Ever since her conversation with James, ending with him guessing just from looking at her, that she was pregnant, Emma's arms had become a permeant fixture around her waist and stomach. She knew she wasn't that far along, and her stomach wouldn’t be that large but if James was able to guess, it was very likely that Noah would be able to. He’s with her every day, if there was a change in her body, he would more than likely catch on to her changes. Hearing footsteps coming behind her, Emma turned to see who was moving towards her. “Noah,” She said, glad that it was him and not someone else who could guess her pregnancy, but the guilt of keeping the news from him for as long as she had was returning. “Where’d you come back from?” Emma then asked, trying to keep her voice normal, keeping out the nerves she had been feeling for quite some time.
Owen wasn’t surprised that he was coming to this reunion thing single. He hadn’t been in many long term relationships ever and that hadn’t changed over the last ten years. His longest had probably been when he had started dating Adeline and even that hadn’t lasted all that long in the definition of a long term relationship. It didn’t bother him all that much but he did hope that one day he could be happily married or engaged or even just with someone like all the people now around him seemed to be.
When he arrived, Owen decided to go see Adeline. He had heard that she was here and thought it would be nice to see her after all these years. He asked around and eventually found out where she was. He couldn’t knock on a tent door but he instead said, “Knock, knock,” As he popped his head in and saw the back of her blonde head, “Am I interrupting?”
PJ knew he had to fix this. He was “off again” with Alaska once more and they were sharing a tent for the time they were staying. It was apparently Nate’s arrangement despite them being off again but he had a feeling that was exactly why his best friend did it. He really did have to fix this. He knew that he couldn’t live without her. The idea of it alone broke his heart a little. So he had to fix it. And he knew eventually he would have to fix it for good.
Walking into the tent, he found her looking through her bag. He knew she’d heard him coming in and so he knew that he was being ignored. He walked over to her, staying a meter or so away for a second before taking a deep breath and saying, “Al, we need to talk about this.”
Maisie wandered over to the kitchen table after having just woken up, next to an empty bed. Usually she had James to cuddle, but he’d left a lot earlier in the day– probably because of the big reunion at Camp Half-Blood. Her attention was drawn to the note taped on the table. After reading it through, her smile grew even bigger and she rushed to get changed for the taxi waiting outside for her to get to the camp where he was waiting for her.
An hour passed, and Maisie finally arrived at the camp, letter in hand with instructions for where she was to meet her boyfriend. She walked through the familiar grounds, smiling and waving at people she remembered from her days as a camper. She missed the place– it was where she discovered she had a brother, where she met her first love, and where she found a family. As she strolled down the path, her constant checking of the map James had given her was a good thing as she finally ended up at the stables. “James?” She called, walking further towards them, until she could see her boyfriend sat on top of a Pegasus waiting for her. “James! Oh my goodness!”
Rylen knew it was the middle of the night and she knew Caitlyn was probably sleeping, but she needed to be with her right then. So she got out of bed, pulled on a hoodie, walked across the field to the Hermes cabin and pushed the door open, walking to her girlfriend's bed and climbing in next to her. "Why would she just leave?" Ry pressed her face into the other redhead's shoulder. "She's so damn selfish, only thinks of herself." She had said something along these lines to Caitlyn before but she was so angry at Robin.
Christian walked up to Nate, hands in his pocket to cover up the fact he was shaking. Christian knew that the boys of the Poseidon cabin could be the hardest to ask for permission. Once he was fully approached to Nate, he spoke, “Hey, can we talk?”
The day she was waiting for finally started. Of course she was not going to admit she was looking forward to it, but any passer-by could notice a tiny smile on her face. She woke up early in the morning, didn’t bother with choosing any special outfit, and quickly went to the arena. Oh yes, kicking ass before breakfast was a great way to start any day. While waiting, she decided to sharpen her sword, humming softly.
It had been nearly a century since her father’s demise and the vow she took in the name of Artemis. She hadn’t felt like she belonged to the outside world and all the changes that were coming about but she felt at home with her new friends, her new sisters. She didn’t open up a whole lot. Her experiences had given her a stony visage. She didn’t share a lot of things with them but she had come to trust them with her life. She hadn’t had even one person she felt that way towards until she joined them.
Sometimes they didn’t have a whole lot to do. There was no pack of monsters terrorizing mortals, no giants, no titans, no threats that meant they were needed. Sometimes Artemis would send some of the girls to a place called Camp Half Blood. Cassia had never been but she had heard that it was a place for people like her. Or the person she used to be. She was immortal now but if she had known about her godly heritage before, she could have gone to seek refuge in this camp from her father and brother. They would have lied longer if she had known. Not that that mattered now. She was glad they were dead.
In times where there were no serious threats, they just went hunting. Deer, rabbit, mountain lion, anything they found. They rarely lost a target once they set their eyes on it and when they did, there were more important things to do suddenly. If it was good enough, what they caught would be cooked for dinner. If there was enough of it at all. Nobody was truly favored above the rest. Even becoming Artemis’ right hand was partly chosen by the huntresses themselves. Eating some of their game around a table in Artemis’ tent was what they were doing when their mistress up and left suddenly. It happened every now and then and while it would go silent for a split second, the talking commenced again and their meal went on.
This time, however, Artemis was not gone for long. As soon as she returned, Cassia and all the huntresses went silent. They all knew she had something to say. What made Cassia specifically feel uneasy was the fact that Artemis was staring right at her. The goddess’ face was unreadable which made it all the worse, “Cassia, there is someone outside to see you,” Everyone turned to look at her and her eyebrow’s furrowed. Who could it be? There was no one. All the same, she stood up and walked out. If she needed to fight, she had her bow and quiver of arrows and she knew the huntresses would help her.
Immediately Cassia knew that the woman waiting was a goddess. She was dressed in the most modern fashion as of the time. She could have easily blended in with everyone but she also had a slight aura. Probably easily disguised by mist but easy to spot for Cassia, “Who are you?” She asked.
“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me. You have my eyes,” Cassia furrowed her brow at the women. They clearly had different eyes in shape and color. The woman grinned, “In the form that I new your father in, not this one. I presume you’ve figured out who I am anyway.”
“Nemesis,” Cassia said, narrowing her eyes. Artemis had told her who were godly parent was shortly after she took her vow but they had never met face to face until now. She had imagined this moment so many times but nothing had prepared her for it. All she knew was that there was an anger building up inside her and it wasn’t going down any time soon.
“Calm yourself, girl. I can feel the lust for revenge radiating off of you. You did get it from me after all.”
“What do you want?”
“A favor.”
“I owe you nothing.”
“You killed Cineas. I loved him you know, he was a good man.”
“He was a horrible man.”
“He became a horrible man when you killed your brother.”
“The favor you ask for is sounding less likely every second.”
“You will do as I ask, Cassia Rosi.”
“You cannot tell me what to do.”
“Where do you think the strength to get revenge on your brother and father came from? It was me. I am the goddess of revenge.”
“It had nothing to do with you. I did not even know who you were.”
“It is in your genes, my child.”
“Don’t call me that. I am not a child and I am certainly not yours.”
Nemesis waved her comment off and went on as if Cassia had agreed to the favor, “From now on, you will be one of the representatives sent to Camp Half Blood.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me perfectly well, Cassia,” Nemesis replied, “You will be a representative.”
“Why do you want that from me?”
“I trust that you will look out for your family.”
“The only family I have is inside that tent. Nowhere else.”
“Whether you want to do this or not, you are now a representative. Artemis has seen to it. You do not have to like them or tell them about yourself but you must keep an eye on them. For some it might be hard. You will not change much in the future, Cassia. Your walls will stay up and you will face obstacles when you let them down. But I promise you that one day, you will be grateful that I asked you to do this.”
“How can you possibly-?” Cassia was interrupted as Nemesis’ aura began to glow brighter and she knew she had to cover her eyes. Even as an immortal, she could not see the gods in their true forms. Not yet anyway. The last thing that Cassia heard before the light disappeared was, “Believe in me.”
It was a long time before Cassia went back inside. When she did, she did not eat anything more and she did not say a word to the other huntresses. But when she was asked to go the Camp Half Blood the very next week, she didn’t refuse. She couldn’t say no to Artemis obviously but when she got there, she met the Nemesis children. She saw their pain. They were children of a minor god, they didn’t have a proper home at camp. It was how she had felt almost all her life. So she kept going back. Meeting generation after generation. A lot of them didn’t like her and that was her fault almost every time but when they were gone, she felt a pang of guilt and sadness. They were her family. No matter what.
