1971 words

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In my dreams, I stood with a girl in a forest. The girl had spiky black hair, stormy blue eyes, and was wearing a leather jacket, ripped black jeans, and a punk rock shirt.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

The girl shrugged. "Same as you, Hunter Queen. Just a lost soul trying to find their way."

"I'm not lost," I said indignantly.

"You sure about that?" asked the girl, arching an eyebrow. "You seem to be."

"Well, it's hard not to be," I snapped at the girl, "after everything I've been through."

"Tell me about it," sighed the girl. "You're not the only one who's been through stuff."

She gazed longingly into the distance.

"Anyway," the girl said, suddenly very serious. "You need to wake up. You need to prepare for what's coming."

"What's coming?"

"Something dark." the girl looked me dead in the eyes. "I don't what exactly, but something is coming."

"It's Kronos," I said automatically. "He's rising again."

The girl's face paled.

"Oh no," she muttered. "Kronos? Rising? He can't be. Oh no, this is bad."

"I know it's bad," I said. "But-"

The girl continued

"You need to wake up," the girl said "Wake up, Hunter Queen. Wake up."

I woke up suddenly, lying on the deck of a ship. At first, I thought I was still dreaming, but then I saw Agro with her head on my chest and Zade perched next to her.

Don't ever do that again! Agro barked furiously. You could've died! I thought you did.

I chuckled weakly. "I'm not sorry."

"Ainsley, you're awake!" Raiden came sprinting over, her eyes bloodshot. She pulled me into a rib-crushing hug. "You're okay!"

"Raiden, ack! You're crushing me!".

"Sorry," Raiden let go of me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine."

"Good," she said, then punched me in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"For scaring me." Raiden glowered at me. "You've been unconscious for almost 12 hours!"

"I was trying to save your butt, Kairos," I said, standing up and looking around. A green sea stretched on either side to the horizon, and the stars glittered in the sky. "Where are we, anyway? What happened?"

"We found you floating unconscious in the sea," Raiden explained. "I pulled you into the lifeboat, and Annabeth gave you some Ambrosia. Then, we wound up on an island."

Raiden explained how the island ended up having Circe the Sorceress on it, how she had deceived all of them, and how Percy had been turned into a guinea pig.

I smirked and looked at Percy. "I can see the resemblance."

Percy scowled at me.

Raiden continued explaining. "Annabeth used Hermes's multivitamins to turn all the guinea pigs back into humans, and they turned out to be Blackbeard and his crew."

"Blackbeard?!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. "Like the pirate?!"

"Yep," Raiden grinned. "He and his crew charged Circe down, and we escaped on his ship: the Queen Anne's Revenge."

"Dam," I said. "Y'all really got into trouble while I was out."

"Yep," Annabeth said.

With the explanation done, I walked to the edge of the ship and leaned on the edge. A soft breeze rustled my hair, and I looked up at the moon. It was a Blue Moon tonight like the moon was sad.

"I'm sorry, mother," I murmured to the moon. "I know you told me to be careful, and I was reckless."

Another breeze ruffled my hair, and it smelled like wild forests, even though we were in the middle of the ocean. It was the smell that reminded me of the Hunt and my mother. I figured it was my mother telling me she was glad I was okay.

"We're here," Raiden said suddenly, very seriously.

In the distance, I could eerily hear women singing. I narrowed my eyes, and my vision sped forward and stopped at a horrible sight. There were people crouched on rocks singing, except that they weren't people at all. The figures were vultures the size of humans with gray talons, wrinkled pink necks, and untidy black feathers. Their heads were human, but their bodies were of vultures.

"Disgusting!" I shouted, my vision returning to normal.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Sirens," I said.

Percy's face paled. "Sirens? As in the women who sing and lure people to their deaths with their voices?! Those sirens?!"

"Nooooo," I said sarcastically. "I'm talking about the sirens on an ambulance. Of course, I'm talking about the singing women, you idiot!"

"Why are you so rude?" Percy asked, scowling at me.

I ignored him and turned to Raiden. "Plug your ears with this."

I reached my senses down to the ocean floor below the ship and willed the plants down there to grow. Instantly, there was a rumbling underwater, and a few seconds later, several seaweed plants erupted from the sea and stopped next to where I stood.

"Woah," said Percy.

I drew one of my daggers and cut off a length of seaweed about 7 inches long.

"Return home," I told the plants, and they retreated back into the sea.

I sheathed my dagger, summoned fire in my left hand, and held the seaweed over it. I willed the fire to heat to 500 degrees.

"Stand back," I warned the others. "It's gonna get hot on here."

"Why are you summoning fire?!" demanded Percy. "We're on a wooden ship! You'll light us all on fire!"

I looked coldly at Percy. "I'm making something to plug our ears with, son of Poseidon. So, unless you want the rest of us to drown from the Sirens' song, I suggest you shut your mouth."

Percy opened his mouth furiously, about to say something to me, but I ignored him and turned back to the seaweed. It was now a puddle of goopy green in my hand, and some of it was dripping off my hand and pooling onto the deck.

"Okay," I said, "Everyone come forward and put this in your ears. It may be gross, but it'll save your butts."

"I don't want any," Annabeth said flatly. "I'm going to listen to them. Legend says that if you survive to listen to the Sirens, you'll gain great wisdom."

Percy started to protest, but Annabeth cut him off. "This is what I want to do, Percy."

Her tone was firm, and Percy, looking nervous, nodded.

"Give me some of that green sludge," Raiden said.

"Help yourself." I held out my hand, and Raiden scooped some up and put it in her ears.

"This feels really gross!" she shouted. "But it blocks out sound completely, so that's good!"

Percy came forward, took some, and put it in his own ears. I then walked over to Agro and Zade and put it in their ears.

"Do the Sirens even work on animals?" Annabeth asked.

"Don't know," I said, straightening up, "but I'm not taking any chances."

"Take these," I added in an undertone to Raiden, handing her my bow, arrows, and daggers.

"You're going to listen?" Raiden seemed surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Why not?" I said. "I have everything I want, so what can they do to me? It'll be interesting to listen."

Chief, Zade squawked, Are you sure you want to do this?

"Yes, I'm sure."

Are you prepared for what it might bring? barked Agro.

"Yes," I said, but I wasn't sure if I believed myself.

I walked over to the mast where Percy was already starting to tie Annabeth and leaned against it. My gaze drifted up to the full moon.

"Which me luck, Mom," I said quietly.

Percy finished tying us to the mast and walked to where Raiden, Agro, and Zade stood, or well I guess in Zade's case, perched. The ship kept on sailing, and the song of the Sirens got louder and louder. My mind was starting to get foggy, and I had a strange urge to jump into the water. And then, I saw him.

Aidan was sitting next to Artemis around a fire under the night night chatting away happily, while Pher sat in front of him. Dad sat on the other side of Artemis talking with Zoë, while Snow sat in front of him, chewing on a bone. Aidan looked up, saw me, and his face broke into a wide smile. He patted the ground next to him, in a gesture for me to sit down. He looked so happy to see me, like he had never betrayed me at all.

A powerful ache built in my heart. The longing I had for him was overwhelming; I wanted to be with him, but first, I had to break free from whatever was holding me down. With a huge wrench, I broke free of whatever was holding me and ran towards Aidan and his smiling face.

"Ainsley, no!" a voice shouted distantly, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get to Aidan. Just as I was about to get to Aidan, I hit the water and went under.

"No, no, no," I muttered, as Aidan's face grew more and more distant.

I swam deeper and deeper underwater, trying to get to Aidan. Just then, arms seized me around the middle and began pulling me back up.

"NO!" I bellowed, as Aidan's face got smaller and smaller.

I fought whoever was holding me so hard. I shapeshifted into a lion, a bear; and every large animal I could think of, but whoever was holding me clung on.

"Remember," a voice whispered in my ear. "Remember what you have, Ainsley; who you have."

A series of pictures flashed in front of my eyes: sitting with the Hunters around a campfire, laughing; swimming with Agro and Zade in the rivers in the early mornings; climbing trees with Raiden up in the mountains; competing with Dad to see who could down the most marshmallows; having snowball fights with the Hunters in winter. And I remembered.

The fog in my mind cleared, and I saw Raiden with a bubble around her head, with her arms around me.

"C'mon," she whispered and pulled me back up to the surface. Our heads broke the surface of the water, and I willed the water to carry us back onto the ship. The water blasted us up, and we landed, sprawled on the ship deck.

"Are you okay?" Raiden asked, standing up and helping me to my feet. She was sopping wet from the neck down.

I didn't answer; I just stared out at the ocean.

"He wasn't really there, was he?" I asked finally, very quietly.

"What?" Raiden said.

"He wasn't really there, was he?" I repeated, my gaze drifting to her face. "Aidan?"

Raiden shook her head. "No, he wasn't. I'm sorry."

I strode over to the side of the ship and screamed; screamed out all my rage, pain, and heartache that had pent up over the 4 years; screamed so loudly that the very earth itself would feel my pain. Once I had screamed until I thought my lungs would burst, I fell to my knees and sobbed. Why were the Fates so cruel as to make me think that my brother had returned to me?

Chief. Agro had come over and laid her head on my leg. It's alright.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and sobbed into her fur. Raiden came over and hugged me, while Zade nestled under my arm. For a long time, we stayed that way. It had been a long time since I had been hugged like this.

"I hate to interrupt," said Percy, "but we're here."

We all broke apart and stood up, with me wiping my eyes as I did so.

"Where?" I asked.

"The Island of the Cyclopes," Percy said darkly, "home of Polyphemus."