Daughter of the Moon | Chapter Four (comment please!)

by Jupiter Says Hey in New York City

Chapter Four

          There was an awkward silence spreading throughout the campgrounds, and even Nathan stared in amazement. Percy got on one knee and bowed his head, while Annabeth got down on both knees, clasped her hands together, and lowered her head; the rest followed their actions, and even Nathan got the message. Chiron came forward, after bowing himself, and put his heavy hand on my shoulder.
"Daughter of Artemis," the phrase seemed strange to his mouth. "Welcome to Camp Half-blood." unlike Nathan's welcoming, mine had no cheering at all, just wide and scared eyes. "I'm sure your mother is...proud." and with the last word, the sky rumbled with chaotic thunder and lightning, and if I hadn't looked upward at the exact right moment, I wouldn't have been able to dodge the strike of thunder sent down to me.
"Oh dad," after regaining my sanity, I turned to see who said that and found a girl dressed in black, black chin-length hair and a spiked bracelet stand and stare at the angered sky. "Don't worry, he'll calm down. He's just pissed because Aretmis has a kid; she's supposed to be a maiden, you know." she explained, walking toward me. "I'm Thalia by the way. I'm a Hunter for Artemis. I know I should be hunting or whatever but Artemis let me come and visit for some reason, and now I know. She has a daughter." she smiled and extended her hand.
"Thalia? When did you get here?" Percy asked, standing and coming toward us.
"I just got here," she said, simply, her eyes not tearing from me. "Now, tell me, what do you know about Artemis."
"I..." I was speechless, but I knew a few things. "I know that...well, she's a goddess...?"
"No duh, Einstein. What else?"
"She's the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and a whole bunch of other things. She's Apollo's older twin. She's...she...asked my dad to..." I glanced upward to the now fading claim.
"What's going on here?" another feminine voice joined our confusing coversation. Once she came into view, I had a feeling she wasn't a demi-god but had something to do with this fantasy world. She had chin length red hair and numerous freckles across her nose. Before she could've said anything else she glanced at the sign above my head. With a shocked expression a greenish light flowed out of her mouth and eyes.

"Daughter of Artemis,
A mistake from a goddess,
A brawl thou have begun,
True allies, will not shun.
With four at thou side,
Young deaths will curtail.
With four at thou side,
Thy war will not fail."

          Redhead's words were accompanied by a double, deeper feminine voice. Her little rhyme sent a chill down up my spine making me retreat in my own steps, closing into the lake, and everybody's frightened stare they seemed to blow me further away.
"It seems like somebody has a quest." Thalia smiled, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Selena, come with me. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel, come with." Chiron ordered, grabbing me by the back of my neck and guiding me toward a cabin larger than all the others. Without a word, Nathan unexpectedly stood, ignoring his limp.
"No--wait, stop." I struggled out of Chiron's grip and ran to Nathan's side. "He's coming."
"Selena, I don't think we can do that..." Annabeth muttered.
"Nathan was with me before I got here, and he'll be there with me whether you want him to be or not." I don't know how, but I was already in front of Annabeth, when I was right next to Nathan two yards away.
"Whoa, she's just as fast as Artemis!" Thalia whispered loudly. Ignoring her, Annabeth gave in, supporting me to bring Nathan, and once that happened, everybody else gave in.

          Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel--the redhead, Nathan, Chiron, Dionysus (The God of Wine), and I sat around a large table, waiting for somebody to say a word. Finally, Chiron cleared his throat.
"Selena, you do know what this means right?" Chiron asked, leaning forward; he was now in a wheelchair.
"No. I don't."
"You've started an uprising between the gods. You're not supposed to be born. You're a mistake."
"Gee, thanks. That's exactly what I wanted to hear." I rolled my eyes, and sat back in my chair.
"No, no that's not what I mean. To the gods you're a mistake--something that's not supposed to exist. Just like Percy, Thalia, and boy named Nico. Who knows, maybe Artemis doesn't reject you at all. Anywho, Rachel," he pointed to the redhead who scared the living daylights out of me. "She's our new Orcale; an Orcale gives quests to certain demi-gods, and you've just been given one. To my understanding, you've begun an uprising among the gods, just by existing, and you also have to put a stop to it."
"With four at her side." Percy added.
"And she also has to make allies."
"Thalia, Percy, go IM Lady Artemis, she might be able to tell us how bad things are in Olympus." Chiron ordered, rubbing his temples.
"Selena, do you want to come with?" Percy offered, right before they exited. I was suddenly nervous, my legs all shaky, and my stomach erupting with butterflies. At my side, Nathan put his hand on top of mine.
"Go," he whispered with a reassuring smile, and with that, I was off.

          Percy created a mist at the edge of the lake, and while that was happening, Thalia took out a small golden coin.
"What's that?" I asked, eyeing it curiously.
"It's a drachma coin, we need it to IM Artemis."
"Why don't we just use my phone?" I asked, taking it out from my dress pocket. I was very proud of my iPhone.
"Give me that." Percy yanked it out of my hands and threw it in the lake.
"Hey!" I shoved him into the water, but came out dry. "Stupid water powers." I muttered.
"I'm sorry, but that attracts monsters, you can't use it."
"You didn't have to throw it into the lake either."
"Would you stop whining?"
"I'm not whining. And if you say one more thing, I will hurt you."
"Just like Artemis." Thalia chuckled. "Talk about a spitting image. Anyway," she threw the coin into the mist, and to my surprise it dissappeared. "O goddess, accept my offering." she paused, then continued. "Lady Artemis, wherever she and her Hunters might be." the mist transformed into a somewhat blurry image of a girl with wavy brown hair, and silver eyes just like mine; she seemed to be around twelve.
"Zues trying to kill my daughter... Who does he think he is? So typical of men--"
"Lady Artemis," Thalia cuts into my mother's rambling, after she said it, she looks into the mist.
"Thalia! Are you alright?" she asks.
"Yes, I am. I am here with a question though. It involves the gods in Olympus. How bad is it?"
"Well, Zues, Demeter, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus are arguing against Apollo, Poseidon, Hades, and Hera. Dionysus and I are the only ones missing. There discussing my punishment. She--actually, I--have begun a war among the gods! It is such a tragedy."
"When do you think they're going to start fighting?" Percy asked from the side.
"I say...two weeks."
"Two weeks?" I shouted, knowing that that's the only time I'm going to be able to train and stuff.
"Is that..." Artemis began, but her voice faded into a saddened tone. Thalia pulled me into view. "Selena," she smiled. "You've gotten so big." I was speechless, but Thalia elbowed me.
"Lady Artemis," was all I said, no smile at all. "It is an honor," her smile faded into depression, as if she was expecting a "Hi, mom, how are you? No, no, I don't mind that you abonded me and my dad, asked my dad to keep me a secret, and nearly had me killed by Zues." Please.
"Thalia, please inform Chiron that I will be there tomorrow at night." And with that she passed her pale hand in front of the mist, destroying the image.
"Oh, boy." Thalia and Percy said in unision.
"Whatever," and with that I walked back to the main house.

          I was given a bow and a sheeth of arrows to train with the next to day. Not trying to show off or anything, but I'm a natural. I'd pull back, inhale, let go, and exhale. Even though I'd be half a centimeter away from a bullseye, I was pretty good for a begginer. Nathan on the other hand, had tried sword handling with Percy, and he was pretty good, besides his limp. I was still at the archery arena talking with Apollo kids, when Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Nathan came by.
"We volunteer." Annabeth announced, stepping forward.
"What do you mean?" I asked, lowering my bow.
"We volunteer to go with you on your quest. We don't want you to be alone, and the prophecy did say, 'With four at thou side,'." Percy pointed out.
"I never said I was going on the quest." I laughed, turning and shooting another centimeter-off arrow.
"You have to. You have no choice." Thalia snapped.
"You see, I don't think I'm ready for this yet. So why can't it wait?"
"Because if we wait, the gods will begin a war, and the world will end." Annabeth explained in a long-story short kind of way.
"Well, I don't know what to do! Once I step out of camp, I'll have no idea what to do!" I conffessed, kicking dirt.
"Well, we have to go make allies with as many people as we can. And that involves gods. Don't worry we'll get all info when Artemis gets here tonight." Percy said, and with that, we shot into a conversation full of what we're going to do when the date to leave comes by.

          "She's almost here!" Thalia squealed; I don't ever recall seeing a goth chic happy. Nathan, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and I were next to Chiron awaiting Artemis to arrive. I didn't want to be here, that's for sure, but I couldn't leave. She was my mother. After another dreadful half hour, Nathan spotted a silver chariot pulled by white pegasi fly across the sky and land in front of us. Inside was my mother, no longer looking like the twelve year old girl I saw in the mist. She resembled an age that my dad had, with a few grey hairs dangling, but even those could not strip her of her stunning beauty. Her silver gaze locked on me first, and I was the one she spoke to first too.
"Selena," she said, expression unreadable.
"Mother," I replied, expression the same.
"Come with me." and off I was, on a walk with my mother.

A/N: Okay, so... I lied. No action... YET! There will be, don't get frustrated with me :S Please! I'm sorry if you found this boring but could you comment anyway? Pleease (: It'll mean sooo much. Hope you enjoyed!