Wow, the last three chapters I've uploaded have gotten zero reviews at all. That's weird. Normally I guess I'd shrug my shoulders and roll with it, but I'm not sure what to make of it now since Part II has been much harder to write than Part I. I'm a little worried. Well, I'll deal with it! I already knew from the start this wouldn't get that many reviews! However, I really do love hearing you guys's feedback once in a while, whether it's tips and tricks or just "that was coolz dude!" or "nah bruh, fix that", it does help a lot and keep me motivated, and I always try to improve it to make it better than it was before. So, just dropping in a word or two would be awesome! Anyway, I've said my piece!

Thanks to catnip99 and BitterSweet256 for the favs and follows! (Almost) more effective than a deadline in terms of getting me to actually sit down and write this stuff! Knowing that people are WAITING/PRODDING ME WITH STICKS for me to finish each chapter! So here goes!

CHAPTER 15: IT'S A DOG-EAT-HELLHOUND WORLD (Ludmila's thoughts)

When I heard the words 'quest' I kind of expected to fly on a dragon halfway across the country on an epic journey. I wasn't expecting a multiple hour bus ride.

We'd gone a couple of miles south with the help of our all – seeing camp security guard, but the rest was up to us. I suggested that we just take a plane to Atlanta, but then our passports and tickets would be the least of our worries on this trip. Airport security would go mental with all the weapons we were carrying. A bus was our best bet, and it would keep us constantly on the move so we wouldn't have to deal with monsters for a while. Unless there were monsters already on the bus. I was told by Reika that if that happened, then we would be fine as long as we tipped the whole bus over and ran the rest of the way. Maybe it was a good thing that the start of the quest wasn't so exciting.

When we finally arrived, we paid the conductor and disembarked, leaving our only safe haven behind us as the bus drove away on its path.

"Well then, now that we're here, where do we start?" I asked. "We can't exactly go to the pawn shop and ask if they have any doomsday devices."

"You'd be surprised," Zodiac said. "But you're right, this isn't one of those trinkets. If we're gonna get this thing, we need to go somewhere where the song of the sea is strongest. Well, ocean in this case. And obviously, that would be the beach."

"What are we even looking for anyway?" Biko asked. "It kind of helps to at least know where to start…."

"We're looking for a Kantele," Zodiac said. "But not just any kantele, but Väinämöinen's kantele."

"Väina… what? And what's a kantele?"

"Ooh, I know this one!" Biko exclaimed, almost jumping out of his socks. Then, he became as stoic as a rock, standing upright and clearing his throat. "A kantele is a type of stringed instrument, similar to a zither. It's like a big harp, but instead of being large and open, the strings are against a board, and you lay the instrument flat on a table or your lap instead of playing it upright." I stared at him for a few seconds, wondering how or why he even knew that. From how prepared he looked, this was probably going to become common.

"He's… actually right," Zodiac said, although he looked equally surprised himself. "And Väinämöinen, or Wainamoinen if you want to anglicise it, was a hero from Finnish folklore, probably even a demigod, like us. It's said that he killed a pike and forged the first ever kantele using its jawbones, and probably a few other bits and bobs. This instrument had the very power of nature itself, and could sway even animals to its tune, but he dropped it in the sea. Ever since then, the sounds that you hear at the beach have just been the sea jamming tunes on his kantele. He later made a replacement out of wood, but he still hangs onto it, and being from Finland, we can't really get that one."

"So… the sounds we hear at the sea aren't being caused by the crashing waves and the birds around us… but by a magical harp lost in Finland."

"Well… yes. And no. I'm not gonna pretend to understand it, but magical and godly stuff can be both true and false, so we're probably not going to erase all beach noises from existence or whatever. What I do know is that this kantele is an incredibly powerful instrument, much stronger than your everyday lyre from the Apollo cabin. Its power controls the crashing waves of the ocean itself, and even its inferior copy was strong enough to control even the creatures of hell. The best part is that it isn't even that hard to get."

"If it isn't that hard, why has nobody stolen it yet?" I asked.

"That's probably because people either don't realise that it's here, or because nobody knows how to summon it. For now though, let's head to the beach."

"Yeah! Hey, why don't we head to the boardwalk?" Biko asked. "There's cool rides and stuff and weird foods and stuff, and since we'll be near the sea, we can get this mystic instrument thing too."

We headed through the streets, and I kept on glancing at Biko's sword. There was no way to hide that this thing was a blade, a tool for murder, but nobody seemed to bat an eyelash at it apart from a few little kids. I guessed that Zodiac wasn't lying when he said that mortals didn't notice these things. Maybe they saw it as a really fancy baseball bat?

Although, while nobody was nearby, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. The massive towers and skyscrapers loomed over us as we walked, and I felt like a thousand pair of eyes were trying to stare right through me. The temperature must have dipped five degrees because it felt like there were shadows crawling down my neck.

Either nobody else noticed, or nobody else cared, because by the time we reached the boardwalk, all Biko could talk about was the endless array of attractions that stretched out to the edge of the ocean.

"Man, this place is the best!" he cried out. "It's like a floating amusement park!"

"No need to get so excited, it's just a boardwalk," I replied, but I couldn't help but smile at his childish enthusiasm. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and he was biting his knuckles to stop himself from crying out. While I wasn't sure where he got the enthusiasm from, I at least saw where he was coming from.

Even ignoring the technicoloured street with its numerous brightly coloured shops that we were on, the boardwalk looked like somebody had melted a rainbow and splashed it onto a pier. There were brightly coloured tents and stalls of various colours, with food, drinks, and rigged mini games that would make you giggle and laugh as they discreetly stole your money. And then there were the great goliaths of the boardwalk, the massive attractions. A Ferris wheel that was trying to scrape the sky, a massive pendulum looking thing, and… a giant slingshot? It was hard to tell whether it was an amusement park ride or a complex torture device.

"So, what do we have to do?" I asked.

"Well that's easy my young compadre. We just have to summon the instrument from the depths of the ocean! Well, from the spirit of the ocean I guess, but who cares about the technicalities!"

"So… we do that by…." Zodiac shrugged his shoulders.

"You mean to tell me you sent us here while you didn't even know how to get it?"

"Hey, the only thing I knew was that this one wasn't guarded! Do you want to go find the Philosopher's Stone in Fort Knox?"

"Wait, there's a real Philosopher's Stone?" Biko asked.

"Well yes, but hunting that wasn't part of the bargain."

"Right… we have to follow the law of equivalent exchange huh?" I was sure that he could feel our unblinking, unregistering faces. "Uh, you know… like, since it's a bargain, it's a kind of deal, and everything follows the law of equivalent exchange, and since he mentioned a philosopher's stone which breaks that law…." If there was one thing I noticed, Biko liked making a lot of quotes and references, but he was definitely trying too hard with this one. Even if I did get the reference, I was pretty sure I would still let him know that the joke had passed. "Hey, let's go check out that hot dog stand," he whispered, meekly raising a trembling finger at a line of sketchy looking food stands.

"Food. Good plan," Zodiac said, trying his best to ignore that painfully awkward stretch. "It's nothing spectacular, but it should help us to keep our energy up. So, who's paying? Not it!"

"Not it!"

"What?" Maybe it was unfair to leave ordering and paying for the meal to Biko who's speech seemed to have failed him, but I didn't really want to do it either. Technically we all had the same shared funds, but it just meant that it would come out of his share instead of mine. He looked like he wanted to protest but couldn't muster the courage, so he headed for the hot dogs. I looked at Zodiac with worry and he nodded his head. We followed him in case he embarrassed himself.

The guy running the stand looked like he was a few days away from retirement, with greying hair and a pipe between his teeth. There was a strange, almost star shaped scar in the middle of his forehead and he smelled like smoke. Despite his slightly mobster like appearance, he smiled at us as we arrived.

"And what would you like today my lovely customers?" he asked.

"Uh… three – three hot dogs," Biko stuttered.

"With mustard," Zodiac added.

"With mustard."

"And chilly, lots of it," I interjected.

"And lots of chilly."

"So three hot dogs with mustard and chilly, right?" The man asked.

"No, just mine with mustard!" Zodiac yelled.

"Three chilly dogs, one with mustard?"

"No mustard on mine."

"And no chilly on mine!"

"Two chilly dogs, one with mustard, one hot dog with mustard."

"Wait, no chilly for Biko! Does Biko want chilly?"

"Or even mustard?"

"Uhh… guys…." Biko looked like he was about to be sick. As soon as I noticed, I stopped talking. At first I thought that maybe he didn't like the air around the sea, but he was rubbing his temples like he was finding it really hard to concentrate, a pained expression on his face. Pretty much every camper was ADHD, and everyone on the autism spectrum displayed it differently. I guess for Biko, he couldn't focus at all if too much stuff was happening.

"Just… put whatever," He muttered. His vision looked pretty out of focus, and he was staring at one spot in front of him. I figured I would just take his hot dog until he calmed down a bit and could take it himself. Then, as if it was loaded on a spring, his head snapped to his left. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and checking for something, though I had no idea what. For a second I was starting to think that he had lost it.

"Biko? What's wrong?" I asked. "Helloo?" I waved my hand in front of his face, but there was no response. Zodiac grabbed his hot dog from the stall owner and waved it under his nose. Eventually, he snapped back to the world of the living.

"Sorry, you say something?"

"We were trying to hand you your hot dog but you spaced out. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just thought that I saw something, that's all," he said as he took his hot dog. It was drowning in ketchup and mustard, and a third mystery sauce I didn't want to identify.

"What? What did you see?" Zodiac asked. His voice sounded urgent, nothing like the lax guy who had been with us the whole time.

"Umm… I dunno, it looked like some kinda weird dog or something."

"What breed was it? Colour and size?"

"I-I dunno, I don't know their breeds, and I didn't see it properly, it must have slipped away or something…."

"Colour, size." He repeated. He was looking around nervously, and he was digging his hands into his hoodie's pockets.

"Black, really big, like it could eat Ludmila or something."

"Hey!" I called out. Zodiac didn't care, pulling out a slingshot and a silver ball the size of my thumb. The hot dog seller looked at us in concern.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nah, everything's fine," Zodiac lied. I could tell that everything was not fine, but I didn't know what or why. He turned to us and whispered: "everything is not fine."

"I think we realise that already," I said, already fidgeting on the spot. I didn't like the way things were going.

"Guys, I think we're being followed," Zodiac said.

"By who?"

"Not who, what." Before we could say anything else, Zodiac's eyes widened in shock. He dived at us, tackling us straight to the ground. Just before we hit the ground, everything around me disappeared, replaced by a psychedelic sea of colours and lights. It felt like going bungee jumping through a tornado. Then, it all stopped, and we collapsed on the wood. I got up, my head still spinning from the trip.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Teleportation," Zodiac said. "And for good reason too. Check that out." We turned around to look where he was pointing. Right on top of where we were standing (twenty feet away? Whoa…) was a massive dog the size of a bear. Actually, maybe it was a bear, but it had glowing red eyes and the head of a mastiff, and was slobbering all over the shattered bits of wood beneath its claws. The old man had jumped backwards, shocked into momentary silence. I was amazed that it could sneak up on us so efficiently. I was also equally amazed that nobody else was running and screaming in panic. They were just kind of curious, milling around it and pointing.

"What the hell is that?!" Biko asked as it looked up at us. Its growl sounded more like a very loud chainsaw than a dog.

"Your choice of words couldn't be more perfect," Zodiac said, although he was looking around instead of at the dog before us. "That is a hellhound. They never lose their target and they can also teleport to anywhere that has a shadow."

"Teleporting hellhounds… great." The hellhound leaped at us, obliterating the hot dog stand as it travelled through it. We scrambled, just barely avoiding getting impaled. I stumbled and fell to the ground, rolling to get up quick. I was standing in the shadow of the Ferris wheel, wondering if anybody high up on it could see what was happening. I could feel warm breath on my neck and hear the deep rumble of a hellhound. Panicking, I dived out of the shadow again. Something heavy slammed into my side, sending me sprawling to the ground.

Pain flared up in my ribs. It was like somebody had poured gasoline over me and set it on fire. The wind had been knocked right out of me, and trying to stand up was like lifting twenty elephants. Looking around, I could see the shadows shifting, like they were trying to force themselves to come to life. Where there were only two hellhounds, there were now thirteen, and all of them wanted our throats.

The hellhound that had tackled me to the ground was diving at me, but before it could gouge out my face, it disintegrated into dust, just as quickly as it appeared. Zodiac was standing behind it, his slingshot held in front of him, its strap still jiggling from use. He ran towards me and picked me up off the ground.

"Stay focused, kid," he said. I nodded my head and stood a little bit behind him. I didn't even try bringing out my own weapon because I was too freaked out to even think about it.

Zodiac reloaded his slingshot and fired another slug into the skull of a hellhound, the whole thing toppling over to the ground. Just beneath it was Biko, who was being pinned down until just a moment ago. Another shot fired later and the hellhound disintegrated into nothing.

"Biko, don't forget that you've got a weapon!" Zodiac roared. "Fight or you'll die!"

"R-right!" he stammered, getting up and drawing his sword with the satisfying sound of metal against leather. He held his sword in front of him, his stance wide and knees flexed. He looked like he was trying to hold a katana, not a short sword. Did he learn that stance from an anime?

Anyway, he changed it up pretty quick, swinging it like a baseball bat, knocking a hellhound flat. He finished it with one wild swing down at its neck, guillotining it before it turned to dust. Two more exploded into sand as Zodiac shot them, but they were just replaced by four more. I stopped focussing on Biko when I noticed a shadow shimmering to Zodiac and I's right.

"Over there, two o' clock!" I yelled. Zodiac aimed and fired, vaporising it before it could materialise. Another two bounded towards us from the left. "Two of them, nine o' clock!" He fired two at once, the dogs exploding with agonised howls. Five more were in front, and I could hear more growling to our right again. I swear I could see one on the Ferris wheel trying to dive down on us. "There's too many of them!" I screamed.

"Yeah, I know," Zodiac replied, shooting the one on the Ferris wheel off and into the ocean. "We've got to find some way to thin their numbers or escape." Option number two was looking more enticing by the second as two hellhounds kind of oozed their way up through the floor. We turned around and legged it, shamelessly even, weaving between confused pedestrians and pushing them aside. Some of them were now starting to freak out and back away as the hellhounds approached. I was wondering what the mist was making mortals see now as we were hunted through the boardwalk. An army of demon poodles perhaps?

We sprinted halfway across the boardwalk, only occasionally slowing down to decapitate a hellhound or for Zodiac to shoot one or two between the eyes. That is, until we made it to the end of the boardwalk.

"Dead end," Biko said. I wanted to add literally to that seeing as we were being chased by the spawn of hell, but I didn't want to somehow jinx it so our chances of survival were worse.

Again, I felt a cold chill running up and down my spine. That must have been the chill of death or something else poetic like that. I turned around, looking at the army of hellhounds before us.

"I don't wanna die," Biko whimpered. The fact that he didn't pick a set of famous last words to quote was probably a sign that things were a bit too grim for clear thought.

"Well that's not a problem," a familiar voice said. The old man from before walked forward, dusting off the little cap he had been wearing. His clothes looked a little scratched up, but apart from that, he was fine. "All you have to do is simply not die."

I wanted to say some quip back, but my courage was failing me. I could feel my fear bubbling as the army slowly prowled towards us. Calm down, Ludmila, I told myself. You have to stay focussed, look for an escape route, any clues for… wait, that man….

"Hang on, you can see them?" I asked. I hadn't noticed at the time, but back when they first appeared, he was the only person who actually looked scared of the hellhounds, even now as everybody stared at us.

"Of course. After all, hellhounds are pretty common down in the underworld." His eyes turned as black as a wormhole, and there was a small ring of fire around his feet. "We were simply searching the area, you know, doing our job. I was actually on my break. I didn't even realise that you guys were demigods until the Hell Hounds picked up your scent. Ruined my break too since I have to destroy you now…."

"I'm guessing that guy's a monster too?" Biko asked, his sword slipping a little as he fumbled to hold it still.

"Yeah, though I have no clue what," Zodiac replied. "I just know that he's definitely not friendly if the Hell Hounds aren't attacking him. Biko, you take him on. We'll deal with the Hell Hounds." Biko nodded and charged at the old man.

"Get lost!" the man roared, catching his blade and slapping him, sending me flying across the boardwalk.

"Biko!" I cried.

"Ludmila, focus!" Zodiac yelled. It hurt, but I tore my eyes away from him. He would have to deal with that guy himself. We had a much bigger problem. Or rather, problems.

A hundred different hellhounds were all leaping and diving for our throats, and the closer they got to us, the harder it was for Zodiac to concentrate on fighting them.

"Grab my shoulder," he said. I nodded my head and placed my hand on it. The world spun out of focus again, colours seeming bright and alien before returning to normal. We'd only moved twelve feet away, but where we were standing at first was now a whole dogpile of enemies. That's when I suddenly remembered that I had weapons too.

I gulped and stretched my hands behind my back, unzipping my backpack and pulling out two Ziploc bags, my fire poi still inside them. I tore them open, the guilt of leaving plastic lying around leaving my mind as I stretched my poi out. They dangled to the ground, suspended in the air by the chains leading up to my hands. I swung them a few times experimentally.

Poi aren't meant to be used as weapons, but I'd been bruised enough times as them to know that they could pack a punch if they were made of the right stuff, and it didn't come much tougher than Celestial Bronze. I swung them around me in a whirlwind, a protective field of Kevlar and bronze protecting me in a beautiful X shape. The first hellhound dived at me, and I smacked it hard in the face, the hellhound spiralling through the air before Zodiac finished it. While I tried building up momentum for the right poi again, I slammed the left one into a second hellhound, finishing it with both Poi at once, crushing it with ease.

Two more hellhounds exploded just before they could chomp me in half. As long as Zodiac was covering my back, I would be fine.

And then I heard screaming. Not my own, of course.

I turned around and saw Zodiac wrestling with a hellhound, the creature's jaws just inches away from his face.

"No!" I cried, sprinting towards him. My whole body felt like magma was flowing through it, and I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, magnified a thousand times. Everything seemed lighter, like I was seeing through a haze, and my outstretched arm was glowing white. As soon as I was in range, I swung my poi at it, but something else happened instead. As soon as it came into contact with it, it burst into flames, the whole hellhound lighting up like a firework as it toppled over onto the boardwalk, howling in pain before it burnt to ashes. Zodiac got up, a little dizzy but only mildly singed.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah I'm fine – Holy Hera! What's happening to you?" I looked at my hands. Actually, my whole body was glowing, and it felt like any second now I was going to burn up. But it didn't exactly feel painful. It felt… warm.

I turned to face the hellhounds, my fists clenched tight. Both of my poi had now caught fire, balls of red flame on the end of them. With this power… I could take on anything!

A hellhound dived for me. Laughable effort. I sidestepped with ease, kicking it in the stomach and sending it careening across the boardwalk in a skidding ball of flame. I turned around and swung both of my poi sideways. It didn't even feel like it hit, cleaving through them like they weren't even there. I swung them around me in gorgeous arcs, shredding everything to beautiful, burning pieces. Everything within two metres of me got turned to ash.

How many did I even destroy? I lost count somewhere around twenty two. And just before I struggled with two! But even with all that power, there were too many of them, two more appearing for every one that I killed. Before long, we were surrounded. At least it couldn't get any worse though, right?

An explosion went off to my left. A brilliant, golden explosion with bits of golden metal flying everywhere. Standing right in the middle of it was Biko, his sword embedded in the middle of the old man's gut. Biko's sword arm was bleeding and he was breathing heavily, but the old man also had cuts and lashes all over his body. What scared me though, was when Biko withdrew his sword. He was just holding a hilt with a jagged part of the blade. The rest of it was nowhere to be seen. He collapsed to his knees, the old man towering over him with something that looked like amusement.

"Wow, kid, for a second you surprised me there," he said. "But you were still a disappointment." He raised his hand, a massive red and orange fireball building between his fingers. I felt the air go ice cold again. Just then I realised that something was wrong. If that old guy had fire powers, and hellhounds came from hell, then why did the air keep turning frigid?

My answer? Half of the hellhounds in front of me just suddenly vaporising. Standing just in front of me was a guy holding a big black sword, held out to his side like he had just swung it. The sword alone looked like it was made of a collapsed star. The guy looked, and felt like death's angry kid brother.

He looked eighteen, and his skin was ghostly white, with long shaggy black hair that almost covered his eyes. There was a kind of mad glint in them, like he hadn't just been to hell, but like hell was his backyard. He wore black trousers and an aviation jacket on top of a black Bon Jovi t-shirt.

"Wow, things are nastier than I thought," the guy said.

"Who the hell are-" The old man stopped midsentence, his eyes widening in recognition. He pointed a broken and bloodied finger at him. "You… you're The Ghost King!"

"I've been called that before," he conceded, then proceeded to decimate everyone. His blade moved like it was lightning. No movement was wasted, no slash was dodged or blocked. Five more hellhounds were dropped before they even realised what was happening. One of them tried to get away. The Ghost King pulled out a bunch sharp stones, maybe fangs, and tossed them into the ground. Somehow, some way, entire skeletons dug their way out of the planks, splintering wood as they rose, already dressed in full gear. He had a miniature platoon on his side, all decimating the armies of hellhounds, especially the ones that tried to run.

"Stop that!" the old man roared, but before he could do anything else, Biko decked him right in the face, his fist colliding with bone with a satisfying crunch. The old man staggered backwards, clutching his bloodied nose in pain. The Ghost King finished it up, chucking his sword at the guy. It embedded itself in his chest, the man choking out globs of blood as he stared at the weapon in surprise. He snarled and glared at the new arrival.

"This isn't over!" he spat. "If it weren't for you arriving here…."

"Whatever, just get out of my sight," the teenager shot back, pointing at the old man. The man convulsed, howling into the sky, black smoke streaming out of his nostrils and mouth. He inhaled them all back and roared, an inferno engulfing him. When it died down, he was gone, just leaving behind the sword that returned to the newcomer's hand like it was made for it. I was still awestruck when Zodiac yelped in alarm. I focussed again, spinning my poi with even more force than before.

I hacked, whacked, and smashed my way through them all until I wasn't even sure if I was still hitting anything anymore, but I didn't care, I'd gotten into my groove. I twirled, spun and flipped, dancing across the boardwalk. Finally, I intertwined the poi together, letting them spin around each other as one massive ball of fire instead of two smaller ones. When I pulled them apart again, the flames had gone out, leaving them safe to land in my hands.

I blinked in confusion. There really was nothing remaining. All of the hellhounds had been annihilated. And even more surprising, it looked like I'd attracted a crowd.

The end of the boardwalk erupted into cheers and applause, Zodiac and Biko included. It felt dizzying at first, like I had just been pulled out of a dream. Nervously at first, I started smiling, bowing to my audience. Biko rushed towards us, sheathing what tiny bit of his sword remained into its scabbard.

"Whoa, Ludmila, that was so cool!" he yelled. "Could you always do that?!"

"I dunno, I guess so," I said, an embarrassed smile on my face. "I was just so scared, but then they started attacking Zodiac and I freaked out, and I just…."

"Just took out half an army of hellhounds," Zodiac said. "I'm genuinely impressed. For a second there I was thinking of abandoning you guys actually…."

"What?!" Biko and I both screamed.

"It was a joke. A joke!" We were interrupted by the rumbling water behind us from the ocean. A giant shoot of water burst up like an enormous geyser, spouting gallons of water thousands of feet into the air.

You who have performed with a grace worthy of the sea, a voice said. It was as loud as thunder, clear as crystal, and I couldn't tell if it came from the water or inside our own heads. We stared at the water, completely dumbstruck by what was happening. You have slain the spawns of the underworld and changed the hearts of those who follow you. You have attracted a crowd with nothing but your grace and skill. You are indeed one worthy of carrying on the legacy of my master. Make use of my power and go forth! Let your song and dance change the world!

The geyser opened up like a curtain, a kantele revealing itself as it floated down towards us. It looked a little bit like a harp that had been turned so it was flat and given a flat ivory board to rest upon. There were a few tuning pegs near the base of the kantele.

It gently floated towards me, and I raised my hands, palms upturned. As soon as it landed in my hands it warped into a pure white acoustic guitar with a black neck and fret board. I looked at the beautiful instrument in amazement, then up at the geyser. The geyser receded back to the ocean, disappearing from sight.

"Umm… so is this it?" I asked.

"Well it came from the sea," Zodiac said. "It's made of bones and stuff too… I guess your performance fulfilled the requirements for getting it?"

"You can test it out later," the newcomer said. Suddenly, I remembered that we weren't alone.

"Thanks for saving us back there," I said. "There's no way we could have made it without your help… but who are you, and why did you save us?"

"I'll answer your question when our lives aren't in danger." Just as he said that, he swung his black sword out to his side, disintegrating another Hell Hound before we could even notice. A whole wave of them had come back for round two. He turned around and slashed at them, his blade moving like lightning, every movement signalling the end of another monster. By the time he sheathed his sword again, he was surrounded by a mound of monster dust. "Once Hell Hounds catch your scent, you can't escape. Not through normal means at least."

"So how the heck do we get outta here?" Biko asked. From the state of his arm, it didn't look like he could keep fighting. The stranger looked around, then smiled as his eyes locked onto a big gift store.

"Just follow me. I know a shortcut." I was pretty sure that he was going to sprint to get there with imminent death approaching us, but he just walked casually over to it. I wanted to sprint ahead, or even jog, but I didn't actually know where he was going, so I held in my anxiety and walked, impatiently, after him.

As soon as we all stepped into the buildings shadow… well, maybe you don't really get what I mean, but we literally stepped into the shadow, or through it rather, like it was a puddle. Well, as soon as we stepped in the shadow, we started falling through it, leaving the boardwalk behind us as we fell through infinite darkness. There was no wind, no substance, not even sound (or else I would be able to hear myself screaming). I could just faintly make out someone's silhouette, but I couldn't even tell who's. Then, we were standing on solid ground again.

I didn't go splat from falling from who knows what height. In fact, it was almost like the whole ordeal hadn't happened. Except that we were somewhere totally different. It was still a city, but this definitely wasn't Atlantic City. We were on top of a building, looking down at a Town Square, and everybody had gathered around to watch something. When I looked down at them, I saw that somebody had set up a small stage coloured with the American Flag, a big cross above it against the red backdrop. There was somebody preaching, or talking, or doing something on the stage with a microphone, and whatever he was saying seemed to capture the attention of the people.

"Um, where are we?" I asked. The Ghost King looked around, then after thinking for two seconds, he nodded his head.

"Looks like we're in Ohio, halfway across the country," he replied.

"But… who are you?"

"Oh yeah, we've never been introduced huh? Well then, hi. My name, is Nico di Angelo."

IMPORTANT A.N: I am really struggling with this right now. Maybe you can't tell since I haven't had any gaps in updates or anything because I prepare chapters in advance in case this happens, but I'm tearing my hair out every time I sit down to write this. Now, it hasn't hit the point where it's not fun yet, but it's getting there, and I'm scared that it's going to start affecting the quality, or maybe it already has. I actually had to rewrite this ENTIRE chapter again on the same day I uploaded it, even though I already wrote it weeks in advance, and then edit it afterwards as well because it was just absolutely abysmal at first. If everything is still good, then I apologise in advance, but if it's noticeably gotten worse, I am so sorry, it's just difficult and I'm stressing about other things and it's just tricky. But, like usual when I'm struggling with writing something and stressed out, I have been writing for some other stuff on the side too. I normally can't write two things at once so don't worry, my focus is still here, but when I've got enough chapters ready in advance, I'm going to start publishing a good Powerpuff Girls fanfic!

Yeah, I know, TOTALLY WEIRD since everything else I've written has either involved giant robots, ghosts, or dragons, to suddenly write a Powerpuff Girls fic, but I can promise you that if you like this, then you will probably like that as well. Princess will be the main character and it will be full of adventure and comedy and action and witty dialogue and heart break and character building and all the stuff I try to pump this story with, and that's why I think that it will be good. I don't want to make any promises or estimates for when it will be ready, especially since I'm still working on this fic, but if you do want to know more about it, you can PM me or even ask in a review if you want. I'm always happy to talk.

Anyway, that's all for now. It looks like that's actually all of the favourites too! Anybody else who had favourited who I've not mentioned, like WiseGirlGeek for example, already followed and were already mentioned so yeah, that's that! Now I can use this space for something normal again! So, stay tuned (err... bookmarked?) for next Friday!