Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Hi, everyone! Welcome back! I hope y'all enjoy today's chapter. :)
Until next week,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
~The Finding Home Saga~
~Finding Home~
~Chapter 56: I Have Another Demigod Dream~
I'd never seen Camp Half-Blood in the winter before, and the snow surprised me.
When I'd thought about how it would look in the winter before, I'd imagined it as warm and sunny, because Mr. D controlled the weather and he seemed to prefer it that way during the summertime. But in contrast to my expectations, the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in the old mummified body. I wondered if the spirit of Delphi was roasting marshmallows up there or something. Maybe the spirit wanted to feel warm since...you know, the body that she (it?) was in didn't allow that.
"Wow. It's really pretty," I commented.
Katie gave a small smile. Even now that we were on solid ground, her cheeks were tinged green. I guess I'd made her really car sick. "Yeah, it is."
I was reminded, in her doing this, that she'd spent many years here at camp year-round. She was probably used to how it looked, but that did not detract from the beauty of it.
The Hunters didn't speak to us, just shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off towards the cabins, Zoë Nightshade leading them. "Take care, sweethearts!" he called after their retreating forms. He winked at me. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."
It felt like my blood turned to ice in my veins. "What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called out. "And, uh, be good!"
He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something that she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.
"Well, come on," Thalia grumbled a couple of seconds after he'd left, though there was pink dusting her cheeks. She adjusted the way the strap of her bag fell on her shoulder. "Let's go break Chiron the bad news."
I swallowed at this reminder. Right.
Chiron was going to be brokenhearted when he found out just how much we'd failed.
As we trudged up towards the camp from the beach, where Apollo had left us, the second thing that surprised me about camp was just how empty it was. I mean, logically, I knew that most half-bloods only trained here during the summer. Just the year-rounders that hadn't been sent off to schools across the country in search of other half-bloods would be here – the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left and their ἐνδέσματα broke. But still, even accounting for the ones that had reasons not to be here, there didn't seem to be that many campers, either.
I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. But that was about it. Even Clarisse didn't seem to be around.
...Maybe that was a good thing, though. If she was here, I didn't doubt she'd kick my ass for allowing what had happened to Silena to happen. And I would deserve it.
The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.
Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't teaching this year, because apparently no other student had caught his eye enough to make a "house call," so I guessed he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoof-print design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.
He smiled when he saw us, at least at first. "Percy! Thalia! Katie! Bianca!"
And then he realized that we were the only ones there, that the Koskinen siblings and Silena were missing.
His smile abruptly died.
"Hi, Chiron," I said. It seemed that I was the only one who was able to speak.
His eyes flitted to me specifically, then behind us. "What's wrong?" he questioned. I knew he knew that just from my tone that something bad had happened. "Where are the siblings that Bianca told me about? And where is Silena?"
"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice. "We've lost some more, haven't we?"
I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm up and his purple running shoes (like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life). A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.
"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"
"You mean, besides all the people that have joined Kronos so far?" I wanted to ask. But, I kept my mouth shut.
Bianca cleared her throat. "Chiron, you should also know," she said, "that the Hunters are going to be staying here for a while."
Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about. Perhaps you four should sit down and tell us the whole story."
We did. When we were done, Chiron looked immensely troubled – Mr. D, bored. "That magic...I've seen it before...the girl...Drífudóttir..." he muttered. The name he said, Drífudóttir, sparked something within me. It was familiar. No, not just familiar. It was Icelandic. But, before I could give that too much further thought, the centaur turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Silena immediately."
"I'll go," Thalia and I said at the same time. Actually, I'm pretty sure Bianca chipped in, too.
Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"
Thalia and I both started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.
"From what you have told us," he said, "we have lost one camper to a manticore and two more potential campers to a magic that not even Artemis recognizes. It is a shame that we have lost Seraphina – "
"Silena," I snapped. She'd been coming here to camp longer than I had, and still Mr. D pretended to not know her name.
"Yes, yes," he replied. "It is a shame we have lost her, but in light how dangerous this excursion was, I see no point in risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Seraphina girl is dead."
I wanted to yell at Mr. D, to demand of him how willing he'd be to tell Silena's father that to his face, because I'd met Jean Beauregard before, and he was a very nice guy. Actually, I wanted to do even worse than that. I wanted to stranglethe god. It wasn't fair that Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Mr. D's bad behavior on Olympus, but it had ended up being a punishment for all of us.
"Silena may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having a hard time sounding upbeat. "She's very bright. If...if our enemies have her, she will try to play for a time. She may even pretend to cooperate."
"That's right," Katie said. "Luke would want her alive." It didn't escape my notice that she specifically glanced at me when she spoke that last part.
"In which case," said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own. She's one of Aphrodite's too, isn't she? She certainly has the voice for it."
I got up from the table, standing up so fast that my chair fell down behind me with a clatter.
"Percy," Chiron went. His tone was full of warning.
In the back of my mind, I knew that Mr. D wasn't somebody to mess with. Even if you were an impulsive ADHD kid like me, he wouldn't give you any slack. But I was so angry, I didn't care.
"You're glad to lose another camper," I accused. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"
Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"
"Yeah," I growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too! Maybe you could try helping out a little!"
For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something – probably a curse that would blast me to smithereens.
But then, above my head, a hologram of a cornucopia appeared.
Thalia gaped at it. It wasn't exactly an open secret that I was a champion of Demeter. "What the hell?"
Mr. D glowered. He raised his eyes skywards. "Yes, yes, Auntie, I can see your reminder that he's your champion!" he shouted. "But, mark my words: you're not going to be able to protect him forever!"
He was fuming. His face was so red, it was almost purple.
Chiron gave us a nervous smile. "Percy, Thalia, Katie, and Bianca, can you all go down to the cabins? Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag against the Hunters tomorrow evening," he requested. When none of us immediately moved, he said, voice firmer, "Run along now."
None of us needed to be told thrice. We ran out of the Big House before Dionysus could decide that he didn't care about Demeter's protections over me after all and killed me on the spot.
When we got out of the Big House, Thalia stormed off quicker than the rest of us. I wasn't too sad to see her go.
Besides, I had bigger things to worry about.
"Percy, you've already got Ares on your bad side," Katie hissed to me as we and Bianca trudged towards the cabins at our own pace. "Do you really need another immortal enemy?"
She was angry, and she had a right to be. She was right.
"Sorry," I said. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."
Katie sighed. "I know, Percy," she said. She grabbed onto my hand, squeezing it gently. "Believe me, I know."
We stayed like that for a moment. "You guys will get her back – I'll even help you if you want," Bianca said then, offering herself up as a tribute for our bullshit. "I know you don't know how yet, but you will."
I gave her a smile. "Thanks, Bianca."
Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second. Bianca decided to leave us there, heading over to them to break them up before they could break out into a fight properly.
We made the rounds when we got to the cabins, telling everybody about capture the flag, because apparently Thalia hadn't done that herself, having gone straight to her cabin or something instead. The kid that was in the Hermes cabin, a new face that I didn't recognize and must've come to camp only recently, asked us about who was going to be the captain for us campers. I didn't have an answer for that.
Thankfully, I didn't have to. "Thalia and Percy are going to be co-captains," Katie supplied seamlessly.
It was only after we'd left Cabin Eleven that I asked, under my breath, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Probably not," she said. She lifted an eyebrow. "But do you have a better idea?"
"...Touché."
We woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at us to go away. When I asked him where Clarisse was, he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"
So it looked like she hadn't been one of the half-bloods to go off to boarding school, then. "Is she okay?"
"Haven't heard from her in over a month. She's missing in action – like your butts are gonna be if you don't get outta here!"
We decided to let him go back to sleep.
Finally, our mission complete, Katie and I went our separate ways. I went into Cabin Three, and it felt good to be there...but also not. Like the rest of camp, it felt emptier, because of course Callie wasn't there. I'd gotten used to her presence at camp this past summer. The absence of her made even more depressed than I already was.
I took off my wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The pegasus overall looked like an empty soda can after it had been crushed in somebody's hands. I hung the shield on the hook that was specifically meant for shields, or so I'd been told by other campers, but it was painful to look at now. Maybe Beckendorf could fix it for me. He was the best armor smith in the camp. I'd ask him at dinner.
I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound – water gurgling – and I realized that there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big basin of grey sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth came a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled in the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.
I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.
I looked into the water and said, "Thanks, Dad."
The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered – a dozen or so golden drachmas. I realized what the pool was for. It was a reminder to keep in touch with family.
And I almost did, I will admit. I almost did go over to one of the windows to open it up and see if a rainbow would form. It would be nice to contact my mom, or Callie, or – somebody. But if I told my mom about what had happened to Silena, she would tell Silena's dad, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be the source of that misery. I definitely didn't want to be the source of that misery for my half-sister. And that wasn't even mentioning how upset Alabaster would be if I contacted him, either, as Silena's boyfriend...
So I went back over to my bed and hung out there until it was time for dinner, staring up at the board that served as the top bunk's floor, miserable. I was miserable at dinner that night, too. The food was excellent as usual – you can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets – and the torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm. But I sat alone at my table, and so did Katie, and so did Thalia. Bianca, at least, had the others from Cabin Eleven, even though everyone seemed to understand her need of space as she moodily stirred around the contents of her plate. Cabin Ten's table was devoid of people entirely, because none of the other children of Aphrodite were year-rounders and with Silena gone –
Yeah, I tried to avoid looking at the table for Cabin Ten as much as I could.
Key word: tried.
The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoë sat at the head like she was the matriarch. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled.
When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty halfhearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.
Afterwards, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out. I was exhausted, which meant that even with the absence of Callie and her breathing patterns, I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, and even by my standards it was a whopper.
Silena was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above – just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.
Silena struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to ruins.
"Thorn!" Silena cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.
She gasped.
There was Luke. And he was in pain.
He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched in sweat.
"Silena!" he called out. "Please! Help me!"
The daughter of Aphrodite didn't immediately run forwards. She stared at him, uncertainty tinging her entire expression.
"Silena, what are you doing?" I wanted to scream. "I know you think he's a bad guy, but look at him! He needs help!"
But my voice didn't work in the dream.
Finally, Silena stumbled forwards. When she got closer, I couldn't help but notice how awful Luke looked. It made terror claw at my heart. He'd looked fine when we'd gone out on a date together just a couple weeks ago, but now there was a streak of grey in his hair. And as we watched, another streak of his hair turned grey only in a couple of seconds, right before our eyes.
One thing was for sure: magic was definitely involved here somehow.
"What happened?" Silena asked.
"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."
Besides what I'd already described, I couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some sort of invisible curse, as though the fog was squeezing him to death.
"Why should I trust you?" Silena questioned.
"You shouldn't," Luke acknowledged. "I've been terrible to you, and unfair to Percy. He – ah! – he doesn't deserve what I've done to him. But if you don't help me, I'll die."
Luke, that's not true, I thought. You have no idea how untrue that is.
If I was in Silena's shoes right now, I would've done whatever it took to save him in a heartbeat.
The darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Silena rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow – tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke with just her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.
Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.
"Help me hold it," Silena groaned.
Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. Despite the darkness, I could see his eyes. They looked...haunted.
Oh, no. What was he doing?
He rose unsteadily.
"I knew I could count on you, Silena," he said. He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush her.
No.
No, no, no, no...
"Help me!" Silena cried.
"Don't worry," he responded. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."
The ceiling of darkness began to crumple again, pushing my best friend against the ground.
I bolted upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in the cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on my nightstand read just after midnight.
Only a dream, but I was sure of two things: Silena was in terrible danger. And Luke, my fucking boyfriend, was responsible for it.
Word Count: 3,645
Next Chapter Title: An Old Dead Friend Comes To Visit
