Children of the Big Three-Book Two-Quest of Centaurs

Chapter 25 - Eryn

"Why are we going to the Underworld?" I heard Jace asked Sydney and Zaylor later after everyone had gotten some food. 

"We're just following the prophecy," Sydney explained, "Who knows why?"

I sat at one of the tables in front of the Starbucks by myself. Jace, Sydney, and Zaylor sat at one, Summer and Ryker sat at another, leaving the last one for me. 

"Mind if I join you?" 

I looked up at the voice and met Rachel's face. Her eyes were a bright green that were full of light and friendliness. 

This is the daughter of Hades we've been looking for? I thought. 

"Not at all," I said. She sat in the chair across from me and set her bagel sandwich on the table in front of her. Around her eyes she had slight bags, which hadn't been there before. 

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, "You look like you didn't sleep well." 

She laughed. "No, I really didn't," she confessed, "I had some weird dreams." 

"Same," I agreed. 

"Like, I had a dream I was a kid," she went on, focusing on remembering, "My mom took me to a park, it was right before one of the times we moved. She said we were meeting up with a friend..." She looked at me. "Oh my goodness, it's you." 

I was confused. "I'm not sure what you-"

"You're the red headed girl from the playground," she explained, "We swung together, remember?" 

Flashed from my dream suddenly came back to me. 

"Oh, my goodness," I said. I laughed a little. "What are the odds? I had the same dream just the other night." 

She smiled for a minute, but then her face went dark. "I had another dream, too," she said, "There was this girl, she had dark hair with a streak of pink? She was... speaking to the dead." She shivered. "It was weird. But it felt so... real." She shook it off. "Anyway, after that my dream, like, shifted again. There was a group of, centaurs? Is that what they're called? Half man, half horse?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said. 

"Anyway, it was this large group of them. They were riding around in Oregon, one told me."

"Wait, centaurs?" Sydney asked, getting up and approaching our table. The other four followed her close behind, "Did they say anything else? Anything about Chiron?"

"Chiron?" she asked, confused. 

"He works at the camp," Sydney explained, "We're looking for him on this quest." 

"Basically he's half older guy, half white stallion," Zaylor summarized it. 

"Yeah," Sydney went on excitedly, "Did you happen to notice him there?" 

We could all tell Rachel tried really hard to rack her brain. Finally, she said, "Oh, sorry guys, I don't remember!" She thought again. "... I really don't remember noticing a white stallion, though." 

Sydney, Jace, Summer, and Ryker sighed in disappointment. 

"It's okay," Zaylor said kindly, "Thanks anyway." 

They all turned and sat back down at their tables, leaving me and Rachel again. 

"Man, now I feel bad," she said once it was just the two of us. 

"Oh, don't," I said, "They're just trying to collect any clues, is all. Besides, if he really was there, the prophecy would probably have directed us there, right?" 

"I guess," she said, "Although I'm still not really sure what a prophecy is." 

"Me either," I replied. 

She laughed, and we finished our sandwiches. 

"Alright," Zaylor said loudly as I took my last bite, "Ready to enter the Underworld?"