Ashley had been making herself sick with worry during the time Heath was gone. She felt useless but knew she was better off staying at camp. If she had went off into battle with everyone she would have only been in the way. So instead she sat back at camp, waiting for the moment when she could hold Heath again. It would never come.

Aaliah came racing into her cabin to tell her that they were back. Ashley was up and out of there before the poor girl even had time to register she was gone. She ran down to the gathering crowd, pushing people out of her way. Her eyes roamed the returning party, searching for the one person who could make her worry disappear. She didn’t see him though so she began to call out his name just in case he was in the back.

She didn’t notice the sympathetic looks the others who had been there gave her, nor the tears that streaked most of their faces. She was too focused. She spotted Lance and Jesse and the two of them seemed to be discussing something. Jesse shook his head and broke away from Lance, making his way over to Ashley. Somehow she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

“He didn’t make it Ashley. Heath is gone.”

It took a moment for the words to set in and when they did she hit him. Just like had hit Landry when he told her that her sister had died. Only this time no one pulled her of Jesse. She hit him over and over, called him foul names and told him he was a liar. Heath couldn’t be dead. He promised to some back to her. Ashley gave his chest one last pathetic hit before collapsing into it and crying.

“He promised.”







Soul crushing.

If you had asked Ashley what it had felt like to lose Heath that is what she would have told you after she punched your face in for mentioning him. But there really was no way to describe the pain in knowing that that he was gone. It was like her soul had been ripped from her body and half of it torn away from her.

The first month after Heath’s death was unbearable. No amounts of grieving made Ashley feel any better. She had become a shell of her former self and people avoided her like plague because she had turned into a ticking time bomb. It was never clear when Ashley would explode and either try to kill someone or break down and start crying. For some reason most people preferred the first Ashley over the last one. It was unnerving to see Chaos so utterly crushed. Jesse and Lance tried to do things to cheer her up, even Kasey had started coming around. But there was no making Ashley feel better.

Ashley can’t recall a night where she didn’t wake up screaming from nightmares and then end up crying herself back to sleep. Her only comfort was the unexpected friendship that she had found in Benson.

Unaware to Ashley, Benson had a mild case of insomnia due to the heartbreak he had suffered at the hands of Nikkole. Most nights he spent his time walking around the camp just thinking. It was on one of these nights that he had been walking past the Eris cabin and had heard Ashley screaming. Without a second thought he made his way into the cabin.

He found the frail blonde screaming in pain into her pillow with tears rolling down her face. Benson sat down on the floor next to her bed and began whispering calming words to her. He stayed there until she fell back to sleep. The next day when the two ran into each other at archery was awkward. Benson made a point of being interested in his shoes and Ashley started fiddling with her hands. She was the one to break the silence.

“Does it get any easier?” Benson looked up from his shoes and looked at her. She looked on the verge of tears and was biting her lip to hold them back. It was clear to Ben that she had been putting on a brave face for everyone at camp but when she was alone at night in her room that she was slowing breaking.

“No,” he said answering her question. “It doesn't.“ This wasn’t clearly the answer that she had been hoping for. “But you learn to deal with it in your own way and that is what helps you move on.”

That was where the semblance of a relationship began to grow. Ashley, who until recently ate at the Eris table alone, had taken to joining Ben at the Athena table. They would find stuff to talk about to keep their minds off of the people who had been destroying them. But it didn’t go unnoticed by the other that Ben’s eyes frequently found Nikkole at the Aphrodite or Poseidon tables, or that Ashley’s would glance over at Heath’s empty spot at the Ares table.

On nights when Ashley would wake up from her nightmares and Benson was roaming the grounds he would slip into her cabin and lay down beside her, holding her until memory of the dreams faded away. Even when the nightmares had stopped coming every night he was still there. It eventually came to where Benson found sleep again, but only when Ashley was lying next to him. She didn’t mind sharing her bed. In fact she welcomed the company. It was better than the lonely nights.

Their first kiss was spontaneous. Ashley had just been sitting there complaining about the Aphrodite children. She had been mid rant when Benson leant over and pressed his lips against Ashley’s. His soft lips were hesitant against hers, waiting for her response. Ashley barely had time to register what was happening when she found herself kissing him back. Mentally she was comparing his kiss to all the ones she had received from Heath. Where Heath’s kisses were rough and demanding, full of passion and fire, Benson’s were gentle and calm, sweet and tender. Nothing like what she was used to.

Their relationship changed after that. It had become apparent to everyone at the camp that the two had become an item and whispers flew behind their backs, because no one would say anything to their faces. The Ares children however did say nasty words to the daughter of Chaos. They were not pleased that she had begun to move on after their brother’s death when everyone in their cabin still felt empty.

There was one particular run in with Clarisse that stood out more then others. Her words stung and reopened fresh wounds that had only begun to heal. Ashley cried as Benson held her that night. She bore her soul to him that night. Told him about how she felt like she was betraying the dead man. Benson was inexperienced with the ways of having an upset girlfriend crying over a dead boyfriend. Ben didn’t know what to say, or if he should say anything. So he just kissed her. He wanted to get through to her that he was here and alive.

The kiss was wet, due to Ashley’s tears and rushed due to Benson’s eagerness. But there was something about it that made Ashley feel alive and left her wanting more. Benson didn’t object when she climbed on top of him, breaking the kiss he had started only to remove their shirts sometime during their passionate make out session they lost the remainder of their clothes.

Benson leaned over her panting, all of the blood in his body seemed to be pooling in one area of his body. Ashley’s face was flushed and her chest was heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath. “Are you sure?” Benson asked searching her face any hesitation. Ashley felt a pang pass through her chest and she was transported back to her first time with Heath. They had been in that same position and he had whispered those same words. But this wasn’t Heath, he was dead, and Benson was here. She knew she would never be able to give herself to him as fully as she had Heath but she was willing to try.

Afterwards Ashley curled up into a ball on her side and Ben pulled her close to him, both of them with a million thoughts running through their minds. Ashley knew it was impossible to cheat on a dead man but the betrayal still curled around her like a thick blanket threatening to smother her to death. But it was most apparent to Ashley that she had once again become vulnerable and let another person who she could lose at any moment in. Ben had become someone she was afraid to lose.

Ashley was thirteen when she learned there was something peculiar about her and her sister Danielle, besides the fact that they were insanely hot and they loved to cause trouble for everyone they met. They were on their way home from school, walking the busy New York streets. They had ditched the body guard that their dad had hired a few blocks back and were having fun causing random chaos.

Danielle disappeared into the crowd, after her next victim, and Ashley stood back and watched. Ashley couldn't hear what Danielle had said to the guy but whatever it was caused his girlfriend to smack him and walk away. Danielle came back over and smiled at her sister. "What did you say to him?" Ashley asked as the two started down the street again together. Danielle smirked. "Told him that he forgot his boxers at my place." Ashley smiled at her sister. "Nice." Sometimes Ashley marveled at how easily these things came to her sister.

Danielle was good at causing chaos and generally fucking everything up. But normally she only did it at her sister prodding because underneath her harsh exterior there was a genuinely good person. Where Ashley was just a bitch through and through. She made it her job to cause as much damage to everyone else that she could. Too much like her father for her own liking.

The two were rounding the corner when a dark shadow passed over above them. The girls looked up at exactly the same time and both saw the same thing. A huge ass bird. The two looked at each other and no words were spoken as the set off in the direction that the thing had landed. It took them down a deserted alley and what they saw made them wonder if they salad they ate lunch was laced with LSD. Because at the end of the alley stood a thing, with large leathery wings, huge talons for claws, and eyes that glowed. It definitely wasn't a bird.

"Finally. Chaos has arrived." It spoke and it's voice sent shivers down spine. Before either Ashley or Danielle could react the thing lunged at them. Ashley threw her arms up to protect her face and waited for the thing to tear her apart. Only it didn't. There was a loud thunk sound followed by a screech. Ashley dropped her hands and looked to see what was going on. The guy that Ashley's dad had hired as their new body guard was wailing on the thing.

He looked different somehow and when she caught a good glimpse of his face she saw that the retarded mustache he had was gone. It made him look years younger. He kept swinging the wrench in his hand as the creature tried feebly to fight back. With one good swing he got the creatures head and it disappeared into a pile of dust.

Ashley looked over at her sister to see if she had seen the same thing that she had and when Ashley looked at her she felt her blood run cold. She stood there holding her stomach, as ruby red blood poured from between her fingers. Danielle looked at Ashley with a shocked look on her face. A tear escaped from her eye and she mumbled her sisters name before falling to her to her knees. Ashley caught her before she could fall the rest of the way and rested her head in her lap.

"Ssh, ssh Danielle," she said trying to calm her sisters tears as she fought her own. "You're going to be fine. I'll get you to a hospital." Ashley lifted one of Danielle's hands to look at the wound and wish she hadn't. It was deep, very deep, and very big.

Ashley was unaware of the guy as he came over and looked at Danielle. "Not good," he said looking at the wound as well. "No shit captain obvious," she snapped at him, slightly angry that he had said that in front of her sister. She didn't need to be more freaked out then she already was.

The guy tossed Ashley a glare before scooping Danielle up into his arms, muttering something about getting her to camp. Then as if remembering that Ashley was there he said something to her too. "You can come if you want. But I would personally prefer it if you waited for her sisters to come for you."

He started walking away and Ashley jogged to catch up to her. "Where are you taking her?" She asked, falling in step beside him. "To get help," was his short answer. Ashley followed him for a block before he turned into another side street. He stopped beside a car and had Ashley open the door for him. He laid her sister down in the back seat then told Ashley to get in. He was a man of short words. It was irritating.

He drove like a bat out of hell and Ashley found herself glancing back to make sure her sister was alright and that her seat belt as tightly secured. He drove out of the city and to the country side. At the rate he drove it took them fifteen minutes to get where they were going. He didn't even bother shutting the car off as he slammed it into park and got out. He gathered up Danielle into his arms and carried her up to a big blue house. Ashley got out and as soon as her foot touched the ground a glowing symbol appeared above her head. She was too busy worrying about her sister to wonder what it was.

Ashley followed hot on his heels. She tried to follow him into the room that he had taken Danielle but a man with a horses ass stopped her. She had seen enough weird things that day that this didn't have any effect on her. He forced her to sit down on a couch outside of the room and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

It felt like eons that she was sitting on that couch waiting for someone to tell her something. The horse man explained to her who he was, what he was. He told her where she was and what it meant that she was there. She gave it enough thought to allow the information to sink in but her attention was more focused on the door.

What felt like an eternity later the guy who had brought them here slammed open the door. Ashley tried to ignore the blood that had stained the front of his shirt. He walked across the hallway and punched the wall. "She didn't make it."

Ashley punched him.

She was rearing to do it again when someone grabbed her around her waist so she settled for calling him every profane word she knew. She kicked and fought against the person who held her captive and struggled to break free so she could strangle him for not getting her sister there sooner, for letting her die.

The feeling of something being pushed into her skin barely registered to Ashley, but the darkness that followed it was a sweet welcome. She felt like she had slept for years. When she finally woke up she turned to tell Danielle the crazy dream she had had, only Danielle wasn't there. And she was in an unfamiliar room. Then she realized. It wasn't a dream. It was real and her sister was dead.

For the few days Ashley alternated between crying and sleeping. Occasionally someone would come to check on her and give her food. For nearly a week she didn't leave the bed, didn't touch the food. Someone had to come in and hook her up to an I.V. since it had been days since she urinated. Ashley didn't care though. She wanted to die, welcomed it with open arms.

Almost two weeks after she had got there the guy who had brought them there came in with her lunch. He set the tray of food down next to her bed and turned to leave. When he got to the doorway he stopped and glanced over at her. "Get over yourself," he said. This caused Ashley to perk up slightly. She didn't take being talked down to too well. "Your sister's dead and you're not doing her any favors trying to join her. Get out of your bed and live your life. If not for yourself then for her."

Ashley was too shocked by his words to be impressed that he had spoken so many of them. But what he said kind of hit home. If she wasn't going to live for herself she might as well try to stay alive for her sister. Danielle was dead but Ashley was alive and she knew that Danielle would want to keep it that way.

She sat on the side of the bed and picked at the food. Her stomach had been empty for so long that it wouldn't let her take down much. Then she pulled the I.V. from her wrist and decided that a bath was in order. She avoided the mirror as she found the shower and she set to work washing all of the grim and oil that had built up over her skin and hair.

After nearly an hour in the shower she finally deemed herself clean. She set her long hair into a braid then searched through her trunk of clothes for something decent to wear. When she was finally clothed and dressed she found her way outside and began to explore the camp.

It didn't last long though because every person she passed would whisper and point at her as she walked by. Eventually she made her way back to the cabin she had came from and found random things to keep her busy. But everyday after that she would attempt to go outside.

After awhile she became old news so people stopped pointing and whispering at her. Summer brought with it even more people and the guy who had brought her to the camp, who she learned was Landry and was now officially her only friend there, explained to her that some people only stayed during the summer. She would have the option to go home at the end of summer if she wanted to.

During that first summer Ashley got more acquainted with her fellow Demi-Gods. She met two boys from the Hermes cabin named Lance and Jesse. Both were annoying at first but they grew on you. Landry introduced her to girl named Kasey and by the end of the summer she was able to say she had four people she considered friends.

She went home when the summer ended, but from the beginning it was clear she wasn't going to last long there. Her father had taken Danielle's death harder then she thought he would. He was always gone, leaving Ashley to fend for herself and when he was there he constantly referred to her as Danielle.

Ashley was back at camp by Christmas.

It wasn't too bad though. Ashley eventually began to enjoy it. She spent nearly all of her time down in the forges with Landry, either helping him build stuff or talking to his sister Elyzabeth about shoes. She was surprisingly girly for a daughter of Hephaestus. Many of the other campers started speculating why her and Landry spent so much time together. They just let them talk. Ashley knew Landry was nuts about Kasey and she was currently uninterested in dating.

By the summer of her third year there Chiron had started forcing her to go to some of the classes. Sword training, climbing the rock wall, stuff like that. It was in one of those classes that she saw Heath for the first time. Sure she had heard Lance mention him once or twice but she never really actually knew who he was. She was kicking herself for not making Lance introduce her sooner.

Heath was all the things she didn't like in guys rolled into one. He was big in a muscular way, he smoked, and he had facial hair. Not much, just enough to tell people he was too lazy to shave everyday. Ashley was in love.

It took her a week to talk to him. They were at the camp fire, singing the stupid songs they sung, and having a grand ole roasting empty calories. Ashley spotted Heath talking to some of his brothers and had to push herself to go over and talk to him.

When she go there she froze, she hadn't even planned what to say. so she went with the first thing that popped into her head. "Ya know, you're really sexy." Ashley screamed at herself in mind. Then before she could stop herself she leaned over and kissed him. He tasted like old smoke and chocolate. Something you would think would go horrible together but it set something a lite down inside Ashley. She pulled away from him and smiled before walking back over to Landry.

He was staring at her in disbelief with a bit of marshmallow hanging off his lip. "What the hell was that?" Ashley buried her bright red face in her hands. "Complete and udder humiliation." Landry laughed at her.

That night Ashley laid awake thinking about how she was going to approach Heath after she made a complete fool of herself. She came to the conclusion that it didn't matter. She liked Heath and he was going to be hers if it was the last thing she did.

It took her exactly six weeks to get him to ask her out. He must have realized that she wasn't going anywhere because his exact words were, "I guess we might as well make it official since everyone thinks you're my girlfriend anyways." This made Ashley relieved. She was getting tired of keeping all the girls away from him behind his back.

That summer at camp was the happiest Ashley had ever had by far.

It was June of 1916 when Allison Flemming first laid eyes on Anderson Herondale. The camp had been assembled at the pavilion for dinner. She sat with others at the Hermes table since her father didn't have a cabin at the camp she ended up rooming with the kids of the God of Travelers. Not that she minded. Back in the early 1900's the camp wasn't nearly all that full. Sure the Hermes cabin was a little packed but everyone still had their own beds. the young daughter of Hades didn't mind at all. It was much better staying in that cabin then in a cabin of her own.

Chiron had just began to talk about the game of capture the flag {a camp tradition} that they would be having that night when there was a commotion at the camp boarders. Chiron instructed the camp to stay out. So naturally everyone rushed to see what was going on. Jameison, a real respected so of Ares was stumbling across the border with his quest team, consisting of Katherine, a daughter of Hephaestus, and Alexander, a son of Athena. The former of the two were supporting a person between the two of them while Jameison fought off a hell hound that had chased them to the cam border.

Allison tried to ignore the looks that were tossed her way when the others saw the monstrous beast. It was no secret as to who Allison's father was, thanks to the Stygian sword that hug at her side. It had made her somewhat feared in the camp, causing most people to avoid her. Which was fine. Allison liked the solitude.

Once the party was safely inside the beast disappeared back into the woods. Chiron and a few of the Apollo campers were at the new persons side within seconds, checking to make sure he was till alive. Allison didn't stick around to watch them. It was her week for hospital duty so she went up to the Big House to prepare a bed.

By the time they had him in there she had a bed pulled down and a bucket of fresh water next to clean bandages ready to go. She stepped aside to make room for them and was turning to leave. But she caught sight of this news mans face and she was glued to the spot where she stood.

To say he was handsome would be an understatement. He had to of been the most beautiful man she had ever seen. His had the bone construction of a God and his dark hair fell loosely into his closed eyes. He was grimy from battle and the gaping wound on his chest looked unhealable. For the first time in her life she was ashamed to be the daughter of Hades if he meant he took wonderful people like this man from the world.

Only he didn't. Almost a week after he had arrived Anderson Herondale had been released from the infirmary. he was laced into the Hermes cabin where Allison got to know him a little better as she watched from afar his interactions with the other campers. By July he had been claimed by Aphrodite and was officially known as the camp heartthrob. It was very obvious that he wasn't one too care about girls though. He courted them, used them for what he wanted, and then tossed them aside. He broke a lot of hearts at camp. Allison was sure she could change his ways though. If only she could work up the nerve to talk to them.



Anderson had gone home during the school year but Allison couldn't bring herself to forget about him. She was bound and determined to talk to him this year. But the summer campers returned and Allison, ever so shy kept her distance. Letting her nerves get the best of her.

He'll never want you.

You're so plain.

Who could ever love a symbol of death.

Those were the many unhappy thoughts that drifted through her mind every time she tried to work up the nerve of talking to him. she had just begun to realize that he was going to slip through her fingers when he approached her in the strawberry field.

"Allison right? You dropped a strawberry on the ground." And just like that their love ignited.

Anderson switched his status from summer camper to year round so he could spend more time with Allison. It was clear early on that Anderson had some jealousy issues. She could barely train with another guy without him freaking out and threatening to beat the guy up. Allison didn't mind it. He was just protective.

The first time that he hit her they had been together for six months. She had told him that Henry from the Apollo cabin was going to help her with her archery. He got angry and the two got into the fight. Allison told him she was going with or without his permission and he had grabbed her by her arm and brought his fist down across her face. She didn't go to meet up with Henry and that night she hung her head low at supper to hide the bruise that was growing on her cheek.

The abuse became an almost daily thing after that. She would say the smallest thing and he would fly off the handle and hit her. Luckily at camp she was able to pass them off as wounds from training. Only her closest friend, Margret a daughter of Hermes, knew the truth. She urged Allison to leave him before he did something worse then just bruise her.

Allison couldn't though. Anderson was the love of her life and she wasn't going to leave him just because he got angry sometimes. She was a fighter and she would fight through this with him.

One day Allison set out to find Anderson. She had just had one of the children from the Hephaestus cabin make her a new shield and she wanted to show it to him. She found him behind the Ares cabin. In the arms of someone else.

She felt tears sting her eyes and called out before she could think better of it.

"Anderson! What are you doing?" She shouted at him, hurt and betrayal evident in her voice.

Anderson broke away from the other woman, who she realized was Charlotte, and turned to Allison. She recognized that look in his eye and prepared for the worse. He shooed Charlotte away before descending on Allison. He shouted hateful words and called her ugly things as she cried. What had she done to deserve this. He was the one cheating. This was when she realized that Margret was right. She should have left him the first time he touched her.

His hand moved to hit her again but this time she caught it mid-swing and stared him down.

"Don't you ever touch me again," Allison spat at him knocking his hand down. "I'm through being your punching bag Anderson! You can go find someone else." Then she released his wrist and turned her back on him.

She didn't watch where she was walking, let her feet and subconscious lead the way. When her thoughts finally stopped she found that she was in front of the Artemis cabin. Tenderly she pushed open the door and stepped inside. If Anderson was looking for her then this would be the last place he would look. Allison walked over to a pillar and sat with her back against it. Soon enough she was asleep.

When she awoke there was a young girl standing above her. She had an eerily silver glow to her and almost instantly Allison knew she was in the presence of a goddess. She scrambled to stand but Artemis put her hand on a shoulder. "Steady child," she said. "Tell me what ailes you." And so she did. She told her about stupid Anderson and how he had broken her. How she was never going to trust or be with another man again. Aretmis smiled and that was when she offered Allison a spot among her ranks. Allison took her offer in a heart beat and never looked back.