momo’s shoulder gently. 

“Don’t worry Momo. You have this whole camp behind your back. Just remember to breathe and take it one step at a time.” 

Jihyo flashed her signature warm smile and Momo felt a little better. At this point, Momo was expecting Nayeon’s arm over her shoulder. It was like their thing. 

Andddd there it is. 

“Let’s go meet up with the others. If we put all our heads together, we might be able to figure out those lines.” Nayeon dragged her by the neck as they continued down the camp path. Jihyo smiled her usual smile as she matched their walking speed. 

/ 

Jeongyeon drummed her fingers on the table repeatedly as she and the others waited for Nayeon, Momo and Jihyo. 

Mina was trying to put together a small puzzle. Dahyun sat next to her, undoing little pieces every once in a while. She giggled when Mina caught her and playfully slapped her arm with a cute whine. 

Chaeyoung and Sana were joking around with each other, doing some kinda weird dance in front of the campfire. 

Jeongyeon’s tapping continued until Tzuyu took hold of her hand, intertwining their fingers together. Jeongyeon looked down in surprise. 

“You know, your dad might have invented the lyre but I don’t think you inherited any of his musical sense at all.” 

Tzuyu had a smirk on her face as she said this. Jeongyeon narrowed her eyes before returning the smirk. 

“Is this your excuse to hold my hand?” 

“Yes. But I still stand by what I said.” 

“Wha—I—...ok.” 

Jeongyeon still got stunned by Tzuyu’s bluntness from time to time. She really couldn’t help but smile, not with the way Tzuyu’s cute smirk looked every time she was victorious in their little games of flirtatious banter. She squeezed their laced hands, getting a soft squeeze back. 

“Hey, there they are!” Chaeyoung’s shout caught the group’s attention. They followed her gaze to see Nayeon, Momo, and Jihyo approaching them. 

“Hey! How’d it go?” Dahyun was the first to ask them. 

Momo’s mouth quirked up. “I’m still wondering where all that green smoke comes from.” 

Quiet chatter arose; “What did she look like?” “Is the Oracle an actual mummy?” “Did the green smoke smell?” 

Jihyo looked over the commons area in the center of the Cabins. It was almost dinner time—campers were lazing around the tables and benches and grass field. 

“We should head somewhere quieter. To discuss the prophecy.” 

Momo blinked before suggesting, “How about my cabin? It’s quiet there.” 

/ 

The demigods entered Cabin 3 one by one. They crowded all around the room, making themselves comfortable. 

Momo didn’t mind at all—she liked this better. Way better than waking up to nothing but empty space each morning. 

“Alright! Hit us with that first rhyme!” Dahyun said while sprawled out on Momo’s bed. 

Momo chuckled as she opened the scroll. She recited the first verse of the prophecy out loud. 

“To find what you seek, you must delve, 

The clues hidden inside Hercules’ Twelve,”  

Chaeyoung her chin like she was a wise sage with a long, luscious beard. “Ok, so you’re looking for something. Andddd… the clue to it is associated with Hercules’ famous Twelve Labors.” 

“Holy Zeus , it’s like you’re starting out on level 50 instead of the first level!” Dahyun exclaimed. She’s never heard of a demigod successfully replicating Hercules’ legendary quest. She’s never heard of it PERIOD. 

Chaeyoung nudged her. That didn’t sound encouraging at all. “Right, well—we still don’t know what you’re looking for. It could be anything.” 

“Maybe it’s an artifact?” Mina chimed in. “There were plenty of important items during Hercules’ journey.” 

Jeongyeon scratched her head. “Let’s hear the next line. Maybe it can shed some light on what you need to find.” 

Momo looked back down at the scroll. 

“The haven is cursed, to undo what is done, 

To reverse the acts, restore the rays of the Sun, ” 

“Well, doesn’t that sound promising.” Tzuyu said it sarcastically with such a straight face, everyone couldn’t help but laugh. She cracked into a smile at everyone’s laughter. 

“This one’s kinda to the point. Getting back the rays of the Sun is the key to breaking the curse it seems. I don’t know what or where this haven is though.” Sana’s eyebrows were furrowed as she tried to put together the riddle. 

“What’s this about the rays of the Sun? I’m pretty sure NASA isn’t that advanced yet.” 

Momo frowned at the thought of flying towards the Sun. No thanks. Cool but no thanks . 

Jihyo snorted. “I’m pretty sure it’s a figure of speech. But I wouldn’t put it past the Gods for it to be actual and physical sun rays.” 

Sana turned to Momo. “What’s after that?” 

Her bright eyes flustered the Daughter of Poseidon. She hurriedly looked back down at the scroll lest she make a fool of herself in front of all their friends. Damn it Momo, you’re such a useless gay…  

“Take back the symbol of the Sea, its three prongs scattered, 

Your guide is in three, beware the black matter, ” 

“Is three like, the Gods’ favorite number or something?” 

An off comment from Nayeon and Dahyun. Jeongyeon snapped her fingers and pointed out a little clue. 

“I think that’s what you’re looking for—Poseidon’s Trident! Seeing as you’re the daughter of Poseidon after all. I mean, what else has three prongs and is a symbol of the Sea God.” 

“Yeah yeah, that might be it… it makes sense.” Momo slowly nodded her head. “But what about the guide? And this black matter?” 

“No idea.” Nayeon shook her head, throwing her hands up. “Your guide’s in three parts? Or three different people? If you see any black goop, you should probably run away.” 

“It’s probably some slimy sewage monster.” Dahyun jokingly commented. 

“And how would I fight that?” 

Dahyun shrugged before miming some sword techniques. She roped in Chaeyoung to play the role of the monster. 

Tzuyu giggled as Chaeyoung flopped onto the bed, pretending she was getting vanquished after an epic battle. 

“What’s the next line?” 

“Child of Fire, flames you must embrace 

For it is key in revealing evil’s face. ” 

The room started to quiet down after everyone registered the prophecy’s verse. Momo slowly lifted her head from the scroll, locking eyes with Chaeyoung across the room. 

At the mention of fire, everybody else started turning to Chaeyoung. She fidgeted a bit under all of the newfound attention. 

“Hey, I’ve got no clue about any of this.” Chaeyoung shrugged. 

Momo kept her eyes on the Daughter of Hephaestus a little longer. Chaeyoung stayed quiet but she looked like her mind was traveling a mile a minute. 

“Well, that’s the last line. Anyone got any ideas?” Momo passed the scroll over to Sana and Mina. If anyone could crack the riddles, it would be the two daughters of Athena. 

The girls bounced ideas off of each other, sprouting whatever they thought could help Momo in her quest. Some of them were good, and some of them were just straight up ridiculous and had everyone bursting out in laughter. Momo wrote down some of the ideas that everyone agreed on. 

Before they knew it, an hour and a half had passed. Everyone’s head snapped up at the sound of a conch shell blowing—dinner was starting. 

“Alright, how about we break for dinner? I don’t think we can get much else out of this prophecy.” 

The girls agreed wholeheartedly, getting up and stretching as they exited Momo’s cabin. The trip over to the Dining Pavilion was rowdy; Nayeon, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung were making jokes and acting out ridiculous gestures. 

The group split up into their respective tables as they reached the courtyard. Momo grabbed a plate and filled it up. She turned to the fire and scrapped some food into it, thinking of a prayer for her father. 

“Um… hey dad…” She stared into the fire, pondering over what to say. What do you even say to your dad who’s the sea god??  

“I know we probably don’t know each other very well for me to start asking for a favor so soon but… if you could offer some guidance for me on this quest, I’d really appreciate it ya’know.” 

Momo threw in some extra grapes. Just for good measure. 

She sat down at Poseidon’s table where she sat by herself. She ate about half her food before she started pushing it around on her plate and hoping the first 15 minutes would fly by quickly. 

As soon as the time was up, Momo scrambled up out of her seat. She regrouped with the others at their usual table, easily joining in on the rowdy laughter and easy conversation.