A/N: No excuse. Just procrastinated. Enjoy!

Chapter Two

"Dang, man. You've been having this dream for weeks. What do you think it means?" Henry asked.

Henry was Vlad's one of two best friends. Henry was like Vlad—a descendant of one in Greek mythology—except he actually knew who his godly parent was. Well, everyone at Half Blood High knew who their godly parent was—even if they were related to a monster. Morpheus, god of dreams, that's who Henry's father was. Like half of the student body, Henry had found out which god he belonged to when he first came to Half Blood High.

The high school had a special system where they figured out the freshmen's parents. When they first go in, they are to report to the Godly-Purpose Room, or the GP room. It's the building next to the gymnasium which is used for things related to their parents. It is usually only used for the determination centers or classes. The reason it can be really useful is that no matter how much damage is done to it whilst exorcising one's powers, it will reshape itself back into a plain, white room after you leave. Of course the school board hired some Hephaestus and Athena construction workers to help build that architectural plan.

In the humongous GP room are stations, or determination centers. The freshmen line up according to last name at a station. When they come up to the window, there is a machine that pricks your finger, scans the DNA test results, tells you who is your godly parent, and that determines your schedule and where your locker will be.

"Maybe it has something to do with finding who your parents are," Meredith suggested. "It's possible that they could be the key to whatever destiny you're supposed to fulfill."

Meredith was Vlad's second best friend. They had liked each other for the past few years, but realized it was best if they stayed best friends. Why make a relationship more complex than necessary?

Meredith was the other fifty percent whose parents told her who her godly parent was before she came to Half Blood High. She was the descendant of Circe, a sorceress. Her adoptive parents had told her of how she came into their lives when she was seven. Circe, not wanting to leave her island to drop off a baby, had popped her to her adoptive parent's doorstep with a note of who she was, who Circe was, what was expected of her, and how she got there. Just like Vlad's parents, they had done lots and lots of research with no choice but to believe what the note said. It became even more convincing when Meredith had the ability to make pots and plates dance with her laughter when she was five.

She is right, Vladimir, said a voice in Vlad's mind. As anyone might react when they hear a voice, other than their own, in their head, Vlad freaked out the first time it happened. Vlad recalled the first time he heard the voice.

*Three weeks ago*

Vlad had just woken from the dream with the laistrygonian, sweaty and panting. It was the first time he'd dreamt of it. He sat in his bed, going over the dream again and again to try to decipher its meaning.

You must seek the one with a sea of mystery and answers. Vlad stilled. He waited a few seconds before calling out, "Hello?" He waited for an answer he didn't believe would come.

Vlad recalled the dream and mumbled to himself, "I must be going out of my mind."

Heed my words, Vladimir. It will lead you to your destiny.

"Okay, who is this?" Vlad called in a frantic voice. He grabbed his knife off his bedpost and looked about his room. Minutes had passed by when Vlad realized that the mysterious voice probably wasn't coming back. Knife kept close, he went to his bathroom to get on with his morning routine.

"Hey guys, have either of you ever heard a voice in your head," Vlad asked his friends.

Both Henry and Meredith looked at each other then looked back at Vlad. "What do you mean?" Henry asked warily.

"Like a woman's voice giving riddled words."

"Uh, no," they said in unison. Vlad saw the concerned looks on his friends' faces and decided he probably should just forget about it, or he'd end up in an asylum.

"Never mind, just forget about it. I'll see you two later," Vlad dismissed it and headed to class. He would just have to figure out what Athena meant on his own.

Vlad thought about Meredith's suggestion and Athena's reassurance. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

When Henry looked at Meredith, she nodded. Before Vlad could ask about it, Henry started, "So, Vlad," he seemed hesitant, "have you heard anymore voices since last time?" Vlad stiffened. What should he say? There was hardly anything one could say about a voice in their head without making themselves sound insane. He was already worried that they might have a strait jacket ready for him in their backpacks.

Before Vlad was forced to lie to his friends, the bell for first period rang. "We better get to class," he said climbing the school's front steps. "I'll see you guys later." He saw his friends give each other one last look before they headed their separate ways to their locker sections; Henry and Meredith to the hallway known as the Minor Lockers for the minor gods, and Vlad to the Hermes section of the Olympian Lockers for those born from an Olympian god.

Now you might be asking yourself, If there's a DNA scanning that tells you your godly parent, then why does Vlad not know his? If you picked that up, then good for you! Let me tell you what happened on the first day of freshman year when dear Vladimir went to the determination center to find out his godly parent.

Vlad had walked up to the window labeled S-T. He placed his right forefinger on the cool, metal table on top of the scanner. He felt a prick and removed his hand as he saw a paper come out of a slot on his right. Vlad was beaming, ready to find out who he really was, but his face fell when he saw that the space after the words "Your Godly Parent Is" said "Inconclusive." He could've sworn he died a little inside when he saw that his schedule was full of random classes and that he would be going to the Hermes section of the Olympian Lockers. Vlad didn't understand. What was it about his blood that made his schedule inconclusive?

Not knowing what else to do, Vlad went to principal's office to see what might have happened. Principal Stone had no useful information other than that Vlad's glitch has never happened before, and advised Vlad to go to the determination center at the beginning of every school year in case he was determined differently. The next school year, Vlad had done just that, yet here he was a sophomore, still with inconclusive results, a locker in the Hermes section, and a jumbled schedule while everyone else still had the same individualized criterion schedule.

Drowning in self-pity, Vlad hobbled his way to archery class.

"So I've had an idea," Henry says before Vlad can sit down at their lunch table across from him and next to Meredith.

Vlad and Meredith both sigh. Whenever Henry has an idea, it's usually some crazy experiment that gets something, or someone, hurt or broken.

"And what, I ask warily, is your brilliant idea," Vlad asked sarcastically.

Henry shot him a glare. "I didn't claim it to be brilliant, just an idea. You know how we've been learning how to transport other people in Entrance class?" They all had the same second period class. The school would have too many classes if everyone had their own subjects, so they merged some together. "I think, with a lot more practice on my part, I can pop Meredith into your dream so she can find out what it means."

"Uh, one," Meredith started, "there is no way I'm going to allow you to pop me in anywhere. Two, why can't you pop in there yourself? You're the one with the dream power. Three, what makes you think I can find out what Vlad's dream means?"

"Remember when you said you found a Hidden spell in your magic textbook so that you could find your cell phone?" Henry asked. "Maybe you could use that spell to discover the hidden meaning behind Vlad's dream."

Meredith gave him an are-you-serious look. "I used it on an object, not a person's dream. What if I give him brain damage, or something?"

"Yeah, I'd really like to keep all my brain cells in check," said a wide-eyed Vlad. "We all know how few of those I have already. Besides, won't popping in hurt?"

"Well, I've done to Melissa a bunch of times and she seems to be alright," Henry smirked. "I make sure she dreams of me at least four times a week." His grin couldn't have been any wider.

Both Vlad and Meredith gave him a disgusted expression. "That is so not cool, Henry," Meredith scolded. "Tampering with a female's emotions can be very dangerous for you."

Henry scoffed. "How? She dreams of me, realizes how much of a catch I am, she falls helplessly into my arms, and we make out happily ever after," he reasoned. "It's a water-tight plan." Just then, Melissa was walking towards them, heading to her table with her lunch in her hands. "Watch this."

"Hello, Melissa," Henry stood up and blocked her path. "You're looking lovely this fine day." He gave her one of his very charming smiles.

Melissa snorted. "Yeah, right, toad-breath. In your dreams." Then she walked off, but not before bumping Henry's shoulder with a rough shove.

"Oh, yeah," Vlad snickered with Meredith, "really water-tight."

"Whatever. She'll come begging to me soon enough," Henry grumbled, sitting back down.

"Okay, if you say so," Meredith said. "Don't say you weren't warned."

"Whatever," Henry said again, "so are we doing this dream thing, or what?" He turned to Meredith.

She looked reluctant, but nodded anyways. "I guess I could search up how to use the Hidden spell in his dream, but it might take a few days."

Henry smiled. "And I will work on popping in other people." He turned to Vlad. "You in, man? It is your dream, after all."

Vlad looked at Meredith then back at Henry. Vlad could see so many things going wrong with this, but how could he refuse when he might find out who his parents are… or who he is? In the end, Vlad finally agreed. "Yeah, man. I'm in."

"Cool. We'll try it next week after me and Meredith have practiced what we need to, and Vlad has prepared himself for a slight pinch in his brain." Vlad's eyes went wide. "I'm kidding." Henry smiled.

Henry couldn't have been more excited.

Vlad couldn't have been more scared.

A/N: Please review. I would appreciate your thoughts.