A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed my story, especially WindowChild and Storm-Brain. I needed the Constructive Criticism, and yours helped a lot. I have made an agreement with myself to proofread all of my following chapters a minimum of 3 times (Since proofreading it once didn't seem to catch all of the errors). Hopefully that will make it easier for you to read. Also, some people wondered why I had named the protagonist Belle, instead of some kind of a Greek name. I had originally had Artemis give her child the name Belle because of the Italian word bella, which means beautiful. Also, I will continue to do my best to make sure that I do not make Artemis too OOC, or Bella too Mary Sue-ish. But please, please, don't hesitate to give me CC. I want this fic to be the very best it can be, and for that I need your reviews! Happy reading! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Belle opened her eyes to find herself on the floor of the throne room in Olympus. 12 gigantic human forms stared back at her. Belle had never imagined the gods to be so…huge. They looked about 15 feet tall. Belle turned to spy her mother. It felt weird to say that. In all of her years of wondering and waiting, Belle had never imagined that it would be her mother who was the Olympian. For some reason, having an immortal mother always seemed foreign to her. After all, how exactly did they give birth?

Artemis stepped forward, and then shrank drastically in size. So did the rest of the gods and goddesses. Belle assumed it was because they didn't want to frighten her, although from the scene she had just seen while she was at camp, she had to wonder if they even thought about that. Artemis walked calmly towards Belle, before stopping in front of her. Belle was truly surprised. She had always heard of Artemis as a wonderful fighter, and powerful. Belle had never imagined her to look like a 12 year-old.

"Hi –mom," Belle managed to squeak out through her suddenly dry lips.

"Hello, Belle." Artemis replied in a soothing voice that reminded Bella of the howling of wolves; of the kill, swift and fast. "We meet again."

Many questions swirled around Belle's mind, engulfing her thoughts. There were so many things she wanted to know. Who was her father? Did she have any relatives through him? Are you mad at me? Why did you never talk to me? She opened her lips to ask, but no voice came tumbling out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Belle," said the goddess, "I should have claimed you years ago. I just had…so many differen-."

"ARTEMIS!" The loud bellow came from Apollo. He had now gotten off of his sparkling gold throne and was walking over to Artemis and her daughter, his face reminding Belle of an eclipse of the sun. Thankfully, he was human-sized. "How dare you not ever tell me of her! I have made sure for millennia that no one harmed my little sister. And now look!"

Artemis put an arm around Belle protectively. Then, to Belle's surprise, she raised her voice to match Apollo's. "How dare you to not even give me a chance to explain myself! You just always make assumptions. And since when was I your little sister? I was born a whole day ahead of you thank-you-very-much!"

Belle shrank back inside of herself, preparing to make a run for it. If the stories that Annabeth said were true, then the elevator down to the Empire State building would be a short run straight ahead. She moved her muscles to make a dash for her life, but her mother gave her a small squeeze, reassuring her. Belle was shocked; she never imagined a goddess being compassionate, caring for someone other than themselves. It dawned on Belle that she had much to learn, and just when she thought she had known it all.

"Okay then, little sister," Apollo practically spat, turning back toward his throne, turning giant-sized before settling down into it, "Explain. Since you seem so adamant that you did nothing wrong."

"If that's the way you insist it must be, then I will be sure to do more than explain." The goddess said before turning to face the rest of the Olympians. "Would you like to hear the whole story?" Artemis asked her father, Zeus.

While Zeus pondered whether to listen his daughter out or not, Belle looked around the throne room. One of the first things she noticed was a cloud of sorts to her left. Looking at it, and seeing many curious faces looking back, she realized that that was the other half of the Iris-Message with camp. All of her friends from Camp Half-Blood were watching this soap opera. Belle looked around at the Olympians themselves. Dionysus was absent, considering he was at camp. Ares looked positively bored. Hades too was also absent. Athena watched with curious eyes, in the same manner as Annabeth regarded many things. Demeter watched, but it was evident she only cared because she was polite. Hera was watching intently, but as Belle decided it was probably to see if she could punish Artemis in any way. Hephaestus didn't look like he was too thrilled to be there. Apollo, of course, was watching his sister like a hawk, and Belle felt his eyes on her a few times, but not in a friendly demeanor. Poseidon seemed relatively calm. He had no real expression at all in his green eyes, so Belle couldn't tell if he wanted to be there or not. Floating in a sphere of water to Poseidon's right was Bessie, as Percy had so lovingly named him. Belle couldn't remember the actual name of the animal, but he looked quite friendly. Hermes sat on his throne with his eyes twinkling in mischief at her. Belle had met him a few times when he had come to visit camp. Hermes had always been nice to Belle, maybe because she had lived in his cabin. Aphrodite looked almost amused at the situation. Belle had not thought that Aphrodite would ever care of such things that had no relation to her. Belle wondered why she would care so much. Finally, she realized it. Now Aphrodite could rub it in Artemis' face how Artemis couldn't hold up to her eternal pledge. Belle had a sneaking suspicion that the two had argued many times about the matter.

"You may explain, daughter," Zeus finally concluded. "I think we all," he gestured to the cloud in which the faces of Camp Half-Blood were reflected, "would like to know."

"Very well, father." Artemis replied, "I shall do my best to make all of you understand."

Belle suddenly felt very uncomfortable, almost as if she was hearing something she shouldn't, although she didn't think that was the case.

"12 years ago, roughly, I was walking in the woods, tracking a deer. I had heard some noise in the underbrush, and had wondered if the deer had hidden from me. Instead of a deer, I found Belle." Artemis looked at her daughter and gave a slight smile.

"Then she isn't your real daughter if you just found her." Hera said quite smugly. "She must be some other god's child. Are you sure you didn't steal her?"

Belle could feel her mother, next to her, straighten herself up, looking as large and formidable as a goddess in a 12 year-old body could be. When Artemis spoke, her voice was as cold as ice. "Would you like me to finish my story? Or would you like to drag it on for years? I can wait."

Hera opened her mouth as if to say something, but then shut it and gave Artemis a look that clearly said: have it your way.

Artemis continued as if nothing had occurred. "Somehow, I knew that she was the last of her family. I don't know how, I just knew. I took her back to camp and asked the Hunters if they knew of any orphanages that would take her. Zoë Nightshade promised me that in the morning she would try and find the baby a home. However," the goddess glanced at Belle, "I didn't want to give her up. I knew she was all that was left of her family, and she might not be able to live in an orphanage. She looked only weeks old. True to her word, the next morning Zoë took Belle to different places, trying to find her a home. To tell you all the truth, I was slightly glad to see that Zoë wasn't able to find a home for her. I had always wanted a daughter; I just detested men and wanted nothing to do with them, which meant I could have no children. If there was a way which I could have a child without having to mess with men, I would have. I asked Zoë if she thought it would work, and she said yes."

"What would work?" This time, it was Athena asking the question.

Artemis looked down at her hands. "The Changer of the Essence."

"Sis!" Apollo exclaimed, clearly shocked. I thought you said that you would never catch yourself doing that change! It hasn't been done in thousands of years by anyone."

"Then it looks like it has been done in the past few thousand years. You honestly thought that I was going to fall in love with some man… just because? Apollo, I would have thought that in all the time you've known me you would have some more faith in me. I don't attach myself to people or responsibilities lightly." Artemis took a deep breath. "As I was saying, I changed her essence; I created her into a demigod. I've been wondering if my decision was good, but seeing Belle enjoying Camp Half-Blood and all her friends, I think I made the right choice. Anyways, after I created her blood into that of a demigod, I had to think of a name. I remembered how when Olympus was over Rome how I was called Diana. Bella Diana seemed to be my title. It means beautiful Diana. I wasn't too fond of the name Bella, but I liked the name Belle, which is why Belle has her name. I was going to take Belle to be in my Hunters, but after about 6 months of traveling, doing our normal routine, Zoë found an orphanage for her in Brooklyn. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew that she deserved a chance at a normal life. Thankfully, it was one of the orphanages that Jacque Allenworth combed, looking for demigods." She turned to Demeter. "Your daughter does a fine job of taking care of all the demigods she has under her roof. You must be proud of her."

"I am." Was the soft-spoken reply from Demeter.

"For months I worried about whether or not Belle would be okay there. Once she was adopted by the Allenworth's I didn't need to worry." Artemis looked up at Zeus. "That's the story."

"That's it?" Hera asked in a slight whine. "I had honestly thought that you had broken your vow, Artemis."

"I'm sure you did." Came the cool reply. "But, unfortunately for many, I am not easily won over. Especially by all you men."

Apollo had gotten off of his throne unnoticed and walked over to the mother and daughter pair. "I'm sorry." He finally admitted.

Belle couldn't believe her ears! A god admitting he was wrong and he was sorry for it! Unbelievable.

His words had not slid by Artemis unnoticed. "I told you big sisters always know what they are doing." She said with a slight smile.

Apollo just shook his head. "I'm not even going to try to argue anymore. You always seem to outsmart me, much to my denial."

Belle could just see all of the Apollo kids gasping at their dad's 'confession.' Something told her they wouldn't be too pleased with his statement; especially the guys.

Artemis snapped her fingers, and with a hand holding onto Belle's, they turned into the approaching darkness. Belle didn't know much, but the last thing she remembered seeing was Apollo's smiling face, much different than the last time she had been 'jerked' to different places. Belle remembered thinking of how the gods were such strange beings. One instant they could be ready to cause an earthquake, and the next wanting to stand out on a corner giving people flowers 'just because.' She could never figure out their ways, it would take too much effort to try. All that Belle really knew was that she was headed back to Camp Half-Blood; this time, with her mother at her side.


A/N: Soooooooo how was it? I tried really hard not to make any of the characters too OOC or Mary Sue. Well, the Olympians have a right to be Mary Sue and Gary Stu. After all, they are gods. Please review! Thanks!

- Sarra