Demigod of Prophecy

My mother must have taken Mr. Willis’ words to heart. After my expulsion in April, she found a military boarding school not far from West Point military academy for kids like me. I was still nervous after what she had done after the fire, so I did my best to stay off of everyone’s radar.

Things were going okay. Once the school realized the trouble I had with reading they got me a special tutor to try to help me learn how to read better. My guidance counselor said I had academic potential, but was hindered by my lack of focus and my difficulty reading. My instructors informed the commandant that when I was in class, if they held my attention, I showed high proficiency in my subjects. Of course, it was my physical education instructor who praised me the most, which I found funny.

I’d never really been into the organized stuff. Team stuff wasn’t my thing. Leave me be and I was happy. But Sergeant Jenkins found that not only did I have a sharp eye with my rifle (though why they were giving a delinquent like me lessons with a gun was beyond me), but he felt I was a leader. When we would run drills, he noticed that I naturally started motivating some of the slower students. It was more to keep the bullies from bugging them, but I did it anyway. Anyway, of all the instructors there, he was the one I wanted to make the proudest, so I tried harder for him. Most teachers in the many schools I went to over the years saw my permanent record and decided I would only be in their classes for a few weeks, a month or two at most. He didn’t, even though he knew if I graduated I would be leaving the school in that time frame. He wouldn’t let me get away with it. He pushed me to my best, even if I didn’t know I was capable of more.

When June came around, I was shocked to find out that I had done well enough at this school that I would actually be graduating eighth grade. I figured I was gonna have to repeat the grade. I’d never gone to four schools in one year before, so I thought no school would actually let me pass the year. I was happy. Sergeant Jenkins would be proud, because he told me that I could do it and I did, my mother would be proud that I finished the year without any major incident, and maybe that would make her forgive me a little to let things get a little back to normal.

On graduation day, I was in my dress uniform, the rest of my clothes and other things having already packed for me to go back home. Just a few more hours and I would be back in my own room. I didn’t know how wrong I was. The ceremony started and was going okay, but just before it ended all hell broke loose.

They burst out of the woods. There was a group that looked to be wearing ancient Greek armor, but I had a feeling not all of them were human. Some of them walked too weird to be human.

“Recruits! To your barracks! Parents! To the mess hall!” shouted the commandant.

They drew fire arms, which at a military school, the faculty always carried. Everyone started running when I locked eyes with a blonde kid who seemed to be running the show. Ice ran down my spine and something told me that I was in more trouble than I was with the Furies.

“Get her! Kill anyone who gets in the way!”

He was looking right at me as he said it. I was right, they were here for me as surely as the Furies were when they were in Manhattan back in April. My mom saw that I wasn’t running and came to me, trying to drag me away.

“Mom! I can’t! If I go to the barracks they’ll kill the instructors and any students who get in their way! They’re after me! Run! Go home!”

“I’m not gonna lose you! I won’t let it happen!” she exclaimed, as if she knew this day would come.

“You knew something?” I asked, finally catching on to why she had been mad at me back in April.

“I can’t.”

“We don’t have time! Get to your car. Get home. I’ll find a way out of this. I’ll see you again, but please go home, I don’t want you hurt. I love you and you’re all I have.”

She hugged me and I knew she didn’t want to let me go, but after a minute, she did.

“Know that you have more than fire at your disposal. You have water, too.”

I didn’t know what she meant, but she left before anything could be said. Sergeant Jenkins made his way to me.

“Recruit Adams, what are you doing? Get to your barracks!”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I can’t. They’re after me. Trust me, the instructors should fall back because things are about to get messy out here.”

“We won’t leave you alone.”

“You can’t help me, Sir. Please, trust me.”

He hesitated before rounding up the instructors who, against their judgment, followed him off the field. It was only me, the blonde, and his army. He met me halfway, keeping a safe distance.

“Why do you care for these pitiful mortals?”

“You’re obviously not here for them, so what do you want?”

“You. Your service is needed by our master.”

“Sorry, I don’t play well with others. Especially not assholes who try to force me to play.”

“You’re gonna come with us, or you will be killed. There is no other way.”

“I don’t like your threats.”

“Join us. Help us destroy Olympus. I know you’ve been hunted. All of our kind have been.”

“Our kind?”

“The children of Olympus. Demigods.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Obviously, you got the wrong girl, so why don’t you just leave me be?”

I knew it was a pathetic attempt, but I had to try something to stall for time. I was trying to see his army for what they were. They were blurry to me, almost as if something was trying to make me see them as human, even though they weren’t, like the Furies.

“You do know what I’m talking about. Just before you came here, you were attacked by the Furies. Hades sent them after you. He wants you dead. So why not help destroy him instead.”

“You’re crazy.”

He lunged at me, swinging his sword. The thing looked wicked and I wasn’t letting it get anywhere near me. I ducked and ran up onto the stage, gaining the advantage of height over him. He was persistent and followed me, still trying to attack. I tried to dodge the attacks, but I lost control of the fire again and set the stage on fire. I jumped off of it. He and his army were stunned.

“Get her!”

I concentrated and threw as much fire as I could towards them, sorry for the serious damage I knew was about to happen to the school. Then I ran into the woods, where there were places to duck for cover. I heard a horn and then girls just appeared out of thin air. They started shooting arrows at the army, every arrow hitting its target.

“It’s the Hunters! Fall back!” the boy who tried to hack me in half called out.

What was left of his army fell back. The girls looked like they were going to follow, but one of the younger girls put her hand up in a signal not to. Part of me wanted to run, to find a way home. Something told me I wouldn’t be doing that for a long time.

“Sit down, Selene,” the young girl said to me.

Suddenly I realized how tired I really was. The fire took a lot out of me.

“Who are you guys? Who were they? Why do they want me? Can you help me?” I started spewing questions.

“I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt, and these are my handmaidens, my Hunters. That was Kronos’ army. They want you because you may be a great asset to them if they could play their cards right. I may be able to help you, but you have to make a choice.”

I was stunned. One of the Olympians was sitting with me. Now I knew that my life was never what I thought. What had my mother hidden all these years?

“What kind of choice?”

“Well, you can choose to become one of my Hunters, leaving your current life behind and forsaking the romantic companionship eternally in exchange for near immortality. My Hunters are immortal unless they break their vows to me or they die in battle, which is not common. However, this is not your only option. There is a camp that you can go to. You will learn who you are and how to defend yourself.”

“I would have to leave my mother behind? She’s all I’ve had all my life.”

“Of course she has. Your father couldn’t be with you,” Artemis said.

“Wait, you know something about my dad?”

“Your father is a god of Olympus, Selene. The theory is you are either my father Zeus’ or my uncle Poseidon’s daughter.”

“It makes sense,” I muttered.

“What does?” The girl with the dark punk hair and the silver circlet around her head that made me think she had rank over the others asked.

“Before I convinced my mom to leave so she wouldn’t get hurt. She said I had water to fight with.”

“Then she’s Percy’s sister, Lady Artemis,” the girl said.

“Yes, she is, Thalia.”

“Who’s Percy?” I asked.

“Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. My cousin,” said Thalia.

“This is getting weird.”

“Getting? I think it’s been weird for a while.”

“Do you know what choice you’re gonna make?” Artemis asked.

“I’m not sure. I need to make sure my mother is safe. I can’t make any choice without at least knowing she is safe. Even if I can’t talk to her, I have to see she made it home safely and this army of Kronos didn’t find and kill her.”

“Where are you from, Selene?” Artemis asked me.

“New York City.”

“Percy’s still with his mother, Lady Artemis. He’s not scheduled to leave for Half-Blood Hill for another week.”

“Take her, Thalia, to her brother. Give him the task of joining you to bring her to show her what she needs. By the end of the week, when Percy is to leave for the camp, hopefully, she will be ready to make her decision.”

“My things are in my dorm room.”

“I’ve sent some of my handmaidens to retrieve them.”

Notes