Salvete omnes! A.N in the end as always.
Enjoy!
Chapter XI
Percy could now tell when he was dreaming.
There was no specific tell, but by now he knew the feeling of weightlessness and somewhat hazy vision that slowly cleared as if he just awoke from an afternoon nap.
He looked around him, all he could see was trees. Trees as far as the eye could see, and a faint trickle of water. He instinctively knew it water. And more than that, he could tell it was a river, a rather large one, and it could host life.
'Comes with the territory of being a son of the god of the sea.' He thought, and realized soon after what just passed through his mind.
'I must be going crazy. But then again there's no denying whatever creature that was. If Reyna hadn't been there…' His line of thought was cut off as he heard distant voices which sounded like yells. He couldn't quite make it out, but he knew they were approaching him, and although Percy knew he was dreaming, he couldn't help but perk up and ready his body for whatever could come his way.
Not much later Percy could see figures in the distance, moving through the thick bark with surprising swiftness, trying to make a path, towards where, he had no idea. As the figures grew closer, Percy could see they were human.
They were a group of five, and he could now notice that as they were making their way through the forest, they were constantly looking back, their breathing was hard and quick, more panicked than exerted, and they wore what seemed to be ancient clothing Percy saw in old movies about Greek heroes and myths.
As they got closer, he could now hear their shouts, and stare at their widened eyes as they passed him running.
"Currete! Currete!" There was no mistake in the language. Percy knew it by heart and needed no translation in his dreams. It was Latin. These men were Roman. A man ordered the others to run as he suddenly stopped and turned around.
The others stopped for no longer than a second to look back, and when with what seemed like a pained look in their eyes, they looked ahead and kept running.
Percy wanted to stand with the lone man, who now stood still in the deep woods, looking back and forth, and to the sides, clearly afraid of something.
He then heard the growls, low and deep, as they approached from farther in the woods, and Percy would've broke into a cold sweat if he could've in his dream state, because he knew what those growls were. Neither animal nor human, they were the growl of monsters.
Percy wanted to act, do anything, try to save the man's life somehow, but as he took a step forward he was pulled away by an unknown strength that took his deeper into the forest against his will, until the only thing Percy could see were the thick trees, and all he could hear was a faint scream in the distance.
Percy closed his eyes in regret, knowing the fate of the anonymous man. When he opened them though, the first thing he heard was the rapid flow a great river that now stood in front of him.
He was standing on a far bank of the river, where it bended like a 'U' shape and continued flowing. Focusing, Percy looked around, searching for the remaining four men who were running through the forest.
As he turned around however, Percy could see hills around him, and on one of them he could see the beginnings of ancient construction. The building that struck him the most was a rather large building that looked like an ancient temple that rose above the others and seemed to radiate power and prestige, as it commanded the rest of the area from above.
Small buildings arouse next to it, going down from the hill until they reached the base of it, and as Percy could see further constructions were in progress reaching away from it.
He could see people talking and laughing, wearing the same ancient clothing that he saw on the men who ran away from the monsters. Some children played on the street – if Percy could call the space between the houses a street – and chased each other gleefully while their parents watched over them with a smile on their faces.
Then he heard the screams. The same as those of the men he saw before as he recognized their voices.
In the distance, on the other bank of the gushing river, he could see the now remaining four men bursting out of the dense forest, screaming for their lives. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he turned again to see the people in the city start heading upwards in a panic, towards the large temple, as men in ancient armor almost poured down from the higher part of the city, the bronze plates on their torso reflecting the sun.
Among them stood a man Percy recognized immediately from the last dream he had. It was the same men who escaped the torched city and boarded a ship to escape form it.
Now older, he could see the age started to mark him, yet he had the feeling that he was younger than he should've been. He ran as well as the younger soldiers, and his body showed the signs of a seasoned warrior, fit to do battle as any other who now stood on the bank of the river.
One of the soldiers turned to the king, and Percy was close enough to hear the conversation.
"Rex mi, quid faciamus?"
The man asked, and Percy knew he asked what they should do, and so naturally he asked the king.
"Nolli timere, Metelle, deos confido."
And the man replied to him not to worry, and that he trusts the gods. The king turned to him again, and spoke once again.
"Tiberis nos custodiet."
Percy knew the feeling of himself dreaming, and he knew when the dream was about to end, as he felt himself start to fade away, and his vision got blurry once again. He tried to hold on, to see what the man meant when he said what he said.
As he looked ahead Percy could now only see blurry figures closing in with massive silhouettes of what seemed like huge animals giving chase. And he could hold no more.
Percy woke up five minutes before his alarm clock with a cold sweat that covered his shirt and his sheets. Great.
Yet all he could think about was what that man, the king, meant when he told the other man that the Tiber would protect them.
Push Percy! Give me another five or you'll have to lift twice as heavy next set!
Percy, now wearing a tank top and short training pants - and dripping sweat that was definitely not cold down on the gym floor – heaved as he lifted the barbell up from his chest to the highest position he could above his head, and then lowered it down again. Four more times.
With a heavy sigh and with arms shaking, he looked towards Reyna, that was currently going through the motions of shadow-boxing some poor unknown shade into the ground, working up an impressive amount of sweat in the process, yet not nearly as much as Percy.
"When I though you said we'd train here every morning," Percy started, gasping for air every other word.
"I thought we'd be doing some aerobics, maybe sword swinging here and there, so tell me coach, why am I lifting my weight in weights in six-thirty in the morning?" As Percy saw it, it was a rather legitimate question.
Reyna gave the poor shade a few more imaginary punches, which seemed to Percy like they could knock-out a grown bear, and finished with an uppercut before addressing him.
"Look Percy," She started, looking him in the eyes.
"I know that you're new to this, and you're not used to physical training much less so combat training. But it's important. Trust me."
Reyna got a small towel from a nearby bench and patted off her face.
"Okay fine, maybe I don't get as much exercise as I should have ever since they closed down the pool, but me being a demi-god and all, shouldn't I have super strength and speed and all that?" He was only half joking.
"Yes, Percy, demi-gods may receive powers based on their divine heritage, but no blessing will temper your body and drill muscle memory into you. It takes hard work and dedication. And it could save your life. That's why you're here sweating it out in six thirty in the morning." Percy had to admit she made stellar arguments.
"And how could I do that if I can't even move my body after a session?" He asked.
"Your body will adept. And quickly. Don't worry. Focus on getting stronger, faster, and with as much knowledge as you can." She answered.
"I really don't see the reason, you know, besides the whole monsters-want-to-kill-me business. Why the rush?" Percy continued.
Reyna looked at him for a couple of seconds, sighed, and got another small towel which she threw towards him. Percy caught it and wiped his face, standing up in the process.
"Magistre told me not to tell you too soon but I guess if you know now you could get motivated to apply yourself to training. So listen well," Reyna started.
Percy got excited as he got a bit closer, not wanting to miss out on anything she said. Finally some more information.
"We believe that you could be involved in a quest, Percy, and before you ask, a quest is a sort of a mission given by the gods to fulfill a prophecy. And if you are going to go on a quest, you need to be ready, you need to be able to protect yourself."
"But, didn't Mark say that the gods were weak, almost non-existing by now?" Percy asked.
"That's why this is a big deal, Percy. A quest wasn't given for around five-hundred years. This could be the beginning of something great, if only we knew what it was about." Reyna replied, excitingly at first, and less as she finished.
"Well who gives out these quests usually? How do you even know a quest was given?"
"Usually, when demi-gods still had a place to call home, the auger would call upon us and tell us the prophecy that would begin the setting-out of a team of demi-gods to a quest, trying to understand what it is the gods want to be done, but these days are long over." Reyna started.
"I only have a weak connection with my mother, she comes to me in my dreams sometimes. And the last time she talked to me she said that a prophecy was given somewhere around here, which is why I got here and ran into the magistre in the first place." She said, pausing, letting Percy take it in.
"So you're saying you've talked to your mother, which is a god, through your dreams?" Percy asked.
Reyna nodded.
"And now that an auger is no longer present, a prophecy would be probably given by a god or something close to it right?" Percy was starting to get a bad feeling in his gut. He was starting to sweat again, and not from any sort of exercise.
Reyna nodded.
"Say Reyna, these prophecies, do they usually rhyme?" He asked.
"Yes! Good intuition Percy. The prophecies are interpreted in meter, and in an unclear manner, translating the gods can be difficult, and so we work with what we can make out." Reyna looked pleased with Percy's question as she gave him a smile.
"Reyna?" Percy wasn't smiling.
"Yeah?" She asked, smile still on her face.
"Think you could give me another training after school?" He asked.
"Well I guess I can fit in weapon training in the afternoon today, but why? You seemed rather bent on letting your body rest?" She asked.
"Because I think I'll be needing your lessons sooner rather than later." Percy's heart was beating hard in his chest. That was no weird dream that he had on the beach.
"Why? Did you see another monstrum yesterday?" Reyna was suddenly worried.
"No, but I think I received a prophecy from a god." Percy answered, thinking the shocked look on Reyna's face probably mirrored his own.
A/N: Taurus back after a long pause which wasn't really my fault and you can blame both my degree and my medical situation on the break.
I'm feeling better and trying to catch up on as much writing as I can.
The next chapter is half-way done already, and I'm excited to share it with you all!
Non related note, we've reached over 100 favorites which is mind blowing for a first-time author like myself.
Hope you keep enjoying the story, and see you in the next one,
T.I.