That night I had a dream, but not the usual kind. I felt like I was awake in it, and I could see things so clearly that I couldn't help but gasp and start running around to look at everything in view. I had no idea where I was, but the place was pretty. There was a meadow with flowers which I could almost swear I could smell, a gathering of tall trees at the border with a bright azure sky and fluffy white clouds that looked like giant marshmallows. I loved it. Laughing maniacally I sprang forwards and started to roll down the steep bank of the hill in order to see everything blur and meld together in bright splashes of colour before I came to a halt, giggling on my back until I realised that someone else was laughing with me. I sat up quickly, flowers caught in my hair as I looked around. "Don't be afraid, child. I mean you no harm."
"Who are you? Where are you?" I questioned, not feeling frightened at all, getting up to my feet and brushing myself down.
"Right here." When I stood up, there was a man standing in front of me in a smart grey suit with a royal blue tie that had a pin that looked like some kind of winged staff with two wiggly lines on it which I later realised were snakes, his salt and pepper hair neatly brushed back and at first I thought he was a sales rep. He had that kind of look about him, but then again considering I was in a dream and this guy seemed exceedingly real, then I doubted he was any ordinary sales rep, or a sales rep at all. If he was, then I seriously doubted I was going to like anything he'd be selling. My mom warned me about those kind of guys. Anyway, because I was looking at him I didn't recognise him immediately, but as I frowned and tilted my head, my fingers naturally began to twitch at my side as if mentally mapping out his face, and as I looked into the near mischievous smile and felt the bright glint of his eyes, I felt certain that I knew exactly who this was. I swallowed nervously, growing wary and defensive as I took a cautious step back and only just remembered to be polite when I spoke aloud.
"Lord Hermes?"
"Yes, though I'm surprised you recognised me. Perhaps, I shouldn't have been. You were close to my son, after all." The reference to Luke made my face harden and I watched as Hermes's eyes observed me deeply, scanning me carefully. "I think I should mention that I appreciate all the offerings you make to me. It makes your father quite jealous, you know."
"Good, I don't much care how he feels." I retorted back snappily then bit my tongue. My hand went towards my wrist to fiddle with my bracelets but found they weren't there. I had a bad feeling about this, despite the fact that Hermes, Messenger of the Gods, was being rather nice to me at the present moment. There was this sneaking suspicion that he was going to ask something of me, to return the favour he had given me last year. "Is there something you want from me, Lord Hermes?" He smiled again, and I couldn't help but feel warm and comfortable because of it. Annoyingly, it reminded me of Luke.
"You are sharp, my dear. Yes. I have a favour I would ask of you. A task, if you will."
"Because you saved me last year?" His eyes flickered then with some kind of unreadable emotion. To my surprise he reached out to me and pulled a flower from my hair, looking at it briefly before letting it go, drifting to the ground dreamily and I noticed that it was even slower than what I would have expected. Perhaps time here was being controlled by him, and it moved far slower somehow.
"Yes, though in truth I had not intended to ask you for the favour in return, but rather hold it over your father until I had need of him for something. It's always useful to be owed a favour by my uncle, though just so you know, it wasn't entirely because of that I lent you my protection for a brief moment. Although Luke didn't know it, I was guiding you towards one another. I took pity on you, you see. I happened to be watching when the minotaur attacked, though I couldn't do anything to intervene, not until you asked for my help, of course. Quite honestly you surprised quite a few of us gods, even Athena remarked you were quick witted. Oh! And your battle against Lamia? Excellent!" We were getting off track, so I cleared my throat as politely as I could and gave Hermes a look, reminding him that he had a favour to ask. "Right, yes of course. You see…I am partly to blame for why Luke is the way he is, and for what he has done. You may not believe it, but I do care about my children, and I am especially fond of Luke. There is a tragic fate that awaits him, but…I do not want to give up on him yet. So this is what I, Hermes, ask of you, Nerida Lily Jackson." I felt the air take a slight chill around me, if it were possible. "If it is within your power and capability, I ask that you try to persuade Luke to alter his course, and if you are able, to save him. Even from himself."
"I'm guessing I don't have any choice in this do I?" Hermes just studied me carefully, the brightness of his eyes hardening slightly. "You do know he tried to kill my brother, right? Quite honestly if I came across him now, I would want to kill him myself." Now Hermes made a twisted expression that made me blink, because for the brief moment that it was there, he seemed to be in genuine pain and sorrow.
"I know." His voice was quiet, like a mere whisper of a breeze. "I have tried to reach out to him…but he has turned his back on me. On all the gods. I know that you have no great love of us either, my father has often been tempted to strike you down repeatedly for your insults and curses at us, though usually your father placates him somehow. Even Hera has spoken up for you, you know. I think she likes your spirit, and pities you for your suffering." Now I didn't care really what the gods thought of me, but one thing I couldn't stand was people feeling sorry for me and it clearly must have showed in my face, because Hermes chuckled a little. His laugh sounded like Luke's. "Yes, definitely spirited. Alright I probably shouldn't have mentioned the pity, but you do have some admirers on Olympus, Nerida. Do not close yourself off completely from us, because there will come a time when you reach your lowest point that you will want our help. Just remember this." I wanted to be stubborn and refuse, to argue with Hermes, but I knew that his good nature would only last so long and I'd better not push my luck, so I mutely nodded my head. His eyes softened, and I couldn't help but be mesmerised by them. "Good girl. Now, will you accept my request? This is not what I intended to do, but you must understand. I love my son. I will do what I can to protect him, but I cannot act directly. This is why we gods need you heroes. It is through you that balance is maintained, and with it all the hopes of the future." Reaching out to me again, Hermes rested his hand upon my shoulder.
It felt heavy. Far heavier than it should have done, and it was so warm it almost scolded my skin but not enough to actually burn, like stepping into harsh sunlight without any sunscreen on. "I'm not sure what I can do, exactly, Lord Hermes. However you did grant me your protection when I asked for it, and I always return a favour. I can't give you any promises, except that I will do what you ask and I shall try my best, but in the end if I can't save Luke or turn him back, then I will not allow him to hurt Percy, or my mom, or anyone else I care about. Is this…is this deal acceptable?" Hermes considered it for a moment, and with a flash of fear I worried he'd refuse and demand more, but then he sighed and nodded his head, allowing me to relax. He smiled at me again.
"Luke's affection for you is genuine, you know. I saw you both from time to time. We gods can't help but look over our children whenever we think no one else is looking. I saw how he cared about you. He saw you as a real friend. I just hope that that friendship is enough to perhaps pull him back from the abyss he has been sinking into." In my mind I thought of the pit that Percy had described, the mouth of Tartaros and the disembodied pieces of Kronos deep within giving nightmares to Luke, and I couldn't help but felt a twinge of guilt and sympathy for him.
"Why didn't you go to Annabeth instead? She's known Luke longer than I have, and they are probably closer to one another. I'm pretty sure Annabeth has a crush on Luke, though he only sees her as a little sister. Or at least, he did before he went off the deep end."
"She has much on her plate already, and although I considered it, I had a feeling that you were the right one for the task." Hermes said to me before looking up as the sky started to darken and a rumbling sound began to shake around us, which alarmed me because I thought this was a dream. "Oh it is a dream, but it appears your father is becoming aware that I'm speaking to you and he's not happy. Despite how you feel about him, he's rather protective of you. He loves you a great deal." Flashing me a smile which I could only describe as cheeky, Hermes pulled back his hand as his ageless face began to grow faint, like he was fading out of existence. "I'll leave you the dream, however, seeing as you seem to like it so much, I hope you enjoy it." He called to me, reminding me once more of my promise before fading out of sight and leaving me in the meadow he had created, though now everything seemed to soften and grow hazy, no longer as sharp and vibrant as before. I dreamed of racing through the meadows and cartwheeling like I was a little girl again, gathering flowers and sticking them behind my ears until I rose gradually from sleep and breathed deeply.
My first thought was immediately to tell Percy, but then a nagging feeling in the back of my mind warned me against it. Okay, so Hermes was saying he wanted this deal to remain our secret. That wasn't a problem, however when I opened my eyes I found myself disappointed I could no longer see, because the meadow really had been beautiful. I guess all gods couldn't be that bad. I mean, he could have just stuck me in a boring classroom or something, but no. Hermes had gone out of his way to make a pretty dream to talk to me in, and he'd also seemed rather reluctant to ask me the favour, and didn't threaten me to agree or anything. I think by far he's my favourite god. He was pretty cool. Anyway right now I couldn't think about Hermes or Luke, because there was plenty to keep me occupied at camp. Mostly the border patrol, and for once Clarisse didn't scoff or insult me when I'd offered my help for the night patrol. Instead, I'd felt her beady eyes on me before finally sighing tiredly. "You know what? You probably got the best ears around. We could use you at night when the rest of us can't see that great." It was almost a backhanded compliment but I didn't tell her so. We agreed to a temporary truce until something could be done to save the tree for the sake of protecting the camp and the campers, especially the ones who weren't as great as fighting as the rest of us. Even I was better than all the Aphrodite cabin, and that's saying something.
Other than border patrol, people were getting ready for the chariot races. I helped the best I could, picking out two horses for Percy to use and trained them myself, talking to them with Snowstorm who helped me whip them into shape to run fast whilst lugging a heavy contraption behind them, though none of the horses liked Tyson and he got upset when they ran away from him. Snowstorm could just about stomach being around him, but she grew aggressive if he tried to pet her, and I knew better than to ask her to let him. Mostly people stayed away from him, but the leader of the Hephaestus cabin actually took Tyson under his wing and taught him how to use his hands for metalworking. Charles Beckendorf. He was a solid guy. I quite liked him. Tyson liked him too, so I was happy for him. Percy was struggling coming to terms with the fact that Tyson was now our half-brother, in fact I could sense that he felt downright embarrassed as some of the other campers whispered and teased us for having a monster as family, but I would just glare at them with my freaky eyes and they'd quickly scarper. I didn't care about what Tyson was, he was sweet and loveable, though Percy didn't see it from my point of view.
We argued a little about Tyson, and although I could see Percy's point of view and shared his anger at dad about dropping another bomb on us without warning, I was squarely on Tyson's side, because other than us, he had no one else. Besides, Tyson was so thrilled to have a big brother and sister that it was impossible not to love him for his sheer enthusiasm alone. He was so desperate to try and make Percy happy it was almost heart breaking, so I smacked my little brother around the head and ordered him to get along with Tyson or feel my wrath. Thankfully, Percy still seemed to have a healthy fear of me and didn't argue with me beyond that. With only three days to make our own chariot, we worked together in order to build it, though in the actual construction I could do very little. That was all Percy and Tyson, Annabeth having fallen out with Percy and broken up their team. At first Percy wanted me to go in the chariot for the race with him, but I laughed and said that I would be useless, because we'd be moving too fast for me to be able to sense where everyone was so I couldn't fight off the others, and I couldn't steer for that same reason. So Percy and Tyson teamed up, and I cheered them on heartily until it was time to race, though I had a bad feeling that something was about to happen.