On the Dying Horizon

On the Dying Horizon is the sequel to Under a Very Black Sky.

Chapter One
Instinct kicks in as the gun is raised. Panic takes over for a brief moment of absolute fear. I grip the arms of the chair I'm sitting in as I await my fate. My eyes close, and the gunshot rings out. There is no sudden lack of being, I still feel, hear, and smell things, so I open my eyes. I look around and see the dozens of other people staring forward, jaws agape and glued to their seats. Oh... I think to myself and I start taking in deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I return my gaze to dead in front of me and watch a gunfight ensue on a large screen. I still flinch at every single gunshot, but I stop myself from panicking like I just did.

The movie ends about a half hour later, and I can't get out of the theater fast enough. I immediately step out into the warm, summer night's air and take in my surroundings. More cars than I can count zooming by to take their passengers to whatever menial task that they have assigned themselves, hurried businessmen walking from workplace to workplace, and everywhere I look, people are staring at little black boxes in their hands, captivated by whatever thing is on the small screens. I notice one young man walking into the street into oncoming traffic, staring at one of these boxes, so I grab him by the back of his shirt and pull him back onto the sidewalk.

"Thanks." I hear him say, but I've already left. A glance over my shoulder tells me that he's mighty confused about who just saved his life. I ignore him and keep walking, forcing myself to accept the crowd and all of its madness as a simple fact of life and not something to fear. In my first year in this new universe, I had a lot of difficulty adjusting to crowds. Everyone so busy and bustling on to varying parts of their lives, all of them seeming so self righteous and self important that it seemed suspicious. That suspicion grew to become paranoia, until it snapped one day and I broke a man's nose in something known as a supermarket.

I spent a long time after that living with the cowl of darkness on. It was easier, knowing that nobody could see me. I could just take whatever I needed and I didn't have to really worry about anything coming to kill me. Then I was attacked by a hellhound in a back alley and only barely got away. Since then, I'd been training myself to not resort on the shadows to keep me safe. It had been going rather well, up until I got the great idea to expose myself to the wonderful thing known as the media to these people. It sucks. A lot. There are more things that trigger my killer instincts and natural reactions in the media than in everyday life for these folks.

I head into the park. Everyone says I shouldn't go into the park in New York, but after the first few months of sleeping in there, people have learned to avoid me. Break enough fingers or cut off a few thumbs and people get the idea, I find. I return to my usual tree and sit down, leaning up against it. I wrap my external jacket around myself as a blanket and doze off.

''I'm lying on a bed that feels like it's made of a little piece of heaven. It takes comfort to a whole new level, and just sitting on it makes me want to go to sleep. But I can't, not yet. I'm waiting for someone to join me. Impact hits the bed right next to me and someone pounces on me. Their shoulder length blonde hair flops up into my eyes and nose, so I have to resist the urge to sneeze while I burst out laughing. Stella climbs on top of me and kisses me once before sitting back up. "How are you, hun?" I ask.''

''She opens her mouth, and words from a different time leave her lips. "I know...it breaks my heart to break that promise, but I know that I need to do this. Just promise me you'll live in this new world, please." Then, my vision is surrounded by a purple haze and I feel like I'm falling a hundred feet to my doom.''

I jolt awake and look around. It's dark out and there's the occasional group of thugs wandering about and the usual homeless person begging for change. I sigh and get up to find a bench to sit on. As I walk, I notice a girl about my age, seventeen, if you're wondering, wandering through the park on her own. She's pretty, with brown hair and big, brown eyes, and no taller than I am. I immediately start tailing her, knowing it's just a matter of time before someone jumps her.

I wasn't wrong. As she rounds a corner, four men step out and surround her. I won't repeat what they said, else I fear you may not end up reading anything further about my life. I start nearing them, but slow down as the scene before me unfolds. The girl throws, I mean throws, a man over her shoulder and slams him on the ground when he grabs her shoulder from behind. She soccer kicks him in the head as the second and third man come for her. She draws a switchblade from her pocket and slashes one behind the knee before stabbing the third in the kneecap. They drop and she faces down the fourth, who runs away.

"Nice." I say as I near her.

"No thanks to you." She replies, wiping the blade off on the first man's shirt.

"I was coming, don't you worry." I say. "You should get out of here before the cops show up."

"What, and you'll be my witness for when they come knocking at my door?" The girl says.

"Well, if you want to take me with you, that'd be great too." I snap, in no real mood for an argument.

"No thanks." The girl snaps and leaves, vanishing into the darkness of the park. I shrug and leave, headed further into the city myself. I relocate to a back alley where more than a few homeless people stay in tents and cardboard boxes. Two or three of them have a fire going in an old garbage can, so I grab a solid looking box and join them. I've done this many times in the past, so they know me well enough to know I'm no threat to them.

"Any cops nearby?" One of them asks me, his voice clearly affected by a lifetime of smoking.

"They'll be distracted by the remains of a fight in the park." I tell him. He nods and begins cooking a piece of meat I choose to not identify over the garbage fire. I stay there til morning and when the sun rises, I leave and slip into a grocery store. I've scraped together some money by acting as...I don't know what to call it. A cleaner, maybe, helping to get rid of problems people are having. I sneak into the food aisle and pick out some pre-made sandwiches and boxes of other things. Adjusting to the food of this world took a long time as well.

As I go to pay I can't help but notice the same girl from the park walk inside. She notices me and slips away. I shrug, guessing she just doesn't want me in her life, and I move on. I head out into the streets for another long day of living the New York life. Around lunchtime I head into a sandwich place and order the biggest sandwich I possibly can. They call them subs, for some reason. Where I come from that had an entirely different definition.

As I'm leaving, I see someone across the street hide their face behind a newspaper as they sit on a bus stop bench. They were quick, quicker than most of the people who inhabit this city. But it didn't stop me from seeing that they were the very same girl from before. I keep walking, this time on high alert. Old instincts kick in, a feral, primal preparedness that hasn't been in my body for a long time. I crack my neck sideways and check in windows I pass from reflections of anyone following me.

Because now I have a stalker, and I want to know what they want. I scan the streets up ahead and see a clothing store. I make for it immediately and walk inside. Without losing stride, I slip into the changing area and hide in a stall. I put my face to the hinge keeping the door on and peek through the crack in the door, looking for any sign of my stalker. I see her wander in and start looking around. She starts walking for the changing area, grabbing a pair of pants, and heads into one of the stalls. Before she can close the door, I spring out from mine and walk in, pinning her to the wall.

"Why are you following me?" I growl.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She exclaims, a curious look of terror in her eyes. Her voice is slightly different, but I assume it's just a voice crack of some kind.

"Really? Then why is it I'm seeing you everywhere I go today?"

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry, just don't..." Tears form in her eyes and it hits me. I back up two steps and take in her face a little more. Her brown hair is longer than the girl who was following me. They have very similar eyes and facial structures, but they're also certainly different people.

"Oh gods..." I mutter. There's a brief look of recognition in her eyes, as well as confusion, which makes me wonder if she's a demigod. "I'm sorry." I whisper and get out of the store as fast as I possibly can. I hide in a back alley and watch for the girl to come out. She doesn't. It occurs to me that she's probably calling the police or something similar, so I make for one of the nearby homeless camps and call in a few favors to hide in one of their tents. I lie down on my front in the tent and reach into my backpack.

Inside, I find an old notebook and a pen. I open to the first blank page I can find and start writing.

Dear Stella.

''It hasn't been easy, these last few days. I tried to watch a movie in public for the first time, but wound up having a panic attack towards the end. All of the guns in it triggered a few bad memories. I was able to sit through it, though, so I consider it as close to a success as I can get. I met a girl last night who was probably the strongest one in this dumb city. Fought off four men on her own with just a switchblade. Probably trained by a soldier father or something. I thought I saw her following me and wound up attacking her in a clothing store. Turns out it was a different person entirely. Stella, am I ever going to adjust to this world? I know you want me to live here, but...I miss you, love. I think about you and Robin every single day. They haven't gotten you into any trouble, have they? Knowing them, I wouldn't be surprised as to what crap they could get up to without having to fight for survival all the time. Also, about a week back a crew of demigods rolled through town. That old group I wrote to you about called 'The Questers' Almost punched Michael when I saw him. He's one of my triggers, I think.''

I miss you.

With love,

Zoe

I finish writing the letter and quickly fold it into a paper airplane. After an hour or so, I go find the empire state building and go up to the balconies where you can go to look through binoculars to look at the city. How exciting, I know. I throw the letter off the edge and watch it fly. It's something I do to cope. Once a week, I write a letter to Stella and throw it off the empire state building. It feels like once it's flown from view, there's a chance she might get to see and read it. I wipe my eyes as it vanishes from sight and I return to the streets below.

The moment I step onto the sidewalk, a feeling of unease starts to form in the back of my head. It's like I'm being watched, but there's no sign of anyone watching me. Calm down. I order myself. It's just like when you first had to move through the crowds. Despite my self-reassurances, I can't help but feel like there really is someone watching me, and that it isn't just my old panics at so many people in one place. I return to one of the homeless camps and join the people sitting around a garbage fire. After the usual greetings, I sit in silence for a long time, staring into the fires. I think about all the nights that I had to make a fire out of necessity, not just because it was nice to do. All the times where we would huddle around a single burning log to avoid freezing to death.

"Someone was looking for you." One of the homeless men say. I look over, raising an eyebrow. "Girl your age, brunette, cute little thing. Carried a knife on her. Says you tried to kill her sister."

"Did she say where they lived?" He shakes his head. "Ok, thanks for telling me." I say and get up. Last place I saw her was the park...guess I'll try there tonight. I keep myself fed and busy until night falls, then I make my way to the park and find my tree. Instead of falling asleep on it, I climb up and perch myself on one of the branches. It doesn't take long for me to spot the girl with the switchblade. I move along the edge of the branch until I reach the spot just above the walkway. I watch her as she walks in my direction, all the common thugs and annoyances giving her a wide berth this time. Once she's directly under me, I jump down and land behind her.

She turns, completely unfazed and looks at me. "Theatricality may work against these idiots but it doesn't on me." She says, sounding unamused. "Why did you attack my sister in the clothes store."

"No wonder." I mutter. "I thought she was you and that you were following me." I say.

"Well, you were only half wrong." She says. "I was following you, just not in there. You definitely saw me in the market and on the street."

"Oh, well, since you're here, care to explain why you're stalking me?" I ask, reaching up and touching my necklace uncomfortably.

"Job." She says. "Olympus asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Oh, so you're a demigod?" I ask.

"Yep. They didn't want to spare some of their more glorified teams, so they had me and my friends work on making sure you didn't try to kill everyone in camp again."

"Great." I say. "Good to know my escape wasn't much of an escape."

"You were gone for a long time, we couldn't find you at all." She says, shrugging.

"So what do you want from me now?" I ask.

"Well, our cover is blown, so if you want, you can come back to our safe house. Just for a night, I guess." She says, and I get the sense she doesn't really care what I do next.

"So you're fine with me threatening your sister but I happen to be welcome in your safe house?" I ask. "That doesn't add up."

"She said you were probably just scared. If she can forgive you so can I."

"Why do you seem like this is something you just want to get over with?" I ask. She lets out a long, tired sigh.

"Because my friends and I can't come back to camp until you either go to camp or Olympus." She says. "So I just want to prove that you're a non-hostile so I can go back there and finally take my sister to camp as well."

"Won't someone be pissed you blew your cover?"

"Undoubtedly, but after living on the streets and tailing you for four months, I don't care anymore." She says.

"Well..." I hesitate, not sure for a moment of what I'm going to say. "I suppose an actual bed wouldn't be terrible for a night." I say.

"Thanks." She says and holds a hand out. "I'm Carly. Carly Taylor, daughter of Zeus."

"I guess you know me, but I'm Zoe, daughter of Athena."

Chapter Two
Going into their safe house was the strangest of sensations to me. It looked a lot like most other houses I'd seen in my years in this world, but it was different than what I had seen of their insides. Sure, there was all the same furniture and living rooms, dining rooms, and all of that, but there was something else to it all. Every room was devoid of decoration, as if the entire house was strictly the bare essentials. Furniture, two bathrooms, a kitchen, bedrooms, and that was it. Nothing stood out. Nothing was put up to try and out do their neighbors. It was just what they needed to live in the building.

And that really, really reminded me of where I came from. "Ky, I'm home!" Carly yells into the house. "I brought her with me." She adds. Footsteps can be heard coming from one of the hallways, and the girl I threatened comes into view. "Zoe, this is my sister, Kylie. I uh...guess you've met."

"Yeah..." I say and see that this kid is still nervous. She isn't anything like her sister, I can tell that much in a second. She can't look my in the eyes and her gaze is constantly fluttering elsewhere. Not to mention she's shifting her feet too much to be comfortable meeting me. "Listen, kid, I'm sorry about what happened today."

"It's fine." She says shortly. I decide to not press the matter further.

"I'm gonna make supper." Carly says. "If you want to explore the house, Zoe, you can, just don't steal anything."

"Alright." I say and start to wander. The theme of only the essentials continues throughout the house, even in the bedrooms. Just a bed and a nightstand. As I explore the basement, which is somehow even more barren, I hear a soft voice behind me.

"This one will be yours." I jump slightly and turn to see Kylie holding a door open.

"Oh, uh...thanks." I say awkwardly. I walk in the room and see it is a simple bedroom with a single bed and a bathroom off to the side.

"You can shower in there if you want, supper should be ready in about half an hour." She says, her eyes consistently moving around the floor.

"Thanks." I say and drop my bag on the floor and toss my jacket along with it. I keep the hoodie of darkness, as I now call it, on and kick my boots into one of the corners. "Been a while since I've slept in an actual bed." I say. Silence is my response, and I turn and see she's left. Well, that's awkward. I think and close the door. I walk into the bathroom and take the hoodie off and toss it in the corner. I turn the shower on, wait for it to get form, then finish undressing and get in. It's been months since I've seen a shower, let alone use one, so I feel free to take my time with it.

When I finish, I get out and dry off quickly. I tie my hair back into a ponytail, figuring they wouldn't mind me stealing a hair tie, and look in the mirror, taking in what exactly it looks like to have actually cleaned myself. "Well, I don't look bad." I mutter and start getting dressed. "Weird though." It really was weird. After living on the streets for six months with the only thing to wash yourself in is a river then you kinda get used to the grime. As I pull my shirt on I notice scented soap on the counter. I pick it up and smell it, then shake my head and put it down. Smelling nice, as these people describe it, is just something to attract people, which I do not want. The same goes for smelling bad, normally.

I make sure I smell like nothing before I put the hoodie back on and head back up the stairs. I head into the kitchen and find Carly putting a couple plates of some form of pasta on the table. "Hey." Carly says as I walk in. "Must be nice being cleaned off."

"It's not bad. Weird." I say as I sit down at one of their seats. She grabs me a strange, four pronged tool as Kylie enters and sits down across from me. Carly sits in between us and they start eating, using pronged tools of their own. I look at the thing with a look of complete confusion. Kylie looks over at me and I see her smirk. She reaches across the table, plucks the thing from my hand and shows me how to wrap the noodles around it.

"And then you eat it." She says and hands me the tool.

"Thanks." I say and can't help but let a small smile cross my face. I eat what is on the thing and attempt to recreate the process she just did. After a few tries, I succeed and continue eating. I see her watching me try to eat and notice she too has a small smile on her face, like she's trying to suppress it. After a few minutes I speak up again. "Ok, I confess." I say. "I don't know what this thing is." I say as I hold the fork up. "Or what it is I'm eating, for that matter."

"That thing is called a fork." Carly says, grinning. "And this is called spaghetti."

"Oh." I say. "Like a pitchfork?"

"Sure." Carly laughs. "Have you never eaten anything with one?"

"No..." I say and sigh. "I thought restaurants put these things with the knives on tables for self defense." I confess, earning laughs from both of them. The rest of dinner is primarily spent teaching me how to eat and me not knowing what certain things are called. Once we're done eating Kylie bids us goodnight and she heads off to her bedroom. "She...seems like a good kid." I say. "How old is she."

"Fifteen." Carly says. "And I'm seventeen, your age, I think."

"Yeah." I reply. "I was nineteen before the...before the portal. Something happened along the way, sent me back in time, physically."

"You any different than your other fifteen year old self?" She asks.

"A bit thinner. Not as fit. I had to be then, but it isn't as important here." I reply.

"I see." She says. "You know, I had my doubts earlier, but...I think you're gonna be fine in this world."

"What do you mean" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Part of what my job was was to evaluate you to see if you're safe to take to camp or Olympus. I think you are."

"What if I don't want to go back?" I ask, feeling a bit of a pit form in my stomach.

"That's your choice, but I think you'd benefit from it." She said. "I'm gonna head on up to sleep now. We and my friends will be returning to camp tomorrow, you can come with us or use this house as your own for a while." She said. "Sleep on it, ok?" She asks and heads for her own bedroom. "Night." She calls.

"Night." I say back and head down into the basement. I head into the bedroom and find a small basket on the bed. I walk over and look inside to find a pile of clothes with a note on top.

You're about my size, these should fit you and I don't need them. It was signed Kylie. I feel a stab of guilt for threatening the poor girl earlier and try a few of the shirts and pants on. A couple of the shirts are a bit tight for my tastes, but they would do just fine as far as needing clothes to wear went. My favorite one was slightly over sized black and red flannel shirt. I put the basket on the floor and kick my excess clothes off before jumping on the bed and going to sleep.

''I'm sitting on a tree branch, crossbow in hand. Sitting on another tree across from me is Robin, who is sitting with a bow in hand and chewing on a reed. "Deer." They whisper to me and I look over. Indeed there is a deer near they're tree.''

''"I got it." I whisper, take aim, and fire once into the deer's head. It drops and we climb down from the trees. Robin much more nimbly than I do. They pick up the deer and sling it over they're shoulders and we start the walk back to our camp.''

"Any bets on Stella having better luck?"

''"Unless she caught a whale in that lake, I doubt it." I chuckle.''

''"So I was thinking, maybe we should find or build some bikes. Like, muscle powered bikes. Might be easier than going from car to car." Robin suggests. I will admit it does make sense.''

"Where would we find them?"

''"That's why I said build, to be fair." They say as we pull into the camp. It's a small camp next to the river, and Stella is sitting next to the fire, cooking a fish. "Yo, we back." Robin says and plops the deer down to start skinning it. I sit next to Stella and the three of us chat the night away until Robin falls asleep after the sun has gone down.''

''"You know, I was reading one of those books I found in the library we raided last week." Stella says.''

"And what did you find?"

"In the old world, they had this thing called marriage. Like, two people are bound together in love and in the eyes of the law. It sounded...kinda awesome."

''"And what did the people do in these marriages?" I ask, smiling.''

''"Basically what we do now." She says, and her eyes light up. "I have an idea. Apparently the term for married woman is wife. So, what don't we decree under the eyes of this lawless world, that we are now married, and you are now my wife, and I am yours?"''

''"You know what?" I laugh quietly. "That sounds just fine."''

''"Good." She says and leans in to kiss me. Instead of the usual taste of fish meat and vegetation, all I can taste on and in her mouth is the metallic taste of blood.''

I shoot awake and realize I'm crying. I sit up and hold my head in my hands for a few minutes, trying to stem the flow of tears. Eventually, I get up and get dressed, stuffing the hoodie of darkness into my pack and putting that flannel shirt on over one of Kylie's t-shirts. The silence is suddenly pierced when I hear music coming from upstairs. Song sounds familiar... I think to myself. I shake my head and start packing. At that moment, all I wanted was to just get away from everyone, so I was going to run.

I quiet slipped up the stairs and the music got louder. Slowly I realized that someone was singing and playing guitar, I slow as I get to the top of the steps and see Kylie sitting in the living room, her back to me as she practices a song. I stand there and listen to her sing what I realize is a song called The Parting Glass. Her voice is handily the best I've ever heard, and while her guitar playing is a little rough she gets by alright. When the songs is done I can't help but smile. "That was beautiful." I tell her and she jumps up, turning around.

"Oh...uh...I...uh, er, didn't hear you get up." She says, flustered and turning red.

"It's ok, don't worry about." I say.

"Are you, uh, er...headed out?" She asks, and I wait for a long moment.

"No." I say. "I'll be going with you." I don't know why, but listening to this shy young girl put a beautiful piece of art in that song into the air kinda made me want to give this world a chance.

"Cool." She says and puts her guitar away, trying to hide her face, which is getting significantly redder as time goes on.

"Where's your sister?" I ask.

"She, uh, took the van and went to grab her teammates. We'll be riding in the back of their van, bouncing around like crazy." She says.

"Sounds like fun." I say. "Thank you for the clothes, by the way."

"Oh, it's nothing." She says.

"No, seriously, thanks." I say. "It'll be good to not wear the same shirt and pants every day for a few months." She wrinkles her nose at the idea and puts the guitar over her shoulder and grabs a single duffel bag.

"We should wait outside." She says and starts heading for the door. I follow her out and we start to wait and the end of the driveway. It's generally quiet until I see a large black van pull up around the corner. "That's them." She says as it moves towards us. It opens and Carly appears, beckoning us in.

"So, you're coming." She says. "Nice." We climb in and are immediately surrounded by a group of other demigods. In the driver's seat is a relatively tall demigod who has a ruggedly handsome look to him, and it the passenger seat is a beautiful, raven haired girl looking back at us. One look at her grey eyes and I know she is a daughter of Athena. There's also a much taller young man in the back with a distant demeanor to him, as well as a redhead who is eating an apple off a knife blade.

"Zoe, this is Scott and Maya." Carly says, gesturing to the two in the back. "And that is Caden and Ziva." They wave from the front as Kylie and I sit down in a pair of seats next to one another. Carly takes a place on the other side of Kylie and Scott closes the door. Caden starts to drive off and I reach into my bag and pull out a paper pad I nicked from the house, as well as a pen.

Dear Stella,

''I wound up agreeing to go to their version of Camp Half-Blood. The girls I mentioned before found me and think I'm able to coexist. Guess we're about to find out. One of them is a lot like most people back home, tough and hardened, but she's also got a really kind streak to her. The younger sister, she's a delicate little thing. Beautiful and gentle, with a voice like an angel, I must say. Don't be making any jokes about her, you still have my heart. I still dream about you. This time Robin was there. Tell them I say hi, ok?''

With love,

Zoe

I fold it up and put it in my pack. I'm going to have to find a new place to throw it. I look up and see the redhead looking at me quizzically. "Letter home." I say simply. She opens her mouth to say something, but I see Carly give her a look and she seems to reconsider. Instead, she just shrugs. I sit in silence for the rest of the ride until we stop and pull up to a gate. Carly opens the door and jumps out, Kylie right behind her. Most of them run into the camp without a second thought, but Caden, the driver, waits for me.

"You look worried." He says. "Hesitant."

"Last time I was here I tried to fight half the camp, to be fair." I say in response.

"I think they'll have forgiven that, don't worry." He says. "Besides, most of them are still angry at one of The Questers for waking the whole camp up with metal music about a week back."

"Was that the other me?" I ask, smirking.

"Indeed it was." He replies. "C'mon, it may take some time, but I think you can learn to like it here." He says and starts walking for the gate. I look just past him and see the letters over the gate. Camp Half-Blood. I take one long, deep breath, look back at the outside world, and then start following Caden.

Chapter Three
The first thing that struck me about Camp Half-Blood was the noise. Clanging metal from sparring and the forge, chatter all over the place, laughing, shouting, and every now and then there would be a loud smash or a bang, followed immediately after by either laughs or shouts of derision. Then, as we passed by and made our way to what they call the Big House, the sounds would die down into silence as people took notice of me. Then, the silence was replaced by whispers.

"Is that her?"

"Isn't she the one who fell out of a portal and landed on Ava and Zack?"

"Why would they bring her back?"

"Didn't she try to fight all of The Questers at once?"

"I just know she broke Michael's jaw and they had to use nectar to fix it."

"This might be dangerous."

"She might be dangerous."

Finally, we step inside the Big House, away from the whisperings about me. The first thing I see is a centaur, a very familiar looking centaur. "Ah, you've returned." Chiron says to the group. "If everyone but Carly and Zoe could leave us, it would be appreciated." The others nod and everyone but Carly leaves.

"It's good to see you alive, Chiron." I say. He smiles sagely, and I assume he'd listened to recordings about my life prior to this world.

"Thank you, child. Would you prefer to sit or stand?" He asks, not unkindly.

"Stand." I reply immediately.

"Very well." He says. "So, you seem to have been judged safe enough to be brought to camp."

"Apparently." I have and instinctively start scanning the room, taking in makeshift weapons, exits, entrances, everything.

"Well...per my orders from Olympus, it has been requested that you be taken to Olympus to live there for a few days before you can live here in the Camp full time."

"Chiron, I wasn't made aware of this." Carly interjects.

"Neither was I until I received word you were bringing her here." He said. "If you could drive her to the Empire state building, it would be much appreciated, child."

"Dammit." Carly mutters. "Alright, fine."

"Hold on." I interrupt. "What makes these higher ups you work for think I'm a project to be studied, huh?" I ask. The room is silent.

"Unfortunately, they are gods and rulers here." Chiron says after a long moment. "As much as I would prefer to trust in Carly here and allow you to stay, I've little choice in the matter."

"Hey, c'mon." Carly says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It sucks, I know, but they'll see I'm right, just a few days and we can bring you back." I grit my teeth and nod, but not before dropping my pack on the floor.

"One way or another I'm coming back for that." I say and turn and walk out with Carly, muttering a rather offensive term under my breath that Carly notices, causing her eyes to widen. She takes me back to the van, stops to briefly explain things to her team, and jumps in to start driving. I sit in the passenger seat and stare out the window for a long time.

"You can nap if you want." She suggests after a while.

"I'd prefer not." Is say. "If I can avoid sleep it would be better for everyone."

"Why?" She asks.

"Because I'm seeing experiences in my world that didn't happen, and they're starting scare me." I grumble, and she shuts up, leaving me to stare out the window in silence. It's a few hours before we arrive, and she stops to let me out. "Will there be people waiting for me?" I ask.

"I don't know." She sighs. "If not, then just explore and try to not cause trouble."

"Great advice." I mutter and get out.

"Hey, Zoe." She calls. "I really am sorry about this, I swear I didn't know."

"That's fine." I say. "I won't take it out on you." I add and start walking into the building. After negotiating past the elevator doorman, which takes an annoyingly long time, I step into the elevator and start riding it up. When the door opens, I look out and see a large city before me, looking just like the Olympus of my world, just more lively.

A dozen demigods surrounding me, I cut through them like a hot knife through butter and charge through the streets, running after those who took Stella from me.

I wince at the memories and look around. Nobody has come to greet me, so I start exploring.

I remain generally unnoticed for a long time. In fact, it's nearly evening when anything of not occurs. I turn a corner on the street and bump, quite literally, into another alternate figure from my past. As I step back and apologize, something she does as well, profusely and repeatedly, I realize I had just bumped into Rachel Hughes. Once she's collected herself, she looks up at me and has her own moment of realization. "Oh. Hi." She says awkwardly.

"Hey...uh...good to see you're still alive..." I say, not totally sure what to say myself.

"Yeah. Yeah. You too. Um..How have you been? Are you, you know..adjusted?"

"I learned what a fork is yesterday." I admit.

"Forks are useful."

"Yeah. So, er, what's new in your world?" I ask, realizing after just how weird that might sound coming from me. I feel a certain gush of emotions well up inside me as I relive, in an instant, the moment Michael Johnson shot Rachel in the face in cold blood.

"Um, well, we got a new television in our base. The old one was crap." Rachel says.

"Surely there's more interesting developments in your life than a magic box that indoctrinates people." I say. She gives a small laugh.

"That's true. It's been slow, work-wise. We had a bunch of trouble and were busy earlier this year, but it all kind of settled down. It's been nice, a lot more free time."

"Nice." I say. "I've been living on the streets, mostly. Dealing with flashbacks." I say.

"What? You're on the streets?" She asked. "Olympus didn't provide you a home, or any help at all?" She seemed completely alarmed by this, making me wonder how much about me they share with people.

"Well, I ran away, to be fair."

"Oh. Right. Well..Do you want a place to stay? We've got some room at the base. I'm...You'll probably need permission, since it's headquarters, but I don't think it would be that much of a deal."

"I need to find housing here on Olympus since no one showed up to tell me where to go. Have to prove I'm safe before they let me into camp." I shrug.

"Well, you can stay at the base, then, at least for one night. I can help you look for an apartment tomorrow, if you'd like." She offers.

"Sure." I say after a moment. "Who lives there?"

"No more than a dozen teenagers and one small child."

"Sounds incredibly hormonal." I say, smirking.

"Oh it is. Not nearly as bad as you might think, though." She replies, and my smirk widens slightly as I give her a knowing look. "No. No. Oh my gods, not like that." She stammers, flustered and turning red. "Just, I mean, they're good people, most of the time."

"I'm kidding, kiddo." I grin. "In all seriousness, though. Names?"

"Um, Lucian, you met him." She says and I feel a pang of negativity for the name. "Stella, Matt, Malcolm...Arcanna, Annie, Kat, Arthur, and...uh, Cal. And Seth. Seth is seven."

"Might...might be a good idea to keep me far away from Lucian and Stella." I say. She has a look of remembrance on her face for a brief moment.

"Oh, right. Yeah." She said and started to nod a lot. Like, excessively. "Lucian's...Lucian's good. Don't worry." She says and puts on a smile I can only describe as being too big.

"I might punch him, but he's not the one I want to avoid the most." I say.

"Right, well, there'll be a lot of other people to keep you company." She says.

"Yeah, sure." I say and our eyes meet and lock for about one second, and I relive that moment of her death in my world again and hold back a wince. "It...it really is good to see you, Rach." I sigh. She nods and smiles, still looking a bit awkward.

"I'm really glad to see you here, Zoe." She says, and the flashbacks keep pouring on in full force. Everything about this girl before me is exactly like my friend who was killed before my eyes, just slightly less muscly.

"Do you...do you know how I knew you?" I ask, and I see her become slightly afraid, the look in her eyes tells me the idea of her dying frightens her. A lot.

"I-I know." She says. At that moment, it just became too much, and I sprang forward and wrapped her in a tight embrace. I feel her jolt in surprise, then hug me back. After a moment, I let her go.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly. "Probably too much..."

"No, it's ok. Really." She says quickly.

"That's...why I want to avoid Stella." I say, wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt.

"Would you rather stay somewhere other than the HQ?" She asks, nodding. "I can try to find somewhere else."

"As long as we're in different rooms I'll be ok." I say, shaking my head.

"Ok. There are lots of rooms, don't worry." She says. "Besides, she may be out tonight."

"Don't tell me any more." I say quickly. "Or I might go looking for her."

"Okay. Uh. So you've met...three of the other members in the other universe. They probably share some similarities, but overall are pretty different. The rest...you haven't. Okay. Uh. So, most of them are pretty nice, some of them can be a little cold, but they're all good people and I'd trust them with my life. Don't piss off Arcanna, she could kill you and she gets angry pretty easily. Not that she would kill you, but I would just try to avoid conflict and you'll probably get along with her pretty well. Malcolm's trying to quit smoking, so if you smoke, don't smoke anywhere near him. Annie has a talking cat, just go with it if it comes up. Cal's kind of weird but he's okay, just kind of...go with him too." She explains quite quickly.

"I don't smoke, cat fur lines my clothing," I pointed to my boots. "I knew a Cal who watched me and Lucian hook up, and this Arcana will be in for a rude awakening if she tries anything." I reply.

"That's good, smoking is bad for you, that's...well, they must be pretty comfy boots, that is creepy and horrifying, and I don't think I want to see the day you and Arcanna fight. Um.." She thought for a moment or two. "I don't know. You just kind of have to meet them. Oh. Kat's a mortal, don't mention anything about it, she's pretty self-conscious about it. We've got a lot of Big Three kids, fair warning on that. Um...gods, I don't even know. Uh...Look, just so you know, Stella does have a boyfriend."

"I knew a Kat." I say as the last part sank in. I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Oh, I..." She nods again. "I'm sorry, this is a lot."

"It's probably for the best that I don't meet him."

"I'll just smuggle you in. You can live in my room, under my bed. I'll bring you meals three times ago. Fork included." She says.

"That'll work. Don't bring any boys in, I hear that's something this world does a lot." I request, only half joking.

"Yes, it is. Don't worry, no boys allowed." She says and starts to lead me to her base.

The following events were rather perturbing. I met a few of Rachel's teammates, one of which turned out to be an alternate of Mal. I also discovered that the cat could indeed talk, and Rachel had to take me away from it after it said something rather cutting about my past that I won't repeat and I told the Annie girl to keep that abomination away from me. Rachel eventually took me up to her room.

"So, you can have my bed. I sleep a lot in the infirmary anyway, which is right at the end of the hall. You want to borrow any of my clothes? I think they'd fit well enough." Rachel says.

"Nah, I'm used to having only one set. You sure about the bed? I'm used to floors."

"I'm sure. I mean, you can sleep on the floor if you want, but the bed's open for you." Rachel says. Before she can go anywhere, I speak up again.

"I...uh...don't know how to say this, but...er..." I suddenly found it very difficult to articulate what I wanted from her.

"Well, er..." I muttered four or five curses that would impress anyone. "can you stay in the room tonight, if possible? I don't exactly...trust myself..."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Of course." She says.

"Thanks." I say and go to sit in a corner of the room.

"So...what d'you do for fun? We have a fooseball table." Rachel said.

"I...don't know. I went and saw one movie once and it triggered my flashbacks and instincts like you wouldn't believe. Before coming here I just...fought and hunted and killed every day so me and my people could live." I admit.

"Hm. Well. You're a foosball virgin, let's introduce you to that. Oh my gods, they take it so fricken seriously here. I think it's because we've had it for like, two years, and it's a piece of junk and some of the players are missing, but we had it before we got cable, so it holds a special place in our hearts."

"I'm not exactly in the mood to learn anything else, if that makes sense." I say carefully, not wanting to get myself kicked out.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah, sorry. Um..do you need anything?" She says awkwardly.

"Company would be nice. I can survive approximately another thirteen hours without food or water, so I should be ok." I say, matter-of-factly.

"Surviving is not the same as living. Seriously, are you hungry? We've got food." She persists.

"That cat looked tasty." I said, quite seriously, which she noticed.

"Eating domestic animals isn't socially acceptable in this world. I think Malcolm made burgers earlier, though."

"They thanked me for the cats on the street...weird. I could try one of these...burgers." I say. She heads out to get it and I start exploring her closet, which is mostly filled with clothes, boxes, and shoes. I see a sturdy looking clothes rack in the closet's ceiling and hang myself from my ankles on it. Once hung up, I start doing upside down crunches. She returns with a small plate and a sandwich looking thing on it.

"We have exercise equipment." She said.

"Was bored." I say and jump down. "Eat and vanquish the boredom. Malcolm makes great hamburgers." She said and handed me the plate. I tore through that thing in maybe half a minute.

"What was the red stuff?" I ask.

"Ketchup, made out of tomatoes. Want another?" She asks, and I think for a minute about food I haven't tried.

"Do you have that thing called pizza?" I ask.

"Peet-za?" She asks. "Uhh. I think we've got some leftovers. Let me go check." She said and left again.

"So that's how you pronounce it." I mutter and wait until she returns.

"Eat this slower or you'll get sick." She says and hands it to me. I slowly start eating it.

"This is more grease than food." I say.

"Depends on where you get if from. But, yeah, kind of. Actually-good-pizza is really good, though. Actual food." She says.

"Ok then." I say and finish it. "So, tell me more about you."

"Um...Well. I'm a daughter of Apollo. I'm the team's healer. I kind of helped start the team, I guess. Uh...Lucian and I have been dating for the past few months." She says. I raise my eyebrows at that last bit.

"Kid, here's what you do should it get serious enough to end up in here." I say as she starts to go red.

Later that night, I wrote my letter to Stella and put it in my pack to throw somewhere eventually. It didn't take long for me to slip off to sleep.

''I draped an arm around Stella's shoulders as she stared blankly at the grave before us. Robin was pacing a few meters behind us, but we paid them no mind. I looked down and read the gravestone. "Seth Lohse" read across the slab of rock, carved in with a knife. After a long moment, I whisper to her. "Who was he?"''

''"He was my little brother." She said, wiping her eyes. "He was eight when he died. Never had a chance in this world, but we tried to keep him going for our sake more than his."''

''"I'm sorry, love." I say and kiss her gently on the side of her head.''

''"He had a disease that made his bones incredibly brittle. A monster attack happened one day while we were walking and he tried to run. He tripped, fell down a hill. Lucian killed the monster and I ran for Seth but he was already gone." Stella says. I can't really think of anything to say. We'd decided to try our hands at heading south, hoping that maybe somewhere in the land that was once known as Mexico there might be someone else. Stella had seemed distant for the last little while, until Robin had found the gravestone and brought us over to investigate. I kinda wanted to punch them now, but I understood why.''

''"We should go." I whispered to Stella, and she nodded. I turned to Robin and saw them standing strangely rigidly. Then, they opened their mouth and a purple swirl of energy shot out and engulfed me.''

I woke up in a cold sweat, with one tear rolling down my face.

Chapter Four
I slept under Rachel's bed that night. Partly as a joke, partly because I knew that if I was under there it would be significantly more difficult for me to sneak out if temptation got the better of me. Luckily, I proved stronger than that, and I made it through the night without trying to slip away. However, I did know that I needed to be out of that base before anyone else was. I didn't want to bump into any alternates within the first ten minutes of waking up. I slipped out from under the bed and headed to the nearest window.

I slowly opened it up, slung my pack over my shoulders and climbed out. I climbed down, grabbing at various little window sills and other tiny handholds until I reached the street. I look up and see a security camera. Dammit. I think to myself. In my world, I never had to deal with those things. I flip an obscene hand gesture at the camera and walk away.

I spent the vast majority of that day wandering the streets once again, visiting the numerous temples to the gods and meeting other half bloods. In one conversation with a Satyr, a creature that I had not met a single time in my own universe, he asked me what happened to his people, and I informed him that I saw may goats get sacrificed, so I presumed that Satyrs were on that list of possible offerings as well. He paled considerably and ran away.

Rachel found me late that evening trying to eat an ambrosia doughnut. She proceeded to freak out, saying that eating too much of the stuff would kill me, and that an entire doughnut would effectively reduce me to ash. I just resented the fact that this universe had a magical food of an unlimited supply. It would have made the lives of me and everyone I knew a million times easier. This was immediately followed by a rant about sneaking out and scaring her half to death, which I only felt half bad for. When she brought me back, the only ones in the base were the alternate of Mal and his girlfriend, the girl known as Arcanna.

I bumped into Arcanna on the way into Rachel's room as I walked down the hallway. And when I say bumped into, I mean she rounded a corner and we physically walked into one another. She was exactly my height, so our eyes meeting and locking in on each other was immediate. I could practically feel her evaluating me, and I knew she could feel me doing the same. I knew a few things within twenty seconds of standing there in silence, staring at this girl. One, that Rachel was not wrong in that this girl was not one to cross. Two, that this was someone that if I fought, I did not know the logical chances of me winning. Three, that her weakness was Malcolm, just as Stella was mine to an enemy. And four, that this was someone who knew what it meant to wake up every day and fight to live, and knew that the fight and struggle to survive were as hellish as I knew they were.

And that caused me to respect this one a lot.

Simultaneously, wordlessly, we stepped to the sides of the hall, not taking our eyes off one another, and we walked away from each other, me to Rachel's room, her to Malcolm. I rolled under the bed and was asleep in seconds. For a change, no dreams haunted me that night. It was strange, but blissful, and I awoke the next morning actually feeling refreshed for a change. I roll out from under the bed and look at Rachel's clock. No wonder I had a decent sleep, it's two in the afternoon. I think to myself and ponder climbing out the window again. I decide against it and head for the door.

Strangely, the base was completely empty. Everyone was out doing something or other, which made it nearly impossible for me to find the door out because I didn't have voices to follow. This would ultimately lead to me trying to fumble through every door in the base, which caused four or five alarms to start going off. "Son of a...." I mutter and throw open the next door, which, thank Hades, led to the lobby area. There's a single young woman sitting on a chair, looking quite patient and mildly amused.

"Funny, isn't it?" I ask, annoyed, and head for the door.

"Mildly depressing, actually." She says. I turn and look at her, a little more annoyed every second. She has long, raven hair that isn't unlike mine, and she's fairly simply dressed, but her eyes are what stand out. Storm grey and slightly distant, as though she is thinking of a million different things at once.

"Oh really?" I ask, now staring at her. "Well, unfortunately, I'm not here to impress anyone, so feel free to continue being depressed about me, because I just don't care."

"And I thought Annabeth was a feisty one." She mutters. "I must have been proud of you in your world."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "Wait, let me figure it out." I say, holding a hand up. I glance across the room at my reflection in the window and see my own eyes, storm grey, like her's, and it suddenly makes perfect sense. "Athena." I say.

"Indeed. I was wondering what an extra-universal child of mine would be like." She says.

"Disappointed, are you?"

"No, not at all." She says. "Admittedly I'd have hoped that you could find your own way to the exit, but you have something that none of my other children have. You truly mastered the art of the battlefield in your time, something many of my children today lack."

"I'm flattered." I say. "Is there a reason for your visit?"

"Yes, I'm here to inform you that you're allowed into the camp as of now. Your friend Rachel is waiting by the elevator to take you back down."

"Thank you." I say and head for the door. "Should I call you mother, or no?"

"If you wish." She says, and I can't help but notice a slight hint of a smile form on her face. Without another word, I head out the door and make for the elevator. I find Rachel waiting outside the elevator and she smiles as I approach.

"Well, you did it."

"Yeah. I appear sane enough to be allowed into camp." I say, only half joking.

"I knew you'd be fine." She says as the door opens and we step inside. "You never really-" She stops mid sentence and I see her staring at something in Olympus, wide-eyed. I follow her gaze and see what she's looking at. Then, when I see it, I feel like someone planted a hard kick into my solar plexus and the wind is knocked from my lungs. I see Stella and her boyfriend, that Matt fellow, out walking, hand in hand, looking more than slightly content with one another. The last thing I see as the door closes is her look over at us. Rachel says, something, but I don't hear her.

I feel like someone's just slammed my head into a car windshield. I'm vaguely aware of Rachel trying to talk to me as a stare into space, trying to comprehend what I just saw. Eventually, her hand comes out and grasps my shoulder, and it snaps me out of the trance the sight of Stella put me in. "Hey." She's saying. "Door's open, c'mon." She says and walks me outside the building, where Carly is standing by the same black van as before. They share a brief conversation as I get in the passenger seat of the van. After a moment or two, Carly climbs in and starts to drive.

"You alright?" Carly asks after a long moment of silence.

"I'll be fine." I say quickly, and slightly snappishly. "Try to imagine I said that more calmly." I add after a moment.

"I'm trying." She replies. "Listen, I know that's gotta hurt. But..." She trails off, not entirely certain or where she's going with the conversation. "When...when you look at Rachel's friend Malcolm, do you see him as being your Mal?" I ask.

"After the initial shock wore off, not really." I admit.

"Is...is there any way for you to put that logic onto Stella?" She suggests.

"I could..." I say slowly. "But there's a significant difference between an alcoholic hobo and the woman I loved." I point out.

"It may take a while to train your brain like that." Carly says. "If you were to compare the Stellas, what differences would there be?"

"Mine had shorter hair. Significantly."

"Focus on that and pray this one doesn't get a haircut." She says. I roll my eyes and shake my head, but unconsciously start doing what she had suggested.

"Where will I be staying for the nights?" I ask.

"For the first little while, until you get to know people better, we have a small cabin set up for you and anyone you're comfortable having around in the forest. You'll just have to careful on Fridays."

"What's on Fridays?" I ask.

"Capture the flag. Takes place in the woods. There are also monsters in the woods, but we have a few barriers for them."

"Sounds like an isolation." I say.

"It's just so you can get to know people before you have to live in a cabin with them."

"Ok." I say. "So what'd I miss?"

"Maya got into a fight with someone for saying our crew is redundant, and that Olympus probably has groups that are twenty times more effective for our exact purpose."

"Did she win?"

"Yep. Kid was in the infirmary for two days." Carly says, smirking despite herself. "Besides, most of those Olympus crews are probably just meant for suicide missions that The Heroes Organization and The Questers are too good to do. We're actually helping the little guys. More people like us than them, frankly." Carly says. I shake my head, smirking myself, now, and rest my head on the window and stare out as she continues the drive to camp.

We pull up the driveway long after I gave up trying to keep track of time. I get out, stretch, and follow Carly into the camp. She doesn't lead me through the main area this time, skirting around the edges to avoid the stares. I make a point to listen to the conversations as I go by.

"I hope for the next quest I go on I get to fight the minotaur."

"I know what you mean. Bringing that horn back would be sick!"

"Or maybe go to battle with some harpies, that'd be awesome."

The conversations just go on and on and on. All talking about hunts for glory by slaying a monster and bringing some of it's body parts back as trophies. I'd be lying to you if I said that I wasn't extremely perturbed by this. Carly leads me to this new cabin out on the edge of the woods. "You should follow this path whenever you come here, otherwise you may find a spare landmine. Mostly duds, but it's better to be safe." She says and opens the door for me. I walk in. It's a four room Cabin with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.

"This a house, Carly, not a cabin." I say.

"Eh. Works as a cabin, it's on campgrounds." She says with a shrug as I pass her to have a look around. Despite the niceties of a working place that looks comfortable enough, I feel a slight pit forming in my stomach. Carly's trying to explain how something is set up, but I don't really hear her. Eventually, she touches my shoulder, and I flinch instinctively. "You ok?" She asks, with such genuine concern I decide to answer.

"No." I mutter. "Those campers, those kids. They've got no idea. No idea what it's really like fighting for you life against any kind of monster. Human or otherwise." I say. "What happens when they find out?"

"They all find out someday." She says. "I know how you feel, but it's always been like this. When they get older they'll learn."

"Alright..." I mutter. "Any of your squad can stay here if they want, keep the other campers away." I say and head for the door.

"Why them?" She asks.

"I trust you and your sister, and you trust them." I say.

'Fair enough. Where are you headed?"

"I'm gonna get my stuff from Chiron." I say. "And punch any camper dumb enough to ask what it was like in my world."

And with that, I began life as a camper.

Chapter Five
Dear Stella,

''It's been nine days since I started living at this version of Camp Half-Blood. It's...interesting, to say the least. It's really cheerful, for lack of a better term. Everyone seems so content here, all just enjoying their lives and hoping to kill the next monster that comes around. Every Friday they do a capture the flag game with archers, swords, shields, and everything. I've not played a game yet, I'm worried that my old instincts will kick in and I'll accidentally kill somebody. I've avoided any of the monster hunts as well. Hell, most of the combat training I tend to avoid. Most people have somewhat accepted me so far. A few are still nervous and give me a wide berth, but for the most part I get included in the stuff I choose to participate in. The forge is nice, I like hanging around there. I'm living in my own cabin, and some of the crew I mentioned before will spend the night here to keep me company. They're good people. Most of the camp is. A couple people I want to punch, but that aside, no real complaints. I'm gonna talk to one of the directors today and try to learn more about the history here, so I'm not all behind.''

With love,

Zoe.