Author's Note: Where has Dalia gone?! I don't know! Well… I know actually. You don't. Sorry. Well, let's found out anyway! Yay!
"What do you mean she's GONE?!" Evelyn cried, leaping up off the ground. Her once clean, pretty dress was now adorned with dirt.
"She's missing. We went to look for her and we couldn't find her anywhere." Ben replied.
"Wait," Sicomba said, standing up, "there's nowhere in camp she could be?"
"No," Ben said with a stony expression, "she's gone. She left camp."
"Well we have to find her!" Louise yelled.
"Well that's why I came to find you! The others are going to the Big House!"
The four Demigods took off toward the Big House without another word. They soon caught up with Sierra, Jade and Emerson. They ran up to the porch of the big house and Chiron looked up, startled.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Everyone tried to answer him, but they were too out of breath. They sat there with their hands on their knees, wheezing. Within moments, Elizabeth, Amy and Mary ran up as well, Sam with them.
Finally, Louise managed to get some breath.
"Dalia… gone." She said.
Chiron's eyes went wide.
"What has happened?"
So they told the story of the "wedding," and the horrible fire disaster (Mary was quite quiet during this bit), also telling what they could figure out of what happened after they ran off. They all chimed in bits that the others forgot. Once they were done they all looked at Chiron expectantly. Suddenly, though, Mr. D's voice rang out from behind them.
"Well, it is very sad that this Daniella-"
"DALIA!" the Demigods all screamed at once. Dionysus continued as if they had never spoken:
"…is missing, but there is nothing we can do about it."
"What do you MEAN there's nothing we can do about it?" Elizabeth cried, her usually unseen anger bursting out, "We can go out and FIND HER!"
Sam pulled her back, trying to calm her down. She looked extremely vexed.
"Chiron," Evelyn said, "we have to-"
"Mr. D is right," the centaur said, holding up his hand, "it is too dangerous to send you all out when Kronos is so powerful.
"Dalia is our friend! We can't just let her die! Besides, we're strong enough together to beat anything that comes into our path." Evelyn argued.
The others nodded their agreement.
"And also powerful enough to attract hundreds of monsters." Chiron said.
"If it were Percy you would let him go." Evelyn muttered.
"That is not true. You know how dangerous this could be."
"And YOU know that if you don't go, Dalia will DIE! You know the prophecy!"
"Wait, what prophecy?" Sicomba interjected.
Chiron sighed.
"There was a prophecy around the time Dalia was born, saying that a powerful daughter of Demeter; that the goddess herself favored, would lose control of her power and be captured. She would then be forced to grow the Celestial Seeds, that can grant the person who captures the Demigod the power of a thousand armies to destroy the gods."
"And that's about Dalia?" Sierra asked.
"More than likely." Chiron replied.
A favored Daughter of the Goddess Demeter
Shall be captured by one who earnestly seeks her,
And she shall be forced to sow
The Celestial Seeds that when they grow
Will grant the power of a thousand armies
A power to defeat the gods
And win the war against all odds
And the price that the power will pay
The ending of one who has no say
Evelyn finished speaking and looked at Chiron.
"You're just going to let her die."
"I will not risk all your lives."
Evelyn just looked at him with disdain, then stalked off the porch and disappeared.
The others just looked at each other and quietly dispersed, silently mourning for their now lost friend. Mary looked particularly heartbroken about it, probably because she felt in her heart that it was entirely her fault.
OoOoOoOoO
The days and weeks wore on and soon it was July. It was a month after Dalia had disappeared, and a month before Percy and Evelyn's birthday. That's when the prophecy would come true. Evelyn wasn't really afraid of dying. Percy was born first, anyway. Ben had been getting particularly jumpy and withdrawn lately, and Evelyn was a little worried about him. Nico had disappeared again and Sierra looked very depressed.
Get used to it.
Evelyn had been best friends with Nico for years. It definitely wasn't an easy task. One day he was there and the next he wasn't.
Evelyn had been training vigorously over that month, trying to get out her anger and keep her thoughts off Dalia. She studied and trained various types of swordplay with Louise and Sicomba nearly every day. Sometimes after they were done they talked about art or made drawings. Once in a while Mary would show up, and Evelyn would leave. She didn't mean to, but she somewhat blamed Mary for Dalia disappearing. She had only said one full sentence to her since Dalia disappeared and that was:
"What in the name of Hades were you thinking?"
Mary tried her best to make it up to Evelyn. It was obvious she was sorry, but Evelyn was extremely stubborn. Mary was almost as sad as her though, Dalia had been her best friend.
Evelyn sometimes went swimming with Amy or Percy. Percy was the only person she talked to about Dalia. He was really the only one who understood. The only other person who could understand was Dalia herself, since she had lost her best friend Lydia and all, but she obviously couldn't talk to her.
Other times Evelyn went Pegasus riding with Elizabeth and Emerson. They loved it when she told them what the horses were saying. She had to sensor most of it though. She hung out with Ben some, but he was usually off somewhere alone. Sometimes he came to the Thor Cabin and played Halo with Sicomba, Louise and her, though. Evelyn usually ended up just committing suicide ten times until her team lost. The previously sarcastic girl had turned moody, easily frustrated and sad. She worried every day and sometimes didn't even come out of her cabin. This is how she spent most of her time until she had her first dream.
"Plant them!" a sickly voice came out of the dark. It was a voice Evelyn knew well. It was the voice of Kronos. Or, rather, Luke acting as Kronos' puppet. Suddenly, another voice came out of the darkness. It was a voice Evelyn had longed to hear for a month.
"Soon," it said, "everything must be prepared."
Dalia.
Suddenly, a room came into view. Dalia was standing in front of a plot of dirt, and it was growing. Her clothes were in shreds, and she looked dead tired. She had her hands in the dirt, she was obviously using a lot of power. She looked like she was draining herself completely. The figure of Luke stood over her, with backbiter in his hand. His face was in a scowl as he watched her.
"When will it be ready!"
"A fortnight." Dalia replied.
Luke sneered.
"It better be."
His dark figure left the room, leaving Dalia alone in the dirt. Tears fell from her eyes, making tracks in her dark, dirt-stained face.
"Please come." She said. "Why haven't you come yet?"
"Dalia!" Evelyn shouted. Dalia looked up like she heard her, but saw nothing and put her head back down. Suddenly, the dream melted away. Leaving only the sound of Dalia's weeping ringing in Evelyn's ears.
"DALIA!"
Evelyn sat straight up in bed, sweating. She rubbed her face in her pillow, thinking. A fortnight. That was only fourteen days. She only had fourteen DAYS until Dalia… she couldn't think it. Evelyn made up her mind. She was going to find Dalia. Whether Chiron liked it or not.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Evelyn threw some clothes into a backpack, along with her emergency stash of ambrosia and nectar. She grabbed her sword, ainigma, meaning riddle. She started out the door, then hesitated. She grabbed some paper and left a note for Percy and Amy, telling them she was leaving, and that she wasn't dead. Then, she silently snuck out the door.
Evelyn knew she couldn't do this alone, she had to take someone. She thought about taking Ben, but he had been so jumpy lately, he wouldn't fare well in a quest. She had been spending so much time with Sicomba and Louise lately, though…
Before she could finish the thought, her feet were taking her to the Thor Cabin, where she opened the door and walked over to Sicomba.
"Wake up!"
Sicomba's eyes went wide, but he went back to normal when he saw her.
"Go ahead, play Xbox, I don't care."
"This isn't about Xbox! This is about Dalia. We're going to get her."
Sicomba smiled.
"Finally."
He stuffed some clothes into a bag and grabbed his Katana before following Evelyn out the door to the Ares Cabin.
"Don't wake up Clarisse."
They were about to try to pick the lock when the door opened, showing Louise with a packed backpack over her shoulder and her sword in her hand. Evelyn widened her eyes in surprise.
"Well hello there." Evelyn said.
"I had a dream, let's go."
So they walked off, but before they left Evelyn stopped them.
"We have to bring Elizabeth… and Mary."
The two looked shocked.
"Why?" Louise asked.
"For a couple of reasons." Evelyn said. "One: the three of us are powerful. We know how to use our weapons and our powers. But we're also all lacking in the strategy department. We do things without thinking. That'll get us killed. Elizabeth is a daughter of Athena, a daughter of strategy. She'll keep us clear-headed. And Mary should come because Dalia was her best friend. And I've been shutting her out and I shouldn't be. Plus, a child of Hermes is useful on a quest."
Louise and Sicomba looked and her, before nodding. They ran off to grab Mary and Elizabeth. Evelyn stood where she was, looking up at the stars. The wind blew her dark hair around her face, and she felt at peace for a moment. But worry soon crashed down on her like a wave.
We only have two weeks.
Soon, the four other Demigods returned. Elizabeth looked slightly frightened, and that made sense. She was younger than the rest of them. Mary looked at Evelyn and they exchanged a look. All was forgiven. Mary smiled. Then the four Demigods walked off, not knowing where they were going. They just knew one thing. They had to save Dalia.