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EIGHT, st. louis
❀ ✿ ❀ ✿
ALTHOUGH THAT NIGHT WASN'T the most unpleasant that Aster had ever experienced, it certainly wasn't amazing. Not wanting to stay too long in Medusa's den, in case anything came for them, the four of them camped about a hundred feet off from the road. They had to clear out flattened soda cans and candy wrappers from where the local kids had obviously held a party, but Aster used the roots nearby to help her clean. While she did, a scowl never left her face. Aster believed that littering should be punishable by death. A little extreme, some might say, but Grover, at least, agreed with her.
When Percy offered to take the first watch, Aster didn't hesitate to make her way to the nearest tree. She willed it to make a comfortable place for her to lie near the ground, and passed out on a bundle of soft leaves.
But, unfortunately, being on a quest didn't mean she could have a dreamless sleep.
Aster was back at Half-Blood Hill, but something was different. The air wasn't full of life; it felt almost heavy—like something else. An ominous feeling washed over her. She turned towards Thalia's pine tree, but Thalia wasn't there like she normally was in her dreams. Aster searched for her, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Silly little demigod," a booming voice sounded. It had appeared in her dreams before, but it was louder than the other times. Closer.
Aster's blood ran cold. It was dark and sinister, and felt ancient, laced with old magic and myth. Aster turned in a circle, but there was no body that held the empty voice. "You have no idea who you are, do you? What you are."
Aster spoke loudly, trying to appear confident. Though she had a feeling that the voice could smell her fear as her heart thumped loudly in her chest. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
"I am everything you are not," the voice said. "I've been watching you—and you will never be ready. The Fates made a grave mistake with your destiny." It sounded like it was coming from under Aster now, like from the earth. No, under the earth.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aster asked, and the voice chucked, its malicious laughter sending a chill down her spine.
"Silly demigod. You will see, in time. Though it will be too late," the voice rumbled. "Go ahead, allow the gods to use you for their agenda. They will never see me coming."
Aster's heart skipped a beat.
"I'm not a pawn of the gods," Aster stood her ground. Thunder sounded overhead, but she ignored it. "The gods know everything. They can see everything."
"Not everything, little demigod," the voice replied. "The age of the gods is coming to an end. They are nothing more than a blink of the cosmos. And this is what I will do to your precious camp when they are gone."
