There first thing I see when I wake up is gold.

it's followed by a wave of heat, slamming into me like some physical force. The bed isn't mine. Nor are the sheets, some silky linen drastically unfamiliar compared to the scratchy camp beds. The room is large, more lavish than I'm used to.

It smells of spices and desert. There's writing on the walls.....some sort of ancient runic, hieroglyphic that I don't understand, carved into the very bones of the room. I don't know where I am.

I know one thing for sure: I'm not in Camp Half Blood anymore.

Hell, I don't think I'm even in the same hemisphere.

My head feels like it's pounding. Sweat is beginning to drip down my back; rivers of salty fluid mixing with what feels like sand on my skin.

I've got questions, lots of them, but most prevalant is: What happenned?

When I try to remember, it feels like trying to grasp sand; it slips through my fingers. I remember Camp Half Blood. I remember the Oracle, telling me of the newest prophecy.

I try to stand, but I'm struck by a sudden thought. Like cold water poured over my head.

They're not runes on the walls.

They're hieroglyphs.

I'm in Egypt.

Egypt.

I've heard rumours of such a place. People with sun-bronzed skin and eyes sharp as cats. Magicians with powers so similar yet so stunningly different, writing in an ancient language of pictures.

How I got here? Remains a mystery, I suppose.

I stand, bare feet against hot tile. Everything here is overwhelmingly hot; like it's in an oven baked at 345 degrees.

Most of all, I feel lost.

I look around, searching for my pen, Riptide, any sort of familiarity--when the door creaks.

My brain jumps into defensive mode and I whip around, ready to face an oncoming threat.

Standing at the door however, is someone unfamiliar.

They pause, staring at me, like I'm an animal in an enclosure: unfamiliar, as if I'll lash out at any moment.

They stare. I stare back.

"Uh......hi?"