Percy POV
Percy was really pissed. He was pissed at the gods, the other campers, and now Annabeth. He had got back to camp half blood on a six month long mission for Athena to get her approval to propose to Annabeth. But when he got back, what does he find? He finds his idiot of a brother, Renal, as her boyfriend, and Poseidon saying Renal was his favourite son! Percy threw the ring he had gotten for Annabeth away, and ran into the woods. As he stopped running, he looked up and saw Aphrodite standing over him. She frowned and said "Percy, you have faced unbearable sorrow, and this wont be your last, so from this moment forth, you will have more power than you ever did before." Then all he could remember was black, inky darkness closing around him…
Clarisse POV
Clarisse saw Percy throw something to the ground and then run into the woods. She went and picked it up, and was astonished to find a ring. A ring of silver, and gold. When the counsellors had a meeting in the rec room, Chiron looked around and said, "where is Percy?" Clarisse replied, "Knowing him, somewhere around Manhattan." Annabeth looked puzzled. "why would he be there?" "Because, I don't believe he will be coming back here any time soon, otherwise he might kill somebody." Clarisse muttered darkly. "Who would that be?" Before anyone else could say anything, Piper shouted, "Oh for gods sake! I thought you were smart! It would be Renal, you moron!" Everyone was astonished, as no one who called Annabeth stupid or a moron lived for very long. "Why?" Renal asked. Clarisse brought out the parcel with a ring in it and chucked it at Annabeth. "That's why." Her eyes widened as she saw what was in it. "And don't bother apologising to him Annabeth; the damage, has been done." Clarisse growled.
Artemis POV
Artemis could tell there was a powerful monster nearby. When she and her hunters looked over the small hill they were crouching on, they saw a large wolf, but that was black, and radiated power like that of a god. The wolf looked at her, with somewhat sad eyes. Artemis decided to put it out of its misery, and said "Attack!" The hunters leaped over the hill and ran towards the wolf, but before they could fire, Thalia shouted "Wait! That is no ordinary wolf! That is a werewolf, and is a demigod! And there is only one demigod that radiates that much power. Artemis, I know I cant tell you what to do, but could you try talking to him?" Artemis was puzzled, and still ready to shoot, but when she looked into those sad eyes, she gasped. "Percy?" Immediately all the hunters put away their bows. "Percy? Who did this to you?" Artemis asked. Wolf-Percy extended a claw, and drew a heart in the ground. Artemis was angry. Aphrodite would do this? Why? And why was she feeling anger? She should not be feeling this way for a boy. "can you morph back?" Artemis asked. Wolf-Percy nodded. She waited for a few seconds before saying "could you do it now?" Percy shook his head. Artemis was puzzled. "Why not?" Percy shifted uncomfortably, and drew a shirt and pants in the ground, then put an X through them. It took Artemis a few moments, but then she got his message. "oh, I see. Fair enough. Come back to camp, then you can have some, ah, clothes, and we can chat. I hope you don't mind silver." Percy shook his head. "Good. Also, you might need a talk with Aphrodite." Percy nodded. Artemis smiled. "come on then." They walked through the forest back to the hunters' camp. Artemis directed Percy to one of the tents, and told him there were clothes in there already. They were the same as what all the hunters were wearing, but she could summon nothing else. Percy didn't seem to mind. He went straight in, and changed.
Percy POV
Artemis was being very nice to Percy. Why, he did not know, and honestly, he didn't care. The fact he was in the hunters camp and not a corpse ready to be gutted, said that they were being exceptionally nice. Once he had dressed, he walked up to Artemis and Thalia, who were arguing about something, but stopped when they saw him coming. Artemis smiled that sweet smile of hers and got right to the point. "So, Percy. What happened? Why aren't you at camp? And why do you look so sad?" Percy winced involuntarily. He told his story, and he could see Artemis was getting a bit mad. When he was finished, she sighed. "Believe it or not, we were actually on our way to Camp Half Blood. I will ask you something Percy, and do not take it lightly, but will you travel with the hunt?" Thalia looked at Artemis in shock. Percy eyed Artemis, and said, "Can you guarantee that your hunters will not kill me?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I can guarantee that, but I cannot guarantee that they will not prank or injure you." Percy thought for a moment. "ok then, I accept." Artemis smiled. "Thalia, go inform the hunters they have a new comrade." Thalia smiled and dashed off. Once she was gone, Artemis said "We are still going to Camp Half blood, but I suggest that you wear a silver hood so that they don't know who you are. I may not like men a lot, but that does not mean I think they should be treated the way you were. Now, off you go. I'll get Phoebe to erect a tent for you." Percy smiled, and he could have sworn he saw Artemis blush, but he wasn't quite sure. As he walked out of Artemis' tent, he was immediately greeted by a large mob of smiling girls. Oh, this is going to go very well.
Three months later (Still Percy POV, on the outskirts of Camp Half blood)
The hunters all crouched in the trees, looking for the drakon they had seen a few minutes ago. Then they heard the roar, followed by an unearthly scream. The hunters ran in the direction of the roar, and found the drakon attacking a girl around sixteen. Then Percy recognised the girl; it was Clarisse, daughter of Ares, and Percy's old bully. Percy launched himself in front of Clarisse, and attacked the drakon. It was startled, that's for sure, and didn't stand a chance. He disposed of it quite fast. Then he turned to Clarisse, and she chocked out, "Thank you. Who are you?" Just then the rest of the hunters jumped into the clearing. Clarisse's eyes widened. "The hunters? But you're a boy!" Percy pulled back his hood, and Clarisse gasped. "Percy?" Percy offered her his hand, and she took it. He helped her up, while she looked him up and down. Then she launched herself at Percy and nearly broke his ribs in a bone crushing hug, which Percy was not expecting (especially from Clarisse), and sent them crashing to the ground. Clarisse then got a hold of herself and climbed off Percy. She smiled, but then it faded. "Percy, Renal is still with Annabeth, and I think if you see him again, his chances of making it through the night are very slim." Percy smiled. "Trust me, he'll make it through the night. He might be in the hospital wing for a month or three, but he wont be dead." Clarisse didn't look convinced. "what about Annabeth?" This time Artemis answered. "Most of my hunters, Percy included, are just going to pretend she doesn't exist." Percy added, "Yes. But I'd also prefer people didn't know who I am either." Clarisse nodded, understanding. Percy pulled up his hood, then he and the hunters ran towards the camp with Clarisse in tow.
Annabeth POV
Annabeth was happy to see Thalia, but was crushed when she didn't even look at her. In fact, most of the hunters ignored her. And there was a boy with them. Who could it be? The hunters arrived just before dinner, and so they dined with the campers. Quite a few hunters glared at her, for what reason, she didn't know. The boy dined with them, and sat next to Artemis. After dinner, Chiron announced there would be a game of capture the flag. The hunters were excited, but the campers were weary. Chiron noticed this, and called for attention. "Heroes! You are weary. Why? You were never this worried before in a game of capture the flag with the hunters!" Drew, the head counsellor for the Aphrodite cabin cried out "Yes, but they have a boy, and they've never had a boy before! And we don't know who he is, or how well he fights! For all we know, he could go solo against the whole camp and cream us!" Artemis chuckled. Everyone looked at her. "what?" She asked, tilting her head. Will Solace piped up, "Wait a minute, I've seen that look on your face before, but it was on… oh my gods is the boy with you JACKSON?" Everyone looked at the boy. He smiled, "You're good Solace, very good." Then he drew back his hood, and Annabeth could see that the only person that wasn't shocked was Clarisse. Renal cried out "What are you doing with the hunters? You belong here!" Percy glared at him and snarled, which made everybody back up a bit. "And you belong in a shroud on the bonfire! I suggest that if you want that to happen, keep talking, dickhead! Or I could just rip you to pieces! It wouldn't be that hard." Renal looked terrified, and started backing away slowly, then ran towards the Poseidon cabin. Percy pointed at Renal and shouted "Incantere templum incindere!" which Annabeth translated to Incantation: Temple of Fire. He's using magic? Since when did he know magic? Instantly the Poseidon cabin burst into flames. After a grand total of three seconds, there was nothing left but a charred square of dirt. Percy then seemed satisfied. He then went and sat back down next to Artemis, who shimmied away ever so slightly, as did the rest of the hunters, even Thalia, and it took a lot to scare her. Now NONE of the campers seemed to look forward to capture the flag. Even Chiron was skittish.
Artemis POV
After Percy threatened Renal with his life, Artemis was a bit scared of Percy, even though she was a goddess. They played capture the flag, but the hunters creamed them. Well, actually, Percy creamed them. When it came to fighting, Percy was a demon. No wonder Ares lost a fight with him. When Phoebe ran across the boundary line with the campers flag in their hands, Chiron blew his conch horn. "The Hunters Win! For the fifty-third time in a row." Everyone gathered in the clearing of Zeus' Fist, when there was a low growl. Everyone went quiet. Then a hellhound, a little smaller than Percy's form, emerged. It snarled, but before anyone could draw a weapon, Percy made an un-human like growl. The hellhound's ears flattened against its head, but advanced. Then Percy morphed into his hellhound form. His nose enlongened, then he grew black fur, until he grew larger than even Mrs O' Leary. All the campers backed away from Percy, while Percy launched himself at the hound. It was no match for him. It may as well have been a sheet of paper in a shredder. But then a pack of them emerged from the forest, about a thousand of them. Percy looked at her, and heard his telepathic message: Help. She shouted to the campers and hunters alike "Get back to camp!" Thalia cried out, "but don't you want our help?" Artemis hesitated, but then replied "No. You might accidentally kill Percy, and I know he is like a brother to you Thalia. Now go!" Artemis couldn't use her bow in case she hit percy, nor her knives. Then she looked at him, and thought Hellhound. Perfect. Just need to change his colouring… A millisecond later, percy was a white hellhound. Artemis then changed to a silver one. Together they launched themselves at the pack. They tore and bit and before they knew it, they were alone. They both shifted into human form, and breathed a sigh of relief. "I should do that more often, that was fun." Artemis chocked out. Percy roared with laughter. She looked at him, and said "What? What did I do?" He continued laughing, but eventually stopped. Then he smiled that goofy grin of his and said, "We just finished killing a pack of a thousand hellhounds, and you say 'That was fun". Not, "Thank the gods that's over", or "I wonder how they got through the border", but "That was fun"?" HE continued laughing. Artemis rolled her eyes. "Come on Perce, we should get back to the others." As they walked back to camp, she did think it was a little funny, and chuckled. She glanced at Percy, and thought Wow, I think I finally understand why Aphrodite wants him. Why am I thinking this? I am a maiden goddess! As she was thinking, she wasn't watching where she was going, and slammed her head into a low branch. Percy ran over. "You ok?" He asked, concern laced in his words. As she stared into his eyes, she realised that all those years ago, Zoe had been right, his eyes did look more like stars than pools. Percy waved his hand in front of her face, and said "Hello? Artemis? Planet Earth to Artemis, do you read me?" Artemis shook her head, and said "Sorry, was thinking." He smirked. "And I was thinking what made you slam into a tree?" "I wasn't watching where I was going." Percy rolled his eyes. "Really? I thought you just wanted to see whether your head would win in a fight with a tree. Obviously it didn't." Artemis was going to make a rude remark when she saw the amusement is his eyes. "Oh shut up Percy." He feigned hurt. "How could you say that to me? Your favourite boy ever?" She couldn't help it. She cracked up laughing.
Thalia POV
They've been gone twenty minutes! Where are they? Then she heard the sound of laughter. She ran to where it was coming from and saw Artemis on the ground and Percy standing over her. And they were laughing. He held out his hand and she grabbed it. He pulled her up and said "Come out Thalia." She stepped out of the shadows and asked "What were you laughing about?" Artemis smiled and replied "Nothing." Percy rolled his eyes and said "Arty lost a fight with a tree." Artemis glared at him, but half-heartedly and with a gleam of amusement in her eyes. Thalia was shocked, and said "You're not going to explode at him for calling you Arty?" She shrugged and replied "It wont do anything, he'll keep calling me it no matter what I threaten him with, so I may as well get used to it." Thalia looked from her mistress to Percy and back again, then smirked. "Come on you two. Everyone's wondering what happened to you." They may not see what was going on, but she could tell they were falling for each other. She was happy for both of them, Percy had his heart broken, and Artemis had been a maiden for seven thousand years. They could both do with a change. It also meant that if Artemis couldn't keep her vow of maidenhood, then she could release her hunters from it. That would be good for a few people, namely Phoebe since she was in love with Connor Stoll. Go figure. The hunter who fell in love with a boy who poisoned her. She would never understand love. It messed with peoples minds and turned them mad when they had their heart broken. It was pointless. What good did it serve? She fell in love, but then her heart may as well have been made of glass, then smashed with a hammer. It was painful. It hurt so much emotionally that it sometimes hurt physically. But that was the reason she had joined the hunters. She would never have to feel that again. She hoped. There were a few hunters that had felt the sting of love under their vow. Zoë Nightshade was one of them. She had fallen in love with Percy. Getting off track.