"––apparently there's a new girl, she's got horns and fangs! And any parasite that rides with her will have his blood sucked."

"Well, I wouldn't want to ride with her." Code 214 stated while munching on a piece of bread. Quite delectable. Code 214 was stout, although not rather wide. His burly figure made it difficult to not get out of an argument without being teased for his body.

"Well, Frank, surely that's just a rumor." Code 390 murmured.

"Anyway, I wouldn't want to risk it, you know?" Frank replied.

Code 390, dubbed Calypso nodded in agreement. "Better safe than sorry." The girl had auburn hair and almond eyes, which refracted the sunlight perfectly.

"Piper," Code 056, Jason said. "Did you get ahold of Percy?"

"I can't... I've tried so many countless times but he's just so––urgh." She balled her fists.

"Hey!" Code 666, nicknamed Leo yelled from across the room. The boy was a misfit, brown hair and elfish ears did not go well with his mischievous grin that warded off all types of evil and perhaps peace. "Does that mean he's not staying, after all?"

"I mean, he didn't attend the meeting today." Frank piped up. "That's probably a sign that he's going back to the garden."

"Percy's going to leave?" Code 556, Reyna bumped in. "That is rather unfortunate."

"But if he doesn't," Code 326, a boy with dark hair and irises as black as obsidian said. "Where would that leave Rachel in this? After all, she's the one caught up in his mess. I say Percy's showing real integrity."

He leans against the wall, "It must be hard for him to face us after what happened, spare a thought for about how he feels."

"Oh, shut up, Nico," Calypso said.

"Are you okay with all of this?" Jason asked Piper.

She stared at the ground, shaking her head. "That idiot."


The Jian is also known as "the bird that shares wings."

Until it finds a partner, it must conceal itself among the trees and dream of the day it can take flight into the skies above.

SPLAT!

A spray of blood appeared on the glass of the birdcage.

Percy sat up quickly, bewildered.

Blood?

A bird lay on the ground, spasms racking its body as Percy examined it.

Its right wing was broken, and its chest bloodied.

"Hey..." Percy tried to pick it up but to no avail. It scrambled away, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Where does a bird that's incapable of flight end up going?

Percy followed its tracks into the deeper depths of the forest.

Suddenly, the branches clashed together to indicate that the bird was still in fact alive.

Soon, he stumbled across a creek.

The water bent the sunlight so that it looked eerily beautiful. Logs and trees were perfectly placed to give some shade in areas of the creek.

"I never knew there was a place like this here."

He scanned the area, there was a uniform placed on a log.

A parasite's? But the uniform's not like ours.

He glanced towards the creek once again, only to perceive an outline of a figure swimming inside it.

"A human...?"

A figure rose above the water, and Percy's face morphed into a deep scarlet shade.

The figure of a female rose above the water, floating. It seemed to be that she was bathing.

Ah no... I shouldn't stare! He thought as he continued to stare. That's a girl, right...?

He covered his face with his hands, only to peek every few seconds.

Bubbles rose from the water.

"Wait––" he dove into the water after the girl in a heroic attempt to save her.

Suddenly, the water bursts in front of Percy as a girl with two horns rises out of the water, a fish caught in her mouth.

Percy stumbled back, absolutely shocked and dumbfounded.

He stood there, frozen, as the girl examined him.

She lightly tapped his chin, and Percy flew backwards in a fit of humiliation.

"Oh. And here I thought you were dead." The girl murmured, while still observing Percy.

She turned and started wading out of the creek.

"Are––are you a parasite? Why were you bathing here?"

"It's so odd," the unknown girl brushed her hair back. "I heard ocean water was salty."

"Huh?" Percy replied smartly. "Uh, this isn't the ocean..."

"I know that much." She stood there, hand on chin. "But it's the most ocean-like place that I know of."

She glanced back at Percy. "Aren't you going to swim?"

"Huh? Me? Nah, I'm good."

"Really? But it feels so good."

She smirked. "You were staring so hard, I thought you wanted to swim too.

"Th––that's because I thought you were drowning!"

"So I leapt in to save you and..." Percy's face flushed a deep scarlet again. "S––sorry, but could you put your clothes back on?"

The girl laughed. "Oh, I get it! You're a PERVERT!"

"What––where the hell did that come from?"

She pointed to his hand, where he's suspiciously clutching her panties. Percy screamed and threw it back to her. "This really isn't what it looks like! I'm so sorry."

The girl attempted to hold in fits of laughter, but she still bursts out.

Percy eyed her angrily, blushing.

"Your face looks hilarious!" She turned around. "But you jumped in to save me, huh?"

The girl glanced back at Percy. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

She gives him a smile. "I really do."