A/N: I do not PJO.
CHAPTER 3
4 Years Later
No-one's POV
She headed through the thick forest, following the directions that had been given. She knew that she was close to her destination. A roar sounded through that area of the forest. Muttering curses under her breath, the girl broke into a sprint, hoping that the monster wouldn't follow her. The roar sounded again, but this time it was closer. The girl ran through the forest at full speed, crashing into branches, and scraping her arms against boulders. Finally, she broke through the edge of the forest and came to a halt in a clearing, her clothes torn, and her face and arms bleeding. She turned around just in time to see the Cyclops smash into a magical border, roaring angrily. She scurried back away from the border, and hit a tree. The Cyclops couldn't get through the border. The girl got to her feet slowly, breathing heavily. She knew that she had followed the directions correctly, and that she was in the right place.
She ran downhill, through the forests. After a few minutes, the gaps between the trees began to widen, and she found herself at the edge of another forest. In the stretch of land in front of her, she saw that civilisation existed. There were several buildings, all of different size and shape, and other shapes in the distance that she couldn't make out. She had only heard rumours about what it looked like, but actually seeing it in person was far, far different. She stumbled forwards, falling onto her knees. Her vision became fuzzy, and she collapsed at the edge of the forest. The cuts on her arms and cheeks were deep, and she was losing a lot of blood. She struggled forwards, right into the view of several campers holding bows. Her vision went black, and her head smacked against the hard ground.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she glanced around at the room she occupied. Her vision was still blurry, so she couldn't see properly, but she had a general idea of her surroundings.
"Where am I?" she asked. A blonde girl with stormy grey eyes walked over to her. The girl had a calm expression on her face.
"You're at Camp Half-Blood," she replied, making it sound like it was an obvious thing. The girl scowled, clutching at the bandages on her face.
"I know that," the girl snapped, "I meant where in Camp Half-Blood am I?" The scowl remained on her face. The girl with grey eyes tried not to get irritated.
"The infirmary," she answered. "I'll let Chiron talk to you now," she added. She then stalked off, leaving the girl in the bed more irritated than ever. She clutched her head again, feeling the clumps of dried blood that resided in her long blonde hair. A man in a wheelchair slid into the room, and
the girl frowned.
"You're Chiron?" she questioned. The man nodded.
"What's your name?" Chiron asked. The girl frowned for a while, like she was debating whether to answer or not.
"My name is Ally Striker," she said quietly under her breath. Chiron heard, and he nodded.
"Well, Ally, I'm sure that you'll like it very much here at Camp Half-Blood. After you leave the infirmary, I'll send someone to give you a tour of the camp," he said.
"Will I be staying in a cabin?" she asked cautiously. "With other people?" she added quietly. Chiron nodded, and she flinched. Chiron pretended not to notice that.
"It depends on who your parent is. Have you been claimed yet?" he asked, and Ally shook her head. Chiron frowned.
"How old are you, Ally?"
"Fifteen," she answered reluctantly. Chiron frowned again.
"You should have been claimed already," he said, and this time, it was Ally's turn to frown. She got up from the bed, and her head throbbed with pain. "I'll send someone to go give you a tour," Chiron said, before wheeling out of the room. A few minutes later, a boy stepped into the room, and Ally turned to glare at him.
He had long black hair that was really messy, and haunting dark eyes, and dark circles under his eyes. His entire outfit was black, and a long black sword hung at his belt. In general, he didn't look like a very friendly person.
"Who are you?" Ally spat, in a very rude way. The scowl on her face was very obvious, and she was giving him her best death-glare. He glared back at her.
"Nico di Angelo. Who are you?" he said. She sneered back.
"That's really none of your business," she said, reaching for the silver bow that hung on her shoulder. After four years of mayhem, the bow still shined like it was new.
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. He headed out of the door, with her following five metres behind him. He didn't bother to stop and explain things. After a while, he realised that she was no longer following him. 'She can find her own way around then! I'm glad she wandered off, she was so annoying!' he thought angrily, as he stormed into the Hades cabin. He didn't realise that Ally already knew all of these things about camp. Someone had told her a few months earlier. Someone who had run away from camp a few years earlier, just before Percy Jackson had arrived when he was twelve.
Meanwhile, Ally sat up in the branch of a tall tree that overshadowed the cabins. She could see all of the cabins from up there. A cold wind blew, and her long blonde hair ruffled in the breeze. She still wore her black trench coat over the past few years. It was tattered, and it had a few tiny holes, but it was still intact. It was still several sizes too big, but it was still intact, having survived several explosions. It had been with her even in the darkest, scariest moments of her past, moments that she promised herself that she would never think about again, let alone tell anyone. She'd had her fair share of scary moments over the past few years, she didn't need any more.
It started to get dark over Camp Half-Blood, and Ally started to regret coming to Camp Half-Blood. She was wondering how she'd been talked into coming here. A conch horn sounded in the distance, and Ally was brought out of her thoughts. She sighed, and looked down to see several campers coming out of their respective cabins, and headed towards a dining pavilion. Ally jumped down a few branches, and quickly began to climb down the tree trunk. She was still wearing her black trench coat, so no-one would notice her climbing down the trunk. She landed lightly on the ground, and she headed to the dining pavilion, blending in with the shadows.
Ally crept in, and sat at the end of the Hermes table. Apparently, all unclaimed campers sat here until they were claimed by their godly parent. No-one noticed her. Ally preferred it that way. Everyone got their food, and stood up from their seat. They scraped some of their food into a brazier, and sat back down at their table. Ally stood up, and scraped pretty much the entire plate in. She didn't really want to have any food. She wasn't that hungry. After dinner, everyone gathered around the campfire. Ally sat back in the shadows, hoping that no-one would notice her. Chiron walked in, out of his wheelchair. Ally wasn't really that surprised that Chiron was a centaur. She'd fought evil centaurs before in the past four years, so it wasn't really a big deal.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the newest camper here at Camp Half-Blood, Ally Striker," Chiron said, gesturing towards her. Several campers turned towards Ally, and she cringed away, trying to hide in the shadows. Chiron cleared his throat, and all of the campers turned to face him. Ally took that as an opportunity to escape, but Chiron spoke again. "Tonight, we will be playing Capture the Flag!" There was a roar of approval from the campers. Ally looked around in confusion. "On the Blue team, we will have the Ares, Hades, Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Hecate cabins, and on the Red team, we will have the Hermes, Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Nemesis, and Hypnos cabins. The Hunters of Artemis will also be on the Red team," he added. The campers got to their feet, and split off into their different teams. The two teams, walked in different directions to get their supplies. Ally slowly got to her feet, and trudged over to her team. Everyone was wearing the same orange t-shirt. Ally was the only one wearing black clothes, so she was visible to everyone.
A girl with spiky black hair and electric blue eyes walked over to Ally. She wore a silver circlet, which really didn't match the punk looking clothes she wore. She eyed the silver bow on Ally's shoulder.
"Where did you get that bow?" she asked Ally, eyeing the way it shone in the moonlight. Ally looked puzzled, and a frown worked its way onto her face.
"It was a present. A girl gave it to me a few years ago when I was being chased by monsters," Ally said. "I've had the bow ever since".
"It must have been a gift from Artemis. She sometimes helps female demigods who are in great danger," the girl said. "You're not the first one she has helped".
"Who are you?" Ally said quickly, starting to lose her patience.
"I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus. I'm a Hunter of Artemis," she exclaimed. Ally didn't really know what a Hunter of Artemis was, and she honestly didn't particularly care. Ally nodded, and followed the rest of the group, with Thalia following close behind. They marched into the woods, and split up. Ally saw the Red team's flag in the distance, and she sprinted towards it. She shimmied up a tree right next to the flag, and started guarding. It was half an hour before someone crept into the clearing. She recognised him. It was Nico di Angelo. He was sticking to the shadows, trying to stay hidden. His plan wasn't working. 'Great, it's him. At least I get to shoot at him,' Ally thought, raising her bow. She pulled out an arrow from her quiver, and aimed. He was about thirty metres away, leaning against a tree trunk in the black shadows. She held her breath, and fired.
The arrow hit the tree trunk just millimetres in front of his nose, and he yelped and dived back. He looked up at the arrow, and he instantly recognised it as Ally's arrow. Only Ally's arrows were tipped with celestial bronze. He scowled, and wrenched the arrow out of the tree, cursing under his breath. Ally moved stealthily, creeping over into the next tree. She climbed higher up. She had to stop him from reaching the flag. She pulled out her second arrow. Nico was looking at the tree she had been in a couple of minutes ago. He looked around wearily. Ally aimed at Nico, and shot.
The arrow went through his jacket, and stuck to the tree behind him, pinning him to the tree. Before he could pull the arrow out, Ally shot another one, piercing the other side of his jacket. He couldn't lift his arms up to pull the arrows out. He yelled in frustration. Ally slid down the tree trunk, and landed in the snow. The weather around her had adjusted to her moods, so right now, it was snowing. A cold wind blew through the forest. Ally stepped into the clearing, right in front of her flag. Without warning, someone from the Blue team burst into the clearing. Ally spun around and shot him in the chest. His armour stopped him from getting him from getting seriously hurt, but the impact had still knocked him into the snow. Ally spun around, hitting enemy after enemy, until she ran out of arrows. The rest of the Red team broke into the clearing, and helped with the fighting. They thought that they had won when they took down Clarisse, but she was still able to fight. Everyone else was cheering and rejoicing, oblivious to the fact that Clarisse had raised her electrical spear. Ally turned just in time to see Clarisse throw her spear at Ally. Ally forgot to dodge in time, and the spear hit her square in the chest. A couple of people screamed, as blood ran down Ally's chest. Ally twitched, and started to have a seizure. The electric in the spear was affecting her. Ally fell down onto her knees. Her vision swam, and her head pounded. Blood rushed in her ears, and she fell onto her back, gazing up at the moonlight with her dark black eyes. Her blonde hair shone in the moonlight, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. Her skin was snow white. Everyone crowded around her. 'I'm going to die,' Ally thought hopelessly. Her eyes fluttered closed, and a couple of people gasped.
A silver glow surrounded Ally. It was like she was reeling the moonlight in, using its power. Her wound began to close. Her hand unconsciously reached up, and yanked Clarisse's spear out of her chest. After a couple of minutes, she sat up, all traces of her wound gone. She got to her feet shakily. Everyone's mouths were wide open in shock.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped. Someone pointed at her head. Ally looked up. A silver crescent moon spun above her head slowly. Ally's mouth fell open in disbelief. It was the symbol of Artemis. 'Oh. So that's what they were looking at,' Ally thought. Then everything went crazy. People started yelling, and fighting broke out. Lots of people were approaching Ally. She turned around, grabbed her bow, and sprinted into the darkest parts of the forest, and past the border. Tears were pouring out of her eyes. She didn't look back.