Tim ran through the woods near Westover Hall, a school in Maine. He could not remember how long he had been running, all he knew was something was chasing him and it had been chasing him since he ran from the orphanage. The only things Tim had were his tambourine, the only thing he had to remember his people with. He also had the clothes on his back, which consisted of a black jacket with gold trim, and red undershirt, a pair of worn blue jeans, and a black neckerchief tied around his neck and bowl hat.
Tim ran into a clearing where he saw another monster that had taken two children hostage, and by the looks of the children they were related. Tim also saw a group of 4 teenagers standing in front of the monster. A silver arrow shot from the trees and implanted itself in the monsters shoulder.
"What you cannot be here you can't interfere with this!" The monster roared as a group of silver clad women came out of the woods. One women with auburn hair stepped in front of the others.
"Yes I can, the woods are a part of my domain." She said as one of the girls came up to her right side with a bow in her hands and an arrow knocked ready to fire.
"Permission to fire milady?" She asked, and the woman nodded her head. But before the girl could fire her arrow one of the girls from the group of teenagers bolted towards the monster and jumped onto its back and the monster and the girl went over the edge of the cliff.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" The black haired boy cried and the duo went over. Tim heard a growl from behind him and he slowly turned and was face to face with a large black dog-beast with blood red eyes. Tim had forgotten all about the dog-beast when he stumbled upon the scene behind him. Tim quickly turned and bolted into the clearing while gripping his tambourine in his left hand.
"Help me!" Tim cried out has he entered the clearing and the other groups turned their attention to him as he ran away from the dog-beat that was gaining on him.
"I wish I had something to protect myself with!" Tim thought and did not notice that his musical instrument had morphed into a golden bow. The silver clad warrior girls were the first to react as they knocked arrows and took aim at the dog-beast. The silver arrows went flying through the air and Tim looked on with wide eyes and the arrows came near, he let his instincts take over and he slid to avoid the arrows. He turned to see that the dog-beast began to burn away and turn to golden dust. Tim was awestruck by the act of heroism performed by the silver clad warrior girls, no one had done anything like that for him since the loss of his people. The auburn haired woman walked up to Tim and he began to feel nervous, as if he had done something wrong.
"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be at home or something?" The woman asked and Tim let out a sad sigh and looked down.
"I don't have a home to return to anymore." He said as tears began to build up in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" The girl who fired the first arrow asked.
"A…A great fire swept through my city and destroyed everything." Tim said as a single tear rolled down his face.
"What about your family? Aren't they worried about you?" The woman asked. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, Tim burst into tears and fell to his knees.
"They are all dead, everyone I knew and loved died in that fire, I have no home to return to, no family to be welcomed by, no friends to play with." Tim said in between sobs "All I have left is my tambourine and the clothes on my back." Tim said still not noticing that his tambourine was a bow. The group of teenagers had overheard Tim's story and were shocked that he no one.
"Where are you from any way?" The black haired teenage girl with a spear asked.
"I used to live in an orphanage before I ran away. But before that I lived in the hills around the Rockies with my people." Tim said as he wiped away the remaining tears on his face.
"You smell of a summer day." The goat boy said. "He may be one of Apollos kids" the goat boy thought
"Do you think he is one of us?" The black haired boy asked. The woman shrugged and turned her attention back to Tim.
"You keep mentioning 'your people', who are they?" She asked. Tim had a sad smile on his face.
"My people are gypsies, we lived in the hills around the Rockies because it reminds us of our home lands." Tim says as his bow turns back into his tambourine. The silver clad warrior girls looked shocked at the discovery.
"You are a gypsy?" One of the girls asked, and the goat boy's jaw was hanging open.
"Yes, I am a gypsy, my family has been gypsies for 15 generations." Tim said with pride, but then took on a depressed tone. "And that 15 generations ends with me. The gods have forsaken me."
The black haired teen was curious by that statement. "Gods, like the Greek gods?" He asked, and the auburn haired woman's eyes widened a bit.
"Yes, the Greek gods, the Olympians. We worshipped them, and look at what it has done. I guess my mother was wrong when she said they did exist." Tim said looking at the ground.
"Which ones did you worship the most?" The woman asked.
"We mainly worshipped Artermis, Apollo, Demeter, Hades, Hera, and Hestia." Tim said.
"Why did you worship them?" The woman asked.
"We worshipped Artermis so she would protect us during the night as we slept. Apollo so we could see during the day and bask in the suns warmth. Demeter so our harvests would be plentiful. Hades so our loved ones who had moved on would be granted access to Elysium. Hera so our families would stay together no matter what. And finally Hestia so we could enjoy her hearth." Tim said. The auburn haired woman flinched slightly and Tim did not notice. The two kids walked over at this point and wanted to know what was going on.
"Lady Artermis why does this boy claim to worship you and the others?" One of the girls asked. Tim's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.
"You are lady Artermis?" Tim asked and Artermis nodded. Tim was quick to get over the shock and turned to anger.
"Then you heard my people's prayers to help us when our homes were burning and our people dying!" He shouted.
"Watch your tone boy, you do not know what it means lose!" The girl standing next to Artermis growled.
"Oh, I don't know what it means to lose. What has to happen, do I need to see my friends and family burn in an uncontrollable fire, and do I need to hear the screams of dying children who couldn't escape the flames. Do I need to sift through the ashes of my home to find anything to remember them by? Tell me what I need to experience so I can know what it means to lose." Tim yelled as he grabbed the girl by the collar and shook her. Tim let go of the girl's collar and turned around and tears streamed down his face.
"I lost everything that day, my friends, my loved ones, my home. All I have left is my tambourine and the clothes on my back. The only thing that gives me hope anymore is the fact that my father might still be alive." Tim cried. He turned back to Artermis, tears still streaming down his face, and pointed a finger at her.
"I prayed to you so the girls in my city would have some where safe to go, but you never showed and they all died. I can't forgive you for that, for abandoning us in our hour of need, not yet at least." Tim said and he turned away from those who had gathered and walked away. Once he was out of ear shot the others started talking and asking questions.
"Phoebe are you okay, he did grab you." The girl with the tiara asked. Said girl Phoebe was still kind of shocked at what Tim had said to her.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine, its just, what he has experienced it makes me want to pity him. Zoe I think we should help him." Phoebe said to Zoe, the girl with the tiara.
"I think you are right Phoebe, and I think lady Artermis should work to earn his forgiveness." Zoe said as the hunters and teenagers looked at Artermis, who eyes were wide and her mouth was open.
"We need to look for Annabeth she could be hurt or something!" The black haired teen with ocean green eyes said. The goat boy walked over and place a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Percy, I think that can wait, you saw how distraught that boy was, and I have a feeling his is one of Apollo's children." He said as Percy sighed.
"I guess you are right Grover, what do you think Thalia?" Percy asked. Thalia put her index finger to her chin and thought.
"We should help him before he gets into any more trouble." She said as they all nodded and ran off in the direction Tim wandered off in.