Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XXVIII: We Release a Lion in Vegas

You know, I wish my subconscious would just leave me alone and let me get a good night's sleep for once. But I have no such luck. Instead, I get nightmares.

I was in the middle of a large room made of white marble and gold, several ornate thrones spread in a U throughout the room. Even without having ever been here I could tell where I was. It was the throne room of the gods. It was at night though, and there was nobody around.

Then I saw a figure enter the room. It was completely black and the outlines were blurred, as if it was composed entirely of smoke. But it didn't seem like the figure of a god. It was too small and unimposing. The figure glanced around itself before walking over to one of the thrones in the middle. It was made of pure white marble and had gold accents. The figure reached down to the side and pulled out a long bronze cylinder. The Master Bolt.

"So it begins." said the voice that kept haunting my dreams.

The scene changed. I was now looking at a mountain. The clouds seemed to swirl around it, as if the stormy sky was converging on its peak. Occasionally I could hear strained and enraged shouts over the howling wind.

"We will rise. You cannot stop us."

The scene changed. I was back at Camp Half-Blood. But it wasn't like I remembered. It was burning, the cabins in ruins and bodies of half-bloods, satyrs and nymphs littered the ground.

"The fall of Olympus is inevitable. But your death doesn't have to be. Join me, little light. Join me and live."

Suddenly I heard a sound behind me and turned around. I only had enough time to register the glint of a bronze scythe slashing downwards before I was pulled out of my dream.

I woke up with a gasp, my eyes immediately darting to my chest expecting a large gash. But there was nothing. I took a few moments to steady my breathing and to process the fact that I had just witnessed the destruction of Camp Half-Blood.

*

Unable to fall back to sleep, I sat in the dark and thought about my dream. There was something that puzzled me. All this time we had been traveling to the Underworld under the assumption that Hades had the bolt. But none of the things I had seen had a connection to Hades. The voice had said "we", which wouldn't have made much sense if it was Hades, since there was not really anyone else to rise with him. The mountain couldn't be traced back to Hades either, and I was pretty sure Hades didn't use a scythe.

However, despite all that, Hades remained the only logical option. After all, he had the best motives and means. Besides, we were already on our way to the Underworld. We couldn't exactly turn back now.

Still, it somehow didn't feel right. As if that theory, despite being the only logical one, was not the correct one.

Luckily, I didn't have to sit alone with my own thoughts, as Annabeth woke up with a jolt next to me.

"Nightmares?" I asked as she looked around wildly.

She looked over at me and nodded.

"Yeah. You too?"

"Yup."

There was an awkward moment where neither of us said anything.

"Do you... wanna talk about it?" she asked me.

"Not really. You?"

"Yeah, me neither."

With nothing else better to do, we sat together and talked for a few more hours. Mostly we tried to think about anything besides the quest. We talked about the things we missed back at camp and shared some stories the other hadn't heard.