Alternate Title: "I Meet The Monster Everyone Fears In My Dreams"

Before I get into what Asterios and I talked about in my dream, and what happened afterwards, I suppose a general description of the monster that everyone on the island, including some of the monsters due to the fact that Asterios doesn't like it when a monster takes away its intended victim while it's in the middle of bringing them through its own brand of hell and has been known to sometimes actually kill the monster that did it, feared more than anything else is in order. After all, Asterios wouldn't have the reputation that precedes it if it didn't have the physical appearance, weapons, and abilities to match.

To say Asterios was everything he was shown to be on TV and in the legends and stories that spread around.. was both accurate and then a partial understatement at the same time. He was at least one and a half times larger than the Minotaur I had fought earlier today to save Thalia, and judging from the hulking muscles that looked like they could just rip my head off from my neck due to the force of them alone, protected by some hybrid bone and steel armor, it was clear that he was everything he was made out to be and then some, at least visually.

At nearly ten and a half feet tall, it was a beast that was literally the personification of a towering juggernaut, a berserker if you may. Wearing armor on its chest forged out of the bones of the incarnations of legendary monsters in the past forged with the strongest metals in the realm of Tartarus and with similar armor on its legs and a small yet amazingly durable T-shaped part at its neckline to protect it from attacks aimed at cutting off its head, it was considerably well protected from practically every weapon in the camp's arsenal. While Asterios was seemingly mostly real life flesh, the signs that it was created by Daedalus were still evident, such as the entirely metal hooves it had for feet which the skin and fur on its legs tapered perfectly to.

If you think that's bad enough, let's just say, it had the body appearance underneath the armor and the accessories to match. Aside from the aforementioned muscles, Asterios had spiked bracelets on its wrists that could run completely through demigods should they be unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of its sharp points. Its fur was a mixture of black, red, and white, with patches of deeper red shades in places. It's face had a nose ring that was golden and yet had three spiked tip points shooting outwards, giving it a deeply menacing look. Its eyes were a very deep red, of a shade that was most commonly found in Tartarus, and its mouth had very pointed teeth built to chewing and ripping apart things. Its two horns were in a S-curve shape and at the top split off into three points, like a trident.

Asterios' weapons was no joke, either. Compared to the Minotaur's double bladed axe, Asterios had instead opted for a few weapons to compliment its unique, flexible fighting style. Unlike its much older ancestor, Asterios did not use the bull charging ability the Minotaur had almost at all, only if it felt like there was no other option. It had learned, mostly due to Daedalus' genius, from the failures of its ancestor and as such, had a few weapons to prevent itself from making the same mistakes. It had an extremely long spear that used to be one of Iapetus' spears before he had it plated with metal from Tartarus and gave it to Daedalus as a gift for the project that created Asterios, a double bladed sword, a double edged halberd, and its most feared weapon, an experimental hybrid machete. This weapon featured a handle normally found in the swords used in the Middle Ages, plated and made extremely more durable with steel and metal from Tartarus. It also had a blade measuring at least 8 feet long, with one side having a serrated, jagged edge forged in such a way that it can break almost every sword or bladed weapon used against Asterios. The only weapon that stood against it was when the host of Set was using when Asterios had awakened due to the skill level quirk.

Anyway, here I was, in what seemed to be a blank space full of darkness with Asterios, the two of us seemingly floating in mid air. It was a rather scary silence, because like I said, I'm with the absolute juggernaut of a monster every demigod on this island fears in my own dreams.

"So, the warrior destined to face me in the fight to decide our fate has arrived.. the son of Kronos, the prophecy child.." Asterios said, breaking the silence, and I could only look at him with a confused look on my face.

Even he knows about the great prophecy that I am apart of, great, I thought. As if I didn't need every monster on this god forsaken island knowing about my prophecy and then trying extra hard to kill me.

Then I thought about the first part, the part I was confused with. The warrior that's destined to face him?! Me?! Is this some sort of sick joke?!

As if he read my mind, Asterios spoke again. "It is not a joke, my fated rival.." he said, rather calmly. "Certain monsters on this island have had prophecies given to them well before you demigods have. I only received mine right after the second time a powerful enough demigod existed on the island to make me rise when I wasn't supposed to. It went something like this:
At the call of red lightning,
two warriors stand,
to fight in a contest for their fate at last.
Time and Bull,
awaited foes,
now bring arms to decide one's fall.
From ashes and war, one shall emerge
and the fate of the demigod camp
will be from embers and smoke.
I'm the bull, and you are Time, since there hasn't been a child of Kronos on the island for 49 1/2 years."

I was shocked. Seriously, I will eventually have to face Asterios?! What the devil even is this madness?!

I eventually gathered my wits and spoke to Asterios. "So.. if we're fated to face each other.." I started. "..then why can we talk to each other?"

"In old times, sometimes human and monster could communicate to each other in the realm of the unconscious. What you and I are doing is just that" he replied, just looking like he was contemplating his life up until this point.

"Ever sine I got this prophecy, I've been training harder than I ever did before. Like, even though I suppose victory for me is assured due to the machinations of my creator, puny demigod, their is this nagging voice in my head telling me repeatedly 'Did you train hard enough?'" he continues. "So I have. I don't know what will happen and which one of us will come out, but I've been training harder than I ever been before down here where you demigods say I 'rest'. Make no mistake, I will be ready for the clash when it comes. The only thing I wish, is that you make this fight a vindication of me training as hard as I am. I'm looking for a fight, and by the Empress Gaea's hand, you'd better bring one, son of Kronos."

I woke up then and there, letting out a loud scream. No one was around, or at least there wasn't, until five people hurried inside the cabin out of breath. Scratch that.. it turned into eight, Thalia being one of the three that came up seconds later, scared out of her mind.. even more so when she saw the Minotaur.

"You okay, kid?" Dionysus asks. I shake my head. I had to say it.

"I don't know what happened, but I somehow have a connection with Asterios in my dreams, and I spoke with him" I say, watching everyone turn white with fear.

"So you know about it now" Dionysus says. It doesn't take a genius to know what he meant. I nodded. "The prophecy, right?" I added.

Dionysus shakes his head sadly, as a girl with red hair steps forward to me. "Like it or not, Cameron" she says. "Our future now rests on your shoulders." Then, she leaves crying, a couple other campers following.

I turn around, and I punch the wall in anger. Seriously.. I figured the road to completing the Great Prophecy wasn't going to be easy, I thought before a thought even scarier entered my brain. But if this coming fight with Asterios is the beginning, what other monstrosities am I going to have to face before I can complete the ultimate quest?

Little did I realize at that moment, that eventually, I was going to get the answer to that question, and not like it.. one single bit at all.