Hello everyone. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, because I sure did writing it. It was fun and very interesting to write in a lot of ways. I'll touch up on that later, but for now, just give it a read!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

On with the twelfth chapter. Traveling the Multiverse, what could go wrong?

12. I Jump Through Reality

Matt

When the kaleidoscope ended, I landed on a soft surface.

Everything was quiet, save for the muffled chirping of birds outside and the sound of pans clanging in the kitchen.

Wait. Outside? Kitchen?

I had my eyes shut tight when I lost consciousness, then I woke up in some kind of weird tunnel. Colors, so many colors, all swirling around in some weird dance.

Throwing caution to the wind, I slowly unlocked my eyelids and raised my head. I was in…a bedroom.

A really cool bedroom, actually. It was a good size, not too big and not too small. A TV sat comfortably on a dresser in front of me, a mirror behind it, completely blocking anyone from seeing themselves. Heh, that's something I would do, I have no use for those things anyway. Why would I want to look at my own ugly mug first thing in the morning?

The rest of the room was kinda suspicious too, suspicious in the way that it was so…me. Posters of my favorite video games and movies hung on the wall, a desk had been placed in the corner of the room, with a slight mess surrounding a laptop on the surface. To go drinks, some schoolwork, a phone charger.

For a second, it was enough to distract me from the fact that I was in a freaking house, laying in bed, and not in a muddy field. You know, like I'm supposed to be.

I shot up with a gasp and looked down. Different clothes, I wore different clothes. No chestplate, no jeans, no combat boots, and worst of all, no Viribus. Instead of that, I wore a shark tooth necklace around my neck, a fake one, not the one that I actually used to have. Along with boring pajamas, I was completely different in my current wear.

"What the hell…" I whispered, and looked at my hands. No marks, no cuts. I felt around my skin, my face, everywhere, and nothing. I was perfectly fine.

Okay, this is officially starting to freak me out. A million questions screamed in my brain, including the obvious. What the hell had happened? And where the hell am I?

"Matt!" A voice called from outside the door. "Hurry up, you're going to be late for school!"

Huh? School?

Thank the gods my mouth acted for me, otherwise I would've sat here all day like a vegetable. "Uh, I'll be right out!" I said, trying to keep my tone from sounding forced. Other people existed…wherever I was, so I needed to play it cool for now. A different area, a different me, an unknown voice. All of the signs pointed to him transporting me in someone else's home, far away across the world. Hendricks was trying to get me away from the battle, that was the crazy spell he had blasted at me.

But wait, that voice said Matt. My name. Okay, never mind, this wasn't just some random place in the world, this was…something else entirely.

I threw my legs over the side of the bed and slowed my panicked breathing. Be calm, be calm. Just go with it and see what you can find out. There's a solution, you just have to look.

A nod of determination, and I steeled myself to escape this place, casually. Levi said Hendricks specialized in illusion magic. Alright then, that voice could simply be an illusion, this entire house could be an illusion. I might actually be in some farmer's house near Eliza's. Everything was fine.

It took me a minute, but I searched the drawers and found an outfit that I'd wear. I wasn't picky, but shoot, this place didn't make it difficult. All of the clothes that I used to wear, as a regular person, were here. I went with jeans, sneakers, a plain red shirt, and a thin black jacket. I felt my hair to make sure it was in the same style, and it was. Interesting.

A knock at the door this time. "Matt, seriously, hurry up! You've been driving for a year now, so you need to be responsible and get yourself to school!"

My eyebrow raised at the voice. It was the same one, but hearing it clearer now, I kind of recognized it.

I walked over to it and put my hand on the knob, forcing a groan. "I'm coming!"

I opened it, ready to play myself off as a procrastinating kid, a regular teen late for school. But what I saw on the other side of the doorway floored me completely.

It was my mom.

Standing upright, her eyes annoyed and her hand on her hip. She didn't look insane or sick, she looked…healthy. As healthy as I'd ever seen her. Her hair was tied back in a brown ponytail, she wore yoga pants and a tight t-shirt, like she was about to go for a run.

I should've composed myself. But I couldn't. Seeing my mom staring at me like she knew me, like she wasn't scarred for life nearly brought me to tears of joy. I probably looked like a doofus, just standing there with my eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"M-mom?" Was my intelligent greeting.

She nodded, her eyebrows shifting from annoyed to concerned. "Yes honey, it's me. Are you alright?"

Okay, now's the time to act. You were asleep, you were dazed, having a dream or something. Decent explanation for your behavior. I had to keep all of my nerves as tight as I could just to pull this off. I'd dabbled in alternate universes before, as you've already seen, and it looked like this was yet another one. Hendricks…just what are you? Able to send me somewhere like this. It shouldn't be possible.

I shook my head and played it off, rubbing my forehead like I was tired. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just sleepy, that's all."

She gave a sympathetic pout, "I know, honey. Mondays are the worst." She smiled, "But look on the bright side, you'll see all of your friends, and that pretty girlfriend of yours…"

Girlfriend? Oh no. I'm supposed to fake a relationship here on top of all this? That's not going to bode over well.

Just what have I gotten into?

"Yeah" I said.

Her eyes brightened, "And you've got that game tonight! You've been looking forward to this one all week. Playing Westbrook."

"Westbrook?"

She cocked her head, "Westbrook high. Our rivals."

Crap, I should've guessed. Game means a sport, I'm a mortal here, and every high school has rivals. Come on Matt, adapt.

It was the quickness of the situation, that was it. One second, I'm fighting a wizard with my team, then the next I'm a mortal in a regular life. Once again.

Wait…am I a mortal?

I'd have to find out later. "Oh…right. Had a brain fart for a second there."

She reached out and pressed her hand to my forehead, "Are you sure you're alright?"

I nearly sighed at her touch. It had been so long since she'd done this. Remembering the last time I visited her, a couple of months ago, she'd been completely out of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…mom."

She took her hand away and studied me, giving that mom gaze that can pierce through any child and get them to admit the truth. Luckily it went away as quick as it came. She gave a half smile.

"Okay. You have a good day, sweetie." She kissed me on the cheek and started to walk off, "Your dad's leaving for work if you want to say bye!"

My dad? No way. Dad was dead. Hercules was dead. Even in this alternate whatever, you can't change that. As much as I want to, you can't change it.

Yet thinking that, my feet shuffled anyway. I crossed the corner of the hallway and into the kitchen, where I saw broad shoulders, and what looked like a police getup in front of me.

A gruff, deep voice followed, "So the zombie awakes. Gonna be late for school if you don't hurry up, bud. Bought you that car for a reason."

If I was a deer in headlights before, I was now. Definitely. Dad turned around with a coffee mug in his hand, in fact wearing a black button up police uniform, with matching pants and a belt full of utilities. His face looked the same as it did when I last knew him. Clean cut hair, neatly trimmed beard, a ruggedly handsome face, humongous muscular frame. It was Hercules, the mortal version.

"Why you looking at me like that?"

I almost didn't catch him, but I did. I can't help it, seeing him…alive, it was unreal. No, surreal. Every fiber of my being wanted to run up and hug him, but I knew in this timeline that would be random. For me though, the last sight I had of this man was him dying in my arms after sacrificing himself for me, so I guess I had a little leeway to be surprised.

I quickly shook it off, rubbing my eyes yet again as a coverup. "Sorry, just sleepy."

Mom walked up to Dad and kissed him, "He had a rough night, hon, leave him be."

"Rough night my ass." He said, smirking. "I know what he's really doing in there. You think I don't hear that girlfriend of yours sneaking through your window?"

For some reason, I blushed. "Uh…well, I-"

"Hah! I'm just kidding, man." He laughed for a moment, then got serious. "Actually I'm not, I do hear her. But I'm not mad about it."

"Oh well…thanks."

He chuckled and walked past me, slapping a hand on my shoulder as he went by. "Have a good day. I'll see you at the game, kid."

I sort of had a heartache attack when his hand met my skin, and I smelled his scent. It was the exact same, like a breath of nostalgia. Part of me wanted him to stay so we could talk, so I could just look at him longer, and the other part felt glad he was leaving, in fear that I'd start crying if he said another word.

"Bye…" I said, trailing off as I heard both of them leave. I already felt a tear coming down my cheek interacting with my dad. I quickly wiped it away when the door shut, and I stood there for what felt like hours, the ambience of the air conditioner whirring in the background.

This was insane. How complicated could this situation get? How did Hendricks even do this? How was he able to just throw me in some alternate timeline, reality, or whatever just like that? I'd understand if it was a god performing the spell, and even then it's questionable. But a demigod? Get out of here.

I looked to the clock and read 7:45. I'm guessing school here starts at the same time it does back in my timeline. Eight.

Okay Matt, play it cool. I told myself, go along with it until you find the cracks. Some way to escape.

"I can do this." I said, "I can do this…even though I have no idea where the school is."

So I figured out where the school was.

After entering it in the GPS, one thing led to another and I drove a mustang, yes a mustang, to school.

For the fifteen minute drive, I had a miniature existential crisis. I looked around at the trees, the cars, the houses, the people inhabiting this world acting naturally, smiling and talking, as real as any person. My dad alive, my mom healthy, I drive a brand new mustang, I do regular things...

Was this heaven?

I mean don't get me wrong, it was weird, yeah, but at the same time...very, very inviting. My dad alive, together with my mom. It kept ringing and blaring in my head, the image of her kissing him burned in my memory, not failing to give me a smile every time I thought about it.

No. Don't think like that.

I knew this was a trap. This wasn't real. Some illusion, or trick of my imagination. Everything, as real as it may seem, isn't. I can't let my emotions distract me.

Yeah. I'm totally not driving to "school" to avoid having to go back. It's not like I want to see what else is better- I mean different, in this world. I was going to try and find an escape. That was it.

The little line connecting my car and the school on the GPS system got very thin, and I could see the large high school coming up on my right, a parking lot full of students' cars.

I pulled in and followed the resource officer's directions, finding a parking spot and shutting the car off.

For a moment, I gazed at the large building, the football field behind it, the gymnasium, the perfect green grass and brown leaves, all of it.

I smiled.

Then reality dawned on me again. I grabbed the steering wheel and leaned my head against it, letting out a deep sigh.

What am I doing here? Sightseeing? Having fun? Are you even trying to get back to your friends? Harper? How about Malachi? The guy that's bleeding out as we speak.

I shook my head and thought about turning the car back on and just driving as far as I could go. Maybe this alternate world wasn't actually a dimension or universe, maybe it was just some grand illusion Hendricks created himself. Maybe it had a size limit. If I reached the very end...I could break the spell.

I might have done it. My finger traced the keys in the ignition before I heard a slap on my window.

"Yo, Matty Boy!"

I jumped at the sudden intrusion, turning in annoyance at the idiot outside.

It was...Talon.

What the hell?

I opened the door and furrowed my eyebrows. He looked basically the same as always, wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots with skulls on the tips. His hair was dirty blonde, as usual, and spiked up in the front. Of course, his eyes were hidden behind a pair of Ray Bans. Classic Talon.

"Talon?"

He chuckled and leaned on my roof, "What were ya doing in there? Looking at your dick?"

I stammered a bunch of garble that couldn't be understood. So Talon exists here too? Just how many of my friends were here then? I scanned him up and down, squinting my eyes and trying to find any signs of cracks or holes in his body. There were none.

He didn't address my suspicious behavior, instead smirking. "Thought for a minute you were about to play hookie without me. Man I was gonna be pissed!"

I looked between him and the school, more dumbfounded than I should've appeared. "Wait, you go to this school too?"

At that, he raised an eyebrow. "Uh...yeah, I'm a senior. You fall on your head or something? We're like best buds, man. Have been for a while."

Damn it. I should've played it cool, went along with it like I said. But it didn't make sense. Back in reality, Talon was three years older than me, no, four actually. There was no way we could attend the same school. If we did, the only plausible way would be me as a Freshman and him as a senior. But I knew that wasn't the case, earlier my "mom" had said I'd been driving for a year. That meant I was a junior in this place.

"Oh…right. Sorry man, my bad."

He stepped back and threw his hands up, "Nah, nah, it's fine. I see what you're doing. You wanna play the amnesia game so I'll 'remind' you how great your life is. That it?"

Actually…that sounded great. If Talon was my best friend in this world, and he knew everything about me. What better way than to get a rundown of my life here? It might be helpful, at least until I figure out a way to escape.

I played it off with a smirk, "Yeah, remind me if it's not too much trouble."

He rolled his eyes, "Damn narcissist. Fine, I'll tell you while we walk."

I got out of the car and we both walked to the entrance of the school, everything barren and empty, since all the teens and teachers were inside, well, save for the resource officers that is. This place was huge, while walking, I took in the sheer size of it. It reminded me of a college building I'd seen on TV, there had to be like two thousand students here, no doubt.

Talon filled me in on everything in a summed-up detail, telling it in the most Talon way possible. It helped though, I listened to every word, absorbing it and taking it in like a sponge.

"Alright, so here's the deal. You're a jock, a popular kid, a High school musical protagonist mixed with Twilight vampire kind of guy. Basically, every girl finds you dreamy and most guys want to be you. It's disgusting, but somehow it doesn't get to your head. You're a nice guy, genuine, I might even say, and you follow the rules." He groaned, "Which sucks, because I can't ever get you to do anything fun."

I snickered, "Tell me more."

"Okay. I'm your best friend, have been since elementary school. We're basically polar opposites. I don't play sports, I don't follow the rules, and I'm not very sweet or innocent. I've broken the law a few times, vandalism, trespassing, substance abuse – and basically getting arrested for having fun. Chicks love me, but not the kind of chicks that you'd be into. Oh, and whenever you get in a fight, you always want to avoid it, so I jump in and beat the shit out of the guy." He dusted himself off smugly, "I box and do all sorts of shit on the weekends. Nobody messes with me."

I looked at him the entire time he said that little bio about himself, smiling the whole way. Yeah, we were polar opposites, but that was kind of the same way back in the real world. Just like then, I could tell Talon had a good heart, a rough upbringing, and that troublemaker spirit here, exactly like he did where I'm from.

A good heart. Wait, did I sense his emotions? Did I retain my powers here too?

I'd have to find out later. The door was getting closer and closer. I needed to finish research first.

"Anything else I need to know?" I asked with mock innocence.

He snorted, "What else is there? You heard about me, isn't that enough to satisfy you?" There was a pause, and I gave him a deadpan stare. He sighed and shook his head, "Fine, fine. I guess there's a couple of things you need to know about too. You're dating this rebel chick named Harper. I introduced you guys, since she hung out with my crowd. Boy, was that a mistake. She used to be cool, do all kinds of crazy shit with me, that is until you two met and became all lovey dovey. Now she won't even look my direction. Fuck if I care, heh heh, I always said I'd get you some, and now I did." He poked me in the shoulder, "If you know what I mean."

I felt the faintest hint of a burn in my cheeks, "Wait, Harper's here too?"

I wanted to clamp my mouth shut, but I refrained and simply held my breath. Crap, I shouldn't have said that! Now he's really going to be on to me! If this was an alternate universe, and not some illusion, then my actions could affect the events of this world, and change or ruin everything!

But to my unbelievable relief, Talon just nodded, "Yeah, she's here. You guys have been dating for about a year. A lot longer than I thought you'd last, but hey, she seems happy, so I guess it's not stale." He opened the door to the school and we walked inside, as I passed he gave me a confused look. "You acted really surprised when I said that, man. You actually get amnesia?"

My mouth opened in an O position, caught red handed. I waved a hand and raspberried, "Nah, bro. Come on, I'm just messing with you, remember? Let's keep going, tell me more."

He thought about it for a second, "Well, I guess I should tell you about Malachi. He's your rival, I guess. It's pretty fucking cliché if you ask me, but you guys are the two most popular kids in school, and it always seems like there's this unspoken stare down about to happen. He's the star basketball player, you're the star football player, he's a girl magnet, you are too. See what I mean?"

"He in your class?"

Talon puffed, "Yeah. Guy's a total dork if you ask me. You guys would get along great, actually. He's a cinnamon roll too, basically a total gentlemen cotton fluff sack, dating the hottest girl in school, Sera Griffith." At the mention of Sera, I thought I saw a blush on Talon's cheeks. "Don't even get me started on that girl, whoo, she's fine as hell. Her family's rich, owns a mansion, some kind of successful business, and other stuff that's not important."

Alright, not what I expected at all from that part of my life, but it made sense. Malachi being a popular kid, Sera being the hottest girl in school in most people's eyes, it made sense. Him being my rival kind of made me sad, since that might as well be the case back in reality. But that hint that we could still be friends was here too, as it was there. I guess some things can never change.

Talon liking Sera though? Huh, didn't really see that one coming. Maybe back home, a long time ago…he might've had feelings for her when they were younger. Not sure, but that might be an explanation.

But Harper…is here too, and we're together. That was the best part of the whole speech he gave. Everyone so far exists here, right alongside my healthy parents. That was enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, for some reason. I didn't even care if the gods existed in various forms too, it didn't matter. I had my friends here.

But you're not staying. You're not, so don't act like you are. You have real friends, a real girlfriend, and a very real enemy in Ouranos.

"In case you forgot, buddy, you gotta sign in up front when you're late." Talon said, clicking his tongue, "I'll catch you at lunch, I'm gonna go fall asleep in Math."

"Wait, don't you have to sign in too?"

He shook his head, "Nah, that's just for people who follow the rules." He said that with a little finger quote, to which I rolled my eyes. I told him I would see him later and he walked off, opposite direction.

It didn't take long to find the front desk, since it was right next to the entrance door. I signed in and talked to the lady for a minute, asking for my schedule. She seemed weirded out at first, since we were probably a couple of months into the semester, but she gave me my schedule anyway.

As I walked down a long hallway, past several classrooms and areas, I looked over the white sheet in my hand. American History – Room 114.

Okay, Room 114. Where the heck is that?

Remember what I said about this place being huge? Well, that really came into play here. It was. I walked down a flight of stairs, opened several doors, and even fell into the janitor's closet looking for this stupid class. It was already 8:20, It would be over by the time I got there at this rate.

Finally, I just decided to embarrass myself and find out the old-fashioned way. Ask someone. I stopped next to a classroom full of teens and some middle-aged man talking about something I didn't bother listening to.

Opening the door, I poked my head in, gaining the attention of about thirty teenagers and the dude in khakis.

He reared his head back, "Matt?"

"Yeah, sorry to bother you, sir…but could you tell me where room 114 is? I kinda forgot."

The class immediately snickered and tried to hold their laughter. Several of the girls giggled at me and the guy's were whispering something to each other. What?

The teacher deadpanned and pointed past me, "This is room 114, Mr. Beckett."

My face went red and I backed up to look at the little sign on the wall. It in fact said, Room 114.

Idiot.

I nervously laughed and scratched the back of my neck, "Oh um…right. Yeah, sorry about that, sir."

He sighed, "Taking after your troublemaker friend I see, pulling pranks like that and being late. Just take your seat and be quiet."

I nodded and shuffled to the only empty seat in the room, at the very back. I threw the backpack I grabbed in my "room" earlier and threw it next to my chair, sitting in it and trying to lean as far back as possible.

The teacher started talking and the kids finally broke their attention away from me. When they did, I took a scan of the room, the people, the decorations on the walls, the computer on his desk, everything. There had to be some kind of crack in the code. Hendricks put me here, and I needed to get out. No matter how much I didn't want to.

Did I just think that?

Okay, I guess it's time I just man up and say it. This life…isn't bad.

It has to be an alternate universe. Everything here is real, that's for certain. Only a god could create an illusion this articulate and huge, not Hendricks. If it wasn't that, then he transported me to another universe similar to my own, only everything's normal and you know, not chaotic.

That was the intriguing part, and the part that kind of made me want to stay a while. All of the people I knew and liked existed here, there were no monsters to fight, no quests to go on, and best of all…no Ouranos.

For a minute, I thought about just going with it, and staying here for one night. Just one night, and that would be it, at least meet every one of my alternate friends. But no, I can't even do that. If I stay one night, then I'll stay another, and another, until finally I never go back and finish the war, the very real war.

So I kept looking for a rift, or something to give me a sign.

But what? It was solid, everything was solid, and nothing gave away. How could I get out if there wasn't an exit door? Does Hendricks decide? Can I only leave when he wants me to?

That's a terrifying thought. Very terrifying. Even if I did want to stay here, then he could just transport me to another universe, where everything is hell.

I took one last look to be sure, and saw someone that made my breath hitch.

It was Harper. The Harper from this universe. She was in this class, sitting beside the person next to me, on my left. How didn't I notice her before?

She was facing the front, half paying attention to what the guy was saying. She looked incredible, even here. Her hair was in the same style as the one I knew, a long, thick braid falling over her shoulder, wrapping her raven black hair tight and leaving it a bit loose at the top, letting some fall on the sides of her pale face. She had her arms crossed and her body leaned back, as relaxed, and unimpressed as ever. She wore practically, you guessed it, the same thing as she always did. Dark clothing and a bit of dark makeup.

I might have been drooling, and I know I was definitely staring. Should I stop ogling her? Is that wrong? Harper was Harper, even here. It's the same person, so it's not…cheating, right?

That's confusing. Very confusing.

Too late to look away, because she caught my stare and turned to face me. She locked eyes with me and smirked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

I tried to keep it cool and give a sup nod, but it might have come off more seizure-like than I intended.

She just deepened the smirk and shook her head, turning back to the teacher.

Oh gods, what the hell am I feeling right now? I just interacted with another version of Harper, and kind of…flirted with her. Is that wrong?

No, idiot, it's not. It can't be.

Can it?

A bunch of thoughts and theories raced through my mind as I had a tiny panic attack at my desk. What if I never escaped this place? What if Ouranos took over because I was trapped here permanently?

Would that be so bad?

Okay, I know that's awful to think. I know. The second part is horrible, but staying here, with probably the same Harper I'm used to, especially in a domestic setting? This isn't punishment, this is like a bone being thrown to a dog. Here you go buddy, you deserve it, you've been through a lot.

Am I really contemplating that? Enjoying this more than I should?

The bell rang and the teacher dismissed us, shooting me a glare as I left. Realizing I hadn't written down even a sentence of notes or really paid any attention, I didn't blame him.

I pushed my arms through my backpack straps and tucked them to my chest, walking away from the class and to the next, looking down at the ground. No interaction, no interaction. Don't ruin this, don't find a reason to keep staying. Find. An. Escape.

About twenty feet from the door, I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder and spin me around. A force of monster strength pushed me in the chest and practically threw me into the lockers, clanging them and causing several people to look in confusion.

For a second, I thought monsters did exist here, and I was being attacked. But one shift of my head downward, and I saw that it was just Harper, and she looked annoyed. She had pinned me to the locker, both of her palms pressing into my trap muscles.

She motioned her head at the onlookers, growling, "Beat it." They did.

She turned her intimidating gaze to me and narrowed her eyes. And…oh wow, they were beautiful. I was caught off guard by the fact that she had both of them here, as opposed to my world, where one was capped over and milky white. Here, both were a brilliant icy blue.

"You really just gonna walk off and not give me what you owe?" She said with an expectant, angry look. Like a debt collector roughing up their debtor.

I stood on my toes, startled and kind of scared. What the heck had I done? Had we gotten into a fight? Did I actually owe her money or something?

"Uh…I-"

"Well?" She pressed bluntly, and grabbed fistfuls of my shirt. She leaned her face closer to mine, her eyes only piercing further and further. It felt like soon she would tear right through me and eat me alive. Geez, Harper was just as intense here as she was back home, no doubt about that.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know I owed anything. Whatever it is, I'll give it you, alright?"

She raised her chin in a challenging manner, "Go ahead, then."

Go ahead and what? What the heck was she talking about? Am I supposed to whip out my wallet and give her a twenty?

I looked everywhere but her, silently begging for Talon to appear and help me out of this mess.

"Uh…I don't exactly know what it is that I uh, that I owe you. Could you remind me?"

I expected her to just punch me into the locker, the way she was looking at me. But she just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you're gonna be such a pussy, I'll collect it myself."

The thought that she was about to pickpocket me or hold her hand out for money crossed my mind, but then she did something that threw me off guard. Instead of doing either of those things, she leaned up and kissed me.

Not your average little peck on the lips either. This was steamy and pretty graphic if you ask me. She closed her eyes and went all in, pressing her lips to mine in a swift motion, deepening it as soon as she felt contact. I sort of stood there awkwardly and widened my eyes, until I felt the familiar way our mouths blended with each other, that comfortable fit we have whenever we kiss. It reminded me so much of the real thing, that I found myself closing my eyes and wrapping my arms around the small of her back, pulling her in.

A tiny part of me said this was weird and wrong. This is a different Harper, not the one you know. But the bigger part of me said it was the same freaking thing. She acted the same and she looked the same. It was her, end of discussion.

Finally, she pulled away with a small pop and we opened our eyes. I was kind of like a fish out of water, with my lips still puckered and my eyes pupils probably dilated about seventy percent.

She chuckled and lightly pushed my shoulder. "Debts settled. That was pretty good, I gotta admit."

I couldn't break out of my blushing trance, "Yeah, it was um…great, really great, I uh-" and a series of other unintelligible words.

She interrupted me by leaning on the locker next to me and crossing her arms. "So why were you late? You finally loosening up a bit? Breaking the rules like your old pal Harper?"

I lightly shook my head to get the blush off my face. "Oh um, nah. I just slept through my alarm. Stayed up pretty late doing homework."

"Really?" She said, "We didn't have homework for that class."

Oh crap, she was smart here too. I had to come up with something quick.

"It was uh, for another class."

Saved it. She nodded, "Oh, okay. Well, I gotta get to physics." She groaned, "Most boring, mind-numbing class in history, but it's required. So what can you do?"

I shrugged, "Cheat and not get caught?"

I figured that would be the Harper appropriate thing to say, even though she was actually really school smart back home. But it earned a smile out of this one. "Oh you know I never get caught."

The bell rang, letting us know that the break between periods was over, and we'd better be getting to the next class.

Harper sighed, "There's the prison bell, gotta go. I'll see ya later." She gave me a flirty smile and lightly smacked me on the rear, sending a huge blush wave throughout my entire body.

As she walked off, I don't know if it was just instinct, or maybe me thinking that I needed to say something else to not be suspicious. Maybe…it was me getting too comfortable with this world. That was probably it. Out of nowhere, I said, "Coming to the game tonight?"

She turned at the hallway door and shot me a smirk, "A bunch of sweaty, roided up boys slamming into each other? Oh yeah, you know I'll be there."

I grinned and waved at her, "Alright, I'll see you."

She winked, "Stay cute, Matt."

She pushed open the door and walked off to her next class, leaving me standing there with my hand still up, watching her walk the entire way before she left sight. A lovestruck sigh left my mouth.

Once I did that, I slapped myself in the face and snapped out of it.

"What the hell am I doing?" I grabbed my hair and leaned up against the lockers. This isn't what I was expecting. This is the complete opposite of what I expected. I expected to escape quickly, not get attached to anything. Yet here I am, doing exactly that.

"No more." I told myself, "Enough games, Matt. Time to get to work."

I hardened my heart, and went to my next class. The schedule said...Advanced P.E.

Advanced P.E? What the heck even was that? I'd never heard of such a class before, even at my own school back home. What do you do, play only the ultimate versions of dodgeball and frisbee?

Either way, I decided to actually use my brain and follow the numbers, which seemed to be in some kind of order. Genius, of course they'd be. It goes from the lobby and up, the numbers start at 100 and then so on and so forth. Guess I'm the only idiot in the world who has no idea how to navigate a high school properly, huh?

Well this shouldn't have been hard anyway. I just had to go to the gymnasium. I followed a couple of dudes through the double doors and entered a giant place that reeked of floor polish. It was pretty cool though, I had to admit. A lot bigger than our own gym back home.

First off, the basketball court might have been college sized, or even pro sized to be honest, the stands were wide and encompassing most of the gym's walls, leaving room for the goals and what not, so not entirely forming a perfect square. The floor was so shiny you could probably eat off of it, even the stairs, seats, and generally everything appeared clean. Breath of fresh air from what I'm used to.

All the teens stood in a herd, waiting for instructions. This was an elective, so whoever attended this class, chose to be here, on their own volition. Makes sense I guess, for me to be involved in physical activity. But what would it be? Games? Weightlifting? Everyone here looked athletic enough, fit girls, muscular guys, and maybe a couple of confused people who still didn't know if this were the computer lab or not.

"Alright!" Who I guessed to be the teacher called out, "Everyone get changed! It's dodgeball today!"

Dodgeball? Huh, not so bad. At least it's something I know the rules to.

Idiot, everyone knows the rules to dodgeball. You get hit you're out, simple as that.

I sighed, wondering if I even had my powers in this world. I still needed to test that, but I haven't had the chance. I should've before I left for this place, maybe punched the ground at my house, or a tree or something. Anything to make sure I still have my abilities. One, because I need to hold back while playing this game. If I even use a fraction of my strength throwing a dodgeball at someone, it could kill them. And two, when I find Hendricks, I can't beat him as a regular mortal.

When I find Hendricks. Pfft, yeah right. I'll never find that guy, he's probably not even in this universe, he just threw me in here and left me, along with my other friends in gods know where. This was a disaster.

I started to follow the group of boys to the locker room, when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Here's those gym clothes, Mr. Beckett." The teacher said, "I know you lost yours recently, so here's the replacements."

I grabbed them and looked at him, "Oh, Thanks-"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my throat tightened and my breath hitched when I saw who it was.

Hendricks.

He looked the same, his hair tied back in a ponytail, those ridiculous sunglasses on his face, his Cheshire grin. The only thing that had changed was his clothing. He wore a stereotypical P.E teacher's getup. Shorts, school logo t-shirt, sneakers, a whistle, a clipboard, all that jazz. What the hell was he doing here?

He smirked and cocked his head, towering over me by a good four to five inches. Man, he was tall, and being so close to him, he wasn't as frail as I thought him out to be. He was lean, and probably pretty ripped under that stupid shirt. I'd bet he could tear a human apart with his bare hands if he wanted to.

"Something wrong, Mr. Beckett?"

He knew it was me. I wasn't about to fall for his mock innocence act. He followed me into this universe, and set me up. He's trying to scare me, to make me use my powers and expose myself. Not going to happen.

I tightened my grip on the gym clothes and glared up at him, "Nothing, sir. Nothing's wrong."

He nodded and gave a knowing sneer, "Well, time to get changed. I want to see what the star football player can do with a dodgeball in his hand."

Star football player. Shut up. I turned around and slowly, cautiously walked down the steps to the locker room, my heart racing and my body going into a little panic. Alright, this just got more complicated.

Hendricks was here, he was actually here. I mean…of course he was. That's what I said I wanted, but I just didn't expect it to be at school.

Doofus, why were you looking around earlier then?

Either way, I found him, or he let me find him. It doesn't matter. Now I need to think of how to separate ourselves so I can drill him, maybe get him to somehow take us home.

Tugging my shirt over my head and putting on the gray school tee, I saw that grin again, that shark like face. This guy was dangerous. He knew how to use mortals to his advantage, and they were real, not illusions. I couldn't go all demigod on him here, because those people could get hurt, or scarred for life one. I wasn't about to do that.

The other thing was that he could be here himself, all the while controlling the spell. How…does he do that? Did he throw his consciousness in here?

So many questions. So many, and I can't answer any of them.

After I pulled up my gym shorts, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Everything's fine. Just go along with it, and figure it out as you go. Dad told me once that when things get hard, and you feel like you're losing in a situation, to just take everything one step at a time. In this situation, I just needed to play some dodgeball. One game. Then figure it out from there.

Last out of the door, the group of boys and girls had been changed and all met in a line on the court, facing Hendricks. A couple of kids whispered at him in confusion. Maybe they didn't recognize him either.

Hendricks blew the whistle to get our attention. I kept my focus solely on him, making sure he wouldn't try anything. The guy was a loose cannon, who knows what he'll do. Any sign of tense muscles or a lunge at the class, and I'd kill him on the spot.

If I had my powers.

"Alright, everyone." Hendricks said, "I'm Mr. Hendricks. Unfortunately your regular teacher is sick and I'm the substitute for the day." The way he said that sentence gave me chills. The thought that he killed or tied up the teacher crossed my mind, but I'd have to worry about it later. "We're not going to do anything crazy or follow along with whatever you've been doing for him. Today, we're just going to play a simple game of dodgeball. Everyone knows the rules, right?"

We all nodded.

"Good." He said, "We'll have two captains pick teams, and then we'll start. Umm…" He scanned the crowd with his finger in front of him, like whoever he stopped on was captain. He finally pointed to a boy maybe an inch shorter than me, athletic build and clean cut hair. "Mr. Thompson."

The kid nodded and jogged up to stand next to Hendricks. The Son of Hecate resumed his scanning and finally, stopped on me.

He gave a wicked grin, "Mr. Beckett."

My eye twitched. I silently said, trying to put me on the spot, huh?

Why, of course. He shot back.

I huffed and walked up there anyway. Whatever. I could do this.

"Alright, you have two minutes to pick teams. Don't be biased now." He said, and walked over to the opposite side of the court, giving me a smile as he passed me. I resisted the urge to grab him right there and fly him out of here so I could end this.

The kid named Thompson picked first, some girl with a pink shirt on. I went next, just going with some random kid. This went on a for a minute or so, with me literally just pointing at people I didn't know and saying "You."

Finally, we had teams. It was split about fourteen to fourteen, maybe a bit more. But it was even. We all lined up below the rims of the basketball goals, standing on the name of the school on the court, we faced the row of balls sitting on the floor in the middle. We would run up to them, grab them, and then run back to where we started. Or we could just throw them in the middle, that worked to, as long as we didn't go to the other side. Rules weren't very complex.

Hendricks held the whistle in his mouth, his dots for eyes darting between both teams. "Ready? GO!"

We all sprinted to the middle, me doing a light jog to make sure I didn't accidentally plow into someone and break their skeletal system. A dozen people reached down to grab a ball, including me. I picked up a red one and immediately looked up to gauge any oncoming throws. I knew at least one person would try it. Going after the captain meant respect, just like war.

And just as I predicted, one kid had his ball reared back and ready to huck it at my face. Five feet away, it was sure to hit.

But as he threw it, I squinted my eyes and time slowed down to nothing. The ball practically froze in midair.

I almost smiled. Yeah, I have my powers here.

I unsquinted my eyes and time returned to normal. I held up my palm and caught the ball with a smack, one handed.

The kid threw his hand up in annoyance and trudged off, I backed up and smiled at him. "Sorry about that, man!"

The rest of the game went off without a hitch, and for about a couple of minutes…I actually really enjoyed myself. I even forgot Hendricks was to the side watching me for a few moments. It was exhilarating, moving around, and competing without life threatening stakes on the line, without wondering if my friends were going to die. Doing something normal, while it being physical…you have no idea how much fun I had.

As I caught dodgeballs and threw them with effortless strength, outing at least eight people, I smiled. I could've eliminated the whole team in seconds, but I wanted to make it look a little realistic. I couldn't be that good if you know what I mean.

We still had ten people left on our team before it even finished. One kid left, and I threw a vicious drill at him. The kids cheered me on as I reared the ball back and spiked it at the opposing member. It soared through the air and hit him on the arm, outing him.

Everyone cheered and came up to clap me on the shoulder. Heck, a couple of the guys actually bro hugged me. It was pretty cool.

My smile fell when Hendricks walked to the middle of the court, slowly clapping his hands.

"Well done, Mr. Beckett. My my, that has to be the best dodgeball performance I've ever seen. Have you considered playing professionally?"

I forced myself to not glare at him, and play it off. My teammates looked to me for my answer expectantly, like they were on the verge of their seat. Ah, I see, I was one of those here. A popular kid that says something suave to the teachers, and other kids loved to see the interaction. Okay then, I can do that.

I gave a little head movement and threw a dismissive hand, giving that pretty boy smirk as I did so. "Nah, sir. Football all the way. Pretty sure scholarships offer more for that than dodgeball. Or…maybe you didn't know that."

A couple of the kids ooed at my little burn. Wasn't that good, it was kind of cringeworthy to be honest, but it was the best I could come up with on the spot. Hendricks just grinned and put his hands on his hips.

"I suppose you're right." He turned his attention to the entire class. "Everyone, if you could all pick up the balls and put them back in the bag, I would appreciate it. I need to have a word with Mr. Beckett in my office."

My chest sort of tensed at that. Alone in his office? What was his game here? Trying to…well, I don't know, but I wasn't expecting that. I figured he'd keep hiding behind these mortals.

"Uh…what do we do after that, sir?" One kid asked.

Hendricks flashed a murderous look of annoyance, like the kid's question was enough for him to snap and kill him. But he covered it up quick and forced a smile, "Just start running laps, or jump rope, I don't care. Do something until I come back."

Everyone agreed and started picking up dodgeballs. Hendricks motioned for me to follow him. The entire way I had my fists clenched, ready to pounce on him if he tried anything. I would at least talk to him first, but any sign of green mist or a spell forming, and I'm punching him in the throat.

I followed him to a room adjacent with the storage room, in the gym but towards the very back. I followed him inside and shut the door behind me. It was rather small, especially compared to the gym itself. It was tight and fit only a desk and two chairs. One for the person behind the desk, and one for the front. Scarce decorations, old Pc and monitor, a couple of trophies, carpet, basic colored wall, you get the gist. Picture a stereotypical gym teacher's office.

There was one thing that I noticed though, and that was a door that looked to be leading to another room, or maybe a closet. It was a rather large door, and took up a quarter of the wall behind Hendricks, who now sat in his seat. Better keep an eye on that. He could be hiding some monster in there.

"Have a seat, Matt. Have a seat." He gestured to the chair.

I glared at him, "No, I will not have a seat. I want you to take us back to where we came from, so we can finish this fight fair and square."

He immediately laughed, "Fair and square? I figured you've fought enough by now to know that fair and square doesn't exist in war. Dirty tactics are welcome, and sometimes the only way to win. You know that winning is all that matters, right?"

"A shred of honor never hurts." I retorted, "I'm not becoming a monster in the process. I'll fight, yeah, but I won't stoop to your level, or Ouranos's level. I wouldn't throw someone in some alternate dimension just to mess with him."

His eyes steeled and looked at me, like a serial killer watching his next victim through the bushes. "Not a monster? Honor? You think you have those, boy?"

"I'm not perfect by any means, but I try. I try to do the right thing."

His intense gaze broke, and he fiddled with a pen that he found on the desk, spinning it impossibly between his fingers. "Try. Such a strong word, try. Are you going to try and kill me?"

I sighed in frustration. "Take us back. Now. There's no need for innocent people to get hurt."

He stayed silent for a moment, stopping the pen in his palm. He held it for a few seconds, then threw it at the wall. It stuck in straight and stabbed through about three inches. Like some kind of knife. I just watched the little display with cold eyes.

"I'll admit, Matt. You're strong. Stronger than me, physically at least. I couldn't beat you with many of the spells in my arsenal, so I went with this one." He smiled and raised his arms, "The ability to travel through universes and dimensions. Marvelous, isn't it?"

"Sure. Don't know how you got such power, though, or how you're even here."

"Oh I can explain that. You see, I'm a sorcerer, and the most powerful son of Hecate to ever exist. You do know who she is, right? Goddess of magic? She controls the mist?"

I nodded; my irritation started to stir. "Yes, I know who Hecate is."

"Well, if you've ever seen her at her best, her prime form. Then you would understand why I have so much power. I inherited the best of her, but at the same time, I was passionate about the magical arts. I studied it for decades, practiced it, learned new spells and forms, from all over the world. Not just our pantheon, but others. Where Hecate stuck to one source, I gathered from many. My abilities are more so than gods, boy. I am hundreds of years old. You're lucky just to be engaged in battle with me, and lasting as long as you have."

"But I thought you said I was stronger."

He raised a finger, "Physically, yes. But overall, when you're trapped in my web, and I have control over you like I do now. It's…well, a lost cause. You have no chance."

My leg muscles tensed, and my body rushed with adrenaline. I felt like it was about to act on its own and jump over the table to grab him. "What's stopping me from taking you out right now? I'd wager that I'm faster than you. I could defeat you before you even knew what happened."

His smirk didn't waver, he simply nodded, "Yes, you could. But then how would you escape? You need me to tell you, remember? This spell isn't binding or a continuous hold. You're trapped in an alternate universe; the spell is over. The only way to leave is if I perform another one, and we go to a different universe."

So that was it. I was actually stuck here, and he was in complete control. Only he could remove us.

Gods, what a mess.

I tried to keep my face stern and brave. "I could just threaten you to perform the spell."

"With death?" He said, almost chuckling. "Please. I'm immortal, and I specialize in illusion magic. You really think I'm the real man? I'm just a trick of your eyes, Matt. Not real."

I couldn't tell if he was bluffing. Reading his emotions, I couldn't catch anything out of the ordinary. Maybe because he was actually an illusion, and you can't read illusions' emotions, or if he was just that good at hiding them.

Before I could say anything else, he said, "And besides, do you even want to leave? So far, it seems like you've been enjoying yourself."

That one caught me. I lowered my head in shame. To hear it out loud made me feel horrible. Yeah…I was enjoying it, as much as I hate to say it.

He took that little action and rolled with it. "I mean, all of your friends are here, your girlfriend is here, you don't have to worry about being in a war with Ouranos, you don't have to fight monsters, titans, gods, or anything. And of course, I'd guess this is the most striking to you…but your parents are together in this world. Your father, alive, your mother, healthy."

I knew he was manipulating me, trying to get me to stay on my own accord. But I'll admit, the memory of my mom and dad together again…kept replaying through my mind. Again and again, I thought about, and kept smiling. It was so amazing, so blissful. What I always wanted. Here, and I could have it for the rest of my life.

Yeah, for a second, I almost thought about staying.

But then I remembered my other life. I remembered all the things that I had been through, accomplished, all of the respect I'd gained, the friends I'd made and what we suffered together. Harper, the moments with her that I'll cherish forever. Malachi, the chance of him finally finding peace. Talon, discovering his destiny and the truth of his father, once and for all. Sera, free from anyone's clutches and manipulation, so she can be happy, at last. And of course Percy and Annabeth, resting. Done with their fight, for good.

How could I stay here? I've made too many promises, to many vows. I vowed to avenge my father, to take down Ouranos and save the world. If I didn't return, none of that would happen.

I wouldn't be a coward. I wouldn't escape from my oaths.

I looked up at Hendricks and glared at him, determined. "Not a chance. I'm going back home."

He widened his eyes in surprise, "You're…serious? You'd rather go back to that hellscape filth than stay here and be at peace? You would really put your old life before this one?"

I stood straight and said my next words with so much conviction, it even surprised me. I never knew I could be so serious. But I meant it.

"That life may be hell, yeah. It may be a lost cause, and it may just fall apart to nothing when Ouranos takes it down. But there's always one thing that never ends over there. And that's hope. I hope, my friends hope, the entire world hopes, that one day things will change, that one day the fighting stops, and we can all be at peace. That's what keeps us going forward, that's what keeps us working. Why live, if you having nothing to look forward to? Here, everything's perfect." I scoffed, "And perfect's boring."

Hendricks, for the first time was utterly thunderstruck. He looked at me with a mix of annoyance, shock, and admiration.

"By the gods…I'll admit this Matt Beckett, you are unlike any other hero. The resolve it takes to say those words and mean them…purely immeasurable."

"I meant what I said. Now…take us back."

That was when the shocked look fell, and the closet door started banging, like someone was throwing themselves against it.

I looked to it, furrowing my eyebrows. "What's in there? Is that a person?"

Hendricks sneered, "Well then, I suppose it's time to move to Plan B."

"Plan B?" I said, nearly shouting. "What's in that closet? Answer me!"

Snapping his fingers, the lock on the door cracked open, falling on the floor in shambles. The door itself creaked to a halfway stop. Whatever was inside didn't fall down or appear. Only silence and darkness.

"Matt, meet Matt."

I was about to call him insane, when he flicked his hand, and…I floated out of the closet.

My eyes widened and my mouth hung open. It was…me. Literally me. I had been tied up in rope by my ankles and wrists, floating a few inches off the ground and slowly coming towards Hendricks and I. A knife hovered next to my- no, his neck, ready to kill.

I, no he looked pretty banged up. A couple of bruised and small cuts, his eyes were wide with fear and confusion as he looked at both of us. He tried to scream and shout for help under his tape gag, but nothing could be heard outside of this room.

"What the…hell have you done?" I whispered, almost unable to even say the words. This guy looked exactly like me. I mean no doubt about it, he was alternate me. He had my brown hair, my body frame, the little scar on his jaw, the eyes, the features, and even clothes that I would wear.

Hendricks just grinned at it all, keeping his hand up to control the levitation spell. "What? You really didn't think that you just appeared here, and everyone recognized you, right? No. You took someone's place. Alternate Matt Beckett, the mortal."

I couldn't believe my eyes; I was absolutely weirded out and completely uncomfortable by this situation. I reached out with my aura sense and sure enough, alternate me was mortal. No hints of power at all buried beneath there. Just a regular guy.

Seeing the fear in his eyes, I hated Hendricks a lot more now. He had beaten and tied up alternate me just before I could wake up and realize where I was. He must've snuck into the house and captured him or something, so that we would never meet. We had to be similar in personality, otherwise Hendricks wouldn't have gambled that Harper or Talon wouldn't get suspicious of me.

I felt immediate pity for my alternate self. He had obviously never been in a situation like this before, or anything bad really. He was trembling with fear, exploding with confusion, and probably wanting to just go home and curl up in a ball. I knew the feeling.

"Let him go." I growled.

"How about we make a deal?" He said, "I let him go, if you promise to let me take you and your friends to Ouranos. No resistance."

I shook my head, "Not happening."

He shrugged, "Then I hold him hostage until you agree." He pushed his finger in the air slightly, and the knife moved a little closer to my alternate self. Mortal Matt flinched and widened his eyes at the knife.

I gritted my teeth. Now or never. There would be no deals, or any more mind games. I threw caution to the wind and lunged at Hendricks, my fist heading straight for his face.

But of course, he was expecting just that. He snapped his fingers again, and both he and Mortal Matt disappeared in green smoke. I hit the desk hard with my momentum and crashed right through it, wooden boards and shards falling everywhere. My fist went straight through the sheetrock wall.

I sat on my knee, my arm stuck and my mind all over the place.

"Damn it."

You know, I feel like I say this all the time, but here we go again. This just got even more complicated.

Lunch was interesting.

On the way there, I peeked my head in classrooms, closets, and everywhere else to see if Hendricks had teleported somewhere, only to find a bunch of angry teachers on their free period telling me to get the heck out of their sight.

My brain hurt from all the contemplating and thinking I did. That's saying a lot. I couldn't stop wondering if Mortal Matt was going to be okay, if I could fix this. For the first time in a while, I was alone on this. No help was coming, nobody was going to save me or give me backup. I had to figure out how to rescue my counterpart and defeat Hendricks all by myself.

So basically, I'm doomed.

I went to lunch and sat down with Harper, a few of her friends, and Talon. The cowboy was very talkative, animated and gesturing with a smug look on his face as he told some story about the craziness he'd gotten into last night, gaining the attention of everyone there. I was so out of place, I didn't really know these people.

Mortal Harper shot me concerned glances. Every one of them I caught. I didn't want her questioning me, because honestly, I didn't have an explanation, and I hate keeping secrets from the one that I know. I might get the two mixed up and instinctively let the beans spill.

Speaking of, I was really starting to feel guilty from that kiss earlier.

Man, If I had known that Mortal Matt was her boyfriend, I would have pushed her away immediately. That's technically cheating, and I can't stand cheaters. I try not to judge, I really do, but why not break up with the person you're already with if you want to be with someone else? Why be with both of them and try to keep it secret? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Guess I'm a big old hypocrite. I kissed a different version of Harper. Technically the same person, but also not. It was confusing, sure, but I still felt awful for doing it.

"Hey, you alright? You haven't said a word." She said, leaning over.

I quickly looked at her and back at the floor, "Oh um…yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous about the game tonight." A liar too.

"Really? You never get nervous about games. Are you sure you're alright?"

Talon heard her, and directed his attention towards us. "Nervous? Nah, he ain't nervous. Just a little sick, that's all. God knows the food in this place could kill an elephant if you coaxed him to it." He chuckled at his own joke.

I actually did kind of feel sick from all the overwhelming possibilities. Hendricks is long gone, I don't know where he and Mortal Matt are, and I don't know how to save him. This sucks.

Out of nowhere, Talon nudged me across the table and pointed in the direction of the opening that leads to the room. "Hey, look over there. Prince charming, nine o' clock."

Nine o' clock? I was weirded out until I saw who he was pointing at. It was the alternate versions of Malachi and Sera, walking together arms over shoulders, a crew of athletic, pretty looking kids following them. The sight almost made my mouth drop to the table in laughter. Malachi and Sera in a school setting, I never thought I'd see it.

Malachi, like the others, looked the same as ever. Blonde hair fell over his face, parting in the middle and coming down past his ears, like the surfer male model he appeared to be. He had almost chiseled features, a clean shave, lean frame, regular sporty clothes on, and an expensive watch. It was like the preppy version of my friend I never knew I needed to see.

And Sera…whoa, she kind of blew me away. I could see why Talon was a blushing mess earlier. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen her in a while, but she looked stunning. Her hair was white here, snow colored and falling down thick and straight over her shoulders. She wore lip gloss and designer clothes, expensive jewelry, and a purse that probably costed ten thousand dollars. She looked like a mean girl, but her innocent expression told me that she was the same as ever. I smiled.

Talon noticed, shoving me. "Hey man, don't smile! That's your archenemy!"

Harper pushed him back in his seat, "Shut up, they aren't archenemies. They hardly even talk to each other."

Talon raised his eyebrows at her in an oddly challenging way. "Oh yeah? Well they should. So they can talk SHIT!"

Just like that, I felt him shove my back hard, and I practically flew up off the chair and into Malachi's direction. Not where I wanted to go.

I flailed about and stumbled over to where he was walking, stopping myself on a conveniently placed pole.

He noticed me though, all of them did. Some of the guys in the back snickered, and Malachi himself gave a half smile.

"You alright…Matt? It's Matt, right?"

I nodded, trying to make myself seem somewhat cool. This may not matter at all, but I still had a sliver of pride.

I stood straight and looked him in the eye, "Yeah, I'm good. Nice to see you…Malachi."

He smiled. Huh, he didn't seem like a jerk at all here. "That's good. You know I've heard a lot about you, but we've never really got the chance to hang out. We should do it sometime."

"Oh yeah, totally. We should."

He patted my shoulder and kept walking, "Alright. Well, good luck at the game tonight. Win it for us, man."

I nodded and waved, looking awkward as everything. Of course Talon was as blunt as ever even in this universe.

I looked over at him, to find the guy throwing his hands up and looking at me like I'd just committed a crime. I just walked off. I couldn't handle this. I needed to be alone.

I exited the lunchroom and made a beeline straight for the mustang. I'd hide out until this game tonight, and just pray that Hendricks is there somehow, maybe to show off himself, or to give me a little chance. I don't know. I can't feel him or Mortal Matt with my aura sense in this school, so maybe if I wait, he'll come to me.

I almost reached the door connecting the commons to the outside, when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Matt!" It said, "Matt, stop!"

I knew it was Harper, but I didn't have time for this. I couldn't act like her boyfriend here, it felt wrong. It was wrong. And besides, she has questions, and I don't have answers.

Finally she just ran around me and stopped me forcibly, placing her hand on my chest and blocking my way.

"Harper, move please."

"No! Not until you tell me what's going on. You always joke with Talon, why did you walk off? Are you…sick, or sad, or is it something to do with your-"

"I'm not sick." I interrupted, "I'm fine, I promise. I just need to be alone."

Just as I started to step, she backed up and stopped me again. "As long as I'm around, you're never alone. Got it? No secrets. Tell me what's going on!"

Her words made me feel horrible inside. They squeezed my heart pretty hard, like an invisible hand reaching in and trying it's best to pop it. She said the same thing that Harper said, a couple of times actually. As long as I'm around, you're never alone. I've said the same thing to her on an occasion or two, if I remember right. It was like our thing, and that made me kind of miss her, even though she was right in front of me.

Very…weird.

I sighed. I could tell her the truth, and she'd never believe me. Or she would, and would try and help me. Both are bad options. I knew that whatever I said would affect the way she sees Mortal Matt. I needed to be strong, and keep my mouth shut. Don't look at her pleading face.

I kept my gaze on the door, "I know, and I appreciate the concern, I really do. But I just…need a minute, okay?"

She didn't say anything else. She just looked a little hurt, not even annoyed, but hurt that I wouldn't tell the truth. That…was painful, and I didn't even look. I could tell by her emotions.

Harden your heart. She'll see her real boyfriend soon. You need to figure out how to save him. Do something on your own for once, Matt.

Dejected, I walked to my car.

So, I skipped the rest of school. Sitting in Mortal Matt's mustang, I glued my eyes to the steering wheel and kept them there for so long, I felt like years had already passed. I thought about so many things, things that I don't even want to get into.

It was bizarre. I felt like I'd been in this world for weeks, even months, when I'd only been in for a day. Not even that. I pictured my friends in my head and panicked when I couldn't make them out perfectly, thinking that I had almost forgotten them. This was driving me crazy.

The game was maybe an hour after school, according to the sign out front. I waited maybe a couple of hours, or more, until I exited the car and went back inside.

Making sure I hid myself and walked quickly to the football locker rooms, I entered behind a bunch of other dudes, goofing off and howling nonsense.

"Hey Matt! Ready to fuck up those Westbrook pricks?"

"Dude, language! You know he doesn't like cursing!" Another one teased.

I forced a smile, "Yeah guys, I'm ready to bust some heads." Not too enthusiastic, but they were either so jacked up on steroids or Gatorade that they didn't care. Judging by their size, I'd go with the former.

They just patted me on the back and chuckled at my "innocence." We all delved lower and lower until we entered the locker room. Cleaner and better smelling than what I expected. Game days must induce the janitor. Poor guy.

Begrudgingly, I found mine and that my uniform, pads, and everything lie there on racks and hooks. It was like Mortal Matt somehow forgot…or didn't get the chance to get them.

Hendricks. Bastard.

He left these. He's here.

With a glare stuck in my eye and a scowl on my mouth, I put the equipment on, letting it hang comfortably and sat down. The coach came in and gave us a motivational speech, too bad I didn't listen to any of it. It was probably thought out and pretty good.

At the end, he called me up to give some final words of motivation, maybe go over a play that I want to try. I wasn't feeling it. In someone else's spot, where I don't belong, I had this queasy feeling in my stomach. Kind of like impostor syndrome.

I gave some stereotypical crap, just shooting whatever came to my brain and praying to the other universes' gods that it didn't sound dumb. Thank them, I guess, because they all got hyped up.

"What time is it?"

"GAME TIME!"

"What time is it?"

"GAME TIME!"

"WHAT TIME IS IT?!"

"GAME TIME!"

Hoorah. Yippee. Let's get on with it.

It was evening, and close to dark at this point, but I'd say a good hour has passed since school ended. So the game was about to start. Roaring, our team left the locker rooms and ran out to the field, single file. The crowd erupted in cheers. It was pretty loud. Looking to the stands, I was mildly surprised at the turnout. There had to be four hundred people here, maybe more.

I stayed near the front, with me being…crap, I don't even know what position I play. That's going to be a real kicker, supposedly being the star football player and asking the coach - by the way, what do I do again?

I began to think of an unsuspicious way to find out, when all of a sudden, I got this tingle on my neck. A weird sensation creeping down my spine, and chills on my lower body. What the…

I looked all around at the crowd, knowing the feeling came from there. I looked and looked, but all I saw was mortals, jumping up and down, eating popcorn, no sign of anything weird.

Then I saw it.

Behind everything, near the parking lot in the distance, stood Hendricks. He held Matt by the scruff of his shirt, and smiled devilishly at me. He had to be hundreds of feet away, but thanks to my sensing and my sight, I was able to catch him.

The noise of the crowd became quiet in my ears as they rang, my body had autonomously stopped moving. I only stared at Hendricks with a parted mouth, that was the only thing that mattered.

I didn't even feel the dude slapping my shoulder and yelling my name until he got right in my ear.

"MATT!"

I turned around and saw the coach yelling at me, a super Mario looking guy, with a mustache and a polo shirt.

"What the hell are you doing? We've got a game to play!"

I looked between him and Hendricks, who was now walking away with my mortal counterpart.

I tightened my lips and pulled off the uniform and the pads, leaving me in my shirt, very tight pants, and cleats.

I threw the equipment to the coach, who barely caught it and started coughing at the unexpected force hitting his chest.

"Sorry man, but I've got something to take care of." I started to run, but momentarily stopped myself, nearly stumbling and falling over. "But uh…good luck with the game."

I gave a little wave and ran after the Son of Hecate.

Jumping the fence and booking it at about thirty miles per hour, I ran as fast as "humanly" possible. The crowd gasped and oooed at me, turning their heads to watch what the heck was going on. Too late to worry who was watching now. Sorry Mortal Matt, but you'll have to come up with an explanation.

Don't worry about that. Just save him.

I focused solely on him in Hendricks' grasp, the man running into the woods and darting around trees, trying to use them as coverage. I followed him perfectly, using my agility to zigzag and trail him.

He cut a corner and sprinted to the right, thinking that the tree was going to somehow deter me. I ran up to it and smacked it with my forearm, completely splitting it in two.

"You can't run from me, Hendricks! It's only a matter of time!"

"We'll see about that!"

His voice was more distant that before. He was pretty fast, actually. He could be using a speed spell or something. Best not underestimate him.

I caught him in my sights again, and this time, I was through playing games. No mortals in the immediate vicinity, nothing to harm but Hendricks. I decided to focus and use my red aura in a short burst.

Like a second nature, the red glow immediately surrounded me, for just a split moment. The power gave me enough time and energy to dive at him, and reappear behind his back in an instant. The instant that he didn't predict.

I yanked and grabbed Mortal Matt from his clutches with my left arm, twisted my body in mid air, and brought my other fist up in his jaw. The blow connected, and he flew back into several trees, smashing through them and leaving them to bits of lumber. I heard him scream and tumble several yards beyond normal hearing distance. I took it as a miracle. I didn't have a lot of time to get Mortal Matt to safety. I needed to act quick.

He writhed in my grip and shouted wildly under his gag. I kept putting my hands up and tried saying encouraging words, but nothing worked.

Finally, I grabbed him by the shoulders. "STOP!"

He did. I felt sorry for startling him further, but we were really on a time limit here. The guy looked like he'd been through the ringer. His hair was messy. His face partially swollen and cut, his eyes terrified, and his body basically battered.

"I know that I look just like you, and that's weird." I said urgently, "But throw that aside and don't ask any questions, do you understand?"

He just sat there; eyes still wide.

I shook him lightly, "Do you understand! No questions! Just go along with this until your safe!"

He nodded quickly.

"Okay. We don't have much time. I gotta get you to safety." I reached forward and grabbed the tape with my index and middle finger, "This might burn a little…"

I ripped it off, quick and sudden like a band aid. Mortal Matt didn't scream, he just hissed in pain and winced.

"You good?"

He breathed heavily, and looked around at his surroundings. "What and the absolute hell is going on! Please explain to me how I end up with my girlfriend one night, going to sleep, then the next morning I'm in a freaking closet! What the fuck?! And who is that guy?! And…" He paused, and backed up a bit from me, his confused anger turning to fear again. "Who are you? Why do you look so much like me?"

I shushed him and waved my hands, "I know it's a lot, man. I know. But I need you to do me a serious favor. Go home, go to sleep, and forget this ever happened. Or if you feel like it, go play in the game. I'm sure they haven't started yet. And if they have…well, maybe the other team won the coin toss."

He put his hands to his temples. "Oh no…the game! Oh, mom and dad were supposed to be there! I can't miss it!" He tried to get up, but winced. "Agh…"

I grabbed him, "Hey, you alright? Can you walk?"

He gently pushed me off, "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I can…play, despite this insanity."

"Okay. If you're sure, then go back, and stay there. Don't come back in these woods."

"What about the man?"

I glared at the darkness where I sent him. Hendricks wasn't dead. I knew it.

"I'll take care of him."

He looked at me, utterly confused and frightened. He wanted to ask a million questions, I could tell, but I didn't have time for it. And the more he knew, the worse off he'd be.

"Go." I urged.

He gave one last look of hesitance, then nodded. "Okay. Well…thanks for saving me."

As he walked off, a little voice inside of me told me to be sure.

"Hey!"

He stopped and turned, holding his wound in his hand. "Yeah?"

I gave him a serious, stern look, to make sure he knew I meant business. "Never talk about this, okay? Don't tell Har…I mean, your girlfriend, don't tell your best friend, don't tell a teacher, the principal, or anyone you know. Even your mom and dad. Trust me, the less that gets out there, the better."

He gave an almost challenging retort, "What would happen if I did?"

"This world could end. Or at least, the events of your life could be changed and altered forever. For the worse. So don't tell anyone, alright? Promise me."

His face was that of awe, he shook his head. "This is some serious X-Files shit."

I couldn't help it; I broke out into a smile, and I chuckled. "Yeah, kind of. Only no aliens, and I'm not with the FBI. I'm from…well, it doesn't matter. I just need you to promise me."

I waited for his answer with panic all in my chest. I remained composed on the outside for his sake, but inside I was freaking out. Say it before Hendricks comes back!

He nodded, "I promise I won't say anything."

"Okay. Thank you." I said, and suddenly thought of one last thing to tell him. It wasn't really that necessary, but some kind of emotion over took me for this version of myself, the version that had everything I wanted.

Sincerely, I locked eyes with him and raised my finger. "And remember this, man. Never take your parents for granted. Ever. You never know when you're gonna lose them. Always cherish the moments you have with them."

He looked a little surprised at my statement. I shouldn't' have said it, knowing it made me come off as even more strange and weird. I couldn't help it though, it was out there now, and I couldn't take it back.

Mortal Matt gulped and nodded. "O-Okay. I won't."

"Good. Now get out of here and go win that game."

He took one last look at me and ran off in the distance.

Now that that's taken care of, I could focus on the Son of Hecate, the psycho that started all of this.

"Where are you Hendricks? I know that punch didn't kill you!"

"I must say, that was quite moving."

I darted around and did a three sixty, finding Hendricks standing there, green dust floating beside his head. Like he just did a teleporting magic trick. His P.E teacher outfit had shifted to his usual style of clothing. Basically The Godfather – Demigod Edition.

I clenched my fists. "Shut up."

"I mean it. Telling your alternate self never to take his parents for granted. I nearly shed a tear." His mock sympathetic pout morphed into something sinister as he gave his best grinch impression. "Don't be too sad about Ouranos killing your papa. You'll be reunited soon."

That was the last straw. Feeling my anger reach it's limit. I used my burst of adrenaline to charge him, leaping off the forest ground and causing a massive shockwave behind me, I dove after him with my fist raised in the air.

He tensed up and thrust his palm at my body. "PAGOS!"

A white light burst from his hand and hit me in the face. A chilling sensation covered my entire body, seeping down to my leg and washing me over in an instant. I froze in mid air and felt my entire frame harden. It wasn't until I flicked my eyes around that I saw what had trapped me.

Ice. An Ice attack. Pagos meant the word in Greek.

I moved around a little, struggling to get out. His spell was strong, this Ice might as well have been thrown by Sera.

Hendricks chuckled down at me, and threw his hand behind him, forming some kind of green portal, leading to another area. I'm guessing that was his way of travelling through universes. He created rifts with his magic.

"Farewell, Son of Hercules. Have fun living with your pathetic mortal counterpart."

Oh no. You're not getting away that easily.

Forcing my aura to rise to my pores, I released a surge of energy. Enough to crack, and eventually shatter the ice barrier around me.

Hendricks gawked in shock. I sat there on one knee, cool and a little wet.

"What are you going to do now?"

He ran.

"NO!" I said, reaching out to grab him. But it was too late. He had already reached the inside of the portal. I decided to just say screw it, this had already gone so far down the rabbit hole, that we might as well go a little further. I followed him into the portal.

Immediately everything changed. It closed behind me, and that small space of forest was gone. Leaving me with…something different entirely.

The massive scape of the multiverse in between these portals was on full display. Everything…was so complex and strange, yet so very beautiful. I can't even fully describe it. Swirling darkness, colors beyond comprehension, doors, and tunnels to all kinds of different realities. I felt like the main character of Space Odyssey or something. Even though I've never seen that movie.

I got over my distraction and saw Hendricks continue his path, he ran through several portals, me following along close on his heels. Every time I would reach out to him, I would narrowly miss him. I didn't want to risk using my red aura in a burst of energy again, in fear that I would somehow cause an explosion or something or accidentally destroy a reality. I didn't know if I was even capable, but I wanted to be careful either way.

Cat and mouse, I chased and chased him through countless portals, each time he passed through one, he would notice me still following him, growl, and then throw another spell. I noticed that every time he did so, he was losing energy from his aura. Interesting setback. The discovery made me smirk. I had this in the bag. I was keeping up with him in normal speed, I had endurance for days, and he was slowly losing his. Eventually he'd have to stop, and I would catch him. This was over.

But out of nowhere, I was immediately proved wrong. In one universe, Hendricks and I jumped through and right as we hit the ground, we felt a powerful force tackle us.

Either that, or some kind of giant, insanely strong train just t-boned our ribs. Whatever it was, sent us flying into the ground.

I skidded and stopped myself from going any further, planting my feet in the ground and looking up. The sight was insane, we were definitely in an alternate universe of…something.

It was post-apocalyptic New York. The entire city looked in ruins, dozens of skyscrapers and buildings were half destroyed, on fire, or laying about the roads and bridges. The sky was orange and red both, the ground was cracked and covered with dead bodies, gore, blood, and everything else in between. It looked like hell.

But the thing that must've caused all this, looked a lot worse than the environment.

Standing not fifty feet away, glaring at me, was the most hideous thing I had ever seen. Including Greek monsters, some gods, and titans. That's my entire experience, and this is uglier than that. I almost don't want to describe it.

But because I love you guys so much, I'll do it.

It was, to put simply…a zombie. It had red scorch marks all over it's body, parts of bone poking out through it's rotting, melting, falling off skin. It's mouth was forced open, like a skeleton, and it looked at me with cold, dead, red eyes. It's teeth were yellow and moldy, it's fingernails were long, square and disgustingly filled with dirt. I'd never seen such a horrible thing, even back home. It roared and groaned at me, sending shockwaves through the air. I covered my face so I wouldn't have to smell it's breath. Which could no doubt kill me if I took a big whiff.

Looking closer at the creature though…it was the same height as me, and the same size. Not even kidding. It had my frame, my muscle mass, the size of my fists, shoulders, legs, torso, and even…holy crap, my little jaw scar. Tufts of brown hair poked out on the top of it's head, and it wore…no, no it didn't.

It wore a sleeveless bronze chestplate. Ripped Jeans. A necklace with a lion's head.

It was me. Zombie me.

"Oh shit…" I whispered, disgusted, and completely baffled by the sight. What the hell kind of alternate universe is this? How is there a place where I'm a zombie? Did I- no he cause all this? What happened?

I heard rustling in the pile of debris nearby, and saw Henricks poke his head from a collapsed car door, coughing and spitting up saliva.

"What on Earth?!" He shouted, looking around until his eyes fell on the zombie version of me.

"By the gods…what in the world is that thing?!"

I didn't say anything. I just continued to stare at the monster. It stared back at me, it's beefy fists clenched and it's eyes glaring a dangerous red. I'd read some comics when I was younger, and right now, it felt like I was looking at Bizarro.

I pointed at it, "Guess that makes you Insano. Heh, kind of fits, you look pretty insane." I couldn't help it., when the time comes to name stuff, I'm the guy for it. It's a gift.

Insano growled and roared again, lifting his head up in the air and letting out powerful shouts that rang through the city. If anyone else was alive, they weren't now. Their eardrums would've exploded from that.

"He's your problem!" Hendricks said, "Goodbye!"

He started to run, "No you don't!" I tried to reach after him with my hand, but Insano had other plans. He saw a moment of distraction, and took it.

He came forward and reappeared at my side, his giant fist outstretched and coming straight for my head.

I planted my foot in the ground and caught it, having to use a lot of base strength to pull it off. He was strong, very strong. If I made him much angrier, I'd have to use all my base strength.

But I didn't plan on fighting this guy all day. I had bigger fish to catch.

"Sorry, man. But not today." I said, and Insano looked at me with rage. He roared again and tried to clobber my head with his other zombified hand. I took the liberty of rearing my fist back and coating it in red aura. It glowed the bright color as I palmed Insano in the chest. It caved in, flesh fell off and bones sprung from his mouth. The zombie demigod went flying back into a skyscraper in the distance.

Hendricks had just formed another portal. I saw him jump off the ground and reach halfway into it. By that time, I was free to go. I panicked for a second, not sure if I would make it. If I didn't…then I'd be stuck here with that guy.

Okay no. That's not happening.

Insano erupted from the rubble he crashed into, bellowing and throwing ten-ton pieces of concrete everywhere. I felt him leap towards me again, this time angrier and even more powerful. I decided it was time to go before he grabbed me.

I used my energy to dive into the portal. Corkscrewing in the air and making my body as straight and narrow as possible, I barely made it.

Hitting the ground, I shifted my body into a barrel roll, so I wouldn't waste time getting up and giving Hendricks a chance to escape. The only reason I wasn't trapped was because of him. As you all know, I can't create portals. So if I don't keep running, then I'm done, for good.

"You cannot do this forever, Matt! Eventually you're going to get stuck!"

"I could say the same to you!"

For another few seconds, we repeated our little Tom and Jerry chase from before, with him throwing portals bit by bit, and me running through them. They didn't disappear in time for him to lose me, and he wasn't fast enough, so it was a stalemate…for now. Until he lost energy. That was my gamble, what I banked on. The only way he can lose me and win, is if another Insano situation happens, and some outside force grabs me.

As we passed the umpteenth portal, something weird happened. I felt a rumble in the void that was the different realities, and even the little tunnel that held the portals together and gave us the view began to crack. Literally crack. How was that possible.

On my left, I got my answer. Two immeasurable auras were fighting each other, both with the powers of Greek gods, no- beyond the Greek gods. I looked over and squinted, seeing two figures duking it out in an epic, world shattering battle. One had a dark blue aura billowing around them, with lighting crackling in circles around their body, chaotic energy swirling around them like a personal thundercloud. Chaotic energy?

His opponent, a man of similar stature, holding a golden longsword, surrounded by something akin to Talon's aura. Only this gold wasn't as bright, it was dim, and more evil looking. I nearly missed their faces before I entered the next portal, but in the nanosecond that I really focused, I could make out long dark hair and a familiar glare.

Zane? Wait no, Two Zanes?

If I had time, I probably would've fell to the floor and taken an aspirin. Because the confusion that followed after was head numbing. If that was a future version of Zane, the guy from the alternate universe, and that was his aura…

Man, he really did become the strongest.

I didn't have time to think about it, or even comprehend the weirdness of that whole situation, because Hendricks was slipping from my grip, gaining the tiniest bit of an edge on me. I had to focus.

Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to do something stupid. It happens a lot, so you should be used to it by now. I jumped.

Yeah, jumped. I took a stupid chance and dove forward, thrusting my hand at his ankle. But luckily, his right foot came back in his run just as I threw my hand. I grabbed on and twisted, throwing him off balance.

Instead of the tunnel staying intact and him going through the portal, he fell, and the tunnel dissipated. We both descended towards what looked like sand.

On the way down, Hendricks looked murderous, his eyes wide with hate. "You bastard! FOTIA!"

I dodged his fire spell by moving my head to the side. Grabbing his throat, I squeezed and prepared to punch him in the nose, hopefully knocking him unconscious. I needed to get him to stay still, and maybe I could threaten him, or figure out some way to get back home.

But right before I could punch him, we crashed into the ground.

Say what you will about sand, but it's not as soft as it looks. Plummeting at the speed of a muscle car and hitting the dirt, is pretty sucky.

I stumbled to my rear and coughed up sand, Hendricks did the same, getting to his feet though and raising his finger to point at me. He looked a mess now. His nice suit ripped, his tie torn to shreds his hair messy and coming out of it's ponytail. Most noticeably, a trail of blood starting at his lip and dripping off his chin.

"You little nuisance. You've cause me more trouble than I could've dreamed of! But now I can kill you…and be done with this bullshit!" A green glow formed on the tip of his finger. "Ouranos wanted to do it himself…but I'm sure he'll understand."

I wasn't sure what he was about to do. I felt the aura in his fingertips, concentrated and piercing. He was forming some kind of spell. I prepared to dodge and immediately follow up with a devastating blow. I couldn't let this continue further in his favor.

But out of nowhere, Hendricks stiffened, his head recoiled to the side and blood flew from his temple. He hit the sand with a limp thud.

Confused, I looked to my right, and saw someone coming.

A massive figure, shadowed in the dust. I could see clearly that he wore some kind of fur on his back, along with several weapons. Was it…a god? I tried to reach out with my aura sense, but for some reason I couldn't feel anything. Was he blocking me?

The closer he got, the more nervous I became. For some reason, the man, or whatever it was let off some sort of presence. The presence of a ruler, of the most powerful being you'll ever meet type of guy. The air seemed to bend to his will, thickened at every step, thunder burst in the distance, storm clouds raged in the sky, the color was no longer blue, but instead an ambient greenish yellow. It was so weird, it lit up everything perfectly, like no different from home, but instead of being blue…it was green and yellow.

Finally, I could make out skin, features, and a face. He stepped up to Hendricks and I, towering over us like a mountain. He was impossibly muscular, standing at eight feet tall, and probably comparable to Atlas in the intimidation factor. He had a beard, a shorter haircut, but not so short that it could be classified as clean cut. It was more like mine, spiked up in the front and kind of faded from there. He wore what looked like bear fur on his back, and lion fur over his waist. He had an axe and a labrys sheathed on his back, a sword in his waiststrap, and a club in his hand. That club…it looked just like Viribus.

Actually looking closer, this guy…looked a lot like me, if you bumped my age up by thirty years and gave me a beard, along with increasing my height, size, and general intimidation. So on paper, he sounds not like me at all, but I'm telling you, the resemblance in the face, the eyes…it's uncanny.

To be sure, I looked at his jaw, and saw that…yes, he had it. A line of no hair on this beard where the scar was, just a faded white line and clear skin. It was me…from the future. It had to be.

But at the same time, it couldn't be. This guy was impossibly huge, at least for a demigod. I'd grow to be six-three, max, and if not, then I'd stay six-two for good. This man was way taller and heavier than me. Plus, I couldn't feel his aura, but I knew he was on another realm of powerful. The axe, labrys, and sword that he sheathed imbued chaotic energy. They were literally made from it. It was faded, and the weapons looked dirty, but I could tell that they were Heavenly Diamond. All three of them.

Three Heavenly Diamond weapons. Holy crap…

He stepped a little closer and glowered down at me, expecting some kind of answer. I backed up, trembling a little and looking up with wide eyes.

"Wh-who are you?" I croaked. The only thing that my tongue would spout, when I should've been begging for mercy.

He raised an eyebrow, and I saw his mouth tighten in confusion. Then he studied me a bit closer, scanned me up and down. When his eyes drifted to my neck, his eyes opened just a fraction in shock. The pair of brown irises spotted my jaw scar, and that was the end of it. He huffed and crossed his arms.

"Guess it would appear that I'm you." He said, deep and gruff. "Come on, little Matt, we gotta keep moving. I'll explain when we get to my camp."

Walking with myself...was odd, to say the least.

Forget his intimidation, it was just plain weird. This is me, from the future of an alternate reality. Enormous, god-like, and wielding three Heavenly Diamond weapons. That part still blew my mind.

Older Matt had thrown Hendricks on his back, after asking me "Want me to kill him?" and me reluctantly saying no, he shrugged and agreed to carry the son of Hecate.

We walked a good distance, maybe a mile without saying a single word. It took about fifteen minutes before we arrived at his Camp.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Maybe some hut in a swamp, maybe some giant fortress, or even a regular house just plopped in the desert.

But no, it was an actual camp. There was a campfire, and a bed made of fur. That's it.

Older Matt threw Hendricks on the ground like a sack of potatoes, the magician lay face first in a limp position, unmoving, but still alive.

"Have a seat if you want." Older Matt gestured to a small hide of fur next to his.

I didn't want to be rude, so I sat down and tucked my knees to my chest. The sight of the campfire made me think about food, and that made my stomach growl.

"Want some food?"

I looked at him cautiously. I could trust him, right? I mean…he was me. Technically. Taking food from him wouldn't be too dangerous.

Instead of reading his emotions, I just looked in his eyes. I saw a lot more than I bargained for. I could tell that he had been through a lot. Centuries of pain far greater than most humans could imagine. He'd suffered, plenty. I could tell he put up a front a lot, and there was this guard that kept him stone faced and cold, but underneath it all, he was kind and genuine. His offer was one of kindness.

I nodded, "Yes, please. If you don't mind."

He snapped his fingers and a steak on a thin, spiky stick appeared. I guessed he wanted me to roast it on the-

Fire.

A fire appeared in the pit all of a sudden, not there before. It blazed and crackled comfortably, not making the temperature drop at all, even though we were in the desert. Granted it was near sunset, but this is still a hot place, regardless.

I stuck the steak over the fire and held it, looking at older me. He gazed into the orange hue and narrowed his eyes, like he was thinking about something.

"So…are you a god?"

He nodded, no joy whatsoever. "Yeah."

I took a little gander around me, deciding to be just a sightseer for a moment. Smack dab in the dunes, an alien looking sky, all alone with no civilization. How did my alternate self end up here?

"What…happened?"

Quickly, almost too quickly, he snapped "Before you start asking me questions, man, you need to tell me something. How did you end up here?"

"Oh…no problem, I can explain that." I nodded to Hendricks, "That guy creates portals to alternate universes. In my universe, my friends were fighting him, and he trapped me in this world where I'm mortal. I found him, and chased him through a whole bunch of different realities. In one I even found a zombified version of myself." I snickered, "I named him Insano."

He just listened to me with an intense gaze, not finding the name funny at all.

My face fell and my voice became weak. "You know because…Bizarro…and Super…man-"

"So you came here accidentally?"

"Well…yeah."

"Good. Then when that guy wakes up, he can take you back."

"Hey man, it's not that simple. He's not exactly willing to agree with me."

"I'll force him."

I stood up now, my fear being replaced with annoyance. "Why are you so quick to get rid of me? I mean, I'm sorry for barging in, but you can't blame me for being a little curious, can you? I'm…you, and you're me. What happened here, man?" I gestured towards the air, "The freaking sky is green and yellow!"

He turned his head and stared at the ground, his muscles flexing with frustration, rippling scars that I hadn't even noticed before. There were several of them, actually, small, but there. The only way that could happen is if he got hit with Heavenly Diamond. Damn, with three big chunks on his body, you'd think he had all the available weapons in that department.

"To understand everything that has happened in this universe." He said, his tone low and grim, "You need to pretend that you've lost everything dear to you in yours. Pretend that for a moment, you have nothing to go back home to. Your friends, dead, your parents, dead, even your enemies…dead."

I put my hands down and parted my mouth, "How do you know I haven't lost everything?"

He glanced at me, then snorted. "It's obvious. You still have life in your eyes."

Alright…that gave me a chill, not going to lie.

I shook it and sat down again, closer to him this time. "What do you mean, lost everything?"

He stayed quiet, biting his tongue, and standing up. "You don't want to know."

I stood up too and faced his back, "No, wait! Come on, tell me! Maybe it can help prevent something from happening in my universe!"

At that, he tensed. I saw his head lower, his fists clench. I was afraid he was going to snap and yell at me, or flick me into oblivion.

Instead he sighed and pointed to the distance in front of him. "You see that?"

I followed his finger, and saw that he was pointing towards a mountain, miles away, jagged and daunting. It looked like Sauron's freaking tower or something, big enough for a giant dragon to curl up at the top. Fire billowed from it; lightning crackled all around it in big bolts. Gray and green clouds swirled around the tip, like storm and poison mixed. Further above that, I could've sworn I saw a face in the sky, like a skull, or maybe something else.

"What is that?"

He lowered his finger, and with hatred, growled "Ouranos."

My eyes widened, "That's Ouranos?!"

"Yes." He turned around and faced me, a permanent glare in his brown eyes. "You want to know what happened? I happened. I was too stupid to listen to my friends, to let them help me fight him, and it cost me! I lost everything!"

His voice boomed, and for a second his aura actually flared. I felt the split second it happened, and sensed something dangerous, something encompassing and utterly massive. The aura was red, just like mine, and much, much, much bigger. I never thought I'd encounter something that would surpass Atlas…and even surpass Zeus. I wasn't sure, but it felt like my alternate self's power actually slightly exceeded the King of the gods.

Older Matt's rage subsided, and he just sighed in defeat. "It was the final battle. We believed this confrontation to be the one that ended it all. Only…it was just the beginning. Ouranos was too strong, far too strong for us to even comprehend. We were outmatched in every way, outpowered ten million to nothing. It was laughable, the odds."

I hadn't even noticed that my steak was now cooked. I had dropped the stick on the ground when I stood up. I quickly hoisted it to me and took a bite out of the meat, listening with interest though, all the same.

"But…still, I held so much anger for him. After what he did to my father, I made it personal. One of my…" He looked at me, and decided against revealing too much information. "…friends decided to make a decision. A decision that could defeat Ouranos, but at a great cost."

"What was it?"

"I'm not telling you the specifics. I don't know how it could affect your realm. But I'll say that…not letting the person carry out their decision, was the worst mistake of my life. It would have beaten Ouranos for good, at a heavy cost, yes, but the world would have been saved, billions of lives would have been saved."

"So why didn't it happen?"

He scowled, "It was my fault. I didn't want the cost. It was too great, and unbearable for me to deal with. I didn't want to. So, I did the most idiotic thing imaginable…I kept fighting Ouranos one on one. Part of it, I'll be honest, was for revenge, the other part was to avoid the cost. I had so much hate built inside of me, that I let it get the best of me. Instead of thinking straight, I only remembered him killing my father, and I saw red."

My eyes widened a little, and I shifted my gaze to the sand, suddenly not hungry. I could relate to that, a lot.

"He killed my dad too. Our dad. Stabbed him with that spear of his."

Older Matt nearly jumped up and grabbed my shoulders, it was the most emotion I had seen from him yet. "Are you…serious? That happened in your universe too?"

"Yeah."

He nodded to himself, "Then this is a parallel universe, not an alternate one. This is what will happen when…when you get older, if you don't make the right choice when the time comes!"

I put my hands out in front of me, "Slow down, man. We don't know for sure."

"Test me, then."

"Okay…uh, who brought you to Camp Half Blood?"

"Grover Underwood."

He was right. Okay, lucky guess, Grover's a popular satyr.

"Which monster did you first kill, and what was the spoil?"

"Some variation of a Shark monster. The spoil was a necklace of it's tooth. It turned into a spear."

Okay…he was pretty much right on the ball. But I had one more question.

"What's your greatest fear?"

At that, his expression turned melancholic. "It has already been realized, but…losing everyone I love. That is my greatest fear."

I raised an eyebrow, "Already been realized? What do you mean?" There was no way he could be alone on this planet, right? I mean, there had to be companions, allies, at least something.

He stared at the fire. Even though he's a god, he looked like needed a thirty-year nap. Exhausted, sad, and utterly dejected.

"Ouranos overpowered me." He said, this time with a near mutter. "He killed all of my friends. Malachi, Sera, Talon, Percy, Annabeth, Aiden-"

My mouth parted, "Harper?"

The name came out automatically, hearing all the other names made my eyes sting, imagining their deaths…I couldn't even handle it. Especially over a decision that I made. I would never be able to live with myself.

But Harper? If she died because of me…I might as well jump on a chunk of Heavenly Diamond and bid existence goodbye.

Despite my hope of her being alive here, Older Matt's lip quivered, and he shook his head. The memory still hurt; I could tell. His eyes were getting glassy just thinking about it.

"She was killed in front of me. The love of my life, dead. I never got to see her as my wife, as the mother of our children, as an old woman, as…" His voice broke, and he stifled a sob.

It was hard to watch. I wasn't making a face, but yet I still felt a tear leave my eyelid and trace my cheek. It was like a little leak, my face was calm and frozen in horror, but I still cried.

I wiped it away, "I'm so…sorry. No, sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. I can't imagine…" I looked at him with the most sincerity I could muster, "I'm deeply sorry for bringing it up. I shouldn't have."

He sniffed and shook his head, "No, don't worry about it. You need to know. You are me after all." He sighed, "But yes, after that, he finished off the gods, killing all of them, even Zeus. But before the king perished, I found him, and he told me to kill Ouranos and avenge the gods, to take back the world and return it to the way it was before. There, he granted me his godly powers, and I basically took his strength and added it to my own. Becoming a god."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So much information all at once. Zeus…died? Ouranos killed him? Holy…that never seemed possible, not even fathomable. As powerful as Ouranos is, and as scary as he can be, I've been in the presence of Zeus, and it just seems like he's nearly…I don't know, untouchable.

But apparently not.

"For centuries, as the only beings on Earth, we have hunted each other, battle many times, wounded each other, but never killed. One of us either escapes or does something to end it. But that's going to change. I am sick of it. I don't care anymore if I die with him. I just want it to be over."

This entire situation was just impossible to process. He and Ouranos, the only two beings on the planet, forever in a battle. It was…incomprehensible, how far my alternate self's life had fallen apart, all because of a wrong decision. Losing everyone you love, and forever hunting down your source of hatred. It was…hell, pure hell.

"Let's end it." I said, unexpected to both he and I. "Together. Let's go right now and end it. You can get your friends back, everyone."

For the first time, he broke out a small smile. "You still have that good heart I once had. No, I could not involve you in this. Ouranos is equal, if not stronger than me here. It takes every ounce of my strength to fight him."

"How did he get so strong that he can kill Zeus? And still hold you off?!"

"I…can't say. I don't want to affect reality."

"Come on, man, please! I don't want what happened to you to happen in my world! At least tell me the decision I need to make to avoid it. I'm begging you."

Thunder boomed on the mountain and shook the Earth, the faintest sound of cosmic laughter erupted over the wasteland, invoking our ears. Older Matt glared in the storm's direction. Reaching for his weapon.

He turned to me and bent down, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Listen to me. I want at least one of my selves to have a good life. I can't reveal everything, but I will say this…Matt, as our father once said, don't let the anger control you-"

"Let it work for you." I finished, smiling.

He returned it. "I let mine get the best of me, when I shouldn't have. Don't focus so much on revenge that you lose sight of what's right, and what needs to be done. When the time comes, you'll make the right choice. It will be very hard, but promise me that you'll let the person follow through with their decision."

I had no inkling of who it could be. One of my friends most likely, and that idea was very daunting. I didn't press any further. I understood what he was saying, and that's all I needed to do, was understand.

"I promise. Whatever happens, I'll make the right choice."

He squeezed my shoulder, his smile showing through his beard. "Good. I know you will. Also, another bit of small advice that you should really know. If you ever get offered the chance…don't become a god. Whatever you do, don't. It's not as great as it's cracked up to be."

I shook my head, "I don't want to. Never have, and never will. I'm fine with being a simple hero."

"That's admirable of you. I hope you keep that mindset in the future." He stood up from his bent position and took his hand off my shoulder. "While a god may have immortality, strength, speed, and all of that nonsense…a human has heart, the capacity to love, and the will to never give up. Remember that, because that is the key difference between the two."

I nodded genuinely, looking up at him with respect. He was really wise for being…well, me. I could listen to him talk all day.

He smirked, "But having a little strength every now and then doesn't hurt." He reached in the fur sack on his waist, dug around, and eventually pulled out what looked like a watch. He wrapped it around my wrist and locked the strap. The strap was brown leather, and where the watch would have gone…was replaced by a small square box, holding a little bolt of lightning, pulsing, and beating like a heart, glowing with a little white light. The bolt itself might have been the size of a penny.

Though small, it radiated pure power. I mean serious, serious energy. I felt it, and nearly felt blown back from the sheer offensive power it held. It felt exactly like Zeus's aura, only uncaged, not held back, with its full force. This little bolt on my wrist held Universe destroying firepower, god killing firepower. What the hell was it?

I stared at it in awe, "What…what is that? It's so powerful…"

"It's the Master Bolt."

I nearly fell to the ground and passed out on the spot. The Master Bolt?! No, no, no, the freaking Master Bolt! One of the most powerful weapons in the universe? Behind Heavenly Diamond, probably the most lethal thing to ever exist. It was the last resort of Zeus himself, the very thing he used to slay Typhon, and countless other powerful entities. I couldn't just carry it around on a watch! Is he crazy?

"With all due respect…I can't carry this thing around! I'm not…"

"Worthy? Ready for such power?"

"Well…yeah!"

He chuckled, "You are ready. Consider it a gift from me to you. These days, I use my weapons more than it, and the lightning strikes have become commons uses of offense against Ouranos. I needed someone like you to give it to. Someone that deserves it's might, appreciates it, reveres it like it once used to be. I want you to have it, Matt."

I touched my finger on the glass surface of the box, feeling it already warming up my finger. It was like a little ball of life, right on my hand. I couldn't believe it.

"Th-Thank you…so much. I'll only use it in emergencies."

He got serious, "That's the only time you should ever use it." Another rumble in the background. I could tell Ouranos was about to attack or do something. I had to get out of here.

Older Matt sped up his explanation. "Two things that you need to know. One, if you want to use it, for a last resort only, the way to activate it is touching your palm to the surface and holding it there. You'll need to focus your strength solely on your palm, and concentrate on your connection to the sky, your connection to your grandfather."

"Got it. What's the second thing?"

"It's a drawback. A major drawback." His lips tightened, "Since you aren't a god, and don't have an immortal soul. Each use of the Master Bolt will damage you. The power is just too great to withstand, unless you simply cannot die. That means there is a limit to how many times you can use it and stay alive. In your case…" I felt his aura brush up against mine, as he gauged it. "Five times. Huh, more than I expected."

I looked back and forth at the bolt and him, "Only five times?"

"Yes. Depending on how far apart you use it, perhaps one or two more, but you'd need years of time in between strikes. No, this weapon is very dangerous, it's energy is unboundable, and any more than five will surely kill you. So make every shot count."

I gulped, feeling a sudden pressure weigh down on my back. "I will. I'll only use it when I absolutely have to."

"Good." He said, and looked at the ground to where Hendricks lay. I'd almost forgotten about the son of Hecate. But not for long, he was beginning to stir and wake up.

"Perfect timing." Older Matt said, "It's time for you two to go. I've got to end this, once and for all."

"Matt." I said.

"Yes?"

I thrust out my hand, "Thank you. So much."

He looked at it for a moment before taking it, and shaking it firmly.

"It's my pleasure. Remember what I said, and live your best life. Never take the ones you love for granted." He leaned in and whispered, "And if you get in an argument with Harper…immediately apologize. Trust me."

I laughed, and our hands parted, the warmth that I had gotten used to leaving mine.

"I'll try. She's tough, that's for sure. Almost too much for me to handle."

He nodded, smirking. Gazing up at the mountain top, he clenched his Heavenly Diamond Labrys and unleashed his energy.

"Farewell, Matt."

"Same to you, Matt."

With that, he disappeared from view, leaving a hurricane like gust of wind behind and a huge crater. I looked up and saw him soaring towards the skull in the clouds, smashing his weapon into it. The skull soon formed into a humanoid shape, lightning encased the figure, howls of laughter could be heard. Boom, boom, the Earth shook and rumbled, the sky itself cried out in fear. This was intense. Both auras were far beyond anything I'd ever felt. Right up there with Talon's golden aura.

It was time to get out of here.

Hendricks weakly pushed himself up. "What the hell?"

I walked over to him, "Miss me? You were out for a while."

He turned and glared at me, spitting up blood and growling.

"You son of a bitch. Little punk demigod. Just who do you think you are? You think you've outsmarted me?!"

He stood up, laughing like a psycho. He didn't care that there was a universe shattering battle raging behind him, he didn't care that he was on death's door. He was just insane.

"Think again! I'm always one step ahead! We're stuck now, and never going back! Can you believe it?!"

"Hendricks, you have to open a portal sometime. We can't stay here forever."

"Oh yes we can!" He screamed, laughing, and thrusting his arms wildly, doing some kind of strange dance. It was kind of scary, watching him slowly lose his mind. Did Older Matt give him brain damage when he did that little attack to his temple?

"I have nothing to live for! I have all the time in the world, you stupid boy! I'll live here until I die! Hell, I don't even care if I die now! Do you want to kill me? Go ahead and do it!"

"I'm not going to."

"GO AHEAD! REALLY, I MEAN IT! WE'RE GOING TO BE STUCK HERE ANYWAY, SO WHY NOT?!"

"I said no!"

"KILL ME, MATT! DO IT! KILL ME!"

"NO!"

"KILL ME-"

Suddenly, he stopped mid scream. His breath hitched, his body tensed up like before. Only this time, he hadn't been hit in the head.

His eyes widened, and he slowly tilted his head down to look at something. I followed his gaze, and when I saw it, I was unable to contain my shock.

Through his chest, was a knife. It emitted chaotic energy, and gave off a dark blue light, it's texture smooth and royal. Heavenly Diamond.

Hendricks gapsed, "I…Impossible…"

I reached forward to keep him from falling. When I grabbed him, I felt the entire world around us immediately change.

In the blink of an eye, or in the switch of a house light, whichever was fastest, we were back in the field where we started, back at Eliza's farm.

I stood in front of Hendricks on the grass, holding him by his shoulders. Behind him, stood Levi Pierce, his body close to Hendricks, and his fist dug into his back.

He had stabbed him.

"Levi…" I whispered.

He looked up at me, "The only way."

I didn't know what to say, I was in so much shock, the events…they weren't real? I went through all of that, learning valuable information, meeting alternate versions of myself, realizing that I didn't want a normal perfect life…it was all meaningless?

An illusion?

Levi pulled the knife out of Hendricks, and I heard two simultaneous gasps next to me. Harper and Talon put their hands on their knees and started catching their breath. It looked like they had been under the spell too.

Hendricks himself looked around helplessly at us, his eyes expanding further and further in fear. He tried to say something, but it never came out. He tried to grab at us, but he never reached us.

His body turned into green dust, the particles floated away with the wind piece by piece, until finally, the son of Hecate was gone, permanently.

We all stood there for several moments, the only sounds were our breathing, and the wind. One peaceful and the other confused.

"What and the absolute fuck just happened?!" Talon said, "I was in another world! I was back in my hometown!"

Harper nodded vigorously, trying to swallow her built up saliva, "M-Me too! I was back at home. Levi was there! It was like…I was inside of my body, but I wasn't at the same time."

Levi looked like he was about to say something, but he bit his lip. Looking at the knife, he wiped off any dust residue on it, and turned his back to us, looking at the trees in the distance.

He saw something. I knew it, but I was too tired, too depressed to even question him.

All of that…wasn't real. It was Hendricks's sick twisted game after all.

I never met the mortal versions of my friends. I never learned that the life I have here is what I desire, and that a mortal life would suck. It was all a game, a trick. Nothing.

I didn't meet the older version of myself, I didn't actually talk with him or learn about his story. It never happened. He was an illusion too.

I nearly fell to my rear. All of that for nothing.

I saw Harper point at me in my peripheral, her eyebrows lowered in puzzlement. "Matt…what's that on your wrist?"

My chest lifted. No way…

Hoping to all the gods that it was actually there, I slowly lifted my arm and looked down at my wrist.

It was.

I couldn't help myself. I broke out into a wide grin, the corner of my eyes stung as I looked down on the Master Bolt inside my little makeshift watch. Given to me by…me.

It was real. All of it was real.

"Of course it was." I sighed, the most relieved I'd felt in a long time. "Of course it was real."

(000)

Well, that one was a lot, huh?

Seriously though, this was very fun to write. Having Matt be totally by himself was an interesting dynamic, and more of Hendricks as a villain, using different tricks than our characters are used to.

Hope this wasn't too overwhelming. This chapter is super long, but I had to fit a lot in it, so I hope you understand!

Let me know what you thought below if you want! Reviews are always appreciated!

Until Next Time.