Bella Swan; Lieutenant of Artemis

Chapter 5

A\N: If you hadn't already picked it up, Bella's a demigod. Pretend that unless a demigod believes that their parents are dead, missing, or gods can they begin to develop powers. The only exception to this rule is during extreme emotional outbursts.

I feel like a volcano, ready to erupt, but instead of lava and fire, I'm about to spit shadows.

 As I huff and puff, the Woman and Thalia share a meaningful glance, then Thalia states, in a concise, blunt tone, with her arms crossed over her chest, "Well, the way we see it, you can either sit here and mope about boys, or you can swear fealty to  Artemis here," she gestures to the Woman, and continues. " and swear off boys in return for; partical immortality, learning all about your godly parent, increased speed annd strength, as well as awesome archery skills. Then you can go kick his ass for lying to you." 

As Thalia talked I could feel my harsh grip in the shadows fade away, and when it does, I started to see her point. 

"Fine." I practically spit out. Then in a calmer tone, "That sounds like a great idea,but you mentioned that one of my parents is a god. I know for a fact that my mum isn't a goddess, and there is no way that my police sergeant of a father is a god."At this Thalia cringes."Also, judging by the fact that you called that woman Artemis, you're talking about Greek gods. Aren't they supposed to look like supermodels?" I say ignoring the small voice in my head that makes a quip about my ex.

Thalia froze for a second, then rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, and looked to the Woman, now called Artemis, as if asking for help. Artemis shrugs with a small smile on her face, as if to say, 'This is all you, Thals.'  Artemis stretches and winced as her back cracks. " Whelp, I'm off, gotta go talk with Phobe about our next target." She turns, and gives Thalia a hard stare, seemingly saying that she has this, and to not bother her unless it's important. I ignore the curiosity about what they target, 

Thalia ploped on the floor with a sigh, still rubbing the back of her neck. "About that, ....." Cue another sigh. " So, as I'm sure you noticed, that shadowy thing-a-ma-gigy you did earlier, right?" Not waiting for an answer, she plows on. " Well, that trick is most often found in kids of Hades, Lord of the Underworld." She practically spat out his name, then continued listing names of the deities that could be one of my parents, as I started down the road of denial." They could also be Erebus, primordial god of darkness, or, Hypnos, god of sleep." She continues to babble about how it's rare to see a child of Erebus, just in general, or a child of Hypnos that can control shadows, as I feebly try to defend my fragile world view.

"But, . . . that can't be right. My dad's name is Charlie, and, .... and my mom was in Forks when I was concieved and, and..." I trail off, realizing that my reasoning was starting to sound more and more ridiculous as I go on. 

" Look, Bella, right?" At my nod, Thalia continues, " It doesn't particually matter who your godly parent is. All that matters is that you have one. I reluctantly agree, unable to deny it anymore. She continued, heedless of the fact that I had already accepted my heritige. "And now that you're aware of it, monsters like the Hydra will chase you, and will try to eat you. That is, unless... you join the Hunt. We can protect you, until you learn to protect yourself. "