Kapitel 896: 4
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My favorite time during camp was free time. I normally spent it doing absolutely nothing. If I was in the mood for it, I'd sleep, but if I wasn't, I'd pretend I was. Sometimes I did it because I could eavesdrop on nearby campers who'd chatter if they thought I was asleep, but I mostly did it because I simply wanted to have some peace of mind. My favorite spot in camp was next to the lake, underneath a large hickory tree.
I wasn't really into sleeping at the moment though. Too much on my mind.
"Jelly donut for your thoughts?" Luke plopped onto the ground beside me, glazed donut wrapped with napkins in hand. He had a granola bar in the other hand for himself. I took the donut, but didn't bite into it.
"My mom is getting remarried. Wedding date is early August."
Luke paused in his munching while I scrutinized the donut, immediately regretting my impulsive answer. Now that the topic had been abruptly brought up, I wasn't in the mood to eat. Parenting was a tricky subject to hold with Luke.
"Do you know the person?"
"No."
Luke frowned. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"Kind of," I admitted. "He also has two kids."
Luke faced forward to the lake and grunted, "So a blended family."
"I've never had step-family members before so I suppose this would be a new experience," I said lightly.
Luke looked at me strangely. "You have us."
"I'm not claimed," I reminded him and then quickly clamped my mouth shut. I seemed to be an expert at pushing Luke's anger buttons lately.
"Claimed or not, we're family," Luke said, jaw tight and his hand crinkled the granola wrapper.
I yawned. "Thanks, Luke, I appreciate the support."
Although the gratitude was sincere, my breezy attitude must have bothered Luke because he glared at me.
"So you're really not bothered?"
"I want my mom to be happy," I said carefully. "She's worked hard to support me despite all the demigod stuff."
I really respected any parent of a demigod. We were natural trouble magnets and whatever problems we faced, our mortal parents had to deal with it too. The emotional and financial costs for the monster incidents or godly power accidents would put a strain on anyone, especially if the person was a single parent.
"What I mean is that aren't you angry or even the tiniest bit bothered with this whole situation of having to patch up your family? Having to see your single mom, taking care of you by herself without a dad in the picture? The gods are hardly there for us. They don't even claim their children when the kids cross the borders into camp and ignore us in our offerings. They only call on us when it suits their needs," Luke ranted and I warily watched him because it's been awhile since I've last heard him vent this much frustration in one sitting.
"Careful what you say, Luke," I reminded him as we saw dark grey clouds forming overhead. Luke took several breaths through the nose and out the mouth before speaking again.
"I know," he said shortly before sighing. "It's just so damn frustrating to see Cabin Eleven stuffed with demigod children who have no idea who they are."
"I know, I see it too," I reminded him softly. I was part of that cabin too and on some days, it was hard to walk into that overcrowded structure. Many of the unclaimed campers were too young and all of them were so confused over their identity and hurt because living away from parents was not something any child should go through.
"Hey Jade."
I yawned and stretched my arms. "Huh."
"No matter what, do you think we could stay like this?"
I internally sighed. He was probably asking a deep, deep question in which I wasn't supposed to know the context to.
Buying some time, I asked, "Stay like what?"
"Like this," Luke responded softly and gestured between the serene lake and us and beyond the rest of Camp Half-Blood.
"If you want it too, then yeah," I said seriously and truthfully. It really depended on what Luke would choose, however then again, there was a prophecy. No matter how hard Luke may fight it, the fates would determine whatever future beheld us all. It was depressing to know that your life has been set in vague words of various meanings that could produce multiple outcomes and that it was all out of your control.
Luke sighed. "Thanks for listening," he said gratefully and got up, holding out a hand for me.
I shook my head. "No problem and I think I'll stay here a little longer."
Luke nodded and started walking away. I gulped. It was weird to end the conversation on such a tense note, so I tried lightening up the mood.
"Luke!" I hollered. "Send my regards to your beau!"
Luke furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Silena Beau-regard," I clarified.
I scowled when Luke only shook his head and didn't turn back a second time. He should've at least shown appreciation for that pun.
Whatever, I thought and directed my attention to the donut.
"Is this really necessary?"
I examined the two shrouds hanging on the walls of the Big House. It was a tradition that if a demigod's life was at risk during a quest, a shroud for the camper would hang until their return.
Athena's cabin lived up to their mother's fame as the goddess of the arts and crafts. Annabeth's shroud was of the finest quality, made out of fine gray silk with detailed embroidered owls.
Clarisse and her siblings had marched in and hung up an old bed sheet with a crude border design of smiley faces with the eyes crossed out.
"Of course, that sea worm has no brothers or sisters, so he should be grateful we volunteered," Clarisse snorted. A sibling handed her a red spray paint can and she shook it, asking for opinions on what she should write on the low-quality shroud. A lot of the suggestions weren't very flattering since the children of Ares had thrown out majority of them. It took a while, but Clarisse settled on 'loser' and sprayed the word in big, capital letters in the middle.
Her entire cabin laughed in vindictive satisfaction while several others and I shook our heads in exasperation. The crowd soon dissipated and I went over to the weapons shed because I had borrowed a knife earlier and needed to return it. That and Chiron had asked me to look for Silena to tell her something so after asking for her whereabouts, it was convenient for me find out that she was there too. When I walked in, I saw that Silena was inside with Luke, and the latter had a new sword pulled out. It looked like he was showing the blade to her and the new custom scabbard it came with.
Silena placed a finger on her lips and tilted her head, long black hair sliding down a shoulder. A lot of the Aphrodite kids did that when they had a question they didn't know the answer to. It looked very much like what stereotypically ditzy person, any child of Aphrodite, would do so I couldn't help but frown at her. Silena wasn't that into makeup and fashion to the point she'd be clueless in everything else, was she?
"But how is it supposed to fit?"
I drawled and came closer, "That's what she said."
Sheathing his metal sword, Luke whipped around looking horrifically scandalized and his face turned tomato red. I had said something inappropriate in front of the divine Silena Beauregard. He made a strangled sound in his throat.
His voice rang an octave high, "Jade!"
I waited a beat before saying, "Sorry."
Luke's face remained unbelieving and embarrassed.
"Yeah, sorry again, I'm not apologizing for that joke," I amended and grinned when Silena giggled into her hand. Thank God. It's been hard finding people who could agree with my sense of humor in this camp. For the past few days, I've acted as the somewhat reluctant third wheel between Luke and Silena. 'Somewhat reluctant' because even though I felt sorry every time I saw Charlie's forlorn expression, I had a mischievous streak that enjoyed getting Luke flustered around the beautiful daughter of Aphrodite. Plus, he deserved the heat since he was basically using her if I was correct in thinking that he needed a spy in camp. Annabeth would definitely have disapproved.
I changed the subject to mercifully save Luke from further shame.
"Hey Silena, have you seen the new schedule? Chiron told me to make sure that all cabin counselors should have checked it by now. I know Luke has already, but I wanted to ask you about it."
Silena shook her head. "I haven't, I'll go that now," she said brightly and waved goodbye, heading towards the Big House, where Chiron's office was located.
Luke waited until the beautiful daughter of Aphrodite was out of earshot before grumbling.
"You could stop with those kinds of comments now." His face was still red.
"Been having bad dreams lately?" I asked airily, ignoring his plea. With the sudden change of topic, the blood quickly drained from Luke's cheeks and he turned somber.
"Nothing too unusual," he chuckled and I eyed him dubiously. I could tell that he didn't have a good sleep last night from the faint dark circles around his eyes and the lack of strength in his body, or it could just be my godly senses tingling. Either way, I knew he was lying.
"Right," I said sarcastically. "So what's keeping you up at night?"
"Just some bad memories," Luke muttered and scratched the back of his head, discomfort evident.
"Bad memories or bad influences?" I needled.
Luke froze and looked at me with a guarded expression. "What makes you think that there's bad influences?"
I shrugged without consideration of his inner panic. "You have this shroud of darkness wrapped around your head." My hands waved around my head as an attempt to convey what I meant.
"If I had to describe it, it's almost like something's oppressing you, almost to the extent of punishing even," I added. Luke stayed silent at my description so I waited until he was willing to open up.
"I don't know what you're seeing, but I can tell you it's nothing to worry about," he replied shortly, causing me to frown.
This had been me, trying to be careful and nonchalant in bringing up the topic of his betrayal so that the confession could come easily and naturally, but if Luke was going to be stubborn and lie that there was nothing going on, he can do that. My mood took a dive down under with his refusal to admit his wrongdoings even though I, a demigod suspected to be the daughter of Hypnos, could point out what his dreams were doing to him. Even more frustrating was that Luke had been the one who first guessed my godly parentage, so he knew what I was capable of.
Fine then, be that way, you prick.
"Alright, whatever you say. Just don't drag other people with you if something's going to happen," I said frostily and left him in the weapons shed.
The Korean woman was walking circles around a mannequin that had a dress draped over it. A very sparkly, periwinkle, fluffy dress.
"Hey mom."
Yuri Park spun and clutched a fist over her heart.
"Jade, don't do that, even in my dreams!"
I smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I wanted to stop by before I had to leave camp." I glanced at the figurine.
"Sparkles? Really?"
"Watch the sass, this was my dream dress when I was younger," my mom warned. "I booked your plane tickets, by the way, so Chiron will have them printed out for you."
"Thanks, can't wait to go home." This time, the statement carried no hint of sarcasm. I really did want to go home. I just wasn't thinking about the marriage too much.
"Anything interesting happen at camp?" My mom went back to examining the poofy dress.
I shrugged. "Yeah, but too long to explain right now, my dream is already shifting." I felt the pull of my surroundings, the background blurring.
And before I could say another word, the dream was moving to a different location. I tried to delay it, but my mom's words were muffled so I shook my head, waving and mouthing goodbye. Being in control of your dream was a lot easier at the start of your sleep as you could steer yourself to where you wanted to go in the beginning, however the godly aspects of it were harder to manage the longer you slept.
Where to now, I mused.
"AGAMEMNON!" Achilles stalked past me, rage written all over his face.
Okay, to the past it is.
I didn't bother to move from my spot since I wasn't really present, so I had no worries about being noticed. This wasn't my first time seeing the great hero, either.
"You can't have her," Achilles roared.
I looked around and whistled. The dreams brought me to the golden Greek age of powerhouses. Agamemnon was sitting on a large chair surrounded by Achaeans wearing heavy armor and carrying weapons. Next to Agamemnon was Menelaus and further back were Patroclus and Ajax the Greater. Diomedes, Ajax the Lesser were right next to the crowd of powerful fighters. Even Odysseus and Nestor were present, sitting on chairs adjacent to Agamemnon's. Everyone was inside a large tent and I could hear clanking of metal and animals sounds outside the fabric, along with the occasional yells of men.
The leader of the Achaean forces clucked his tongue and waved his hand carelessly.
"She's only one maiden, Achilles, I'm sure there are plenty more pretty faces behind Troy's walls."
Ah. This is the Trojan War.
Achilles visibly shook with anger, and it distantly struck me that this person, even him, had undergone training with Chiron. A flippant part of me, not grasping the gravity of the atmosphere, was slightly disappointed that he didn't look like Brad Pitt, but Achilles was still handsome in a very intense way otherwise.
A scuffle at the entrance of the large tent turned everyone's heads. A soldier dragged in a girl, just a year or two older than me, to the middle of the area, next to Achilles. She was hiccupping, probably because she had been crying earlier.
Despite her dark tangled locks and wrinkled, scuffed clothes, she was pretty. What was her name?
"Briseis," Achilles murmured and stepped closer to her. I would've found the gesture touching if he wasn't almost ten years older. Well, at least he actually seemed to care for her. Agamemnon growled uncomfortably at the scene. The couples' display was making the surrounding soldiers pity them and the Achaean leader was losing public favor. It was obvious that everyone respected Achilles; they had all tilted their heads towards him and moved to give him room when he had entered earlier.
And then there was more talking that I couldn't decipher until I realized that they were speaking in rapid Ancient Greek. I frowned and strained my ears, trying to catch words that I could translate. I only understood snippets here and there in the beginning, but with a few more minutes, my mind gradually adjusted to the language. Achilles was clearly angry while Agamemnon shrank in his large chair, but stubbornly retorted to everything Achilles yelled at him. I suspected that if the two had been alone, the Achaean leader would have given in to Achilles in a heartbeat, but because he had an audience, he was trying to stand for himself.
At some point, Achilles stopped listening to the Achaean King and left the tent with Briseis. I felt the pull of the dream following them, so I drifted after them to another tent where the two shared some words before Achilles marched out again. I wandered aimlessly around the smaller tent, examining some hanging armor and weapons on display when a female voice caught my attention.
"Who are you?"
I whipped around, wide eyed, and saw the teenage girl gazing right at me.
Well this was weird.
"You see?" I winced at my broken Ancient Greek.
Briseis giggled, "At first I couldn't, you appear like air."
"Don't belong here," I responded and regretted not spending more time learning Ancient Greek with Chiron. Listening was easier than speaking as I had only taken the mandatory five weeks of study and stopped after that.
"I understand what you're trying to say. You're from another time, aren't you?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise and she smiled.
"I thought so. My father is a priest of Apollo so I can be certain of these kinds of things, you know." I scratched my head awkwardly.
"No one talk to me before," I confessed. Crap, this was too unnatural. I have never talked to anyone from the past in my dreams. I mean, what the heck, this was the past. I was a mere shadow when I dreamt to a different timeline.
Her eyes twinkled and she squealed excitedly, clapping her hands.
"This is incredible! Are you a god? Where do you come from? Tell me about your lands! From what time do you belong?"
I had to pause to process and translate her questions.
"No, not god," I chuckled. "Demigod, belong in later time. Not from this land." Briseis' eyes brightened further and her mouth gaped like an open fish with wonder.
"Incredible," she repeated breathily. The entrance flapped and the greatest fighter of his time, Achilles, returned.
"Briseis? Is someone in here with you?"
Briseis' eyes widened and I placed a finger to my lips.
Don't tell.
And then the pretty girl's eyes twinkled impishly, so I knew she wasn't going to listen. Briseis turned Achilles so that he could face me and muttered a prayer while covering his eyes with her hands.
"Do you see her?"
Achilles squinted at my direction and I could see the moment when his eyes registered me.
"Well you aren't fairly as pretty as Briseis," he said bluntly. I had a limited arsenal of Ancient Greek insults, so I threw the recent one I had heard about a week ago.
"Erre es korakas," I said snappily and glared at the girl. "What you do?"
"I gifted him with Apollo's blessing of sight," she declared proudly. "Achilles already has godly blood from his mother, however I gave him the full extent of sight for ethereal beings out of this existence such as yourself."
Achilles smirked at my scowl and made a disapproving sound. "And from whom did you learn those coarse words?"
"Annabeth." Totally her fault.
Briseis jumped in. "Another demigod? And she is?"
"Athena's daught-no. Stop. Not supposed to talk." I slapped a hand over my eyes and Achilles and Briseis looked at me curiously. "Need to leave."
But when I tried to shift the dream, just a little to shake my mind out of this timeline, I felt the rebound hit me. I groaned as I felt my head aching as a result for trying to force my way around the dream. Dreams happened for a reason. They haunted demigods because they wanted to tell us something, to warn us of the future, meaning I had unfinished business here with these two and couldn't leave until whatever's supposed to happen, happens.
"Demigod, what are you here for? Are you here to deceive me? As a spy?" Achilles demanded.
I shook my head. "No, not spy. Just here." I waved my arms pathetically through objects since I wasn't corporeal to prove my point that I was here against my will.
Achilles grunted, but still eyed me suspiciously. "Pray for your life if you are lying, distant cousin, for I loath deceivers. There are always deceivers everywhere, so you can never trust everyone."
I tilted my head to that because it was sound advice. And almost immediately after Achilles had finished speaking, the dream disconnected and I felt myself leaving the godly realms of sleep and returning to my own body.
My subconscious took over once I was back, so it wasn't until about two or three hours later that I woke up.
I yawned, ears popping from the air pressure change. Now that had been an eventful dream. I've never practiced so much Ancient Greek before and I usually didn't have to in my dreams because most of the time, I would be a part of the dream instead of participating from the sidelines. If I had been looking through the perspective of Briseis or any other person in that dream and not myself as my own person, I would have understood everything more clearly.
I was still in the process of getting ready for a day outside when Luke stumbled into the cabin.
"Jade! Annabeth and Grover are back!"
Other cabin members instantly chattered at the news and then there was a huge bustle of activity of demigods getting dressed and washed up at a faster pace. Everyone wanted to greet the two campers who had come back from a hugely important quest. I tripped over my feet along the way because my shoelaces had been tied together, courtesy of the Stoll brothers.
I rubbed my eyes and grumpily watched the door of the Big House with Luke and many others.
"What are we waiting for?" I asked, irritated that Luke had practically pushed me out of the cabin, insisting that we be of the first to welcome back Annabeth and Grover.
"They're inside Chiron's office, telling him about what happened during their journey. They came to camp early this morning, but Percy wasn't with them," Luke explained patiently and smiled when Silena walked over.
"Do you think they completed their quest?" She asked, perfectly shaped eyebrows scrunched with worry. I pushed down the flare of jealousy at her perfect hair, perfect skin, and perfect makeup and shook myself out of my daily morning blues.
"If there's one of the many things that Annabeth hates, it's failure, so I'm sure they did well," Luke said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's a miracle they came back alive in the first place."
Silena and I exchanged looks, agreeing with Luke's conclusion. It's been so long for demigods to return alive to Camp Half-Blood since Luke, so it was a big deal for everybody. If Chiron lifted the ban on quests, then more people would be allowed to go out on an adventure. Everyone held their breaths when the door to the Big House opened.
Annabeth and Grover stepped out, followed by Chiron. The two travelers looked bedraggled and exhausted, with worry and relief conflicting on their faces.
"I am proud to say that our heroes have returned safely and that Percy Jackson is currently at Mount Olympus, completing the quest he had been given," the centaur announced, prompting elated cheers from the entire crowd surrounding the Big House.
The camp's good mood only heightened when Percy finally came back, with a big feast prepared for the three of them. That night was probably one of the most memorable, fun evenings I've ever had at Camp Half-Blood. Everyone was so happy, so relieved that those of our own were able to complete a major quest and teenage laughter filled the dark sky.
I hung back towards the edges of the mass that flocked Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Every time Annabeth caught my eye, I flashed a crooked smile that included teeth and two thumbs up, delighted that she came back safely.
The merry atmosphere stayed in camp for the remainder of the month and the Fourth of July passed with the best fireworks Camp Half-Blood has seen since the end of World War ll. Everyone was in jovial spirits, it was the highest point our kind has ever reached for the last decade, so we were determined to share the good experience.
"Luke," I said sharply. "What are you doing?"
Luke whirled around and pointed a strange-looking sword in my direction.
"Jade? You shouldn't be here."
The handsome son of Hermes flicked his eyes across the grassy plain around us, but I already knew that there was no one else in the forest. Everyone was supposed to be in their cabins, getting ready to leave if they weren't staying for the entire year and the only reason why I wasn't packing my bags like everyone else was because I had already done that at around four in the morning. I've been having fits of insomnia lately, too many dreams, too scattered and undecipherable, so I had figured that I might as well get it over with.
I came closer to Zeus' Fist where Luke had been poking around, searching for the entrance to the Labyrinth. A snapback was hiding my sleep-deprived eyes, but I hoped Luke wouldn't notice how sluggish I was moving. It wasn't a good situation. Luke was holding that sword made out steel and Celestial bronze and I didn't like how it could affect regular mortals.
"You shouldn't either," I stated slowly. "And what's with your weird sword?"
Luke smiled stiffly and put the blade back into its scabbard.
"It's nothing. Let's go back to the cabins before someone sees us," he denied and started walking away from the pile of rocks.
And I got uncharacteristically angry. I stomped after him.
"Luke, stop lying. That sword's made out of Celestial bronze and steel and that cave you were looking at earlier leads to the Labyrinth from the myths. Chiron won't be happy if he finds out either of those things."
The hard tone in my voice portrayed how frustrated I was with Luke because I've been trying. For the past month I've brought up subtle hints as passively as possible, letting him know that I could help, that even though his grudge against the gods was reasonable, his source of revenge was horrible. He was going to sacrifice so much and abandon his most precious people all for the sake of getting even.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting as a reaction, maybe some more lying or brush-offs, but I was definitely taken aback when he sneered at me.
"So you're going to tattle?" His eyes narrowed down at me and he had a hand on his sword's hilt. I wanted to scream at his stubbornness and refusal to admit.
"No, I'm not going to tattle because I've been hoping that you would be the one to tell Chiron yourself," I hissed and curled my own hands into fists. I would get nowhere if I was going to keep beating around the bush, so I decided to cut to the chase.
"Okay, you know what? I'll just say it," I fumed. "You've been avoiding Percy and Annabeth, you keep disappearing during free time, and you're having bad dreams."
Luke opened his mouth to protest, but I wasn't done.
"Luke, come on, we both know who my dad probably is, so don't you dare tell me that I don't know anything about dreams. Whoever you're dreaming of isn't good and you're going to get into a whole crap ton of trouble if you keep listening to that person."
I paused to catch my breath and saw that Luke had very solemn expression. My heart dropped when the obstinate look in his eye didn't go away.
"Thanks for the advice, Jade, but no thanks. I know what I'm doing," he said coldly. He was going to keep walking so as a final act out of desperation, I grabbed his arm, putting us both to a stop.
"I know you're talking to a titan," I whispered softly, searching his eyes for something that would show that he still had doubts about his plan.
Luke froze under my hand and then in a second, it was me being held down by Luke.
"You shouldn't know that," he growled and I struggled to break his vice-like grip on my hands.
"That's besides the point, why are you talking to the King of Titans?" I retorted and winced when the bones of my fingers grinded against each other.
"Because he'll help us," he shot back and then shook me with unbridled self-control, making my teeth rattle.
"The gods never care about us and he's going to help us, don't you see it? It's always been like this, demigods are the ones hurting. We have to serve those pathetic immortals, do their bidding, do their services while they just hide behind thrones. I wanted to fix that and the titans will help me," Luke ranted. My jaw clenched when his hands wouldn't let go of the pressure on my wrists. I was about to kick him when he said the next crazy thing.
"Jade, you should come with me," he said suddenly and my arms went slack at his words.
"What?"
"I'm leaving camp this summer, you can join me," he repeated. "You know what it's like to be ignored better than anybody. Sure, you kind of know who your godly parent is, but has he ever really helped you? Did he ever help you find your way to Camp-Half Blood? Or with the monsters?"
I bit the inside of my cheek because no, Hypnos has never helped me directly and Luke's words were getting to me.
But.
Annabeth.
"Annabeth wouldn't want this," I said as evenly as I could.
The effect of her name was immediate because Luke paled and finally let go of me.
"I'm still leaving, but I'm leaving this with you."
Luke held out a silver necklace with a scythe charm hanging on it, but when I didn't make a move to take it, he put it in my hand.
"I was going to give it to Silena, it's probably better for you to have it instead," he said simply and I gave him a frosty look.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked.
"No," he chuckled. "Just think of it as a way to contact me, in case you change your mind."
I glared at him. "Luke, I'm not going to change my mind about anything."
The son of Hermes shook his head, amused at my supposed naivety.
"We'll see. I hope we meet again, Jade."
His body began to take a form of shadows.
"By the way, you might want to find that son of Poseidon soon. I left him a present," he intoned before disappearing completely.
It took me a second to recover, but I cursed loudly and sprinted for the woods, hollering for Percy's name.
"PERCY!"
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Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein