"Can I have a caesar salad, please?" I asked the waiter.

"Sure, kid. Anything else?"

"Just a water, thanks." I smiled. Everyone around here was so nice, and nobody asked any questions as to why a teen was out on their own.

A few minutes later, I was walking out of the store with a small box and water bottle stuffed into my bag. I had been on the run for about four weeks now. Tomorrow would be a month, if my math was correct. I walked to a hollow tree which I had left my bow and quiver behind in, as it would be weird to walk around in public with it.

After retrieving it, I went off into the forest. If I wasn't wrong, I was near Albany right now. It was very confusing. I really had no idea where I was going, though. I figured that I'd find a place to eventually camp, or something, maybe wait until I was eighteen. An orphanage really wasn't an option. I don't know why, but my mind advised me against it.

I was simply wandering, trying to make my way back to Manhattan, and maybe check on my mom, and see how she was doing. I had been training myself to stay on guard, so when I heard a rustling in the trees around me, I immediately put a hand on my bow. 'That sounded suspiciously heavy for a squirrel.' I thought. As it turned out, it wasn't a squirrel.

A young woman walked out, and honestly, I thought she was really pretty. She seemed older than me, probably about twenty or so. But all of her beauty seemed... fake. It wasn't that she was wearing too much make up or anything, I just... couldn't tell why I thought she was so pretty. "Hello, there! No need to be so tense. I was just wondering what a young dem-" She cut herself off, forcing a cough that was easy to see through. "A young girl like yourself was doing out in the woods all alone."

"Just... searching. For fun." The lie seemed so blatantly obvious, and I cursed myself for it.

"Where are your parents? They shouldn't leave you unattended."

I decided to make a half truth. My instincts were screaming at me to run, but it was simply a dull throb, so I ignored it. "I don't know where my dad is, but my mom is at home." I didn't mention that home was miles and miles away.

"Why don't you come with me, and I can take you to your mom?' Once again, I ignored my soft instincts, and said yes.

We walked through to woods for about half an hour, and in that time, I noticed a few things. She was leading me deeper into the woods, and talking a lot in an attempt to distract me. She was also limping slightly, and her leg was shiny whenever the light hit it. It looked like my arrowheads. Like bronze... but definitely not normal bronze. I voiced my thoughts.

"Why are you limping?" I asked. She turned around and smiled, but now, I could obviously see it was fake, and my instincts came back full force, not the dulled version from before.

"Cerebral palsy, I've been like this since birth."

"Alright. Now, why are you leading my deeper into the woods is my next question." She seemed surprise, although it was probably surprise at that I had noticed.

"I've no idea what you're talking about. This is leading us straight out to Kingston." She didn't seem to be lying about this.

"Alright, and why is your leg made out of bronze, and yet you still are limping?" She froze, and stiffened.

"You're asking a lot of questions, Persephone Jackson." It was my turn to freeze. I had never told her my name.

"For all of your observation skills, you never noticed that we weren't alone." She snapped her fingers. "Sisters!" Behind me, the leaves started shaking, and three girls walked out. They all seemed to be about the same as the first. The middle one cackled.

"Tonight... we feast on demigoddess flesh!" And they all swarmed me.

I wish these monsters were like movie villains, who come at you one by one so you can deal with them easily. But nope! Nothing is easy for me. All four of the... whatever they were rushed at me at the same time, but I managed to hop out of the way and pull out my bow and load it with an arrow in a single movement, something I had been working on for a while. I'm glad it paid off.

"Take this!" I shot my first arrow, and it hit true, going straight through the head of one of the monsters, who crumpled to the ground, but dissipated into golden dust before she hit the dirt.

"Alexi!" The monster I had been following screeched. "You will pay for that!"

I smirked. "I don't think I will." I shot another arrow at one of the monsters, but missed by a hair length. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to run again. I scampered up a nearby tree, utilizing my climbing experience. Unfortunately, the closest monster was too fast, and grabbed my leg. Out of pure luck, one of the arrows in my quiver fell out, and landed tip down in the monster's eye, turning it into gold dust.

I looked at the original monster and her "sister" as she called her, and tried to buy myself some time to rest. "Two on one?" I asked. "This doesn't seem so fair." The original one grinned.

"Who said anything about fair?" They both lunged at me, and I reached for my bow, only to find that it wasn't there. It had somehow managed to get hooked on a tree branch when I fell, and I cursed my bad luck. 'So this is how I die?' I thought.

As soon as I thought that, though, a bright light shined throughout the clearing. I instinctively covered my eyes. Once the light died down, I opened them again, and gasped. In front of me was the paramedic from a month ago.

I thought I heard him grumble under his breath, "Damn my sister's stubbornness..." Before he sighed, and turned towards me. "You alright, kid?" I was to scared to even considering speaking, so I just nodded my head. He smiled, and then reached towards me. My mind mistook this, and started racing at a hundred miles a minute.

'I'm alone, in the woods, with a man who's reaching towards me, smiling. Nobody knows where I am, nobody knows where I am, nobody knows where I am, nobody knows where I am, nobody knows where I am, nobody knows where I am...' I repeated over and over in my head. 'Oh god, please don't let this happen!' I did the only thing I could. I screamed.

Apollo PoV

The scream was loud. Really loud. I did my best to not cover my ears in agony, and pulled my hand away. I send a few pulses of calmness at her, trying to get her to calm down. Thankfully, she stopped screaming. "Alright, no touching. Got it. Let me just ask. Are you hurt anywhere?" She shook her head "no".

"Alright. Can I touch you, without you screaming? I promise, I have no intention of harming you in any way." She nodded, and I conjured a blanket and wrapped it around her, resisting the urge to smile when she subconsciously snuggled into its warmth. She seemed to recover the ability to speak.

"Who are you?" Was her first question.

"I am your uncle. Your mom's brother, to be exact." Her eyes widened.

"You know my mom?"

"You ask as if you don't know your mom."

"Sally is nice, and loving, but I share no traits with her, at all."

"Smart, aren't you? No, Sally Jackson isn't your mother. But don't fear, I'll be taking you to meet her soon enough."

"But what's you-"

"Too many questions, but you must be tired. Sleep." I muttered, and instantly she fell asleep. I tried not to acknowledge how adorably cute she looked, and flashed us to my sister's camp.

"Brother." My sister acknowledged. "You gave me a month. I have until the end of the day."

I coughed. "Yeah... about that, i decided to take matters into my own hands."

She whirled around, finally noticing her daughter in my arms. "Apollo! What have you done?" She asked in horror.

"Saved her life, actually, since you're apparently not. There were four empousa surrounding her, and she nearly died. She was in a forest, might I add, so I'm surprised you didn't lift a single finger."

"Godly interference with their children is forbidden, you know that, Apollo."

"Wouldn't it have been worth it, to save your daughter?" Artemis teared up.

"Yes, but there was truly nothing I could do."

"Father knows, by the way. I told him, since you didn't do anything." Her head shot up at me.

"Why hasn't a meeting been called, then?"

"I asked him to wait about half an hour. In fact, that should be over right about... now." As if on cue, a clap of thunder shook the air, summoning the Olympians to Olympus. I stared pointedly at her. "You better be ready, because you have a lot of explaining to do."

And, that's a wrap! Exactly 90 days after the first chapter comes chapter three! I hope you all enjoyed this! This was another late night story, I stayed up for you guys!

Finish Date - July 19th, 1:17 AM

ARE YOU GUYS SHIPPING PERSI/APOLLO, OR DO YOU WANT PERSI TO BECOME A HUNTER?

Content word count - 1,611 words.

Total word count - 1,680 words