Chapter 4

When I got to my cabin, I had trouble going to sleep, as always. I was too busy worrying about the quest. My brain was in turmoil. There was a full-fledged war going on up there, and my thoughts were turning against each other. The What if?'s shot razor-sharp arrows at the But maybe's, and the But maybe's fought back with double-edged swords. The Why?'s were battling the Because's, the How about?'s were struggling against the No way, Jose!'s, and an extremely unpleasant aura of chaos and pantomime rattled throughout my head. I spent hours wishing that sleep would finally overcome me, just so that I could escape reality for a few hours.

Once I got to sleep, however, it wasn't much better. I had yet another nightmare. Only this time, I couldn't see anything. I could only hear a strange, high, squeaky voice that sounded like it was being disguised. The voice was extremely irritating, and it clawed at my eardrums like a demented, mutant raccoon.

"They have fallen for the trap. A quest is being sent. They leave at midnight."

A deep booming voice answered that shook the ground itself. "Excellent. Our plan is in motion. Oh, and make sure they get our little . . . gift."

"Of course," the squeaky voice answered.

Without warning, I was suddenly falling. Even though I knew it was a dream, my dream self was tensed up, waiting for me to hit the bottom. After a few seconds, though, I was still falling. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting, until—BOOM—I landed in a lake after a few minutes. As I rose to the surface, I looked around. I still couldn't see anything. I waved my hands out in front of me, searching for the edge of the water. I finally found it and crawled out of the lake.

It got very uncomfortable after a while, not even being able to see my own hand right in front of my face. Red spots danced at the edge of my vision as my brain tried frantically to look for light. I could feel myself slowly starting to go insane. I went back to where the water was, trying to get back in the lake, but it had vanished. My eyes were darting around, looking for something, anything, but, of course, all they saw was darkness. I could feel myself going crazy, at a much faster rate this time, and it terrified me. I was just about to crack, to scream at the top of my lungs and rip my eyes out of their sockets, when I heard, "PERCY!"

I woke up, startled. Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover were standing around my bed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "He finally awakens. If we hadn't checked your pulse, we would have thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain."

Grover tossed me a backpack, probably filled with supplies, and said, "Let's go Percy. Argus and Chiron are waiting for us."

They gave me a few minutes of privacy, so I quickly got dressed and went outside to meet Argus, Chiron, and everyone else.

When I got to where the truck was waiting (right at the edge of camp, near the entrance), they were all staring at what looked to be a 9-inch-tall pile of fur. As I got a closer look, though, I saw that it was a small, furry dog. It was very short, had a red bow on its head, and had white fur (except for the ears, which were brown). "What is that?" I asked.

Grover looked at me with a surprised look on his face. "It's a dog."

I shook my head. "No, that's not a dog. It's a cotton ball with legs. And a red bow on its head. I mean, what does it think it is? A Christmas present?"

Grover looked hurt. "It's a maltipoo."

"A multi-who?"

Annabeth sighed. "Oh, will you two just give it up? Percy, it's half poodle, half Maltese."

Grover sniffed. "I told you, it's nine seventeenths poodle, eight seventeenths Maltese!"

She huffed. "Fine. Nine seventeenths poodle, eight seventeenths Maltese. How do you know, anyway?" She was obviously miffed that she was wrong about something, for a change.

He tapped his head. "Satyrs know these things. Let's go, shall we?" He walked away, obviously smug, but we had the last laugh when he tripped on a log and landed on his hands and knees. "Owwww," he complained.

The dog rushed to him. As sat up, his hands and knees were covered in dirt and blood. When the dog* started licking his wounds, my first thought was, Gross! After a few seconds, though, I saw that the wounds were healing.

Grover looked amazed, but I said, "Big deal. I can do the same thing with water." I had no idea why I was being so unpleasant about the dog. I mean, I usually kind of like most animals. Maybe I was just cranky. I was still slightly shaken by my nightmare.

Grover was obviously offended again, but he tried to hide it. He didn't succeed. "Well, what if there is no water around? Or nectar or ambrosia?" he added, before I could say anything. "It's nice to have a backup plan. Can we keep him? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Annabeth sighed. "Fine."

"Hey," I complained, "Don't I get a say in this? I'm the one leading the quest!"

"Nope," Grover said, popping his lips on the p. "Come on, Ramsey, let's kick some monster butt!" When the dog growled at Tyson, he quickly said, "No, Ramsey! Tyson's a good Cyclops. He's our friend. He's helping us on this quest."

Hearing this, the puppy licked Tyson's leg in apology and then curled up at his feet. "Puppy!" Tyson exclaimed.

Annabeth raised one eyebrow, amused. "Ramsey?"

Grover blushed. "I, uh, kinda named him just now."
"Let me guess," I said, letting a bit of sarcasm enter my voice, "You know it's a boy because-"

"Satyrs know these things," Grover said, interrupting me.

"Well," Chiron said, "Off you go!"

We all piled in the strawberry truck (including Ramsey), and before we left, Grover shouted, "Oh, Chiron, thanks for the backpack." Before he closed the door, I saw a confused look on Chiron's face. Right before Camp Half-Blood was lost in the fog, I could have sworn I saw a different backpack at his hooves. During the whole time I knew him, Chiron never struck me as a forgetful person (well, centaur), but for once, I wasn't thinking about by nightmare. I had other things to worry about. For instance, whether or not we would come back alive. Yeah, hopefully you'd understand why I was slightly distracted right then.

As we turned yet another corner, my stomach got more and more twisted up in knots, and my subconscious mind was trying desperately to remind me about my nightmare.

*here's the link if you want to see a picture of the dog (no spaces): h t t p : / / w w w . d o g b r e e d i n f o . c o m / i m a g e s 1 6 / M a l t i p o o B u r r O a k s D o o d R a n c h 4 . J P G

A/N: Sooooooooo, how'd ya like it? Hope you enjoyed yet another chapter of my newest story! Oh, and by the way, the dog in the picture (in the link above) is not mine. I don't even know it. I have no idea whether it's a boy or a girl. (Although, judging by the bow on its head, I think it's a girl.) However, unlike Percy right then, I LOVE dogs. As long as they're not vicious. In fact, I have one at home, and she's SOOO SWEET! :D I love her!

What's the key to making me happy, you ask? Well, it's simple. Just review! Reviews are part of the reason I'm on this site. I mean, seriously, what kind of writer doesn't want feedback on their stories? So review!

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