Chapter Title: I Run Into The Ghost Of A Random Woman While Looking For My Guide
Look, I didn't fucking ask at all to be a half-blood. I know, this sounds so fucking cliche, but seriously, hear me out here.
I really fucking did not ask to be one.
Really, I did not at all.
But, unfortunately for me, fate had other ideas.
Neither did I ask to loose the dude with goat legs named Dawson in the woods of Long Island on our way to this safe zone for people like me.
Camp Half Blood, they called it. A safe space for children of the Greek Gods. Yeah, I know.. it's a lot to take in right off the bat.
Nevertheless, here I am, wandering aimlessly through the woods of what is effectively Eastern New York, also known as Long Island, trying to figure out where the hell I even am right now.
If you're wondering how the hell I am even in this situation, or why an eleven year old is even this pissed off at his current situation because of the hand life has currently dealt him, let me explain.
Because there's a perfectly logical explanation as to why all of this has happened to me, right?
Well.. to quote a wise man.. well yes, but actually no.
Confused? Well, let me explain indeed. Because believe me when I say, I am having a very hard time believing any of this makes sense at all as the sun slowly begins to set today.
I'll take it from the top in 3, 2, and.. one. Here we go.
This shit all started a week ago, back home in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
I was walking along the trails of Iroquois Park with my father and my step-mother - quick note here, up until this whole mess started, I thought she was my biological mother but no.. she was actually my step-mother - happy as one could be.
Everything was fine.
And then suddenly it wasn't.
In the blink of an eye - it happened so fast - my parents were lying on the ground in front of me, dead. Faces eroded in an horrifying fashion by some sort of acid.
In front of me and my dead parents on that trail, was a monster.
A really scary monster.
This thing was insanely long - possibly about two hundred feet in length - and despite having legs and feet, this thing made it look visually like it had none and slithered about like a snake. Like, kudos for the visual effects from this guy. Yeah, that's the only fucking compliment I'm going to give to the bastard that killed my parents. It also had eyes that beamed like searchlights that seemingly paralyzed me out of sheer, unmitigated terror and fear. It also was as thick as a damn school bus, I'm not exaggerating here. This thing was big, huge, and dangerous all at the same time.
I couldn't move. I screamed in horror as this monster slowly approached me, but I couldn't move. I was going to be a goner to this thing.
But before this thing could kill me with its venom - which is what killed my parents as I later found out - a dude with goat legs - and yes, goat legs - saved my life at the last moment. Grabbed me from behind just before the thing spewed its venom at where I had previously stood and ran like hell until he found a safe spot just outside of town. I was a sobbing, emotional wreck from what I had witnessed.
My savior had goat legs, yes.. but was also dark skinned, had horns popping up out of his head, gold eyes, and a few scars on his face. He was also a very skilled emotional control specialist, to be honest here, as he helped to calm me down.
He then told me his name was Dawson, and then proceeded to drop the bombshell on me that turned my whole world upside down.
I was a Greek demigod.
He explained more to me over the week that we spent crossing Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, before finally reaching and crossing New York City to Long Island. Apparently, the Greek gods were real and had followed Western Civilization from their ancient home of Greece to Europe and then on to America, and the whole damn Greek mythological world came with them too.
Most mortals couldn't see any of this due to something called the "Mist", I had no idea what that was since.. I was a demigod after all, so I could see everything.
Anyway, once a demigod becomes a teenager, their "scent" - which is basically how delicious they smell to monsters, and yeah I did not like that part at all - becomes so strong it is too dangerous for them to continue living in the mortal world. It fades away for the most part once they reach adulthood, though many don't live that long unfortunately. Either way, it essentially turned me into a kid walking with a massive target on my back now simply because of my heritage.
Fucking brilliant.
I was honestly so over this by now. My sadness, pain, and suffering over my parents - not my godly parent, because I still had no fucking clue who that even is right now - being taken away from me had morphed now into pure, unbridled rage and a desire for revenge.
Unfortunately for me, because of the monster, revenge was out of the question, maybe it was.. maybe it wasn't. My godly parentage could determine this for real, but hey.. one could dream if I can't take revenge. The reason why was simple. The goat man, whose name was Dawson and who was a member of a species belonging to the Greek myth world called Satyrs, explained to me that the monster who killed my parents was a Lydian Drakon, a monster whose fate is to killed by a child of Ares, the Greek God of War.
Dawson was a chill, cool dude, even if he did have goat legs and horns growing out of his head. He explained quite a lot of what I needed to know during the week we spent heading to this Camp Half Blood. By his own words, he was a very experienced seeker, his job role as a satyr. Put simply, seekers were sent out into the mortal world to find demigods and bring them back safely to camp once they turned of age and/or a monster attacked them. Most kids hadn't gotten out of middle school by the time they were attacked, so given that I was just out of Sixth Grade when the Drakon had killed my parents, I was in the typical range for having my hidden legacy revealed to me.
Just when we reached the woods of Long Island however, was when it all went to absolute shit. We were attacked by a few monsters, a pair of Cyclopes - beasts with one eye on their heads - and another, far larger dude with horns on his head - or should I say, bull head at that.
"Run kid!" Dawson had screamed at me. "Run! I'll distract them!"
I didn't need to be told twice. I did what Dawson told me to do and ran into the woods, hoping that my satyr friend would make it out okay.. hopefully.
And so, that's how I came to be in the present situation I am currently in right now - lost in the woods of Long Island, not sure where I'm supposed to be going, and alone. All because I was a child of a world that most mortals - except those with clear sight - could not see. Brilliant, absolutely fucking brilliant.
As you probably have already noticed, I swear a lot for an eleven year old, and I'll admit, I'll own up to it. Picked it up from my parents, who despite the usage of such words, were definitely above average for the parents a demigod could be stuck with. Yeah.. the thought that a child of the Gods could be stuck in a far worse situation domestically definitely did not still well in my stomach.
My parents were more or less very kind and loving, in the years that I had known them. I will really and truly forever miss them. But enough of that. No time to feel down over the past when you are still only gods know how many miles or kilometers - I had no idea at this point - short of safety. Monsters could be lurking behind any tree in these woods. So yeah, I was definitely on edge right now, knowing full well that all I could do was basically run at this point.
It really bothered me, even if I knew that was all I could do. I wanted to destroy monsters, make them pay for making my life miserable. Yet, until I reached safety, I couldn't right now and I knew it.
So.. I just quietly walked through the woods, moving in an eastward direction as the sun slowly set in the sky, moving in an eastward direction towards the gathering darkness, casting wary glances at every single tree around me. It was quiet.
Even with the sounds of nature around me, it was too quiet. I did not like it at all, I really did not.
Then, I heard the sound of a branch snapping. I paused, and looked down at my own two feet.
It hadn't been me.
Someone else was there in the woods with me, ahead of me judging from where the sound came from. I took a step back, preparing myself to run if it turned out to be another monster. Another branch snapped, as whoever or whatever it was got closer and closer to me. Please be Dawson, I thought to myself. I mean really, hopefully it was him because then, we could finally make it to camp and safety.
Yet another branch snapped, even closer than before, but I waited, waiting to see exactly who was approaching. Finally, I caught a hint of movement from one tree to my right out of the corner of my eye. I turned to face them..
.
.
.
.
.
.
..only to get a chill running up my neck, because who had come out of the trees was absolutely not who I had expected at all.
What came out of the woods behind that tree was a lady. A walking, yet hideous, undead lady with what looked like a ghostly head and partly wrapped in bandages like a mummy. She had dark hair that was starting to come out in clumps, wrinkly fur-like skin, eerie blue eyes, and a very malnourished frame, almost as if she was a decomposing walking dead woman. It was yucky, creepy, and chilling to be honest.
"..what.. what even are you..?" I sputtered, body once again frozen by fear. Oh, how I hate paralysis effects right now. Like no, seriously.. I really did hate it right now.
"You need not spend too much time understanding who I am, child.." she spoke, a green mist-like substance coming out of her mouth as she spoke, with the voice of a very young and alive maiden. "..just know that I am merely a ghost of a past oracle, a spirit appearing to you on behalf of those who summoned me to give you the message."
Ghost of a past oracle? What now? A message too? I was so confused now, and I didn't like what she implied by "message".
"W..Wha.." I stuttered. "What's the message..?"
The ghost lady in front of me simply chuckled, and then pointed her finger at me, and said five sentences that would forever change my life.
"You'll meet one girl on arrival, two on the road.. and come home to see a betrayal that leaves you on the ropes. Bulls will give way to the fourth that is yours.. deciding the choice that brings one there to ford. To save camp and those that hold the key, he must fight.. Once against one, then against many twice. Love builds a bridge strong and firm.. for him to guard well and care. When the time comes and war flares.. a single kiss will bless them all fair" she said to me.
I was confused as fuck right now, believe me. What the fuck is this freaking.. mummy ghost woman, whatever she was.. even talking about?
"Remember this prophecy, Colton Reynolds.." she said to me. "Remember it well. The fate of many demigods in Camp Half Blood in the future now rests on your shoulders."
"Hey.." I shouted. "Hey wait.. what do you mean.."
But she decomposed and vanished into thin air right in front of my eyes, the only traces of her remaining being a clipboard with a piece of a notebook paper on it that appeared out of nowhere from her as she vanished and fell to the ground. I walked over and picked it up.
On the piece of notebook paper was the "prophecy" she had uttered to me and this line written a few lines below it in big letters "Keep this to yourself. Only reveal this prophecy to everyone else when the time is right. Your discretion on when to do so."
I wanted to scream, but I didn't. Something told me that I had to follow the instructions and keep this hidden. So I took the piece of notebook paper off from the clipboard, folded it up into a folded square, and placed it in one of my pants pockets that had a zipper and zipped it shut.
Right after I had simply tossed the clipboard away, the sound of goat feet stomping against the ground could be heard coming towards me. Very familiar goat-feet, I might add. I shook off the shock and nervousness and fear I had on my face, and put on a mask of relief, hoping I hid it well.
A few moments later, Dawson burst forth from behind the same tree that the ghost lady had stepped out from, panting and out of breath. Darkness had just fallen by the time he did so.
"There you are, kid!" he said, panting. "Been looking for you for a while after I had lost those creeps. Thought you were a goner."
I smiled. "Well.. I'm not.. how much further to camp?" I asked, really wanting for this journey to be over. Lightning and Thunder were now booming constantly in the distance as a storm came in.
"About 3 more miles.." he replied, just as we heard a monstrous roar ring out up ahead, and a loud cry of "NO!" from the mouth of what sounded like a kid around my age. Dawson's face paled really badly, evidence that he knew exactly what made that roar.
"That's.. not.. good.. isn't it?" I asked him, just as rain started pelting us.
"No it is not.. now let's hurry, kid.. get you to camp.. because I rather not have to deal with what that thing out there is.." he said to me, and we started running again through the trees and rain, with the two of us fully unaware of what I was about to do on that now cliche dark and stormy night.
(A/N: As you may have noticed, Colton's backstory is a bit different here yet still somewhat the same as well. Like the original, the expanded crossover version is mostly canon to it. Hence why again here, the more things change, the more things stay the same.)