Nico's POV

I knelt quickly, placing my hands over her wound. The redhead glared distrustfully at me, but I ignored her, drawing the shadow venom out of the almost unconscious girl's arm. I could see now she was albino, eyes a pale grey, but I could still see stubborn hints of blue as she blinked blearily, gasping softly in agony.

In the background, I could hear Percy trying to talk to the fiery-headed girl, but she simply ignored him, kneeling next to me. I could feel the soft skin beginning to move under my fingertips, and stilled her with a firm pressure. The venom would be hard enough to remove without her moving to boot.

Slowly, I drew the shadows out like a string, as a trickle and then a stream of blood began to drip down her arm. The redhead bound it hurriedly, and I smiled reassuringly at her. She returned a tiny smile, not more than a twitch of the lips, but there it was.

"I'm Amy. This is my...my sister. Alexandra." Amy ruffled her crimson locks, looking down at the pale girl lying on the floor. "We...we kinda got kicked out of our home, for...reasons, and since then, monsters, huge terrifying ones, have been chasing us everywhere. You might not believe us, but you saw it, right? Just now?" Percy cleared his throat, and continued to explain who the monsters were and why they were chasing them as well as us. I focused on Alexandra, whose eyes were following us around.

"Am-my..."

For a second, I looked down at her, uncomprehending, when the redhead dropped to her knees beside me. "Yeah? I'm here." A small smile crept across the pale face, as she gazed meaningfully at Amy, who paused a moment before looking up at us. "D'you guys think you could maybe camp somewhere else? I don't mean to offend or anything, but we kinda need some...alone time?" I nodded quickly, springing back to my feet and turning to go. Percy followed me and we walked further down the corridor to a room filled with early afternoon light streaming in from the large windows carved in the stone. Slipping my hand into his, I hugged him close, not saying anything. To be honest, the pure evil in those shadows had scared me, and I had felt the malevolence in it, wanting to devour us all, followed swiftly by the entire world.

I felt a small hand tugging on my jeans and looked down to see Levi staring up at us, big, watery eyes pleading. The son of Poseidon chuckled, lifting him up and hugging him as well, as we stood there, arms locked around each other.

After a while, and three unsuccessful attempts at building a fire, I stretched and stood. Percy looked sleepily up at me, drowsy in the late afternoon sun. He'd taken a nap after the second attempt, as we aimed to be out of there by nightfall. I smiled fondly down at him, dropping to kiss him lightly. "I just want to go and see how they're doing." His response, not surprisingly, was to kiss me again and pull the sleeping Levi closer.

Slipping out into the corridors, I felt the shadows lengthening and stretching towards me, cloaking me, as I glided quickly towards the room they had said they'd be in

It was empty.

My eyes widened, and I hurried down the corridor, heading into the room with the well. It too was empty, but I noticed a small ray of light coming in from the roof and glanced up. A trapdoor lay open above, with roughly carved but hardly noticeable indentations in the wall leading up to it. Quickly, I grabbed onto the first, clambering silently upwards.

Poking my head up, I peered around, looking for the two girls. They were sitting, legs crossed, on the stone ledge on top of the room, trees surrounding them.

Heaving myself up, I quietly slid closer, waiting for them to turn, listening. "...But you know they won't let us go with them!"

"We could convince them to take us..."

"But once they find out the truth, they won't! You know that!"

"Well, we could just keep up the act...that we're sisters...?"

Amy hunched her shoulders. "I don't think I can keep it up. You're just too..." Alexandra laughed softly, taking her hand. "You flirt."

My eyes widened, and I blinked. So... they weren't sisters, huh? I stepped back, attempting to back away quietly. Instead, I toppled through the hole, landing with a thump and a yell of pain as I felt bruises begin their painful growth on my back. Twin heads peered at me from above, and Alexandra dropped gracefully from the hole, Amy landing less elegantly with a thud.

"How much did you hear?" Alexandra stood over me, offering a hand. I took it, and she hauled me up. Amy held her rough wooden staff in a defensive stance, but Alexandra just shook her head.

I shrugged. "The last part?" She sighed, and I could see defeat slumping her shoulders. "So you know we're together." I nodded carefully, and she stepped back. "I'm guessing you're going to leave now, but don't try to reveal us or attack us, the villagers tried that. They're not bothering us anymore." Despite her tough words, there was the slightest tremor to her voice and I blinked, confused for a second before it clicked into place. They thought we were going to reject them, to kick them back to the monsters.

"No! I mean, well, we're not gonna do that, I mean, me and Percy, we're..." I rambled, when Amy interrupted me. "You and Percy? You guys...you're... together?" I nodded mutely and Amy grinned, slipping her hand into Alexandra's. "Then... you're okay with us... y'know?" I shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much." They both smiled, visibly relieved, and started to say something-

A scream echoed from down the corridor, the high scream of a young boy, followed by a shout, the voice too familiar to deny.

Levi and Percy were in trouble.

A/N:

Hey guys :D

I know, I know, I haven't updated for like a billion years. I'm sorry, but my school's having a carnival on Saturday and a lot of things have been happening.

Anyway, yay intro new characters! Can you tell where they're from? ;D

Okay yes I'm a huge geek judge me.

That's about it, see you round! (eheheh references but also noooo bc sad reference I'll shut up now goodbye)

~N