A Quest of Eight; A Heroes of Olympus Fanfiction

Mess Hall

Y/n's POV

"Leo, could you stop moving?" I request from my side of the bed. I had insisted Leo get some sleep tonight, and he agreed, but only if I was nearby. So here we were, laying on separate sides of my bed. But Leo kept fidgeting and moving around, making it hard for me to fall asleep.

"Sorry," Leo apologized. "I can't find a comfortable position." Without opening my eyes, I rolled over and planted myself right against his side, placing my head on his chest. Almost immediately, Leo draped an arm over me and pulled me closer.

"Better?" I quiz.

"Better," Leo confirmed. "Goodnight." The next morning, Jason shook the two of us awake, and I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. It felt nice to get some rest, especially after last night's events, but I knew that there would certainly be more trouble today.

"We just passed through the mountains, and we're almost in Bologna. And you should join us in the mess hall," Jason urged. "Nico has some new information to share."

Once Leo left the room to go get dressed, I dug through my things to find something to wear. I settled on a white t-shirt, a gray zip up, my regular pair of blue jeans, and my black and white sneakers. I brushed my hair and teeth quickly, and as soon as I was presentable, I headed down to the mess hall. Everyone was already present accept for Piper and Coach Hedge, who were keeping watch up on deck.

"I talked with the dead last night," Nico shared as I poured syrup on the stack of pancakes that had appeared in front of me. "And I was able to learn more about what we'll face. The ghost I talked to last night was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what Hazel told us yesterday. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought with the gods. The anti-Hecate giant was a guy named Clytius." 

"Dark dude wrapped in shadows?" Leo guessed. "Yeah, I had a dream about him last night." Leo briefly explained what happened in his dream, including the destruction of Camp Half Blood, and how a woman had offered him a choice between multiple ways to die.

"So Clytius will be waiting for us at the doors of death then. Wonderful," I mutter and take a bite of my food.

"Who's the woman in Leo's dream?" Frank asked. 

"She's my problem," Hazel declared. "Hecate mentioned an enemy in the House of Hades. A witch who has to be defeated by me using magic." 

"Do you know magic?" Leo implored. 

Hazel shook her head. "Not yet." 

"Oh," Leo murmured. "Well, any idea who she is?"

"No," Hazel replied. "Only that she won't be easy to defeat."

"There is good news," Nico interjected. "The ghost I talked to explained how to defeat the giant. He said Hecate set his hair on fire and he burned to death. So fire is his weakness."

"And we just so happen to have someone on board who can summon fire," Jason mentioned and glanced towards my boyfriend.

"Right. I guess I'll deal with Clytius then," Leo said.

"It's a good lead," Jason insisted. "At least we know how to defeat the giant. And this sorceress, well, if Hecate believes Hazel can defeat her, then so do I." 

"Now we just have to reach the House of Hades and battle our way through Gaea's forces," Hazel put forth. 

"Plus a bunch of ghosts," Nico added. "The spirits in the temple might not be friendly." 

"And we have to find the Doors of Death," I remind everyone. "Assuming we can somehow arrive at the same time as Percy and Annabeth and rescue them. Man, this quest just keeps getting better and better."

"We can do it," Frank claimed. "We have to." 

"So with the detour, I'm estimating four or five days to arrive at Epirus assuming that we have no delays for monster attacks and stuff," Leo spoke. 

Jason smiled. "Yeah because those never happen, right?" 

"Hecate told you that Gaea was planning to wake up on August 1st, right Hazel?" Leo questioned.

"Yes," Hazel answered. "The day of the Feast and Spes, the goddess of hope."

"And four days before my 16th birthday," I input. "These quests really do suck, don't they."

"How am I supposed to defeat a goddess and then plan a birthday party within a four day time span? That's impossible. I'll be too busy re-gathering myself from all of the near death experiences to be an awesome boyfriend and plan a party," Leo joked.

"Don't worry," I reassure him. "I don't really need a big party. The Harpies can whip up an amazing cake, and as long as you guys and Will are there, I'll be happy."

"It's only July 5th. We should be able to close the Doors of Death by then," Jason figured.

"It's July already. Oh....." Frank trailed off. "My grandmother always said the number seven wasn't a lucky number. It was a ghost number. And July is the seventh month. In China, that's when the spirit world and the human world were closest. The living and the dead could go back and forth. Tell me it's a coincidence we're searching for the Doors of Death during the ghost month."

"Lets focus on one thing at a time," Jason instructed. "Maybe we'll find more answers once we find these dwarfs that Hecate-" Jason was cut off as the ship lurched like it had hit an iceberg, and Leo's breakfast plate slid across the table. Nico fell backwards out of his chair and banged his head against the sideboard, where a dozen goblets and plates crashed down on top of him. 

 "Nico!" Hazel yelped and ran to help him. Frank then tried to stand, but the ship lurched in the other direction, and he stumbled, landing face first into Leo's plate of scrambled eggs. 

"Guys, look!" I direct and point to the walls. 

The images of Camp Half-Blood were flickering and changing, which I didn't think was possible. For a second, the images went black, but they soon changed to show a huge face with crooked yellow teeth, a nose covered with warts, and two eyes that were not even close to being the same size. On one of the other screens, I saw Piper and Coach Hedge with their mouths gagged and feet bound near the helm. There was also a small little creature walking around the deck stuffing things into a bag, including Piper's dagger, some of the controls, and the Archimedes sphere.

"Hey!" Leo shouted. 

"Ugh," Nico groaned from where he was on the floor. 

"Piper!" Jason cried out. 

"What the...? I think those are dwarfs are stealing our stuff!" I state.