Praetor's legacy

Chapter 20

Percy didn't know where he was or what he was doing there. All he remembered was a lot of pain, a lot of darkness, and hearing Aidan's cries.

Dark black waves hit a pebbly shore on the smallest island Percy had ever seen. It would comfortably fit three or four people but anymore than that and they'd start running out of elbow room.

Everywhere he looked, he saw darkness. The sky was a dark black with no stars or the moon to light it. The waves were so dark he could not see, and he didn't feel powerful standing near the large amount of water. He wasn't even sure it was water. The ground was a dark earth with even darker and sharper pebbles that seemed to cut his feet, although there was no blood.

He felt trapped, and afraid. How was he supposed to survive off of this small, barren piece of land? How could he get off this island? And were the dark waves even water?

Suddenly, as though a spotlight shined down on him, a beam of light lit the double darkness in which he had been standing. A girl appeared in front of him, smiling at him. A pretty Native American girl that he'd never seen before. She almost reminded him of Piper, except that Piper didn't wear the kind of moccasins and animal skin clothing that this girl was wearing, and that Piper didn't have long, flowing black hair.

A named popped into Percy's mind. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember from where. He felt as though his memories were lost all over again. "Ravena?" he asked. The girl nodded and raised her hand to him in a silent hello.

"How do I know you, Ravena?" wondered Percy. "Have we met before?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "We met as you made your way through Alaska, Perseus Jackson. You are the child of a Greek god, yet you are praetor of a Roman camp. You intrigued me, Perseus."

"How do you know of the Greek and Roman gods?" asked Percy. "Unless you are a child of one or the other? Tell me, are you Greek or Roman?"

She smiled a conspiratorial smile. "I am neither, Perseus. I am the demigod child of the Inuit god, Raven. Raven is my father. I am named for him."

"You mean the Inuit gods are real, along with the Greek and the Roman gods? How many gods are there?" marveled Percy.

"You would not believe me if I told you, Perseus." She smiled a coy grin at him.

"Please, call me Percy. No one calls me Perseus," begged Percy.

"You say no one calls you Perseus, yet all I've ever known you as is Perseus Jackson. I do not believe in nicknames. I'd never ask you to call me anything other than Ravena."

Percy sighed. "Fine. Tell me Ravena, where are we?"

She smiled. "Haven't you guessed already? We are stranded in the center of your mind. You are trapped in your own consciousness."

"How are you trapped in here too? Are you even real?" asked Percy. He'd started to get really freaked out.

"I am as real as you are, Perseus. I have the power to enter a person's dreams, and sometimes, if they're deep enough in a coma, I can enter their mind as well."

"What am I doing here, Ravena? How can I leave this place? I must return to Camp Half-Blood! I can't have them worrying about me! And Reyna and Aidan, what will they think?"

Ravena smiled. "It is a test of willpower. You must force yourself to wake up, but you must do it from the center of your mind where your body finds it hardest to hear. Take my hands. I will help you focus your energy so that your body hears both of us instead of just you."

Ravena held her hands out to Percy. Percy slowly took her hands in his and closed his eyes. Ravena hummed a tune that was very foreign to Percy, yet very soothing. It reminded him somehow of home. Percy tried humming along, trying to match her tone. Him and his newly found friend stood there, at the center of his mind, humming a tune that seemed to energize him to the point of vibrating.

The air seemed to hum with them, and the waves seemed to beat against the barren shore with the same rhythm. Percy called out to his body through the notes. He felt Ravena was calling to his body as well. She seemed to scream with her hums, begging his body to awaken. Percy matched her tone. The waves crashed against the shore with new power, as if the water was angry at his body. The air felt energized around them, as though with an electric charge.

Suddenly, Percy was surrounded by a pureness of white he could never have imagined. He had to close his eyes so that he wouldn't be blinded.

"Ravena?" Percy called out. She squeezed his hands, letting him know she was still there. "How come I don't remember meeting you, Ravena?"

She sighed, as though the answer brought her pain. "My father, Raven, took from you the memories that we shared. I helped you beat a monster that was attacking you when you left Frank and Hazel, your companions, to get supplies. You entered our Inuit demigod camp, but Raven didn't want the amnesiac Greek who was playing Roman to allow our secrets out into the world. We try to stay out of other gods' affairs. There are so few of us, Percy. So very few Inuit demigods. Raven and Bear, our main gods, refuse to go out into the world to impregnate "non-believers." They only choose from the Inuit camps, and those are slowly decreasing in population. Our entire culture, our entire heritage, is fading Percy. And I, along with all of my culture, need your help. Help us convince Bear and Raven to spread our culture. You are from New York are you not? But Greek and Roman demigods are everywhere, in the least AND most populated of places. When you wake, return to us Perseus. Please, you must help us!"

"How will I find your camp?" Percy desperately asked.

Ravena let go of one of his hands and placed it over his heart. "Follow this Perseus. Hopefully your heart will know the way."

Percy gasped and opened his eyes... Into the crying face of Reyna.

"Oh Percy," Reyna gasped. She threw herself on top of him and nestled her face into his neck. It had never felt so good to be home.