Artemis PoV

I sat on my elaborate throne in the ornate council room and, like many of my I colleagues, attempted not to fall asleep as my father rambled on about new changes he was making.

My father. He was the king of the gods. Lord Zeus, the god of the sky. Daddy dearest. Or, as I preferred to think of him, supreme jackass.

"...and lastly, since Cornelius has been so heroic, he is to take Artemis's hand in marriage," he finished.

"What?" I questioned. "No! I am not going to marry him!"

"Why not?" My father asked. "He's a hero!"

I grumbled. "Well, among other things, such as his awful attitude, his name is Cornelius. What kind of name is that?"

The other Olympians were beginning to awaken from their meeting-induced dazes at this point.

"You will marry him, Artemis, and if I hear anything else to the contrary you will be banished!" Zeus roared.

"Father, that's ridiculous!" I argued. "You promised you would never force me into a marriage!"

"Things have changed," he responded. "You can't seem to watch your tongue, so I'm going to move forward with that punishment. I hereby revoke your immortality, banish you from Olympus, and forbid you from contacting your hunters! We'll see if that attitude of yours has calmed down in a couple of years."

My brother and I stared at our father, mouths agape.

"Father," he protested. "That punishment is unfair! My worst punishments have been temporary mortality at the demigod camp!"

My father snapped his fingers, and suddenly I was knocked on my ass in a dirty alley of what I hoped was Manhattan.

I stood up and brushed myself off upon noticing what looked to be the old needle of a homeless junkie.

Before I had made it even halfway out of the alley, Ares appeared and pushed me against the wall. "You know, I could help you out if you helped me out."

I swallowed hard, quickly thinking up a plan. "I want something first as an assurance; my special compass."

The piggish god handed me the important tool and stepped back. "Now, that thing I want."

I squatted down quickly, grabbed the old needle, and stabbed him in the bulging vein on his neck.

Ares yelled in pain and I sprinted out of the alley with my compass.

Once I felt that he couldn't possibly have followed me, I ducked into a shop and opened my compass.

To my surprise, I was already where I needed to be.

My plan was to get through the Labyrinth to the Greek demigod camp, where I would hideout in my cabin until my father calmed down and restored my immortality.

I pressed on the triangular indentation on the wall and it lit up blue, morphing into a delta before the wall slid to the side.

After I stepped into the Labyrinth, the wall slid closed behind me.

The passage was dimly lit with dying torches, and I saw a celestial bronze dagger in the hands of a skeleton.

Holding in a gag, I removed the dagger from the skeleton and sheathed it in my boot.

I grabbed a torch from the wall and consulted my compass.

I continued to navigate the living maze and was surprised when I didn't run into monsters at every corner.

When I did eventually encounter them, they would be especially bloodthirsty, seeing as how over the millennia I had killed almost every monster at least once.

Of course, as soon as I thought this, a hellhound appeared in front of me.

I slipped my compass in my pocket and pulled out my dagger, prepared to fight.

Perhaps I was made mortal, but I was still a huntress.