AN: Okay so I began this story before I read Heroes Of Olympus, so I know it seems like I modeled Kyle's powers after Leo, but really I thought of the power over fire by myself and then felt stupid when I read The Lost Hero and saw that Leo had the EXACT same power. Sorry about that to anyone who reads this and thinks I stole the idea of that power. Also, I have never been to New York City or Central Park so I kind of made up how I see it :P okay, long author's note is over. Enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2:

So there I was, a teenage boy wearing a black t-shirt and torn jeans, with black sunglasses and a suitcase hanging off my shoulder in the middle of the sidewalk on a busy street. But nobody gave me any weird looks. Nobody seemed to care that I was wearing black clothes and jeans in the heat of the summer day. Nobody cared about the sword hanging off my belt. People probably thought it was a fake sword and I was going to play with a friend in the park. It was normal to see weird things in New York. That was one reason for camp being just a few miles from the city. No one really noticed the weird things that happened when half-bloods came. People believed what they wanted to believe. That was the point of the Mist, a type of magic that covered magical things from mortals' vision. The Mist causes mortals to see something entirely different; which is great for them. They don't have to see the things we see. They're lucky.

I turned on my toe and began walking down the sidewalk. It's too hard to hail a taxi in the middle of New York City, so I usually take a walk to the Queensboro Bridge before I get a taxi. The walk takes about an hour, but it's a nice day so I don't mind it. Actually, sometimes I kind of enjoy the walk. It's not just the fact that I look a bit older than I am, so all the college girls kind of check me out as I walk down the street, which is nice. But it was also nice to be able to walk down the street and see the happy families shopping or walking to Central Park for a nice summer day in the sun. It was a refreshing change from just hanging out with my brother in our hotel suite all day.

I suddenly got the feeling I was being followed. I slowed my pace slightly and glanced over my shoulder, as if I had heard something peculiar. I didn't see anything unusual. I started walking again, picking up my pace back to normal. It wasn't unusual for a half-blood to be paranoid. We are generally ADHD, so our minds can go a little crazy sometimes. The ADHD derives from our natural instincts to be fighters. It is quite possibly the trait that keeps us alive in fights. I walked passed families shopping and young people walking their dogs or jogging. I shook my head, trying to clear the bad thoughts away. Calm down Kyle, I told myself, you're psyching yourself out. You'll be at camp soon and you will be safe. I took a deep breath and watched the people coming in and out of the stores that I passed. I knew it was probably nothing, but I couldn't drop the feeling that I was being watched or followed. I kept my pace up, just enough to hopefully be out of reach of anyone who was following me, but not enough to draw attention to myself.

Then I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I suddenly knew danger was near, but on this busy sidewalk, I had no way of knowing whether I was walking away from the danger, or towards it. I dropped my left hand so it seemed to be hanging casually at my side as my right hand kept a firm grip on the strap of my bag. My left hand settled over the hilt of my sword, lightly gripping the handle so it wasn't that noticeable, but I could easily pull it out at a moment's notice. I continued forward, walking absently, my brain knowing exactly where to tell my feet to go. I had to keep telling myself to calm down before I pulled out my sword and made everyone in a miles radius think I was some crazy teenager. I decided it would be safest to cross the street, maybe take a short cut through Central Park. I looked both ways before jogging across the busy New York street. I kept jogging until I reached the park, turning into the gate and slowing down right as I passed under the arch.

The park was full of people. I felt safer there. Monsters didn't usually attack in front of this many mortals. I started walking down the pathway that cut through the park. I watched as children ran around without a care in the world, silently praying that they would have normal lives as they grew older and wouldn't turn out to be a demigod like me. Sure, being half-blood wasn't all bad. We got certain powers and we got to fight with real weapons. I mean, come on, who wouldn't like that, right? But it was awful to live your life in fear, and to know that at any moment your life can be taken from you, as fast as cutting thread. Being pursued by monsters was not, by any means, fun. Especially when you are alone and there isn't a person around who can actually help you. And this day was no different.

As I continued along the path, I noticed a thinning in the crowds. It was a beautiful day, yet the further I walked the less people there were. Soon I was pretty much alone walking on the path. I started getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could tell I was in danger, and now there was no reason for me not to be attacked. There were no mortals around. I walked through an area with more trees, the sun causing more and more shadows to appear around me. Sweat started to form on my left hand, which was now gripping my sword, ready to pull it if I was attacked. The park became quiet. I stopped walking and listened hard, trying to hear any noise. But the park was dead. No noises drifted to my ears.

I stood listening, straining to hear something, anything. Suddenly there was a low, deep growl behind me. I knew instantly that I was in trouble. I lifted my bag off my shoulder and threw it to the side of the path. I turned slowly, preparing myself for a fight. When I turned around, I was so surprised that I tripped and fell to the ground as I tried to back up out of the way. A huge black mastiff was standing in front of me, looming over me on the ground, deciding whether to wait for me to get up or to just pounce me right there. It was a hellhound the size of a minivan. It stared at me with glowing red eyes, as if reading my every thought, reaching deep into my soul, trying to find a weakness in me.

I backed away, slowly standing up and pulling my sword out as I went, swinging it in a wide arc in front of me. The hellhound seemed a little surprised, backing up slightly as my sword swung so close it almost cut the hellhound's face. The hound growled, preparing to attack. I knew there was no way I could take on this hellhound with just my sword. I glanced around, quickly calculating a plan. Then I turned and ran.

I ran down the path, searching for something, anything I could do to get rid of this mutt. Looking over my shoulder to see how close the hound was, I missed the few stairs built into the pathway. Next thing I know, I'm face down on the concrete, the hole in my jeans even bigger than before and warm, sticky blood running down my leg from where my knee hit the ground. I leapt up, brushing aside the pain in my knee and sprinting forward to a spot down the road that had a few sticks were scattered. I leaned down and picked them up as I ran by. A little farther down was some dead grass on the side of the pathway. I could hear the hellhound right behind me and cursed under my breath, knowing that my stupidity caused me to lose some time.

I swept the dead grass into a pile in the middle of the path and threw the sticks on top of it. Then I stood facing the hellhound, nothing but the small pile of grass and sticks separating us. I stared at the hellhound as it raced toward me, waiting for just the right moment. It was scary to have a huge hound racing down at high speed right toward you. As it got close, I closed my eyes and took a quick but deep breath. When I opened my eyes, a huge flame had erupted in between me and the hound. At first I thought I had miscalculated, but then the hellhound let out a loud whine and backed away quickly, holding its front paw above the road. The paw was covered in flames, burning the hound. It whimpered before turning to the shadows of the trees and running, disappearing as it almost went head first with one of the trees.

I was breathing hard. The flames in front of me were dying down as the grasses and sticks were being burned up. All my energy had gone into producing that flame. I almost passed out from exhaustion when I staggered back to where I had left my bag. I picked up the bag and walked down to the nearest bench, collapsing onto it as soon as I dropped my bag on the ground. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I could not seem to catch my breath. When demigods use their powers, it can take a lot out of them. Just producing that one flame caused me to almost pass out. Luckily, I was pretty strong. I pulled a water bottle out of my bag. After drinking some water, I pulled out some ambrosia and bit a corner off of it. Ambrosia is the food of the gods. Demigods can have small doses to heal us, but if we have too much of it, it could kill us. We had to be careful with it, but lucky for me I had at least remembered to bring some with me. I knew all too well what could go wrong when demigods walked around alone. I took some of the left over water and poured it slowly over my knee, dabbing it with a bandana I had in my bag. I cleaned the wound as best as I could, but it was still leaking blood when I ran out of water. I tied the bandana around my knee as a kind of bandage. It would have to do until I could make it to Camp.

I stayed on the bench for about half an hour, resting, healing, and watching as the people started to appear on the path. When I felt healed enough and ready to go, I slowly got off the bench and picked up my suitcase, swinging it over my shoulder before turning to walk down the path. I decided I'd had enough of walking around alone for today. I walked back the way I had come from and out onto the street, hailing a taxi. When I finally got one, I quickly got in. I didn't want to risk being attacked again.

Luckily, the driver didn't ask too many questions. He gave me a pretty weird look when I first got in, glancing from the dirt on my face to the holes in my shirt and pants and finally to the bandana around my knee. I told him where to let me off and, although he didn't seem too happy about the hour long drive, the only question he bothered asking was why I wanted to be let off on the side of the road.

"Kid, there's nothing around. You sure this is the right place?" The cabbie asked when we got there, looking around skeptically.

"Yeah, this is definitely the place. Thanks man!" I threw a wad of cash at the cabbie and jumped out of the cab, eager to get to the camp. I heard the driver curse as he turned the cab around and speed away. I started walking swiftly up the hill, not so fast that I hurt myself, but fast enough. I would usually sprint up the hill, but I was obviously in no kind of condition to do that right now. I looked down at my clothes. The pre-ripped holes in my jeans had been made bigger. My black t-shirt looked tattered and now had holes of its own in it. My shiny boots were now dull and dirty. The bandana around my knee was soaked with blood. I looked like I had been beaten up. Stupid hellhound.

I made it to the crest of the hill where the huge pine tree stood, the Golden Fleece hanging off the lowest branch. A purple dragon with yellow eyes was curled around the trunk of the tree. He lifted his head when I made it to the top of the hill. I walked up to him, patting his side.

"Hey Peleus, nice to see you again." I said with a smile. The camp attained Peleus to guard the Golden Fleece from anyone who could try and steal it. I lowered my hand and walked past the tree, stopping just inside of the magical borders. I looked around, taking in the beautiful sight of the huge valley that was Camp Half-blood.