Welcome everyone to chapter 9!

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

Amira blinked as she watched Makayla from the corner of her violet eyes.

The two girls were sitting on the floor of Amira's cave eating lunch as they discussed possible reasons for Makayla to have been brought to Alagaesia. As they ate, Amira sat and took in the younger girl's full appearance and features.

When standing, Amira guessed she was close to half an inch shorter than the redhead. Makayla's ivory skin was sprinkled with the barest hint of a gentle tan, her arms and legs strong despite her slim, hourglass figure. Her auburn hair held a gentle wave even as it reached mid-torso and looked shiny and soft. Her diamond-shaped face, pink-red lips, gentle cheeks, and delicate nose gave her a beauty that was beyond Alagaesia's world. But that beauty was guarded; ever-changing in color, her almond-shaped eyes were hard and blocked off despite retaining the same spark of mischievousness as her brother, Leo.

Makayla seemed to notice that she was Alagaesian's focus and raised a lightly arched brow in question.

"You done staring?" She asked sarcastically, getting the Rider's attention. Just like her gaze, her pleasant soprano-tone voice was beautiful but guarded.

"Huh? Oh, yes. My apologies." Amira apologized. Makayla brushed it away, saying that it was alright.

Visarus, who was curled up around his Rider, looked up and a moment later the redhead heard what she leaned by then as a dragon's approach, a dragon landing on the lip of the cave a minute after.

The new dragon was unfamiliar to Makayla, larger than Visarus with scales that were dark red in color. The dragon's Rider dismounted, said something to the red dragon, then walked over to the two girls as the large beast took off back into the air. Amira gave a small wave as the new Rider neared.

"I was not expecting your arrival." She said as a greeting.

"Apologies for the sudden appearance. We were flying by and Thorn suggested I speak with you," The man replied.

"That seems rather out of character for him." Amira pointed out, a single brow raised. The man just shrugged but Makayla noticed a very faint pink come to his cheeks. At Amira's insistence, the Red Rider sat with the two.

"Makayla, this is Murtagh and a moment before you saw his dragon, Thorn." Amira introduced. "Murtagh, this is Makayla."

"Dope names," Makayla told Murtagh in reply, taking a bite of bread. The dark-haired rider frowned.

""Dope names"?" He repeated, very confused.

"Makayla is from Camp Half-Blood," Amira explained, shifting her position against Visarus. "The reasons she was brought here, we do not yet know. We were discussing the possibilities just a moment before."

"You are from Earth?" Murtagh asked the redhead in surprise. Makayla nodded.

"Yep. Daughter of a Deity, demigod, one of the Greeks." She listed offhandedly. Murtagh nodded slowly, giving her an odd look.

Makayla watched as the two Riders spoke with curious eyes. She had a distinct feeling that there was a kind of tense history between the two but good or bad, she didn't know. She had to admit that she was curious but knew that blurting out questions would be too forward and rude.

Her grin faded to a frown as she suddenly began to feel light-headed. The redhead blinked and tried to shake her head to rid the feeling but it wouldn't go.

"Makayla? Are you alright?" Amira asked when she noticed her head shake.

Makayla nodded but she felt like a bobblehead like her neck was a spring that swayed with each movement. Amira said something else but her words were mixing together into gibberish. She could hear her name being said but the voice sounded like they were on the far side of a long tunnel, able to make out the sound of their voice but the echo making it nearly impossible to hear their words.

She began to sway as her head felt really really light and her body felt numb, not even feeling as her side hit the ground.

Then her vision faded and her mind was stolen.

When Makayla opened her (dream) eyes, her polychromatic eyes traveled around her to see that she was back in the living room at Ganabranth's house. The pictures, furniture, carpets, walls; it was all the same. But when she looked up, her eyes quickly turned silver because where a tall ceiling with golden chandeliers had once been was now nothing but a swirling mass of dark shadows.

Makayla yelped and automatically scurried back from the sight but it took up the house's entire ceiling so she took a deep breath. She knew that she was in memory but why there was this black hole, she didn't know.

"Is that really how you see me?"

Makayla gave a scream of fear when Ganabranth appeared on the couch beside her. She quickly tried to scramble away from him but he just grabbed her arm and easily pulled her back down beside him.

"What are you doing?! What's going on?! How are you here?!" She demanded, eyes wide with fear. The older man shrugged.

"Just thought we should talk for a while." He replied innocently, his green eyes still holding their crazily-evil gleam. He gestured to the swirling black with his chin. "I am interested in that, however."

"Why? What is it?"

"That, my dear Beautiful, is how you visualize me in your mind," As Ganabranth explained, his hand moved from her wrist to around her shoulders to keep her firmly by his side. Still, Makayla moved as far away from him as possible. "Again, this is one of the dreams I made for you and while I was at it I figured, "why not see how she thinks of me?" Needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed. I mean, swirling holes of doom and death are cool and all but I don't want to be compared to one."

"That's exactly what you are," Makayla argued, anger appearing alongside her fear. "An evil hole of death. You murdered people just to entertain yourself-"

"Not true!" Ganabranth interrupted, holding up a finger. "I never murdered. I just hurt them 'till they beg to die and then I oblige. It's not murder if they're asking for it."

He seemed genuinely offended by her accusation but Makayla rolled her eyes, disgusted.

"Whatever you call it, it was twisted and cruel and psychotic!"

Ganabranth gave her a look that showed… Was it admiration? Whatever it was, it made her shiver.

"I'm gonna be honest, I kinda missed that little attitude of yours." He chuckled, leaning back and putting his feet on the coffee table. His gaze then darkened. "After all, it gets kinda lonely when your soul is dispersed indefinitely."

Makayla ground her teeth together. She remembered the time when she would scream and cry whenever Ganabranth was even mentioned but after spending nearly a month with the man she felt more pissed off and irritated than terrified, though the fear was definitely still there.

A small bag of M&M candies appeared in his hand. He let go of her to pop a few in his mouth and she immediately moved to the opposite end of the couch.

"You deserve so much worse than that after everything you did." She growled. But the former Serpents' Leader shrugged, eating another M&M.

"I won't lie and say you're wrong; I mean, even I admitted that I was crazy." He agreed, eyes on the swirling blackness. His mouth twisted to a crooked grin. "I mean, carving images into people's bodies to be able to control their mind against their will? Pretty f**ked up stuff."

"If you knew it was horrible then why'd you do it?"

"It was fun." Ganabranth shrugged nonchalantly. The bag of candies disappeared and he stretched his head side to side, neck popping from the movement. "You, Makayla, were different though. Hurting you wasn't as much fun as it was with others. After all, you-"

"-remind you of your daughter." The redhead finished. He nodded. She shook her head in disgust. "Why am I here?"

The dark-haired man groaned as he got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, back popping.

"Wow it feels good to stretch! After almost two years of being erased from existence, you start to get all stiff." He joked.

"Why am I here?!" Makayla close to shouted, irritated despite the fear that stabbed needles at her chest.

"As I said; I wanted to talk."

"I erased your soul. How are you even doing this?"

Ganbranth gave her a look that was all too familiar to the demigod: it told her without words how crazy he was, how his mind worked on a level close to insanity and how he loved it. She shivered and involuntarily moved further away.

The dark-haired man stopped his stretches and twirled his fingers, a gleaming flip-blade appearing in his hand. Makayla gave a whimper from fright as he began to slowly circle the couch but he didn't move to attack.

"That, my dear, is a secret you have yet to figure out." He teased, flipping the knife in his hand and skillfully moving it between his fingers. His voice had lost its mocking cheerfulness and was now calm and level, giving Makayla no ideas as to what he was thinking. "Of course, there is no way you'd ever think of it so I'll give you a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy hint."

Ganabranth's eyes darkened as he turned to the redhead, throwing the knife with a speed that gave her no time to react.

Makayla cried out as the strength of his throw embedded the entirety of the six-inch blade into her left arm. She fell from the couch and collapsed to the floor with a scream, intense pain flowing through her body as the throwing knife stabbed through her arm.

Ganabranth knelt beside her and watched her scream for a moment before reaching out to tear the knife down and from her arm, thick crimson blood pouring from the ten-inch-long wound. His expression was dark as he watched her writhe in pain before grabbing her face in his hand and forcing her to face him.

"You. Are. Mine." His eyes were dark and his voice filled with a cruel venom that echoed through her mind. "Your gods may be protecting you in your world but you don't get that kind of luxury in this one. I made the knives used to make that mark on you so no matter where you put me, I will always be a part of you. You are never going to be rid of me and you'd do best to remember that."

Makayla's vision blurred; a large crimson puddle had already formed around her as she lay on the floor in numb shock, arm and side stained red.

"Have fun with your new friends, Makayla. You'll be seeing me again soon."

Makayla's vision turned red and both the room and Ganabranth disappeared.

Makayla sighed in annoyance.

After waking from her mind attack from Ganabranth, Amira told Makayla that she collapsed and her arm had started bleeding profusely. Not knowing what else to do, she and Murtagh had flown her to get help from a healer but no matter who tried what, no matter what type of magic was used, her arm wouldn't heal. Eragon and Arya had shown up after Amira had told them what happened but just like everyone else who tried, neither could get their magic to heal the redhead and had to resort to the old-fashioned treatment of medicine, stitches, and bandages.

Makayla had tried using her own power as well after she woke up but that too had no effect. So she sat with her arm stitched and bandaged, wincing in pain from every small movement.

"We have tried what we can but I don't know what else we can do." Eragon was saying.

"So you plan to give up?" Amira argued stubbornly. "Something beyond our control is happening here! We cannot leave it be and do nothing!"

Makayla sighed with a small groan; the two had been arguing for several minutes now and neither seemed ready to stop.

"I'm not saying we should give up," Eragon continued. "I am saying that we have tried what we can. Why waste any more time-"

"You never gave up on me!" Amira's eyes were dark and her face red as she practically shouted her words. "When I was brought to Earth you fought day and night to get me back so why is this any different?!"

"You were stolen from your world, Amira, stolen against your will from your home." Eragon ran a hand through his hair, his free hand clenched in a fist.

"This is exactly the same! She is in the exact situation as I had been!" Amira argued, throwing a hand out to point to Makayla.

"Will you guys just give it up already?" Said redhead begged. She rolled her purple and silver eyes as she was ignored and shared a look with Murtagh, who stood watching from against the far wall. She could tell that he too was beginning to get tired of the argument.

"You were missing for fifteen days, Amira!" Eragon continued, ignoring Makayla. "I would have never given up looking for you."

"Exactly! You did not give up on me then so why would you do so now for her?!" Amira's voice rose in pitch as her anger rose and Makayla felt herself tip and she got to her feet.

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" She shouted, eyes blazing.

The demigod threw out her hand, her eyes and Snake Scar glowing silver. Immediately Eragon and Amira were immobilized by a silver light that cocooned them both. The two's Rider's eyes widened as they tried to move but their efforts were futile against the power of the Daughter of Two Gods. They tried to speak but couldn't move their mouths to cast spells.

"For the gods' sake you two, just stop!" Makayla exclaimed in irritable exasperation, moving to stand in front of the two, her hand, eyes, and scar glowing silver. "You've been arguing for almost ten minutes and nothing is getting resolved so just shut up! Amira, if you'd actually listen then you would have known that he isn't giving up but doesn't know what to do next."

The demigod turned to the older Rider.

"She was your apprentice for the gods' sake, Eragon! We get that you don't want to put her in danger but you're not going to keep her away from it forever so just freaking realize that she's gonna deal with it in her life!"

Makayla would have crossed her arms but her new wound made her unable. She winced as she jostled said arm, her break in concentration causing her power to waver, and the two Riders used her fault to break free and stumble back. The redhead released her power and dispersed the light from her scar and eyes before sitting back down.

"Are you two done arguing now?" She asked them almost sarcastically.

"How did you do that?" Eragon demanded, straightening and facing her with a look of suspicion. The Daughter of Two gave a one-shoulder shrug.

"It's just something I can do." She replied vaguely, dropping her gaze.

"Because of your parentage?" Amira remembered. Makayla nodded.

"What could your parentage be to give you power such as that?" Murtagh asked with a shocked frown, having just met her.

Makayla hesitated for a long moment. The dangers of telling her secret weren't as bad in Alagaesia as Earth but she remained cautious out of habit. She gave Amira a look and the Rider nodded.

"He can be trusted." She assured.

"Amira mentioned Camp Half-Blood like you'd been there so I'd guess you were brought to Earth too and know about the gods?" Makayla assumed with a sigh. Murtagh nodded. "Most half-bloods are just that: half-mortal, half-god. Well, I'm more. Don't ask how because it's annoying to explain but I was born with two godly fathers and one mortal mother so I'm not quite a half-blood because I'm two-thirds god and because of that, I'm super powerful."

Murtagh's eyebrows rose in surprise but said nothing, nodding once. Then Makayla paused and her face faded into a frown as her thoughts began puzzling together.

She's more powerful than any half-blood, even the children of the Big Three, and the reason Ganabranth held her captive for months was because he wanted that power. Ganabranth… His dream… His "teeny-tiny hint"... He said something about making the knives that were used to cut his mark onto her… Her healing abilities weren't working…

Makayla's eyes widened to the size of saucers and she stumbled as realization made itself clear. The action jostled her bad arm and the wound began bleeding once more but she didn't notice as an old conversation hit her like a slap to the face.

"No." She muttered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "No, no, no, no…" Her heart began to feel clenched and her chest felt constricted as suspicions and memories began confirming the truth. "He wouldn't- th-that- that's not-"

She tried but failed to hold back the sob that slipped from her lips.

"Makayla? What is wrong?" Amira worried, moving to her side.

The demigod could only shake her head, a look of complete horror on her face as terrified tears slid from her silver eyes. Her eyes slowly lowered until her gaze rested on her scar. The mark gave a small flash of silver, almost as if it were taunting her.

Her heart stopped.

"Oh… my… gods..." She choked out, a sob shaking her voice as her knees buckled. "Why-? Wh- what did I do to-?"

Makayla's voice broke and her entirety completely collapsed, falling to her knees, sobbing as she finally understood.

"Makayla, what is wrong?" Amira again worried, kneeling beside the redhead. "Please, we wish to help but are unable if we do not know what is happening."

It took several minutes but the demigod managed to calm down enough to explain everything; she told the three Riders who Ganabranth was, her time with him, how he tortured her for months, his level of power, and how he met his end. Choking out her words, she then told them of her discovery: how he had placed a part of his essence into her Snake Scar when it was carved onto her body and how that part of him was now attacking her in Alagaesia as a means of revenge since the gods could not keep him at bay.

A solid three or four minutes after her explanation passed before any of the Alagaesian Dragon Riders spoke.

"How…? How is it possible to fight a person who is not a person?" Murtagh wondered, his voice telling his stunned and confused emotions.

"I do not know," Amira admitted with a pale face and wide eyes. Eragon shook his head.

"But no matter the difficulties, we have to try." He said in a firm voice. "This man could not only be a threat to Makayla but to Alagaesia itself as well."

"He's insane!" Makayla gasped. Her voice was close to hysterical, her eyes wide and tear-filled. "He- He can't be stopped, he's demented! We won't win he'll do anything to get what he wants, literally anything! He- he does- he doesn't care about anyone o-o-or anything because I know him, I know him better than anyone else and I-I know that he's so strong and it- he's completely insane but he's so smart and you can try so hard to beat him but it's impossible to win cuz he always knows where you are and what you're doing and what-"

"MAKAYLA!" Amira grabbed Makayla's shoulders, cutting off her rant. "Stop! Calm yourself!"

The purple-haired teen could feel her heart breaking as their eyes met, seeing how completely terrified the redhead was.

"He's insane…" The demigod whimpered, voice quiet and fragile as she curled into herself.

Amira turned to Eragon and Murtagh.

"Gánga, eka weohnata thorta oth ehr." She told them.

(Go, I will speak with her)

Nodding, the two boys left the girls alone. The purple-haired Rider watched them leave before turning back to the redhead. She hesitated for a moment before kneeling beside her.

"Makayla, I…" She started but paused, not sure what to say, then sighed. "I wish to help you but I... I do not know how I am able. Please tell me how I can?"

"Can your magic tear someone's essence from another person's body?" Makayla sniffed sarcastically. Amira winced.

"My sincere apologies but that is not how our magic works." She apologized. Makayla choked back another sob, silver eyes locked on her scarred hand.

"Then no. There's nothing you or anyone else can do. Not even… me…" With that, Makayla turned away from her friend, arms wrapped around herself.

Sensing her friend just needed to rest, Amira sighed. She stood and helped Makayla do the same, helping her back onto the cot.

"You should get some rest." She advised but Makayla just shook her head.

"Can't. If I fall asleep I'll have nightmares."

"That is something I can help with." Makayla looked to her friend, asking what she meant. Amira gave a small smile, holding up her hand with her Gedwëy Insignia. "I can use my magic to cast a spell that will put you into a dreamless sleep for a time."

Makayla thought for a long moment, looking at the mark on Amira's palm, before nodding slowly. She laid down on the bed and Amira helped her get into a position that wouldn't hurt her arm. Amira placed her hand over her.

"Draumrlas slytha kausta vel ono." She chanted and a second later Makayla's body went limp, as she fell into a deep rest. Despite the sleep that took her over, Amira could see the frown and worry on Makayla's face still. She sighed sadly, placing her hand on Makayla's. "Eka pyr guliä tauthr ono äthr onr juren." She whispered.

(Dreamless sleep come upon you) (I pray luck follows you on your journey)

Closing the door behind her as she left the room, Amira felt her heart breaking as she heard Makayla mutter to herself in her sleep.

"Help… me..."

And that concludes the ninth 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!