A/N: The chapter name is NOT a twilight reference.

Bianca

The punk girl had just finished telling us about this strange world of greek gods that we were apparently part I wouldn't believe her for one second but it did somehow make sense. Me and my brother had always seen things others couldn't. We've also been attacked quite often for our young age, something she said happened to demigods on a regular basis.

The auburn haired girl was apparently the moon goddess Artemis. Even though I had imagined a goddess to look more mature it made sense for her to be around 14, since she's the goddess of maidenhood and all that stuff. I hadn't really paid attention to that in school since I hadn't expected it to suddenly be real and super important for me.

When I asked who the lightning boy was she said she didn't know either. Always great when your teacher has no clue what she's talking about. It was all so confusing and I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Nico on the other hand was jumping up and down in excitement talking to the raven haired boy. I think he's called Peter Johnson but I wasn't sure. He was asking him all sort of stupid questions, like if he fought a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why had she not known better than to fall off a cliff? If Annabeth was his girlfriend?

I was about to stop him when someone dropped down from the tree we were standing under. We all jumped in shock (except for Thalia) before we saw it was just the strange lightning boy.

"Sorry," he said "Are you two fine" he asked turning to me and Nico.

I thought it was a stupid question seeing that our whole world had just been turned upside down. I nooded anyway.

"That's good. I don't like to see innocent people getting hurt. My name is Jay by the way, you might not have caught that yesterday with everything that was going on." he told us.

"Bianca Di Angelo and this is my brother Nico." I said pointing at Nico "Don't you have a last name?" I asked curiously.

"When I was born there was no such thing as last names."

"That doesn't make any sense. You're like 15. My mother was older than that and she also had a last name" Nico blurted out.

"Shhh Nico, he might be a god." I said hoping he hadn't pissed him off

"I can assure you I'm not a god, but I've been alive for thousands of years. It's complicated, it'd just confuse you even more." He replied calmy.

I was already confused. Nico however seemed unfazed and started bombarding him with questions too. "Are you from Krypton, since you can fly? How many hit points do you have and is that a Lightsaber?"

Jay said something like "Ehm..." which seemed really out of character for him. Before he could say anything else, the girl with the tiara came up to us.

"Bianca Di Angelo"

She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that I had to resist the urge to sit up straight and say "Yes, ma'am."

"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with you."

Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Seated there was the auburn-haired girl, who I still had trouble thinking of as Artemis.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out how all this fit into a simple pup tent.

"Sit down Bianca." she said.

I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. She had such old eyes for a young girl.

"Are you surprised by my age?" she asked.

"Uh… a little."

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. You may have noticed that all of my hunters seem to be around this age, but most of them are actually way older. My hunters don't age. They can only die if they fall in battle. That is what I wanted to talk to you about. I would like to offer you a place in my hunt. Aside from immortality, I can offer you a life free of responsibility and a new family with us." she told me.

I was about to just accept right away. A live free of responsibility and a new family! That had been my dream for so long. I always had to be the big sister, sometimes even like a mother to nico. I loved him but it was exhausting. Then I remembered that the gods weren't always the nicest people in the myths. So instead I said "What's the catch?" trying to sound smart but also praying I hadn't offended her.

"You have to swear an oath to me. To foreswear romantic love forever, to never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."

"That's it? But what about Nico? He can't join us, right?" I asked.

"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do. You can see him from time to time and he'll have the camp counselors to take care of him."

I thought about it for a second. I really wanted this, but could I really leave Nico alone? All my life I'd had to care for him, every decision I made was for him. Maybe this was my reward for all of that. I knew It was selfish, but I'm not perfect, I'm only human after all.

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"Say this," Zoe told me, "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

I repeated the lines. "That's it?" Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts your pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept it." Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. I seemed to absorb the light into my chest. I felt it spreading into my body, coursing throug my veins. Overwhelmed with power I dropped to a kneeling position. I bowed my head and closed my eyes. As I felt the light dying down, I slowly opened my eyes. When I did, I felt them lighten up in the shape of a moon, shining in a bright silver light. Zoe and Artemis were completely silent.

"Does this... does this always happen" I asked confused, but I could tell from the looks on their faces that it didn't.