Chapter I: New Threat, Already?
I opened my eyes slowly. I felt… powerless. Well, not powerless, but less than I was normally. I felt pain all over me, like I had fell off of a skyscraper. Of course I would have died from that if I was a mortal, so my father must have made me mortal when I reached the ground.
I was nearby a forest. It was pretty sunny out, and it cast a glow on the ground and leaves. It was kind of chilly, though. It must've been fall. Last I remember was that it was Summer, after the Second Gigantomachy.
When I was a goddess I was resistant to pain, but my lesser body made it harder to do that. I reached into my pocket, and I felt something inside. I wrapped my hand around a spherical object, and I slowly pulled it out.
Paper was wrapped around it, and I slowly pulled it off. There was a cerulean pearl, and I have to admit that it looked beautiful. I noticed a bit of writing on the paper, and I discerned some Greek and Latin.
The Greek read: Hello, Artemis, dear. I am sorry for all the misfortunes that I have caused you and your family. I'm not saying I deserve an apology— And it ended, just like that. It continues in the Latin writing.
—because I caused you a lot of trouble, but I will help you. I will not tell you my name yet, but you will find out soon. I am sorry for the false murder allegation.
I didn't know who that was, because honestly, many people have caused trouble to my family. I would have to wait until they revealed their identity. I stood up slowly. When I started to read the letter, my pain had subsided. The "mysterious" writer of that letter must have helped me with that.
They did not explain what this pearl was for, though. I started walking forward, and it seemed like I was compelled to do it.
I saw a giant tree, larger than the rest. A red dragon walked around it, and golden wool lay on one branch. A boy leaned against the tree, and he seemed to be waiting for someone. I couldn't see his eyes, but I knew that he had shaggy, jet black hair. He wore an orange shirt with a blue jacket over it, and he wore blue jean shorts.
"Hi," I said, putting a calm façade. I was really disgusted by being this close proximity to a male, that hadn't changed. If I had to be close to one male, though, that would be Percy Jackson. I wouldn't admit this to anyone—other than Aphrodite and Athena, we're all good friends—but I had a small crush on him.
He turned around, a forced smile on his face. He had bright sea green eyes, and his smile definitely did not meet them.
"Hey," he greeted, and I instantly knew this was him. It was like something clicked in my mind, or my heart, and I automatically knew. "Are you a new camper?"
I definitely wasn't one of those boring, snobbish campers. Why would he think that? I almost snorted. But it would be likely of that thought coming to mind when I—or anyone, for that matter—just walked into the camp.
"No," I said, and I left it at that. I didn't say anything else about that.
Ask him to claim your services, a voice said in my head. It wasn't Diana, I knew that much. I'd like to say we were in the same body, as we were for approximately three thousand years; but we weren't. For all I knew, she could be leading the Hunt right now. And why would she even tell me to do that? She hated men even more than I did.
"Can you say this for me please: 'I claim your services?'" I did not say that on my own accord. I wanted a maiden to claim my services, not a male. I respect the boy, but that does not mean that I want him to claim my services.
"Uh, okay," he said, sounding slightly uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable, too. Who knew what he would do to me? He could do anything he wanted and I would have to obey. I had a reputation to keep, but I couldn't possibly keep if I had a male as the claimer.
And then he said the words. "I… claim your services." He sounded slightly unsure, and it was a first for a male. No man could resist me, that was why I killed so many, had them killed by other animals, or had them hunted by my handmaidens.
A golden glow surrounded his hands, and there was a moon imprint on it. That didn't happen for Apollo! What is going on? Someone had to be setting me up for this.
A person came running down the hill toward us. The person was female. She had short, curly blond hair, stormy gray eyes that glinted slightly in the sunlight, and a radiant smile. She wore an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, a beaded necklace with eleven beads on it, and khaki pants. She carried a cell phone in her hand, which I thought was stupid, considering she was a demigod. This was Annabeth Chase.
The moon imprint on Percy's hand disappeared. I was thankful for that; I didn't want my symbol on anyone's hand—especially a man. Only people important to me.
"Ready, Percy?" she inquired, pocketing the electrical object. Her eyes flicked toward me. She looked into my eyes, and she immediately bowed. I felt oddly pleased, even in this mortal body, that she had bowed to me. I looked at the son of Poseidon, and he looked slightly confused.
I looked into his eyes, and recognition shown in his as he looked into mine. He didn't bow like I thought he would, and if anything, he was pretty indifferent about my presence.
"Lady Artemis," Annabeth greeted, standing back up straight. She picked up a backpack that was beside the tree, and she hefted it upon her shoulders. "What are you doing at camp, without the Hunt?"
I looked up at the sky, and I heaved a short, sad sigh. "My father," I began, closing my eyes. I still had my hand wrapped around the pearl. I opened my hand and held the pearl toward the sky. Cracks spread throughout it, and light seeped through it. "He turned me mortal, just for a framed murder. A few gods and goddesses disappeared, and it seemed to be perfectly timed for what had occurred. The other Olympians probably do not know, because when I had found out, I had fled; he found me recently, and it was an indefinite time that I ran. I truly do not know how long it was."
By the end of it I was in tears. Most of the time I did not cry, but now I really didn't care. I held in so much stress, so much pain, so much sadness, and I never let it out. I just wanted to release, I wanted this to be over already. I was with my Hunt when it happened, and Zeus had auto-assumed it was me. There was no evidence at all.
I didn't notice until eight minutes later that Annabeth was hugging me, saying comforting words. That hadn't happened much before, and it felt nice to know that I had someone with me.
I wiped my tears away and Annabeth pulled back from the embrace. She gave me a sad smile. The son of Poseidon had a comforting hand on my shoulder. I didn't hate it; but at the same time, I didn't love it. I had to keep my distance, but I couldn't with this stupid claiming.
I held nothing in my hand, so the pearl must have slipped out of my hand when I broke down. It most likely rolled down the hill, toward where I had come from. With the amount of cracks that it had gotten, it would break if it fell off something at least five feet of the ground.
I broke away from the two and ran down the hill. Wherever it had went, I would find it. I just hoped it wouldn't crack to the point that there was no pearl. I was barely aware of my surroundings or the other two running after me.
I saw a silver light at the bottom of the hill. It glowed slightly, and there was a silver bow, imprinted with the words Love of the Sea. I had gotten the bow a long time ago, but I don't remember how…
I sprinted toward the pearl, and it was cracking even further. One piece was pretty much broken, with little space before it broke off. I picked it up, but my new body's clumsiness—it wasn't me, at least not necessarily—made me drop it.
The pearl fell, and the pieces flew everywhere. Each of them flew up into the air and they flew in a circle. They flew up even further, and they completely vanished.
"Oh, my gods," Annabeth said, and I looked at her. She looked shocked beyond belief, and she seemed a bit frozen. Her hand went toward her sheath on the side of her pants.
"What is it, Annabeth?" Percy asked. He reached inside of his pocket, and, if I remember correctly, he was getting a ballpoint pen. It would turn into his sword that my former lieutenant once gave to the god Heracles.
"P—" She gulped, and she fully unsheathed her sword. She held it in a defensive position, so that meant she was expecting a battle. By the way her eyes were dark, she was extremely nervous and apprehensive. They were the exact same as Athena's.
"Percy, I'm scared." It took a lot to have a child of Athena—or even Athena herself—to admit that. I looked down the hill in trepidation.
"Artemis," the son of Poseidon said, and I looked toward him. He had a shield on his left arm, and it was emblazoned with a blue trident on the bronze metal. "If you see a horde of monsters, blow the horn on Thalia's tree."
I didn't like taking orders from anyone. I didn't like it from my father, brother, uncles, anyone. But for my uncles and father, I had to listen.
I glared at him. "I do not take orders from you, boy." To my dissatisfaction, he didn't flinch.
"Apparently you do," said Wisdom's daughter. My body was moving toward my lieutenant's tree. My bow was still with me, but it was on my back. I tried to take control of myself. Tried. My own body would not listen to me.
I stood by Thalia's tree, gazing through the forest, and I held the horn in my hand. The trees rustled in the wind, and I could imagine Zeus laughing at me. He knew I didn't take orders well, and then he makes me have to take orders.
I saw a girl run through the trees, coming toward us. She had sea green eyes that were filled with terror, long jet black hair that was unruly, a grimace on her face. I felt a connection toward her, but I knew that it wasn't through maidenhood or by my Hunt.
Behind her, a tree flew up in the air. I'd seen this happen multiple times; this was the Minotaur. But only that wouldn't make a child of Athena scared. This was something worse with it.
The man-bull came into the area we were in. I looked at Percy, who shook his head. The Minotaur slowed down, and the shadows gathered around him. They made human-like figures. They were undefinable as a gender.
Two shadow stuck out from the others. They were walking while the others were stationary. I noticed that their gender could be deciphered. One of them was a woman, and the other was a man. Both had black hair.
The woman wore dark clothes, as did the man, but her shirt said Night. She had eyes that swirled with darkness. She had black wings going through her shirt, and they went from her shoulders to her waist. The wingspan was about five to seven meters. Her skin was very pale.
The man's shirt didn't say anything. His eyes were a dark purple, and they shined with a hidden power. Well, not hidden from the way they had come here. He was also pale, and he seemed dangerously calm.
I slowly lifted the horn to my mouth. I tried to make it as subtle as possible.
The woman looked at me. She smiled at me, but it wasn't friendly. "I wouldn't blow that horn if I were you; you be dead in an instant."
"Demigods," the man said, nodding at the daughter of Athena and the son of Poseidon. "Former god." He nodded at me. "It was nice for you to summon us, Annabeth Chase."
"Who are you?" Percy asked, his sword up in a defensive position. He stood his ground, and he was in front of Annabeth.
The woman laughed. It was humorous, and it was an evil-sounding one. It sounded almost the same as the Earth Mother's. "Do you not recognize me?" she asked. She placed a hand over her chest as if she was hurt.
"I wasn't on the brochure, you were searching for Day." Recognition flickered on Annabeth's and Percy's faces, but I was still puzzled. What brochure was she talking? And what did she mean by "day?" Did she mean the primeval goddess, Hemera?
I didn't get to come to a conclusion when I heard the girl gasp from behind Annabeth. She was staring up at the sky, where a beautiful woman stood. She had dark brown eyes that were extremely soft, short brown hair, and a warm smile. I felt calm around her, just like I did Hestia. This had to be Elpis.
I didn't understand that, though. She was trapped in Pandora's pithos, where she couldn't get out unless someone opened it. She was all that was left in the jar when Pandora had opened it. It was an impossibility in itself.
The woman glared down at the other woman. "Low blow, Nyx." So that was who it was, never would've guessed that. I guess the man was Erebus, then. He was the personification of the darkness from what I could remember.
Nyx glowered at the woman. "You're not one to speak, Ananke." A sword appeared in the goddess' hand, and the same happened for Ananke. I had a feeling that this wouldn't end well. Someone would die, no doubt about it.
Erebus just stood to the side, watching the interactions between his wife and his niece. He seemed like he didn't see a problem in us, and we were not a threat. I felt rage surge through my heart, but I pushed it down—it wasn't a time to act irrationally.
"Erebus," Nyx growled, glaring at him. He flinched slightly. She motioned toward us, and he waved it off. "Kill them. Now."
"Nyxie, they are of no problem. There are two of us, and they are but demigods." He slowly walked toward her, only to get slapped. I guess she really wanted us to be dead. I didn't want to die, and I was scared of death.
Us immortals are all scared of it, though we don't show it much. Death doesn't really come when we go to Tartarus, but when we stop getting worship, and people stop praying to us. When we fade is our death.
I wasn't ready to face it, though. Mortals don't fear it as much as we do. They embrace it, and they know if would come at some point. They still persevere, and the demigods try to get their parents to recognize them before they die at the hands of monsters, or by the hands of the Titans; or even gods that they enrage.
The shades started marching toward us, and weapons starting taking form in their hands. I looked toward the other demigods, and I saw that the girl had ran inside of the camp. Hopefully to get help; as much as I hated calling for help, I—excuse me, we—needed help gravely.
I had no doubt that this would be bad. Two beings fighting, and another sending his minions to fight us.
"Watch out for the arai," Annabeth said, giving us a helpful tip. I mean, it would have been helpful if I would have been able to tell which things was which. They were all disguised as shades, so they could be anything. I didn't even see how she could tell there were any of the arai.
"The arai are at the back two lines," Percy pointed out, readying himself. I imagined an arrow on the string of my bow, and it… didn't appear. Appears my magic for that ran out.
"And I have a surprise for you, Artemis, and I will show you it once I have defeated this… thing." Nyx pointed at Ananke, who was oh-so-patiently waiting. "Or maybe I can make it appear now."
"Demigods, meet the—what is it called again?—the Sihlina." That name sent chills down my back. This was a monster that I had fought during the First Gigantomachy. It had the head of lion, the tail of the Chimera, the grace of a panther, and the body of a cheetah. It spat poison like the Chimera did, as well, but it was more deadly. It was kind of like the Nemean Lion, because it had skin that was unpuncturable.
Worst part of it? I didn't exactly know how to kill it. The previous time I didn't even know if I had killed it or not, because it had just disappeared. Hopefully we could kill it, but my luck as of late was horrible, and I didn't think we could do it.
"No!" Ananke yelled, glaring daggers at Nyx. She shot a blue-green ball of light at the monster, but it was sent back toward her. She swiftly dodged it, and she and Nyx started preparing for their fight.
Maybe, just maybe, I could get the magic to work. I had been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed the shades fighting the other two. They worked in synchronization, slashing through the shadows. The Sihlina stayed back behind the army, which wasn't replenishing as I thought they would.
"Artemis, blow the horn! It'll signify the campers of the battle," Annabeth yelled, and I grabbed the horn and blew. It was loud, and it dazed me slightly. A shade came up from behind me, and I swiftly ducked. I prayed that they would be able to die without Celestial bronze or Imperial gold.
I grabbed its legs, which I could oddly grab. I flipped him over me, and I punched it in the face. As long as I could knock them out, they could be killed later on. I grabbed it and rammed it into a tree. Anyone else would have had been knocked out, but thing seemed to take more hits for that to happen. I rammed the shade's head into the tree five more times, and it was definitely unconscious. Somehow nothing had came after me.
The shadows had all gathered around Percy and Annabeth, and there was no sign of help coming. I didn't hear any feet clattering against the ground, and no sound period. Nyx and Ananke had disappeared, thankfully. But Erebus was here, and he wasn't paying attention. The Sihlina was nowhere in sight.
I found two silver hunting knives on the ground in front of me, with A and A on them both. I thanked Aphrodite and Athena quietly, and then I picked them up. I was back in business. I felt a tingle on my back, and then it just went into my entire being.
I waved it off and went to help the other two. I slashed two shadows in half, and they vanished. That meant the arai were closer to the center. I heard an agony-filled scream which confirmed that thought.
I was roughly knocked down to the ground, and a foot was placed on my back. I was a little disoriented, since the impact wasn't to hard, but it still hurt. I saw shades disappearing, and it was like that till nothing else stood. The foot wasn't on my body anymore, so I pushed myself off the ground.
Nothing was there, I noticed. There was not a single person here other than Percy and Annabeth. The two were not in good shape, with their breathing shallow and cuts all on their skin. Blood poured out of the wounds, and it trickled down their bodies and clothes.
It seemed like they hadn't even noticed the small ones, only the major ones. The daughter of Athena fell on the ground, and her boyfriend—that had a very, very bitter taste in my mouth—promptly caught her.
He carried her into the camp, and I followed. This place was somewhat familiar, for the times I had left my Huntresses here. I kind of hoped they would be here, and they would just suddenly pop up here. But what Annabeth had said earlier sent that down the line: "Lady Artemis. What are you doing here at camp, without the Hunt?"
That made it clear that they weren't here. They were somewhere around the United States, but they definitely aren't in Hades' realm. The Hunters could definitely take care of themselves for sometime, but even they had a limit. Everyone did, though some don't acknowledge it. Most gods and goddesses didn't, no matter the pantheon.
I'd met Neith once, and she was probably one of the most level-headed goddesses I had met. Of course she had times when she was arrogant, especially when she had played a game against Sadie Kane and Walt Stone(I knew about that, since I actually watched other "mythological worlds"); but she was overall a nice person to be with. She, at least, knew when couldn't do something, but she would still try anyways.
We ended up in a deep part of the Infirmary, with Annabeth laying on the bed. Percy sat on the other side of the bed, looking slightly downcast. He held her hand tightly; I could tell he was praying to every god that she would survive. (Talking from now time, I am seriously glad that someone did come up on that.)
This was one of the more private rooms, and the only other people that came in were Annabeth's close friends, her family, and a few doctors. Mainly Will Solace and Kayla Knowles. It was weird how Apollo conceived children with mothers that had last names that were centered around the sun… well, mostly.
Will and Kayla came in together, which was a first since they took shifts of keeping check of her vitals and things. Basically to keep her at regular health. They both had somber expressions on their faces, which told me that something horrible would happen.
"What's the synopsis?" Percy was serious, and he looked very downcast. It shown in his eyes, just by the emotion shown in it. His eyes had darkened, too; they were a dark shade of the sea, like it was a stormy night.
"We did the best we can," Kayla said, and I fully had expected that. I felt pain surge through my heart, and it wasn't just about the lost of another maiden. It was something deeper, stronger. I couldn't place it.
I knew how this had felt for Percy, since I had lost my best friend, too. Zoë was one of my best Huntresses, and I knew she wanted people to continue on with her legacy. It hurt the worst for the death of her; and when Percy had suggested that I save her, I had died inside when I had said that I couldn't. It hurt worst than anything to have to watch my Huntresses die. It made it worse than that since they were in a relationship.
"We're sorry, but Annabeth didn't make it. She was supposed to survive, but some other being influenced her going to Hades' realm. There isn't much we can do." Kayla had tears flowing out of her eyes, and so did Will. Annabeth, when she wasn't working, must have been a great friend.
"No," Percy whispered, letting his tears fall freely. He grasped Annabeth's hand firmly, and it seemed he refused to believe the truth. I didn't believe either; why would somebody influence her death at the beginning of a new war, if we probably needed her?
And then the weird happened.
New story. I just can't stay on one story. It's weird like that. I try to focus on one story, but then I come up with another idea. I will try to stay on the this story. I will definitely try to complete this.
But I hope you like it. I will definitely try to make it not be so rushed later on.
Paix!
—MS.R