I don't own Percy Jackson, or the Lost Hero series
XXXXXXXXX
The cold pinched at her nose as she ran through the forest. The shouts as her step-mother gave were commands that she come back and finish her chores. But, for the seven year old girl, it was more of a death penalty. Her dark brown hair, loose from its braid, flew through the wind. The curls bounced with every step she took, and her silver eyes glinted. It was dark, but the seven year old memorized everything in this forest, since she retreated here to escape the wrath of her step-mother.
She stopped suddenly to catch her breath. The moon was full, and the shine of it was ever so bright. The seven year old collapsed on the forest cool grounds, to admire the beauty of the moon. The cold around her caused her to chill slightly, though her blood was still warm from all of her running. The young girl stood again, realizing that she had been dilly dallying, and knowing that it wasn't safe for her to do that. The girl had to get to her destination, and quickly. For the moon had spoken to her earlier that night. It had told her that someone would be waiting for her in the pond in which she played in the summer time.
Looking around the forest just to be safe, the girl took off again. She knew once she got home she would get the beating of her lifetime for disobeying her step-mother, but she did not care. She hated the mean old woman, she was awful and mean to just her. Her step-mother treated her children with kindness and let them relax, while she had to work. This made the small child run away so many times that each time she ran away, the police knew where to find her. And, they knew her. For the town she lived in was small, and everyone knew each other. Though, everyone kept their distance from her, calling her an unwanted child.
The small child did not listen to them. Instead, she put the nasty words in the back of her mind, in a vault that would not open, since she longed forgotten the combination for the vault. But since the other women told their children not to play with her, she often got lonely. Even her half-siblings were not allowed to play with her. This caused the child to talk to the moon as she said it. The girl was often smacked for talking of such nonsense, and sent to the basement to get rid of such foolishness. But, the little girl put that aside her. She knew that the moon could talk to her, she knew it. This was why she continued to go to the pond, in the middle of the forest.
The dead branches and leaves crunched underneath her little feet as she ran further and further into the forest. It was welcoming as she got closer and closer to the center, since she knew it so well. She knew the routine very well for each season. Winter as of right now, would be for ice skating with her snow boots, and maybe, if she was lucky, then real ice skates. If she wasn't caught by her Anna, her eldest sister, and then spring would came, and that season would be dedicated to swimming along with summer, that she uses her clothes for, or hopefully her older sister, Jackie's swimsuit, if she wasn't caught by her either. And then fall would come, and that season would be dedicated to clearing the leaves out of the pond from the fallen leaves from the tree. Her own perfect world, it was just at her fingertips.
As the small child reached the clearing, she saw a lady. She was dressed in silver the same color as the moon. Upon her back was a quiver and bow. The quiver was loaded with shining silver bows that glowed in the moon's light. The lady was very beautiful, with her dark hair in a braid and her very prominent features. But, it was her eyes that struck the little girl. The eyes of the fair lady were much of her own. The same roundness and the same size, and the same shade, it struck the young girl as a surprise that they both shared the same silver eyes. It seemed odd to her.
"Hello, child," the lady said. The way she said it, the girl didn't know, but it was as if she had heard that voice before. It was warm and gentle, something she didn't expect from her.
"H-hello," she greeted. Her high voice sounded small and nervous. A gust a wind came, swaying her brown curls through the wind. The remaining leaves from the trees fell off, and landed on the ground.
"Come her, small one." The lady spoke. The seven year old obeyed and went to the lady, who was on the ponds bank. Her worn boots crunched at the dead leaves as she came closer to the lady. If it was autumn, then she would've been collecting leaves for her collection back at home.
She reached the lady, her hands shaking in the cold. The little girl had just noticed how cold it really was outside. The running might have paid off back when she was running and getting her blood moving, but now, since she had been standing in one place for too long, her blood had become slow moving, and not as warm.
"Now, tell me your name." The lady told her softly. She crouched down so she was now at the little girl's height. The small child smiled and shook her head.
"Not until you tell me your name." The girl told her. The lady sighed in defeat and nodded.
"I'm called Artemis," the woman told her. The little girl smile widened once she knew her name, for the little girl recognized the name, and it brought her joy to know the name of the beautiful lady; "now, you keep your end of the bargain. What do they call you, young one?" The little girl took a deep breath before she spoke.
"I am called Kynthia. "
Seven years later
Kynthia looked up from the chicken that she was cutting to the sound of chainsaws. She was puzzled at this, the fourteen year old so she decided to investigate the problem. She placed the cutting knife down on the table and brushed her hands off on her stain covered blue jeans…if that is what to call them since they had so many stains.
She looked at the window and saw the men trying to cut down a tree. But it wasn't any tree, oh no, it was the tree from her forest. Furious she ran out the back door to confront the men. She ran through the summer grass to meet with the men. The grass tickled at her feet, this caused her to notice she wasn't wearing any shoes. But shoes weren't on her mind now, no, the one thing on her mind was that these men were cutting down her childhood! She remembered going here the first time when she was just a four year old, the first time her step-mother put her to work. She remembered how alone she was, but that all changed when Artemis started to pay little visits to her when she turned seven. But, the visits only occurred during a full moon, since it was the same moon phase on which they met.
She met up with the crazed men, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" She asked. The man with the chainsaw looked up at her. He was large, especially in the face. His eyes were a deer brown and he had black thick eyebrows. Though, his hair wasn't in the slightest thick. He was balding on the top; his head shined in the summer sun, and then on the sides of his head was his thin black hair. It was all over the place because of the heat, and Kynthia could see from one side and then out the other. The man turned off his chainsaw and looked at her.
"What did you say, little miss?" He asked. She sighed and looked at the man again.
"I said, what are you doing?" She told him. The man laughed. Though, the laugh to her sounded more like a hungry alligators. She knew this from experience.
"Chopping down this here forest," he answered. Bewildered, Kynthia reached for his chainsaw.
"Well, you can't! This forest is too beautiful to chop down!" She told him. The man easily turned the chainsaw away from her and stepped back.
"Sorry, miss, but I have orders from the top to cut this forest down." He told her. Kynthia clenched her fists together and tried to calm down. She thought about Artemis, and her stories of the wood nymphs and forest nymphs. That was it. What about the nymphs that lived inside? Artemis had shown her some of them dancing around the forest a couple of times. And each time Artemis had told her to keep her distance. But, it was on occasion that Kynthia would accidently bump into one on her way to the pond.
"You can't do that! The animals that live inside there! Who is your boss?" She asked. The man used his chubby hand to wipe from sweat from his head. It certainly was a brutal summer this time.
"I am, Cynthia," the voice was cold and unwelcoming, the exact opposite of Artemis's. It was the voice of her step-mother. "And shouldn't you be cutting that chicken for tonight?"
"For the last time, it's Kynthia, NOT Cynthia!" Kynthia told her, gritting her teeth. The nymphs…what was to become of them? "And why would you do such a thing? You know that I love this place!"
"Because, Cynthia, it's for your own good. You have to focus on the house work anyway. Oh, and the laundry needs to be taken out of the dryer and folded and put away, and there is that chicken that needs to be cut. Now, hurry along to get it all down."
Kynthia knew better to not argue with her step-mother. So, the fourteen year old swallowed her hate for the woman and went back into the house, and heard the rest of those horrible, horrible noises. It wasn't fair. Why ruin a beautiful place for some stupid building? The small town had more than enough housing and buildings of entertainment and learning to choose from. Half of those buildings aren't even used. So it is a waste to do such a thing to the forest.
But, she couldn't fight those men. She couldn't. Her step-mother would beat her for delaying progress. It didn't help her none the less. It made her sick to her stomach to see such mean things happening to the once beautiful forest. It was her one thing that reminded her that she was indeed alive. She frowned as she entered the house, where she was confronted by the prince himself, Prince Derek.
"What were you doing out there, Cynthia? You are supposed to be cleaning my clothes and making my dinner! Not prancing through the flowers!" He screamed. That was another thing that his mother and him had in common. They both screamed like harpies. It was annoying and a headache for Kynthia, but she got through it.
"It's Kynthia, and yes, your highness, I am getting it done." She told him, making it obvious that she was annoyed with the boy. Derek was two years older than she was, making her the youngest in the midst of things. He was sixteen while she was fourteen, and he did nothing. Absolutely nothing, it bugged her without end, but she was the maid in this, and she was only fed the scraps of the wonderful meals that she prepared.
She sighed and went into the laundry room. She greeted the cat who resided in there, waiting for its food. She laughed weakly and opened a can of Fancy Feast, and placed the gourmet food into its extravagant bowl of wonders. The cat licked its chops before digging into the cat food. Kynthia smiled and moved onto the laundry. She took everything out of the dryer and went into the folding room. The folding room was pretty much the room that everything was folded in. Then, the clothes were either left on the table with everyone's name on it, or it was put in the owner's wardrobe.
It was a pain to Kynthia, but she got used to it after a while…nope, that was a lie that she must keep believable. She had to pretend that she loved doing work around the house to help out her step-mother. In all honesty though, she hated it. It bugged her to no end. Having to clean up after everyone's mess that wasn't even her doing, and then get criticized for it if she didn't do it the way that they wanted it to be done. To her, they should just be respectful that someone does their laundry, cleaning, cooking, and sometimes even homework.
Kynthia placed the warm bundle of laundry on the table, and began to fold. When she was younger, her hands used to cramp from folding eight items of clothing, now they didn't even cramp. The light of the folding room was dim, but it was just enough light for her to see which piece of clothing belonged to each person, and then put the clothing in their pile of clothes, that she would have to bring up after this was done. She continued to fold, until she came across one of Derek's favorite shirt. The shirt was blue and silver with some weird little logo to it. It came to Kynthia's attention that there was a hole in the sleeve. She made a worried face, knowing all too well that if Derek found the hole, then he would report it to the boss-step-mother-and then Kynthia would get the beating of the life time.
Kynthia sighed and went over to the plastic bins. The plastic bins held the mending supplies for the clothes in case they got a rip in it. She opened the pink plastic bin and got out a navy blue color that matched the color of the sleeve. It was such annoying work to her, but she did it because she had to. Taking out the needle and thread, Kynthia sat down on the stool. Her feet ached from standing up too long, but she couldn't complain much. The lighting in the room made it hard for her to see the hole, but she got the job done in the end. She nodded at her handy work, and placed the needle and thread back into the pink bin. If Derek complains about it, then he will just have to deal with it.
She folded the newly mended shirt and placed it in his pile. After she folded everything, Kynthia grabbed Derek's pile and her step-mother's to put away. Her first stop was always her step-mother. If she didn't bring her clothes first, then she would never hear the end of it. Arriving at the door, she knocked. Hearing no reply, she walked in. Ducking her head slightly as if bowing, she walked through the doorway and into the bedroom. She reached the bed and placed Derek's clothes there. Kynthia then made her way to the wardrobe and opened it with her free hand. There she started to put everything away.
She did this with everyone else's clothes as well. She placed the clothes in the right place, and then closed the door. Once she was done with her final stop, she went back down the stairs and continued to work on dinner.
As evening came, Kynthia started to set the table. The chicken was in the oven being cooked, and the mashed potatoes were just finished. And the apples were all on the table already, waiting to be eaten. She placed the fine plates down on the table, followed by the fine silverware. The goblets that were filled with either coke or wine were set as well. Only one was filled with water, and that was for Jackie, claiming that coke was horrible for you. Her father would not be joining dinner again; he had to 'work over time again.' That was the same excuse he had for three years now. Kynthia knew better of course, she knew that her father was a scumbag, and a womanizer, which was how she was born. An accident that was at his doorstep in a silver cradle covered in fine clothing. Yet of course her fine clothing was ripped from her, and she was placed in the basement.
She heard the beeping from the oven, signaling that the chicken was ready. Kynthia walked over to the oven and opened it. She grabbed an oven mitt and placed it on her hand. She gingerly took out the chicken and placed it on the kitchen island. Kynthia then closed the oven and turned it off. She admired her work and smiled. She took the chicken and set it on the table. Kynthia then set everyone's plate how they liked it. Anna liked to have everything neat and tidy, everything separate from one another, while Jackie preferred it if everything was color organized. Step-mother liked everything cut before she ate so she didn't have to cut it up herself, along with her son.
They were a lot alike step-mother and Derek. They both loved to boss her around and watch her bleed and make mistakes. They found it amusing. Though Kynthia had learned to stay in the dark, and obey them. She didn't like it that they were mean to her, but she sucked it up. Kynthia then rang the dinner bell, signaling everyone that dinner was served.
Jackie and Anna were the first two to come down. They took their seats, and waited patiently for their mother and brother to come down. A few minutes later, step-mother came out of her room, donned in her jewels. And then Prince Derek came waltzing down. He took his seat next to step-mother; he then raised his hands, signaling that everyone can eat now.
A spoiled brat was all Kynthia ever thought about him. Though, she held her tongue, knowing that it would only do her harm if she spoke badly about him. Kynthia stood in the sidelines and watched them eat. Her stomach growled for food. Oh how she wished she could just have one juicy red apple that she picked earlier that week. It didn't make any sense to her. Why should they be feasting on the food that she cooked and picked, while she only had scraps? It was truly unfair, but they would never want to hear it.
Derek held up his hands again, signaling that he was now done with his food. Kynthia ducked her head and took the fine plate, goblet, fork, and knife away and placed them all in the sink to be washed later. She returned to her seat, noticing Jackie and Anna pick at their food. They always did this to feed her. They actually liked Kynthia to an extent and they would not want to see her starve. Step-mother gobbled up her food and put her hands up.
Kynthia nodded and walked over to her and grabbed the fine dishes and walked away with them and into the sink they went. She went back into the dining room just as Jackie and Anna raised their hands at the same time. Kynthia picked the plates up and went back into the kitchen. She placed the scraps of meat and mashed potatoes to the side, and the little bits of apple as well. She was happy to have a decent meal, it was nice. She put the now empty plates into the sink and began to wash them. After about an hour of washing, her hands were wrinkly and gross, but the dishes were done.
Kynthia began to put the dishes away just as she saw the cat began to feast on her food.
"Shoo, scat! You already had your fill!" She told it. The cat hissed and jumped off the counter. Kynthia sighed and finished putting the dishes away. After she was done, she grabbed her much chipped plate and brought it with her to the basement along with her mug and dull fork and knife.
Kynthia arrived in the poorly lit basement which she calls her room. She smiled and made her way to a bundle of old sheets and holey blankets which was her makeshift bed. She sat down on it and began to eat her meal. Water was in her cup that she had to pay for. It was tap water, yes, but it was water. She took a long sip from it. It relaxed her, the warm water, it was nice. Kynthia took her fork and knife and began to cut her chicken with it.
Kynthia placed the mouthwatering chicken in her mouth and smiled. It tasted wonderful, her stomach begged for more, and soon it was all gone. She moved to the mashed potatoes, and that was short lasting as well, along with the apple. She smiled in delight and placed her dishes aside she would clean them up early the next morning while she prepared breakfast.
She nestled into her bed and closed her eyes. She dreamed of the forest and seeing Artemis. She smiled at the dream, not knowing that it would be the last good dream she would ever have. Though, that thought never nagged at her as she dreamt, not even the sound of plates crashing to the ground, she thought that it was the cat.
A scream did wake her. Her tired eyes looked around the dim light. She pulled herself up from her bed, her legs were a little bit wobbly on standing up, and made her way up the stairs. Once she reached the surface world as she called it, she saw a startling surprise. It was not a good surprise, it was a horrid surprise. They were snakes, actual snakes, but something seemed off about them. They were no ordinary snake. Kynthia remembered Artemis saying something about snakes, but she couldn't remember.
These creatures had white spikes all around their necks and they were green, looked like a normal snake right? Nope. From what she could see, they were spitting out fire everywhere. There goes her spotless kitchen.
Kynthia was just standing there stupidly. She should be running away from those things, not staying in one place.
"Well, what do we have here?" One of them said. It sounded like a snake, very normal…but snakes can't talk…what was going on here? Kynthia was very confused about this, and she didn't like it either.
"It looksssss to be a demi-god, mother." The other one said very snake like. What was going on here? What is a demi-god in the first place?
"Ah, yessssss, I can ssssmell her blood, it's very sssssstrong," the other snake said.
"Can we eat her now, mother?" The other one asked. What was this about eating? She didn't taste good at least she didn't think so!
"Yesssssss, some nice demi-god for a late night ssssssssnack," and then they began to lunge at her. That is when Kynthia finally got to her senses and began to run for her life. She ran out the back way since she knew the back way a lot better than the front. She reached the back door with amazing speed, seeing as that running everywhere she went as child finally paid off. She closed the door, thinking that it would buy her some time, but it didn't really. The snakes just melted the door. This made Kynthia run faster than ever, what were these things? She ran onto the sidewalk and into the town. She ran faster and faster, but no matter what she did they kept up with her.
She felt fatigue after a while, but she kept pushing herself to go faster. Her lungs begged for more air, but she didn't pay attention to that. She continued to run even faster even though her legs felt as though they were about to fall off. She passed by the square were festivals were held. In the summer it would be decorated with games and contests and streamers. It would look beautiful, but Kynthia never went in during a festival. In the winter it would have ice sculptures and the fountain which was in the middle would be iced over, and the pond would be open for people to skate on. Of course Kynthia already had her pond, so she had her own winter festival. In the autumn, it would have pumpkins and it would be decorated in fall colors, and people could dress up as their favorite character from a book or a movie. In the spring, which was her favorite, because it was decorated in colors of every hue, and flowers would be everywhere, spreading joy for everyone to see. Balloons would be everywhere, and everyone would see the beauty of spring.
Though, right now was not beautiful since she was now running for her life. She knew every crack and every street since she ran away constantly. Just last week she did it again, of course the police found her again. She ran and ran, and after each step she took, she felt more and more dizzy. It was as if someone wanted her to die from these things.
After a long while of running, Kynthia couldn't take it anymore. Instead of running, she stopped. The things were closing in on her and quickly, but that was when she felt something fall beside her. She looked and saw that it was a ladder. She was surprised at first and looked at the ladder until a voice called to her.
"Hurry, climb up!" The voice told her. She grabbed one of the bridges of the ladder and began to climb. When she was half way up, she felt something sting at her ankle. She looked down and saw that her ankle was smoking. She almost screamed until the voice came out again.
"Hurry, we'll treat it here!" The voice sounded like a male's. She obeyed and continued to climb up. Her ankle felt as though it was going to fall off, but she kept going.
Once she got up, she was taken aside by someone.
"Take her, and give her some nectar." The same voice said.
"But we are almost out!" A higher pitched told the other one.
"What? We just filled up on some last time we stopped!" The voice told them. She felt someone nod and then continue to bring her somewhere. She felt herself going in and out of consciousness, but before she passed out, she heard someone say: "Alright, Frank, go!" And that was it, and then everything went pitch black.