10
Michael hates having bad dreams, but this one was the worst dream he ever had. He was in a palace, floating over New York City. It's Olympus, obviously, and a figure standing at the balcony facing the sea. He didn't seem to notice Michael's presence, as he stared out towards the dark ocean,
"A quest is given, a prophecy has begun. The sea god's chariot is missing; we should have the boy look for it. It is his turn now, he is the key, this Michael", it said grimly.
Suddenly his face changed into something dark that showed the face of the ocean, and he vanished leaving sea foam and mist. Another man appeared in the dream but he was pure evil, Michael turned to see a giant wave ready to swallow me under the water, where he belonged. He screamed.
"What comes from the sea, belongs to sea, HA, you are neither", he said.
It was him, the man who he saw the day the Nazis took his and his brother and sister…
His dream changed to an abandoned wooded area,
He saw Sage; she kept running as fast she could,
No, she couldn't die too by that thing. She starts to scream for Karl, "Karl, Karl, where are you, its' right behind me, we have to move".
"Sage, Ahhhhhhh," Karl screams as Michael hears a scratching of twigs and dirt.
Sage turned around to see that the monster was gone, "Oh no, Karl, Karl, Karl, NO", she begins to shout as run through the woods looking for him.
Something grabs her leg, and she falls. Michael hears a thumb and turn to see the mutilated body of the park ranger,
"Oh my gods", Sage whispers at the sight.
"Help me", he begs.
Sage tries to pick him up, but a sharp object bursts out of his chest. Blood splashes all over her face,
"Ah, Ahhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhh" she screams in terror.
The park ranger falls to the ground and the monster plunges his weapon inside the deceased
Ranger's foot. He wraps his arm around Sage's neck as Michael hears a dark laugh,
"DEMIGOD".
She screams as she's dragged to the dark abyss, along with his friend, Karl.
"Sage, Karl, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", Michael screamed.
He turns to see Sayers, "There gone, he took them", he shouted
Michael wakes up covered in a sheet of sweat, his shirt is damp, and he was shaking. He got up to run to the bathroom; he took off his shirt, and jumped into the shower. Before he could turn on the water, he looked at the marks on his body. The scar on his chest, the tattoo on the inside of his wrist, and the medical marks across his stomach, they all reminded him of that hell. He couldn't let his friends die, he isn't going to have his friends die, and he immediately turns on the water. He didn't hear the bathroom door open,
"MICHAEL", he hears a shout.
Before the person could react, Michael pulls away the shower curtain away. He felt horrible, it was Sage, and she wore a shirt with a cupcake on it, strawberry dotted boxers, and a tan sweater with melancholy pink and brown stripes. Her hair loosely pulled back, so he could see her bright face coated with embarrassment,
"I'm so sorry, oh gods, now I feel stupid, bye Mike", Sage shouts in embarrassment as Michael struggles to put a towel around his hips.
Sage turned around and walks out the bathroom, Michael follows behind her,
"Hey, uh, it's cool, it's my fault, I uh, uh, um sit down on the bed, I'll—I'll get changed", he stuttered.
Michael watches her run out of her cabin and into the darkness, "Aw, damn", he mumbles to himself.
Later on in the morning, Michael goes to track down Sage. She didn't show up for breakfast, or the first half of training this morning. Was she that angry at him or did she just leave. She did look a little urgent. And what of his nightmare, his father's chariot is missing, so that's what all the fuss is about. He needs this quest and there is only one person who can understand him.
"A Quest, what are you speaking of Michael", Chiron asks in a bewilderment.
The Big house's main room was lighter than it was yesterday, and Mr. D was nowhere to be seen, but Michael still feels like he is being watched.
"The situation on Olympus is getting graver isn't it", Michael asks urgently. "The chariot disappeared from my father's kingdom and Oceanus is responsible. I think I can find it, but I need a quest and some friends who can help me, but no one I know has that kind of experience. I know Percy does but after what happened last year with the fleece and everything—Sir, please give me this quest".
Chiron sighs in disappointment and shakes his head, "Michael, the situation in Olympus, is being taken care of; you have nothing to worry about. Oceanus is getting weaker", he explains.
"That's out of order, the gods selected me", Michael shouts in aggravation.
"I'm sorry Michael. Perhaps next time, but right now you are not ready", Chiron insists in a serious tone.
"So, there is something going on. The situation isn't being handled, the possibilities are—"Michael, continue your studies", Chiron orders.
Michael stares at Chiron and leaves abruptly in sheer anger. Chiron watches him leave and looks back at the empty fireplace.
Michael walks into the library to track down Aaralynn. He walks into her favorite section only to find it empty. He sighs and grabs a book, only to have all the books fall at once.
"Shit", he mutters as he picks up the books.
"Hey, you, Felicciano", a voice calls out behind him.
Michael turns to see the camp janitor, Bourdain leaning on the bookshelf with an angry look on his face. His face never lines up right. One eye was bigger than the other, he always has saliva dripping out of the side of his mouth, and he was heavy set as well. He wore a plaid shirt, and dark brown pants. He never wore coordinating clothes.
Bourdain use to be a mortal who was clear-sited. The Olympians decided under extreme circumstances to allow him to work in Camp Half Blood, however his new found immortality was let's just say bigot viewed. Bourdain hated demigods and the Olympians; he believed in God and believed that demigods were from Hell. Michael didn't have a problem with it at first, but when he found out that Bourdain hated Jews; he decided to stay out of his way.
"I heard about your misfortune about the whole missile defense thing in your brain", Bourdain coolly states.
"What do you want, Bourdain", Michael grunts.
Bourdain tries not to turn into a wild animal and maintains his cold stature, "If you want to do this quest, there is someone with the necessary survival skills who can help you", he explains.
"Who", he asks with hope.
"The uppity girl at the campfire, you met yesterday", he replies quickly.
"Huh? She can't help me, she's only thirteen", Michael says with doubt.
"Gah, you crazy uppity heroes just don't get it. You think just because you are all children of the gods that you think that a female "half-breed" is just for sexual functions. Apparently, Mrs. Uppity isn't who she says she is, but she is very resourceful. If you have her in this little quest you want to do then you'll find exactly what you're looking for. However word of advice, don't get too close. You are going to get hurt in the end when you find out the truth", Bourdain explains.
"Geez, okay. Don't get all angry, I'll consider it. How do you know about her, any way", Michael states harshly.
Bourdain smirk and then Michael sees it, the same look that he saw last night when, "Bullshit", Michael blurts out.
"What-What, Oh, Ha. You thought that she was my kid. Oh hell no, she smell don't smell like a demigod and I've never lain with a goddess, but I knew something was off when I saw her. She reminds me of a young man who went to the camp eons ago. He was uppity too, and the cold look on his face and rebellious attitude", Bourdain recalls harshly.
"I was about to say, she's too pretty to be your-", Michael immediately stops. "Wait who's her dad then".
"Pssh, I don't know, but I do know that she's a looking glass of another girl", Bourdain explains.
"You are so-never mind", Michael whispers.
The door opens and there they are, Sage and Korrina. They both wear the normal clothes for the camp, an orange tee shirt and jeans. Korrina's hair is in a pony tail, while Sage's hair is in its normal pom-poms. They look him up and down and then stare at Bourdain.
"Oh, crap-er, Hi, Michael-who are you", Sage asks in astonishment.
"Listen here; I'm Bourdain O' Donnell, camp keeper of Camp Half Blood. I keep this place safe for you lazy dumb animals. I am licensed historian and know the history of every creature in this camp. And the half blood humanoids are by far the most dangerous, lazy, and cunning", Bourdain explains.
The three demigods stare at each other and then at him. They can all agree that there is something seriously wrong with this man.
"Okay, Mr. Bourdain. We won't bother you, you don't bother us", Amber says and grabs Sage's arm and makes a run for it.
Before Michael can register the statement of Bourdain, he follows them out as well.
"Hey, where ya'll going, come back little halfblooded cretins", Bourdain screams out.
~….~
The sun was starting to lower and some demigods were on the beach watching people surf as they chat away. It was hot, but the storm clouds around the camp look merciless.
"Racism towards demigods…who knew", Sage says.
The three begin to walk to the theatre, "He's always like that. When I found out that I was the daughter of Aphrodite, he said that I should get on my knees and show him my venereal abilities. I got so pissed; I wanted to beat the shit out of him", Amber explains.
"He's creepy", Michael mumbles as he avoids Sage's bewilderment.
"Well, we better go. Sage and I are going to prank some Ares' kids", Amber insists and grabs Sage's arm to pull her along.
Michael just stares as he watches Amber hall Sage with her to the theatre. He admits that it sucks to be all by himself most of the time, but endures it anyway. He shakes his head and walks back to his cabin.
~….~
Midnight
Michael hears a knock at his door and immediately opens it up to see Sage.
"Hello", Sage whispers.
"Hey", Michael greets back.
She stares at his bed; she looks scared and it has nothing to do with the fact that she saw Michael with no clothes on.
"I'm sorry about that, it normally doesn't happen, I swear", he states as looked at her.
She nods slowly and stared at the Minotaur horn on the wall, and then she stared at him, "Michael, something terrible is going happen; I had a horrible dream last night about a creature, and he killed this guy, and then everything went black. Is that normal", she asks.
Michael wishes his brother, Percy, was here; he was better at explaining these things,
"Yeah, it's normal, they show what will happen, and sometimes it comes true", he explains
Sage looks down in fear, "I think that we need to tell Chiron", she recommends
Michael looks at her, "I did, they wouldn't let us do the quest, and so we are screwed", he scoffs. "I do need your help though"
Sage stands up and stares at him, "Look, I know this is my first time at this Camp, and I know that I'm young, naïve, and do stupid stuff like walk in on a boy, but I'm not going to do a quest with you. Me being there will get you killed, understand that", she explains.
"Sage, Bourdain said that you were a-you have special skills. Now, the chariot of the sea, it's missing, actually it's been missing for weeks now. Poseidon is furious", Michael adds.
Michael stares at her, and for some strange reason he feels as though it is his duty to protect her. He remembers what his father says, and makes a large sigh.
"Sage, we need to keep this a secret, but I need you to help me. The last thing we need is panic, and this quest was given to us privately, but whom else to go with me but you. I trust you" he asked
Sage looks at him coldly, "No, you can't trust me. You shouldn't trust me", she whispers and turns to leave.
