DISCLAIMER: I am not Rick Riordan, therefor I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus. That's easy, right? And on to the story.

A Voice Like Trees

By Cynder2013

Elizabeth Xun could smell that it was going to rain so it didn't come as a surprise when the first large droplet burst on her forehead. Water ran down her nose and over her eyes, which probably helped hide the fact that she'd been crying.

It didn't take her long to find a doorway to shelter in. She knew the village like, well, not the back of her hand, like the smell of Mrs. Banks' cookies. The chocolate chip ones that she made from scratch and could throw together in fifteen minutes when Elizabeth arrived at the door on any given Saturday morning.

Elizabeth sat sprawled on the step of the pharmacists' store, which was closed for the weekend, and sighed. The only reason that she wasn't at the Banks' house right now or the Newtons' house next door was that both of her friends, Sapphire Banks and Ed Newton, were at summer camp.

Camp Half-Blood.

Both of her friends were demigods.

Elizabeth hadn't learned about the existence of demigods until the end of last summer. Like her friends she had read all of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books but they had all thought that they were just books, not real life. Then last summer Sapphire had been taken to Camp Half-Blood by Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades, who turned out to be her half-brother. Along with being a child of Hades, Sapphire was also the daughter of Persephone and she had told Ed, Elizabeth and her twin sister Amber an unbelievable story when she got back from camp. As proof she had passed around her camp necklace, which had one clay bead on it, and given Elizabeth a pamphlet that she had gotten from the goddess Artemis herself. Elizabeth took that pamphlet out of her purse now and ran her fingers over it. "THE HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS" it read "A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE!" She tilted her head back against the doorframe and tried not to start crying again.

She wanted to join the Hunters so badly. She wanted to leave her so-called family far behind her. Sapphire was encouraging her to join. She told her everything she knew about the goddess, how Artemis had helped her even though she wasn't a Hunter but Elizabeth wouldn't budge. "What use" she had asked "is a Hunter who can't see?"

She had comforted herself by pointing out that Ed would still be there for her when Sapphire went to camp. Then last week she had gotten a letter written in lopsided braille from Ed explaining that he was at Camp Half-Blood to. He was a son of Hermes.

She was completely alone.

That wasn't completely true, Amber was still at home but Elizabeth had always gotten along better with Sapphire and it was a little, okay really awkward to try to hang out with Amber's friends, who didn't know and when they were told always forgot that she was blind. It didn't feel right to go to Ed's house when he wasn't there so Elizabeth usually just ended up walking around the village. When that got too stifling she escaped into Rouge Valley. Her mother always yelled at her when she found out about that but she just ignored her, it wasn't like her 'family' would care if she got lost or eaten, they would only care that it looked bad for them.

Most people in town would be surprised that the daughter of the mayor was treated badly at home. They wouldn't be able to find out though because whenever she complained about something a few people were paid off and everything swept under the rug. The Banks' and Newtons knew but they couldn't do anything about it.

No need to explain why she wanted to join the Hunt.

"BOWS, ARROWS AND HUNTING KNIVES" she read from the inside of the pamphlet. "You can gain the skills to protect others from monsters if you join now!"

She began speaking, quietly, just pretending. "I, Elizabeth Xun, pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt."

"And I accept your oath." a girl said. Elizabeth whipped her head towards the speaker, who was standing in the rain on the sidewalk near the doorway.

"Artemis?" she asked cautiously. Sapphire had described the goddess to her but since she couldn't actually see most of the description had been focused on her voice. Her voice was like the wind in the trees, Sapphire had said, forceful and gentle by turns. Her voice was like the trees themselves, strong and dependable. Her voice was like moonlight, soft and bright.

For a daughter of Hades, Sapphire sure liked speaking in poetry.

"Yes, my dear huntress." the girl said. Her voice checked every box on the list. Wind, trees and moonlight. Elizabeth bowed her head.

"My lady. You heard me?"

"Of course I did."

"But I can't be a Hunter."

"Yes, you can. Any maiden can join the hunt, no matter what abilities they have." Artemis took Elizabeth's hand. "I will help you, just as I help all my hunters. Now, will you come with me and meet your sisters?"

"I…I will, my lady."

It didn't surprise her when she heard the rain stop.