A/N: Sorry I'm updating late – again! I feel kinda bad . . . do I get a pass for reading an awesome book instead? I STILL HAVE TEN NEW BOOKS *does a panicky happy dance* Anyways. Here's this chapter, I finally finished it. I'd been doing little two paragraph snippets for a while. Now I have no finished chapters. Problem now. Anyways, enjoy this!
Oh, yeah, Jay is about 16 and Percy's supposed to be 18.

I found myself tumbling on to rocky ground held together by sprawling tree roots. I coughed and stood up, scrubbing wetness from my eyes. Damn, why did I almost always enter here? I hated the Forest Rocks. I came here for the Sand Plains.

Hecate's badlands realm. Yup, the portal had transported me to a magically created dimension pretty much on the other side of the continent. Her children had the ability to access them, and I liked to explore them. It worked out quite well, since otherwise they'd just sit here.

I stumbled forward in what I knew to be the general direction of northeast. It was cool under the trees, and moist. I didn't mind the moisture so much as I hated the coolness. I liked heat. I liked deserts. I liked wind. What I did not like, was piles and piles of rocks and trees creating tight spaces and blocking out the sun.

My long-sleeved tunic caught on a twisted branch and I tugged it free. In hindsight, my clothing choice probably didn't help with the whole Arab thing, but the clothing is so practical. I mean, we wear long clothes for a reason! In the day, it keeps the sun from hitting our skin and overheating us, and at night it keeps us warm!

I myself was wearing my typical unbelted long-sleeved tunic and loose trousers made of linen all dyed a pretty, light blue-green. I had sturdy, ankle-high boots with padding on; they helped with the awkward terrains.

Absentmindedly I reached up to check my headscarf as I slid down a slope of loose rocks. Good, I hadn't left it behind. In truth, my headscarf was unlike any other. In America, people wore them in fancy patterns and colours, where I was from it was pretty much black or white. Me? Brown, plain and simple. And tied slightly differently. I'd found a way to wear it without it covering my throat at all, just my hair. Every single strand.

I liked it, gave me a more modern, rebellious look, and still served the necessary function. Actually, I can't remember a time without having to wear it . . .

I hit the bottom of the Forest Rocks. Now it was just a short trek through some trees that grew increasingly stunted to the Sand Plains. I sprang to a run, whirling through these simple trees quickly. I slid to a halt at the edge, staring out over the endless, glittering sand.

Beautiful.

In my mind, the only thing to compare to a sea of sand, is a sea of water. What do you expect, from a daughter of Poseidon?

I knelt down and picked up a handful of sand, rolling it in my fingers, loving the sensation. Okay, so maybe most people don't do this with sand, even if they grow up in it, but I do. I dunno why, really, but I do.

I stepped out on to the Sand Plains, the sun suddenly striking my face. I closed my eyes and smiled. Here, I could relax. Here, I could forget about everything that happened to me, back in earth. Here, I was entirely free.

I laughed and spread my arms out and spun. I spun around and around until I was so dizzy I fell to the ground, staring up at the brilliant blue sky. I stretched out until everything stopped spinning. Letting out a breath I looked around. No one. I had known, but I always took precautions.

Smiling slightly I reached up and pulled off my headscarf, messing it with my hands and shaking my head. Unless I was washing it, it was always kept up and bound, making the feeling of it loose alien and wonderful. I let my midnight curls spill around my shoulders, ignoring the oddness of the bottom inch.

See, I kind of have this issue with my hair due to the whole cross-blood thing. At least, I think that's why. I'd never told or shown anyone. It tends to cause . . . issues. Basically, the bottom inch isn't black. It changes colours. Most of the time it's this vibrant red-pinky colour. I've seen it yellow and blue as well.

In truth, Chiron hinted about something like this when I was claimed. But I didn't mention it to him. I can't mention it.

Looking it at, I had one of those moments when I wished I wasn't related to Aradia. My smile fading I quickly rubbed some sand through it (helps keep it clean when I can only wash it sparingly) and tied it back up in my headscarf.

I pushed myself to my feet. Enough wasting time. I had a week in here before the Hecate cabin would open up a portal at our rendezvous point. It wasn't hard to survive here. At least, not for me. I kinda got abandoned in the desert a few times in my childhood. Funny, no matter how many attempts my step-father made, I was still here, ten years later.

Thinking about it now, I realized I might only have survived due to my great-grandmother . . . damn. That was just a blow to my already low morale.

I walked out into the Sand Plains.

The Sand Plains are kind of like a basin, in a way. It's ringed by cliffs on all sides expect for part of the east – where I had just come from – and part of the north, which had mountains and forests and this awesome cave system. There were random spires of grey rock, taller than the border cliffs, placed sporadically around the Sand Plain.

At first glance, this place had appeared to be the most confusing spot in the world or in any magically created realm. However, once one waited for night and got the cardinal directions, it became fairly easy to figure out. Well, if you know how to live in a desert it did. Heh.

I looked around the barren landscape, feeling as if something was off. It couldn't be . . . nah. It'd been nearly a year, and that problem had been cleared up.

I broke to a jog, looking for a good place to set up a base camp. I was here for a week, after all, I didn't want to fully rough it. I had a couple spots; I just had to find them. They sort of . . . moved.

I blink my eyes open and are faced with sky. Blindingly, aching, bright blue sky. It makes my head hurt. I let out a groan and squeeze my eyes shut. Why does it have to be so bright? Why can't it be dark like – like –

I can't think of that place. It's missing from my mind like a hole. I am confused. Where am I again? I can't seem to recall. Perhaps I hit my head, and that is all. I open my eyes again, shading them with my hand, and look around. It ought to jog my memory.

Instead I nearly fall back down into oblivion. I am at the top of a spire, one made of rough rock and hardly longer in diameter than I am in height. I look down at the dizzying drop, though I don't feel scared. It is almost so high clouds could circle below. But it is not that high, not quite.

The sun is hurting my eyes and my head. Why would I go somewhere so bright? I wouldn't, yet here I am. Why? I can't remember. I can't even remember how I got there, I realize. I think hard. Who am I? I don't know.

I feel a slight panic, not knowing who I am. That can't be good. My mind is sudden racing with the possibilities it opens up to my enemies.

Whoa, wait up . . . I have enemies? That can't be right! How could I have enemies? I'm in the middle of nowhere with no memories! Unless . . . I got conked on the head and ditched here to die.

That doesn't seem right either. My head is starting to ache something fierce. I need to get out of the sun, out of this light. It's sapping my energy. I can hardly keep thinking straight.

I get shakily to my feet, my hand still blocking off the worst of the sun. I realize my skin is pale white. A curl of hair falls in my face and without thinking I brush it back. I freeze when I realize the stark contrast. It is a black so dark that it seems to wash out everything else. How odd.

Pushing the thought away – I have bigger worries – I stumble over to the edge of spire and think of how I can get down.

You could jump, a little part of me, a little voice, suggests. I ignore it. I am not ready to trust my instincts. Not until I know more about who I am. Gritting my teeth I pray it gets dark quickly and crouch down, swinging my legs over the edge. I grip the edge tightly and twist around, hooking my feet in the little cracks.

I look down again. It is a long way down. If I slip, I'm probably dead. I take a deep breath, and with one more squinted glance upward at the sky, I begin the climb down.

I'd been in Hecate's realm for about two days. My base camp was set up in a shallow cave in the base of one of the rock spires. I'd gather some water and greens from the forested areas and stored them. It'd be nice if for once they wouldn't vanish between visits.

I was out exploring. Maybe one wouldn't think endless sand counts as something to explore, but I do. The dunes always shift, and Hecate has a million various things buried through her realms. Sometime I got lucky and found them.

I slid down a hill, balancing easily on the shifting ground – until my foot hit something and I went sprawling. I hit the ground rather painfully.

Coughing sand out of my mouth I sat up, immediately checked my headscarf, and then looked to see what my foot had hit. It was disk, sticking out of the ground, and a silvery sort of colour. It kind of reminded me of a dinner platter, in a way. Curious, I crawled over to it and yanked it out of the ground.

It was some sort of mirror, for it reflected my face back to me with watery clarity. I noticed my skin was a little darker than when I had entered. Huh, never knew I tanned that fast.

I looked back at the mirror-disk. "I wonder what you're for," I said out loud. "Scrying? Spying? Or what?" I absentmindedly tapped where my reflected nose was.

The ground opened up beneath me and I fell.

Everything dissolved around me and I felt like I was suspended. It was completely dark. This lasted for only a minute. Then I was blinded by a bright flash.

I hit soft ground.

I blinked rapidly. I was sprawled on yellow sand. Thankfully it hadn't turned my ankle. That might have proved a problem. I got to my feet and looked around. Odd, I hadn't been here before. Using my hand like a visor I looked up at the sky. I recognized the sun's placement; it was only an hour or less since I'd tapped that thing.

Speaking of which . . . I glanced at the ground. It was gone. I also realized at that exact moment that I was further south in the realm than I'd ever been. It'd take me days to get back to where I was, and it'd take me longer than I had to get to the rendezvous point.

Unless I ran the whole way. But the last time I'd done that, well, I'd tapped in my gifts from Aradia without meaning to, and that was the only way I'd survived without stopping. Though I'd been exhausted like hell afterwards. I wasn't even sure how I'd done it! However, that might end up being the only option.

With a sigh I stepped towards the north. At that moment there was a chorus of howls from behind me. I whirled around. There was a dust cloud rising, and small glowing spots like eyes.

I swallowed nervously. "Oh damnit." They were back.

A/N: Uh oh, Jay's in trouble. Again. She has bad luck. Very bad luck. Gods shouldn't give blessing. What do you think? Now we'll be getting into what happened in the RP (yes, it's based on an RP done by me and my friend). It gets exciting! Let me know what you thought, through reviews or favs or alerts. Feedback means better stories.
Also . . . demand I work on my own book, Charnwood! I NEED THE MOTIVATION! Thanks!