Worlds Collide

chapter 1 ~ sophie

The only thought going through Sophie's mind was... what?

She blinked several times and widened her eyes to take in the unfamiliar scenery she saw before her. It looked to be a valley of sorts. Sophie looked down and saw her sneakers planted in wet sand.

Wait, sneakers? Now things were taking a strange turn. The Lost Cities didn't have sneakers. Sophie tried to think. Her mind felt foggy and mushy like... the circlet. the one that Dex made.

Sophie looked around her trying to see whether or not she has been here before, or at least seen it. In the distance she saw an incredibly fascinating and strange collection of buildings. A farm house, a volleyball court, an arena, a pavilion, very random-looking cabins, and... a climbing wall with lava on it?

This felt like a nightmare. But not a I'm-getting-tortured-under-Paris kind of nightmare. More like a holy-crap-where-am-I-I-want-my-family-back sort of thing.

She started stumbling through the sand, managing to trip over her legs only a couple of times. The wind blew, and the smell of burning strawberries tickled her nose. She saw kids and teenagers running around, all wearing the same orange t-shirts and shorts.

Interestingly, people dueled in the arena. Daggers and swords glinted with a tint of bronze in the morning light. A conch horn blew far off and almost everybody made their ways to the pavilion. Sophie assumed that it was breakfast, as she could smell the food cooking. Sophie started walking the same direction that everyone was walking in. She needed to find answers and find somebody to talk to. Somebody that could get her home safe.

Why don't I just transmit something to Fitz or Alden? They'll probably tell everyone else. Or worst case scenario I'll have to teleport. Sophie stretched our her mind, but then suddenly a headache flared. It was the same feeling she got after wearing the circlet. Sophie reached down to feel her necklaces, but none of them were there. Not her registry pendant, not her home crystal, not even her limbium-free fade fuel that Kesler had given her.

Her thoughts became more bitter. Who would do such a thing? Take someone away from their family and friends and restrict their abilities? In the middle of a very important part of their life, too! She needed to get back to Grady and Edaline and...

And... Keefe.

She didn't know why Keefe was one of the first people she thought of. As far as she knew, he wasn't in the Lost Cities. Oh shut up Sophie, of course you know why! But right now, all she needed to focus on was going back to the Lost Cities, not stupid boy drama. It wasn't helping that a pair of ice-blue eyes floated around her mind. Sophie shut her eyes, trying to shake the image. Causing her to bump right into someone.

"Hey, watch it!" the person shouted.

Sophie hastily opened her eyes to see the person that she bumped into. She looked up to see a girl with stringy brown hair and a rough looking face. She glared at her.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Sophie mumbled.

"Whatever," she said with an eyeroll. She started walking away. She was tall and had very big muscles. She looked like a leader. And she certainly had the aura of one. If Sophie wanted to find out where the heck she was, she knew that the girl would be the one that she needed to ask.

"Wait!" Sophie yelled "What even is this place? Is it like a camp or...?"

She looked confused "What do you mean?"

"I mean... where am I? What part of the world are we in? I need to know."

"You have got to be joking. We're in Camp Half-Blood. You know, on Long Island?" She answered.