Jessica gasped awake, her muscles spazzing spastically. She felt a pair of warm hands ease her back down into a lying position and immediately relaxed before suddenly tensing when she realized she didn’t recognize the touch. Her eyes surveyed her surroundings in a worried panic before settling on the rather adorable looking short girl in front of her (whose hands were now resting somewhat on her s).

“W-what?” was all Jessica could manage.

Warm brown eyes gazed down upon her and the girl broke into a bubbly smile. “Relax,” the girl spoke with a voice like honey.

Jessica didn’t know why but she immediately felt herself relaxing.

“I’m Sunny. Can you tell me if anything hurts?” the girl asked.

As soon as the words escaped Sunny’s lips, Jessica realized in an abrupt wave of pain that her entire body was aching. Her mind throbbed like someone had taken a swing to the back of her head with a baseball bat, and her limbs felt like lead. also itched terribly. With a groan, Jessica closed her eyes, trying to push away the pounding of her head.

Sunny chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry, it will all go away soon. You might have a slight concussion. It seems you hit your head. Here, eat this. Trust me, it’ll make you feel better.”

Sunny handed her what looked like a cube of sorts. Jessica popped it into only realizing later that she probably shouldn’t accept food from strangers no matter how harmless said strangers looked.

Still, she chewed slowly and almost recoiled at the burst of flavor from the cube. It tasted like her favorite chocolate ice cream. She continued chewing with renewed vigor as Sunny watched on with amusement. When she was done, she looked to Sunny almost pouting.

“What was that? Can I have another one?” Jessica asked almost demurely.  

Sunny chuckled at the cute sight in front of her.  “That was an ambrosia square. And no you cannot have another one. A little bit of ambrosia will heal you but eat too much and it’ll make you feverish and kill you.”

“Oh.” Jessica sunk back into her bed. Suddenly images of a sea monster, Taeyeon falling and hitting the water, and Tiffany fighting with a sword and falling into the lake flashed through her mind. Worried flushed through her system.

“Oh my god.” She turned to Sunny with desperation and alarm, scaring the girl. “I need to find my friends. Taeyeon, and Tiffany!” she stated shakily (Only hours later when she was alone in bed at night trying to fall asleep would she realize she called Tiffany her friend).

“There was this huge mutant octopus monster thing. I almost drowned but then Taeyeon saved me. And they tried to fight it but then Taeyeon fell and then Tiffany fell and then-” Jessica paused. She knew she sounded crazy. Where was she? How did she live? What happened? She’d m out. She couldn’t remember anything after Tiffany fell.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Sunny’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Breathe.”

It wasn’t until Sunny told her to breathe that Jessica noticed she was having a panic attack and was not breathing. She gasped, taking a deep gulp of air.

“Good,” Sunny cooed. “Both Taeyeon and Tiffany are fine. They both woke up before you. You’re safe. They’re safe.”

Jessica calmed down. She waited until her heartbeat slowed down to a normal rate before turning and asking. “Where am I? Where are they? What happened?”
 

Sunny beamed at her. “Why don’t we get Taeyeon and Tiffany to explain that to you, hm?” she asked. “Do you feel fine enough to walk?”

Jessica slid off her bed and wavered a bit as soon as she legs hit the ground but she steadied herself before Sunny had to catch her. “I’m fine,” she said though her legs felt a little jelly. “Can you bring me to them?”

Sunny nodded, before leading her out of what she assumed was the sick house. Jessica didn’t know what she was expecting when she stepped outdoors but she definitely wasn’t expecting this.

Green fields spread wide open before her. This didn’t look like New York City anymore. There were tons of kids her age and younger, all wearing orange shirts. Some she spotted training with swords. Some were riding these horses with wings. Others were...picking strawberries?

Jessica blinked. And blinked again. And blinked again. But the image in front of her never changed. She couldn’t believe her eyes. What on earth was going on?

Shaking her head, Jessica quickly followed after Sunny. She wanted to ask Sunny but the girl was acting like nothing was wrong, ignoring Jessica’s questioning stares. Hoping that she’ll eventually get an answer, she just followed quietly. For now, she just took in everything silently and ignored her aching questions.

“This is the Big House,” Sunny announced as they stopped by a large cabin. It was very aptly named as it looked like, as the name suggested, a big house made out of wood. Sunny walked in and led her through the rooms. Jessica heard Taeyeon’s and Tiffany’s voices before she saw them.

“This idiot here used up all her energy electrocuting that ugly squid and then nearly killed herself by drowning,” Tiffany’s husky but loud voice rang out clearly. Jessica tried her best not to flinch. The redhead sounded downright furious.

“My friend was in danger! And I had to distract the Cetus from you!” Taeyeon argued back.

“Okay, that’s enough, you two.” A third voice, a man’s voice, interrupted. “Tiffany, after you stabbed it in the eye, what happened?”

Tiffany’s voice came out sheepish. “It slapped me and then I hit the water and fainted.”

Taeyeon gave a short amused snort. “So all three of us nearly drowned.”

Jessica didn’t have to be in the room to know that the man was frowning when he spoke up again.

“So neither of you defeated the Cetus?”

The silence that followed was answer enough.

It was then that Sunny decided to interrupt their conversation. “Sorry to interrupt,” she stated, knocking on the half open door to alert them of their presence. “But your friend woke up.”

Taeyeon whirled around in her chair taking in Jessica’s presence and her eyes lit up. She immediately bounced over and enveloped the blonde in a bone crushing hug.

“Jessica! Thank the gods, you’re okay!” Taeyeon cried adorably, her face flush against the girl’s chest.

Jessica patted the top of her best friend’s head fondly. She usually wasn’t one for physical affection but Taeyeon seemed rather shaken up.

“Hey midget. Glad to see you’re okay too,” Jessica stated softly, equally relieved to see her best friend safe and sound.

The only response she got was a quiet sniffle and an indignant, “You’re only a couple of centimeters taller than me.”

Jessica let out a short aspy laugh, still throbbing.

“Looks like you’re tougher than you look, Jung.”

Jessica looked up to see Tiffany Hwang smirking at her. If Taeyeon wasn’t holding her up right now, Jessica might’ve fallen flat on her face due to her suddenly weak knees. Curse Tiffany Hwang and her perfect face and body.

“Ah, Jessica. I’m glad you’re awake. Come, take a seat.”

Jessica shifted her vision over to the third person she’d heard talking. He was a rather old man in a wheelchair. She stared at the wheelchair. The longer she looked, the blurrier it seemed. Suddenly, she wasn’t looking at a wheelchair anymore. Instead, she was looking a horse’s body. She recoiled with a shout.

“Don’t be alarmed. Everything will be explained soon. Please, take a seat,” the man gestured kindly.

Cautiously, Jessica took a seat next to Tiffany, trying to ignore the girl’s perfume that invaded her senses the moment she sat down. Taeyeon took the other seat next to her.

“Who would like to do the honors?” the man asked, smiling pointedly at Taeyeon and Tiffany. Jessica looked at the two of them in confusion. What was going on? How come she was the only one alarmed at the half man half horse creature?

“Jessica,” Taeyeon started, turning to the blonde. “I know this might sound a bit crazy but...do you remember the Greek gods and stuff you learned about in world history?”

Jessica raised a skeptical eyebrow but nodded. She had a feeling where this was going. As soon as Taeyeon said “Greek gods” Jessica was able to put the two together. Greek gods and a half-man half horse creature - a centaur. Still, she had to hear Taeyeon say it or else she’d think she was going crazy.

“Well, they’re real. All of them. The gods, the myths, the creatures,” Taeyeon revealed, smiling sheepishly. Jessica stared at her best friend blankly before turning to the man for help.

“If I may  introduce myself. I am Chiron a centaur, but you may call me Mr. C,” the man stated. “And this is Camp Half-Blood. A camp for demigods.”

“Demigods,” Jessica repeated blankly.

“Yes,” Mr. C nodded. “Half gods, half human. Demigods.”

She turned back to Taeyeon and Tiffany for answers. She felt like she was going crazy.

“We’re demigods,” Taeyeon revealed. “My dad is Zeus, god of lightning and the skies. And well, you know my mom.”

“And my mother is Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty,” Tiffany revealed, flicking her hair back like a model as if to prove her point.

‘Well, that explains why you’re so good looking at least,’ Jessica thought dryly. She eyed the three people in front of her who all seemed tense as if waiting for her response. She shrugged. “Okay.”

They all eyed her weirdly. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Jessica repeated. “So Greek gods are real. I mean did you really expect me not to believe you after that lake monster thing tried to kill us?”

Taeyeon relaxed back into her seat. She regarded Jessica with a hint of humor. “Huh. Somehow, I didn’t expect you to accept it so easily. But at the same time, it doesn’t surprise me that you did.”

Jessica snorted at her best friend.

“I never would’ve guessed you were also a demigod though. We’ve been best friends for two years! How did I never find out?” Taeyeon grinned excitedly. “I wonder who your godly parent is.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Jessica interrupted. “Slow down. What are you talking about? I’m not a demigod.”

Taeyeon paused and stared at Jessica. “But you are. Tiffany said you could see the Cetus.”

“The what?” Jessica questioned.

“The Cetus. They’re Greek sea monsters,” Tiffany stated exasperatedly.

“Right,” Jessica bit back sarcastically, trying to hide the fact that her heart was beating fast from just hearing the redhead’s voice. “Silly me. Duh. Of course.”