(A/N: There's a time skip to around Christmas time for the Titan's Curse arc; enjoy!)
"Thanks for the ride, Ms. Jackson," I thanked Percy's mom before sliding into the middle seat of her car.
Grover sent out an urgent message that he uncovered a demigod in Maine so Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and I all decided to go up and help.
"No problem, Arina," she replied as Annabeth and Percy got in.
"Why does Thalia get to sit in the front?" Percy inquired, seeming a bit annoyed.
"Well, technically she's older than all three of us," Annabeth reminded him.
In the summer, after the Golden Fleece healed Thalia's tree, it somehow managed to bring her back to life as well. I could tell it was bad because my father IM me about asking how old I was, which was a bit odd. I think it's a part of the prophecy that Bianca was supposed to be part of.
I tried asking Chiron about it, but he said I'm not ready for it. I even asked Percy, because it seemed to involve him as well, but he was just as clueless as I was.
During the car ride to Maine, we all were silent, besides Percy's mom, who told us every embarrassing baby story about Percy she could recall. Percy's mom is the BEST!
"Oh, this is gonna be so fun," Thalia grumbled as we pulled up to the private school Grover told us to meet up at.
Westover Hall was a towering military school situated in an old castle, adding to the creepy effect. It was even overlooking a cliff over the ocean, which I find a possibly safety hazard considering there were no fences or railings anywhere.
"Thanks, Mom, you don't have to wait," Percy stated as we slipped out of the car. Seriously, I nearly slipped on the icy pavement.
"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy," seeing his mom care for him so much made me uncomfortable.
My mother is well... my mother. She's never there when you need her, and when she is there, she's completely stoned.
"It's fine, Ms. Jackson, we'll keep him out of trouble," Annabeth reassured her quickly.
Hearing Annabeth say it appeared to convince her before she waved goodbye and drove away. Once she was gone, I turned and saw Percy and Thalia talking.
"C'mon, let's head in before Grover stress eats anymore," I stated before leading the others up to the school.
When we opened the doors, I began hearing faint music as the snow started falling into the school. We all stepped in quickly and shut the doors with an eery thud.
"Wait, Annabeth, pass me your Yankees' cap," I ordered her when I was hit by a familiar scent. She seemed confused, but obliged and passed me the cap.
I slipped it on just as two teachers came by, one of them I recognized immediately as Dr. Thorn from the last time I was in Maine.
The teachers seemed skeptical, but once Thalia messed with the Mist, the mortal of the two accepted the fact my friends were students and ordered us back to the gym.
"Arina, why are you-"
"I've met Dr. Thorn before, he's a manticore who attacked me in the summer," I explained quietly before passing Annabeth her cap.
"What are we suppose to be doing here?" Percy asked before a familiar looking satyr ran up to us.
"You guys made it!" Grover exclaimed.
"Who's the demigod?" I questioned, wanting to get as far away from that manticore as possible.
"Her name's Eliza Farriman, I'm not sure who's her parent is yet, but I never caught this scent before. It's really different compared to other demigods," Grover explained nervously.
"'Kay, let's find her before Dr. Thorn decides to drop in," Thalia stated before pushing open the doors to the gym.
The gym was filled with kids around our age dancing around. There was a small group of kids playing basketball, another group of girls kissing any boy they come across, regular people dancing, and a couple of loners.
"She's over there," he pointed to a girl in a black dress standing beside an older looking guy, way older than all of us.
"Who's that guy she's with?"
"Um, her boyfriend?" The rest of us looked at Grover incredulously.
"He looks like he's twenty, not fourteen!" I pointed-out.
"He's actually eighteen, but yeah, he's a lot older than her," Grover admitted uncomfortably.
"Let's not focus on that, let's just try to blend in and sneak over there. We don't wanna draw too much attention to ourselves." Thalia said before grabbing Grover and pulling him onto the dance floor.
Then, it was just us three.
"Uh, designed any new buildings lately?" Percy asked awkwardly as Annabeth untied her hair.
"Yes," she went on a tangent about her new school and the architecture classes she was taking.
I silently slipped away, using the Mist to make it look like I was wearing semi-formal clothes to blend in more.
"I can't believe you cheated on me with her! You're a goddamn liar!" I heard someone yell. I turned and saw Eliza yell at her boyfriend before slapping him.
"Hey!" He grabbed her by the wrist and punched her in the face right after, leaving her slightly dazed.
I felt my blood boil after I witnessed their altercation. Why did he punch her? That was so out of line! I thought angerly as I shadow travelled to a couple of bleachers near them.
"What the fuck!" She exclaimed, seeming close to tears now.
"Don't you dare accuse me of cheating on you with Sara, nothing happened between us at that party!" he yelled.
"Why punch me then?"
"You fucking slapped me, you whore!" he spat at her before he yanked her hair aggressively.
Okay, these two have some serious issues that are worse than Zeus constantly cheating on Hera. Just don't tell them I said that or I'll end up dead.
"Dude! What the hell was that for?" I turned him around, narrowly dodging a punch.
"This is none of your goddamn fucking business!" he hissed.
"Well, it is if you're attacking her," I stated, contemplating exposing myself and attacking him.
A familiar look of rage appeared on his face as he tried swinging at me, which I easily dodged, grabbing his fist and flipping him over. Unfortunately, it seemed like this caught the attention of everyone in the gym.
"You two, follow me now!" Dr. Thorn yelled at Eliza and I.
I froze as his eyes laid on me, a devious grin spreading across his face.
I had two options: shadow travel out of the room or make a run for it. Luckily, Percy somehow managed to make the sprinklers go on and all the drinks fly everyone.
"Come with me," I held my hand out to Eliza, "trust me, we have to get outta here before Dr. Thorn gets us." Eliza stared at my hand apprehensively before grabbing it.
I ran out of the room with her in tow, quickly followed by my friends.
"I told you to blend in!" Thalia scolded me.
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't leave her to get beat up by her boyfriend," I retorted angrily.
"What?"
"I'll fill you in later," I replied before we ended up on the snowy cliff outside of the military school.
"Uh, what's the plan now, Arina?" I let got of Eliza's hand and looked around for any sort of escape.
"Trying to think of something, sweetheart?" I glared at the approaching Dr. Thorn.
"Yeah, trying to think of how a scorpion would taste; salty or just plain bitter judging by your creepy personality." I spat, summoning my weapons with the others.
"What the hell is happening?" Eliza exclaimed fearfully.
"Just stay behind us," Percy stated, avoiding a thorn shot at us.
"For Zeus!" Thalia yelled before charging at the manticore with her spear and shield.
I was just about to join her when I was distracted by helicopter noises. I turned around and saw a sleek black helicopter closing in on us.
"C'mon," Percy motioned me to follow him.
We were about to join the fight, but a familiar looking silver arrow stopped us in our tracks.
"No!" Dr. Thorn yelled, "Curse you!" he cried out before being pierced in the shoulder by an arrow.
The hunters appeared out of the surrounding woods in their signature silver parkas and bows, firing more volleys at the angry monster.
"The Hunters!" Annabeth exclaimed with joy.
"Oh, great," Thalia grumbled, lunging for Dr. Thorn's undefended side.
"Direct interference is against Ancient Laws!"
"Not so, hunting monsters are within my realm, and you are one." Artemis turned to her lieutenant, "Zoë, permission granted."
"If I can't have them alive, I shall take them dead!" The manticore barrelled towards Thalia, Percy, and I.
"Stand back, half-blood!" Zoë yelled out to the daughter of Athena who came running at the monster.
"No!" Annabeth cried, leaping onto the monsters' back and driving her dagger into his mane.
"Fire!" She yelled as we yelled out 'no!'
The arrows hit his chest and neck, "This is not the end, the Great Stirring has just begun!" He yelled before plummetting off the cliff with Annabeth still on his back.
"Annabeth!" Percy screamed, causing me to grab him before he could think of jumping off the cliff.
"Mortals cannot witness my hunters," Artemis waved her hand, the helicopter turning into a flock of crows that flew into the night.
"W-we need to go after her!" My friend cried out.
"Percy, you can't just hurl yourself off a cliff even though the ocean's underneath; for starters, Annabeth will kill me for letting you." I maintained a strong grasp on my friend.
The hunters advanced towards us, Zoë stopping in her tracks at the sight of Thalia helping Eliza standup.
"You," she seethed.
"Zoë Nightshade," Thalia spat back with an equal amount of venom.
"Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady," Naomi, another hunter, said.
"Your friend is beyond help," Artemis said to Percy dismissively as another hunter helped me hold him down before he did anything else stupid.
"Let me go!" Percy yelled, "Who do you think you are anyway?"
Zoë stepped forward, looking ready to slap my friend before Artemis stopped her. "No, he is distraught, he simply doesn't understand."
Artemis stepped forward, the moon shining brighter. "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt."
After a short argument about Annabeth plummeting off the cliff and trying to explain to Eliza what was going on, we began to set up camp with the hunters.
"You're friends with the hunters?" Thalia exclaimed after seeing me having a friendly banter with Zoë and Phoebe after they retrieved Eliza's stuff.
"Yeah, so?" I inquired, checking my bag after one of the hunters gave it to me.
It's not like I don't trust the hunters, but after living with the Stoll brothers for nearly two years, you know to examine your stuff for any traps. I'm sure at least one of these girls is a daughter of Hermes, not sure which one though.
"How could you be friends with her?" Thalia jerked her head in Zoë's direction with a look of distaste on her face.
"Zoë's really nice-"
"Nice? Ha, you're funny," Thalia rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"The hunters are good people," I stated.
"Really? Did they brainwash you into believing that too?"
"My sister's a hunter for crying out loud! I see nothing wrong with an immortal group of girls that swear off romance," I said angerly.
"I thought you said you didn't know your father? Also, that's exactly what's wrong with them." Thalia spat, crossing her arms.
"I give up," I turned away and began searching for my sister.
"Bianca!" my sister spun around and greeted me with a hug.
"Arina! How are you? Oh, happy late birthday, sorry I couldn't IM you, we were tracking a Laistrygonian Giant that day." Bianca apologized but I shook off her regret.
"It's fine, I had fun anyway with my friends. Nico's doing fine by the way," I added after.
"Oh that's good, he's adjusting to camp well?"
"Yeah, he's enjoying the place a lot," I stated.
"Well, that's good to hear,"
"Anyway, hows the Hunt?"
"It's amazing! I love the rush and excitement when going into battle with just a bow. I have been practicing my powers though, but I only use it in emergencies. The other hunters don't know yet about our father," she whispered the last part.
"Wow! Please be careful though, I don't want to explain to Nico about why you're missing an arm or something."
"I promise,"
After that, we all were sent off to bed by Artemis.
The next morning, Artemis bid us farewell before heading on her quest to find an ancient monster. However, her brother ended up getting us to Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately, Thalia was driving and nearly killed us all. After arriving at camp, Apollo left with his sun car while I introduced Eliza to Chiron.
"Grover, do you mind showing her the orientation video?"
"Sure," Grover led Eliza into the Big House while Percy, Thalia, and I remained outside with Chiron and Mr. D.
"How did the mission go?"
"Not so well," we all began explaining what happened and how Annabeth fell off the cliff.
"We must send a quest out immediately to find Annabeth," Chiron stated.
"I'll go," Thalia offered.
"No," Mr. D said seriously, "from what you said, Annie Bell is-"
"Annabeth," I corrected, clenching my fists.
"Yes, yes, and it seems like you obtained another camper. Aaliyah is probably dead, I see no reason to begin a pointless quest for her."
We were about to argue when Eliza came back out with Grover, the first having a confused expression.
"Wait, so you're the trainer of demigods? And you're the god of wine?" Eliza turned to the two in question.
"Correct," Chiron stated.
"So when will I be claimed?" Eliza inquired.
"It's hard to tell, some demigods don't get claimed for a while like Arina, but some get claimed immediately," Grover answered quickly.
Eliza paused, tapping her foot. "Chiron, can I talk to you privately about something?"
"Absolutely, follow me," Chiron led her back into the Big House.
Once they left, we three walked down towards the cabin. First, Thalia left to break up a fight between some hunters and an ignorant Ares' camper, then Percy went to his room.
"Arina! You're back!" my little exclaimed, running up towards me.
"Hey, Neeks,"
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Percy does," Nico blushed slightly at the mention of his name before dragging me towards our cabin.