Amy woke up on a park bench. Which was weird, she remembered going to sleep in Cabin Eleven back at camp. She checked her watch; it was 8:32 a.m. on May 31st.
Amy saw her backpack next to the bench and picked it up. She looked in it and saw: a plastic bag full of ambrosia, and a canteen of nectar. Amy remembered these things were important for demigods, for emergencies only. There was also about $100 and five golden drachmas.
A few things to know about Amy, she was a demigod. She had collarbone length black hair, pulled back into a ponytail. She had brown eyes. She was fifteen years old and about five foot four inches and weighed about 130 pounds. She was not fat, nor skinny, also not at all muscular.
Since Amy was a demigod one of her parents was a Greek god or goddess. Since she grew up with her mother, but Amy did not like to think about her, she knew it was her father who was the god. The only thing is she did not know which god he was. At camp they have to know your godly parent to put you in their designated cabin. If they don't you hence are unclaimed and you bunk in Hermes' cabin, Hermes being god of travelers. Most demigods got claimed before they were thirteen, but Amy had no idea why her father hasn't declared her as his daughter.
Amy got up and walked towards the coffee shop across the park. She went into the bathroom and saw what she was wearing. She wore jean shorts to the knees, an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. She wore black boots that were about one and a half inches form her knee. And also a black sweater.
Amy stuck her hand in her left boot. She pulled out her small rod. It looked ordinary only about three inches long. But there was a small button on the bottom. Amy pushed it. The rod grew larger and much longer.
Amy sighed with relief she still had her sword. It was a split sword. Like a ninja, that could be used as one sword or two. One blade was celestial bronze, the magical metal that kill monsters, and turning them into dust, but that does not harm mortals. The other blade was a weird black metal with a slight strange purple glow. Amy never figured out what kind metal it was, but it killed monsters too. But the weird thing was that this blade seemed to suck up the monster's essence.
Amy asked the lady at the counter what city she was in. The lady looked at her strangely.
"New York."
"What part?" Amy asked.
"Long Island." the woman replied.
"How far am I from the Long Island Sound?" Amy asked.
"Just head north five miles." the lady said.
"Thanks." Amy said.
Amy left the coffee shop and started heading North, toward CampHalf-Blood.
Amy has been going to CampHalf Blood since she was twelve. She was a year rounder, meaning she stayed there all year. This was going to be her fourth year attending. She checked her neck. Her camp necklace was missing. Amy had no idea why it was missing. Well any ways, she had to get back to camp. Amy broke into a brisk jog.
It was about 11:50 when Amy arrived at camp. She walked up Half-Blood Hill.
Just then an archer from Apollo's cabin shot an arrow at her. It was obviously a warning shot, because Apollo's children never miss.
"Whoa!" Amy declared.
"Who are you?" the archer asked notching another arrow.
Amy recognized the archer. "Jay, it's me Amy." Amy replied.
"How do you know my name?" Jay asked arrow ready to fire.
"What are you talking about? We've been going here together for two years!" Amy yelled.
"What are you? Roman?" Jay asked.
"What has gotten into you Jay?" Amy asked.
"You have five seconds to get back down the hill." Jay said.
Amy saw something was definitely wrong with Jay, so she turned and ran.
Amy ran for a few miles. She came cross a bench and sat down trying to catch her breath.
"Why does no one remember me?" Amy asked. "It's like I am unknown to everyone."
Just then she realized that Jay had got her lower leg. Her boot protected it well enough, that Amy never noticed the pain till now. Amy took the arrow out and felt blood pouring down her leg.
Amy grabbed a small square of ambrosia and ate. Ambrosia was the food of the gods. It will burn up normal humans, but it can heal demigods in small amounts. It tasted like double fudge brownies, her friend Archie made her a few times.
Archie was a son of Hecate, the goddess of magic. He lived in Detroit. Archie had once told her, Hecate controls the Mist.
Amy thought of something that had happened about fourteen years ago. Hera had swapped a Roman demigod with a Greek one. Everyone thought they remembered the Roman but it was a trick of the Mist.
Amy ran to the nearest train station and bought a ticket to Detroit, now Amy only had $10 left. On the way to Detroit Amy went into the bathroom and found a way to make a rainbow.
Amy fished out a golden drachma. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow accept my offering." Amy said and tossed in the golden drachma. "Show me Archie Williams in Detroit."
The light shimmered and the image of Archie sitting at his desk appeared.
"Archie!" Amy called.
Archie turned around quite surprised.
"Amy, is that you?" Archie asked.
"Thank the gods! You know me!" Amy said.
"Why wouldn't I! We were best friends since kindergarten. But then of course than you always stayed year round and then I moved to Detroit..." he replied.
"Listen, I'll explain later. I'll be in Detroit at seven. Come pick me up." Amy said. She waved her hand though the image and it dissolved.
When Amy arrived at the train station in Detroit, she saw Archie waiting for her. They got in his green pick-up truck, and headed for his house.
"So explain this to me." Archie said when they arrived at his house.
"Okay, yesterday, May 30th, I went to bed." Amy said.
"Which cabin?" Archie asked.
"Cabin eleven. Hermes." Amy said.
"Gods of Olympus! Are you still unclaimed?" Archie asked.
"Hey it's not my fault." Amy said.
"What is wrong with your father? My mother claimed me when I was six!" Archie said.
"You never told me that. You also should not say that about a god." Amy said.
""I guess you are right." Archie said.
"Can I get back to my story?" Amy asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Archie said.
"Okay so I went to bed in the cabin, woke up on a park bench. Then I walked to back to camp. Got shot at by Jay, ran away. Then I came here." Amy explained.
"So you think this a trick of the Mist?" Archie asked.
"Yeah." Amy said,
"I don't know what to make of this." Archie said.
"Well if it is your mother's Mist it would explain why you know me." Amy said.
"What about it?" Archie asked.
"Can't you like ask your mother about this?" Amy asked.
"She never talks to me. I am pretty sure she doesn't really care about me." Archie said.
Amy muttered a curse in Ancient Greek. After a few minutes of silence Amy started a new conversation.
"You know, maybe this is for the best." Amy said.
"What?" Archie asked.
"I'm not that good of a hero, my father won't even claim me. Now your mother has made everyone else in my life forget me. Maybe, I'm not meant to be a hero." Amy said.
"Don't say that." Archie said.
"Then how do you explain this?" Amy said pulling down her T-shirt collar to reveal the fact that her necklace was missing.
"Where's you necklace?" Archie asked.
"I don't know, maybe your mother took it." Amy said.
"Amy, I don't know what to tell you I have absolutely no idea if my mother is involved." Archie said.
They were silent for a while. "A museum opened pretty close to here last week. There is a Greek and Roman wing. We can go there tomorrow." Archie said.
"Sure." Amy said.
"You can sleep in the guestroom. Follow me." Archie said. They got up and Archie led Amy towards the guestroom.
Amy slept with dreams but could never make out what was happening.
When Amy woke up she was still in bed in Archie's guestroom. She checked the time. It was 7:05. Amy got up and headed for the kitchen. She found Archie cooking breakfast. He was cooking French toast, eggs, and bacon. On the table there were two glasses of apple juice and a small bowl of orange marmalade to put on the French toast.
"Wow. You've been busy." Amy said.
"You are still here. That is good." Archie joked.
Amy punched him lightly on the arm.
"When does the museum open?" Amy asked.
"Ten. So we have a few hours to get you some clothes." Archie said.
Amy realized she was still in the same clothes she woke up in yesterday. The one boot and sock was bloody, the T-shirt was covered in sweat, holes and dirt and she had lost he sweater running from Jay. "That might be a good idea."
After the delicious breakfast, they headed towards the mall. Archie got Amy a new pair of boots, socks, a blue T-shirt, jean shorts, and a new black jacket. Those were the kind of clothes Amy was used to wearing.
Amy put the clothes on and stuck her rod in her new boot. By then it was 9:55 so they headed towards the museum. When they got there they paid admission and headed straight towards the Greek and Roman wing.
There were old swords, daggers, bow and arrows. There was even some wood that they claimed was part of the Argo. What really caught Amy and Archie's eyes were the statues of the gods and goddesses. The name of the god was on the pedestal in Ancient Greek, which was not a problem for Amy and Archie because the minds were hard-wired to read it.
They saw a statue of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, and Hera. Then they came across a statue of Hecate. Amy resisted the urge to make a face at it. Amy walked across the room and saw a statue of a god that she has never seen a statue of.
"Hey, I am going to the bathroom. I will be back soon." Archie said.
"Okay, I will be right here." Amy replied. Archie walked off.
Amy looked at the statue something about it seemed like it should be important. She looked down at the name. It read "Hades."
"Do you find this statue interesting?" a man said. Amy did not hear him approach.
"Yeah." Amy said. Looking at the man Amy thought he looked familiar. Not like she had met him before but seen pictures of some one who looks a bit like him.
"I quite like it myself too. Although it does not really capture me the way I would like it." the man said.
"Excuse me?" Amy asked getting a closer look at him. He wore dark jeans, and a black T-shirt. He was pretty pale, like he wasn't outside much; he had deep brown eyes and black hair that has almost shoulder length, covered with a black baseball cap. He gave her a smile, which was very weird.
"Who are you?" Amy asked trying not to be rude but she was generally freaked out.
"I guess it is my fault you don't recognize me. I should have talked to you much earlier." the man said.
Amy was dumbfounded, but managed, "Your Hades?"
"You got it." Hades said.
Amy's eyes widened. "What do you want with me?" Amy asked.
"Can't a father talk to his own daughter?" Hades asked.
"You're my father?" Amy asked.
"What do you think?" Hades asked.
The problem was, Amy couldn't think. He mind was overwhelmed with fear.
"Oh silly me, you probably are too scared to think." Hades said, taking his black baseball cap off.
Once he did Amy could think more clearly, her fear was gone.
"Your Helm of Darkness, is a baseball cap?" Amy asked.
Hades gave a slight laugh. "I can make it look pretty much whatever I want. I figured this would draw the least amount of attention."
Amy hoped what she said next would not get her killed. "Why didn't you show up earlier?"
Hades sighed, "You see, Persephone…"
"Your wife." Amy said.
"Yes, you see, she was upset that I had a child with a mortal woman, understandable. She grew jealous, and wished for me never to see you. She made a deal with Hecate." Hades said.
"I pretty sure Hecate hates me." Amy said.
Hades looked at her, like he was slightly annoyed that she kept interrupting.
"Sorry. Go on." Amy said quite embarrassed and scared.
"Persephone made a deal with Hecate, to create a veil of Mist so strongly around you that I could not find you. But a good thing about that is it kept the monsters away from you." Hades said.
"I guess it makes sense, but how does that explain the fact of now that no one at camp recognizes me?" Amy asked.
"Mist wears off over time. Hecate had to put a fresh veil over you, but not before I found you and took you out of the camp." Hades said.
"You took me out of camp?" Amy asked.
"If you awoke in the cabin with no one knowing who you were, all of the campers would've attacked instead of just that archer." Hades said.
"What did Hecate get?" Amy asked.
"Excuse me?" Hades asked.
"You said Persephone made a deal with Hecate. Hecate had to get something out of it right?" Amy said.
"That did not occur to me. I guess…" Hades said.
"Hey Amy, who is this?" Archie said coming up.
"Um, Archie, this is Hades." Amy said.
"Hades? What are you doing here?" Archie asked him.
Amy was sure Hades would blast him.
"You recognize her?" Hades asked Archie.
"Yeah. The Mist does not really mess with me." Archie said.
"Why is that?" Hades asked.
"I am the son of Hecate." Archie said. "Amy, do you know why Hades is here."
"Archie, Hades is my father, apparently." Amy told him.
"Perhaps we should move this conversation elsewhere." Hades said,
"Like where?" Archie asked.
Hades snapped his fingers, the lights in the museum went out, and Amy was pretty sure she blacked out.
Amy woke up on the ground of what seemed to be a palace. Archie sat on the ground next to her.
The palace had a bronze floor, black columns and a black ceiling. Maybe obsidian. They both stood up and saw two thrones. Amy could hear screams of agony in the distance.
"Oh no!" Archie said. He seemed much paler.
"What?" Amy said. Amy felt strangely calm here.
"We are in the Underworld!" Archie said.
"And?" Amy said.
"We must be dead!" Archie said.
"Okay, so A. If we died how come we did not arrive here on Charon's ferry? B. If we did die we would most likely be in Elysium. And C. This is Hades' palace. I don't think we have anything to worry about." Amy said.
"What about Persephone. She is going to be here. She probably hates you." Archie said.
"Arch, when did you become such a worry-wart? D. Per…" Amy said.
"D?" Archie asked.
"You cut me off after C. remember. So any ways, D. It is summer, Persephone is up with Demeter." Amy said.
"WE ARE STILL IN THE UNDERWORLD!" Archie screamed.
"Sorry, what did I miss?" Hades asked appearing in. Hades seriously like just melted out of the shadows.
"I knew it we are dead and Hades himself is dealing out our punishment!" Archie said.
Amy slapped Archie across the face. "Pull yourself together. We are perfectly fine."
"I think you knocked a tooth lose." Archie said.
"That's better." Amy said. "Why did you bring us here Hades?"
"There were people. They were hearing what we were saying, better not lead them to questions." Hades said.
"And disappearing all of the sudden does not raise questions?" Amy asked.
"They saw nothing. There was black out. I shadow traveled us here." Hades said.
"Okay. What were we saying about the deal?" Amy asked.
"I think I might know what Hecate got promised." Hades said. "You boy."
Archie screamed and might have fainted if Amy didn't slap him again.
"Archie what is wrong with you?" Amy whispered.
"So scary." Archie murmured. And he did seem terrified
"Huh?" Amy asked, then she noticed that Hades was wearing that hat again. "Um, Hades, you think you can take the Helm off. You are scaring Archie to death. Or close enough."
"Oh, forgot I put it back on." Hades said taking the hat off.
The color came back to Archie's face.
"Now, Archie is it. Have you ever been sick?" Hades asked.
"No. Not even a cold." Archie said.
"Was the weather always relatively nice where you were?" Hades asked.
"Yeah, I thought it was weird." Archie said.
"Amy, Persephone must have promised Hecate that she will keep the weather nice for her child." Hades said.
"Nice weather equals no sickness, no sickness equals healthy life, healthy life usually means long life." Amy summed up.
"Hecate never had too many children, like myself, she would do anything to promise the well being of at least one of her children." Hades said.
"So my mother really does care about me." Archie said.
"You are no longer needed here. I will transport you back to your house." Hades said.
"Wait what?" Archie asked, then he disappeared in a column of smoke.
"Uhhh," Amy said.
"He is fine." Hades said.
"Okay, so now what?" Amy asked.
"I will tell Hecate to raise the veil of Mist off you. You and Archie can return to CampHalf-Blood, with no further… incidents." Hades said.
"Oh, okay, thank you." Amy said.
"I want you to know something, even though I never really got to see you, I am still very proud of you." Hades said.
"What is there to be proud of?" Amy asked.
"Even with your ADHD and dyslexia you still did relatively well in school." Hades said.
"If you never knew who I was, how do you know? And I only got a B- once. That was my best grade." Amy said.
"You are a quick thinker." Hades said.
"Huh?" Amy asked.
"What kid could figure out and remember and connect what was happening to you, with Hecate, and right away go to their friend that might be able to help? You have no reason to beat down on yourself." Hades said.
"Except for Mom." Amy said.
Hades had a hurt look on his face. Not like Amy had hurt his feelings but more of a sympathetic look. "Amy that is not your fault."
"Then why did she do it! You are the god of the dead you should know!" Amy said.
Amy had been doing bad in school in sixth grade. Her mom thought it was useless. She committed suicide when Amy was only twelve. Starting that summer was when Amy started going to CampHalf-Blood. That is why she had to stay year round. The memory was so painful Amy started to cry.
Hades did something surprising, he came down to Amy and hugged her. A long warm embrace, the kind Amy had never had before. Amy's mom had never really ever hugged her, she felt a bit better.
"You can't blame yourself for everyone who dies around you." Hades said.
"I guess. But I don't know." Amy said.
"What?" Hades asked.
"Me being the child of the god of the dead, isn't sort of my fault?" Amy asked.
"Not at all." Hades said.
Amy thought of something. She brought out here sword. She showed Hades the black metal, "No one really knows what this is." Amy said.
"Why, that Stygian iron." Hades said. "It is quite rare."
"You know, maybe all the stories about you are wrong. They all portray you as the bad guy, the god who was evil, who hated all the heroes. I think they just misunderstood you." Amy said.
The god raised an eyebrow.
"You might not have hated the heroes, maybe just jealous, because you never had that many children." Amy said.
Hades gave her a smile. "This is yours I believe." He handed Amy her camp necklace.
"I was wondering where that went." Amy said.
"There is not much of a gift I can give you." Hades said,
"I already got the perfect gift." Amy said with a smile.
Hades raised and eyebrow.
"A parent who cares about me, and loves me." Amy said.
Hades smiled. "There is one thing I can do. I can teach you how to shadow travel." Hades told Amy the secret to shadow travel.
"I hope I can speak with you some more, some other time. Maybe I can visit, in the summer of course. No need to anger Persephone further." Amy said.
"We will see each other again. I promise." Hades said,
"Good bye, father." Amy said. And with that Amy shadow traveled back to Archie's house in Detroit. They would head to CampHalf-Blood tomorrow morning.
The End. L Or is it;) ?