Act II Chapter XVI: "Her sister tried to kill us. You know how it is."
Percy was so excited for the return of the girls that he didn't think he would be able to sleep. Ever since Chiron had received the Iris message, they had been waiting. Luke seemed the most stressed, especially on hearing they were covered in blood.
To distract themselves from worry, they set about helping rebuild the camp. Percy couldn't swing a hammer too well and wasn't trusted with a saw, so he just helped by lugging around lumber. The Dryads and Satyrs worked hard and even looked like they wanted to please their master.
Dionysus insisted he wasn't their master, but was promptly ignored. Percy found it funny, and the Olympian kept looking like he was going to smite him on the spot. Or turn him into a tree. Chiron warned him to stop it, so Percy bit his tongue hard to keep from laughing anytime it happened.
Between the excitement of the day and helping build, Chiron insisted they go to bed. Percy tried to argue that he couldn't sleep until the girls were back, and they compromised. Percy would lie down for an hour and "try" to sleep. If he couldn't, then he would be able to stay up. It felt like making a compromise with his mother for fifteen extra minutes of tv time.
Only a small cabin was finished by the time they laid down, with sleeping bags for all of them. As soon as Percy's head hit the pillow, he immediately passed out.
And had another one of those dreams.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like the one dream that had been haunting him for the last few months. In fact, it was completely different. He was standing in what looked to be a temple. Marble pillars were spaced out every twenty feet, holding up a ceiling that was so high up he couldn't see it. Torches lined every other pillar.
At one end of the temple, he could see what looked to be a small altar. A few candles rested on it, along with a plethora of different weapons. A figure stood in front of the altar. Percy slowly made his way closer to them. As they turned, the light illuminated their features.
Since learning he was a demigod, Percy had met a few gods. None of them were what he expected. Terminus was a bust without arms or legs. Or a full torso. Dionysus was a drunk who looked like he stepped out of one of Smelly Gabe's poker games. And Lupa was, well, a wolf.
Maybe it was the movies he watched as a kid, but Percy always expected gods to wear togas or armor. They were always tall and built like they were about to enter a wrestling ring. None of the gods that they had met so far were like that.
But the woman in front of him looked like a goddess.
The woman stood at eight feet tall. She wore a full set of golden armor, and her helmet was tucked under her arm. Glossy black hair was thrown over her shoulder. The woman started to pace in front of the altar, going back and forth between the two ends of it. In her hands rested a shield.
As Percy made his way closer, he saw that the woman's face was set in a scowl. She looked agitated as she paced. Her gaze moved to look right at him, and he froze as he saw her black eyes. Percy nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt the odd sensation of something walking through him. He stared at Lupa as the wolf goddess was slinking toward the woman.
As the woman stopped pacing, Percy saw her shield. On it was a sword crossed with a torch. Percy frowned as he had seen that symbol before. On Reyna's ring.
Was this her mother?
"Lupa," the goddess greeted as she looked at the wolf. Then, she turned to look back at the altar. Percy kept inching his way forward, careful that he wouldn't disturb them. He didn't know if they could see him or if this was happening in that moment or in the past.
"Bellona," Lupa returned with a bow of her head. Percy stopped at the altar and looked down at it. While weapons and armor littered the table, underneath it all was a map. He could see different locations marked. Other maps were sprawled around it with drawings all over and pins tacked into it.
"War is coming," Bellona stated.
"I sense it too," Lupa agreed. A noise like a sigh left her. "With the prophecy..."
"Hanging over our heads like the executioner's axe," Bellona commented. Her gaze focused on the wall ahead of her. Her eyes held a darkness to them, like a night sky about to be pierced by the fires of war. "We do not have time to waste."
"The Greeks have pushed back their doomsday and averted the problem of Thalia Grace," Lupa informed. "She joined the Hunters of Diana. But..."
"We have our own doomsday to worry about," Bellona cut off. She placed her hands on the altar. "We need unity now."
"Unity," Lupa repeated. She moved closer to the altar. "Do you have a plan?"
Bellona placed her finger on the map. Percy studied it and could make out two markers in red. One was in California. The other was in New York. Were those the camps? Bellona spoke, "Unity through strength."
Someone shaking his shoulder woke Percy, and his eyes snapped open. He stared up at Luke, but all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. What did Bellona mean? How were they going to get strength through unity? Did she want to unite the camps?
"Percy, they're here," Luke said with a huge grin on his face. Percy nodded, but he must have had a bewildered face because Luke lost his grin. "Is something wrong?"
"I had a weird dream," Percy began. He got out of the sleeping bag and pulled his shirt on. The two of them left the small cabin and made their way toward the hill.
"Gods," Luke whispered. Percy's eyes widened as he saw the girls. All of them were covered in dried blood from head to toe. There were streaks where it looked like they had tried to clean themselves off only to give up. Luke increased his pace.
Next to the three girls stood a woman who was covered in a golden substance. Chiron was already with the four of them, and he was holding onto the woman's hands. As they made it close, he spoke, "Iris, I am so glad to see you."
"Thank you, Chiron. It is a pleasure to see you," Iris returned with a bow of her head.
"You look like you spent a little too long partying," Dionysus commented as he walked up behind them. A small scowl came to his face. "What happened to you?"
"It's a long story," Annabeth said. She looked down at her hands and then the rest of the blood covering her.
"Take a dip in the lake to clean off," Dionysus said with a wave of his hand. "The Nymphs may be upset, but they can take that up with me."
Annabeth stared at Dionysus, and he frowned at the attention. Clarisse studied the Olympian, looking him up and down. Reyna examined the camp and seemed to be surveying all of the construction.
"We'll make breakfast," Chiron said in a soft voice. He nodded to them and started to walk toward what looked like a fire pit.
"Are all of you okay?" Luke questioned.
"We're fine," Clarisse grunted. "Princess got stabbed. She got Reyna stabbed, too."
"Hylla had freakish strength!" Annabeth complained. Reyna glanced at them and then started to walk off toward the beach. Percy glanced at the others then followed behind.
"Hey, Reyna!" Percy said. Reyna glanced at him as he caught up to her. "This is going to sound really weird, but I had a dream. About your mom."
"My mom?" Reyna repeated. Her face remained neutral as she studied Percy.
"Yeah," Percy began. "I had this dream about a goddess. She was talking to Lupa, and she had black eyes like you. Her shield had a sword crossed with a torch, like your ring. I think your mother is Bellona."
"Bellona?" Annabeth repeated. Percy turned to look at her. A small smile came to his face.
"Yeah. I think I figured out who Reyna's mom is," Percy said. He looked behind him and saw that Annabeth and Clarisse had followed. "A goddess named Bellona."
"Never heard of her," Clarisse grunted.
"She was talking with Lupa in my dream," Percy continued. He looked forward to Reyna. She did not look happy by his revelation.
"This is great," Clarisse half cheered as she clapped Reyna's shoulder. "We found Iris and who your mom is."
"Yeah," Reyna muttered. She slid out of Clarisse's grasp and made her way to the water.
"Did I do something wrong?" Percy asked as he looked at the other two.
"Her sister tried to kill us. You know how it is," Clarisse answered with a wave of her hand.
"No. I, uh, don't... I don't know how that is," Percy admitted. He looked at the ocean and saw Reyna walk into it. She crouched down and started to clean her arms off.
"Get out of here, Prissy," Clarisse jeered as she gave Percy a gentle shove. He held his hands up and turned away.
"I'm glad you guys are okay," Percy called out as he started to walk away.
"You too, Percy. We'll catch up after we clean up," Annabeth called back.
"We'll have a good breakfast ready," Percy promised. He didn't dare look back as he started to make his way back to the main part of the camp. A smile came to his face. They had found Iris. Dionysus was back. Things were looking up, and he couldn't wait for what was next.