{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

I Give Up Something That's Not Mine

In my dream, I was somebody else. I wore a gorgeous tunic that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. A thousand stars lit up the night and for a second my heart felt content looking at the sky. Until I remembered the grave danger we were in.

I grabbed the hand of the man in front of me. Tall and muscular but he still let himself be led by me.

"Hurry!" I told him. "He will find us!"

I picked up the pace just slightly but the guy simply gave me a confused look.

"I'm not afraid," he said.

"You should be!" I answered in annoyance. Why couldn't he get it through his head that he wasn't immortal? We were in serious danger here, I couldn't risk losing him.

We ran through thousands of flowers, this garden being bigger than any in existence. I had been through it multiple times, I did not feel the need to stop and smell the roses.

When I felt I couldn't run any longer, I pulled us both behind a bush. We sat there breathing heavily as I peeked out of the bush every so often, making sure we were somewhat safe.

"There is no need to run," the dude said. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," I warned. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

"I don't trust your father," he said.

"You should not," I agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

The man had the audacity to laugh. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

My heart skipped a beat when I heard him call me pretty one. I felt my face slightly heat up. "I... I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out... they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." The guy stood up, as if ready to take on an army.

"Wait.'" I stopped him.

I didn't want to let him go, not this easy, not this defenseless. With trembling hands, I reached up to my head, plucking the hairpin out.

"If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

I blew my breath onto the hairpin, giving all my power to this one item. I felt something leave my body, making me feel empty. The hairpin glowed in my hand. I got ready to hand it to the person in front of me. To the man I loved.

"Take it," I told him. "And make of it a weapon."

Again, he laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," I admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

I solemnly handed it over to him. When his hand touched the hairpin, it elongated into a large bronze blade, one I was very familiar with.

"Well balanced," he turned it over, examining it. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," I said it as if I was saying goodbye. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and a hissing sound filled the air.

I backed away from the hero and said, "Too late! He is here!"

-

I woke to Percy shaking my arm, him obviously still half asleep.

"C'mon, Cas," he said, rubbing his eyes. "We stopped, we gotta get off."

I climbed out of the car and took in the snowy mountains and clear sunny day. Grover handed me back my sweater and I slipped it on.

As I examined the terrain, I thought about my dream.

I knew only two things. That sword I had given that guy was the same one my brother presently wielded. And the guy I was talking to was definitely Hercules.