I woke up to a knife at my throat. I clutched at the rough, calloused hand holding the knife.

"Peace be with you! I mean you no harm!" I cried. Where was Mento? Had he already been killed? Was I next. I was held to the ground, staring at the sky, so I couldn't see who was holding me down. Whoever it was, though, let me up after I cried out.

"You're Olympian." The person said. I scrambled to my feet and backed against the rock. I was panting in fear, I could still feel the cool blade on my throat. I traced my fingers along the thin cut and it came away bloody. I didn't look at the person, but instead, looked around for Mento.

"Mento!" I called out hoarsely. There was the sound of leaves scattering, and Mento came darting out of the trees. He was heading towards the person. I made eye contact with the person. He was a boy, younger than me by around a year. His eyes were alight with fear and he was thin. I could see his ribs through his tattered shirt. I knew that even though he had almost killed me, I wasn't going to let Mento hurt him. I jumped to my feet and ran between them. Mento stopped short and I could hear the boy's racing breath behind me. I turned to him and he started to run away.

"Wait!" I called, raising my hands. The boy stopped, but didn't come any closer. I realized I had my knife in my hand. I set it down and kicked it over by Mento. I looked at the boy's scared expression and thin frame. I thought of the fish, hidden in the rocks. I kept my hands up as I moved over to the rock and grabbed the rest of the fish. I held it out to him.

"Hungry? Here! And if you stay I'll share some more with you." I said gently. The boy approached me carefully. I held the fish out further and he grabbed it. He looked at me and I sat down, crossing my legs. Mento went down to the river, undoubtedly to catch more fish. The boy sat down as well, on the other side of the blackened sticks from the fire. He ate in silence, ravenously tearing at the fish.

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked, laughing slightly. He glanced at me.

"About a week. Around there, anyway." He said. He spoke with a strange accent that I had only ever heard once. I had heard it on a field trip a long time ago. We had a teacher from one of the other societies that spoke that way. Mento ran back to me, his fur wet, tail swinging, throwing water droplets everywhere. He had two fish in his mouth. He dropped them in my lap, still alive and flapping about. I screamed and fell over backwards. Mento began licking my face happily. I pushed him off and got back up, killing the fish and hiding them where I hid the last one.

"Good boy, Mento, good boy." I cooed, shaking Mento's fur with my hands. He barked and ran about. I looked over at the boy. He was standing awkwardly across the logs from me. He looked like he wanted to leave, but he didn't want to be alone. I motioned for him to come over.

"Come on. Mento's sweet when you get to know him. If he likes you, he'll catch you more fish." I said with a smirk. A smile flashed across the boy's face momentarily. He came over and Mento ran up to him. He sniffed him and sneezed. The boy jumped.

"Have you never seen a dog before?" I asked incredulously. He shook his head. What kind of place didn't have dogs? "Just reach out a pet him. Slowly, though." I continued. The boy reached out his hand and Mento sniffed it. Then the boy put his hand on Mento's head. The boy smiled and got down on one knee, scratching Mento's back and under his chin, running his hands down his back.

"He will love you forever if you scratch behind his ears." I said. The boy glanced at me then back at Mento. He scratched behind Mento's ears and Mento moaned happily. He licked the boy and barked. The boy got back on his feet, smiling.

"See? He's not so bad once you get to know him." I said. The boy rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry about almost killing you earlier." He said, not meeting my gaze.

"Peace. It's okay." I assured him. He looked up at me with his green eyes.

"Why do you say that?" He asked. I scrunched my eyebrows.

"Say what?" I asked.

"'Peace be with you,' and stuff." He replied. I shrugged.

"It's an Olympian phrase. I guess it's a habit. Like the Egyptians said 'May the sun rise in your favor,' or the Romans said 'Honor allowing.' It's kinda a motto." I said. The boy nodded.

"Never thought of it that way. My name is Adam, by the way." He said.

"Peace be with you, my name is Cory, and may the sun rise in your favor." I said, smiling, trying not to laugh. Adam smiled too.

"Honor allowing." He said. I laughed. Something about the societies didn't seem real out here. Like they were a dream and somewhat of an inside joke. But when my fingers wrapped around the falcon around my neck, the pain and mourning was still fresh. It was overwhelming. I sat down on the rock and took a shuddering breath. Adam didn't ask what was wrong or anything, which I was grateful for. He just sat down next to me and nudged me slightly, like he was afraid of what I would do. I glanced at him and gave him a small smile.

"How about we forget the societies, huh? They kicked us out anyway, so why bother?" He asked. I smiled in response, but my mind was wandering. He said they, like Rome and Egypt were still there. He looked at me.

"Cory? If it's okay with you and Mento, I might tag along for a while." Adam said cautiously. I turned to him.

"I guess. I mean, if we have to..." I said, crossing my arms. I couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "Of course you can. I'm going to try and find the remains of Egypt. There might be some useful things there." I said. Adam looked confused.

"What do you mean the remains? I was there a few weeks ago! That's why I was exiled." He said. I got to my feet.

"But Egypt was destroyed years ago by famine! And Olympus doesn't exile for visiting another society, only if you disturb the peace or fail the test." I said, my head refusing to wrap around what he was saying. Adam shook his head and got to his feet as well.

"I'm not from from Olympus, Cory. Honor allowing you understand when I say that Olympus has lied to you!" He said. Honor allowing. The accent. The strict laws.

"You're Roman." I said with a frightening realization. "They're still alive." I leaned against a tree, my head spinning. What else had been a lie? If the Romans were alive, then maybe the Egyptians were too.

"We prefer to be called the Legion, but Roman works just the same." Adam said, crossing his arms. I put my hand to my forehead. I wanted to hate Adam. Every Olympian and Legionnaire hated each other. Or Greek and Roman, if you will. But I just couldn't. Both our societies betrayed us, and now we were both fending for ourselves.

"Egypt will let us in. They are different from us. They don't exile people. For any reason. They use this place called a prison, I think. When I went, they were separated into two sections. Apparently they have two types of governments or something." Adam said. I nodded numbly.

"We had a prison in Olympus, but only to hold you until you were exiled." I said.

"What is it like? Being an Olympian? I mean, if your motto is 'peace be with you,' it's got to be good, right? I mean..." Adam trailed off when he looked at my face. "Cory? Are you okay?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Adam, I'm not Olympian." I said, my heart pounding. Adam looked confused.

"Then what are you?" He asked. Was I sure about this? It didn't make sense, but then again, neither did what I thought was the truth. Mento licked my hand, and I crouched down beside him. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his fur, tears forming in my eyes. I choked back a sob, and wiped my eyes. Mento whined and nudged me with his face.

"Cory?" Adam asked again. I closed my hand around my father's necklace and was filled with a new strength. I could almost feel Dad's hands pulling me up into a standing position until I was standing at full hight. I could almost feel his comforting presence that made me certain I had the truth at last. I looked Adam full in the face, my hand still closed around the little falcon around my neck.

"I'm Egyptian."