Forever || Leo Valdez x Reader || Book 1

I nearly get mauled by a giant shadow dog, AND IT'S ONLY- (checks watch) 9 AM-

I bit down on my finger, trying to get my breathing under control as the rhino-sized black dog sniffed around the dumpster. My frantic brain was running a thousand miles an hour, but the few sane braincells left zeroed in on a word from a mythological book from my school library—a Hellhound.

I thought giant dogs like this only existed in myths... What's next, a dragon? Damn, this place stinks.

Unfortunately, for the past few weeks, the myths seem to be becoming more real, as creatures straight out of the pages of fantasy books became a common sight, and they all came after ME. Why me?

 Weirdest part? People thought I was bluffing. What the hell do you mean, Jeanette, you're seriously telling me that the horse over there does NOT have wings? And no, I haven't been watching too much of My Little Pony.

I grimaced down at the bloody bite on my forearm, my white sleeve now soaked red. My favorite cardigan, it's all ruined- damnit, I just wanted to go to school, I have a presentation today-

Just then, the dog noticed me hiding behind a trash bag and leaped right at me with a booming bark. I yelped, throwing a box at the beast before trying to scramble away. 

Curse me and my non-athletic self, if I survive this, I'm NEVER skipping PE ever again.

The Hellhound growled and ripped through the box, snarling before launching right at me. Welp, guess I die now- wait, I can't die, I haven't tried the limited edition chocolate lava muffins in the school cafeteria yet-

Just then, my eyes caught a minute flash of bronze heading towards the dog, which burst into golden glitter, getting all over me. Well, I've seen a lot of weird things but- WAIT, HAVE I BEEN HALLUCINATING THIS WHOLE TIME?! DOGS THAT SIZE DON'T JUST DISAPPEAR-

I rubbed my eyes and looked down at myself, now covered in shimmering golden dust. On second thought, maybe I'm going insane-

Just then, a girl about twelve jogged into the alley, and reached into the pile of golden glitter, and pulled out an arrow, the tip glinting bronze. She had orange hair that matched her t-shirt, dyed with a shock of bright green. She popped the arrow into a quiver on her back and looked around, noticing me.

"Oh, hi," She gave me a bright, sunny smile, which dimmed on seeing my injured arm "The hellhound got to you, huh?"

I grumpily held up my injured arm. "No duh, now can someone explain what's going on? I know that I'm most definitely not dreaming, cause my hand hurts like hell, but what in the world is even happening? It's too early for all this."

She laughed. "Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you? I'll explain, but first, we should treat your arm. At least you have enough energy, you won't pass out from blood loss any time soon. I'm Kayla, by the way. Kayla Knowles."

"Y/N. Y/N L/N, nice to meet you, Kayla."

"May I?" Kayla asked, motioning at my arm as she pulled out a roll of bandages from her quiver.

"Sure."

Kayla came closer and crouched down next to me, gently wrapping my arm up before handing me a flask. "Drink this, it will help."

I looked into the flask warily, seeing a shimmering golden liquid. Apple juice? But it's sparkling- is there glitter in there?

I cleared my throat, "Uh, no offense, Kayla, you're nice and all, but how can I be sure that you aren't a kidnapper and that you haven't drugged this?"

Kayla smiled, taking the flask from me and taking a sip. "See? All safe."

I sighed as I took a sip of the drink, getting caught off guard as the taste of (favorite drink) washed down my throat. "What is this?"

"Nectar. The drink of the gods."

"WHAT now?!"

Kayla grinned at me, offering a hand to help me up. "I said I'll explain, right? But not here, this place smells. Let's go to the nearby park- and maybe grab some food, 'cause this is going to be a long conversation, and it might come as a bit of a shock."

A/N: Author's note

This chapter is literally three times as long as the first chapter in the first book- and it's literally more or less the same thing lol- believe it or not, this took less than an hour to write