The rhythmic hum of the bus engine and the gentle sway of the vehicle on the road created a lullaby, inducing Aubri and her companions into a deep slumber. As the miles passed beneath the wheels, the bus carried them closer to the Forge in South Dakota, where Hephaestus' celestial hammer awaited.
In the realm of dreams, Aubri once again found herself in a disconcerting landscape. The familiar shadows surrounded her as she stood within the Forge, witnessing the ominous scene unfold. The shadow figure, now more defined, was in the midst of stealing the celestial hammer. The deafening clatter of metal echoed through the chamber, causing the very foundations of the building to tremble.
"No! You can't take that! Stop!!" Aubri's voice reverberated through the dream, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. A malevolent laughter emanated from beneath her, causing her to stumble and fall to the cold, unforgiving floor.
As Aubri gathered herself, she looked up to see the shadow figure standing above her, shaking their head in disappointment. "Shouldn't have tried to follow me and stop me, little girl," the figure warned. With a lean forward, the shadow revealed a face that sent a chill down Aubri's spine – a face resembling a young man, around the age of Charlie Benkendorf, with a similar complexion.
"Charlie?? No, you can't be Charlie. Who are you?" Aubri stuttered, her face warm, yet cold from fear and a trickle of blood coming from her forehead.
The man chuckled, "None of your concern little girl, though I would wish not to kill you, considering our parentage." He leaned closer, up to her ear, and whispered, "But I have to."
The scene shifted, and the mysterious young man walked over to Luke, handing him the celestial hammer. The world quaked with imbalance, and an eruption of earthquakes and volcanoes ensued. Luke's laughter echoed through the Forge as chaos unfolded.
The young man, his eyes filled with malevolence, approached Aubri. "You're a son of Hephaestus! Why are you working with Luke, and why do you have to kill me?" Aubri's voice broke, as she was now standing at the edge of a large cliff. The man then pushed her off the edge into the abyss of darkness that was behind her.
Aubri jolted awake with a scream, her heart pounding in her chest. In her disoriented state, she lashed out, punching Ash, who was sitting next to her on the bus. Ash, half-awake and bewildered, groggily exclaimed, "Dude, what the hell? Why did you punch me in the chest?"
Aubri, still catching her breath from the haunting dream, stammered, "I... I saw... the Forge, Luke, and that guy from my last dream. It's all connected, Ash. Something bad is going to happen, and we need to be ready."
Ash sighed, "Dude it was another dream, relax. Go back to sleep." Ash then turned towards the window away from Aubri, falling back asleep.
Zavik heard Aubri's scream, "Aubri, are you okay? You screamed, making the other passengers look at you puzzled. And what about the Forge are you saying we need to prepare for? And you saw Luke again in a dream?" He looked puzzled, yet also somewhat alarmed. He nudged at Lincoln, jolting him awake. "Lincoln, switch spots with Aubri for a little bit. I need to talk to her privately."
Lincoln, half awake, nodded and switched with Aubri. As Aubri sat down, she couldn't help but feel a wave of anxiety and stress fall upon her. Tears streamed from her eyes, as she sobbed to herself as Zavik tried calming her down. "I- I don't want to fail this quest Zavik. But if the guy from my last dream is at the Forge right now, I feel that we may have failed. I don't know what to do." She sobbed harder, the anxiety and stress taking over her mind.
Zavik looked at her sympathetically, "You know Aubri, Percy told us before you got this quest that sometimes you feel that you will fail. But most Oracles have double meanings, and maybe that's what this double meaning is. Maybe, sure the guy has the hammer right now, but we'll stop him and retrieve the hammer from him. The Oracle said, Balance trembles, in hands misplaced, darkness looms, a soul to be erased. Maybe, just maybe, this is all part of the plan right now, and we then restore the hammer and whoever this guy is, dies. We never know with the Oracle, okay?"
Aubri nodded, as Zavik placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She wiped her tears, giggling with embarrassment, then looked out the window behind Zavik. The sun was almost set beyond the horizon, and a large sign read, 'Welcome to South Dakota.' Aubri tensed, but then relaxed as she thought about Zavik's words, she then looked over at Ash and Lincoln, who were still asleep, and sighed, "I don't want to lose anybody," she muttered to herself. She looked back at the clock of how long they had left. The clock said '3 hours. Final destination: Notch Trailhead, South Dakota.' Aubri leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a little bit longer.
***
The bus rattled as it came to a halt, Zavik nudged Aubri to wake up. "We've arrived at Notch Trailhead," he said with a slight smile on his face. Aubri mumbled something incoherently to Zavik, making him chuckle. He nudged her again to wake her up but still had little success.
Aubri, dazed from sleep, shook herself awake after a few minutes of Zavik nudging her to wake up. She looked to where Ash and Lincoln were sitting and saw that they weren't there. She asked, both with a hint of concern and confusion, "Did the others already get off the bus? Where is everyone?"
"Yeah, Ash and Lincoln are already off the bus. I've been trying to wake you up for the past two minutes. Come on now, we have to get off," Zavik said, pushing Aubri off the chair and into the aisle. She stood up and grabbed her bag that was overhead where she was sitting before on the bus, while Zavik grabbed his bag.
As they both walked off the bus, Aubri was met with the smell of fresh trees and a brisk breeze. She looked around for the others and found Ash laughing with Lincoln, who by the looks of it, had small braids in his hair, which in her opinion didn't fully suit him.
Ash smiled at her work and said, "Yeah, I woke up before everyone else thought it would be fun to mess with him."
"He looks like a Viking mixed with a Hispanic African-American. He looks stupid, especially with the bleached tips in your hair dude. No offense," Aubri stated, a hint of laughter rising in her voice.
"Gee, thanks Aubri. Yeah, no offense taken here," Lincoln shot back, clearly taking slight offense to his friend insulting him with his looks. "Either way, it wasn't like I had a choice in the matter," he said, pointing to Ash.
"Okay, to be fair, I was bored and y'all were still asleep. I was given free rein over your hair. Also, yes, the bleach looks pretty strange, it just doesn't suit you." Ash chuckled. "You know I didn't tie them so you can take them out very easily."
Lincoln looked at Ash annoyingly, "Yeah, well I thought it looked cool, okay? Besides I kinda want to keep the braids, they do look pretty cool, to be honest, and they'll fall out on their own so I'll leave them alone." Lincoln smiled a bit, then looked to Aubri who seemed to now be distant from her friends. Her face was now still, and her eyes were jumping around as if she were looking for something or someone. "Hey Aubri, you good? You seem preoccupied there," he asked.
Aubri looked at Lincoln, blinking her eyes as if she had fallen out of a trance. "Huh?" she said, "Oh, yeah I'm alright. Just nervous about the quest is all."
"Nervous about what? Luckily so far only one thing has tried to kill us. I call this a win," Ash said before walking in one direction with her hands behind her head.
Zavik and Lincoln shot Ash a look of warning. "Don't jinx us Ash," Zavik warned. "Aubri, you don't have to worry, if you're looking for that person from your dream, I'm sure we'll find them soon. Just relax a little."
Just as they walked towards the motel, the earth shook violently, and the sky lit up in orange, as fire danced in the evening sky. Zavik then yelled, "Okay crew, that's the Gods telling us to go to our room and go back to sleep, if that's possible for you all."
Ash laughed and exclaimed, "Well, goodnight μισογύνους." Just as she jumped on the bed, Aubri couldn't help but laugh as Ash curled up and fell asleep. Zavik groaned and unpacked some clothes and food for them to eat in the morning, Lincoln looked at Zavik confused about what Ash said and why Aubri was laughing. "Don't worry about it Lincoln," Zavik said.
Aubri sat in the chair looking out of the window, overlooking the woods before Notch Trailhead. The thief had to have gotten his hands on the hammer if the earth shook that violently earlier, she thought, a feeling of both dread and failure welling up inside of her.
About half an hour passed and the entire group was asleep, leaving Aubri still staring out the window, her thoughts racing and a sense of danger lingering around her.
YOU ARE READING
Legends of Olympus
Fanfiction'In shadows cast 'neath mortal strife, a celestial hammer stirs, seeking life. Forges of Hephaestus, whispering dire, detect imbalance, an unholy pyre. Lost centuries past, in realms unknown, a power awakens, not meant to be shown. Seek the hammer...
