Chapter 52: I watch my big sister's birth

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' Percy '

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My arrow didn't feel like talking.

When I unwrapped the linen it revealed an arrow with a oak shaft and it had a green fletching.

"Are you going to say something?" I asked politely, while hoping no one would see me talking to an arrow.

Yeah, my life reached a new low.

The arrow yelled, which made me almost drop it, "THOU SHALT NOT DISRESPECT THINE ARROW!"

The arrow talked with a Elizabeth accent which was even weirder than the fact it talked.

"Waah!" I yelled back, then I calmed down and looked around to see if someone noticed me, luckily no one did.

"What?" I asked after a second.

"Put me back whence I came from!" the arrow yelled.

"Just answer one question." I said, "How do I rescue Artemis?"

I kind of knew already the answer, but I wanted to test the arrow, see if it worked.\

The arrow gave me a clear and understandable answer, just kidding.

"Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

I stared blankly at the arrow.

"What?" I asked.

'That was Shakespeare.' Chaos explained.

"So my arrow is quoting shakespeare?" I wondered out loud.

"THOU SHALT NOT DISRESPECT THINE ARROW!" The arrow yelled.

I sighed and wrapped it back into the linen and put it in my backpack, hopefully it would work once I was on the quest.

...

Before you go on your quest it always important to have some demigod dreams, you know, the ones you never understand or only scare you even more to the point you don't even want to go on the quest anymore.

Mine was worse...trust me.

The first dream was not that much of a big deal.

I saw Nero in his purple suit standing in front of a good looking man.

The man Nero was facing had curly brown hair and a brown beard. He had beautiful blue eyes that looked at Nero with pride.

He wore nothing except a boxershort and a lion's pelt. His golden abs were good looking and it instinctively reminded me of Hercules, though I knew it wasn't him.

It was Commodus.

They were standing in dark cave, I could not really see any of the surroundings, though I recognized a few pipelines in the distance.

Nero looked worse then when I met him at Polyphemus's island, his face had burn marks all over it and his clothing looked burned on the edges.

Nero was clearly not enjoying this conversation with Commodus, his fist were clennched and his mouth was stuck in a sneer.

"You had your chance and failed." Commodus said, "Why don't you let me take care of them, you can go on with your silly elections in New York and I take out the hunters and you old man just sit back and relax."

Nero scowled, "My plan worked perfectly you imbecile, I can take them."

Commodus shook his head, "No, nope, nada. It's better if I take them out, you had your chance, now it's mine."

Nero gritted his teeth, "Fine."

Commodus grinned.

Then my dream shifted, I was no longer in the cave but now I was at a clifftop, the sun was rising and a woman was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking over the sea.

The woman was beautiful. Her long blond hair wavered in the wind, a green long dress that had the patterns of tree branches on it that seemed to move and change every second. The grass around her feet was growing rapidly, every second flowers came to life.

However after a few seconds all the grass and flowers began to decay and rot.

The brown eyes of the woman had tears in them and she mumbled, "Where are you Persephone?"

It was Demeter.

Then a second figure materialized behind her, a few feet away.

The man had black hair, a neatly trimmed black beard, a deep tan, and sea-green eyes and yes. It was my father.

My father wore green robes and a crown made of seashells and had his trident in his hand, he looked so ready for a date I swear I could smell deodorant.

My father looked younger and was more muscular than he is now.

Demeter turned around to face Poseidon.

"Hello beauty, a beautiful night isn't it?" Poseidon said.

'Chaos get me out of here.' I said, but the creator did not respond.

"Poseidon, I'm not in the mood." Demeter said a bit annoyed.

Poseidon coughed, looked uncomfortable and then recomposed himself, "Do you have a name or can I call you mine?"

Demeter scowled, "What?"

Poseidon looked disturbed, "Mmm...Apollo told me those worked really good."

Demeter shook her head, "Look Poseidon, maybe later. Now it's not the right time."

"Please?" Poseidon begged, "Be unique and different, say yes."

Demeter rolled her eyes and tried to step forward, past Poseidon. My dad however stepped aside and opened his mouth to say another cheesy pick up line.

Demeter suddenly turned into a horse, a white mare, and ran away as fast as she could. Poseidon pouted and turned around, then he grinned. Suddenly he turned into a white stallion and chased after Demeter.

Meanwhile Demeter, still in her horse form, approached a herd of white horses that looked similar to her. She blended in with the group and within a few seconds I could no longer see which one of them was a Goddess and which one of them were the normal horses.

Poseidon approached the herde and studied it. Then he said something.

Move aside, I want to speak with the beautiful horse called Demeter.

To late Demeter realised Poseidon was the father of all horses and had divine control over them. As if they were part of one machine all the white horses ran away, leaving one white mare standing alone.

Hi beauty. Poseidon said.

Horse Poseidon must have been really convincing because Demeter rolled her eyes, or at least I thought she did, and approached Poseidon.

Fine, but only this once. she muttered.

The following scene is to traumatic to describe, let's say I had to sit through it. Watching Demeter and my father...getting really close. All the while they were shifting between Human form and Horse form as well and both were giggling like little children.

I tried to shut my eyes and sit out the time, I pressed my hands against my ears to block the moaning.

Eventually my dream shifted to a forest where I saw Demeter walking. She had a big belly and I realised she must have been pregnant.

She lied down at the roots of a big oak tree. The tree and the grass around it began to grow and reshape itself till it formed a ball around Demeter.

Then came the screams, and I praised the gods for not letting me see it. Yet I had to hear the screams of pain and trust me, Katie's mom knew how to curse.

After a few seconds it died down and the ball began to decay revealing Demeter standing in her green dress with blood on it.

She looked back at the ground for a second before she turned into a tornado of grain and wheats and flew away.

I stepped forward to the place Demeter stood and then I realised something. She left without her child.

Or children.

In the grass lay a horse and a baby, wrapped around in corn leaves. Both were sleeping peacefully and I studied the children who, I just realised, were my siblings.

The horse, no it was a foal had a caramel brown fur and black manes and tail, to my surprise it got up without much struggle and began to look around.

Then it stormed of into the woods, to my surprise it was out of sight within a mere second.

Then I remembered something Hazel told me.

No this couldn't be...Arion?

But it was the only way I could explain how the horse ran away a few minutes after being born.

Arion had no patience.

The second child however stayed on the ground, however she had grown a little already, she a pale skin and white hair and was snoring which made me wonder if it wouldn't attract wild animals, on the flip side. It would probably scare them away.

The baby then opened its blue eyes and I recognized them.

It was Despina.

But that would mean...she's my sister?

It was like the dream was waiting for me to realise it.

Suddenly male voice said., "Hi little one."

I could not locate the source of the voice, nor did I recognize it. Not that the dream would let me stuck around any longer because that moment I woke up.

It was still dark outside and the second nightmare in a row, which was not a good thing. I got dressed and decided to pack my stuff, Nyx was still sleeping but I knew she would not wake up from my sounds, she had put up some kind of barrier of darkness around her that did not allow sound to pass through.

I opened my backpack and quickly checked everything I had, Yankee cap from Annabeth, Lotus Hotel card, A photo with a key on the back, the letter I received from Hermes, Some cash, dollars and Drachme and Ambrosia.

I decided to pack some extra clothes too and put took out the letter from Hermes.

I took Riptide out of my pocket and took of the cap, immediately it began to grow into a bronze sword.

But I did not need the sword.

I tapped the cap against the hilt of the sword and it began to transformed back into the pen form however now it had also a point.

A ball point.

I began to scratch through the Playtime is over, prepare to die message and golden inkt came from my pen and soon the message was not readable anymore.

It did looked messy though.

I flipped the paper and began to write on the back.

It was hard to choose the best words without looking crazy or pathetic but ultimately I wrote down the words and put it back in the enveloppe.

I closed it and slung the backpack over my shoulder and left my cabin.

The cold winter air filled my lungs but the cold did not affect me. The camp looked dead, there was no one awake yet and I estimated that I had at least an hour before sunrise.

It was a short walk to the hearth but the cold didn't bother me.

I found the hearth still burning, albeit nothing more than a few weak flames.

Next to the hearth sat a girl in a brown cloak, watching the flames from way to close.

Hestia.

I sat down next to Hestia, the flames melted the snow around the hearth so I did not have to worry about my frozen but.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Hestia said without looking at me.

"The Flames?" I wondered.

She shook her head, "No the silence, the sound of the hearth crackling filling the air."

I frowned, "You know that sounds really creepy right?"

Hestia chuckled and turned towards me, "Are you scared?"

"Nope."

Then her expression darkened, "Percy, are you sure you want to go on this quest?"

I nodded, "Yes."

"But the Prophecy, it worries me." Hestia admitted, "I don't want you to die."

"Well, I can't leave Artemis alone." I said.

She nodded sadly, "Why are you not scared?"

'Because I already know what's going to happen.' I thought sarcastically.

I shrugged, "It's the life of the demigod."

"But you can die." she argued.

"Yeah…" I said, "About that."

I took of my backpack and opened it.

After a few seconds I found the enveloppe.

Hestia's eyed the enveloppe curiously, "what is that?"

"A letter, in case I might die." I said calmly.

"You can't die." Hestia muttered and began to shake her head, "Don't die."

I laughed, "Of course I don't plan to die but if I do I want you to open the envelope and read it for the Olympian council."

"What does it contain?" Hestia managed.

"My final wishes."

Hestia nodded and took the enveloppe, flames engulfed it and it disappeared into nothingness .

We both sat in silence waiting for the sun to rise.

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