Yay! Time to start updating again! To tell the truth, I could barely keep my sanity the week I wasn't writing. It's something in my nature to write, I guess. And I might not get a chapter on next week because I'm going to have to put some serious work into the next one, because I have a few things planned for it, but almost nothing else. So, please enjoy this chapter :)
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
Chapter Ten- Choices
We fought as we had never fought before. Harley and I slashed and dodged, and Ethan stabbed with the arrow he wielded. Levi tried his best to fight, but he wavered every now and then. Harley glanced at him nervously while trying to keep her eyes on the fight. Monsters turned to golden dust, but they just kept coming. Hellhounds were melting in from the shadows, while the giants seemed to just come from nowhere. We started off strong, but our strength and endurance started to ebb away slowly. The four of us were finally circled around a large oak, its gnarled roots seemed to wrap around our feet. We only had minutes before we were over taken.
A cyclopes's club swung around as Ethan tried to dart out to kill the thing, but it thwacked his head with a loud crack and he hit the tree. I reached down to check on him as the same club barely missed me. I turned Ethan over, but he was out cold. Anger started to boil inside of me as I saw blood trickle down his forehead. I stood up and put Isorropías into an attack position, but before I could charge at the cyclopes, I heard a sharp sound like ripping paper: A bow and arrow. I glanced over at Levi, but his magic weapon was still gone. I turned my attention back to the cyclopes, but where it once stood was a pile of sand with a club laying next to it. A silver arrow lay on top of the small dune.
Before I could wonder what had happened, the sound of a hunter's horn rang clearly through the night air. This startled the monsters, and they all turned around with a look of sheer terror on their faces. As quick as lightning, one of the giants whirled back around and grabbed me around the waist, squeezing the air out of me. I could barely hear myself think as my ribs started to crack.
The monster bellowed "I shall eat my last meal well and no demigod or Olympian can stop me!" He started to raise me to his crooked teeth, but before I could be swallowed, another silver arrow struck his hand and he dropped me. The giant bellowed in pain and gave us one last hateful look before turning to dust.
As I started to regain my breath after being dropped on my back, about a dozen girls emerged from the woods. They all had arrows notched, and seemed to be waiting for orders. A young woman in front who appeared to be the oldest nodded her head ever so slightly, and more arrows flew. We moved Ethan out of the way and hid behind a tree until the carnage stopped.
Harley was the first to step out. "Um… h-hi. Th-thanks for, er, saving us and—"
But she was cut off by another girl holding up her hand. She aimed another arrow, but this time is was at Harley. Our friend yelped as an arrow whizzed past her ear, but then we heard a different yelp. As we looked behind us, I figured out the arrow was aimed at a hellhound that was sneaking up for another attack.
We were stunned by the way the girls had such perfect aim and seemed to come from nowhere. None of us talked. None of us moved. We just stood there in a heavy silence until I heard a rustling sound next to me. Ethan had woken up and managed to crawl over and bow.
"Thank you, Lady Artemis." He croaked. At first I didn't think much except for the fact that my friend wasn't dead. Then something else dawned on me.
I looked at the girl in the lead, then at Ethan, then back at the girl. Levi seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. "W-wait," He said with a nervous laugh. "You're Artemis? Like, Artemis, goddess of the Hunt?"
The girl who had shot the arrow past Harley stepped forward. She had a proud light in her eyes and her hair had a silver circlet braded into it. "Ye shall not speak unless spoken to, boy. Lady Artemis answers neither to man nor boy—"
The girl in front—Artemis—held up her hand to hush her. The girl did not look happy about it, but she took a step back. The goddess didn't say anything, but she studied us intently. We decided it was safest to bow, so we knelt on the soft grass. I could feel her eyes on me, looking into my soul. It freaked me out at first; it was the same feeling I got whenever I was at the edge of Tartarus.
But this was different. It was like she was trying to figure me out so she could help me, not to manipulate me to do her will. After a few minutes she finally spoke in a tone that was a strange mix between entertainment and disdain. "Rise, demigods."
We got to our feet and waited for her to speak again. She fixed her eyes on Levi, who looked really uncomfortable with that. "Yes, boy, I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt and the moon." The goddess turned to the other girl. "Zoë, you and the others set up camp. I'm sure we will have some things to discuss."
"As you wish, my lady." The one named Zoë said, then she and the other girls bowed and drifted off.
Artemis turned her gaze back to me. "I'm sure we will have a lot to talk about, Shiloh Lawson, but for now, let us get you rested.
Camp took about five minutes to set up, each tent popping up from a tiny stick of what looked like gum. Camp fires roared and lit up the darkness, making the trees look even more menacing. I thought I could still hear howls and the sounds of monsters in the far off distance, but the silvery wolves protecting the camp finally helped my nerves calm down, and it seemed that my friends' did too.
The other hunters seemed nice enough, well, at least to us girls.
"So, how does this whole magical hunter immortal thingy work anyway?" Levi asked one of the girls.
The hunter sniffed. "Like boys would understand!"
"Gosh! Sorry, I didn't realize this is such a touchy subject!"
Another glare at the boy "vermin." Harley gave her a raised eyebrow as if she was prodding her on. The hunter sighed and put a hand on Harley's shoulder. "Artemis will explain tomorrow." She gave a reassuring nod.
"I know." She smiled at the girl than gave me a knowing look. I figured she knew something that I didn't.
We stared at the camp fire in silence as a strange looking piece of meat roasted over it. "Um… does that have… feathers?" I pointed to the meat.
The hunter looked at me and chuckled. "It would be best not to ask. By the way, the name's Isabella Samson, but you can just call me Bell." She introduced herself.
I coughed. "Samson, you say?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Daughter of Aphrodite?"
She looked at me suspiciously, but nodded her head. "Yes. Why, do you find it strange that I would exchange love, my mother's domain, for eternal maidenhood?"
"Well, yeah, I find that kind of weird. But that's not what I was thinking. Do you by chance have a sister? Vanessa?"
Isabella's face darkened for a second, then she tried to steer our conversation in a different direction. "Hmm… it was a tough thing. You know, joining the Hunt. My mother said that renouncing love was like renouncing her. She disowns me." Her voice got tight. "But no matter, it looks like dinner is ready."
The meat tasted like a strange mix between chicken and beef. It wasn't bad, but I was too scared to ask what it was. Ethan apparently wasn't. "So… what is this stuff? It's actually pretty good."
Before they answered his question, the other hunters looked at each other. One smirked and nodded at Isabella. "Harpy." Our new friend stated bluntly.
Levi coughed. "'Scuse me?"
Bell turned to Levi. "That's what I said, boy, it's harpy meat. Are you deaf?"
His response to that was spitting out the bite he had in his mouth and wiping his tongue. "Ew! That's disgusting, man! How could you eat that stuff? And why do you keep calling me boy, as if that's some kind of curse?"
A girl in the back stood up. The one named Zoë, I think. "First of all, boy, we do not answer thy questions, nor shall you call us man. And it is a curse to be of thy gender." She spat on the ground. "And harpy meat is fine; I do not understand what you have against it."
Levi just looked at Ethan and shook his head. "What is her problem?"
Ethan shot him a warning look. "Don't test them, Levi."
"What? You've got to be kidding me! They're just a bunch of girls!"
"They may be girls, but they have magical bows and some serious skills. He's serious, do not test them." Harley looked at her brother.
Before Levi could argue, Zoë sniffed and put her chin up. "I suggest that thou listen to thy friend's and sister's well spoken counsel. Ye have no chance to our ranks."
Levi listened and stopped talking. This seemed to please Zoë and she sat back down. "Males never learn."
After all the pressure of being on the run and being tired out of his mind, Ethan snapped. "You know what, lady?" He walked over to Zoë and got real close to her. "I don't care if you are or are not Artemis's first lieutenant. I don't care how old you are or what you've got against boys. But I'm sick of it! Get over yourself, why don't you?"
Zoë looked too stunned to respond. She finally recollected her thoughts and stood up menacingly. The silvery glow around her seemed to radiate stronger. Then the scariest part came. She drew her bow out of nowhere like Levi would and notched an arrow straight at Ethan. He stood there and stared her in the eye, unwavering, daring her to shoot. After a few tense moments, she lowered her bow and sighed. "Ye have nerve, boy. Now sit back down if you would rather not have an arrow in thy face."
Instead of doing what she said, he huffed and stormed off to the tent he thought was his. A scream came from inside and he came out red faced. "Wrong tent." Was all he said as he stomped off to the right one.
Levi must've felt weird being the only guy around the fire, so he left to follow Ethan almost right away. But I noticed that as he walked, his body swayed like his legs were too weak to carry his own weight. This bothered me a little.
After about five minutes of silence, Harley and I decided to turn in for the night. Besides, my appetite didn't quite stick around when I found out about the harpy meat. Isabella showed us to our tent, and when we walked inside, my breathe was taken away.
The walls were silvery silk, but were as hard as bricks. The room was furnished with comfortable looking throw pillows and cots for us to sleep in. There was even a jug filled with cold water completed with little paper cone cups. Isabella wished us a good night and left.
Once she was gone, Harley plopped down on a cot and sighed wearily. She looked older and tired, like life wasn't worth it.
"What's wrong?" I asked softly as I sat down next to her.
"I don't know, Shiloh, I just don't know any more."
I gave her a puzzled look and she chuckled lightly. "We just need to recollect ourselves. We had a near-death experience and we all need some sleep." She had a faraway look in her eyes, probably remembering some of her own bad experiences.
"Hmm… Ethan didn't say much tonight. Something's bothering him. He seemed to be somewhere else in his mind." I pondered out loud.
Harley considered this, then sighed. "We all are, Shi, we all are."
Sleep was okay, and the cots were impossibly fluffy. No dreams tormented us, well, at least me, I don't know about Harley. But anyway, we were woken up by Zoë telling—excuse me, I mean demanding—us to get up.
"Get dressed and presentable as fast as possible, then come to the tent at the end. Lady Artemis does not permit tardiness."
We were wondering what she meant, but we didn't try to argue. We made our selves "presentable" as Zoë had said, and headed down to the tent on the end.
When Harley and I walked inside of the biggest tent, it was even more amazing then ours. Animal pelts and heads hung on the walls; all sorts of skins lied on the ground, making a sort of fuzzy rug. Silver pillows were scattered across the floor, and in the middle sat Artemis. We bowed and she gestured for us to sit down. Before she said anything though, she looked us up and down, seeming to read our thoughts. This was the first time we actually got a good look at the goddess.
She was beautiful in a strange, un-human way. Her auburn hair was braided over her shoulder, and her big silvery yellow eyes were like moons. She looked about sixteen or so, but I couldn't quite tell; there was an ageless look about her. A spotless white dress hung about her, with some small skins tucked into her belt. When she finally started talking, her words came out softly, like the wind whistling through an autumn night.
"Shiloh, Harley. I see in both of you the ability to achieve greatness, but your fates… you must choose your own." Her voice became solemn, still, like she was speaking at a funeral.
We were both confused, and Harley spoke first. "But what is our fate? I mean, why did you bring us together? Like, Shiloh and I, with you?"
The goddess nodded her head, like it was a fair question. "Harley, you know why you are here. Now it's your time to decide. Remember what I told you before."
"What does she mean? What do you have to decide? How do you know each other?" I asked Harley. I had no idea what she was talking about or how they had met before.
Harley looked at me sadly. "Shiloh, I met the goddess before, years ago."
"B-but… Levi didn't know who she was!" I waved my hand at Artemis.
"Levi wasn't with me at the time… it was a dark time in our lives, and my brother and I… we weren't always together…"
"Yes," The goddess agreed. "I came to try to help her, but I soon released that it wasn't her time yet."
Things started piecing together in my mind. "Wait a second, you mean… you're offering us t-to be your… eternal handmaidens? To be Hunters of… of Artemis?"
She nodded. This was overwhelming. An Olympian wanted me—a worthless, unclaimed camper—to be by her side forever? This was the chance of a lifetime… I would gain much, but also give up much. I wasn't sure what to say, but Harley apparently did. She kneeled on one knee and put her head down. I knew Harley would politely reject the offer. She wouldn't leave her brother and me, or even Ethan. She wouldn't! I knew I couldn't, but before I could cross my fingers she started talking.
"My Lady, to your gracious offer… my answer—"
Her answer was cut off by Zoë yelping and yelling something very rude in ancient Greek. Artemis raised an eyebrow and we all turned around.
There in the doorway was Ethan, his face ashen with fear and panting out of breathe. He ignored Zoë and turned to us. Worry clouded his eyes, and he had to find his voice before he could say anything.
"Harley! You have to come outside now! It's Levi—" His voice cracked.
Harley shot up immediately. "What is it?"
Ethan shook his head woefully and looked at her with sadness. "H-he's dying."
A/N: Ooh, another cliffie! What's gonna happen! Review and let me know what you think!