Have you ever had a dream that you knew was a dream but you couldn't wake up no matter what? I've had that for the longest time. No matter what happened in those dreams I wouldn't wake up. All the monsters that I fought and all the people I watched die seemed way too real. As far as I was concerned I wasn't dreaming, but I never slept. After a week or two I figured that I was dreaming and tried to remember what had happened. Every time I did this a new monster would come out of the shadows. All I could do was fight and fight and fight. I never had a chance to think; it was like something was controlling what I thought. I wanted so badly to be in control of my thoughts; I got the chance after I was visited.
"You are needed," a woman in a dark hooded shawl said to me in the midst of a battle. Then out of nowhere she stabbed me in the chest with a glowing blue sword. I could feel a cooling sensation spreading throughout my body. My breath shortened and became more laborious and I dropped to me knees. I heard my sword clattering to the ground by my side. My head started to throb and I started to see spots. Slowly my world went fuzzy and I blacked out.
If you've ever died it is not very fun. Somehow I ended up in Hollywood in record shop of sorts. Everyone inside was dead and none of them were moving on. As for me I was escorted by the gate keeper of death into a small boat and escorted across the river Styx's. The river was polluted with the dreams of people that would never come true. One thing in particular caught my eye; a photo. The girl in it was radiant and beautiful; a definite daughter of Aphrodite. She seemed to be in her twenties and wearing a wedding dress. Next to her was a tall handsome man in a tux, and I guessed it was her husband. But there was something strange about the photo that I couldn't quite place. Before the boat passed the picture I scooped it out of the river which was a huge mistake.
Pain shot up my arm like an explosion. Fortunately my hand wasn't burnt but the pain was unbearable. I didn't know how anyone could put their entire body in that river to become immortal. I could barely put my hand in it to pull out a picture. Once I had the picture in my possession I folded it up and put it in my pocket for safe keeping. Shortly after we arrived at the river's edge and came to the entrance to hell. It looked like a highway toll booth with the three headed dog Cerberus standing over all the dead trying to get through to the other side. I stood there dumbfounded and just watched the slow moving lines grow. It was then that a very well dressed man came striding past everyone and over to me.
"Nike," he said in a calm voice. "Hera warned me you might be arriving. Come with me I can't let you pass through to the other side."
"You mean I won't be dying?" I asked excited.
"Oh," Hades laughed. "You are dead, but I can get you back to your body and back to life."
"That would be terrific," I exclaimed causing a few of the dead to look over at me.
"Then hold still," Hades said taking a business sized envelope out of the air. Then he placed a hand on me and shoved me into the envelope. The inside was much roomier then you would think, but I guess that could have been because I was dead. I could hear Hades talking to someone through my paper confinement. "Deliver this to Camp Half-Blood and tell Chiron to open it by his bed."
"It will be done," said the gruff voice of a man I guessed was Hermes. I stayed in that envelope for a few minutes before I could smell strawberries; the welcoming sent of the camp. "Open this at Nike's bedside."
"Thanks Hermes," Chiron said when he got my envelope. I could feel him hesitate for a moment before talking again. "I thought that you were all up on Olympus?"
"I can still deliver mail," he said and there was a popping sound. I could hear Chiron's hoofs on the wooden floor as he made his way towards where my body lay. Light flooded into the envelope and I became immediately confused. If you've ever fallen in a dream and woken up then you know the sensation of returning to your body. Once I fell awake I sat up straight in my bed and fell back onto my pillow extremely light headed.
"How are you feeling?" Chiron asked.
"Dizzy," I sighed sitting up again. "How long have I been asleep?"
"About seven months," he said thinking. "I bet there are some people who would like to see you."
"But first," came the familiar voice of one of my best friends. "Get over here so I know I didn't fail."
"Jetstream!" I cried and leapt from my bed and out the window.
"When you're done," Chiron said from the window I had just leapt out of. "You might want to put some clothes on."
"He's right," Jet said and folded her wings around me as a hug. "It's good to see you moving around again, and I'm sorry I let that arrow get you."
"It's nothing," I said moving my shoulder around in a circle. "I'm fine now and that's all that matters."
"C'mon," Chiron called and I walked to the front of the big house to meet him. "You can wait inside and I'll go and grab your clothes."
"It's fine," I said standing in the sun. "It feels good to be alive again."
"If you say so," he said and we walked through the camp. Not much had changed since I had been shot but there seemed to be more people walking around.
"Nike!" I heard someone exclaim. Then I felt the cool touch of some ones hands on my bare skin. "You're alive!"
"I am now," I said turning around to see Crystal.
"I've missed you," she said embracing me again. It felt good to have the presence of another being against me. "There are some people you should meet, but you might want to wear more than orange boxer briefs."
"Whatever you say," I said opening my cabin door. None of the beds looked like a person had been sleeping in them in months. Still no sign of Percy.