Ventures Chapter 21

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Chapter 21 Stupid Dreams ------------- Afterwards, Havi calls me and Jacob from the tree to eat. Jacob helps me down, and I touch down onto the grass. Honestly, I don’t feel like eating, but whatever. We end up eating cereal from the store we just recently wrecked. I cross my fingers under the table for Demeter to not be mad at us for wrecking her store. It wasn’t exactly our fault. It was the minotaur’s! Havi and Jacob keep discussing what to do next, and I don’t feel like talking. Aternus turns to me and signs to me, ‘What’s up?’ I have no idea how to sign so I just mouth ‘Don’t feel like talking.’ My half-sibling nods and turns back to his cereal. I eat a bit, but I’m honestly not hungry. Then, the owl flies down at us and drops a map on my lap. It hoots at me and then flies away. I look at it, pushing my cereal away. “What’s that?” Havi asks me. I shrug, “The owl dropped it into my lap.” ‘What owl?’ Aternus signs to me, and I can see the same question in Havi’s face. “I-...” My throat goes dry. “Y-you guys didn’t see it?” Jacob looks down at his feet, then his brown eyes meet my grey eyes. I notice little hints of orange mixed in, like fire. There’s specks of black, too. Little specks, like when your pencil lead breaks and leaves little pieces of graphite everywhere, like if at night, the sky was white and the stars were black. My heart thumps faster at the thought. I finally snap back to reality when Jacob gives me a questioning look. “See what?” Havi asks. “Um… Nothing. Never mind. Must just be my eyes…” “You sure?” She asks. I nod and tuck the tightly folded map into my pocket. Afterwards, we’re all tired. Except for me. While everyone else decides to go to sleep, I volunteer to keep watch and no one objects, although Jacob looks like he’s about to. As soon as I hear everyone asleep, I climb up into a tree and pull out the map. I study it. Then, I hear a sound and I jump. It turns out it was just Havi turning in her sleep. I laugh at myself, partly to let myself relax while my some-what ADHD brain goes absolutely insane, and in self-pity. In the fact that Athena is following me for some reason, I passed out. I haven’t been able to get rid of any monsters so far. /Everytime I tried to protect my brother, my dad saved us. When that cerberus appeared in my backyard, my dad saved me. When Maria trusted me with her life, I couldn’t save her. With the minotaur today, I barely made it out alive. I evaporated it and then passed out promptly afterwards./ My brain is refusing to give me any explanations. /Is it possible for a child of Athena, the goddess of strategy, battle, wisdom, and crafts to have all the information, all the answers in front of her face, and never know the answer?/ /And I can’t even come out with Jacob. I can’t be around him without blushing, or being awkward, or simping. And I don’t want to tell Aternus or Havi anything because I don’t want them to know. Then they’ll think I’m weak and then they’ll not trust me,/ A tear trickles down my face and onto the map. /Maybe I am weak. I haven’t been anything but a burden for the people on this quest. Why am I the one who got the quest? Why not Havi? Or Jacob? Or Aternus? Anyone but me would be a better fit./ Another tear. I decide to stop before I completely have a mental breakdown and I go back to looking at the map. Then I look down and just watch Jacob sleep for a bit, to rest my eyes. With his dark brown, almost black hair sticking in different directions, and him curled up in a little ball. He doesn't seem to be disturbed, so he must be having a peaceful dream. /Gods help me, he even looks cute when he’s asleep./ I go back to study at the map, until my eyes grow heavy and I accidentally fall asleep in the tree. - I’m in a dark room, with nothing that I can see, but the map on a table. I walk over to it. Then I yell, to no one in particular, “Showing me this in my dreams isn’t going to help!” Then I hear a voice behind me, a woman’s voice. “Don’t be so sure.” I turn around to face a curly brown-haired woman, like me, with pale skin and stormy grey eyes. “Mom?” I whisper. The woman nods. I walk closer. I come up to her shoulders in height. “Why are you here?” I ask. Athena looks down at me and smiles a bit. She puts her hand on my shoulder. “I thought I should give you a clue as to where to go next-” “Thank you, because we have zero ideas.” I say, accidentally cutting my mother off. “-Both in the quest, and possibly for clarity in your head, to help with your quest.” “Like that’s ever going to happen,” I mutter. “Abigail.” I look up to see my mom stare down at me, looking a bit annoyed. “It will happen, I’m sure. Give it time.” I open my mouth to say ‘Well, it doesn’t feel like time is an option right now’ when Athena seems to have known my thoughts and adds, “And no snarky, sarcastic comments.” “Aww that takes out half of the fun!” I reply, quoting my dad. (Continued in descr)