Chapter 2

Kynan's Perspective

I was dead. I was officially, really dead. I wondered, briefly, what my obituary would read (if I got one). Perhaps Kynan Morgan, burned to death by large fire-breathing snake-like monster while holding hands with a girl he barely knew. At least I couldn't draw danger toward anyone if I were dead.

Only problem was, I could still feel the alley floor beneath me. I'd sat down right in a puddle, I remembered that much, and my jeans still felt cold and wet. If there were puddles in heaven, I was going to need to have a serious talk with whoever ran this place.

Cautiously, I cracked open one eye, waiting for blinding white light and beautiful gates. Maybe if I was lucky there'd even be fluffy clouds and angels. All I saw was a boy holding a long, bronze sword standing between Lissie and I and whatever had been seconds away from making us its dinner.

The snake-like beast was gone. All I could see that was left of it was a slight golden dust swirling in the air which was fading fast. We'd been saved. We weren't dead!

I blushed a little bit when I realized I was still holding fast to Lissie's hand, and quickly let go. Standing up to brush myself off, I took a closer look at our savior. He was taller than me, and a good few years older, but beyond that the differences were numbered. The boy had dark hair, and was dressed in an orange T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

I hadn't noticed her before, but a blonde-haired girl had been standing farther down the alley, and now walked toward us. When I saw the vicious looking bronze dagger she held in her hand, I nearly did a double take. Is she planning to kill us or the boy? But I soon forgot about how strange the dagger was when I saw the boy's sword transform into a ballpoint pen.

"How did you . . . ," Lissie began, then shrugged it off. "Oh whatever, we just got attacked by a giant snake stalker dude. What's next? Water-bending? Magic wands? Harry ending up with Malfoy?" She was growing more and more animated, and our saviors just stared at her. "A TARDIS? Okay, that one would be really cool. I mean, you people are cool and all because you saved us, so kudos to you, but if it had been the Doctor then I could have charmed him into making me his next companion and-"

I looked at the girl like she just spontaneously caught on fire. Motor mouth was too kind a term to use for her, considering she busted that out in about twenty seconds. . . . She seemed to forget the tiny little fact that we just almost died.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway, thank you for saving us, but, who are you?"

The boy twirled his pen around his fingers, then shoved it in his pocket. "My name's Percy Jackson, and this is Annabeth Chase. You're welcome, by the way."

"Uh-huh, good to know, but what was that fiery snake thingy that just almost killed us?" Nope, she hadn't forgotten about our near-death experience after all. "Was it a basilisk, like in The Chamber of Secrets? Or the Loch Ness monster? Or just some regular snake shooting up with steroids and firecrackers?!"

Percy's face broke out in a grin, but Annabeth remained more reserved, though she was noticeably holding back a smile. "Sorry, but no. That was a drakon, and if we don't hurry up and get to camp, we might have to face much worse than that," the girl said, looking worried. The way she stood so close to the boy, Percy. . . . They were more than friends, that much was clear.

"What on Earth could be worse than that?" I grumbled under my breath. Percy and Annabeth had turned around and were jogging down the alleyway, making it clear that us younger children were to follow them. Lissie made a very unladylike comment under her breath about having to play "Follow the Leader" after fighting off a supersized snake.

I thought the giant snake had been weird. Then came the girl with the dagger, and then the sword that turned into a pen. It had been a thoroughly unusual day, but when we turned out of the alley, I knew I hadn't seen anything yet. Why? Because there were two pegasi standing on the side of the road like a pair of parallel parked cars.

I stopped in my tracks, finally coming to my senses. "What the hell is going on?!"

Lissie sucked in a huge breath to presumably start another bout of ranting. "Well, we were attacked by a monstrous snake called a dragon or drakon or whatever that breathes fire and spits acid and all that good stuff, we almost died, were miraculously saved by two mysterious strangers, and are now following said mysterious strangers to their equally mysterious camp on a pair of potentially dangerous pegasi. Haven't you been paying any attention?"

"What- Who- And you're just okay with all of this? Cause this," I waved my hand around emphatically, "doesn't fly with me!"

She batted her long eyelashes in a very feminine way, feigning innocence. She said with a highly stereotypical Southern accent, raising her voice a good two octaves, "Why, sweetheart, pegasi do fly!" Percy snorted, but I ignored him.

"You suck," I informed her, turning away quickly so she wouldn't see me blushing a light red, again. We approached the pegasi. One was jet black, and the other a creamy, pearly color. Percy swung aboard the black one with ease, and Annabeth climbed onto the lighter one.

"Aww, Kynan, why hide such a pretty face? Surely you're not blushing," Lissie taunted, grinning away like none of the events in the last ten minutes ever took place. She peered around to get a better look at my face. "Oh my, it isn't so! Someone call the police. This boy is blushing."

I ground my teeth in annoyance. The nerve! What an insufferable, bothersome little- Percy called, "Hey! Aren't you coming?"

Grateful for the distraction, I walked swiftly over to the black pegasus. Thank goodness Lissie won't be able to get a good look at my face as long as we're airborne. Why does she get on my nerves so much? She's just another pretty face in the crowd. I can't afford to get attached; I can't be responsible for bringing her closer to danger. The little voice in the back of his head nagged, But haven't you done that already?

I pushed myself up onto the pegasus' back behind Percy. Settling myself, I found Lissie waiting expectantly on the ground beside me. When I furrowed my brows in confusion, she motioned with her hand for me to move closer to Percy. Her posture was stiff with reluctance and wariness and it occurred to me, however well she could talk her way out of trouble, she truly did not want to mount the pegasis.

"Aren't you going to ride with Annabeth?" I asked, not moving an inch. "Unless, of course, you want to ride with me." I spat horsehair out of my mouth as the pegasus swished his tail angrily into my face. Lissie seemed to get the message, and vaulted up behind Annabeth on the other pegasus.

"I'm not real good with heights, I'm not so sure about this," I heard her say, but Annabeth's response was too quiet for me to tune in on. I was curious about it, though, and vowed to ask Lissie about it later. Fear was written in bold letters across her face, but she didn't say anything else.

Strange, I thought. On the ground, only thirty some seconds ago, she seemed dauntless, but now I could almost see her trembling as she clung onto Annabeth for dear life.

The pegasus unfurled its wings, and the sensation of them beating, lifting us off the ground, was by far one of the coolest things I'd felt in a long, long time. I couldn't help a grin from breaking across my face as we soared into the air above New York. The grunge and grime of the city now far below us, I took a risk and stretched my arms out to either side, reveling in the cool breeze which whistled past my bare arms. I couldn't remember feeling this free since . . . . Well, since before my mom's recording deal.

It was then I noticed the medium-sized black backpack slung over Percy's shoulders. I'd have recognized that thing anywhere. "My backpack!" I shouted joyfully. Unzipping it hurriedly, I reached a hand inside and found, much to my relief, that my music player and CDs were still inside. I'd been building up my collection for a long time, and would've hated to lose so much precious time and money.

"Annabeth and I found it and another backpack, I assume the other one's hers, while we were tracking the two of you. Figured you might want it back, so we brought it along. You've got a nice collection there," Percy said. Why was he looking through my backpack? That was when I noticed the blue backpack slung over Annabeth's shoulder which Lissie was hiding her face in.

"So where exactly are you taking us?"

"It's called Camp Half-Blood. It's a safe haven for people like us." I tried not to get annoyed by Percy's people 'like us' comment. What were we, some kind of mutants? Werewolves, maybe? I'd seen a few episodes of Teen Wolf, and if my high school years ended up like that. . . . Well, at least it'd be easy to find a pretty girlfriend.

I glanced at Lissie. Her face was paler than usual, and she was already white as Casper the Friendly Ghost. She looked like she was about to be sick. That would be unfortunate. I imagined some ignorant, unsuspecting New Yorkers milling about to be pelted by mysterious vomit coming straight from the sky. Now that would be entertaining.

We had been flying for just over five minutes when the pegasi began to descend over the tip of Long Island. At first, all I saw was a strawberry farm and a beach. Then, as we got closer, I saw what must've been Camp Half-Blood spreading out beneath us. It was mostly field and forest, with a big lake at the center, and Greek style buildings dotting the landscape. Most of them looked fairly straightforward: an open-air dining pavilion, a swordplay arena, stables. But there were some unusually decorated ones forming a U-shape near the edge of the forest, plus a climbing wall which, as I watched, dropped lava and clashed together randomly.

For the entire duration of our landing, I was too awestruck to ask Percy any one of the thousands of questions circulating through my mind. One thing was clear: this was no ordinary summer camp. But if it didn't teach hiking and arts and crafts and stupid, useless camp songs, then what kind of camp was this?

I slid off the pegasus with ease once we touched the ground, landing in front of the stables. Percy said something to the pegasus and then stood beside me. Annabeth dismounted her pegasus gracefully, giving the equine a friendly pat on the neck.

Lissie, however, looked even greener than before. She stumbled awkwardly off the horse, letting her backpack fall to the ground and clutching her stomach and her head simultaneously. No sooner had she taken a step toward Percy and I when she pitched forward as if she'd been pushed over from behind by some invisible wind. I quickly darted forward and hooked my arms under hers, keeping the girl from falling to the ground.

"Mmmphrgh," Lissie moaned. I'm not sure how, but I had an inkling she was making some kind of sarcastic comment that, had she been better capable of speaking, probably would've made me blush for a third time today. I really hated how easily I blushed. It wasn't just for Lissie, anyone who could deliver a good compliment or a particularly dirty pick-up line could coax my cheeks into painting themselves a subtle shade of scarlet. Although Lissie certainly had a sizeable talent for doing so.

"Let's get you two to the Big House, Chiron will want to see that you've arrived safely." Annabeth wasted no time in marching toward a huge, paneled house. Percy effortlessly scooped up a highly unbalanced Lissie, carrying her like a baby toward the farmhouse much to her noisy protest. I had no choice but to scamper along behind them, adding Who the heck is Chiron? to my growing mental list of questions.

My mind was ever so gradually beginning to register what happened in the last half hour, that I was no longer in New York City, that I had absolutely no idea where I was and why and even who our rescuers were. Then the doubt came and it churned inside of me as we briskly walked, like boiling water pouring over the edge of the kettle. And then I exploded.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The three of them (well, Percy was still carrying Lissie) turned to look back at me and noticed that I was violently trembling, my knees suddenly rather unwilling to support my weight.

Annabeth said calmly, rationally, "Everything will be explained soon enough-"

"No!" I shouted, fighting the itching urge to stomp my foot like a petulant toddler. "That isn't good enough! What the hell just happened?! We were attacked by a drakon, and you people killed it, but we don't even know you yet we somehow trusted you two enough to go with you to this totally foreign campsite where we could be murdered and nobody would know!" I struggled to catch my uneven breaths.

"Today was going to be a good day because I was going to buy a CD, but then this little goon," I pointed wildly at Lissie and she at least had the decency to look ashamed, "stole my money and then I had to chase her around everywhere, so not only do I not trust you people, but I don't trust her either! In fact, I specifically DO NOT trust her, like, even in the tiniest slightest bit! Why am I here? My life was so different a half hour ago and now everything's changed and I WANT TO KNOW WHY!"

Our saviors were positively speechless and even Lissie was startled beyond words. She wiggled out of Percy's considerably loosened grasp and shuffled her way over to me, standing by my side. "I agree with Kynan." For some odd, inexplicable reason, her support comforted me. "We deserve to know the truth."

Percy looked like he desperately wanted to be somewhere else right now, so Annabeth took it upon herself to stress yet again, "Chiron is waiting for us-"

I opened my mouth to speak but Lissie beat me to the punch. "I don't give a rat's ass about Chiron!" The teenagers' eyes almost imperceptibly widened and she continued, "We deserve some answers, I ain't going anywhere unless we hear some. So," she dropped onto the lush green grass and curled up her legs, Indian-style, "you may proceed."

I plopped down next to her and watched them expectantly. "Well, we're waiting."

"Maybe we can just club them over the head and carry them," Percy suggested, and I didn't even know whether he spoke in jest. He sounded strangely serious. I really hoped he didn't do that; the guy looked like he could overpower me in one hit, and I was no rookie to fighting.

Annabeth squatted down in front of us like she were talking to four-year-olds instead of two kids only a handful of years younger than herself. Well, Lissie seemed to have the mental maturity of a four-year-old but I was a little offended. "Look, I know you're confused, but Chiron's the one who's going to be able to give you answers-"

"You can't explain any of this? You clearly know this place quite well, but only Chiron can give us answers?" There, I'd be willing to wager she wasn't expecting that! My sass was saved for the most dire situations.

"Well, we really need Chiron to-" Annabeth was probably annoyed seeing as this would now be the second time in a row I'd cut her off.

"Chiron this, Chiron that. I know he was a centaur who trained Zeus and Jason and some other important heroes, but that's all Greek mythology, it's ancient history. That Chiron would've died long ago. And besides, how am I- we- supposed to trust him?" I was so desperate to roll my eyes. Even just once would be enough. But something about Percy's and Annabeth's expressions held me back from doing so.

See, I was insightful enough to refrain from doing so but Lissie was not, so they directed their angry stares to her next. Sucker, I thought gleefully.

"This is so damn stupid," she said and I knew another rant was coming along. I made myself comfortable on the grass and prepared to watch the show. "We get attacked by an ugly-ass monster if I do say so myself, you save our sorry asses, then we take a ride on your handy dandy unicorns or pegasi or My Little Ponies, whatever the hell they are, and you can't even explain all that? Is this just so normal for you that you can't begin to comprehend what it might like for somebody that's confused as all holy hell, like the two of us? Jesus Christ, I'm stuck here wondering whether this is a really complex dream or some psycho injected me with LSD and this is the surprisingly realistic hallucination, or-"

Lissie was actually the one to interrupt herself. She jerked her head to the side and sniffed at the air, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Strawberries!" Like a child much younger than herself, she bolted to her feet and took off, completely and utterly distracted from our current altercation. Well, she had the attention span of a gnat.

Percy and Annabeth shared this 'I-can't-believe-this-is-happening-right-now' look and I sighed. Well, there goes my support system. She left me for fruit. "Um, maybe we should go after her? Just a suggestion. Y'know, so she doesn't end up pissing off the other campers and getting herself attacked. Actually, from my perspective, that'd be kind of funny, but I feel like you two wouldn't appreciate it."

Annabeth's stormy gray eyes flicked up into an eye roll and she reluctantly picked up the chase after her, Percy on her tail. Guess I ought to follow, I thought indifferently, running after the both of them.

We arrived upon Lissie impishly plucking at the juicy red strawberries, jamming a few in her mouth. Her eyes were glimmering with childish mischief. Percy, rolling his eyes slightly, wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a way that made it difficult for her to run off yet again. "Well, now that that's covered, let's head to the Big House." As she began protesting, he started steering her down the hill with a firm, "Now."

I wasn't so sure about all this, but I really had no other options, so I followed them. Annabeth leveled her pace to mine and Percy called playfully over his shoulder, "I think the Hermes cabin is about to add one more!"

"What's a 'Hermes'?" Lissie asked curiously and I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"It's one of the greek gods," Percy explained after a long moment of hesitance.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "We're meeting God? But I'm kind of an atheist!"

"No, no, greek god. Like, lower-case."

"Gee thanks, that really helped."

"Sarcasm noted." He was smirking down at her.

"Wow, good job, Sherlock." Her tongue was sharper than a switchblade. I gravitated over to Annabeth.

"So, Chiron can explain all of," I waved my hands around, "this?"

"Exactly. Everything will be cleared up too. And hey, I'm sorry about all of this. Everyone here knows how hard it is to learn the truth. Both Percy and I should've been a lot more understanding." I could hear in Annabeth's voice how hard this was for her to admit. I'd known a lot of performers whose pride got the best of them, but Annabeth clearly had this flaw well under control. I was impressed.

As we walked to the Big House, I looked around curiously at some of the other campers. Everyone wore orange T-shirts, and most carried weapons. I made a mental note to always watch where I was going; the way some of the campers waved their blades around for emphasis as they talked was putting me on edge. A group of girls were watching me inquisitively near the lake, whispering amongst themselves. I swallowed, realized I'd slowed down, and jogged to catch up with Annabeth.

At first, there appeared to be nothing extraordinary about the Big House (which was a relief because it seemed everything else at this camp was extremely out of the ordinary). It was just a solidly built house with two men playing a game on the porch. But actually, it was not at all what it appeared. For the umpteenth time today, I got the crap scared out of me. This time, it was thanks to a centaur.

"What does- Does he have- What the hell is going on?" I shouted, breaking into another panic. Honestly, though, this guy was freaking half-horse! Horse-dude turned around and smiled warmly at me, but it did nothing to ease the steady drip of panic seeping through my veins.

"Relax, child. I am Chiron," the centaur said. I swallowed hard. Lissie looked like she was going to run up and start petting Chiron any moment now, but luckily, Percy still had his arm draped over her skinny shoulders.

"As in the Chiron? The one in the stories who trains heroes and stuff?" I asked. I stole a glance at Annabeth. She was clearly the smarter one between her and Percy, so if she believed this stuff, then I supposed I'd be a fool not to. And nothing on her face suggested any kind of doubt. Damn, so then this is all . . . real?

"Exactly. Although I fear the stories may be a little more than just stories," Chiron explained. The man he'd been playing cards with stood up now, one hand wrapped protectively around an empty Diet Coke can.

Percy lost his hold on Lissie and the girl scampered forward, climbing onto Chiron's back before he had a chance to react. Chiron didn't seem to mind. "Cool! So you shoot arrows and kill monsters like every day?"

"More of these annoying scraps? I can't wait to get out of this place," the guy with the Diet Coke grumbled. He had a potbelly and frizzy, graying hair that probably could've housed vines. And not to mention his sense of fashion was absolutely atrocious. A neon green leopard print shirt and white pants patterned with colorful parrots clearly did not go together.

"Kynan, Felicity, this is Mr. D, our camp director. He also goes by Dionysus," Chiron went on. I stared suspiciously at Mr. D. How on Earth does Chiron put up with this thing?

"I didn't know there was a Greek god of Diet Coke," Lissie giggled. Percy bit back a smile, but I was inclined to agree.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to be a wine god?" I asked, motioning toward the soda can in his left hand. Dionysus' face turned three shades of scarlet.

"You two are as bad as Peter Johnson over there! I am the god of wine, fear me!" Mr. D barked. Percy, looking indignant, mumbled something along the lines of how that wasn't his real name.

"Then why are you drinking Diet Coke?" Lissie pressed on, shameless as ever.

"He got in trouble with Zeus, so he has to babysit us and not drink any wine for a few more years," Percy explained. I hadn't thought it possible, but Dionysus turned even more livid. Unfortunately, Annabeth was the outlet of his rage this time around.

"Annie Carter, don't you know better than to hang around idiots like these?" I was beginning to believe that this jerk was just screwing their names up on purpose. And who was he to call me an idiot?!

Lissie scrunched up her nose as if something putrid was stinking up the air and said, "A bit rich coming from you, don't ya think?" I watched the exchange with captivated interest, but for some odd reason, Percy, Annabeth, and even Chiron looked a little wary.

He crumpled up the soda can in his fist. "What is that supposed to mean, mortal?"

"Your fashion sense is literally blinding me."

Mr. D opened his mouth, presumably to hurl some horrible curse at us, but luckily, Chiron cut him off. "Well, since they're here now, why don't I give Kynan and Lissie a tour of the camp? Percy and Annabeth, I believe your cabins and activities are waiting for you, and I'm sure these two have a lot of questions."

"We do," I said wholeheartedly and Lissie nodded along with me, blissfully ignoring Dionysus's stony glare. Percy and Annabeth were rather happy to get away- because of Lissie, I assumed, I was being cordial enough. They gave us back our backpacks and then they were off.

We followed Chiron off the porch, leaving Dionysus alone with his Diet Coke and card game. When we were a safe distance from the Big House, Lissie and I began our Q&A session.

"So, this is Camp Half-Blood? What do we do here? How long can we stay?" I asked, giving Chiron adequate pauses in which to answer my questions. Lissie was preoccupied with observing a game of volleyball to our right. Of all things that were happening around here, with the pegasi and the centaur and- were those goat-people?!- Lissie was distracted by what was probably the most normal thing here. And somehow I was not surprised.

"Yes, this is Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place for demigods like you. Here, we'll train you in how to defeat monsters. If you're lucky, the gods might send you a quest, in which you'll leave the camp and perform some kind of task or errand for one of the Olympian gods. Most campers only stay for the summer, but a few stay the whole year," Chiron explained.

The centaur had only barely finished speaking when Lissie interjected, "Are those real satyrs?"

I cast her an incredulous look. It was hard to determine whether she was just plain ignorant, or had a busy mind, like me. When she caught sight of my expression, she snapped, "Close your mouth, Kynan, you'll catch flies. I know a few things of my own."

I scowled, and Chiron chuckled. "Yes, those are real satyrs. You're bound to meet several satyrs, nymphs, and naiads around camp."

"You mentioned monsters. What kind of monsters are we talking about here? I think I can handle ghosts and monsters under the bed, but are we going to have to face stuff like vampires and werewolves?" I asked. Lissie twitched, clearly itching to make some kind of joke about that. It seemed to physically pain her to resist, but luckily, Chiron answered my question before she could snap.

"You're thinking folklore, Kynan. Think Greek mythology. What kind of monsters would we be talking about now?" Chiron replied. I mentally slapped myself. Stupid question, Kynan. You're in a Greek camp.

"I'm guessing not sparkly Edward Cullens," Lissie said cheerfully, now noticeably more relaxed after she got the little snub out of her system.

I was not amused, however much I wanted to be. "Very funny, Lissie. You could be hampering my ability to stay alive here, you know?"

She pouted, but her trademark smirk (yeah, I only knew her for a couple hours and the number of times she'd smirked already was astronomical) indicated I was about to get burned. "I thought you were a New York City prostitute with nothing to fear but having your wallet stolen. Was I wrong?"

Chiron's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Excuse me?" She casually waved him like a pesky insect off and that did not please him.

"I told you, I'm not a prostitute. Desperate times call for desperate measures," I grumbled. Damn, how does she come up with this stuff?

"All right you two, settle down now. Anyway," Chiron went on, "perhaps by dinner tonight your godly parents will claim you."

"Wait, why d'you think that?" Lissie's eyes burned with curiosity. "Are we, like, just that special? Cool with me, I accept that. Cool with you, Kynan? Kynan?" Her happy demeanor melted away as she took in my stormy countenance. "Kynan, what's wrong?"

I was still stuck on the "p" word and only the "p" word, also known as "parent." Memories of my mom flashed through the forefront of my mind. I could feel tears beginning to make their way toward my eyes, but I refused to cry, especially in front of Lissie and Chiron. If my mom was coming to camp, I had to get out of here.

"Uh, thanks, but um, I've got some, ah, pressing business to attend to," I stammered before taking off toward a nearby restroom. I was not going to have a breakdown in front of them. Behind me, Lissie was shouting something, but it was like white noise in space.

Before I could fling myself into the men's room, a hand on my shoulder yanked me back. The hand guided me around the back of the restrooms. Completely immersed in memories, I slumped against the restroom wall and crumpled to the ground, head in my hands and shoulders quivering.

"Kynan, what the hell is going on with you?" Lissie demanded, staring hard into my eyes. I couldn't hold it back any longer; a tear slid down my cheek.

"Are you excited to see my show, Ky?" my mother asked. She had the most beautiful smile, bright and radiant like the sun.

"Of course, Mom! I haven't gotten to see a show in so long!"

My memory skipped ahead to my mom's concert, the opening number.

"Are you enjoying the show, Kynan Morgan?" The voice belonged to my mom's manager, but it sounded deeper now, more grating. I turned around and found myself face to face with glowing white eyes. I stumbled back, grabbing the first thing I could reach, which happened to be a spare microphone.

"I hope you are, because this is the last show you'll get to see." The source of the voice leapt at me. I didn't wait to find out if this was some kind of cruel prank. I closed my eyes and swung my microphone at it. The microphone made contact with the creature's head, causing the beast to crumple to the floor.

Heart racing, I stood up and scrambled away from the monster. What if there were more of these? The creature had been pursuing me, not my mother, so maybe I could draw them away from her. It was the only plan I had. I took one last look at my mom standing on the stage singing the one song I'd helped her write, then sprinted into the darkness.

Lissie's eyes widened and it was obvious how much she was regretting the harshness of her previous statement. "Kynan, what's going on? Do you not want to meet your godly parent or whatever? You don't actually believe this stuff, do you? I don't believe in God or gods or . . . I don't know. But what's going on with you?"

"My mom . . . She's not a god. She's just a music star. Oh gods, if she's coming here . . . I can't . . ." My voice stopped with a rasping sob that I thinly disguised as a cough. Another tear traced a shining trail along my cheek. Now you've done it, Kynan.

Lissie froze up for a moment, clearly unsure of what to do, but she eventually decided on leaning over and awkwardly patting me on the shoulder. "It's okay, Kynan. Everything's gonna be all right. It didn't sound like she was coming, at least from what Chiron said. He stressed the godly parent part."

"Godly?" I asked weakly, too distraught to come up with any ideas as to what that might mean.

"Yeah." Darkly, she muttered under her breath, "Trust me, it can't be regular mortal parents. The last I saw, the dead weren't walking."

My gaze snapped onto Lissie's face, eyes wide. The dead weren't walking? Does she mean . . . her parent is dead? Now I felt more ashamed of myself than before. Not only had I broken down in front of a girl I'd known for little more than an hour, but I'd also gotten emotional over my mom who was far away and probably thought I hated her guts when her parent was dead.

"Lissie, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean . . ." I noticed the moisture glistening in her eyes, and before I knew what I was doing, I'd stood up and was hugging her as if she were the last breath of oxygen on Earth.

She stiffened like a board underneath my hold but then relaxed into the hug. "No chick-flick moments . . . Sammy," she said faintly and I smiled- even through her grief, she managed to summon up a Supernatural reference.

"Jerk," I said playfully as I pulled away and her lips quirked up into a broad grin of her own.

"Bitch," she replied without even a single beat of hesitation.

"Assbutt!"

"Hey," she protested, "only Castiel is allowed to say that . . . idjit."

I began to laugh at the sheer improbability of the situation, and within seconds I had to release Lissie in order to clutch my stomach as I broke into full-on hysterical laughter. This time it was tears of laughter running down my face. She dealt with the pain through sarcasm and jokes, and I managed it with laughter.

"You need therapy," she chuckled but soon enough, she displayed herself to be equally "crazy" as me, because she started laughing just as hard. What could I say? My laugh was adorable and infectious.

"Are you two all right?" The clatter of hoofbeats alerted us to Chiron's presence. We looked up in unison as the trainer appeared around the corner, looking worried. I shared a look with Lissie. Oh right, Chiron. . . .

"Yeah, we are. Sorry about that, Chiron," I said with a nervous laugh. I dusted off my jeans, stood up, and offered a hand to Lissie. A man could always be chivalrous. She accepted my hand, and I helped her to her feet.

Chiron didn't seem particularly soothed by my response, but thankfully, he accepted it. The older man opened his mouth, probably to suggest we continue the tour, but footsteps cut him off. A blonde boy wearing glasses and built like a Roman statue came jogging around the corner.

Rory's A/N: I swear I'll make Goldie write an author's note. I'm just having too much fun updating. Thanks for reading! :)