CHAPTER TWO

No Place For Refuge

I wake up on my knees, and I am completely unaware of everything around me. My vision is blurry, and the inside of my mouth tastes like blood. I squint and see I am in a forest, and my hands are chained to the two trees beside me. I'm unable to move. I can make out three women dressed in green, red, and blue robes. The robes have long sleeves that flare at the hands, and touch the ground. The foot of the dress drags around behind it, like a wedding dress.

"She's awake!" One of them whispers.

I force myself out of the chains but nothing works. "Who are you? And where am I!" I shout.

The women walk towards me and my stomach drops when I make out their faces. It's the three Fates.

"Hello sister," says the one in red, Atropos. She looks down on me with her striking grey eyes and smirks.

Impulsively, I stand up and put all my force into breaking free. I grunt and shout but all I'm doing is embarrassing myself.

"What do you want?" I say grumpily.

Clotho, dressed in blue, steps forward. "For eras we have let you live amongst the mortals. You have helped many heroes."

"But you may not interfere with the lives of the demigods you have just met." says Lachesis, the third sister, dressed in green.

"We have willed these heroes to perform many feats, and meet many new people. Your interference would throw everything off balance."

I look down on the ground and try to absorb what I've just heard.

"If you can't follow these rules, we will be forced to return," says Atropos.

I catch my breath and gaze at Atropos.

"And just to make sure you won't go back there and try to 'warn' or 'say goodbye' to the mortals, we'll just erase today's memory." She says. "Just close your eyes and count to ten."

My sisters hold out their hands and release a transparent beam of golden light from their palms, directed towards me.

"One, two three," says Atropos.

I toy with the chains looking for a way out. I refuse to have my sisters erase my memory again.

I realize the chain on my right arm is slightly loose. Loose enough for me to reach the invisible blades on my back.

"Eight, nine,"

I pull out the invisible sword and suddenly it becomes visible. A big, yellow blade shines with golden light. It's as long as my forearm and as thick as my hand, from my thumb to my pinkie finger. It has teeth on the sides, and curves as the end. It basically looks like a huge yellow chili. I use it to slash the chains off both arms. With my free arm, I grab the blade's twin from my back.

Right when I pull it out my sisters stop counting.

I throw my right blade at Atropos and she dodges it, sending it straight into a tree. The magic blade dissolves and comes back to its place on my back. I reach for it again. At this point, I don't know what I'm doing. Driven by rage and anger, I run towards Atropos like a bull, and I drive the blade right through her, sticking her to a tree, like a thumbtack. I use my other blade and thrash at Clotho and Lachesis. I use the butt of the blade to hit both of my sisters. I turn around to see Atropos trying to pull the blade out of her body. She's a goddess, so killing her won't be easy, but the blade is stuck in the tree.

"Stop sister! You know we cannot be killed," says Clotho.

I pin Clotho to a tree, and Lachesis runs at me. I run into the forest, and look behind me, seeing all my sisters have gotten out of their bindings, and are now chasing me. It's been so long since I have battled, and my skills are rusty, but I run anyways, because I know that if they catch me, they will surely kill me.

I make a quick turn and remember the blades are on my back again. I stab the blades into a tree and use them to climb. My weight is very heavy for me to lift up, so I stop climbing and perch myself onto a branch.

I know my sisters lack the skills to climb, run, hunt, or fight. They stand at the bottom of the tree looking up at me.

"You can run for now," says Atropos. "But we will surely find you."

"You're not in charge of my thread of life. You cannot find me," I say.

Clotho picks the leaves out of her hair intensively. "As long as you continue to interfere with mortals, we will see where the anomalies in the threads are. Every time you talk to one of them, a thread in our chamber will shake, and we will know where to find you." By the tone of her voice, I know she's had enough of me.

"And when we find you, we will kill you." Lachesis says. "We've had enough of your mischief, Anastasia."

"So, sister, you have two choices. Stay out of the lives of mortals and stay undetected forever, or you talk to one and have us find and exterminate you. Either way, you will be out of our lives." Atropos says.

"Don't think of this as an act of vengeance or anger, Anastasia. You need to be gone in order for the world to see balance. Please, understand." Lachesis says, trying to hold in her rage.

"The world needs mystery, and unexpectedness." I say without thinking, just to defend my honour.

"The world needs order!" Atropos exclaims. "You, the daughter of the Titan of order and divine law, should know that above all people."

Before I can say anything else, my sisters disappear in a cloud of dust matching their gowns. I'm glad because I couldn't think of anything to say.

I jump down the tree and brush myself off. As I walk out the forest, I over-think all the things I could have said to my sisters, but it has always been hard for me to come up with the right thing to say, and on the spot.

As I put my blades back behind me, an epiphany comes to me. I was pulled away from the streets as they were burning down in flames.

I run as fast as I can to the entrance of the forest. When I see an orange light, I sprint.

My robe gets caught on a tree branch, so I take it off and sprint in my white toga, lifting up the bottom half to keep myself from tripping on it.

I'm close to the entrance when I see the forest is on fire, too. A burning tree blocks my path and I struggle to find a way out. In the distance, I see a person's silhouette getting bigger and bigger. It's Percy. I walk backwards, away from the burning log and Percy comes holding a hose. He sets in on the log and turns it on, so that the water shoots upwards. He uses the water and bends it to his will, to encompass burning trees and logs. After a while, the water from the hose turns into an extremely long stream of water that's floating in the air around Percy. Once everything is doused, I turn of the hose, and Percy lets all the water fall on the ground and out of his control.

Percy runs up to hug me and check me for scars. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say. I remember what the Fates told me and I push him away. "You have to leave. It's not safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, it is I that has to leave. We can never meet again, Percy."

"But there's so much I wanted to ask you!"

"It's not safe, Percy. Please, trust me."

Before Percy can say another word, I run home.

The streets look like the fire never touched them. I realize I don't have time to ask questions so I run home without asking any.

When I arrive home, I remember my house keys were in the robe I left behind in the forest. I turn around to go back to the forest but then I realize I won't be able to live safely here in Athens anymore. I sit on my porch steps and bump my head against the bricks. I must live a life of refuge, and cease all communication with mortals, because I will never surrender myself to the Fates.

Suddenly, Percy and Annabeth run around the corner.

"What happened?" Annabeth asks.

I cannot show any emotion to these people. I mustn't change their lives any more.

"Wait here," I say.

I get up and break the window to my house. I run in and frantically search for a pen and paper. I'm knocking down pans and breaking glasses but I don't care because my life is already ruined.

When I find a pen and paper, I start writing.

To whom it may concern,

For my entire life,, I have lived alongside the mortals, and outside the looking glass of the Fates. My sisters have decided it is time for me to stop interfering with mortal lives and are now hunting me down. The only way they can find me is through a mortal that they control. Please, for my own safety, and for yours, do not search for me. I beg of you, please continue living your life as if you had never met me. Live the life you were destined to live.

Anastasia

I wipe off my tears, take the note outside, and hand it to Annabeth. Before she can start reading it, I take off, running to I-don't-know-where.

I run until my heart wears out. I raise my hand to hail a taxi but remember I'm not allowed. I walk until I reach another entrance into the forest, and then I make a bed of leaves to sleep on. The sun is only just setting but I decide to sleep anyways. I toss and turn until I'm comfortable. I lie on my side and I refuse to start planning ahead, and think about what I'll do tomorrow. My life is ruined.

I mourn on myself until I fall asleep. Then the nightmare begins.

I'm in a throne room. This time it's a lucid dream, where I can control myself and do whatever I want. For some reason, I'm sure I'm dreaming. In front of me are four people. Annabeth, Percy, and two others I don't know. It's a tanned-boy with spiky brown hair, and a pale-white girl with bright red hair. They're turned around and are standing before an altar, with a giant treasure chest on it. I realize this must be a dream of the future, like all my others.

I walk up to the altar and put my hands on the box.

"Annie, do it! What are you waiting for?" The boy asks.

I stare at them trying to find out what we're all doing. Before I can turn around to face the box, an army of warriors flood in through every entrance, holding bows and shields.

A fat guy that looks like a Viking stands in front of the army and distinguished himself to be the leader.

"Fire!" He exclaims.

The arrows shoot towards me, and only me. Right before an arrow pierces my skin, I wake up screaming.