I felt the warm cement heated by the sun behind my head. I could feel something painfully cold on my forehead. I could feel the point of the shard of glass jabbing into my arm. But I didn't open my eyes. I was so drained of energy that it felt like opening my eyes was more work than pushing a rock up a mountain for all of eternity.

"Tabbatha," I muttered, trying to turn my head.

Tabbatha sighed. "Phoebe, you scared half to death." She paused for a moment, then said, "No, actually, you scared me three quarters of the way to death. How could you pass out like that?"

"Oh, you know. It's just like falling asleep, only—" something fell into my mouth, stopping me mid-sentence. "What the Hades?" I sputtered, cracking my eyelids a fraction of a centimeter open with great effort.

I saw Tabbatha hovering over me, holding a large white paper cup with crude doodles on it. "McDonalds shake," she said, putting it in my hand. "Chocolate."

"And you bought this, because…?" I asked, pulling to my lips and drinking it slowly.

"Hey," she shrugged. "I had to get something to wake you up."

That made me realize what was so cold on my forehead. "You poured a milkshake on my face to wake me up?" I asked, reaching up to find that the top of my head was really sticky.

"Well, I would've gotten water, but I was in the mood for a milkshake."

I stopped drinking and looked down at the straw. Slowly, I set it down on the pavement.

Tabbatha cracked a smile and pulled me up.

"Thanks for shooting that arrow," I said, once I was sitting up. I scratched at my arm, which I realized was a mistake because my arm became aware it's newly acquired piercing and seemed to catch on fire with pain.

Tabbatha gaze me a confused blonde stare (even though she's not that type of blonde). "I didn't shoot any arrow."

"Then who did?" I asked. I looked around, suddenly getting a feeling that we were being watched.

"I did," said a voice from above us.

I looked up deftly fast, which I immediately regretted, figuring out that my neck wasn't in shape for that.

Above us, a girl was sitting in the crook of a tree. Her hair was Auburn with silver threads braided in. There was a spray of brown freckles across her face. She had this weird silver glow surrounding her, shining the same way that the moon did, which was strange to be seeing in the noontime sunlight.

Tabbatha and I exchanged looks. My look said, "Who the heck is that?" and her look answered with, "I think it's a stalker. We should run."

The girl swung down, landing on her feet like a cat. "I couldn't ignore two girls in need of help."

I didn't quite believe that, because there were A LOT of girls that I knew at camp that weren't helped by this stalker person when they were in trouble; like one that got attacked by a minotaur, or a Cyclops, or two six-year-olds getting attacked by a freakish snake thingie.

The girl smiled offered her hand to us. "I think you might have heard of me. Artemis? Goddess of the hunt?"

"Oh…" said Tabbatha, cocking a brow. "Well that explains that."

"Explains what?" asked Artemis with the same confused blonde look that Tabbatha had.

I shook my head. "Don't question it," I said. "Just smile and nod like you understand what she's talking about."

Artemis nodded. "Right…" she said. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you girls."

"Wow, you're the third god this week to want that," I said, propping up onto my knees.

Tabbatha hit me in the back of the head, which blurred my vision because of this fragile state I was in.

Artemis gave a lopsided smile. "Well, you are the biggest buzz on Olympus since Percy."

"Right," I said. "Isn't he in Zeus's death note, too?"

"Why, yes. Yes he is."

Tabbatha closed her eyes and breathed through her nose. "Anyway…" she said slowly. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"Well, I know of your quest to retrieve Zeus's eagle, and I know of dad's planning to kill you both."

"Check," I said, clamoring up to my feet, clinging to Tabbatha's shoulder.

"I have an offer for you girls." She smiled. "I'd like to offer you two spots in the huntresses."

Tabbatha's jaw dropped. I just clammed up and froze. Artemis just kept on talking about the reasons why joining is a good choice for us. Neither of us said anything.

Artemis frowned once she finished her advertisement. "What do you say?" she asked, looking worried. I could tell that she was thinking something like 'these two idiots are not about to just give this opportunity, are they?'

I closed my eyes leaning on Tabbatha for support. Something whispered in my ear. It was so hard to depict, but what I heard went something like, "Don't do it."

Was it the wind? I brushed back my hair, trying to hear. Something inside me was screaming at me at the same time. Suddenly, it came to me: I couldn't say yes to this. The blood pumping through my veins, the beating of my heart, and my racing pulse all told me what they wanted. They wanted me to stand there in a white dress at the alter, saying "I do." I looked down, memorizing each speck of dirt beneath my feet. "I can't," I whispered, barely audible to my own ears.

Artemis jerked back, as if slapped. "You… can't?"

Tabbatha seemed to know what to say from there. "We both can't. We have to do this… We killed the eagle together. We ticked Zeus off like Hades together. We have to get that eagle and set things right. We can't just escape our problems by joining the hunt."

Artemis nodded. "I… I understand," she choked. She managed a smile so forced, that she looked like she wanted to stab us both. "That's… alright. It's your… choice." We both knew that instead of saying "choice," she was thinking something a little more along the lines of "funeral."

She began to glow, without so much as a goodbye. We averted our eyes quickly.

The light that Artemis gave off when she disappeared was different from the kind that we felt when Hera or Hermes disappeared. It was more like firelight. It was burning, angry fire. My hair stood on end, and it was like the hairs on my arms singed off. Once she was gone and we were alone, I heard a clatter against the pavement. Looking down, I immediately saw what it was: the shard of glass that was caught in my skin.

"We're idiots, aren't we?" I asked, wiping an eye.

Tabbatha shrugged. "We were idiots ten years ago, and we're still idiots today. Some people can't get over their stupidity, and we're no exception."

I nodded, thinking about it as something that the oracle would say or… Yoda.

"Come on," said Tabbatha, pulling me to the car. "We may be idiots, but we're idiots with a Porsche! That's gotta count for something."

I wished it did count for something. I really wished it did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Phoebe- We did it!

Tabbatha- Tell them what we did!

Phoebe- We updated!

Tabbatha- This calls for a celebration!

(Both look at each other and shrug)

Both- Now if she moves like this, will you move it like that, come on! Shake, shake, shake, shake-a, shake it.

Shake shake shake shake-a shake it! Shake shake shake shake-a shake it!

Both- (Randomly start doing the Macarena)

Phoebe- Anyone who reviews will get a free hug from Alvin and the Chipmunks!

Tabbatha- No, it should be a free hug from the Teletubbies!

Phoebe- (Stares) Why the Teletubbies?

Tabbatha- So that you can reach into their pocket and steal their wallet. It must take some really expensive surgery to have a television wired into your stomach.

Phoebe- True, very true….