One-Octavian
“Lord Pluto, why me? I made horrible decisions in my life. Why should I go on this quest?” I asked the god of the Underworld.
Pluto cocked his head and smiled slightly. “It’s with a Greek,” he informed me.
My eyebrows shot up. “You can’t! He’ll kill me!”
Pluto laughed. “No, I’m sure she won’t,” he replied. “She knows what has to happen on this quest, and you’re not allowed to die.”
“How does she know?” I asked suspiciously.
“Ever hear of Rachel Elizabeth Dare?” he inquired of me.
“The Greek Oracle?” I asked. “I met her once. She’s not a huge fan of mine, and honestly the feeling is mutual.”
Smiling sinisterly, Pluto continued. “The prophecy is rather simple.”
“I know the prophecy, my lord.” I did, in fact, know the prophecy.
In the land without rain
Where one was lost without pain
The truth, the oracles will find
If they can keep one mind
Together they can solve what
No one before has but
If they fail to complete
The Greeks and Romans alike will deplete
“‘The truth, the oracles will find’... it means that Dare girl and I,” I realized aloud.
Pluto nodded. “‘The land without rain’... Rachel should know what that means,” he mused.
“I know. It’s where Bianca di Angelo died, isn’t it?” I asked.
Wincing, Pluto nodded again. “Yes. Now go,” he ordered. “You need to begin on your quest to find Mutatio.”