Chapter 36
Everyone was surprised to find a wolf cub running along with Percy. After getting a satisfactory explanation which did not include Lady Diana, day to day activities were resumed. Alicia avoided Percy that whole day but as the evening approached Percy saw Lisa and Alicia talking. After that Alicia was back to her ways. Percy did not understand Alicia's behavior but saw it as a girl thing and distanced himself from the topic. Percy had done some good work with his Cohort having Lisa along side was a real bonus. She was skilled and it was good for all that Percy was now partnering with her. After the food was devoured and was time to go to bed Percy found himself sneaking out of his room as he had done previous night only this time he was not alone Amber tagged along. It was not uncommon for Campers to hear wolves so even when Amber made loud noise no one was bothered. Percy reached the beach for a while he played with his pet. They ran around the beach and had lot of fun.
Percy saw that a girl of about sixteen was sitting on a rock watching the sea. Percy knew who she was the moment he saw her. The moon was shining on the waves and making it look beautiful.
"Beautiful isn't it the moon?" he asked. The girl nodded "divine." "What brings you here ma'am?" Percy kept his voice polite and tried to hide his curiosity. The girl turned to look at Percy "I owe a debt to a hero Perseus and no matter what I do I cannot repay the debt. Will you help me Perseus?" Percy nodded "yes Lady Diana I will help you." Now most would say, to agree on something when you don't have any idea what you are getting yourself into is not recommended. But somehow Percy could not refuse the goddess in front of him. The goddess smiled "thank you Perseus." Percy hesitated for a moment but gathered his courage "I have but one condition." Now it was the goddess who acted without caring what condition she might meet "name it." But once the words left her mouth she was now a bit scared 'what would this hero's condition be?' Percy smiled his trade mark smile "you will call me Percy." "You help me and at the end I call you the way you want me to. Do we have a deal?" the goddess reply. Percy nodded "so who is this hero to whom you owe the debt?" he was curious. "Now I can't reveal that, now can I? But you will meet the person soon enough." Percy nodded in acceptance. The goddess continued "I want you to teach the person some archery." Percy was horror struck "but Lady Diana my knowledge of archery rivals your brother's poetry skills. How can I ever teach hero archery?" the goddess had to control herself from laughing at Perseus for making the best comparison. Her brother's poetry was the worst in the world. Once under control the huntress spoke "don't worry Perseus. Before you have to teach the hero I will teach you how to shoot. So don't worry." Percy's face now held some funny expression. The goddess, with a mock stern voice "now do not give me that look Perseus you are learning archery you like it or not. We begin like right now." With that she took Percy's hand and pulled him towards the forest. Within a few minutes they found a small clearing. Amber had followed then eagerly. The goddess had not realized that she was still holding Percy's hand. "Here we are now this is an ideal place to begin your archery training." Then she realized that she was still holing Perseus' hand reluctantly she let go. Our captain obvious had not really paid any attention that the goddess had held his hand and was worried about having to learn archery. The goddess composed herself and continued "now bring forth that cross bow I had given to you." Percy obliged and brought out the cross bow. The goddess touched the weapon and said something under her breath and the cross bow transformed into a real bow. Percy was a bit surprised but managed not to drop the bow. A quiver materialized on his back. Percy felt a bit uncomfortable. The goddess waved her hand and a target bull's eye formed itself at a distance. "Now Perseus I want you to concentrate."
After hours of torture as Percy would tell, he finally learnt how to hold a bow. "Now that was not hard was it?" the goddess said with a triumphant smile after all she had taught Perseus Jackson how to hold a bow. Percy so wanted to come up with a witty comment but he remembered this goddess's reputation and kept quiet. "I will expect you here Perseus at about the same time we met today. Tomorrow you will learn about notching the arrow. Do not be late. You have a long way to go." The goddess said. "That sure I have." Was what Percy would have normally said but he kept that in his head. Percy was so tired that he sat down then and there. The goddess sat down beside him but a little bit farther. Percy leaned by the tree "that truly was exhausting. I did not know that archery took that much energy." He said. The goddess nodded "yes, when you are new it tends to happen so. But once you get used to it, it becomes easier." With that she went on and on abut archery but when she turned to look at Perseus she found that he was sound asleep with Amber on him lap in no different state. The goddess was annoyed she had been talking about such important things in archery but the kelp head had fallen asleep. She wanted to hit him on his head but still she could not hide her smile at the sleeping form of Percy. She kissed his forehead and then transported him and the wolf pup to his room. After making sure they were comfortable she teleported back to Olympus.