NAOMI DREAMT AGAIN THAT NIGHT. She was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above her. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass like a pile of boulders. She was too tired to even cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, Naomi feared she'd run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.
"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed.
It wasn't Kronos—that much Naomi was sure about. This voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.
Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."
The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of the dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis, her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains. Her silver dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.
"You heard the boy," the man in the shadows said. "Decide!"
Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. She looked at Annabeth, and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"
"She will die soon," Luke said. "You can save her."
Annabeth made a weak noise of protest. Naomi's heart made a home in her throat, constricting her breath. She wanted to run to her, to do something, but she was frozen.
"Free my hands," Artemis said.
Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. With one expert strike, he broke the goddess's handcuffs.
Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of theblack rocks.
The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat,Artemis."
"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."
"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."
Artemis groaned "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."
"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Luke, you may kill the girl now."
"No!'" Artemis shouted.
Luke hesitated. "She—she may yet be useful, sir... Further bait."
"Bah! You truly believe that?"
"Yes, General. They will come for her. I'm sure," Luke said. "Lord Kronos wants the Persephone girl secured. She'll come for her friend. It's the perfect opportunity."
"You've tried and failed to secure her three times, am I not mistaken?"
Luke's expression flickered with anger. "But she would not be able to escape you, General."
The man considered it. "That is true," he conceded. "Have the dracaenae guard the girl here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless."
Luke gathered up Annabeth's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.
"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."
"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is... challenging."
The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.
The dream shifted, and Naomi found herself in a different sort of darkness. Naomi's feet touched more even ground, and her eyes began to adjust, revealing an obsidian throne room and two figures facing off in front of a pair of thrones.
"Darling, I understand you're angry—" the god Hades said, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"Angry?" the goddess Persephone demanded, her voice echoing against the marble floor and walls. "I am way past angry, Hades. I'm furious!"
"Yes, I—I can see that," Hades said. "But if you would just—"
"Seventy years!" Naomi's mother shouted. "You had seventy years to tell me about them, and you said nothing! And you have the nerve to be angry with me for—"
Naomi cleared her throat.
The two gods looked at her.
"Uh... am I interrupting something?"
Persephone sighed, the bulk of the anger on her face fading. "Actually, Naomi—"
"No!" Hades said quickly. "No, you are definitely not. Hello, Naomi."
Naomi blinked. "...Hi?"
He looked at his wife. "I told you she didn't like me."
Persephone huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "This isn't over," she said tersely, then looked at Naomi, her expression softening. "It's good to see you again, Naomi."
"Well, I'm sort of dreaming, so... don't have much control over where it takes me," Naomi said lamely.
"I know," Persephone said, stepping down from the dais and walking toward her daughter. "I asked Morpheus to do me a favor."
"Ah," Naomi said. "Oo-kay."
"I told you it was weird, darling," Hades muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for Naomi to hear.
Persephone turned her steely gaze toward her husband. "Would you like to sleep in Asphodel tonight, my love?"
Hades shifted uncomfortably. "I'd prefer not to."
"Then watch it."
Hades mumbled an apology.
"Um... was there something you wanted to... talk about?" Naomi asked her mother, feeling more than a little awkward.
"A few things," Persephone said, returning her attention to Naomi. "First, I wanted to congratulate you—you're leading your first quest! I'm told that's a very big deal for demigods."
Naomi shrugged. "Zoë's mostly leading it. I'm not really sure why the Oracle approached us both."
"Do not let that Huntress bully you into submission," Persephone told her sternly. "Zoë may have centuries of experience, but you have heart. More battles are won through passion than with strategy."
Naomi wasn't sure how true that was, but she decided not to comment.
"Now, the second thing." The light in Persephone's eyes faded just a bit. "That display yesterday. I'm sure you have questions."
"A few," Naomi admitted. "What was that? It's like I snapped and everything just went dark. I didn't even mean to do it."
"That's how it usually starts," Hades said, stepping down from the dais as well, though he stayed close to his throne. "The technical term for it is umbrakinesis."
"That sounds like telekinesis for umbrellas," Naomi said.
Persephone laughed softly. "Yes, well, it is certainly more powerful than it sounds. With time and practice, it will come easier. Summoning shadows, veiling yourself and others in darkness—"
"Like on the Sea of Monsters," Naomi remembered. "And the helm of darkness."
"Precisely," Persephone said with a smile.
"Start small," Hades advised. "Visualize shadows in your hand, on the ground. Try to change existing shadows into different shapes. That's the easiest way to start out."
Naomi nodded slowly, a bit disconcerted by the fact that Hades was helping her. Her scary Lord-of-the-Dead stepfather just kept surprising her.
"Thanks," she said, hoping she couldn't sound as confused as she felt. "Was that... all you wanted to talk about?"
Persephone looked back, exchanging a look with Hades. It was strange—Naomi could almost see the unspoken emotion that passed between them.
When Persephone returned her gaze to Naomi, her expression was dimmer. "There is one last thing." She brought her hand up to Naomi's cheek, her touch delicate. "Be safe. You will face things on this quest..." She swallowed. In the background, Naomi saw Hades look away, as if uncomfortable. "Things I wish I could shield you from. So you must be brave and strong, like the heroes who came before you."
Naomi swallowed. "I'm not sure how strong I can be," she admitted.
"As strong as you need to be," Persephone told her. "When the time comes—you'll find the strength you need. And... take care of your quest mates. All of them. And take care of yourself... Kore."
Naomi heard the hesitance in her voice, as if Persephone was waiting for her to flinch at the pet name. The petty part of her wanted to.
But she didn't.
She just nodded, and then the dream was over.
❊
Miranda woke Naomi just before the break of dawn. "Hope you slept well," she said. "Who knows how well you'll be sleeping on your quest."
Naomi sat up slowly. "What time is it?" she asked, looking out of the window. The sky was still dark, but it was starting to get lighter. She cursed under her breath. "I still have to pack—"
"Already ahead of you, Nay." Asher tossed a fully-packed backpack onto her bunk.
"Thanks," Naomi said. "You didn't have to do that."
Miranda smiled. "We'd be shit half-aunts and half-uncles if we didn't help send you off on your big quest the right way. Now get dressed—and do not skip breakfast."
❊
Naomi reached the top of Half-Blood Hill half an hour later, having gotten ready and eaten a bowl of cereal in record time. Silena and Drew had wished her good luck (the former telling her to show the Hunters who was boss, the latter saying to break a nose if need be) at breakfast.
Thalia and Grover were already there when she reached the hill, packed and ready to go. She didn't see the Hunters yet, but the sun was beginning its ascent into the sky, and the camp van was running, its exhaust spilling out visible smoke.
"Ready?" Grover asked.
"Ready as I can be," Naomi answered. "Where're the Hunters?"
"Running late," Thalia muttered. "Figured Zoë would be a stickler for punctuality, but apparently not."
As soon as she said that, Zoë and Bianca made it to the hill—just Zoë and Bianca.
"Where's that Phoebe girl?" Thalia asked.
"She will not be coming," Zoë said shortly. "She has fallen ill."
Naomi frowned. "Well we can't just go with five people. The prophecy calls for six."
"We will be fine," Zoë said. "It is first light. We must get going. The keys, please, Argus."
"You can't just—"
"Dost thou really want to bring another person into a quest that may prove to be their last?" Zoë asked. "I will not risk any more of my sisters' lives, but perhaps you care less for the lives of your friends."
Naomi felt a coil of unfamiliar anger. "That's not fair. The prophecy was specific, we can't just defy it right off the bat!"
"So thou proposes to bring another camper to fall?" Zoë retorted. "Fine. Choose. But do weep to me at their funeral."
Naomi glared at her, trying to think of a comeback.
When it was clear she had none, Zoë took the van keys from Argus's outstretched hand and hit the unlock button. "If that is all, shall we go?"
❊
Zoë drove like a lunatic. Naomi was too mad to make small talk and too embarrassed to even look at her friends. She felt like a coward, backing down so easily after her mother had told her—do not let that Huntress bully you into submission.
But she had. And she was ashamed of herself for doing it.
They drove through Manhattan's wild traffic. They made it through New Jersey without incident.
When they reached Maryland, Zoë was forced to pull into a gas station. They all went into the convenience store to use the restroom (and for Grover to get a bag of jellybeans), then they had Grover do his tracking spell to decide their next move.
"Grover, you're sure?" Thalia said as they left the store.
"Well... pretty sure," Grover said. "Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."
"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked in disbelief.
Grover looked offended. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."
"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's... that's strange. I'd forgotten.
"I dislike this," Zoë said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."
"The prophecy also said six, but you don't seem to care much about the prophecy," Naomi muttered, earning a snicker from Thalia and a glare from Zoë.
"What, Zoë, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia taunted.
Zoë stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"
"Oh, scullion? You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"
"Stop it!" Naomi snapped, fed up with their constant bickering. "Grover's right. D.C.'s our best bet."
Zoë didn't look convinced, but for once, she conceded with a reluctant nod. "Very well. Let us keep moving."
"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "They frown upon pre-teens behind the wheel."
"Perhaps," Zoë snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."
❊
They reached D.C. by midday. Zoë parked at a curb, and everyone got out.
"Right there," Grover said, pointing toward one of the buildings lining the mall.
Thalia nodded. "Let's go. Everyone stay sharp."
"I am always sharp," Zoë said.
Thalia mumbled something profane under her breath.
Naomi stifled a sneeze with her elbow, glaring through watery eyes at the grass. Gods, winter was so annoying. Just because Persephone had to go down to the Underworld for six months didn't mean Naomi should have to suffer from seasonal allergies. It wasn't fair.
The group followed after Grover, huddling into their coats and braving the cold. After so long Naomi's fingers were going numb, Grover finally stopped in front of a big building that read AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.
Thalia checked the door, which was unlocked. She stuck her head in, checking for any threats, then ushered everyone inside.
❊
a little progress for naomi's relationship with her mom (and stepdad). i love the underworld fam so much <3