The Unclaimed

Chapter 10: My new (and slightly disfunctional) family

Thalia and I walked in silence to where I assumed the other hunters were. Not liking the silence, I decided to speak.
"Thalia, what are the other hunters like?" Without even pausing to think about it first, she responded.
"They're like a bunch of crazy sisters who you'll never be able to get rid of," genuine happiness was on her face. "But it's alright that you'll never get rid of them because you would never want to. At times us hunters appear dysfunctional and at other moments we are focused. But no matter how we're acting at the moment, we'll always be like a family. We defend each other no matter what." She stopped walking so she could face me directly. "Why do you ask?" My nerves suddenly seemed really ridiculous after everything she had just told me. I felt my hands fiddle together like they always do when I felt nervous. I bit my bottom lip until I almost drew blood. Thalia crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as she waited for me to answer.
"Ok well, this is going to sound really silly so please don't judge me off of this but," I spoke really fast. "Why if they don't like me? Also I've heard stories that most of them don't like men, they won't hate on Michael will they? Because he's not like most guys, and I'm not even just talking about how old he is. Michael is so kind and protective of the people he cares about. He's sweet, innocent, and really mature for his age. I just don't want them to bash on him because of his gender because he's easily the best person I know." As much as I wanted to fit in with the fellow hunters, there was zero chance of me trashing the male gender. Now there were certainly a few boys who I hated, cough cough James, but there were others like Michael who weren't horrible. Some guys treated me better than some girls and other girls treated me better than other guys. I was just nervous about what the hunters were like; I wanted to get along with them but I wasn't about to change my personality just to do so. Thalia started to laugh but she stopped when she saw the look of disbelief on my face.
"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude by laughing." I was a little doubtful that she was being honest, after all I know I didn't say anything funny so what other reason did she have to laugh. "It's just, well, you'll see." With that she walked to the nearest tent and pulled open its entrance. "Hey everyone, meet the newest hunter." She motioned for me to come inside. I entered slowly. When they saw me, the majority of the other hunters cheered. Many greeted me by name and others asked how Michael was.
"How, how do you guys know me?" I asked. As far as I was concerned I had never met any of them before in my life.
"You're the only person, or were the only person to have Artemis's blessing even when you weren't in the Hunt." Thalia explained. "Even before you got mixed up in all the demigod nonsense, we've been watching over you and Michael." She finished. The others nodded.
"You're brother defies our expectations of the male gender." One hunter shouted out.
"Yeah, he actually seems so nice and he does what he can to keep you safe." Another said.
"Michael is probably the only male I fully respect," my heart immediately swelled with pride. Here was a group of girls who were known notoriously for hating males, and they respected my little brother. If that didn't say something about his personality then I don't know what would.
"What did Michael think of you joining the hunt?" This was one question I wasn't prepared to answer or even really think about. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thalia shoot the girl who asked me the question a look. Thalia looked like she was about to say something but I spoke before she could.
"He doesn't know," the whole room gasped. "But that plays into the fact that he doesn't know who I am. He has amnesia; he got it during sword training where a senior camper fought him like he would fight an actual monster. This senior camper had called on me to help with a demonstration but Michael knows I hate being the center of attention, so he volunteered to take my place. I let him because it was just supposed to be a little demonstration. I should have stopped him," I chocked up. Thinking about what James did to Michael and the fact that Michael was suffering because of me was almost to much to handle. All of the hunters in the room immediately jumped to their feet. Some said comforting things to me, others threatened to kill whoever hurt Michael. Thalia put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.
"Guys there's more to the story." That got them to be quiet real fast.
"After this instructor knocked Michael out, I fought him and won." They cheered. (Especially after they heard that the instructor was a guy) "As I fought, the blessing of Artemis was seen. Once I beat him, I took Michael to the infirmary and then passed out. I woke up before him to find Chiron and Dionysus covering up the truth about what happened to Michael; they used the mist to make me look crazy. We may or may not have been in the middle of a meeting when I ran out to go to dinner instead of listen to their excuses. During dinner I was issued a prophecy and after dinner Michael woke up. He's perfectly fine with the exception of the fact that he has no clue who I am. He remembers everything and everyone else, he just doesn't remember me. I of course did not like this fact so I ran from the infirmary to the woods where I met Thalia and everything sort of fell into place." The interior of the tent fell silent. Everyone looked shocked and unsure about what to say. I didn't blame them. I barely knew what to make of the situation and I had lived it.
"Is Michael going to get his memory back?" This was asked by the same hunter who had asked about him to start with. I nodded and said,
"Yeah, it's going to be coming back slowly throughout the week." Everyone sighed in relief.
"But you're not going to there when he gets it back," another hunter pointed out. (I really needed to make sure proper introductions took place tomorrow morning at the latest)
"That's where the prophecy plays into all this." I said. "The prophecy said that I needed the help of those who have saved me in the past and journey the wild. It also told me to travel west and that I had to leave camp tonight to complete the quest. And the end result of the quest is supposedly my godly parent and the answers to every other question I've ever had." A look of understanding appeared on all of their faces. They understood quests, but even more importantly they understood the need to know who my parent was. No one said anything until Thalia spoke up.
"Alright, it's getting late." She said. "We have to get up pretty early tomorrow so I'm gonna take Jessica to my tent so we can get some shut eye before morning. I recommend you all do the same," they nodded at her instructions. Thalia motioned for me to follow her. After a slightly awkward wave to the group of hunters, I said,
"Nice meeting you all," and proceeded to walk to the door. Before I could leave though, one of the hunters asked,
"What was the name and godly parent of the senior camper who hurt Michael?" Despite being confused as to why she cared, I still answered.
"James, son of Ares." She nodded in appreciation to my answer. "Why do you want to know?" I asked curiously.
"Oh no reason," but as I took a final look at the hunters before leaving with Thalia, I saw a sneaky look pass between all of them.