The Hunter Of Artemis And The Lightning Thief

I Oh No! My Mommy!

I don't own any of the characters in this chapter. Rick Riordan does.

No.

No.

That's all that my five year old brain could process.

Mommy.

Mommy.

Mommy.

She's in pain.

She's dying.

No.

Someone help her!

Sure, I was being abused at the moment, my stepfather was breaking my bones, cutting me with glass. Even though it was my birthday. But the only thing that mattered was her.

Mommy.

Someone help her.

Please.

Mommy whispered something, but I don't know what.

There was a flash.

I looked away.

When I looked back, a woman was there. She looked at me and saw my stepfather standing next to my with a knife. He was staring at her.

"Mommy," I whimpered. I pointed to my mommy.

She looked over and saw my mommy.

She got angry and looked over at us.

"Who did this?" She asked.

"She deserved it," Gabe slurred.

"No she didn't!" I exclaimed. He turned to me.

"What did I say about talking?"

I would usually shrink back against the wall, but not today. I sat up and looked at him defiantly.

"You hurt my mommy for no reason!" I shrieked. I had tears pouring out of my eyes. "She's dying! After all she does for you! YOU didn't deserve ANYTHING she does for you! And now you hurt her! How could you!? How could you?"

He lifted the knife, but I shifted my attention to the girl who had just appeared.

"Can you save her?" I whispered.

"Maybe," she whispered. She sat next to mommy.

She examined my mommy's wound.

"Artemis," I heard my mommy manage to say. "Please take care of Percy."

Then she closed her eyes.

The girl, Artemis, looked over and shook her head sadly to me. I put my head in my hands and silently cried.

I felt a stinging in my arm. I looked up, still silently crying. Artemis was staring angrily at Gabe. I looked at my arm. A knife was stuck through my arm.

I saw Artemis raise her arm and point at Gabe. I saw her mouth moving as if she were saying something, but I couldn't hear it.

The next thing I knew, Gabe was on the floor, dead.

"Men are pigs," Artemis said as she walked towards me. I just nodded.

Because I agreed with her.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Then she let go of my arm.

I pulled out the knife and dropped it on the ground.

I noticed that I was bleeding. Artemis noticed it too. She looked my over and saw all of my cuts bruises and broken bones.

"How can you even walk?" She asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "But it doesn't matter. My mommy's dead." My silent tears kept coming.

"What's your name?" Asked Artemis.

"Percy," I said. "Well, Perseus, but please call me Percy. Only Gabe called me Perseus. I don't like the name."

"Okay," she said. "My name is Artemis."

I looked at her. "Are you the Greek goddess?"

She looked back at me. "Yes, actually."

I nodded. "Where are you bringing me?"

"To my huntresses," Artemis said. I stopped walking.

"But won't they try to kill me?" I asked.

"Not if you're with me at the time," she replied. "They'll ask me if they should, but I'll say not to."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked.

"Your mom asked me to take care of you," she replied.

"That makes sense," I said.

We walked in silence. I had stopped crying, my sadness gone. I was just in shock.

I stumbled after Artemis into a clearing in the woods. There were tents, and there were a bunch of girls with bows.

They all pointed their bows at me, but I didn't care. All I wanted was for my mommy to be alive.

"Do you want us to kill him, my lady?" Asked a girl with a silver circulate on her head.

"No, Zoë." Artemis led me to the fire in the middle of the clearing. "We'll tell you his story when his wounds are healed.

I sat down on the bench.

The girls examined me.

"How could you even walk?" One girl asked. She didn't sound concerned exactly, just curious.

"What happened to you?" Another asked.

"Was it monsters?" A third girl asked.

I didn't answer. I was still in shock. I was just gazing off into the distance.

"Girls," Artemis said. "Please stop asking him so many questions. He's still in shock about what happened. Pheobe, heal him please."

"Yes my lady," said a girl. She walked over to me.

"Follow me, boy." She walked off. I stood up and followed her.

She led me to the medical tent and told me to sit down. I nodded and sat.

She fixed my wounds quickly, then shooed me away from the tent.

"So," Artemis said. "Here's your tent." She gave me a tent. She told me how to put it up.

"Thank you," I said. I was about to leave, but I said something else first. "Should I call you 'milady' like the huntresses do? Or 'Lady Artemis?'"

"Yes, you should, Percy," Artemis said. "Either way works."

"Okay Lady Artemis," I said, then ran off to find an empty area in the clearing.