Aletheia━𝐢.( PJO/HP )

𝐢𝐱. ANOTHER BROKEN OATH

▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER NINE ▬▬▬▬▬

ESMERELDA WAS DREAMING OF HER father again. Like usual, she couldn't see what he looked like. In fact, he seemed to get blurrier and blurrier the more she dreamed of him. Now he was nothing but a form of a misty haze. A foggy blob that was a combination of neutral colors. His voice was no longer muffled and faraway, it sounded like complete static to her.

She was standing in her crib, grasping the wooden bars and waiting for her father to come and pick her up.

He approached her, his form darkening the closer he got. A terrible icy dread filled her veins as she felt herself get picked up.

Put me down, she thought. Her body was frozen with terror.

The floor of her nursery split apart, the edges crumbling like dirt. She thought they were about to be swallowed by the ground, but nothing happened. Instead, she watched as the ground was split down to the very center of the earth and they stayed standing.

"Daughter of Hecate," a deep and evil voice called out to her. It was coming from the black mist that was holding her. "I have been waiting so long..."

I want to wake up now! She yelled in her head. Wake up! Gods, please let me wake up!

"You were promised to me long ago... and I have been waiting ever so patiently." This voice sounded nothing like her father. It didn't even sound human! Nobody could have a voice so deep... so sinister sounding. "Let me take over, little hero."

Her mouth opened and a baby-ish wail escaped her lips. Oh yeah. She was still in infant form. How unfortunate. She tried to force her legs to kick out, but whatever control she had had left her body. She felt drained and all she had managed to do was cry.

The arms that were holding her tightened, making it harder for her to breath. It was like this person was trying to absorb her into them...

"Give me your body, Esmerelda." It said, and she woke up with a fright.

"Whoa!" Ethan jumped back as she suddenly sat straight up. "Are you okay? Were you having a nightmare?"

Breathing heavily, she looked around as if trying to make sure she was really safe. The black misty form was nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh of relief, but her heart was still pounding. She looked back at Ethan and saw that he was still awaiting an answer.

"Uh, yeah... It was... something like that." She said breathlessly, wiping the cold sweat off her face. "What time it is?"

"An hour before breakfast starts. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her again.

"I'm fine," she lied, getting up on her feet. She had never experienced such a terrifying dream before. So far, for the past two months since she had been claimed, she had only dreamed of her father, but the more she dreamed of him, the more obscured he was. And now today he had become that weird black blob...

What were her dreams trying to tell her? That her father was evil? But the voice sounded nothing like her father usually did...

Just forget about it and get on with your day, she advised herself. She told Ethan that she'd meet him at breakfast and went off to hit the showers. On the way there she kept hearing some campers murmur to each other about a newbie defeating the Minotaur.

After her shower, she went to the pavilion and asked Ethan about it.

"Oh yeah," he said as if just remembering it. "Last night we gained a new camper. Some kid... Perry or something, I think. Anyways, he, his mom, and his Keeper, Grover, came running over here. Turns out they were being hunted down by the Minotaur. He defeated it by stabbing it with his horn, but his mom..."

Her eyes widened. "You mean... she didn't make it?"

He nodded, a grim expression on his face. "That's what I'm hearing."

"That poor guy," she whispered. "He must be devastated. Where is he now?"

"Still in the infirmary," he pointed his fork towards the direction of the Big House. "Everyone's talking about how he might be a child of one of the Big Three."

She rose a brow, unimpressed. "Because of the Minotaur?"

"Mmhmm."

"And didn't everyone think the same thing about me because of the Chimera?"

"Yep. So either he's a child of the Big Three, or he's another half god half wizard kid."

She grimaced. "For his sake, I hope he's neither."

He nodded in agreement. "Me too, but Essie... He was chased by the Minotaur... No normal demigod gets hunted down by that."

"Maybe the Minotaur just stumbled upon him," she said, but her argument was weak. She just didn't like the thought of another innocent child being the result of a broken oath. If he was... then good luck to him.

A few hours passed and she was just finishing up with her wall climbing class. After months of climbing it, she became somewhat of a pro, but she only made it to the top at fast speeds because she didn't want to get burned by the lava. It was a really good motivator.

She met up with Ethan back in their cabin and she noticed that he was holding up a familiar yellowish envelope.

She gasped. "Oh, that's my letter! Where'd you find it?"

"It fell out from one of your sleeping bag pockets. What is it?"

"It's a school letter," she replied, then began explaining about her peculiar meeting with Professor Diakos and the things she had given her. She had completely forgotten about all of that because she was so worried about being killed by the gods.

Ethan was gaping at her like he couldn't believe her stupidity. "How in the Hades did you forget about something like this? How'd that lady even get there? And Hogwarts...? Dude, is that really the name of the school you're going to?"

"Unfortunately yes." She replied.

He snorted and handed the letter back to her. She opened it and saw that the note Professor Diakos gave her and the empty coin purse had been stuffed in there as well. "The problem is that I can't read any of it though."

"It's all in cursive, isn't it?" He said knowingly.