The Hidden Child

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor plot, all rights belong to Rick Riordan.

Percy woke up and found himself laying on something quite comfortable, a bed, he realized. There was a thin, yet warm, silver blanket covering him up to his neck. This was quite a nice way to wake up, especially compared to the hard floor he woke on yesterday.

How had he gotten here though? The last thing he remembered was talking to Zoë and Artemis, then, he felt a warm touch on his forehead before his world went blank.

Percy slowly got up, immediately missing the warm comfort of the bed, and scanned the room he was in. It was quite large, and had nearly a dozen different animal pelts of all kinds covering the space. There was a desk with two chairs on either side of it. That was where he was before he blacked out, he realized.

Deciding he needed to figure out what was going on, Percy exited the tent.

The moment he stepped foot on the ground outside, he was on the receiving end of dozens of angry glares. Though he had no idea what he had done to receive such hostility.

Ignoring the glares, he observed his surroundings. It was night time, the moon was shinning brightly. All around him were tents of all sizes and colors. There was a large wooden pavilion with lunch rectangular lunch tables.

What really caught Percy's attention, though, was the tent with over a dozen large wolves.

He sprinted straight towards the tent, surprising many hunters with his lack of fear.

At the very front was a large wolf with shining yellow eyes and midnight black fur. It was standing proud on all four legs, displaying it's amazing height of eight feet.

Percy stopped right in front of the large black wolf. Volcanic black orbs met with glistening yellow ones, curiosity clearly showing in both, though.

Slowly, Percy extended his hand, reaching to touch the wolf. The wolf remained in place for a few moments, only eyeing the little boy in front of him curiously. Then, the wolf sat down on all fours, becoming a perfect height so that child was just able to stroke his head.

Grinning widely, Percy moved his hand on top of the wolf's head before stroking his fur wildly. Then, Percy ran around the wolf, past the it's head, and sat on his torso. The wolf didn't seem to mind.

Percy finally seemed to notice the audience gathered. There were about ten or so huntresses all looking at him with wide eyes.

Their wolves aren't pets, they're trained hunters. None would ever let anyone, even children, pet them, especially not the alpha of the pack. So how is it that this child was able to not only pet, but also ride the biggest and strongest wolf?

It seemed though, that one huntress by the name of Zoë, was not impressed.

Striding forward to stand in front of the wolf and the child, she put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "What are thee doing?"

"I'm playing with my new friend!" Percy said, stroking the wolf's fur.

"He is not thy friend, he is an animal," Zoë's eyes narrowed in anger.

"He is my friend! Aren't you uh.. What's his name?" Percy asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"He does not have a name."

"That's not right," Percy frowned. "We should call you Aegeus!"

The wolf let out a howl, indicating he liked the idea.

"If thy are done playing about, Lady Artemis would like to speak to you."

"Can Aegeus come?" Percy asked cheerfully.

"No." Was the lieutenant's immediate answer.

Percy crossed his arms stubbornly, turning his head to the side. "Then I'm not going!"

Zoë glared at him for a full minute. Most grown men would've fallen under the intense gaze of the two millennia old lieutenant. Yet, here this child was, standing strong after a full minute.

With a defeated sigh, Zoë muttered, "Fine, the mutt may come."

"He's not a mutt!" Percy shouted, flailing his arm in the air.

Zoë ignored the boy, choosing instead to begin her walk towards the chosen meeting place. Aegeus followed behind silently, a pouting child sitting atop his back.

They walked in silence for five minutes before they arrived at their destination.

In front of them was a large lake, the moon reflecting off it's calm blue waters. Sitting right on the edge, where the water met with the earth, was an auburn haired girl. She was looking out at the moon, enjoying it's sight. If she had noticed them, she made no indication.

"Hey Artemis!" Percy called out, getting off his ride.

Artemis turned around to face the group of three, if you counted the wolf. She shot Zoë a curious look.

Zoë looked at the wolf and the boy tiredly. "The boy insisted we bring the mutt."

Percy turned back towards her, putting his back towards Artemis and the lake, with a furious expression. "I told you he's not a mutt!"

Zoë's eyes went wide with fear, but it wasn't from the angry boy. No, it was due to what his emotions were causing.

Behind the boy, where the lake was, a huge storm was brewing. The previously clear and star filled night sky was now covered up by plenty of dark storm clouds. The once calm and blue waves of the lake were now crashing furiously onto the shore. Even Artemis couldn't help but be nervous.

Just as Artemis was about to subdue the potential threat, he doubled over onto the ground. Percy clutched onto his head with both hands, as if trying to take it off his body. He began letting loose screams of agony. The brewing storm responded to his pain accordingly, becoming even harsher than before. Even lightning began to flash through the skies.

At this point, Zoë's mind wasn't quite functioning, fear coursing through her. Her body, though, seemed to have a mind of it's own.

Running over to the screaming boy, she did something that surprised even her. Zoë picked him up from off the ground and cradled him in her arms. She had no idea where that action came from, it just felt right.

Slowly but steadily, Percy's screams of agony began to disappear. The dark clouds overhead scattered, returning the stars to view. The raging waves began to dissipate, till they were nothing but small and gentle waves.

Now, Zoe was holding a whimpering child in her arms with no idea as to what to do next. It seemed her unexplainable action had managed to calm the boy down. She silently shot her stunned mistress a look that screamed 'help'.

Artemis snapped her fingers, conjuring a comfortable chair in front of her lieutenant. Zoë set the boy down onto the seat, but subconsciously kept tight hold of his hand.

His eyes slowly fluttered open tiredly. He looked around, scanning his location. If he noticed Zoë holding his hand, he didn't comment.

"How are thee feeling?" Zoë asked, crouched to be the height of the boy, though still holding his hand.

Percy managed a weak smile. "Never better."

Artemis walked up to the duo. "What exactly happened?"

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "I felt something in my gut, like a tug. Then, I was looking at a woman."

"This woman, what did she look like?" Artemis asked. "Describe her as best as you can."

"She was wearing a really pretty green dress and it had a belt of shells. Her skin and eyes were white, they shined really brightly but she seemed sad. She was saying something, to me, I think, but I couldn't tell what she was saying." Percy explained.

Artemis had a look of thought plastered on her face as she stared at the ground intently. She clearly had some sort of idea as to who this woman was. She looked up towards the boy, "Do you have any connection with water?"

"Water?" Percy frowned. "It looks pretty, but it's also kind of scary. It always seems so violent and angry."

Artemis nodded, seeming to have expected something like that. "We'll discuss this more later, for now let us talk about what I originally asked you to come here for. Percy, I believe it'd be best for you to stay with us for a while."

"Why's that?"

"You don't have anywhere else to go," Artemis said smoothly. It wasn't a lie, just not the entire truth.

"That is true," Percy agreed contemplatively. "But where would I sleep?"

"Head back over to the camp, Zoë will give you your own tent."

Percy nodded before jumping off his seat, planning on sprinting towards the camp. But it seemed he hadn't realized Zoë was still holding onto his hand tightly. He fell back, banging his head onto the chair and falling into unconsciousness.

Zoë sighed. "I'll deal with him."

With a bow to her mistress, Zoë carried Percy back towards the camp, leaving Artemis to mull over the recent events.

Author's Note: Sorry about the short chapter. I didn't have very much time to write but I wanted to get an update out for you guys since you seemed to like it so much. Seriously, 45 followers in the first 24 hours. Though I do wish we could've gotten more reviews since I only got 9.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless though. If you guys are wondering how the water reacted to Percy's emotions, it'll be explained later. The woman has something to do with it so if you'd like to try and guess who she is, go on ahead.

Let's go for 25 reviews this chapter. That's less than half the total followers we have right now, you can do it. If there are 25 reviews by Wednesday, I'll try and get a 5k chapter out.

Thanks for reading!