The Unclaimed

Chapter 31: Keeping my mind occupied

   It didn't take long for me to realize that today was going to be a long day. It was a good thing that Artemis had mentioned my quest because I probably would have started complaining, at least to the other hunters, about how unfair it was to make us run this far. I felt immature for thinking that way but in my defense I was only 15 and had been a hunter for less than a week. I was still getting used to people expecting things from me. Back at camp, Chiron and Dionysus almost always let me do what I want. The only time I ever felt pressured to live up to someones expectations was when I was with Michael. And I had been perfectly ok with that; he made me want to try. Whenever he wasn't around I trained how I liked to train, I behaved how I wanted to, and fought whatever campers I needed to. That's just how my life was. So to have all these people, who actually cared about me, expect so much of my was a foreign concept to me.
   I wasn't sure how long we had been running for, I had lost track of time ages ago, but I was starting to get hungry and bored. For me to be both of those things was not a good combination. I tried to keep my mind preoccupied: I sang songs, thought about Michael, brainstormed about 100 ways to kill James, and thought more about my prophecy and dreams. Songs kept me distracted for a while, thinking about Michael only helped for a small portion of time because it made me feel nostalgic, plotting against James lasted for a while because of how mad I still was at him, and my thoughts on my prophecy and dreams kept my mind busy the longest.
   Some point during my time of daydreaming about torturing James one tiny fact that could affect whether I could get away with my plans suddenly came to mind; there was a chance he was my half-brother. Just the possibility that I was related to him was enough to make me shudder. Plus, as much as Ares loved war and violence, I wasn't sure how accepting he'd be if two of his kids went at it and tried to kill (or just seriously maim) one another. Then again who even knew; from what I had heard Ares was full of surprises. Once I got tired of thinking about James, my mind began to wonder to my prophecy and quest. It was hard for me to believe that it had just been a couple of days since I had joined the Hunt. My life now was so different from what it had been. And it was all because of my prophecy, a prophecy that went with a quest that Chiron hadn't even wanted me to go on. That had confused me; why didn't he want me to leave. I know he said it was because I was emotionally unstable and all those other intelligent sounding excuses but I couldn't help but think that there had to have been a deeper reason. Throughout my time at camp, I had never heard of Chiron forbidding a demigod to go on a quest. I wasn't sure how long my mind had been wondering for but I eventually realized that we were slowing down. Finally, I thought to myself; it was time for lunch.
   "Where even are we?" I asked Thalia as we started getting food onto our plates.
   "Not to far past the Indiana border," I nearly spit out my food when I heard her answer.
   "You mean, we've already, but we're just now getting lunch," I said in shock. "How is it possible that we've already ran through one state?" To say I was confused would have been an understatement. It was a weird thought; we were just now eating lunch, still had more running ahead of us, and I hadn't even faced my monster of the day. Thalia started laughing while she nodded.
   "Hard to believe right," she told me. "Trust me, when Artemis sets her mind to something it becomes easier than you would expect it to be. We're all going to get to sleep in tomorrow, because we'll be exhausted, but we'll have made up for any travel time today." I nodded in understanding but I was still amazed. It was a hard concept to wrap my head around; traveling through just one state in a day was still hard to wrap my head around.
   "Alright ladies, as much as I hate to be a joy kill we need to get going shortly." Artemis called out. "So let's quit the chit-chat, finish eating, and then pack up." Though there were no complaints that were spoken, a collective groan was heard from almost all of the hunters. But we did as she said; finished eating and then packed up. Once we were all done, we started running. For the other hunters they felt we were running just until nightfall. For me though, I was running until we found my newest monster which would provide me with my next hint.