§ Lovey's POV §

   I lay down in my bunk bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. My stomach was tied up in a knot. A ton of thoughts were swimming around my head, one bugging me a lot.

   Did I like Jack?

   I wasn't sure. It was so weird being around him, I always got that weird feeling in my chest, but it could be anything.

   Did he like me?

   Probably not. Who would like an annoying demigod like me? I'm the odd one out, the only Athenian who has actual supernatural powers. I jumped at the sound of knocking on my door and clutched my heart. That scared me.

"Come in," I said weakly. The door opened and Sean came in. He closed it and sat next to me, looking down at his hands.

"Hey," he greeted quietly.

   I gave him a concerned look. "Hey Jack. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah..." the Irishman trailed off. "No...."

   He looked up at me and my heart skipped a beat. A pain ached in my chest and my stomach jumped.

"Lovey, I feel like a freak. A few hours earlier I controlled...a plant. This is not normal..."

"Hey, we are demigods. This is our life. I..." my brain went numb. "Don't worry. At least all Demeter kids can do that. I'm the real freak here," the last part slipped from my mouth without my permission.

   Jack blinked and shook his head. "No, Lovey... don't... um... put yourself down like that. Please."

   A bell rang and a few satyrs entered the room with a glowing orange potion in their hands.

"Hey you two! The energy potion for Jack is ready!" one of them, Irwin, smiled.

   Sean looked at the liquid weirdly, but sighed and took it. I smiled reassuringly and gave him a thumbs up. He gulped it down and coughed a little, then shook his head. The green fluff flew everywhere.

"You guys should have just given me coffee," the green-haired boy stuck his tongue out, "that thing was gross."

   I laughed and patted him on the back reassuringly. The satyrs helped him up, then explained to me they need to check on him in the infirmary just in case the potion had any side effects like eye twitching and such. I nodded and they took Jack out.

   My brain was stressed and tired enough and wanted some rest. I rubbed my eyes and laid down back on my bunk. Sleep washed over me and I drifted off.

~

   This time I wasn't in the rune prison cage. It was a hallway, long and bland, with no other color than dirty gray.

   There wasn't time for me to inspect it more closely. Almost immediately a loud, aggressive shout followed by a growl erupted from around me. I shuddered and ran down the huge maze of walls and corners, finally finding a door that was strangely unlocked.

   I peeked in and almost screamed.

   A hellhound was circling my mother, sneering violently. Instead of trying to fight the monster, Athena just stood there on her knees. Her skin was covered in purple bruises that healed themselves, but new and new appeared when the beast hit and bit her repeatedly. Ichor dripped from various sizes gashes on all her skin. It was utterly, completely terrifying.

   The goddess of wisdom looked up at me. Her big steel eyes now held a flat, glossy and despaired look.

"Hurry," she whispered and the hellhound jumped on her again.

~

   I found myself on the floor, shrieking. Quickly gathering myself, I sat up and climbed onto my bunk. My hands were trembling. I reached up to brush a strand of hair out of my face and felt it was wet. Just then I found out about the scared tears rolling down my cheeks.

   Tasha burst in the room, a terrified expression on her face.

"ARE YOU OKAY?! I HEARD YOU SCREAMING!" She yelled, wide-eyed.

   My lips curved slightly in an almost unnoticeable smile. "M'fine."

"What happened?!" The daughter of Khione asked shakily, trying to calm down.

"I had this dream.....Tasha, the cyclopes are torturing Athena," the thought of the monster attacking the goddess glided over me, sending a shiver down my spine.

   She gaped. "Tell me everything. This can be important."

   I explained shortly what happened in the vision. Tasha listened with quite an interest.

"That means a lot of things, but we will talk about it with Mark and Jack later!" She exclaimed and I couldn't help but notice she put Mark in front of Jack. "I must tell you that Artemis Iris called us. I know, crazy. An aggressive group of cyclopes with a hellhound has attacked one of the Hunters, then retreated. The whole crew tracked them down to a place in the Appalachians near Cleveland city. They think one of the rebels' hideouts was found and we can get information about the place Polyphemus resides there. Artemis sent us information on where it exactly is, but they couldn't investigate more. Right now the hunters are following a group of werewolves and cant lose them. We are heading off to Jacksonville, where we will move on land. The satyrs and boat will return to CHB," she finished.

"If the gods have wished so," I replied, sighing, "I am afraid that Jack and Mark will get hurt."

   Tasha flashed me a smile."Don't worry. We will be given supplies, we still have the cornucopia. It's okay."

   Another bell, now louder, rang.

"Well..." the girl smiled sheepishly, "Welcome to Jacksonville, Lovey."