Chapter Nine

Mutt

I jolt awake, sitting straight up in the bed and breathing heavily. The dreams were getting more frequent. That only meant one thing, it was going to happen. And it was going to happen very, very soon. I inhale through my nose, closing my eyes.

Shaking the covers off I walk out of my room. Down the glass steps and out the door. As always I let my feet guide me, uncaring of where they would take me. Not outside the border, of that I was sure. My eyes still closed and I feel the soft caress of the ocean waves. And then someone slamming into me from the side.

My eyes snap open as we fall, feet spreading out trying to get my balance, when I have it I reach out and steady the person next to me.

“Sorry,” a voice says. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

I jerk my arms away as though the voice had stung me, leaping back a good foot. “Stay away from me,” I tell Moon, backing away slightly.

“Whatever,” Moon says with an eye roll. Looking like she could care less.

I just continue walking backwards, not breaking eye contact.

Finally, just when I was going to turn around and run she asks, “Why don’t you like me? I don’t need you to protect me you know. I’m capable of it on my own.”

“Who said I was trying to? Maybe I just don’t like you,” I say.

“James,” she says. “He said that-”

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I interrupt her. “Certainly not when it comes to James.”

She sighs, “I give up. Enjoy life.”

Instead of answering I sit down in the sand and I don’t move, even when I hear her sit next to me, a few inches away. “I mean it. You don’t need to protect me from anything.”

I don’t answer, thinking that it was probably better if I didn’t.

She sighs and leans back, “So can children of Poseidon drown?”

I frown, turning to face her. “Seriously?”

“Well I mean, I know that you can breath underwater, but what if it wasn’t water? Can you drown in like, a pit of fire?” She asks, staring off into the ocean.

I jerk back, jumping up, “Why would you say that?” I demand. “What makes you think that?”

She looks taken aback, “Nothing, I just, well, I don’t know. It just came to me.”

I back away from her, as I’ve done many times before. “Don’t. Whatever you do, don’t speak of the pit of flames. You can’t make it anymore true than it already is. Please.” And then I take off running.

۝

Moon

I stare after Mutt in shock, not really understanding what I had said to make him go nuts.

“Words have power Moon. In this case, your words held more power than the gods themselves.”

I turn at the voice, a women stood there, her smile was grim and her eyes dull.

“I don’t understand,” I say. “Please help me understand.”

“The pit of flames. Also known to some as Tartarus. Would you like to see one of his dreams?” the women asks.

Not really knowing what I was doing, I nodded.

The world turned dark, but only for a second. Then I was standing next to someone, in a wasteland. The ground was cracked and red, as if the sun had burned it’s life away. The air was heavy and hard to breath, like poison gas. Broken bones lay under my feet, crunching as I walked.

Mutt was standing next to me, looking like he always did, staring at the two figures running towards us, he didn’t move. Just watched. He didn’t seem to notice me. I follow his gaze to see, me? My hair was longer and caked with dirt and blood, my eyes were slightly duller and my clothes torn. Running beside me was Mutt.

He seemed to be in worse shape than me, his hair was it’s usual messy self, his eyes were what got me though. They no longer held the carefree light I had learned to

love. His eyes were dead. Like the time he had seen Lenzie go down the day I met him. Or when he was trading insults with Zeus, but you could tell his heart wasn’t in it.

Dream us kept running, occasionally glancing behind them like they didn’t want to be caught. That’s when I see what they were running to, a staircase. But inches away from it a wall appears around them, making them skid to a halt. Mutt falls to the floor, looking like he had already given up. The Mutt beside me looks horrified, like he knew the ending and I didn’t.

Suddenly a man appears out of nowhere, laughing.

“Great attempt little demigods. However, it seems that you failed. Never fear though, I have a way out for you.” the man says, grinning like mad.

“What is it?” Dream me demands.

“Moon, don’t,” dream Mutt whispers, sounding broken, like he knew I was going to anyway.

Dream me doesn’t even look at him. “Well?”

“Do you wish to compete in the trials to free yourself from this prison?” The man says with a grin.

“Moon. Don’t.” Dream Mutt repeats, his voice softer, broken. Like he was following a script that he didn’t want to finish.

“Absolutely,” dream me says, still not looking at him.

Dream Mutt hangs his head, slumping against the wall and closing his eyes. The Mutt next to me does the same thing.

Just then I hear myself scream, my eyes jerk away from Mutt and to myself, watching as my blood seems to boil and my skin turns red. My screams fill up the dreamscape.

“One tiny catch,” the man adds. “You will complete the trials as a mortal.”

Just then the wall crumbles, just barely.

“MOON! RUN!” both Mutt’s scream at the same time, and I watch as dream me does run. Right up the stairs, leaving Mutt alone in that godforsaken place. I watch as dream me turns, just barely at the top step, and then I watch as dream Mutt and the man disappear in smoke, and dream me shakes her head and leaves.

۝

“Liar,” I whisper when I come out of the dream. “I wouldn’t have left him there. It’s not real.”

The women smiles sadly, “It isn’t real yet, but it will be. That is only one outcome of what could happen. There are three in total. Each one worse than the last. It is up to you what you chose to happen.”

“Show me,” I say. “Show me the other two.”

The women shakes her head, “All in due time. Knowing too much of one's future can be dangerous.”

“Then why does Mutt get to see it all?” I demand.

The women laughs, “Knowing your father can be a blessing as much as a curse. Zeus’s jealousy rivals no other.”

“My father wouldn’t do something like that,” I say, surprised when my voice comes out stronger than I feel.

The women laughs, “And how well do you know your father young one?”

Without really knowing what I was doing I take off running after Mutt, my feet sliding on the unfamiliar ground. “Mutt!” I call, my voice getting lost in the rising wind.

I couldn’t understand why I suddenly felt like I had to get to him, had to tell him that I understand. “Mutt please, stop!”

Mutt slows down, turning around, seeming to look for a noise that was lost in the wind.

“What are you doing?!” he shouts at me, his voice barely surpassing the strength of the wind. Lightning flashes across the sky, quickly followed by thunder.

“I understand!” I shout. “I know why you’re being a dick to me! The women, she showed me! I promise, if it does happen I won’t leave you there! I’d never leave you there!”

“What do you mean?” he says, suddenly in front of me. “What women?”

I frown, “The one back there.” I point. Turning I see the women smiling at me, she gives me a little wave.

“Moon, there is no one there.” Mutt says, his voice soft.

“Yes there is,” I say. “She has gold hair. She has one gold eye and one silver. She’s wearing a long silver prom dress. She’s right there!”

Mutt’s face darkens, “Waverly.”

“Whose that?” I ask.

“The women, how old is she?” He says, grabbing my shoulders.

“About mid-twenties. Why?” I ask.

He inhales, “Moon, are you causing this weather?”

It was raining hard now, the wind blowing my wet hair away from my face. “No, how can I cause this?”

“Moon, run,” he says, his eyes wide with panic.

“What?” I ask.