A/N: I just wanted to let all of you guys who are reading know that I really, really appreciate your reviews. I didn't really expect to get many, and y'all have definitely inspired me to write now. Again, I apologize for the inconsistency of my updates – my computer still refuses to cooperate.

And finally, I will thank all of my reviewers, because I kinda forgot to do that the last two chapters.

Cooking samurai

Z.L.C.

Pure Aqua

Arandomreviewer – Wow, you've reviewed my story, what, four times now? Thank you so much for the attention – I am sincerely flattered. As to your classing system, I think I will end up combining yours and Emerald Swordman's. I will post the finished product within the next two or three chapters. Also, I'm sorry if you don't like what I'm doing with their powers, but I like for my characters to have major challenges to deal with, and with their powers Percy and the others are just too powerful. Don't worry – they will regain many of their abilities, but it will be a slow process. I try to keep my crossovers "realistic" (that is, make them fit into the reality they've been sucked into). Because gods aren't the same in Tellius as they are in Percy's world, I decide to base them off of Branded and make their powers more Fire Emblemish. So, for example, Percy's Achilles Curse may or may not have been turned into magical armor (not unlike that belonging to the Black Knight) that Percy may or may not discover eventually (coughspoilercough). Finally, I have plans for this story to the end of PoR, and I'm still working on RD – I will definitely make a sequel, because I really love RD. (Also, I would not dream of pairing Thalia with anyone – I hate it when people do that.)

( O.o That was really long.)

Emerald Swordman – thank you for the ideas on their classes and abilites, I really appreciate it.

As for plot ideas, I could use a bit of help. See, I have plans for Percy, Annabeth and Thalia, but I really have no idea where Nico should end up. I want them all to be in different places, so he can't just go with Thalia or something. So, where do y'all picture Nico, and what is he doing? He should be somewhere in Daein or Crimea, but it would be possible for him to end up in Gallia or something. Don't get ticked at me if I don't use your ideas in the actual story, please, but I could really use some help.

Now that I'm done with my obscenely long Author's Note, on with the story!

Chapter 4:

-Annabeth

A thousand curses on these idiots, I thought furiously. I hope this miserable storm gives them the flu. And bronchitis.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep – probably not too long, as it was still raining. We still weren't stopping, and a new annoyance was starting to intrude on my thoughts – hunger. I was starving.

Every time I tried to shift my position or speak, a bandit would smack me on the back of my head. After a few tries, I gave up – the pain was making me feel nauseous.

I realized that the bandits were starting to panic slightly, and I heard the leader say something about a fire. Craning my head painfully, I managed to catch a glimpse of the trees behind us. There was a thick cloud of oily smoke and a flicker of orange light. The men broke into a run, dragging the horse behind them.

The horse's canter was uneven and jarring – my head throbbed with each step. Eventually I just couldn't take it any longer, and I slipped into unconsciousness once more.

-Nico

Yep, we were doomed.

A strong wind had come up out of nowhere and started blowing us around. I tripped and got slammed against a tree more times than I liked to admit (I was tired, okay?). The fire behind us was growing larger and larger, hissing and spitting. We couldn't outrun it here – the ground was covered in leaves and grass, most of which had been shielded from the rain by the trees. The fire was roaring merrily along while the wind was blowing us in circles. If we could make it out of the forest, maybe we'd stand more of a chance. Maybe.

The problem? We had no idea where we were or which direction to go. And the fire was gaining on us.

Maybe the god (or was it a goddess? I seem to remember there was a goddess in Path of Radiance) of Tellius had taken an exception to us, because this was irritatingly unlucky. I mean, what are the chances that we get sucked into another dimension based on a freaking video game, lose track of two of our friends within forty-eight hours, almost get struck by lightning, and then get caught in a full-on forest fire?

I guess a demigod's bad luck is transdimensional, unlike our powers.

Anyway, while we were running for our lives, I realized that the trees were starting to thin out – we were coming to the edge of the forest.

I was too out of breath to say anything, but Thalia muttered a brief thanks to the gods. Then, of course, she started to go even faster, until I felt like she was going to drag my arm out of its socket.

Without the protection of tree branches overhead, the rain pounded against our skin, but we both we so full of adrenaline we barely noticed. The towering forest trees were gone, replaced by small, sickly looking trees and scattered bushes. Rising up in the distance was an ominous-looking mountain range. There was an obnoxious amount of weedflowers, nasty little things with thorns and stickers that tore at our feet. I was suddenly very grateful for the weird, knee-high leather boots we were wearing (though I was already dreading the moment I'd have to take them off and figure out how to work all those laces) because tennis shoes definitely wouldn't have cut it.

Thalia's manic pace slowed slightly as she fought her way through the weeds, and she nearly fell over when we stumbled onto a packed dirt road. It was straight and relatively level, and I realized with a mental sigh that we had been running through woods almost exactly parallel to it. I guess finding it now was lucky, but it would have been a lot more useful back in the woods. Not that I really had time to ponder this too much, because as soon as Thalia got her feet back under her she was off, dragging me behind her.

I understood her haste and did my best to keep up – the weeds would make excellent fuel for that fire, and the wind had shifted so that it was blowing in the same direction we were.

More than that though, I ran because now that we were out of the forest, I almost, kind of, in a way thought we might have a chance. A small chance, mind you, but I'd taken long shots before. I don't think Percy ever quite realized the depth of the risk he took when he dipped into the River Styx – he was only in that black water for seconds, maybe minutes, but to me it seemed like hours. And, of course, there was how I convinced Lord Hades to join his brothers and sisters in fighting the Titans – that was a long shot too.

After a while, Thalia slowed to a run, then a jog. By that point, I was ready to collapse and not move for a week, but Thalia still had a death grip on my arm (Ha! Sorry – that was a little son-of-the-god-of-death humor) and it was either run or have my face dragged through the dirt. At least the rain kept us cool.

As much as I hate to admit it, she probably saved my life, because I never would have made it so far so fast on my own.

I had no way of telling how long we had been running (except for the fact that it was way longer than I wanted to) but when Thalia finally stumbled into a walk then stopped altogether, I realized that the storm was starting to break up. The rain was slacking off, and in the west sky the color of ripe peaches was emerging from the gray. With some surprise, I realized it was sunset, and we had been running since midday. There was still an ominous cloud of smoke rising behind us, but we allowed ourselves the luxury of collapsing in the grass on the edge of the path. Luckily, we had left the weeds far behind, but even if we hadn't, I hardly would have cared. I was so tired I fell asleep the moment my head hit the ground and that night, I didn't dream.

-Geoffrey

Bastian roused me at dawn, and we crept softly to the stables so as not to wake the other occupants of the inn where we were staying. The priestess and her husband helped us carry the boy and lift him on to Bastian's horse. He was still sleeping, though he was a very restless sleeper, twitching and murmuring under his breath.

The priestess tapped him on the shoulder with a strange-looking staff, and he quieted. "He'll sleep for another day and night, and after that he should be fully recovered," she said softly.

Bastian nodded his thanks and offered her a few gold pieces as payment – she accepted them gladly. And then we were off, cantering towards Delbray.

-Thalia

My eyes snapped open as the sun peaked over the horizon. A few feet away, Nico was curled up in a forlorn pile of black robes. I stood and began to stretch the soreness out of my muscles. Wrinkling my nose at the acrid smell of ash, I turned to face the forest. The fire apparently burned itself out during the night, just short of our position. The wind had probably changed, and just in time.

Turning, I surveyed the mountains that lay southeast of us. The mountains closest to us were coated in tall, evergreen trees, but further to the east they were black and rocky. Directly to the east, I spotted a slight glimmer – a lake, or maybe the ocean.

I didn't want to stop and think about what we had just been through, because I knew I would panic. Percy and Annabeth were somewhere in that forest. Percy and Annabeth could be dead. And even though she appeared older than I was now, to me Annabeth was still the little blond girl with the clever eyes, the one who I had sworn to protect. And Percy… Percy was a dear friend, an honored one.

Logically, of course, I knew that there was little else I could have done. But guilt is never logical, and for now, I decided I would just not think about it. Nico and I were still in serious trouble – we had lost our shelter, our food, and we had no idea where we were. Nico would be next to useless when I finally got around to waking him up. After all, yesterday's run would have drained him completely. Even I was sore, and I was used to this sort of thing. He probably wouldn't be able to move. (I spared a moment to shake my head at his idiocy – he should have spent less time making the dead do his dirty work and more exercising. Boys!)

Besides, I was better suited to wilderness survival in any case, though I did wish I had the other Hunters and some magically compressed tents. While I was at it, I really wished Lady Artemis was here – she had an aura of power and competence that I truly envied.

I sighed. But all I had was myself, my bow and arrows, my spear, my shield, and a semi-conscious son of Hades. To the south was more plains and grass, and to the west was the burnt-out forest. Percy, if he was alive, would head straight to the water I could see in the east. Annabeth would probably try the plains to the south, figuring people would be easier to spot on flat ground. My first instinct was to rush to the foothills of the mountains – I knew forests best, and I loved mountains so long as there weren't any cliffs. And Nico? Maybe he'd go back west. That forest certainly looked dismal enough.

As soon as Nico could walk, I decided, we'll go north. I can find us shelter and food, and once we're recovered we'll come back here. With that, I turned to Nico and shook him awake.

He was as slow to recover as I'd predicted, but to my surprise he didn't complain at all when I took charge and told him what I'd decided. He sat and rested while I made a brief excursion into the grass in search for food and didn't comment on the taste of slightly undercooked ground squirrel. Around noon, I used his short sword to cut him a walking stick and we moved on.

It was almost sunset by the time we reached a place I considered suitable for shelter. I rigged a makeshift tent by leaning some pine – Actually, it wasn't pine, but it was similar enough for me to call it that – branches against a large boulder. It was more comfortable that you might have thought, though it was still nothing compared to what I was used to. Nico built a fire while I hunted, but when I returned, he was already asleep, the fire dying beside him. He woke long enough to devour half of a rabbit, then collapsed inside our shelter.

I sat and stared at the stars for a while longer. More than anything else I had seen in the past three days, those stars brought home the fact that I was further from home than I had ever been. I knew every constellation in the sky, but these stars were utterly foreign. With a vague feeling of betrayal, I crawled into the shelter and closed my eyes.