Chapter 8 Zoë, Highway 57

~Dream.~

Zoe started when she saw the blood red sky of her long term nightmares. She looked around, noticing the boils spread over the ground like a carpet and the skeletal black trees. Her eyes wandered to the younger version of her mother, leaning on a man with a mop of black hair, as they followed the bulky man with glowing silver Einstein hair and a tabby kitty resting on his shoulder. She'd been here before... just not exactly here.

"What is it?" asked the man next to her mother, watching as her mother stopped and glanced at the trees. Zoë caught the color of his eyes... green like her brother's. Or maybe her brother's were like his. This man could be her father, and she couldn't believe she hadn't realized before.

"Nothing... I just feel like something is watching us..." her mother stated staring right at for... or was she looking through and past her.

"We're demigods in Tartarus. Of course something's gonna be watching us," the man replied in a joking manner. Her mother pushed the man in the shoulder. "OW! It's the truth!"

"Quiet. Something… Something is coming." Stated the silver haired giant. He took the broom she hadn't noticed he was holding and suddenly a spear point jutted from the end.

"Of course something is coming Bob! We're in Tartarus!" the men exclaimed, "We're like blue cookies out here! Everyone wants to eat us!"

"Yes… But something powerful is coming… And is almost here." Replied the one called Bob. It was a very awkward name for a man like him Zoë thought.

"Oh come on! We can't get a break for five minutes?" Complained the man as he got out his sword. Her mother smacked him on the back of his head this time.

"This is not the time to complain Percy!" She snapped. Percy... The name sounded familiar to Zoë, like it was the name of an old friend or something. Before she could hear anymore the scene before her changed.

Suddenly she saw Percy standing in front of an old apartment door, he looked nervous... like something behind the door would kill him once he opened it. He took a deep breath before kneeling down and pulling a key from beneath the mat. He stood and slid the key into the lock, turning it and opening the door. He walked in and closed the door before moving deeper down the hallway.

"Paul?! Is that you?!" a voice called from down the hall. Zoë noticed Percy tense up slightly, like he was going to regret doing this.

"No Mom!" Percy yelled back as he walked into the kitchen grabbing a cookie from the plate on the counter, quickly taking a bite from it. A woman with long brown hair and warm ever changing eyes turned away from the oven. She gasped and almost dropped the platter of blue cookies. Percy smiled at her and wrapped her in a hug, brushing off the fact that he was stepping on the cookies.

"Oh Percy! Thank the gods! Where have you been and why haven't you called?" She ranted, pulling back to take a look at Percy. The way the women stammered frantically reminded Zoë of how her mother would panic when she fell off her bike. She even did the quick checking over of Percy making sure he didn't have any scraps or scabs.

"I'm fine mom, but I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to call. You know, saving the world is a full time job," he joked, hugging his mother once again.

"They roped you back in again? The dirty… You deserve a break and no more fighting!" She almost shrieked. Percy started to explain, when she interrupted him. "You and Annabeth are going to stay here and if the gods need you they can go through me!"

It finally clicked for Zoë. This man was her father before he was killed in the camp attacks. She gasped, her mouth open like a fish, she watched who she could only assume was her grandma laugh along with her father as the scene changed once again.

The scene changed again as Zoë appeared in the middle of a bustling cafeteria next to her father. He was smirking, tossing an apple up and down in his hand. His glance was stuck on her mother. Zoë barely had time to notice the silver ring that had been taped to the red fruit.

"Annabeth!" he called, snapping her attention from the book she was reading, "Catch!" he exclaimed throwing the apple at her. Annabeth easily caught it and turned it over in her hand as her eyes fell upon the ring. The entire cafeteria fell silent at the sight.

"Percy Jackson..." Her mother stated standing up, "Did you just propose to me by throwing an apple?" she asked.

"Of course wise girl. In ancient greece throwing an apple to a girl is a marriage proposal. And I thought you were supposed to be the daughter of Athena," he scoffed before the scene started changing.

This time she was thrown into what looked like a living room in a small cabin. Around her sat 8 people. She quickly noticed her parents. Her father had taken a seat in a giant brown leather recliner, her mother sitting next to him slash somewhat on top of him. He was drinking out of a can of blue coke. Zoë smiled when she saw the ring from earlier and another band on top on her mother's ring finger.

"Really Jason? You want to name the kid Bartholomew?" Percy asked raising his eyebrows.

"No!" came a reply. Zoë turned to see a women with choppy brown hair that was braided to the side wide eyed, she also noticed that the women was around 7 months pregnant, "I am not naming my son Bartholomew!"

"Come on Piper you really think I'd want to name him that?! It was a joke!" a blonde haired boy with electric blue eyes told the women. His eyes reminded her of Thalia's for some reason. She could only assume this was the man her father had called Jason.

"Knowing you Grace one can only assume," a voice mummered. Zoë turned her head to look at the voice. She saw another women sitting on a chair, sipping a can of sprite. Her black hair was pulled back and braided in a very neat fashion. But it was her piercing black eyes that chilled Zoë to the bone.

"Gee. Thanks Renya. You're soooo helpful," Jason sassed, "And to think you had my back."

"I only have your back in battle Grace, not when you're fighting your wife," the women responded, her voice stern.

"Soo... what you gonna name the kid, Roman?" Percy joked, a lopsided smile on his face. The smile fell when Piper and Jason looked over at each other their eyes wide like they had just come to an AH! moment. "Wait... Really?"

The scene changed again all too quickly... but this time instead of landing in a living room or something with her father, she was thrown into a battlefield, clouds of black smoke surrounding her, the sky was a fiery orange as the flames around her burnt down buildings.

Percy was fighting off what looked to be like a giant black dog. They stood on the porch of a wooden building that the flames hadn't reached yet.

"Annabeth! Get Luke out of here!" Percy ordered, turning his head for just a second towards the interior of the house. Zoë followed her father's eyes to see her mother standing in the hallway, her eyes wide as the small boy with green eyes and blond hair watched in horror. Her mother picked the boy up and slung him over her shoulder, running to the back door.

"Dad!" the boy cried trying to reach out for Percy. The breath got knocked out of Zoë... this was what gave her brother nightmares... no this was the nightmare her brother had. Zoë turned back to look at Percy, knowing what would soon happen.

Her father turned and gave a sorrowful smile, his green eyes that were always filled with laughter and happiness from earlier now gleaming with despair and sadness and death. The moment's distraction was what killed him. While he looked at his son a monster had snuck up on him and before there could be a warning, the creature bit deeply into his shoulder. Percy twisted desperately out of its grip, but it was too late, the distraction had allowed more monsters to gather and attack when he wasn't looking.

Zoë tried to scream at the sight, but no sound came out, she was sure she was screaming. She could feel the shaking of her vocal cords, she just couldn't hear her own death cry. She watched as her father tried to fight off the monsters but his sword was knocked out of his hand, flying away into the array of monster feet. She watched as Percy went to reach into his pocket just to be thrown back, hitting a tree and the back of his head in the process.

He then disappeared in a cloud of golden dust, and Zoë was transported again. She landed in a clearing, surrounded by oak trees. She thought she was alone till she heard the groan behind her. She turned around to see Percy leaning against a tree, his head slumped forward. He groaned and clutched at his head.

"Where the Hades am I? No. Wrong question... Who the Hades am I?" He moaned, carefully standing up, "And why do I keep saying Hades instead of hell?"

He shakily started walking through the trees, hoping to find civilization. Zoë watched all of this in shock before the scene changed once more. But the only thing running through her head was the fact that her father had survived the attack. But had lost his memory in the process.

She was thrown into another battle, this time there were two people fighting, a girl with black hair and sky blue eyes, and a man with black hair and brown eyes. The man was using a black sword to fight of the giant creature that Zoë could only assume was a Hydra. The man carefully leaped and stabbed the hydra in the back causing it to disintegrate into dust.

"I could have killed it Papá!" Whined the girl, storming towards the man.

"Bianca..." the man sighed, "Let's just get to the highway... The forest isn't safe anymore," the man told her, "We'll hitch hike."

Bianca let out a frustrated huff, "Fine Papá..."

Zoë jolted awake her eyes wide as she panted heavily. Had she really just dreamed all of that? Festus in the trunk was going crazy, clicking like crazy. But when she spotted the two hitchhikers on the side of the road her eyes widened.

"Pull over!" she exclaimed, practically jumping out of her seat.

"What?! What?!" Luke panicked.

"Just do it!" Zoë ordered.

"Festus agrees," Anza stated. Luke sighed and nodded in defeat before putting his blinker on and pulling over.