Chapter 5: No Ordinary Demigod
Author's POV
The sun has finally set and the pair decided to call it a day and camp in the forest, despite Aiden's complaining about why they can't just rent a motel. The two were just finished eating the deer they hunted. The fire danced in the woods, illuminating a small area of the dark forest where a pair of teenagers in hunting attires sat across each other.
There are a lot of things going through Thalia's mind right now as she was cleaning her arrows... Like what could have happened to Lady Artemis, and could just the 2 of them be able to arrive in time to rescue her. Also… there's one more thing that has been bugging her mind since yesterday, him.
She was running, granted she wasn't running at my full speed, she didn't need to, a hunter's casual running is more than enough to leave ordinary mortals in the dust. She was only several feet away from the lake, an absolute victory was upon her. But alas, she suddenly fell to the ground, feeling a sharp pain on her left feet, it has been scratched with an arrow. She thought it was one of the Apollo campers, but none of them was around at the time.
Even when the Hunters returned to the campsite, she still can't put my finger around it. Who could've shot her and from where? And then she saw his smirk and everything clicked.
But that's impossible, she had said to herself repeatedly. There's just no way he can hit her. The last time she saw him, he was way back in his post, and there's no way he managed to catch up to her.
"Did he shoot me from all the way over there?" she thought to herself.
"No, that is more unlikely! He is not a son of Apollo and even they can't shoot that good"
Now that she thought about it, she felt like there are a lot of things that seems off about Aiden. Possibilities running through her head, "He hasn't been claimed yet, he revealed his silver eyes out of nowhere, and willing to join what could be a life-threatening quest voluntarily despite not even having any relation to Lady Artemis. What if this is all part of his plan? What if he worked with the one who captured Lady Artemis? What if he's like-"
"So I've been thinking, what do you must do to be a Hunter?" Aiden's words snapped her from her thought.
"I mean, it's not like I can join the hunt, but I'm just curious about the requirement" He said again.
"As long you're female, you're in" She answered simply, "As long as you're female, Artemis will invite you to join the hunt. Which used to annoy me actually, back when I'm not a hunter" she continued.
"She will huh? Must be fun. Being asked to be a part of family the first time you meet someone." He said with a smile.
Thalia frowned again, maybe it's just her past, or the people she hangs out with, but she finds it weird that Aiden smiles a lot, a happy-go-lucky guy... Though, she does sense some layers to him that she can't seem to put her finger on.
"Well, at most occasions, those females have been abused, betrayed, or in some way hurt by males. That's why they're more than willing to join the hunt."
"I guess that's why they hate all males huh?" He said. "How about you? Have you ever been abused by a male before?" she knew this question was coming.
"Why? What's it to you?" She suddenly snapped at him. He was about to cross the line there.
She was expecting him to snap back at me. But instead… he just went quiet.
"Tell you what, I really like apple" He pulled out an apple from his bag. "But this one time I ate an apple and it's very bitter, apparently the apple is rotten… But I never stop liking apple since then" He said, taking a bite from the apple.
"And this one, is very sweet." he said again.
This time, she's the one who went quiet.
"Oh well, it's late, so Imma go to sleep." He said as he gets inside his tent, leaving me with my own thought.
Aiden's POV
Phew, we've done nothing but walking today. By my calculation, we should arrive at Statue of Liberty tomorrow noon.
Anyway, hearing stories about the Hunters really rely piqued my interest for some reason, I kinda wished I could be one (I know, I know, I have a penis, I can't join the hunt…). But it would be nice to be in a part of a family again. The closest thing I have to family is gone a long time ago….
"Damn, why am I thinking about this" I cursed to myself. "I'll just go to sleep…"
Only moments after I closed my eyes, I opened it again and found myself in a completely white room.
"What the, Where am I? Wasn't I just about to go to sleep just then..." I thought to myself.
"Wait a minute, am I in one of those dreams that you can control? This means I can create anything that I want!" I thought as I imagined a zombie apocalypse world.
"This is indeed your dream Aiden. But make no mistake, you can't control it." I heard a voice as a tall, muscular man wearing an ancient Greek armor with scratches and battle marks all over it, approached me.
"Um… Are you one of the zombies?" I said.
"Hahaha! I guess I kinda am… But no, as I said, you are not in control of this dream. I do." he said as he snapped his finger, and before I knew it, I have my wrist tied tightly to the arms of a chair.
"Wait, what the fuck?!" I shouted.
"Shush, you're talking too much. Let me introduce myself, I am Orion, the first male hunter".
Holy Shit! But why is he speaking clear English?!
"Wait, isn't Orion supposed to be dead?" I asked.
"Yep! That is true! Got shot right in the head" He said, tapping his helmet. "And that's why I've returned to make my revenge!" His voice suddenly turned grim.
"What?! So you're the one that captured Lady Artemis? Dude, How are you in my dream? Go to Thalia's dream! I'm just here to help" I exclaimed.
"The answer for your first question is: duh? The second is: I have my way, but that's not what you should be worried about right now" he said, slowly walking behind me.
He put his giant arms on my shoulders, "I'm here to give you a proposal" His voice turned serious again, "Join me. Together, we can be unstoppable!" He shouted.
"Now why would I want to do that? You're the bad guy" I said matter-of-factly.
"Sure, I'm the bad guy! Not the one who abandoned two of her significant other just because they're happened to be MALE!" He shouted in my face. Holy fuck, my ears are numb.
"What the Hades are you even talking about?" I asked.
"UGH, the amount of stupidity you have is unbearable! I'm talking about Artemis killing me and abandoning…." he stopped his sentence midway.
"Wait a minute, you don't know? Of course you don't know! HAHA! Of course! There's no way they'll tell you!" He started to laugh.
"Wait, what?! What are you talking about? What did they not tell me?!" I asked again.
"Forget I ever asked you to join me! No, It'll be more fun to destroy you! Tell you what, I'll spare her life until you come to me, it'll be more fun to kill her in front of you and that girl" he said as he gives a maniacal laugh.
"But that's only if you can survive this one." He snapped his finger and my eyes shot open.
I woke up from my dream, only to see that Thalia is on top of me, screaming.
"AIDEN! WAKE UP!" Just after she finished her sentence, a giant pincer grabbed her by the waist and pulled her out of my tent.
I quickly grabbed my bow and quiver and rushed outside. Outside, a 15 ft. Scorpion grabbing Thalia in one of its pincers.
My body was shaking at the sight of the giant Scorpion. I gulped, recalling a bad memory from when I was a child.
"Aiden! Don't just stand there!" Thalia's voice brought me back to the real world.
"Fuck it!" I cursed at myself.
I gritted my teeth and quickly shot several arrows to the beast, most of them just snapped after making contact with its hard skin, but I finally manage to give it a clean hit on the soft spot around his belly.
The monster dropped Thalia, but in turn, it got angry and swung his tail at me, knocking me yards away until a tree stopped me from flying further.
"Shit, that hurts!" I mentally screamed.
"Thalia! Use your bow!" I shouted after looking at Thalia, who was fighting the monster only with her hunting knife,
"Don't you think I would if could?!" She shouted back. "It was knocked away from my hand, I don't know where it went!"
"Fuck!" I cursed at myself again, I also lost my bow when that son of a bitch threw me.
I tried my best to come up with a plan as Thalia tries to hold back the monster.
"Little help here!" She shouted.
"I'm thinking!" I shouted back.
The gods seem to be on my side because just then, I found Thalia's bow and quiver. I quickly grabbed it and aim it to the giant scorpion.
"Please. Please. Just this one time, let me save my friend…" I mentally prayed.
And suddenly, I felt a surge of energy filled my body as the bow and arrow I was holding is glowing with silver aura. When I let go of the string, the feedback was so hard my hand trembled, it felt like shooting with a magnum.
The arrow flew with an impossible speed, it glowed with a blinding light, like a shooting star flying towards the monster. And almost as soon as it made contact with the giant scorpion, the beast just exploded, leaving a rain of blood.
"HOLY SHIT!"
And that'll be it for chapter 5. Please tell me what you think about it. (Don't worry, I won't make Aiden too OP).
Bye for now.
