Daphne

Poof

And another monster turned to dust.

A hellhound lunged at Daphne and she shot it right in the snout with a Lunar Silver arrow. It disintegrated instantly.

The woods near Camp Half-blood were excellent hunting grounds. They were filled practically to the brim with monsters, and, since it was midnight, no one was around to distract her.

Daphne almost didn't notice the second hellhound lunge at her from behind. She turned just in time to see it turn to bread. It hit her in the stomach with a soft, spongy thud. "Take that as a lesson to you." Daphne spun around to see a woman with wavy black hair wearing a bright pink southern belle outfit. "Never turn your back to an enemy in battle." She spoke in the same southern accent that Daphne spoke with.

The woman seemed familiar. She looked exactly like Daphne except she for her hair. "Mom?" Daphne guessed.

"Of course sweetheart," Demeter replied, "who'd you think I was? Aphrodite? Well, granted this is her dress, but still."

Daphne felt quite a few things: happiness that her mom had finally appeared to her in person after over 150 years, rage that her mom hadn't appeared to her for over 150 years until now, even confusion as to why her mom had chosen now to appear to her.

She went with confusion. "What are you doing here?" Daphne asked trying not to sound resentful.

"I'm hear to advise you," the goddess explained, "I hear you're going on a quest tomorrow." Demeter waved her hand and a card table with bowls of cereal, pasta, corn, and the bread-hound that had nearly killed Daphne on it appeared out of thin air. "Please, sit."

Daphne sat down and started absentmindedly turning a cob of corn in her hands. Demeter started off on a positive note. "You've made a grave mistake."

Thanks mom, that's a great way to start a dinner conversation the night before I'm going on a life-threatening mission. That's what Daphne wanted to say. Instead she just asked "What about? My quest?"

"No, no, no," Demeter said, "about becoming a hunter of Artemis."

Daphne didn't see how that was much of a mistake. She was immortal, she got to travel all over the US, she got to have a new adventure practically every day, and she was freaking IMMORTAL (oh wait, I already said that)!

"There is a major disadvantage too." Demeter explained, as if she had read her mind. "For one thing you can never know love."

Daphne didn't see how that was a disadvantage. Boys were all selfish, sexist, irritating, egotistical jerks, and quite frankly she just plain hated them. "What do you know about love?" Daphne challenged. "You're the goddess of farming."

"I am also the goddess of fertility," Demeter explained, "the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and I often work together in this regard. Without love there is no way that things, whether plant or human, can grow."

"This isn't going to be a birds and the bees talk is it?"

Demeter laughed. "No, of course not. What I'm saying is that without love in your life you cannot grow as a person. The fact that you stay young eternally proves this point even further." Suddenly a scream rocked the forest, toppling a few trees in the process. It sounded like a 5 year old girl who's parents wouldn't buy her a toy. "Oop. Heads up." Demeter blasted Daphne back with a wave of force just as a blast of bright pink energy blew the table to smithereens.

"Well," Demeter said as if this was normal, "looks like Aphrodite wants her dress back. The jealous skyla. She just hates that it looks better on me." Another energy blast nearly burned Daphne's eyebrows off.

"Alright, fine." Demeter shouted at the sky, "goodbye daughter, and remember my advice." She vanished into thin air, leaving a lingering scent of Special K cereal behind her.

Daphne packed her bow into her quiver and headed back to Cabin 8, which was now filled with the noise of an idiot boy snoring away. She glared at Logan, who had moved into the cabin after being claimed.

The son of Artemis.

A broken oath will cause great pain.

That line of the prophecy rang out most of all to Daphne. Logan was the oath that was broken. He was nothing more than a broken promise.

A mistake.

Daphne fell asleep feeling sorry for him. She didn't know why. He was a boy after all. All boys are mistakes.

Tomorrow she would go on a quest which might get her and the other two killed.

` Fun.