“Butterfly? C’mon, we need you to wake up!”
My eyes fluttered open to the feeling of a wet cloth being pressed to my forehead.
“Oh thank God! You’ve been out for hours!” Percy exclaimed, and I sat up, looking around.
“Where are we? What happened?” I demanded, not looking right at him.
“We’re on a train, heading west. They were tailing our van. You have no idea how weird it looks to try and take the subway with an unconscious girl in your arms.”
I gave him the side eye and he huffed. “Butterfly, what’s going on with you? You’re being all weird and distant. Why don’t you wanna be my friend anymore?”
“It’s more than that, Percy.” I said, and he scoffed.
“What? Tell me, please…it’s like the past six months didn’t even happen. Tell me what I did wrong, I want to fix it.” He begged, and I sighed, rubbing my eyes.
“It’s not anything you did, it’s what I did, and I’m doing what I can to fix it.” He didn’t know of the prophecy and I didn’t intend to let him know anytime soon. The reason I wanted to avoid this whole thing was because prophecies meant danger. I wanted to actually live my life for a while before I head straight into danger.
“I’m not mad at you for anything! What happened? Please…” He asked, holding onto my shoulders.
“Percy! It doesn’t matter what you do, I have to do this on my own!” I snapped, hiding my face.
“Do what?” Percy said, using his thumb to lift my head from my arms.
“Do…do…” I got distracted from his hand touching my chin, and I had to push him away to focus. “Do whatever it takes to fix what I did.”
“What did you do?!” Percy asked, pleadingly.
“I can’t tell you!” I said, folding my arms. “Just leave it be…please…”
“Once upon a time, you said that I protect my friends. Well, you didn’t necessarily say that, but it was implied.” He reasoned, a desperate look in his eyes. “Anyways, I just want to know what I can do to fix our friendship…please, Al…”
“Just give me a little space…” I said, resting my head in my arms.
Thankfully, he left me alone. I wished we were older. I wished we had lived more before pursuing this prophecy. If we took on this one right now, then he would’ve had two prophecies on his shoulders. It wasn’t the right time. We would know when it was the right time…
But why was it still so difficult?
ততততত
I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned on the floor, but after a while of just trying to block people’s thoughts from my mind, all of the thoughts surrounding me poured into my mind. Thalia’s dream about cats playing ping pong and Grover’s thoughts on an acorn opera took over my mind.
But most of all, Percy’s anxiety to go to sleep because he was afraid of getting another dream about Annabeth…
As much as I wanted to ignore him, we were on a quest and it would be best for everyone to get as much sleep as possible. I induced a calming aura with my powers to help soothe him to sleep but it wasn’t working. Confusedly, I rolled over and heard talking.
“Dreams like a podcast,
Downloading truth in my ears.
They tell me cool stuff.”
Ah…must be Apollo. No one else can have that lacking skill yet humorous haikus…
“Apollo?” I heard Percy say, and I kept my eyes glued shut.
“I’m incognito. Call me Fred.”
Anyone else think of Fred Weasley?
“A god named Fred?”
“Eh, well… Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody.”
I leaned in slightly, continuing with my act of being asleep, trying to hear a little bit better.
“Can you help us, then?”
“Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?”
“The train. How fast are we moving?”
“Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."
“But where is Artemis?”
“I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's… clouded from me. I don't like it.”
“And Annabeth?”
“Oh, you mean that girl you lost? Hmm. I don't know.”
“What about the monster Artemis was seeking? Do you know what it is?”
“No, but there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle.”
“But it's your Oracle. Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?”
“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search.”
“In other words, you don’t know.”
“Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!”
Just as I was about to give in and try and go to sleep, Apollo sighed and continued to talk to Percy.
“And…can you just keep an eye on Alora? She’s making Aphrodite terribly mad. If Alora doesn’t stop what she’s doing soon, Aphrodite’s going to throw a fit, and trust me. It won’t reflect well on Alora.”
“But what is Alora trying to do?” Percy asked, pleading.
“I have the feeling she doesn’t want you to know.” Apollo said, soundly. “Anyways, adios, Percy! See you!” Apollo snapped his fingers, and next thing you know, Percy and I were both out cold.
~~~A/N~~~
This is kind of a filler, but I wrote something so I'm fine with it.
Eat some cheerios,
Hush