CHAPTER SEVEN

Ally walked through the bright meadow, looking out of place with her dark clothing and attitude. She looked up at the bright electric blue sky, seeing that the sun had almost fully risen. She turned to look at the other eight demigods on her tail, following her without questioning her.

"Do you even know where we are going?" Piper asked. Ally stared at her with piercing eyes, making Piper feel uncomfortable.

"I've been travelling for the past couple of years, and I know exactly where to find the lair of these monsters. I'm not sure if it's still there, but we could try. I've not been to the lair for two years, and I vowed that I would never go back there again after I escaped from those giants. But now, I'm breaking my vow," she said. Piper recalled the time when Ally had told Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and her about her horrible past. Piper shuddered. She never thought that someone could suffer so much, and still manage to fight off everything that came her way. She sort of admired Ally for that exact reason; for being able to carry on with life, even after her horrible past.

Ally hadn't told the others in the group about her past, and she swore Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper to secrecy. She didn't want anyone else feeling sorry for her. Ally took out her bow, breaking Piper away from her thoughts. She raised the bow, and notched an arrow from her quiver. The other demigods tensed up, and slowly took out their weapons. Ally motioned for everyone to stay quiet by placing her finger on her lips. Everyone did as she said.

There was a rustle in the trees, and Ally turned her head slowly towards the source of the noise. Ally, being a daughter of the Moon and the Hunt, had enhanced senses when it came to hunting. It was like no one else was there. It was like she could see further into the distance. It was like she could hear the quietest of noises clearly. It was like nothing else mattered, except for her, and her prey.

Ally let the arrow fly, shooting the hellhound in the eye. Everyone jumped, startled, as they saw it explode into dust.

"How did you do that? We never even saw it! If you weren't here, I reckon we would've been ambushed!" Leo exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm a Huntress. My senses are far better when it comes to hunting," she replied bluntly.

"How can you stand so still and quiet? Don't you have dyslexia or ADHD?" he continued, ignoring the warning looks the others were giving him.

"I don't have dyslexia or ADHD. I'm a daughter of Artemis, so my reflexes have to be perfect," she said. Leo stared at her in awe. She stared him down, frowning slightly. "Wait, I can hear something else," she said quietly. Silently, she notched an arrow. She closed her eyes, and listened to where the sound was coming from. Ally turned her body slightly, facing the direction where the noise was coming from. In the blink of an eye, she shot the arrow into the neck of an approaching hellhound. Everyone stared at her. Leo's mouth was hanging open. Annabeth was raising an eyebrow.

"Let's get out of here. I have a bad feeling that more monsters will be coming soon," she said quietly. Ally turned, and walked into the shadows at the edge of the meadow, blending in due to all of the dark clothing she was wearing. The others followed. Ally sat down at the base of a tree, and she began to think, closing her eyes. She remembered that time when she was in the giant's lair, but she was unable to pinpoint the exact location. All she knew was that it was on the other side of the country.

"I think it's on the other side of the country," Ally said, breaking the silence. Everyone else stood around Ally, and stared down at her.

"What's on the other side of the country?" Leo asked. Ally looked up at him, exasperated.

"The giant's lair is on the other side of the country. All of Gaea's remaining minions are hiding out there, waiting to attack. I saw it in one of my visions," Ally said. Leo looked at her, confused.

"I sometimes have visions. That's how I knew about the prophecy, even though I was on the other side of Camp Half-Blood," she explained. Leo nodded his head, like he understood what she was saying, but deep down, he really didn't.

"That makes you sound like the Oracle," Piper pointed out.

"I can't see the future. I can only see what is currently happening at this present moment," Ally said. Annabeth looked sceptical. She didn't really think that an average demigod like Ally could have special senses, but what she was forgetting was the fact that Ally was one of a kind. She wasn't supposed to be classified as a demigod, because part of her essence was Greek fire. Though, there was that tiny part of human in her that made her demigod.

"I think we should travel by the moon," Ally said, standing up.

"But, it's not night-time," Leo said, confused.

"That's not what I meant, idiot,"

"Then, what DID you mean?"

"I'll explain. Everyone, link hands," Everyone linked hands, and Ally was on the end, joining hands with Leo. "Travelling by the moon is basically harnessing the power of the moon to take us wherever we want to go. It takes our atoms up to the moon, and pushes them down back to the earth, but only in a different location. I've done it tons of times before, so don't panic," she said, in a dry voice. Everyone was giving her weird looks. Ally's eyes glowed bright silver like the moon. "Let's go," she said bluntly, before everyone disappeared in a puff of silver smoke.

Piper swallowed the fear she had in the pit of her stomach. Travelling by the moon didn't feel so bad. The feeling was unexplainable. It was like Christmas and her birthday had come on the same day. She felt like she was flying. Everywhere she looked, there was a bright silvery white light obstructing her vision, but not in a bad way. She actually felt sort of euphoric. Suddenly, there was a weird pulling feeling in the bottom of her stomach, and she felt like she was wading through water, though her clothes were still dry. Everything started to spin, and she felt really dizzy. The light in her eyes was getting brighter, and more blinding, when suddenly, everything went black, and she landed on the ground with a thud. After a couple of moments, she dared to open her eyes.

Everyone else except for Ally was sprawled on the ground, groaning. Even Nico, who had shadow-travelled plenty of times before, was looking very sick. Ally was staring at everyone impatiently, an annoyed look on her face.

"What's wrong? Get up!" she said, losing her temper. Piper got to her feet shakily, leaning on Jason.

"How do you ever get used to that?" she asked Ally incredulously.

"I've been doing this for years. At first, I got really fatigued, but now, I only get a slight moment of dizziness," Ally said. "Look, if you aren't getting up soon, I'm leaving," Ally said impatiently to the others lying motionless on the ground.

Only then did Piper realise her surroundings. They were in an entirely different forest, and here it was still dark, almost sunrise. It seemed like everyone else was looking around as well. Ally rolled her eyes, and strode off, leaving everyone lying there. They scrambled to their feet, and wobbled, running after Ally, some tripping over.

Ally looked back to see everyone running to catch up to her. She rolled her eyes when she saw Leo faceplant on a pile of dirt. She had her bow in front of her, with an arrow already notched, in case there was a sign of danger anywhere near.

"We should be at least a day away from the lair," Ally called over her shoulder. A couple of them groaned, and Ally stopped in her tracks, only to glare at everyone.

"I just cut all of this time off of our journey, and your way of thanking me is complaining?" she asked, anger seeping into her voice. "Typical," she added, before continuing to walk away.

The sun started to come up after a couple of hours. Nothing much had happened, but everyone had already regained the ability to walk and talk properly (sort of). Ally was at the front of the group, shooting all of the monsters they encountered. She never needed to retrieve her arrows, because they always reappeared in the quiver after a short while. Ally never knew how, but she didn't bother asking. She had been given the bow four years ago; it was Artemis's way of sending help to maidens in danger.

Ally sat down next to the stream, and began tending to a cut on her lower forearm. She had received it when Leo had distracted her, and a large hellhound had pounced into the clearing, knocking Ally to the ground. She managed to kill it easily, but she had still been wounded. Ally sighed. She hated interacting with people, and going on this quest with eight other people was definitely pushing the boundaries she had set up.

Ally turned her head to the right, only to see a large pair of sea green eyes staring at her intently. It was Percy. However, he wasn't staring at her face. He was staring at the large wound on her arm. "I can fix that," he said. Before Ally could even protest, he had grabbed her arm, and placed it in the water. She felt the pain lessen gradually. Finally, the deep cut had been reduced to nothing. She jerked her arm out of Percy's grip, and death glared him.

"Touch me again, and I'll cut you. By the way, I could've healed the cut myself," she said, her voice full of venom. Percy gave her a sad look, before standing up and striding over to Annabeth. Annabeth was glaring at Ally.

"Don't threaten my boyfriend," she whispered to Ally when Percy wasn't paying attention. Ally rolled her eyes, irritating Annabeth more.

"I threaten who I like, and there is nothing you can do to stop me," Ally said, before walking away. Annabeth's face flushed red out of anger.

"I don't care about her tragic past, and how's she's scarred for life or anything, she still has no reason to treat everyone like that," Annabeth muttered, before joining the group again. Ally was walking away from everyone else, at least five metres. She wore a focused look on her face as she advanced forwards. Even as the sun rose high in the sky, she kept on walking, while the others complained that there were no breaks from walking. Ally acted like she couldn't hear them, and she kept on walking.

"When are we getting there?" someone behind Ally called. She turned to see Frank walking by her side.

"Soon- I'm not sure if the monsters are still using the lair that we are targeting, but it's worth a shot," Ally said quietly. Frank nodded.

"How far away do you think we are?" he asked quietly. Ally thought hard for a moment.

"A kilometre or two maybe," she finally answered.

"I'll go check it out," he said, before turning into an eagle. Ally watched as he soared over the treetops, and out of sight, turning into a black spot in the distance. She waited. He would be back with news soon.

"Let's sit down," Ally said. Everyone sat down in a circle on the cold forest floor.

Everyone waited. An hour had passed. Hazel looked around nervously at everyone in the group. Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Percy all wore worried expressions. Leo looked serious for once. Nico looked indifferent, and Ally was wearing a hostile expression.

"I'm going to see if he is alright," Ally said, breaking the long silence. Everyone stared at her, waiting for something to happen. Ally looked vague and distant as her eyes glowed silver.

Her thoughts were filled with the clouded silver mist that was so familiar to her. She saw an old, historical looking building. The sound of insects filled the air. Nothing seemed too significant about it. It seemed like any other old building. A strange feeling overtook Ally. A cold shiver ran down Ally's spine as she heard a piercing scream fill the air.

A/N: I am so sorry for not updating sooner, I'm such a bad author :( The reason I couldn't update was school. My teachers enjoy giving me a lot of assignments :(

Anyway, thank you to all of the people who took time to review this story- I cant thank you enough, you are the people who motivate me to keep writing this story. I promise you all that this story wont be ending soon, I'm planning to make it a long fic.