Space Dementia

....*le flies away in horror*



eh, i don't like surprises anyway....

I didn't know how much time had passed. I was barely aware of Morgan's hand on my shoulder and Jana Kay's hands in mine, stroking my fingers with her thumb. Unless you have lived something similar, seeing somebody of your family disappearing in front of your eyes, probably already dead... you don't know what it feels like. And I couldn't describe it anyway. Sometimes, words are just not strong enough. Or I don't have the necessary skill. One of the two, or all of the above.

When I finally came back to a 'normal state', as far as I could be in a normal state, now this happened, I managed to stand up. Morgan was next to me, supporting me, and Jana was on the other side. Morgan had green liquid on the side of her face, and a series of parallel cuts on the shoulder that looked like a dog had lashed out at her with its paw. A dog... or a hellhound.

Lakisha was standing in front of the mirrored wardrobe, standing straight and haughtily like a queen. Her mismatched eyes were really disturbing, and it seemed that she exhaled cold. Did I really create this?

Morgan and Jana Kay accompanied me back to my bedroom; even Chiara was silent. But I was too dumbstruck to care.

However, as we entered the room, two surprises awaited us.

A tall girl, perhaps sixteen, looking sino-american, was facing the wall, looking at my Muse poster, her daggers drawn. Wait. Daggers. The girl had two black daggers, each about ninety centimeters long, with skull-shaped pommels. She was dressed in a mixture of trendy and punk, with a wonderful fashionable turquoise top threaded with pearls of wood on the sleeves, along with a grey, white and black pair of military trousers. Her feet disappeared in a pair of combat boots, and a white silk rose was clipped into her hair. She had mismatched earrings, one was shaped like a snake curling up around her ear, the other one was a classy chain finished by a little peacock feather which almost brushed her shoulder.

"Falko," I mouthed.

The girl turned to me, looking me up and down.

"Who are you? What am I doing here? Where are we?"

"I'd like to know that too."

Another girl was standing in the corner of the room; she had opened the windows to look if there was any way of jumping down (which I wouldn't recommend). She had sleek, short black hair and piercing aquamarine eyes framed by a row of thick eyelashes. A single, now-white scar marked her face from cheekbone to jawline. She was dressed in a white T-shirt, a pair of grey jeans, combat boots, a silvery ski parka and had big knives sheathed on her belt. A silvery aura surrounded her.

"Aria."

"Hey, princess," Chiara spat, as if 'princess' was the worst insult she could've come up with.

"Uhm, Countess would do, little one," Aria snapped back with such a dose of disregard that even Lakisha looked impressed.

Falko looked around, seemingly recognizing most of the demigods; she greeted Jana Kay with a hug, Victoria, Morgan, Chiara and Lakisha with a nod, ignored Ian, and introduced herself to Laure. Lakisha  - fortunately - took Aria and Falko apart in order to explain them what was going on. I mentally thanked her for this. I had enough of trouble to deal with right now.

Looking at Morgan, I whispered:

"Do you think he's still alive?"

The daughter of Hecate made a pained face, and sat down on my bed, inviting me to do the same.

"I'm not saying that he's not. I'm not saying that it's probable. But it is possible, even though there's only a little, little chance."

"Why did the hellhound take him?" I asked, fresh tears streaming into my brown eyes. "Why? Don't monsters attack only demigods? Why would he... kill... a mortal?"

"Are you sure your cousin is a mortal?" Victoria asked, coming over to us. Her stormy grey eyes seemed to look right through me, but they appeared absent at the same time, like she was intensely cogitating on something else - which I knew to be true.

"He's twenty... I doubt he could've survived without Camp if he were."

Victoria nodded and sat on my desk; she glanced at the law books that were spilled on its wooden surface, picked one up, browsed through it and put it down again. Apparently, she knew how to read German.

"We should move," Ian suddenly said and everybody turned to him. "We're what, ten demigods here. That is going to attract a lot of monsters, we should really get going."

"I agree," Laure said. I always thought French accent sounded dumb, but Laure's was surprisingly cute and charming. "I don't know who your god parents are, mine not being very important, but the hellhound showed that it would be better for us to leave and stay in motion."

Everyone among the sitting demigods stood up, those who were already standing made for the door.

"Wait," Jana suddenly said. "What about Flo?"

"She's mortal," Lakisha pointed out. "Not a demigod. She can't come with us."

"She's not even trained," Chiara sneered. "She'll be monster food before we step out of this goddamn house. If you want to drag her useless butt all the way back to Camp, it's your problem. But I'm not traveling with her."

"Jana Kay said something sensible," Morgan intervened. "It's because of her that we're here apparently. She has started in this with us, it's only logical that she continues. Besides, she needs us; her cousin isn't dead yet -- perhaps. I'm not denying her help."

"This is so sweet, I'm gonna cry," Chiara retorted and mocking voice, mimicking tears on her face with her index.

"Shut up and let us vote," Lakisha stated in an icy voice. "Who's for it?"

Morgan, Jana Kay, Laure, Ian, and surprisingly Victoria raised their arms.

"Who's against?"

Chiara and Lakisha raised their hands. Falko and Aria didn't vote.

"It's settled, then," Lakisha said, looking at me as if I had just jumped out of a nearby bin. "You're coming with us. Please try not to prove too useless."

I looked at Lakisha, trying to think of a possible reply, but decided against it. Nobody could teach her how to be humble, probably not even me, who had created her.
Grabbing my backpack, I emptied it quickly and put a couple of clothes in it, along with the bottle of water that's always near my bed. I also took the computer with me -- I may still find the way to turn all this madness back to normal -- then I went to the place in my bedroom where I'm hiding my money (not gonna tell you where of course, teehee), but as Lakisha saw me taking banknotes out, she snorted.

"Money won't be our problem. Just get moving, mortal."

I glanced at her, and remembered how rich she was. Laure was wealthy, but Lakisha was downright RICH. Her father was a famous researcher in biology who gave lectures in many of the most famous universities across the world, and her grandfather works at BlackRock (he could retire, but he'd rather not). That usually prevents you from living on the streets.

Trying to ignore the arrogant tone of her voice (especially when she said 'mortal', like it was a sickness of some sort), I closed my backpack and passed it on my shoulder. Then, all of us made for the door of my bedroom.
I switched the light out and hurtled down the stairs behind the others, quickly put my shoes and jacket on, and all of us left the house.

A part of me wanted to screech that I didn't want to leave. I wanted to run back to my house and cower in my bed. I wasn't made for adventures... I may do RPs, but sitting comfortably behind your computer or your TV, thinking how cool it must be to live that is not the same as stepping out of your home and actually doing it. You may be the bravest here, but you'll always have a doubt. I realized how uncertain adventures could be. In books and movies, they always worked out well.
In real life? I doubt so.

I was actually shaking. I didn't want to go. I looked back wistfully at the front door -- it would be so easy. I'd just tell them all that Chiara and Lakisha were right, I wasn't ready to go with them. I was just a weakling mortal girl, I wouldn't last two hours. I'd just bid them goodbye, and return to my home.
And what about your cousin, you ungrateful brat? Is he going to die? Eaten by a hellhound, is that what you want?

I innerly winced and took my head in my hands. Was I really about to trade my cousin's life for the comfort of home?

"Move it!" Chiara angrily called, which slapped me back to reality.

I started walking behind them, the whole group of demigods I had created, as they followed Morgan -- who of course knew which way had to be taken in order to reach the train station. She lived here. Like me.

Jana Kay came to me and passed an arm around my shoulders. Her skin was warm.

"I know you're into a lot of stress," she told me in a lowered voice that was still sweet. "But don't worry, everything is going to work out fine."

"And my cousin?" I asked in a trembling voice. "Will everything work out fine for him as well?"

Jana Kay bit her lip, and I regretted saying that, because my tone had been fairly cutting.

"I find it weird the monster took him," she said. "Normally, monsters don't eat humans. The only monsters I know who do are the servants of Hecate..."

"The empousai and the ephialtai?" I asked.

"Hush!" Jana immediately said. "Don't say the names! Especially since we're a large group of demigods."

"I'm sorry," I quickly said, my heart pounding in my chest.

"But yes, I mean those. Also, the monster of Thebes who asked riddles..."

I nodded, knowing she was talking about the Sphinx.

"But those are really the only ones I know. No Underworld dog was ever known to feed on mortals."

"Then why did it take my cousin?" I whispered again, even though Jana Kay couldn't give me the answer and I knew it.

She hugged my shoulders tighter as I let my head down. The shock of what had happened -- everything, the generator, the characters, my cousin -- was making me tremble. You who are reading this may not understand it. But it is impossible to believe if you haven't experienced it yourself. You don't know what it's like, your logical mind clashing with the concrete reality you have in front of your eyes.
Add to that the fact that I'm Christian. Christian and learning about the Olympian gods.

It took us fifteen minutes to get to the train station.

"Are we going to an airport?" I asked.

"How else do you think we're gonna reach Camp, loser?" Chiara asked. "Swim across the Atlantic?"

We boarded a train to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof -- the closest flight to New York was from Schönefeld, not Tegel, so we had to take the train until Friedrichstraße and take the Regio from there to Schönefeld.
The night air was cold, so I pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders and stepped into the train. We colonized ten seats in total. I was sitting between the window and Jana Kay with Morgan in front of me and Victoria next to her. On the other four-seats-square sat Lakisha with Aria, Chiara and Falko in front of them. Behind them, on two seats, were Ian and Laure... obviously flirting.

The doors closed soon after that, the red light appearing over them, and the train got started. I was hugging my backpack, on my knees, as the wagon was pulled forward.
Chiara was listening to music so loudly that even I could hear it; it was something rock/metal.

Aria and Lakisha had started talking in low voices -- I didn't know they knew each other. They had already probably met when the Hunters once came to Camp Half-Blood. I knew Lakisha was considering joining the Hunt when she became nineteen.

Victoria stared at the window with her intense grey eyes, her mind probably focusing on four equations simultaneously while solving some philosophy problem.
Morgan and Jana Kay were obviously trying to find something to say, but both were silent for now.

I touched my phone through the fabric of my denim pocket. Should I call my parents? My brother? Or try to call my cousin? My hand trembled again.

"Rest," Morgan suddenly said. "This was a lot to take in. You should better sleep."

I shook my head.

"I can't sleep... not now."

"You should. Rest now, we have thirty minutes until Friedrichstraße. After that, you can rest on the plane."

With that, she snapped her fingers, which produced green electricity. The bolt shot towards me and I fell asleep without even noticing it.

IT IS BRILLIANT!

Ooc: Thanks ^^

BIC: When I woke back up, we had just arrived at Friedrichstraße, one of the most known train stations of Berlin. Here, Morgan had woken me up, and helped me stand up; the other demigods were already starting to get out. There had apparently been an argument when I was asleep, or so Morgan told me, because Laure was Roman and would not be allowed to enter Camp. They had eventually reached an agreement that we'd explain the situation to Chiron, she would stay for say, a day, then would go back to her own Camp.

We marched up several flights of stairs until we were on the top storey of the train station. The next Regio was in seventeen minutes, which made Chiara complain loudly until Morgan told her that she could go to France to see how the SNCF (French train system) was in comparison to the BVG (German train system). That made Chiara agree. She may be Corsican and Breton, she hated France like the pest.

Somebody started whistling, but I couldn't make out who. Probably Ian.
We sat on the wiry black chairs, my eyelids heavy. Lakisha and Aria were still talking, standing away from us unworthy beings, but I didn't care. I cared about nothing. Only what had happened more than half an hour ago. Jana Kay sat next to me, and Falko took the other seat, both looking at me.

"I would like to hear the truth," Falko said with a light Italian accent.

"The truth about what?" I murmured.

"About how we got here."

"Oh Jesus, not that again," I said, burying my face in my hands. "Look, I've said it enough. You have generated out of my computer. You are my characters."

Falko fell silent, biting her lip. I could sense she was trying to find the words to tell me I was crazy.

"Um, I know you just got a hard time, but...."

"Yeah, you don't believe me." I looked up at her. "You are Nephilim Del Nero, right? Daughter of Cassandra Del Nero, contortionist at the Cirque du Soleil and of Deimos, god of terror. Your favorite person at Camp is Terra Miller, your cousin, the daughter of Phobos. You are over ambitious, yet you care about others. Is that enough?"

She was staring at me, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, you probably still don't believe me. You know what? I don't care."

With that, I angrily stood up and walked away. I know I shouldn't have flown into a temper, nor talked harshly to Falko, but I was stressed, I was in shock, and my brain was still trying to process everything that had happened. Dealing with people who didn't believe me would only drive me mad.

I sat on a further set of chairs and took my phone out, selecting Play Music and putting on some Skrillex. Listening to dubstep had always helped me focus, perhaps it would help me this time, I hoped as the decibels crashed into my ears.

And that was when it happened. While I was blissfully listening to Kyoto, three women came closer to our group. They were carrying scaly green handbags, stylish black trousers and white blouses with beautiful silk scarves. One was blonde, the others were brown-haired, obviously sisters. They asked Ian what time it was -- or so I think, because he checked his watch and told them something -- which was quite odd, since there were clocks everywhere.
Then one of them slammed the air out of Ian's lungs, sending him staggering backwards.

(OOC: Not finished yet.)