Lev griped the handle tightly. The dirty wood felt warm in his hands. But that was probably because if how cold his hands were.

He sighed loudly. It's not like he didn't like his new parents, Alex and Smith, it's just that he didn't think they really liked him. They were never mean to him, and never insulted him ti his face like other parents had. They were actually kind of nice, even. But he just got this feeling around them. A feeling he wasnt really sure he liked.

They were just so...uptight. but at the same time, carefree. They were always on guard, looking round before they walked forwards, stalking people for weeks before finally talking to them. But they didn't

care about things normal people did.

Through the 3 years Lev had lived with them, he had never sent them get a bruise or an injury. Not once. And it was starting to become suspicious. Why did they never want him to leave the house? Why did they mutter weird things in front of people before they actually introduced themselves. And why were they always on the look out for 'demi-pests' as they called them?

He shook his head, slowly turning the handle. His bag scratched uncomfortably against his bare shoulders, but he didn't dare move. Finally, the door gave in with a loud grunt.

Lev flinched. He knew his parents could hear things from miles away, but maybe they wouldn't notice now. I mean, they were sleeping, after all. He took a step out unto the rough stony path  before closing the door slowly behind him.

He took a few steps off the path and into the sand. The feeling of the sand slowly slipping in between his toes and rubbing against his ankles was something he would never get used too. But he supposed he would have to manage.

The stone path was (obviously) made of stone. But the floor around it was soft sand, only about half a meter tall. Hit it was so small and weightless your feet would sink to the bottom almost instantly. He commanded all ten of his toes to twitch. When only six of them responded, he set off. No one could move all their toes  anyway (or at least I cant...i think).

He pulled on the straps of his bag, making them a bit tighter. They were already tight enough,  it he didn't have anything better to do. Or, more truthfully, he was trying to delay what he was about to do. Finally, he took a deep breath. He had to do this. He could do this. He grabbed a handful of sand, then exhaled deeply.

He fell into the ground. The soil was still slightly wet, but he didn't seem to notice. All his attention was focused on the tunnel before him. Finally, he came to a stop, rolling a bit before falling ungracefully in a heap to the side. It took him a few moments to compose himself, but then he was up and out the door.

Dry leaves crunched under his boots as he made his way slowly down the dark path. He shook his head once or twice, slapping at his ears to get rid of flies and insects  the  continued on his way.

The locked door wasn't much of a challenge. He could manipulate gold easily enough, though getting it to move in the right place at the right time proved easier said than done.

The real challenge, however, was the Hellhound. His parents had always told him not to kill monsters. Not all monsters were evil, after all. But the hellhound sure seemed evil, as it growled around the edge of the battlefield.

Lev was annoyed. Why did there have to be a challenge of some sort there EVERY time he tried to go through? Last time, it had been 3 empousai (no, not Kelly), and he had been forced to fight them with his eyes closed. He knew about empousai, how they lured men in with their 'good looks' before brutally murdering them (or delivering them to the hands of Gaia, which knows)

But this hellhound didnt bite or scratch at him or do as every other hellhound for the past 4 years of his life had. No, this one sst down in from of the door, opened its mouth and let out a deep, rumbling howl so loud Lev nearly lost his footing. His left leg certainly did slip, though, and he stabbed his silver etched sword into the ground in a desperate attempt to regain his balance.

He held his hand out in front of him. The beginning of a Greek chant had just ghosted his lips when he was yanked back by an ear-splitting shriek. But this time, it wasn't from the monster.

"LDVESQUE ZHANG, JUST WHAT THE Hades DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Alex yelled, fuming with rage.

No, literally. Her ears were smoking and her eyes were flaming, her shaking fists clenched so tightly at her sides her knuckles were turning white.

Lev swore quietly under his breath. How had he forgotten to tell the squirrels to fill up his bed? He opened his mouth to explain but was pulled (not to gently, might I add) by his arm out of the door, which was safely secured and locked behind him.

Safe to say, Lev was not going to be getting past that door anytime soon.

●°○•●

"...And that is another reason you could have gotten hurt. You're not ready for this! Imagine if we hadn't gone to check on you and didn't think of checking the Guard Door first- you would be dead by now!" Alex paused her rant to throw her arms up in exclamation, then settling back to glaring at him.

Lev twirled his fingers, refusing to meet her gaze. She had a frighteningly intense glare, and he was not ready to become victim to one again. He had barely recovered from the last time.

Then suddenly he was fallin backwards, air knocked out of his lungs. His chair made a crack as it connected with the floor (one leg most likely broken) and his body made a soft thump. But he couldn't feel it, head spinning with what he had just seen.

It wasn't a vision- he knew what those looked like- but it was something he knew he had seen before, and had a feeling he would see again.

Staring at him, with smoldering intensity, were a pair of stormy grey eyes.

And just when he thought his life couldn't get any weirder.

●°○•●

Sorry for the long wait, guys. In case you haven't noticed, I started a new Supernatural fanfic called clouds, so check that out if you want to.

This chapter had actually been written a long time before now, but i just didn't have the energy to finish it and wasn't really in the PJO fandom at the moment. But now I'm back, and hopefully the updates will be more frequent.

Anyways, ONWARDS, TO ADVENTURE

(and a whole load of fluff)