A/N- So, so sorry for the long wait. See note at the end.
Disclaimer- Don't own PJO. Although, if you read "Wait-What did We Just Explode?", I actually came up with the demigods going to Seattle before SoN came out…that was kind of cool.
Chapter 13: Day 6, Part 3-Day 7, Part 1: Chance
Erin
At first, I was so shocked I almost dropped Lief's body. "What are you doing here?" I stammered.
The Hunters parted and a twelve-year-old stepped forward. I mentally reviewed everything I'd accidentally learned in class -yes, I said accidentally. I try not to learn things unless they seem important. The only person who would fit this description would be Artemis herself. "Lady Artemis," I greeted her respectfully, dipping my head. I would have bowed, except that it happens to be rather hard to bow while holding a body.
"Erin Parman," Artemis replied. "I see that the boy-" she spat the word out, "is dead."
"Who, Lief?" I asked. "Do you have something against him?"
"He was responsible for the death of one of my Huntresses," Artemis explained, sitting on the ground and motioning for me to do so as well. "A certain Shannon Harrison. I believe you removed her body."
The name seemed familiar. Where had I heard that before? "Oh, you mean the girl?"
"Yes. The boy-"
"Lief," I interrupted.
"The boy," Artemis continued, "was talking to her when an empousa attacked them from behind. Shannon was killed almost immediately, while he was injured. It seems he is now dead, otherwise we would have killed him. As it is, Thalia fired an arrow which killed the empousa."
"Why would you have killed Lief?" I asked.
"He was responsible for the death of one of my Huntresses. For that, he must be killed."
The name suddenly clicked in my head. Shannon Harrison, Lief Harrison, Lief's twin…That's it! "Shannon was Lief's twin sister!" I exclaimed.
Artemis looked surprised. "She was?"
"Yes, Lief had told me."
"That still does not excuse his actions, although it may have softened his punishment had he been alive," Artemis stated. This somewhat blunt reminder of Lief's death made me glance down at his body, as if to make sure he wasn't breathing. "We'll have to remove Shannon's body," Artemis explained.
"It's in the van," I said. Two Hunters walked to the van and disappeared inside it.
"I would like to make you an offer." Artemis' voice snapped me back to reality.
"What?" I asked.
"I am offering you a chance to join the Hunt."
"What?" I gasped. I do gasp sometimes, you know. I gasped…okay, so maybe I don't gasp. Anyways, back on topic. I was shocked. "I'll, um, have to think about it for a minute."
"Take your time," Artemis said calmly. For some reason, she kept staring at me. Silver eyes are very creepy, and they really disrupt the thinking process. I ended up staring at a blade of grass near my shoe. An ant crawled up it as I pondered what the choice meant. Joining would mean immortality, but it would also mean leaving camp, leaving my friends, and leaving Matt. Saying no might anger Artemis, but it would also mean I could stay here where I belong. I felt split, torn in two.
I finally raised my head. "Thanks, but no thanks," I said, though my voice was shaking.
"Are you sure?" Artemis asked. I nodded. "Hunters, we have what we came for. Move out," Artemis commanded. Within thirty seconds, they had disappeared back into the woods, and I was left alone, Lief's body laying beside me with his head in my lap. His eyes were still open, staring at the sky. I forced his eyelids down. No, this was not some sort of emotional gesture. Dead eyes really are quite creepy.
I stood, picked up Lief's body again, and continued toward the Big House. The door was ajar and I nudged it open with my foot. Stepping in, I saw Mr. D immersed in a game, which may or may not have been Angry Birds. Chiron was nowhere to be seen. I softly made my way into one of the small rooms reserved for the very ill, dead, or mentally ill. Yes, I did say mentally ill. Couple years back, there was this guy, Josh or something like that, who was completely off his rocker. That one's a story for some other time, though.
I lay Lief's body on the bed, hoping nobody minded if the sheets got a little bloodstained. I smoothed his hair down, straightened the bandages across his chest, little things that people didn't notice or take time to fix. As I was turning away from his face, I felt something touch my hand. Something warm and moist. I jerked back around, holding my hand about an inch away from his mouth. I felt that warm, moist felling again. Then a second later, again. Scarcely believing my senses, I put my ear to his chest. And I felt- a heartbeat. "He's alive!" I yelled in my exhilaration. Now, when would he wake up? And what would I do until he did?
I settled on grabbing a notebook from the Hermes cabin and sitting down in a chair by the bed Lief was sleeping in. I had started my pranking notebook several years before, when I first came to camp. The Stolls had said to use it to keep track of my best pranks and ideas for new ones. I started to plan out an awesome prank on the Demeter cabin that would leave them fuming, but before I realized it, I was asleep.
I woke up the next morning with a stiff back and a sore neck. "Ow…" I muttered, looking over at the bed. It was empty. That was when I noticed the knife pressing into my back. "What's going on?" I asked, figuring it was a prank or something of the sort.
"Who are you? Why have you brought me here? You killed my family!" the voice from behind said coldly. Aw, shoot, I thought. Lief was back, but he thought I'd killed his family. This was not good.
"I- I didn't do anything!" I protested, getting up and turning around. Lief's hair was rumpled and his eyes were tired, but there was an anger in his face that I hadn't seen before. This must be what he was like after his family died, I thought involuntarily. Note to self: Is it possible to think of something involuntarily? Test this theory later.
"That's what you say," Lief replied, narrowing his eyes dangerously, "But how do I know I can believe you?" Again, this was not good in the least. What to do now?
Lief
I confronted the girl in front of me, whom I was almost positive had been to blame for my family's death. That was the last thing I remembered -my sister slumping to the floor, the thing turning to me, and a blinding pain in my head. I reached up gingerly to touch my head and was surprised to feel a scar, running along my forehead and temple. It throbbed as I fingered it. First things first, I reminded myself. The girl that had been sleeping in a chair was now facing me. Had she killed my family? It was possible, I couldn't remember the face of the one who had committed the crime. It was rather strange, though. A wound as recent as my head injury wouldn't have scarred this fast. It was like it had been several years since my family's death. That doesn't make sense! my mind screamed. Still…between the creature turning to me after killing family, and the more recent memory of just waking up, there seemed to be a fuzzy patch. Had I been knocked out? Or had something happened? Never mind. I'll figure it out later, I thought. Right now, focus on what's important. "Who are you?" I asked again.
"I'm Erin Parman. Come on, Lief, you know who I am!" the girl exclaimed. She looked positively terrified.
"How do you know my name?"
"Lief, I've known you ever since you showed up here two years ago! Maybe we weren't the best of friends, but I knew who you were," the girl -Erin- replied.
I thought for a moment. "I don't know who you are."
Erin muttered something under her breath in a different language. "Lief, think. What is the last thing you remember?"
"Blacking out," I answered truthfully. I really hoped this girl wasn't trying to distract me…
"Before that."
"Something killing my sister and turning towards me."
Erin's face blanched. "Oh, shoot. This is not good."
"What? And how do I know you didn't kill my family?" I asked.
"First off, you're going to trust me on this. Besides, if I wanted to kill you, don't you think I would have done so a long time ago?" I considered this. If she was telling the truth, that meant that something had happened between my last memory and now. She could be lying- except that there was no reason for her to lie.
"I guess I'll trust you for now. At least until you can prove to me that you're innocent," I replied, lowering the knife. I wasn't sure if this girl was telling the truth, but I would have to trust her. I really had no other options.
"Okay, that's good," Erin sighed. "I'm guessing you have amnesia, except that that wouldn't make sense, because amnesia is usually caused by a strong blow to the head, and you were stabbed. But then again, you also died and came back to life so maybe-" she cut herself off, "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
I managed a thin smile. "Yes, I think you are."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. So what do you think happened to me, then?" I asked.
Erin sat back down in the chair. I sat on the edge of the bed. Erin leaned back and spoke, "Well, it's kind of a long story…"
A/N- Yes, I know it's short. However, I was really busy, plus I had some major writer's block. : ( It is still an update, and I will hopefully be updating more regularly. Thanks for sticking with this!
Much thanks to bluefire510 for getting me back on track. =)
-smartone101, signing back in
