12 I receive a birthday gift

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I had the worst night of sleep I could remember that night. I was back in Manhattan, close to the Empire State Building. Kids in Camp Half Blood's orange shirts underneath their Greek armours were fighting other kids with swords. Camp was close to losing, that was obvious. Many had already fallen, and the other kids was fighting alongside all kinds of creatures that looked bloodthirsty. The campers would not be able to hold on much longer.

I stood on a road leading to a floating mountain from a lift, connecting them. It was breaking. Turning around I saw Annabeth with a goat man, a girl with short black hair and blue eyes. There was also a guy with messy pitch black hair and a pair of familiar green eyes.

Percy Jackson.

No, I don't know how I knew that, but that guy was Harriet's mysterious Brother.

They were running towards the mountain.

I stood in a throne hall that was very much demolished. It felt like something was crawling on my neck. A blond guy with a scar on his cheek used a dagger to stab him self.

Everything was black. I fell.

"The Son of Athena is searching for his home
A fatal secret will flee his catacomb.

Towards war or peace the ancient people will move
The Lion shall speak truth when authority disapprove.

Seven parts must be found and killed
For a daughter's fate to be fulfilled.

The cursed Demi shall take his last breath
When Poseidon sees his child live through death."

The thing on my neck had now reached my nose.

A pale face emerged from the dark. It had two snake-like nostrils where the nose should have been. His eyes glowing red. He let out a maniacal laugh.

~~~~~~~

I woke up screaming as I saw the evil eight legged creature on my nose. I had been terrified by spiders ever since I was little.

The spider was shot away from my face and stuck to the wall next to my bed. Ironically by what appeared to be some sort of spiderweb.

"Are you okay?"

I turned around.

"I, hate spiders."

Peter gave me a sympathetic smile where he was kneeling next to my bed.

"Yeah, all children of Athena do. They are literally out to get us, after all."

Literally out to get us? Would explain why I every now and then woke up in the middle of the night surrounded by them and covered in their web the morning after. Childhood memories of going to bed. Gotta love them...

"It was a dispute between our mom and Arachne, to cut it short. But, what about your nightmare?"

I gave him a calculating look.

"How did you-?"

"You were twisting and turning in your sleep, I don't think it was all because of the spider."

I hid my face in my hands and let out a sigh. I told Peter about my dream, except the prophecy. I hadn't told anyone about that. When I was done Peter thought for a moment.

"It sounds like the battle of Manhattan. It happened around eight years ago. The final battle in the second Titan war."

"But why would I dream of something that's already happened years ago?"

Peter was quite for a second.

"Well, you're going on a quest to retrieve Poseidon's trident tomorrow. And as that Hermes kid said, it is a similar situation to the one eleven years ago that started the second Titan war, in the first place."

I remembered what that kid had said.

"The second Titan war started when Zeus' master bolt was stolen?"

"Well, it was a series of events, but those started with the theft of the bolt, yes."

"You think this situation right now could start a third Titan war?"

"A Titan war I'm not sure... but I think some kind of war is definitely a possibility. Stealing one of the Big Three's symbol of power is basically essential to challenging their position of power."

I appreciated that Peter didn't beat around the bush, but at the same time, this was all too big.

"And the second part? That pale face? Could that be the thief, you think?"

"I have no idea about that face. I guess it's not impossible that it was the thief, but there is no way of knowing. At least not now."

I think I had started crying. My cheeks were wet. I looked up at Peter, I changed the subject.

"That thing you did to the spider, what was it?"

Peter chuckled quietly and held out his right wrist. He had some sort of celestial bronze bangle wrapped around it. Using the middle and ring finger, he pressed a button and it shot out more of the webbing on the spider that was still stuck on the wall.

"As I said, spiders are literally out to get us. One spider bit me on a field trip to Osborn industries, it just so happened to be radioactive from one of the experiments going on there and the bite transferred some spider-like abilities to me. One being that I can shoot spiderwebs from my wrists."

"And those are for-?" I pointed at the fancy bracelet on his right wrist.

"Well, the webs I produce naturally runs out rather quickly, so I experimented and managed to make a synthetic web fluid that I shoot from these." He demonstrated by webbing up that spider even more. "You wanna try?"

He put his web shooters on my wrists and showed me how to aim. Soon you couldn't tell there was really a spider under all these layers of web. I smiled.

"Feels good to give them a taste of their own medicine, doesn't it?" Peter smiled, proud of his invention.

"Yes... so, you're not afraid of spiders anymore then?"

"I am still afraid of spiders. This," he pointed at the web shooters, "it simply became my way of dealing with that fear."

I looked at the web shooters attached to my wrists.

"I'm afraid, Peter. Of all of this. Everything I thought I knew about myself as turned out to be wrong, I have just volunteered to help with some mission I barely even know the corse of, and... this is all too big. I'm terrified."

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Draco, on one blames you for being scared. You have every right to be."

"But can I afford to be? If there really is a war on the way? Percy Jackson sure as hell couldn't afford it when he fought Titans!"

"I am sure he was. Draco, let me tell you something; no hero is above fear, but every hero can learn how to deal with it when it matters."

I sat there quite. The hand on my shoulder moved to my back.

"Keep these, I have other pairs. See them as a birthday gift. Perhaps they can help you on the quest."

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