Word Count: 1275

Recap: "Would you like to rest, or do you want information about the Dagger??" The four turned to look at each other and after a few seconds of silence turned and said they wanted information. Jenna shrugged and the bowls on the tables flew to a sink in the corner and a few big books floated and replaced the bowls. "Well, you can begin reading while I get you your lunch."

          Magnus flipped the worn book open. They pages were slightly burnt at the edges but apart from the This Book Belongs to Lady Horne written on the front page, there was nothing else in the approximately 300 page book.

          "Jenna, there are no words in the book??" Alex called out. "Oh yes. I forgot to mention. Ask the book about what you want." Nico expressed his gratitude and sat next to Magnus. "Kindly tell us the location of the Dagger of Darkness, please." Adri softly said to the book, settling down beside Alex and swinging her arm around her.

          The book that was previously shut levitated into the air and suddenly the pages began to flip. It stopped and when they finally looked into it, written in an ancient language that, weirdly enough, they understood. In this strange script, they saw:

ꀤꉓꍟ꒒ꍏꈤꀸ ꀤꌗ ꅏꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꀎꌗ꓄ ꌃꍟ, 

ꁅꂦ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꌗꍟꍟ

꓄ꃅꍟ ꀸꍏꁅꁅꍟꋪ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ ꌗꍟꍟꀘ ꂵꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꒒ꂦꂦꀘ ꍏ ꒒ꀤ꓄꓄꒒ꍟ ꍏꈤ꓄ꀤꆰꀎꍟ

ꀤ꓄ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꌃꍟ ꃅꍏꋪꀸ, ꌃꀎ꓄ ꎇꍟꍏꋪ ꈤꂦ꓄ ꂵꂦꋪ꓄ꍏ꒒, 

ꎇꂦꋪ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꌃꍟ ꍏ ꉣꂦꋪ꓄ꍏ꒒

꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꍟꌗꀤꋪꍟ, 

꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꀤꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꃅꍟꍏꋪ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꍏ ꀸꍟꍏꀸ ꍟꂵꉣꀤꋪꍟ

 (So sorry if you couldn't get that. It says: 

Iceland is where you must be,

Go there and you will see,

A dagger that might look a little antique.

It will be hard, but fear not mortal,

For there will be a portal,

That will get you where you desire,

Which is to the heart of a dead empire. 

I know it's crappy. Pls forgive me)

          "That is not concerning at all. Finding something at the heart of a living empire is hard enough, but at the heart of a dead one??!! It's probably underground!!" Adri exclaimed, reading the poem again. "It also speaks of a portal. Maybe we should ask our friendly neighbourhood witch to make one?" Magnus asked. "We probably should." Alex stated and Nico muttered a few words of agreement.

          And so it was agreed. When Jenna came to them with fresh sandwiches, Nico asked her for a favour. "Jenna, thanks for the lunch. And also, the book states we need a portal to get to Iceland. We were all thinking you should be the one to cast it.." he said, looking at the others. "Is it so." Jenna answered, taking the book from them and reading it for herself.

          Her expression was hard to make out but one thing was clear, she was puzzled. She swiped her hand above the page and once again it levitated and new information appeared on the page. Jenna took a minute to read it and another minute to let it sink in.

          "Jenna, you good??" Adri asked, concern creeping into her voice. "Huh? Yes. I must make a portal for you that leads to this underground tavern where you will be tested before having access to the dagger. You may leave at sunset, if you want." she told them as she shut the book. They all shared worried glances. 

          "Thank you, Jenna. Your help means a lot to us." Adri stated with emotion. "It really does." Nico added, emphasising her point. Jenna smiled. "Your welcome. Now do complete your food and have some rest in the backrooms, over there. I have a feeling you'd need lots of energy." She told them as she walked into what she said were her study.

          "So guess we're going to Iceland, then." Magnus said to no one in particular, staring up at the ceiling. "It's gonna be freezing. My hands will single-handedly be able to freeze melted ice creams." Adri said and snorted. "C'mon. Nobody's hands can get that cold." "Try me, di Angelo." Adri retorted, flexing her fingers menacingly. Nico just rolled his eyes. 

          "Well, I'm heading to bed." he said standing up and stretching. "You haven't eaten lunch." Adri pointed. "Yes. I know that. What are you going to do about it?" he questioned. "Well, for starters, I won't give you any food when you say you're hungry." Nico shrugged. "Meh. Couldn't care less." he carelessly stated and walked into the room.

          Adri muttered under her breath and turned to look at what Alex and Magnus were doing. Their hushed whispers suggested that they were discussing something private. Adri emptied her plate and drank some water. "Well guys. I'm headin' to bed as well." The other two just nodded and went on with their conversation.

          She walked into the room and saw four beds arranged in pairs, separated by a dresser with two glasses of water and a bowl of candied pineapples. Nico was asleep on the bed closest to the window. She walked over to the bed next to his and sat down. Adri hummed a quiet tune as she removed her shoes and let her hair loose. She looked over to see if she disturbed Nico with all the noise but he was sleeping just as peacefully as before. She smiled at the sight of his hair all tangled and messed up, giving it a cute and fluffy look.

          She sighed, put her legs up and pulled the blanket over herself. Unable to sleep, she lay there, turning and tossing for about three hours. It was about 3 o'clock when their Norse companions came in. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 5:30 when she felt the first semblance of sleep. She was almost asleep too, if it weren't for a particular italian son of Hades.

          "Psst. Adri. You awake??" he whispered from the bed next to her. She irritatedly turned and lay on her side to face him. "Yes, no thanks to you." she huffed. Nico just rolled his eyes. "Well, I had a dream. We should probably discuss it." he said, sitting up. Adri suppressed a groan. "Fine. But what about somewhere else? We'll probably wake those to up." she suggested, jerking her head at Magnus and Alex, both passed out, on the beds parallel to theirs.

          As if her words activated something, the air between the four beds shimmered and with a faint green flash, a partition wall appeared. Adri gave a startled yelp and glowered at Nico when he laughed. Then again, you couldn't blame him for this as Adri made a perfect imitation of a Prairie Dog.

          She stomped over to Nico bed and sat at the edge. "I don't bite, Morte." Shaking her head, she wordlessly moved a bit closer to the center of the bed. "What was your dream?" she asked. "Well... Firstly, I was whisked to my childhood home." "Why?" "I don't know. All everyone told me was, like, 'Trust her, trust her, trust her.' and 'Open up, open up, open up.' Any ideas??" 

          "Were they more like, uh.. What's it called? Wait. I keep forgetting in English. Monologo interiore (Inner Monologue) or more like that horror movie ghost thing? Like, subconsciously affecting your thoughts??" "I'd say it was more like someone giving me advice?? I dunno. It's all very weird and kinda hazy..." "OoO, that's bad~" Adri said, picking at her nails.

          "Adrienne. There was something, like, something that I was supposed to remember. But I just don't." Nico sounded frustrated. Adri pat his hand to calm him down. "I know how that feels, yeah? Well, try and remember it- Oh and d'you wanna spar?? I wanna be in tip-top shape before meeting up with Corpse Queen." Nico snorted. "Who even says tip-top anymore??" "Me" she simply said as she walked out the room, summoning her sword to her hands.

          "This is going to be loong day." Nico muttered, dragging out the 'o'. He then proceeded to follow Adri out so they both could spar together.

AN: So, ahem... I kinda got writer's block so I don't have any chapters scheduled to publish later. So, there might not be a uniform pattern in uploading the chapters. Please forgive me, and, I almost forgot. Thoughts??

Love,

Helene