sweet dreams • leo valdez

07

Delilah sat on her bed for a minute or so after Leo left, finding herself unable to leave. That usually only meant one thing - someone powerful wanted to talk to her.

Soon enough a man appeared on her dark blue beanbag. It was where she used to sit with her mother and read bedtime stories together. They were in Latin thankfully, since both Edan's had dyslexia and would have struggled to read it otherwise.

The man had gleaming golden eyes, dark skin and deep blue wings, much like his twin brother who Delilah had just seen. There were some differences though, them being that his dark hair was much shorter, and the dark purple satin pyjamas that he was wearing.

"Hi, Dad." Delilah smiled at Somnus, who returned the smile from where he was sitting on the beanbag.

"My daughter." He replied, his eyes staring her down. "I'm sorry it's been so long."

"Yeah. Me too." She muttered, looking down at where her fingers were playing with the hem of her oversized and faded Camp Jupiter t-shirt.

"I wanted to intervene, but Juno forbade me. You were not allowed to see certain things, and your mind does like to wander where it should not be." He told her, the apologetic tone clear in his voice.

"I think I understand. I'm just happy to be able to sleep again." She told him honestly. "I was going mad not being able to dream. I've gotten so used to it."

"I know what you mean." Somnus nodded in agreement. "In some way or another, there's always a subconscious part of me asleep. I cannot imagine a scenario where I would not be able to sleep. But your powers have much more range than most of my children. However much I hate it, I do agree that it was a necessary precaution."

They remained in a comfortable silence before Delilah asked, "Things are about to get bad, aren't they?"

Her father smiled sadly at her. "I'm afraid so, Delilah. You will face more hardships in the coming months than you ever have before. But I know you can do it."

He let that sink in before continuing, "There is a brighter side to all of this. You'll find your people. Friends, family even, who you can count on. Who are all there for each other. More than that even." He had a somewhat enthusiastic look in his eyes as he said that.

"But will it be worth all that pain and suffering?" She frowned at the god slightly. This all sounded great, but it was going to come at some sort of cost.

"I believe it will, daughter." He smiled at her, that look in his eyes again. "I believe it will."

•

When Delilah woke up that morning, she felt more rested and rejuvenated that she had in years.

See for Children of Somnus, although sleep wasn't a necessity, it gave them relaxation and could even speed up their healing process. And seeing as she hadn't slept for eight months, this was a welcome change.

After the talk with her father, Delilah had caught a glimpse of a few more things, including a shot of Leo and an unbelievably beautiful girl next to a massive golden cage, which had a godly-sized regal woman in it. The others were weird: Leo falling from the air onto a dining table on the beach; Hazel and Frank on a caramel-looking horse pulling a monstrous giant by its chicken legs, at top speed; a shot of that curly-haired blonde girl in a subway station looking at a silver coin in her hand with an unreadable expression; herself sitting at the foot of a massive statue with Reyna next to her, Nico DiAngelo sleeping next to them, and a faun tending to fire - a rather odd looking group.

Hazel had woken her up, as per Delilah's request. She was a very heavy sleeper and a normal alarm clock just didn't do it. She slept right through. Normally Gwen would wake her, but since Gwen was staying overnight with the medics, Hazel had kindly agreed.