A/N: Hey all!

I know I promised to update my story on Monday, but I had some things to take care of. Please don't get mad!

Anyways, here's a continuation, at around the same time as chapter 11 from Insanity and Redemption, of my Chaos and Order series. I will now be updating all three of my stories, as they have reached the same timeline. I understand this may be confusing for some people, but I assure you that this is a completely necessary process so as to ensure the continuity of my tale.

The pairing in here will be revealed later on, all though I'm sure that most of you will be able to guess what it is.

Please take note: This is currently a different universe than the one Existence is in. That should clear up a few details. You'll have to refer back to the concept of the multiverses if you want t have any hope of understanding what I'm talking about.

Anyways, on with the story!

Thanks to all of you who have supported my stories this far, especially those who have reviewed. I will definitely try to update one more time this week before Friday, however unlikely that may seem.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO. I only own the main plotline for my series (not the smaller, regular things).

Annabeth Chase hurtled down a big alleyway in Manhattan. She thought she had heard a growling noise behind her in the park; she knew it might have been a dog, but she didn't want to take a risk and get chased from behind. What she didn't know, however, was that the events that were about to take place would change her life forever. If she had known, she might have acted differently; being ignorant of the future, though, she ducked into another smaller alleyway on the right side.

She took a step a forward and then gagged; the stench from the nearby dumpster was overpowering; it reeked of decay. I guess they don't empty these anymore, she thought. She decided there was nothing stopping her from exploring further into the alley; it looked deep enough to provide safety from any monster that might have been pursuing her, and there was a light at the other end, which meant that this wasn't a dead end. She frowned as she heard some sounds, however. Was that a—metallic clang? She started sprinting as quietly as she could towards the other end of the alley. As she approached, she saw a sight that made her groan and then got her extremely shocked.

Perseus Jackson was having a rotten day. He had been fighting off monsters for the whole of the past year, ever since he had been kicked out by his step-father, but today was possibly his worst encounter yet. Seriously! Where the Hades do these monsters learn social skills? And whatever happened to fair play? His thoughts were aggravatingly distracting as he went over his battle plans for the fight. Nevertheless, he concentrated on staying alive.

He was getting angry, though. Seven hellhounds in a single morning, Percy thought. He whirled his trusty sword Anaklusmos in a wide arc around him; the monsters wouldn't be catching him by surprise. The hellhounds jerked back at the sudden and unexpected attack. Then they all growled. They were the ones hunting their prey, not the other way around! Oh, you guys don't seem to like that too much, do you? Well, let's see how much you like this, he said, bringing up his sword in an uppercut, quickly dispatching one of the hellhounds. The rest howled in rage and three of the monsters pounced on him at the same time. Percy swore as he ducked; he could have gladly done without all these monsters.

He nimbly dodged one as it tried to swipe at him, claws outstretched, and it hurtled towards the side wall, unable to stop its momentum. Percy kicked the hellhound's head hard and smiled internally as the monster collapsed. Next to him, another hellhound took a shot at him, only to find itself impaled on his sword. Great, Percy thought, only four left. Percy turned to face four extremely angry hellhounds jump on him; this was not boding well for him. Just as he was about to succumb to their combined strength he noticed a blond girl jump out of the nearby shadows and backstab one of the hellhounds. Thank the gods. They finally help! He was forced out of his thoughts by the sound of three resounding crashes; it seemed that the hellhounds had collided together in an attempt to jump on him. He smirked; he might be able to get out of this just fine.

He spared a glance to the girl; she seemed to have dispatched the hellhound she had pounced on quite efficiently; she was now targeting the closest monster. Percy's smirk turned into a grin when he noticed a water pipe. He felt a tug in his gut as he exerted his will over the water in the pipes, causing it to burst out and blast the two remaining hellhounds against the other wall, where they remained dazed. Percy quickly ran up to them and finished them off. He turned towards the girl, ready to help if he saw any trouble, but she was just fine, if not a bit shaken. Here we go, I guess.

"Hey. Thanks for helping me out there, I'm really glad you were there, or else I would have been fish food."

Annabeth grinned at his odd thought before answering. "No problem. You're a demigod aren't you?"

"Yeah," Percy said with a smile. "I'm guessing you're one as well."

The introductions were exchanged civilly enough, and they learned each other's godly heritage. Funnily enough, both demigods decided to keep quiet about their parent's rivalry; it seemed neither wanted to pass up the opportunity to talk to someone like themselves.

"Have you been ...travelling... on your own for long?"

"It's been a year. You?"

Annabeth noticed how he quickly rebuffed any chance to drop in a question. I guess I'm not the only one with family problems.

"I've been running for the past four months. I started off in California, and now I find myself in this weird alleyway in Manhattan with a random demigod." She laughed. It felt good to laugh after such a long time. Somehow, in the short five minutes that she had met the new demigod, she had been able to relax for the first time in ages. Maybe it was because it was good to know he had survived for a whole year, or maybe it was the fact that if a monster did surprise them now, she wouldn't be alone facing it; whatever the reason may have been, Annabeth Chase was able to relax a little bit. Acting on a sudden whim, she blurted out a question that would surprise her for the next hour.

"Hey, if you're ...travelling... around, can I join you? I mean, you know, because it'll be easier for the both of us and—" Annabeth would have continued, but she was cut off by Percy right away.

"Yeah! Sure! I was actually going to ask you that. I would be very happy for a travelling companion, I'll admit, you get kinda lonely and the monsters are not a piece of cake."

As they both drabbled on, each happy to have met a friend under pretty much the same circumstances as themselves, they realized that they would need to pool resources and do almost everything together. Annabeth scrunched her nose at the thought, but then she realized it might not be a bad thing. She was hesitant to trust, though. She decided both of them talking a lot, finding things out about each other would definitely help her decide what kind of a person Percy Jackson truly is. A question popped on her mind, and she decided she was okay with answering it as well.

"How old are you?"

"I'm turning nine in August. You?"

"I'm turning nine soon, as well. You know, I'm sort of surprised at how you're accepting me. I'm glad I don't have to run alone." She stared intently at him, trying to find out if what he was about to answer was true or not.

Percy face took on a faraway look. He seemed wise beyond his years. Annabeth was surprised by this; she didn't expect someone so young to be able to look that way. "I guess it has to do with the fact that when you're about to die every week, with nothing or nowhere being permanent, it feels good to be able to trust someone." Percy paused for a few seconds before breaking into laughter. "But yeah, no worries, I'm not normally like this. I promise; you're not going to run out of reasons to laugh at while I'm around." Percy's smile at the end of the sentence was so genuine that Annabeth couldn't help but grin.

"All right then, let's do this."

From the underworld, Sally Jackson watched with relief as her son finally had someone to look out for him. Of course, his father doesn't count. Me neither; I can't exactly do much to help him out. Stay safe, son. I love you.

On a parallel universe that the Norse called Midgard, where time ran differently, the being now known as Existence reached out to every single thing present and felt for either Order or Balance. He sighed; it would have been too much to hope that his friends had been ejected into the same universe as him. Very well, he thought, it's time to pay a visit to the different realms in the multiverses.

So, how was it?

I apologize for this being a small chapter, but I really could not add any more to it. Besides, I always start off small and end up with long chapters, right? :)

I'd definitely welcome reviews.

Cheers