Not Just Another God ✓

Chapter 17: I officially hate guessing games

I lent on the huge trunk of a giant tree, waiting for the spinning world to regain focus. After shadow travelling with Nico so many times, I knew exactly what I had to do.

I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten, feeling the dizziness start to fade.

I reached ten and opened my eyes, watching as the world sharpened up, exposing me to its bright colors.

We seemed to be at the center of a lush green valley. A ginormous reddish colored tree towered over us, shading us from the bright sun. I was no expert on plants, but this had to be the biggest tree I had ever seen, the smallest braches being as long as school buses.

At the base of the tree there was an old stone well, the kind you would only see in Disney movies or picture books.

"That's the well," Magnus said, pointing to it, "good luck with Mr Bubbles."

I nodded and slowly made my way to the well, which was much bigger than I had judged it to be. Up close, I could see that moss was occupying most of the crevices and that vines were creeping their way up the stone walls.

"Hello?" I called, shivering. The seemingly endless drop brought back memories I did not want to remember.

In an instant, I heard the sound of water rushing around and around, kind of like a toilet flushing, but in reverse. The black waters rose and a body less head came into view.

Unkempt red hair waved like pond weed as the waters gradually came to a halt.

I was supposed to drink from that?

The head stared at me with bright blue eyes.

"A god of two pantheons," he said, "that's new."

"I'm Percy," I said, not quite trusting this head.

"I know," he replied, "I met your camp director a few years ago."

"You've met Chiron?"

He hummed.
"Now to get to the point. You're here to drink from my waters and gain the ability to use rune stones, is that right?"

Before I could even answer he started talking again.

"To drink from my waters, I want to see what you're scared of. That will be the price."

"You want me to tell you?" I asked.

"No," Mimir said, decisively, "that would be too vague. I'm going to send you into a vison."

I winced but covered it up quickly.

"It's a deal," I said, before I could change my mind.

"Very well then, young val tivar," he said, before starting to chant in an old, old language. It pricked at the back of my brain and stayed there, swimming around and around and around....

*

I was in a whitewashed room, with nothing else in it except me. The window looked out on the iconic skyline of Manhattan, but some else wasn't quite right.

"Annabeth?" I called out, but there was no reply.

"Nico? Anyone?" I tried again.

Someone was there, I could feel their presence but I couldn't see them. I took out Riptide, hearing the satisfying clink as it turned into a sword.

A sudden sound made me spin around until I came face to face with a guy dressed all in black, with a hood covering his face.

"Who are you?" I asked, my legs moving automatically to a fighting stance.