January 21st

I love substitute teachers!

Our teacher had been called in sick with the flu, so we had a substitute. Her name was Mrs. Teddy bear (or was is Tedibur? I can't remember). She was a middle aged woman with frizzy blond hair, tied up in a tight bun, and pale skin that was as smooth and cold as the metal on the swingsets. She wore a long sleeve grey dress with high heels. We could hear the "click, clack, click, clack" coming up the hall the moment she stepped in the building. She also had a thick French accent that was nearly impossible to understand. The way she spoke sounded a little like this:

"Hallo clazz, my name iz Mrz ZeddyBear, toda'z lezzon vill be vorking on your projetz. I beleeze Mrz Heezer lefz you zhe instructions, oui?"

So, after about ten minutes off "What!" and "Can you repeat that!" and of course "hey, old hag, talk normal!" she eventually gave up and let us go outside for the day.

For the middle of winter, it was actually a decently warm day. The sun was out, and the sky was a beautiful blue colour without a cloud in sight. Though the grass was all dead and trees naked of leaves, the scenery had a wintery-like aura to it that made everything look just plain out lovely.

Nancy and I were playing hide and seek. We couldn't play capture the flag because we didn't have enough team members. Since the flu is currently going around, a lot of people have caught it lately. Ellie, and Casey being two of them. Zack had sprained his ankle over the weekend, so he couldn't play either.

I was looking around when I spotted a mob of brown hair crouching behind a tree. I grinned and slowly snuck up, turning my back and innocently whistling a song I head on Percy's IPod.

"Mmm, I wonder if Nancy is here by this yellow scarf, that's somehow floating my this tree."

I heard a squeak and the scarf that had been hanging off of shoulder was yanked back. I giggled and jumped at her, causing her to scream as she tried to run back to base. Before she could, I tackled her to the ground and pinned her, laughing as I did so. She screamed, but laughed along with me as I sat down next to her. The ground was cold and wet, but I didn't mind.

"Gosh, Mirra! How are you so good at that?" Nancy asked, sitting up straighter and leaned up against the tree.

"Playing with my brother has its advantages" I say, a sheepish grin and a chuckle coming from my lips, but luckily she didn't notice.

I sighed and stretched my arms out, letting the sun hit my face in hopes of warming it up some. I looked around the playground, I saw what was left of the second grade class (meaning the ones who weren't sick). During normal circumstances, we would have about 35 students, but at the moment, we only had 20.

I knew most of my classmates names, and all of there faces. I'm usually pretty good at noticing things, so when I saw an unfamiliar girl sitting on a bench reading a book, I notice right away.

She was short, maybe an inch shorter than me. Her skin was pale, but not a ghostly pale. It looked more like a glow, like the one the moon lets off. Her hair was long, down past her waist and pulled into a thick side braid by silver haircut. I think it was black, but such a light color it seemed more blue. Even though we were far away, I could still see the bright silver gleam her eyes gave off.

I nudged Nancy on the shoulder. "Hey, who's that?" I asked.

Nancy turned to me. "Who?

I point towards the girl. "Her"

"Oh," Nancy looks in the direction I'm pointing, then turns to me. "That's Art."

"Art?" As far as I knew, there was no one named Art in our class."

"Yeah, Art E. Miss. She's new, remember, we met her this morning." Nancy answered. I was about to retort back by saying that there were no new students in our class, but then Nancy got called to play a game of soccer, then ran off.

I looked back at the strange girl. She had a strange aura about her that I couldn't put my finger on.

"Art E. Miss" I thought, tapping my chin and trying to remember somone by that name.

Art E. Miss. ArtEMiss. Artimiss...Artemis?

No, it couldn't be...could it?

Slowly, I get up and walk over to the strange girl. I sit next to her on the bench, I notice how a section in her eyes were darker than the rest. It kinda looked like a cresent moon.

"Hi..." I said akwardly.

I notice a small smile creep on her face. She keeps her eyes on the book while awsering, "hi Mirra"

I blinked a few tines in confusion as to how she knew my name, in which I asked her.

Her smile grew larger into a smirk. "Oh, you just look like a Mirra."

Okay, that made me even more confused. Mirra's not a very common name. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Mirra in New York. There's a reason I was named as such. My name "Mirra" sounds a lot like "Mirror". The job of Mirrors is to reflect what's put in front of it. Such as if you put a mirror in a large field of flowers. It would reflect off the happinsss and joy in that one field. However, if you put it is front of a war land, it will reflect the horror and violence. That's how I am, reflecting the emotions around me in my own vision.

"Um, this may sound like a weird question," I said, chasing her to look up from her book. ", but are you a Greek goddess?"

She blinks a few times bedore chuckling slightly and closing her book. "You sure do catch on fast, Mirra"

My eyes widdened. "So your really-"

"Artemis," she interrupts "goddess of the moon, and the hunt. A pleasure to finally meet you" She extends her hand for me to shake, which I did.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'finally'?" I asked.

"Oh, I've had my eye on you for quiet some time"

I jaw drops to my chin as I shockingly say "huh?!"

She laughs and waves her hand. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not stalking you or anything. Just think of me like a guardian angel."

I nod and star down into my lap, still confused and frankly quiet nervous. "So, umm, why have you been watching over me?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Artemis look out to the playground. "You have something...special about you Mirra"

"Special?" I play with my thumbs. "How so?

"Well, any mortal lucky enough to be healed by the God of healing himself is bound to have something special about them"

I blink again (something I'd done multiple times in this conversation), staring at her with absolutely no idea what she ment, though I decided not to ponder it to much. "Okay...?"

I see her stretching her arms out and sigh. "You know, if I could, I'd ask you to join the hunt, but I don't think you'd like it very much, considering you and that one black haired boy" she smiles at me and I blush, remembering that play date with Zack a few weeks ago. Artemis continues.

"Plus you wouldn't be able to see your brother as much"

I giggled. "Yeah, I wouldn't like that"

She closed her eyes to the bright sun, breathing in slowly. After a few minutes, she spoke up again.

"Your a relative to one of the most powerful demigods in all of history. I do hope you know of the dangers you'll face."

I nod. "Yeah, I know, but I'm not worried"

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

I played with the charm on my necklace. "Because I know that whatever happens, my brother will protect me"

I heard Artemis chuckle at my response. "Im glad you believe that." She stands up and stretches out her arms. "Well, I must be going now."

She bends down slowly and kisses my forhead. "Good-bye Mirra, I do hope we meet again."

Haha, told you guys I'd update before the month was up. I was going to update sooner, but then an annoying pest named alergies came up and smacked me in the face. I barely got done with this chapter without coughing a lung out. So, to make up for my lateness, gave you the reason why I nnamed her Mirra!

Creepy on my fellow Pasta's!