The Next Generation: Hades's Helm

Chapter 10: Ally

Ally's thoughts were interrupted by the ding of the elevator. Ally, Hayley, and Estelle get out of the elevator and walk towards the apartment. Estelle unlocks the door and the girls enter.

Sally's sitting on the couch, Ally's packed bag at her feet. She looks sad, but she quickly hides it with a smile as the girl walks in. "You're late, Estelle. Who's your friend?"

Estelle gives her mother a small smile, rubbing the back of her neck. "Uh, well, we found her in an alleyway. We couldn't just leave her there, so Ally bought her some new clothes and we went to the arcade to let her get cleaned up a bit."

Sally raises an eyebrow, glancing at Hayley, then at Estelle, before finally looking at Ally. She hands Ally her car keys, motioning to the door. "Alright. Well, we have to get you back to camp. Bring your friend, too. I'll be out in a minute."

Ally nods, picking up her bag and motioning for Hayley to follow her. She walks out and goes back in the elevator, pressing the level for the parking lot. Hayley follows her, and once the elevator reaches the bottom floor, both girls exit. Ally walks to Sally's car, a little blue Honda Civic. She unlocks the car and both girls climb into the back seat.

Ally noticed that Hayley looked a bit nervous. She didn't know if the girl wanted to talk or not, but she figured if she spoke and Hayley didn't respond, she had her answer.

"Don't worry," Ally starts. "Nobody can hurt you while I'm near. I swear it on the River Styxs."

Hayley nods a bit, although she seems a bit less nervous. That made Ally feel a bit better.

The door of the car opened, and Sally sat in the driver's seat. Ally handed her the keys, and she started the car.

It took about 30 minutes to reach Camp Half-Blood from the Jackson-Blofis apartment. That gave Ally plenty of time to think of all the things she would need to take on this quest. Food, water, clothes, nectar, ambrosia...

Ally was excited, but also scared out of her mind. This was her first quest. What if she never came back? What if she never got to see Estelle again? Or Sally, Percy, Annabeth...

But worst of all, what if she died on the quest and Athena thought she was a disgrace? That would hurt worse than any torture in the Fields of Punishment.

Finally, they arrived at the borders of Camp Half-Blood, saving Ally from her own downwards spiral of thoughts. Since Sally was a mortal, she couldn't cross the boundary into camp. Which meant that now was the time that they would figure out if Hayley was a mortal or a demigod.

Ally got out of the car, shouldering her bag. She motioned for Hayley to follow, and she did. Ally walked through the entrance of camp without an issue. And...

So did Hayley.

"Exactly what I thought," Ally says, giving Hayley a small smile. "You're a demigod. Now the question is, who's your parent?"

Hayley gave Ally a confused look.

"Oh, right," Ally says, glancing behind her at the cabins, now well over 200, and back at Hayley. "A demigod. A mortal child born of a mortal and a god. They have special powers and gifts, but they're also hunted by monsters, enemies of the gods. We don't know which child you're the god of. I'm a daughter of Athena, meaning the goddess is my mother and a mortal was my father. Which parent are you missing?"

Hayley nods slowly as Ally explains, her eyes widening a bit. Eventually, she answers Ally's question quietly. "My dad..."

Ally smiles and nods.

Suddenly, a son of Ares, Micheal, approaches the two. "Oh, what do we have here? Fresh meat?"

"Back off, Micheal," Ally says, crossing her arms and glaring up at the son of Ares. Unfortunately, this boy was 16 and over 6 feet tall, and Ally was only seven and about 4 feet tall.

"What are you gonna do, smartie? I bet you couldn't throw a punch to save your life." Micheal sneers.

"And you... Why are you wearing a mask? Are you some sort of freak or something?" Micheal says, shoving Hayley.

Hayley, being new and probably shy, didn't fight back. She falls back, falling into the shadow of a tree. But she doesn't really fall. As soon as she touched the shade, she disappeared. Her body dissipated.

Ally's eyes widen a bit. Both her and Micheal look around for a moment, wondering where the girl went.

They find her when they see a bright purple light glowing beside them. Hayley's standing there, mask still over her face.

Over her head is a glowing purple image of a three headed dog.

The claim of Hades.

Micheal goes pale, as if realizing he just shoved the daughter of Hades.

Ally just smirks, nodding to Hayley. "Well, Hayley. Daughter of the underworld. Daughter of Hades. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."