| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

█▓▒­░⡷⠂ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ⠐⢾░▒▓█

 orphic

(adj.) mysterious and entrancing; beyond ordinary and understanding

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"Where have you been?!" Chiron's angry voice made her jump and almost pull out her dagger. Gods, she had stop doing that.

"I was, um, out," She mumbled. It was a lame response, but she didn't feel like telling him where'd she'd really been. It felt wrong somehow.

"Bet she was with Artemis's lackeys," She heard a voice whisper from the crowd watching her. Chiron was not satisfied with her answer.

"Out where? There have been recent attacks-" He cut himself off, realizing that he had said to much. With a quick shake and a stern look, he pointed towards the cabins.

"As a punishment, you must clean out your cabin, understand?" He instructed. She looked at him blankly.

"Which cabin am I in again?" She asked. He looked at her, confused. "What do you mean which cabin you're in? Where have you been sleeping?" He asked.

"In a tree," She said dryly. He glared at her as if to say no more jokes, before realizing she was serious. With a huff, he pointed to Cabin 7.

"Go clean that cabin. And no more sleeping in tree's," He warned her. Bitterness growing, she gave him a small nod and trudged over, ignoring the whispers floating about.

Cleaning had been actually helping her. She had a lot on her mind, and while her body was working, she could try to categorize what was even going on. Nico was mad at me because he thought that I was betraying him.

Scrub scrub scrub.

Aphrodite possibly sent out these monsters to kill me.

Brush Brush Brush.

Someone tried to attack my tree, and I can't sleep in it anymore.

Rinse Rinse Rinse.

Chiron and Annabeth were fighting about these monster things- Wraiths- which could have been what Chiron was talking about when he slipped up about attacks.

Wipe Wipe Wipe.

So many things, so many questions. Was anybody going to answer them? Probably not, she thought bitterly. A sudden thought occurred to her.

If I become a Hunter of Artemis, I'll never find out. We'd wander away from camp, so I could never ask Chiron what those Wraiths are. I'll never know why Aphrodite tried to attack me because Artemis will keep me away from her so I don't fall in love. Nico and I will never be able to make up.

Something inside her clicked. Did she really want to risk her happiness for answers? She swallowed, her fingers freezing in place. She still remembered the emotion that flowed over her when Cherri had told her that she couldn't even be friends with boys, unless they were siblings or family of some sort.

Do I really want to give that up? She didn't mean that in a romantic point of view, obviously, but she felt herself darken a little. I... I don't think so, Her mind whispered. Nico was a great friend, and Percy, Leo, and Jason weren't that bad.

She stood up, quickly wiping off he soap an water on her hands before silently creeping out of the cabin, not bothering to pull up her hood. She still hadn't received her orange shirt and army green shorts, so wearing a hood and acting like a ghost wouldn't help her case of not being seen.