"Hey!" I yelled. "You just scared away my food!"
The figure stepped into the light. It revealed itself to be a girl, dressed in black jeans and a silver parka, with a bow strapped to her back, along with silver arrows. She had spiky jet black hair, pale skin, and startling electric blue eyes.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
The girl laughed, to my surprise and annoyance. "The name's Thalia, hunter of Artemis."
"Um...Artemis?" I asked.
"Yeah, have you ever heard about the Greek Gods?" Thalia questioned.
"Not really. I do know quite about the monsters, though. " I answered.
"Well, I can teach you more about it at our camp. Follow me." Thalia instructed.
I held up my hands in a "hold up" kind of way. "Alright, lady, I don't know who you are, and you expect me to go to a camp with you? And speaking of camp, where on earth is it? And you said our camp, are there more of you?"
Once again, Thalia laughed. "Look, kiddo, I can answer all your questions at camp. I'm not dangerous. I'm like you, monsters come after me too. And I can assume you are hungry, we have food and drinks." Looking over my clothes, she added, "And, no offense, but you could use a change of clothes."
I considered what I should do. "It couldn't hurt to go and figure out what is going on…" I thought to myself. "And they do have food…and drinks…and I do need more clothes…" I made up my mind. I would go with this Thalia Grace, hunter of Artemis.
"Alright, I'll come." I decided.
"Great. Follow me." Thalia led me through the trees.
"By the way, what's your name, kiddo?" she said as we walked through the trees.
"Melanie." I said curtly, still not trusting Thalia. I guess that's the side effect of being on your own for so long.
"Cool. How old are you, Mellie?"
Hearing the nickname Mellie brought on a surge of painful memories, which I immediately buried.
"Don't call me Mellie." I said angrily.
"Kay. How about Mel? Melanie is a great name an all, but it needs a nickname." Thalia asked.
"Fine." I rolled my eyes.
"Alright then, Mel, how old are you?"
"I'm 14. How old are you?"
"16." She answered as if she was sharing an inside joke.
"Okay…"I said, drawing out the O.
Suddenly the trees parted, and I found myself standing in a grassy clearing, with a stream bubbling nearby. There were silver tents set up everywhere, with burnt leaves and twigs in the center of the clearing. The weirdest part of it though…There were no guys. Only girls all dressed the same. They all wore silver parkas, and dark jeans.
"Thalia!" a girl called.
"Hey, Phoebe." Thalia greeted the girl.
"Who's this?" Phoebe questioned Thalia.
"Yeah, hi, you don't have to ask Thalia what my name is, I can tell you myself." I snapped.
Phoebe looked at me and grinned. "I like your attitude! Ok, what's your name?"
"Melanie." I answered, my annoyance and mistrust slowly fading away.
"But don't call her Mellie. Call her Mel." Thalia added.
"Ok then. Should we take Mel to Lady Artemis?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, but I think I'll take her, no offense." Thalia agreed.
"That's cool. Hey, do we know who her godly parent is?"
"Hold up!" I interrupted loudly. A bunch of the other girls stared at me.
"What's wrong, Mel?" Thalia and Phoebe asked.
"Oh, where to begin! Why don't I begin with the fact that you just said godly parent? What the heck does that mean? My Mom's dead! I have no family!" I said, my annoyance returning.
Thalia sighed and sat down on a rock. "Alright, I guess I might as well explain to you now. Phoebe, you can go do whatever it is you were doing."
Phoebe nodded and jogged off to do who-knows-what.
"Ok, Melanie, there are Greek myths. Like, an emposai, Minotaur's, and the gorgons. Those are the monsters. But there are also gods. Like, Artemis, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and so on. Anyway, the gods, and monsters, basically all the Greek myths are real. And the Gods kinda, well, got together with some mortals, making kids, like you and I…But since one of our parents is a god, part of us is also godly. But, your mom is dead, so your dad is probably your godly parent. Anyway, you're a demigod, and Artemis is hopefully going to help us find out whom." Thalia explained.
I struggled to figure out what was just explained to me. I was half-god? I didn't exactly feel very godly, being dirty, sweaty, and bloody…But I might as well figure out who this Godly leader Artemis is.
"Alright, take me to Artemis." I sighed.
Thalia grinned at me. "You do better than most demigods upon finding out who they are. Alright, follow me."
She and I both walked towards a 12 year old girl with auburn hair and silver eyes.
"My Lady Artemis," Thalia bowed to this little girl.
"Stand, my lieutenant, "Artemis said.
"You're Artemis?" I asked disbelievingly.
Artemis turned to me and smiled. She pressed her hands together, and the next thing I knew, she looked like she was in her early twenties, still wearing navy blue jeans, hiking boots, and a silver parka. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore no makeup. She had a bow and a sling of silver arrows strapped to her back, like most of the other girls here.
"I'll take that as a yes…" I muttered.
Artemis stared into my eyes, and I felt like she was X-raying me, pulling out memories, experiences, my name…pretty much my whole life story. I saw a look of shock and surprise come over her face. She quicly hid it, and smiled at me nervously.
I was proven right.
"You are Melanie Kinsley, correct?" she stated.
"Well, you did just find out everything about me, so, you tell me." I said sarcastically. Thalia stared at me in shock, but Artemis just smiled at her.
"Ok, Melanie. I am Artemis, maiden goddess of the moon, and the hunt. I have no children," she said firmly, as if to erase any shadow of a doubt I might have. "I have only my handmaidens, all female. I know you have been through tragedy and loss, and that you have been hunted by monsters, time and time again. Tell me, have you ever met your father?" she quickly asked.
"No." I said quietly. This woman knew everything about me, and being so secretive for so long, having someone know everything about me made me feel weak, and vulnerable.
"Ah. Then he is your godly parent. How would you feel if I could find out whom?" Artemis asked.
"I honestly don't really care. He didn't care enough to be bothered to help me or my mom, so why should I care about him?" I answered truthfully.
"That is a good reason. But we do need to find out who he is, for us to determine what abilities you possess, ok?" Artemis said "ok?" as a question, but she also spoke with a commanding tone. I got the feeling she hadn't been defied in a while, and wasn't about to start now.
"Fine. How can we find that out?" I asked.
Artemis smiled, and clapped her hands.
For a second, all I saw was smoky silver stuff. Then the smoke cleared, and I was standing in a completely different place.
It was a marble room, Greek style, with pillars supporting the ceiling. There were white stone thrones everywhere, all with different designs. I noticed that there were three chairs in the front of the room, decorated with lightning bolts, fish and water designs, and bones.
The weirdest thing…everything was giant. I felt like a bug, staring up at all these thrones.
"Thal-" I turned to ask Thalia where we were, but Thalia wasn't there. Reluctantly, I turned to Artemis to ask where we were, but she wasn't next to me. She was talking to the three men in the thrones at the head of the room.
She walked back to me, her face expressionless.
"Where are we?" I whispered.
"Olympus, place of the Gods." She answered.
I opened my mouth to speak again, but caught sight of what I was wearing. It was a frilly pink shirt, with a knee length skirt, with pink sneakers. I saw a gorgeous lady on a throne covered in hearts wink at me and wave.
I turned to Artemis with a horrified expression.
"Can you fix this?" I said, mortified.
Artemis saw the outfit and smirked. She snapped her fingers, and I was suddenly dressed in plain blue jeans, black hiking boots, with a silver parka over a black tank top. I looked like the girls back at Artemis's camp.
I turned to the pretty lady with the throne covered in hearts. She was looking at me with a disapproving expression as she examined my new outfit. I saw a few of the other giant gods snickering at her obvious disapproval.
"You know, it might be a bit odd for this mortal to have to stare at us when we are in giant form…" A man in a glowing gold throne decorated with suns spoke.
Some of the other gods nodded. Everyone shrunk down to normal human size, still in their (now normal size) thrones.
"Thank you." I told the glowing guy.
"No prob. I'm Apollo, by the way. Hold up!" Apollo held up his hands.
"I am Apollo
Helped this clueless little girl
I am so awesome"
Everyone in the room groaned, except for Apollo, who looked proud of himself.
"Excuse me, clueless little girl?" I demanded.
"Well yeah, you have no idea what's going on." Apollo said carelessly, glancing at Artemis. Artemis narrowed her eyes, and gave him a look that said "Shut up"
I grabbed at my belt, and found, to my surprise, that my bronze and silver dagger were there. I pulled out the silver one, and began to walk towards him, while he laughed with his eyebrows raised.
The guy in the throne covered in lightning bolts interrupted. "Artemis, what is the meaning of this?"
"Zeus, I have brought here Melanie Kinsley, an unclaimed demigod. I need one of these gods to claim her. Her godly parent is her father, that's all we know." Artemis replied. It seemed like she was hiding something.
"Ok, somebody claim this kid." Zeus commanded.
About three minutes passed. Three minutes of everyone looking at each other, shaking their heads, and looking at me.
But then suddenly, the man in the chair with bones spoke. "She's mine." He said.
"Hades?" Artemis asked, shocked. The shock didn't look real though. It looked like this was all a scripted movie.
"Well, I wouldn't claim her if she wasn't." he replied dryly.
"Don't talk to me that way!"
"Don't ask stupid questions."
"Does it matter?!" The guy sitting to the right of Zeus said.
"Stay out of this Poseidon!" Hades snapped
"Stay out of this fish breath." Artemis said at the same time.
"Oh, you wanna call me fish breath? I am waay more powerful than you, Moony." Poseidon shot a blast of water at Artemis, who quickly dodged, and shot an arrow at him.
"Look at yourselves!" A woman with dark hair and gray eyes said, who was staring at the fight with disgust. "You're acting like children!"
"Athena is right." Zeus confirmed. "If Hades says Melanie is his daughter, then Melanie is his daughter. Poseidon, Artemis, stop this petty name calling fight immediately."
Poseidon, Artemis, and Hades all stopped, and eyed each other resentfully.
"Good. Now, Artemis, you are to take Melanie to Camp-Half-Blood, where she may be trained." Zeus said.
"But, Father, she can train with us!" Artemis argued.
"No, Artemis, I want her exposed to a different life before you make your offer."
"Wait, what offer?" I questioned, confused.
"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Apollo winked at me. I answered with a scowl, not forgetting his insulting haiku.
"Do I make myself clear, Artemis? She may have 3 months of Camp Half Blood. At the end of the 3 months, you and your hunters may visit, and make your offer. That is my final decision."
"But-fine." Artemis snapped her fingers, and once again I was enveloped in silvery smoke. But this time, when the smoke cleared, I was on a hill, next to a pine tree with a fuzzy golden thing hanging from it. A nearby sign read: Camp Half Blood.
"I'll leave you here. Go down the hill, you'll see some campers who'll take you where you need to go. I need to get to my hunters. See you in 3 months." Artemis said. Then she promptly disappeared into silver smoke.
I took a deep breath, and began to walk down the hill.
So what did you think? Special special thanks to Elmlea, not just for this story, but for all my others! She has reviewed and checked out everything I've written on here, and I just think that's really awesome of her! So yeah, check her out, she's got really good stories! Oh, and you were were expecting it to be Luke, so I thought I'd make a small twist, do you think it was for the better? Anyone reading, please tell me thoughts!