-3rd person POV-
-Golden Gate National Recreation Center, California-
When he was younger, Percy often dreamed about the opportunity to hunt with his mother. While he was by no means incompetent, Artemis's hunting prowess was legendary. That being said, the fact that Artemis had been sent out on her own to hunt the Ophiotaurus should have meant a dangerous, and blood pumping adventure. What he got was perhaps the one of his easiest hunts to date.
"Doesn't this just scream trap," he muttered to Artemis. They were currently tracking a small group of rebel demigods that were methodically searching the Golden Gate National Recreation Center, hoping to spot the legendary creature. Percy was by no means a genius, but even he knew it would be disastrous for Olympus should Titan forces get their hands on the beast before they did.
For the last week and a half, the mother-son duo had tracked more than several of these small hunting parties, all of which were focused in the San Francisco Bay and surrounding area. In the distance, Mount Tamalpais rose unopposed as dusk settled in the valley.
"Is that cowardice I'm hearing from the legendary son of Artemis?" Artemis teasingly replied, before once again focusing in on the demigods.
"No it's called instinct. Something that has clearly eluded you as the years passed," Percy snapped. He was tired of her arrogant attitude. While never having voiced it directly at him, he knew one of the reasons she was hesitant to claim him was the fact that he was male. Unfortunately, her Hunters had no such reservations. Speaking of which.
"So how did dearest Zoe take the news?" he asked with a subtle smirk, their mutual hatred of each other no secret. The Hunters were perhaps the only beings besides Artemis, Apollo, and Percy themselves of the twos' familial connection.
"What news?" Artemis replied distractedly. "You know. The fact that the Hunt is stuck at Camp Half-Blood, while I get to accompany you a super top secret, not to mention dangerous, hunt?" Percy answered cheekily.
"Uh, she was understandably upset," Artemis said uncertainly.
"You didn't tell them," he uttered irritably. Uncontrollable jealousy blossomed deep in his gut. She hadn't told them. No matter what, the Hunt was always her top priority, never her own son.
"Look, we can talk about this later. For now, stay focused. I'm going to follow this group towards the bay. You double back towards camp. Make sure we didn't miss anything, and start dinner ok?"
"Fine, yeah ok," Percy replied dejectedly. Turning around, he began sprinting off towards their small camp at inhuman speeds, one of the many perks of being the firstborn son of Artemis.
-Time skip, 6 hours-
It was well past midnight, and Artemis had yet to return. Percy wasn't too worried. His mother was certainly capable of protecting herself. In fact, he wouldn't put it passed her to have simply left him in pursuit of a quicker finish to their mission. The thought upset him.
She would never do that to the Hunters, a voiced suddenly began hissing in his head. She will never accept you as her own. You are a mistake. An illegitimate child. An illegal child. Who's to say she doesn't just kill you in cold blood. You are after all only a disgusting male in her mind!
Percy had heard this voice before. The Crooked one, the Titan Lord Kronos. He has been after Percy for years to join his cause. Promising recognition and acceptance in his new empire. At times, he had been tempted to accept. But deep down, he knew Artemis cared for him. She may not outwardly show it, but he had a feeling he be long dead had she not.
That being said, Percy mentally expelled Kronos's presence from his mind, before figuring out how to go about finding his mother.
-Thalia Grace POV-
-Camp Half-Blood, New York-
We were finishing yet another Capture the Flag loss at the hands of the Hunters when it happened. In hindsight, I should have seen something like this coming. The snooty lieutenant, Zoe, had been muttering about her mistress being in trouble ever since Annabeth was captured, and Artemis left on her mysterious Solo hunt out west.
Just thinking about Annabeth put a ping in my heart. After Luke's defection, Annabeth and I had become even closer.
However, I wasn't the only one itching for a quest to rescue her. My cousin, Nathan Johnson, the son of Poseidon, pestered Chiron every day looking to consult the oracle.
In fact, said boy was looking to start a brawl with Zoe over some cheat shot she supposedly used on him during the game. Just as he was about to uncap his sword, of which at the sight Zoe visibly stiffened, a heavy fog seeped into the clearing. All of a sudden, the Oracle creeped out from the trees sending a shocked silence the camp. No one had even known the Oracle could walk. Even Chiron seemed to go a little pale!
"Five shall go west, to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titans curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand."
For a solid two minutes no one said a word. Then Chiron spoke, "Everyone return to your cabins. Councilors, we will have a meeting in fifteen." With that everyone began to slowly return back to the cabin area.
-Time skip, 20 minutes-
-Camp Half-Blood, New York-
I was seated in my designated chair at the ping-pong table waiting for Chiron to call the meeting to order. Everyone seemed to have their own unique interpretation of the prophecy. Personally, I only had one thing on my mind, and that was getting back Annabeth.
"First things first," Chiron finally began, "does anyone have a legitimate reason to believe they know who this goddess in chains is?"
"I believe it is our lady Artemis Chiron. I have been having a recurring dream that she is in trouble," spoke Zoe immediately.
"It is no secret that the west has been a dangerous area in the past with increasing an increasing amount of monster activity in recent months," informed Chiron calmly.
"Has anyone heard from Percy recently?" I blurted out loudly. Zoe and Phoebe, the two representatives from the Hunters, visibly clenched their hands and fiercely glared at me.
Perseus Jackson, or Percy as he prefers to be called, is a bit of an enigma at Camp. He first showed up about 8 years ago. Of course that was way before my time, but I heard he quickly learned to master the bow, while being quite proficient at fighting with knives. Around the time I showed up, about 4 years ago, he began taking extended trips out into the mortal world without any official quests or business. This was strange because as far as I could tell, Camp was his only real home. After Luke defected and we learned we had a spy in our midst, people began to grow suspicious of his excursions. Finally, about 6 months ago, he told Chiron he was going to scout the West coast and would report his findings back to camp periodically.
"I last heard from Percy about two weeks ago via Iris message. He told me he was onto something big. A powerful beast is said to be loose somewhere along the California coast, and he was going to hunt it." Zoe and Phoebe exchanged a quick look before Zoe quietly spoke, "most likely the very same beast our lady was hunting."
"And the 'bane of Olympus' mentioned in the prophecy," I added quietly.
"In that case, if she was indeed captured, it is likely that he was too," Chiron pondered.
"More than you know Chiron," Phoebe muttered before withering under a harsh glare courtesy of Zoe.
"Well it's clear a quest must be put together to rescue them," Chiron spoke once more.
"I'm going," Nathan and I spoke at the same time. "Look, what are the odds that they are holding Annabeth at a separate location than Percy and Artemis? We're going," I said and nodded at Nathan.
"This not thy quest daughter of Zeus, the Oracle spoke to me. I will bring the most experienced hunters, and we will extract them with ease," Zoe arrogantly spoke.
"Hold on there, the oracle may have chosen you to lead the quest but does the phrase hunters and campers combined prevail not compute in your ancient mind?" I snapped.
Zoe sneered at me, her dislike for Nathan and me overly apparent. "Fine but the rest are hunters. Phoebe and Bianca will accompany us."
"Isn't she like your newest recruit? Why would you bring her?" Nathan asked genuinely confused.
"She must gain experience if she is to earn her place in the Hunt," Zoe sent back bitingly.
"Fine, she's your responsibility than. I don't want her dying on my hands," Nathan sent back rather brashly. He was good kid. Perhaps a tad cocky, and definitely prideful. However, his loyalty to those he cares about makes him a natural leader, and trustworthy friend.
"Of course. Like I would ever leaver her under your care you disgusting male," Zoe seethed from across the room.
Sensing a fight Chiron spoke rather quickly, "Ok it's settled the, the quest will consist of Thalia, Nathan, Zoe, Phoebe, and Bianca. They will set off tomorrow at dawn with the standard Camp provisions."
As I headed back to my cabin to prepare my backpack, and get a well-deserved rest, I wondered about the strange circumstances with this quest. There were so many variable at play here. Perhaps the most interesting and mysterious being the involvement of one Percy Jackson.