here is chapter 21! enjoy!

I woke in the morning with my mouth full of cotton and my eyes full of sand. My bruises from the following day had seemed to sense the lack of ambrosia in my system and redoubled their efforts to cause me pain. Lethargically, I readied myself and made my way to the mess hall.

I made it to the Mess hall without any guidance with surprising ease.

It was good to see I was able to make my way around the camp by myself.

Lou Ellen and Kasi were already seated at their table when I arrived. I slipped in beside them, crossing my fingers none of the counselors or anyone would notice. I doubted any of the Hermes kids would miss me.

"Glad you made it." Lou Ellen said, nodding in greeting.

"Yeah." I replied shortly. I still felt groggy from my long night, and not in much of a mood to talk.

"Hey," Called a voice behind us. Felix took a seat on the bench at our backs. " Good to see you made it here on time Ava. Did the Hermes kids have to set off a bomb to wake you?"

"Someone would have had to drop a bomb to get me to sleep." I murmured tiredly.

"Rough night?" Felix asked sympathetically.

Kasi raised her head away from her plate that she had been intent in the task of swirling her food around with her fork. "Bad dreams?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered hesitantly. "How did you guess?"

"It's common in Demigods to have powerful nightmares."

Felix nodded in agreement. "We all get them. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Kasi eyed the son of Tyche solemnly. " Yet sometimes, they do mean things." Her eyes found mine and settled there, like rocks in the ocean, blue and green and amber all mixed together. Her voice was soft, but steady and solid, demanding my full attention like a firework in a midnight sky. "Don't forget them, they may be able to help you in the future."

Felix rolled his eyes. "But don't let them stress you out either."

I thought back to last night's dream. I could still feel the cold icy power that had radiated from my father. I close my eyes and exhale deeply, trying to shake the feeling of dread that had settled in my gut since Hades's visit.

Lou Ellen turned to me. "I've got some activities planned that you could be interested in."

I nodded and accept some grapes and a bagel from a passing dryad. "As long as they don't involve animals."

I ate as Lou listed a few options. Kasi occasionally offered an opinion. I didn't really feel like doing anything today, but I decided it was fair I stay with the Hecate sisters and at least try to be involved in the camp. If I was stuck here, I might as well try and make use of my time.

Lou Ellen paused. "Ava, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry."

Lou rolled her eyes. "Which activity do you want to start at? Or should I relist them all?"

"Um, no…" I struggled to remember one of the scraps I'd pulled from her conversation. " Lets go with Monster recognition tactics.

"You mean monster assault tactics?"

"Yeah. that sounds good too."

Lou shook her head, eying me worriedly. " You really are out of it today."

"I'll be fine. One bad dream won't stop me from training."

Kasi gave me another disconcerting look. "Unless you take them too lightly…"

Thwump

The sword hit me in the flank and sent me to the ground hard on my tailbone.

Felix dropped the weapon and offered me a hand. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I thought you said you were ready…"

I grunted and got back to my feet. "Sorry, I was… I just spaced a little. My bad…"

Lou and Kasi regarded the match from the nearby bleachers. The wide baseball stadium type seating offered a full view of the practice field. The rest of the field was empty.

Lou raised an eyebrow. "You weren't paying attention at all."

The daughter of Hecate had been skeptical of my actions the whole morning. I felt like she was trying to dig under my skin to find what was the matter.

"Sorry. Maybe sword play just isn't my thing."

"Or acting like a chimera isn't." Felix offered. "Monster assault role play can take a very specific skill set you know." He said waggling a finger sarcastically.

"Right." I said, not in the mood. I joined the Hecate sisters on the bleacher. My body was about as sore as a pinata on a triplet's birthday. Some more ambrosia would have been nice.

Lou looked up at me. "You sure you're okay?"

"Peachy." I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. I just wanted the day to end.

Felix plunked down next to me. "Should we try something else?" He offered, ever the optimist.

I glanced at the boy, but a figure on the other side of the field caught my eye. The woman wore a bright coral colored sundress with matching lace up sandals. Pale skin contrasted with her dark brown hair which fell below her waist.

I stood up quickly. "Parse?"

"What?" Felix asked. He followed my gaze. "Who's that?"

My breath caught in my throat, I exhaled sharply to try and get my heart to beat again. "An old friend." I said in a gasp.

Persephone waited for me as I crossed the field to her. She spread her arms and caught me from a run and wrapped them around me.

"Parse, I missed you so much!"

Persephone laughed softly. "It's only been three days child."

"It felt like so much longer." I croaked bitterly.

"You've gone without me for more than six months on end."

I buried my head in her dress. "Six months or three days, it doesn't matter. It feels so good to see you again."

Parse took my shoulders and held me at arms length. She was smiling, but something cold and dark lay in her eyes. "It is good to see you too, but there is much we have to discuss."

"What's happened."

Parse sighed sadly. "Nothing yet… Though I only hope it's not too late to prevent anything from happening."