──── chapter five

{ ☀️ } · dreams come true. . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪

FIRE. EXPLOSION. ANGRY MOB. Screams filled her ears as her eyes roamed the place where she stood. Demigods ran in mayhem, shouting at the group that tried to reason with them. No use. No one would listen. Plates, food, and rocks were being thrown at the ship that flew above them and when the girl looked up at it, her mouth dropped at the sight. The ship was like a war machine, doing nothing to settled down the furious people.

Madeline moved through the crowd, her dream state being like a ghost that walked the earth, unseen and quiet. Her pace was fast, her legs taking her around people, not knowing where she was going. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, her breath uneasy, her eyes frantically surging. She didn't understand what could have caused these demigods to act such way. But nothing was good she knew that.

Never mix Greeks and Romans.

The girl slipped through the crowd of people that surrounded the middle, figuring it would be someone they wanted to end. She was right. There was she, surrounded by several dozen Romans, with Piper, Josie and Jason by her side. They were trying to calm the angry mob down but without much luck. Piper's charmspeak was useless against so many screaming, angry demigods. Madeline swore at the Romans near-by, cursing them to only speak in rhyming, confusing them at what's happening. Jason's forehead was bleeding. His purple cloak had been ripped to shreds. He kept pleading, "I'm on your side!" but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn't help matters ─ nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into New Rome. One landed nearby and blasted a toga shop to rubble.

The dream state Madeline turned around at the sound of another explosion that rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the Argo II groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.

Squinting her eyes noticed a figure clinging desperately to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was a blonde boy, his robes steaming and his face black with soot. Greeks had fired on Romans. But why would they do that?

On the fountain near the ladders to the ship, stood Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Fredrick Jeon, Endora Prince and two Roman demigods from her previous dream. They seemed to be in a shouting match with the blonde boy, the angry mob kept throwing rock and fallen bricks they found laying around at the Greeks and traitors to their camp.

As her frightened eyes watched the scene, the ground underneath her feet trembled. Demigods stopped everything they were doing, seemingly in daze as they watched the earth underneath their feet cracked open; a mystical fog invaded their view and cluttering noise of bones being mended back together filled their ears. From the hazy fog emerged dozen of Roman solders, incomprehensible words leaving their visible jaws as they looked around at the demigods. Some screamed, some backed away, some stared in shock but the master of the puppets had a murderous look settled upon their face.

"Serve me." her voice brought chills down the girl's spine and her gaze slowly turned towards the owner.

Madeline You never thought she would actually be scared of her best friend. Never in her life. But Endora Prince scared her. 

Madeline woke up to a body crushing into her from behind, their muscled arm wrapping around her waist. Her eyes frantically moved around. They were falling, falling from the sky. Far below she saw city lights glimmering in the early dawn, and several hundred yards away the body of the bronze dragon spinning out of control, its wings limp, fire flickering in its mouth like a badly wired lightbulb. What had she missed during her sleep?

A body shot past her ─ Leo, screaming and frantically grabbing at the clouds. "Not coooooool!"

The girl had never been in a situation like this - falling from the sky more specifically. She had teleported with Endora multiple times and as much as she swears at her for doing it, she much prefers that over falling. 

Madeline glanced towards the boy's other side and noticed Piper there, clinging to him with terrified gaze settled on her face. She didn't understand how Jason was able to hold the two of them, but the struggle on his face told her he barely did it. And they had to safe Leo too. Yet Jason seemed determinate to succeed, slowing their descent as Madeline reached her hand towards the other boy. 

"We have to get Leo!" she shouted. "Try and get closer!"

Jason nodded, holding onto the girl tighter. Their fall slowed as Jason controlled the winds, but they still lurched up and down like the winds didn't want to cooperate. "Gonna get rough," Jason warned. "Hold on!"

Madeline will mention it again ─ she much prefers teleportation with Endora then this. Jason shot toward the ground, a scream whipped from the black-haired girl's lips that was mixed with the sound from the wind in her ears. Her vision blurred. And then, thump! They slammed into another warm body ─ Leo, still wriggling and cursing.

"Stop fighting!" Jason said. "It's me!"

"My dragon!" Leo yelled. "You gotta save Festus!"

Jason was already struggling to keep the four of them aloft, and Madeline knew there was no fucking way he could help a fifty-ton metal dragon. But before she could tell Leo off, an explosion was heard below them, mixing with the sound of their fall. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, "Festus!"

The blonde boy's face reddened with strain as he tried to maintain an air cushion beneath them, but intermittent slow-downs were the best he could manage. Rather than free-falling, it felt like they were bouncing down a giant staircase, a hundred feet at a time.

As they wobbled and zigzagged, the girl could make out details of the factory complex below ─ warehouses, smokestacks, barbed-wire fences, and parking lots lined with snow-covered vehicles. They were still high enough so that hitting the ground would flatten them into roadkill ─ or sky kill ─ when Jason groaned, "I can't ─ "

And they dropped like stones.

"Shit!"

They hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into darkness. Madeline broke apart from the rest, forcing her body to curl into itself as she hit the ground, keeping the force from damaging her body. She rolled onto the ground a few time, making sure her head was alright before laying flat on her back. The girl breathed out a loud sigh, looking at the broken roof from where they had just fallen. Six years at the Camp taught you a lot of things ─ being thrown from the lava wall especially.

"Roll call!" Madeline yelled, her voice carrying though the silent building.

"Here!" she heard Leo yelling from not far away from her.

A few feet away, another voice groaned, "Here." Jason.

"Up here!" Piper's voice felt small, like a whimper. Madeline shot up right away, not looking where she was going but following Piper's voice.

"Ow!" Leo groaned as the black-haired girl stepped on his back, stumbling and almost falling over, "That's my back! I'm not a sofa!"

Madeline helped him up and ran towards the stairs that lead on the next level. Her eyes grew wide when they settled onto Piper's figure, trying to process what she was seeing. Daughter of Aphrodite was on a metal catwalk that ringed the warehouse interior with her foot looking like a disaster. Her toes were pointing in the opposite direction from where they were supposed to, her face wincing in pain.

Leo started to ask, "You okay. . . ?" then he saw her foot. "Oh no, you're not."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Piper groaned.

"You'll be fine," Jason said, though there was worry in his voice. "Leo, you got any first aid supplies?"

"Yeah ─ yeah, sure." he dug around in his tool belt and pulled out a wad of gauze and a roll of duct tape ─ both of which seemed too big for the belt's pockets.

"How did you ─ " Piper tried to sit up, and winced. Isa pushed her back down. "How did pull that stuff from an empty belt?"

"Magic," Leo said. "Haven't figure it out completely, but I can summon just about any regular tool out of the pockets, plus some other helpful stuff." he reached into another pocket and pulled out a little tin box. "Breath mint?"

"Maybe an extension charm?" Madeline guessed, "Dora, put it on my bags." the girl shrugged at the odd looks.

Jason shook his head and snatched away the mints. "That's great, Leo. Now, can you fix her foot?"

"I'm a mechanic, man. Maybe if she was a car. . ."

The blonde turned towards Madeline, "Aren't children of Apollo healers?"

Madeline breathed though her nose. She was asked that question for the millionth time when new campers came and asked about her abilities. Yes. Children on Apollo are healers, but not all of them ─ some prefer art, some medicine, some archery like Madeline does. Not all of them have to be only healers.

"Yes." she said though gritted teeth.

"Great, then you ─ "

"But, I'm not one." she cut the boy off.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused by the answer. "What?"

"I'm not a healer," Madeline simply said, "I don't posses the ability of healing, I didn't inherit it like I did my archery skills. . . Not all kids of Apollo do medicine."

There was an awkward tension that lingered around the group after the girl's explanation. She didn't intend to make this uncomfortable silence, but the blonde asked one question she hated the most. It bugs her everyday she didn't inherit healing abilities like her brothers Will and Ivor and her sister Gracie. They're always the ones helping the wounded, unlike Madeline who's only called when she needs to shoot something ( which is not bad, but it irritates her from time to time )

Madeline sighed and slung her backpack off her shoulder, opening it and rummaging though it. As she went though it, her arm disappeared more and more, until it reached her shoulder. With almost all of her stuff being in the backpack, it was the girl's priced possession.

Leo's eyes widened at the sight, "Wow! That is so cool!"

Her hand found the plastic container she was looking for. She brought it out, kneeling next to Piper as she opened it. Inside was the Ambrosia she always carried, broken into squares like lemon bars. The black-haired girl broke off a piece and fed it to Piper.

"More," she said.

Madeline retreated her hand away, "Too much of this could burn you up. You had enough of it." she looked towards Piper's foot. "I think we should try to set your foot."

Piper's stomach fluttered. "Have any of you ever done that before?"

"Yeah. . . I think so." Jason said.

Leo found an old piece of wood and broke it in half for a splint. Then he got the gauze and duct tape ready.

"Hold her leg still," Jason told the two others. "Piper, this is going to hurt."

When Jason set the foot, Piper flinched so hard she punched Leo in the arm, and he yelled almost as much as she did. The daughter of Aphrodite blacked out for a second and while Madeline kept her head still, Jason managed to fix her foot so it was pointing the right way, her ankle splinted with plywood, gauze, and duct tape.

"Ow," Piper said as she opened her eyes and looked towards the injury.

"Jeez, beauty queen!" Leo rubbed his arm. "Glad my face wasn't there."

"Sorry," she said. "And don't call me 'beauty queen,' or I'll punch you again."

"Well. . . you all did great." Jason said.

Madeline scowled. She did feel like she did 'great'. She was feeling useless right now. The girl could hear the wind howling outside. Snowflakes fluttered through the hole in the roof, and after their meeting with Khione, Madeline started hating winter and snow even more.

"What happened to the dragon?" she asked. "Do we know where we landed?"

Leo's expression turned sullen at the mention of the dragon. "I don't know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started to fall." Madeline frowned at the information. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Leo continued speaking. He pointed to the logo on the wall. "As far as where we are. . ."

It was hard to see through the graffiti, but Madeline could make out a large red eye with the stenciled words: monocle motors, assembly plant 1.

"Closed car plant," Leo said. "I'm guessing we crash landed in Detroit."

As the trio spoke, Madeline kept staring at the red eye that seemed to watch her. It felt familiar to her, like she had seen it before. She couldn't help staring at it, an uneasy feeling setting in her stomach. The others voiced died down in her mind as last year's summer appeared, waking up in cold sweet, gasping for air and shaking from fear. The choker seem to burn in her skin as past memories rose back to the front, her hands wanting to claw at it, pull it off her burning skin, but she didn't. It helped her from seeing more than she was supposed to, helping her not see everything. But it was a reminder of what she knew and what she couldn't say. A curse that she bore. One that would destroy everything she worked for.

Longer she started at the sign, it became clearer what it was. Monocle. One eye. Dinner. Chains. Monsters.

A hand softly placed itself onto her shoulder making the girl jolt in her spot, bringing her hand towards the arm and shaking it off her shoulder, twisting it until the owner of it winced in pain. Madeline blinked a couple of time, looking at the blonde boy that had his eyes shut in pain. She let go of it quickly and stood up sharply, "I'm so sorry, so sorry." she apologized, "But don't do that! Who in their right mind scares people like that?"

Jason rubbed the spot on his hand where Madeline had grabbed it, "Wow, you're strong," he muttered, before looking up at Madeline who raised her eyebrow, "I, um, we were just worried. You blanked out and didn't answer us."

"Oh." the black-haired girl said, "Oh, I'm fine, just lost in my thoughts."

The blonde didn't look convinced, "You sure?"

Daughter of Apollo nodded, "Yeah, yeah, happens a lot, so don't worry." Jason opened his mouth once more but Madeline cut his off, "How far are we from Chicago?"

"Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec?" Jason said, narrowing his eyes at the girl, not believing the word she was saying, but she ignored him, "The thing is, without the dragon, we're stuck traveling overland."

Madeline protested right away and Leo joined her, agreeing that it wasn't say to travel on the land. Her heart thumped against her ribcage, her senses on alert. She waited for the monster to show up, to try and fight them, do anything to not hurt the rest. But even she knew that the future can't be changed.

"They're right." Piper nodded along, "Besides, I don't know if I can walk. And four people — Jason, you can't fly that many across country by yourself."

"No way," Jason said. "Leo, are you sure the dragon didn't malfunction? I mean, Festus is old, and ─ "

"And I might not have repaired him right?" Leo huffed, anger bubbling in his throat.

"I didn't say that," Jason protested. "It's just ─ maybe you could fix it."

"I don't know." Leo sounded crestfallen. He pulled a few screws out of his pockets and started fiddling with them. "I'd have to find where he landed, if he's even in one piece."

"It was my fault." Piper said suddenly, her eyes glossy with tears. Madeline stared at her with frown on her face. As far as she was aware, all of them were asleep, so how could it be the girl's fault.

"Don't be ridiculous," Madeline said, her hands crossed, "we were all asleep when Festus conked out. It couldn't be your fault. It couldn't ben anyone's."

"Yeah, you're just shaken up," Leo agreed. He didn't even try to make a joke at her expense. "You're in pain. Just rest."

They sat in silence after that. Madeline, still standing up, turned her head back towards the big sign that seemed to stare at them. She was counting down minutes until the attack would happen, hoping that she could, maybe just a bit, change what she had seen and not be stuck dangling from the ceiling.

But future is impossible to change. That's at least what her father had always told her. Never try to change it, he would say, You don't know what it can do. So she never tried. But a small part of her brain was being eaten out by curiosity. Why shouldn't she do it? What would happen? Will the world fall?

Leo slowly stood up. "I'll scout around for Festus." he said, "I think he fell outside the warehouse somewhere. If I can find him, maybe I can figure out what happened and fix him."

"Alone? No, it's dangerous." Madeline shook her head as she turned back around.

"Ah, I got duct tape and breath mints. I'll be fine," Leo said, a little too quickly, and Madeline realized he was a lot more shaken up than he was letting on. Her eyes softened a bit, "You guys just don't run off without me."

Leo reached into his magic tool belt, pulled out a flashlight, and headed down the stairs, leaving Madeline, Piper and Jason alone. The black-haired girl wanted to call Leo back, to protest on him going alone or to let her come with him. Many years of experience and you know when danger is around ─ add the fact that the girl saw what would happen in less then minutes. Her hands went towards her choker, a habit she got after the end of the Titan War, after she was given the necklace. The flashlight that was hanging from her belt hoops dangled from the side, hitting her leg as she paced around.

She heard someone standing up. She knew it was Jason as Piper couldn't walk properly, so she stopped her pacing and turned towards him as he stopped in front of her. There was an odd look settled onto his face as he stared at the girl in front of him. She was familiar to him, but he, much like other things, didn't know from where. But this one he wanted to know. He wanted to know from where he knew Madeline You and way was she stuck in his brain since the moment he saw her.

"You okay?" he asked, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, "You seen on edge?"

Madeline had her hand over her stomach, the other now resting on the neckline of her blouse, "Just. . . this place gives me a bad vibe. I feel like something is here and it's. . . not good."

Jason didn't say anything for a moment, but regarded the girl, "Something bad? Like a monster?"  

Daughter of Apollo kept quiet. She made Jason feel so confused. She was hiding something from him, from the rest, he could see it in her eyes. It unsettled him. Fear and worry evident in her eyes as she looked around. Was she waiting for an attack? Did she know monsters would be here? So many questions rose in his mind that he didn't dare to ask. He only knew her for a day or so, he couldn't ask something that clearly she wanted to stay a secret. Maybe. . . maybe he could ask Endora when they get back. They were best friends after all.

"You did a good job," she said suddenly making the blonde span his gaze towards her. "Where'd you learn first aid?"

The blonde boy shrugged, tired of giving the same answer. "Same answer as always. I don't know."

Madeline nodded slowly, "But you're starting to have some memories, aren't you? Like the prophecy you said back at camp, or that dream about Lupa."

"It's fuzzy," Jason said. "Like déjà vu. Ever forgotten a word or a name, and you know it should be on the tip of your tongue, but it isn't? It's like that ─ only with my whole life."

It was eating her out for not being able to say anything to the boy. She wanted to comfort him, tell him everything she knew about him, but gods were cruel beings. There was so much pain in his voice as he spoke, torture for not knowing anything, everything taken away from you because gods wanted to play. The past days she watched her best friend live on caffeine and zero sleep, trying every spell her brain and her spellbook could think of, tiring herself even more and letting the darkness take everything away, blood spilling like diamond tears down her pale cheeks. It wasn't the first time Madeline had seen Endora like that, it wasn't, but it made the girl want to cry. She wanted to scream, to shout, to let everything out, but she couldn't. She was forbidden to by those who were supposed to guide them and help in times like these.

Just pawns. That's what demigods were.

Madeline stepped closer to the boy, her fingers slipping from the fabric, itching to feel the soft skin of his hand once more. But she stopped herself and settled onto a smile as a reassurance. The corners of his lips turned upwards too.

"That photo in your pocket," Piper mutter behind the boy and Madeline looked over Jason's shoulder at her. Daughter of Aphrodite was starting to understand her mother's side of the family, and she hated it. She noticed the way Jason looked at Madeline, adoration that she wanted but couldn't have. "Is that someone from your past?"

Jason frowned at the question. His hand that was inside the pocket seemed to grip onto something and upon seeing his unsettled face, Piper begun to quickly apologize for crossing the line, "No ─ it's okay." he let out a sigh, "Just, I'm trying to figure things out. Her name's Thalia. She's my sister." the boy turned towards Madeline, not knowing what else to say.

"She's really cool," the black-haired girl said with a fond smile, "Bickered a lot with Jackson but she was nice to me while at Camp. A good friend really. Although," she regarded the blonde boy, "You look nothing alike, except having the same godly parent. Thalia became one of Artemis' Hunters, travelling the country and slaying monsters. . . I could take you to meet her after all of this is over. I should really Iris-message her about that date. . ."

Jason frowned slightly at the last statement but quickly dismissed it when Madeline looked at him. He cleared his throat, "Yeah, I'd like that, thank you. . . But, I get the feeling I'm supposed to find her. Hera left me that memory for a reason. It's got something to do with this quest. But. . . I also have the feeling it could be dangerous. I'm not sure I want to find out the truth. Is that crazy?"

"No," Piper said. "Not at all." there was a moment of silence where Madeline turned back towards the logo again, before Piper spoke up again, "Guys," she muttered. "Speaking of the truth, I need to tell you something — something about my dad ─ " she didn't get the chance. Somewhere below, metal clanged against metal, like a door slamming shut. The sound echoed through the warehouse. 

Shit.

Jason took out his coin and flipped it, snatching his golden sword out of the air. Madeline took off her earings, placing them in her open palm before closing it into a fist. Her bow appeared in her hand and her quiver on her back. The pair peered over the railing.

"Leo?" Jason called.

No answer.

"I said I got the bad vibe from this place" Madeline muttered.

"He could be in trouble," Piper said as she drew Katoptris. "Go check."

"I can't leave you two alone."

Madeline rolled her eyes, grabbed an arrow and notching it, "We're no damsels in distress. I fought in a war far worse from this. We can handle ourselves."

Both Jason and Piper admired the confidence in the girl's voice. She sounded determined, no fear shown on her face. She seemed calm, collected, not how Piper was feeling. If she was being honest, this whole demigod thing was scaring her and all she wanted was for it to be a some kind of a sick nightmare.

Jason hesitated. "I'll leave you the pack. If I'm not back in five minutes ─ "

"Panic?" Piper suggested.

He managed a smile. "Glad you're back to normal. The makeup and the dress were a lot more intimidating than the dagger. And Maddy. . . you're just intimidating, that's all."

Madeline let a small smirk settle on her features. With one last look at the two girls, the boy made his way to the stairs and disappeared into the dark. Even when she can see good in the dark, Madeline was lost. She tried to count for how long Jason was gone, but she lost track at around forty-three.

Then something in the warehouse went bang!

The echo died. 

Madeline grabbed Piper's hand. The girl snapped her eyes at the daughter of Apollo, her breathing heavy, "Stay quiet." she said in a low voice, "We need to move."

Boom. The sound was closer this time, directly below them. They heard heavy steps on the stairs ─ like metal boots. Had it been five minutes? Longer? It couldn't have been that long? The steps didn't sound like Jason, but maybe he was carrying Leo. 

Gripping her dagger, Piper called out, "Jason?"

A hand clasped over her mouth and Piper's eyes grew wide as she stared at Madeline. Her eyes looked deadly and instead on a bow she had a dagger in her unoccupied hand. How did she switch so fast and from had it came from?

"Yeah," a voice said from the darkness. "On my way up."

Definitely Jason's voice. So why did all her instincts say Run? Why did Madeline wanted her to stay quiet? The steps came closer.

"It's okay," Jason's voice promised.

At the top of the stairs, a face appeared out of the darkness — a hideous black grin, a smashed nose, and a single bloodshot eye in the middle of his forehead.

"It's fine," the Cyclops said, in a perfect imitation of Jason's voice. "You're just in time for dinner."

And in that moment, Madeline's dream became reality.