A.N-I am so, so sorry I haven't updated in so long, but I've been at the shore and on evony (awesome and somewhat addicting) and just feeling too lazy to write. But I won't make you wait any longer, I will try to update all my in-progress stories today, so please bare with me. Thank-you so much for you patience and cooperation.
I double-checked my pack to make sure I had everything I would need: a week's worth of food and water bottles, that much of clothes, another pair of shoes, my bow and arrows, and my electric knives were a compartment in my hunting boots. I decided to carry Aegis; even the fiercest monsters wilted at the sight of the Gorgon's head.
We set out, Meghan and I, Will Solace and Rick Fourt of the Apollo cabin, Michael Biite and Chrissie Aker of the Selene cabin and Derek Smith and Arnold Moose of Helios. I had left my third-in-command, Leslie, in charge until we got back.
Since Meghan and I were Hunters and were best at surviving in the wild, we were in charge after Argus dropped us off in the city. We decided to go in the direction of the Empire State Building, where Olympus was, assuming that if the gods were anywhere, they were there.
We were wrong.
Meghan could usually actually sense Artemis, so she went in first. She came out just as quickly, shaking her head. We sighed, now at a loss as where to start.
"Is there something you need?"
We spun around, startled to see a woman there. She smiled at us, a sick smile that made me want to puke. I knew she couldn't be a normal mortal, but she looked normal; straggly brown hair, glittering black eyes, short, smooth legs covered by a plain black dress. But I looked past the Mist and saw her for who, or what, she really was. The hair and eyes remained the same, but suddenly she was older, with wrinkles on every inch of her skin. And if I really looked at her legs, I saw that they had a greenish tint to them, and then I reared back as I saw that where her legs should have been was a snake-like tentacle. She smiled wider when she saw that we knew what she was.
"Empousa?" Rick Fourt asked. Meghan shook her head, but didn't offer any other explanation. What else could there be? Then I caught sight of her fangs.
"Lamia," I breathed. I'd heard of her only through vampire myths and Greek monsters websites, but never did I think I would see one in person.
"That's right. But do not worry, I will not hurt you demigods. I am under the oath of the Styx, by order of Zeus Almighty." The way she said my father's name was scornful, sarcastic, and I didn't like it. I had drawn my bow and had an arrow notched in the time it took her to blink twice. My voice was cold as ice when I said,
"Don't disrespect my father like that, or I will kill you." Lamia laughed, an unpleasant sound that sent shivers down my spine, but I held still. I wasn't Artemis' lieutenant for nothing.
"I can do as I please, daughter of Zeus, nothing you can do or say will change my mind. I say and do and go as I please, not even the gods can stop me. The only one who has authority over me is myself, only I order me. That is the way it has been, is, and will be. I can disrespect your father and Lady as much as I want, they can do nothing to me. So kill me, let your arrow fly."
"Gladly." I said, and would have shot her right then and there if it had not been for the others. Meghan took my bow and Will was up behind me, making sure I didn't move. I could have taken them easily, but I had no wish to hurt my comrades. So I settled on glaring at Lamia when something she said clicked in my brain.
"If only you command yourself and the gods can not stop you, than how is it that you have sworn on the Styx not to harm us when my father told you?"
Lamia smiled her sick smile and, somewhat amused, answered me,
"I was in need of entertainment, but your father and the gods did not trust my word alone, and rightly so. I could have refused, and those vain and foolish gods could not do a thing, but I am intrigued as the rest to see how this story will end." Then she opened her mouth, and said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like the Oracle's,
You will find the gods where you began,
Toward the west, toward the dam.
Then Lamia straigtened up and disappeared in a trail of black smoke.
We looked at each other. What in Hades could that mean?
