*youtuber voice* hey what's up you guys today i decided it was time for an authors note to explain some things! if your a pjo fan then you probs picked up of the use of roman words and gods. maisie is a roman demigoddess of bacchus (dionysus). this story is set directly after the titan war, so the giant war hasn't happened yet, romans and greeks know nothing of each other etc etc. Maisie was part of Saturn's (kronos') army because she has the Basic Demigod Backstory and anger lol. Oh! and it's set during new moon/ breaking dawn so victorias running around looking for bella and that's why everyone is all 'stay out the woods maisie' Paul imprinted on her in the first chapter too, in case i didn't make that obvious.

"I can drive you to Forks." He smiled.

"You can just tell me how to get there. I'll be fine." Maisie furrowed her eyebrows.

Paul's expression mirrored her own, "You shouldn't go out on your own."

"I can handle myself." Maisie grit her teeth. She could kick any mortal scumbags ass, and most monsters she could take on, even lacking in supplies as she was right now. Fighting was what she did. Paul looked like he wanted to disagree with her, but Emily rounded the corner in a panic.

"Oh there you are! You can't go running off on your own like that!" She chastised, "And Paul! You're supposed to be-"

"I know, I know.." He mumbled something about leeches under his breath.

"Why don't you come inside?" Emily turned to Maisie.

"No. I just want to get to a town so I can figure out what state I'm even in and figure out what to do next! You're acting like you know me but you don't! Just let me go." Maisie threw her hands up in the air. She was frustrated, so very very frustrated.

Why couldn't anything go the way she'd planned? Why couldn't Luke's plan just Work? All she really wanted to do right now was go back to Camp Jupiter and settle back into the Second Cohort with Liam and Jess, but they were probably dead and Diana's Hunters were probably already hunting her down, and these stupid mortals won't leave her be. The coin in her pocket burned. Someone else calling for help. She felt frustrated tears begin to well up in her eyes, but she swallowed hard and blinked them away.

The two natives stared back at her, grasping for something to say. Paul looked almost as panicked as she was, which was saying something. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Finally he settled on saying, "Washington. You're on the coast of Washington about two hours from Seattle."

That was helpful, finally. Maisie was a long way from Mount Othyrus in California, but well towards Alaska. If she wanted to run from the hunters that's where she should go. Maybe she should just face her death head on. Let them find her.

"Maisie, did you... Did you run away from home?" Emily's concerned look shot up tenfold. Inwardly, Maisie laughed. She kinda did. She turned her back on the Twelfth Legion, and then again on Saturn's army as soon as things started to go south.

Outwardly, she shook her head. It wasn't a lie. She didn't run away her mother kicked her out, too tired of the monsters and the godly drama, she guessed. Maisie was tired of it all too.

"Maisie, please, just, come inside. I can make tea and you can do all your figuring out here, okay?" Emily offered. "..I know we don't know you but we want to help."

Maisie looked over at Paul, who was staring down at her with some kind of look on his face that Maisie couldn't identify. She turned back to Emily and nodded, "Okay."

"Well, I'll as you in a few hours then. Maisie." Paul said her name like he was trying it out and he liked it. "I've got to.." He gestured behind him before nodding and turning into a jog towards the tree line.

Maisie squinted her eyes as she watched him go. Just a few minutes again he was against anyone going into the woods alone, and yet here he was running towards them. Alone.

"Paul's nice. A little rough around the edges but he's nice." Emily broke Maisie out of her thoughts.

She turned to Emily, "Yeah. he seems nice."

Well, mostly weird, what with his blatant over attachment to her upon sight, though maybe he was just like that with everyone.

"So Maisie, how old are you?" Emily asked, opening the door to her home, gesturing her inside.

"Seventeen." Maisie mumbled. If she didn't already think she was a runaway, she probably did now. Emily only hummed in response, leading her through a room with couches, a coffee table, and a tv. A tall man leaned over the coffee table with a pen, staring at a sort of map. Two other boys and a short pale girl surrounded him. The girl chewed on her fingernails apprehensively as one of the boys leaned close to her. All four of them looked up when Emily brought her through.

The boy to the left frowned, "Why were you outside?"

This made Maisie freeze. She was outside for like, five minutes. Why would they care? Is Emily not allowed outside. Emily didn't seem like the kind of person to let people tell her what to do.

"We were just taking a walk, Jared." Emily smiled at him, pausing in the doorway.

"You're supposed to take somebody with you." The tallest one, the one with the pen, frowned.

"It was just for a little bit." Emily reasoned.

"Still, it's dangerous out there." He replied, a hint of worry in his voice.

So Emily wasn't allowed outside without a supervisor? What the hell?

"Uh, yeah. It's dangerous, like, everywhere. I'm sure you're not saying Emily can't step outside of her own home with out a babysitter like some kind of child, are you?" Maisie's voice took a dangerous tone as she stared down the man with the pen.

All eyes were on her, including the pale girl who stared at her in open shock. At least the other two were hiding it well, or trying to although not doing a very good job.

"Don't meddle in things you don't understand." The man on the right grunted.

"Then explain exactly what I don't understand about this situation because it seems pretty damn clear to me."

"Enough. There's a very dangerous criminal on the loose and no one goes anywhere alone until she's caught." Sam elaborated, which is, bovis stercus, bullshit, because she was with Maisie. She let it go anyways, and followed Emily out of the room parting with a suspicious stare.

She heard Jared ask, "Who the hell is that?" as soon as she was out of eyesight. She rolled her eyes.

The arrived in a kitchen area where Maisie leaned against the counter and Emily grabbed a couple of mugs and teabags.

"Sam is really just worried about me and the rest of the tribe. It's kinda his job to keep everyone safe on the rez." Emily poured boiling water in the mugs.

"Sorry." Maisie mumbled, not really feeling all that sorry, especially since she had seen Paul run off into the woods alone and shirtless, which was confusing and weird even without the surrounding context. Something freaky was going on here, and she was going to find out.