The First Apprentice
This was going to be easy, Artemis thought. All you have to do is to find that girl when she gets out of school, tell her about the problems, and whisk her off to Olympus. But apparently, Artemis came a bit too early before the end of class, so she had to wait.
Artemis appeared normal on the outside, with a light forest green sweatshirt and dark blue jeans. Her brown hair was in a ponytail a bit below the nape of her neck. She was standing with one leg bent over the other, hands in her pockets. Her stance conveyed a sort of daring toughness.
Artemis took a long breath. The crisp fall air blew through the trees, swaying the branches above her. No one was outside in front of the main steps of the school. The gray K-8 building looked deathly ordinary and boring. This was going to be a long 40 minutes.
10 minutes. 10 minutes into her math class and she was already bored. Sure she was in an advanced class compared to normal standards, actually all of her classes were, but most of the assignments were too easy for her. Her mind longed to be free, to not have a care in the world. She wanted adventure, something to change her life.
The ancient teacher had passed out a worksheet for the students to do. He immediately went to his book and paid no further attention to his class. The stupider kids gathered in groups to try to work on the problems together. The average kids tried to work alone, but obviously figured out 30 problems in 40 minutes was going to require partners. Especially one with some really tricky equations.
Only Bellatrix worked alone. She scribbled Bellatrix Yan on the top and without delay started the problems. Bellatrix was taken back by how tricky a few of them were, and even admitted that they were somewhat fun to do. Most of them she solved in her head, without that stupid and bulky calculator. In a flash of time, she was done. With 15 minutes left in the period.
Bellatrix leaned back in the chair, and took out her social science notebook. She planned on spending the rest of the period finishing up the essay. Even though she had already passed the 3 page limit, the essay wasn't done yet. Bellatrix's classmates called her a nerd, since she knew so much, but she wasn't that much of a stereotypical know it all. Her "friends", the other orphans who went to the same school, knew that she constantly snuck out during curfew to climb trees and run laps. She played football, baseball, and basketball with the boys, breaking the gender gap rule. Bellatrix was definitely a rule breaker at the orphanage, but a goody-goody at school. She had two sides, and was proud of it.
With a few pen final pen strokes, Bellatrix finished her essay and capped her pen. Not soon after she stuffed her oversized notebook into her backpack, the bell rang. A screeching caller of freedom, it prompted the math students to rush out of the class quickly as possible.
Bellatrix herself rushed towards the door. She quickly made a trip to her locker to grab her jacket, and then headed out the door. A great mass of people poured out of the doors along with her. The bustling after school exodus to home had begun.
Bellatrix immediately gathered with her fellow orphans from the orphanage, since they all went home together. There were 15 of them, including her. However, even though the orphans were very close friends, they all left her alone. Maybe it was her tendency to do things other girls didn't. Or maybe it was her general repulsion towards people. Still, if there was a person like her, Bellatrix would think that they would be good friends very soon.
Like normal days, Bellatrix hung around for all of the orphans to arrive. Today they were earlier than usual. But they always chatted for a long time, catching up on events even though they practically had the same schedules. Bellatrix usually took this time to observe the other people on the courtyard. Taking her usual perch near the railings, she looked scanned around the scenery in front of her. She observed the majestic yet rustic skyline, with the Sears Tower dominating like a tall spire. Bellatrix then turned her gaze to the students in front of her. Like every day, people were hanging around the benches chatting, texting, or trying to do homework. However, there was one difference today. A tall, brown haired woman with a green sweater and jeans was leaning against a tree. She seemed to be looking at Bellatrix with a stern look on her face. Bellatrix tried to look away, but was sure the woman was still looking.
Luckily for Bellatrix, her orphan friends were starting to leave, and she headed after them. They started to walk back to the orphanage about 3.5 miles away, and Bellatrix trailed after them, always staying a few feet behind.
The group was nearing an empty residential street. No one was on the roads. All was quiet. Bellatrix was about six feet behind her group, which was normal for her. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around.
Bellatrix started. It was the brown haired woman.
"I need to talk to you," the woman said.
Bellatrix was confused. And scared. She did not want to talk to a stranger who appeared out of nowhere on an empty street. But she gathered the courage to speak. "Why?"
The woman sighed. "Do you know about the Greek gods? And goddesses?" Bellatrix nodded. "And the mythical creatures?" She nodded again. "Well….um something is destroying us, and we don't know what. We need to find twelve teens to help us find what it is and destroy it." The woman seemed nervous to speak, but made strong eye contact.
"Who are you?" Bellatrix interjected.
"My name…is Artemis."
"As in the Greek goddess?"
"Yeah."
"And you're choosing me to help your fellow gods, whoever they are, to find the force?"
"The Olympians to be exact. And yes."
Bellatrix paused for a bit. Should she believe the woman or should she run?
"Will you come?" There was a desperate tone in Artemis's voice.
"No." Bellatrix walked away.
Artemis let the girl go about 15 feet before she spoke. "And where are you going back to? Certainly not that orphanage of yours."
Bellatrix stopped abruptly. How did she know?
"Please, Bellatrix. You have nothing to lose if you believe me. Besides, isn't going on an "adventure" like this what you always wanted?"
No way. This was getting too freaky. The woman already knew so much about her. What was she going to do? Should she go with her? Or be happy with her present life and leave this experience behind?
The silence dragged on forever. Bellatrix's orphan friends were out of sight, and she was sure that they didn't even notice that she was gone. A light breeze blew through the street. The two seemed to stand there forever.
Bellatrix finally answered.
"I'll go."
