ғʀᴏsᴛʙɪᴛᴇ - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐋𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐒

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ

ʟɪᴢ

Liz had been right. Well, of course she had, she was always right. But she had been right. And she had defended Piper. Which meant she was now on Drew's very bad side and Piper's sort of good side.

Liz brushed out her hair, feeling the tension from it being in a tight ponytail slip away. She sighed, rubbing her face. Again, she felt the emptiness of the cabin without Percy. The walls didn't seem to glow as bright, the space seemed to be only half filled.

Liz placed her brush on the night table, pulling the string on her lamp. She placed her head on her pillow, sighing and looking up at the ceiling.

She despised drama, and tonight had been an entire soap opera. She tried to recount the evening. Jason was a son of Zeus, prophecy of eight, Piper could charmspeak, and there was a quest. She was probably missing about half of the night's events, but she was too tired to care.

Liz breathed in the salty air, listening to the waves crash onto the shore outside. At one point, that would've annoyed her. Now, it reminded her of her close friend.

Liz breathed deeply, as the sound of the waves began to muffle as if someone had placed ear muffs on Liz's head. She drifted off to sleep. And then began the dreams.

Liz was different than most demigods in that she showed almost no signs of ADHD and her dyslexia was almost nonexistent, another gift from her mother. But the dreams? Well, the dreams decided to stick around.

Liz appeared in her bedroom, the white walls covered in holes like Swiss cheese. It seemed her father had been in her room, taking his anger out on the plaster since she'd last been home.

She looked out her window, her curtains waving in the wind. It was snowing outside, a light snow, barely covering the lawn, of which had broken beer bottles and crushed Coors Light cans on the ground.

Liz closed her window, drawing her curtains closed. Of course the gods had decided to bring her back her. They never had enough of tormenting her. Or anyone, really.

Liz walked away from the window, opening her door and stepping out of her room. She heard the sounds of loud TV blaring downstairs. She inched down the stairs, skipping over the fourth carpeted step as it was known to creak. She leaned against the wall when she saw her father, passed out on the couch, a beer bottle in his hand, and many more empty ones littered around the living room.

The man on TV was cheering on a hockey team, something about winning three to zero. Liz sighed. Her father's brown hair had grown out, as had his beard. When Liz was still around, she would cut his hair for him, just like she did with Teddy. But she wasn't around anymore.

Liz trudged back up the stairs, opening the door to her left. To no one's surprise, Teddy was sitting on his bed, reading.

"Really?" Liz looked up at the sky. "Dead people? Come on, guys."

Teddy was a spitting image of his father. His brown scruffy hair fell in front of his face. He was buff, a trait that had come from trying to imitate his father's physique.

"Liz." Teddy sat up. The bruises around his neck were made very apparent, the purple serving as a neon sign on Teddy's pale skin.

"Nope! No, I'm not doing this today. I've had a rough day, I'm not letting dead people talk to me." Liz shook her head, slamming Teddy's door.

"Liz!" Teddy called opening his door and following her as she climbed down the stairs, not bothering to skip the fourth step. "Liz, come back and listen!"

"Nope! Go away!" Liz said, storming through the living room and tripping over bottles as she stormed outside and into the snow.

"Liz, please! It's important," Teddy pleaded.

Liz groaned, running a hand through her hair. "Why do you people feel the need to torture me?"

"Liz, it's me. Hera sent me."

Liz stopped, turning around. "Hera sent you? Why? She has the three she needs."

"If you don't go, those three die. You're just as important as anyone else on this quest."

"Why will they die?"

"I don't know, Liz. I didn't get an explanation." Teddy shrugged.

Liz stepped forward. "Is it... is it really you?"

"Who else?" Teddy shrugged again.

Liz put her hand on Teddy's shoulder, looking him up and down. She saw the rope fibers on his black t-shirt. His choked, watery eyes. The wind began to pick up, the snow whipping Liz's face like a bunch of tiny snow knives.

"Did you see me?" Liz asked quietly. "When I pulled you down, did you see me? Did you know I cared?"

"It wasn't about that, Liz-" Teddy began.

"But did you see me? From wherever you were, did you watch me take you down and cry over you?" Liz could barely see Teddy now, the white snow flying around them like a blizzard.

"No! I di-"

The dream ended and Liz's eyes opened to the image of the ceiling above her. She groaned, putting her hands to her head. She felt like suffocating herself with a pillow.

Liz sat up, slinging her legs over the bed. They hung off the top bunk, swinging and swaying. Light peeked through the window, but it was dim, telling Liz it was just reaching dawn.

She jumped down from her bed, hitting the floor in her white socks. She rubbed her eyes. She heard birds chirping outside, singing to one another.

And then she realized.

"I'm going on the quest."