Chapter 2: The Runaway
Harrison's POV:
Life at Camp was strange, especially with the recent death of some guy named Jason.
I had only gotten there after Jason's demise, so I had nothing to worry about, right? Well, no. You see, I believe I was sent to the wrong camp.
As in, I'm a Roman.
Living in a camp for Greek demigods.
And from there, my issues just grew. Although gods technically don't have DNA, it was still considered gross to date someone from your own cabin. So the fact I had a mini-crush of Piper was SUPER embarrassing, which is why I only told Roy McEllen. Who's Roy McEllen? My best friend, son of Hermes. He'd been helping me try to get over Piper by being my wing-man for picking up chicks, but honestly, I didn't think I would ever get over Piper. HUGE PROBLEM. Because even if we weren't related, she was STILL hung up over her ex Jason.
I hummed quietly as my eyes scanned the pavilion, looking for someone, anyone who was better than Piper. Finally, I spotted a daughter of Apollo. She was beautiful, not as beautiful as Pipes, but still. She had golden blond hair tied up high in a ponytail. She wore the Camp Half-blood shirt like she was honored it belonged to her.
"Hello," I greeted warmly as I swooped in. She was chatting with a brother of hers, Walt I think, and didn't notice me until I repeated myself.
"Oh!" She jumped before turning to me. "Hey. Uh, Harry, right?" Damn. She knows my name. What do I say?
"Yeah," I said lamely. "And you are…?" She pursed her lips.
"Safira," she responded, eyeing me. I could feel my chances slipping away.
"Wanna hang out later?" I blurted, rubbing the back of my neck. Safira rolled her eyes and scooted closer to Walt.
"Hmm…" Safira mused. "How about...NO!" I jumped back and quickly walked away. Her loss.
I sat down next to Piper. She was stiff, like she had slept on a brick all night. Her eyes were a dreary gray, and her drink was dripping into her lap. I watched as her eyes focused on something in the distance. That Athena girl, Alice.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Alice…" was all she mumbled.
"What about Alice?" I ventured. She jumped up and ran towards Alice. I fell back in surprise. Something was wrong. But what?
Alice's POV:
I was running out of breath. Piper reached me just in time.
"What is it?" she inquired, supporting me.
"Jason broke free," I told her, nearly falling over. "He's a demon and he's coming for me. And that's not the worst part. I talked to Sadie-she had a vision too, but a different one- said that the more powerful he gets the more people die. Piper, there's a war coming. The question is between who."
For a few minutes, Piper and I stood there in silence. Finally, Piper whispered, "We need to find out where he is, so we can track him."
"We can ask one of the Hecate kids," I suggested, a sharp pain piercing my head. I chose to ignore it, assuming it was a headache from everything going on around me. "I know Lou Ellen is at school, but we can ask that girl Aria."
"Sure," Piper shrugged. "She's usually on the beach." We walked to the beach in silence, keeping our distance. If Piper and I had been acquaintances before Jason's death, we certainly weren't anymore. We despised each other, blaming the other for Jason's demise. It hurt to think I might have lost a friend, but it hurt more to think about losing Jason.
Sure enough, Aria was sitting on the sand. She appeared to be attempting to meditate. Key word was attempting. Connor and Travis Stoll were poking her, and she squealed with each jab.
"Aria, help us prank the Athena cabin," Conner whined.
"You know you want to!" Travis singsonged.
"Ahem," I said, catching their attention. Travis and Conner went bright red before taking off.
"You better run!" I called after them.
"We need you to help us track Jason," Piper said to Aria, shooting me a dirty look. A blinding anger overwhelmed me. I couldn't help but let my feelings out, though a voice in the back of my mind screamed not to. I gritted my teeth and turned to Piper, the source of my sudden rage.
"What the Hades?" I growled. "Why are you being such a τσούλα?" Piper and Aria gasped. Piper opened her mouth to retort, but I shoved her to the ground.
"Εσύ φταις Jason πέθανε, οπότε γιατί να μου φταίει? Το μόνο που έκανε ήταν να σταθεί εκεί και να παρακολουθήσουν τη διαρροή ζωή έξω από αυτόν, όταν θα μπορούσε να βοηθήσει! Τώρα αυτός είναι ένας δαίμονας, και προσπαθεί να με σκοτώσει. Γιατί πρέπει να είναι τόσο άχρηστο?" I fired off, kicking Piper in the stomach. She made to grab her dagger, but I beat her to it. The rage pulsing inside of me, I rose the dagger into the air. Aria shrieked, and the rage faded. I dropped the dagger onto the ground beside Piper and jumped up. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
"I'm so, so sorry…" I said, taking a few steps back. "I don't know what came over me!"
"Δεν ό, τι ήρθε από πάνω σου? Περιμένεις να πιστέψω ότι αξιολύπητη δικαιολογία? Τι συμβαίνει με σένα? Με απειλείς, ουρλιάζουν λέξεις σε μένα που δεν πρέπει ποτέ να πούμε, και νομίζω ότι θα το αφήσει να πάει? Είσαι τόσο βλάκας! Αυτά τα λόγια πονέσει περισσότερο από ό, τι μπορείτε να φανταστείτε, είναι τέλειο δεσποινίς Αλίκη, αλλά δεν είναι τόσο εύκολο για μερικούς από εμάς! Τουλάχιστον θα έχετε κάποιον να σας βοηθήσει μέσα από εφιάλτες σας. Το μόνο που είχα ήταν ο Ιάσονας και ο ίδιος ήταν ερωτευμένος μαζί σου! Ποτέ δεν νοιαζόταν για μένα, που αγαπούσε πάντα. Για πες μου, είσαι ευτυχισμένη? Είστε ικανοποιημένοι που δύο άντρες πολέμησαν μέχρι θανάτου για σένα?" Piper was majorly νευριάσει. I stumbled back, speechless.
"I-I…," I curled into a ball and started crying. I know, I know, real brave of me right? I just didn't know what else to do. I had only screwed things up even more. I was a major failure. Piper picked up her dagger and left, dragging Aria with her.
I sobbed, thinking of how many times I've messed up over the years. If it hadn't been for me, Piper and Jason could have been a happy couple in love. Jason could have been sane, been alive, not a demon. I must've been crying for hours, because the next time I looked up it was night. I just sighed, my throat aching.
What had had happened to me? Why did I go off at Piper like that? Why was I so angsty?
When I reached camp, I realized it was dinner time, which I should've figured considering it was nearly night, not actually night as I had originally thought. I didn't have anything to tell the time, alright? And my eyes were still adjusting! I staggered into the pavilion and assembled my plate. I turned around and saw every camper staring at me. Without warning they started screaming at me uncharacteristically, though explainable as Piper was one of the Seven, a hero of the Giant War. I dropped my plate in shock. I had lost my voice, leaving me unable to tell them of the anger I had felt, of the force that had compelled me to say those words I hardly felt. It was like I was trapped in a nightmare. No matter how many times I pinched my arm, I just couldn't wake up.
I felt broken.
I started sobbing once more and ran from the pavilion. Where would I go? Everyone hated me. News of my rant would spread to the 21st Nome like wildfire, no doubt about it. That was out of the question too, I mean, I had potentially severed the ties between the two worlds, ties we had all worked hard to achieve. The 21st Nome would not have hated me like camp, but they would've been mad.. I had no place to go, no home to run to. I felt like a crybaby, or like I had just finished the Fault in Our Stars. I was producing so many tears I could cure a drought. Can you cure droughts? Oh well. That's my analogy and I'm sticking to it. Is analogy the right word? Maybe I should actually go to school…
I hurried to the cabin I called home and packed quickly before stuffing my luggage into the Duat. And with that… I left.
I called a taxi, then used a portal to travel to England. Why England? Because England was the birthplace of Grace Travers, the only Athena camper who didn't hate me, and that was because she was dead.
If she hadn't been dead. I had no doubt she would be standing beside me. She had always been the sister I was closest to. She would have helped me figure out what had happened, she would have stuck up for me. But the (dyed) brunette daughter of Athena was gone. She had died in the Giant War. I was glad, for I didn't want her to see me like this, a puddle of tears. I didn't want her to think of Jason as an enemy instead of a friend.
It was then I stopped crying. Crying was pointless. I wasn't some Bella from Twilight. I was Alice Hayes, a kick ass demigod/magician with a mission.
Grace's dad still lived in England, so all I had to do was find him and I would be set for at least a week before I would have to move along.
I trudged along the street I had landed at before looking up. The Leaky Cauldron? The sign must've been in Ancient Greek, or maybe Egyptian, because I could actually read it. Supposedly, the Leaky Cauldron was also an inn, as well as a pub. I was being stupid. This inn was clearly a trap for tired traveling demigods or magicians. Yet, I pushed open the door anyway…
Jason's POV:
I was angry. I had been tracking Alice since I had broken free of my prison, but I was unable to trace her magic. I kicked a lamppost and it bent. I just growled and continued my long trek to Camp Half-Blood. I would find Alice, and I would kill her.
She deserved it.
Madeline: Now to learn what Alice and Piper said while being mean to one another! Alice?
Alice: τσούλα: bitch. Now my rant: It's your fault Jason died, so why blame me? All you did was stand there and watch the life drain out of him when you could have helped. Now, he's a demon and is trying to kill me. Why must you be so useless?
Piper: That hurt. My turn! My rant: You don't know what came over you? You expect me to believe that pathetic excuse? What's wrong with you? You threaten me, say words that should never be said, and you think I will just let it go? You're such an idiot! Those words hurt more than you can imagine, this may come as a shock to you, being perfect miss Alice, but it's not so easy for the rest of us! At least you have someone to help you through the nightmares. All I had was Jason and he was in love with you! He never really cared for me or loved me. So tell me, are you happy? Are you satisfied two men fought to the death for you?
Alice: Ouch. And finally, νευριάσει: pissed.
Madeline: Keep in mind I used Google Translate for my translation, so they probably suck.
Percy: Review!
Demon Jason: Favorite!
Alice: Follow!
Piper: Aria belongs to Aria-Ride-Daughter-of-Hecate, Harrison belongs to YOLOStories, and Safira belongs to animebookfangirl! Mad (short for Madeline) hopes she did your characters justice!
Percy: Me, my girlfriend, our world, and our friends excluding Alice, Grace, and the aforementioned OC's all belong to Rick Riordan! The Leaky Cauldron belongs to J.K Rowling.
Demon Jason: Alice, unfortunately, won't be in the story for a chapter or two as she finds out her destiny in England. Madeline would include it in Book 2: What a Mess We've Made, but feels it would be better as a side story, because it crosses over with Harry Potter.
Alice: Oh, and yes, Lou Ellen was attending Hogwarts.
Piper: As for the story, there will be slight Piper bashing.
Alice: Haha.
Piper: Bitch. Question of the chapter: What was the name of the storm spirit that attacked me, Jason and Leo at the Grand Canyon? Answer in a review.
Madeline: Er, um, bye!
~Madeline, Alice, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, and Demon Jason
