Following the path up to the dam, we managed to make it to the top, looking over at the serene lake being held back by the dam. It was a truly impressive sight, and spoke of the ingenuity of human engineering... To create something like this? There was no doubt or question that it was impressive.
"What are the chances monsters are nearby?" Uta asked, staring out at the lake.
"Sadly, rather good," Zoe sighed. She pulled out some sticks and crushed them, rolling them in her hands before she blew the splinters. They flew into the wind, dancing around and separating. She frowned. "There are monsters in the area, but I can't quite locate them... Annoying."
"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia suggested. "Save a few more rations."
"You've been here before?" Penny asked her.
"Once," she responded, though she didn't look particularly happy to remember it. "To see the guardians..." She pointed to the far end of the dam, where bronze statues that appeared like angels were crowded around by people rubbing their toes.
"They were a gift to my father, dedicated to him by Athena when the dam was built," she explained.
"Are they... Rubbing the toes?" Bianca asked incredulously. "Why?"
"They think it's good luck," Thalia sighed. "It's a sort of instinct on the mortals part, I think. They don't know about their significance, but they know there's something special about them."
"Mortals," Zoe rolled her eyes.
Penny looked to Thalia. "When you were last here, did they talk to you or anything?"
Thalia's eyes darkened further, but I could see the flash of pain in her eyes. She was remembering her sibling- Jason... Or maybe a girl Jason, I really didn't know given Percy was turned into a girl and so was Nicole.
Regardless, I gently pat Thalia's back, comforting her softly.
"No," Thalia finally said, her eyes hard. "They don't do anything. They're just metal statues."
Nobody dared comment on Thalia's mood. Uta stepped over to us and helped rub her back, pulling the girl into a tight hug to comfort her.
Thalia took a deep breath and pulled back slowly after a minute or two. "Thank you," she murmured.
"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe finally said after the silence. "We should eat while we can."
There was a beat of silence before everyone- save Zoe herself- cracked a small grin. Even Bianca looked amused.
"The dam snack bar?" Uta asked.
Zoe blinked. "Yes...? Why art thee all smiling?"
"Oh, no reason," Uta responded, trying and failing to keep the smile off of her face. "I could just use some dam french fries."
Thalia snorted, a smile slowly widening on her face. "And I want to use the dam restroom."
Perhaps it was the fact everyone was feeling pretty exhausted after the events of the quest, but they started cracking up. Bianca covered her mouth to hide her giggles, while Penny, Uta, and Thalia weren't even trying.
"I do not understand," Zoe looked at all of us as if we'd gone insane.
"I want to use the dam water fountain," Uta wheezed softly.
"And..." Thalia was struggling to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam t-shirt."
Penny held her stomach was she kept laughing, unable to help herself. She lifted a hand to her face, wiping a tear from her eye when-
"Moooo!"
Her smile faded fast.
"Did I just hear a cow?" I asked, grinning slowly... Oh, this was fun...
"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.
"Oh, definitely a dam cow," I chuckled with her. "Though I did think I heard a cow."
"I don't hear anything," Bianca said, tilting her head as though she was listening.
I turned my gaze to Penny, she looked alarmed- concerned even. "You okay, Penny? You're looking pale."
"Yeah... You guys should go ahead, I need a bit to myself if that's alright," she told us.
"What's wrong?" Bianca asked, looking worried.
"Nothing," she insisted. "I just... I need a minute."
Looks of concern were thrown, but nobody argued. Instead, we moved on and headed to the visitor center without her, while she went to check on the Ophiotaurus that had been following her and had chosen her as its protector.
After a bit of navigation, we finally made our way into the dam snack bar. There was quite a line though, so we'd have to wait. There was currently a tour going on, and it was around lunch time, so everyone was currently in the middle of getting food.
"So, what do we do?" Uta asked. "We're two days away from our deadline and- honestly? - we still have no idea where we need to go in order to save Artemis. The most we have is going to San Francisco in order to ask Nereus a question."
"Then we'll need to use our question on Nereus carefully," I told her. "Worst case scenario, we do what we've always done- improvise."
"Improvise is always the answer," Uta murmured, pouting.
"It's always worked in the past, why change things now?"
"I just wish we had a bit more certainty," she sighed heavily.
"I get that, but we don't. We can only keep moving forward."
She nodded, knowing what I was saying. It didn't mean she had to like it, but we didn't have a choice. The stakes were too high, and the consequences for failure would be disastrous for this world.
"Maybe if we're lucky, one of us will have a demigod dream right before the deadline that will tell us right where we need to go," Thalia suggested.
"If only," Zoe shook her head. "The dreams are very... Whimsical. Sometimes they tell useful information, other times they can feel utterly worthless. Thou never knows what Lord Morpheus will decide to show."
"Not Morpheus," I shook my head. "The dream acts on its own."
Their eyes all focused on me. "What dost thou mean?" Zoe asked.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. Morpheus was definitely the God of Sleep and Dreams, and I was confident he was an exceedingly powerful God. However, I sincerely doubted he truly had the absolute control over dreams that Zoe believed. He could influence dreams and also inflict dreams and/or nightmares onto others, yes. But his control over Dreams were not absolute.
After all, Dreams were infinite. How could Morpheus truly control them all? Otherwise, Morpheus would never have let Percy have Demigod dreams during the Titan War and risk Percy finding a way to win. He just couldn't control the entirety of the Dream.
I doubted even Great Red had such command over the Dream.
"Morpheus can't plan out every single mortal dream," I told them. "Even Athena would need a long time to develop a plan for every single mortal, and she wouldn't waste her time with such a thing either. Morpheus, more likely, wields the power of 'Dreams' but mostly allows them to run rampant as they wish. After all, Dreams are infinite. Even the Sky God cannot command infinity- how could Morpheus hope to?
"He does draw power from dreams, of course, and I'm certain he's very powerful. But the Dream likely acts and flows on its own merits, only requiring Morpheus to ensure it remains stable and doesn't go out of control. Sort of like how a manager is required to oversee a team in order to make sure they stay on their task."
Everyone nodded, but Zoe frowned. "How dost thou know so much?" She asked. "I did not think of it earlier but... Thou seems particularly knowledgeable. Even Lady Athena would not speculate like this."
Hm? Someone had actually caught on, huh?
"Truthfully, it's all speculation," I told her. "However, I'm very confident in my speculations. On a certain level, they just make sense... And, after all, none of you have ever refuted them which shows that they make sense to you as well, right?"
Zoe fell silent, she couldn't deny that she had taken my words as truth. Something about them simply resonated with her and made her believe them, even if they didn't fully make sense to her.
It was to be expected. I was using knowledge from other worlds to fulfil my understandings of this one. Normally, this wouldn't make sense. However, these were real worlds, not merely books, anime, and games anymore. As a result, there must be rules that the worlds all follow that are in common. The Dream being infinite was one I strongly believed was true.
I envy the 'Infinite' and pursue the 'Dream.'
I shook my head, banishing the thought from my mind.
"As for how I come to these conclusions..." I offered a shrug. "I suppose I read a lot. Not traditional material, but I read a lot. You could say that my knowledge comes from the Myriad Worlds if you want to be so dramatic."
"Myriad worlds?" Zoe questioned.
"If you don't know of it, then forget I spoke of it," I smiled. "Only those who know are capable of understanding. It simply cannot be understood by those who do not know."
Zoe frowned heavily but said nothing more.
Indeed, how could I ever explain that my knowledge came from other worlds? Better I just appear mysterious and use a term she wouldn't understand than actually explaining the concept of other worlds together.
The chatroom pinged and I glanced over, seeing a message in the group chat from Thalia.
Thalia: Are you sure you should have said so much? She's starting to get suspicious.
Yuno: Even if she understands, it will take her a long time to do so. And besides, Uta and I won't be in this world much longer. A few more days at most before we- or at least I- return home.
Uta: He's not wrong. I'm planning to go to Erina's world. I was thinking about going to Lala's, but I'll start off by becoming an idol in Erina's world first. Then, I'll expand to other worlds from there.
Thalia didn't respond after that... No doubt because she was also considering leaving this world after the quest. She didn't want to be the child of the Great Prophecy. The chances of it being her should we finish the quest were low, however she didn't want to take that risk.
"I hate waiting," I murmured.
"We all do," Thalia grunted. "It's the ADHD."
"Yes, the battle instincts of demigods can be quite inconvenient when not in battle," Zoe agreed. "While I do not have the same issue, I have seen how it affects many of my sisters."
"It's uncomfortable," Bianca muttered.
"It only gets worse the more powerful thou becomes," Zoe warned her. "The stronger thou art, the greater thy instincts become. And thus..."
"The worse it gets," Bianca sighed. "It's going to be a long eternity with the hunt..."
I didn't answer that since Uta and me didn't have ADHD. I was just bitching for the sake of bitching, and now I felt bad because I was whining about waiting while they actually had an issue with their attention.
Finally, our burritos were prepared, and we headed to a table. It was right as we were sitting down the Penny rushed in, her sea green eyes wide and frantic.
"We need to leave," she gasped out. "Now!"
"We literally just got our burritos," Thalia groaned.
"She is right, look!" She told us as she quickly stood up, her hand flying to her bow.
The cafe windows wrapped all away around the observation floor and, through them, we could see the skeletal army that had followed us all the way from D.C.
I just sighed as I lifted my burrito to my mouth and took a bite. I chewed it and swallowed, rising out of my seat. Right as the Elevator dinged and opened, revealing three more skeletons, I made my move.
"Burrito fight!"
I hurled my burrito right into the face of the nearest skeleton.
There was a beat of silence.
And then? Pandemonium.