I had a killer fever last week so double update this week!

Disclaimer : Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson. Not me.

Chapter 7 : Dreaming About Dad

And then I immediately went back inside. "Fleecy!"

She turned to me. "What is it?"

"Pass me one of those hippie satchels, would you?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "They're not hippie satchels, they're more like masculine accessory bags." She took one off the rack and filled it with essentials. Well, not really essentials. More like food that I wasn't going to eat in a million years but only took to be polite. And so that I could tease Percy. Stuff like that. "I took the liberty of putting in some other supplies that I forgot to give Hazel."

I nodded and quickly snatched the bag. "Thanks!" I ran out the door again, only to find everybody else staring at me.

"Robbie," Hazel said in a weird voice. "Why do you have a rainbow bag?"

I held it out in front of Percy. "For you. Don't throw it out, we'll need it."

He looked at it with disgust. "I am not taking that. It's an insult to my masculinity. You were the one who brought it out, you can keep it. Plus, Apollo not really a masculine god right? With all the singing and the poetry…"

"And the archery. As in, my dad will shoot anyone who insults him. I mean he shot this queen's sons just because the queen insulted his mom."

Percy gulped.

"I get the point. Apollo is very masculine." A light appeared in his eyes. "Plus he has a sister, doesn't he. All protective of him and all."

I sighed and hefted the bag. Really Percy? "Yeah. So you're not taking the bag?"

He gave me a look.

"Got that."

Frank jumped in. "So guys, we need to go to Portland. Let's get going.

The wind felt good on my face as we sped through the water. If I closed my eyes, I could remember going to the beach with Alex everyday during the summer, just splashing around having fun. Unfortunately, Hazel's voice brought me back to reality. "So Robbie? Percy? How was the 'Iris message?'"

"It was fine." Percy didn't say anything else, instead stalking to the edge of the boat and looking at the fish. Hazel looked at me.

"I have nothing to add."

Frank jumped in with his story about Phineas. After he finished, I settled in for a long overdue nap

"Kid!"

I yawned.

"Hey, Robbie!"

Opening my eyes, I mumbled, "Percy, shut…" Then my eyes widened. "You are not Percy." I quickly scanned my surroundings. "I am not on the ship."

"Maybe I should write another poem. An Ode to Sleepy Sons. That's a good title." The blond teenager… Apollo looked at me.

"Dad?"

He opened his mouth. "Yes, I am your dad. That was five syllables right?" He started counting on his fingers.

"Don't!" I interrupted him. "Don't say another haiku. And please, can you not look like you're the same age as me? It's disconcerting. And aren't you not supposed to talk to mortals?"

He looked offended. "First off, my haikus are wonderful. Second, I happen to think I am the most handsome god ever. Do you really think I would say that if I looked like I was forty? Third, technically, I'm not supposed to talk to you, but we need to have a father to son talk right now."

"Okay?"

His face broke into a smile. "Don't worry, it'll be short. Now, Rob, why are you consorting with Romans? Actually don't answer that, I know the answer. But really. And you knowing the future. That's a big no-no. I mean, I'm proud of you. You're like my favorite kid after Shakespeare!" He broke off and took a deep breath.

"Uhh, thanks. I guess." To say that I was confused was putting it lightly.

"Also, I just want to say I approve of you punching Octavian. I can't believe that that's my child. Not mine, but you know. And…"

"Dad? What did you want to talk about? Like serious things."

His face changed. Instead of a happy go lucky teenager, he now looked actually like a millennia old god. His eyes were serious. "Phineas. He's not going to like you. At all. With the whole telling the future thing between the two of you…"

"It's not telling the future."

"You're saying stuff that didn't happen yet. If that's not telling the future, I don't know what is. Anyway, Percy Jackson is a mess now isn't he? It's sad, really." He whistled a little tune. "Some words of advice. When he asks you about Alex, tell the truth. Tell the whole story. You suck at lying so that's your best bet."

"That's because of you though."

"True. Another thing."

The dream flickered. When it came into focus again, Apollo looked frantic. His words got quicker.

"Damn. Father's caught on to me. Listen Robbie. You're different. Alex is the more typical type of demigod. All good at fighting, able to just immerse herself into this messed up world. She's going to be straight in the action of this whole mess that's going on. You. You'll stay in the sidelines. You need to…"

The dream flickered again. This time, it didn't stop and as I started to wake up, I heard a booming voice yell, "Apollo!" A whine answered him. "Aw dad…"

"Robbie! Hey, wake up!"

Blurry visions swam across my eyes as I stretched. "Give me 5 more minutes."

SPLASH!

My eyes snapped open. "Gods! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well we were trying to wake you up for a long time. This was the last resort." Percy shrugged, not looking that sorry. "And I thought I slept heavily."

"Yeah, whatever. So are we in Portland?"

"Yep. I already told Hazel and Frank about my dreams. They really didn't narrow anything down. The whole glacier thing… Not so helpful. Plus Robbie. I used the beef jerky in your purse to convince some whales to drag us to Portland. Well, I didn't use it but you know…"

"Hopefully, Phineas can help us." Hazel smiled, trying not to look worried. "Also, Robbie, did you have some dreams? You were mumbling in your sleep. Something about haikus."

"Yeah, I… It's nothing useful. Just talked with my dad."

"And this caused you to talk about haikus?" Hazel frowned. "And the gods don't contact their children often. Most times, they help when you're in need, but they don't really talk to you."

"Maybe Apollo thought I was in really big trouble? I don't really know, but nothing really happened in that conversation."

"Riighht. "Percy dragged out the word and gave me a suspicious look. "Well come on. Phineas awaits." He started walking off the boat.

I wrung out my shirt and followed him. I could still hear Hazel and Frank talking about us though.

Hazel : "Don't you think something weird's going on with the both of them? I mean it's like they're keeping something from us."

Frank : "We can trust Robbie. And Percy doesn't seem like the type of person to keep something harmful from us. We're friends, Hazel."

Hazel : "All the same, though. I just feel something off with them."

I walked faster and their conversation turned faint in my ears. Looking around, I immediately felt uncomfortable. It was so gray and empty. I mean, it was raining but it was so still. Frank caught up to me with Hazel right after him.

"Do you see anything? Hear anything?"

As if in answer, a yell came up. "GOT YOU NOW, YOU BLASTED CHICKENS!"

I pointed at the general direction of the voice. "Well, there's your answer. Come on!"

We ran toward the sound and I sorely regretted not changing my shirt. The rain slid down my neck, making my already cold and wet shirt more cold and wet. I wouldn't be surprised if I got sick after this. Then we hit the parking lot.

"Oh, I am starving." Frank groaned as he took a deep breath. My stomach growled too as I looked at all of the food trucks.

Then we went to the back.

"And I have lost my appetite." Frank looked disgusted as he stared at the flies circling the overflowing garbage cans.

The sound of a weed whacker brought our attention to a man in a bathrobe yelling and swing said weed whacker around randomly.

Hazel's voice was apprehensive. "That does not look like an all knowing seer who can tell us everything we need to know."

"Looks can be deceiving?" Percy didn't sound so sure. As he watched Ella get hit by the weed whacker, he winced. "Hey stop it!"

The harpies fled and Phineas turned toward us. He smiled, showcasing his teeth which were a nightmare. Yellow, decaying, some of them slightly chipped. I was scarred for life. Seriously, compared to Alex, I think I got the short end of the stick when it came to quests. He shuffled, his bunny slippers dirty. "Thank you for getting those harpies out of the way!"

"Uh yeah." Percy shook his head. "Anyway, I'm Percy Jackson. This is…"

"A son of Neptune eh? Well then, that would make us brothers! I'm a son of Neptune too."

"That's… great." Percy didn't sound impressed.

"Oh let me guess. You!" He took hold of Hazel's hand. "Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto." Looking at the general direction of Frank, he sniffed the air. "And you're Frank Zhang, son of Mars. There's something else…"

"Greek blood, Argo, yeah, it's nothing special."

"Nonsense! Your family is definitely special. So many great things destined for you. Just a tidbit of information. Your great grandfather? He didn't really destroy the camp."

Frank gaped.

"And you." He swiveled towards me. "You're Robert Feldsman, son of Apollo."

Now it was Percy who gaped. "Your name is Robert?"

"Yeah." I mumbled. "Nobody knows it though. And you'll call me Robbie. Unless you want to be hit by an arrow. I don't like the name Robert."

Phineas looked amused. "Quite a big group."

Percy held up a hand, then put it back down when he realized Phineas couldn't see. "Wait a minute. Aren't you cursed? Like the harpies steal your food and…"

Frank tapped me on the shoulder. "What wrong with Robert? I mean it's a good name."

"I just don't like it," I whispered back.

Phineas laughed. "That's ancient history! Now things have changed. Sure that was the way it used to be. Jupiter thought I told too much. But really. What's the point of having the gift of prophecy if you can't use it? Like you, Hazel Levesque, are supposed to be dead." He turned to Frank. "And you need a stick to survive. And you, Percy Jackson, don't even know who you are!" He looked at me and gritted his teeth. "And you, son of Apollo, can tell the future. You know everything that will happen, don't you. Even those pesky little details. Fascinating. That's something even I can't do."

Hazel gripped her sword. "We get it. Jupiter cursed you blah blah blah. What happened next?"

"Oh well, when my patron brought me back…"

"Your patron?" Frank asked.

"Gaea." Phineas rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious? Your little friend here, her patron is Gaea too."

Hazel drew her sword. "That is not true! She's not my patron!"

Phineas grinned. "Whatever you say. Anyway, Gaea cursed them. They can only eat from my table! I can eat all I want and now they're the ones who have to starve! Isn't that wonderful?" He revved up the weed whacker.

"You're a monster!" Hazel said.

"No more than you sweetheart. If it wasn't for you, Alcyoneus wouldn't be alive!"

Hazel's eyes widened and she took a step back. Frank put an arm over her shoulder. "Hazel? What is it?"

"You'll find out later. But you're not just here to talk to me aren't you. You want information. You want to know where Alcyoneus's lair is. I could tell you. But there has to be a price."

"Not happening." Hazel glared.

"Are you sure? You need me in order to succeed in your quest. I wouldn't brush away my offer so quickly." His voice was taunting and I had an urge to shoot two arrows into his blind eyes. Why did I leave my bow in the boat?

Phineas continued. "There's a harpy that's faster than the others. She's smart, that one. I want that harpy brought to me. I would probably tie her up. That would be torture for her. Yes, that's a good idea. Capture that harpy and I'll give you the information that you need."

Percy shook his head at us, but Phineas smiled. "Remember what I told you. Without my help, the quest will fail and everything you love will be destroyed!"

After we got some random food from the trucks, we walked away, Percy shaking in rage. "I don't care what happens. We're not giving him that harpy."

Hazel nodded her head, then looked at me. "Phineas said you know the future. Tell us. What should we do? What'll happen?"