Bottled Up | PJO

⇝οκτώ(VIII)⇜

'When tides change and new revelations come, it's your choice to swim with or against the waves'

It had been over an year since Estelle and Nakoa had eavesdropped on the twins and their traitorous exchange. Despite Estelle wanting to confront Skylar directly Nakoa kept intercepting her and eventually she stopped trying altogether. The most pressing issue had shifted from Luke to the girl that emerged from the tree. Her and the prophecy. A few tidbits of conversation she'd heard helped her deduce the fact that the only people eligible for it were Thalia and Percy, the children of the big 3. This also meant that Thalia was constantly garnering attention of people when Percy wasn't around. The attention died down soon enough when more and more campers defected or apparently died off and didnt return for another year. It was a time of transition. Things were looking dimmer and the fun of being a half-blood, minus the unclaimed bit, was starting to die out. If anything Estelle was starting to feel a bit homesick.

Out of routine she'd gotten up that morning at dawn. Far too early to do anything but practice her weaponry. Before heading into her little patch of heaven in the woods she'd sauntered close to the canoe lake. She'd be lying if she said she did it out instinct because all she felt was a sense of premonition. The lake looked just as it had in her dream before something crashed into the water and rippled into a falling blonde girl. It took her a few seconds to realize that her dreams had conjured up the face of Annabeth before she disappeared into darkness. That's how Estelle woke up, drenched in sweat, itching to leave her sleeping bag.

She moved closer to the lake, the naiads still mostly asleep and crouched down to tap the water's surface. It rippled just as it had in her dream but no one fell or disturbed the serene quiet of the morning. She hadn't paid much attention to her dreams lately, not since the strange ones started two years ago, but it was almost like her brain was yelling at her to remember. The fact that it seemed impossible to wake out of it one it started didn't help the fact that it was more spooky than it had been before. In her peripheral vision she saw something closer to a comet than a bus heading straight towards the lake getting closer each second. Estelle stumbled back with only a few seconds of delay as a school bus, the not yellow kind, slammed into the lake. It was a sudden 'whoosh' followed by a thunderous crash. A splash of semi- warm water drenched Estelle. With the season almost to winter it wasn't everyday you got splashed by warm water from a relatively cold lake. As she brushed out the water from her eyelashes she watched as a few bouts of steam rose from the edges of where the bus rested in the lake.

An army of girls and women dressed in similar attire stepped out the bus as if it they were a team of well armed hockey players that you see at every school game. One of them was more distinct with her copper colored skin and the silver circlet that rested on her head as her stride screamed something along the lines of 'I'm the leader'. Hidden by the cult was Percy, Grover, Thalia, a boy with an aviator jacket and, a handsome blonde man.

"-like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!" she caught a bit of what Grover had said, as he helped himself out of the canoe he had tripped into in an attempt to guide the girls.

Something close to recognition flashed in Percy's eyes and she grinned at the girl, "Oh! Estelle right?" Though his tone was upbeat his eyes betrayed a sense of guilt and perhaps sorrow.

Estelle nodded in response to his question stepping closer to the foreign bus, her already wet shoes seeping in more of the lake's cold. "Where's Annabeth?" She couldn't help but ask given the ominous dream she'd had

Percy's face fell immediately as the younger boy marveled at the decorations in the camp.

The blonde man cleared his throat managing to get everyone's attention, or the four's attention seeing as the others left. He looked like he emanated warmth and he had that typical super-star grin plastered on his face. He snapped his fingers and the water evaporated from the wet clothes becoming water resistant for a few seconds. Estelle took this opportunity to inch out of the cold water as did the other two. He's a god, the voice in Estelle's voice whispered, Apollo.