*Le Gaspe!* How many of you guys saw that one coming at the end of chapter 2? Huh how many? I know kinda cliche but hey I'm doing my best and besides who said Artemis couldn't have kids when Athena has a bazillion of them?
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own any rights to Percy Jackson and the Olympians no matter how much I wish I did. Nor do I own any copyrights on greek gods or demigods, for I am fairly certain that if I was to claim ownership of them I would be turned into a pile of goo... that being the most lenient of my punishments. However I do own Chloe, Sam, Sophia and Fredrick the cricket who lives in my head. Have a pleasant day!~
Chapter 3
"Chloe you are the daughter of Artemis, goddess of the hunt."Chiron said solemnly and for the second time Chloe was speechless. Artemis was supposed to be a chaste goddess, the eternal maiden who would never marry or fall in love. Her only love was the hunt and her Hunters were the closest thing she had to daughters. It should have been impossible, except that Athena too was supposed to be an eternal maiden and yet she had children. Annabeth had explained how the children of Athena were born to her once; perhaps her conception was something like that as well. But she could never be sure, not unless she spoke with Artemis in person.
"But... how?" She asked looking from Percy to Chiron to Nico and then back to Chiron.
"That as of yet remains unknown. Your existence and Artemis's claim on you has shocked even the other gods, which is why Mr. D is absent right now. Your mother refuses to explain herself to anyone and Apollo and Hermes, who were the only two who knew of the situation, are likewise refusing to speak about the matter. All we know is that the gods are very upset about this." Chiron said. He was trying to explain it in the kindest way possible, but every word felt like a blow to the chest. Suddenly she felt angry.
"But why! Why wouldn't she claim me before? Why won't she explain it to anyone? I came here when I was three and since then I've waited fourteen years for one of the gods to claim me! And when one finally does, she does so when I'm on my death bed and refuses to explain anything! Is she so ashamed to have a child?" Chloe snapped more to herself than anyone else there and harshly slammed her hand on the table. Suddenly she knew why some of the other demigods had left to join Luke and over throw the gods. She had never really understood it before, even though she was unclaimed, but now she did.
Chiron moved so he could stand beside her and Percy and Nico were silent. "Chloe I know it seems... bad right now. And none of us understand her motive for hiding you right now, but everything will be explained."
"How do you know!" Chloe snapped sourly and immediately felt guilty for snapping at him. He was only trying to help. She didn't even understand why she was so angry; she had always wanted to be claimed and really hadn't cared which god would do so. Even if they had been claiming their other children and not her, she had just wanted to be acknowledged; she wanted to know that her existence mattered to her parent. She felt Chiron's hands on her shoulders.
"I know because I received a message from the Hunters a few days ago. They are headed toward the camp, Artemis is with them. She said she wanted to speak with you before anything else is explained."
A sudden, bubbly warmth settled in Chloe's chest and she felt sort of dizzy due to the sudden change in her emotions. Her mother wanted to speak with her before she even spoke to the other gods to explain herself.
"When will they be here?" Chloe asked looking up at Chiron.
"Within the week. You of course will be moving to Cabin Eight before then. But I would like for you to spend one more night in the infirmary just so we can make sure that you're at a hundred percent."
Chloe was reluctant to agree to stay at the infirmary for another night but she realized Chiron was right and that she should get as much rest as she could. Her feelings were still mixed and confusing but at least for the moment she was feeling calm. She apologized to Percy and Nico for her outburst then went with the four to the dining pavilion where the rest of the camp was waiting to get supper started.
When they arrived Chloe could feel people watching her as she moved towards the tables that were arranged in a similar pattern to the layout of the cabins. She almost went to sit at the Hermes table, like she had done for the past fourteen years, but then she stopped herself and walked purposefully over to the Artemis table, which was usually reserved for when the Hunters came to camp, and sat at the only set place there. She heard some of the girls from the Aphrodite table next to her giggle and whisper something to each other and she could feel the Athena campers on the opposite side watching her but she did her best to ignore them and focus on her plate which had conjured a cheese burger for her.
Chiron stood to say something before they all dug in to eat and Chloe listened politely before she went up to put some of her food into the fire then went quietly back to the table and at her food silently. She had never realise how lonely it was, eating at a table with no other campers. She had become so used to being surrounded by the loud and obnoxious Hermes campers, usually with Travis and Connor on either side of her, now without all that chatter and someone to talk to she felt out of place. She guessed that this was how some of the other campers, with few kids in their cabins, felt.
When supper ended Chloe opted out of the campfire and sing along. She wasn't in the mood to have to deal with anyone else at the moment so she just went and hid away in the infirmary for the rest of the night. She didn't think that she would be able to sleep very well that night but sleep came surprisingly quickly though she could have go without the dreams for once.
"Our prey has been captured then?" It was the woman on the throne and her dark room again. She looked bored as she leaned against the arm of her chair but there was a malicious smile on her face that told Chloe otherwise. This woman was very happy about something. "That's perfect, we're just in time to watch things at Olympus and that camp of infants turn into battle zones, especially now when Artemis claimed that daughter of hers. I admit I was a bit surprised but it has made tensions on Olympus rise."
"Your plan isss flawless. Ssssoon every mortal will feel your influence and they too will sssstart warsss of their own." There was that hissing voice again; the one that Chloe couldn't see the owner of but knew that they were there in the room somewhere. The talk of wars made Chloe nervous especially when her mother had been mentioned. She didn't want her mother used to start a war no matter how mad she might have felt earlier in the day.
"Yes. By the end of the week my wish will be fulfilled. Both the mortal and immortal realms will be fighting. Just the thought of it sends chills down my spine, I can't wait for it." The woman on the throne paused and a frown suddenly crossed her face and her lips pursed. Her eyes darted over to where Chloe's dream form stood and the demigod felt frozen in fear. The woman's eyes burned like fire and hatred as she stared at the young girl.
"I see we have an uninvited guest. Artemis's whelp, I would welcome you to my throne room, however soon it will be your tomb!" Somewhere behind her Chloe heard something move closer to her and she heard hissing not unlike the monster she had fought not a week ago. She turned to look at what it was but all she saw was blackness. Suddenly a serpent like tail shot out at her and Chloe closed her eyes and pulled her arms up in front of her face.
The blow never came and when Chloe opened her eyes she found herself tangled in the sheets of the infirmary with light spilling in the windows. It was just another dream. A very real and potentially dangerous dream but a dream none the less.
Slowly Chloe got out of the bed and she dressed and went through her normal morning routine trying to shake the uneasy feeling she had growing in the pit of her stomach. She overlapped thoughts of the dream with the fact that today she would be moving into the Artemis cabin. She would have an entire cabin to herself and would no longer have to worry about other campers getting into her things or getting a hold of her weapons or sharing the bathroom. Yeah she was pretty excited about it.
She went to breakfast for only as long as she had to, and then went down to the Hermes cabin to collect her things. Connor and Travis, who had somehow managed to get to the cabin before she did, met her there with an offer to help.
"You two just want to see the inside of the cabin don't you?" She said as she shoved all of her clothes and smaller belongings into a duffle bag. She didn't have a whole lot of things to begin with and aside from her mutilated bow she really didn't have any larger possessions. Never the less she let the boys follow her to the doorstep of the silver cabin. She opened the door slowly and looked around.
It was a spacious room that looked like it would be very warm and comfortable. There was a brazier in the center of the room that burned without any smoke and the floor was covered with soft silk rugs. The beds were dressed with silver silk sheets and pillows and on the walls hung animal pelts and other various hunting trophies that included something that looked suspiciously like the barbed stinger of a manticore. The bunk beds were spaced evenly apart; the top of each of the bed posts was carved to resemble the head of a different animal or mythological beast. To top it all off, the ceiling was painted to look like the night sky, complete with a moon like light hanging in the center; Chloe had a sneaking suspicion that it glowed in the night and probably followed the moon phases.
Chloe walked into the cabin, pausing in the door way momentarily as she felt a buzz around her that she recognized as nature magic but after a moment the buzzing left her and she was able to continue into the room. She turned to the door where the brothers were looking in warily and just as Travis was about to step through Chiron appeared behind him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not unless you want to spend the rest of your life as a jack rabbit." The centaur warned. "Only girls can enter the cabin. There is nature magic around all of the windows and the door."
That was all Travis needed to know to take two steps back from the door. He and Connor exchanged looks then gave a wave to Chloe before heading back to their own cabin. Chloe smiled then went back out the door and stood on the steps so she was eye level with the centaur standing there.
"Are you just starting to settle in?" He asked.
"Yeah. Haven't even gotten anything unpacked yet I'll do that before I head to sword training." She said glancing back into the cabin.
"You haven't gone to practise with swords in almost a year Chloe." Chiron said.
"Exactly why I need practise. With my bow and knives useless I have to have a decent handle on using a sword at least until I can find suitable replacements." She replied rubbing her neck. To be honest she wasn't as comfortable fighting with swords as she was with a knife or a bow. She would go so far as to say she felt naked in battle without her quiver strapped to her back.
"Well if that's the case perhaps you should look into finding replacements soon. Using a weapon you have less practise with can mean all the difference in a fight. The dreams you spoke about trouble me, we may have a battle on our hands sooner than we would have liked."
The grimness of Chiron's statement sent a shiver of fear through her but she didn't comment and instead went back inside to start unpacking her things. Chloe set her small pack and damaged bow on a bottom bunk in the far corner of the room where she had noticed a small camp chest pushed under the bunk. The chest was empty but for a silver Hunter's jacket that had been left there so Chloe put all of her clothes and some of her other belongings into the chest (though she left the jacket at the bottom) and then pushed it back under her bed. Then she took her old bow and placed it on a set of hooks that protruded from the wall that were made to hang a bow and quiver. Finally she finished putting her things away and sat on the bed she had chosen and just looked around the cabin in a bit of a daze.
Not even a week ago she was an unclaimed camper and now she was sitting in a cabin most campers had never even seen the inside of. Which kind of spurred her to begin snooping. It wasn't really snooping since it was her cabin now after all but she still felt as if some kind of subtlety was required since this cabin was used by the Hunters when they were here. She began by going through all the trunks under the beds but most were empty aside from some stray arrows and candy wrappers. Nothing interesting there. She looked under all of the bunks and rugs just to see if there were any trap doors or a hidden staircase like in the Hephaestus cabin, but she was disappointed when she found nothing so she went to go lay back onto her bed when she noticed something close to her bunk from the corner of her eye. Mounted on the wall between the pelt of a white tiger and the head of what could have been a hellhound was a silver bow carved to look like a pair of gazelle horns. A quiver of arrows fletched with swan feathers hung beside it and Chloe couldn't help but go up to the weapon and run her hand over it.
Looking behind her as if she was afraid someone might come in and catch her doing something she shouldn't, she picked up the bow and strung it expertly. The weight of the bow was perfectly balanced and wasn't too heavy, in fact it was just the right weight and height for Chloe to use. Experimentally she drew the string, her hand level with her eye as she looked down the sight. Gently she lessened the tension on the string and used her now free hand to reach up and take the quiver off of the wall. She was sorely tempted to test the bow with the arrows but she didn't want to damage them. Instead she brought both the bow and the quiver over to her bed and as she sat down she set the bow beside her and pulled out one of the long silver arrows.
As she examined it and afterwards the elegantly made quiver, she noticed something stuck in the bottom after she had taken out all the arrows. Reaching into the quiver she managed to extract a small piece of paper that looked old and very worn. She turned over the paper and saw six words in neat writing there.
For my daughter. Use it well.
Chloe stared at the note for a full minute then slipped it back into the quiver before she put the arrows back in. She didn't put the weapons back on the wall, instead she hid them away in her trunk with her other belongings. She was happy that her mother had left something like that here for her. But she didn't want to be parading around the camp with a bow that greatly resembled Artemis's on her back. She'd never even spoken to her mother and many half-bloods were lucky if they got such a gift from their godly parent.
After a while Chloe pulled on her borrowed sword and left the cabin to go to the area where she could practise with the blade. Halfway there she came across Sophia and Sam talking quietly with one another. Sam seemed agitated and Sophia looked like she was trying to calm her but then they both spotted Chloe and they stopped talking all together. Sam looked down at her feet, refusing to look at Chloe and Sophia watched her for a moment then turned to Chloe.
"Heard you moved into the Artemis cabin today Knickers." She said and Chloe nodded but she was looking at Sam. Was she still upset with her for what had happened?
"Yeah... um, look guys I'm really sorry I worried you. I never meant to do such a thing and I hope you're not still made at me Sammy." Chloe said moving forward a bit. Sam didn't even look up at her but pulled her hand away when Chloe reached for her.
Chloe felt as if the action was like a slap to the face. She pulled back her hand and stared at Sam as if she hardly knew her. Surely Sam wasn't still mad, Chloe had seen Sam mad before, but she never stayed angry for long and never to the extent where an apology couldn't fix up the problem. Why was she being so cold? Sam finally looked up and glared at Chloe in a way they girl never thought possible but still she said nothing.
"Ah Chloe... now isn't really the best time." Sophia said glancing to Sam.
"No Sophia I want to know what's going on. Sam why won't you talk to me."
"I don't want to talk about it with you." Sam snapped and Chloe felt her temper flare.
"And why not! We're best friends Sam, you tell me everything!" She snapped back.
"We were best friends!" Sam shot back. "Then you... you had to go get claimed by Artemis of all people!"
"What does my being claimed have to do with anything!" Chloe asked incredulously. She was aware of a few other campers stopping to watch them squabble but none dared approach.
"It has to do with everything! You've been waiting to be claimed your whole life, and if it had been any other god everything would have been fine. But now you're going to go off with your mom and her hand maidens without a second thought to anyone you're going to leave behind." Sam all but yelled.
For a moment Chloe was at a loss of what to say. Was that what this was about? Sam thought that Chloe was going to go off and join Artemis's hunt without a second thought and leave all of her friends behind. Finally she spoke. "You're an idiot." She said. Crossing her arms over her chest. "An absolute idiot Sam, but go ahead and think whatever you want. I have practise to get to."
Sam looked dumbstruck; Chloe had never insulted her before. She was used to being insulted by some of the other campers but never Chloe or Sophia. Chloe stomped her foot and brushed past the daughter of Aphrodite. She was fuming and she didn't want to stand there and fight while half the camp watched as if they were some kind of sitcom.
When she arrived at the arena she went over to where the dummies were set up and pulled out her sword to hack at them. She didn't even bother practising specific moves; she just violently hacked and slashed, decapitating a dummy beside her, disembowelling the next in the line with a shout of rage. She turned to slice at the next dummy when her sword was met with more metal and strong resistance.
"What do you want?" She snapped at Nico who had a look on surprise on his face as if he had just reflexively blocked her sword, not expecting her to swing at him.
"If you keep swinging wildly around like that you're going to hurt someone, likely yourself." He stated when she had backed away and roughly sheathed the blade. She mumbled something under her breath and kicked at the straw under her feet. She knew she was acting unreasonable and rash, but she was just so angry, the last few days she had been nothing but a mess of ill favoured emotions and she had no idea why. Suddenly her dreams came back to her; the woman in the throne had said something about creating strife to start wars. And Chloe had just fallen into her trap. She felt the urge to punch a wall, now angry with herself, but resisted and released a breath of air.
"Sorry." She grumbled to Nico who had also sheathed his Stygian iron sword and was watching her warily as if she would blow up again. "I'm not usually so..." She paused searching for the right word to use.
"Irate, angry, emotional?" Nico supplied and she shot him a glare that quickly melted as she looked away.
"Yeah that."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really. Besides why would you want to sit and listen to me whine about my troubles?" She asked not intending to sound snappy because she was really just curious.
"True, that doesn`t seem to be very appealing. How about we spar instead." He suggested and motioned to the mutilated dummies. "Since you've exhausted your supply of mock opponents."
"As much as I would like to see your smug face eat dirt Di Angelo, I'd rather not. I don't need anything else to get mad about today." She replied.
Nico was quiet for a moment. "Is this about those dreams you were talking about?"
Somehow it didn't surprise her that he knew about her dreams. In fact she suspected her had listened to her whole conversation with Chiron and Percy the day before. So she just nodded.
"They got what they were looking for. Now they're going to start making everyone fight and they're pretty certain a war is going to break out." She said walking over to the bleachers and sitting down. Nico followed her but didn't sit.
"You had another one?" He asked and she nodded she didn't need to explain it any more than that. "Maybe you should go to see Rachel; she might be able to tell you what's going on."
His suggestion made sense and she had meant to talk to Rachel when she had first had the dreams and now that things were starting it seemed like as good a time as any to go see the resident Oracle. Chloe got to her feet and dusted off her shorts she would try to catch Rachel at lunch, which would be starting shortly according to her watch, and if that failed she'd go and wait for the red head in the Oracle's cave that she resided in while she was at the camp. Either way she would be getting information today.
Chloe looked for Rachel at lunch but the current Oracle was nowhere to be found in the dining pavilion so once everyone was done eating and on their way to afternoon activities Chloe made her way to the Oracle's cave which was situated in the middle of the woods. It had been Apollo's idea to have Rachel stay in a cave in the forest, which seemed utterly ridiculous but Apollo had tricked out the inside to look more like a wicked party room than the creepy cave that it appeared to be on the outside. That god seriously needed to get a hobby or something. At least Rachel seemed comfortable in her surroundings though.
Slowly, as if she were nervous (Which she was), Chloe walked into the cave half hoping that maybe Rachel wasn't there so she could just turn around and leave. She wasn't entirely sure she really wanted answers to her dreams and was hoping they were just dreams. However Rachel was in the cave and she looked up from the magazine she had been reading when she heard Chloe enter.
"Chloe what brings you here?" Rachel asked setting the book aside and motioned for the other girl to sit.
Chloe didn't move as she looked around the room. It was the first time she had ever been in the cave and somehow she wasn't really surprised to see that there were art supplies littering the entire area. It should have looked messy, had the area not been so large. It seemed to suit Rachel's personality perfectly. Eventually Chloe looked back to Rachel who was waiting quietly for the other girl to speak.
"Sorry Rachel. I came to ask you a couple questions about some dreams I've been having." She said shuffling her feet nervously. She knew the offer to sit was still open but she preferred to stand.
"What kind of dreams? You have to be more specific."Rachel said with a wave of her hand.
Chloe pursed her lips then finally sat in a squishy beanbag chain and proceeded to once again explain her dreams in more detail to Rachel who listened to her intently as she spoke. That was one thing Chloe liked about Rachel, she was a good listener. There had been times when Chloe had gone into the woods with various issues on her mind and wound up sitting with Rachel just talking for hours. Rachel never seemed to mind and hadn't said anything to dismiss that idea.
"Well that certainly is a bit concerning. I can see why you're so worried about it." Rachel said tucking her legs under her as she tried to get comfortable in her seat. "I don't really know what to tell you though. Something obviously had to be done about it but I can't hand out permission to go on quests. The gods might have to deal with this one on their own since Mr. D is away."
"But that's just the thing they can't handle it on their own. They're all too busy fighting about Artemis spontaneously having a kid." Chloe sighed.
"I would give you a prophesy if I could Chloe, that way you or someone else could go on a quest to solve this. But I don't decide when to give them. They just sort of come. But tell you what, if nothing is done about this soon I'll contact Apollo to see if we can do anything."
It was better than nothing, but not exactly what Chloe was looking for. She had no desire to go on a quest but she would have liked to hear that someone could have done something to help the situation. She thanked Rachel then got up to leave.
"Hey. Don't worry so much, I'll see you at the campfire later." Rachel said as she waved to Chloe as she left.
Chloe did see Rachel at the campfire, though not in the way she expected. It had started out as a relatively normal campfire, aside from the fact that Chloe was alienated from her two best friends who were sitting on the opposite side of the fire. She opted to sit with Connor and some of the other Hermes campers instead. Travis was absent from their group though, he had decided to sit with his girlfriend Katie, a pretty daughter of Demeter, instead.
The Apollo campers had just finished another song when Rachel stood suddenly from where she was sitting with Annabeth, Percy and Nico. The entire area went quiet as the familiar green mist of the Oracle spread around the fire. Everyone knew what was coming, it was rare that a Prophesy came in front of a group of people but now that it was coming no one was going to ignore it.
You shall go without fail to source of Discord
Daughter of moon and son of the dead's Lord
Together travel past realms of death and beyond
Through strife and toil forge an unbreakable bond
Beware young heroes of the serpent queen's feast
Escape quickly to have Harmony from her prison released.
As soon as the last word left Rachel's mouth the eerie green mist faded and Rachel's eyes cleared as she came back to herself. She blinked and looked around, realizing what had just happened.
Everyone was still quiet and Chloe felt various people look at her where she sat near the fire with the marshmallow she had been roasting on flames at the end of her stick. She must have looked entirely stupid sitting there with a burning ball of goo dripping into the fire. But it wasn't only her people were looking at; they were staring at Nico too. The prophesy had been pretty clear that it would be those two heading out on a quest together.
Dun Dun DUHHHHHHH.
I seriously need to sleep. I've been awake going on 24 hours, but I suppose that's what happens when you work the graveyard shift at the local coffee shop which just HAS to be open 24/7. Not that I'm complaining. I like working nights better than days. There are less crazy people to bug me.
Moving on! I would like to thank everyone viewing this story and if any of you have favorited or alerted it I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Unfortunately for some reason I can't tell who might have added Unbreakable to their faves or alerts because my Fanfiction account hates me and won't notify me of when people have done so. I don't even get reviews in my private messaging inbox and nothing is sent to my email (Even stories I have alerted myself to, I have to check them manually.) So yeah thanks to those guys who have done so and big thanks to anon for reviewing(again I had to go into my story page and manually check the reviews).
The next chapter may not come out for a little bit. Maybe like two weeks instead of one. I've been really busy lately and Chapter 4 isn't coming out the way I want it too. not to mention I have three other stories on the go... only one of which is posted right now. Anyway. Two weeks at the latest guys. Maybe sooner if you love me lots and review!
~Peter
