Raven's pov
It had been four days since we had been on that shopping trip. Four days since I heard Nico sing. Three more days,and I would leave the infirmary at last. But I was getting awfully bored, and Nico and the boys were too busy to visit.

When Nico came,I didn't notice him. I was deep inside my mind palace. Hands steepled as usual,blocking the outside world. It was kind of like a method of coping,just separating myself from reality. I finally came back to reality after what was probably hours.

Nico tapped my shoulder. "Are you in your mind palace?"

"Not anymore. Let me guess,this is about the meeting,isn't it." I could hear the boy nod,sense the vibrations in the air.

"Okay,bring them in. All of them. I did promise them answers." He nodded and stood to get the others.

They sat in chairs gathered around my bed. At least I could sit up by now.
Belinda took a deep breath. "Okay, first question: What happened to Zayn and Katrina?"

I stiffened when the young girl mentioned those names. "They died within a month of each other, twelve years ago. Katrina died during a quest and Zayn....it was a suicide. It had been centuries,and he just couldn't take anymore death."

I kept myself from crying as Belinda gasped. "I'm sorry Raven. So,so sorry."

I grimaced. "You know,I never understood why humans apologize for things like that, things they have no control over. You couldn't have saved them,no one could have. So don't feel sorry." Belinda nodded sadly with sympathy,she knew what it was like to lose a close sibling,even if they weren't close in the end. I felt my own long repressed grief well up in my cold,ice heart as some called it. My brother himself had worded it as a heart of stone, and I suppose that's what it was in a way. I had repressed most emotion for so long,I had become fossilized like that,until I could barely feel at all.

Nick frowned,scruintizing me carefully. "Weren't you in an all girl band? Some sort of goth pop emo thing. Do you know what happened to the others?"

I nodded reluctantly. "Yes, I was. I'm surprised you recognized me. And as for the other girls,well,we were all vampires anyways. They're living under new identities." I sighed." I always hated being famous."

Leo laughed uncontrollably. There is something seriously wrong with that kid. "I need to get your albums!"

I frowned. "Why?"

Repair boy shrugged. "I dunno. Blackmail maybe?"

"In that case,I'm definitely not telling you which band it was."

"Aww... Spoilsport." He pouted.

Percy cleared his throat. "What did you mean when you told Hae-Joon something about his precious consort?"

"I meant just that. Next!"

"Do you have fangs?" Questioned Nick. Of course he'd ask that. Someone always does.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"I already said yes."

"Can I see them?"

"Why?"

"I dunno. Because it's cool."

I sighed. "Ask my brother."
After some more exhausting questioning from the demigods that apparently thought they were the inquisition,I finally just told Nico and Belinda to look into my dreams tonight and see if they found answers, and to take my brothers with them, including Percy. The others took that as a cue to leave.

Back in the mostly infirmary, I tried to sleep instead of trying to avoid it like usual. Nico being there helped.

Somehow Nico made me feel safer. Death was just so assured,that I guess that explains it.

Nico's pov
Raven's breathing evened out and she seemed kind of peaceful while sleeping. But I could tell that there was something wrong. She looked almost dead. With what happened, I'm not surprised.

I grabbed Belinda's hand before melting into a shadow. She was cool with it. However,Percy and the twins were freaking out. Hae-Joon just sighed like he was used to it. Knowing his sister and heritage,he probably was already used to travelling through dreams.

In the dream,the land outside looked wild and untamed,with tree covered misty mountains visible in the background. The sea was choppy and it was obviously cold and windy. Just the kind of beautifully harsh place that Raven likes.

We were standing outside some sort of house. Yelling in some foreign came from inside,along with a muffled thump as if something had been hit. A moment later, a pale,beautiful,thin little girl that looked like she was around five emerged from the dwelling. She was dressed in very plain,rough clothing and was barefoot. Her hair fell around her porcelain,high cheekboned face,obscuring her eyes. She walked along a little trail,and was carrying two buckets on one of those pole things that you kind of brace on your neck. As she walked,I saw that even with the heavy buckets, she was graceful. I caught a glimpse of red marks and slashes on her back as she bent to get the water,like she had been beaten. It would be impossible for any little girl to lift that thing,but the mystery girl did so easily.

As the girl stood,I saw her face clearly and almost fell out of my hiding place in the dream. It was,without a doubt, Raven when she was young. She seemed different though, not quite as dark and brooding,even though she still had the same fire in her eyes, which were the dark blue gray color of the stormy sea. They were troubled, not as carefree and happy as they should have been,and had an icy glint to them. Still,even with those familiar traits,it was really weird not to see Raven dressed in black.

As Raven continued to walk back to the house that she hated,the morning mist seemed to cling to her,the shadows stretching towards her.

Throughout the day,it was one job after another for the little girl. She got no rest,but I noticed that the deadly glint in her eyes softened when another,more well dressed child,came into the room where she was weaving, a small boy with him. That must be Zayn,her closest brother,with one of her other siblings.

When everyone else was eating,Raven stayed apart,like she was painfully aware that she didn't belong. At night, when the other residents of the house were asleep,Raven slipped away,out into the night. She stopped at a makeshift forge,working on something. When it was finished,I saw that it was a sword,made of black metal that I was very familiar with. I felt my stomach twist. So young,yet already preparing to fight to the death with a weapon that was meant for someone older.

I saw her training in the dead of night, up in the misty mountain peaks, not pausing to sleep. It must have been pushing her to the brink.

The next day,went to the same place. A vicious snarl split the silent night and Kelli,fangs elongated,darted forward to tear the girl to pieces. But she was ready,and won with ease. My stomach twisted further. That clearly wasn't the first time she had to fight. Why would a five year old girl already have taught herself to defend herself? I knew that she was clearly smart enough,the intelligence in young Raven's eyes was incredible. But could it be because of her mother?

The scene changed.

Now Raven looked the same age she did today. She was wearing a black Greek style chiton,her skin golden from the sun, her eyes the glittering turquoise color of a shallow sea, yet so deep. Beautiful and exotic among the Greeks,Raven attracted a lot of attention. There was a guy, tall and bronzed with messy black hair and dark eyes, that followed close behind,like he already knew Raven. They seemed close,best friends, maybe even something more.

The next scene was the same place, just a few days later. Don't ask me how I knew.

Raven was kneeling beside the guy I had seen earlier. Tears ran down the warrior's face. I had never seen her cry before. The guy reached up one hand, touching Raven's cheek. She let him, and his blood smeared across her face as his hand dropped back down.

The next place was somewhere I recognized. It had lurked in my nightmares for a while now. It was the heart of tartarus.

Raven,now with some more of her familiar scars,was locked in battle. Raven's familiar twin blades flashed out against an entire army of monsters. The girl on the other side of her collapsed,her skull bashed in. Raven screamed in anguish,a sound full of raw agony and loss. Later she stood stone faced at Camp Half Blood, creating a fire that spread across the beautifully embroidered blue cloth with unearthly green flames.

The next thing Raven's dark dreams went to was the surgery that made her blind.

The bird kid was unconscious,splayed out on an operating table,probably because they couldn't control her when she was awake. I watched in horror as the tool went through the top layer of the eye and fiddled with something in the back.

The next one was between her and her brother,thirteen years ago.

She was wearing her familiar black leather jacket,and facing the door, scowling. "I train with the dead. It's where I belong," the girl said stiffly.

Zayn looked at her sadly,blue donut in hand. "It's okay to still be a kid sometimes." I shuddered. That was similar to what Percy had said to me the year after Bianca died.

Raven shook her head." No. It might be for other people,but not for me."

Then her brother got a call. His face became pale and he dropped his blue donut, his ocean colored eyes were filled with tears. Raven looked even more grim than usual. Something bad had happened,she could feel the death of someone dear to her brother.

The dreamscape changed once again.

It was under the ocean,at a palace being attacked by monsters. Must be during the Second Titan War. A familiar looking mermaid lead an army, grim determination visible on her features. She stabbed one serpent and hissed, "This is for Katrina." Then she whirled around and did the same to the other sea serpent." And this is for Zayn. Tell your master that I will never stop fighting." They fled.

Now I knew why she looked familiar. It was Raven. I recognized her even with fins and strange colored skin.She was fighting for her father's realm.That's where she had been during the war.

The last place I saw in her dreams was the underworld.

Raven sat on the bed,sightless eyes full of raw pain that she never showed to anybody. I never knew that Raven could form such vivid pictures in her mind while blind. Her fingers traced the edges of a picture. I didn't see the picture because in the dream,the door opened and she jumped,slipping the picture into her pocket. I saw myself come in.

And that's when I pulled the group out of Raven's troubled dreams. Like I said before,Raven is haunted by wandering ghosts. Usually she doesn't sleep so she could avoid them for as long as possible. But now they were coming for her,whether she could help herself or not. The past was coming back to torment her some more.

Percy looked at me worriedly. "What was that about? Why did we see those things? Who was that guy?" Hae-Joon stood in uneasy silence,and put a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"I.....I don't know." Those words hung in the air,as Percy once again looked at his sleeping sister,a new worried glint in his eyes.