I was going so fast that I couldn't feel it. What was happening? Everything was black… but of course, it always is for me.
The sensation came to a stop. I almost fell over, but I managed to right myself. "Where are we?" I asked.
"Camp Half-Blood," responded Piper. "Gods, that must have been hard for Nico."
"Who's Nico?" I asked again. "What just happened?"
Oliver whispered something in Piper's ear. Unfortunately, I knew what it was—something like, She's blind; go easy on her. I groaned. "Who's Notus?" I asked. "Why does he want us?"
"He thinks you stole Apollo's Golden Bow or something or other," Piper explained. "Ever since he's been stuck on Earth… bad things have happened." Her voice quavered a little. "I don't know how you had gotten up to Olympus, though."
She grabbed my wrist. "You're probably going to be staying here for a while now. We've got to get you fitted with a weapon."
"Wait, what?" I asked as she guided me somewhere. "Why am I here?"
I got another vision. The place must have had an aura or something. I could see what Camp Half-Blood looked like. It was pretty, somehow. I shook my head vigorously, trying to erase the funny tingling feeling from my mind.
"What was that?" Piper asked.
"I got a vision," I responded. Normally, I wouldn't trust her, but her voice was just so… alluring… ugh! What was I thinking?
"It happens to me sometimes," I continued. "I don't know if it's supposed to happen… but it does."
Piper hesitated before responding. "A vision… You must be a daughter of Apollo. It makes sense."
"Apollo?" I repeated. "Are you talking about the space thing? I'm terrible with that—"
"No, no," she cut in. She had stopped walking at this point, we must be at where she wanted us to be. "The god of music, prophecies, and the sun… pretty much the wild card."
"My name means 'sight of the sun'," I told her. "Does that help?"
I think Piper smiled, but still, I couldn't see. "Yes. 'Donoma' is pretty much the perfect name for a daughter of Apollo."'
She led me into a building. "This is the armory," she informed me before I could ask. I had probably been asking too much. "This is where you'll get your primary weapon."
Piper gave me something. I felt it. It was a curved rod, with a string attached on either end. "Is this a bow?"
"Yeah," Piper said. She gave me a leather pouch. "And here are the arrows."
I felt the quiver. "Aren't I supposed to shoot this or something? I don't know if I can do that."
"It's okay," reassured Piper. "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, I'm probably not supposed to fight. But I do anyway. You can use a sword if you want to."
She handed me a sword. I was careful not to grab the sharp end. I struck outwards, being sure not to hit Piper, based on the direction her voice was coming from. "What if I accidentally stab myself?"
"Hopefully that doesn't happen. I guess you want a weapon that isn't sharp?"
I rubbed my arm. "I don't know if I want to fight."
"You might have to if you want to go on a quest for the Golden Bow."
I groaned. "This seems so… planned out. You want me to go on a big heroic quest—I bet you've done it before. But I'm not worthy of it! I'm not supposed to be a hero. You are! I'm blind! I don't know if I can do this."
Piper rested her hand on my shoulder. "You can have a little time if you want to think," she said kindly. "Come on. Let's go to the festivities."
-o0O0o-
Piper led me off to the Apollo Cabin. He handed me off to someone named Will. I said swiftly, "I'm blind."
"That's fine," Will said. His voice was soothing. "We've had a couple cabinmates who were blind or deaf."
I was shocked. "You have?"
"Yup," he replied. "Chiron has said so. Let's go to the activity for today. We have free choice."
"What are the options?" I asked him.
Will thought. "We've got arts and crafts with the Hephaestus cabin, canoe races with the naiads, or rock climbing with the satyrs.
I frowned. "All of those seem to involve seeing things. Can't I just go home?"
Will hesitated. If I could see him, he would probably be surprised at that request. Hey, you mortals who all wish you were demigods, you would probably want to stay at Half-Blood forever. Me? Not so much.
"I'm sure you could, if you really wanted to," Will said after a moment. "But why don't you at least try out the activities first? You might like them."
I shrugged. Why not?
-o0O0o-
No. I'm not telling you about every single activity, every single bit. I lost at everything. Happy?
I never got claimed. Will reasoned that it was because my dad was a little… busy.
I couldn't sleep that night. It was hard, with all the crashing waves, and seagulls, and Ares kids secretly practicing combat in the dark. Eventually, I got up, tried to right myself, and headed out… somewhere. I thought it would tire me out.
Luckily, I got a small vision, for maybe three seconds. I turned myself towards the beach and walked until I was ankle-deep in the water. No, I'm not a daughter of Poseidon. What? I like the feeling.
After maybe two or three minutes, I got another vision. Or so I thought.
The moon was high in the sky. I loved being able to see everything again. But after maybe ten seconds, I knew that this wasn't a normal vision.
That's when Artemis came.
Yeah, Artemis.
But she was an eight-year old, so I wasn't really that impressed when she came up to me.
Will had told me about every major god and goddess. He said that Artemis usually appeared in this form. I said/asked, "You're Artemis."
It would have been weird if it was just a random kid, and she said, "No, my name is Bella. Can you help me find my mommy?"
Thankfully, it was. I didn't know what to say. I blurted, "How can I see?"
She smiled. "I allowed you to see. But it is only temporary, while I visit you."
Everything spilled out of my mouth. "Why can't you let me see permanently? You're a freaking goddess."
"Hold your tongue," said Artemis. It was weird, hearing it from an eight-year old.
I sighed. "Fine, but why aren't you with your Hunters?"
"Thalia will take care of them." She radiated a silver aura. "So, you're going to go on a quest."
"I don't know." I picked up a pebble and let it skip across the water. "I'm not ready."
"Oliver and Dean have been training," she informed me.
I blinked. "Oliver! How is he?"
"He's doing well. But I have come to you for other things." She held out a notecard. "Read this. I'll let you have your vision for another two hours. Enjoy it. But one more thing."
Artemis held out a golden disc and gave it to me. "What's this?" I asked.
I pressed the button on the disc. It expanded, growing in size largely, until it was the size of a huge shield. "This weapon works for both offense as well as defense," Artemis said to me.
I was going to say something to her, but she said, "Use it well," and dissipated into a cloud of silver disc.
I shrunk the shield by pressing the button again. What did she mean? What exactly did she want me to use well?
I didn't know. I don't remember if I walked back to my cabin, or fell asleep on the beach, but I didn't even read the notecard before wasting my sight and drifting off to my dreams.
A/N: Gasp! What does it say on the notecard? What did Artemis what Donoma to use well? Please review if you liked the story! (Oh my gods, I was going to say, "Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Don't forget to ring the bell icon!" Who have I become?)
