him, in all of his glory.

14. 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺

I finally lost my no-nightmare streak after a few days.

Those nightmare less nights had been great, but of course, all good things must come to an end. Thus ending my good night's rest. I woke up, it was pitch black. I'm trying to slowly catch my breath and realize what I just saw in my dream. Until I saw some light coming from outside my tent. It wasn't light and I checked my watch, 3:17 am. I opened my tent and saw a fire, just a tiny one. Part of me hoped it was Hestia again, I could use some of her hope. Until I realized it was Malcolm. Just sitting on his own, crying silently.

"Malcolm, are you ok?" I asked from my tent. He looked confused for a sec, probably wondering where the sound came from. Until he realized it was me. He quickly wiped his tears away. "Yeah, fine. Just totally fine. I couldn't sleep." He replied. He looked away. Almost in a scared way. I got out of my tent and sat down across from him. "You know, I just woke up from a nightmare. How about you tell me the truth and I'll tell you about my nightmare?" I said to him. He smiled and now looked me into my eyes. "Alright, I had another nightmare. It's just, I don't want to bother you with this. You have enough on your plate already." He said. "Malcolm, you are my friend. And if something is worrying you, then of course I'm going to help you out. You would do the same thing for me." I told him. He looked reassured and nodded. "Okay, so I haven't been completely honest to you. I've been having these repeated nightmares ever since we embarked on this journey. At first they were vague but they have worsened. It always starts the same. Me and Annabeth are just walking through camp. Talking, like always. Then people get into this trance, white eyes and standing still not doing anything. The camp and everything around me and her starts to burn. She looks at me terrified, and when I look away she falls into the ground. As if the ground is eating her. I try to save her, but she always says one thing before being sucked into the ground beneath us. She always says; 'I'm dead because of you. You did this.' Always that sentence. Then a woman rises up from the ground. She has this bloodcurdling laugh. And that's all I hear as I wake up." He explained it to me. He starts tearing up. This sounds all too much like my earlier dreams, except without Annabeth. "Did you get to see the woman at the end of your nightmares?" I asked him. "Not really, just a dark shape of one. She only laughs, she called me a fool in my last nightmare, which was new." He said. "Mhm. That's strange. Just remember it's over now, she cannot hurt you. I had similar nightmares, mine changed though." I said. "Indeed strange. What was yours about tonight?" He asked.

"It was us three having reached the cave. This time no old man. We walked into the darkness. I felt like I was being watched by a thousand eyes. It felt so uncomfortable. We got to a room with more lights and lots of mirrors. When I looked behind me, you guys were gone. But when I looked back, my reflection had changed into this dark figure. Taller than me. Long dark hair covering her face. I could only see her smile, just a creepy smile looking at me. I walked towards the reflection when her hand reached towards my throat. She got out of the mirror and was now choking me, lifting me up off of the ground. Tears started forming in my eyes. She said her phrase like always, "give in or give up". After that I woke up." I told him. He looked puzzled. I didn't tell him about him not being in my dream at all. I just realized that he wasn't at the cave, it was just me and Percy. I couldn't tell him the truth, he might freak out.

"It was the first time I could see the woman more clearly. She has really fair skin, olive coloured. She was dressed in this greek robe, but it was dark and full of tears, holes and spots. Her hair was long, slightly curly, and almost dead. Couldn't make out much of her face except her dead expression. Her eyes were gloomy with lots of dark circles under them. And I could never forget that smile. I know it's not much, but at least I know now how our enemy looks." I said. He looked like he got an idea from everything I told him. "I guess that is a pretty good description. I'm just wondering why she is finally showing herself to you. Why now, you know." He said.