Shattered |Leo Valdez|

Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Erikka's P.o.v.

When we got to the big house, I was panting like an overweight vendor at a carnival. Annabeth, Anna, and Percy, however, looked like a pack of fresh tulips. "G-guys?" I heaved out as we got to the door. "Can we- can't we just- no?" I gulped some more air. "Yeah. Good idea." My sentence trailed as I noticed no one was paying attention.

The wood of the door was rough against my hands as I pushed through it. Usually I would have taken the time to laugh at the assortment of odd things around the room like I had the first few times I'd been in there, but this time, my eyes flew straight to the pale redhead on the couch. "Anna, go grab him. It's all she's been muttering. Maybe there's a new prophecy? Maybe the pr-" A blonde girl, with more fire in her eyes than Leo, was cut off as Percy saw me walk in.

Alarm jumped into his eyes as he changed her words to, "Propaganda in the world is finally too much? I agree, Alex. Far too much." I ignored his odd behavior as I walked to stand by Rachel's head.

She looked weirder while she slept, but that might have been because her face was contorted and her eyes squeezed shut while her body went through occasional spasms. "My name? Why would she say my name?" I looked up at the sound of a new voice joining our group. "And what is she doing here?"

Leo's eyes found mine and I pursed my lips. "Sit down, Leo. You too, Rikki." I sat on the other couch next to Rachel at Anna's command. After a second, Leo sat next to me, leaning all his weight as far away as possible.

Suddenly, Rachel started another round of her freak out. Her body writhed around and a scratchy voice filled the air. "Erikkaaaa. Leeeeeo." The blonde girl shrugged.

"She's been saying that the whole time-"

Green smoke poured out from her mouth, encasing us all in it. The voice that came next spoke into my mind directly. And, might I add, I almost peed myself.

"Towards the West you shall fly,

To a land you have known,

Only in dreams and only alone.

With three other players,

The games rules you must heed,

And the power of light is all that you need."

Rachel sucked in a breath as the green mist dissolved and her bright eyes flew open. "Minnesota." She whispered breathily.

I blinked at her. Minnesota? Did that mean something to anyone? My head spun to look at the others faces who looked as confused as I probably did. "What does Minnesota mean?" I asked, speaking everyone's mind.

Rachel looked at me. "I don't know. Do you?" I raised an eyebrow at her and Annabeth took sympathy on me.

"Rachel is our oracle. She tells the future, but she doesn't specifically know what I means." I nodded at her, but then I thought of something.

"But, yesterday! Yesterday you said something about four people leaving or something like that." Stretching her willowy limbs, she gave me a shrug.

Pulling her frizzy hair into a ponytail, she said, "Well, Apollo sometimes let's Delphi show me that Saturday we would have a quest, and four would be going."

Chiron clipped in holding something that looked like Tylenol for Rachel. "But the question is who, and why." I glanced between the two, my brown eyes never officially settling.

Rachel glanced sideways at me and then down into her lap. "I know those two have to go, and they can pick one person each, I suppose. As for the why, I think you know. It's gotta be the-"