Getting a quest right out of the blue was not fun to prepare for. First off, this prophecy was very vague about where we need to go. It was very straight forward though about one thing-get the White Queen's ring and avoid Jack Noir. It was clear that the prophecy said that we had to watch from Jack Noir and avoid him is possible, but Dave seemed to have convinced himself that we need to kill him. Other than that, everything was confusing and the only person who could understand it all was an amnesiac.
Also, I didn't like the idea of the ring we needed to get not being on Earth. Where else would it be? Dave looked like he knew, but no name or picture came up. And the address Dave gave us? How did he know it down to the house? What is so important about 21605 Fir Drive, Maple Valley, Washington? Questions trapped me like a coffin and the problem was burying me alive with a slim chance of surviving.
Questions without answers plagued me as I did my best to prepare for this quest-but I didn't know what I needed. I was about to go to Dave when he came to me.
"Yo Annabeth," Dave said sneaking up on me . . . again.
"Why are you always coming to me?" I decided to answer a plaguing question and get it answered and out of the way.
"Because you remind me of someone I trust," Dave answered.
"Aren't there other people you trust?" I asked.
"No," Dave scoffed. "I hate Jason, Piper can tell me to do anything and then I will do it, Leo's a little fireball and a little too energetic, Hazel's clueless about modern times, Nico's Goth, Frank is . . . well Frank, Chiron's part horse, Mr. D looks like he's drunk most of the time, and the only person I was beginning to trust just told me that I had to go up against the monster that killed my Bro again. Also, no one really gets me."
"Hhm," I tried to see his point, but I was hard to. Dave had obviously been through more than anyone here at camp so of course it would be hard for anyone to get him. But I still didn't get why he trusted me. "So who do I remind you of?"
"You remind me of my sister. You both have blond hair; you're both smart and most often time's know-it-alls. When someone asks a simple question you both go off on big long speeches, you both have something you're really good at-for you its architecture and for her it's psychology, you aren't afraid to hurt the ones that hurt the people you love and when you both get angry, your eyes turn a shade darker," Dave highlighted some of the key information. "And you're both snarky broads who don't deal with no shit."
"You seemed to remember a lot about your sister," I observed not going to remark about the snarky broad part because that would just prove his last point.
"Almost everything except a name," Dave said pulling a rose out of his Sylladex. "I found this on my bed. I don't know why."
"A rose on your bed?" I took the rose out of Dave's hand. "Maybe it's like the ram's head given to you that remind you of Aradia, this is supposed to remind you of something."
"Yeah," Dave replied. "But I have to ask your something important. You're not a virgin, are you?"
"What?!" I asked him surprised that he was asking personal questions.
"Come on Annabeth, you're a heterosexual girl who has a hot boyfriend-from the pictures I've seen-and you're almost eighteen. You've had to fuck a couple of times."
"Why do you need to know this?" I asked him angrily.
"Because I slept in a bed that belonged to your boyfriend," Dave reminded me. "And I want to know if you've slept in it too."
"We're not allowed to be in a cabin alone for said reasons," I informed Dave.
"But you could have done the do elsewhere too," Dave reminded me. "And you don't look like a virgin."
"How do I not look like a virgin?" I questioned Dave.
"Just can tell," Dave answered me. "Like how I can tell that Nico's a gay little fucker and he's a virgin. Leo's not exactly bisexual but he doesn't really care and he's a virgin. Frank waves his Heterosexual flag around like a crazy patriotic redneck and has probably never felt horny in his life unless he became a rhino-which he hasn't. Hazel's from the 1930's so she still upholds virginity and she upholds heterosexuality too. Would you like me to continue?"
"No," I told him ready to change the subject. "But what do you think we need for the quest?"
"Weapons," Dave began. "Clothes are always good but they're optional. Something to entertain yourself of course. At least five computers on your person at all times like any sensible person. A couple phones work too. Movies and shows because it's gonna be a long trip to get across the country and movies are always good. Fuck, I don't know."
"Fine," I sighed. "Then do you know why we need to go to 21605 Fir Drive, Maple Valley, Washington?"
"That was a friend's house," Dave answered. "Maybe it can jog my memory, because I'm pretty sure that at that house our game of Sburb started."
"And we'll go wherever we need to go from there," I guessed.
"If that doesn't help me then the next stop is my apartment in Houston," Dave answered. "Then my sister's mansion in Rainbow Falls, New York, then my other friend's home on an island in the Pacific. If that doesn't help . . . then we're screwed."
"Maybe other clues will show up like the rose," I answered looking at the rose. "Maybe someone's name was Rose."
"Too obvious," Dave scoffed plucking the rose out of my hand and putting it in his mouth. "See you bright and early," Dave said through the rose before waltzing out of the room in a dramatic and ironic exit.