Welcome everyone to chapter 3!
I'm sorry that this chapter's a bit shorter but I couldn't really find a way to lengthen it. We're gonna see some familiar faces in this chapter and it's got a bit more action. Bonus: Amira gives us a sneak peek of how awesome she is!
I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!
Notes:
I mention the Artemis cabin but since she doesn't have any kids to stay there, that's just Thalia
I'm not totally sure how old our beloved Heroes are so I'm going to say that:
Percy & Annabeth: 18
Piper & Leo Jason: 17
Hazel & Nico: 15
Frank: 17
Amira stood and wiped the tears from her eyes, taking a deep breath.
She had to find out where she was and crying would accomplish nothing. So she stood and grabbed Arvindr from the ground, keeping it unsheathed. The forest seemed peaceful beside the horn blast that had rung minutes before so Amira decided to follow the creek.
She walked for several long minutes before seeing something weird; somewhat hidden in the trees ahead to her left was a blue flag sticking up from the ground. Curiosity peaked, Amira moved towards it, making sure to keep aware of her surroundings. When she examined it, she noticed no markings or images on it and wondered who it could belong to. She reached her free hand out to touch it.
"Hey! Who are you?!"
A male voice suddenly called out and Amira spun around with enhanced speed, pointing her sword at the voice's cause. She quickly scanned the person in front of her.
The man was about sixteen or seventeen. He was tall and handsome, the regal features of a warrior with sky blue eyes and blond hair. Amira noted a small scar on the corner of his lip and a grove in his hair on the side of his head. His face was kind and gentle but held a look of hidden sadness. He had an athletic build: well-muscled and tanned arms and legs. He wore strange bronze armor and had a sword sheathed at his side.
His eyes widened in surprise as Amira spun around, clearly surprised by her speed, then narrowed his eyes. He stared at her as if trying to read her like one would a battle plan then pulled out his sword. Amira's eyes then widened as it seemed to be made of pure gold.
After a moment of silent stares, Amira noticed that he clearly hadn't recognized her as a member of The Riders. She realized that whoever or whatever sent her to wherever she was couldn't be on the side against Galbatorix and so anyone in this place could have once worked for the evil king.
So with that in mind, Amira launched forwards and attacked the man.
==Jason's POV==
Jason's job in Capture the flag was to guard the flag.
After sitting by the bushes for so long, Jason was getting extremely bored as no one had come to try to take the flag yet. The battle was strangely and surprisingly quiet and it set him on edge, not used to the lack of loud Greeks screaming for blood. Everyone trusted him to do a good enough job so he was put as the only guard of the flag itself while several of Nike kids guarded a further way away, which Jason thought was incredibly stupid.
The teams for the game were the Zeus, Demeter, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Nike, and Hades cabins on the blue team versus the Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Iris, and Hephaestus cabins on the red team. At first, the red team had been upset with that because Jason, Thalia, and Nico were on one team but they agreed once they got Percy and Annabeth together.
Just as he was about to go crazy from doing nothing, he saw a young girl appear. She was clearly not from around and he had never seen her before so, trying not to be heard, Jason snuck up behind the strange girl where he could see her better. He still couldn't make out fine details but he could see a lot of purple and guessed she looked to be about sixteen.
She had weird purple hair and was wearing clothes that looked from the Medieval time period. The girl noticed the flag and walked towards it with a curious look in her eyes. She reached out to touch it and Jason decided that he had been hiding long enough.
"Hey! Who are you?" He called out, moving from his hiding place. Startled, the girl spun around and drew a sword.
Jason started slightly, surprised by her speed. Then his attention was caught by her eyes: they were a startling deep purple color that was difficult to not look at. But those eyes were hard and steely as she examined him. Jason had to admit that she was very beautiful but her beauty seemed strangely… unique, as if it were beyond this world. He frowned, not sure what had brought on that odd thought.
Her sword was weird too. The blade dark purple like her hair and was made from a metal that Jason had never seen before with strange patterns embedded in the metal. There was a large purple gem at the end of its hilt.
Frowning, he drew out his gladius and the girl's eyes widened slightly; she seemed surprised that it was made of Imperial Gold. Then she narrowed her piercing eyes at Jason before she launched herself forwards.
With a small sound of surprise, the son of Jupiter jumped back to avoid being cut in half. She was really fast so he put himself on defense.
The strange girl attacked him with a technique that was neither Greek or Roman, one he had never seen before: she would stab, slash, and spin while moving so fast that Jason barely had time to block. The way she moved held such grace that it was almost as though she were dancing, not fighting. Jason tried to find a pattern in her technique but couldn't. As soon as he thought he had it, she would switch tactics.
Jason quickly began to tire. They had been battling for several minutes already but the strange girl was showing no sign of tiring. He wasn't used to fighting a foe so strong with such limitless energy so he slammed his sword down in hopes of pushing her back but again, she blocked it. They ended up locking swords, pushing against each other.
Jason gritted his teeth: for a girl as small as her, she was strong!
With a small shout, the girl pushed against him and sent him stumbling back, his sword flying from his grasp into the creek as he fell onto his back. He moved to stand but was stopped when the girl's purple sword appeared at his throat. She stood over him and in desperation, he kicked his foot out as hard as he could and hit the girl directly in her stomach. She flew back and Jason scrambled to grab his sword from the creek. He knew the move was dirty but this girl seemed to be fighting for blood and he took no chances.
He rose just in time to block a stab aimed at his stomach. He spun and sliced, drawing a cut up the girl's arm. It was deep but it wasn't her sword arm.
'Okay she's obviously a demigod but who is she and where's she from?' Jason thought, knowing that regular mortals couldn't be harmed by his Imperial Gold blade.
The girl stumbled back a few steps and glared at him, holding her arm as blood dripped. Jason gritted his teeth and thrust his sword into the air. Thunder clouds gathered and a giant bolt of lightning flashed down and struck the girl directly in her chest, sending her flying. She landed on her feet a dozen feet away yet, to Jason's amazement, the girl just slowly rose to her feet with a groan of pain after just several seconds.
That was enough electricity to knock a grown man unconscious!
"For that, you will pay." The girl growled. Her voice surprised Jason, steely and hard but also smooth and melodic and, just like her looks, very attractive. She thrust her hand out. "Garzala!"
(light)
Her palm glowed and a bright sphere of light flew towards the Roman. He dove to the side to avoid it before spinning back to her in shock. How did she do that?! Was she a child of Apollo?
Unfortunately, the girl only looked annoyed by his dodge. She ran to him and slashed down again with a small shout and they were again with locked swords. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw a bunch of campers who had previously been playing Capture The Flag appear at the source of the commotion the two had caused.
The girl's gaze flickered around as she too noticed the people gathering and Jason took the distraction to push his sword down with all of his might, sending the girl staggering.
"Who are you?" He repeated his question from earlier but the girl just scowled, her face still beautiful despite the expression.
"Who I am is none of your business!"
On the last word, she swung her sword at him with all her strength. Jason blocked but her strength still sent him stumbling back. By now they both were breathing hard and tiring but both refused to accept defeat.
Jason ran forwards again, slashing, ducking, stabbing, and spinning, but that strange purple girl avoided everything! She was too fast and he couldn't hit her. Jason could see the campers staring wide-eyed but he ignored them as he moved for another attack. Then the girl stepped back and raised her hand again.
"Letta!" She shouted. The strange symbol on her palm glowed again and Jason's blue eyes widened as he suddenly froze.
(Stop)
'What's going on?! I can't move!' He thought, unable to even speak let alone move his limbs.
As he struggled and failed to regain control of himself, the girl finished her attack. Her purple hair fanned out behind her as she spun and tore Jason's sword from his hand. When she stopped, she was significantly closer to him, her face about a foot or two from his, and she had both their swords in her hands. Jason heard gasps in response to her speed.
Her strange purple sword was pressed against the front of Jason's neck and she held the point of his gladius against his back. She was breathing hard as well, her chest close to touching when she breathed in.
Jason mentally scowled as he continued to struggle for control. He couldn't believe he was just bested by this weird purple girl!
"Who are you and where am I?" The girl asked, her voice cold and demanding the truth. Jason mentally frowned as he remained unable to move or speak. She narrowed her eyes, apparently realizing the same thing. "Losna pömnuria galdr." Her palm glowed again and Jason found he was once more able to move, though their weapons were still a threat. He also noticed that the girl looked significantly more tired than she had seconds ago. "Now answer me. Speak the truth for I will know if you lie: were you in league with Galbatorix?"
(release my spell)
Sourly admitting that he was bested, Jason relented.
"My name is Jason Grace." He answered slowly, body still tensed as adrenaline pulsed through him. "You're at Camp Half-Blood in New York, a safe haven for demigods."
The girl's brows furrowed in confusion, obviously not understanding what Jason had just said. Then her purple eyes narrowed. Jason suddenly felt a strange sensation in his head, like there was something in his mind, searching through his memories. He frowned and tried to shake the feeling away but was unable.
Then the girl's eyes widened in shock. The swords slipped from her hand, clattering to the ground as she staggered back. She shook her head slowly as she backed away from the blond, a look of horrified fear on her face. Her eyes flickered to the other demigods who were staring at her, looking at them as if they were aliens. Then she turned back to Jason.
"Wh- where am I? Who… what are you?" She murmured.
Jason tried to take a step but before he could move, she had already taken off into the woods and had disappeared from sight.
He looked down and saw that she had forgotten her strange sword so he sheathed his gladius before picking it up, the purple blade flashing in the sun's fading light. He glanced from the strange blade to where the girl disappeared and shook his head, wondering what the hell just happened.
And that concludes the third chapter of A Strange and Different Land!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you chose to continue the story. Please feel free to leave a review. Criticism, advice, compliments, or corrections are welcome.
Have a good one and I'll see you later!
