I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON, AND I NEVER WILL.
CH 1
" So, where are we going now."
" Dunno." The blonde undid her braid and pushed it behind her ears deftly. Her fingers were long and tapered, and the tips were painted a luminous purple, to match the large, lumpy pack she had slung over her shoulder. She and her companion strode up to a tall elm tree beside the rode they had traveled on. It was a thin, cracked, road, mostly obscured by rotting leaves and only spotted by sun in the very center. Beside it were rows upon rows of dead trees and grass, that stretched to the horizon like tall, warped, soldiers, their branches black and crusty, their leaves already gone from their branches. And yet, their sheer multitude and proximity created shade.
On this seemingly endless, darkened pathway, there were only two figures. Backs hunched with the weight of their luggage, hats pulled low over their eyes, the two girls hovered in the shade of a dead elm.
" Don't be stiff, Mil. Were pretty far, rest a bit." crooned the blonde, sliding to the ground. She fished a cigarette from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth without lighting it. The other girl didn't join her, but inclined her head.
" Don't worry, Mil! I won't light it." The girl stared harder. " Alright alright."
The blonde took the cigarette from her mouth and threw it on the ground, where it burst into delicate, grey flames. The girls watched the cigarette curl and shrivel, until finally, it's black ashes were picked up and carried off into the wind. The blonde watched it flutter away mournfully before picking herself up from the dust. She patted the back of her jeans briskly, and, avoiding the other girl triumphant smile, heaved her pack back onto her back and set off, wobbling, back down the road. There was a moment where the other girl watched the blondes back sway and stumble forward in silence, before she too, set off at a calm pace, her deep blue robes billowing around her.
It was the height of summer. The sun filtered in shafts through breaks in the elm leaves, which were steadily reappearing on the tree branches. A heavy silence accompanied by the soft clicking of crickets and the steady croak of toads had settled, along with stifling heat, like a fuzzy blanket. The blonde traveler had stripped off her hat and cloak, to reveal bizarre, neon clothes and a mud-caked face, which was both pretty, and strangely flamboyant. There was a long, white scar stretching from the sleeve of her shirt to her heart, which was set off by a bright yellow loop of pearls, each painted with a shimmering pink 'ohm'. Her eyes were practically slathered with mascara and her lips were painted a bright, offending, coral.
" Hot, ain't it, Mil." said the bond, shoving her shed clothes into the bag. Her pack creaked perilously, but held her stuff nonetheless. Her cloak alone, poked out of a seem, a noticeably normal color; brown.
" I told you not to call me that, Sera." said the other girl. She placed her bag on the path gently, and proceeded to take off her own, blue cloak, and her widely brimmed hat. Her clothes were startlingly normal, just a dark colored dress that hung like an overly large T-shirt and tall rubber boots the color of tires.
" Gotcha, don't call you Mil." said Sera. Her pack creaked once more as she tried to wrestle her boots in.
" It's Echo." said the girl. Her face was calm and serious, a pale, ghostly color and she had eyes like dark veils. Her hair wasn't curly nor blonde like her companion's, it was short, straight, black, and lay flat across her scull. She ran her fingers, soft and white, through her hair, pushing it away from her heart-like face lazily.
" Echo." repeated Sera, a bit gloomily. She rolled her pants up to her calves, abandoning her shoes beside her bag, which was shaking slightly. The crickets resumed their noise.
" Echo, you don't think you could teleport us there, do you? I mean, do a bit of those shadow wings of something and just- " she did an absurd gesture, like she was sweeping some dust away with a broom, " - whisk us away?"
The other girl frowned, and pursed her lips angrily.
" Right then." murmured Sera, wilting. The blonde kicked her feet around in the dirt, sighing. The wind whistled forlornly around the trees, seeming to sigh in time with Sera, who's eyes were glazed with petty tears. Echo opened her mouth a few times to protest to the silence, but no sound came out. She looked at Sera's mournful, sulking, face and groaned.
" I didn't say-"
Sera whipped around to look at Echo, turning on her puppy eyes. Taller though she may be, Echo was the elder one, and more swayed by her cutie acts than Sera was herself. The other other girl grit her teeth, still remarkably still.
Echo sighed again, and slipped her sandals off her feet.
" Come on, get up. You have to stand for this."
Sera leapt up to her feet, a broad grin splitting her face. She grabbed her pack and then Echos hand eagerly and stood beside the shorter girl, bouncing on her feet. Echo took in a deep breath of air, gripped Seras hand harder than before and let it out suddenly, closing her eyes slowly, and trying to look back, back into her skull. It was as if a heavy curtain had fallen between the travelers and the rest of the world; the air stopped in it's tracks, and darkness crept in. Echos voice was curiously muffled, and Sera felt something soft shift against her ears, rustling.
There was the sound of a rubber-band breaking and cold, wet wind hit the travelers faces, screaming in protest as the travelers were hurtled through space and time, the curtain flapping like wings around them. Sera clenched her eyes shut and Echo just blinked quietly, enjoying the feeling of both falling and rising as they plummeted through the dimensions. A flash of war here, a girl baking a pie, an alien-looking creature with an odd look on it's face ( hunger, thought Echo, or maybe it was just a smile), and finally a large white sheet appeared, fluttering, in front of them. They hurtled toward it, saw it it grow larger, larger, and then they stopped, set their bare feet on the other side of the curtain, and pulled themselves through, into a shadowy, warm forest, over-looking a beach and a jumble of buildings.
The darkness faded away to be replaced by blinding light, and the curtains slowly disappeared. Sera blinked.
" Wow."
" Yes. Wow. Now lets go. We must meet with Chiron." Said Echo, releasing Sera's hand and allowing her to collapse to the ground.
" Meet with who?" Sera said weakly.
" man who will accept us into this camp. Or else."
The blonde scratched her head sleepily. She felt dizzy and sick, and the light was playing tricks with her eyes.
" Or elseā¦" she murmured, and then threw up
