I Spy Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 2

I've had a lot of dreams before,but this one won the award for the weirdest.

At first,my dream was just a swirl of vivid pictures flashing in my mind; a large black fortress looming over me, demigods fighting monsters in a huge war, a silver dagger covered in blood, and of course,him,my best friend, laughing as we walked along the shore of Long Island Sound. He seemed so himself, so full of life,that I could hardly believe that he was really......................

Gone. He  was dead.

I still wasn't at peace with the fact,and it hurt really badly. Even though it had been almost a year, even though I had to focus on the impending doom every single day of my life, it still stung like a scorpion.

I had barely escaped with my life from that hellhole where they died, and believe me, I've been to Tartarus(long story), so I know my share of hellholes.

After that last picture,the dream shifted into a place I recognised very well: My villa in Athens, where I lived for 12 years before I moved to New York.

Standing in front of the villa and looking out at the sun setting on the beach was another person who I had thought I lost: My mom, Hecate,goddess of magic.

She looked the same as she had every other time I had seen her: golden hair tied in a Greek-style ponytail and pure black eyes,but instead of a Greek chiton, she wore a plain lavender T-shirt and light blue skinny jeans. Without the severe goddess look,she looked younger and carefree.

She smiled."Hello,Khloe."

I smiled back at her, but it was half-hearted..I hadn't seen my mom in a long time, and the only times that I had seen her were when I was going to face danger - like now.

"I don't have much time,you need to listen to me,"She said with a tone of urgency in her voice.

I nodded. If my mom was in a hurry to say something,it was far from normal. She was the type of person to tell you something cryptic and indirect and you have to end up racking your brains to figure out what they meant.

"There's a branch of the Labyrinth that's under Mount Othrys,and Hazel Levesque has detected quite a lot of monsters using that tunnel to go to one  place in particular."Hecate said.

"A particular place?"

"Yes," She replied."They might be going to some place to get supplies, or even-"

"Orders?"I cried,cutting her off."You mean that.......there might be some kind of secret headquarters where that Commander dude might be giving orders from?"

She nodded gravely."Tomorrow,when you reach Mount Othrys,don't sneak into the fortress. Instead,say that you have to speak to the Supreme Commander."

"What?"I shrieked."Do you want me to get killed, Mom?"

 She shook her head in indignation."Patience,Khloe. Let me finish. If you say that you have vital information about the enemy,in this case,Olympus, you'll get a one-way ticket to the secret headquarters. When you reach there, it should be an easy matter to steal those plans."

"But I don't know the first thing about the place!" I said. "How can I just barge into the headquarters without knowing where the plans are going to be, I could run the risk of being caught! I don't want to be in that situation again....."

My mom sighed and put her hands on my shoulders. "There is another option,though you would have not been trained as well for it."

"What option?" I asked, and then it sunk in."Oh."

The dream started to shift,and my mother yelled,"Do what you think is right,I trust you!"

The landscape changed into a very different setting,dim and sinister,unlike the beach. I looked like a swordplay arena in the dark. There were rows of stuffed dummies and a stock full of different swords. In the middle of the arena stood a man about my age with a sword of Celestial Bronze,which glinted in the late evening light. I couldn't see his face properly,but I had a feeling that he was important.