(Untitled)

[prettywithawill]

Wherever this was, it wasn’t where Valkyrie was supposed to be. Not that it wasn’t lovely; the beach and the ocean and the trees and all of that. It would make a nice vacation spot and she could do with a holiday after all, she’d just saved the world again and she never really got much of a holiday after any of the times she did that

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[teenagerenegade]

He's not really doing anything useful; he's wandering with his headphones in, sneakers laced over his shoulder. His bare toes dig into the sand. He sees her from a distance, thinks, for a moment, that she's Effy, but it's one of those things - he can tell from the stance, he thinks. The colour of her hair.

He wanders over to her, lifting one hand in an idle wave.

"Hey there," he says.

[prettywithawill]

He doesn't look crazy or like any of her enemies. Granted, some of her enemies had minions that she probably hadn't met, but he didn't really have that minion vibe about him. More like... casual guy strolling along the beach. She probably shouldn't punch first and ask questions later.

"Hi there," she said with a bit of a smile. "Can you tell me where I am?"

[teenagerenegade]

"Tabula Rasa," says Charlie, cheerfully. He's had enough sleep and he's had coffee, so maybe he can do a good job of playing welcome wagon today. "Welcome to the magic island. And we're far enough away that the dinosaurs aren't going to bother us. And it's a nice day."

[prettywithawill]

"Oh, of course we're far enough away from them," Valkyrie said, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. He was obviously crazy, even if he was sort of handsome. Maybe this was one of those sanitarium islands they had in movies. Only those were movies about the past or from the past, and they were always far more gloomy than this place.

"Can you tell me where the nearest train station is, or maybe the airport?"

[behindtheskin]

Another one. There was another one, and all else considered, Effy had known that it was always only a matter of time. She chewed on her lower lip from a distance, hidden among the trees, every step quiet and careful, slow- the only movement from her being her hair as it was picked up by the wind, though she did her best to stem that as quickly as possible too, breaking her gaze long enough to weave it into a hasty braid that she draped over her shoulder. Her heart beat against her chest, but rather than the strong thrum she had grown accustomed to in recent days, in its stead she felt only a quiver. An uneasy beat, and a flicker. As her back was pressed against the smooth bark of the tree, Effy ground her knuckles into the surface, until she could feel her skin scraping, until her eyes felt prickly and impossibly warm, before she took a breath and peered around the trunk again at the arrival.

But everything had been fine until now. There was no reason for it, the sudden descension into madness, not while all was peaceful at last. She

[prettywithawill]

"You can come out now!" Valkyrie called as she heard the branch snap. It was possible that no one was there. She didn't have a lot of experience with jungles and the sort, but in movies and such a branch always snapped when someone was sneaking around and trying to be careful. If someone was there, then brilliant. If not? Then there was no one around to look foolish for.

"I mean it, if you keep hiding you only look like some sort of creepy stalker, and goodness knows I'm about fed up with that sort of thing lately."

[behindtheskin]

Irish this time, and not American, and for the life of her, Effy couldn't understand why. She continued to press her back against the bark of the tree, eyes shut and barely managing to hold onto her breath. Fingers sneaked over to her pockets, where she had a cigarette or two, none of which she'd touched since her arrival on the island. Since months before that, even. If there was anything that brought the voices out, it was the safety of smoke, smoke which hid everything, from flaws to cracks, from passion to absence.

In the end, she kept herself from breaking that promise. On the heel of such a decision, she pushed away from the tree, stepping out, feet brushing through grass.

Still didn't say a word. Why bother? She'd only be overrun.

[prettywithawill]

She was not comforted at all when the person stepped out from the tree line into view. Her Reflection was supposed to be at home, the whole point of having one was so that when she went away, no one noticed she was missing. At least, no mortals did. Also, she didn't appreciate the liberties it had taken with her hairstyle and clothes.

"Before we even get into how wrong it is for you to be here," Valkyrie said, eyes narrowing as she approached. "I don't think you lightening your hair is a good idea. And I've put a lot of work into building this muscle and I'd appreciate it if you would actually, you know, reflect what I look like. That's your entire purpose. And the outfit is..."

Well, the outfit was actually pretty cool, but there was no way she was going to admit that to her Reflection, that it might have had slightly cooler fashion sense than she did.

[percy_jackson]

I haven't had a chance to talk to Thalia since the jukebox had revealed our future, and I was starting to get a little concerned. She was often moody, and I could see why the Island could make her moodier than usual, especially after she committed herself to Artemis's hunters, but we were both halfbloods. We'd been friendly, sort of, back home. And, maybe I was feeling just a bit clingy after Annabeth had gone -- not that I thought of Thalia that way, you understand. But Luke and I had made peace. Couldn't we all be happier if we all got closer together?

So, I resolved to talk to Thalia when I next had a chance, and when I saw what I thought was her walking down the beach, I came up to her with purpose, my short sword in its scabbard over my shoulder. I waved. "Hey, Thalia! I--"

Actually, the fact that she wasn't carrying her bow should have been a dead giveaway. What happened next made it triply clear.

[prettywithawill]

This guy looked like some sort of wizard. Sword over his shoulder, walking like he knew how to use it, and dressed in modern clothes. She was pretty sure that any sort of weirdo nerd that would be walking around with a sword would also be in medieval clothing or some sort. She didn't recognize him at all, which wasn't good. There weren't a lot of cute guys her age who were also wizards, so he wasn't local. Or rather, maybe he was, she was forgetting she wasn't exactly local at the moment

[percy_jackson]

Twenty seconds, huh? It took me about then to catch my breath. I took this time to stare up at this young woman -- a rather pretty young woman, especially from this... interesting... vantage point -- who looked a lot like Thalia, and a bit like Effy, but... "You're... not... Thalia," I said, my voice sounding very strained. "I-- What-- Why did you throw me down like that?"

I tried to keep the whine from my voice, but it was hard. I'd just been about to say 'hi'.

[prettywithawill]

The fact that he wasn't trying to fight back and wasn't screaming threats and curses at her went a long way in convincing her that he wasn't some sort of enemy. Definitely more convincing than anything he said, since what he said made him sound a bit mental.

"You know," said Valkyrie. "I already know who I am. And who I am not. It would be more useful for you to tell me who you are. And I threw you down because you were going for your sword."

[overtheheadline]

Okay, so Lois probably should have stuck to the path but she was a reporter and stories weren't usually found on paths. They were found in the woods and off the path and out of the way and oh god, so were the serial killers and the bears and the creepy redneck cannibals.

"Okay, Lois stop freaking yourself out. You've only been wandering around for an hour... okay two hours. It's okay," Lois muttered loudly to herself adjusting her backpack before changing directions for the fourth time. "Let's try this way Lo-hey!"

Lois yelled, catching sight of a girl ahead and ran towards her. Lois smiled in relief. "Oh thank god, do you know how long I've been wandering around?"

[prettywithawill]

Valkyrie was already missing the magical properties of her coat, having to shuck it and carry it around in the tropical heat. If this place really was without magic, she was not looking forward to all the sweating she was going to do.

The woman hiking was a pleasant surprise though. It was such a mundane, normal thing it almost made her laugh. Just a normal, lost hiker. Not someone completely mental, not someone that had her face but wasn't her. Just a lost hiker.

"No, I don't," she said in response to the woman's question. "Don't you know how long you've been wandering around?"

[overtheheadline]

"Roughly, give or take a few hours. Didn't exactly come here with a watch and I don't think they have an Island Standard Time. They should probably work on that," Lois replied with a smile. So, next time she was going to go more well prepared if the General knew she'd left without basics he probably would have given her a severe dressing down. "And actually an economy would be nice too. I'm all for community service and pulling together but when you're a reporter, it's kind of a hard sell. Lois Lane by the way, we're near the Compound right? I hope."

[prettywithawill]

"People keep telling me it's in the direction," Valkyrie said, pointing off in the direction that people kept telling her the compound was. It was on her list of places to go, she just hadn't gotten there yet.

"At least I think that's the direction. I'm not sure, I'm really more of a city girl, so I don't have a lot of practice keeping directions in my head when it's all about 'turn past the old oak' tree. Also, I've been here about as long as you've been lost."

[prettywithawill]

"Hullo!" Valkyrie said, waving and giving her most friendly smile. She wanted to reassure the other girl that she was not a crazy person. Sure she was walking along the beach dressed in all black with boots, but that was no reason to be worried. Crazy people usually weren't this friend or pretty, right?

"How are you today? Lovely weather today, isn't it?"

[prettywithawill]

If it hadn't been for the fact that Valkyrie couldn't do magic, she wouldn't have believed that the island was magic. That, in and of itself, was very confusing on a level that frustrated her.

"Lovely weather tomorrow and the next day?" Valkyrie suggested. "And the day after..."