By nightfall, the cabins were nearly finished, and Percy was tired. He barely had time to change out of his clothes before he collapsed onto his bed and fell instantly asleep. It was not the rest he needed, however, for once again, the dream kept him agitated all night long. Every time he closed his eyes, he was either running from a malevolent Lady Justice or standing trial while demons and monsters screamed at him.
The next morning, during breakfast, he sought out Master Chiron. The centaur was not in his usual spot, but Percy found him over near the sparring arenas on the other side of the pavilion. Chiron pranced back and forth with a bewildered look on his face.
"Master Chiron!" Percy called.
Chiron flinched and twisted awkwardly on his hooves. Clearly, Percy had interrupted something that took quite a bit of mental energy.
"Oh, um—hello," the wise centaur stammered.
The teacher's reaction caught Percy off guard. "Is something wrong?"
Chiron resumed scanning the faces in the crowd. "No," he answered quietly, more like his normal self, "nothing's wrong, you only startled me."
He stared over Percy's head for so long that Percy himself turned and followed Chiron's gaze, wondering if he was looking for someone in particular.
Chiron's eyes snapped to the boy at his side. "Did you need something?" he asked abruptly.
Percy decided that now was as good a time as any to mention the dreams. "Master Chiron, which goddess is represented by the statue of Lady Justice?"
Chiron folded his arms across his chest. "That would most likely be the goddess Dike or her mother, Themis. Why do you ask?"
Percy told him about the recurring dreams, and the fact that another camper apparently had the same nightmare. "Do you have any idea what this could mean?"
Chiron raised his eyes heavenward, as if studying the stars. "I'm afraid I can't help you right this moment, Ped—I mean, Percy," he stumbled over the name for the first time in his life. Percy mused that either something was really bothering him, or the centaur was just a great deal more drunk than usual—for whatever reason. "Maybe if I thought about it for a couple days I could figure something out."
Percy nodded, and then recalled the other matter they had spoken of earlier. "Oh yeah, I haven't been able to talk to that one other camper yet," he saw that Chiron was having trouble remembering, "you know, the girl I mentioned before, the one we thought might be the daughter of the goddess of speech—what's her name again?"
"Girl? Goddess of speech?" Chiron furrowed his brow. "Forgive me, I seem to have forgotten her name as well."
Percy shrugged and scuffed the ground with the toe of his sneaker. "Oh well, I guess it's not all that important. I have a few more days to try, but if it doesn't happen, there's not much I can do about it."
Chiron nodded. "If you do end up talking to her, be sure to let me know how that goes!" The tall centaur stretched his arms as his horse-legs pranced restlessly. "If you'll excuse me—" he cantered off as the rest of the campers had finished eating and dispersed to their building projects. Percy turned to do the same—and who should emerge from the Hecate cabin but Aurelia herself! She was wearing a graphic tee instead of a Camp Half-Blood tee-shirt, but the fact that this was the first time Percy had seen her anywhere near a cabin showed some promise!
"Hey!" he called, jogging over to her.
At the same time, a redhead wearing Hecate's colors approached her from behind, with a wadded sheet in her hand.
"Hey Mumble," she said, "you brought the wrong one. Here, take this and get a new one."
Miserable Aurelia nodded and accepted the sheet. Percy slowed to a stop. Maybe she really was just a "housekeeping grunt" like Jordan had said. At that moment, Aurelia looked over and saw him watching her. She darted off in the other direction and Percy knew there was no point in trying to follow her. He went back to the cabins.
All that day and the next, the camp was awash in colors as the campers finished their structures and began painting them and decorating according to their preferences. The day after Percy had tried to ask Chiron about the strange dreams, who should approach him but sly, smart-mouthed Drea.
"Did you have the same dream a lot when you were a first-time Camper?" she asked. After a bit more prompting, Drea revealed that she too was experiencing the same dreams as both Percy and Sawyer. She got very excited.
"Does this mean we're all going to be on a quest together?" she asked.
"I really don't think so," Percy said. "I mean, Themis and Dike are goddesses of order and morality and justice. I really don't think they of all deities would actually go on the warpath."
"Yeah, that's the scariest part," Drea shuddered, "gods suddenly changing sides and getting power they shouldn't. What do you recommend we do?"
Percy dipped his brush in the aqua-blue paint can and painted a few strokes before answering. "Maybe if there's time tomorrow I'll talk to my girlfriend and see what she says. I don't think we'll be getting answers out of Master Chiron anytime soon."
The next day, Percy found Annabeth amid cabins that looked like a small Victorian village, complete with facades of curling balustrades at the top. He shook his head.
"Hey!" Annabeth's blond head jutted out a window and she grinned at him. "Be right there."
She emerged from the front through a real door with an ornate handle. The two friends embraced, and Annabeth leaned close to Percy and murmured, "What do you think?"
Percy could only gasp in amazement, which was enough for Annabeth. She had flecks of cement in her ponytail and paint splotches on her clothes, but she had created a thing of beauty.
"So did you come here to gawk or to talk?" she asked him, reverting to her businesslike self.
Percy quickly filled her in on the shared dreams. Annabeth dropped her grin and began chewing on her lip nervously.
"Did—" she licked her lips. "Did Chiron say there was any significance to the fact that all of you had the same dream?"
Percy shook his head. "In fact, Chiron didn't say much at all. That's why I thought I'd come to you." He recognized the keen glint in Annabeth's eyes as the same that Drea wore when she'd told him about having the same dream. "Wait—you too?"
Annabeth nodded. "I think we should visit the Morpheus cabin before this goes much further."
They approached the cabin together. What with the role Morpheus played in the recent war, no one was quite ready to chum up with them, but nobody minded. Hope, the Cabin Leader, maintained that they preferred the seclusion. All the windows of the cabin were draped with heavy, dark silk. Percy could even hear soft snoring coming from the interior.
Annabeth stopped a little ways from the front door.
"Hope?" she called. "We need to talk."
A few snores subsided, and they heard the soft thump of bare feet before a girl with long, thick, dark hair appeared at the doorway, rubbing her almond-shaped eyes.
"Oh, hello Percy, Annabeth," she mumbled. "What's this about?"
Percy stepped forward. "We want to talk to you about a dream—"
"Percy!"
The shout came from some distance away...and it sounded desperate.
"Percy! It's happened!"
Percy turned to see Sawyer running toward him, a stricken expression on his face. Hope retreated into her cabin, and Percy moved to meet Sawyer a short ways off.
"What happened?" Percy asked.
Sawyer stopped when he met Percy, and immediately looked ready to collapse.
"I...You said... I had—" He panted furiously.
Percy laid a hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, okay Sawyer, breathe! Slow down. Just tell me what happened."
Sawyer gulped like a fish out of water. "You said that quests started with a prophecy from the Oracle, right?"
Percy's stomach gave a quick jerk. "Yeah..."
"So I was minding my own business, when I looked over and Rachel was watching me—just staring with a weird look in her eyes! And so I asked her what she was doing, and she—sh-sh-she—" Sawyer had caught his breath, but the adrenaline withdrawal left him shaking badly. "She said,
"Time and Fate are intertwined
Shifting sands of wrath are thine,
The master's second face revealed,
Betrayer, raise Arete's Shield!"
There was no mistaking the tone of his voice as Sawyer spoke the verse. The young man looked at Percy desperately.
"What do I do? What does it mean?"
A/N: Thanks, everybody, for waiting so long! These next few chapters are taking a while to write, and meanwhile, I've kind of taken a break from fanfiction to focus on my novel. I hope to have a new chapter every few weeks, though, so stay tuned! :) -KM
