The boat was silailing slowly, the winds had calmed down, and the sun was already out. I sat there, struggling to digest what I heard. That prophecy still echoed in my head like a faint echo that refused to go away. I felt the tension in the air, but I didn't know what to say or how to move forward from here.
Rachel suddenly sighed and broke the silence. "I know how to call for help," she said as she began looking for something in the drawers of the boat.
"What are you looking for?" I asked.
"Drachma," she answered, a determined look on her face. "I know how to use it to call for help, but I don't know if there is one here."
Rachel rummaged through her things angrily while we sat quietly on the boat. The adrenaline from the last fight was still running through my blood, and I was sure the rest were too. This tension, which had been between us since we got into all this, was almost unbearable.
"Is she going to find what she's looking for anyway?" Taylor whispered angrily, eyes still searching the surrounding water for threats. "I don't know how much longer we can go on like this."
"What are we supposed to do now?" Leia asked with a slightly shaky voice, unable to hide her concern. "All this... it's too much."
"I'd be happy if I had an idea," I replied, following Rachel with my eyes. "But I think the only thing we can do is just be here for each other."
"It's just crazy," Taylor muttered. "We've barely known each other for two days, and we've already been through so much together."
"Not that I feel like we really know each other," Leia breathed deeply. "But… at least we're not alone in this."
I looked at them, feeling her words enter my lungs. "I know it's not much, but I'm really glad you're here. Even if it means sitting on a boat with someone who isn't sure what she's looking for."
Taylor gave a small smile, as if the tension had dropped from him just for a moment. "It still feels like we're just trying to hang on. But maybe, in the end, that's what will make us stronger."
I suddenly remembered how much I loved just walking around the street and enjoying my little adventures.
"Maybe later we will travel like tourists in a small place and have fun?" I asked.
"We can talk about that later," Leia said, "but first, let's make sure we survive."
The connection between us was still far from being deep, but at this moment, under the tension and pressure, something started to build.
Maybe it wasn't a bond of years, but it was something real, stemming from the reality in which we were trapped.
Rachel finally found her drachma.
She stood up, went to the end, and took the hose that was connected to one of the faucets.
Without explaining, she placed the drachma in the palm of her hand, pointed the tube towards the sky and created a spectacular rainbow in the water. I didn't know what to expect, but I realized it wasn't just a prank.
She threw the drachma into the arc of water, and suddenly it opened like a transparent screen. Inside it I could see a man the same age as her, he had black hair and the bluest eyes I could see.
"Are you okay, Rachel? Why are you calling?" the man asked.
"Percy, the camp has been attacked," Rachel answered.
"what?!" The man shouted.
"I'm at sea with three halflings who survived the attack on my race boat. I need you and Annabeth here," Rachel said.
"I'm on my way to you," he replied.
After she finished, she went back and sat down as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. We tried to settle down on the boat and relax, each in his own corner, but I couldn't fall asleep that quickly. The thoughts kept bothering me. Finally, the fatigue got the better of me, and my eyes began to tighten.
In my dream I found myself in a museum in Greece. It was a place I had walked when I was little, but this time everything was stranger. I remember myself as a child, walking hand in hand with my mother among the ancient exhibits. But I wasn't with her, but with another boy, with black hair and blue eyes. Could it be the man from earlier, only younger?
I saw my mother, standing on the side with an impressive blonde girl. The girl spoke to my mother in a very serious tone, and I couldn't help but listen.
"You don't understand," said the girl, "the dangers he faces are very real. The mythical monsters will always find their way to him, even when he's so far from Olympus."
My mother didn't seem convinced at all. She looked at her with angry eyes. "There are no monsters in Tel Aviv. I know how to protect my son, and he is safe here. We don't have to flee to America just because of old fears."
I saw how my mother's heart sank, how she struggled to stay strong in front of this girl. I felt pain watching this conversation, as if part of me understood her concerns, but also feared what I might miss.
The girl looked at her with serious eyes and continued to explain, "You can't see the monsters, but they see him. They will always find him, unless he is close to our sources of protection. Only then will he truly be protected."
"I will manage to protect him even if I am in prison! Do you listen to me?" My mom yelled at her.
My mother took a deep breath. "I won't leave everything just because of some silly belief in myths. He's safe here."
The dream started to change, I felt myself being dragged back to reality, but before I woke up, I heard myself as a child, laughing at the things the boy said. He was... nice, somehow.
Leia's voice woke me up suddenly, and I jumped to my feet. I heard a hissing in the air, like something going by at high speed. I immediately picked up my ax, ready for whatever might come. Leia was already holding her bow and arrow, and Taylor was standing next to us, holding his sword in both hands.
"Put down the weapon!" Rachel shouted in panic. "It's not what you think."
After a few moments, I saw two black horses with wings and two figures on them land on the boat. A blonde woman... the girl from the dream, and next to her, the same man Rachel was talking to. It was too weird to be true. They looked exhausted, but determined.
"Where is my sister?" The man looked at me.
"The… she was attacked in the camp by metal birds," I replied.
"Percy and I will go straight over there after we find you a safe place," the blonde haired woman told Rachel.
"What is your name and who are your god parents?" she asked us.
"First of all, who are you?" I asked back.
"Alex," Taylor clung to me, "this is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, the ones I told you about yesterday. He's a son of Poseidon."
"Oh, sorry," I answered awkwardly.
"Brief, I'm Alex, son of Hermes."
"My name is Taylor, son of Dionysus."
"My name is Leia, daughter of Hypnos."
"Daughter of hypnos?" Annabeth asked Leia. "Interesting, you don't look..."
"What, lazy, ugly, without grooming, without useful powers?"
"No no no, like a kind of yes... I mean, in my time the hypnos children slept almost 14 hours a day"
"We evolved, okay?" Leia was furious.
"Really sorry," Annabeth tried to apologize.
"Where was your father at the time of the attack?" Percy asked Taylor.
"I… I don't know, I don't even know where Kyron is. I didn't see him at the time of the attack."
"And who are you? Another Hermes half?" Percy passed me.
"Alex, sir..." I felt embarrassed, I felt that evil eye for the sons of Hermes again.
Everyone finished talking and the three of us went back to sitting at the bow of the ship, while Percy, Annabeth and Rachel gathered in the wheelhouse, and the pegasuses i think that the creature name lay down on the boat.
"I miss camp," Taylor said, leaning back and sighing.
Leia nodded in agreement, her eyes wistful.
"If there is even another camp left, we don't even know what the next step is. This is the strangest prophecy I've heard, without a 'step north' or something?! Really?" Leia said.
I looked at them, feeling the worry and fear we all shared, but also some sense of complicity.
"Yes, but we have each other," I said. "And maybe it's the only thing that can keep us alive."
There was a short silence as we all digested the words. My thoughts wandered, and I began to reflect on our journey and what still awaits us.
Just then, I noticed the wheelhouse.
"Wait a minute, I went to the thief to hear what they had to say,"
I told them and went to the door of the wheelhouse up stairs.
I crept up there quietly, peeking around the door.
I saw Annabeth, Rachel and Percy standing there, having a serious conversation.
"You need to be easier on him, Percy," I heard Annabeth say. "He's new to all this, he's scared, and he doesn't really know what he's getting into."
Percy leaned against the side of the boat, his gaze stern. "I understand that, but… I care about him, Annabeth. I see myself in him, in a way. But I have a feeling he'll have to deal with a lot more than we did on our first journey."
Annabeth nodded, memories of their journey together showing on her face. "I remember how it was for us. How scary and unclear everything was. But he is not alone, and he has us. We will stand by him, but he will have to find the strength within himself."
I continued to listen, feeling their words echoing inside me. I was scared, no doubt. I didn't know where we were going, what would happen, and how I would be able to handle all of this. But at that moment, I also felt some kind of new determination awakening in me.
Percy shook his head, looking at them with worried eyes. "I just hope he doesn't get lost on his way. That we don't lose him now, like what happened to Luke."
"His brother…" Rachel said.
My brother?... Who is Luke? What do you mean lost his way? Maybe that's where the bad name comes from? Luke must have done something terrible that ruined the honor of the sons of Hermes.