Disclaimer- All rights to any places or characters I mention that are in any of the Rick Riordan's books all belong to him and solely him.
Stumbling into a battle wasn't my ideal Saturday. Than again, a cross country road trip from Las Vegas to Long Island on a crowded Greyhound bus, where a clown tried to sell me a bucket of week old chicken all the way from Vegas to Utah, wasn't my ideal vacation. The battle didn't frighten me. I mean it should of. The forest itself, turned into a swamp that was moist with blood with chunks of golden sand drifted through the streams of blood, but when you spend most of your life as a bad luck charm and being chased by Hell's advocates, your nerves turn to steel.
On one side of the battle were monsters, the ones that haunted my waking life and my dreams (though without the tutus and leprechaun hats). They poured out of a pile of rocks that looked like a pile of day old feces. On the other side, was a group of teenagers, that charged bravely into battle with swords and full battle armor.
My hand gripped the worn wood of my knife (which I may of stolen from some drunk gangster from Ohio). I wanted to join the battle. I really did, but I didn't know who were the bad guys and who were the good. At first, I assumed that of course the bad guys would be the monsters, but then the swords of humans crashed and I didn't know which I should be fighting for. Who were the good and who were the bad? Who was Superman and who was Lex Luthor?
I watched behind a rock as the battle raged on. Metal on metal screeched across the forest, like nails on a chalkboard. The smell of iron blood, made my inside turn. The taco I ate yesterday threaten to make a reappearance. Golden dust flew into my eyes. A monster wailed. A person fell. I saw the life leave his purple eyes. The screams of battle muffled, the battle blurred. I could only see him, the boy. He couldn't of been older than 14. He looked like an angel who had returned to heaven.
I didn't understand why these people were fighting, I didn't even understand who they were, but I did understand death. I understood the pain. My heart tugged for the fallen angel. I hoped he didn't have anyone who cared; if he did I prayed that they had someone left, that they wouldn't ever be alone.
Seconds, passed and the boy stayed. My legs acted before my brain. My hands met cold metal. It turned my fingers to frost. I fumbled with the straps and cursed. I had never been good with buckles and my shaking hands made matters worse. A scream registered through the blur, shaking me from my stupor. Monsters fled from the scene, humans following closely behind. The rocks closed with a firm thud.
I looked down at the boy, there was no hope left. His blood ran cold as death sucked the last warmth from his body. I stood, my knees wobbled and the world tilted. I stumbled towards the group of gathering teens. My foot caught on a root. Air pushed against me and I landed, hard against the Earth.
"Watch where you're going!" Came a shrill and very irritated voice.
I couldn't help the pit of anger that bubbled in my stomach, "What does it matter to you?!" I pushed off of the ground, with a groan. My knee ached and blood began to rise to the surface.
"Hmpf." I looked up to my offender. She was pretty, if you were into green skin. She stood by a burning tree, fanning it with a shawl. I thought this was a very ineffective way to put out the fire.
"Do you need-"
"You tripped over my root! That's way it matters! Then you bring that stupid battle to MY part of the forest and catch MY tree on fire." She glared, she looked like a hurt kitten.
"Your root?! Your tree?! How can you own a tree?" My hands balled into fist.
"Yes. My tree. Now if you don't mind, leave."
I didn't want to show it, but that remark struck home.
"Why would I allow you to sign my cast?" She spat out you like I was the dirt under her feet. "I mean you are the reason I broke it in the first please." She sneered
"I didn't-" I began to protest, but once she had an idea set in her head there was no changing her opinion.
"Of course it wasn't you. It's not like my cat died after the first time we hung out. Then the next, I caught my boyfriend cheating on me. And who could I forget the fact that I have lost every single race since we started hanging out." Her voice raised in pitch, giving away her sarcastic humor, "I think it's best if you just leave. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my friends."
For the rest of the school year I felt trapped in a never ending cycle of loneliness. I would fake sick. Get forced to go. Set alone on the bus. Get to class early, where I sat in the back with my hood up. Get yelled at for having my hood up. Get sent to the office because I refused to put it down. Hope I would get suspended, but get sent back to class, where I would sit alone never talking to anyone. Go to lunch. Eat alone. Freak out on my teachers. Go to the principals again. And than go home. The only variety to my never ending cycle were the insults.
I was fine with this cycle because after school I had my dad and sister, well at least I did…
I looked at the green girl and her flaming tree. My heart wanted to help but my brain said no. So I left to find out what the hell was going on. I was a couple feet away from a group of teens who were armed with swords and spears like they were doing a musical of 300, when I felt the cold sting of metal on my throat.
"Drop your knife!" I glanced down. At my neck laid a glowing bronze knife. My heartbeat picked up, my thoughts ran a million hours per hour, all shouting, Run. And that's what I did, backwards though (I'm not that dumb). But of course, I forgot all about that tree root and was met with the woosh of air once again, along with a very sore bum.
I heard a shrill giggle, "You are the clumsiest Demigod I have ever seen!"
"I am not!" I shouted before the words had fully registered in my brain.
"Wait! What's a -"
"I said drop your knife!" I felt the cold metal press against my neck again. If I were to swallow... I refused to think what would happen. Some way somehow my brain registered the demand because my hand dropped the knife.
"What is your name?" The person demanded. Terror paralyzed me.
I opened my mouth to speak. All that came out was a little squeak.
"I said your name. Not make a terrified squirrel impression."
"Sam." I stuttered.
"Well, Sam would you mind telling me what you are doing here?"
What was I doing here? My brain chugged along slowly. The events all seemed foggy with this knife to my neck.
"Well?"
"I don't know. I been stumbling through the woods for the past day. I just came upon here."
"That's a likely story," The pressure on the knife relaxed a little. I swallowed the large pool of saliva that had built on my tongue, "But you could always be a traitor."
That's when it clicked in my head they just got done with a battle. No one knew me. "I'm not a traitor!" Even though, no one knew me I felt insulted that they would assume that I'm a traitor, "I don't even know where I am!"
I felt the knife waver. "Come with me than." The knife left my neck. I took a deep breath. "Don't try any funny business."
I was able to finally get a look at the person who held me captive. She was very pretty with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was in very good shape and her eyes were very intense and slightly scary. Yet she had an aura of youth around her. She twirled my knife in her hands, examining the blade. Even if I had my knife the odds of my beating her were zero to none, but if I had luck on my side…
"You coming?" She looked back with a raised eyebrow.
My feet stumbled along the rooty ground as I followed her towards the group. "What's a demigod?"
Her shoulders tensed beneath her armor, "I'm not the person you should ask."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"That's an awful argument." I didn't press matters any further, her tone had turned to ice, which is never a good thing, especially when that person was heavily armed. "Do you like lettuce?"
"What?" The girl almost tripped over a tree root, but unlike me, recovered quickly and continued walking like nothing had happen.
"Do you like lettuce?" I asked slower this time.
She turned back to face me, her eyes were scrunched and her eyebrows wrinkled, "Why are you asking me?" The surprise had been washed away and the coldness had returned quicker than an ice age.
"No reason, just felt like the right thing to ask." We walked the rest of the way in silence.
"Chiron, I found this girl lurking around. She could be part of the titan army." She gripped my arm tight as she talked to an elderly man. Chiron, had brown hair and brown eyes, he remained me of a teacher. I never liked teachers. They always treated me like I was handicapped and pushed me to read and write, even when they knew it wasn't for me.
He frowned. His eyes were tight with pain, "Can you please elaborate, Amelia."
She told him how she had found me and all that we had said. She also showed him my knife. I told him my story too. How I had came cross country because of a feeling in my gut. How I arrived in the middle of the battle and wasn't sure which side I should be fighting for, this remark gained deep scrutiny from Amelia. I also told him about my encounter with the green skinned lady, which he had called a Dryad.
"Very while," He said as he's eyes looked me over, "Amelia can you please take Sam to the Big House so she can view the orientation film."
"What if she is a traitor?"
Chiron sighed, his face seemed to age five years. "We must not blame demigods of being traitors on assumptions."
Authors Note- I'm half asleep well posting this (Which is sad since it's only midnight) and I'm not sure if I even like Sam yet. So if you finished reading all the way down to here congrats, because my summary sucks and I haven't reread the last couple paragraphs, but I really wanted to get this posted. So editing must wait till the morning.