So, in order to compensate for my long update time, I made the chapter extra long ;)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my own characters. All rights go to their respectful owners.

Percy sat (or rather, slouched) in an armchair inside Will's cabin. Horace and Will set about making coffee and preparing a meal. Halt sat on a wooden chair in front of Percy, looking him in the eyes sternly.

"Where exactly did you come from, Percy?" Halt asked, arching an eyebrow. Percy shifted in his seat.

"From...New York. As for how I came here, I have no clue. I kind of just...fell down a ravine and landed here," he replied sheepishly.

Halt narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And…you think I'll believe that?" He said dryly.

Percy threw up his hands in defense. "I swear! I'm telling the truth. Look, it sounds crazy, but it really

happened." he insisted.

Halt sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, regarding the boy evenly. Will and Horace came into the living room, bringing mugs of coffee and bowls of rabbit stew.

Halt gratefully accepted a mug from Will, and he sipped at it appreciatively. Will offered Percy a cup, but Percy declined. "No thanks, I don't drink coffee."

Will rose an eyebrow at that, wondering how one could be deprived of such a luxury by choice.

Will and Horace pulled up two chairs beside Halt, and watched Percy intently.

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together. "You still haven't answered my question; where am I?

"For starters, you're in Araluen," Horace answered.

Percy had a far-away look in his eyes when he heard the answer. Araluen. He heard that name before.

"Araluen…," Percy repeated wistfully, as if he was in a trance.

The Araluens exchanged glances of concern. Percy sat there for a minute or two, staring blankly into the fiery-red glow of the fireplace.

Percy studied the Araluens more closely. Then, his eyes fell upon the mottled grey-green fabric of the cloak slung over Will's shoulders. His eyes widened as understanding dawned on him. He knew exactly where he had seen that pattern before. His gaze swung over to Will's neck. Hanging from a chain, was a silver oak leaf; exactly like the one Alyssa always wore, except hers was bronze. Percy had just thought the necklace was for good luck or something, but now, he realized that both Will and Halt were dressed very similarly to Alyssa.

Percy tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His stomach was twisting into knots as he realized what had happened.

"D-Do you know Alyssa Cardon?" Percy stuttered, his eyes still locked on Will's oakleaf.

The three Araluens' heads snapped up at the name, and Percy knew he had hit a nerve.

"Alyssa?" Will repeated, his eyes wide. "What do you know of her?"

Percy took a deep breath before answering. "Alyssa...she's…," Percy hesitated. "She's at my camp...in the 21st century."

The colour drained from Will's face. All of a sudden, everything was fuzzy for Will. "T-That's...not possible. Does that mean you're…?" Will let the rest of the sentence hang, he couldn't bare to finish the thought.

Percy winced slightly. "Yeah… I guess we...switched places. Alyssa's safe and all, no need to worry. But I'm not sure how I or Alyssa will be able to get back home."

Horace laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Will stared blankly into space, as if all life had suddenly drained from him.

Finally, Will looked up into Percy's sea-green eyes. "Do you have any idea of how to get a hold of Alyssa?" he asked hopefully.

Percy shook his head gravely. "I wish. I honestly have no idea where to go from here." Will's hopes shattered

like porcelain.

"But...we have to do something!" Will protested, his eyes misting over slightly.

Halt looked at his former apprentice sympathetically. "Will, with no information at all, we can't do anything

about it. The only thing we can do is hope," he said gently.

Will nodded meekly. The tactical, Ranger side of him knew that there was nothing he could do about the situation. But the fatherly, caring side of him wanted to go out there and find her, somehow.

For a few minutes, there was dead silence as everyone finished up their coffee and meals. Finally, Halt addressed Percy. "Would you mind if us three could have a few private words?" It was worded as a question for permission, but Halt's tone left no doubt that it was an order, not a choice.

Percy nodded and stepped outside, shading his eyes with his hands as the Sun's rays hit him.

Once Percy was out of earshot, Halt leaned in closer to the two men. "Do you trust him?" he asked, a challenge creeping into his voice.

Horace thought for a moment. "I believe he's telling the truth," Horace said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I mean, there isn't really a sure way to prove that he's wrong." Will nodded in agreement.

Halt chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully. "I trust him as well. We're going to have to let him stay here until we figure this out. We might need him in the future."

Horace and Will chorused their agreement. Finally Halt called Percy back in.

"Percy, you can stay with Will until we can get you back home," Halt said.

Percy smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Halt."

Halt stood up and stretched. "Horace and I should leave. There's not much we can do right now. We've got to go back to our own jobs. I take it you can take care of Percy just fine?" Halt addressed the last part to Will.

Will nodded confidently. "I'll be fine."

Will followed Halt and Horace to the door and said their goodbyes. Will watched as Halt and Horace mounted and went their separate ways, their horses' hooves stirring up grey dust as they trotted down the dirt trail.

Percy's POV

I lay in bed that night, when I had another one of those dreaded demigod dreams.

I was in a large, square room, encircled by tall, stone walls. The ceiling was high up, like a cathedral. In other words, the entire room was bleak and lifeless. The only sense of warmth in the room were a few braziers, dotted around the perimeter of the room. Even with the light, the room was still dim, and I had to squint to see.

I went to dig into my pockets for Riptide, but of course, with my luck, I had no pockets. Great. I took a few cautious steps forward, waiting for something to happen. As if on cue, I heard a silky, ethereal voice hiss into my ear.

"Perseus." It sounded feminine. I whirled around, no one was there. A soft, melodic chuckle resonated off the walls.

"Courageous, brave, little Perseus," The mysterious voice mused. "I understand you're quite the hero."

"Who's there?!" I shouted, wishing that I had the familiar weight of Riptide in my hands.

A few meters away from me, a woman seemed to appear out of thin air, red particles swirling around her. She looked to be in her early twenties. She was clad in dented, rusty chain armor, with a battle-worn cavalry sword in her hand. She had long, blonde curls that cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall of gold. Her eyes were a stunning electric blue. The only flaw in her appearance were the long scars that ran down her face, as if she had been slashed repeatedly with a knife.

"My apologies. My name is Melaina Solace," she said, giving me a warm smile. But behind that smile I saw malice.

I was taken aback. "Solace?" I repeated. I only knew one other Solace, and that was Will, son of Apollo.

Melaina rose an eyebrow. "Yes," she answered shortly.

"Are you related to...Will?" I asked hesitantly. I instantly regretted the words as they came out of my mouth as Melaina's eye were overcome with vexation.

"Yes...Will's my brother," she said distastefully. "But that doesn't matter. What matters, is you, Perseus. Tell me, does this girl ring a bell?" She pointed to a wall, and it looked like it had turned into a live video. On the wall, was a picture of Alyssa, with a small smile, and her ever-present bow in her hand.

"Alyssa…" I whispered, staring at the picture intently. Melaina lowered her hand and the picture dissipated into red particles.

"Yes. She's a friend of yours, isn't she?" Melaina worded it as a question, but it was more of a statement.

"I...guess you could say that," I said, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. I wasn't sure exactly where this was going.

"Mhmm…Do you know why she was brought from her home all the way to your camp?" Her tone was sickly sweet, and I shook my head, too scared for words.

"I brought her in there," she said through gritted teeth. My widened. I tried to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth.

"She was the only way I could get revenge. You see, I was a demigod once, just like yourself. I was brought to this camp with Will when I was fourteen and Will was twelve. I waited years to be claimed by my father. My brother was claimed only a few days after he set foot into the camp. But did the gods care about me? No. I waited nine years to get claimed!" Her face was flushed, and her fist clenched tightly around the hilt of her sword. I winced, and took a few steps back.

"Naturally, I was angry at the gods. I was left in the dust, in the Hermes cabin. I was nothing but an outcast. Will didn't care about me anymore. He told me that he was 'where he belonged'. I had grown bitter, so I ran away from camp. Obviously, I never survived very long. I was so blinded by my anger that I didn't bother to bring any weapons with me. That's how I got these scars." She pointed to the long, thin scars that ran down from her forehead, to the base of her jaw. "I ended up in Hades' domain. I was trialed, and sent to Asphodel."

"And… what does this have to do with anything?" I interrupted, although that may not have been a smart idea.

"Do not interrupt," she growled. "As I was saying, I wanted revenge; on Chiron, on the gods, on my brother, and on your precious little camp. Soon, I'll see Olympus come crumbling down."

I had the urge to interrupt her again, but I decided against it and kept my mouth shut.

"When I was in the Underworld, as a spirit, I made a deal with Hades. He would allow me to set foot on this earth as I did before, on one condition; as I was brought back to the Overworld, I would promise to spill the blood of three demigods and cast their corpses into Tartarus, where their souls will be tormented for all eternity. Then, with my deal with Hades sealed, and out of the way, I will crush your camp and all of Olympus."

I took a few deep breaths, trying to process that. "So, you're saying that you would be brought back from the dead, if you killed three demigods? Then, you'd somehow be able to take over Olympus? Good luck with that, lady. My friends and I have stopped Titans, Giants, Gods, you name it, from destroying the world. You think that I'll bow down this time?" I threatened. I was very intimidating when I wanted to be, but Melaina threw back her head and laughed.

"Oh, Perseus. You really don't know what you're up against. Those Titans tried to use force to get their way. No, I'm much smarter than that. Now, this is where Alyssa comes into the picture. She's a remarkable fighter, if I do say so myself. But her emotions are rather...jumbled, currently. In simplicity, her mind, isn't really hers."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Stop talking in riddles," I snarled.

She gave me that malicious smile again. "Essentially, she's my little puppet, although she's not aware of that fact. I'm slowly taking over her being, which was why I took her from Araluen instead of any other demigod. She would be unfamiliar with the world of the gods, and that would make it easier for me to control her. Your friends are looking for you, Perseus. In fact, they chose the Underworld to go to first. Such a pity that they're walking right to their deaths."

I would've slashed her to ribbons right then and there if I had Riptide. "Your plan won't work. My friends are smart enough. They can stand against Hades. It's simply a lost cause," I challenged.

Melaina looked at me disapprovingly. "Don't bandy words with me, Perseus. You should be grateful I even told you that your friends are walking to their doom. The fact remains, that even if your friends escaped Hades, you'll still be stuck in Araluen, helpless."

I snorted indignantly. "I'll find a way. I always do."

Melaina's eyes glinted with amusement. "Oh, good luck with that. I'll be excited to see what you try and do about it. Goodbye for now, Perseus."

Her voice faded, and slowly, my vision faded to black.

Just to let you know, writing this chapter was like trying to solve a very complicated math problem. It took me a while to figure out everything.

Also, Melaina's character was kinda inspired by The Joker from The Dark Knight Rises xD And 'Melaina' means 'dark' in Greek, which is fitting for her character :P

Anyways…Thanks for reading! Feedback much appreciated!