(A/N) Real quick, you may have missed Chapter 3 last week – was real fucked up and it was only visible to users on the mobile app. Go back and read that if you missed it. This notice will be removed with the next update.
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Chapter 4
I looked around. The place was next to some house in a warm looking climate. The sky was tawny, and the air was dry. I could hear yelling. It was back and forth, audible but unintelligible. Clearly whoever was screaming had gotten worked up to the point of losing her mind with yelling.
Then with a loud slam, the door of the house swung wide open, colliding with the inner wall of the entrance. A girl stormed out, hair black as night and eyes as blue as the clear daytime sky, looking a few years older than me.
"I'm leaving!" she screamed back at the house, her voice obviously raw from yelling.
Another woman came out of the house, a crazed look in her bloodshot blue eyes with disheveled, rough blonde hair. However, if not for her look of madness and insanity, she could have been quite beautiful… Possibly even a TV star.
"Yeah, you leave!" she screamed at the girl, "It's all your fault! It's your fault he's gone. It's your fault your brother's dead!"
"Fuck you!" the girl screamed back, language crude, voice straining, "FUCK YOU! You turned him over to that woman! Your rotten personality is why he's gone! It's all YOUR fault! Goodbye forever, you horrible excuse for a mother!"
"If you step one foot beyond that boundary, you're never coming back in here!" her mother screamed, wild-eyed and somehow more livid than just a moment before, "You hear me? ONE step!"
The girl obviously didn't even care anymore, tears trickling down her face as she walked away with just the occasional swipe to clear them. She only stopped to turn around and flip an obscene gesture back at her mother who promptly slammed the door shut, and there was the distinctive clinking sound as the heavy solid lock on the door was turned.
Then, the girl finally broke down fully, crying as her demeanor of toughness and anger faded entirely as she walked with wobbly knees. It was a gut-wrenching sound to hear. The sound of a girl who lost everything, and had a mother who clearly despised her existence.
I wanted to go to comfort her, but I was locked in place by the dream. Simultaneously I felt like I could both empathize with her situation, and not relate at all. It was so foreign for me to see, right before my eyes, the hatred she received from her own mother.
Who is this girl?
Why am I being shown this? Is this my brain trying to cope with my circumstance, and reassure me that it could be worse? Yet, it felt like so much more. It felt so much deeper to witness this than just the ordinary dreams that I got. This felt so grounded in reality.
The sobs faded into a buzzing silence but the scene did not change as I heard a voice break through.
"Half-Blood?" it said. I almost thought it was something inside the dream, but I regained some small control of my body…
I felt warm, but my back was stiff and painful. I grumbled and turned on my side as the dream faded, away from the bright light that started to penetrate my eyelids.
"Good morning, Half-Blood," the voice said again, more clearly this time and my eyes shot open, just to be blinded by the sun low in the sky brightly shining through the trees. I sat upright and looked to my left, with my hand over my brow as a shield from the sun to see the same coppery skinned girl as had wished me a good night.
"Oh, hey," I said to the girl, collecting my bearings as I tried to re-calibrate with my surroundings and the identity of the girl.
"Hello, Half-Blood," she said shyly with a light smile, "Did you sleep well?"
"Splendidly," I said, and groaned as my back clicked, working the kinks out from sleeping on the ground. After a moment I actually reconsidered my response – there was nothing particularly splendid about it. All I dreamed of was some dubious figures in clouds, the conversation from which I barely remembered, and then a dream of a crazed mother with her daughter storming off before promptly breaking down in anguish. It could have been worse, as far as my dreams and nightmares went. The final dream felt especially significant to watch for some reason. I felt compelled to speak about it, "Well, there was something in my last dream."
"There was a girl," I paused and thought for a moment how I would describe it, barely noticing the look on her face.
She sounded slightly down from what I'd said, but my mind was too occupied by the dream, "Oh, you were dreaming of a girl."
"It's just," I clicked my tongue, "It was some girl I've never met whose mother was screaming at her like a demon. The girls ran away from her home… Something about the dream felt more real than all my others."
"Oh?" the girl said, sounding at least a bit interested now, before she shrugged, "Half-Blood dreams can be interesting. They can mean many things."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked. Half-Blood – what could that possibly mean. It sounded crude, and almost like a slur, yet she'd titled it as if it were good.
"If you don't know, you'll find out eventually," she said, echoing what I'd assumed was her sister the previous night, "What would you rather I call you?"
"Percy is fine."
"Percy?" she asked and giggled, "I've never heard of someone named Percy before."
"Oh, it's short for Perseus," I said and gave her half a smile, "What's your name then?"
"I'm Maple," she said, and I blinked for a moment.
"Like the syrup?" I asked and she nodded vigorously with a smile as sweet as the thought. Just the thought of the sweet liquid almost made my stomach rumble with desire for blue pancakes I knew I would never again have.
"Yeah, exactly," she said.
Then, behind her, I saw two other girls approaching, the two who had been here the previous night. One literally looked like a carbon copy of Maple, except with a couple years added.
"Oh, he's up," the older girl said, holding a box, "That's good, I brought breakfast."
"That's Birch," Maple said to me, referring to the girl who had sung last night, with her pale skin.
"That was a great lullaby," I complimented her, and she smiled with a knowing wink at Maple.
"And I'm Maple," the older girl said, giving me pause. Did she just say her name was Maple? She had to be messing with me – right?
"Wait, what?" I blinked as they all laughed at me, "So your last name is Maple then?"
"No," they both responded.
As younger Maple giggled at my confusion, the elder said, "Our first names are both Maple."
"Are your parents Canadian or something?"
"Something like that," the elder said and sat down with the box in her hands, a smile spread on her lips, "Mom's from Vermont, but dad's Canadian."
"That must get confusing," I shuddered at the thought of having a little brother called 'Percy' shadowing me everywhere, looking and acting exactly like a younger version of me.
"Yeah, you can call me Sarah though," elder Maple said, before jerking her thumb at her sister, "She's Maria."
"Cool. So can I just call you Maria and Sarah then?"
"That's what I do," Birch chipped in, "Maria doesn't like that though, she prefers Maple."
"No!" Maria jumped in, her face glowing with a flush. Something was lost on me, but she always seemed to be embarrassed, shy, and flushed, "I mean, Maria's fine Percy. I like it."
Birch snorted loudly but didn't say anything as Maria's older sister seemed to be laughing at her plainly. I was taken aback by their familial antics. It reminded me of my friendship with Cindy slightly, but there was never a third friend or sibling; it was just the two of us joking, laughing at, and teasing one another lightheartedly.
"Have a donut," Sarah gestured to the box that had a graphic that read: Holly and Bart's Donut Orchard – Warning: Watch out for donut thieving pegasi!
I'd never heard of the shop before, but there was a first time for everything and I would certainly not refuse a donut. The warning about thieving pegasi was a little weird, but horses like apples, right? Apples come from orchards... I think? Reaching out, I plucked one round glazed donut which looked like it had a filling in it after they had already started eating, "You guys eat donuts for breakfast?"
"Oh yeah," Sarah said, licking the sugar off her fingers with delight, "It's perfectly healthy I tell you."
"That's awesome, I could live with that kinda diet," I approved and they snickered. Biting into the donut, the glazed icing broke perfectly as my teeth cut through it. The glazing was immediately sweet beyond belief, yet not in a way that was overpoweringly so. And then the filling. It was a strawberry filling like none other I had ever had. Sweet, and flavorful, the jelly was obviously made with the best fresh strawberries around.
Oh that was good.
That was really good.
"Mmm," I hummed in satisfaction, "Where is this donut shop? I must go there some other day."
They looked at each other and seemed to silently agree on something.
Birch looked back at me with a smirk, "We're withholding that information."
"What?" I was slightly crestfallen, "WHY? I must know. This is amazing."
They giggled at my enthusiasm with the donuts, Maria teasing, "Yes, we know. Now we got the key to that information."
I made a show of throwing up my arms with an exaggerated sigh, "Girls… You're all impossible. Getting between me and good food."
They had all begun eating a second donut by the time I finished my first. The taste was just something that had to be savored and relished in. As soon as this was over, I would not taste this again until they surrendered that information to me. However, I knew more important things were at hand.
"So," I began, dropping into a more serious tone as I garnered their attention, "Why are you helping me?"
"You looked lost," Maria said, and scooted closer again, "We know who… and what you are, so we felt obliged to help."
"Who and what?"
Birch gave her a warning look and Maria just smiled with tight lips without saying any more.
"Well, I'm very grateful," I stood up as I bit into my second donut, stretching my legs and torso, "Unfortunately I cannot repay you, but-"
"Oh, no!" The elder sister interrupted me, "You don't have to repay us. This is just the least hospitality we could give."
"Even still," I tried to argue against it but Sarah cut me off.
"Absolutely not. You do not owe us. Just…" she glanced at Maria in particular for a moment before continuing, "Wherever you go, do visit us sometime. It gets boring some days with just the three of us around."
I blinked and looked between them all. They all seemed to share her expression of sincerity, "Of course, I would love to visit. Where can I find you though?"
"Oh, we're always here," Maria said, giving me a nervous smile, "Anytime, just drop by."
"Always here?"
"You'll understand eventually," Birch gave me the same ambiguous answer as they always did as she looked around at our surroundings nervously, "Do be careful though. Something is following you, and it only did not attack last night because you were not alone."
A chill ran down my spine. I recalled how they had me relax and go to sleep the night before. Looking around into the wooded area, I couldn't see anything else that looked like it was going to jump me. Whatever it was, that must have been the feeling I had sensed the day before as well as outside Cindy's place. But why would something follow me?
"Any recommendations where to go?" I asked and Sarah raised a brow.
"Why, where else but to camp of course!"
"Camp?"
"You don't know?"
I looked at her blankly before she sheepishly looked at the other two, "This is probably why she told us to say nothing."
Maria barged in before I had the chance to think about who she was, "Well, anyways Percy, you could stay here if you like, right sisters?"
Birch snickered quietly, "Yeah I'm sure you would love that Maria, eh?"
I looked at the three girls before me and sighed. They all seemed enthusiastic about the idea of me hanging around; however, in the back of my head, there was just a nagging feeling that staying here wouldn't end well. That something horrible would happen to the girls if I remained. I wanted nothing more than to take the selfish choice, but I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to them.
So I shook my head, "I can't, and you guys know that I'm sure."
"Yeah, I expected it," Sarah said, "I'm sure you got a lot of important stuff you're going to need to do anyway, being who you are."
Maria agreed with her, although she sounded downtrodden with an obvious effort put in to try to brush it off, "It's fine, the lady told us you wouldn't be staying."
The lady.
Who was this lady? She sounded like something important to them. Would this lady know why I am being followed?
"What lady?" I asked, "Can I talk to her?"
Sarah shook her head, "If the lady wishes to talk to you, she'll tell you herself. We cannot tell you more."
Whoever the lady was, she sounded incredibly important. That gave me more determination in my decision. I had to find out who this lady was and talk to her. From what they'd said, she knew something about me that I don't. I would find out what that was, whether or not I got that from these girls.
"As I said though… I'll come visit you guys. I would love to get to know you all better," I tried and they all seemed at least mildly satisfied, "But right now, I must… explore. I need to find something, but I don't know what."
"You'd better visit, Half-Blood. Or I'll kick your ass," Birch said, trying to put on a macho girl pose, and failing hilariously, making us all laugh.
"Noted, Birch."
There were a few minutes of silence before I gathered my belongings together properly, shoving stuff into my bag, and rolling the sleeping bag up tightly.
"I'd better be off," I said, looking at the oversized watch I kept in my pocket, "The day ain't getting longer, and I've got a long way to walk ahead."
"Yes," Sarah announced, "Of course. You must be on your way. Now, may the gods grant you haste… Percy, was it? Go forth."
Maria squeezed me in a tight hug, "Good luck with whatever it is you search for."
—*—
I felt unnerved again while stepping onto the Brooklyn Bridge, for whatever reason. Looking around, I couldn't see anything that stood out to me – just the scowls of people who had to dodge around me as I stood in the middle of the pathway aimlessly.
They had told me I was being followed, and the whole journey here I had been ever so careful to watch out for someone, or something behind me, but saw nothing.
I continued down the path. There was only one way I could go if something did appear behind me now, and that was forward – forward for a very long way across New York's iconic bridge. Almost a mile and a half was the total distance if I remembered correctly. If I hurried, I could probably make it across in half an hour.
I made it nearly halfway across before the unease settled deep. It wouldn't attack me in such a public place, would it?
It was immediately apparent I hoped wrong as a deep baritone voice broke the silent air with a cackle, "You are very foolish, Half-Blood."
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(A/N) I hope you liked this chapter. As always, give me feedback as to how I can improve – it's always helpful. As I said, I do not respond to comments in the author notes, so if you want a response, log in.
The characters in this chapter will be recurring for anyone who's wondering.
I should also warn probably warn anyone who's here for a quick Pertemis story – this is not that. This is a slow burn. A veeeeery slow burn.
After all the shit FFN went through in the last week, I will be cross posting my stories going forward on AO3 – same name on my profile. That way if the website's all screwed up again, you'll be able to check there. I dislike AO3 because of its obnoxious tagging system with people just adding every tag they can think of to their stories making everything completely unsearchable (even though the point of tags is searchability), but it's worth having a backup. This site has also been slowly dying over the years.
-MT13
