Hello, many of you might not even remember this story by now. I had kept this chapter on hold for more than a year and was struggling to bring something more interesting to it. I know a lot of explanations had to be made for the previous chapter and I didn't want it to be just a filler. So I just thought of this a few days back and started editing it again to include a short backstory. So although most of the chapter is from Atalanta's point of view, this section in the beginning is not exactly her flashback and it may be a bit confusing since it might seem like the perspective is shifting often. Now I'm really sorry for not putting enough effort on this earlier and I really hope you'd like this. Please do leave a review of whatever you thought of it and I'd love to talk and discuss it with you.

This chapter is dedicated to all you readers for giving me your time and kindness. Thank you so much, I really appreciate you guys. 3

- Alexandra June

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She remembered him when she saw him walk towards Sandy's music store. Most people in her medical college probably wouldn't have. He looked just about as young as she was, and handsome too. She thought he was a student first but he attended very few classes and never showed up for any exam. Was he even enrolled? Well, she didn't have the time to interfere in anyone else's business. She had come to America two years back for college and only called her parents in London once a month, a week if she had a lot to talk about. Even with her scholarship, she had to work part time, for her living expenses and other items required for college, at a café near Sandy's store.

She entered and saw him talking to Sandy. Sandy nodded at her and she went to the piano. Sandy was an Indian girl. Her real name was Sowndarya, but almost everyone found it easier to call her Sandy. They had been living at each other's houses for a year back in school as part of a foreign exchange program. They were still pretty close and they shared a room together now, even though they went to different colleges. She sat down and tested each key one by one singing the note as it should have been until she found the one that had to be replaced. She could play a little with her few years of training but that wasn't what she was here for. She was more entranced by how it worked and where the sounds came from and with more experience in tinkering than piano lessons, she came whenever Sandy needed some repairing done. When she looked up, he was looking at her. She slightly blushed, reported her work to Sandy and then walked out. She didn't notice he followed her until she took her corner on the café, ready to sing her songs. She tried focusing on this other enthusiastic couple, but his face was bright and simply tough to ignore. She even ran into him on the way out as she was ready to get back home.

"Emily? I'm uh..Fred. I just heard you singing and… well, you're beautiful and your voice is almost as good as mine. Would you want to hear a haiku?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Once they hit off as friends, she met him every alternate day for two weeks. He then took her on a road trip where he told her he loved her. He kissed her and stayed over the night and told her stories she thought were wild but oddly believable. He said he couldn't stay too long and there was no point in getting married if she could only get to see him occasionally. He left early, by sunrise the next morning.

One month later when he visited her again, she realized she was pregnant. She realized no matter what she said he wouldn't be able to help her with it and that she would have to raise her child on her own. She cried a lot that day when she realized she still wanted to raise her child. Sandy clicked her tongue and shook her head but made her promise to ask her for help when she wanted it. She graduated three months after that and he was there too. He was there in the hospital when she gave birth and he held the little girl proudly in his arms. She thought he even cried a bit as he gently asked her to name the baby Atalanta.

He did come see them once in a while though he always seemed so out of it when he came. Kept repeatedly telling her how to be safe and which places to stay away from and even what to do if they ever got lost. She wondered what her daughter would think of her father.

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ATALANTA: Where am I?

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Atalanta was a difficult child for her to control on her own, she was unusually active and kept poking her nose where it shouldn't have been. She could get lost before even entering a supermarket and Emily and Sandy had to take turns watching her to make sure nothing really happened. Taking her to preschool was a disappointment when she used to draw hideous trolls and horned vultures and one eyed babies and even her teachers used to think there was something wrong with her. She was a quick learner when it came to some things but teaching her to read was more than just a difficult task.

People used to quit on her very frequently- babysitters, teachers. She had seen so many faces, she could hardly remember half of them anyways. It's not surprising she didn't remember much of her father. He wasn't around as much and her mother didn't bring it up. He did make it to her 5th birthday though and even more surprising, he remembered to get her a gift. He brought her a necklace with a huge pendant that looked like a dangerously pointed sun. Her mother already tensed and worried, tried to take it back but she had taken quite a liking to it already. She wasn't a very clever girl but she knew that a lot of people were disappointed in her. She did hear them saying things about how sad it is for such a clever doctor like Emily to get a daughter that couldn't even read a book on her own even at 8 years old. She did hear them judging her father and how he hasn't been there for her mother and judging her mother for how she ended up with a child like her. She just stuck her tongue out at them and continued ignoring them. She knew her mother loved her and that was all she needed.

She remembered the day, the last time she saw her mother. She had seen it coming. She could see more things than her mother could. She saw those ladies with black wings like a crow and a man with stones all over his face. But her mother always pinched her arm and told her not to say such stuff to people so she just ignored them and counted the tiles on the floor. She only stopped counting when her mother quickly dragged her out of the shop and told her to go to Sandy. She felt her tears burning as they rolled down her face and a sharp pain on her arm where she was shoved. And then she saw something huge come flying out the store window shattering it into pieces and out till the other end of the street dragging her mother with it. "MOOMMM!"

She heard more grunting and screeching heading out towards the mess and decided it would be better to get help before looking for her mother and started running, "Help! Somebody please help! Call the police! the ambulance! My mom is in danger! Help me!" She kept bumping into people but didn't stop running and screaming for help. She dashed past a bunch of kids running towards the spot, one wielding a sword, another with a bow and arrow and a guy with tiny horns sticking out of his head straight to Sandy's music store.

"Sandy! help! Mom's in danger! We must get help!" Sandy ran to hug her and asked her what happened. She narrated the bits she paid attention to watching her eyes grow wide with fear as she paced around the room and then drove her home. She quickly hurried about to pack her things as Sandy told her to and watched as she fumbled around her mother's dresser till she found an envelope labelled 'EMERGENCY' and ripped it open, then heading to the phone. She packed her backpack and another bag full of things since she couldn't tell what would be useful. She wanted to go find her mother first. Why did she have to pack her bags? Where would she go? To live with her father? She sat clutching her pendant waiting for Sandy to finish the calls. "Am I in trouble?", she asked when Sandy sat by her.

"No, no dear. You didn't do anything to get into trouble but I have to send you somewhere safe. I think it has something to do with your dad's family. I called up the place your mother instructed me to call if something were to happen to her and they said they'll send someone for you. They'll be here in a bit, I hope."

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When she managed to open her eyes, she was vaguely aware of her surroundings. She was lying on a car hood she couldn't recognize. For a moment she was scared and confused. Then she slowly turned to a side trying to take everything in and figure out her whereabouts. She noticed Nico asleep on the pavement next to her and slowly she was able to recollect the incidents of last night.

She had packed up her stuff and mentally prepared herself for an exhausting journey, an adventure she probably won't live to share. She attempted to sneak out of Camp unseen in the middle of the night, but she forgot all about the boy. Well, that was a lie. She never really forgot him. She did realize she was going to miss everyone at the camp. After all, she had just come back. They weren't too close, true. She had only met him once all those years ago and maybe she had overreacted when she saw him again, but she didn't think he would try to stop her.

At first he seemed just like all other kids she met at Camp- Everyone facing family problems and trying to cope. But something about him intrigued her. Something about him didn't seem normal, well, at least compared to the demigod standards of normal. She sensed a really dark and powerful aura around him. She didn't like it one bit. He looked miserable and she wanted to fix that. Her own life was also really messed up but somehow watching him run through the woods with his hands covering his eyes, made her forget all that.

She was always that sort of person. The type to get so involved in other's problems that she could momentarily forget her own. Maybe she was selfish. Maybe she was running away from her own life. Did it really matter if she was? She was helping people out. She was feeling good about herself. What was bad about that?

But while she was talking to him, she happened to see beyond his gloomy aura. She started to notice his cheerier side and she forgot what she was really running from. That is, until it caught up with her. But by then it was too late, and if she ran away now, there were chances he could get hurt. Hurt was an understatement really. She knew what these things could do and she wasn't looking forward to see it again. She had to divert them from him and the rest of the camp. She was going to be brave and not selfish. She wasn't going to ignore her problems anymore. And she only knew she had the courage to do it in those few minutes when she actually felt carefree sitting beside him.

And here he was lying on the pavement. She rolled her eyes, remembering a bit of their argument. She couldn't remember much else after that though. She got up and shook his shoulders when he didn't respond to her calling out his name. But there was still no response. That's when she noticed he had left her a note. It was carved out in the leaves he was holding on to. She took them out of his hand and struggled to make out the words. Finally, the closest she could manage was-

Aphrodite's curse- Only one of us can stay awake while the other sleeps. 12 hours each. It'll be quicker and safer if we go together. Don't leave me alone. Please. Head north. I had some of your food.

She frowned. She was suddenly aware of her growing hunger. She opened her bag hunting for food, but all that was left was an apple and one packet of chips. She shrugged her shoulders and took a huge bite out of the apple. She glanced back and forth between Nico and the uphill path she had to take. She didn't want to drag him along into her problems again. If he knew what had she had actually done the last three years, he would probably hate her. He would stay out of her life, but she didn't want him to stay out completely. Gods, this was so confusing.

She needed to talk to him about what to do and now it didn't look like they would be able to talk for a while. Aphrodite's curse? How can she get rid of this now? is that why he said head North? And then what? How far North? This is just pathetic. Why did she have to interfere like this?Why did she have to complicate things that much more? Sleeping? It looks more like he knocked himself out while falling down. His body lying crumpled on the floor next to where she was. What could she do about him? She read the note he left again. Don't leave me alone. Please. She looked at his face and that settled the decision for her. He asked for it. He said please. She sighed, carried the bags, and lifted Nico upright against her body. Slender as he was, it didn't make things much easier with him bending away. She groaned trying not to curse her luck and offend any other gods.