It was unusually hazy for a demigod dream. I knew I was in Manhattan, but I seemed to be constantly shifting locations- parks, buildings, bridges, streets. It made me homesick at first. But then I saw it.
It was practically as if New York had half-sunk into the ocean. Everything was flooded. In a flash I saw the prettiest skyline in the world, but it was all black, as if Dumbledore himself had taken his Deluminator and used it on the entire city. A few lights blinked weakly, but other than that, the black night sky seemed to swallow the skyscrapers of the greatest city on Earth.
When I flashed back to the streets, they were empty save for the water- no people, no animals, no cars. Heavy wind blew signposts and trash and causing waves in the flood. I saw bridges flooding, houses being washed away. Even the Ground Zero site was soaked. The only lights came from the cars- all of them with bright red and flashing lights as they grouped together outside large buildings. My stomach dropped as I realized the only cars left on the streets of Manhattan were ambulances, all parked in front of hospitals.
The flags of the U.N. building were flapping wildly, almost as if they'd been tasered. I flashed to a place I vaguely recognized from a postcard- the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Had whoever it was who bestowed the name Atlantis on the flooded, collapsed town and boardwalk had unknowingly jinxed this place? It looked as if so.
Another image- a theme park, maybe? Whatever it had been, it was no more. I saw the very top hill of a roller coaster, slowly sinking into the sea.
The worst image was the last; I couldn't really see that much, but I could barely make out two old men. They stood in the middle of the ocean- a perfectly calm spot, untouched by the horror I'd seen earlier- laughing maniacally. I could see the huge storm, battering and flooding and causing huge waves, all around them, yet they seemed impervious as they nearly doubled over. I'd had personal experience with that state of calm, I realized. They were in the eye of a hurricane, and a massive one by the looks of it. One of them stopped lugging for just a moment, and I barely heard his cry over the crashing of the waves.
"Watch as your precious, life-saving sea ruins the life you've cherished! We will succeed where Kronos failed! We will destroy Olympus!" He began to cackle again.
And then I fell into the sea, a blue-gray ocean of cold that was, for the first time, hostile.
I awoke with a start, disoriented and covered in cold sweat. It took me a minute to remember where I was- Annabeth's dad's house, in San Francisco. She and I had been checking up on Mount Tam a bit and Mr. and Mrs. Chase were happy to loan me a pillow, blanket, and their couch for the night.
As far as I could tell, it was way too freaking early to be up- probably around three or four in the morning- but try as I might, I couldn't fall back asleep. Not when my previous dream was still vivid in my mind. I had no choice but to stay up.
It was simple really- get back home, kick some mythological ass, and make them sorry that they'd ever messed with my town. Problem solved.
But as usual, things don't work out as planned.
This was written for all the Hurricane Sandy victims out there. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to be in that situation, and I hope we can help support you guys. Yeah, the Sandy victims may not get to read this, but it's all I can really think about. All the scenes I described are real, found from pictures on the Internet.
Thanks for reading! Let's show our support for all the victims of this storm.
EDIT (11/29): Heh, I lied. This is it- no more chapters. Sorry for the cliffhanger there but I like this the way it is. Percy would've just kicked ass anyway, so it's all good. Thanks again for reading!
