Similar Differences: A KOTLC and Percy Jackson Crossover

Understanding

Sophie's POV

  I felt cold. I couldn't feel my stomach, my head was spinning and my limbs were freezing.  I gasped in copious amounts of air, and when I wrapped my arms around myself, my clothes were damp and chilled.

  I wanted everything to stop, tell my body to return normal but I didn't know how. I curled into a ball, unable to breathe, fear exploding through my mind. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!

  The only answer was my too-quick breaths.

---

  Nightfall was over. It was pointless. Days melded into worrying and panicking, as nights turned into seeing my family die in different ways. I was breaking down, but needed to keeps the shards of myself together, despite it tearing at my skin, bleeding onto my relationships. I wanted save my crumbling relationship with my friends but that was only if they cared. I kept my face passive, always, telling the adults my worries would only cause them to stop their search for my parents, especially during school when I was surrounded by teachers.

  'Sophie, it's going to be alright,' a gentle voice reassured me. I turned around to see a bespectacled boy with a kind smile. The Guster.  The new elves were attending Foxfire now, although they apparently had some condition that made them fidget all the time. He motioned for me to come closer, and I stepped towards him. He smiled empathetically and ruffled my hair.

  'Hey Sophie, do you want to know what the best way to deal with hard situations?' He asked.

  I didn't answer.

  'Hope, Sophie. Right now, you're floating in a sea of uncertainty, and the lifeboat you have is your hope. I don't know what you're facing or what struggles you have but remember, you're just a child, and you're facing people hundreds of years older than you. No matter how talented you are, that's not a burden children like you should carry. So please Sophie, tell us what's wrong and we'll help you, after all, we understand what's its like to have the world dumped into your shoulders.'

  I looked down. They couldn't possibly understand what I was going through, I was genetically engineered to become part of this battle.

  A picture was placed in my line of sight. I made a noise of confusion, looking up. The Guster held it up for me with sadness and longing written all over his features.

  'This is my sister, Thalia. She's a hunter, the leader of a girls-only hunting team where they're scouring the land for dangerous beasts. I don't know where she is or whether she's alive but I believe that she's out there, having the time of her life. Hope is all I have, and it's all you have. Have faith that your parents are still alive and are faring the best that they can in their situation.' He looked at the photograph before tearing his eyes away and handing it to me. He told me that it would be a reminder that I wasn't alone. A spark of warmth lit in my heart. I accepted it, smiling.

  My cheeks hurt.

---

Tam's POV

  'You can travel through shadows?'

  'Yeah, but not too much or I'll fade into a shadow.'

  'Teach me dude, it'll be worth it to annoy my stupid parents'

  'Damn, I don't know who your parents are, but I'm in.'

  'Sweet,' I grinned. Nico chucked before returning the smile. My parents were going to have a hell of a time when I decide to carry out my prank. I couldn't wait.

---

  'Tam! Did you hear? One of the new elves is a shade! You won't be all lonely and gloomy in your class anymore!' Linh's voice rebevrated through the room. I'd be lying if I said that I was excited. If he really was a new elf, I'd be forced into a mentor position, and probably be forced to teach him the basics, which would bore me to death. Or him. Or both.

  Seeing that Linh was excited for me getting some shred of social life, I gave her a grunt and went back to making my shadow do the splits. Sometimes it was nice to pretend I had a shred of talent, even if it was just my shadow.

---

  The new guy was interesting to say the least. From the first impressions, he looked like he was actively contemplating killing everyone in the room and himself, which I could relate to. He couldn't manipulate the shadows as a medium but he was surprisingly receptive to shadowflux. They flocked to him like moths to a flame, clinging onto him as if wanting for nothing more but for him to fade away into the shadows and become one.

  If Sohie's echos were loud, Nico's would be deafening. His whole body was an echo. I didn't dare to know why.

  I should probably warn him, he could be a danger.

---

  I chuckled. The draft of our prank was completed. This plan was to scare our parents with me and Linh appearing out of the shadows for a moment before disappearing again. However, to do that we needed a hidden place nearby that we could disappear to avoid suspicion. In our draft, we decided that we could disguise the entrance as an animal den and smear the ground with poop. Stinky but effective, but perhaps we could have a few real animals too.

  We lightleaped to my parents house dressed in the earthiest browns. It would make it harder for the earth and poop stains to show. Nico brought his sister, Hazel who made the earth shift and mould itself into a proper den. Her eyes shone with pride, the only proper reaction to bending the earth to do your bidding.

  Nico and I were left to over the mound with dead leaves and poop. I held my breath, smearing mysterious poop procured from Soohie's animal sanctuary. It squelched under my fingers as I gagged, trying to convince myself that it was worth it for the prank. It didn't work.

  Finally, we filled the den with medical supplies, food and an entire shop's worth of scented candles, taking care not to allow any light to spill out of the entrance. Hazel was smart to let the cavern slope down, effectively concealing the true size of the hideout.

  The prank was going to create chaos. I smiled.