Chapter 2

Penelope

Penny woke up again only a few minutes later, but it still felt like oblivion. Someone was feeding her what tasted like warm brownies, and the food sent a shockwave of energy through her. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped.

"Hey, it's okay," She heard a girl soothe. Penny's eyes moved to the origin of the voice and she saw it was the girl with the bright blue eyes. Dark clouds loomed behind her, threatening a storm.

"Shaun?" Penny asked. "Where's Shaun?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Was he with you?"

Penny nodded, then winced. Her neck was stiff. "He…he was back there. Down the street."

The girl looked up and called out, "Skylar!"

Another girl about thirteen with pale blonde hair came running up, a bow strung across her shoulders. A white wolf was at her heels and Penny jumped.

"Skylar," the blue-eyed girl told her, "she says there was a mortal with her, can you-"

"Go find him? Yes, Thalia." She hurried down the street with the wolf trailing her.

"She-She had a wolf?" Penny said. She remembered the monster that had attacked her moments before. "What was that thing?! That creature that-"

"Hellhound," The girl said. From what Skylar had called her, her name was Thalia. "There might be more monsters in the area. They were waiting specifically for you."

"For me?" Penny said incredulously. "What's so special about me?"

Thalia looked like she was going to say something, but then she was cut off by the clopping of hooves. Penny looked to see what it was and she saw Holt, his goat feat in plain sight.

"I smell a monster!" He told Thalia frantically. "It's not too far from here."

"The Hunters can take them. I just don't want her to get in the way." She gestured to Penny.

Penny wasn't sure to feel offended, she was too busy freaking out over the fact that they were saying more monsters were coming. They were just on the other side of the street where that demented dog had attacked her, yet no one noticed the twenty plus girls that Penny was able to see with their bows and white wolves.

Somewhere in the distance, Penny heard a caw of a bird, a high pitched sound that made her cover her ears.

"Is that," Holt paled. "Is that what I think it is?"

Thalia didn't look frightened, and instead had an expression of anticipation. A girl with chocolaty hair and olive skin walked up to Thalia, her dark brown eyes hard as stone.

"Do you wish me to rally the girls?" She asked her.

Thalia gave her a crooked smile. "Yes, Delilah," She said. "I think they'll enjoy this one."

Delilah returned the grin and she quickly headed over to the rest of girls wearing the silver jackets.

Penny sat herself up, the pain in her chest easing. Whatever Thalia had given her was working. The shrieking of the bird was getting closer and it already sounded huge.

"What do I do?" Penny asked. The question wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but Thalia turned to face her.

"You stay here with Holt." She ordered.

Holt made a sound of protest and Thalia cut him off with a look. "I mean it, stay here." Her tone was so severe that Penny didn't even think about disagreeing with her. Thalia stood up, her bow in hand and quiver of arrows strapped across her shoulders, and then ran off the direction Delilah went.

Penny turned to Holt and she didn't know what expression was on her face. "What is happening?" She asked him.

Holt's dark skin tinted red at the cheeks. He was wearing a ratty t-shirt that was covered with monster dust. "Look, I'm not very good at explaining things, but a few weeks ago I was assigned to watch you to see if we were right about you being a half-blood and-"

"Time out," Penny said, doing the time out gesture. "You were assigned to me?"

He nodded.

"To see if I was a half-blood?"

He nodded again.

Penny stared at him incredulously, then she got herself standing straight up, and stared at him again. She cleared her throat right before screaming at him, "What is a flipping half-blood!"

He held his hands up. "Calm down, a half-blood is a-"

"And hellhounds! Because hellhounds totally exist!" Penny was starting to rant. It probably wasn't the best time, but she had to release some of the pressure that the day's events had given her. "And goat boys exist, also! It's completely normal for people to have goat feat! And a group of adolescent girls to have wolves for pets and bows and arrows as toys! Just normal, right!"

She could've gone on longer than that if it wasn't for the ear-piercing screech that came from right above Holt and Penny. A shadow fell over them, and Penny's first instinct was to look up, which she instantly regretted. Flying in the sky above them was a creature that Penny's mind labeled as a griffin, how she knew that she didn't know. The griffin had the back end of lion, it's tail swishing around excitedly, but the front was all eagle, the front legs bird claws with wicked sharp talons. Its feathered wings flapped in the air and its head jerked around as if looking for someone.

"And griffins exist," Penny added, her voice shaking.

Holt grabbed her arm and started dragging her. "Come on!" He said. Penny didn't argue.

She began to run, ignoring the pain that shot up her legs, and ended up being the one to drag Holt along with her. She hid them behind a building that was strangely abandoned and watched the griffin flap around in the sky. She saw the girls ready their bows and then her eyes settled on Thalia. Thalia didn't have her bow and arrow on her anymore and instead had replaced them with a sword. Penny saw her tap something on her wrist then suddenly a shield unfolded itself onto her arm and Penny looked away. The shield looked so horrible, so ugly, that Penny couldn't look back even if she wanted to.

"Aww," she heard Holt sigh. She turned to look at him with bewilderment and he said, "The Hunters of Artemis."

Penny recognized the name as a character from Shaun's game, Mythomagic. "Artemis, as in, the goddess Artemis?" Penny asked him.

Holt nodded dreamily. "Is there another?"

She couldn't believe he was ogling when there was a two ton bird flying over their heads.

Thalia didn't give a battle cry this time, and the Hunter's arrows sailed at the griffin. The griffin screeched with anger and flapped its wings to soar higher.

Penny saw two shapes flying closer in the distance, and at first thought they were more griffins. Her skin tingled, she didn't know if it was fear or what. As the shapes got closer, though, she recognized them as horses with wings, one black, and one white. Pegasi, she thought. There was a rider on each of them.

"It's the extraction team." Holt pointed out.

The pegasi picked up speed, they must've seen the griffin. "What are they going to do?" Penny asked Holt.

Holt didn't answer, he was staring at something behind Penny. She turned around and saw the griffin's eyes looking directly at her.

"Run." Holt said.

Penny was frozen in place. It was like the sound of the world had been muted, the only thing registering in Penny's mind was the griffin. Then, the griffin dived towards Penny, and the sound came back on.

"Run!" This time, Holt yelled at the top of his lungs.

Holt moved Penny right before the griffin's talons nearly snatched her, and the griffin cawed with outrage. They were waiting specifically for you, Thalia's words echoed in Penny's mind. The griffin was coming for her.

The pegasi were closer now, Penny could start to make out details of the riders. On the white pegasus was a girl with dark brown hair wearing bronze armor and holding a bronze sword in her hand. Riding the black pegasus was a golden haired boy, also wearing armor, but instead a bow in his hands and quiver of arrows strapped across his back.

Penny heard Thalia yell with defiance, and she turned around to see what was happening. The griffin had circled back and was about to make a dive for Penny again when suddenly a blinding streak of lightning struck its body. The griffin shrieked and spiraled down to the hard asphalt. Penny didn't know how on earth Thalia was able to summon a lightning bolt, assuming she really had.

The griffin hadn't exploded like the hellhound did, and instead its wings were bent at a funny angle so it wasn't going to be able to fly. It apparently didn't matter to the griffin, though, because it still had the talons of an eagle on its front legs and claws of a lion for the back legs. Never mind the sharp beak that could easily impale Penny. The griffin looked around, trying to get a look at what was happening, then it spotted Penny.

Penny froze again, and this time a few of the Hunter's arrows nailed it right in the eye and the creature shrieked.

"Penelope!" Holt yelled to get her attention. Penny ripped her eyes from the griffin and looked at Holt. He pointed to the pegasi, the horses hooves started to touch down on the ground.

The girl on the white pegasus jumped off, her sword still in hand. Penny was able to get a real look at her then. The girl had her brown hair in braid going down her back, her eyes a pale blue. They weren't like Thalia's where they seemed to glow, but more like cold ice. The girl was lean yet muscular, and the way she twirled her sword in her fingers showed her confidence. The boy followed after her, jumping off his pegasus then rolling swiftly on the ground. He landed in a crouch and looked up with a grin on his face. His golden hair was chin length and Penny wondered how he could use a bow if his hair would get in his face, covering his emerald green eyes.

The boy turned to the girl and said, "I'm glad Percy leant me Blackjack."

The girl wasn't smiling, her eyes were dead set on the griffin. "You can stay back for this one, Riley. I got this."

The boy named Riley rolled his eyes. "You always say that, Jazz."

Jazz ignored him and charged at the griffin, even while the Hunters were shooting arrows. She dodged the stray ones with easy grace that Penny found herself gaping.

She jumped when someone tapped her arm. She turned to see Riley standing right next to her with that smug grin still on his face. "I'm guessing you're the demigod we're here for."

Penny didn't respond, her expression stuck in one of shock. Holt stepped up for her. "Yeah, her name's Penelope."

Riley eyed her for a second, completely ignoring the shrieking of the griffin and the Hunters behind him. "Cool," he said finally. He glanced behind him but didn't seem at all scared for his friend.

Jazz had climbed to the head of the griffin somehow, and the Hunters had stopped firing arrows. Some of them just watched her, curious to see how this was going to end. Penny saw Thalia touch her shield and it compacted into a silver bracelet.

The griffin roared and tried to shake its head to throw off Jazz. Penny saw Jazz smile as she raised her sword. "I'm a daughter of Nike!" She bellowed, her braid swishing on her back. "I never lose!"

The sword pierced the griffin right between the eyes and Penny saw it give one final shriek before crumpling into dust. Jazz landed easily on her feat then walked over to Riley like she didn't just kill a griffin, as if she was only taking an afternoon walk.

"Nice," Riley commented. "I liked the whole 'I never lose' thing." He mimicked Jazz's face when she said that.

Jazz sneered then faced Penny. "Ready to go?" She asked her.

Penny was still shocked by what she just did that she had taken a few minutes to absorb what Jazz said. "Wait, you want me to go with you? To where?! I can't just leave!"

Riley was about to say something when Thalia walked up with Delilah and some other girl with copper hair. "Hey, you coming to camp?" he asked her. There was something in his tone that hinted at covetousness.

Delilah made a growling noise. "Just like your father." She said with disgust.

Thalia ignored her. "Sure, haven't seen Percy or Annabeth since the Battle of New York, anyway. They'll be glad to hear my leg isn't broken anymore."

The girl with copper hair wrinkled her nose. "Do we have to, Thalia?"

"Maya, it's just for a few nights. Besides," She glimpsed behind her to the rest of the Hunters. "They've been a little down since Lady Artemis left. I think a game of Capture the Flag can cheer them up."

"Until Lady Artemis returns?" Delilah asked her.

Thalia nodded. "Now, come on. Let's prepare to leave." She looked at Penny, who was feeling a little invisible. "We found your friend, Shaun. He'd been looking for you. We told him to go tell your mother is was time."

Penny felt a stab of pain. How could she have forgotten all about Shaun? And her mother? "What do you mean you told her it was time? Time for what?"

"To go to Camp Half-Blood." Jazz answered placidly. "Your mom should know what we're talking about."

"I can't just leave…I-I don't even know who you are." Penny kind of suspected they were going to take her, willing or not, to this Camp Half-Blood.

"We'll meet you there." Thalia said, dismissing Penny. "Long Island isn't too far."

Jazz nodded, then Riley winked at Delilah. Delilah returned it with a murderous glare.

Holt took a hold of Penny's hand and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay." He said. "Go with Jasmine on Pork Pie."

"Pork Pie?" Penny asked. Penny wanted one normal thing to happen that day.

Jazz, or Jasmine, didn't wait for Penny to oblige and went ahead and dragged her over to the white pegasus. Before Penny could even yell at her for being rude, she threw her onto the pegasus' back and went on behind her.

Riley and Holt were on the black one and Riley said to her, "Hang on!"

"What?" Penny said, right before Pork Pie blasted off into the sky.