I Meet the Girl of my Dreams
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That night, I had a really strange dream. There was a girl sitting on the rocky outcrop of a mountain. Her jeans were ripped at the knees and not purposely like some people have done for style. Her ashen face was stained with dirt and tears fell from her stunning inky blue eyes, streaking the soot all over her face. Her arms and cheeks were full of scrapes, holding back drops of golden blood. She was a goddess.
The worst part of the entire dream was her scream though. It wasn't a scream of fear or anything. No, her shrieks were laced with pure agony. It was a heart-wrenching sound and, looking down on her, I wanted nothing more than to cover my ears.
But I couldn't. I was too busy shouting for help. I was shouting at the top of my lungs for someone to come save this girl, to rescue her from the pain that was so clearly destroying her.
No one was coming. The goddess was slowly fading, her figure becoming more and more transparent, until I could barely see her anymore. Finally, she met my eyes with a look of the deepest pain imaginable. In that moment my entire world froze.
"Help me," she whispered.
I woke with a start, the vivid images of my dream still fresh in my mind. Looking down, I noticed that I had kicked the covers right off the bed. With trembling hands, I picked them back up. I couldn't shake the picture of the screaming goddess and it was really bothering me. Could pain alone kill an immortal? I mean, Artemis had held the entire world on her shoulders and barely shed a tear.
What could possibly be so bad as to cause a goddess to cry out like that? More importantly, who was that girl? I needed to clear my mind and, upon looking outside, I realized that now was the perfect time to do so.
The sun was beginning to rise, a faint glow of orange creeping into my room through the cracks in the blinds. It was going to be a beautiful day. I got out of bed and quickly donned a pair of baggy jeans and my orange camp shirt. As I left my cabin, I took one last glance at the fountain in the far corner of my room; a gift from my father so I could stay in touch with my mother during the summer. I really should have called her last night, but I could do that later today. It was too early now anyways.
I walked from my cabin down to the lake to collect my thoughts. The water lapped up on the rocky shore and I stuck my hand out to touch it, instantly feeling all the grogginess slip away from my mind. That was a perk to being son of the sea god I guess.
I don't know how long I sat there before I heard a rustling in the leaves behind me. I turned around, remembering all too well how much had happened at this lake, but I saw nothing. Weird, but then again everything was weird for a half-blood. With a sigh, I turned back to the lake, intent upon sorting out my dream.
That wasn't going to happen because as soon as I began to focus again, Annabeth popped into the visible spectrum, her hands folding up her Yankees cap and stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans. I guess I must have shouted or yelped or something because Annabeth seemed to be doubled over in laughter.
"Did I scare you Seaweed Brain?" she giggled. My face was probably red and I wished it was still dark.
"No way," I retorted. Annabeth's laughs eventually died and we were left to sit in silence, overlooking the lake. The cool spring air blew over the lake sending chills down my spine despite the orange sunrise. It was beautiful. I chanced a look over at Annabeth, who was staring fixedly into the distance, a distant look in her eyes.
I thought back to my conversation with Aphrodite months earlier and how she had told me I was on a quest to find true love – a quest to find Annabeth. I had always thought about mentioning that conversation to Annabeth but I had never worked up the guts. I was pretty clueless when it came to girls. And besides, there had never been the right moment. Maybe now was that moment. I vaguely wondered if Annabeth would laugh at me. That would suck.
"Hey, Wise Girl?"
Annabeth turned in my direction, surveying me with her large grey eyes. She raised her eyebrows as an invitation for me to continue. Sucking in a deep breath and pushing back all my inhibitions, I opened my mouth to reply. I never got the chance.
Wouldn't it figure that at that precise moment, a satyr came bounding out of the trees. He skidded to a halt just before he toppled over on top of Annabeth and me.
"Chiron would like to see the both of you in the Big House," he announced excitedly. I could tell he was a new recruit. I instantly wondered where Grover was. Annabeth and I got up faster than Cerberus could deflate a beach ball. We were half way to the Big House before I had even registered the fact that I was standing.
Once we got there, I saw Mr. D – Dionysus – and Chiron sitting on the porch. They were in deep conversation with a girl who I had never seen before. She looked a couple of years older than Annabeth, maybe eighteen, with loose dark curls that hung to the middle of her back. As we approached, she looked up at me and I caught sight of her eyes; they were as dark blue as the night sky. The tiniest gasp escaped my lips. Annabeth shot me a quizzical glance.
"That's the girl from my dreams," I whispered. Only afterwards did I realize how stupid that had sounded. Annabeth just looked at me with a shocked expression. And then it hit me.
"No, no, not like that," I mumbled quickly as we padded up the steps of the porch, "I had a dream last night…I'll tell you later."
Annabeth nodded, a slight smirk on her lips, as we reached Chiron and friends. Chiron, in full centaur form, smiled at us both warmly. I can't say Dionysus did the same. He looked, as always, bored.
"Patrick Jonstone, Analise Cast, it's such a pleasure to see you again."
He was clearly lying. I didn't really care. I was more concerned with Chiron and asking him the hundreds of question burning on my mind. Not to mention that girl and who she was. I wasn't sure what to ask first.
"Chiron…" I began, but the centaur held up a hand to silence me. Apparently he wanted to talk first. Okay fine. I knew the way teachers were. Half the time, they'd explain something and that explanation would answer all the questions you had.
"Before we begin any sort of interrogation you may have Percy," he said, "I'd like you and Annabeth to meet a…new ally."
He motioned over to the girl seated beside him. Her pale lips spread into a thin smile a she studied me and Annabeth.
"This," Chiron continued, "Is Alethea, daughter of Hades and Persephone."
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A/N: Hello! Well, I want to thank you all once again for your amazing reviews. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks so much. Cheers!
