TRATIE: A GARDEN FOR LOVE

Chapter 9

I get to Lucy's bed and she's up, looking fairly well again. She motions me to sit and I do. Then she tells me a story of her dreams.

"I had a dream where my little daughter, Nashi, was safe." She starts with a smile. "I watched her play with friends and have a good time. All of a sudden a voice startled me, a familiar female voice that I just can't place. The voiced seemed to be all around me. It told me "Your daughter is happy, isn't she? Except for her feelings of misplacement and that she's not where she should be. Find her. Use your skills to help her find where she belongs. Do what I was unable to do for you." I know that voice, but I'm not sure where from. What should I do?" I look at her with a mix of wonder and cautiousness growing inside me.

"What skills was she talking about?" I ask, trying to figure out the biggest questions first.

She paused for a moment and said, " I use celestial magic. And a lady in my town taught me how to use a bow and arrow when I was about 10. But how would she know that?"

"Wait. A lady in your town? What did she look like?" I asked, getting excited. I'm not sure how but I think the lady in Lucy's town was Artemis.

She didn't take any time in thinking about it, she just said," She had curly dark brown hair, eyes dark blue like the night. She looked about 25, but now that I think about it, she never seems to age. And unlike all the other lady's in my town, she wasn't married, not even dating."

This confirmed my suspicions. "Lucy... how much do you know of the Greek gods and goddess?"

She smiled and replied, "The lady in my town taught me all about them!" Of course she did. But I doubt Artemis would tell Lucy anything less than the truth, Artemis is very truthful about almost anything Hebe said in my head.

"And what do you know about them in their mortal form?" I asked, hoping that she would get it soon. She thought for a few moments then I saw the light turn on in her head and she yelled out "Artemis!", just as Chiron walked in the room.

He looked both amused and confused as he said, "I do believe my name is Chiron and I'm fairly sure I'm no goddess. But I guess I could be, I do have the hair for it." He flicked his mane, getting laughter out of Lucy and I.

Chiron's face got serious again. "Would you mind catching me up what what's happening?" he asked me. I told him everything that Lucy had told me and I could tell he understood a bit more about the situation than I did.

After pausing for a moment he said to both of us, "That does make sense. Not long before Lucy met Artemis in disguise, she went to Mount Olympus and told Zeus she needed a little time to think without all the weight of being a goddess. So she changed into her most beloved mortal form and wandered from town to town until she found Lucy's town. Some say she stayed in that town because there was a magical child she wanted to train. But no one knows for sure, she hasn't been seen in a few years."

Lucy and I looked at each other. I ask the question that neither of us want to ask. "Do you think Artemis is in danger?" Chiron smiled and shook his head. "She is definitely fine, we would know if something was wrong."

Lucy looked at Chiron, bewildered. "How do you know? Do you know for sure?" Her voice was shaky and it wasn't hard to understand how much of a mother figure Artemis was to her.

"We keep track of her, like we do with any god or goddess who takes time off. Zeus set a system up not long after some other things happened with a few gods and goddesses. "Chiron explained, trying to calm Lucy down. She excepted it fairly quick and she sighed with relief. But the relief drained from her face and fear washed in.

"So all I have to do is learn how to use the skills Artemis taught me along with strengthening my own magic, find my daughter and restart our lives? What if when I find my daughter, she doesn't want to restart her life with me? What if something goes wrong? What if I lose her forever? What if-"

"It will be fine. I promise. We will get your daughter back to happiness." I say, cutting her off. I try to clear her mind of the negative thoughts, even for a bit.

We plan out what our 'quest' will need. I start thinking about who I will need to help us and my mind wanders to the people (well, more of the monsters) I've encountered in California, especially around where Lucy said her daughter might be. We are going to need people to back us up, people who are tricky. Of course, the trickiest pair of Hermes boys pops into my head.

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Hey! I don't think I told you guys last chapter but I'm going to finish this book then redo the first few chapters. Tell me what you think!