Chapter 4 - Artemis

A/N: I quick not, Artemis hasn't noticed that Shalom is a male yet cause one, she hasn't been at camp much due to Zeus' orders for her to hunt things, and second, cause, in the series, gods seem not to really be omniscient within their own domains? Like, Zeus should have known immediately when Percy, Nico, and Bianca were born and that they survived his attacks, but he didn't. Thus, I'm going off the assumption that gods only really pay attention to the mortal world when they are focused on it.

Also, she hasn't given Shalom her full blessing yet cause she has to wait until Shalom turns the age they wants to be stuck at forever as immortal before she is able to give them her full blessing. (They/Them pronouns cause I think it'd apply to all other hunters too.)

---

"Yawwwwnnnnn."

Arching my back, well, back, I stretched my body as I sat up and allowed the cheap sheets to drag off my pristine body.

'Narcissistic much?'

Taking a glance at my watch, I found that I had awoken much, much earlier than I had wanted to, and it seemed like I would have a lot of time to tell my story today.

Well, I actually had an undefined amount of time ahead of me.

Currently, I was in a Motel 6 on Long Island, in a room that I had gotten quite easily due to a convenient application of the mist, and I was waiting for the trio to make their way over here.

I had never read any of the side stories, and thus I could only figure out that they had arrived at Camp Half Blood in 2000 due to the fact that Annabeth was 7 at the time and I knew her birthday was some time in 1993.

Thus, my plan was to just wait here whilst telling my life story up to this point, for however long it took.

After all, it would be worth it once I finally met my...

Sisters

again.

Anyways, here's the first Artemis POV for you guys.

~~~

Two Years After Shalom First Arrived in Camp:

My first real impression of the youngest member of my family only occurred after she had already been at camp for two years now.

It wasn't really my fault per se, I had just been swamped under the work my father had left to me.

But, I had always kept tabs on her, and I was satisfied with how the older hunters had raised her.

'The fact that she isn't a son of Artemis is what really surprises me.'

Of course, I had heard about the genius once a century mortals that had graced this Earth such as Albert Einstein, a man I could respect due to his unwavering devotion to his craft and his own oath of... maidenhood (for lack of a better term).

-Sorry for the interruption once more. Artemis probably doesn't know that a thing such as "abstinence" exists, and thus only believes that woman keep themselves pure.

Reigning back my wayward thinking, I thought back to the moment I had first "seen" my youngest family member for the first time.

~~~

"Big Sis Phee, cmon, play with meeeeeeeeeee."

I smiled as I witnessed Phoebe eventually relenting under the continuous onslaught from the youngest to go play with her.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." Counted Phoebe, as Shalom dashed into the woods to hide.

'A game of hide and seek huh? Well, it'll at least help with building her concealment abilities.'

At the time, I had no doubt that Phoebe would be able to find Shalom immediately with her centuries of tracking skills.

Yet, I soon was forced to narrow my eyes.

'Those are not skills a child should have.'

My face darkened, as I confirmed Shalom's movements once more.

Sure, her footsteps never made any knows and her movement was usually extremely fluid.

But this...

This was different.

'A trained professional... no, an assassin.'

That's what her movement reminded me of after a second of observation.

In the end though, as quick as I was to suspect that something was wrong here, my doubts soon melted away.

Before my vision, Phoebe had finally found her.

She had been sitting on a rock, out in the open, next to a tumultuous stream that continuously splashed water on her whilst creating a slight rainbow glimmer that surrounded her body.

She hadn't been looking in the direction that she knew Phoebe would be coming from though.

No, she had been staring straight into the moving water.

Because she was in my domain, the forest, I had been able to see her eyes right before they had turned to look back at Phoebe after she had called to her, worry etched on her face as she ran towards the little child who was dangerously close to slipping off the rocks and into the turbulence.

Clarity, matureness...

Death.

That was what I had seen in her eyes.

Yet, as soon as it had appeared, it flickered away, almost as if it had just been a fleeting superimposition of my own eyes atop hers.

As she turned around to look at Phoebe, she arched her head back, and her eyes regained their childish innocence.

Splash

Watching as a wave bigger than normal crashed into the rocks below her, I couldn't help but hold my breath.

The sun's rays shone through the spray of water droplets, casting a rainbow atop her figure. Her white visage was the perfect palate for these colors as she seemed to glow even brighter then.

Tilting her head back even more, almost as if in slow motion, her mouth opened and she let out an... ethereal laugh that trickled pleasantly through the trees.

The inhuman sound had somehow reached me through camp and through the woods, as if I had been there to witness the scene in person myself.

As the moment passed, the little girl looked at Phoebe with a warm, tender gaze, her countenance outshining the beauty of the woods that served only as a backdrop to herself.

"You've... found me." She said, her smile bright... so bright.

I could have sworn that the time had stopped in that moment, as the whole world was turned towards her to admire the beauty of this... painting.

She then released another chorus of childish laughter that seemed to replenish the life of all living things around me.

In that moment, I released the breath that I hadn't even realized that I had been holding before saying,

"Dazzling... she was... angelic."

And that was my first impression of my youngest hunter.

~~~

Imposible.

The impossible had happened.

Recovering from my shock due to the revelation, I hurriedly called together an emergency meeting with the rest of the Olympians.

In a flash, they all quickly arrived, and my father soon implored my about what had gotten me so distressed that even Ares and Aphrodite had stopped looking at each other.

In the end, I could only mutter a few words before losing consciousness because of the backlash that I was currently facing.

"The prophecy... has been rendered null and void.."