I opened the door to my apartment, grabbed a can of Coca-Cola and headed for the sofa. Before I planned anything, I needed ten minutes to recuperate. Sighing gratefully, I turned on the TV, hoping to catch the end of the news.

'And now to revisit our top story', the presenter said. 'In the Waterloo area of London, the first of what we assume to be many attacks from Greek monsters happened. The army was called in and the situation is now under control, but many are unsatisfied with this out come. The public's questions are still unanswered: why was this attack allowed to happen? What precautions are the government taking to make sure more innocent lives aren't lost? And where were the gods, or even their demigod children?'

I switched off the TV. With everything else going on at the minute, stressing about a monster attack was the last thing I needed. Instead, I just closed my eyes for a minute… a minute which turned out to be close to 83 minutes, as I kind of fell asleep. However, it wasn't a total waste. As well as feeling more refreshed than before, I also had a very insightful conversation.

The dream began in a mist filled white room. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. All I could see was white every where, which really disorientated me. I also felt a little dizzy, as being surrounded by one colour often made me feel. It was a plane room I was in, with no furniture, doors or windows – or other people. I took a cautious step forward and immediately regretted it. The room swam around me. I decided sitting would be the better idea, so that's what I did.

"Why sit on the floor when there's chairs over here?" a female voice called through the mist.

"I'm good here, thanks," I called back, unsure who I was talking to.

Light chuckling drifted towards me. "You get no choice in the matter," the voice chastised.

A second later I was sat in a stiff wooden chair facing a similar chair whose occupant was a person I'd never seen in my waking hours. She had flowing black hair, pale olive coloured skin and a sombre expression on her face. Clothed in a flattering black dress, she would have been truly beautiful if she wasn't constantly fidgeting with it as if she wanted to rip it from her body.

"Hi," I said.

"Good afternoon," she said, becoming silent once more.

A beat passed. "And you are…?" I probed, hoping to get conversation out of her before I awoke.

"I am the goddess Persephone," she said, her tone neutral. "And I have brought you here to tell you what the symbol is you are seeing everywhere."

Finally, I was getting somewhere.

Persephone began.

"It is an ancient rune known as Hagalaz, a powerful rune for destruction in the Ancient world. It also evokes the wrath of nature, which is how I know of its existence. In addition, it gives the user power over uncontrolled forces whilst also giving a loss of power, depending on how the rune is cast.

"Only a very powerful sorcerer can use runes such as this and hide their identity. We Greeks do not condone the use of the old magic as it is a primal and the results often not what the user bargained for. The Council are currently trying to discover the perpetrator as we speak. That was why Percy Jackson was called from your school, as well as Annabeth Chase from her Parliament meeting.

"As for Ares' actions, he claims to have no idea of the incident occurring when questions on his return to Olympus. Lord Apollo was the one to do the questioning, so we know he is speaking the truth. Lord Ares then promptly collapsed and is currently being treated in the infirmary on Mt Olympus."

There's an infirmary? Who knew?

"His son is still unconscious, by the way," she continued. "We're going to leave him there and let him awake in his own time. He's going to be very angry when he awakes, you know."

I shrugged. "He's a big boy," I said mockingly. "I'm sure he can take care of himself." I leaned forward on my chair, resting my elbows on my knees. "What I really want to know," I said, "Is why you're the one telling me all of this. How do I know I can trust you?"

Her delicate forehead creased in confusion. "What reason do you have to distrust me?" she asked.

"You turned my best friend's boyfriend into a daffodil, for starters," I said. I saw anger flicker in her eyes, so I pressed on. "Also, we've never met before. How do I even know you are Persephone? You could be a vision sent from the one orchestrating all of this, sent to confuse me even more than I already am."

The goddess – if she was – stood and moving directly in front of me.

"Look me in the eye, demigod," she said, dangerously quiet. I stood and did so. "Do you think if I weren't the goddess of spring, if I didn't have to spend six months of my life trapped in a living hell, away from my family, from my realm, I would have the pain in my eyes that you see now? The permanent look of sorrow? Now tell me I am no who I claim to be."

I saw all she described. I had never seen someone so unhappy. I'm sure she would have ended her life by now if she were not immortal and that chance taken away from her. No one could fake that despair, no illusion could create it. That was pure and heartfelt pain, nothing less.

"Forgive me, my Lady," I said quietly, bowing my head.

She sat back down and motioned for me to do the same. "It is alright, Eden. I would question you if you were not suspicious. You will need all your wits about you if you are to uncover this mystery. It seems you are the only one to be targeted, so you are the one closest to finding out the truth. Even though it was a set-up today, I believe investigating the boy who attacked you is a good place to start. Although, I think finding Sebastian himself may be a better way of going about things. And know that anything a resident of the Underworld can help with, we shall."

I smiled gratefully. Now I had my mother, Poseidon and the entire Underworld on my side. Turns out today wasn't such a bad day after all.

"Thank you, Lady Persephone," I said, lowering my head in respect.

"You are most welcome, Eden." The ghost of a smile passed her lips. "You are, after all, named after one of my favourite gardens."

The ground shook in the dream. A look of worry flashed Persephone's face before turning impassive once more.

"I believe our time is up, Eden," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Someone is trying to break the spell I cast bringing you here. Perhaps the person causing your strife? I shall look into it further. Goodbye for now, dear."

I awoke with a start. My dreams never were just dreams – I'd looked into enough demigod theology to know that – but could I trust it? Shaking myself, I rummaged around for a note pad and pen. I then proceeded to write down everything that had happened to me over the past week; Sebastian's attack, Ares' mission, Phoebus and I's conversation and the dream with Persephone.

Something fell out of the back of the notepad – my mother's note. How had that gotten there? I could have sworn I'd put it on my bedside table…

The second line stood out for me: 'These next few days will show you many things, child. Pay attention'. Pay attention to what? If someone at school had magic this strong, surly I would know about it. There were no new people to my knowledge, nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing that had changed recently was…

Henry.