Chapter 6

        I gasped and sat up. I looked around and realized that I was once again in the foggy room. I let out a groan and laid back down. I really didn't want to be here again, not yet.

        Wait a second. Wait just one second. I could hear my groan. It wasn't absorbed by the rest of the room. I sat back up again and sprang to my feet. I turned around and right behind me was, well, me. The other me with the magic books. She was staring right at me this time, no book in her hands.

        Do you realize how weird it is to see yourself from the outside? Like, you move and they don't. I moved closer and she continued to just watch me. I went to right in front of her and sat down. Then she surprised me by doing something she hadn't done in my other dream. She spoke.

        "Hello," she said, with a small smirk growing on her face. "Nice to see you again."

        This was so weird. She had my voice, tone, everything. This kept getting stranger and stranger.

        "You know, I would say it's great to see you," I said, "But I'm really not."

        She held her hand to her chest and faked offense. "Oh, but why Ashley? After all, we are the same."

        I wasn't in the mood for her games. I was really upset about not being able to have just regular dreams. All I wanted was a restful sleep, was that too much to ask.

        I folded my arms. "How do you look like me?"

        The fake offense dropped from her face and turned into, well, sympathy. It showed no sign of being faked, it looked like she actually felt bad for me.

        "You see, Ashley, I can't really tell you."

        "Why not?" I asked, feeling confused on how her expression had changed. Her mood had changed to playful to grave quicker than should be legal. It was just making me that much more confuzzled.

        The look in her eyes was sad. "I literally can't tell you. I try to, and the room becomes muted again. If I try and make any move to explain things, I'll be dissipated."

        "Dissipated?"

        "I exist only in your mind. The only reason I can even form is because I'm allowed to."

        I was getting a little frustrated. I wanted answers and I wasn't getting any.

        "Who is allowing you to form? And why?"

        She tilted her head for a moment, as if listening for something. She nodded her head, but I heard nothing.

        "She says that you will know one day, but not yet. As soon as I can, though, I'll tell you everything I can. I promise."

        I studied her expression. It was hard to be mean to myself. I mean, when my own face looked so sad I couldn't just yell at it. Besides, her expression looked sincere.

        "Okay, I believe you. You better not be lying to yourself, though."

        Her expression brightened, no longer so dreary and sad.

        "Thanks."

        I smiled, but then grew more serious. She wouldn't have just come into my dreams to say that. I'm sure of it.

        "Why did you come to me?"

        "I can let you see something."

        "What exactly is this something?"

        Her smile became a little slyer. "Follow me." She quickly stood up and started walking way into the fog.

        I scrambled to my feet and quickly followed after her. I almost couldn't see her, but I quickly caught up to her. After all, her top speed was my top speed.

        "Where are we going," I asked.

        "You'll see." I could hear the smile in her voice.

        We walked for a little while longer. I didn't ask any more questions because I knew she wouldn't answer them, or at least not in the way I wanted them to be answered. Finally, there was a flash of color besides white. I glanced at other me and she was heading towards the color. We kept walking and I was no able to see that it was a room of some sorts.

        I blinked. That's all it took and suddenly I was in the room. I looked around, feeling very befuddled. There was no sight of the white fogginess from which I'd come or other me. I focused my attention on the room and realized that I was in the rec room. It was the council of cabin leaders. I looked around at everyone and saw Percy, Zoe, Thalia, Grover, and the rest of the cabin leaders. I suddenly realized that Zoe was talking.

        "The Hunters must leave immediately," she said.

        "And go where?" Chiron asked.

        "West!" Bianca said. "You heard the prophecy. Six shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

        At this point, I realized that nobody could see me. I took a step forward while everyone continued to talk. I got right behind Percy and passed my hand right through his head. He didn't even flinch and I couldn't help but smile a bit. I realized I completely zoned out as to what everyone was saying and decided I'd better pay attention.

        "Yerrr. We do not need yerr help."

        Thalia rolled her eyes and said, "Forget it."

        I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

        "Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke around. "One shall be lost, One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

        I really wanted to slap Mr. D right across his godly face. He was not helping.

        "Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

        Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

        "Well maybe you should stop trying to be helpful," I growled. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear me.

        "We're supposed to work together," Thalia said. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

        Zoe scowled at her but didn't argue any further.

        "We must not delay," Chiron said with warning. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

        "Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

        I rolled my eyes and said, "Shut up, Mr. D." Once again, though, he couldn't hear me.

        "Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

        "Are you suggesting that the gods have troubled acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

        "Yes, Lord Dionysus," Zoe said without any signs of regret.

        Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right of course. Carry on."

        This made me smile. Out of everything bad about him, at least Mr. D was willing to admit this one thing.

        "I must agree with Zoe," Chiron said. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on the quest."

        "Four and two," Percy said.

        Everyone looked at Percy simultaneously. At first I thought they finally realized I was here, but then I figured out that I was right behind Percy and they were looking at him. I felt a little stupid, but quickly pushed the feeling aside.

        "We're supposed to have six," he said. "Four Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's fair.

        Thalia and Zoe glanced at each other.

        "Well," Thalia started. "Wouldn't it make more sense for there to be three and three?"

         Zoe grunted. "The quest was given to me. It only makes sense for there to be more Hunters then campers. Even then, I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

        "You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

        That's all I got to hear. Suddenly it was as if the whole room went into fast forward. Suddenly Zoe was standing and she had started talking again.

        "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker. Barbara is also one of the best, so we shall take her, too."

        My eyes widened with surprise. This was because of two reasons. Number one, the whole room had just moved into fast-forward. That was enough to make any one a little dizzy. Number two, I had never heard of Barbara before. She hadn't been in the book.

        "Is Phoebe the big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked with cautiously.

        Zoe nodded.

        "Is Barbara the one who likes to trip people with nets?"

        "Yes," Zoe said with annoyance. "Why?"

        "Oh, nothing," Travis lied. "Just that we have a T-shirt for them from the camp store." Travis and Connor each held up a T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of various national parks under it. "It's a collector's item," Travis continued. "They were admiring it. You want to give it to them?"

        That was another surprise. In the book, they only got one T-shirt for Phoebe. Ugh, and just when I thought things could get no more confusing.

        Zoe sighed and took the T-shirts. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe and Barbara. And I wish Bianca to go."

        That was all I got this time. I was sucked away, as if I was being pulled through a vacuum. I couldn't even gasp because all the air had been taken away. I was being squeezed and then suddenly my eyes flew open.

        I shivered. I realized I was back against the Big House in the snow. I was still wearing my short sleeved shirt and shorts. I was wet and very cold. I slowly stood up and looked over. Everyone seemed to still be in the meeting. I walked away, hugging myself to stave off the cold. I really wished I could help Percy. I knew he was going to be upset about not going on the quest to help Annabeth.

        I slowly walked towards the mess hall. I knew that the dinner horn would sound soon, so I decided I might as well make my way over now.

        Suddenly, a pang of loneliness hit me. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't tell anyone about my dreams that brought the loneliness. Perhaps it was simply the fact that I was alone at the moment. It didn't help that at dinner that night, I ate alone.

        As I sat, chewing silently I missed Percy. Even though I had only met him this morning, I felt like I've known him forever. It helped that I got my little mind email about the past couple years of his life. I sighed. I would try to find Percy after dinner. I figured we could both use the company.

I was in a good mood, soooo... TWO UPDATES IN TWO DAYS! Yay! I hope you like it. I haven't really proof read any of these chapters, so sorry for any grammar or spelling errors. Thank you for reading!