Chapter 1
Ever since I turned 13, monsters have become a normal part of my life. After a sphinx almost killed my seven-year-old sister, I decided to run away from home to keep her safe.
It took me almost five days to walk from our home in Elizabethtown, PA, to Camp Half-Blood in Montauk, New York. According to the Internet, the trip should’ve only taken four days. But of course, that doesn’t account for the unrelenting monster attacks.
I had almost reached the famed pine tree on the hill when a hellhound leaped in front of me. The animal was tall enough to stare directly into my stormy blue eyes. Its fur was an ashy gray, and every time it exhaled, smoke came out of its nostrils.
The sight of a hellhound alone is usually enough to paralyze someone, but I was able to quickly draw my twin Celestial Bronze daggers. The moonlight reflecting off my blades caught the beast’s attention.
I had hoped to be able to sneak past it. Now, there was no way in Tartarus that I could’ve snuck past the creature into the safety of camp.
Crack!
I stepped back onto a twig, trying to escape. The creature snarled, growling with pleasure at the meal it thought it was getting.
Twang! Thunk!
The beast’s grin quickly disappeared as its eyes grew large. It burst into shimmery gold dust almost immediately. After the dust settled, I could see a centaur holding a mahogany bow. His horse half was a chestnut brown, while his human half was muscular, tanned skin with shoulder-length wavy brown hair and earthy brown eyes.
“Quick, child!” He gestured for me to follow him. Without hesitation, I leaped from my semi-hidden position to catch up.
We walked in silence for about five minutes before we reached the marble archway. The words at the top weren’t in a language I could understand. After staring for a minute, Στρατόπεδο Μισό Αίμα turned into Camp Half-Blood. I made it! I smiled. I was home.
~ 5 years later ~
“Anyone else?” I asked panting. In my five years at camp, I had become one of the top warriors. Unfortunately, no one seemed willing to become my opponent right now.
“Chiron wants you.”
I turned around to see my friend Percy Jackson. The son of Poseidon had been one of my best friends since we arrived at camp around the same time. Unlike him, I was still waiting to be claimed by my godly parent.
Even after Percy made the gods agree to claim their children, I still haven’t been claimed. I moved out of the Hermes cabin to my own small cabin near the lake and the edge of camp to get away from the constant bullying. The current favorite insult was saying that I must be so unimportant that no god wants to bother claiming me.
Sighing, I put my armor away and turned my sword back into a pendant necklace. Percy’s sword - named Riptide - is a pen. Mine is a stupid necklace and has no name. Great, right? But unlike Riptide, my sword is half Celestial Bronze and half Stygian Iron.
After securing my necklace-sword around my neck, I make my way to the place where I knew Chiron would be: where we first met. When I arrived, my beloved teacher seemed to be deep in thought.
“Chiron, what’s going on?” I asked cautiously. As he turned to look at me, my heart dropped. The dreams I’ve been having now make sense.
For the past two months, I’ve had dreams of my 13-year-old sister being chased by various monsters. Demigod dreams are usually visions of the past/present/future. Regardless, this meant I had to travel back to the house I grew up in, find my sister, and safely bring her to camp.
Before I could open my mouth to speak, Chiron declared, “It’s time for your sister to join you here. I know it will be difficult, but you will succeed.” Does he remember how long it took me to reach camp on my own? I wondered. How long will it take with two demigods? Especially with one not knowing what’s going on?
“Your bag should have everything you need. I hope you’ll be careful,” he continued while handing my tan messenger bag over. “Good luck, Ruby. May the Gods be with you on your journey.”
“I’ll be back in no more than two weeks,” I whispered while hugging him. After looking back one more time, I set off into the forest to start my journey.
~ 3 days later ~
I had been able to get a bus ride, so I didn’t have a couple of extra days walking. I arrived at my old home, and I couldn’t help but stare. It hasn’t changed a bit, I remarked.
I heard my sister around the back of the house, talking to someone. My gut told me that someone was a monster. I took the two small bronze rods out of the base of my honey-blonde ponytail. In an instant, the rods turned into my twin Celestial Bronze daggers. My favorite weapons are the easiest to conceal.
I snuck around the side of the garage to see what kind of monster I’m dealing with. I saw two girls: a strawberry blonde one and a bleached blonde one. Huh, Ella's hair got lighter. Didn’t realize that was possible. I thought in surprise. The blonde one was very pretty - when you aren’t looking at her legs. Her left one was a donkey leg, while her right was made of bronze.
Anabeth was just talking to me about these. What are they called again? I questioned myself. Empousa! Vampiric demons that feed off people.
My sister was just calmly talking to her like nothing was wrong. She has to know what she is, right? I hoped my little sister wouldn’t be so stupid. I can’t let that thing hurt my sister! I placed the blade of a dagger between my index and middle fingers of my left hand. Despite being right-handed, I tend to wield my weapons left-handed. I draw in a deep breath and carefully move forward about two feet. I aim for between the creature's shoulder blades and throw the bronze blade. I say a quick prayer to Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo - the twin deities of archery - in hopes my aim will be true. Whether by divine intervention or pure luck, the dagger struck its mark. With an alarming screech, the Empousa exploded into golden dust that disappeared with the wind.
As soon as I emerged from my hiding spot, the 13-year-old girl with medium-length, strawberry blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, and fair skin tackled me. My instincts to fight back were almost strong enough to take control of my body.
“Ruby,” the girl whispered in my ear while squeezing me, “I’ve missed you so much!” Crystal tears of joy escaped our eyes. After a few moments, we got up and collected ourselves.
“Ella, I don’t have much time to explain, but let’s go inside. I need you to put everything you’ll need in my bag.” I say quickly.
“I know this sounds strange, but I’ll explain more once we get going. The best explanation I can give you right now is we’re going camping.” I was technically not lying. We are going to a camp, just not what she’s thinking of.
“Pack only what you need,” I continued as we walked around to the front of the house, “and absolutely no electronics. I’ll explain that once we are far away from here. Right now, we need to hurry. Hopefully, we’ll be on the road before dark.” Thankfully, my little sister doesn’t question me, and I follow her inside.
The house hasn’t changed much. There was still random stuff lying around in places they shouldn’t be. Glad to see nothing’s changed around here, I chuckled.
The house appeared to be empty, other than the cat milling about. I followed a pull-up the stairs to my old bedroom. Something seemed to be calling me.
The white wooden door creaked open slowly. For some strange reason, I was not surprised that the room was exactly how I’d left it. My bed was still a mess of blankets. I had never liked using comforters. There were piles of stuff placed seemingly haphazardly. No one ever understood my ‘methods’ of organization. I giggled.
I refused to allow myself to remember when I lived here. This place is no longer my home. It never was. I reminded myself. I quickly turn to leave, but something catches my attention. A cobalt blue glow outlined a three-inch-wide and six-inch-tall space. I swiftly cross the room to the glow. As soon as I am eye level with the glow, it opens to reveal a forest green spine of a book. I cautiously reach my right hand towards it, making sure there are no traps left over.
I had hidden this book before I left five years ago. It’s filled with everything anyone needs to know about anything. I found it in an abandoned building in the forest behind this house. The cabin was covered in letters and words in a language so ancient I couldn’t understand. Unsurprisingly, I don’t remember much of that day.
It was my twelfth birthday. Of course, no one remembered except for my favorite sister. She would be turning seven in two more days.
I decided to walk through the forest like I had done countless times before. There was something that told me today wouldn’t be like every other time, however.
It was a cold day, and snow blanketed the forest floor. So far, I had followed my usual path through the woods. Unexpectedly, a flash of pale pink caught my eye about 10 feet off to the side of the trail I had created from walking so often. As I approached the sudden burst of color, I noticed it was a peony flower.
I thought peonies didn’t bloom in the winter, I questioned. Still pretty though. As I bent down to get a closer look, I noticed more peonies.
Without much thought, I decided to stray from my worn trail to follow the curious flowers. I walked for about five minutes, stopping every now and then to admire the plants. Promptly, the trees opened up into a small clearing.
The air seemed to buzz with magic. A simple, one-story wooden cabin stood in the center of the clearing. The scene looked like it belonged inside a snow globe.
My body began to move without my brain commanding it. My feet took me inside the cottage without hesitation. I entered to find a nice-sized fire dancing in the brick fireplace and a room full of oak furniture.
My knowledge of childhood fairy tales told me I had gone into a witch’s trap, but my more mature and logical side told me I was fine and not to worry. Suddenly, to the left of the fire was a very beautiful young lady tending the flames. She looked to be about 20 years old at most.
Her hair was ebony black with charcoal gray streaks. The streaks made her hair look like the burnt bark in the ashes of the fire that’s long gone. Her eyes were a stunning mahogany red. Her skin was bronze and seemed golden in the swaying light from the blaze next to her.
After a moment, I realized that not only was she touching the flames with her bare skin, but she did not seem affected by them. Only then did I realize I was dealing with a goddess, and the Greek ‘Mythology’ I had been obsessed with for as long as I could remember was more real than I was willing to admit.
“Come closer, child, you must be cold. Come warm up.” She smiled warmly, noting my lack of proper winter clothes. Without hesitation, I walked towards her and sat across from the goddess on the other side of the fire.
“Thank you, Lady Hestia.” I said gratefully. She simply smiled at my recognition of her identity.
“Um,” I began, not quite sure how to ask a goddess what she was doing in a random house in the middle of a Pennsylvanian forest, “I don’t understand why you are here. Were you waiting for me? Or did I just happen to stumble upon you?” I avoided her gaze, afraid that I would somehow offend her.
She gently lifted my chin to look at her with her hand and calmly responded, “I was waiting for you, Ruby Vitale.” Shock caused my blue eyes to grow wide as I heard my name.
Why does an immortal goddess know my name? And how? I wondered.
“Your father sent me to give you this.” She continued. The goddess reached into a woven basket I hadn’t noticed before and pulled out a book covered in forest green leather. On the cover is an inscription in what seemed to be Greek: “’Η μόνη αληθινή σοφία είναι να ξέρεις ότι δεν ξέρεις τίποτα’. - Σωκράτης” or “‘The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing’. - Socrates”.
I opened the cover to see a message:
I know that you will use this knowledge to help others. This book contains everything you need to survive. What you need most at any given time will be closer to the front. This will change as your needs change. Guard this with your life lest it falls into the wrong hands.
Your Father
So dear old dad sent me a book with all the knowledge in the world in it. This has to be too good to be true. I mused. I looked up from my new possession to ask Lady Hestia a thousand questions, only to find I was sitting on my bed back at the house. She must have sent me back while I was distracted.
I clutched the book close to my chest and inhaled the unique scent of cedar, pine, and damp moss from the woods where I found it. I quickly got myself back to reality and exited my old room after gathering a few more things for memory’s sake. Just as I exit, Ella leaves her room and closes the door with my bag on her shoulder. She meets me at the top of the stairs and hands me my messenger bag.
“So do you have a car?” She asks.
“Um, yeah,” I respond while trying to think of something.
“It’s right outside.” I finished as we left the house one last time. I technically wasn’t lying. I was planning on ‘tactically acquiring’ one of the many cars that sit idle in the driveway. We walked to a light gray 2002 Subaru Impreza. The keys felt strange in my hand.
I had never driven a mortal vehicle before, other than to get my driver’s license a few years back. Chiron insisted that it would be good for me to have. I’m starting to wonder if he knew that I would need to do this. I stop with my hand on the door, about to open it.
Satyrs are the ones who bring demigods to camp. Not other demigods. Even if they’re related. I realized. Chiron had chosen me for a reason, and what the reason was, I had no clue.
“Ruby? You good?” Ell asked me, concern clouding her blue eyes.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” I hurriedly reply as I enter the small car. It has a lot of room for such a small car. I remark. Eager to get this place and the unwelcome memories it holds behind me - far behind - I start the car and make my way up the steep driveway.
Six hours of monotonous driving later, we finally arrived at Hilda Lindley House in Montauk, New York. It was just a plain white house. No one had lived there in years, so we demigods have used it as a safehouse of sorts.
However, I didn’t plan to have us stay there. It was much safer for us in the woods that stand between us and Camp Half-Blood. I switched off the car and got out. I was moving quicker now because of how close we were to camp. I had my bag across my body before Kelly could even get out of the passenger side door and shut it.
“Ready?” I ask as I lock the car. She nods, and we begin our journey through the forest that almost took my life.
𝐇𝐞𝐲!
𝐈 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜/𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞!
𝐇𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝: 𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦/𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: @𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝!
𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭