While we were there, we took the opportunity and raided Medusa's kitchen for something to eat. It wasn't like she was going to need it anymore.
Sighing heavily, I slumped into the bench in the eating area, resting my head on my folded arms. My eyelids were growing heavy, and before I could stop them, they closed of their own accord. I vaguely heard Annabeth murmuring worriedly in the background, while Percy hurried around, messing with a bunch of stuff I couldn't be bother to ask about. Right now, I wasn't particularly sure I wanted to know.
"Acacia?" Annabeth asked cautiously, shaking my arm so gently I wondered if she was really trying to wake me. "Acacia, we have to leave."
"Preferably before Hera finds you still here," Percy added sourly.
That woke me up quick enough. Groggily, I lifted my head and blinked a few times, yawning loudly. Annabeth gave me a pitiful look, her lips pursing into a small, thin line. I wasn't sure what was worse; the pity or the anger. Grover placed a plate of food down in front of me and, although my stomach groaned loudly, urging my hand to take the burger, the sight made me sick. I gulped, shaking my head apologetically and pushing the plate away.
"You need to eat," Annabeth sighed heavily, sitting down opposite.
I gulped again, wiping the sleep from my eyes and blinking furiously. "I'm not hungry," I lied.
Grover snorted, pushing the plate back at me. "Your stomach could cause an earthquake," he corrected, frowning at me. "Eat." Reluctantly, I picked the burger up and took a bite. I swallowed it with difficulty, wondering if my teeth had become incredibly blunt, because large lumps seemed to stick in my throat.
I choked loudly, blinking some more and turning to Percy to distract me. "What are you doing?" I asked him carefully. He looked up at me for a second with a far too innocent expression and Annabeth peered over his shoulder.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," she rolled her eyes dramatically. Percy just shrugged. In his hand, he held a cardboard box with a delivery slip attached to it. He popped some money into the little bag and with the cling of a cash register, it disappeared. Annabeth groaned, mumbling to herself.
"Loosen up a bit, would you?" he frowned at her. "Look." He held out a slip of paper and she snatched it off him, scowling. But whatever she read made her smile.
"This is great! We know where we're going!" she beamed.
I yawned loudly, stretching. "Can we sleep first?" I asked her, shifting in my seat and lowering my head again. She pinched me and Sasha, who we'd finally remembered to let in, whined in protest, but nudged my knee.
We shouldn't stay here, my lady, she said wisely. Perhaps if we found somewhere a bit more safe.
"Safe?" I snorted. "I don't think safe is an option anymore Sasha." Sasha whined in her throat again, but continued to nudge my knee. Groaning, I sat back up and glanced at Annabeth. "Anywhere in particular we can hide from a psychotic goddess?"
My answer: No. There was nowhere to hide from Hera. Well let's face it, she's a goddess and we were three twelve year old demigods and a satyr who quivered a lot. Oh, and a wolf who never left my side. Still, she couldn't protect me from a goddess. Especially not Hera. She had odd ways of getting to people. Like Hercules. She made him go insane and kill his family... how many times? Two? Three? I couldn't remember. I shuddered at the thought of what she might make me do to Percy, Annabeth and Grover.
We settled for a clearing in the woods, as far away from Medusa's place as we (by we, I mean I) could manage. I was that tired by the time we got there, I actually collapsed. If I had the energy to be embarrassed, I would have burned red after Percy caught me before I hit the ground.
Demigods don't have normal dreams. This was a fact I'd slowly begun to remember over my stay at Camp Half-Blood, but this particular dream cast any remaining doubt from my mind pretty quickly. I suppose it was never really very bad for me since my memory had been wiped, apart from the memories of my life before Zeus sent me to Scotland. They were bad enough mind. Hades and the Underworld? Defending my mother from numerous monsters almost every day for three years? Not something a girl likes to be reminded of. But these dreams took the prize for most disturbing. Definitely.
I was stood at the end of a very long, narrow stone path. At either side, it was simply air, but the drop was terrifying. I got as close to the edge as I dared, then looked down. Was it me, or did that look like New York? From, like, really high up? Frowning, I took a step back and glanced behind me. There was what looked like an elevator door, but it was chained shut, as though I was being held here against my will.
It's just a dream Acacia, I kept telling myself. But I knew demigod's dreams are more than just dreams. They always are. I turned around again and my breath caught in my throat. At the end of the stone path, white marble steps ran up the spine of a cloud and disappeared into more of them. Yet, you could see Mount Olympus beyond that.
From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, it's summit covered in snow. Clinging to the mountain sides were dozens of multileveled palaces, all with white columned porticos, gilded terraces and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. There were gardens everywhere, blooming with olive trees and rose bushes. There was also an open air market filled with colourful tents, a stone amphitheatre built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and coliseum on the other side.
You could see why I knew it was Mount Olympus, right? I mean, decapitated peaks of mountains rarely float thousands of feet above New York.
I didn't get it. Why was I visiting Mount Olympus in my sleep? How did I know this was really what it looked like? Who knows what could be influencing what I was seeing right now! Still, I started toward the marble steps, my stomach churning uncomfortably. Every step echoed loudly, but no matter what I did, nothing quieten them. I stopped trying.
Walking through Olympus, my stomach tightened so much I thought I might be sick. Everywhere was eerily quiet, as though they were all attending someone's funeral. Instruments had been left abandoned where the muses usually played and swords from someone training had been left on the floor.
Without realising, my feet had taken me to the Central Courtyard. I gazed around nervously, intimidated by the sheer size of the place. But I carried on walking. For some reason, I was pretty sure no one could tell I was here, even if there were people to see. I stopped outside an open door for a moment. Hushed, urgent whispers could be heard coming from that direction and I instantly knew something was wrong.
I moved forward.
The throne room was built up and grand, even more so than the rest of Mount Olympus. Columns rose to hold the ceiling and twelve thrones were arranged in an inverted-u shape, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. All were occupied by a god, apart from two; the head throne at the right and the one to its immediate left. The ceiling wasn't really a ceiling, but the night sky, showing every constellation there was. By the hearth, there was another throne, on which a god sat. He was dressed in black silk robes and his skin was albino white. His hair was shoulder length and jet black. Hades seemed to radiate power.
People lined the outside edge of the room. Some looked like demigods, some looked as though they could be minor gods and goddesses. With a jolt, I recognised some of the campers from Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth and Clarisse stood at either side of Chiron, looking absolutely terrified. Their eyes were glued to the gods in the middle of the room.
Poseidon stood on the left, his expression looking oddly out of place on his face. Don't ask how I knew it was Poseidon, maybe because he looked so much like Percy. Deeply tanned skin, sea-green eyes, black hair, but he had a beard too. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. In one hand, he held a blue-green trident, it's tips glowing dangerously.
Opposite him stood my father, Zeus. His stormy grey eyes were narrowed dangerously and his tie sat slightly lopsided around his throat. His suit looked like it was smoking, literally. He was that angry, all I could smell was ozone. I frowned, wondering why he wasn't holding his own symbol of power, the Master Bolt. Then horror and realisation settled in. I was witnessing the fight after Zeus found his bolt gone.
Oh damn.
"You dare accuse me?" Poseidon snarled angrily. Zeus snorted and in the background, I saw Hera groan loudly. I scowled.
"I know you're after my throne Poseidon," Zeus spat. "You have been for ages!"
"And how do you think I would go about stealing your Master Bolt?" Poseidon glowered. "Who would do such a task for me?"
"How am I supposed to know who you twisted to your will?" my father spat. "As though anyone would stand up to a god!"
"So you accuse me of blackmail and threatening someone weaker than myself too?" his brother spat. His hand tightened around his trident and the tips glowed even brighter. A few gods and goddess sat forward in their thrones, frowning down at the brothers cautiously. I recognised Apollo, slumping in his seat with his iPod headphones deep in his ears. His eyes were closed, but his eyebrows were pulled together slightly, as though he was trying to piece together a puzzle in his head. I had a funny feeling it wasn't about Zeus and Poseidon.
I also recognised Demeter. She scowled at her two brothers, apparently annoyed they were disturbing her peace. In fact, when I looked around, not one god looked bothered. Beside Poseidon's empty throne, a vicious looking bloke with huge muscles and a load of scars was sat forward in his seat, smirking slightly as though he wanted them to start beating each other up. That had to be Ares. Beside him sat Apollo, his eyes still closed. Beside him sat an ugly looking fella, that had been burned so many times I was surprised he had any skin left. I gathered that was Hephaestus. When I glanced at the seat next to him, I thought for a moment it was Luke. But he was older and had a mobile phone in his hands. Hermes.
The other side of the room was dedicated to the goddesses. Of course, I knew Hera and Demeter, who sat closest to Zeus. I had to stare at the woman next to Demeter for a moment before I realised it was Athena. She had the same startling grey eyes as Annabeth, but her hair was black. Next to Athena sat a twelve year old girl. For a moment, I wondered why. But her auburn hair was tied back tightly and her eyes were a silvery-yellow, reminding me vividly of the moon. Artemis. Beside her sat an incredibly beautiful woman, who was busying applying makeup to her already covered face. Aphrodite. I had to refrain the snort when I saw Dionysus at the end. Well, Hestia was supposed to be sat there, but she had given up her throne to keep the peace. Fair enough really.
None of the gods looked ready to intervene. Just to check my theory, I gulped and stepped forward, moving toward Zeus and Poseidon. No one noticed me. No one could see me.
"HEY!" I yelled. Nothing. "What the...?"
Suddenly, the image blurred and disappeared. It was as though it was a cloth and someone was pulling it from one side. I staggered in surprise for a moment, but blinked furiously. I was now stood on the edge of a chasm. I was surrounded by the dark and whispering voices that sent a shudder down my spine. My chest tightened in fright and I had a funny feeling I had been here before.
"Try all you can, little hero," a cold, taunting voice came.
The sound made me freeze on the spot, fear shooting through me so fast I almost fell to my knees. That voice . . . I heard it so often while I was living with my mother. Nearly every night. Just thinking about it terrified me. But now . . . now I realised it wasn't just a bad dream that I could ignore. Whatever this was, it wasn't good, and wasn't going anywhere.
"You think you can stop Zeus and Poseidon from starting a war?" it was saying in a quiet, drawling voice. "You think that is your biggest worry?" I wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to answer, but I didn't think I could. Breath caught in my throat and it was all I could do not to choke weakly.
The voice laughed harshly. "Help me, little girl," it demanded.
I suddenly found my voice. "No," I snapped defiantly. I had no idea what the voice was or who it belonged to, but I was positive it was coming from the chasm. I shuddered, figuring it was down there for a reason.
"The gods are using you, my dear," it sighed, as though it was pained to tell me this. "You really think they would ever need a weak little demigod like yourself? They are playing games with you and you are going to be killed. Help me and I will help you. You will get your revenge and no longer be small and weak."
"Hey, pal," I snarled sarcastically. "I am not weak." The voice laughed and I instantly felt... sort of weak. No, my mind yelled at me, don't fall for this! Wake up!
"You are very weak, hero," the voice laughed cruelly. "If you will not help me..."
Wake up! my mind urged. Now! Wake!
"I shall have to destroy you." The voice lost its laugh and became cold and hard.
"WAKE UP!"
I almost leapt out of my skin. My upper half had bolted up and I gasped, breathing heavily. My eyes were wide and scared, I knew that much. Grover paled instantly and Annabeth and Percy, kneeling at either side of me, staring at me in worry.
"Hey, are you alright?" Percy asked carefully. "You look like you've just seen a ghost." I gulped and tried to take a calming breath, but it just got me more worked up. I had to move. Without answering him, I staggered to my feet and straightened out, shaking myself.
"Can we just get moving?" I asked quietly. "I can't stay still anymore." Percy frowned at me, but nodded. Grover bleated nervously, shaking and pale. I tried to smile, but I think it came out as a grimace.
"Yeah, well, erm," Annabeth stuttered. "There's this poodle, and-"
"A poodle?" I repeated, forgetting my fear for a moment and staring at her with raised eyebrows. Sasha made a disapproving noise in her throat, lay at my feet with her head resting on her paws. "A poodle? We're now getting help from poodles?"
"I told you it was weird," Percy smirked triumphantly.
Annabeth scowled. "Look, long story short, we take the poodle home, claim the reward and buy train tickets to Denver. Easy enough to understand?" Percy and I exchanged a look.
"Is she calling us stupid?" he asked thickly. I snorted, but Annabeth groaned loudly and whirled around, scooping up some poodle I hadn't seen before. Percy smirked and followed her, his hand tight around the sword in his pocket. Something about the way he walked told me I wasn't the only one having strange dreams.