Chapter 2: Dream walking

I find that my dream journey has taken my to a dungeon room. The walls were mould covered and scratches were all over its surfaces from some sort of giant monster. On the far side of the room were two figures, one was so tall that he towered over the room, and over his acquaintance whom was dwarfed by the giant, but she was no shorty. She was considerably above average height from what I could see of them both, but it was so dark in the dungeon that all I could make out was their figures.

"How far is our progress Erida? You said we would be done last week but you were wrong again!" The monolith spoke in a quiet and slightly irritated voice towards his companion.

"I'm sorry my lord but I didn't know that the insufferable orphan boy would thwart our plans last week, and as for the spawn of Harmonia…"

"Enough! I've already had enough of it, do not waste your breath."

"Yes m'lord. We have finally found its location and we have managed to secure the perimeter around the site, hopefully no interfering demigods will be able to stop us this time."

"You had better be correct Erida, for if I find otherwise, your time in the upper world will be so short that you will believe that you had never been away from Tartarus in the first place."

Right at this point the iron door is slammed open and a small guard of three sea dog creatures came in, hauling two near unconscious bodies behind them. Their commander began to bark to his leader

"Excuse me sir, you said to bring these two to you,"

"Good. leave them there, I will deal with them myself. Everyone leave me, I must attend to our… guests"

Just then the scene fades away and I end up somewhere else. As much as I don't remember, this place seems familiar. Feelings of peace and serenity fill me here, but also sadness. I see a boy on the floor next to an old apple tree a few yards away, but I can't see who he is or why he is down there. I walk over to him and he looks at me.

"Nice to see you here. I must warn you of something terrible, before it happens, so you're prepared. That's why I'm talking to you in your dream." He sighs, then continues "You won't remember me, I know that, but you've got to trust me"

"Can you tell me who you are? At least give me that."

"No, it's not time yet. I don't usually appear to mortals, but you will find the true me soon enough. It has been too long and you need answers to questions you've never known the answer to, not even before the river.

"To begin then. A new enemy has risen, and is close to the end of his first task. The second task, once he has finished, will change everything we know. But if he manages to complete the third task...I think you will understand." the boy, or whoever he was, was looking at me with penetrating eyes, and somehow I knew he was right.

"My powers are strong, but dream communication is draining. We have little time left to waste. Haxolo, I hope you find what you are looking for, but remember, not all things are as they seem. I knew a girl once, she was my shining star and I hoped that she would be able to stay, but the fates did not permit it. Now you must find your own shining star, and hopefully you will not let it fade like I once did."

"I don't understand, what does that mean?"

"You will find her soon enough, and then you shall understand. Farewell."

"Wait…" but he had already faded away, as had the woodland, the sky and the ground I stood on. I was falling, falling. Falling…

I woke with a start, and knocked my head on a cabinet that was hanging over the bunk I was in,

"Ow! Who put that there?" I complained. At that point, several people came rushing into the room I was asleep in, all asking if I was alright.

"Of course I am, I think. Who's idea was it to put a cupboard there? Above a bed of all places."

"Dunno. So, do you know where you are?" asked a ratty looking boy, dressed in the same orange shirt as everyone else in the room, including myself.

"I don't even know who you are, let alone where I am"

"Oh...I just thought you'd know. Anyway, we managed to get you to camp during the night, we're surprised you slept through to be fair." He explains, then starts introducing several people "First off, I'm Ryan, son of Hermes. This over here is Ellie." A girl in the corner curtseyed and smiled "She's a child of Hebe, goddess of youth."

Ellie now talks "We're also related, which is weird. My Dad and his mother were siblings which makes me his cousin"

"Oh and that over there is Alice, can't you just tell she's the war god's daughter?" The punk girl on the right of him was incredulous to the fact that Ryan had disrespected her Father. When she spoke she pretty much made that clear

"You are so dead Ryan Lassiter, have respect for my father you jackass"

"See what I mean?" but any other comment he might have made was interrupted by a few punches from the punk that clearly broke his nose, due to him running off crying and swearing. Ellie looked at Alice with shock then followed her cousin out.

"It was regrettable that you had to see that, but he needed it. As for introductions, I'm Alice Ytterby, daughter of Ares. My mom and I moved from Sweden last year when I was picked up by a protector. My mom decided to move over with me."

"Right, nice to meet you. So, what do I do now? Can someone tell me more about everything?"

"I think it would be better if I took you to see the big man. You'll love him, just don't get surprised by his appearance got it?"

"Sure." and with that she led me out of the room I was in, which appeared to be some kind of medical room, into a room that was almost four times as big. Ping pong tables, arcade machines, a drinks dispenser and even a moving leopard head littered the room. But as my eyes circled the place, my attention quickly turned to the man at the far end. When Alice had said about not being worried about his appearance, I hadn't prepared for someone like this. He was part horse.

Well, here we are at the end of the second chapter. I hope it was good reading but then again my writer's block probably made me come up with trash. It would be nice if you could leave me a comment or two to say whether you enjoyed the chapters so far, even if you think it is a load of pants.

Thanks for reading, see you again next time!