Shrouded in Darkness

Dark, Dank, Disgusting Swamps

The forest breaks at one point and turns into. "A swap. Are you kidding me!" i complain glancing down at my now water logged shoes and the stained hems of my jeans. I glance up around at the others. Percy has a grim look on his face as we continue to push forward. We had seen the yellow fog of it from a couple of miles back and I asked Percy what it was, but he just mumbled something under his breathe like giant and swamp. I didn't take him seriously. I mean come on. A swap? In Tartarus?

"I told you." Percy replied, Nico snickered and I rolled my eyes as we continued to walk through the dense fog. Hazel and Jason had switched places not too far back. The rest of us were too stubborn to ride Nightwing relying on our feet to do the walking. I think Jason only agreed because well it's his sister. Nightwing sloshed through the mud and water slowly. Hazel held tightly to both him and Thalia. Who still hadn't stirred.

"Is she breathing?" I questioned at one point. Jason, slightly scared had checked and breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized she was.

"Gods Violet he could of had a heart attack." Percy teases glancing up at the blond boy who makes a face at Percy.

"That would have been funny. Of all the things he could die of. A heart attack is what got him." Hazel laughs a little as we continued down the dusty landscape.

"Is this even water?" I questioned kicking some of it up. "It doesn't feel like water." I wasn't even really touching it. The level wasn't too high and it lapped around the soles, and sides of my shoes. It didn't look right and it definitely didn't smell right either. I bent down to touch it but Percy grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"I wouldn't." He said lightly. Now that was scary.

"Why?" I questioned. Nico and Jason glanced at us as Nightwing paused.

"Because you're right. It's not water." I stared at the bleary surface of it and could have sworn I saw some ghoulish faces shimmering there. I shuddered.

"Well what is it?" Percy shrugged.

"The only thing I know is last time Annabeth dragged me through here it drained me. Just being near it." Percy shudders as well and goosebumps begin to travel up my skin. "I was already dying when it happened I didn't feel the affect of it." His teeth were chattering and I felt like throwing up all of a sudden.

"Are you guys ok?" Hazel asks from up high.

"I think I might..." I didn't finish the sentence as I began to fall backwards. Nico caught me and Jason grabbed Percy.

"We have to get them out of here." Jason said but his voice echoed inside my brain and rattled around in my ears. I felt heavy and couldn't feel Nico's arm around me.

"Hazel try and wake Thalia." Someone suggests. They sound like they're far away or speaking underwater. I think I'm drowning for a couple of minutes.

"Violet! Damnit calm down." A voice mutters in my ear. I must go limp again because they don't complain again.

"What happened? What's wrong with them?" I'm pretty sure that's Thialia. Opening my eyes unaware that they were closed I blink several times trying to gain my bearings. My vision is blurry and somebody mumbles out a response. Or I think they mumble out a response. They could be actually speaking correctly and I just hear it as mumbling. There's a lot of shuffling then someone hoisting me up and telling me to hold on tightly. I think I say something but I can't feel my lips move. The heaviness is too much for me to bear. I black out.

This dream. Isn't like the other ones. There's no darkness. So deep horrible voice. I'm sitting on top of Camp Half-Blood Hill under that pine tree where the dragon has its tail wrapped around the trunk and shimmering gold fleece sits upon one of the lower branches. Oddly enough I'm holding a sandwich in my hand. Is this a picnic? "Hey come on Violet!" A voice says off to my right. Startled I look up and find Nico actually smiling down at me.