Alternatively

A Lake of Tears (iv.)

Shadows threatened to swallow them alive as Rachel led them through the house. The halls were cavernous and empty, void of servant and guests, void of furniture and typical decor. Though, occasionally, there would be a painting hung up in the light of the windows. They were of landscapes and portraits, seemingly at random and with no pattern. Slowly, the paintings grew more numerous and gruesome. By the time they had arrived at the one room with no windows at the center of the house, there were more pieces than there was wall. Paintings overlapped each other and some even were painted on the walls themselves.

"I can't tell exactly why you've come," Rachel lit more candles. "But I knew you would."

She looked around, seeing swans fly by on scraps of paper tacked to bigger pieces. They flurried and flocked, doodles clustering more thickly around certain paintings. She tried not to jump when making eye contact with herself, a huge bust portrait staring down at her from one of the corners. Gold flowers drifted from the crescent moon behind her, falling into a separate portrait of Percy below, petals gathered in upturned palms.

"It's uncanny," Percy had commented, running his finger across the raised paint.

It's unsettling, she decided, eyeing sketches of things only she could have known of. "How did you see these things?"

The Oracle glanced up. "When I was younger, they'd just be dreams. Reoccurring unless I at least sketched them. Now...they're disruptive day dreams that don't leave me alone unless they're fleshed out."

She was tempted to rip down the parchment portraying three figures in golden cloaks; she didn't like a stranger knowing the details of her life, didn't like having them plastered on a wall.

"I don't know what any of it means, I just see it."

In the center of the room were multiple easels, the canvases on them in various states of completion. One was still wet, as if recently worked on; a girl with flowing black hair and blue eyes held her hands over her heart. Annabeth had never seen her before, but she was sure she knew her.

"Can one of you tell me what's going on, or what you're even after?" Rachel twirled her hair into a bun, securing it with a paintbrush. "God, you guys are circling like vultures."

She glanced at Percy, the both of them still pacing on opposite ends of the room. "I have a question for you."

"How do you know I can answer it?"

"Uh," she gestured to the art around them with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you," Rachel sneered. "I see things, whether I want to or not. I can't just summon stuff."

She took a deep breath through her nose.

"Look, Rachel," Percy wandered closer. "We really need your help, anything that you have to offer would be awesome to know."

"You still don't-"

"You're supposed to know," Annabeth snapped. "Oracles can do so much more than draw their day dreams."

"How would you know? You're not like me!"

"I read about people like you, I know plenty."

Her mouth opened but she paused, processing.Her dress swished as she turned even more to face her. "There are books about oracles?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"They tell you what I can do?"

"Obviously, but-" she narrowed her eyes. "Just when did you realize that you've been seeing the future?"