¹On This Spring Day, percy jackson & the olympians

004.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter four

━━━━━ THE NIGHTMARES. AGAIN.

               The same dream of Elain and the monster shrouded in darkness again. But this time, as Elain forced her sword into the snowy ground, the monster with the voice of Ms. Aarden ( was it Ms. Aarden? It had to be, unless Violet was just jumping to conclusions in order to have some sort of answer ) roared, yelling "Elain Nevitt, forbidden daughter!"

               It was odd, to say the least. It was like the dream was a trickle of the scene; beginning, not much information besides a blonde girl fighting a monster—a monster with the voice of Ms. Aarden; and then, six months later, Violet was learning the girl's name and that she was a forbidden daughter. But that monster was still shrouded in darkness, like it didn't want Violet to see it. And again, she wasn't sure what to make of it.

               It was like someone was slowly giving the rest of the fight to Violet, letting her slowly see what it all was. But Violet had no idea who was sending her this dream.

               As the ground erupted, dark, jagged rocks shot from the earth—it was like the earth was at war with itself; rocks clashing against rocks, and browned grass tangled with the other side—a ghostly figure sneered at Violet from the carnage, and then lunged at her.

               And then the dream changed.

               Instead of seeing Elain and Ms. Aarden fighting, Violet was watching Nico. He was no longer in the Underworld. He was standing in a graveyard under a starry sky. Giant willow trees loomed all around him.

               He was watching some gravediggers at work. Violet heard shovels and saw dirt flying out of a hole. Nico was dressed in a black cloak. The night was foggy. It was warm and humid and frogs were croaking. A large Wal-Mart bag sat next to Nico's feet.

               "Is it deep enough yet?" Nico asked. He sounded irritated.

               "Nearly, my lord." It was the same ghost Violet had seen Nico with before, the faint shimmering image of a man. "But, my lord, I tell you, this is unnecessary. You already have me for advice."

               "I want a second opinion!" Nico snapped his fingers, and the digging stopped. Two figures climbed out of the hole. They weren't people. They were skeletons in ragged clothes. Violet hated when he got the dead to do his bidding, they always creeped her out, with their endless stares and rotting skin.

               "You are dismissed," Nico said. "Thank you."

               The skeletons collapsed into piles of bones.

               "You might as well thank the shovels," the ghost complained. "They have as much sense."

               Nico ignored the ghost. He reached into his Wal-Mart bag and pulled out a twelve-pack of Coke. He popped open a can. Instead of drinking it, he poured it into the grave.

               "Let the dead taste again," he murmured. "Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."

               He dropped the rest of the Cokes into the grave and pulled out a white paper bag decorated with cartoons—a McDonald's Happy Meal. He turned it upside down and shook the fries and hamburger into the grave.

               "In my day, we used animal blood," the ghost mumbled. "It's perfectly good enough. They can't taste the difference."

               "I will treat them with respect," Nico said.