you made yourself a bed at the bottom of the blackest hole [private]

Owen knew his instincts sucked. He knew since he was five years old, when his gut feeling told him not to try his big brother's bike. He knew when he so boldly asked out that pretty girl in class in sixth grade, who turned out to have a scary six-foot-tall footballer for a brother. And yet, for reasons unknown, he still trusted his instincts. And yet again, they foiled him.

He fought his way through tangled vines and old trees, jumping over roots as thick as his arms or small thorny bushes. Just another reason why he disliked the forest. It was a green maze always threatening to thwart you, trip you or hit your face with the occasional spider web (Owen still spat out sticky silky thread every few seconds, yuck), or if worse comes to worst, led you to some hungry monster who'd want nothing better than demigod lunch. Which, coincidentally, was the very thing Owen was running from. Owen didn't know what it was, honestly. Maybe a mix of huge-ass ant and a scorpion. Not like he'd stay to make sure.

But then, he and his ally just had to get separated. Owen recalled a faint yell ('this way!') but obviously, he did not have much faith in him to follow. He had more faith in himself, which was why he continued running towards... well, he didn't really know where he was headed, only that his gut told him to keep going in this direction. His gut was like 'don't listen to the guy! Even if he's been here longer than you! I know the way out! It's this way!' And he'd fallen for it. Again. If he wasn't so fired up from running from that crazy carnivore-looking monster, he'd be smacking his head and chanting 'stupid stupid stupid' over and over again.

Out of breath, Owen finally stumbled upon a small clearing. At first, the absence of trees surprised him enough to stop. He could still feel his heart thumping violently in his chest, out of fear or adrenaline he couldn't tell, and if his legs could talk they'd be cursing him in protest. Owen couldn't help but collapse, his heavy Greek breastplate and helmet finally weighing him down. The grass felt soft under his skin, sticky with sweat. Lying here face-down seemed like a pretty good idea. Especially for his tired and aching body... A short nap didn't sound bad either...

It hadn't even been five seconds until Owen's senses snapped into overdrive. What the hell was he thinking? Dozing off in the forest floor with a man-eating-ant-scorpion-thing on the loose? He picked himself up, cursing under his breath. He really needed to knock some sense into the part of his brain that dealt with instincts.

The absence of clicking noises calmed Owen down somewhat, but it wasn't enough to make him relax. Maybe the monster found something else more satisfying than a scrawny untrained demigod. Maybe it found Owen's companion first and was now too full to keep chase. The last thought made him wince as he pulled himself to sit against the nearest tree. Owen pulled off his helmet, throwing his tanned features into focus, his dark curls looking lighter under the minimal sunlight. Taking a deep breath, he fanned himself with his hand but it wasn't enough. He sighed wistfully. A bit of air would be nice.

Owen missed the sea then. Where the breeze would cool you down as you took a stroll, where the water lapped playfully around your toes. What he wouldn't give to be in a beach right now.

Another sound woke him from his daydream, but it wasn't clicking noises this time. In fact, Owen couldn't tell if it was rustling or footsteps or scurrying. A stray squirrel, perhaps? The forest held many creatures after all. Owen didn't really want to get up but chills ran down his spine and he fingered the hilt of his sword for good measure. Grudgingly he got to his feet, inwardly cursing how heavy Greek armor was. He looked around, seeing nothing but an empty patch of grass surrounded by a bunch of trees.

"W-Who's there?"

As soon as he'd said the words, Owen wanted to groan. He had already hit that amazing growth spurt that made him shoot up to five-feet-seven - when was his high boyish voice going to follow suit and begin sounding like Morgan Freeman?

When something burst out from the trees' shadows, Owen had been this close to turning tail and running back the way he came. Instead he had drawn his sword, shakily if I might add. He wasn't used to handling such a sharp and dangerous weapon. With his luck, he would probably end up slicing himself.

The figure came into his line of sight and his tense shoulders loosened when he saw it was definitely human. A human girl wearing a sports bra and shorts. Here he was, dressed in full Greek armor running for his life, and the girl was just looking all casual, going for a walk in the forest of doom like it was a preschoolers' playground. Owen's first reaction was to gape. Then the more rational part of his brain kicked in. Who goes for a jog in this god-forsaken place? Before he could do something stupid like ask her, Owen blinked in surprise at the name she had called.

Now, it wasn't like he hadn't been mistaken for Caleb in the past. Owen could never forget the times he got disdainful looks from a few selected people in Caleb's class. He didn't blame them though. The Wright brothers did look somewhat alike. In fact, shove a pair of glasses on his face and he'd pass as Caleb's younger-looking twin. The more handsome of the twins, he liked to think.

"I... I-" Owen found his voice diminishing as the girl drew closer. She looked a tad familiar. He had lowered his sword by now, having seen no threat, but he wanted to raise it once again. He couldn't bring himself to answer her question, mostly because he could practically feel the air growing heavy around him, freezing him into place. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was scared. Scared of the older girl for reasons he couldn't identify. Maybe it was the look in her eyes, the layers of anger and something else in her voice... Or maybe it was the way she carried herself. She was taking a jog through the forest that nearly took Owen's life. It probably meant that the girl was as formidable as the forest, or as dangerous as that ant-scorpion-thing which had all but disappeared by now.

"I know you. Oh my god. Why're you here?"

Owen couldn't help but do a double-take. She... knew him? He blinked again, confusion written all over his face. That could explain the slight familiarity he got a few moments ago but as he looked at her face, he found that he couldn't connect it to a name. Her face swam in the edges of his mind but try as he might, he couldn't really tell who she was. Maybe they went to the same school. Maybe he'd seen her on TV a couple of times.

"You shouldn't be here," the girl said, and at this Owen forgot all about his mild fear and let out a genuine chuckle.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that from the really creepy thing that's been chasing me for the past half-hour." A smile tugged on the corner of his lips for a few seconds. It faltered quickly enough. Slipping the sword back in the sheath tied around his waist, he threw a glance over his shoulder as though expecting to see a missile. "Looks like it's gone, though. I hope it didn't get Carl first..."

A shadow of worry flickered through his green eyes before he remembered where he was. Clearing his throat, he wiped off the beads of sweat on his forehead and turned back to the girl. "Uh... you said you knew me?" He fixed her with an intense look. "That's funny. I don't think I know you. Sorry."

Owen tried to give her another smile but from the way his lips stretched it looked more like a grimace. There was something eerily strange about this girl. It was on the tip of Owen's tongue, but he couldn't tell what.

Owen shrugged. "Hey if it helps, you look hot in that outfit."

Typical Owen. He didn't even have the nerve to look in any way abashed. It was true, after all, and to tell the truth the older girl wasn't quite his type. She still had that eerie aura which sent barely suppressed shivers down his spine. And the way she looked at him... well, it was just downright scary. Owen was convinced that she was having an internal debate on whether to swat him like an annoying fly. He felt a little braver now though.

"And yeah, I don't find that hard to believe anymore. Take it from someone who's been chased halfway across the forest by a man-eating giant ant... or scorpion... well, either of those things, or both..." he trailed off, taking a deep breath to regain his composure. His legs still felt a little sore and overall, he could really use a break. Nevertheless, Owen managed a half-smile. "I'll do my best to take care of myself, Ma'am."

And then, Owen's shoulders gave another lazy shrug. Now he understood why the girl seemed angry. How could he have not thought of it sooner? She knew Caleb! No doubt the big buffoon got on her bad side like the rest. It had happened so many times that Owen stopped getting surprised. Now he was just more or less resigned to the fact that Caleb made tons of enemies wherever he went and being the brother who looked enough like him at first glance, he'd of course take the brunt of it. At least I'm more handsome.

"Owen," he confirmed, heaving a wistful sigh. "First of all, whatever my brother did to you, I'm sorry. I have nothing to do with it, so please don't hate me or - wait what, 'pain in the ass'?" This time, Owen was surprised. Him, a pain in the ass? Okay, maybe sometimes, but Caleb was worse (which made him the nice child in the family, so that was a plus). Still, as June smirked, Owen felt a strange sense of deja vu. It almost felt like Caleb was giving him that 'I-know-more-than-you-do' smirk.

"A June? Well, I remember a May and an April and a July but... haha, just kidding." He stared at her for a few more moments, trying to place where he'd seen her before, but nope. Maybe it would come back one of these days, he thought. He had a bit of a short-term memory loss sometimes. Apparently, he also had some kind of long-term memory loss. "I don't really know... but you look somewhat familiar. How old was I when we met? Maybe I was too young to remember?"

Nope, that didn't help at all. Owen paled and retreated a few steps. Now the girl was really scary. Well she'd been scary before, but just as Owen was beginning to warm up to her, she had grown fangs and rose like a viper waiting to strike. Okay, a bit of an overstatement there, but the way her eyes narrowed, her jaw tensed and her hands clenched into fists... well, that really sent fear surging inside him. He couldn't understand though. Most girls would be pleased by what he'd said. Maybe they'd even blush.

Just when Owen thought he was going to get punched, June's face lit up. And the fact that it did made his skin start to crawl. A small part of his mind wanted to groan and hit himself. Why the hell was he so anxious around this girl? It sounded pathetic, come to think of it.

"The most dangerous thing here isn't a monster, little Wright. It's the people," she said, her smile twisting into a wicked grin. She even winked at him.

Well, that certainly silenced the small part of his mind that kept wondering why he was so unnerved. And it also made him stumble as he backed away another step. You know, maybe one more round with the ant-scorpion thing would be less dangerous than another second spent in this clearing.

When Owen joined in June's laughter, his chuckles were forced and hollow. "We were both a pain in each other's ass. It's a universally-accepted fact." But then he blinked in confusion. What was this? This scary girl didn't hate Caleb? Oh good, hopefully that means I'm not on her hit list. Or that could also mean she'd hate me because Caleb hated me. Now I'm just over-thinking things. Calm down, brain.

"I just turned thirteen. And uh, okay, if you say so." Owen didn't even want to remember how his first encounter with June. No doubt he had been feeling the same way as he did now, and frankly enough he didn't want to know what he could have done to make June so hostile. "And Ares?" He racked his thoughts. The name rang a slight bell. Probably got mentioned in the orientation video...? "Oh yeah, god of war, right?"

Owen shrugged again, looking more nonchalant than anything. "Siblings can be a pain in the ass, yeah." God knows how living with Caleb can get rough. They bickered over everything. Sometimes Owen wondered if Caleb made it a hobby to counter everything he says and does. He couldn't even count in one hand the number of times they agreed on something. Sighing, he gave June a half-hearted smile. "You know what they say - blood is thicker than water. I've never really met anyone from my da - Pontus' side though, so Caleb's pretty much my only brother. Half-brother, more like. He's the son of... Mo-something? I don't know. I've never even heard of that god until our mom mentioned it, and that was like once."

Thinking about the whole thing with his family made something inside Owen churn. Caleb having a different dad was something he could understand. Rissa Wright already had him when Bryan met her. But finding out that Bryan wasn't his father... well, it came as a huge shock. There was no way to know how that came about. His mother wasn't exactly around anymore to answer any of his questions.

Owen couldn't help a soft chuckle when June looked him up and down. He loved growth spurts. His expression turned more serious as June continued on, his lips pursing as if in deep thought. "Seven? Sounds like a long time. I've been told that I'm not good at remembering stuff, so I'm not really that surprised."

He looked uncertain for a moment, as though wondering if June was going to get mad at him for not remembering her, because she really looked like the type of person who wouldn't hesitate to rip his limbs off. There was just something in her eyes - the mad glint of someone who had been through pain. He had seen it in Caleb once, the moment he stepped out of jail. He had also seen it Bryan, when they both learned the cold hard truth.

Thinking about these things intensified the worn-out look in Owen's features. The exhaustion he felt from being chased by a monster hadn't completely faded, and he still wanted nothing better to throw himself at the nearest bed and nab some zzz's. Maybe June could point him the way out of this forest. She seemed to know the place like the back of her hand, or at least familiar enough with it to take a casual jog. June probably held answers.

Answers. A lightbulb went on in Owen's head. June might hold answers. Owen took a tentative breath and hoped for the best."Uh, this sounds like a weird question from his brother, but have you seen Caleb around lately?"

Owen's head dipped in the slightest inclination of a nod. Momus. He didn't even know who the god was. He had never shown much inclination to find out. All he knew was that he was Caleb's father, and from the way their mom spoke, it seemed like Caleb had inherited a lot of things from him.

"Well, I'm hotter now?" Owen said in that unembarrassed tone of his, cracking a half-hearted grin. He was mostly kidding. Mostly. Anyhow, his arrogance was short-lived. He couldn't understand the chills he got from being with this girl. She just didn't seem... normal. Owen briefly wondered if she was totally sane because you know, he still couldn't get over the fact that she was a little too underdressed for the forest. Maybe she just had a short temper. Maybe she was the type to get angry at everyone she came across. And mind you, June was obviously not one to cross. Owen didn't have to be a genius to know that. Especially now that her voice rose so loud that anyone in a mile-radius could hear.

If Owen was white-faced before, that didn't compare to how he was now. He took another few steps back without thinking, almost slinking back to the shadow of the tree he had once sat under. What the hell was June mad about? What's with this talk about respect? Owen racked his thoughts but he couldn't remember if he'd said anything that could be taken as disrespectful, but then he was a little too creeped out to even process everything. "Uh... o-okay. I'll watch my mouth, yeah. That sound good? Okay."

Owen studied her tense form, noting the balled fists and the anger on her face. I really need to get out of here. She looks like a bomb waiting to explode.

"I'll just leave you to your jogging, okay? I'll just be going... this way. Yep." He punctuated each sentence with a step back, his wary eyes never leaving June as he spoke.