Although it was pretty close to the morning, there was still enough of the night left for me to make out a million constellations in the sky above me.

Perfect time to hear someone's life story.

Reyna and I were lying next to each other on the deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge. We'd initially tried to spot constellations, but eventually stopped because Reyna didn't know any more and everything looked like a giant spoon to me.

We'd been quite for a while after that, listening to the sounds of the ocean, birds crying overhead and the occasional monster. Far off in the distance, I could hear deep bellowing sounds, like an elephant playing the tuba, as ancient monsters that I'd never seen and probably never would went about their lives in the dark deeps of the ocean. There was a lot of the ocean I didn't know about— even as a son of Neptune.

She drew in a deep breath. "You'd asked about my past. Well, it's a long story, Percy. But I guess I trust you. I'll tell you."

I nodded, not saying anything. I felt like Reyna really needed to get this off of her chest, and I didn't want to interrupt. I figured she'd tell me eventually.

"It all started in Puerto Rico. My dad—" she winced. "He was a good soldier, charming and very gentle— at least, that's what people told me. My mother blessed him, but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted her to be his wife. But she was a goddess. She told him she couldn't be. She also told him something about how Rome would never fall as long as our bloodline remained."

I tilted my head. "Yours is a special bloodline?"

She sighed. "Maybe. I don't know, really. I haven't done anything special."

I wanted to argue, but she continued. "I loved my home in Puerto Rico. I loved the sound of Coquí frogs in her neighborhood and the smell of the ocean and magnolia and citrus trees. My sister Hylla and I would walk down the Calle San Jose, counting cats and making stories for each one. We used to live in this huge house— but then my dad got hit with PTSD"

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, right?"

She nodded. "He went maniac. Convinced someone was trying to spy on us and kill us. Eventually, it became so bad that he thought Hylla and I were spies. This one time, he—he knocked out my sister. I thought she died."

She broke out into sobs here and stopped. I'd never seen her cry so openly before.

"You don't have to continue, if you don't want to."

Reyna shook her head, her eyes red. "No. It's fine, I want you to know."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I appreciate that trust."

"Promise not to judge me for what happens next?"

Reyna looked at me with something that looked eerily similar to fear in her eyes.

I put my right hand over my heart. "Promise."

She shuddered. "I—I killed him Percy."

She breathed out sharply, her body shivering. "I thought he killed Hylla, and I— I don't know what came over me. I just snapped and the next thing I know—"

I took a few moments to process that.

I'd killed monsters before. But they turned to dust. And re-spawned for all eternity. Humans were…not like that.

I hadn't thought a lot about it, but I realized that I'd die too, some day. I had no idea about what the Underworld was like, but I heard they had a good side and a bad side. And then a medium side (if you didn't do anything too good but nothing too bad either). It was called the Fields of Asphalt or something.

"You're judging me."

Reyna was staring at me, her lips quivering.

"You think I'm a killer. You can't trust me."

I shook my head.

"Well, yeah, it's the first time I've heard someone say they killed another person," I admitted. I bit my lip. "It's a lot to think about. But you know what? I know you. And I trust you. And no— I don't think you're a killer."

"You really don't?"

I nodded.

Reyna huffed. "Well, you'd be the first."

"Hey, it's okay. I mean, I don't mean to belittle anything you went through or anything by saying that," I replied. "But I get it; we demigods have traumatic lives. It's part of who we are. I definitely don't judge you for it. And I know the others will get it too. Eventually. I appreciate you telling me, uh," I stammered. "I'll support you if you need me to."

She smiled, her eyes red. "Thanks, Percy."

I knew that it wasn't easy for Reyna to ask for help. She tended to just force herself to shoulder more responsibility than any single person could bear, and then beat herself up for not meeting her own expectations.

"I mean it," I added. "You don't have to hide anything from me. If you don't want to."

She nodded. "I know."

She looked back up at the sky. "I ended up on this enchanted spa—island of sorts. We had this Mistress— you can call her C.C. She cared for us. Even gave us pet leopards."

I'd been nodding my head, but suddenly jerked it up.

"Pet what?"

Reyna smiled wistfully, looking up in the sky. "Leopards. Mine was named Theodore. He was sleek, with beady eyes and golden-brown fur with black patterns painted on it. He was the best hair spray model."

I nodded. "That sounds cool. I'd honestly kill to have a pet leopard. Why did you leave?"

Her eyes narrowed. "It's complicated. There was an issue…and the island basically got invaded by Blackbeard and his crew. I'll tell you about what happened, later. If I can."

I propped myself up on my elbow. "Does this have to do with the World War III thing you were talking about?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much. After that though, they captured us and took us on board."

My jaw dropped. "Blackbeard? On this ship?"

Beads of sweat lined her forehead. "Yeah. My sister and I— we suffered a lot under the pirates, but we learned to be tough. Otherwise they'd have killed us. I learned I was good with weapons on this ship, actually."

"How did you get out?"

"With Hylla's help. However good you think I'm at weapons— Hylla's like, twice as good. Eventually, Blackbeard was so threatened by her and the chance that she mutitined that he dropped the two of us off at California."

"Then…" I frowned. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. When we came here, we fought. I wanted to go to Camp. She wanted to lead an independent life. The last I heard of her— she was heading towards the city. Said something about applying to big companies."

"Why would she want to apply for big companies? Like as a bodyguard or…?"

Reyna shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since."

"And you came to Camp Jupiter after that?" I asked.

She nodded. "I fought several monsters, but the last one was a little too much for me. Running non-stop, I was too tired to formulate a plan. But then—"

"But then you were saved by your dashing knight in shining armor," I grinned.

Reyna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Whatever. At least you care about me."

I narrowed my eyes. "What does that mean?"

She drew a breath. "Like, more than my mom, for example. She's practically our mom but I've never seen her even once. Throughout everything that happened, where was she? There's no sign of her, I've no idea what she looks like, nothing! Even Hylla was better than that!"

I nodded. Olympian parents definitely were not the ideal parents. Sure, they were powerful deities with incredible abilities, but they were horrible people to have as family.

"I get that," I nodded. "Even my dad, the first time I met him, it was only because he needed me to go on this quest."

Reyna's eye widened. "You've met Lord Neptune? What's he like?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It was only brief, and," I flushed, "I was angry at him most of the time. Because he, like, only came up to meet me cause he needed me to go on this quest. But I guess he's pretty cool. Considering that he could have struck me to dust for some of the things I said."

"It's not wise to anger a god, Percy. Especially one of the elder gods."

I frowned. "That's what I don't get. I mean, sure, he's damn powerful and all. But he's still my dad, right? Don't I at least deserve some parent-child time?"

Reyna nodded. "Yeah. That's part of the curse of being a hero, I guess. More people know about you, but no one really knows you."

We were quiet for a bit after that. I took a few moments to digest what she'd told me, thinking about her past (I'll admit it: a little about how cool it'd be to have a pet leopard). But the fact that her mother was Bellona— that reminded me of something. Of the day I'd first met her.

"Maybe your mom pays more attention to you than you think."

"Yeah?"

I nodded. "I think your mom helped me save you,"

Reyna turned her head to look at me. "What?"

"Well, I was dead tired that day," I explained, "And when I was running past Camp to get to you, I knew I couldn't go on any further. My body literally was physically incapable of doing more. So I prayed to whoever your godly parent was, that they would give me the strength to save you. And after that, I was covered with this orange glow— like I was about to go Super-saiyan or something— and I lost all sense of tiredness and fatigue. That's how I managed to reach you in time. Without that…" I winced.

"Any idea what that was?"

Reyna nodded, her eyes soft.

"Maybe she looked out for me after all," she murmured.

"Yeah," I let out a long breath. "The gods aren't horrible parents. They're just….really bad."

Reyna chuckled darkly. "That's an understatement."

She hummed, before finally turning to look at me.

"Thanks for listening to me."

"I—" I began, but Reyna shushed me with a look.

"I mean it. You didn't have to listen to me, but you chased after me, and made sure I felt better. I might beat you up for annoying me, but you're the closest I've got to someone I can rely on, Percy."

She smiled at me, and I could feel my heart rate shoot up.

I'd seen her smile before. And it caught me off guard every time.

Most of the times she smiled in victory. Like when she'd busted my ass at swordfighting the sixth time in a row, or she won the weekly GUESS THE SWORD NAME puzzles.

Otherwise, she smiled in battle. When she was enjoying the thrill of the fight, and the adrenaline filled her.

I'd only seen her really smile once, before.

Her entire face lit up. And she looked really pretty. I made a mental note to tell her to smile more often.

I brushed a few locks of hair over my over.

"Anytime, Rey. We've got each others' backs. That's what makes us a team, remember?"

"I know. And I appreciate it. And now, I'm going to sleep."

She smiled at me, before simply turning over and closing her eyes. She was out before I could say 'good morning'.

Huh. Maybe talking things out does help.

I don't know what it was about the early morning that lulled me to sleep. Maybe it was a rhythmic movement of the boat atop the waters. The calm of the sea. The sense of home.

Or maybe I was just tired.

Either way, I was asleep too before I knew it.

That was pretty much one of the biggest mistakes I made the entire quest.

I woke to the loud crash, my head throbbing from an unexpected nap.

Shit.

I cursed. I'd fallen asleep, and we'd probably drifted way off course.

The Queen Anne's Revenge shuddered, and the world tilted at an unnatural angle. Panic gripped me as I stumbled to my feet, the ship's hull groaning in agony. Crates rolled down the deck. I could hear glass breaking and wood snapping as the ship groaned.

Reyna quickly jumped up, her sword at her side, while Haniel, Anahita and Akua ran up the stairs to the deck. The ship was tilting close to forty-five degrees now, and we had to hold to the railings to stay put.

"Ah, gods, Percy!" Haniel shouted, rubbing his eyes. "You were supposed to be steering!"

I groaned, taking in the chaos around me. Anahita clung to the mast, her eyes wide with terror. Reyna stood with a grim determination, assessing the damage. Akua muttered something under her breath, her eyes scanning the splintered wreck.

"What happened?" I mumbled, feeling the ship's broken pieces beneath my fingertips.

Reyna's voice cut through the confusion. She was looking over the bow.

"We hit a sandbank. Hard. The ship's not moving."

I cursed under my breath, trying to make sense of the situation. "Can we get her back in the water?"

Anahita shook her head, her voice trembling. "The hull's shattered. It's a wreck."

A sense of horror settled over us as the reality sank in. We were stranded on a broken ship, surrounded by mist-shrouded woods that whispered with an unsettling sense of doom. Behind me, the ocean roared, but it was no longer the comforting feeling I'd felt yesterday. Something about everything felt off right now. Like we were not supposed to be here.

As if on cue, blood-curling screams echoed in the distance, sending a chill down my spine.

Akua shivered.

"We're not going into the woods. I am not going into the woods. You hear me I am NOT—"

"Okay, okay, let's not panic," Reyna interrupted, her tone firm. "We need to assess the situation. Percy, see if there's any salvageable wood. Anahita, check the provisions. Haniel, try to contact the winds. Akua, keep an eye on the woods. We need a plan."

"Great," she muttered, "I just told you I'm not going into those woods alone—"

"From the ship!" Reyna snapped. She sighed. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. I meant, just keep an eye out from the ship. For now. So that nothing creeps up on us without us knowing."

Haniel shuddered. "You think there are things in that forest?"

As much as I'd like to say by things we meant wolves or bears or coyotes, I knew better than that. Who knew what monster lurked in the dark deeps of the fog?

Because as far as I know, coyotes and bears don't make blood-curling screams like a dying human.

I scanned the ship for anything salvageable. But from my point of view, nothing was. The wood couldn't really be used for anything other than makeshift fire. The hull was too torn apart to ever be sea-worthy again without the skills of a talented son of Vulcan.

Anything I'd try to do to fix it wouldn't work. I suck at art and craft. My dexterity with swords and spears doesn't extend to glue and paper.

The mist clung to the woods like a shroud, and the fog added an eerie sense of foreboding. Occasionally, howls and roars and other sounds I couldn't even describe would pierce the silence, sending shivers down our spines.

Reyna returned to the center of our impromptu camp, her expression grave. "We're not alone here. Something's in those woods."

Aku shivered, glancing towards the ominous trees. "Maybe we should call for help?"

"We're in uncharted waters," I replied, my mind racing. "And I don't mean just the sea. We need to find a way out of here."

"But…not through the forest, right?"

I sighed. "There's no where else to go. I could go underwater, but then what? I can't leave y'all alone here— with, well, whatever is in those woods."

Akua shuddered, and gave me a weak smile. "Noted."

Reyna nodded. "Agreed. But for now, we stay vigilant. We don't know what's out there."

As we huddled on the broken deck, surrounded by the oppressive mist, the Queen Anne's Revenge lay shattered and stranded.

"We're going to have to go down now. We don't have a lot of food left— so the sooner we start, the better."

I glanced at Reyna. I knew she was right, but the unsettling feeling in my stomach didn't go away.

I took in a deep breath to steel myself.

"Alright then."

The mist hung thick around us as we left the shattered remains of the Queen Anne's Revenge behind. We moved through the woods in a single file, the oppressive fog distorting our vision. The atmosphere was deathly quiet, broken only by the muffled sounds of our footsteps.

"Keep moving, stay close," Reyna whispered, her voice tense. We trudged forward, anxiety thickening the air.

"I don't like this," Anahita muttered, glancing nervously at the trees that seemed to close in around us.

"Nobody does," I replied, my hand instinctively gripping Riptide. The forest played tricks on our eyes, shadows morphing into sinister shapes, twisted and grotesque figures that haunted my nightmares— like my Latin teacher.

You know that feeling when something is watching you, and you know it is, but you just don't know where it is?

Now imagine that feeling but you know for sure it's a monster that wants to kill you ad not just a random creepy mailman.

Now add fog and blood-curling screams to the mix.

Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't piss my pants too. I'm not scared of monsters, no matter how gross or deadly they seem, but something about this was…wrong. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. An ancient aura permeated the fog, something that was distinctly dead and rotting. Unlike any monster I'd faced before.

I looked around the fog, spotting nothing more than trees and a few splotches of blood on the forest floor.

Akua spoke up, her voice barely audible. "Did anyone else see that? Red eyes and antlers, like a deer?"

I squinted into the fog, but all I could see were indistinct shapes. "We need to keep moving. It's probably just your imagination."

Haniel chimed in, his eyes darting nervously. "Imagination or not, something's not right about this place."

The mist clung to the trees, the forest feeling like a labyrinth of nightmares. The oppressive silence was broken only by our hushed breaths. Nothing else made a sound. The screams stopped.

I hadn't heard a bird chirp from the moment I'd stepped into the forest.

As we pressed on, the anxiety escalated.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Anahita asked, her voice trembling.

"Trotting, like footsteps," Reyna said, her eyes scanning the fog. "And it's getting closer."

Panic set in as the trotting grew louder. We quickened our pace, but the mist seemed to thicken with each step. I could feel the creature's presence, an unseen horror stalking us through the fog.

"We need to run!" Akua yelled, her eyes wide with fear.

As we began to run, the trotting also began to get louder and more frequent, as if to match our pace.

We sprinted through the forest, the relentless trotting echoing behind us. Branches snapped. I nearly tripped on a log.

But we kept running. I ignored my lungs screaming for oxygen and my abs cramping. I ignored the blood in my forearm where I'd scratched against a thorn bush.

All that mattered now was getting away.

The fog seemed to stretch on endlessly until, finally, we reached the edge of a cliff. Beyond the mist, the world opened up.

"Stop!" I shouted, bringing the team to a sudden halt. The mist ceased at the cliff's edge, revealing a vast expanse below. It was a steep drop. Beyond the cliff, I could see even more forested area— but unlike the region behind us, it seemed natural, and wasn't covered in mist and fog.

But when I looked back, the red eyes glowed in the fog, slowly advancing towards us. The creature's outline remained obscured but it was clear that it had one goal on its mind.

Kill us.

"We can't go back," Reyna said, her voice determined. "We face whatever's through that fog. This is the best location to do so, as long as we guard our backs."

I drew riptide, and felt a little better at the comforting grip of its leather against my palm.

The cliff served as a precarious divide, separating us from the creature with glowing red eyes. The fog whispered its secrets, and the forest held its breath, awaiting the inevitable confrontation on the precipice of the unknown.

Then the creature emerged from the forest.

The fog clung to the it like bad cologne to an eighth-grade dance. Red eyes glowed in the mist, staring at me with the intensity of a thousand lectures from Marcus. The creature's breath wheezed through antlers that curled like a demonic set of reindeer horns.

Its fur looked like it had bathed in a tub of congealed marinara sauce. Blood caked its matted coat, and the stench hit us like a wave – not the kind you surf, but the kind that made you question your life choices.

The creature's bones stuck out in all the wrong places, like it had been assembled by a blindfolded Lego enthusiast. Sharp teeth and antlers jutted from its mouth, making it look like a horror-themed dental experiment gone wrong.

"Nice breath, buddy," I muttered, waving a hand in front of my face. "Ever heard of dental hygiene?"

Reyna shot me a look, but honestly, if you can't crack jokes in the face of certain doom, what's the point? Sarcasm was my coping mechanism. I just hoped my voice didn't quaver.

The creature's movements were eerie, a ballet of menace. It circled us, its trotting steps echoing through the fog. Each step seemed to be stumbling and grotesque and just wrong.

"Hold your ground," Reyna said, her sword at the ready. "We can take it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Can we, though? I mean, it's got antlers. That's just not fair."

You are not what I seek…

When the creature spoke, it was like a thousand voices and one at the same time. It had a hypnotizing feeling to it, and I nearly lay riptide down on the ground and gave up on the spot.

But you will do nicely. Demigods all taste the same.

It licked its lips, and kept moving towards us, like an abomination straight from the Underworld.

The tension thickened as the creature closed in, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to be in a nature documentary titled "Demigods vs. Nature: Why you avoid forests."

The red eyes narrowed, and the creature lunged. I dodged, rolled, and tried to outmaneuver it. It was like fighting a blender with fur and anger management issues.

"Remind me," I grunted, avoiding a particularly gnarly antler swipe, "why we thought running through the foggy woods was a good idea?"

Haniel summoned a gust of wind, momentarily dispersing the mist. The creature snarled, revealing teeth that could shred a textbook on ancient monsters. A textbook I probably should have read more carefully. Because I really had no idea what this was.

"Any idea what this is, by the way?" I yelled, as I dodged another vicious swipe.

"No clue!"

"Nope!"

"Nuh-uh!"

I sighed.

"Perfect. The one undiscovered monster in the forest and we're the ones who have to face it."

Reyna yelled a battle cry, and Akua launched herself at the creature's flank. I joined the fray, slashing at fur and bone, desperately hoping that my sword wasn't just making the creature angrier.

The fight was chaos, a whirlwind of fur, antlers, and misplaced dental work. We held our own, but the monster was relentless. It was like fighting a relentless, furry freight train – with red eyes.

But we couldn't hold on forever.

I was bleeding from several places in my forearms. Akua had a scar across her side— it wasn't deep, but it did slow her down. Haniel and Anahita was out of breath. Only Reyna was still untouched, but I knew even she couldn't last for too long against the monster.

I gripped riptide tighter, feeling a familiar surge of rage surround me.

If this was how I was going to die, I might as well die a hero.

A/N: Reviews are appreciated

Slightly went for a bit more of a horror-esque narration here, just because I felt like it suited this better.

What do you think the creature is?