The Legacies: The Next Generation - A Percy Jackson Fanfc

Chapter 2: Zoe

Zoe yelped and stumbled as Marie spun around, an arrow gripped tightly in her free hand.

A familiar girl stood there, a sharp, triangular knife in her hands. Zoe recognized that knife, though she couldn't remember where she'd seen it. Her long brown hair was matted with leaves and twigs, much like Marie's, and most probably Zoe's.

Marie gasped. "Silena!"

Silena lowered her knife. "You guys are going to be in so much trouble,"

"So are you," Zoe said defensively, trying to get up again. Silena eyed her carefully with those shocking blue eyes. They'd almost lost that mischievous glint in them, Zoe realized. The glint that used to be there whenever Silena and Rose used to work their way into stealing something or pulling the prank. Silena did the distracting and convincing with her charmspeak, Rose did the stealing. Silena somehow looked older, more matured. Thinking about the old times gave a pang in Zoe's chest that she hadn't felt before.

Silena shifted uneasily. "I know. Damn Rose," Then she gasped at Zoe's leg. "What happened?"

"Isn't it obvious? I sprained my ankle," Zoe answered, managing to stand on one leg with the support of the trunk of a large maple tree that stood above them.

"You should get to Cabin seven," Silena said, sticking her knife in her brown leather belt, and rushing to help.

"I'm fine," Zoe insisted, as Marie and Silena came forward. Then she lost balance and stumbled. Great, Zoe thought bitterly, Now make a fool of yourself.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Silena asked, and Marie helped Zoe up.

"I was giving Zoe a tour of the woods and she----had a small accident," Marie said, glancing uneasily at Zoe. No. She refused to think about it. Stupid her. It was just a spider. A large, furry, possibly poisonous---no. No, she couldn't afford to dwell on the past.

"Well, I can see that," Silena said, staring at Zoe's ankle. Her vibrant eyes met Zoe's once again "Well, hi again. No "Hello, how are you? It's only been six years since we've seen each other',"

"No." Zoe said. "What are you doing here?"

Silena turned pink. "It's none of your business,"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Where's Rose?" She figured that Silena and Rose were obviously close, even after the whole moving away thing. So if Silena was here---

Silena glared into the woods as if the trees did something to offend her. "Oh, she's somewhere there,"

Marie tensed. "Is it-----I mean, would she be ok in there alone? I mean, knowing Rose—-"

Silena rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips. "What could possibly go wro---"

As if on cue, a shriek filled the air.

"Rose!" Silena cried, and surged forward into the inky black woods without a second thought. Marie followed, then stopped abruptly to look behind.

"Would you be alright on your own?" Marie asked.

Zoe was about to argue that she was coming, when she accidentally put weight on her injured foot. Her whole body screaming, she managed a nod.

Marie hesitated, then disappeared into the trees.

Zoe slid down the tree truck, her eyes stinging in pain. Her two options: She could stay here and wait to be found or eaten by some monster or large animal or---she could follow Marie and Silena into the woods.

She sat still, taking deep breaths and weighing her options. Of course, it was obvious which one would be more dangerous--or worse; Deadly.

Zoe was just about to crawl her way back to camp or scream for help when a sudden roar shook the trees. And it came from the direction of Rose's cry.

Zoe's adrenal glands kicked in, doing their job. Her heart beat sped up. She tensed, and reached for her dagger. She wanted to jump to her feet and run in to help, but even if she accomplished such a feat, what could she possibly do? But Rose was in trouble, and probably so were the others—-they may not her best friends anymore, but she couldn't let anything happen to them—-

The roar was then followed by a scream. A scream from a familiar voice; Silena's.

Zoe's heart bumped a billion times faster. She gripped the tree trunk with her left hand. She reached forward with her right hand, crying out in pain as her ankle twitched, and grabbed some vines that hung from the tree. She wrapped the vines around her ankle, until it looked kind of like a tight, green cast. With the support of her tree, she pushed herself up slowly. She put some weight on her ankle, and winced in pain. But at least it wasn't as bad as before. She needed balance. Zoe set herself down again, and reached for two, long sticks, and balanced them under her arms. They weren't perfect, but they would do.

No time to enjoy her victory. She had to keep going.

Zoe managed, somehow, to get out of the clearing and into the dark trees.

It seemed like forever as she limped and stumbled. Where were Marie and Silena? What was that roar all about?

Sadly, Zoe got her answer sooner than she wanted to. Zoe hobbled into another clearing, much like the last one. But this one seemed dry and lifeless. Around her, it was as if the trees had been burned down. She spotted one tree smoking to her right. Not a good sign. Then, much to her relief, she spotted a familiar swish of long brown hair, right in front of her.

"Silena!" Zoe called.

Silena turned. "Zoe! What are you doing here!?" Silena demanded.

"What happened?" Zoe urged. "You screamed-----"

"I, uh, got a little bit of a nasty shock," She glanced uneasily at the smoking tree. Zoe suddenly noticed a large, bloody cut on Silena's left arm.

Zoe, who's head was buzzing with a million questions, pursued the most pressing one. "Where are Rose and Marie?" She asked, putting her weight on a thin tree next to her.

Silena bit her lip. "Marie's fine. I think. She told me to stay here so she could go and take a look at where the roar was coming from and look for Rose. She tol me to stay here," Judging from Silena's bitter tone, she obviously did not like this plan. 

Silena must have read Zoe's expression because she quickly added "Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine," She sounded plenty worried.

Her eyes finally found Zoe's ankle. "How is your---" Her jaw dropped. "How did you do that?"

"It doesn't matter," Zoe interrupted. "I'm fine. I'm going to help"

Silena shook her head. "You have to get back to camp. You look awful,"

Zoe didn't realize that she was still trembling rather violently.

Stop it, She scolded herself. She was fine. She'd faced worse.

Then she saw it at the same time it saw her. Right behind Silena, a huge monster was rising over the thick trees, ever so slowly. Zoe's eyes widened. She froze. Her whole body was burning with horror and fear. Her limbs refused to budge. 

The huge hydra fixed it's eight pairs of eyes on Zoe, it's teeth bared evilly.

Hope you guys liked that! I'm still pretty new at writing fanfics, so I hope it wasn't too bad  . . .