Camp Half Blood: One "Salty" Adventure

Chapter 5

Ben's POV:

Every day is the same. I wake up, get a small breakfast, and then I go to the place I watched Rose leave. I spend my entire day sitting there, waiting. Then, when it gets too late, either Percy, Cole, one of my siblings, or someone else, comes to get me to, basically, drag me to bed. I said, in the beginning, I wake up... that's not the entire truth. I don't really get sleep to start with. Sometimes I drift off, but I usually wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare about Rose. I shouldn't be this depressed... this sad. I shouldn't let this affect me so much. She's just going home... but there's something... something making me uncomfortable. I'm uneasy about her travels. This can't be normal... I might talk to Cole about it today. Maybe he can help me get out of my own way. I walk over to the archery range where he practices with Hunter laying in the near grass. I walk over to Cole. "Hey, Cole." My voice cracks after I realize that I haven't exactly used it for a while.

"Hey, man." He looks over to me, lowering his bow. "You look like crap, dude. You need to sleep, Ben." He said walking over to me.

"I know that, I just... can we talk? There's something that's been bothering me." He raised an eyebrow, but walked over to me anyways. We both sat down in the grass and, when we did, Hunter came over to us and laid in Cole's lap, only to fall asleep again.

"So what's up?" Cole asked. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well... I've been getting this unsettling feeling. Like... I know I've been worried about Rose the second she left, but... ever since this afternoon... I don't know. Something just went off inside of me. Like a little alarm. It's seriously weird, Cole. I swear, I'm not just freaking out because Rose is gone. There's seriously something wrong." Cole looked at me with concern lacing his eyes. He then shook his head looked down, and then back up to meet my gaze.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I'm positive, Cole. I wouldn't be coming to you if I wasn't. I haven't talked to anyone since they left and I'm talking to you now! Please, Cole. You have to believe me. There's something terribly wrong." Cold nodded and got up.

"Okay... okay I believe you, Ben. We uh... we should get going. First thing in the morning. Get a bag ready and promise me you'll get some sleep tonight. We're gonna be traveling for a while." I nodded and thanked him as we went our separate ways. I didn't know where we were going or which direction we'd be heading in. But, I was pretty sure my heart would lead the way. I think, once we start walking, there would be a voice telling me which way to go. Nothing would keep me from saving Rose from... whatever was actually going on. I'd go to the ends of the earth if it meant seeing her again. She's worth more than life itself to me. I'm not letting anyone take that away from me. We can't take any risks. Especially not now. We just survived, probably, the most difficult and emotionally and physically scarring time of our lives.

The next morning, I got up from a night's sleep. The first one I've had since they left. Cole was right, I did need this. But now we were going to be traveling... again. Only this time it would be good weather. During the quest, it was winter. Snow storms and all. But now it would be warmer. Spring time. Rose would be so happy to be here, swimming in the pond... relaxing and being with me and our friends... god's why'd she have to go... why'd she have to go through all of that. None of us deserved any of this.

I met Cole by the opening. He had dropped off Hunter in Nico's care beforehand since he didn't think it'd be safe for him if I really was right. Plus, he said Myra would kill him if he even thought about putting her puppy in danger. I agreed and then we were off. I knew we'd be walking for a good amount of time and Cole did too, but we trekked on anyways. I promised Cole we'd stop every once in awhile, knowing that we'd need our energy just in case we had to fight. "So how do you know which way we're supposed to be going?" Cole asked me curiously as we walked. I shrugged.

"I don't know... there's just like this force pulling me in certain directions. I brought a map with us so we'd know which way exactly we'll be traveling. I'll mark it up as we go." I explained.

"Sounds good... I guess." Cole agreed.

"I'm pretty sure I know where they're going. We'll be walking straight for now..." I rambled, trailing off.

"Alright, as long as we keep going." Cole paused and then began talking again. "Hey, I think we should probably keep on traveling for a couple of days straight, and then we'll stop to sleep for a bit. Sound alright?" He asked me.

"Yeah that sounds good. I'm cool with that." I could sense Cole nodding as we kept trudging forward. Talking was scarce with Cole and I, but we were friends, so it wasn't awkward. I think we both began to get a bit more worried the more we traveled. But I did start to feel better at the same time. I knew we were getting closer and closer to them... but that stupid feeling. The one in the pit of my stomach. Gods, it just wouldn't go away. I could feel that it would get stronger the closer we got to our destination... wherever that was...