The Mission No One Must Know

  Harry opened his eyes and realized he was somewhere different; yet at the same time, familiar. As if he had already dreamed of this place before. And somehow, he knew without a doubt that this was a dream.

  He looked around.

  Black marble floors, polished like a dark mirror. Columns in a style very similar to the camp; that distinct Greek touch carved into every corner. The walls were painted with what looked like portraits of wars past, present, and future. The people dying in them almost seemed audible in his ears; muffled screams, steel clashing, something far too real to be only paint.

  Interestingly, the ceiling was missing. But far above, there was no open sky. Instead, suspended rocks hung overhead, sharp stalactites pointing downward as if they were swords of Damocles waiting to fall at any moment.

  “How long do you plan to stare at the ceiling?”

  A sudden voice echoed, slightly impatient.

  Harry turned his gaze quickly.

  There, seated on a throne of bones that would absolutely earn a stupid question from Percy, sat a man. Or at least, Harry thought it was a man, because he could not truly make out a proper shape. Only feel it. A darkness seated upon the throne, watching him closely with interest.

  “Ah… excuse me, I…” Harry began, before falling silent, staring at him as if trying to remember who he was. “Do I know you?” he asked, feeling something strangely familiar.

  “You should. At the very least, you should have heard my name. But there is no time for that,” the shadow said in an authoritative tone, studying him carefully. “At least this time you came, and not the other one,” it added.

  “The other one?” Harry asked, confused.

  He received no answer.

  “Something of mine was stolen, and I require someone to help me retrieve it. And perhaps you will suffice,” the man said, the darkness around him inclining slightly.

  “What?” Harry replied, not fully understanding, as everything seemed to be moving too fast.

  “The object taken from me is very precious; as well as dangerous. I trust you will return it to me. I have seen that you are not greedy. And I know you will fulfill my mission,” the figure continued.

  Harry only grew more confused.

  “I know what you seek. If you can find my object, I will tell you how to free the cursed one,” the shadow added.

  At that, Harry’s expression shifted from confused to completely serious. He connected it immediately to someone.

  “Are you talking about Dred?” he asked quickly.

  The shadow had no face, yet Harry could almost feel a smile.

  “You are intelligent. That is why I favor you more than the other. He talks too much.”

  For a brief instant, only one person came to Harry’s mind; his brother. But he shook the thought away for now.

  “What do I have to do?” Harry asked, no trace of doubt left in his voice.

  …

  Harry woke from the dream slightly disoriented. But almost instantly, his expression turned serious even before he fully processed the information.

  Percy, in the sleeping bag beside him, also woke up completely groggy, sitting up by reflex while his head kept drooping forward from sleep.

  “Mmm… Harry, is it time to go to school already?” he muttered.

  Harry’s serious expression vanished as he looked at his brother.

  And to wake him up completely, he punched him straight in the face before getting up and rushing off to wash his face.

  “You four-eyed pig!” Percy shouted, clutching his face as he finally woke up, drawing the attention of a few campers still asleep; and earning amused looks from the ones already awake who had clearly seen what happened.

  …

  “So, how exactly are we supposed to leave and complete this weird mission?” Percy asked as he and Harry crouched between the trees at the edge of the forest, planning their next move after Harry told him about the dream.

  As always, Percy did not hesitate for even a second to help his brother; especially after hearing there might be a way to free Dred.

  And he did not even question whether the dream had simply been that. Because after almost a week at camp, he had learned that every demigod seemed to have them. Sometimes as omens; other times as nightmares crafted by powerful beings. And in rarer, though not impossible cases, as direct connections to the gods.

  “I asked Annabeth and some of the other campers. Apparently, it is going to be harder than I thought. You can tell a lot of them want to leave, but without permission from Mr. D or Chiron, they don’t even try. That means it is really more complicated than we assumed,” Harry said seriously, shaking his head.

  “Can’t we just tell Sirius and the others? They said they would be around the United States for a while. After all, we promised Mom we would not leave without permission,” Percy said, looking at him seriously, strangely becoming the voice of reason. Enough to earn a steady stare from Harry.

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  Harry shook his head.

  “That person said no one can find out. And that a normal human must never touch the object. It is a direct mission for us,” he said firmly. “Percy, we have a way to free Dred. We have to do this.”

  Percy stared at him… then smiled.

  “And they say I’m the one who leads you astray,” he replied lightly, clearly not refusing. “So, what’s the plan? We escape the camp?” he asked calmly.

  Harry thought for a moment. Then he remembered something Annabeth had said earlier.

  “Annabeth said there might be a quest. That she was waiting for one, remember? But she has to investigate what it would be about. So… maybe… if we help her figure out the reason, she wins that quest and we can leave with her,” Harry said quickly.

  “So?” Percy said, looking at him.

  “Let’s help her investigate the satyrs,” Harry replied with a smile, glancing toward the open area beyond the trees where Grover could be seen walking somewhat gloomily between the cabins.

  “Mm… I don’t know. The last time I tried to interrogate him, it went badly and I almost set his fake feet on fire,” Percy said.

  “What? No, not interrogate him. Wait, what?” Harry said, staring at his brother in complete confusion.

  “Oh, then that’s great,” Percy answered without really answering, already walking quickly toward Grover, leaving Harry crouched there staring after him.

  “How did you almost set his feet on fire?” Harry asked as he hurried to catch up.

  “Well, you know, with a candle and some alcohol to clean the kidnapping traces,” Percy replied casually.

  “What kidnapping?” Harry asked, even more confused.

  “The one we planned with Neville. Did you know the candles at Hogwarts are enchanted to never go out or melt; except when you remove them from their place?” Percy said.

  “No, I mean… yes, but… tsk, wait. You know what, let’s leave that for later,” Harry said, giving up as he caught up to him.

  …

  “What’s up, G man?” Percy said, walking up to Grover with a relaxed smile.

  Grover, head lowered, returned a forced smile when he saw them approaching together and gave a halfhearted greeting.

  “Hey, guys,” he said.

  Harry and Percy exchanged a glance for a moment, then looked back at the depressed satyr.

  “Is everything okay, Grover?” Harry asked.

  “Aaah… yeah,” Grover replied with a long sigh. “It’s just about my license. Looks like I didn’t get it this time.”

  “License?” Percy and Harry asked at the same time.

  “Yeah. Searcher’s license. I thought that this time, since I brought two demigods; I mean, you guys, I’d get a lot of points for it. But technically I didn’t bring you. Your human friends did. They even made it to the United States before I did, and I lost you. I was supposed to pick you up in Montauk,” Grover explained, his voice heavy with disappointment.

  They did not know exactly what that license implied, but it was clear Grover wanted it very badly. That made Percy feel genuinely guilty, since he was supposed to wait for the others there. But he had insisted on going ahead with Sirius. Only Harry had refused at first. And if Harry had insisted on staying too, Sirius probably would not have left, and they would have waited for the others.

  “At least Mr. D said that for bringing two demigods, I didn’t completely fail. So he just canceled this evaluation. Technically I’m still your guardian and I’ll stay connected to your fates. So if, for some reason, either of you gets a quest and I go along to protect you… and we’re lucky enough to come back alive… then Mr. D would consider my job done,” Grover explained.

  Percy and Harry looked at each other for a moment.

  “Then that’s good news,” Percy said with a faint smile.

  “Nonsense. The chances of either of you getting a quest…” Grover did not finish the sentence, but his tone made it clear that he considered them practically nonexistent. “Besides, even if you did, why would you even think of taking me with you?” he added pessimistically.

  “Of course we’d want you by our side,” Percy said instantly.

  Harry simply nodded firmly, without hesitation.

  “Why? I don’t even think I’d be useful. I don’t have any special abilities. I’d just slow you down,” Grover said, putting himself down.

  “Nonsense,” Percy repeated. “After all, at Hogwarts you were number one in Herbology. Even Professor Sprout gave you those awesome seeds because you were so good,” he added quickly.

  That seemed to lift Grover’s spirits slightly. He gave a small smile as he pulled out a little pouch hidden inside his clothes. It was the same one the professor had given him, encouraging him to keep learning about magical plants.

  “But any satyr is good at that,” he added again. “Besides, I did really badly in the other subjects.”

  It seemed like he would stay like this for quite a while. And no matter what Percy or Harry said, his mood did not fully improve.

  “Just don’t worry about it. Maybe Harry has a quest for us,” Percy said quickly.

  “What do you mean?” Grover asked, looking at him.

  Percy glanced at Harry, but Harry seemed unsure whether to tell him or not.

  “Well… I can’t tell you anything. Just don’t worry,” Percy replied casually.

  The three of them changed the subject after that, trying to distract Grover so he would stop dwelling on it. They talked about the animals they used as mounts, about swords, even about the gods.

  “So… those empty cabins?” Percy asked, pointing at the four that did not have a single camper inside.

  “Number eight belongs to Artemis. She doesn’t have children. And she never will. But they built her an honorary cabin so she wouldn’t be offended,” Grover explained.

  “So the other three are for the Big Three,” Percy said.

  “No. Number two is Hera’s. Also honorary, since she doesn’t go around having children, being the goddess of marriage,” Grover clarified. “The other two belong to Zeus and Poseidon.”

  “That makes sense for Hera. But aren’t the other two the exact opposite? Shouldn’t they have kids all over the world, according to the stories?” Percy asked.

  “Well… yes,” Grover said, looking directly at Percy for a moment. Then he looked away. “But after the Second World War, the Big Three made a pact not to have any more children. Their children were really powerful… and dangerous.”

  “I see,” Percy said, accepting it without much drama.

  “But Hades doesn’t have a cabin here,” Harry commented suddenly.

  Those words made Grover turn pale.

  “He doesn’t have a cabin here… and he doesn’t have a throne on Olympus either,” Grover replied with obvious discomfort. “Let’s just say that if he had a cabin here… it wouldn’t be pleasant.”

  He ended the conversation there.

  But Harry kept looking toward the other cabins thoughtfully.

  “Percy, Harry, there you are. I’ve been looking for you all day,” Annabeth’s voice called from behind them, startling them.

  “Come on. We need to get ready for Capture the Flag. If you’re not at the strategy meeting, you won’t even know where you lost your head,” she said, looking at them seriously.

  “Oh, right,” they both answered.

  “See you later, Grover. We’ll keep talking about the Underworld mission afterward,” Percy said without thinking.

  Harry slowly turned his head and stared at him.

  Percy immediately realized he had let something slip. Completely Hagrid style.

  “Huh?” Grover said, confused.

  “He means he wants to hear more stories later about heroes who went to the Underworld,” Harry explained quickly, giving his brother a firm look.

  “Ah, yeah. That,” Percy said, nodding with exaggerated naturalness.

  Meanwhile, Annabeth stared at the three of them for a moment. When she heard the words mission and Underworld, she seemed to focus even more on them, frowning slightly.

  “Ah… well. Yes, there are a couple of stories,” Grover said.

  “We’d like to hear them later,” Harry added before gently pulling his brother toward Annabeth, who was now watching them more closely.

  They stopped in front of her.

  “What’s going on?” Percy asked, looking straight into her gray eyes as she studied both of them.

  “Nothing,” Annabeth replied before turning around.

  But she gave them one last look over her shoulder before starting to lead the way.

  For a brief instant, Harry had the feeling that someone else was watching them as well; from somewhere far deeper than the forest.