The Unclaimed

Chapter 42: The relevant answer to an irrelevant (but annoying) problem

   By this point in the quest I had lost track of what state we were in. A part of me felt like a little child whenever I realized that I had no clue where I was. But another part of me, didn't mind. Or at least it didn't blame myself for losing track of information. We had run so far in such a short period of time that it was impossible for me to keep track. I mentally groaned. This quest had gotten to the point where my mind was so done with it that I found everything interesting. I hated it.
   "What are you thinking about," I nearly jumped when Aubrey appeared out of nowhere. I felt heat in my cheeks; I did not want to admit that I had been thinking about the fact that I had no idea where we were. I shrugged.
   "Really nothing important," I admitted. "Which irritates me because I used to only ever get lost in thought about significant issues. Now my brain gets caught up in thinking about the most irrelevant issues." Aubrey laughed at my answer.
   "It's your minds coping method," I must of looked really confused because she laughed again. She was clearly easily entertained. "The first month of being a hunter involves a lot of changes to you, both physically and mentally. There's a lot going on and for about a month your brain struggles with understanding all of this." I still felt confused. "For the next month you'll get lost in the simplest of thoughts. And by the simplest of thoughts I mean anything that crosses your mind. As soon as your brain can fully wrap itself around everything then you won't have this issue anymore." Now it made more sense.
   "Oh," I said really intelligently. "I mean that makes more sense." Aubrey smiled at me.
   "Don't worry," she told me. "You'll get used to everything soon enough." I sure hoped so. The more my mind wondered, the hardest it was to snap out of it. I hated not being able to control my thoughts, it made me feel powerless.
   "I sure hope so," I said softly to Aubrey.
   "What do you hope for," Thalia had appeared from what felt like thin air on the other side of me. I looked at Aubrey, hoping she could explain it.
   "I was just catching Jessica up on how easily she'll get lost in thought for the next month," a look of understanding immediately crept onto Thalia's face.
   "Oh yeah, I remember going through that." She said. "It's a pain but don't worry, it will end and then your senses and mind will be as sharp as ever." I took in every word she said and thought it all over. Then I spoke.
   "Again, I sure hope so." My response caused both Thalia and Aubrey to start laughing. Then we went back to running in silence. My mind started to think about today's hint. It scared me. I was hoping Thalia was right that it wasn't a prophecy because I wasn't ready to die. I was to young. I tried to figure out if the clue took out of my potential dads but as far as I knew Hades, Zeus, and (obviously) Ares all enjoyed fighting. So while the hint did push me towards thinking Ares might be my father,  it didn't knock out any of my options. The sun was starting to set. It was getting dark out. Our running slowed and we gathered around Artemis.
   "Alright ladies, time to get dinner and head off to bed." She told all of us. "Remember not to stray from the campsite. No one is allowed to go anywhere without at least one other hunter." Even though she directed this towards everyone, I knew it was made because of me. I looked down at the ground embarrassed. Once we set up camp and had dinner, we headed off to bed. I prayed that I would not be plagued by dreams but I had a gut feeling that my prayers would not be answered.