Well, here you go. Not sure where I'm gonna take this, it just started out as a cool idea, then I was writing more and more and it became this. But I hope you guys will like it :) It takes place after Blood of Olympus and after the Walking dead gang escape Terminus. I don't own either of them, just my OC. Reviews would make me very happy! Thanks guys!
.
.
.
Chapter One
Dead
.
.
.
It had all happened so fast-a phrase used so commonly, that those who haven't truly experienced it, I'm getting to the 'it' part, patience-have no idea how fast it truly does happens.
Your whole world turned upside down in a matter of moments. As a demigod, you'd assume I'd be fairly accustomed to the unexpected, I mean we're hardwired for split-second reactions and spontaneous monster attacks for gods sake. I just didn't think something would happen so soon after the war, and in the safety and comfort of the Big House rec room. I guess it was cosmic punishment for our lack of constant vigilance. I'm sure Gaia and Kronos, and every other enemy we've ever defeated were laughing at us. Two dozen or so of the best half-bloods in one room, and no one saw it coming. Go figure.
But in our defense it really did happen too fast.
Nine months had come and gone since the defeat of the Earth mother and the union of the two camps. There was damage to repair-physically, and emotionally; things that couldn't been seen or mended so easily-and alliances to be forged and fortified. Not to mention one to many burial shrouds to burn, finals rights to endow and feelings of grief and pain to overcome. But demigods were nothing if resilient. Most everyone bounced back pretty quick, with the help from the Romans, we pulled together and found comfort and strength in each other. Soon enough, Camp was back to normal. Well, normal enough. Some things can never be forgotten.
Jason stayed true to his word and was soon assigned to be one of four official Ambassadors for the two camps. Two from Camp Half-blood and two from New Rome. Eventually a system was created for communication, He began plans almost immediately for shrines and alters to be built for the lesser gods and goddesses, so they could get the recognition they deserved. And so the Kim incident-or the Luke and Ethan Nakamura-would never be repeated. It wasn't easy, but the son of Jupiter was truly boy Wonder; stubbornly determined and admirably passionate. But he was still working on the gods themselves-with the help of Percy-trying to get them to pay attention to us demigods more often, but as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day.
The Roman campers may tell you otherwise, though.
Camp seemed to double over night. New campers were coming in faster than we could build cabins. But it was a good change of pace, a welcomed chaos, it meant the gods were finally listening. Things were looking up for us. The first few weeks were spent expanding and recovering. First, of course, with a new medical bay-built behind the Apollo cabin-then sorting out who would stay where. When all was finished, Reyna took her Roman campers back to their home-the feast that night was crazy, let me tell you-along with Tyson, Ella, Hazel and Frank, both eager to become Praetors. Jason and Piper remained at Camp Half-Blood, the son of Jupiter some how able to also persuade the son of Hades to do the same. Though I have a hunch a certain blonde haired, blue eyed son of Apollo had something to do with his decision. I mentioned it to him as I helped him fix the interior design of his cabin-It was a struggle to hold in my giggles-and his death glare certainly livid up to its reputation. But the pale pink blush on his cheeks was enough confirmation. Annabeth and Percy would complete high school with each other in New York, then attend college in a stress free, monster-less New Rome. And I decided to stay with Lou Ellen and our other siblings in the Hecate cabin. All in all, everything was falling into place.
Leo was alive, despite Nico's suspiciously weary confirmation, we all new it in our hearts. It just wasn't his style to die-though a dramatic, fiery explosion was a very Valdez move-we knew the son of Hephaestus was living it up some where. And low and behold, six months later, a giant bronze dragon landed in the middle of the strawberry fields, shooting columns of fire and fireworks that spelled out LEO ROCKS, WHO MISSED ME?! in big bright colors. And he wasn't alone. Calypso was just as beautiful as the legends described, and cooler than I thought. She'd have to be to put up with Leo's Leo-ness. He just about died for a second time. Piper was a sight to behold, she had stalked towards him like Reyna's mother, Goddess of war; fists clenched, face furious. But despite her practically palpable murderous intent, she threw her arms around him and crushed him in a hug. Jason picked them both up and spun them in a circle. Then the rest of us descended upon him-more hugs, high-fives, threats and tears. A quick IM to Hazel, and she, Frank and Reyna were there in a gust of wind-Arion pulling their three man chariot-three minutes later, almost running him over. The feast that night was even crazier.
Then life settled into a comfortable routine. No wars, no immanent death, no prophecies-Apollo was still grounded, or so we assumed, hoped it wasn't something worse. It was just wake up, eat, sword practice, hang out with Nico when he wasn't pretending he wasn't hanging out with Will, capture the flag, sleep, repeat. Life was good. And that should've been my first clue things were going to go wrong, again.
So that brings us back to the present, and the aforementioned 'it' that came out of no where.
All twenty cabin counselors, plus Hazel, Reyna and Frank, were all crowded around the Ping-Pong table. I was squished between Samuel Webber from the Nemesis cabin, and Lorraine King from the Tyche cabin. We really needed to get a bigger table. Leo and the Stoll brothers had monopolized the cheese wiz and cracker platter, the pitcher of punch had mysteriously disappeared-Pollux-and Nathan from the Hebe cabin had to keep poking Clovis awake. Will Solace had his feet propped up on the little white net like some type of foot hammock and fiddled with the tip of an arrow from his quiver. He had been in the middle off archery practice with Frank when the unexpected meeting had been called. He had grumbled about it for a good couple minutes before Clarisse nearly bit his head off. They now glared at each other from across the table. Nico leaned casually against the far wall, hidden partially from view in the shadows. Annabeth, Hazel and Piper took turns flinging Ping-Pong balls at Percy and Jason when they weren't looking. But immediately stopped when one hit Butch in the face, who responded with a pretty murderous look-which was mostly show, but still effective. Chiron clopped up to the head of the table, in his full Centaur form, Reyna standing tall and proud beside him. The idle chit chat was cut short as he stomped his hooves against the floor boards.
"Attention, my young heroes." Mariah Reid from the Nike cabin and Katie Gardner made disgusted faces at the twin sons of Hermes, the latter elbowed Travis as they continued to obliviously stuff their faces. Leo snickered, but everyone went quiet instantly with one look from Chiron.
"Now, our first order of business. What news from New Rome. Jason, Reyna?" Jason nodded at his fellow Praetor to speak first.
"Nothing new to report." Jason nodded in agreement, adjusted his glasses, then seemed to remember something.
"Well, there have been requests from the Roman side to come here and learn some of our techniques." What, our lack of organization? Clarisse snorted and folded her beefy arms over her chest, briefly breaking her eye stabbing with Will.
"Not surprising." She sneered smugly. The few Romans in the room-Reyna mostly-narrowed their eyes. Chiron gave the Daughter of Ares a stern look.
"We can all learn a thing or two from each other, Miss LaRue." Clarisse grumbled under her breath and went back to taking her anger out on Will. Minor announcements were made, teams formed for this Fridays capture the flag, dish duty assigned and reports given from each counselor on the wellbeing of their cabins. The weekly complaints against the Hermes kids were tallied, Pollux was reprimanded for smuggling him and his siblings actual wine into camp-I'm positive they had help from their father-and just about everyone ganged up on Piper to stop the Aphrodite kids from redecorating the dinning pavilion, again. It was like a Barbie bomb went off. It took us hours to take down all the lace and pink streamers. Don't even get me started on the perfume. Lets just say the owners of Chanel have a special place in hell-I've checked with Nico-just for them. The next half hour crawled along.
"Are we good to go? I have other places to be." Leo asked, tucking his hands behind his head and put his feet up next to Will's. The son of Apollo scowled and kicked his away. There were a few mumbles of agreement, Clovis was passed out face down on the table, and with the crackers gone, the Stolls had resorted to turning the cans of cheese wiz on the others.
"I'm afraid not, Mister Valdez. There is one more thing" Chiron sighed. The atmosphere changed instantly, the edge in his voice had everyone sitting straighter, a sudden chill ran down my back. Percy groaned and let his head fall forward on the table with a thud.
"It's Gaea, she's back, isn't she. Oh gods, not again-" Annabeth kicked him under the table, cutting him off before he could ramble on. That managed to lightened the mood slightly, but no one smiled or laughed. I shifted closer in my chair.
"What is it then?" I asked. Chiron picked up one of the Ping-Pong balls and turned it around in one hand, and studied it with hard eyes as if it held the answers to the universe.
"I do not wish to worry any of you," He began, which were not the right words to use, because I'm sure everyone in the room immediately became worried, "but there is something that is making the gods restless..." He frowned.
"A new enemy?" Piper asked. She may be a daughter of the goddess of Love and Beauty, but in that moment she looked like a war general. The others shifted uncomfortably at the suggestion of a new threat, the prospect, even a tiny one, of another war. Chiron waved his arm quickly.
"No, it has nothing to do with the gods or any other ancient beings-"
"-So its about the mortals?" Sam piped up. Clarisse bang her fist on the table, making Clovis sit up with a start before slumping forward again with a guttural snore.
"-I knew there was going to be a world war three! I had my money on Russia the whole-"
"-How is war a good thing, Clarisse? It could affect us too, typical Ares kid-"
"-what's that, tree hugger? Say it to my face-"
"-like anyone would want to get close to that thing-"
"-you're next Prissy! I swear-"
"-sweet! Is it too soon to start placing bets-"
"-are we even allowed to get involved with something like that, its their problem-"
"-if there is to be war, we shall have victory!-"
"ENOUGH!" Reyna bellowed, the room fell silent again, the tension thick enough to cut. Chiron nodded his thanks at the roman Praetor, and ran a hand down his face, looking very much his age for a moment. No one spoke, and guilt passed over the faces of several of the room's occupants. Katie wiped a glob of cheese off her cheek with a dejected expression and Will took his legs off the table. Nico had stepped away from the wall and now hovered nervously by Reyna's side.
"Is it about the mortals?" Jason said finally, softly, his hands clenched in front of him. Chiron didn't respond right away, and I exchanged glances with a few of the others, could see the wheels turning in Annabeth's stormy gray eyes. It was strange how different the meeting had started, and how far it had escalated. The uneasy feeling in my stomach grew to a point that It couldn't be ignored. Clue number two.
"...Yes." Chiron said at last.
"But we shouldn't worry?" Annabeth said skeptically. The others looked just as unconvinced. Chiron gave a tightlipped smile.
"I assure you, it is nothing that needs any serious worrying."
I'd look back on those words and laugh out loud-a bitter, slightly hopeless laugh.
It was Hazel who heard it first. Her head snapped up, golden eyes sharp, which didn't go unnoticed by her half Brother.
"Hazel? What is it?" Nico asked, by her side within the blink of an eye. She frowned, and cocked her head to the side as if listening to something. A tiny red flag went up in my head.
"Do you hear that?" The rest of us frowned also. I didn't hear anything, just the static buzz of the old pac-man game and seamour snoring in the next room. Then Will gripped his bow and nodded.
"I hear it too."
"Yeah, so do I." Piper said. Leo looked at them like they were crazy.
"Hear what! I don't hear any-" Then his eyes widened, and he stiffened. Then I finally heard it too. It was like someone had slowly walked in from the hallway with an acoustic guitar, and plucked a single chord, paused, then did it again. A lazy. steady tempo. Quietly at first, but slowly growing louder.
Thwang.
Thwang.
Thwang.
It rippled through the room, I could feel the vibrations in my bones, it thrummed inside my head-soft and warm. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but there was an underlining sensation that felt invasive and wrong. I could tell by expression alone who could hear it and who couldn't it. And I know what you're thinking, this isn't fast at all, how could this sneak up on you guys? It's what came after that was so swift and completely unavoidable.
Thwang
Thwang.
"What is it?" Will sounded slightly panicked. Reyna braced herself against the edge of the table. Chiron pawed the ground anxiously as Clarisse shot to her feet.
"What is what?" She snarled.
Thwang
Thwang.
"You really don't hear it?" Frank winced. She opened her mouth to bark another response, but didn't have the chance. No one had time to go for weapons, or cry out in warning before a blinding white flash of light filled the room. It was like some had taken a picture with a camera the size of a mini van. It had me twisting my eyes shut and turning away. I tried to summon my sword, but all motor function in my body had stopped working, freezing me in place. The strumming had intensified into an impossible pitch that threatened to split my head open. I couldn't see or hear the others. There was a searing pain behind my eyes, a harsh shove from behind then my world went dark.
.
.
.
.
Supposedly the first sense you regain is smell.
It was a damp, earthy stench, like a puddle of muddy water or wet soil, that filled my nostrils in a sudden rush. I could feel my nose twitch, my whole body flinched as my eyes fluttered open against bright sunlight. The world came back in swirly smudges of brown, green and blue, then snapped into focus just as quickly as it had changed, leaving me with some serious vertigo. It slammed into me, I clenched my eyes shut again, my stomach rolled. It was a good thing I was already on my side. The muscles in my stomach bunched and jumped as my late lunch made a reappearance. The acidic flavor burned my throat and made my eyes water. Great, just great. I waited for the black spots that dotted my vision to subside and the world to stop spinning. At least I felt better, better enough to focus on the more pressing matter of my situation.
My demigod training had me immediately cataloguing the rest of my senses, my body for any injuries, my immediate area for any threats. My limbs felt heavier, my arm was bent uncomfortably under my head, but I managed to roll onto my back with a groan and a killer headache, and listened, heart pounding. A light breeze, birds in the distance. I had all my limbs intact and was spread eagle on soft forest floor, a gnarled root sticking into my back and a canopy of trees towered above me. OK, so not entirely what I expected, but it could be worse. It didn't take a genius to know I was no longer in the Big House, maybe even not at camp. I pushed back the panic at that thought and blinked slowly to clear my head.
With another grunt I attempted to sit up-it took a few moments-and tried to sort out what I could and couldn't remember-a white flash, pain, and then blackness. That about covered it. Absentmindedly I picked a leaf from my hair-used it to wipe away the vomit-and grit my teeth against the throbbing in my head. Nothing was making any sense. Then something next to me moved and I almost jumped out of my skin. Any residual haziness cleared instantly and I scrambled back, eyes darting down, but I relaxed when I saw what-who-it was. Piper was curled on her side, but slowly she was stirring, her eyes opened weakly. I swallowed my surprise and reached forward, put a hand on her shoulder, and shook her gently. Maybe not the best idea.
"Hey, Piper" I whispered. She mumbled some incoherent gibberish and lifted her head with a little difficulty. She squinted up at me, then shot forward with a gasp, hand reaching for a weapon on reflex. I had to lean back to avoid getting head-butted in the chin. I held her at arms length.
"Whoa, its me, relax." She blinked and put a hand to her chest, spluttered for breath.
"Sorry Beck, I didn't-" She stopped short when she looked over my shoulder.
"Where?-" She trailed off. I shook my head.
"I don't know...you OK?" She nodded and I stood on shaky legs and offered her a hand, she took it and I pulled her to her feet. I dusted the back of my jeans free of any dirt and took a better look around. Piper did the same. We both saw them at the same time, a rocks toss away, glanced at each other, then quickly hurried over. Annabeth, Percy, Jason and Reyna lay in various positions on the ground, arms and legs tangled, and were beginning to regain consciousness. Piper knelt next to her boyfriend and I dropped to my knees next to the daughter of Athena. They didn't wake with any more grace than I had. Percy was the hardest to rouse, the groggiest-Jason pulled away, disgusted when he found himself cuddled close to the son of Poseidon-and Reyna almost slit my throat before she caught herself. We checked for injuries and helped them stand.
"Geez, what was that." Percy groaned, messaging his temples. Annabeth and Reyna studied our surroundings with narrowed eyes, looking as stumped as I felt, but hid it much better.
"Whatever it was, it must've brought us here." Jason said, bending down to retrieve his glasses off the ground.
"Yeah, but where is here." Annabeth muttered, glaring at the trees. She had dirt on her nose and neck, and several twigs poking out from her blonde pony tail-Percy picked them out-but was, unsurprisingly, ready to react. Thank the gods for the children of Athena. Reyna didn't sheath her sword, it was ready at her side as she scanned the surrounding trees for anything that might jump out and attack us. It was hot, humid, the air heavy and moist. The distant hum of cicadas filled the air. We couldn't be in New York, it had been cold at camp, and close to sundown when we had had the meeting. It looked to be early afternoon now. Dread began to eat away at my stomach as the others exchanged different theories. But we weren't coming up with any answers. Any good ones at least. Behind me, a twig snapped.
"Hey!" We all spun around. Nico, Frank, Will and Hazel were picking their way towards us from a few yards away. They looked OK, but Hazel had one arm around Franks' neck, his wrapped around her waist as she limped forward. We met them half way and helped ease Hazel against a tree. Will knelt in front of her, after checking us over, and examined her ankle. Frank looked on, crossed his arms over his chest and glanced nervously around us.
"So any idea what happened." Reyna shook her head.
"Only that after that flash of light, we ended up here."
"And no, we don't know where here is." I said before anyone could ask. They simply nodded. Hazel sucked in a breath when Will pressed his fingers over her skin. Piper knelt beside her and bit her lip.
"What happened?" If I had to hear those two words used in the same sentence again, I was going to curse who every said them with the worst incantations I knew. Hazel shrugged, and glanced the way they had come.
"Just landed on it wrong. It's-ow-not so bad." Will nodded in agreement, and muttered a few Greek words under his breath, hands hovering over her ankle.
"It is sprained, but not bad. I can fix it, but she'll have to take it easy for a bit." Frank smiled, relieved. Percy sighed, and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Well it's not like we're going anywhere, since we don't know where we-"
"WHY AM I IN A TREE!?"
We craned our necks and Leo was fifteen feet up, draped over a branch, arms and legs dangling. He flailed and squirmed in place, but really only succeeded in getting even more stuck. His face had tiny scratches and big green leaves tangled in his curly hair. He made an un-amused face as we all couldn't help but grin.
"What? Never seen an extremely attractive demigod in a tree before? Stop gawking, and get me down!" He grunted. Jason smirked and gave a mock salute.
"I'm on it!" In a gust of wind, he lifted off the ground, and floated above Leo's head. It took a couple minutes, he was more twisted in the branches than he looked.
"Ow-ow! Pulling isn't helping peter pan!-"
"-well if you'd stop moving around and just let me-"
With a loud snap and crash, the son of Hephaestus came tumbling down. Of course we all sidestepped as he landed on the ground in a pile of groaning limbs and broken tree branches. He muttered some colorful Latino curses under his breath and used one of the splintered branches as a crutch and lurched to his feet.
"Sorry." Jason called down, then landed gently on the ground next to Piper, and shrugged sheepishly. Leo waved his apology away and ran a hand through his hair to dislodge any foliage and dusted himself off.
"Don't worry about it, I love falling, I do it all the time."
We did a quick search of the are to see if anyone one else from the meeting had been mysterious transported too, but it seemed to be just the eleven of us. We settled in a circle on the ground and filled each other in on what the other knew, more possible theories, a plan of action. With the help of Hazel's earth sensing abilities, a aerial view curtsey of Frank the falcon and Jason, we could confirm we were no longer at Camp Half-Blood or in New York and there wasn't anything around us for miles. Nico volunteered to shadow travel back to camp and get help, but was quickly shot down by Will. Though it had been nine months, Nico's powers were still unstable and the son of Apollo argued they had no idea how far they were from New York and the strain could be to much. They had a glaring match, and it was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. Piper and I shared a knowing look, smirking. Will had a point, but what other option did we have? But in the true spirit of democracy, it was but up to a vote, and it was unanimous, the son of Hades was grounded.
"Maybe we should start walking, we should run into someone eventually. Maybe a town." Piper suggested. Annabeth shook her head, she had picked up a twig and was drawing something in the dirt.
"That flash of light only transported us here, away from the others for a reason. It could be a trap." Leo snorted, and knocked over his rock and leaf fort with the back of his hand.
"But we wont know for sure unless we do something. Just sitting here and talking about it isn't going to-" In the distance, something shuffled through the underbrush. All elven demigods were up in a flash, weapons drawn. I felt the surge of magic in my arm, the crossed torches inked on the back of my hand glowed a pale green, the air shimmered then I was clutching my imperial silver sword.
"Do you think its one of the others?" Hazel whispered, braced against a tree. She had left her Calvary sword in her cabin, but looked ready to use her fists if she had to. Reyna shook her head as we all scooted together, back to back.
"I don't think so." More shuffling, this time from another direction. Nico held his Stygian sword in front of him and sniffed the air, his black eyes widened then narrowed.
"This-it doesn't smell like monsters. It smells dead..." Percy frowned, Riptide still a pen clenched in his hand.
"Ghosts?" Nico shook his head and seemed to get paler.
"No, like rotting flesh, definitely dead, but..." Frank knocked an arrow and scowled.
"What does that mean." Nico went to respond but Piper cut him off with a startled squeak.
"It means that!"
We looked where she was pointing, and I mentally had to step back for a moment. There were about a dozen of them, stumbling and shuffling through the trees. They were people, at least what was left of them resembled a person. Nico was right, they were rotten, rotting, some had limbs missing, or flaps and chunks of skin just completely gone. Almost all of them were covered in blood and other mystery stains, their clothes hung in tatters on their malnourished, graying bodies. They moaned, a wheezing kind of breathing and growled when they saw us. A shiver shot down my back, not really believing what I was seeing, which was saying a lot coming from me. I had seen Nico raise the dead before, but this, this was different.
"Ok, what the heck are those things. Death boy, are you doing this?" Will said, bow drawn and aimed at the corpses.
"No, I haven't done anything. And I don't sense any necromancy either..." I shook my head.
"Yeah, I don't sense any magic."
"Zombies? Really?" Leo scoffed, and then the walking corpses were a few feet away, quicker than they looked. They were a lot more freighting up close.
"Whatever they are, can we just kill them now." Jason mumbled, Piper nodded eagerly in agreement, as they lurched forward. They seemed to gain strength and speed, reaching out with grubby hands and mouths stretched open, ready to bite. Their eyes were milky and blood shot, they grew wider with what I could only assume was hunger. I didn't know what was happening, where we were, or where these things came from but I wasn't about to be these things next meal. We all sprung into action. I slashed out with my sword, catching a middle-aged man with half his face decaying in the gut. He stumbled, hissed but kept coming. I stabbed him clean through the chest, but he kept coming, pushing forward, soon he was almost hilt deep. They weren't crumbling or disintegrating like other dead summons would, my godly metal was having no affect. They didn't seem fazed at all.
Gods, what are these things.
Around me the others were discovering the same thing. They stabbed and hacked, but the corpses found a way to keep going. Reyna had cut one clean in half, but its upper half still crawled towards her. I brought my leg up and planted my boot against the chest of the man on my sword and pushed him away, the sound he made sliding off my blade was nothing short of disgusting. Not to mention the smell. I saw Annabeth duck under a young woman's grabbing arms, her rib cage open with intestines hanging out, and stabbed her bronze dagger in her face, right between the eyes. Black ooze splattered across her check, but she didn't notice. The corpse fell to the ground lifeless, and didn't move again.
"The head, aim for their heads!" She called to the rest of us. Not needing to be told twice, I swung my sword high, and the middle-aged man's head came clean off his shoulders and sailed through the air. Leo ducked just in time.
"Hey!" He had dispatched his own zombie-a quick blow to the head from his hammer-and was helping Percy take out the last two. Then we were surrounded by corpses, and hopefully they would stay that way. I had to catch my breath for a moment, flicked the dark goo off my sword and we all regrouped. Reyna and Jason had smears of corpse blood on their fronts Hazel wrinkled her nose at the gunk Percy had gotten on her jeans when he had knocked ones jaw off. Frank and will looked fine, having taken theirs out from a safe and clean distance with a well placed arrow.
"Well that was weird." I broke the silence.
"Very." Nico said flatly. He looked angry, maybe angry at the fact the dead were alive when they weren't suppose to be, that he had nothing to do with it, or maybe because his favorite black shirt had bits of zombie flesh on it. I couldn't tell which.
"Ok, just to be clear, I would much rather fight Dirt Face again." Percy grimaced. The others grunted in agreement.
"Because, lets be honest, she was a lot less gross." Leo added, prodding a particularly nasty corpse that Reyna had cut the top of its head off, with his hammer. Annabeth tucked her knife in her belt.
"They didn't die in the normal way." She said it more of a question than a statement.
"We have a normal way?" Percy asked.
"She's right. Our weapons didn't go through them, but they didn't turn them to dust either." Piper observed, she also tucked her dagger in her belt, and glared at one of the corpses.
"We can figure it out later, we should leave, more might come." Reyna said and sheathed her sword. her purple cape still held the blessing of Athena, so it remained spotless and I glanced down at my shirt in envy. The others agreed, and we decided to head South, see where it takes us. It would get dark soon, and if we didn't find anything before then, then we'd have to stop and make camp. With those tings roaming around, I didn't know if I wanted to. I'm sure I sound ridiculous, a group of demigods such as ourselves should have no problems with these things. But something didn't feel right. As far as I knew, this was a new one for us, and new things in the life of a half-blood weren't always good. Me and Nico didn't sense any foul play, no other Necromancer or any mythological mischief. They weren't from our side, so they must be from the mortals.
But how? Why? Was there some sort of disease out break? We would've heard of something, right? What exactly did that flash of light do, and why to just us?
Was this the thing Chiron was trying to tell us?...
No, it was too early to speculate, it could be dangerous to jump to conclusions. I guess we would just have to see how it all plays out, and hopefully get home in one piece.
We trudged along through the trees in a heavy silence. Nico had cast one last weary look over the corpses, the shadows at his feet shifted nervously, like he knew something but didn't want it to be true. I eyed the back of his head from the rear, the uneasy feeling from before taking permanent residence in my stomach. Leo sighed, and hummed under his breath.
"Well, one things for sure. We aren't in Kansas anymore."
.
.
.
.