Chapter II

After fighting off the usual amount of monsters early in the morning, Camilla decided to get something to eat. She managed to get some money by doing some errands for lazy people like the girl who was supposed to take the dogs for a walk, Camilla managed to talk her into letting her do the job. They halved the money. Or the old man, who was supposed to appear at a job interview and was already late, but he had to meet up with a seller who had that limited edition matchbox car that the man had been searching for and so Camilla went to collect the car while the man had the interview. Wow, long story short easy money!

She headed to the closest fast food place she knew, bought her favorite burger and french fries. Perfect way to start the day…at 1 pm!

Ever since she knew, she was alone. There were some people who helped her before, at least she thought so, otherwise, how could she be alive, right? She knew her name was Camilla, but nothing else really. Oh, and the fact that she saw and was attacked by creepy, scary monsters, like, on the regular! She tried to find out if others saw them too, walking up next to some teenagers and saying 'Wow, what a monster that is, right?!', but usually the others looked at her like she was crazy, saying that 'monster' is a big dog. She gave up with time.

She travelled around, but never wondered too far. She liked LA. It was big and easy to hide. Sometimes you did not necessarily have to hide! Nobody cared! Best, place, ever! She knew every corner, every street, every store and whatnot. It wasn't always like that. The day when she first woke up she was on the East coast, somewhere on the beach. All she had with her were the daggers and some uncomfortable white sheets that were wrapped around her. Later, she found out it was called a tunic. Weird. She set out to find a place to say. Once she was collected by the police and questioned at the police station. She could answer only one question: her name. They sent her to a foster home, but she never got there. She just felt she was not meant to be stuck there. So, she ran and ran and ran all the way to LA. It took her years, but eventually she found her place in that giant city. She had also learnt how to take care of herself. She wasn't a lost little lamb, oh no. Her instincts always told her what to do and her instincts paired up with her daggers? One word: deadly.

That day, she decided to head to the ocean. She liked the ocean. She liked the soft murmur of the waves as she slept, the smell of salt water in the morning, and the soft sand which tickled her feet when she played in it barefoot. All in all, she found the beach awesome.

She walked there, to her favorite spot on Santa Monica Beach. She stopped and stood, watching the mostly calm water. It was winter, and a cold wind blew on the beach, but that didn't bother her. The cold didn't bother her. She preferred it to hot, sticky weather. Her long curly brown hair was a mess thanks to the wind, always getting into her eyes. She loved it!

Later, she went back into the city, to warm up a bit in a nearby mall, and get some dinner. She walked around, doing some window-shopping, dreaming about all the things she would buy if she had money. Oh, she did not complain. For some reason, she was alive. She had a guardian spirit, she just knew it! And the best thing was that she had weapons. She was clumsy with her daggers at first, but then she was forced to learn how to use them. She was pretty confident using them. And she needed to be as monsters kept popping up around her. Attacking her. That was scary. The scariest thing was that she did not know why. If at least she knew what she did wrong, but nooo!

After getting dinner and warming up comfortably, she headed back to the dunes on the beach. She wanted to spend the night there. She saw the weather forecast in the window of an electronics store that sold TVs and whatnot. They said it would be raining from the next day. Which meant, it was her last chance this winter to sleep by the sheltering walls of the dunes.

Once she got there, she lit a fire, not too big, so she wouldn't be spotted so easily. She had dinner by the fire, then pulled her sleeping bag out from her backpack. Yes, she had one. A worn-out, dirty grey backpack that was once white. She did not carry it everywhere she went, she always left it at the place she was planning to sleep. Somehow, she always found the bag where she left it. She once got it as a reward for helping an old woman do her shopping. The old lady didn't have much cash, but she claimed she didn't need that backpack. Camilla was grateful for it.

She snuggled in the sleeping bag, lying on her back, staring up at the sky. The clouds were already sneaking into town, so the stars were hiding. It was a pity, she loved watching the stars and the constellations. She had the habit of making up stories about them like they were heroes and heroines. Eventually, sleep took her and she drifted off into dreamland.

She woke with a start. She tried not to panic when she looked around and saw absolutely nothing. It was pitch black and the air felt stuffy. As she breathed she could hear the sound echoing around her. A room, cave, some closed place. She stood up slowly and tried to find the wall. She took one tiny step at a time while trying to control her breathing. It annoyed her how loud it sounded. As she took her fifth step her hands touched something. She found the wall. Good. All she had to do was find the exit. Keeping her hand on the wall she starting walking what she thought was forward, however after a few steps she hit another wall.

'Well, darn it. I guess this is the back. Alright, then, turn around, Cam, and just follow the wall.' – She tried not to freak out. She simply did not have any other choice. She started her way in the opposite direction. This time, she did not hit an obstacle for a short time and then there it was: light.

'Yes! Let's go towards the light…uhm…never mind. Just go, you idiot.' – She gave a half-hearted laugh as she got closer and closer to the source of the light.

As she got close enough she saw that there was a crack – an opening in the wall, not a door, or window, just a crack. She peered through it and what she saw made her hold her breath.

'What the hell…Oh, my God, this is hell.'

The chamber that stretched under her feet was dark, like, literally. It was built up from black marble which made the whole place kind of liquid-like, the stones were so smooth. The walls and floor were decorated with bronze that lightened up the place…a bit. In the middle of the room stood two chairs. No, with a closer look Camilla saw that they were bigger, like thrones. One was horrifying, made up from bones. Camilla only hoped they were not human bones. The other was smaller, and much more pleasant to the eyes as it had a flowery decoration. The two thrones triggered her brain. A story. Oh, she knew the story too well. How Hades kidnapped Persephone in ancient times to make her his wife. The place reminded her of the description of the place in the story: the Underworld. It had to be, but also it seemed ridiculous, but what she saw was basically identical to the details in the myth. But, no way, right? First off, Greek gods and goddesses? Mythology, not actual beings. Second, why did she know these things? She was certain she heard all the stories about Greek mythology, she never knew how she knew the stories, but she did. And well. It never bothered her she liked all the crazy love stories and adventures. But to actually see it and live through one? Nonsense! As she was quarrelling with herself she noticed a figure sitting on the bigger throne. It was a man with slick black hair that touched his shoulders. She saw thin pale fingers, but not his face. He was talking to some. His voice filled the whole room. She did not see whom he was talking to, but she imagined a servant from the way he was speaking. Addressing the one sitting on the throne as 'my Lord'. It was crazy, she had a hard time to believe what she was experiencing was real.

However, it was not up to her to decide. After pondering about what to do she quickly came to the conclusion. She had only one option: down. So, she leapt down, a fair flight, not to high up to break a bone, but she needed to collect some courage before jumping. She arrived silently like a cat into the shadow that was cast by the boney throne. Just as she landed the man occupying the throne stood up and stretched his limbs. Somehow, he seemed like a statue that was granted the ability to move. His body seemed stiff from sitting for too long. His cloak was black, Camilla found it cool how long it was, flowing over the black marble floor behind the man. Until she saw the terrified faces dancing on the fabric. She immediately looked away.

'But….but my Lord, the female…' – She heard the servant's voice that was getting desperate.

'Don't say female! Girl! Woman!—'

Camilla felt offended by the 'female' label, and well it wasn't like she could sneak out of the room without being noticed. She stepped forward and started praying to all the gods she could think of.

'Lady?' – Oh, she was grateful as her voice did not come out as a squeak, but sounded determined enough. She moved out of the shadow so the two men could see her. She did not, however, expect to see a ghost in front of her. The other, who she though was a servant, was in fact a ghost. A cold sweat rolled down her right temple. She hoped her face did not reflect how freaked out she was.

After a split second, the other man's voice drew her attention to him. He was a tall man in black tunic. She felt like his black eyes were piercing straight into her soul. She needed to collect herself not to take a step back.

'I am impressed. Not many get this close to me without being detected. How did you do that?'

She snapped out of the trance at the question. She noticed that the servant had left. Camilla had to concentrate hard to process the man's words. She felt confused herself, though she didn't know how to approach the situation.

'I have no idea.' – And she wasn't lying. No clue whatsoever. She didn't know what else to say. Her lips trembled a bit from the helplessness she felt. For a split second the other did not respond. Camilla could see he was having a hard time believing her. One thing calmed her down: she really didn't have anything to hide. She was naked in front of him, as she knew no more and no less than the man.

'What do you mean exactly?' – The owner of the throne finally asked and so Camilla explained how she went to sleep on Santa Monica Beach, how she found herself up in the cave. While she was telling her story, the man kept his gaze on her. She felt compelled to say more and more. In the end she wanted to know only two things.

'Did you do it? Can I go now?'

As she expected the man shook his head. The answer did not surprise her, but she was hoping if it wasn't his doing he would let her go. She was wrong. Her heart sank not knowing what to think. The man's next question at least gave her mind something to focus on.

'You do know who I am, right?'

The words started to flow from Camilla's mouth on reflex. She didn't really know how she knew everything, but she didn't stop to think about it. She knew who the other was: Hades, the God of the Underworld. Even if it was hard to believe, she had to. She somehow felt it.

Hades couldn't help, but admire the woman. That confusion and madness he sensed seemed way too familiar to him. However, she seemed genuine and that entertained him the most. She didn't have that determination in her eyes as most heroes, they always looked like they were ready for anything. This woman in front of him looked pretty much average. Of course, he knew that wasn't the case, but still. He felt something odd about the whole situation he got into. He decided to go with the flow.

'What's your name, heroine?'

'My name is Camilla.' – And there she was again: the police station, the questioning, the confusion all over again. That uneasiness she felt then became almost unbearable. – 'At least, that's what I was told.'

That uneasiness…she wanted it to disappear….her memories…she wanted them back. She always felt like her memories were locked away somewhere in her brain, buried down deep. Then, she thought, she might have the chance to finally figure out what happened to her. She locked her eyes on the god, hope filling her.

'Told…you say?'

Camilla nodded firmly. She was then certain meeting a god live and living color meant something. It was a sign sent to her. There was no way she would let it slip through her fingers.