Inferno (Leo Valdez x OC) (2)

That tree don't look right-

I could hear a muffled voice speaking gently.

I opened my eyes slightly and groaned as sunlight shone down on my face.

"Hello, cariad." A voice whispered. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and stared at the woman kneeling beside me. "You had quite a fall there."

"Mam?" I asked. My voice sounded higher than usual.

The woman smiled. "How many times have I told you not to hang upside down on the tree?"

I frowned and looked down at myself. My legs looked shorter, my arms thinner. I glanced around in confusion.

I was sat in the field I had dreamed of. The grass swayed gently in the breeze and a tent was set up a few metres away, the remains of a small campfire sat further from it.

Above me, the branches of a great oak loomed. A tire swing was attached to a thicker one a few paces away.

"Come, cariad, lets sort out your knee." My mother said softly.

I looked back down at my legs and, on closer inspection, noticed my knee was scraped. "I'm okay, mam."

My mother smiled. "As brave as you are, I'm going to get a plaster for you, we should clean it as well, just in case." She rose and walked over to the tent.

I looked up at the mountain ash tree. No. Shouldn't it be an oak tree? The branch above me made a cracking sound before snapping. I cried out, rolling to the side.

The branch landed in the grass with a muffled thud. I scrambled away, staring at the tree in bewilderment.

Something was leaking from the broken branch. I shakily got to my feet and stumbled towards it.

A black substance was oozing from the torn bark.

I furrowed my brows and took a step towards it, reaching out a hand.

Suddenly, a shape burst from the darkness. I fell back, watching in horror as a figure loomed over me, dripping in the black liquid.

Then it spoke. It's voice sent chills down my spine as it sounded as if there was more than one inhabiting the creature. "Amserdal." It croaked. "You must save them."

The creature's neck twisted with a sickening crack and a hiss of air escaped its mouth. A chilling laugh filled the air. "You are the only one who would save them. Where are you now?"

I screamed and shot up.

"Anwen!" A voice yelled.

The door to my room flew open. Hazel and Percy stood in the doorway, closely followed by Annabeth, Leo and Frank.

Tears fell onto my bedsheets as I stared around my room.

A shadow.

The dark figure was back.

It flickered back into a shape on the ground. I could hear the chilling laugh still echoing through my mind.

"They're going to die." I panted. "They're all going to die." My voice broke.

I paced around the table in the mess hall. The others were all sat in the chairs, similar to when the eidolons had appeared and yet this time nobody, not even Percy, had an appetite.

I wasn't fully sure what the eidolons had done to me but from what Hazel and Annabeth had guessed, they'd sent me a message.

"I don't get it." Jason said. "Why did the eidolons give Anwen this weird dream message instead of just controlling her?"

"They can't." Annabeth sighed.

"What do you mean they can't?" Piper asked.

"Anwen, as a daughter of Pan, is a main part of the Wild." Annabeth traced patterns on the table. "The Wild is one of the strongest forces in the world. It's a subsection of Khaos except more about finding a balance."

"That makes no sense." Percy grumbled, rubbing his temples.

"It's not supposed to make sense, it's the Wild." I said quietly.

All eyes turned to me, I hadn't spoken since waking up, clearly, they weren't expecting much of my input.

"The point is they can't control the Wild and as I am such a strong part of it, they can't control me either. As for why they gave me the message I have no idea. It didn't sound like them; it definitely didn't sound like anyone from Amserdal." I sat down beside Leo, who had been tapping his fingers anxiously on the table since we'd got there.

"So who was it?" Hazel asked.

"That's what we don't know." Annabeth said.

"What we do know, is that people at Amserdal are in danger and the black liquid that was in my nightmare, seemed to be a bit too similar to the stuff Aros saw on Sarff and Calon."

"You said the tree was an oak tree at the beginning of your nightmare but then changed to a mountain ash, right? So, what does that mean?" Frank looked around nervously.

"Mountain ash trees were the trees of the Meliae. The nymphs who protected Zeus when he was a baby." Annabeth stated. "They went off demigod radar a long time ago."

"That's because they are on Amserdal." I sighed.

"So are they who the thing wanted you to save?" Piper wondered.

"Maybe, we still have no clue what the thing was though." I shrugged.

Hazel yawned. Frank glanced at her. "I think we should get some sleep, think about it again in the morning. We've had enough happen this evening already." Frank said.

"He's right." Annabeth sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Those eidolons were enough without this on top of it. We'll regroup in the morning." She glanced at me. "You alright with that?"

I nodded tiredly and pushed myself back to my feet, I stumbled slightly as dizziness washed over me and I felt an arm wrap around my waist. "Come on, mariposa." Leo murmured, leading me back down the hall. 

The game is afoot, Watson.      Sorry. I just watched Sherlock Holmes. (the old ones).

Sorry, this one's a bit short guys, I'm literally being yelled at to get in the car so we can go to my friend's birthday as I'm writing this. 

I've already been in the car for 3 hours today :')

Really quickly I'd like to thank @Wwritergirl and @YourMom1169420 for voting. I really appreciate it. 

I hope you are all having a wonderful day and if not then I hope reading this made you feel better, even just a tad. 

Bye from Corgi :)

P.S. (feel free to skip) Just a reminder that all characters (apart from Anwen) belong to Rick Riordan, this is merely a fanfiction based on the Heroes of Olympus series.