Chapter Text
When I came back to my cabin late in the evening, with the campfire’s light depleting in the distance, I wondered if I would be welcomed back as a hero, a chosen demigod, by the gods themselves. But it was silent, eerily almost, which was unnatural for the Ares cabin. My brothers and sisters sat or laid in their respectable spaces, they watched me walk in through the door but as I walked to my bed I could tell they were making an effort not to stare. And honestly I couldn’t blame them, our camp hadn’t had a prophecy in forever, and suddenly one rolls around last night and the whole camp is in shambles at the thought of it. The prophecy was exceptionally vague as well, I was leaving that next morning and had yet to know where exactly we were going.
I already had a bag packed with clothes and other things my siblings thought would suit me in the endeavor of leaving home. The prophecy mentioned North, South, East and West, so I didn’t know exactly what weather to pack for, but then again the summer heat was probably affecting everywhere.
I changed out of my grass stained jeans and into more comfortable clothes to go to sleep in. The polyester covers rubbed against my calloused hands as I drew them back to climb into bed. The red glow of the cabin gave some an sinister and ominous feeling, but to those who inhabited the place it gave almost a meditating feeling. I said my last prayer before sleep, thanks to my father for another day at camp, respect to my mother for guiding me to glory, even as a child and to Aphrodite, it was a pathetic endeavor I had to admit but it helped me sleep at night so I continued the ritual every evening.
Hypnos guided my mind to ease and my body to sleep as the feeling of reality slipped my mind in an unconscious act.
…………..
And all at once I was falling, or maybe flying I couldn’t tell. Air was sucked in and out of my lungs against my will and I could feel my heart beating in my ears. Luckily as it turns out I was flying forward through clouds up past the thunder and lightning beneath me. When my feet met the ground I was standing in the throne room of Olympus, well this must be good, of course it was not a coincidence that I was called here after being a part of a prophecy.
I waited for my father to present himself to me, but the pavilion of stone seats stayed silent. I looked around and sensed no one.
“Hello?” I asked but once my words left my mouth they were gone with the wind.
All of Olympus stood behind me, I turned around to see the hundreds of buildings below me, all glittering and shining in the never ending light, their celestial bronze roof tops and godly made architecture was like nothing you could find on Earth.
I had only been called here once, and that was the night after I was claimed, my father presented himself to me and spoke of how I was his prized soldier, destined for greatness if I was able to take it. That was three years ago, ever since I have been waiting for the next time I would see him, when I crawled into bed tonight I secretly hoped today would be the night, but so far I was being proven wrong.
My stomach seemed to sink as the image around me began to melt, like gasoline on a hot sidewalk. The image of Olympus dissolved into a holographic kaleidoscope. The bronze roof tops turned into a blurry copper puddle in my sight. I gasped but instead found myself choking. Spit fell from my lips and I bent over, the saliva dripping from my chin along with the reality of where I was.
Once the photosensitive epileptic episode was over I blinked to only find darkness surrounding me, I was alone except for the sweet scent of the Earth before rain. I saw torches alight around me and a silky purple mist encircled me. A tall female looking figure formed in front of me, her skin seemed to melt with the fog and faces multiplied between three and one. I bit my tongue and submerged a gasp. Her body seemed to glitch and change in seconds.
“Helvar, you must hurry and listen,” she coughed and gasped through her words. I resisted the urge to jump out and help her. Her body seemed to become broader and more masculine, all of a sudden a man stood in front of me, with a long white beard, who could have been old as time.
“The-,” he glitched, “the Gestrisni is in turmoil, hurry north back home, we will be waiting.” I flinched when he jumped out to grab my shoulders then disappeared into the fog.
I waited for my reality to shift again but nothing happened, it was eerily quiet, just like my cabin. So silent it was almost like wherever I was seemed to be no longer inhabitable.
………………….
I was jerked awake lying in my own damp cold sweat. I looked over at the window and the sun was already rising from the sky. I waited for a black hole to swallow me up so I didn’t have to continue with this. But as seconds went by and I realized my demise would be coming sooner I got out of bed and changed into a tank top, jeans, and a leather jacket.
I ran down the field to the dining pavilion. My duffel bag hit against my side as I ran, although soon I found Chiron’s seat empty, and none of my other teammates in sight.
I walked back down to the front of the Big House, my boots crunched under the dried grass. The house’s white paint had begun to chip on the sides leaving exposed wood around the porch and railing. I walked up to the front door, the stained glass windows that decorated the front of it, a small leadlight of fruits and a cornucopia. The hinges creaked as I opened the door and the wooden floor panels groaned under my feet. I held the strap of my bag tightly in my hand and walked through into the dinning room.
Thankfully, everyone who I was looking for sat surrounding the grand table. Kaz Brekker sat with one of his legs bent and laying on the empty space of chair next to him, Nina Zenik sat poised and perfect, her cheeks rosy and her hair unaffected by the humidity somehow, While Jesper Fahey was quite the opposite, one of his legs were propped up on the table, the mud and dirt from his shoes staining the hardwood table, either Mr. D hadn’t noticed or was too used to it to care about his sleezy son. Wylan, or whatever people called him now, seemed to try to make his body shrink in the giant room, his bright hair however, was not helping his case. I had to triple glance at the window because a figure seemed to form in the window seal. It was a girl, or at least that is what she looked like, her long black hair hung down her back, both of her legs bent against her chest, concealing her shirt and stomach.
Everyone looked at me as I walked in and I could clearly tell I walked in on something important. Mr. D sighed and Chiron addressed me.
“Helvar, sit.” He pulled out a chair for me and I set my bag down on the floor next to where I sat.
I kept my eyes to the ground.
“You will head to Olympus in search of answers, from there you will do as the gods tell you.” Mr. D sat legs and arms crossed, his mind seemed set, but my stomach churned at the thought of seeing Olympus again, something was going wrong over there and it was somehow going to affect us if we went.
“It isn’t safe,” I said, only above a whisper.
“What’s wrong?” Chiron asked and everyone looked over to me.
I sighed, “I had a dream, something is wrong in Olympus, she… they told me to go North, I mean, I guess they told us to go north.”
“How far North, like, Canada? Or like… Brooklyn?” Jesper asked and I had to suppress a laugh.
“They did not-”
“And who is they?” Nina asked and I resisted the urge to bury my face in my hands.
“They… well first it was a lady… then they turned into like, an old man? I dunno, he told me to go North, back to my home?”
Chiron gave me a look of worry.
“Ohhh okay so Canada.” Jesper concluded.
“I’m not from Canada?” I side-eyed him. “I’m from Norway.”
“Like Frozen? You have the matching blond hair!” He exclaimed while laughing and I wanted to bury my face even more.
“Everyone has blond hair over there.” I muttered into my hands. Not that they were listening.
“Settle down, settle down,” Chiron reminded, “good news is I think I have some idea what this means, bad news is I’m not sure if it’s a good thing.”
I took a deep breath.
“You need to go to Boston.” Chiron concluded.
“BOSTON???” Nina erupted, it was her first time saying anything since I got here.
“Jesper, do you think I would look hot being burned at the stake?” She giggled and ran her fingers through her hair.
“One, I can’t answer that, and two, that’s salem.” Jesper replied.
“And y’know, It’s not the 1600 anymore!” I exclaimed and threw my hands in the air before folding them across my chest. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Trying to get through to these people is as hard as persuading a brick wall. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed before leaning back in my chair.
“None of you will be burned alive, although I cannot promise that,” Mr. D snickered.
“Dad?!” Jesper shouted and our camp director threw his head back in laughter.
“You never know, there could be cyclopes.” Chiron shrugged. A silence drifted through the air. Actual monsters, not just dummies made of the hay from the pegasi stables, then again, actual monsters that could get us hurt, or worse, killed.
“So it’s settled? We will cross the Long Island Sound, or I mean we could just sail along the coast of Connecticut? Unless one of y’all has a better idea.” Jesper said and everyone else stayed quiet, I had never been on a boat before, only flown, so I was scared I was going to be sea sick.
“We have a ship ready for your departure, everybody bring their bags and come along.” Chiron claimed and his hooves made the floorboards scream in pain as he left the room, I hurried to grab my bag and followed the others.
…………………….
Algae and barnacles grew around the Camp Half Blood dock, multiple small ships were lined down the wooden bridge, the largest being at the end, which seemed to be the one we were going to. It looked like it was almost made of gold, the head and the stern resembled a lion? Maybe some sort of reptilian I couldn’t tell. It had large white sails like the stereotypical Greek ship, with dozens of rows resting on the side.
“We aren’t gonna have to actually… row this thing, right?” Nina asked Chiron as they approached the bridge that led to the entrance.
“Most likely no, Poseidon will hopefully see you as no threat and carry you North.” Chiron smiled and the way he worded ‘hopefully’ was not helping my nerves.
Everyone boarded and walked around the deck, “does she have a name?” I asked,
“She has gone by many…” Chiron lifted a small smile, like he was recalling a long past memory.
“But that doesn’t matter anymore, she’s a fresh slate, whatever you wanna name her she will go by.” He concluded and I nodded.
Everyone was scattered around the ship’s deck.
“When do we leave?” I turned back to Chiron, he was staring off into the ocean's horizon, it was barely lunch and the sun was high in the sky. He snapped out of whatever trance he was in and met my gaze.
“Now, we aren’t sure if this has a deadline, they usually do, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He smiled, the wrinkles around his face were the only things that matched his age.
“So it is settled.” I nodded, there was a bittersweet feeling leaving the only place I had given my teenage years to, but there was so much more I wanted to see and do, even if I had to do it with my interesting crew.
I ran up to half deck as the nereids hulled our anchor out from the water, the ocean breeze blew my hair back out of my face.
“So we’re going North?” I nearly jumped, Wylan had somehow walked up behind me. His hair was tied up with only a few curls escaping and falling just below his chin.
“That’s the plan,” I replied,
“Are you scared?” I paused, it was the oddest question, so much so I had never bothered to ask myself it.
“No,” I replied and tried a smile, “But you shouldn’t be either,” I nodded.
“Guess so,” he shrugged, “the others are down in the hull picking out beds, this place is huge, and must have been inhabited before by another crew cause they left a whole bunch of stuff.” I turned to face him and raised an eyebrow.
“Really?” I chuckled. “Yeah sure, go check it out.” I followed him down to the hull, I felt the ships move under me, and I could hear the water sloshing around and crashing against the sides.
There were eight cabins in total, plus a mess hall that resembled the one at camp. I had already lost Wylan to the hallway that ran down the hull, four doors on each side and one at the end which I was guessing led to the dining area.
I put my hand against the first door knob and opened it with a tilt of my hand. The door barely creaked as I stepped inside. The room was mainly bare, except for some items that stood out, a faded purple shirt, the golden words now so faded it was unreadable. Books sat on an empty dresser, they read, The Minor Deities of Ancient Greece, Forgotten gods and goddesses, and one more, The Physics of Flight, by Alfred Lande, on the cover was an airplane flying through the sky, tabs were stuck in the pages throughout the book, as well as the others, I opened to a random page of The Minor Deities of Ancient Greece, the page was illustrated with a golden ombre and on the top it was dedicated to the goddess Alectrona, my finger skimmed the page, some of the text was highlighted with a bright pink highlighter,
a goddess of the sunrise, or of man's waking sense.
It was a weird thing to see, not the text but the highlighting. Someone was here, and they were curious of the world around them, of the gods and goddesses we had yet to learn. I wondered what happened to them, and if they were still searching and learning.
Dust covered the titles of the other books. I switched the light on the lamp, on, and off again. Behind me the bed was made and smoothed out, I wondered if there was anything else here I should be looking for, but at the same time, this room gave me a feeling of dread, a feeling of passing.
I shuffled out the door and quickly into the one opposite from it, this one was much more decorated. The closet was empty but the room had feathers scattered around it, a magazine laid on the table under the vanity mirror, the lightbulbs on it had gathered dust from their time unused. The magazine was promoting a new up-and-coming action movie, with some old guy on the cover, his hair was perfectly poised, and his jaw could have cut someone if they got too close. There was nothing else there for me so I moved on to the next.
I had to pull my hand away from the doorknob because the metal almost burned my palm. I didn’t know how that was possible but I continued. This room had to be the messiest, random machinery was scattered across the floor, projects left undone, thoughts left unsaid. I didn’t stay long there either, felt too cliche to investigate an already dying ember.
The second one was empty to a point, not a thing was left, except for animal hair that hadn’t been swept up on the floor.
Same with the last two, I barely glanced before making it to the mess hall.
I found the others sitting around in chairs, talking with each other.
“Look who decided to show up.” Nina rolled her eyes and propped her feet up on the table.
“Matthias,” Wylan pulled out a chair for me, “sit,” he gestured.
I sat and looked around.
“So are we doing like icebreakers or something?” I laughed.
“He has got a point.” Jesper added, he pointed over at Kaz.
“You, tell us something about yourself.” Kaz was frozen, he looked the same as always, black jacket, pushed back hair and his cane at his side.
He shrugged, “same story as the rest of you guys.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true.” Wylan pointed out and I nodded.
“Well I guess-” he paused…
In unison we all fell silent.
“We aren’t alone here, are we?” I questioned and looked over at Kaz who had gone deadpan while focusing.
A thump came from behind me and I followed everyone else's gaze to where the noise came from. The same girl who sat in the window seal in the Big House stood at the doorway. Her clothes were hues of black and gray and fitted close to her skin, her silhouette was nimble and dark.
“You.” She had locked eyes with Kaz, I saw the way his eyes widened and she narrowed in on only him. Before I could even blink she ran and jumped across the table to topple on top of Kaz. Her nails digging into his neck.
“Brekker.” She muttered
“Bastard.” She almost spit in his face.
Everyone watched in horror as Kaz’s face got redder from the pressure. The girl had straddled him while pinning his hands to the ground.
A click echoed through the room. Jesper Fahey had a gun to her neck.
“Let him go Inej” He held the cold metal against her neck and Nina shouted at him to put it down, Wylan soon joined in.
“Has your pride really made you go mad this time?” He asked and her chest heaved up and down, still pinning Kaz to the floor.
I didn’t know what I was waiting for? Jesper to shoot? No, that would be a tragedy, perhaps he is just bluffing.
I saw a small smile creep across her face before she fell over to the side. Now lying right next to Kaz.
“Jesper.” She greeted and put her hand up, gesturing for assistance.
“Inej.” He helped her to her feet.
Kaz groaned, which reminded us he was still here.
“I got you,” Jesper grabbed his hand before Inej got ahold of him again, “well, now since we’ve all been up close and personal with each other, how ‘bout I find food and then we get some rest.” He smiled and that sounded like the best plan in the world, I just realized I was starving. Hopefully the ship food would be as filling as the camp’s
