Cricket. Cricket.

I was the daughter of a maiden goddess. I literally defied everything my mother stood for.

My mother. I was the child of Artemis. It made sense, my attraction to the forest and the animals. Still, I was born to someone who wasn't supposed to have children.

Nico was still staring at me with an awed expression. It made me uncomfortable.

I walked over to him, noticing the pale glow above me fade. I pointed at him threateningly.

"If you even think about this near other people I will make sure you end up as a statue," I growled, getting close enough to where I was right in your face. "My mom has the right idea about boys, you can never trust someone who just wants a kiss."

Nico looked slightly offended. "That's definitely not me."

I played surprised, mocking him. "You say that you've never liked a girl in, what, the ten years you've lived?"

Nico shook his head. "Actually, it's 70 years, and no. I'm gay."

I felt my eyes widen. "Really?"

Nico was blushing again. "Really. I only like guys, so I'm not going to hit on you or something."

The words of my mother echoed in my head. Trust no one. Could I really trust no one? Nico seemed ok, and it really sucked bottling up everything.

I slumped my shoulders, giving up on the tough persona I had been convincing myself and the camp was real. Sitting down on the grass, I realised how sore my legs were. I sighed, laying down fully on the ground. The plants beneath me cushioned my tired body, and I felt relaxed for the first time in days.

"Ever feel like the entire world is plotting against you and just wants to make your life as horrible as possible, all the way to the point where you just want to give up completely? Because I never feel like that."

Nico sat down in front of me, criss-cross applesauce, as I stared up at the stars, wondering if there was actually Olympian gods looking down on me.

"I never get that feeling either," Nico said, "and I've had a pretty long and hard life."

I sat myself up. "Tell me about it."

The forest was silent as Nico paused. "I really don't like talking about it."

I shook my head. "If you didn't want to talk about it, you wouldn't have mentioned it. Besides, I don't have a past, so give me yours."

Now Nico was intrigued. "What do you mean, no past?" He said, staring closer at me.

"I won't tell you unless you tell me about your past," I said, smiling.

Nico sighed, and lied down, the same way I did, staring straight up at the stars. "I was born in the 30's, right before WWII started…." Nico talked almost through the night, and wasn't done until the sun moon was setting. He described his sister Bianca, and his journey through Tartarus. I sat listening, entranced by all the heroic and crazy things he had done. I was sure that if I went through that, I wouldn't be alive to tell the tale.

When Nico got to the part in his story where he meet Cupid, I literally shivered. It was almost like Cupid was right behind me, breathing down my neck. I hated knowing that there was a not very nice god that controlled my love life. I wanted nothing to do with love and romance, and I hope I made that clear to Cupid and Aphrodite.

Nico finished off his story, "So, I had been shadow traveling too much, almost to the point where I dissolved into darkness. Will ordered me to stay in the infirmary, and there we became friends."

I arched my eyebrow at Nico. "No way Will is just your friend."

Nico blushed again, "Anyways, now tell me about you."

I shrugged. "I woke up in the Big House with no memory. The end."

Nico frowned. "And it doesn't bother that your whole life is gone?"

"It doesn't feel like someone took my memories, it just feels like they were never there," I said, "so no, it doesn't really bother me."

A bright light flashed in my eyes, making me wince and lift my hands to my face. The sun shone slightly through the trees, sending a pink ray down to the ground. The light reflected off of the dew on the leaves, making the whole air tinged pink and orange.

Nico's eyes widened. "It's already morning! We have to go."

Nico and I scrambled off the ground. The night had gone a lot faster than I thought it would.

The entire camp was probably looking for Nico; he seemed to be pretty well known.

We can through the forest, low branches slapping us in the face. As we reached the break of the trees, Nico stopped. I almost ran past him, but I caught myself, skidding on the grass.

I looked at him. "Come on! Chiron will be so angry at us!"

"What are you going to tell the camp?" Nico asked.

I arched an eyebrow. "About what?"

Nico looked me straight in the eye. "About you being claimed."

I felt myself getting defensive. "Nothing. And you better do the same."

I stalked off, not caring if Nico was following me. As I stepped out of the tree line, a couple of campers noticed me. One of them nudged his friend's shoulder and pointed at me.

"Talking about me? I hope its something nice." I charged through both of them, knocking them out of the way.
I walked towards the Big House, ready to get a lecture on staying safe and that crap they give you at a summer camp where they give you swords. Yeah, real smart Chiron.

Chiron was waiting for me on the porch of the big house. I could see his glare all the way from across the camp. As I walked up to the porch, Chiron said, "Tayen I know you were in the forest last night, don't deny it. The forest is dangerous, especially for you."

I gave him a glare. "Don't even tell me that. I don't need to be babied." I shook my arm in his face, making sure he noticed the burns.

"I woke up from a dream in which I burned to death and woke up with these! You can't just tell me to shy away from danger when it's already here! I'm right in the thick of danger, and you're telling me that it's bad to walk under some trees! Don't keep saying that I need to be safe when I've already been hurt! I'm tired of you acting like I'm a naive child!"

Chiron looked shocked. I guess no one was actually smart enough to realize that Chiron didn't actually have the best for the campers and confront him about it.

"The only person that has actually been nice and truthful since I got to camp is Nico," I said, looking at Nico, who had come up behind me. "So stop it."

Chiron was speechless. I turned towards Nico, who was looking at me with his eyebrows raised. "I'll be in the forest if you need me. It's the only place where I feel safe."

I sprinted back to the forest, loving the feeling of the air through my hair. The trees soon loomed over me and I was back into the forest. It felt like I was spending too much time in the forest.

I spent the day collecting branches and straw from the forest. If I was going to sleep in the forest tonight I wanted something better than the plain ground.

I was wandering through the forest when I stumbled upon a huge willow tree that looked super old. The trunk was so wide it created a flat space where the tree branched off. It would be a safe and comfy to lay in. It was perfect for a place to sleep.

I quickly gathered up my straw and other things and made a makeshift bed. Laying down in it, I realized that it was actually quite comfortable. I laid my head down on my moss pillow and covered myself with some straw.

Sleep quickly took over my tired body.

I'm staring into a dark abyss, watching it ebb and flow below me. All around me, the ocean was as dark as the sky above me. Panic is starting to set in. Where was I?

I looked all around, only seeing the hazy outline of what could be land in the distance. I squinted my eyes and peered closer at it.

Before I could stop myself, I automatically stepped forwards. For a second I thought I was about to topple over into the ocean, but my foot landed on something stable.

I looked down to see that my feet were hovering above the water. Nothing was supporting me at all.

I dropped into the water and stupidly screamed instead of taking a breath. My lungs were already bursting just from two seconds underwater.

I couldn't see anything around me, and I had no idea which way was up and down. Deja Vu hit me; this was almost the same situation as when Percy trapped me in a bubble, except that Percy wasn't coming. I didn't need his help anyways. I was fine.

I breathed in instinctively, and immediately coughed as my wind pipe filled up with water. Of course, coughing made me breath in more, and my lungs filled up with water.

A sort of peace came over me as I relaxed. I had heard that drowning wasn't very painful, but I expected my brain to be a little more concerned over that fact it had no oxygen.

I let my body float around aimlessly and I closed my eyes. I might actually fall asleep dying. That would be an all-time low.

Black fuzz crept up on the sides of my vision. I could hear my heart trying to beat it's way out of my chest to get air. I wasn't too concerned. I could stay like that forever, if it wasn't for the whole dying part.

Seconds later, the water finally took over me and I passed out.

I hope you liked this chapter, as always, and I'm sorry for not posting constantly. I'm not very good with schedules. Also, look up Tayen's name meaning, the odd title will make sense. I will probably change the title in the future, but for now it's kind of a pun. XD It sounded better in my head, trust me.