Hola! I'm supposed to be practicing my Español para la clase de Español! So I wrote that in Spanish! I hope you like this chapter, it was harder to write than the other ones, but I really hope you like it; even though I own nothing here except the characters that come from my imagination!
We walked into Taelor and Zack's house, and it was like stepping into a greenhouse. I'm not exaggerating; this place was filled with so many plants that I couldn't walk through it without accidentally treading on some type of flower, or root, or leave, or vine, or, well any other plants!
Zack and Taelor's dad was walking around watering every single plant in that house. I now see why Demeter picked this guy out of a crowd; he had to be the dictionary definition of 'tree-hugger'!
The twins (Taelor and Zack, not Artemis and Apollo!) entered the room and went straight to him, all of the plants bending right around their feet. Gods were they lucky that they didn't have to worry about stepping on all the greenery in this house. Taelor walked straight up to her father.
"Daddy, these two girls saved out lives! No one at the bus stop even noticed the fight even though I have never seen anything like those two snake ladies in my life!" Their dad looked up worriedly when she mentioned "snake ladies" and saw Lauren and me standing in the doorway, in the only plant-free space.
"You two are Hunters aren't you? She said that this might happen, but I didn't know that it would be so soon; I mean they're only twelve!" He must have seen our silver clothes and knew that we were like his daughter and son. At least her knew that he had kids with a goddess; I'm pretty sure that some demigod's mortal parents don't even know that much!
"They're thirteenth birthday is coming up soon, and when they turn thirteen it becomes a lot more dangerous. Once they get older, then their scent will fade away slightly; but for now, it's at its strongest." I tried my best to explain what I knew about demigods, but since I was new to this life myself, I looked at Lauren so that she could explain the rest.
"Your daughter could join the Hunt with us, or she could choose to stay with her brother at . . . Camp Half-Blood." The way she said "Camp Half-Blood" I had feeling that either she personally or the Hunt has a back-story relating to that.
"Can someone just tell us what's going on here! I am really tired of being left in the dark and not knowing what you guys are talking about!" Zack was obviously annoyed that we still hadn't explained anything to him and Taelor; and that their dad knew about this the whole time and never told him.
"Okay, just calm down, dude! All that Greek mythology you have most likely learned about in school is completely real. You two, Lauren, and I are all demigods, just like the heroes from the stories. Sir, do you know who their mother is?" I directed the last part to their dad who nodded.
"She said her name was Demeter, but I didn't believe her until the cradle showed up on my doorstep." I looked at Lauren very briefly when he mentioned a cradle because that was part of her story too, but she hadn't even blinked.
"Wait, Greek mythology is real, Zack and I are half-bloods, and our mother is Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture?" They grasped that concept quickly! I'm impressed.
"Yes, and I hear that she also loves cereal. Do you guys have that for breakfast much?" I asked them, and they gave me looks that clearly said "well, DUH! What else would we have for breakfast?"
"Well, DUH!" What else would we have for breakfast?" Apparently I'm better at reading people's expressions better than I thought. I had that look pegged word for word!
As soon as Zack said that, a poppy flower popped out of the vines that were supposed to be sunflowers. Aren't poppies the flower of Demeter? I guess they just got claimed, the lucky ducks!
"Congratulations, you are now officially the son and daughter of Demeter, goddess of the earth, agriculture, fertility, corn, grain, and the harvest." Lauren said that, and it still managed to sound so official.
"Yeah, congratulations on getting yourself claimed, yippee!" I know I sounded really rude, but now I was bitter. I was months older than them and they still get claimed before me! That is so not fair in any way!
"Uh, thanks? Now, what were you saying about some kind of camp?" I guess Taelor doesn't want to leave her brother, but I don't know why not; he's been nothing but a jerk to us!
"Uh, Lauren, should we take that back to our camp before taking them to that other camp?" I really didn't know how this worked yet, so I had to (however grudgingly) turn to Lauren for help.
"Yeah, we should tell Lady Artemis and Lieutenant Thalia that we did find the demigod that lives in Arcadia, that she has a brother, and that they need to get to camp. I hope that some one else found a half-blood that doesn't want to join the Hunt." I nodded and we turned back to Taelor and Zack's dad to explain the situation to him.
When we were done, the fraternal twins packed up their stuff and said good-bye to their dad and the four of us started off to the woods.
Of course, after only ten seconds I pulled out my iPod and stuck the ear buds into my ears. The song Ordinary Girl by Miley Cyrus going through an identity crisis as Hannah Montana was playing, so I just went with the flow. It seemed to fit the situation too, none of us were really ordinary, but we really wanted to be deep down.
Being my normal random self, I started to walk in time to the song and bob my head up and down almost subconsciously. That's when Zack started staring at me like I had mental issues, and Taelor and Lauren joined in my singing. I was totally into the song Dance Forever by Allstar Weekend, when we finally arrived back at camp. We were all smiling (except Zack, of course) and in good moods. I saw Thalia and pointed Lauren in her direction, not missing a single word in the song's lyrics.
Lauren pulled all three of us over to meet with the lieutenant and pulled my headphones out from my iPod. I should learn how to keep my ear buds out of her reach at all times, so that she doesn't keep doing this everyday. Lauren was holding my headphones, and talking to Thalia at the same time.
"Okay, we have to tell Lady Artemis before we do anything else." Thalia led us all into Lady Artemis's tent, and I think for the first time, Zack was looking extremely apprehensive and scared.
"My Lady, the half-blood from Arcadia, Florida is here; but she has a twin brother and refuses to leave him behind to join the Hunt." I wonder if all the Huntresses were this blunt, or if it's just us.
"Then I guess a trip to Camp Half-Blood is order. Alert the Huntresses that we leave tomorrow morning with the sun." Thalia nodded and pulled us out of the tent again, before Lady Artemis had a chance to curse Zack into oblivion for daring him to even step foot into her tent.
"Well, I guess we're going back to camp. I'm going to tell the hunters while you two can show these two around camp and keep him out of sight of the others." Thalia smiled at me before walking off.
"I need to charge my iPod again, the battery's almost dead! I can't live with that." I walked back to our tent, with the other three following me with Zack trying to stay in-between Lauren and Taelor.
I almost laughed at his failing efforts to hide himself, but with-held the urge to crack up. We got to our tent and I plugged my iPod into its charger. Taelor and Lauren started talking about how well Athena and Demeter worked together to come up with some of the best environmental science breakthroughs in history. (I am making up this part; I have no idea if Athena and Demeter ever compromised in history!)
Zack would join in occasionally, but mainly the two of us were left out of the conversation. I decided now would be the best time to thank him for the rock in our fight earlier that day, so I thanked him and he thanked me for being there to save him and his sister in the first place; then he said possibly the worst thing he could have said.
"Who's your Olympian parent?" Lauren heard this, and stopped talking to Taelor immediately; watching for my reaction. I know that her real reason is probably to stop me from hurting Zack, but I couldn't care less at this point.
"Why does it matter? Can't I be my own person without knowing who my parents are or aren't? Why is that your business in the first place?" After that I stormed out of the tent, grabbing my iPod on the way out. I could faintly hear Lauren telling Taelor and Zack why I had done that, but I was NOT going to apologize for my behavior.
Hey, I Won't Apologize is a good song; I think I'll listen to that now. I walked out to the cliffs that I had watched the sunrise from just a few hours ago, and sat down a few feet from the edge. I just stared out at the landscape without actually seeing it, and listening to random songs that were running through my mind.
It had to be at least three hours before I was completely ready to go back to camp. I retraced my steps and ended up in front of an almost angry-looking Thalia. She looked more relieved than mad though, so I wondered if she had actually been worried about me.
"Where have you been? Lauren told me what happened, but no one knew where you had gone and you missed dinner; you also scared us because we don't if our Huntress immortality stretches to suicide attempts." They had been afraid that I might commit suicide? I hadn't even thought of it; that's just not the kind of person that I am. I had never had considered it because I just couldn't have done it.
"I was just clearing my head; and I can take care of myself perfectly fine, I've had a lot of practice over the past six years." I left the conversation on that pleasant note, and walked back to my tent to charge my iPod once again then grab something to snack on.
Unfortunately for me, Lauren, Taelor, and Zack were all waiting for me when I got back. They all started to talk at the same time, so I had to hold up my hands to stop the flood of apologies and concerns coming from them.
"Whatever, I don't care right now. I just want to have something to eat!" That brought a smile to Lauren and Taelor's faces, but Zack still looked apologetic. I ignored him and walked over to my charger. I also managed to plug my iPod into the iHome knockoff that I have. The song Never say Never by Justin Bieber started to play through my speakers. I danced around a little until I felt so much better that I was calm enough to sit down and eat something.
Thalia came in to our tent after a half hour long dance party involving me, Lauren, Taelor and my iPod to tell us that it was time to get some sleep. She offered to show the fraternal twins their tent and Lauren and I agreed. We all said good night and then got ready to go to sleep. We had a big day in front of us tomorrow, and we needed all the rest we could get!
I am so proud of myself right now! I finished the chapter! My part is over (for tonight at least) and this is the time where you wonderful people reading this come in! It's time to REVIEW! Please! Thank you!
~monkeypicklez