I'm walking in a dark forest when I hear a familiar voice calling my name, then another, then another, until there are eleven voices calling my name. Some I recognize, Jason, Reyna, Percy, and Nico, amongst others.
Suddenly, they materialize around me. One by one. Percy and Jason at the front. Next to Percy is Hazel and some buff, Asian kid with a baby face.
Next to Jason is a beautiful girl with feathers in her hair and a very familiar Hispanic boy with curly hair and dust on his clothes.
Reyna, Annabeth, and Nico are there, too. They're running towards something, or rather, away from something. Suddenly, the ground around me rumbles, and long tendrils shoot out, grabbing them one by one. I reach forward to help, but I realize that I can't move. A figure emerges from the earth itself, draped in a grass green dress and covered with a veil. She looks like she's asleep, but then she speaks, and it's that awful voice that Kelli spoke in. "They will perish, one by one. And the Earth-Mother will rise again!"
Suddenly, I am pulled back as if I am connected to a bungee rope, and loud laughter fills my ears. Laughter that chills me to the bone. Evil laughter. Then the sound of a honking car horn envelopes me.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
"Earth to Willow. We're at school now!" Stiles screams, honking the horn. I wake up from my slumber and rub the sleep from my eyes. We were at school already. "Finally, you're awake. I've been yelling for the past 15 minutes," Stiles says angrily. I give him a look, "It's your fault for making me go into the woods at midnight!" I reply. He huffs, "Well, I'm awake, aren't I."
"You're a whole other species. We humans need sleep!" I snark back. Stiles rolls his eyes and leaves, "Come in if you want!" He yells behind him. I grab my bag and check in the mirror to make sure my hair doesn't look like a rat's nest. Luckily, it looks somewhat presentable. I look down to see myself dressed in an oversized sweater and jeans. Lydia would be mad. I pull myself out of the car and slam the door behind me. I can see Scott's bike at the parking lot next to Jackson's Porsche.
As I walked towards the beige and red school, or rather, jail, I saw Stiles and Scott talking seriously. I'm about to call them when I see Scott lifting his t-shirt. Beneath it is a bandage soaked in blood. Stiles pokes the bandage, and Scott flinches, putting his shirt down. They both start walking towards the entrance. I approach them and hear that they are talking about wolves when Stiles says excitedly, "You're kidding me!" I choose that moment to come up from behind and sling my arms over their shoulders. "So, what up?" I say. "Nothing," they both reply.
"Right, that's why you have a bloody bandage around your stomach," I reply sarcastically. Scott and Stiles share a look, and then Stiles says, "Scott found the body." My eyes widened in surprise. "I wish I hadn't. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month, " Scott says. Stiles moves away, "Oh, God, that so freakin' awesome. This has got to be the best thing that's happened to this town since..."
He stops as Lydia passes by. "Since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey, Lydia! You look -" She passes right by us, ignoring him completely. "Like you're gonna ignore me.." he trails off as I roll my eyes, and Scott and I stifle our laughs. I look around to see if I can find who I'm looking for. When I do, I turn to Scott and say, "I'm gonna meet you guys in English, Scotty," and walk towards the blond boy with light blue eyes.
When he notices me, he raises his hand in a waving gesture. "Hey Wil," he says. "Hey Will," I reply to Will Solace, laughing slightly. "Excited for your first year of high school?" I ask the 14 year old. He rubs his hands together nervously. "Not really. But, it's a new thing to try out," Will says anxiously. I pat his shoulder encouragingly. "I know how you feel, but it'll be alright. How is the new job as Cabin Counselor going?" He looks at me, surprised, "You know about that?" I tap my temple knowingly, "I know everything William Andrew Solace." Will rolls his eyes, "I told you to stop calling me that. The job's good, though. You should do it too." I scoff. "There's only two of us in Hades Cabin. I don't think we need a counselor." Will nods his head. "So how's that brother of yours?" He asks, nonchalantly scratching the back of his neck. I look at him suspiciously, "Why do you care?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. Will looks down nervously, "Nothing, just worried," he says quickly. "Mhm, right," I say, unconvinced.
As we reach the door, Will stops and looks at me nervously. "Why are they all looking at us?" He asks. "Who?" I say, looking around until I see the other freshmen girls, some of the lacrosse boys, and Stiles and Scott looking at us. "It's because you look amazing, as always," I say, winking at him jokingly. He laughs nervously. I rub his back reassuringly, "Don't worry, Will. They won't kill you." Again, he laughs nervously, "Sure. If you say so," Will says. We are about to go in when I notice someone from the corner of my eye. Someone in an aviator jacket. "You go ahead, I'll catch up," I say to Will, patting his arm. "Wait, what? Are you just gonna leave me here?" Will says, "With these people?" I turn towards the figure and say distractedly, "You'll be fine. Bye!" I sat and ran towards the dude.
"Took you long enough?" Nico says grumpily. "Can't you be happy for once?" I say. "What do you want?" Nico looks at me exasperated. "I wanted to tell you something," he says. I raise my eyebrow, studying his face before realizing that he has dark circles under his eyes and is even paler than usual. The olive tint is gone from his face, leaving a sickly complexion behind. "Have you been sleeping lately?" I say, concerned. "Not in 48 hrs," he says as my eyes widen, "but that's not the point!" He's about to say something when I interrupt him. "And how much have you shadow traveled in those 48 hrs?" He thinks for a second before sighing. "I've been to the Underworld, then here, then back to the Underworld again, then to camp, and now here," Nico answers.
"Are you crazy?" I exclaim, looking at him as if he was a madman. "You need sleep! Go to sleep," I say angrily. "This is important!" Nico says loudly. "Nothing is more important than sleep," I say, about to continue when he yells out, "Rachel narrated a new great prophecy!" I turn to him in horror. "Apollo says it might not happen for the next 70 years, but I don't believe that." I think for a second, "What's the prophecy?" Nico takes a deep breath then speaks,
"Nine demigods shall answer the call
To storm or fire, the world shall fall
And oath to keep till final breath...."
Before he can continue, I cut in,
"As foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Nico looks at me surprised, "How do you know that?" I think for a second, wondering what to say before remembering that he knew about Camp Jupiter. "I read about it in the archives of the Senate House." Nico squints, thinking hard, "How do they know?" I shrug. "The Sibylline books," I say like it's the most obvious thing. He nods slowly. I grab his hand, and he looks down weirdly. "What are you doing?" He asks. "Taking you back to camp," I reply, pulling him behind the building.
"Why?" Nico asks. "So you can go and rest," I reply. He turns to look at me, annoyed, "I can go by myself. Plus, don't you have school?" I glare at him angrily, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that. I'm not letting you go by yourself because I don't want you to turn yourself into a shadow and wander around aimlessly," I say to him. "Then I can come haunt you forever. It's a win-win," he says. I scoff loudly, "What will you haunt me with? Garlic Bread and Happy Meals?" I snark back. He rolls his eyes but stays quiet, and I close my eyes, imagining myself at Camp Half-blood. Suddenly, we are surrounded by a cold shadow. The sounds of the high school fade, then are replaced by the bustling noises of our camp.
I walk into the cabin area where the cabins have been arranged in a Greek Delta symbol ♎️. There were a lot more cabins than last time, but fewer campers. Despite the satyrs rescuing new demigods, the camp scarcely had any people. After the war, there had only been about 14 able-bodied demigods and many injured ones that Will and his siblings had to take care of.
We walked towards the Hades Cabin, unnoticed by everyone. Entering the dark building, Nico turned towards me, huffing, "You can go now. We're here." I let out a sarcastic laugh, "So you can continue staying awake? No way. I'm staying here until you go to sleep," I reply, shaking my head. Nico huffs and rolls his eyes. "I hate you," he says. I look at him lazily, "The feeling's mutual." He takes off the jacket and lies down on his bed. "Happy? Now, can you leave?" He asks. "Are you asleep yet?" I question. He turns away, and after a few minutes, I hear him snoring peacefully. I walk over to make sure and push his hair back from him eyes to find him soundly asleep. "Sleep tight, Neeks," I say affectionately and kiss his forehead. "Bye, mom," he murmures in his sleep. My heart warms at this, but I feel sorry for him, too. I never knew my mom, so for me, it's not a big deal. But Nico knew his mother and lost her at a very small age, which he still blames himself for. I slowly exit the room and close the door behind me, heading into the sunlight, the smell of fresh strawberries and goat fur flooding my nostrils.
Home, sweet home.