Will had had a mercifully nightmare-less sleep. So when he woke up he was feeling somewhat happy. Until he realized that he wasn't in his bunk in Cabin Seven.
He opened his eyes a saw trees overhead and light filtering through a strange vine. Feeling the ground beneath his fingers, Will felt moist earth that was slightly sandy. He sat up, blinking and looking around.
Was this a dream? Will wondered. If it was a dream, why was Andy here? And Nasim? They had falling asleep sitting upright, cross-legged. Andy's head was on Nasim's shoulder and his arms were wrapped around her. Will had the terrible feeling that he was intruding on something personal.
Something was around Will's wrist, something that didn't belong there. He lifted his arm up and saw a thin leather bracelet with golden letters stamped on it.
"Gnothi seauton," Will said. "Know thyself."
"Inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi," Nasim said. Will looked over and saw the boy's eyes were open. "What are you doing here?"
"I have no idea," Will said honestly. He was glad to find that he was wearing his normal clothing and that his bow and quiver were lying on the ground nearby.
"Will?" Andy asked groggily as she woke up. "No. NO." She was pale as a sheet and her dark eyes looked wild as she glared at him.
"I fell asleep at camp and woke up here," Will said. "What's going on?"
"You can't be here!" Andy hissed. "No!" Will realized that she was crying.
"Robin... disappeared," Nasim explained. "And if you're here, we can only assume..."
"No! He can't be dead," Andy shouted, pushing Nasim's arm away and storming off. Will watched her go, and his eyes caught sight of what looked like the entrance to an abandoned mine. Lying in front of it was a thin length of wood, rather like a longbow whose string had been cut.
"Tell me everything," Will said softly.
Afterwards, Will knew he had to contact camp. They would be worried about him. He vaguely wondered if the same thing had happened to Percy, just waking up in totally the wrong place.
Somehow, someone had decided Will needed to be on this quest. Probably his father, judging from his new jewelry. But Will wasn't sure of anything more than that: Robin had been leader of the quest, was Will supposed to take over? But now that Robin was gone - gone, because even Will had a trouble thinking the word 'dead' - did that mean they weren't supposed to rescue Oenone? Were they just supposed to take the Palladium and run? Will needed to talk to Chiron.
"Do you know a place I can make a rainbow?" Will asked Nasim. Andy was standing just out of earshot, her arms crossed and back turned. Star-shooter lay like a body where it had fallen.
"The naiads of the Everglades may help," Nasim said, but then he shook his head. "But only Robin can speak to them. I can try to bend the light, if you want."
Nasim closed his eyes and raised his hands, his open palms tracing an arch in the air. Nothing happened. Nasim opened his eyes and frowned.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Not working. Had... a shock."
"It's okay," Will said soothingly. "Just - take your time."
Nasim took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. He repeated the gesture and this time a shimmering, iridescent bow appeared before him.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," Will chanted.
He fished a golden drachma out of his pocket and tossed it through the rainbow with an expert flip. It flew straight through the window and hit Nasim square on the nose.
"Ow!" Nasim yelped, and the rainbow disappeared as he was distracted.
"No Iris-messages," Andy said. She'd come back into the clearing, her voice rasping and her eyes bloodshot. Tears had streaked through the grime on her cheeks.
Nasim was holding his nose and his eyes were watering. "You mean... we can't reach camp?"
"Brilliant," Will groaned, his head falling into his hands.
"Ro-bin," a voice said. It was rough and sounding like a caw. "Ro-bin!" Will looked up and saw Andy and Nasim gaping at something in a tree. Will twisted to look up and around.
A huge golden eagle was perched in one of the trees.
"Ro-bin!" the eagle cawed. "Ro-bin!"
"He isn't here," Andy told the bird.
"Ro-bin?" the eagle asked, tilting his great golden head. "Heee-los. Heee-los Ro-bin."
"What's it saying?" Will asked, standing up. "What does it want?"
"Heelos?" Nasim frowned. "That sounds like - "
"Helios?" Andy asked the bird. "Are you from Helios?"
"Heee-los," the eagle agreed. "Ro-bin?"
"He isn't here," Andy shouted at the bird. "Can't you understand? HE'S. NOT. HERE!"
"Heee-los forrrr Ro-bin," the eagle insisted, hopping up and down on his branch in an agitated way. "Forrrr Ro-bin."
"I'm Robin!" Will shouted in desperation. The eagle cocked its golden head at Will and examined him with one black, keen eye.
"Ro-bin?" it asked, clearly not buying his declaration.
"Yeah, that's me," Will insisted. Nasim and Andy were holding their breaths, watching Will and the eagle.
"Purrrrl safe," the eagle informed him. "Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse."
"The pearl is safe," Will repeated. "Helios saved the pearl. Sun hose?"
"Sun house," Andy corrected. "Sun Palace? The Black Pearl is in the Palace of the Sun with Helios?"
"Ro-bin un-stand?"
"Yes, I understand," Will nodded.
The golden eagle looked at him again, looking like he wasn't sure Will understood.
"Can you take a message?" Nasim asked the eagle.
"Hee-kate?" the bird inquired. "Sunn Hee-kate?"
"Yes, can you take a message?" Nasim repeated.
"Meh-sage?" the eagle asked. "Meh-sage: Purrrrl safe. Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse."
"No, don't repeat the message," Nasim said. "Can you take a message?"
But the eagle bobbed from side to side and cawed, "Meh-sage: Purrrrl safe. Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse."
"This is useless," Andy groaned. "We'll never get anything else out of him."
"Ro-bin?" the eagle asked, twisting its head around until it was completely parallel to the ground. It lifted one massive, wickedly curved talon and pointed at Will. "No Ro-bin. Teh-ll Heee-los. Heee-kate sunn, no Ro-bin."
"Well, at least he's good for something," Nasim scowled as the bird flew away. "Bet Robin could have talked sense into him."
"Don't talk about him like he's dead!" Andy snarled.
"Everyone just calm down!" Will shouted.
"You calm down!" Andy and Nasim screamed back. Will opened his mouth to retort, then took a deep breath.
"Right," he said. "Right, this is what we're going to do. We're going to follow through with the plan, get back to camp, and get the Palldium back on Olympus."
"But how do we even know we'll be allowed on Olympus?" Andy asked.
"We'll snail mail it if we have to," Will said. "But one way or another, that statue is getting back where it belongs."