Every time a beach popped up in my dreams, I knew it wasn't a good sign. Demigods' dreams were rarely 'just dreams'. They were messages, signs pointing towards some large event in their future.
And for me, whenever a beach appeared, I knew it meant something big. Interestingly enough, it was a rather pleasant beach. A tropical paradise even. I half expected Hawaiian music to begin playing.
"Uhhh." I said. "Hello?"
As if answering my question, the sea begun to churn. Foam, heavy and thick, begun to appear on the water's surface.
From the center of this foam, I saw something simmer under the water. With a splash, a gigantic shell exploded from the sea's surface. As I watched, my mouth agape, the shell slowly opened.
In the center of the shell, a naked woman stood. I, upon seeing her, immediately gasped.
"Aphrodite!?" The Goddess looked at me, a sad smile on her face. "What-what are you doing here?"
Aphrodite opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden roar drained out her words. Suddenly, the sky turned black. A powerful wind begun to blow, so strong that even I was forced to step back. Aphrodite looked to the sky, fear evident on her face.
Suddenly, the storm clouds parted. A ray of white light struck Aphrodite, illuminating her entire body. In the light, I could see the shadow of an…angel?
Before I could see anything else, the white light intensified, and my vision went white.
"Per-cy." That voice…Tyson? I blinked, rubbing my eyes, to find Tyson's single eye staring back at me. "Percy!"
"Morning Tyson." I mumbled, stretching my arms. "What's up?"
"Chiron called you Percy." Tyson said, moving away from my bed to let me up. "He said it was important."
I yawned and scratched my head. "How important?"
"Important enough that I'm here to drag you there." I nearly yelped upon hearing Annabeth's voice. "Morning Seaweed brain." Annabeth gave me a smile. "Nice bedhair."
I immediately combed my fingers through my hair, trying to flatten it. Annabeth, seeing my futile attempts, laughed. "Don't bother. You look fine."
I smiled at her before standing up and stretching again. "So, what does Chiron want to talk about?" I watched as Annabeth's face turned hard. She begun to bite her lip, a trait she only did when she was nervous. "Is it that bad?"
"I think it's better if you hear it from him." Annabeth replied, standing up. "Come on Percy."
"Lady Aphrodite has disappeared." Chiron announced to the demigods. "We don't know how. We don't know whom. We don't know why. All we know is that around twelve hours ago, she disappeared from a club in Paris."
"Wait, how do we know she's been kidnapped?" One of the demigods, Hansel, asked. "She may have just found a man or something." Seeing the Children of Aphrodite glaring at him, Hansel held his hands up in defense. "What? It's possible."
"I agree." Chiron said. "It is possible that Lady Aphrodite may have found a partner. However, no one has been able to contact or locate her. Even if she had found a partner, she would have left some trace of where she is. But no one can sense her presence anywhere. Not even Artemis."
I felt my palms begin to sweat. Aphrodite's disappearance and my dream were obviously connected. But how? I tried to focus on my dream, trying to remember details.
"Percy?" Chiron's voice shook me out of my trance. "You look troubled."
"No. It's just…" I explained to the demigods about my dream. Chiron's eyes widened upon hearing my description.
"A shell rising out of the sea…" Annabeth muttered. "That sounds like The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli."
"Indeed. The similarities cannot be coincidental. But the shadow you saw…" Chiron looked at Percy, his eyes heavy. "Are you certain that you saw an Angel?" I nodded.
"Positive. I saw the shadow of an Angel. It was like it was descending from Heaven." Maybe it was my imagination, but Chiron's shoulders seemed to slump.
"Then the situation is far worse then I originally thought. This must report this to Olympus immediately." Chiron stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the remaining campers to sit on this new development.
Annabeth and I looked at each other, the same question sitting on the edge of our tongues.
"What in Olympus is going on?"
The Demigods are getting restless.
Review and fave if you enjoyed it.
Daemon