Hey everybody! Sorry for the long wait, I've just been really lazy...anyway, please review!

Chapter 6

I'm Taught to Hate the Gods.

My dream started like this.

I was in a cold, thick forest with only the moon giving off enough light to see. I was in the only clearing in what looked like miles of never ending trees. There was a cave off to my right. I knew that cave, from a dream.

Suddenly a group of silver clad girls burst into the clearing. Artemis was in the front. Fire danced in her eyes.

"Maria! How could you? Give up immortality for that… that boy." She said boy like it was some kind of infectious disease. "All boys are pigs Maria! I found you crying your heart out over a boy who cheated on you. Are you ready to do that again? How long did you plan to keep this a secret? Well, that's behind us. You know the punishment for breaking your oath." Artemis said readying her bow.

The girl behind her, who I guessed must have been Maria, looked scared to death. Finally she mustered up the courage to say something in her defense. "What about you Lady Artemis?" she said, her voice starting low then getting more confident. "If you think all men are pigs, why did you have a daughter? You're a hypocrite Artemis; maybe it's time you listen to your own advice."

This outburst seemed to catch my mom off guard, but that quickly turned to rage when she realized what Maria had just told her. Artemis turned towards the other hunters who seemed just as angry as Artemis, but their anger was directed to the goddess herself.

"How dare you." Artemis told Maria. "You were one of my hunters for over 500 years and this is how you repay me? My daughter was a mistake. A mistake I will regret for the rest of my life, but your mistake will cost you yours."

Artemis started muttering in something older than ancient Greek. As she was muttering, a bright light enveloped Maria as a look of terror spread across her face; apparently Maria had seen this happen before. As the light covered her face she gave one more pleading look to Artemis, but to no avail. With one last terrifying scream, Maria was gone, and in her place, a single jackalope. Artemis aimed her bow and released a silver arrow. With a sickening noise, the arrow hit its mark and the Maria jackalope went down.

Artemis turned to her other hunters with a sigh. "I'm sorry." was all she managed.

Thalia stepped forward from the other girls. My guess was she was the only hunter who had enough courage to face Artemis after what just happened.

"Lady Artemis is what Maria said true?" she asked, trying to control her anger.

Artemis looked down. "Yes, it is. But as I said before, that choice I made 15 years ago, I have regretted ever since."

Ouch.

Thalia stiffened. "I don't mean to sound like Maria, but if you can go out and have a daughter, why do you still keep us away from men?" I could tell Thalia was about to let loose. Her face was flushed with anger.

"I-I'm sorry. I really am. But I had to keep Natalie and her father a secret from Apollo. He was always an over protective brother. You know as well as I do he would have killed the baby as well as the father. I couldn't let what happened to Orion happen to Richard."

"You still love him don't you?" Thalia asked angrily.

"Yes, I do." Artemis answered.

Now another girl stepped forward. Her black hair was braided down her back with a gold thread, and her blue eyes seemed to be contemplating something. "Natalie Jones? Is that your daughter?"

Artemis seemed a little surprised that she knew my last name, finally she said. "Yes, but how do you know anything about her?"

The girl didn't look fazed. "But she was claimed by Athena her first day at camp."

Artemis sighed. "She was supposed to stay a secret. Her father was a child of Athena. One of her favorite children. This is why Athena was so eager to help. The plan was for Natalie to be claimed by Athena so she would not have to be left unclaimed, and as a result, resent the gods."

"Why would that be important?" Thalia asked.

"She is a very powerful half- blood. She would play right into Kronos hands." Artemis explained.

"What would happen if she did join Kronos?" another hunter asked.

"It would be horrible for all the gods, especially me. If Hermes thought losing Luke was bad, he has no idea…"

I noticed that Thalia looked down as my mother was saying this. She looked a little hurt about Luke. For a second I wondered what her relationship was to him, and then I realized that as a hunter she could no longer have any lingering feelings towards him.

Suddenly my dream shifted from that forest to the Poseidon cabin at camp. Grover was sitting on a bunk leaning against the gray wall while Percy paced back and forth.

"Percy, why did you want me to come at two in the morning to watch you pace?" Grover asked annoyed.

"It's Natalie." Percy answered.

This woke Grover up. "Natalie? What's wrong? Is she okay? Why was she so upset at dinner?"

"She left camp Grover." Percy managed.

"You don't mean?" Grover asked. Percy nodded solemnly. "But why would she do that? She's been at camp, what, two weeks? She can't join Kronos! She just can't!" Grover yelled, hitting the wall.

I woke with a start. I felt like a completely horrible person. How could I do that to my friends? Then I remembered what my mom had said, "That choice I made 15 years ago, I have regretted ever since." Suddenly my anger came rushing back. I remembered why I had joined Kronos, why it was I had given up my friends for Kronos.

I looked over to the large window overlooking the vast ocean and realized it was morning. I had slept through the night. A part of me wished I was back in the Athena cabin with all my "siblings". But that thought was quickly diminished when Kronos burst through the door.

"I hope you slept well because you won't sleep until you are good enough to beat the entire population of Camp Half-Blood single handedly." Kronos said with not a hint of laughter in his voice. I knew he was dead serious.

I said something really intelligent like, "ummmm…okay."

"Get dressed and meet me by the pool, your training starts there."

I realized that I didn't have any clothes with me, but decided to check the dresser just in case. Much to my surprise the dresser was filled with all the clothes the hunters brought to camp. I pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt. Before I closed the dresser drawer I noticed an orange piece of fabric sticking out from under my pile of t-shirts. I pulled it out and gasped. It was my camp Half-Blood t-shirt. If I needed a reminder of how I had completely betrayed my friends, this was defiantly it. I wadded it up and threw it against the wall. I didn't need to be reminded of that.

After running a brush quickly through my hair I was out the door. The titan lord was waiting.

I made it to the pool after nearly peeing in my pants when I saw about 40 monsters more horrible than the Nemean Lion could ever be waiting there.

"W-what are they doing here?" I finally managed.

"They're going to help you train." Kronos stated.

I tried to hide my fear, but I guess it still showed because some of the monsters smiled gruesomely. Their smile sent shivers down my spine, but what was even worse was the way Kronos was smiling at me. It was like I would be the one to finally accomplish what he's wanted to do for a long time, and in a way, I was.

"Natalie, take out Lunar Eclipse." Kronos commanded, I did as I was told and the hairclip turned into a gleaming celestial bronze sword. "Since you are obviously good with a bow and arrow, we will do some sword fighting. "Aeschylus, you will fight first."

A seal/dog/person thing stepped forward. "I am Aeschylus, leader of the Telekhines." He said.

I swallowed. "Uh-Natalie."

He smiled evilly. "I know," was his only answer.

He took his stance and I followed his lead. I was not nearly as confident with a sword as I was with a bow, but I stabbed at his belly, but he easily parried. I tried again and he parried. I was losing, big time. There was nothing in the world that would make me a good sword fighter. I could never beat this telekhine. He was toying with me now. I saw him look over to Kronos for permission to finish the job and Kronos nodded. I didn't have much time left to prove myself.

That decision I made 15 years ago, I have regretted ever since.

Suddenly, I didn't see Aeschylus, I saw my mother. She was looking at me with loathing like I was the only reason for all the bad stuff that happened to her. I was consumed with anger. I found renewed energy and thrust my sword towards the telekhine and heard it clang against his sword. He had parried it, but he was still surprised by my attack. I let out an angry war cry and disarmed him in one swift movement. His sword clattered to the ground. I put Lunar Eclipse towards his throat to let him know I had won, as if he didn't already know.

I no longer saw my mother, but a frightened telekhine. That sudden burst of energy was gone and I felt weak and tired again. We were both breathing heavily. I was about to apologize to Kronos, but he was smiling, an evil smile, but a smile none the less.

"Well done Natalie, perhaps you will be ready by your birthday. Now, I would like to see that again."

I did as I was told. With each monster that stepped forward I tried to do the same, but I couldn't. I tried to remember my mom, Annabeth, and everything else that happened in my life, but it didn't work. Thirty-nine times I dueled with a monster, and thirty-nine times it ended with a sword at my throat. I expected Kronos to be angry at me for not beating every monster, but he looked understanding, as if he knew what I had to do to win.

"Natalie, what gave you the ability to defeat Aeschylus?" Kronos asked as I was leaning up against the railing of the deck looking out at the never-ending sea. It had been a half hour since my embarrassing defeat and it had taken him this long to say something. But I knew he already knew.

"I thought of my mom… and what she said to me, and I just got angry. I pretended that Aeschylus was my mom and it made me want to kill him." I answered.

"Your right to hate your mom, and all the gods, they are unfair and unjust. You are also right to hate that Annie Bell girl-"

"Annabeth." I corrected. Kronos shot me a look. "Sorry." I muttered.

"As I was saying, she betrayed you. You made a good decision in joining our army. This will be the revenge you are looking for." I nodded, taking in every word. In the back of my mind I knew that this was all wrong, but I wanted more than anything to believe I made the right choice. It would be horrible to find out I had been wrong. It would be even worse to admit to Percy and Grover I had been wrong. "Now, go practice your sword fighting on some dummies, you will need all the training you can get before your birthday in two weeks." I went obediently, even though I knew it wouldn't help. I was the worst swordfighter ever, in the history of the world.

It went on like that for the next two and a half weeks. I woke up early in the morning and trained all day. As you might have guessed, I never got better with the sword. I could hold my own in battle, but I would be destroyed by some of the campers if I battled them with a sword, like Percy for example. I was good with a bow and a hunting knife, but definitely not enough to lead an army.

I started to change over that week. For the first couple of days I thought about Percy non-stop, but eventually I nearly forgot about him. Sure, when he crossed I was filled with nostalgia for my old friends, but that quickly changed to anger when I thought about Annabeth or my mom. I was almost always bitter. When somebody stopped to talk to me in the hall, I almost instantly bit their head off, not literally of course.

But the way I changed wasn't only my attitude, but it was physical to. My once vibrant gray eyes turned black with hatred. My auburn hair was getting darker as the days went by. My face was always set in a scowl. I looked ready for a fight every second. I became a stereotypical depressed kid. I stomped around the Princess Andromeda day after day. It was like the thought of my birthday being within days and the anger I still bottled within me where changing me completely.

It was the night before my birthday before anything real eventful happened though. It was late at night, but I couldn't sleep. Something told me something was going to happen tonight, something important.

I was lying awake in my overly comfy bed, dreading tomorrow, and on edge with the feeling that something was going to happen soon. Finally, I decided to go for a walk. That usually helped clear my thoughts. I crawled out of bed and walked over to the doors. I tried the handle. It was locked.

"Shoot." I muttered. I was stuck. I huffed all the way back to my bed and sat down. I was trying to figure out how to open the stupid door. I figured I was stuck until I saw Lunar Eclipse glinting off the light of the moon. An idea struck me. I grabbed the hairpin and stuck it in the lock. I wiggled it around a little until I felt it click. I was free.

I opened the door and was down the hallway in seconds. I had no destination in mind; I just needed to get away. Before I knew it, I was on the top deck staring out at the vast darkness that I knew to be the sea. By more we would be back at Long Island, for all I know we were there now. Anyway, I was staring out at the sea when I felt a presence. On instinct I pulled Lunar Eclipse out of my hair and it turned into a bow.

"Who goes there!?" I demanded. I aimed the arrow towards a shadow hiding behind a corner. "Show yourself!"

The shadow moved slightly and I nearly dropped my bow. Out of the shadows came Percy. He wore a shocked expression on his face like he couldn't believe I was still alive.

"N-Natalie?" He stuttered.

I felt a sharp pang in my chest. "Percy?"

"What happened to you?" He asked in reference to my eyes and hair.

"I've changed Percy." I stated plainly.

"Natalie, why have you done this to yourself? Don't you remember what it was like at camp before you left?" Percy pleaded.

"Yes, I do. And that is exactly why I am here." I answered. I would not give in to this, no matter how much I wanted to run into his arms and just cry, I had to be strong. Kronos said that my weakness could be the Olympians' greatest power. I stepped forward, Lunar Eclipse changing from a bow to a sword. "Percy, I don't want to do this." I said firmly.

"Neither do I." He said pulling out Riptide.

I can't explain what happened then. Something inside of me just snapped and I lunged at Percy with all I had. Percy looked at me in shock before he parried my blade. Beads of sweat dripped off my face. It was almost as if I wasn't in control of my body anymore. Percy fought back, but mostly on defense. The fight only ended when I grazed his leg with my blade and he fell to the ground.

"You're right Natalie. You have changed."