"Help! Help!" A little girl yelled at the top of her lungs as she ran down the streets of New York, two women with snakes for hair chasing after her, their rough airy voice cackling with delight. Nobody paid attention in the early morning streets already overcrowded with people.

"Come back dear we're only want you to try our samples!" One sister cried throwing a tray of small snacks at the girl. The girl shrieked and ran down an alleyway, the smell of trash and cigarette smoke filled her lungs. The alleyway came to a dead end a homeless person sitting at a doorway asleep.

"Help, please!" The girl cried, shaking the person awake. It was a boy about her age, maybe a year older, jet-black hair flopped over his eyes which were a dark shade of brown and his skin was a pale white. "Help, monsters chasing me-"

"Would you like a coupon, to go with the snacks?" One of the monster snake haired ladies said. A forked tongue slid out of her mouth as she smiled razor sharp teeth exposed, the red snakes on her head hissing.

"No, let go! Please help!" she cried, tears running down her face, a burning pit inside her stomach.

"Come dear it's only- AGGHHH!"

The snake lady was cut off as a black sword cut off her arm, making the rest of her turn into dust.

The sister stood there shock to see the dust of her sister, the girl stepped forward her fifth birthday present in her hand, a bronze dagger, glowing with purple flames running up the girl's arms. She flung the dagger at the other snake woman planting right into her chest. Like the other she crumbled to dust with a shriek. The boy from before stood still, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide with shock.

"Th- thank- you," The girl whispered picking up her dagger ducking it in the hold on her leg, they were shaking from running.

"Happy to- where are your parents?" the boy asked. The girl shrugged, though horrible memories still plagued her from a few months' prier.

"Don't have any."

"Well, that makes two of us," the boy said quietly not meeting the girl's eyes. "I'm- Jayden, by the way."

"Avery," she replied giving Jayden a soft smile. He returned the smile a little lopsided, before going back to his spot near the door and pulled out two snack bars and pasted one to Avery.

"It's not much I got them from a guy who felt generous..." he said tearing into his. Avery immediately devoured hers. It was slightly dry, but it was beside the point, since it was the first thing she had eaten in days.

"Fank you so munch," she said with a mouth full. Jayden chuckled before biting a little more off his.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Twelve," Avery answered swallowing the last of the bar.

"Same," Jayden said. The two lapsed into comfortable silence, Jayden cleaned off the dust off is sword before touching the tip making it turn into a black ring.

"Woooooh, how is you do that!" Avery asked, it was the first thing magical that hadn't tried to kill her.

"It was a present from my mum… she said it was from my dad, I learnt how to use it this year," he said a sad smile on his face.

"It's really cool," Avery said. Jayden nodded before looking at her intensely.

"What?" She asked looking down at her clothes. Blue unfashioned ripped jeans, black long sleeve with a Pegasus and wreath on it with writing that she could understand, with a zip up white hoodie her father used to wear.

"Nothing, just reading what was on your shirt," he said looking away and went back to eating his food.

"What does it say? I can't read…" she said, feeling ashamed.

"It says… Camp Half-Blood…" Jayden said looking at her shirt again, squinting.

"Are you making that up?" Avery asked.

"No, no, just have a hard time reading, I have mild dyslexia, meaning the words move on the page a little bit before I can read them."

"Is it like when words turn into a hurricane on the page?" she asked.

"Sometimes," he replied looking lost in thought.

"I think I'm the same…" she said.

"Don't know if that good or bad."

"Me neither…"

"Where's your stuff?" Jayden asked throwing the wrapper of his snack bar on the ground.

"Back at Central Park…" Avery said looking back at the busy streets of New York.

"Ok," he said. He put a hand on her shoulder and with a quick flash of shadows the two disappeared from the alleyway.