When MYTHS Become Real

Everything seemed to stand still for a second. Annabeth's long blonde hair rippled behind her as she ran. A millisecond before the gross white stuff reached Percy, she knocked him to the ground. It wrapped around her instead and I saw her grey eyes grow wide for just a moment before a blank stare plastered itself on her face. "What the hell did you do?" I screamed at Kaya, ripping my barrette from my hair and clicking it open. Percy stood in front of Annabeth gripping her shoulders tightly. His bright green eyes were wide with fear. "Annabeth? Annabeth!""Who?" she said absently.Percy stepped back like he'd been slapped."She's fine," Kaya insisted. "That was just a little powder made from the Lethe. I'm sorry, Naida, but Mnemosyne didn't want to risk them following. I was aiming for the son of Poseidon. He's the bigger threat, the one that would go with you to the Underworld. So are you still coming or not?"I stood there deliberating for a minute before I slowly nodded. "Give me one minute.""Naida? What do you think you're doing?" Percy demanded. He was still holding Annabeth's hand who was glancing around at everything in a confused state. She was muttering a little to herself."I'm finishing this quest."I saw him give her a gentle squeeze. "Damn it. Then I'm coming with you."I shook my head before he'd even finished his sentence. "No you're not. You're taking your girlfriend back to Camp and taking care of her. You're the reason she's like this. She was protecting you. Now it's your turn to protect her. Besides, Camp Half-Blood might need you. I'll be fine."With his hand still wrapped around Annabeth's, Percy pulled me into a hug. He was a head taller than me so it was all too easy for him to tuck me under his chin. I took a deep breath letting the familiarity of my brother comfort me. "Be careful, Naida. I love you, sis."Moisture instantly flooded my eyes. Percy was an awesome big brother but that was the first time he'd actually said he loved me. I pulled him closer for a minute, not caring that he was crushing my boobs. I put on a brave face when I moved away so he wouldn't know how terrified I really was. Kaya stuck out her hand and I took it before I could chicken out. The serpent at her stomach flicked it's tongue at me, tasting the air- and probably my anxiety- around me. I flinched a little but before I was able to shy away, we stepped into the shadows. Literally. A cold chill crept up my spine and my stomach dropped away. The second I stepped out of the inky blackness, I puked."A little warning next time?" I snapped as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. There was no answer and when I looked up, I was alone. The landscape was dead, like something from one of those post-apocalypse movies. Everything was in various shades of black, even the trees. It was a place that light and color didn't exist. Even I was starting to feel like all my life and energy was seeping away.
“Um, hello?” I called out. “Kaya? This wasn't part of the deal. Where the hell are you? You can't just leave me here, you know!”
I stomped my foot in irritation. Yeah, it was a stupid, childish gesture, but I was annoyed and the place was seriously giving me the creeps. I slipped my clip from my hair and let the blade slide out with a pop. I turned slowly in a circle trying to stay alert but my nerves made my body so tense that I felt like my bones would shatter with one wrong move.
“Okay, relax, Naida. Nothing's going to get you.”
No sooner had the words slipped out, one of the short, black poplar trees rustled. I gripped my sword so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I tried taking deep breaths to calm down but I was hyperventilating more than anything else. I was just starting to calm down when a giant pitch black shape jumped out at me. It was easily the size of a small SUV and just as fast as it came charging at me.
“Oh shit,” I muttered as my green eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. I turned on my heels and bolted as quickly as I could from the rampaging hell hound. Percy's dog, Mrs. O'Leary, was like a huge, sweet, monster puppy. This one was nowhere near as cute.
A pair of paws hit me right between my shoulder-blades and I went down. Hard. My cheek was smashed into the hard ground and the pressure on my back was cutting off my air. I wiggled underneath the growling beast and twisted until I was on my side rather than flat on my belly. I brought my sword around in an arch that only managed to scratch and piss off the dog even more. The hell hound snarled at me and its jaws snapped dangerously close to my face.
Perfect. I was going to die.
I struggled and fought. If I was going down, I was going to go down kicking. I managed to land a few more cuts on the monster's hide but definitely not enough to make it explode in a cloud of dust, which is exactly what happened.
My eyes narrowed at the sharp tip of the black sword pointed straight at my nose. Being cross-eyed was making me dizzy but I didn't dare adjust my focus. I watched the blade for even the smallest movement, ready to defend myself but not willing to risk making the person on the other end react.
“I leave you alone for two minutes and you already get into trouble?” Kaya demanded, sounding suspiciously like she was trying to hold back laughter.
In a second, the sword was replaced by a hand. I reached up and let cold fingers wrap around my own and haul me to my feet. I glowered at Kaya for a second before I whipped my head in the direction of my rescuer. I sucked in a sharp breath and froze.
The boy was definitely hot even if he looked like he spent all his time on the computer. He was taller than me by several inches and muscled. His head was cocked to the side with his black eyes locked on me and dark hair spilling over his forehead. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
“Nico, that's Naida. She's the pain in the butt that's going to help me get my memories from Mnemosyne.”
“Uh, hi,” he mumbled as he shook the hand he was still holding.
“You don't... remember me?” My voice came out as little more than a whisper.
“No. Should I?”
I slipped my hand from his like lightning. My heart shattered in my chest but I held back the tears that wanted to spill out. And here I'd thought I was done crying over this guy. “That bitch,” I hissed under my breath. I let out a slow sigh before I fixed on a fake smile and turned back to Nico. “Yeah. We met about a year ago and we hung out at Camp Half-Blood over the summer. We're friends.”
He looked at me curiously for a minute before nodding almost to himself. “Oh. Sorry I don't remember you. You don't seem like someone that's easy to forget.”
“Not your fault,” I muttered quickly. I combed my fingers through my messy hair before I clipped it back with my blue barrette.
Ignoring the African Killer Bees buzzing around in my stomach and heart, I turned my back on the two and scooped up my fallen duffel bag. I closed my eyes for a moment to brace myself to face Nico again. With any luck, I could get on with my quest without breaking my fragile heart any more than it already was. I licked my lips nervously and tried, and failed, to focus solely on Kaya. “Okay, let's get going. Are you going to take me now?”
The Erinyes blinked and exchanged a look with her hissing snake. “I'm not leading you. He's our guide. I'm just along for the ride.”
I sucked in a quick breath. This was so going to suck.

Notes

first of all: thank you so much xXmadilivXx, Thalia grace, DauntlessDemigod, and ClassySassy for commenting. i luv you all!
second: i am SOOOOO sorry for not updating sooner!! I'm trying, i promise!
third: I need an opinion. who do you want Kaya's true love to be? pretty much anyone from the percy jackson universe or maybe an original character? or maybe even someone else from greek myth? let me kno!!