Welcome everyone to chapter 7!

I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!

Makayla breathed out a sigh as she followed Amira and Eragon.

The two Riders were showing the demigod around Ellesméra and as time passed, the redhead felt herself starting to warm up to the two strange people. Naturally, she was surprised to see all the Dwarves and Urgals and Elves and she had to admit that it took self-control not to attack the Urgals out of instinct.

"Makayla?"

"Huh?" She stuttered, bringing her thoughts back to reality. She saw Eragon and Amira looking at her and asked what they had said.

"You seemed to have been lost in thought," Eragon told her, a bit of an amused look on his face. Makayla blushed sheepishly.

"Sorry, I do that a lot. Plus this is all kinda a lot to take in." The demigod confessed, gesturing around her.

"I do not doubt you." Amira understood with a small laugh. "I too was overwhelmed at the meeting and the sight of your world."

"Gurl, you got no idea." Makayla chuckled as she followed them. Amira looked a bit confused by her words then after a minute, realization appeared on her face.

"Knowing you are a half-blood, I had forgotten to ask you: which god is your father?" Amira then asked. "From what you and Leo have said, I assume that you were born of the same mother?"

Makayla bit her lip.

Her parentage was her most guarded secret right beside her powers. Telling her secret wouldn't be quite as dangerous in Alagaesia but she decided to try to bluff her way through anyway, just to keep the hesitation to tell a habit.

"Despite our different looks, yes: Leo and I do have the same mom." She affirmed, trying to avoid the question. "And his dad is Hephaestus, our god of forges and fire. That explains his fire abilities if you've seen them."

"Yes, he did. He used his abilities on our quest." Amira remembered. Makayla was a bit surprised as he had seemed sensitive to it before. Then again, if he had helped defeat…

"Um, who was it that you fought again?" She wondered. Amira raised a brow in suspicion at the change in topic.

"The primordial Tartarus." She answered anyway. "His strength and power had grown in strength enough to defeat Hades and take control of the Underworld."

"Wait, what? How the Hades did he manage to get strong enough to do that?" Makayla raised her brows, genuinely surprised but also wanting to switch the topic from her. Amira stopped walking, causing Eragon and Makayla to do the same.

"How he gained his power, I do not know; we never did figure that out." The purple-haired Rider explained. "But somehow the primordial had brought me from my world to yours and captured my former dragon, as well as stole my ability over magic. He had used them against me and convinced me to- um…" Amira felt her cheeks pinken with embarrassment. "I'm, to turn me against our friends. He used them as a form of leverage to make me betray the seven of them as well as Nico. I did not want to but I… I swore myself to him for a time."

Though Makayla's eyes widened a bit, she quickly hid her surprise.

"How did you break your allegiance?" She wondered. Amira winced and dropped her gaze.

"It- it was not the best way to do so but it was the only way. When I swore myself to him, I chose my words carefully: I swore that I would serve his every command until I return to Alagaesia, he releases me, or until I am taken by death."

"There's no way he would have just let you go." Makayla knew. Eragon nodded his head in agreement, not having heard the full details of his former apprentice's story.

"That is correct. But... there was one other way…" Amira seemed hesitant to tell them.

"If you return or death takes you. But you were not sent back by then so that would have to mean you died. But if you died, how are you here now?" Eragon frowned.

For a long moment, Amira said nothing. Then she took a breath.

"Tartarus's physical form could not be used in the mortal world and so he tried to take mine in the form of a host, destroying his own form before he did so. He almost succeeded and in a panicked response, we did the only thing that would destroy him: I- I was killed." Amira's purple eyes were locked on the paved stone pathway, her expression a mix of so many emotions. "Before he gained control of my body, I trapped him inside my mind. I could not kill myself as doing so would kill him and I was commanded not to but I could still have someone else take my life. The one who did so had not wanted to but he knew there was no other way. From everyone in your world, Makayla, I knew he cared for me the most."

"Leo… You asked Leo." The younger Valdez realized. Amira nodded, still looking down.

"He did not want to but he knew it was the only way to stop me. The knife was not what gave me pain. No, seeing the anguish on the faces of our friends was what truly hurt me. It was the- his pain was the last thing that I saw."

A tear slid down Amira's cheek but she didn't notice.

"Amira, if that is true then how are you here?" Eragon shook his head confusingly but Amira didn't hear him;

Her ears rang and her head spun before her vision faded.

Her breath was stolen as the dagger was stabbed into her chest. She could see Leo's pained face, tears streaming down his cheeks as he held her in his arms. Amira's body tingled where the dagger impaled her, the numb spreading through her body as weakness began to take over.

She could see the rest of her friends crying and holding each other as she confessed how sorry she was. Then she looked back up at Leo's face.

"Do not… forget this… our adventure…"

She faintly felt as Leo kissed her, his lips pressing against her own as he told her he loved her.

Then Amira's vision faded… she felt herself grow limp… her soul fading from her body-

"AMIRA!"

"LEO NO!" Amira's purple eyes flew open and she shot upright with a shout.

She spun to look around in panic but instead of her friend's sad and worried faces, she saw Eragon and Makayla's.

"Thank goodness..." Eragon sighed in relief, head bowed as he muttered words of thanks.

"Wha…? What happened?" Amira muttered, her hand going to her head.

Her head was throbbing and as she looked around, she noticed that she was now laying on a field of soft grass no longer in the streets of Ellesméra.

"We don't know. You were talking then you just collapsed." Makayla explained, brows furrowed in worry.

"Are you alright, Amira?" Eragon asked worriedly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"My head throbs but the pain will pass." She assured him, hand over her abdomen. The phantom pain of the dagger was there between the bottom of her ribs. It didn't hurt, thank the gods, but was just a numb tingling.

"Why did you say my brother's name when you woke up?" Makayla asked a bit suspiciously. Amira felt her face turn red when the memory of Leo kissing her appeared in her mind.

"It was just a memory," She blushed and avoided meeting Makayla's eyes, which she noticed were dark silver in color.

Amira had noticed the difference between her and the demigod's eyes, how her eyes were a lighter violet-purple while Makayla's changed between different shades of purple and silver or the two colors mixed together.

"If you say so…" The redhead let it go despite still sounding skeptical.

Amira forced the blush on her cheeks to fade and a few minutes later she was good. She stood, holding Eragon's arm as her head still felt heavy. The feeling thankfully faded in minutes so the three started off to return to the cave where Amira and Visarus lived. The purple-haired Rider could feel Makayla's eyes digging into the back of her head the whole trip (Makayla rode with Eragon) still she tried to ignore her. As she flew, Amira tried to think of what could have triggered her flashback. Having died twice on Earth and been brought back to life each time, Amira sometimes had dreams about the moments when she died but never when she was awake.

When she finally got to her cave-home, her mind was starting to hurt from thinking too hard. Eragon said his goodbyes to the two girls and he and Saphira left so Amira moved over to where Visarus had curled up and collapsed next to her dragon. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her mind, starting to wish she could forget everything.

'I do not think that forgetting would do any good.' Visarus told Amira through their mental connection, his deep and intense voice sending a familiar tingle down Amira's spine.

'Maybe not,' She agreed with a mental shrug. 'But it causes me pain to know that those I know and have come to love are in a world I shall never again reach. Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Frank, Nico, Leo, Hazel… There is no doubt that I will not see them again in my lifetime.' She sighed silently. 'They seem nothing more than a memory now.'

'Just because you do not see someone does not mean they are not there. Cherish the memories you had with your friends as they will remain with you only as long as you remember them. If you continue to try to forget them then they truly will become nothing more than a memory.'

The Silver Rider sighed and admitted that her soul partner was right.

"Hey Amira?"

Amira looked up to see Makayla standing above her, perfectly poker-faced but suspicion lingering in her swirling eyes.

"Yes? My apologies, I was speaking with Visarus." Amira apologized, gesturing for her to sit.

"It's okay. I just keep thinking about something." Makayla started, sitting down in front of Amira but keeping an obvious space between her and Visarus. Amira noted that the two didn't seem to want to get comfortable with each other.

"What is it that worries you?" She wondered.

"You and Leo." The Rider felt a bit of nervousness crawl into her heart, her suspicion confirmed. "When we were talking to Leo, you spoke like you were really close and when you passed out, you woke up calling his name. Plus you get this small blush whenever I talk about him, just like you have right now."

Amira mentally cursed when she realized that she was in fact blushing. She forced it down and ignored Visarus's scolding.

"Is that your question?" She asked, already wanting to change the topic, but Makayla wouldn't relent.

"No. My question is: what was your guys' relationship? Were you together?" She asked, her voice not hard but expecting an answer.

"What do you mean by "together"?" Amira asked with a tilt of her head, not having heard the term used like that before.

"Together; dating, boyfriend and girlfriend, closer than friends, lovers, in a relationship." Makayla listed off different definitions, hoping Amira would get it. The Dragon Rider did and her blush darkened.

"Um… Why do you ask?" Amira tried to stall, always embarrassed when talking about her love life. Makayla's eyes were level and serious, the purple and silver mixed together like paint in water.

"Because he's my brother and I know him well enough to know that if you left when you were together, it would have broken his heart and that would mean that he'd be hurt whenever anyone said your name or if he even thought about you."

Understanding the redhead's mindset, Amira relented.

"Being honest… I do not know." She confessed, eyes avoiding Makayla's. "I believe Leo would have hoped to have a deeper relationship of some sort had I stayed."

Makayla narrowed her eyes.

"That's a nice thought but it didn't answer my question." She told her. "Were you two close enough to hurt him when you left?"

Amira chewed at her lip, an annoying habit she had gotten into. Makayla's eyes were level and it sent the Rider on edge.

'It is so unnerving.' Amira sent her thoughts to her dragon. 'Makayla Valdez is so... unique.'

'I agree. She is very unpredictable and quite hard to read.' Visarus agreed with a slight nod of his horned head.

'She is unlike anyone I have ever met. At times she appears calm and kind then a second pass, she is unnervingly serious...'

"Um... I think so." She answered Makayla out loud. "Again, I do not know as I spent most of my time on Earth either attacking our friends or being attacked."

"Did you want to?" Makayla wasn't giving up. Amira held back a groan; this was an awkward conversation for her but either the redhead didn't notice or didn't seem to care.

"If I answer, will you end this topic?" She demanded in reply, irritation growing. A tiny smile tugged at the tips of Makayla's lips but she prevented anything further from emerging.

"Maybe." She shrugged vaguely.

Amira rolled her purple eyes. She could feel her emotions building up inside her before her words then suddenly seemed to pour out of her mouth, unable to stop them from confessing her hidden feelings.

"Then yes! I did wish to have a deeper relationship with Leo Valdez!" She finally confessed. "I wished very deeply so. He is kind and loving and funny and strong and I know that he loved me and I confess that I was very unsure but my feelings grew for him and continue to grow even if we are separated by worlds." Tears were beginning to form as hidden confessions spilled from Amira's mouth like a broken dam. "I miss everything about him; I miss the way he would hold me when he kissed me, I miss his laugh, his unruly hair, his energy, even his humorless jokes! I miss him every day of every year that passes yet I have no way to be near him and it pains me unbearably! Is that the answer you were hoping for?!"

Several unnoticed tears had slid from her violet eyes and her face was dark red, embarrassed by how much she had said. But a small smile had appeared on the tips of Makayla's red lips.

"That's exactly what I was looking for." She agreed. The Rider finally raised her gaze to the redhead as she placed a hand on her knee. "Amira, you're not the only one. I understand that you've been gone longer than I have but as a mother, wife, sister, and friend, I know what it's like to miss someone. I'm barely twenty and I'm already married and have two kids. Most things get better over time and I'm sorry if this sounds cruel but this won't because when you truly love someone, it's nearly impossible to forget about them."

Makayla paused, surprised at how deep her words were becoming. Still, she continued.

"You realized that you and Leo are in different places and can't be together but that's okay. I'm not saying to try to forget him. Just... Well, just try to find another person that makes you just as happy, if not more so. Keep him in your heart but not in your mind otherwise, you'll never find yourself settling down."

A long moment of silence passed as the two girls thought over the redhead's words. Then Amira ran her forearm over her eyes, wiping away her stray tears.

"That was very deep," She finally said, breaking the silence that followed. Makayla blushed but couldn't help her laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it was." She admitted. "But it's true though."

"I understand." Amira agreed with a nod. It was a long time before either of the two girls or dragon spoke, sitting in silence.

Not knowing what to say or do but not wanting to be the one to break the silence, Makayla began fiddling with her red hair. She released it from the containment of its braid and let it fall free down her back. For several years Makayla had been letting her hair grow out and when let down, its current length would just reach her hips. She slowly ran through the soft auburn locks. She had begun to get annoyed with its length the past several weeks and toyed with the idea of cutting it short but she knew Jakob would argue as he absolutely adored her hair. Still, she felt as though it was beginning to get unmanageable.

Makayla was pulled from her musing when Amira suddenly gave a shout and jumped to her feet. She looked at the Rider to see she was staring at her dragon with a look of shock, embarrassment, and horror, as though the winged beast had said something absurd and offensive.

"Are you okay?" Makayla asked quickly, not sure what had happened. Amira didn't reply to her.

"How could you dare to think that?!" The Rider demanded in exasperation, seemingly speaking to Visarus. If the dragon could smirk, Makayla guessed he would have. Amira said nothing for a moment and the demigod figured Visarus was talking. Then Amira's eyes widened and she gasped.

"What!? You- how- NO! No, I-I am done with you, Visarus! I am not speaking with you!" Amira declared, throwing a hand in the air as she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room without so much as a word of explanation.

Makayla watched in puzzled confusion as her new friend left. She continued to stare even after the Rider disappeared from sight before turning to the giant silver dragon.

"Geez, what was that about?" She asked in curiosity. She wasn't actually expecting an answer so she was very surprised when she received one.

'That was Amira's version of a hissy fit.' A male's thick and deep voice spoke in Makayla's mind. She yelped and spun to look at the dragon, who had lowered his head enough to meet her gaze.

"Was that you?" She asked him, startled by the sudden voice. Visarus raised then lowered his giant head in what Makayla assumed was a nod, his long tail sweeping through the air.

'Indeed. As a dragon, I have no voice of my own and so I communicate through mental speech with those who open their minds.' The dragon explained.

His voice echoed in Makayla's mind and could only be described as intense. Deep, low, vibrating, and masculine, the redhead couldn't help but feel a shiver crawl down her spine at the sound.

"You startled me. I guess I just wasn't expecting… well, expecting you." She admitted honestly. The dragon gave a low rumble of what she guessed was his version of a laugh.

'I forget you are still new to the concept of my kind.' Visarus admitted.

Makayla automatically scrambled back when the silver dragon moved to rise to his feet. She couldn't help but stare for a moment, amazed by the shimmering color of the dragon's silver scales; he reminded her of a moonstone Hazel had once shown her.

'Enjoying your view?' He asked her, a smirk in his mental voice. Makayla snapped herself back to reality at the dragon's question.

"Oh please. Your head would burst if you got that kind of attention." She retorted in an equally sarcastic tone.

'Insulting a dragon is a dangerous game.' Visarus warned, moving to the opening of the cave. Makayla followed slowly. 'There is not much knowledge of my kind but we are not known as being friendly.'

Makayla rolled her eyes as she stood beside him. Then she frowned.

"What did you say to Amira that caused her to storm out like that?" She wondered.

'That is something you should ask her yourself.' The dragon replied. He turned to face the sky. 'Tell Amira that I am going to hunt and shall return after the sun sets.'

Then the silver dragon leapt into the air with a flap of his giant wings, leaving Makayla alone with her thoughts.

And that concludes the seventh chapter of our crossover!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue.

Please leave a review because I love receiving your guys' criticism, advice, complaints, and/or compliments!

Have a good one and I'll see you soon!