There are days that I wonder if meeting him was fate, destiny, or just bad luck. It might be a mixture of all of them.

My name is Ashlyn. I'm a daughter of Demeter and I was trained by Hecate, in other words I'm a mage. In my 12 years on Earth I've seen more hardships than a girl my age really should. I've watched far too many people die right in front of me and not been able to do a thing about it. Sometimes I was the cause of it, but let's not get into that.

Anyway, my story is an interesting one, that has a decent ending I suppose, but if I hadn't met him, Nico DiAngleo it would have been worse. Let's start from the first day I met my two closest friends and go from there. Yes, I know that you're struggling to understand, but it will all make sense soon.

It was raining pretty heavily as I walked on a deserted country road. I was alone, which was not at all unusual. I'm what you would consider a lone wolf.

My old wooden staff was in my hand as I continued my lonely trek to absolutely nowhere. My blond hair streamed down my face.

You see, I'm a wanderer, someone who just goes with the flow. I never stay in one place too long.

Up ahead I saw a dark shape. I guessed it to be a home but as I approached it, it moved and I saw that it was indeed a monster.

Ah, time to put another one under my belt. I'd killed so many monsters I'd lost count. Last I checked I was at 200.

The monster raised its head to the air and I saw that it resembled a hellhound.

I frowned. Those weren't supposed to get outside of the fields of punishment unless specially summoned.

It sniffed the air and must have caught my scent because it turned towards me with blood red eyes and growled.

I pointed my staff and sparks of fire spiraled around it, as the inferno grew larger and I was about shoot the thing full of purple flames when I heard a voice.

"Wait!"

I turned and saw a flash of jet black hair in front of me. A tall, strikingly pretty girl stood there. Despite the rain she still looked perfect. With long dark eyelashes, dark hair, perfect olive skin she looked like she just stepped of a runway. She was slim, but curvy and seemed to radiate power and elegance. Then I saw her eyes. A beautiful but startling reddish pink color.

"Wait." She repeated and grabbed my staff arm. My concentration broke and the flames dispersed.

"What?" I asked. I'm not someone of many words, it tend to let my actions do the talking for me.

"Please. That's my hellhound. I know he looks big and menacing but he's really quite sweet. Right, Mack?" The dog growled fondly and barked.

"See?" I took my arm away from hers. "Hey, why don't you—?" She hesitated.

"What?" I repeated. This girl was beginning to annoy me.

"I was just wondering if you would like to come and camp with us…" she trailed off. Her eyes traveled to my staff. Her eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion.

"No, thanks. I'm fine on my own."

"Are you sure…We wouldn't mind having you here."

"No, thanks. I'll be fine." I began to walk away.

"One thing, why do you carry a staff?" she blurted suddenly.

"I'm a demigod. You are too, as far as I can sense, we need to carry something for protection."

"True," the girl answered, "But we generally carry something like a sword or," She fingered a white angel wing necklace. "Or other weapons. Not just a puny staff."

Puny?

I twirled my staff around my head a few times and created a fire, right there in the middle of a muddy trail, in the rain.

She took a step back. "What are you? Who are you?"

"My name is Ashlyn. And for the fact that we will never see each other again, I might as well tell you, I'm a mage."

Her hand tightened around the necklace and her eyes flashed. "I'm not trying to start a fight. But you certainly are antagonistic!"

Another girl ran up to us. She had straight brown hair and aqua colored eyes, she was in between what I was and the other girl was. She was neither straight nor curvy, just in the middle.

"Bianca? What's going on? Are you two just talking are trying to start a fight?"

"The latter." I answered. I turned toward the other one who was fiddling with a little white necklace in the shape of a single angel wing.

"And you are…" I asked.

"I'm Bianca. Bianca DiAngleo."

"Well. We certainly are a group. Look at us all muddy and in jeans in wet tee-shirts," Molly laughed. She looked at me and said with open friendliness, "Why don't you come with us. We're heading to Camp Half-Blood."

"That's true but we'll be there soon. No worries," Bianca said confidently. She turned just slightly and gave me one more look of suspicion. I had the feeling that the only reason that she let me stay with them was so that she could keep an eye on me.

It doesn't take long to start to like being around people. I'd always thought that I would be alone all of my life, but after meeting Bianca and Molly, that changed. Within a few days, I was talking freely with them. (Despite Bianca's initial hostility she warmed up to me, but I still have the sneaking suspicion that she just wants to keep an eye on me) I knew there stories and they knew mine. We could sympathize with each other simply because we had had the same feelings.

Bianca was dead.

She had been dead for a few years but because she was a daughter of Hades and her brother had pleaded for her to get a second chance, Hades had said that she could walk among the living again, but she would be a reaper.

She was the grim reaper, flesh and bones. The necklace that she wore showed everyone that one—she was dead and two—that was where she carried her scythe, a four and a half foot long curved blade made out of stygian crystal. She was actually 84 or so years old but looked about fourteen because she had been imprisoned within a casino. Despite the fact she was dead, she could age just like the rest of us. She just couldn't die. In my opinion that was a pretty good deal to me, but she just didn't seem happy with it.

I wondered about her brother though. If he had had the guts to stand up to his father, the lord of the dead and plead for his sister, then he must be a pretty cool guy.

Molly had been trapped inside the same casino as Bianca but for a shorter time. She was only 33 years old but of course looked about thirteen. She was a daughter of Nerseus. That surprised me because she was so pretty. I guess Nerseus just let himself go.

It didn't take long for us to arrive and this camp Half-blood. I could see a giant pine tree with a dragon sitting underneath it.

"Here we are." Bianca announced. We climbed the hill and looked down into the valley. I could see a large house, and strawberry fields and a beautiful lake.

"I could live with this," Molly exclaimed. "It's so pretty."

"Hn" was all I answered.

As we began the decent for the top of the hill I heard a clof clof sound, like hooves in the grass. I turned to see a large white shape approach us.

The centaur smiled down at us. He had a cautious way of speaking when he asked, "And who might you all be?"