Victoria hated her cabin with a burning passion.
Each of the little snotnosed, arrogant, backstabbing 'siblings' who surrounded her made her want to puke. She couldn't believe how different her father's Roman and Greek personalities were. However, she had no choice but to sleep there, and with sleep cam, unfortunately, dreams. Victoria spiraled into a black vortex of memories, images, and visions of present time. She wondered where the Fates would decide to drop her.
Incidentally, with her mother. Reyna stood with her eyes fixed on the sea, her knuckles white on the reigns of her hippocampi. Seawater sprayed everywhere behind her chariot, and her dark braid flapped in the wind behind her. Even in a dream, Victoria felt the wind on her face and it made her glad. Her mom's eyes remained narrow though, and Victoria could see that she was tense. Her jaw tightened like it did when she was expecting a fight. To her immediate right, Perseus Jackson sailed his hippocampi with one hand, eyes closed in a concentrated state.
"How much farther, Reyna?" he asked over the roar of the sea, Annabeth to his right.
"Shouldn't be much," she promised, but Victoria knew her mom well enough to see she was worried. The sky was completely black, as it was night, but angry clouds blocked out the moon and stars. The waves were getting rougher, but Percy created a straight path, calming the seas in a lane of stillness. The eight zipped by faster than jetskis.
"Percy, I don't like the look of this weather," Jason crossed over to them, wind ruffling his blonde hair and almost blowing off his glasses. "The sky's not responding to me- how's the water?"
"Difficult," his green eyes flashed open. "It's taking almost all my concentration to do this."
"There's magic at work here," Hazel called over, furrowed eyebrows. "Something besides the gods. I can't decipher the exact source- but whatever it is, it's angry,"
"Bad vibes, man. Bad vibes," Leo shook his head. Victoria's mother exchanged a glance with Annabeth. The two had gotten close over the years at New Rome, and looked to each other for everything. Annabeth looked deep in thought.
"Reyna, you said the island of Themis?" Annabeth looked troubled. Victoria nearly choked- and yes, you could choke in a dream. Themis? The TITAN Themis? Sure, she was the Titan of good counsel- but why were they looking for a Titan in the first place? Why had her mother told her nothing of this?
"Themis owes me a favor," Reyna said tightly, as if the story behind that favor was off limits. "She sees all, knows all- she'll point you in the right direction."
"And you're positive we're heading in the right direction?" Frank called over. Reyna nodded, Suddenly the hair on the back of Victoria's neck prickled. Reyna's eyes widened. Jason turned abruptly.
"WAIT!" he screamed out a warning just as lightning blasted the ocean in front of them, the explosion sending them flying. Quicker than thought, Percy shot out his arms and the eight demigods were swallowed by tendrils of the ocean, falling into an air bubble under the water and creating a very soft landing. Victoria breathed. They were okay.
"Everyone alright?" Percy muttered, looking around. Annabeth helped Piper to her feet, the water solidifying under their feet. Jason and Leo both ran to Reyna, who assured them quickly she was fine. Frank and Hazel stood up as well.
"I think we're all good, thanks to you," Reyna nodded. Annabeth walked over to her husband, slipping her hand into his.
"Those were some quick reflexes, Seaweed Brain," she kissed him. He grinned sheepishly.
"Years of practice,"
"Yeah, that's real sweet and all," Leo adjusted his toolbelt. "But why don't we focus on who was trying to kill us?!"
"Me, of course." a sultry voice said behind them. The eight turned, facing a colossal woman standing there in front of them. She was enormous, fifty feet tall with blue skin and red coral armour. Her hair was an almost black green, with strange wings protruding from either side. Her eyes were a solid, inky dark blue. She smiled horrifically. "I've been trying to kill you since you set foot in my ocean."
"Your ocean?" Percy nearly growled. Victoria was surprised by how suddenly he had changed from bashful to terrifying in ten seconds flat. Reyna simply sighed.
"Please, Tethys. Let us pass," she said in a bored voice. Victoria was amazed her mom could stay calm in such dangerous conditions. "We have permission to pass,"
The others looked at Reyna surprised, but Tethys hissed.
"By whose authority?" she seethed. "And if you even mention that upstart Neptune-"
"Titan Lordess Themis," Reyna said with the same kind of commanding tonality she used when reprimanding Victoria or her brother. Her mom's strong dark eyes glared into the creatures, daring her to doubt her authority. Victoria felt a swell of pride for her mom at the moment. "Would you defy her will?"
Tethys seethed, but grabbed a small conch and whispered something in it. She threw it back down.
"My brothers in the sky will trouble you no more. If it is a Titan's will, we honor it," her near black eyes widened in amusement. She shrank down to human size, and swam straight up to Percy's manmade air bubble. She grinned. "You know, he returns. We hear his whispers. In our heads. Fear the rebirth, demigods,"
She dissipated into dark blue ink. Annabeth looked up at Percy with a frightened expression.
"Do you think she was talking about-"
"No. No, we killed him. That's over."
"You can't kill an immortal, Percy. What...what if-"
"Um, excuse me, guys?" Piper raised a hand. "Am I the only one who doesn't know what we're talking about?"
Victoria saw a silent exchange between Annabeth and Percy, and thought she saw them lock eyes with her mother and Jason as well. What did that mean? Who did they kill?
"The point is, she let us go," Reyna said stiffly, looking ahead. "Let's just thank the gods we made it through,"
The Gods had nothing to do with it, Miss Ramirez-Arellano. A reedy voice floated through Victoria's head, and judging by the other's expressions, they heard it as well. But you can thank me. Percy, if you don't mind surfacing?
Percy looked a little uneasy, but slowly raised the bubble to the surface. It popped as soon as it reached the air, but a thin layer of air surrounded each of them. About thirty yards in front of them was an island, about a mile long with a rocky shore.
"That's it," Reyna said breathlessly. "The Island of Themis."
"So...we swim?" Frank asked eagerly, turning into a dolphin, to Victoria's shock. She had heard about his ability, but had never seen in in person.
"We swim," Jason nodded. Hazel gripped Frank's dorsal fin as they sped to the shore. Percy hooked an arm around Annabeth's waist, rising at the waist and cutting through the waves like a speedboat. Jason looked uneasily between Piper, Reyna and Leo. He looked apologetic. "I can only carry one at a time,"
"It's fine," Reyna said quickly as Piper put her arms around her husband. Victoria felt her heart break a little for her mother. After all these years, she knew her heart hadn't totally been healed from Jason Grace. Maybe that was one of the reasons Victoria had such a problem with Leonardo. He was the mini version of his dad.
Five minutes later, Victoria followed her mother to the huge rocks that made up the beach of the island. The night was still pitch black, but there were floating orbs of light on the island, providing a little bit of light. As soon as Jason came back with Leo, Annabeth turned toward them.
"I think they form a path," she said, looking at the line of orbs heading into the forest. "A path that leads to Themis."
"Or a trap," Leo said bitterly. "Am I the only one who doesn't remember it being this easy?"
Nervous glances. Victoria had just been thinking the same thing. They crossed halfway down the coast of North America practically unscathed, then avoided the lightning strike by a centimeter, and sent away a blood thirsty monster simply by telling her, 'Themis said we could!' Sounded exactly like a trap to Victoria. But Annabeth shook her head.
"I don't think this is a trap, but yes, Leo. It's much too easy," she paused, gathering her thoughts. "But I think it's because she wants us here. I don't know why, but Themis wants us for something."
Reyna knew. Victoria knew her mother too well to know she was hiding information, and she was sure this was it. Why she was hiding it, Victoria had absolutely no idea.
"Well, does anyone have a better idea?" Jason looked at each of the demigods in turn, but nobody spoke up. He nodded at Annabeth. "Well, I guess we're following you,"
"Just like old times," Piper grinned, looping her arm through Annabeth's. Annabeth gave her a sly smile in return, but looked at Percy. He nodded, smiled and headed in the direction the orbs that lead into the forest. Victoria's every instinct wanted to turn away, to get as far off the island as possible, but she had no control over the matter. She followed her mother into the trees.
The forest was dark, and slightly damp as though it had rained a day ago. The white, peeling birch trees gave the place a dead, skeletal feeling and Victoria got a chill up her spine. The floating white orbs were every couple yards or so, and before long, (thankfully) they entered a clearing. There was a grey marble temple in the middle of it, small but large enough to easily house one of the priests back at home. Victoria thought back to all the work Jason had done, being Pontifer, with building the statues and temples he did. It wasn't a small feat, but not even that had warmed Victoria's disposition to him. It wasn't that she didn't like him, exactly. It was hard not to, really. But he had broken her mother's heart- and she hadn't really ever forgiven him for it.
A figure interrupted Victoria's thoughts, standing on the edge of the temple in the shadows. It was busy, running in and out of the doorway, between the columns and behind the marble archways. Reyna looked unsurprised, but the others stood cautiously. Reyna cleared her throat, and the figure jumped. She looked startled, and hurried into view.
She was beautiful, but in the girl-next-door kind of way. She had mahogany hair tied back in a low ponytail, with dark rimmed glasses with high cheekbones and a pointed nose. She wore a blouse and high waisted skirt- Victoria couldn't help thinking of her as a godly librarian. The woman smiled.
"You made it," she said proudly. Something slipped out of her hand, and she nearly tripped trying to pick it back up. "Oh, uh, follow me. Much to discuss. Much to explain. Hurry now!"
The seven didn't look especially eager to follow the scatterbrained woman into her cluttered temple, but Reyna followed without hesitation so the others had no choice but to follow. Inside, the entire temple looked like a mix between- what else- a library and a police suspect board, with lines of string connecting one dot to the other and pictures, texts and other scribblings tacked to the walls. Books were littered on virtually every surface. The woman absentmindedly flicked her hand, and a pile of them scurried off a marble pew in the center of the circular temple. Nobody sat.
"Excuse the mess," she called back to them, setting the book she had in her hands down on a huge pedestal. "I wasn't expecting you so soon. I thought Tethys would've surely ignored my word. I suppose her master has scared her into listening to all titans,"
"She and her brothers almost drowned us," Frank growled. The woman only sighed, walking back toward them, polishing her glasses.
"Tethys has always had such a temper. Not my favorite niece, to be sure. Never was good with children," she rolled her eyes. "She practically raised Hera and look how she turned out!"
"Uh, last I checked I wasn't a kid," Leo looked around for verification. "Like, pretty sure Jason turned 44 last week."
"Don't remind me," he grumbled. "But Leo has a point-"
"Please. My nephew turned 44 hundred, last month. You are mere infants to me," she crossed her arms. "But that's not what we're here to discuss. Where are the others?"
Reyna narrowed her eyes, and the others exchanged uneasy glances.
"What others?" Percy said cautiously, eyes in slits. Themis spun around, legitimately concerned.
"What others?" Themis exclaimed. "Did you even listen to Rachel's prophecy?! Ugh, I had the exact same problem when I was Oracle- nobody ever listens!"
"I'm sorry, I really don't follow," Jason stepped up in front of the rest. Themis sighed exhaustedly.
"I'm the Titan of good council and foresight," she said impatiently. "I can predict the near future. But I don't have to be psychic to interpret a simple prophesy such as that! 'Old and new together defeat Fortune's woes?' And trust me, you're going to need them to defeat her."
"Wait a second," Annabeth's eyes flashed murderously. "Are you talking about our children?"
"Absolutely," she beamed. Frank went white.
"No. No, absolutely not. No way in Hades," he said furiously. Hazel tried consoling him, but he was not to be comforted. "Out of the question!"
"We aren't bringing our kids into this," Piper said, but almost like she was asking a question. Jason didn't look her in the eyes. "Right, Jason?"
He stayed silent.
"Look," Percy's nostrils flared. "You do what you want with us, but do not involve them. It has nothing to-"
"It has everything to do with them!" she exploded. "Why do you think that your children total to eight- the ideal Greek number?"
"Not all of them are Greek," Hazel said quietly. Themis scoffed.
"So remove your daughter. You're left with seven- still no coincidence. They will be a part of this quest, and you will accept that, sooner or later." Themis looked reproachful. Reyna stared at the ground. Piper looked at Jason.
"Do you trust them?" she whispered. He dismissed the question with a wave of his hand.
"The real question is, do we let them?" He looked away, staring hard at the horizon.
"So, am I the only one with faith in my kids?" Leo, who had been silent, spoke up now. "I mean, I understand your guys's hesitance, but hell. The youngest of them is, what? Fifteen? Do you guys remember how old we were when we defeated the giants. Hazel was younger than that!"
"He has a point, Frank," she put a hand on his chest, and his heavy breathing slowed. He looked helpless.
"I...what if something happens? I won't...I won't be there..." he faltered. Victoria felt her heart break a little inside. She couldn't stand seeing a big guy like that break down. Percy came over, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Our kids will be there, Frank," he said confidently. "All of them. They'll watch out for eachother, just like we did,"
"We do," Leo corrected. Frank said nothing more, but nodded. Reyna's head snapped up.
"My children stay out of it," she said suddenly. Victoria's heart pounded. No.
Themis tilited her head, amused.
"I'm afraid, Praetor, that's their choice." she said solemnly. Reyna looked almost panicked, but regained her composure. Themis gave her a slightly sympathetic look.
"So how do we go about this?" Piper asked aloud. "How will they know to come?"
"Oh, they'll know," Themis's eyes suddenly looked straight at Victoria's. Victoria gasped. "I'm sure someone will get the message through,"
Victoria's eyelids flew open. She looked at her watch. Three fifty six. No time to lose. She jumped out of her bed, walking tip toe to get to her brother, Markus.
Please Gods, she prayed. Don't let the others wake up.
She gently shook his shoulder. Luckily, Markus was a light sleeper. His eyes flew open, but she covered his mouth.
"C'mon," she whispered. "We need to talk,"