Daughter of Artemis: Fire and Ice

Daughter of Artemis 9*

Media: Nico
<>Chapter 9<>

We'd been traveling for about two days now. Luckily, we haven't had any run-ins with any underlying monsters. Nothing eventful has happened, thankfully, so it's been a few lousy days of just hiking. We agreed we should stay away from cities and towns for that's where most monsters stay. When there's six demigods tracking around, we'd probably attract a horde of monsters. I didn't know whether Tyson would attract them too. I never thought to ask.

With nothing happening, the trip was rather dull. It's not as if I, or anyone here, wanted to be indulged in a fight, but I guess we wanted something to happen. Maybe even a little bit of drama. The only interesting things were the occasional disputes between Travis, Connor, and Clarisse. Even that wasn't exactly amusing enough to actually be called entertainment.

I noticed as we traveled on and on, Connor was beginning to look dreary. He seemed exhausted and sick sometimes. I would also catch him with a coughing fit but he dismissed it as a mere cold. In truth, I believed it was much more than that. His condition was getting worse and worse by the day, almost by the hour. Plus this looked ten times worse than a cold. I fretted over him, causing me to keep an eye particularly on him.

It was taking a lot longer to get to places and I began to wonder how on earth we'd walk all the way back. For the others, it might not be a problem. For me, well, I can barely run a mile.

As we trudged through the woods, an eerie feeling began crawling up my spine, giving me goosebumps. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself. At first, I thought it may be a bug so I started spazzing out mentally. Then, as I looked around, I could see the others were tensing up and starting to look uneasy.

"It's just a little chilly," Grover said, but it sounded like he was only reassuring himself. We nodded in agreement, not wishing for it to be anything but the cold wind.

Unfortunately for us, fortune isn't exactly our friend. The sky suddenly became darker, and wind started to pick up with great speed.

"Anyone know what's happening?" I ask nervously, glancing around.

"Either a natural phenomena is occurring at an extremely unrealistic rate, there's anemoi approaching, we're in Nowhere Boys," Percy announced not sounding sure, "or Nico is coming."

"Who's Nico?" I asked. Everyone gave a wisp of a look at each other warily. Suddenly the ground underneath us started to rumble and crack, the trees moaning as if they were being tortured.

Trees aren't creatures; what am I thinking? This isn't Narnia. Although, it would be really cool if it was.

Out of thin air, a shadow being appeared out of a tree, but I soon realized it was a hellhound. What I didn't detect was that someone was riding it until they cleared their throat in a rumbling way. I yelped in surprise as the big hellhound licked me with it's sandpapery tongue. "Hey Mrs. o'Leary," Percy said patting the dog's snout. "Nico," he addressed, looking at the person on top.

"Who said they didn't know my name?" Nico bellowed. I didn't dare raise my hand. Yet, everyone pointed at me. Real mature guys, real mature. Nico scowled at me but as he stared a second longer, his features changed. His face became softer, gentler. But still angry and irritated, for sure. I noticed he was quite attractive with his dark, kind of scraggly hair and black-looking eyes. Freckles dotted his face, sprinkling equally. It definitely gave off a look of young intimidation.

"Watch your mouth next time, lady. I am the only son of Hades, or that we know of so far. Don't mess with me, daughter of Artemis," he smiled, the corner of his mouth quirking up. It took me a moment to register that he smirked before transforming into a shadow once again and disappearing into another tree.

"I've never seen him let someone go that easily. Odd," Travis stated, eyes wide.

"That was dramatic," Clarisse added.

"What even. . ." Grover said, disoriented.

"Guess I'm just magical," I chuckled, winking. I swear I heard Connor say something but it was so incoherent, I couldn't hear it precisely. "Now that that's over lets get a move on shall we?"

<>Lots of traveling later<>

We finally reached Colorado. I think. I'm pretty sure we're at-

"Garden of the Gods. . ." Annabeth whispers looking around, taking in the breathtaking scenery. The mountains were beautifully tall, and the tress looked really. . . fantasy-like. The sun was blazing, even though it was setting, casting long shadows pointing east. The trees, even though it's just starting to go into autumn, were different shades of red, yellow, green, orange, and brown. The mountains looked like they were on fire. I gasped silently. "It's beautiful. . ."

"Yeah," we agree. I feel a hand brush against mine, and I look up to see it's Connor. (yes there will be a bit of romance in this -_- don't automatically think it's going to be all about love please and thank you because it won't.) He smiles down at me then looks back out to the sun. Soon enough, it's gone and behind the mountains. Yet the sky still seems to be glowing a firey red-orange.

"We should set up camp," I say, pointing to a flat, clear spot. Everyone hums in agreement and goes to set up, as do I.

'Please hurry. . .' Artemis speaks.

"I will," I whisper so low that no one can hear.

<>Nighttime<>

I checked to see if everyone was asleep before I got out of my sleeping bag and sat on a rock that gave me a perfect view of the moon. I sigh almost with nostalgia, staring at it. Twisting the charm on my necklace, my eyes teared up. Feverishly wiping the tears away, I choked back a silent sob.

I didn't know why, but I missed something. Something I had for the shortest while but lost because I took it for granted. Something I didn't think I'd ever find again. Family.

Sure, there was Artemis. And my friends, of course. But what I needed was real, blood-line family. Artemis is a goddess, so she's kind of excluded from the blood-line.

My father was long gone. It was too late for him to even come back from therapy. I'm surprised he's still downing all that alcohol. I never met any other relatives except for one time when my great-aunt came over to pick up some old furniture. Other than that, its been myself and myself only. Even with benefits, I don't think being an only child is as fun as it seems to most people. Now, most children with no siblings have both parents, but I still think it'd be a bit lonely. I grew up with absolutely no one. I didn't even have any friends at school, mainly because I never stayed in one school for very long. I either flunked or I was expelled for reasons unknown. So when I start to cry out of nowhere, I have good reason and it doesn't mean I'm weak. I suppose it just means I've been a little too strong for a little too long.

Now though, I'm at my strongest with these guys. I feel it's my job to look out for them. With that honor, its also a great responsibility I'm willing to take. They're my family now and I couldn't ask for anyone better.

Looking down at their sleeping forms, I smiled to myself. I finally wasn't alone. Looking back up into the moon, it seemed to glow brighter. The more I looked at it, the more I could see the picture of my mother carved into it. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. We will find you. I promise.

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Ok so I was wondering if you could follow me on Instagram: Just0Bailey and maybe Twitter: Just0BaileyROX

Once again, I'm so sorry it's so short. I've been having horrible writer's block for the longest time ever >.<

Alright, good whatever time it is lovelies