Wow, Two updates in one day! Im so proud of myself.
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She edged around the borders of the camp, not wanting to cause attention to herself. She has had some misfortune when it comes to the Hunters, and normally would never be caught dead anywhere near their camp. She climbs up the nearest tree, where she knows the Hunters would never notice. She spots the lieutenant, Thalia, busily working on shaving the chunk of wood she had down into a rod for an arrow. She also has their patron goddess hovering over her shoulder, watching her every move.
"Thalia, give it up. She's gone. And if she knows what's good for her, she will never come anywhere near our camp or any of the hunters if she wants to keep her life." Artemis implored. The young Huntress looks up at the goddess with an inferno of hatred baking in her eyes.
"That stupid girl took something from us that we can't get back. Now's her turn to pay up for the deed." The young warrior argued. She wouldn't let her guard down until the girl is caught and given justice. "She ruined our dignity. All because she couldnt help but run off back to camp and fall in love. She was under our oath and broke it. She deserves the consequences. I will make her pay." She promises to herself and the camp.
Elm internally sighs. I literally said I was leaving, and I didnt want to be a hunter. That's their fault for not listening. I give up explaining that to her. She looked back at the pair to realize that Lady Artemis had locked eyes with her, a curious questioning look in front of the normally hard, dead stare she held. Instead of calling for an attack, she left Elm alone, sitting in the tree, while she ended her conversation. Then she made her way back around the long way to where I was, coming to confront me outright.
"What are you doing here? You know they will rip you to shreds if they get as much as a glimpse of you." The goddess whispers
"I need your help. It's about my mom." Elm pleads, knowing that her mother will grab her interest faster than a cheetah.
"What did you come to me for? I told both you and myself that I would not get mixed up in any more of your life, yet here I am." She questions, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I think that Leo is trying to do some big, bold thing that she is allowed to choose, and the deed she asks him to do will most likely kill him." She delivered, trying to be the most convincing that she could, almost to the point of breaking down to raw, untouched, unfiltered emotion.
"And why, exactly, did you come to me? What do you want me to do?" The clearly upset goddess questions.
"I.... just need advice. What should I do? Neither one knows that I was there, so I can't go and say it outright." Elm replies, a look of desperation coating a normally ice-cold stare.
"Do you know when exactly this is going to happen?" She asks her.
"Yeah"
"Then make Leo a surprise dinner or something like that so he has to stay under your field of view." She plots, deviously making plans.
"Since when were you so devious? I thought you didn't want to help me. Why'd you change your mind?" The young demi-goddess asked curiously about Artemis's intentions.
"Let's just say you owe me one if I ever need your assistance." The goddess says, furrowing her brow while in deep thought. The two ladies said their thanks and departed.
What could she mean by "a favor"? will she use me as target practice? The girls will like that a lot. As long it doesn't involve something that needs not to be explained, I'll honor my side of the bet. Elm inquires as she walks down the old, beaten path leading to the bright outside of the dark and gloomy forest. As she reaches the end of the trail, the blinding light begins to peek through the trees, growing gradually until she is out of the forest. She ends up walking home, gaining more and more mud on her shoes and clothes. As she enters the small apartment that she can now call her own, her thoughts broke by the smell of food, steak on the indoor grill, to be exact. She looks over to the small kitchen that is connected to the room to see her boyfriend making dinner.
"Look who finally decided to show up! I made dinner! It's almost ready. Take a seat! Chillax. Take a sec to calm down. You look like you ran through Tartarus and back without any weapons."
"Imma go take a shower. Thanks for dinner! I'll be right back". She hurried off to her room to grab clothes, and got in the shower. As she was washing the mud off her body, she noticed out the corner of her eye her boyfriend fumbling around his own little room, finding parts and putting them together, making some sort of contraption. As he looks up, she looks away and acts as if she is not paying attention. As she gets out, he quickly hides it under his dresser and jogs out into the kitchen area where the oven was beeping at him with the intent of having the contents that are still unknown to her, out from inside it.
"What could You have made in the oven? Last time you tried to make something, you almost burned down the house!" She teases, lightening the mood. He looked at her with a gleam in his eye.
"Your favorite casserole."
"All right. All right. This is too much. What's the occasion? You would never do this without a reason. What's up."
"Just a little something."
"Little?! You made food that could feed both of us for the rest of the week!"
"I figured you would like it. Therefore, I did it."
"What if I told you I already ate?"
"I would know you are lying. You never eat before 5:00 or after 6:30." He replies smugly, knowing her down to her eating habits.
"That's... kinda creepy...." She replies with a look in her eye that he hasn't seen in forever. Content. Calmness. Relaxation. For once, she isn't worried about how much she trains or how many miles she ran that day compared to the day before and how it went. She is only focused on having a good time with her boyfriend. She finally settled down and took time to enjoy life
After the dinner extravaganza, she goes to her room to grab this book that she has been into lately. She grabs it off her shelf and climbs into the small bed she can call her own.
"So how you gonna pay for this place without a job? Or do you just randomly have a bunch of cash stashed somewhere?" Leo questions.
"I have a plan."
"Do you now?
"I always have a plan."
"Oh really? And what is this plan, if I may ask?"
"Imma get a job and make some cash, stupid. What did you think I was going to do? Make money appear out of nowhere?"
"Um... I don't know...."
"Exactly. Use logic sometimes, Flame Brain."
"Oh ha ha. Very funny Queen of Destruction."
"Oh come on, Repair Boy, is that all you got?"
"I got more than you could ever dream of, Short Stuff."
"Yeah, I'm short. Deal with it. What else you got? Fire Boy?"
"Anything you throw at me will go down in flames, Sword Girl."
"What's that? I couldn't hear you over your huge ego."
"Well... uh..."
"I thought you had "more than I could ever dream of! Everyone has the right to be annoying, but you've abused that privilege."
"Don't insult my ability to annoy." (Actual quote from the book. Credit to Rick)
"Whatever, Leo. I'm going to bed. Duces." Once she knew that her boyfriend was asleep, she left the small apartment and headed yet another place she never planned to visit ever again after she left. Little to her knowledge, he was doing the same thing, but in a different situation.
