Bell's POV

As Jake walks into one of the smaller tents (I think the Hunters did that on purpose), I notice the twelve year old girl who was the one talking to him. The moment they went out of earshot to talk, everyone grew quiet to listen, but I couldn't really here anything. Either way, they seemed really mad at each other.

So that's Jake's sister, the girl who never said goodbye.

I realize there's no room for her to sit, so I force Dylan off the log and signal the girl that she can sit beside me.

"Well, what do I do, then?" Dylan asks me as he stands instead of sits.

I shrug. "Go somewhere else." Dylan just tries to chat with some Huntresses across the campfire.

When I beckon Jake's sister over, she smiles politely and sits down.

"Thanks," she tells me. "I was worried I'd have to continue to stand."

I politely smile back, unsure of what to say, as she asks, "So, are you going to join the Hunters?"

My smile gets firmer, since I'm now forcing it. "Oh, I'm not sure, yet. We're on a quest, right now, for Camp Half-blood."

She leans in to whisper, "You should. All you have to do is recite an oath, and if Lady Artemis accepts it, then you become a Hunter. All you really need to do is not fall in love, which isn't hard at all."

I raise my eyebrows. "Artemis?"

"Yes. She is right there-" Willow points to another twelve year old looking girl, who's speaking to Thalia.

"How come I haven't met her yet? In the tent, I mean." I ask, my smile fading.

"Oh, she was, um, doing much important business, on her own, while you were in the tent speaking to the first-lieutenant."

I cross my arms, still a bit cold, even if I'm wearing Jake's sweater. It smells like him, but I can't help keeping my mind from wandering that maybe some the cold is because of the poison in my arm. I remember Thalia seeing it, but she looked at my arm as if there was nothing she could do. I wouldn't blame her.

"I never caught your name, by the way."

I shiver. "It's Bell. And you're Jake's sister, right? Willow?"

She slightly shakes her head. "Half-sister, we have the same mother. Jake doesn't understand. He told you how I became a Hunter of Artemis, yes?" I nod while she continues. "I knew that once Malcolm would get Jake to that Camp, I wouldn't be accepted, because I was a mortal. Jake was unpredictable about me, and I wasn't sure what he'd do with me. Once we met the Hunters, they said I wouldn't have to worry if I joined them, that I wouldn't be alone. So I did, I became a Huntress.

"What Jake thought of as 'stupid,' I found a home. He still doesn't seem to understand. When I left for the Hunters, he said I'd begin to change, as in, the way I speak and how I would see things differently if I joined. Like I said, he doesn't understand.

"Bell, let me tell you something: becoming a Huntress was something I wouldn't change if I'd have the chance. You can ask Lady Artemis herself; it's worth it. Maybe if you have a sibling, perhaps a brother, then you'd understand."

I shake my head. I wasn't sure when Phoebe asked if I wanted to join them, and I'm still not sure now. "How 'bout I give you all a call when I'm sure of myself," I reply sarcastically.

Willow stands up suddenly. "That'll do! Follow me, I believe Thalia has the cards."

My eyes widen with surprise as Willow pulls me to a stand. Is she serious?

We walk over to Thalia, who Dylan seems to be trying to speak to, and Artemis, I guess.

"Hello, Lady Artemis," Willow greets as she slightly bows her head respectively to the goddess. "Bell, here," she gestures towards me, talking to Thalia now, "wanted a business card."

Thalia raises her eyebrows while Artemis turns to face me. I take a gulp as she speaks, "You're not sure of yourself becoming a Huntress?"

Okay, honestly, I don't know how to respond to some twelve year old girl who's apparently a goddess and has the power to smite people down with her magical forces and turn them into something like a rabbit. Honestly.

"Um, no?" I try hard enough to make that not sound like a question.

Willow hands me the card that Thalia gave her, and Dylan stays questionably silent, standing next to Thalia. Apparently the business card came with a brochure, also. Interesting.

"I can assure you," Artemis tells me. "You will not regret becoming a Hunter. What's your name?"

"Bell."

"I won't forget you, Bell. Maybe you should go to sleep now. It's getting late."

I nod, and Willow offers to show me the tent that I'll be going in for the night, which so happens to be next to the tent I saw Jake walk into earlier.

"Maybe we should give you some supplies, first, for that quest." Willow tells me.

She leaves while I stay a safe distance away from the Huntresses, still at the campfire, and wait. I don't know about the Hunters of Artemis. They seem happy, I guess. I'll think about it.

When Willow comes back and hands me a silver backpack (filled with nectar, ambrosia, water bottles, some flashlights, et cetera, et cetera), I thank her and walk into the large-interior tent.

Before going to sleep, though, I hold up one of the flashlights to the brochure. Examining it, it shows the life of a Huntress, and maybe a few exaggerations of how immortal life is better without boys. What's up with these girls and no male living organism to come within their line of hearing?

I shrug to myself and stuff the brochure inside our new backpack, (if you didn't know, our old one got left with those telkhines). Reluctantly, I fall asleep, the thought of my life as an immortal Huntress being the last I think about.

Dylan's POV

Ever since Bell kicked me off the log, I decided to maybe start a conversation with the Huntresses. So far, I've failed miserably. When I walked over to who was apparently Thalia, the first-lieutenant, and Artemis (yes, the goddess), they just completely shut me out.

That should just about summarize how the Hunters of Artemis treat "my kind," (or so what one of them called me and my universal gender).

When Bell left to go to her own tent, (seriously, Jake and I have to share one of the smallest tents known to mortal-kind when Bell gets her own?), I decided to stay with Thalia and Artemis. Bug them even more, maybe.

Even if they still ignored me, I was able to listen in on their conversation that included whispering and big hand gestures.

"Does the girl not seem familiar to you?" Artemis asks.

Thalia slightly nods her head. "I was worried about that. Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Lady Artemis?"

The goddess nods with a frown. "It can't be Zoë. I put her in the sky, remember?" She takes a quick glance at the clouds, which is still making snow fall. "It can't be Zoë."

Thalia scrunches her eyebrows, her striking blue eyes with worry. "I thought this isn't supposed to happen! Not in the same time period!"

"Bell would be a good Huntress, I know that," Artemis points out. "Try to recruit her, Thalia, and see what happens. She's already, what age? Sixteen? A very good Hunter, yes. Show her the true side about Willow's brother, and you can recruit the girl."

Thalia tries to ease her expressions. "I will, m'lady. What'd you even say to his dad?"

"I told that idiot twin-brother of mine to take back what he created. That demigod is just a lie given to poor Bell. He'll betray her, I know that."

Thalia's expression unmistakably hardens at that. She's swift at changing the subject: "And when do you think we'll get to California?"

"I would say maybe ten days. If only I could transport you all faster."

"And how bad do you think it is there? Do the camps know?"

Artemis shakes her head. "Of course the camps don't know. The situation is only minor; nothing of such importance to warn them. We'll be able to handle it."

Thalia then glares at me with her startling blue eyes, probably realizing that I was eavesdropping, and I make up my mind right then: don't mess with her.

I make sure to leave them right away, and swiftly make my way to the tent Jake's in. I need to let him know what they were talking about, how their planning on making him look bad, and that their keeping something from us.

I don't really mind between Jake and Bell (anymore) as much. About a week after we found out Bell had poison in her arm, we sorta straightened things out. Actually, it seemed as if we both had the same idea, because we confessed to each other how we thought we should just be friends at the same time. Since then, neither have us really tried to make a move on each other. Instead, we've just been close friends. Yeah, honestly, I still have feelings for her, but that's never gonna happen. . . But that doesn't mean I can't stop trying, right?

I lie myself down on the sleeping bag next to Jake's and fall asleep, forgetting what I was originally coming in here for.