Alice didn't have anything better to do than walk. So she walked.
By the time she stopped, the sun was begging to set. Her feet stung, and her first two toes felt pinched, like her buckle shoes were a size too tight. She ignored this, along with her stocking that kept falling down blouse that didn't have enough room in the breast area.
It was like her clothes either weren't hers, or she hadn't gotten new ones. She frowned, really hoping it wasn't the first one - did she steal someone's clothes?
The rain didn't stop either. It continued to pelt against her, as if the drops themselves were angry. She had faint memories of the rain always feeling like that, so she ignored it, and just made sure to keep her bag filled with letters dry.
Why did she have a bag of letters? Why did she wake up in a stream?
So yes, Alice had a lot of questions left unanswered, and yes, she had no way of answering them. That didn't deter her from asking them, and also searching for the answer. And anytime she'd ask herself, "Why am I walking?" A small voice in the back of her head would remind her, you need to get to Camp Half-Blood.
She stopped walking when she found a barn. She assumed it abounded, as there wasn't really anything around it and it looked like it was falling apart. However, the roof was still intact so she figured it would be a good idea to stay in there until the rain stopped.
She opened the barn doors, cringing at the creak of rusty hinges.
'What are you doin' in my home?'
Alice blanched, expecting some old farmer to appear at yell at her. Instead, she found a horse and a small amount of hay. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Sorry?"
'Huh, you heard me?'
"Yes...?"
The horse let out a small neigh, and walked towards her. Alice felt fear form a rock in her stomach, then she refrained from rolling her eyes. She was afraid of a horse! Said horse sniffed her.
'You're one of his kids! Oh, am I glad to see you!'
She watched as the horse let out an excited neigh, and used its nose to brush against her cheek. This was weird, Alice decided, and then she picked not to question it as long as the horse didn't kill her. And for some reason, she had a faint memory of talking to a horse with wings.
Alice walked further into the barn, her nose scrunching up at the smell. Yeah, that would be something she chose to ignore. The horse seemed giddy from excitement, though Alice wasn't sure why.
'Hey, girly, make yourself at home. Any kid of his is a kid of mine.'
"Who?" She asked, as she horse basically pushed her towards a clump of hay. She barely had any time to check for bugs or... other things, before she was sitting in it. Kinda itchy, but not that bad.
Poseidon, y'know? I can practically smell the ocean on ya! You been swimming lately? Man, what would I do for a swim! To feel the water in my mane -
Alice wasn't paying attention, because suddenly her head was pounding again. Before she even realized what was happening, she was rushed back into another memory.
"Allison Phillips," she looked up, seeing a floating trident above her head. Her eyes widened considerably, and she looked towards who she now recognized as Chiron, a centaur. "Daughter of Poseidon, the God of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and -"
"Horses." Her right hand was pressed against her forehead, and her vision was blurry. She groaned, laying her head back in the hay, as she could still feel the horse talking in her head.
'You okay there, girly? Head hurtin'? That sucks.'
"Yeah," she mumbled, closing her eyes as she felt exhausting steep in.
"Allison," she turned her head to face the boy. He stood several inches above her, with curly black hair and blue eyes that sparkled - but they also seemed sad. "Can you Iris message Chiron for me?"
Her eyes flickered from him to another boy lying against a tree, his clean-cut blonde hair matted by mud and blood falling freely from a cut on his forehead. He groaned, hands moving from their spot on his shirt, where they covered something less than pleasant. She frowned but still nodded.
Reaching into the small bag of golden drachmas, she pulled one out, and felt her body move towards the nearest water source. She found herself at a small stream and smiled. She'd always felt happier surrounded by water.
Raising her hand, she felt power surge through her arm as she willed the water to form a rainbow. It did without much trouble, causing her to grin - she'd gotten good at that.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Chiron, at Camp Half-Blood."
It didn't take long for Chiron to appear. He was talking to another camper; Katherine, daughter of Demeter. Katherine must have seen her, for she offered her a wave and walked off.
Chiron turned around. At the sight of her, his face lit up but his eyes seemed started. She was good at reading his eyes. "Allison, glad to see you okay. Where are the others?"
"We got attacked by three empousai, Louis got burnt by one and fell down a hill. We ran out of ambrosia, and our nectar containers were crushed and lost. He isn't doing good, and I'm afraid he won't get better without help."
Chiron's face seemed to age, which was saying a lot, as he was immortal and very old. He nodded, and even his eyes seemed to age - they held a sadness that only someone who had seen this happen countless times could hold.
"Chiron -" her voice cut off, seemingly lost in her throat. She coughed once, to clear it, and continued, "- what if... what if we've failed the quest?"
"There isn't a time limit for it," he was thinking it through, she could tell by the tone of his voice. "Return to camp, bring Louis to heal, and you can continue."
She nodded, "I will see you soon, I suppose." She moved her hands through the rainbow, causing Chiron's face to trickle away.
She stood from the stream, walking onto the grassy area and reaching back to touch her hair. She felt the singed chunk, from where an empousa had caught her.
Offhandedly, she had decided she hates Nevada.
A branch crunched from behind her, causing her to rip the horse charm on her necklace and turn around. Another empousa stood before her, as her beloved sword formed in her hand. it screeched at her.
"You killed my sisters!"
She lifted her sword and went to stop her. But before she could even move, the empousa's mouth opened, and all she felt was pain.
Alice woke up with a startled gasp, her hand going straight to the familiar horse charm as her heart strummed in her chest and her lungs heaved to get air.
She counted to fifty-six before she calmed down. As soon as she could breathe normally, she allowed her eyes to scan over the barn. The horse, the chatty one from before, was sleeping standing up. Sunlight leaked through a hole in the barn's roof, and when it landed upon her skin, it felt confused.
Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and a small headache was building behind her eyes. Alice was struggling to grip what she had just dreamed - was it her death? Did she dream of her death?
A shaky hand reached to the back of her hand, feeling the same singed hair beneath her fingertips.
Was she dead?
Alice stood up from the hay and brushed stray pieces off of her, her toes crying out from usage. She considering removing the shoes altogether but chose that it wasn't worth it.
She looked down at her small bag, the one filled with letters, and recognized it from her dream. However, the dream lacked letters - maybe someone put them there? She didn't question it further, and instead found herself another coin - golden drachma.
Exiting the barn, she allowed her body to move her towards the nearest water source. When she stopped, she was stood in front of what she assumed to be the horse's water trough. She lifted her hand, which was still shaky, and once more forced a rainbow to form.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Chiron, at Camp Half-Blood."
Alice threw the coin into the rainbow, and felt anxiety fill her when the coin disappeared but no image formed. Had something happened? Was he no longer... there? Had her dream led her astray?
All of her questions were silenced when Chiron formed, though even the image seemed hesitant. She frowned, wondering why everything felt so off. First the rain, then the sunlight, and now even the rainbow-image.
He looked practically the same as she remembered, other than the utter look of confusion he adorned. Alice opened her mouth to speak, though she was stopped by Chiron's own words.
"You shouldn't be alive."