My nightmare started like this.
I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.
Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida, at least not on this earth (I'll explain that in a bit). Other than what my friend, Isa told me, I didn't know much about it.
Then I heard hooves clattering against pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.
Yeah, I said hooves.
Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without pants on (which I don't recommend), you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.
Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me, a girl named Isa, and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.
Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to ground.
Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from. . .something.
A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.
Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!
I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.
Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.
The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.
Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.
Silence except for the rain. Grocer took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.
Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"
I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.
There was no storm. No monster.
Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.
This had been worse than the nightmare I had last week, and it concerned a different friend. Isa, the friend I mentioned earlier. You see, she travels the Multiverse. Yeah, it's real. I had seen some of the worlds she'd been to. On her home earth, she was from Florida. Born and raised in Miami. She was a cute girl. She is the only other demigod more powerful than myself, because her godly parent on this earth was primordial, Mother Earth. She was small, malnourished, but she had been getting better over time. Her all-time favorite activity though, is musical theatre. She loves to act, sing and dance. She writes songs, and draws magnificent pieces of art. She is the definition of creativity.
Last week, I had a nightmare about her. She was performing a show. I wasn't sure what show, but she seemed to be the female lead in a romance. It seemed to be telling the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and she must've been Eurydice.
She and her co-lead were walking along a moving turntable, her following him, with a group of ensemble right behind her.
I got a backstage view. On the piano backstage, there was a script that read: HADESTOWN. That must've been the show.
Isa was on stage, singing with the company.
YOU ARE READING
Warped: Sea of Monsters (A Percy Jackson Fanfic) (Book 7)
FanfictionAfter a long while, Isa has returned to Camp Half-Blood. She has so many stories to tell her first true friends. But what will happen when she finds out Grover is being held hostage by Polyphemus and has to go on a quest to save him? What will happe...
