Dreams and Challenges (chapter 4)

Hello everyone!! So in case you haven’t caught on I’m mostly going to be switching between Thalia and Kai throughout the story. But enough about that, let’s get chapter 4 on the road!

 

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Percy Jackson series.
Chapter 4: Dreams and Challenges

(Thalia)

"Grover, take Annabeth and Luke and run. Run until you are safe. Don't come back. I promise that I'll be fine. I promise, "I command the frightened satyr.

"But-but...Thalia, there are too many-" Grover bleats.

"Exactly!  Luke and Annabeth are hurt. You're all injured and need help. I'm not. I can take them, I know it Grover," I insist, taking a quick glance down the hill to see the horde from hell making its way towards us.

"Thalia, I promised I would get you safely over that border-" Grover begins.

"And you will! But right I'll hold off the monsters until you guys are safe," I say, gesturing towards the hordes of monsters that are slowly but surely climbing up the hill. "Grover. Luke and Annabeth mean more than anything to me. They're like the family I never had. I'd rather sacrifice myself then let them get hurt."

"But Thalia-"

"Grover. Stop wasting time. Take them to the camp. Don't worry about me," I say exasperatedly.

"Thalia."

"What?"

"Be careful." Grover begins to half-carry half-drag a weakened Annabeth down the hill, her long blond hair matted against her bloody neck, her grayish-blue eyes lackluster. Luke limping slowly after them. He sees me not coming and turns the other way, starting back after me.

"Luke! What are you doing?!" I scream at him, tapping my bracelet to expand Aegis.

"What am I doing? What are you doing, Thalia? Get over here, now!" Luke yells, his shaggy bangs falling into his stormy gray eyes.

"Luke. Please. Think of Annabeth. She needs you right now. I can manage these monsters. Go!" I shout. Luke looked torn between Annabeth and me.

"Luke...Luke..." Annabeth cried weakly. Luke gives me a sorrow-filled look, and turns, limping as fast as he can towards Annabeth and Grover, who are already inside the camp's magical barriers. Sadly, I wave goodbye.

A small knife sprouts from my shoulder, bringing me to roar in pain, watching in horror as blood spurts down my arm, dripping onto the ground. I whirl around and charged into the fray, fighting for my life and fighting for my friends. There are so many of them that I’m constantly being blasted by dust every time I stab. I killed many of them but they were winning, and soon I'm covered with injuries along my chest arms and neck. My weapons clattered from tired arms that could no longer carry them. I look up to the sky to see the rain clouds partying only for a bit giving me one last look at the stars.

"LUKE!" I scream.

"THALIA!" his voice is distant, but it carries in the strong wind to my ears.

The monsters begin to tear me to shreds, I ask for help, one of the things that I almost never do.

Father, if you hear this, please. Help me. I can't do this. Please. Help me.

A fresh wave of pain wracks my body, and I scream in terror. I fall to my knees, defeated, ready to die. As a Hellhound rears up to deal the finishing blow, I realize that I don't want to die. I try to run, but something holds me in place. I look down at my feet in terror, watching as dark brown tree bark creeps up my legs, up my body. I scream and try to get free, struggling desperately. The bark has made it to my neck, and it's forming over my chin. As it covers my face, the scent of pine overwhelms my nostrils, the dark shell blocking out the light.

The last thing I hear before the bark completely encases me is Luke, Annabeth, and Grover screaming, "Thalia!"

 

I woke with a start, gasping for air, sweat pouring down my face, matting my hair. Fear griped my chest making me temporarily choke, coughing and gag, until I calmed down.

"Just a dream," I mutter clenching my fists, feeling my nails dig into my palms, "It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about, Thalia. It was just a dream." my breath slows down.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and ruffle my hair, trying to get it unmatted, but it was so humid in my cabin that it just stayed flat, a feeling I detested. I sighed, pulling on a pair of ratty black converse. There's no way I was going back to bed after that dream. Might as well take a walk get some fresh air.

I hauled myself off of my bunk and walked to the door, not bothering to take my leather jacket. It's was summer. It's not like Khinoe's going to suddenly get ticked off and make it snow inside the camp. I slipped outside of my cabin. Everyone's asleep.

“Well, duh, Thalia!” I told myself, “It's after lights out. And no one in their right mind wants to go out in the woods to take a walk after lights out. Except for me. Because that's who I am. Thalia Grace. Rebel.”

The night air felt nice, it was certainly cooler than in my cabin, with a warm breeze tickling my skin. The sky was an inky midnight blue, the stars twinkling brightly, the moon merely more than a silver sliver in the sky. No sounds except for the leaves rustling on a few of the trees and the waves lapping onto the shore. A last quick memory of the dream pangs in my head. Curse the gods, why couldn't demigods ever have normal dreams?

 

I walk quietly past the cabins. I stop walking for a moment, lingering in front of them. It seems so long ago I was with Lady Artemis. The memory tingles my skin unpleasantly and I decide to keep walking. Treading lightly over the numerous twigs that lay scattered on the ground. I kept walking until I came to the sword arena. With everyone sleeping it was eerily quiet except for the occasional creak of the shields as they hung on the rack. Looking at them reminded me of Kai’s shield. Its power still freaked me out, at first I thought I just caused the foe to feel fear. But it was more than that. Whenever I think about him using it all I can see is a flash of my mother’s face, full of pain and anguish. That’s what really made me lose my cool and threaten Kai in the woods. Percy was just an excuse. I would never tell anyone this but I still at times feel guilty for leaving, but then I remember why I left.

With a sigh I moved on towards the shore line, the ocean always seemed to calm me down. Even though if I took one step into it I would be sucked down to sleep with the fishes. The sound of the waves just always made me feel comfortable. I smile at the irony of it all as I sat down on a soft sand dune.

“Why,” I asked myself miserably puling my knee’s to my chest and tucking in my head, “Why am I so out of sorts lately.”

“Do not lose hope dear one, things aren’t always what they seem.” Said a voice from above.

My head snapped up to see the moon had grown full, casting a beam of light onto the water and standing on top of the water was Artemis goddess of the hunt.

“Lady Artemis_” I start but her gentle raised hand stopped my apology.

“Sadly I am not here to swap story’s dear one,” she said sadly, “merely to give you a warning. Do not fear the sea, for it holds the peace you search for.” With that the moon went back to being a small sliver in the sky leaving me dumbfounded on the shore watching the image of Artemis fading away.

“What the hell was that!?” I roar. I didn’t care if the cleaning harpies hear me. That was some of the crappiest advice I have ever heard.

“Don’t fear the sea?! She knows exactly why I can’t go into the water.” I stomped away from the shore back to my cabin. This night was one pain in the ass after another, with a growl I slammed my cabin door behind me and jumped back into bed.

“Good night!” I shouted to no one and closed my eyes.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………....

(Kai)

I woke with a start, I just had the most messed up dream....Zeus was getting married to my gym shorts? I looked out the window to see the sun had risen slightly. With a minute of thought I decided I had gotten enough sleep. Carefully, without making too much noise, which was dear dam impossible for me not to make noise, I got out of bed and threw on my t-shirt and a pair of exercise shorts. I put Nightmare on my wrist and stuffed Dream in my pocket. Then, slowly and cautiously, I opened the door and step out into the early morning mist.

It was a bit warm outside with a tiny timid breeze that brushed lightly against my skin, slightly ruffling my hair. I headed to one of my favorite spots: a small copse of trees where there’s an amazing view of the lake. I found it one day while fighting giant moose that wouldn’t hold still at all. I walked as quietly as I could, trying to avoid stepping on any twigs, leaves, or flowers that were strewn across the forest ground since I don't want to be waking up the Dryads. They got nasty if they don't get their beauty sleep. So to avoid being killed by flowers I decided to jog along the shore line as a short cut to my sanctuary.

“Might as well make it a work out.” I mumbled to myself as started going down the beach I activated Dream and Nightmare. The added weight did make my jog tougher but it gave me a good feel for how it would be should I ever need them at the same time. My heart rate began to pick up, I could feel adrenaline surging through my veins. Doing training like this always gave me a thrill. I think it’s got something to do with me being ADD.

I ran for what felt like twenty minutes until I finally reached my sanctuary. Dream and Nightmare clattered out of my hands from exertion. Why did they have to be made from precious metals? Whose idea was that anyways, let’s make our weapons out of bronze and gold. “Idiots with too much money and time” I thought to myself. The sun had risen higher in the sky making a reflection on the water. The trees around me created a ringlet of shade in the morning light, never before had I ever been so at peace. But even surrounded by this beauty I kept coming back to the same problem. Why was my mother here? From what I’ve been able to come up with my mother was possibly a Greek but was a descendant of Hypnos which she used as a way to join the twelfth legion. But then who was my father? Was he a legionnaire like she said or was there something more to it? The more I thought about it the angrier I felt, I began to feel a tug in my gut. It felt good at first but soon became so painful I doubled over like a gorilla was pulling at my innards and then suddenly it released.

“What the hell was that.” I started to get up when I heard a loud splash like a cannon ball hitting the water. As fast as my legs would carry me I ran towards the beach to see a giant wave had hit the beach washing up all sorts of debris. There was everything there, from tree branches to license plates.

“Did the lake just throw up or something? Freaky.” I picked Dream and Nightmare back up and made my way back to camp. First I get a headache from thinking too much and then the lake acts freaky. This day was full of weirdness.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Still Kai)

"Thalia! Come on, just climb up the wall with me? We could have a race!" I hear myself whining. It was a stupid plan but it was the best I had, I would trick Thalia into racing me to the top of the wall so we could talk without any interruptions.

"I said no, and I mean no!" Thalia snapped back, her eyes flaring.

"But Thalia!"

"But nothing. I'm not going up that thing even if you paid me."

"What are you guys fighting about this time?" Annabeth asked from behind us, rolling her cloudy eyes. Perfect a witness. I could use it as a clincher.

"Kai wants me to climb up the climbing wall with him, I said no, and he keeps pestering me!"

"Gods, you are exasperating, Thalia!" I snarled. "Why won't you climb up?"

"Because I said so, Bearboy!"

"Are you scared?"

"Gods forbid no!" Thalia's cheeks turned slightly pink, I knew she was scared of heights but this was ridiculous.

"Aha! You're blushing!"

"Dreamboy, in case you haven't noticed, it's about a bajillion degrees outside! Of course I'm blushing! Everyone is blushing!"

"Oh. Right."

"Mhmmm."

"Please Thalia!" I was starting to think begging wasn’t going to work.

"NO!" she yells, giving me a shock that jolted through my body.

"What was that for? Sheesh you crazy butt!"

"It was for being an annoying idiot."

"You're just scared to go up that climbing wall Needle Head," I scoffed. This may not have been the best idea, considering Thalia had a spear in her hand at this moment.

"No I'm not! In fact, I bet I could beat you!"

"What did I hear about a bet?" Travis Stoll walks up, his eyes alight with mischief. Connor trails slightly behind him.

"I asked Thalia to climb up the wall-"

"-And I said no-"

"-So I thought she was scared-"

"-Which I am not-"

"-And so she bet she could beat me-"

"Which I can and will."

"Music to my ears," Connor trilled, his lips curved into a lopsided grin. "So, we have a bet. Thalia thinks she can beat Kai. Shall we see if the gods will it to be true?"

"It's on," I smirk. The one time the Stoll brother’s mischievousness came in handy.

"Wait, does this mean I have to climb?" Thalia asks, her face paling slightly.

Travis snorts. "No shi- I mean, no duh!"

"Umm...I don't think I want to do it then," she says, nervously backing away.

"Oh, come on Thals!" Annabeth begs. "I totally want to see you Kai's butt!"

"Nice to know you have confidence in me," I muttered, girls of a feather flock together I guess.

"Yeah, come on Thalia," Connor says, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Gods, when did you guys get involved?" Thalia snaps. "Fine. I'll do it!"

"Awesome!" Travis says. In an undertone, he whispered to Connor, "Five drachmas that Thalia wins."

"You're on," Connor replies.

"You ready?" Annabeth asks me as we walk over to the climbing wall.

"A bit," I shrugged, I had no idea how this was going to pan out but I was willing to try so maybe the gods would give me some sort of advantage. Thalia was nervously rubbing her silver bracelet. Why she was I didn't know. It's wasn’t like we're going into battle or anything, and I seriously doubted a monster is going to suddenly appear right in front of her.

"Ready?" Travis asks, once Thalia and I were situated to start climbing.

"Ready to kick Thalia's butt," I answered. Thalia just nodded, her eyes a little wider than normal.

"Go!" Connor yells, and Thalia and I frantically scrabbled up the wall. It was not easy. I had to deal with spikes popping out, lava running down in rivulets, and swinging axes. Thalia wasn’t doing much better, but she's still ahead of me by a few feet. She was until her foot slipped. Her body plummeted downward. I watched in horror and was about to jump down after her until she managed to grab a hold of a spike and used it to push herself back up the wall.

Her startling blue eyes dilate in fear as she tried not to look at the ground. Once I saw that she was safe I kept going, dodging a couple of spikes. Thalia started going faster, her face shining with sweat as she swung to the side to avoid a punching glove pupping out. We we're only about two yards from the top.

I stopped, wiping sweat from my brow. Out of impulse I made the mistake of looking down, I immediately regretting my decision.

"Whoa," I gurgle slightly dizzy and ready to upchuck. "We're really high up." Like me Thalia looked down and yelped, her face turning a little bit green. I smiled to myself it looks like she does have a cute side. Wait! What am I thinking climb, idiot, climb! I quickly scrambled up, getting to the top just as Thalia’s hand touched the top of the wall

"Yeah Kai!" Connor exclaimed. "Travis, you owe me five drachmas." Grudgingly, his brother handed over a small pile of glimmering gold drachmas.

"Nice job, guys now try getting down," Annabeth joked walking away.

"Thanks. Hey, Thalia, good job." I said patting her shoulder.

"Thanks," she said after a pause.

"To be honest though I actually expected you to win.

"Yeah?" she says. The air seems to be a little more electrified than normal, and her bright eyes flash "How come you challenged me then?”

“Cause seeing you struggle to get down seemed like fun.” I winked making my way back down the wall as quick as lightning.

“Kai you’re an asshole!!” Thalia bellowed from the top of the wall.

“Your only now realizing this?” I shouted up to her, I could see her struggling to get down. It was funny at first but I was starting to feel bad about it. With a sigh and a self applied slap to my face for my dumb idea I began sclimbing the wall again.

“Hold on Thalia, I’ll help you.” I called up to her.

“I don’t need your help!” her words smacked me in the face but I kept climbing.

“Then think of it as a cushion should you need a landing pad.” I retorted, Thalia was about five feet above me.

“I’m right here, I’ll call out good foot holds for you.” Thalia’s only response was a quick nod. We were stuck the wall for thirty minutes. Thirty minutes of encouraging Thalia and me nearly breaking my neck until we finally reached the bottom.

“OK Thalia, you can jump now.” With a huff she let go of the wall and made a perfect three point landing…. Right onto my foot.  I yelped in pain but apparently Thalia wasn’t done yet. She followed up her landing with a solid right hook to my gut. Right in the spleen!

“That’s for scaring me Kai.” She roared sending another blow to my left temple. I hit the ground hard the world spinning around me until everything spiraled into black.  I don’t know how long I was out but in the darkness I felt a warm pressure on my cheek. A beautiful voice whispered in my ear.

“That’s for.. for everything else.”

 

OK so this chapter was partial filler and partial needed for the story. What do you guys think? What exactly happened? R&R!!