𝙇𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 (𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙁𝙚𝙢! 𝙊𝘾) 𝙏𝙏𝘾

Time to go on a Quest with no Experience

Sylvia didn't really remember falling asleep the night before, but she did remember her dreams.

"Ceol, I want to hear no more of this matter. If it reaches my ears again, I will leave thou alone, and thy father will kill you." Heracles's voice sounded dangerous now.

"I--okay, Heracles," Ceol said, though still sounding perplexed. "If I may, can I go check on something? I think I heard a noise over there. But it's just a lowly monster sound, nothing a great hero like thee will have to worry about."

"Hurry, then, Heracles said, annoyed.

There was a sound of rustling, then walking. A few minutes later, Ceol's voice rang out.

"I can see you, girl. Are you the one Heracles was talking about? If you are, I may have a solution for thee."

A voice Sylvia definitely recognized replied, "What is it?" Her voice was sharp, dangerous, and guarded.

"Seek out Lady Artemis. She'll always help a maiden in need."

"Thank you."

"Just--don't let Heracles see you again," Ceol warned.

"I won't," the voice promised.

* * *

Sylvia sat up in her bed. That voice...it couldn't be her, right? Yeah, she was old, but not that old. Right?

And why was she having the same dream twice? Was it important?

She looked around the room for a while, letting eyes adjust to the darkness. When they did, her gaze fell on Lux's sleeping form. She felt a pang of worry. She'd talked to them about the quest, and they said they'd go on it. No way were they ready! But she had to hold to her end of the deal with her questmates, so she took Lux out to the archery shed and got them to choose a bow. Nico had joined them for a bit until the Stoll brothers found him and took him to Monster Class. After what seemed like forever, Lux tried out a crossbow, and was much better at that than anything else. The crossbow and arrows accompanying it were currently under Lux's bed. Lux's arm was hanging off their bunk, ready to grab it at any time.

Sylvia shook Fawkes awake.

Fawkes? Sorry for waking you up, but I have a question.

No worries. The phoenix yawned. What is it?

Do you know what brought Zoe to join the Hunters?

That story is not mine to tell, Fawkes replied. But I believe you already know it. Now get some sleep, hero. You'll need it.

Sylvia nodded, closed her eyes, and drifted off into Dreamland again. Or maybe calling it Nightmareland would be more appropriate, because her dreams were anything but pleasant.

* * *

Sylvia was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above her. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired to even cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, Sylvia knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her. Sylvia felt her arms hurt and her heart ache just looking at the scene.

"How is our mortal guest?" a voice boomed.

The voice was like a low C chord played on a bass guitar. Sylvia would know---Kayla started playing the instrument recently. Its force made the ground vibrate.

Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."

The hypocrite. Sylvia wanted to tear his eyes out with her bare hands. Like he really cared about what happened to her.