Kal
Artemis stood in front of me with the hunters behind her. Leo held my hand. I looked at him, tears in my eyes.
"Leo, I don't have to do this." I said.
Leo looked at me. I could tell that this hurt him more than it did for me. I didn't want to have to leave him.
"Yes, you do. Tartarus visited me in a dream. If you don't do this, he would have used you to destroy Olympus. It hurts me to do this, and I know it'll hurt Percy even more, but it's the right thing. And Percy would've said the same thing. I'll take care of him for you." Leo said.
I quickly hugged him.
"I'm going to miss you." I said.
"Me too, Snowflake." Leo said.
Then I kissed him. I knew that the hunters were looking at me disgusted and Artemis turned her head. But I love him. And if I'm going to have to swear off love for guys, then I deserve one chance so that he knows.
"I love you." I said.
Leo stared at me in shock. Then I turned to the hunters, letting go of Leo.
"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt." I said.
"I accept." Artemis answered.
I didn't feel any different.
"It will take time for it to settle in. It'll be around night when it happens." Artemis said.
I turned and looked at Leo. He was staring at me.
"Goodbye." I said.
He remained silent. I walked to Artemis and the hunters. I followed them as we left camp half blood.
«««»»»
It was around evening when we stopped. The girls gave me some new clothes and I put them on. We had also stopped by a stream. Thalia smiled at me as she sat down.
"Hey." Thalia said.
"Hi." I replied.
"Artemis didn't make you choose this, you know." Thalia said.
"I know that. I'm doing this for Olympus. It's just that I didn't want to leave Leo behind. He's done so much for me and this is how I repay him? I wish I could've done more." I said, sighing.
Thalia was silent for a long time.
"Do you ever miss having guys around?" I asked.
"Sometimes I miss my brother and my friends, but I know that they're alright and that's enough. And you never had to swear off dating girls." Thalia answered.
"Yeah, well, I don't think I like most of the girls here. And Leo is the only one who ever loved me for who I was. Even though I'm a literal demon, he still loved me. Only Percy and Nico cared about me as much as he did." I replied.
Then, my head started to hurt. I figured that it was just a normal headache. But then my back started hurting. Then the pain engulfed my whole body. I screamed in pain.
I felt the horns on my head grow. It hurt like hell. Thalia ran and a moment later came back with Artemis. The rest of the hunters soon appeared.
"Shh, Kalake, let it happen. It's okay." Artemis said.
As she placed her hand on me, I felt calm. The pain had subsided a little but it still hurt.
The whole thing lasted five minutes but it felt like hours. Then, I passed out.
«««»»»
I woke up in Artemis' tent. She smiled at me when I sat up.
"Glad you're awake." She said.
Then, she waved her hand a mirror appeared. I was honestly shocked by my appearance. I still had big black wings, which made me happy. My black horns were gone and now a black crown was in my hair. A black and aquamarine crown sat on my head. My mismatched eyes were now a glowing sea green. And I was wearing a black crop top and black shorts. I had black leggings that stopped above my knees and black gloves that stopped above my elbow.
It was weird seeing me like this after getting used to my other appearance. I also noticed a silver glow surrounding me.
I closed my eyes and willed myself to change back. When I opened my eyes, I had brown hair, brown eyes, that same silver glow, and I was wearing the same outfit. The black wings and crown were both gone.
"Thalia has some clothes for you to borrow. You will be staying in the same tent as Kate." Artemis said.
"Who's Kate?" I asked.
"She's another hunter. Thalia will introduce you two after you change. Thalia's waiting outside." Artemis answered.
"Thank you, Lady Artemis." I said, bowing.
Artemis gave a little bow back to me. I then left her tent. Thalia smiled at me.
"Come on." She said.
She led me to what I guessed was her tent. She grabbed some clothes and gave them to me.
Then she turned her back allowing me to change. I quickly did just that. I was now wearing a grey tank top and short shorts.
"Okay, I'm good." I said.
Thalia then grabbed a sword and bow with a quiver of arrows and handed them to me as well.
"You're going to want weapons." Thalia said.
I nodded.
"Thank you." I said.
"No problem. Now let's go find your roommate." Thalia said.
«««»»»
Kate had long straight brown hair, caucasian skin, and brown eyes. She was very beautiful. She had on the same outfit as me, technically all the girls were wearing the same thing. Her scabbard was strapped around her waist like mine was except hers was short and empty as she cleaned the knife in the lake. Her bow and quiver were strung over her shoulder.
"Hey, Kate." Thalia said.
Kate stopped, pulling her knife out of the lake and looked at us. She smiled when she saw me.
"You must be Kalake." She said standing up and sheathing her dagger.
I nodded.
"I'll leave you guys to get settled. See you later." Thalia said, running off to go help some other hunters.
"Here, I'll show you to the tent." Kate said.
I followed her. She seemed pretty nice. But I could tell that there was a warrior under that nice facade. Let's just hope I don't get on her bad side.