¹Pocket Full of Posies, p. jackson

x. To Defy Prophecies? (Impossible!)

chapter ten
❛ to defy prohecies? ❜

━━━━━  POSIE HAD CORRECTED Percy that foresight meant more than just dreams, but it seemed as if the Fates wanted to give the son of Poseidon at least one point, especially after his spectacular loss during the latest Capture the Flag game. That was wonderful — for the son of Poseidon alone, as Posie was left struggling to make her mind work through the vision she was being given. Even then, she shouldn't have expected any different. After all, nightmares were her specialty ... beyond controlling plagues, that is. And as the dream began, eerily similar to dreams Posie had witnessed before, she expected the vision not to change all that much, as that was one familiar pattern Posie could cling to, despite all else changing around her ...

        Except this vision didn't stay the same. Not as the girl with glowing green eyes spoke, directly to Posie.

        It was common for Posie to dream of the same thing over and over — the old Pascual home on the outskirts of D.C., Thalia's remaining life force transforming into a pine tree in a flash of lightning (although, that particular dream had stopped since the arrival of the Golden Fleece and Thalia's subsequent recommence to life), a faceless blonde woman climbing the rickety ladder into the Big House attic, only to give out a blood-curdling scream, or even the many nights where Beau spent his time possessed, rocking back and forth as he whispered odd things. And as Posie's life unfolded, going on two more quests than she ever wanted to go on at all, it was as if she had picked up a few more visions along the way — of Liviana, the girl who spoke Latin and had eyes that glowed a sickly green color.

        It had been six months since the first dream of Liviana, and after the quick succession of the second dream involving Liviana, Posie had done her best to shove the images of the blonde girl out of her mind. It was futile, of course, as the King of the Underworld had liked to use Liviana (and Posie's father) to be his messengers via dreams, and Posie struggled to scrub away those memories and the haunting feeling she had been left with after receiving such dreams.

        At the time, as she was in the midst of sailing the Sea of Monsters, in pursuit of Grover and the Golden Fleece, the dreams of Liviana had been some of the strangest Posie had ever been witnessed to (and given the other dreams she had been forced to see, that was saying something). Undoubtedly, Posie knew nightmares, whether they were because of foresight or just general demigod unluckiness; she was no stranger to visions and premonitions, while sleeping or while she was awake. Even then, just as the moments where the visions began to worm their way into her daily life, just as things began to boil over when it came to the gods, the visions Posie had while asleep also began to increase in their frequency. It happened when Posie was about to be claimed by Apollo; it happened when Percy first arrived at Camp; it happened the night Luke poisoned Thalia's pine tree. And given the influx of visions Posie was having ... she was certain that something was about to boil over once more.

        Posie didn't need the Oracle to make its way out of the Big House's attic to tell her that.

        Some of it had to do with Hades — Posie was certain of that, as well. The daughter of Apollo had been spending so much of her time in the Underworld, all in an attempt to better her grasp of her "powers," that, truthfully — she had managed to push aside all the worries that constantly pooled in the back of her mind, all to do with her ability to see into the future. Besides, she also knew that the God of the Underworld had tugged at some strings himself, curating certain dreams to speak with Posie (and get underneath her skin, too). He never outwardly admitted it; then again, he didn't have to, either — he preferred to keep things shadowy, as it made Posie more under his thumb than ever.