Percy stared at the car, still grinning obnoxiously at Aella as he leaned into the car through the window. Sam and Dean seemed to be at a loss for words, staring at the dark-haired teen who was apparently completely oblivious to the rising tension. Thankfully, neither of the brothers had drawn a gun yet.

"You know this kid?" Dean asked pointedly.

Know him? Of course, she knew of him. She'd hardly ever had a conversation with the guy though.

What on earth was Percy Jackson doing here? He'd definitely mentioned a quest, which didn't seem right to Aella, especially given the context of his words. She hadn't forgotten the voices she'd heard after touching the portal earlier either. Percy Jackson had said something about going to help 'someone on the other side'. Could he have really gone and jumped through a portal to who knows what without a second thought? A nasty voice in the back of her head reminded her that she'd tried to do the same thing an hour ago.

"Can you tell him to get the hell off the door like that and explain to me what is going on?"

Percy blinked, looking at Dean before letting go and backing up, "Sorry, got a bit excited. Things just don't normally go this well for me."

"Generally things don't go well for people who fall from the sky in front of cars," Sam said, "Care to explain?"

"This is Percy," Aella quickly jumped in, "He's a...a friend of mine from camp! That camp for hunters that Bobby told you about."

She was careful how she worded everything. It was the hunter camp that Bobby told them about, not the one she'd vaguely mentioned in the past. The lie was getting more confusing by the second, and now that Percy was here, she would have to find some way to tell him to keep things on the down low.

Thankfully, Percy wasn't stupid. No doubt Annabeth wouldn't have tolerated him if he was. For all the snarky looks and comments, he was smarter than he let on.

"We can talk more about it somewhere else. I don't really think the road is a good place for a conversation like this. Mind if I hop in?"

"What does this look like, a bus?" Dean let out a heavy sigh and grumbled, "Fine, get in. This day's already weird. Can't get any weirder. Camp for hunters my ass...getting really tired of picking up stray kids."

Once Percy had settled into the back beside Aella, they drove in silence towards the motel. Every so often Aella would glance over at Percy, who was preoccupied with looking out the window, a distant gaze in his eyes. She wondered what he was thinking about. No doubt he was probably having second thoughts about jumping into a portal to save some random demigod he hardly knew. How was she even going to begin to explain things?

"So you're really alive, huh?" Percy said quietly, breaking the quiet, "We were starting to think that maybe you were really gone for good. It's been a few months after all."

"Months? What do you mean? It's barely been a week since I left camp."

Percy stared hesitating, "It's been longer than you think? Maybe from your perspective, it was only a week, but it's nearly summer back home now and you went missing a little after Christmas."

"You can't be serious," Aella murmured, "My mom must be frantic!"

"About that…" Percy began but stopped as the car pulled up to a motel.

Dean got out of the car without a word and gestured to Sam to follow before giving Percy and Aella a 'move and you die' glare. Apparently, he wasn't keen on buying the story, even if Bobby had been the one to tell him. As soon as the brothers were out of sight, Aella launched into an explanation.

"Ok, in this world, being a demigod is bad. I mean REALLY bad, like, worse than our world. Those two? They're hunters. They hunt monsters and basically anything supernatural."

"Which...would include us I'm guessing? So I didn't get lucky this time?"

Aella shook her head, "'Fraid not. They're not bad guys though. I told their friend who's a hunter and he decided to help me anyway. They've had a rough time though from what I've gathered. Anyway, they think that we went to some camp for kids who are the children of hunters in another reality. I don't know how long they're going to buy that though considering how far-fetched it sounds."

"Pretend we're hunters-in-training, don't mention daddy issues or glowing swords. Got it. Oh, that reminds me. Here. Your dad asked me to give you this."

"You know Aella's dad?" Sam asked.

The brothers had returned. They hopped into the car and started to drive towards the far end of the motel where their room was.

"Yeah, I helped her dad's sister out a while back so I guess he figured he could trust me."

He still thought that Apollo was her father. Maybe he was, back in that reality. Part of her started to question the Apollo of this world, but deep down she knew what he'd said was true. She'd never really fit in with the children of Apollo.

"Did he specifically say it was for 'his daughter' or for 'Aella'?"

Percy frowned, thinking back, "Pretty sure he just said 'Aella', but most go-guys are like that when they're distant parents, you know? My dad's the same. I would feel weird if he called me 'son'."

"I guess…" Aella murmured slowly, "Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh yeah, he wanted to give you this bracelet. He said it'll be better than the one you have."

The one she had? Aella didn't have any bracelets. They got in the way of her bow. Percy was giving her a wide-eyed look, looking pointedly down at the bracelet, then back at her. When it was obvious she wasn't getting it, Percy stated,

"It's like the pen I got from our councilor. That really nice one?"

Aella gasped, "He gave me something like that? Why would he do that for me? None of the others in my cabin got that except the head."

Percy gave a shrug and passed over a bronze bracelet. It was made with a simple chain. Around the middle, there was a pendant shaped like a sun from a tarot card. It looked normal enough, but she could practically feel the warmth humming from the pendant.

"I don't know what the big deal about fancy pens and jewelry is, but can you two get out so I can lock the car?"

Dean didn't like this. He didn't trust Aella after the whole giant lion and storm horse incident (the horse was currently curled up behind the motel sleeping). He really didn't trust Percy. The kid seemed had a mischievous look to him that Dean didn't like and he didn't carry himself like a kid would. Every so often Dean would notice a shift in his stance as if he were preparing to block an attack or spring one himself. He would have sent them both away if not for Bobby's words…

Dean put the phone on speaker so Sam could hear as well. He could hear Bobby doing something in the background while he spoke.

"Boys, I've been doing some research and with Aella's input, I think we've finally figured it out. Alternate realities and other worlds are pretty common in mythology; Alfheim, Tir Na Nog, Asgard, Avalon, you get the picture. Point is, Aella's popped through from an alternate reality."

"You're joking. Bobby, what the hell? I can buy angels and demons, but other worlds?"

"It's the only way to explain it. I've been searching for this 'camp' Aella keeps mentioning and I found a record of it being destroyed a while back. Only problem with that is Aella says she just came from there and she isn't a time traveler, so the that leaves us with…"

"Alternate worlds. Just when things couldn't get weirder. Ok, so what was a demon doing trying to summon her through? Is she some kind of creature or-?

"I think the demon wanted to get something near me, but I was pulled through instead," Aella said, "These portals, they're not really precise, are they? If they were, I doubt the basement would have blown up like it did. They seem pretty unstable and volatile."

"Why would she have grabbed you instead?" Sam asked.

"Because I was fighting a monster on the border of camp right when it happened. I didn't mention it at first because I didn't know you were hunters or what hunters even were. They don't really give hunters a name back home. Most don't live long unless they train first at camp so it's tradition for us to go there and train before we go out into the real world to fight. It's sort of something we inherit like a blood right I guess. Either way, this is what I've been training for." Aella gave the phone a determined look, "I'm going to find a way to close these rifts for good."

It sounded like a hunter boot camp to him. Dean knew Bobby well and he could tell from his voice that something was off. Did he think he was under a spell? No. He did, however, think that Bobby was hiding something. The way that Aella and Percy had sat together in the back whispering while him and Sam had gone to get the room key only added to his suspicion that they weren't being told everything.

"If it's bothering you so much, just confront them. Aella doesn't seem like the type who can hold up to a direct question. She seems like a partial truth sort of person."

The two brothers were sitting outside on the front walk of the motel, idly drinking beer. The two kids were both asleep now, seeing as it was ten at night and they couldn't distract themselves with the TV (there was terrible interference that made it nearly impossible to get any good channels).

"Percy doesn't seem like he'd be able to lie for shit either," Dean agreed, "But I want to see this play out. Aella knows something about Apollo. She gets quiet every time he's brought up. You noticed that back at Bobby's right?"

"Yeah, it seems that way," Sam chuckled, "Other worlds though? I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it."

"Think it's true?"

"If Bobby says it is, I believe it. I don't think that the other world part is the lie, but if that's not the lie then I'm not sure what is."

Dean finished off his beer and set the bottle down gently on the concrete, "This is the last thing we need while dealing with this Lucifer rising bullshit. Mysterious kids popping up from the sky! Hah!"

"No kidding. If that lion was just the start of what's to come through those portals, who knows what the demons will bring through when they've gotten better at opening them. It seems like the monsters from their world are a lot more bestial."

"Think Aella can close them?"

"She's only human and she's just a kid, hunter in training or not. I don't think there's much she can do. Bobby will figure it out somehow and then we'll take care of it after we send her back. She's probably getting pretty homesick by now."

The two demigods weren't sleeping. They waited until Sam and Dean had left the room before bolting upright and running to the bathroom. In any other situation, it might have looked comical, the way they half ran half tiptoed across the room. Once inside the safety of the bathroom, they gave each other triumphant looks before Aella took out her prism, angling it to make a rainbow.

"This was how I managed it the first time," Aella whispered, "We'll see if Iris can patch us through again. Do you have a drachma?"

Percy pulled one out of his pocket and threw it into the rainbow, chanting, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Message Chiron!"

An ethereal voice echoed through the room, "Oh, it's you again and you have a friend this time. Another demigod? Hang on, I'll send this through. The connection is getting stronger. The call shouldn't drop this time."

"Getting stronger?" Aella puzzled, "You don't think that's because more rifts are opening up or something, do you Percy?"

Before the message could go through, the bathroom door opened up and a very confused Sam stood in the doorway, staring at the two teens huddled on the floor staring intently a prism.

He blinked at them for a moment, then said, "I'm not going to ask…" and closed the door just as Chiron's face appeared.

As Chiron came into view, his face taking up the entire image cast in the makeshift rainbow. Aella could just make out the foot of a bed behind him and recognized it as the bed she'd seen in her vision the first time she'd dreamt about the camp. Why was Chiron frequenting this room in the big house? Wasn't this where those who were sick went to recover?

"Percy...dare I ask what possessed you to do exactly what I told you not to do?"

Chiron didn't sound angry. If anything, he sounded tired.

"I had to do something. No one else was doing anything to help and Mr. D doesn't care about—"

Aella nudged Percy. No matter what his or even her opinion of their camp counselor, he was still a god and it wasn't wise to say anything negative about them. She wouldn't put it past Mr. D to turn them into dolphins if they did manage to return to their own dimension if Percy talked poorly about him.

"Chiron, I don't know how long we have before the connection breaks. What do we need to do on our side to close the portals?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Percy, did you get any hints from the prophecy you got? You did stop to get a prophecy, right?"

Percy stared at Chiron, clearly debating what would make a good lie before finally saying, "Well, I didn't exactly stop by to get one since ah, I was in a rush."

"I thought you said you had a quest?" Aella gasped, "You mean you literally did just find a portal and jump in?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Percy agreed, running a hand through his hair, "I was in a hurry, ok? A portal opened up in my cabin and I jumped in."

"Right in your cabin? Just randomly?"

Chiron cleared his throat, startling the two, "I'll see what I can do from our end to find something to close the portals. Annabeth's been looking nonstop since you left. Percy, Aella, whatever you do, you have to get back to our side before we close the portals for good. I don't think I need to stress why."

Percy nodded grimly, "Right. We'll see what we can find out from our end."

"I think I have some ideas, Chiron. Bobby and I—erm, he's a friend of the guys who are helping me—the two of us figured out what caused all of this."

Aella explained about Lucifer rising and his demons possibly trying to build an army. She told him about the destroyed camp and her meeting with Apollo. She realized after she mentioned about Apollo that Percy was hearing all of this for the first time as well.

"We're talking about...Lucifer Lucifer here, right? Like, the devil?"

"The one and only."

Chiron had gone a shade lighter and looked to be in a state of horror. He was silent for a long while, then shook his head, "That does explain a lot. So these demons can possess humans, but demigods are a little bit tougher for them?"

"Yes. I think as long as the campers avoid physical contact with a human possessed by a demon they should be fine."

Aella quickly went on to explain how celestial bronze seemed to work fine in purifying humans of the demons and how there was a ritual used to help cleanse demigods if they were marked for possession. After promising Chiron that she'd get the ritual in full from Bobby, she asked one last question.

"Chiron, do you know who my father is since it isn't Apollo? And why would Apollo send me anything or let me stay in his cabin since I'm not his daughter?"

Chiron gave her a sad smile, "I don't know who your father is, although I'm sure that you'll figure it out in time if he doesn't claim you before them."

"So you know that it's her father then who's a god?" Percy jumped in.

"Yes," Chiron said, looking to Aella, "You asked why Apollo would show you favor. It's because of your mother."

"My mother? Why would he care about her if they didn't...you know."

"Because Apollo is her grandfather. You're what is known as a 'legacy'. Sometimes the bloodlines get watered down fairly quickly, but your mother retained quite a bit of her father's demigod blood. Combine her blood with your godly father's and I can see why it was you who was pulled through that portal."

Percy put his arm around her shoulders, "She's strong, see? What'd I tell you, Chiron? I'm not giving up on her yet so neither should you."

There was something behind his words, Aella noted, although the context was lost to her. Clearly, there had been a conversation between the two before he'd come to this world. The way he was looking at Chiron, she could see the challenge in his eyes.

"I never said she wasn't, Percy. I suggest though that you move fast and finish this to prevent what we spoke about."

"We'll chat later," Percy agreed.

The image faded and soon, all that was left was normal shower water. Percy reached over and turned it off, yawning as he did.

"Man I'm beat. Traveling through dimensions really wipes you out."

"Percy, what was all that about there at the end?"

"I'll tell you later, alright? It's nothing to worry about right now anyway."

Percy got to his feet and stretched before holding out a hand to Aella. She took it, grimacing at as she felt her muscles pull slightly from kneeling too long.

"What do we tell Sam and Dean if they ask what we were doing in here for so long?"

"They're probably back outside drinking," Aella shrugged, "Just say that we were trading stories and didn't want to be disturbed."

"Alone? In a bathroom?"

"We're 'just kids' so they won't think anything of it."

Sam stood up slowly, frowning at the bathroom door. Of course, he hadn't left when he'd seen the two staring intently at a shower. His first thought had been that they were going to use the opportunity to talk alone about whatever they needed to talk about. They were kids after all. Kids liked to have secrets, or at least they liked to pretend to have them.

Sam had been content to walk away until he'd heard a man's voice. Pressing his ear against the door, he'd listened in to the conversation. He'd only been able to catch about half of it, but he'd heard something about their camp and Aella's great-grandfather being Apollo. Sam had never imagined demigods being real, let alone them surviving in a human society to have children of their own. The events at Bobby's made a bit more sense now, as did Aella's reaction towards them going after Apollo.

He had more questions than answers after eavesdropping though. Who was the man they were speaking to? Chiron? It had to be a code name. Surely the trainer of heroes wouldn't be the leader of their camp. It was likely an honorary title or something. The more pressing question though was why he'd kept hearing the word 'demigod'? What did demigods have to do with all this? Perhaps most of the children at the hunter camp were grandchildren of gods. It would no doubt give them an advantage with fighting monsters.

Sam decided he wouldn't ask her directly about it yet. He'd listen for a little while longer. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Aella or her new friend Percy away. Like it or not, Sam knew that him and Dean needed those two if they wanted to close the portals that were opening up.

The door suddenly opened up, revealing a very startled Percy and Aella. They stared up at Sam, eyes widening, faces draining of color.

"Do you two mind? I want to get ready for bed. You two should be asleep by now. Go on."

He gently waved them off towards the beds before heading into the bathroom. Nothing seemed out of place and there was no sign of a man named 'Chiron'.

Aella woke up the next morning beside Percy, who was still completely asleep. They two had shared a bed (with a pillow and blanket barrier between them) while the Winchesters had taken the other bed in the motel room. That was the problem with motels. Most only had two queen sized beds. It had been fine when it had just been her and the brothers rotating between the two beds and a pullout sofa, but with Percy in the mix now this made a bit more sense.

Dean was already awake. He'd gone out earlier and brought back a bag of donuts and some coffee. Quietly scooting out of the bed, Aella went over and sat at the table with Dean, taking a donut.

"I spoke with Bobby a bit more," Dean began without preamble, "He thinks we should leave the Apollo case alone for a while and look into these portals. Next stop is going to be Richmond, Virginia. Buddy of Bobby's mentioned there's been a lot of weird activity there."

Aella took a bit of the donut, frowning, "Richmond? Wonder why that's become a hot spot."

"Who knows, but from there Bobby said we should go upstate and check out the remains of that camp."

Aella nearly choked, "What?"

"I know it'll be hard to see, but there might be clues there. We don't exactly have a lot to go off of with this. It's not like we can predict the portals. We don't even know if there's a focal point."

"Focal point?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, like a fixed center. Knock out the center, it all crumbles like dominos."

"You think it'll be that simple?"

Dean shrugged, finishing a donut, "We can only hope. Once you finish that let's take a look at your shoulder again."

The rest of the group woke up while Dean was cleaning and rebandaging her shoulder. Once everyone had eaten, they started on the road. Sam and Dean stopped briefly at a clothes store to get Aella and Percy some clothes so they could have their own travel bags. Soon they were on the road again, making the trek across the country to Virginia.