** Author's note: Ladies and Jellyspoons..the moment you have all been waiting for..Hippo returns with yet another fanfiction.
Before we begin i have a few anouncements to make:
1. I PROMISE that this will not be another one chapter wonder.
2. All the little bits in here..the camp, the creatures etc..they are all products of Rick Riordan's wonderful imagination, not my own *cries*. So nobody sue me.
3. If you write yourself you'll know how much reviews help. Wanna see more? Drop me a line.
To my german bro's out there, DANKE.**
'Rosalie?'
'Rosalie?' chase muttered, pushing apart the leaves in front of him and peering out at the pitch dark hillside.
The slippery grass looked almost black in the moonlight, somewhere far to the left, chase could still hear the chattering voices of the undead warriors but they were definitely fading now.
'Rose?' he called, a little louder this time. It had been her idea to split up in the first place. How was he meant to find her again in the dark and with their enemies still so close by?
Still no answer, chase felt an iron fist of dread close around his already churning stomach. What if..?
'Don't even go there Chase.' he whispered to himself through gritted teeth.
Slowly, once he was sure the warriors were out of ear shot, chase stood to a crouch, peering out at the wilderness with unseeing eyes.
He tried not to get angry, he really did. After what happened last time...well, it was the last thing he wanted but after three more calls to her he couldn't take it any longer.
He let out a fearsome growl and extended both hands toward the foliage before him. Closing his eyes, he felt an intense heat spreading through his body, consuming him. Suddenly he was filled with rage so fierce, he thought he might explode right there on that hillside. Anger at Rosalie, at his mysterious parents, at the skeletal warriors whose figure could still be recognized as dark smudges on the horizon.
'Are you trying to get us killed?' hissed a second voice, so suddenly that chase fell back in shock, right on to his butt.
'This fire thing' muttered Rosalie regarding the smoldering plants spread around her. 'As impressive as it is, I don't think it's a great idea right now. Kind of draws attention, you know.'
Chase's eyes snapped open. Rosalie stood facing him directly in front of the luminous full moon so that the only colour to be seen in her slender silhouette was the flash of bright red hair that framed her delicate face.
'Hello? Hot stuff?' she cooed, sitting down hard in the undergrowth beside him. 'We had better get out of here...i...we don't know when those things will be back.' she gulped, giving chase a sideways glance.
Now she was in the light, Chase could see her more clearly. Her pretty face was ashen, she looked serious shaken by their experience with the zombie apocalypse but otherwise unscathed. Chase's heart fluttered with relief.
'Yo, human toaster? Hellooo?'
'Yeah, sorry. Um...what?'
'Skeleton warriors over there' she pointed towards the crest of the hill where the faint chattering of zombie conversation could still be made out. 'We gotta go.'
'Yeah, yeah right. But where?' Chase asked incredulously. 'We've been on the run for weeks Rosalie, can't we just go back? Where even are we?'.
Rosalie let out a very unladylike snort then covered her mouth quickly, a hot blush creeping up her cheeks.
'Go back? After what you did to that museum? Not an option, sorry flames. As for where we are? San Francisco, last I checked.' she gave a triumphant smile and turned to check the supplies left in her back pack.
'Water, blanket, $2, corn dog stick..Oh and this picture of that old lady from Texas...you know the one? Anyway...'
She continued to babble on. Chase watched her intently as she gently removed each item from the pack and laid them on the grass by her feet.
'Yeah, with this lot I reckon we can survive another...hour or so?' laughed chase turning back again to study his surroundings.
The sun was peaking over the hill now, painting the sky blood red and casting everything in a ghostly glow. Too his right grew thick woodland; in front of him spread the steely grey water of San Francisco Bay. It was the view to the left that interested him the most however.
To the left the hill dropped off steeply in to a valley full of houses and flats. Directly under their feet cars drove in to a tunnel carved in to the hill, rushing to work or school. Chase couldn't help but feel jealous of the normality of their lives.
Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something odd about this place, which had been what had drawn him here in the first place. He hadn't known it was a trap, how could he? Rosalie didn't blame him, he hoped.
He stole a glance over at her then. She was deep I thought watching the rising sun glint off the suburban rooftops in the town below. She looked so beautiful in the early morning light, radiant even. Her red her glowed as a gentle breeze blew it about her face, playing across her furrowed brow.
'There's something going on here you know.' she murmured, so suddenly that Chase almost rolled off the edge of the hill. 'Can't you feel it? It's like the ground under us is vibrating like 'Hey you're here, finally! You took your time.' You know?' she watched him through her lashes, looking embarrassed.
'Yeah, of course.' he replied instantly. In truth, he didn't feel the way she said she did. It was more like something inside him that just knew what was below. Two tunnels cut into the rock, the left for south bound traffic the right for north. It was as though the information had always been there in his head and now that he needed it, there it was. He could see when it was built, who designed it, who commissioned it. Everything.
'Suppose we had better..Get to it.' Rosalie sighed, sounding less than enthusiastic at the prospect of moving.
'Yup.' said Chase, clambering to his feet and extending a hand to Rosalie, who gratefully accepted it.
Together they walked to the ridge of the hill on the left hand side. Below them spread a wide valley, nestled surreptitiously in a basin of hills like the one they were standing on.
Houses made straight lines, set in neat cul-de-sacs. Directly below them the roof of an apartment block glinted in the light of the rising sun. If he followed the road, Chase could just make out where it curved in to the tunnels, arranged like the eyes of a gruesome skull, watching the town from the hillside.
The actual slope was pretty steep but it wasn't straight down. There was plenty of grass and little shrubs to use as footholds. He was pretty sure they could pick their way down. He didn't hear her rather than see her flaming red hair curl around his face. He didn't even need to look to know what had happened but he did anyway. There, lying at the bottom of the slope was Rosalie, her figure lifeless and broken, her radiant spread out in the ruined grass around her head.
He didn't really remember thinking that he was going to have to go after her, he just sort of...did. Being ADHD he supposed he could put this down impulsiveness, he thought as he slid down the slope at light speed, plants and trees ripping at his clothes and hair.
Chase's eyes remained firmly shut so that he didn't notice when he came sliding to a stop a few meters from Rosalie's lifeless body.
'Rose.' he muttered, pushing himself onto his knees and crawling the short distance between them.
Her pale face looked relaxed and beautiful as she lay there, her lips slightly parted. Chase placed a shaking hand to her wrist.
A few seconds passed. Chase did his best to hold his ragged breath...waiting for something...a sign.
'It's not hopeless you know. She's still alive. She could die in a minute...or not. That's really up to me.'
Chase got such a fright that he almost flattened Rosalie. Quickly he scrambled up to his feet, setting himself between Rose and the new stranger.
'Sh-show yourself.' he insisted, his voice shaking.
'Oh, don't spoil all my fun little hero.' the voice sneered. 'Fine. As you wish.'
Suddenly in front of him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair and eyes were dark...no, fair. They shifted all the time as though trying to accommodate Chase's personal opinion of beauty. Finally, the hair settled on bright red, the eyes on sea foam green. Her full lips curled into a small smile.
'Now you see me.' she laughed her voice silvery like the ringing of a thousand little bells. 'Hello little hero, my name is Vulcan, goddess of beauty.'
**So..what d'yall think? Please let me know, even if it's to say this is awful go die..i'd rather know. More reviews = more updates, always remember that.
What in the heck if going on with Venus/Aphrodite, who's side is she on?
What's with Chase's abilities? Bit like Leo's, i hear you cry. Wonder why?
Will Rose survive her fall?
I know this is the longest note ever, if you are still reading i love you!
Wanna know what young Chase looks like? Look up this lad - Francisco Lachowski
Having trouble casting Rose, gimmee idea.
Turrah.**