Have you ever tried sleeping in a room with bloodthirsty monsters ready to gouge out your least important innards so they can eat them in front of you as you slowly bleed to death? If you multiply that by about ten times then you might come close to understanding what it's like to sleep in a room filled with VERY pissed off huntresses.
Let me rewind a little bit. The rest of that night proceeded rather normally after the battle with Cerberus. If you call an entire camp full of kids who are usually running around raving mad due to their ADHD being completely silent for the rest of the night normal.
After the entire camp gave me the most delayed bow of all time, Chiron said that the rest of the camp would go to the mess hall while Artemis, the hunters, and I delivered Cerberus back to the Underworld. As daunting a task as that may sound it was actually fairly simple. Apparently there's a magical squeaky toy that opens portals for Cerberus straight to the Underworld. All you do is say an incantation, throw the toy and Cerberus takes care of the rest himself. After the portal closes the toy pops right back into mom's hands the second Cerberus has been successfully detained by the furies.
After that mother said to go to the mess hall, the girls didn't say a word, just nodded their heads as they did what they were told. When we arrived everyone was quiet and looking in our direction. I guess they all wanted to see me. I tried adding a little bit of normalcy to the mood by waving to people I knew, but the only one who waved back to me was Brian.
As I sat down I got dirty looks from the huntresses, again. Chiron said a few words and Dionysus said that he was so glad it was finally quiet and all of us useless demigods had finally found something that could shut us up. Of course, no amount of shock could hold back the camps need to disobey everything Mr. D said, and so the entire camp was back to being rowdy and crazy in a matter of minutes.
I ate my food silently and awkwardly with Wisteria at my side. On occasion I'd steal a glance to my right and look at the rest of the huntresses. Of course they either pretended I didn't exist or glared at me.
Zoe Nightshade was the worst of them all though. She never even bothered to eat. She just sat across from me with an empty plate, staring, with her hands folded under her chin. I tried to concentrate on eating my food. I always loved eating at the mess hall. Everything that went in my mouth was some form of my mom's cooking. It was nice, and helped me forget about the awkwardness of my situation.
But it all came to an end in a flash, literally.
A blast of bright white light enveloped the entire mess hall. I covered my ears as a sound like thunder strong enough to shake the marble pillars, smashed into me. After my eyes had time to adjust and my ears managed to stop ringing, I got up from the ground and looked around with my daggers drawn, expecting to see some kind of enemy.
What I saw though stopped me in my tracks.
He was definitely an enemy, but he wasn't one I could take. Hell, there wasn't anyone in the world crazy enough to take him on. And he was pissed. Why? Because I existed, of course. You didn't have to be a genius to figure that out.
I was outclassed.
Way outclassed.
I could defeat Mormo.
I could beat the Nemian Lion.
I even made the guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, fall in battle.
But this time, it was game over.
There was no way I could win a fight against the king of the gods.
Against Zeus.
He wasn't the biggest man I had ever seen, though he was above average. He stood with perfect posture, wind whipping around him and occasional sparks and jolts of lightning zipping across his body. His clothes weren't very remarkable, just an airplane pilot's uniform. He seemed to be about forty years old, with white hair and a rough, but well maintained appearance.
"Are you the son of Artemis? Achilles Hunter?"
I nodded my head slowly.
"I see." And a lightning bolt appeared in his hand. He raised it overhead ready to throw at me.
"Stop!" My mother called and appeared before me in the blink of an eye. "If you want to hurt him Zeus, you have to get through me." That only enraged Zeus more as his eyes, glowing white, shined brighter and the sky began to ripple with thunder and lightning.
"Artemis! You swore upon the river styx thousands of years ago to never, NEVER, give yourself over to a man. While I can excuse children of Athena given the circumstances of their birth, you I shall not tolerate! I will make an example of this boy, and assure you never break that oath again! Stand aside, or I WILL move you!"
"You can't do this! Zeus please, have mercy! I'll never break the taboo again! He'll be the only one of his kind just… please don't do this to me! Let him live, he's the only son I'll ever have!"
"And your time with him is up! Now, STAND ASIDE!" And with one brisk movement he swept my mother to the side and threw the lightning bolt down at me.
But thankfully, I'm not a complete idiot. While he and my mother were arguing I was draining power from mom. At first it was just from the moon, but when I realized I wasn't getting enough fast enough, I had to figure something else out. So I thought hey, mom's the moon pretty much right? So maybe I can just take some of hers.
Best. Decision. Ever.
I was easily as strong as I was the night I fought the Nemian Lion. Only this time my body wasn't nearly as battered or broken. Getting out of the way of his lightning bolt was a cinch. But even so, I wasn't dumb enough to think I could outrun him or beat him in a fight. Somehow I was going to have to talk my way out of this… and I think I may have thought of the perfect way.
First, I turned my head to Brian and mouthed give me some luck. He nodded his head and pulled out a card that he held in his hand. He put it to his forehead and closed his eyes. Suddenly everything felt like it was going my way. I KNEW I could get myself out of this mess and the key to it was…
"Lord Zeus, I mean you no offense by avoiding your most justified death sentence," I didn't really understand what I was saying. I just knew it was the right thing to say. I had a feeling it was Brian's doing. The normal me would have said something more like Hey big guy, sorry for not wanting to get blown up and all.
"But I feel that it is necessary, for your protection." I knew I had just chosen some choice words, as that just made him angrier. But I knew it would work out. Luck was on my side after all. At least I hoped it was.
"MY protection?! Protection from what, boy? Certainly not your mother, if that's what you're implying."
"Of course not sir, I don't mean her at all."
"Then what?"
"Sorrow sir. As the king of the gods I'm sure you know that Clarisse is on her way here now with the golden fleece to purify the tree that protects this camp. The golden fleece is a powerful ancient artifact, that removes any impurities from nature. So if we place it on the tree, the tree is sure to be revived. However…"
"However what?"
"If the Fleece removes any impurities in nature, then that means that anything that's not natural will be expelled… like for instance… a trapped soul." That got his attention. My mother had told me the story of Thalia, how she and Percy were children like me who shouldn't exist. I knew that Thalia would be my trump card. Zeus wouldn't be able to handle being seen as a bad man in the eyes of his daughter.
I watched as the ethereal glow of his eyes lessened in intensity and the flashing, booming dark sky above the camp began to settle and the wind began to calm. The lightning bolt he had been holding, once all but solid, now flickered as though it were about to be dismissed.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I know the truth, Lord Zeus. Or at least some of it. Mother had told me the story of your daughter, of Thalia. Sir, I know little about Thalia, and I'm not trying to claim to know or understand anything about her. However I do know that like me, she wasn't supposed to exist. I also know that I myself would not feel very well if my mother were to punish her for the very same reason that I myself exist. Now I can't speak for her, but I believe from what I have heard that she would probably feel the same way. I also believe it's very possible that, with the arrival of the golden fleece, she may just be expelled from the tree, able to live again and I'm sure she that the first news she wouldn't want the first news she hears of her father being him killing a boy like her."
Zeus stared at me long and hard, but I was confident in what I said. I truly did believe Thalia was going to come back tomorrow when we placed the fleece on the tree and that certainly she'd want to hear of all the great things her father had done, not the revenge he had taken on me and my mother.
"Fine. If tomorrow my daughter does emerge from the tree, I will not issue the death penalty. " He turned his head towards my mother. "Once the dinner here is done, I'll be waiting to talk to you on Olympus, Artemis. But for now, I'll take my leave." My mother fell to her knees and breathed a sigh of relief. The shocked faces of the huntresses told me they had never seen this side of her before. I guess they never imagined my mother swallowing her pride like this. Especially not for a MALE son.
As quickly as he came the god of the sky was gone in yet another flash of light. I stood up, brushing my white armor and cloak off, and walked over to my mother. Putting my hand to her face I wiped away her tears before standing up and turning away from her. I closed my eyes, folded my arms and said "The great and powerful goddess of the moon and hunt, shedding tears for a taboo male son? What is this world coming too? Come on and pull yourself together, you're embarrassing your huntresses… mother." I turned back to her with a big smile on my face. Right now I needed my overly confident, pride filled mother. Not the weak fragile one who seemed to break at any moment.
She dried her tears, cleared her throat and got her game face back on. After getting up and pretending nothing had happened she looked at me and said, "Achilles, why is this nymph disrespecting my table?"
To my disbelief the whole camp started laughing. I guess my mother's sudden change in attitude completely took away from the tense atmosphere. Of course… I still had to answer my mother's question. "Well mom, you see, I uh… I guess you could say she… uh…"
"We played a game of catch the nymph and he won."
More laughter, this time from the huntresses as well. "Oh this is just TOO GOOD to be true! He's some perverted nymph chaser! Hahaha!" My mother's face was red, whether it was in anger or embarrassment though I couldn't tell. I could feel Wisteria's heart sinking. Obviously she had meant to say more but didn't know how. She was in pain yet everybody was laughing at the thing causing her so much anguish, like it was still just some game to them.
It didn't help with Zoe's continued onslaught. "So tell us, oh MASTERFUL NYMPH CATCHER, as the first mortal to ever accomplish this, what is the great prize you received? A servant for a day? Special bedroom favors? A photo album for your daily, and lonely, needs?"
I saw a single tear roll down Wisteria's face, between that and her emotions rolling around inside of me my anger against Zoe exploded. I took the daggers that were still in my hands and lunged at her. She didn't even see me coming. I was still supercharged with moon energy. As I was now, Zoe didn't have a prayer. "Zoe Nightshade. I will say this once, and only once. Do NOT mess with me. I'm not your enemy. But if you make me your enemy then so be it. But it won't be pretty. I will tear you down! I will destroy you! Don't think for even a second that I won't. That my mother will be able to stop me. You are crossing the line now! You're insulting not just me but Wisteria as well. You want to know what the "reward" is?! I'll tell you! It's her core! The equivalent to her soul! Oh, and the exchange is automatic, you can't stop it! The nymphs don't run from people for fun, they do it out of fear! The fear of being permanently forced and bound to another's will through no choice of their own! They're terrified! And for good reason! What may be a 'reward' for me is her WORST NIGHTMARE! I didn't know, and now I've torn her whole world away from her! She can never return to what she was! And it's MY fault! So shut up and stop joking around Zoe! Or I'll remove that tongue of yours and keep you from speaking ever again!"
I ended my fit of rage with large gasping breaths. Once again I stood in a silent and stunned room. I, personally, thought my outburst was justified, that the others in the room would start ragging on Zoe. So when no one said anything, I was surprised. I'd come to find out later that the camp saw me as a rather easy going, kind of pacifistic type of guy. I felt a little sorry for them as I was actually pretty prone to fits of anger from time to time. Of course I still appreciated the thought of their high opinions of me.
So the rest of the night proceeded rather casually. People ate and chatted (and for a few even sang) and for the most part things returned to normal. When I first came here that kind of quick-return-to-normalcy was a little hard for me to understand. Annabeth explained it though as being the pinnacle of normal here. She said that demigods live lives of constant fear. So any chance they had to be happy they tried to spend being happy. I wondered just how many creatures in the magic world live their lives that way.
Dinner came to an end and after instructing the huntresses to remain at camp for three days until a certain monster came near the camps barrier, my mother left. While they went straight to bed I decided to take a stroll around the camp before the final call for being indoors. I always felt better at night, and for once I wasn't alone. This time I had both Brian and Wisteria with me.
We walked in silence, enjoying the night air. Or at least I thought we were. For some reason I couldn't get comfortable, like there was this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. That's when I noticed a deep depression. One that wasn't mine.
"Wisteria, are you okay?" I asked. I was genuinely worried about her. Since this forced contract between us, we hadn't managed to have a single full discussion.
"Yeah… I'm fine."
"You don't FEEL fine."
She and Brian looked at me like I had just said this ice feels warm. That's when it finally occurred to me. Wisteria may be bound to me, but I'm not necessarily bound to her. Just because I can feel her emotions, doesn't mean that she could feel mine. Realizing that fact I knew I had to tell her. I certainly wouldn't want someone prying into my private emotions.
"I see, I guess it wasn't both ways like I assumed." More incredulous looks from them. I turned to face her. "Wisteria, I… I can feel your emotions. I think because your core is inside of me that I can- See? You just got really depressed. And now you're surprised, depressed, angry, want to kill m- oh. Okay I'll stop." Her feelings were like a constant roller coaster. Never settling, never stable. If all girls were this way, I think I might be the only male to understand them.
She started walking off in a bit of a hurry which surprised me a little, then she just stopped a few feet away and said. "Well that's no big deal. If you can feel what I'm feeling then that just means you won't be surprised by me hitting you whenever you piss me off. And I have a feeling that's gonna be a lot!" Even though she was putting on a big show by saying that, I knew that on the inside she was still really rattled by it. I guess she realized I was prying in on her emotions, because just like she promised she gave me a solid whack to the head, not that I probably didn't deserve it.
She closed her eyes and crossed her arms with a smug look on her face. "So Arc, where are we headed to anyways?"
I scratched my head. "Uh, I didn't really have a specific destination in mind." I laughed innocently.
"Why don't we head down to the armory?" Brian suggested, his finger pointing up in the air.
Wisteria and I gave Brian a weird look. "Uh, why would we do that?" I asked.
"Well I was thinking, the reason you probably had trouble with Cerberus was because you didn't have a close combat weapon. Take me for instance. I have my cards, which are a kind of mid range weapon. But I also have this bronze dagger I keep attached to my hip. Just in case they make it past my cards."
After watching Brian fight Cerberus I had a hard time picturing anything getting past his cards. But then again Cerberus bypassed my bow, so I guess anything is possible. Still he had a good point, and I knew just the weapon to get too.
As I grabbed the trident in the armory, Wisteria stood dumbfounded. Then fear ripped through her like a hurricane. I guess she had heard of its curse, but Brian and I assured her everything was alright. I had already won my first battle with it, so I was fine.
After that we spent a little time in the training pavilion, where Wisteria showed me how to use the trident properly. Apparently I was supposed to use it with a net or some such, but I wasn't a fan of that and when she realized I wasn't going to comply, she taught me different ways of wielding it that were more suited for me. I was surprised but she truly knew how to handle a shield. She was one of those rare people who could wield a shield as effectively as any sword or other weapon. She was completely balanced with it, both offensively and defensively.
Her physical abilities surprised me as well. Her body was nice, very attractive like all nymphs and dryads and such were, but her build seemed more like a housewife's than a warrior. She was thin, with wide hips and an equally wide bust and not a whole lot of muscle. And even though she wasn't the fastest person in the world, her punches and kicks were strong enough to leave cracks in the concrete ground.
After a good few minutes worth of training though, the warning bell rang letting us know that we had to be in our cabins in fifteen minutes, and an hour after that it was lights out.
"Damn, we're a pretty decent ways away from the cabins. I'll have to hurry, no time to chat!" yelled Brian and he took off down the field.
Wisteria looked at me confused. "We're less than a five minutes' walk away. We should be able to get there with time to spare. Why did he take off running?" I just laughed and pointed in the direction Brian took off to. Her eyes followed my finger and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped and tried to stifle a laugh.
On his way there, Brian's bad luck was attracting all kinds of stuff keeping him from making any decent progress. He'd trip, his shoe would come off, a bird would grab a jar of greek fire and throw it in front of him. Terrible things like that one after the other. It was a relentless assault of bad luck sent by his mother Tyche.
I had grown used to seeing his mother's "love" for him by now, but Wisteria was thrown into a giggling fit. It was hard to imagine that just earlier today, the two of them were so cruel to each other. Then again, it was hard to believe the camp was the way it was at all.
When I first arrived here the atmosphere was static and dead. People walked around like quiet zombies. That's because Thalia's tree had been poisoned, weakening the barrier and making the camp more dangerous. The day after I arrived, a girl named Clarisse, a daughter of Ares apparently, went off to get the Golden Fleece. Everyone believes it's the only way to bring peace back to camp. To be honest though the camp seemed pretty peaceful to me, albeit a little moody, and it was certainly the first place I had ever been able to call home in a long, long time.
But now though I could see the camp livening up a bit. The other campers were more upbeat, happier than they had been the entire time I had known them. I watched as my home just kept getting better and better. It was like I moved into a mansion and now I had the money to trick it out anyway I wanted to.
Of course all this thought of home got me to thinking as well. "Wisteria, where are you going to sleep tonight?"
She gave me one of those sad looks. The one that says I've thought about it but I wish I didn't have to. "With you I guess. I can't turn back into a tree anymore. It makes me sad but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm… a part of you now. And DON'T read my emotions."
It was hard not too but I tried my best not to pry. Good thing to because it was starting to become a habit.
We started walking back to the circle of cabins. We passed Hestia and I waved to her. She politely nodded her head. I spent a pretty good deal of time hanging out with her. Enough to the point that I can talk to her about pretty much anything. If you didn't know she was a goddess, you'd probably think we were just old childhood friends. Although I can't say for sure, I'm almost certain that I'm closer to a goddess than anyone else has ever been before, or at least any other demigod like myself.
Out of habit I started turning to the left side of the field. Then I felt this ping of surprise run through me and I turned around. Wisteria was staring at me like she had no idea what I was doing. That's when it dawned on me. My mother had officially claimed me, meaning starting tonight I was staying in the Artemis cabin. My eyes got wide as I realized what that meant.
Wisteria and I had to sleep in the Lion's den…
We walked over to the cabin, my shoulders slumped and my face stuck with in a defeated look. For at least the next three days I had to sleep in room shared by two or three dozen girls. All of whom hated me to some varying degree. Head hung low as I sighed I managed to gather the courage to open the door after getting some encouragement from Wisteria. I peeked in to see what they were doing. From what I could tell all the girls were asleep. Deciding it was safe I put all my focus into my abilities as a hunter. I made my bed my target and decided the best course of action was to reach it silently. Using my powers as the son of Artemis I carefully tiptoed a few steps passed the door. But I made a grave miscalculation. I wasn't the only one coming inside to sleep. Wisteria was with me too. And while I had magical powers to help keep me silent, Wisteria was just as loud as she normally was, and ended up accidentally slamming the doors.
Before I could breathe an arrow whizzed pass my head and three dozen angry women had shot up from their beds, daggers drawn and lights on. Wisteria quickly covered my eyes but it was too late. It hadn't even occurred to me how the girls would sleep. Some wore their day clothes, others plain old pajamas, and while that wouldn't have been too bad, that was only the minority of them. Most of them wore only their underclothes, or worse, their birthday suits…
After thinking about it though it made perfect sense. When all they ever lived around was a bunch of girls, I guess it would only be reasonable for them to be that comfortable around each other. Decency didn't really matter when you were all the same gender.
Still though I was thankful of Wisteria covering my eyes, although I did see some things it wasn't much to brag about. My thanks was short lived as it quickly became a perilous situation. A cold tingling sensation flew down my spine as something sharp and cold touched the skin on my neck. "What. In. Hades. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?!" It was Zoe Nightshade, and judging from how close the sound was I guessed she was right in front of me with a dagger to my neck.
"Well, uh you see… this is the Artemis cabin so uh…"
"Yes!" She screamed, pressing the blade tighter harder against my throat. "The ARTEMIS cabin! Tell me do you know the rules of this camp?! Only those who are the children of the respective gods and goddesses and who have the permission of said gods and goddesses are allowed to enter the cabins after dark! Everyone else goes to the Hermes cabin! So what are you doing here?! What?! What do you want?!"
I suddenly heard one of the other huntresses speaking to her. "Zoe, he's Artemis' son. He's no longer allowed in any of the other cabins past ten and he can't stay outside or else the harpy's will eat him. He doesn't have a choice. Honestly, I'm sure he knows by now that most, if not all, of us hate him. But he has nowhere else to go. You really think he wants to sleep in a room with a bunch of women who'd all like to slit his throat? C'mon, he's got it bad enough as it is. We can all just get dressed into something comfortable and it won't be an issue. Just leave him be Zoe."
"I don't know who you are," I said. "but thank you." Suddenly I was whacked in the head. "I'm not doing this for you, boy, I'm doing this because I'd rather not have blood everywhere. If that happened I'd have to be the one to clean it up!"
I knew it would end with the same result, but mom taught me to always be thankful of those who do me right, even if it's for other reasons. After all, it may be those very same people who save your life one day. "I know. I still want to thank you. Being thankful for help, regardless of who from or why, is something people should always be. Mom taught me that."
Another whack to the head. "Who do you think you are?" said Zoe. "I've been with Artemis for nearly three thousand years now, yet you try to speak like you know her?"
I gave it a little bit of thought. When you put it that way I guess it probably did seem like I didn't know my own mother very well. But to be honest, I was positive that I actually did know her better. "Well I don't really know. Tell me Zoe did mom ever cook for you?"
I felt the knife blade leave my throat as she stepped back. "No," she replied. "I've never seen Lady Artemis cook before. We always fixed our own meals while she ate nectar and ambrosia."
"Really?" I asked surprised. "In all the years my mother has known you she's never fixed you anything to eat? She's an amazing cook I don't know why she wouldn't."
The girls all looked at each other giddishly. Like the idea of my mother cooking was just too hilarious for them to stand.
"Lady Artemis is a proud hunter! She would never fix food for lowly mortals like ourselves."
"Okay one, don't you think that's really degrading yourself? And two, mom cooked for me all the time. In fact, she even took care of me when I was a child for two whole years."
Zoe dropped her dagger and punched me and for once I didn't know what I had said wrong. "So it's your fault?!" She screamed. Evidently I had struck a very sensitive nerve. "Several years ago my lady was acting most estranged! There were times when she was completely disinterested in hunting! Instead she seemed inclined to place her joys in such things as food and clothing, like she had suddenly become Aphrodite! She would often turn into this strange form where she had chesnut brown hair a green dress and a white cooking apron. Whenever she did that her attitude took a complete turn. And then after those two years she was depressed for quite some time. Constantly playing with a necklace she kept around her neck. Gazing at it like it was a lost child. That was all your fault?!"
Yup, I struck a nerve.
"Well what did you expect her to do?!" Everyone turned their heads to Wisteria. She had been keeping quiet this whole time, but now she seemed kind of angry. Wow, everyone's getting their nerves pressed today. "It was her first, and likely only, child Zoe! If you had one of your own I'm sure you'd feel the same way! You need to stop being so damned obsessed with the fact that Arc is one, a man, two, better than you, and three, Artemis's favorite, and just grow up already! You look ridiculous getting angry about every single little thing that he does! You don't like him? Stay away from him! Simple as that!" and with that Wisteria grabbed my hand and drug me across the room, still keeping one hand firmly over my eyes.
"Now I suggest you girls get dressed in something halfway decent. My arm is getting tired and I'm only going to keep my hand here for another five minutes. If you aren't dressed by then you'll be shamed by having your bodies seen by a MAN, and I say man because that's what he is. A MAN. He's not just some stupid, run of the mill perverted teenage boy. He's done plenty to earn peoples respect and you should all be giving it to him."
As nice as it was to have Wisteria defending me, I didn't really feel like I could agree with everything she was saying. I was certainly still a boy. I mean, I had only recently found a home, a place to belong. Now I had to do things like, search for who I really was, graduate highschool and get a job, buy the latest pocket monsters game with my own money. I was definitely still a kid. What's more I didn't really think what she was saying was making my situation any better.
Before I had a chance to protest what she said though, I heard the rustling sound of thirty girls all putting on their clothes. After five minutes of waiting Wisteria finally removed her hand and my mouth dropped to the ground in amazement. I had peeked into the room before, but without a proper light source I couldn't see much of anything. Now that Wisteria had finally moved her hand, I could finally get a clear view of the cabin built in my mothers honor.
The biggest things I noticed were our beds. We had wooden bunk beds shaped like deer stands. They had no mattresses, just the hard wooden planks, which I didn't mind. Animal pelts were draped under the top bunk so that they hung around the bottom like a curtain. They also served as our blankets, and if you found the wood uncomfortable, your matress.
The room had your typical hard wood floors, with boulders placed haphazardly around and tree trunks randomly going up to the black ceiling. Of course that's when I noticed the most amazing part of the room, the walls and ceiling. They were enchanted so that only those who belonged to the Artemis cabin could see it, otherwise the wall was just a plain deep blue with a few hunting trophies mounted on the walls. As a child of Artemis, I could see the walls constantly giving off the image of a forest somewhere with the ceiling showing the sky above it. It seemed so realistic that if you didn't put your hand on the wall to be sure of what you saw, you'd think it was bigger on the inside. Occasionally I'd see a deer running through the forest and whenever the animal reached the room, a white apparition like moonlight would appear in the room and mimic its movements, before reaching the walls and running away. And it wasn't just deer, but all animals and even some bugs too. Lighting up the room like dozens of pale white ghosts, only these ghosts weren't terrifying but calm and beautiful, as though they were spirits meant to help put our souls at ease.
Finally, there was our cabins centerpiece. Percy had told me about them before, how each cabin had a fountain made for these things called iris messages. I had been in the occasional cabin, but I had yet to see a fountain as beautiful as ours. A white marble basin stood up from the ground, its sides curved with the shape of a small mountain range, glowing like the moon itself. Inside the basin was a pool of water that shone a brilliant blue like the waters of the Caribbean and reflecting the ceiling so that stars danced in the water. But what made it truly magnificent, was the large marble crescent moon as big as a full grown man that floated above the pool of water. Even though it was directly above the beautiful liquid, it showed absolutely no reflection. I could feel the energy of the moon flowing off of it like a waterfall. There was no doubt in my mind that this was an actual miniature moon my mother helped to maintain here in the cabin. At first I thought the fountain was pointless as it seemed to be something more like a giant bird bath than an actual fountain. But later I learned that if you hold up a drachma for an iris message, then ten waterspouts will shoot up into the air for you to throw into mist and send a message.
Wisteria had pushed me onto a bunk in the very back of the room, and then climbed up on top. The huntresses also clambered into their beds and within a few minutes it seemed like the only one left awake was me. Deciding it was better to sleep, I closed my eyes, and left to a world of dreams.