Welcome everyone to chapter 10!
Okay, call me nasty but just now I had accidentally typed a 6 and then 9 up above and when I tried to fix it I ended up typing 69 XD Hahahahahaha! Okay sorry, that was random and dirty but I thought it was pretty funny.
Warning: there will be a lot of switching around between settings/where the focused character is. I'll make sure to let you know where they are and who's talking. Also, one's this is gonna be pretty long.
I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!
Author's notes:
I honestly have no clue how they measure distance in Alagaesia so just bear with me
The whole "entering someone's mind through Iris messages" stuff doesn't make any sense and I realize that but please just go along with it and don't flame. If you have a better idea of how to do it then please tell me in PM or reviews so I can change it
Eragon groaned as he stretched his weary muscles.
He and Murtagh had spent the last three days looking for and finding the paradox ingredients they needed to create the portal. Their search had led them miles and miles across Alagaesia and the weariness of flying for so long had set in, leaving the Riders stiff and tired.
"Ugh. I had forgotten how tiring it could be to fly for so long without end." Eragon complained to his half-brother. Murtagh nodded, rolling his arms.
"You can say that again." He agreed, wincing as his shoulders popped.
'Easy for you two to say so.' Saphira grumbled to her Rider. 'You aren't the ones flying. All you two do is sit and wait while we do all the work.'
"I mean, you're not wrong." Eragon chuckled, earning a glare from the blue dragon.
He took a breath then turned and moved to his knee to look over what they had gathered. He and Murtagh had managed to get all their ingredients except one: the footfall of a cat.
"Solembum?" He called aloud. He wasn't actually expecting him to be nearby but a second later, the werecat leaped onto Saphira's back.
'You called?' Solembum answered surprisingly quickly. Eragon explained their mission and he immediately threw a fit. 'Werecats are not cats!'
"Have you any other ideas?" The Rider sighed. The werecat stood from his place on the dragon's back and stretched lazily.
'If you ask nicely, I may be willing to find an actual cat to help.' He mused. The brunet rolled his eyes.
"Fine. Solembum, will you please help us?" He asked politely, trying to keep the mockery from his voice.
"Do you seriously expect him to help us?" Murtagh asked his brother. Solembum growled in response and leaped off of Saphira, landing on the ground next to the items.
As soon as he hit the ground, the items glowed brightly. The visible ingredients minus Solembum disappeared and a portal opened in their place, brown and green colors swirling in a large circle. Murtagh, Eragon, and the two dragons stood in shocked surprise as the swirling vortex appeared.
"Solembum, do you have something to tell us?" Eragon teased, holding back a grin.
The portal suddenly started swirling faster and he quickly turned to it.
He began to call out for Amira but he cut himself off when someone came tumbling head over heels through the portal with an explicit curse, landing heavily onto the ground and rolling straight into Saphira's legs where they lay moaning in obvious pain.
"Who are you?" Eragon demanded as he drew his sword, Murtagh doing the same.
"ERAGON!"
"Amira…" Eragon's sword fell from his hand and his head snapped up as Amira's voice came through the portal. He immediately sprinted forward, adrenaline pulsing through his body as he ran faster than he ever had.
"ERAGON!" His apprentice called out for him and Eragon reached his hand to the portal in desperation.
"AMIRA WHERE ARE YOU?! AMIRA-!" But he was too late. The portal closed less than a second before he reached it and he fell to his knees with a cry.
Unknowing to him, Amira was doing the exact same thing a world away.
==Earth==
Amira stared at the ground where the portal had been mere moments before: her only chance at returning home… gone.
"Amira? What's going on? What was all the screaming?" Annabeth asked as she came through the underbrush on the blue side. She saw the younger girl's position and frowned. "What are you doing?"
"It's gone…" Amira muttered numbly, in shock. Tears slid down her cheeks as silent sobs shook her body, her purple eyes still locked on the ground.
"What do you mean? What's gone?" Annabeth then noticed that Amira was alone even though her scouts had reported her and Percy together. "Wait, where's Percy?"
"A portal to my homeland opened and Percy entered instead of me." Amira managed through her silent sobs. "I tried to reach him but it closed before I could. I- I was too late… I missed my chance..."
Amira's voice was hoarse and Annabeth looked confused but now worried as well. She looked around the woods like she was trying to find Percy despite Amira having told her he was gone. Chiron and some other campers eventually made their way over to the two girls, the game having been won and over.
"What's the matter?" The centaur asked when he saw their expressions. Annabeth told him what Amira had said and he frowned in worry. "That's not good. Come, we should try to contact him."
He galloped away in the direction of the camp and Annabeth hurried after him. Amira stood and followed as well, though she moved slower as she was still in shock.
She reached the two as Chiron trotted up to a fountain and handed a flashlight to Annabeth. The blonde flipped it on and the light formed a rainbow in the fountain's mist. Ignoring Amira's obvious amazement caused by the flashlight, Chiron tossed a drachma into the rainbow and chanted,
"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Percy Jackson." H
"Unable to connect." A feminine voice came from the mist instead of showing Percy. Chiron frowned.
"That is strange. But, we may have one other way to contact him." Tossing in another coin, Chiron again chanted, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Grover Underwood."
The mist shimmered before changing to show Grover sleeping in the shade of a large tree.
"Grover!" Annabeth called. The satyr didn't stir and the daughter of Athena rolled her eyes. "Food! Tacos! Enchiladas!"
"What! Food? Where!" Grover started awake. He looked around in confusion then his gaze rested on the rainbow message. "Oh, hi Annabeth. What's up?"
"We need your help. Percy's missing." She announced.
"Again?" The satyr sighed. "You need to put him on a leash. What happened this time?"
"He disappeared through a portal that had opened meaning for me to enter," Amira answered for the blond.
"Who's that?" Grover asked Annabeth, pointing to Amira (who crossed her arms).
"Grover, Amira. Amira, Grover." Annabeth quickly introduced.
"Why is your hair purple?" He asked. Amira groaned, her hands going to her hair.
"That's not important right now." Annabeth interrupted, placing a hand in front of Amira before she could burst out. "We need your help. Can you try to contact Percy using your empathy link?"
"I don't know. It would depend on where he is." The satyr shrugged uncertainly. "Where did the portal lead to?"
"If we knew then we probably wouldn't be calling you."
"Good point. But if we can find that out then we can-"
"He is in Alagaesia." Amira blurted out. Annabeth and Grover turned to her in confusion and she winced. She hadn't meant to say anything about her world but her words had just sort of slipped past her lips.
"Ala-where?" The demigod frowned. Chiron waved off the remaining campers who had not already left, already knowing about Amira. The Alagaesian bit her lip nervously.
"Um… The portal was opened by magic, meaning for me to enter and return to my homeland. Percy was in the wrong place and fell through instead. It was opened by someone I know and had I entered, I would have been returned to my homeland: Alagaesia."
Amira sighed when she saw that she had just managed to confuse the two even more. She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to explain her world that they would understand.
"Annabeth, you once asked where I lived but I did not answer your question. Well, I do now: I come from a land named Alagaesia."
"I've never heard of Alagaesia," Annabeth told her, crossing her arms.
"I would not expect you to because it is not in this world," Amira finally confessed. The blonde's eyes widened in response to Amira's confession but Grover was still in the dark.
"So, you're an alien?" He wondered.
"No, I am not… that." Amira replied with a frown. "I am an Alagaesian."
"Is that how you explain your magic?" Annabeth realized. "All of us here are half god and the majority of us can't use magic."
"I am not like you. In my world, I was gifted with the ability to use magic when I was ch-" Amira cut herself off, about to say when she was chosen as Balenda's Dragon Rider.
Explaining her world was one thing but she didn't want to explain everything because telling them that would mean she would have to explain what exactly a Rider was and not having Balenda with her would make it hard to believe.
"When you were what?" Annabeth pressed. Amira breathed out; not answering Annabeth's questions would cause disbelief and suspicion and make the situation difficult.
"When I became a Rider." She relented.
"What kinda rider? Are you a Show Horse trainer or something?" Grover wondered.
"No, a Dragon Rider." Amira corrected. Annabeth raised her brows in obvious disbelief and Amira messaged her fingers against her temples, head beginning to ache. "Look, I know my words are confusing but I promise that shall explain this all at a later time. Forgetting me, can you speak with Percy or not, Grover?"
"Right, just gimme a sec." Grover closed his eyes and concentrated. After a minute or two of silence, he reported, "Percy's alive. He was arguing with someone actually, he sounds really flustered… *wince* Ah! I think he just got knocked out."
"What?! I have to help him!" Annabeth exclaimed. She grabbed Amira's shoulders and started shaking her as her emotional side took over. "How do I get to Ala-whatever!?"
"I-I do no-ot kno-o-w!" Amira gasped, her voice wobbly as she was shaken.
"Annabeth! Calm down." Chiron snapped sternly. The daughter of Athena froze but her hands were still on Amira's shoulders.
"If I knew how to return to my world, do you not think that I would have already?" The Alagaesian reminded, her vision blurred as her head spun.
"And I can still talk to him," Grover added.
== Alagaesia ==
Percy groaned in pain as he rolled to his side, his head pounding. He opened his eyes but they widened immensely when he realized what stood above of him.
"HOLY S**T! WHAT THE-?!" He exclaimed, scrambling back as quickly as his armor would allow before jumping up and drawing his sword.
'Why are you not cowering in fear?' Saphira demanded, confused but also angry.
"Wha-? Wh-Who said that?!" Percy demanded, not taking his eyes off the three Riders and the dragons standing in front of him.
'I did, foolish human.' The Blue Dragon growled, leaning her head a little closer. Percy's face paled and he raised his sword a bit higher.
"Who are you and where is Amira? What have you done with her?!" Eragon demanded as he grabbed Brisingr from where he dropped it, pointing the blue sword at Percy.
"First off, those are dragons! Real, actual dragons!" Percy stuttered, sea-green eyes still wide. "Second off, how the hell is the dragon talking? And third, I haven't done anything to Amira! She's back at Camp Half-Blood, in New York. We were-"
"Camp Half-Blood? New York?" Arya repeated. "I have not heard of those places. Where is it?"
"You haven't heard…? Where am I?" Percy asked skeptically.
"We are the ones asking questions right now," Murtagh told him firmly, eyes dark with his hand on Zar'roc.
"Yeah but if you haven't heard of- Huh? Oh, hi there." Percy cut himself off, eyes looking up as if he were trying to look at his head. The Alagaesians exchanged looks of confusion as the dark-haired demigod seemingly spoke to himself. "Yeah, I'm still alive. I'm surrounded by several people with swords and a few living dragons but I'm fine. I don't know, it's weird and-"
Percy was cut off when he suddenly fell to the ground unconscious.
"Sorry," Arya grimaced from where she stood behind him, the hilt of her dagger in hand. "He was beginning to annoy me."
== In Percy's Mind ==
Percy groaned in pain. He sat up and looked around to see that he was in his cabin back at Camp Half-Blood
"What the...? Did I really just dream all that up?" He wondered.
"No, we're in your mind. You got knocked out," Grover said, sitting off to the side on Percy's bed. "Your mind brought you to your cabin because it's a place where you feel safe and comfortable."
"Since when were you an expert on my brain?" The son of Poseidon grinned, moving to sit beside his best friend.
"Hahaha! I'm not but that's what Annabeth said." The satyr chuckled. "By the way, did you say there were dragons where you are? Because Amira said something about being a dragon rider but she dropped the topic and wouldn't say anything else."
Percy nodded, stretching his arms behind his head and popping his back.
"Yeah. There were three guys- well, two guys and a girl- that had dragons just standing there next to them like dogs. So I'd say they were 'Dragon Riders' like you said Amira said." He reported.
Grover nodded then tilted his head as if listening to something.
"Alright. So I told Amira and she says their names are... Eragon, Murtagh, and… and Arya. The dragons have names too… they're Saphira, Thorn, and, uh... Fer- F- Fírnen." He reported, struggling over the name.
"Okaaay… Weird names but I got it. Can you wake me up?" Percy wondered.
"I can't pinch you; it doesn't work like that." Grover reminded.
"So yell at me," His friend suggested with a shrug.
"Yell at you? What do you- ohhh I get it."
== Alagaesia ==
"?*#=$%)*!-&~#*%( !^&!"
Percy exclaimed explicit curses as he woke with a start, startling the Dragons and their Riders.
"Have respect, there is a woman here!" Murtagh immediately scolded.
"Calm down, it is fine. I've used a bit of that myself in the heat of a battle," Arya confessed.
"Sorry about that. My buddy Grover had to wake me up using a special yelling power of his." Percy explained, completely awake. He noticed that the three had him tied to a chair but made no move to escape. "Alright. So from what he said, it seems we have a common goal: we both want Amira- and me- to find a way home. Am I right, Eragon?"
"I am Eragon," Eragon corrected with narrowed eyes as the half-blood was looking at Murtagh. The Red Rider struggled to hold back a small grin at the look on his brother's face.
"Oh. That's awkward, sorry" Percy blushed awkwardly.
"But you know where Amira is?"
"Indeed I do." The demigod affirmed. Eragon sighed in relief. Then he frowned.
"How do you know my name?"
"Remember I mentioned my buddy, Grover? He's mentally talking with me right now and normally talking to Amira so in a weird way, we can kinda talk through him."
"I may believe you... but if you are truly communicating with Amira, then what did Balenda do to her the last time they flew together?" Eragon quizzed.
Percy tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. After a long moment, he answered,
"She said that she dove at the ground and pulled up just in time to prevent them from becoming… he said Amira used the exact words: 'a purple hotcake.'"
"That sounds like something she would say," Arya concluded with a relieved smile.
"What is she doing right now?" The worry Eragon clearly felt for his apprentice showed in his eyes.
"Ummm… She's pacing around and mumbling. So she's really worried and kinda freaking herself out." Percy answered hesitantly.
Eragon sat heavily, his head in his hands, and muttered something but no one could hear. He stayed in that position for a solid minute or two before taking a deep breath and uncovering his face to look back at Percy.
"Is she alright though?" He finally asked, voice slightly hoarse though hopeful.
"Yeah, she's alright now. She almost got stabbed and sliced in half a couple of times but she's fine." Percy assured.
"WHAT?!" The Blue Rider exclaimed as he shot to his feet.
"We were attacked by a bunch of monsters yesterday," The half-blood explained, awkwardly trying to shift his position in the chair they had him tied to. "She used some kind of magic and shot lightning everywhere. It knocked her out for like, a full day and a half but she's an amazing fighter and can do some seriously awesome magic tricks!"
"I know. I trained her." Eragon told him bluntly. "What kind of monsters were they?"
"Some were Karpoi and others were dracaena, there were a couple of Hellhounds and-"
"There were what?" Murtagh interrupted, clearly having never heard any of the names before.
"Hellhound. It's basically a dog the size of a pickup truck." Percy received a moment of silence in return as the Riders exchanged glances.
"What is a… pick up and a truck?" Murtagh finally asked.
"You don't know what a truck is? Geez, how far from Camp Half-Blood am I?" The demigod sighed.
"Is it possible for me to speak to Amira through you?" Eragon inquired curiously. His expression said that he only cared about talking to Amira.
"Uhhhhhh… I have no idea. I'll ask and if it is possible then we can maybe try." Percy paused for another minute as he went back into his mind to talk with Grover. He came back to the current time and place with an unsure look. "It might work. Probably. Maybe. We're not 100% certain, I'd say more like 50% certain."
"That's good enough for me." Eragon decided. "I am going to enter your mind: remove any barriers you have and do not attempt to resist me or the strain may destroy you."
Percy gulped as the Rider reached his mind toward him.
As the Alagaesian Rider entered Percy's mind, he passed through with a few mental barriers that were pulled down. He took a small moment to examine the young man's thoughts. They had none of the complexity he was used to in elven minds but was definitely more so than he had experienced in regular humans.
Eventually, he found a small section of Percy's mind that appeared to be an image of a (very) messy room. In there was Percy's mental self as well as who Eragon assumed he was communicating with. Percy didn't, however, mention anything about him having goat legs.
"Are you Eragon?" The goat-man asked when he entered the room.
"Yes. Where is Amira?" Eragon demanded, not caring about anything else.
"She's here next to me. Like, in real life. I'm not sure if you'll be able to talk to her through me though." The goat man admitted.
"Try letting her into your mind as well," The Rider suggested.
"What?"
"She will understand."
== Earth ==
"Amira?"
Amira stopped her pacing and turned to Grover.
"Have you contacted him?" She quickly asked, moving over to his image.
"Yeah. He said to 'let you into my mind' to talk to him." Grover explained. "I don't know what that means though."
Amira hesitated for a moment; she had never been as good with mind-related magic as she was at combat but she had to talk to try.
"Alright. Clear your mind of any kind of barriers and do not try to resist me. I am going to extend my mind to yours and enter your mind with my own." She explained and instructed. Grover nodded though he looked nervous and still confused.
Amira took a deep breath and reached her hand out towards the Iris Message. She closed her eyes and calmed her mind, focusing intently. She sent her mind out to Grover's, finding only several barriers that he took down or she passed. She ignored the urge to examine his mind and searched until she found a connection to Percy's mind, quickly entering. She saw herself in what she assumed was Percy's cabin where she saw Percy and Grover sitting on his bed.
But there was someone else there as well.
"Eragon!" Amira exclaimed. She immediately ran over and practically jumped into the Blue Rider's embrace, throwing her arms around his neck. Eragon eagerly returned her embrace, holding her just as tightly.
"Oh thank goodness! I have been so worried, Amira! I've been searching for you since you disappeared." Eragon told her as he gave a sigh of relief at the familiar feeling of her slim body.
"I am so glad that you have remembered me, Eragon. Thank you for trying to bring me home." Amira sniffed as she buried her face in his shoulder. Eragon could see tears in her purple eyes when they pulled back and he wiped them away with his thumb.
"Amira, I will never stop trying until you are back home by my side." He told his apprentice seriously.
"Thank you, Eragon." Then Amira frowned. "But… How did you discover where I was? Surely you could not have guessed I was in another world?"
"You can thank and blame someone named Zeus for that." Her mentor accused.
"Zeus? That's the king of our gods." Percy then imputed, still sitting on his bunk off to the side. Eragon's surprise showed.
"There are gods in that world?" He repeated. Amira nodded
"Yes. One of the leaders where I am explained this world to me, though we could think of no reason for the gods to bring me here." She told him, her hand in his as he apparently didn't want to let her go. Eragon nodded slowly then furrowed his brows.
"Have you found Balenda yet?" He asked her. Amira fought back tears and shook her head.
"No, I have not. I do not know if she is even in this world. I still cannot sense or talk to her and my worry grows with every minute that passes by." She forced herself to take a breath as she reigned in her emotions. "What has changed while I have been away? Are you all alright?"
"We are fine: The Riders once again become the protectors of Alagaesia. The effects of the war are being cleared and everyone is safe." Eragon held back a smile as he casually added, "Murtagh told me to say hello for him, by the way."
"It fills me with joy to hear that," Amira muttered sarcastically, grinding her teeth.
Eragon couldn't hold back his chuckle, knowing that Amira hated his brother. He just couldn't resist messing with, having been a good week (in Alagaesia) since he had last done so. Amira frowned and smacked his arm.
"Ow!" Eragon yelped, earning muffled laughs from Percy and Grover. He grinned sheepishly. "I guess I did deserve that."
"Do not mention him! *breath in* How did you open the portal?" Amira asked, brushing her wavy purple hair from her face.
"We were given a spell from a scroll made by Galbatorix. We were told of it by Zeus, though he was also responsible for taking you there." Eragon shook his head in frustration. "Unfortunately, I do not think that we would be able to open the portal a second time."
"Wait a sec, Zeus sent you to Earth but also gave Eragon a way to try to get you back?" Percy interjected. "And the portal just happened to be where I was when it opened up? It's almost like he wanted Eragon to bring me to wherever I am. But why would he do that?"
"Because Tartarus has taken control of Earth's underworld and broken the barrier between worlds," Zeus announced as he materialized in the room.
"Who are you?" Amira asked, despite Percy's outburst in the background.
"I am Zeus: King of the Gods. Now, I bet you're wondering why I've brought you all here." The god began.
"You just told us: Tartarus is coming for the world and you're probably gonna ask us to stop him." Percy stated bluntly.
"Yes indeed. And before you ask, there is no prophecy. Apollo still won't come out from under the covers."
"So would you need Syllabine Books?" Grover suggested as he fiddled with his pipe-reeds.
"That could work." Zeus mused thoughtfully. The two Alagaesians were very confused.
"What are the Syllabine books?" Amira asked.
"And why do you need a prophecy?" Eragon added.
"It's like a verbal map. Unless we all want to die horribly and painfully on a god-forsaken quest, we need a prophecy to guide us and tell us what to do." Percy explained offhandedly.
"Oh. Then we should find one." Amira agreed in a small voice.
"Apollo's our prophecy god and he's unhelpful at the moment, we can't get one from our Oracle so we can use a Syllabine book- already written prophecies- to get directions for the quest," Percy continued. "There's not much we can do about that in Ala…"
He trailed off, trying to remember how to pronounce it.
"Alagaesia," Eragon supplied.
"Right. We can't do much here so you guys will have to take care of that—" At that moment, Murtagh appeared in the room and Percy threw up his hands in exasperation. "WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP APPEARING IN MY HEAD?!"
"Eragon! You are needed here now- Amira? Oh, um… hi." Murtagh awkwardly greeted.
Amira gritted her teeth. She stepped forward to punch the Red Rider square in the face, sending him staggering back to crash against the cabin wall. He wisely left and Amira winced.
He had a hard face!
"What was that about?!" Grover gaped, his eyes wide.
"Do not ask," The purple-haired Rider muttered. Behind her, Eragon shook his head with wide eyes and made a chopping motion at his neck, signaling to drop the topic.
"I guess we'd better see what's going on." Percy sighed. "Bye Amira, I'll see ya later G-Man. Oh, tell Annabeth I'm okay! "
Eragon gave his apprentice one last hug then he and Percy vanished and Amira found herself back on Earth.
And that concludes the ninth 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!
