We got to the motel after what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes. I slumped over on a chair in the lobby.
"Are you actually okay? You look gross." Percy said, petting Kalos on the head.
"Rude," I hit his chest lightly, too tired to put more weight into it. "I'll have you know that without me, you wouldn't even be here."
"That's what prophecies are for. Helps us get the people we need." he smiled, and I was about to smack him again when Annabeth came over.
"Okay Bella, Claudia let us stay. Wow, you really don't look good."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJl4OziCEQq
I sighed. "Have some respect! I just carried all of you 50 miles in like, two seconds."
"Mm, no. Nico helped too."
We walked up some stairs and down a hallway to the room Nico had managed to get us. It wasn't the nicest place, but it was free, and I'd settle for anything at this point.
I zonked out as soon as my head hit the pillow. It would have been nice to just sleep peacefully, but fate had other plans.
I was dreaming again. I wasn't in the cave, though. I was on a teeny tiny island with grey sand, surrounded by huge crashing waves and stormy skies. I was wearing that annoying dress again, and the howling wind made it fly in all directions. That wasn't the problem though.
Hecate was pinned to the ocean floor, and she was a hundred times bigger than she usually was. Water was splashing out from beneath her, and holding her down was a huge man, covered from head to toe in greek battle armor. I felt so small compared to them.
"Hecate?" I shouted over the cry of the storm. I couldn't tell if she could hear me.
"Bella!" she called out my name with such desperation, a horrible sinking feeling swept over me. The huge monster of a man didn't pay any attention to us. He continued growling just as loud as the thunder.
"What- what's going on?!"
"My father, Bella- please, we don't have much time!"
"Then hurry up!" I said, panic in my voice. 472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7RKh6n8xR
She smiled weakly. "Such a sharp mouth." she winced. "Bella, my father has lost himself. He needs his other half."
"Other half? What do you mean?"
"The Titan Perses," she winced again as the man pulled at her arm. "He is not like this. He's lost his other half, return it to him!"
I wanted to scream. How was I supposed to know what was happening?
"Stop speaking in riddles!"
The dream ended before I could get answers, and I woke up panting.
"Bella? Bella, are you okay?" Annabeth turned on the lamp beside me.
"Oh my god," I tried to catch my breath.
"What? What did you see?"
I didn't ask how she knew I had a dream. "Hecate- She's being attacked by some titan named Perses! Who is that?"
Annabeth thought for a moment.
"Oh, Perses is Hecate's father! But you said he was attacking her?"
"Yeah," I said up in bed. I was hot and cold at the same time. "We were in the ocean, and he was on top of Hecate like he was trying to, I dunno, force her to do something."
Annabeth furrowed her brows.
"An ocean?"
"Yeah. I was on a little island, and there were waved like 100 feet high and storm clouds that looked like tornadoes and-"
"Bella, slow down," Annabeth whispered as she looked over at Percy, who was sleeping. I looked out the window, which was pitch black. I didn't know it was nighttime already.
"Wait, it's night already? Annabeth, we need to help Hecate-"472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrOFSKeAFg
"Bella, just calm down. We don't even know what we're dealing with yet. Let's start from the beginning. You said that Hecate was being attacked by her father."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgux0kByxj
"Yeah, Perses, whoever that is."
"And they were in an ocean?"
"Yeah. In a big stormy one."
"Alright, then let's start with what we know about Perses." she looked at me expectantly.
"I... don't know anything about him."
She sighed. "He's an old titan. He represented destruction and peace. He was married to Asteria, the Titaness of Necromancy and Oracles, and they had one daughter, Hecate."
"I didn't see Asteria. It was just those two."
"That's because Asteria drowned in the Aegean Sea to avoid Zeus."
"Titans can die?"
"Only if they want to. I think Asteria turned into a quail and/or was reincarnated as an island."
"...That's a thing?"
"Yes." Annabeth thought. "Wait, you said that you were in the sea?"
"Yeah."
"What about Perses? What did he look like?"472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4rzmBUnky
"Like a really big angry guy! Can we skip to the part where we save Hecate?"
"Maybe he was upset about Asteria!"472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLqexAH42U
"Did that happen a long time ago?"
"Yeah, but titans and gods usually rework events in history through timed cycles."
"That's not healthy," I muttered. "So you're saying that this Perseus dude is mad because his wife died? Then why is he taking it out on Hecate?"
Annabeth frowned, but then her eyes lit up. "I get it! He wants revenge! Perseus isn't a strong titan on his own. He represents two ideas: Destruction and Peace. He's probably trying to convince Hecate to help him get revenge on Zeus!"
"Okay, if that's true, what about the peace part?"472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9kmQuXecZ
"I... don't know."
"Hecate said he was missing his other half. What's that supposed to mean?"
"You can't take the gods' word literally. It's probably a riddle."
"Why would she give me a riddle when she's being attacked?!"
Annabeth shrugged. "If Perses is the one causing the earthquakes and tidal waves, Zeus will probably come down to take care of him, which might cause an even bigger mess."
"Okay, well at least that's a start. We can figure the rest out later."
"Bella, we need to rest. Now that I know we're taking on a power-hungry titan, I need to think of a better plan. We can't just rely on the luck you've been having."
I bit my lip and nodded, but my mind was racing.
"I'm gonna... get some air."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVCVLnwrJ2
She nodded and smiled softly as I got up and quickly left the room.
I followed the green carpet all the way down two flights of stairs, three corridors, and some sort of gathering room all the way to the lobby. I paced around, thinking.
"Can't sleep?"
I looked over to the old-fashioned wooden reception desk and saw a girl who looked to be around my age.
"Guess that's what happens when you fall asleep early." she smiled.
I looked at her awkwardly.
"N-not that I watched you fall asleep! I just mean, when they came in you totally fell asleep on the chair." she squeaked.
"Um, right." I tried to laugh. "So are you Claudia?"
"Yeah. And you're Bella?"
"Yep."
It was hard to believe Nico was friends with her because of how colourful she dressed in comparison to him. She had a pale pink blouse under light blue overall shorts. She also wore a galaxy print beanie and matching stockings, even though it was like 85 degrees outside. Her dark complexion made the colours pop even more. Next to her, I felt like I came out of a black and white photo.
"So..." I tried to think of something to say. "Do you work here?"
"Yeah. It's a family-owned business."
"But you work nightshift?"
"Yup. Now that school's out, all the kids we hire want to go party all night. So I'm stuck here."
"You can't just make them stay? Don't you pay them?"
She laughed, "Yeah, but this is New Orleans! Are you really gonna stop your employees from partying? We ain't gonna be young forever." her eyes sparkled as she giggled.
"I... guess not." Much different from New York, I thought.
"Have you ever been to a party? Like a real, New Orleans party?"
"Um, no."
"I should take you some time!"
"Aren't we.. underage?"
"Not those kinds of parties! Plus, you're too pretty to turn away."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaGWJuWOFc
My face got hot.
"Oh, sorry! I meant it as a joke. Um, not the 'you're pretty' part." she also blushed a little.
She hopped over the desk and sat on the chair in front of me.
"So? Did you fight any monsters on the way here?" she beamed.
"I, uh... what do you mean?"
I was happy to change the subject, but Annabeth told me that telling mortals about the stuff we'd seen was a big no-no, so I tried to play it cool.
"Daw, come on. You don't have to pretend. I can see them too, y'know."
"You can?"
She stuck her tongue out. "Don't look so surprised!"
"You're a demi-god?"
"Aw hecks, no. I can just see through the mist."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOKoENOHO8
"That's a thing?"
"Sure is! Makes me pretty special, if I do say so myself." she winked. I couldn't help but smile.
"Okay, so spill!"
"Um... Well, Annabeth and I got chased by a huge cyclops."
"But you didn't fight it?"
"Well, this was in the beginning before I knew about anything, so no."
She nodded. "I can understand that."
"I got my shoulder dug into by a hellhound at a deli," I showed her my bandaged shoulder.
"Ohmigosh!" her eyes got wide with worry. "Are you okay just like that?"
"Yeah, I drank some weird magic syrup stuff. We also race with a huge monster at a NASCAR stadium."
"What? You got to drive one of their race cars?"
"Well, we didn't really ask."
"Ooh," she giggled. "Sneaky."
"What about you?" I asked. "If you can see them, do you ever fight them?"
She shrugged. "Nah, not really. Unless they get in my way." she smiled.
"What does that mean?"
She looked around as if making sure we were totally alone.
"I was at school once, and this crazy huge dog came up tryna bite people's legs and arms, so I grabbed a bat and WHAM! Right in the mouth and out came a tooth." she giggled.
I laughed. "Ew, that is so not true!"
"Yeah, you're right. But I did hit it," she smiled sheepishly.
"Pfft," I snorted.
"So you guys on a mission to stop all this craziness?" The smile left my face.
"...Yeah,"
She cocked her head to the side. "You wanna... talk about it?"
"It's a long story."
She looked at the big grandfather clock by the fireplace.
"Well, it's only 10:30." she crossed her legs and leaned forward.
I sighed. "Well, just as my dad was finally going to help me figure this whole-" I flung my hands in the air, looking for the right word.
"Mess?"
"Yeah, mess. Annabeth showed up, and I just... left."
"Without telling him?"
"...Yeah."
"Dang," she said quietly. "Why didn't you?"
"He... didn't want me to go, and Annabeth really wanted to get out of there."
She nodded. "I can get behind that. If you can see those things it makes you ten times worse off."
"Yeah, I guess so."472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZLrDDXqd2
"So you just found out you're a demigod?" she smiled. "That must be a pretty cool feeling, right?"
"I guess."
"You guess? Dude, I would kill to be in your spot! Battlin' cyclops, controlling the shadows -or, something, I don't really know- Pshoo!" Claudia moved her hands like a Hollywood ninja. She made it really hard not to laugh.
"Yeah."
"So you really ain't gonna tell me?" she suddenly frowned.
"...Tell you what?"
"Well, clearly you're not telling me something. I mean, I know you just met me and all, but I can tell."
I thought about it. Claudia was the only person I've met so far that seemed to care about... well, me. Annabeth and Percy are great and all, but we've all had our own problems to deal with.
"My my. I even called you pretty," she shook her head, trying not to smile.
"T-that's not what I'm saying! You're pretty too! I mean, ugh..."
She laughed as I rubbed my face, embarrassed.
"Awe, thanks." she stuck her tongue out. "C'mon, just tell me!"
I sighed but decided I could trust her. "I'm... not actually a demigod."
"...So you can just see through the mist like me?"
"Well, no. My mother was an empousa."
"A what-what?"
"They're creations of Hecate. But I haven't met any of them, and I definitely don't belong in a place like Camp Half-Blood."
"An outsider," she nodded seriously. "Like a lonesome cow-girl."
"Pfft, what? No, not at all!" I rolled my eyes but was still smiling.
"No really, I get it. I know too much to really hang with my friends, but I certainly can't bash in monsters' heads like Nico."
We both nodded in bittersweet silence.
Claudia suddenly put her hands on her hips. "So obviously our only option is to be super duo vigilantes that fight monsters and wear awesome outfits."
It was so random that I burst out laughing.
"Come on! It does sound cool though, right?" she said.
"No, yeah," I said, clearing my throat from laughter. "Very cool."
"Are you makin' fun of me?"
"No, no. Let's also wear faux leather jumpsuits and have cheesy catchphrases."
"You are so making fun of me right now." she grinned.
"Yeah, just a little. But that does sound cool."
"Okay, but we got off-topic. If you're not just someone who can see through the mist then what are you?"
"A she-devil, I guess."
"But aren't they just little minions for the gods of darkness?"
"I'm supposed to be. I got visited by Hecate, and she told me that 'I caught her attention'. Whatever that means."
"So... you're actually a daughter of Hecate!"
"No, I just... um..."
"Oh, you can just teleport and shadow travel and manipulate time and space. That sounds like Hecate to me."
"Yeah, but- wait, I can't manipulate space. Did Percy tell you that?"
"Well, Nico said that you can control time and reality, but time and space sounds so much cooler!"
"Wow, that's exactly what Percy said," I sighed. "Anyway, it must be some sort of mistake."
Claudia's eyes lit up. "What if it's not?"
"What do you mean?"
"The witches! Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft, right?"
"I mean, I guess. What witches?"472Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLn0tJuGaBH
"Um, you're in New Orleans, Bella." she scoffed. "There are a ton of witches. I need to get you to Laura!"
"Who's Laura?"
Claudia was already up and pulling me out of my chair. She's really small though, so I didn't budge.
"She's one of the witches I know. C'mon," she struggled. "We...need to get there fast!"
"Claudia, Annabeth and Percy are here. If we actually need to fight a titan tomorrow, I'd like to do it well-rested."
"You'll need Laura's help!
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