Some Other World

You Can't Be Serious! I'm Living A Lie?

The way I stumbled across the portal was a complete coincidence.

Once the army started moving again, Saphira and Eragon would scout ahead occasionally. Anareem I did the same whenever they got back, but in my free time we would explore the surrounding areas.

One afternoon, we went a little farther than we intended to. Anareem was insistent that she had heard something, so I listened to her advice and kept going, trying to follow the sound she heard.

I didn't hear it until we had landed in a clearing. "Stay here." I whispered to Anareem.

'Where are you going?' She asked, sniffing the air.

"To check out these sounds. I'll be fine."

'Don't get hurt, little one.'

I waved her off and crept into the forest.

Two voices. They were both female. One was familiar, but the other was not.

"-no clue where this portal comes out. Why in the name of Hades would you want to walk through it?"

"Um, because danger is my middle name?"

"Your middle name is Eunice."

"Shut up!"

"Look, Jordan, I'm not going to let you walk through that, what if it's not even on Earth?"

"You can't stop me Thalia-"

I burst into the smaller clearing. "DON'T!"

Two bows were pointing at me immediately. The shorter of the two girls narrowed her eyes, but the other gasped loudly.

"Percy?"

"Don't walk through the portal, you won't be able to get back." I held my hands up so the other girl - Jordan - could see I didn't mean any harm.

"You're okay! Oh gods, Annabeth has been worried sick! Everyone else has pretty much given up." Thalia shook her head, lowering her bow. "Jordan, drop it."

Jordan grumbled and slowly lowered her bow. "Lieutenant, who is this boy?"

"Watch your tone, that's Percy Jackson."

Her green eyes widened. "Oh! I'm very sorry, Percy, I didn't realize it was you."

I waved her off. "It's not a big deal. You're new to the Hunters, aren't you?"

Jordan shrugged. "I've been here a few months."

"I didn't see you the last time the Hunt came to visit."

"Well yeah, she joined a couple months after you disappeared."

I froze. Annabeth and Chiron's conversation about me being gone for seven months suddenly sprang to my mind again.

"Percy, where are you?"

"I'll tell you in a moment... Thalia, how long would you say I've been gone?"

She paused, thinking. "Probably about a year."

"That's impossible!"

"Percy, I am capable of basic time tracking. It's been a year, give or take two weeks."

"But- but I've only been here for eight weeks!"

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

I nodded and pointed at my face. "There aren't decent razors here, does this look like the face of a guy who's been in the wilderness for a whole year?"

"It doesn't." Jordan commented. Thalia snorted.

"Okay, so I've been gone for a year on Earth..." Another detail returned to mind and I rubbed a hand over my face, expecting the worst. "How long has Annabeth been in the Hunters?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I had a dream." I lied. Technically I did, and a small cursed child like Elva probably wouldn't go over with the Hunters of Artemis. Especially since I now knew that Eragon had accidentally cursed her.

"Thalia, I'm getting dizzy...."

Thalia swore under her breath. "Percy, we're going to have to go, Jordan can't hold this portal much longer. Where are you?"

"I'm in a land called Alagaësia. There's magic and dragons and all these crazy fairytale things. It's like Lord of the Rings on steroids or something. Answer my question, Thalia, how long has Annabeth been in the Hunt?"

"Three months. She keeps insisting that she knows you're alive, so she made a deal with Lady Artemis to be a part of the Hunt until you returned. Artemis only agreed to it because it's you."

The portal began to flicker.

"Okay Thalia listen- keep trying to open these portals. Try using something of mine from the Poseidon cabin, maybe it will connect you to me more easily. I'm going to find some spell here that can connect a portal of my own and I'll get back to Earth somehow, okay?"

"Wait- What is that thing behind you?" Thalia's eyes went wide.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Anareem starting to snake her way through the trees. When I turned back though, the portal was almost gone.

"Tell Annabeth I love her!"

'Who was that?'

"My cousin...." I frowned, trying to think through something else.

'What's wrong, little one?'

"I've been gone for a year... Maggie's been here for five and a half years...."

[A/N told y'all. Important plot point]