CHAPTER [4]
The man kept his head down, "I will tell you but it is not for your hunter's ears." He said respectfully.
Artemis narrowed her eyes, "And why is that?"
The man kept his head down but extended his arm for the goddess to see. "I seek the company of Lady Diana for this conversation and your hunters may not understand where I come from." He said in a respectful tone.
Artemis was surprised. She looked at his arm and saw the SPQR tattoo along with the bars for each year of service.
She only saw one bar which was odd for such an old demigod. But what shocked her most was that instead of one symbol of his godly parent, he had two.
And they were the symbols of the two least likely goddesses to have a demigod other than herself. The symbols of Vesta and Juno were clearly tattooed on his arm.
"Why do you have the symbols of Juno and Vesta tattooed on your arm?" She asked suspiciously.
The man sighed, "They are my patrons. I have not spoken to my father in many years." He said in a sad tone.
Artemis wanted to question him more about it but decided to wait until later.
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"I was bringing a young maiden to your camp when I saw the monsters ambush your hunters. The girl is hidden in the branches of a tree in the woods one hundred yards to my left. I told her to wait until the monsters were gone and for me to come get her." He answered calmly.
"Show me your face!" Artemis demanded, realizing this was probably the man she had failed to locate.
He looked up at her with brown eyes and brown hair.
"You're the man who has been rescuing demigods while avoiding the gods. How dare you enter my hunter's camp without my permission?" Artemis hissed in outrage.
The man looked directly into the goddess' silver eyes, "I meant no disrespect Lady Artemis. I simply wished to provide the girls with a home they would feel safe in. Their lives were not good when I found them. I did not want to bring them to Camp Half Blood as they would not be comfortable around male demigods."
Something about his face seemed very familiar to Artemis for some reason but she couldn't think of where she had seen this man before.
She narrowed her eyes at the man but saw no deceit in his words. She decided she would take him to Olympus as her father ordered where the council could question the demigod.
She ordered him to follow her back into her camp. When they reached the camp, three of the newest hunters threw themselves at him squealing in delight.
"Blake!" They yelled as they hugged him tightly. Artemis looked shocked. These were the hunters he had apparently brought to the hunt and all were terrified of men.
They were even scared of the older hunters. She had never seen them so happy since coming to the hunt.
The man, Blake, smiled at the girls, "I see you have found a home here Christy, Megan, and Diana." He said in a happy tone.
Artemis sent two hunters to retrieve the girl hidden in the woods and brought Blake to her tent once he managed to detach the gleeful girls from him.
He looked up to see some hunters glaring at him while some looked at him confused or shocked. He followed Artemis into her tent.
Artemis eyed the man warily, "You say you are Roman yet you seem to be fully aware of the Greeks. Explain." Artemis demanded.
Blake looked at the goddess warily before sighing, "I never said I was Roman Lady Artemis. From what my patrons tell me, I am different. Apparently my father visited my mother in both his aspects rather than one. When she saw my father she saw a combination of both aspects. Thus, I am apparently a child of both Greece and Rome."
"That isn't possible." She argued. The goddess shimmered until she stood in her Roman aspect Diana.
"How do I know you tell the truth?" She asked suspiciously, in Latin.
"I am only telling you what my patrons told me. I was not aware until a few years ago." He answered in perfect Latin.
Diana shifted back to Artemis and stared at the man confused. He was the first demigod of his kind in history.
"Who is your father?" She asked less threateningly.
The man looked at her apologetically, "I am sorry Lady Artemis but I cannot reveal that. My patrons told me to keep the information to myself."
Artemis narrowed her eyes, "You dare defy a goddess?"
Blake shook his head, "I do not wish to, but I cannot defy my patrons."
Artemis stared Blake, her eyes still narrowed. She decided to search his memories. As soon as she tried, she was shocked to find herself blocked.
She looked at Blake to find his eyes glowing brown with power. Her eyes widened before she scowled.
"I could just kill you." She threatened.
Surprisingly Blake shrugged. "Go ahead if you must. I have seen enough of the terrible things in this world for one lifetime anyway."
Artemis's eyes widened before she sneered, "Very well, you can come to Olympus where my father can decide your fate."
Blake looked worried for a minute but then he smirked, "How about another deal?"
Artemis raised an eyebrow, "And what do you have that I would want?"
"I propose a wager. If you beat me in an archery competition, I will reveal everything you want to know about me as well as come peacefully with you to Olympus. If I win, I leave your camp in peace until we meet again." Blake asked hopefully.
Artemis laughed, "You think you can defeat the goddess of Archery in an archery competition? You are just another foolish man. I accept your challenge boy."
Blake smiled and nodded. Artemis scowled but led the man to the archery range. The hunters gathered around smirking in anticipation of the man's humiliation.
"Ten arrows each, fired continuously. Whoever is more accurate wins." Artemis said with a smirk.
Blake nodded and pulled his bow off his back and notched an arrow.
"Begin!" Thalia yelled.
Both Artemis and the man fired arrows at amazing speeds. Within seconds, both were finished. Artemis stared at her formation triumphantly, not even taking the time to look at the man's.
Then she heard words that sent a chill down her back, "I..It…It's a t..tie." Thalia stuttered out.
Artemis froze. She looked at Blake's target to see an identical formation.
"I'm sorry for challenging you Lady Artemis. But since I did not lose, I will not be coming to Olympus." Blake said apologetically before taking a step back.
Artemis turned to look at him shocked but before she could speak the man vanished into a flash of flames.
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