Hey, guys! I just wanted to request something real quick. If you are going to criticize my work, don't be a dick about it. I am more than happy to receive constructive criticism, and I will always try to fix any problems you point out. But if you are going to be a dick about it I will blatantly ignore you. So yeah... back to the story.
Percy woke up to something cold making contact with his face. He groaned and rolled over, only to have more of the cold stuff cover him. He made an annoyed noise and opened his eyes.
When he opened his eyes he was met by the sight of Thalia standing above him holding a bucket with some water in it. The rest of the hunt was gathered around watching their lieutenant "prank" Percy.
Percy sat up groggily and noticed that the area around him was covered in water. He looked up at Thalia incredulously, "Did you seriously just dump water on a son of Poseidon!" He asked.
She flushed in embarrassment as the hunters snickered. "Well it worked didn't it?" She stated, still blushing.
"Yeah, because it was cold," Percy said.
Thalia glared at Percy once she stopped blushing. "Whatever. It's time for you to get up. You have chores to do." She said with a ghost of a smirk.
Percy groaned, "Yay, chores." He said sarcastically causing the hunters to chuckle.
Percy was surprised by how calm the hunters were acting around him. Normally they would be trying to see how long it takes to find his Achilles' Heel. Not that Percy was complaining about the nice treatment, but he still found it odd.
He stood up and waved his hand, drying his sleeping bag and the ground around it. The hunters all walked off to do their own duties, leaving Percy and Thalia alone.
"Hey, Thalia?" Percy asked
"Yes?" She asked.
"Why are the hunters being so nice to me. I mean I've been here for a day and they still haven't tried to kill me." Percy questioned.
"Because they can relate to you. Most of the hunters here have been wronged by a boy in some way. Whether it be physically or emotionally. The same happened to you with Annabeth. They understand the pain you went through and feel empathy for you." Thalia explained.
Percy nodded, slightly surprised that the hunters felt something other than hate for him. "Ok, thanks. I'm going to find Artemis and ask her about my chores for today." He said.
Thalia nodded and jogged off to join the hunters with their own chores. Percy walked through the camp till he was standing in front of Artemis' tent. He knocked three times and waited for a response. A few seconds later Artemis walked out of the tent wearing her usual silver hunting parka.
Percy bowed to her before asking, "What chores would you like me to do this morning Lady Artemis?"
Artemis glared at him, "You will be making breakfast, feeding the wolves, sharpening the knives and spears, and making practice dummies." She listed.
Percy gaped at a number of chores for a second before regaining himself and bowing, "Of course milady. I will begin right away."
Artemis nodded stiffly before turning and walking towards the hunters to begin training for the day.
Percy sighed and walked over to the kitchen tent. He walked in and walked over to the freezer to grab some meat. He opened the freezer and grabbed one of the deer. He heaved the dead animal over his shoulder and walked over to the table. He flipped the deer onto the table and frowned when he noticed that the deer was completely thawed. It looked fresh so Percy guessed that it was some sort of goddess magic.
He looked at the deer and groaned when he realized he didn't know how to make a breakfast with deer meat. He thought about praying to Hera but didn't want to waste her time. He was lucky enough she helped him the night before and he didn't want to push his luck, even if she is a friend.
Just as he was about to wing it a flash made him cover his eyes. When he opened his eyes he saw Hera standing in front of him wearing a green t-shirt, jeans, and a cooking apron.
She looked at him with a disapproving look, "You were going to start without me?" She asked with a mock hurt expression.
Percy sighed in relief when she arrived, "Thank gods you're here. I thought I was going to have to do this alone." He said, relief evident in his voice.
Hera smiled, "I wouldn't miss spending time with my favorite demigod, besides, this is the most enjoyable time of day." She said.
Percy blushed slightly at being called her favorite demigod and smiled when she said it was her favorite part of the day. For some reason, he felt the need to make Hera enjoy her time with him.
They began preparing the deer and talking. They decided to prepare deer stew and biscuits (American). As they cooked they talked about life on Olympus. Hera told Percy what it was like being the queen of the gods on Olympus and Percy told Hera what it was like being a demigod on Olympus.
As they talked they joked around and generally acted like normal friends. While they were baking the biscuits Hera grabbed a hand full of dough and through it at Percy when he turned around. Percy stopped what he was doing and slowly turning around. He glared at Hera as she began stuttering apologies, thinking she had gone too far.
Percy lunged forward and tackled Hera. Instead of attacking her, like Hera expected, Percy put his hands on the sides of her stomach and began tickling her. At first, Hera laid there stunned before she burst into a fit of giggles.
She pleaded him to stop, but Percy didn't relent. After a few minutes, Percy stopped, leaving Hera flushed and gasping on the floor. She took a few seconds to compose herself before they continued cooking.
After half an hour of cooking, they finally finished. They put all of the food in bowls and plates before stepping back to admire their work.
After a few seconds, Hera turned to Percy, "I should go now, I don't want you to get in trouble for being late." She said
Percy nodded before frowning, "Why don't you join us for breakfast? You're a girl so they should be fine with it." He asked.
Hera shook her head, "Artemis and I don't have a very good relationship." She explained.
Percy nodded in understanding, "Ok I'll see you later?" He half asked.
Her smiled and nodded before pulling Percy into a hug, "Thanks for spending time with me, I get kind of lonely sometimes." She said.
Percy smiled with a hint of blush on his face. He hugged her back for a second before they pulled back.
"See you later," Hera said before flashing out.
Percy collected the plates and began setting the table outside of the tent. Just as he finished setting the table the hunters came into the camp. They all has their eyes trained on the table and quickly walked over and sat down, ready to eat.
Artemis walked into the clearing and went to the head of the table. When she sat down the hunters began digging into the food. After they finished eating they all left to continue archery practice.
Percy collected and washed all of the dishes they left behind before grabbing one of the deer. He threw it onto his shoulder and walked out of the tent. He walked over to the edge of camp, where there were 6 wolves laying down.
Percy walked towards the wolves, making some sound as to not spook them. The wolves all turned their heads towards Percy. They all growled menacingly towards Percy, but he was unfazed by it. After growing up fighting monsters all your life, mortal animals don't scare you anymore.
He walked up to them till he was only a few feet away from them before dropping the deer on the ground. The wolves didn't pay attention to the deer and kept growling at Percy. Percy realized they wouldn't eat till he left so he turned around and left.
As soon as Percy left the wolves rushed and attacked the deer. In minutes only bones were left of the deer. They all laid down satisfied.
Percy left the wolves' area and went over to the corner of camp that had all of the weapons. He sat down and reached over and grabbed a whetstone. He grabbed the first knife and began sharpening it. He sharpened it till it could slice through wood with ease before putting it on the rack and grabbing the next knife.
He continued sharpening knives and spears till the Apollo's chariot was in the middle of the sky. The hunters came back to camp and Artemis walked over to Percy. "Go prepare food boy," Artemis ordered.
Percy nodded and stood up, sweating from sharpening all the knives and half of the spears. He bowed to Artemis before heading over to the kitchen tent. He walked in and grabbed a few rabbits and birds, leaving the freezer empty. He went over to the table and placed the animals down just as a flash of light appeared next to him. When Percy uncovered his eyes Hera was standing there.
The two of them began cooking as usual. As they cooked they talked and joked around like old friends. As they were cooking Percy had a question pop up in his head. "Umm, Hera. How can you be here right now? I mean don't the Ancient Laws keep you from interacting with mortals?" He asked.
Hera shrugged and said, "I'm using a loophole."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "What loophole?" He asked.
Hera blushed slightly, "Well, the laws say us gods can interact with mortals in order to make demigods. So I'm allowed to interact with you until I give birth to a demigod..." She said trailing off at the end.
Percy's eyes widened for a second before blush covered his face. "Oh." He squeaked out.
After that, they continued cooking in awkward silence. When they finished Hera gave Percy a quick hug and flashed away, both of them still crimson-faced. Percy brought all of the food to the table for the hunters and grabbed some before heading over to finish sharpening the spears. He heard the hunters all begin eating as he sharpened the spears.
As Percy sharpened the spears he thought about all that happened recently. First, his girlfriend cheated on him, then he spent the night at the queen of the god's house. Then he gets assigned to stay with Artemis' hunt. Yep, this has to be the craziest few days of his life, and that's saying a lot.
When he finished sharpening the spears and went over to where the straw dummies were kept. He sighed when he looked at a lot of materials for dummies there. He sat down and began building the dummies. He worked on them for hours until he finished.
By the time he finished it was almost time for dinner. The hunters had already gone and hunted for a while. They brought back a few deer and a bear. Percy went over to where they were practicing archery. He walked over to Artemis and bowed, "Lady Artemis, I finished my chores, what do you want me to do now?" He asked.
She regarded him with a glare and said, "Go grab a bow, if you are going to be traveling with us, you will need to know how to hunt." She ordered.
Percy nodded before running off and grabbing a bow. He walked back to the Archery range and waited for Artemis to instruct him. "Get into a stance Boy," Artemis ordered.
Percy nodded and got into the archery stance that Chiron taught him. Artemis walked over to him and observed his stance, occasionally making corrections by whacking his leg with her bow. When she was satisfied with his stance Artemis ordered him to take aim. Percy took aim and waited for the order to fire. Artemis waited for him to get the right position and said, "Fire." Percy let go of the string and the arrow went flying.
Percy, Artemis, Thalia, and the other hunters watched in awe as the arrow flew straight up. The all followed the arrow with their head as it flew up and directly down. Percy didn't move fast enough so the arrow flew down and hit his foot. It shattered on impact and Percy leaped into the air holding his foot cursing in Greek.
The hunters broke out of their shock and burst out laughing. Some of the hunters were laughing so hard that they fell to the ground clutching their stomach gasping for air. Even Artemis burst out laughing at Percy.
When they finished laughing Artemis walked over and grabbed the bow from Percy and put it away, not wanting him to accidentally hurt one of her hunters. She ordered Percy to go prepare food while they practice. Percy bowed and left to the kitchen tent. When he got there Hera was already there and ready to cook. They cooked like they normally do, talking and laughing the entire time. They tried to ignore what Hera had told Percy earlier. When they finished cooking Hera left and Percy brought the food to the hunt and went to his sleeping bag.
He sighed as he laid in his sleeping bag. 'It is going to take a long time to get used to life with the hunters.' Percy thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
