Well here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it, and after you decide if you did or not, write a review!
Chapter 13: Dreams
I slid into the shotgun seat and flashed a smile at Lydia. She glared at me, then started the car and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. My head jerked back into the head rest, and then forward, nearly into the dashboard. Rubbing my head, I looked over at her again. Now she was smiling.
"Gods Lydia." Croesus said from the back seat. "Try and get us there alive."
"Shut up, Croesus." she said casually, and then fixed her eyes on the road. "Get me that map in the glove compartment." she added.
"Who-me?" I asked, looking around for the compartment.
"No, Sander." she said sarcastically, "I was actually talking to the car door."
"Gods." I muttered, offering the map. "Touchy, touchy."
She didn't answer. "Find where the next turn is to get to Columbus." she said, ignoring the proffered map.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, I opened the map and rifled through it. "Turn right up here to get onto Freeway 130, then take that as far as Interstate 64. I'll let you know whats next when we get to the Interstate."
Lydia nodded but didn't look at me. We drove on in silence for a while as the sun set and night came on. I heard Camillus shift in his seat and Croesus yawned.
"Well." he said, "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Lydia, don't kill Sander."
She mumbled something unintelligible and kept her eyes on the road. I could almost sense Croesus shrug and settle back into his seat, closing his eyes. Within minutes he was snoring.
I braved a sidelong look at Lydia. Her face was still set in lines of anger. Sighing slightly and shrugging, I leaned back into my seat, closing my eyes.
"You shouldn't have done it." she said suddenly, without looking at me. My eyes shot open, and I turned to look at her.
"We didn't have the time for the alternative." I said cautiously. "It would have given the man time to get the police on our trail. This way, we'll have a couple hours head start when he wakes up."
"That doesn't matter!" Lydia yelled, slamming her hands into the dashboard. Camillus shifted and Croesus muttered something about an oboe. She took a deep breath. "Sander...you just can't harm mortals. Ever."
"Come on Lyd..." I murmured.
"Don't ever call me that." She said seriously, her face darkening even further with anger. "My father called me that."
I gulped nervously. "Oh-Okay." I said.
She nodded. "Go to sleep, Sander. I can manage the directions from here."
Not willing to argue with her in this mood, I complied. My eyelids drooped, and I was asleep in minutes.
I stood in a dark room, a hard floor beneath my feet. A mist obscured all but a few meters in any direction, so I had no way of telling how large the room was. The mist swirled and seemed to whisper, a cacophony of voices and sounds that clouded my head.
"Who's there?" I asked loudly, "What do you want from me?"
The mist cleared and I was standing in some sort of parlor. It looked old, not like anything from this century. It looked like it had been renovated, preserved against time. I looked around me, and noticed a woman sitting a few feet to my left in a plush armchair. We stared at each other for a moment, as I took everything in.
The woman looked strikingly similar to me, the same dark eyes and black hair. But her skin was pale, almost completely drained of color. She stood up as I watched her, and glided over to where I was standing.
"You've grown, child." she said softly. Her voice was light and casual, but as she spoke I felt my shoulders lift with courage, and I was filled with determination and a steely resolve.
"Alale." I said quietly, not quite willing to call her 'Mom.' "Where are we?"
She smiled slightly, and her form shifted. Suddenly she was dressed in bronze armor, a round shield slung across her back and a spear in hand. I blinked, and the armor was gone, leaving her in only a purple robe.
"You stand in the House of McLean, my son." she said, inspiring courage again with every word. "It was here, nearly two hundred years ago, that the last great war between camps was ended by unconditional surrender. The mortals knew the conflict as the Civil War."
"Ah." I said, looking around again. "Why did you bring me here?"
Alale walked back to her chair and sat down again, gesturing for me to do the same. I followed and reclined in an armchair across from her.
"I brought you here because I needed to speak with you. To warn you." she said, looking directly at me. "Events have been set in motion by more than human means, but the Olympians do not know this. They see only the stalk of the plant, but are blinded from the root. The Roman praetor, Titus, he is not the enemy. He is but a pawn of greater powers. The Council has grown arrogant. They bested Kronos and Typhon, they defeated the Giants and foiled Gaea. But without heroes, the gods would have perished long ago. Their enemies know this, and so the demigods become the targets. There cannot be a war between the camps, Lysander. It would be the end of Olympus."
"Well thanks." I said sarcastically, "But we pretty much had that figured out already."
Alale narrowed her eyes. "Be that as it may, be on your guard. Things are stirring once again. Old spirits awaken, few of them friendly. If the gods do not take this threat seriously, they will end. Make sure that they do."
"Okay." I said, "Why can't you warn them?"
She smiled sadly. "The spirits of war are not trusted on Olympus. We have a history of being...wild cards, if you will. Add to that, the Olympians look down on all of the daemons and the spirits as being weak, lesser immortals. They feel they are superior. Their first mistake."
"So what makes you think they'll believe me then?" I demanded.
"You will have the support of some of their favorite children. Your friend Croesus is a preferred child of Apollo, Lydia that of Demeter, and of course the legendary Percy Jackson. Convince him of the truth, and the entire council will listen."
I nodded. "Very well. But what can you tell me of the Grave of Numa?" I asked, hoping to get some information before we met Anius.
Alale sighed. "I was not a part of Rome, child. My knowledge is very little. The King of Delos will know. For now, I need to leave you to your sleep."
As she spoke the mist rose up again, obscuring the room, and then I lapsed into normal sleep, albeit dreamless.
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