GODS Are Called MYTHS For A Reason
I Dream A Little Too Big
When I woke up I was confused. I had no idea what day it was or where I was. I didn’t even know where I was supposed to be. I was in a nice room in a very comfortable bed wearing light blue pajamas with dolphins decorated on them. I got up and carefully crept down the stairs to a massive kitchen with beautiful marble counters. There were pictures on the refrigerator- a few family photos with me and my mom and some guy I vaguely recognized, as well as some drawings with my name on them. As I was looking at the pictures my mother walked into the room. My heart leapt from my chest and I ran to hug her. For some reason I missed her desperately.
“Naida, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
I pulled back and stared at her. “Nothing, Mom.”
“Good. Now are your bags packed?”
“Bags?”
“Of course, silly. For your trip. You and the rest of Noble’s girls’ swim team are flying to Vegas in just two hours.”
I blanched. “Flying? I hate flying.”
Mom stared at me like I was crazy. “Since when? You got with Daddy all the time.”
That was when the man from the picture walked into the room. He gave my mom a sweet kiss before turning to me and pulling me in for a hug. “Good morning, baby. Are you all set to go?”
I just stared at him for a minute. There was nothing really familiar about him. I mean, I knew this man somehow but it wasn’t like a family relationship. “Sure, I guess.”
A little while later we were on a private jet with my mom who was the swim coach, and a few girls who seemed to know me while my dad, Trevor, flew it. My mom’s parents saw us off at the airport giving me awkward hugs and kisses. From what I remembered we didn’t get along with my grandparents but this kind of thing seemed normal; they were proud of their Olympic swimmer daughter and even proud of me. I ignored it and instead curled in my seat trying hard not to hyperventilate.
One of the girls popped in an inflight movie- Disney’s Hercules. The movie bothered me within the first couple of scenes. A Pegasus made from clouds and Hades working with the Titans didn’t sit well in my gut. “That’s not right,” I finally murmured when the creepy Fates came on screen.
“What?” a girl named Jenna asked.
“This movie is all wrong. Hades wasn’t a Titan. And Pegasus wasn’t made my Zeus. He came from Medusa’s head to save Percy… Perseus.” My voice trailed off. I knew that name. I could envision a dark-haired, green-eyed boy wearing jeans and an orange T-shirt riding a solid black flying horse. I felt a connection with the imaginary boy.
“It’s not real anyway,” Jenna said. “Those stupid stories were something someone made up a long time ago. How do you know any of this anyway? You failed English.”
“I did not,” I retorted. “I got a D and that’s only because I’m dyslexic and have ADHD.”
As soon as I said that I felt like I was hit with lightning. Instead of the airplane I saw a large valley full of kids in orange shirts at what looked like a summer camp but not like any I’d ever seen before. There were weird creatures roaming around and things that looked like spirits and the kids were practicing old-fashioned combat stuff. There was the boy I’d imagined before holding hands with a blonde girl as they walked on the beach, a young Cyclops tinkering with something, a half-goat satyr with a baseball cap running around playing a reed pipe. But the person that caught my eye was a pale boy with messy black hair, dark eyes, and pitch black Goth-ish clothes. He was around my age, handsome but you could tell my looking at him that he wasn’t social. I knew them all, more than I knew the girls on the flight with me or even my own father.
In a flash the vision was gone. My heart was racing but for once it wasn’t because of being in the air. It was because I knew this wasn’t right. Trevor wasn’t my dad. And I didn’t know any of these girls. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was supposed to be in Seattle. I was in Seattle right before I fell asleep when we were captured by Mnemosyne.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I screamed suddenly. Everyone turned to look at me. Mom looked worried at my outburst but I didn’t pay her any attention. “I need to get back to Seattle. And I need to get the hell out of the sky. Poseidon’s kids can’t be in Zeus’s territory.”
My mom rushed to her feet and ran over to me. She pulled me against her even though I tried to fight her off. She pressed her palm to my forehead like she used to when I was little and she needed to check my temperature. “Baby, are you okay? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about reality. This is not our reality, Mom. In the real world it’s just you and me. My father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He was never there and you parents didn’t give a shit about me and abandoned you for having me.”
“Honey, Trevor is your father. We’ve lived with him since I was 16 when I had you. Grandma and Grandpa helped us raise you.”
“Trevor’s an ass,” I snapped as I remembered where I knew him from. Her eyes widened a bit. “He’s just your most recent boyfriend from California. He hates me almost as much as I hate him. I have no idea why my imagination would make him my father but he’s not. I have to wake up! I have to get back to Percy and Annabeth and Nico. Oh gods, Nico. I really like that guy. And I have brothers, Percy and Tyson. They’re my family, definitely not that asshole Trevor. Let me wake up! Any gods listening, wake me up!”
“God Almighty, Naida, are you okay? You’re going a little crazy,” Jenna said with a little smirk, like she enjoyed my psycho meltdown.
I dropped to my knees and cradled my head in my hands. My eyes squeezed shut like I could get rid of this nightmare if I just closed them hard enough. “Poseidon, please,” I muttered. “Get me out of here. Daddy help.”
My eyes got teary. I was desperate and even to the point of begging my dad for help. I had to get out of here.
“Naida, calm down,” a voice said in my head. My eyes squeezed shut even tighter. It was official. I was going nuts.
“No you’re not,” the deep, rumbling voice insisted. I felt myself relax after a minute and was able to recognize the voice trying to soothe me. I’d only heard it a couple of times through Iris Messaging but it was easy to pinpoint exactly who was speaking when I calmed down enough.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I carefully opened my eyes I was no longer in the plane with a bunch of strangers. I had an instant of panic when I realized I had no idea where my mother was but the gentle waves licking at my bare toes eased my ridiculous fear. I looked around and saw that I was lounging on the beach back at Camp Half-Blood in some comfortable white board shorts and a green tank top. To my left was a man I knew right away still in his fishing outfit sitting on a chair and casting into the water.
“Poseidon?”
He glanced over to me and his bright green eyes shone with teasing under the tan hat. “Oh, so you’re back to first names? I think I liked Daddy more.”
I blushed bright red. My instant of weakness was coming back to poke fun at me. “Sorry. But where am I? Am I really at Camp Half-Blood or is my mind playing tricks on me again? This is all so confusing.”
“No, you’re not really here. You’re still dreaming. I was able to get you out of Mnemosyne’s influence but it’s still going to take you a minute to wake up.”
“So I’m still in Seattle. What was that? What was I dreaming?”
Poseidon sighed and reeled up his fishing line before he spoke. “You’ve always wished that things had worked out for your mom. You wanted a real family. And since everything’s that happened you just wanted normal more than ever. That’s what the dream was.”
I huffed. “Yeah, well I think I’ve just decided that normal is overrated if it means Trevor’s a part of my family.”
He smiled and I noticed the small dimples in his cheeks just like mine. “Things are about to get harder for you, Naida. You have to trust your friends and you have to trust me. You can do this.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll trust you. And I think it’s time I actually start trusting myself, too. I wasn’t wrong about Seattle. Whoever’s running this show knew I was coming and stepped things up. But now I’m taking over.”
His smile turned into a full out grin. “That’s my girl. It’s time to wake up now, Naida.”
“Bring it on,” I said just as the colors of my dream started to seep away and my brain slowly gained consciousness.
“Naida, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
I pulled back and stared at her. “Nothing, Mom.”
“Good. Now are your bags packed?”
“Bags?”
“Of course, silly. For your trip. You and the rest of Noble’s girls’ swim team are flying to Vegas in just two hours.”
I blanched. “Flying? I hate flying.”
Mom stared at me like I was crazy. “Since when? You got with Daddy all the time.”
That was when the man from the picture walked into the room. He gave my mom a sweet kiss before turning to me and pulling me in for a hug. “Good morning, baby. Are you all set to go?”
I just stared at him for a minute. There was nothing really familiar about him. I mean, I knew this man somehow but it wasn’t like a family relationship. “Sure, I guess.”
A little while later we were on a private jet with my mom who was the swim coach, and a few girls who seemed to know me while my dad, Trevor, flew it. My mom’s parents saw us off at the airport giving me awkward hugs and kisses. From what I remembered we didn’t get along with my grandparents but this kind of thing seemed normal; they were proud of their Olympic swimmer daughter and even proud of me. I ignored it and instead curled in my seat trying hard not to hyperventilate.
One of the girls popped in an inflight movie- Disney’s Hercules. The movie bothered me within the first couple of scenes. A Pegasus made from clouds and Hades working with the Titans didn’t sit well in my gut. “That’s not right,” I finally murmured when the creepy Fates came on screen.
“What?” a girl named Jenna asked.
“This movie is all wrong. Hades wasn’t a Titan. And Pegasus wasn’t made my Zeus. He came from Medusa’s head to save Percy… Perseus.” My voice trailed off. I knew that name. I could envision a dark-haired, green-eyed boy wearing jeans and an orange T-shirt riding a solid black flying horse. I felt a connection with the imaginary boy.
“It’s not real anyway,” Jenna said. “Those stupid stories were something someone made up a long time ago. How do you know any of this anyway? You failed English.”
“I did not,” I retorted. “I got a D and that’s only because I’m dyslexic and have ADHD.”
As soon as I said that I felt like I was hit with lightning. Instead of the airplane I saw a large valley full of kids in orange shirts at what looked like a summer camp but not like any I’d ever seen before. There were weird creatures roaming around and things that looked like spirits and the kids were practicing old-fashioned combat stuff. There was the boy I’d imagined before holding hands with a blonde girl as they walked on the beach, a young Cyclops tinkering with something, a half-goat satyr with a baseball cap running around playing a reed pipe. But the person that caught my eye was a pale boy with messy black hair, dark eyes, and pitch black Goth-ish clothes. He was around my age, handsome but you could tell my looking at him that he wasn’t social. I knew them all, more than I knew the girls on the flight with me or even my own father.
In a flash the vision was gone. My heart was racing but for once it wasn’t because of being in the air. It was because I knew this wasn’t right. Trevor wasn’t my dad. And I didn’t know any of these girls. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was supposed to be in Seattle. I was in Seattle right before I fell asleep when we were captured by Mnemosyne.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I screamed suddenly. Everyone turned to look at me. Mom looked worried at my outburst but I didn’t pay her any attention. “I need to get back to Seattle. And I need to get the hell out of the sky. Poseidon’s kids can’t be in Zeus’s territory.”
My mom rushed to her feet and ran over to me. She pulled me against her even though I tried to fight her off. She pressed her palm to my forehead like she used to when I was little and she needed to check my temperature. “Baby, are you okay? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about reality. This is not our reality, Mom. In the real world it’s just you and me. My father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He was never there and you parents didn’t give a shit about me and abandoned you for having me.”
“Honey, Trevor is your father. We’ve lived with him since I was 16 when I had you. Grandma and Grandpa helped us raise you.”
“Trevor’s an ass,” I snapped as I remembered where I knew him from. Her eyes widened a bit. “He’s just your most recent boyfriend from California. He hates me almost as much as I hate him. I have no idea why my imagination would make him my father but he’s not. I have to wake up! I have to get back to Percy and Annabeth and Nico. Oh gods, Nico. I really like that guy. And I have brothers, Percy and Tyson. They’re my family, definitely not that asshole Trevor. Let me wake up! Any gods listening, wake me up!”
“God Almighty, Naida, are you okay? You’re going a little crazy,” Jenna said with a little smirk, like she enjoyed my psycho meltdown.
I dropped to my knees and cradled my head in my hands. My eyes squeezed shut like I could get rid of this nightmare if I just closed them hard enough. “Poseidon, please,” I muttered. “Get me out of here. Daddy help.”
My eyes got teary. I was desperate and even to the point of begging my dad for help. I had to get out of here.
“Naida, calm down,” a voice said in my head. My eyes squeezed shut even tighter. It was official. I was going nuts.
“No you’re not,” the deep, rumbling voice insisted. I felt myself relax after a minute and was able to recognize the voice trying to soothe me. I’d only heard it a couple of times through Iris Messaging but it was easy to pinpoint exactly who was speaking when I calmed down enough.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I carefully opened my eyes I was no longer in the plane with a bunch of strangers. I had an instant of panic when I realized I had no idea where my mother was but the gentle waves licking at my bare toes eased my ridiculous fear. I looked around and saw that I was lounging on the beach back at Camp Half-Blood in some comfortable white board shorts and a green tank top. To my left was a man I knew right away still in his fishing outfit sitting on a chair and casting into the water.
“Poseidon?”
He glanced over to me and his bright green eyes shone with teasing under the tan hat. “Oh, so you’re back to first names? I think I liked Daddy more.”
I blushed bright red. My instant of weakness was coming back to poke fun at me. “Sorry. But where am I? Am I really at Camp Half-Blood or is my mind playing tricks on me again? This is all so confusing.”
“No, you’re not really here. You’re still dreaming. I was able to get you out of Mnemosyne’s influence but it’s still going to take you a minute to wake up.”
“So I’m still in Seattle. What was that? What was I dreaming?”
Poseidon sighed and reeled up his fishing line before he spoke. “You’ve always wished that things had worked out for your mom. You wanted a real family. And since everything’s that happened you just wanted normal more than ever. That’s what the dream was.”
I huffed. “Yeah, well I think I’ve just decided that normal is overrated if it means Trevor’s a part of my family.”
He smiled and I noticed the small dimples in his cheeks just like mine. “Things are about to get harder for you, Naida. You have to trust your friends and you have to trust me. You can do this.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll trust you. And I think it’s time I actually start trusting myself, too. I wasn’t wrong about Seattle. Whoever’s running this show knew I was coming and stepped things up. But now I’m taking over.”
His smile turned into a full out grin. “That’s my girl. It’s time to wake up now, Naida.”
“Bring it on,” I said just as the colors of my dream started to seep away and my brain slowly gained consciousness.
I love, love, LOVE your story (and I'm only on the 11th Chapter!) :) :D :P
PS- You got Rachel's eye color wrong. -_-
2/17/15