The other gods once again revisited their wrath on Zeus, who grumbled but acquiesced.
"I choose to stay in this world. I still would like to accompany the Hunt, even if I'm not a formal Hunter." Zoe said immediately.
Artemis smiled happily at her former Hunter. "And you will be very welcome to do that."
"So be it. And if there is no other business…?" Zeus asked expectantly.
"There is. I would like to take a leave of absence from Camp Half-Blood." Percy declared firmly.
The other gods- Artemis included- looked shocked. Zoe's expression was a little better. Percy's declaration took them by surprise. Being gods, however, they recovered quickly, Poseidon looking thoughtful, Zeus, Hades, and Dionysius soon realized they didn't actually care about this declaration. Artemis looked confused, and the rest of the gods taking on an interested, but somewhat removed visage, while Apollo alone looked mighty suspicious.
Percy nearly stopped himself from uttering the words that were about to come out of his mouth, but firmed his resolve and uttered them.
"I have no desire to be at Camp Half-Blood for now." He said, wondering why his courage had up and left him as he explained. "I…I want to roam the world and clear my thoughts. I think staying with the Hunt these past few days has been quite enjoyable, and it's allowed me to forget what happened so recently." He laughed weakly, as the thoughts of Annabeth in that intimate embrace with Eric flooded his mind. It instilled within him a fond reminiscence of the laughter and somewhat awkward, yet entertaining interactions with the Hunt that had, for a short time at least, served as a barrier to drive the thoughts of Annabeth away from his mind. He'd imagined returning to camp and thanking those who came to console him, but the reminders would certainly be more painful than the bliss without.
Especially if he had to explain or even interact with Annabeth. He had no desire to listen to her excuses or explanations or worse still, fake affections. His face hardened as he imagined what might've occurred had he not seen her true actions, and a feeling of disgust rose up from within him that made him wish he could forget she existed.
An awkward silence followed, as the gods either couldn't bring themselves to care, sympathized with Percy (like Hestia or to a vague extent Artemis), or like Poseidon (actually… only Poseidon), was looking furiously at Athena, who had the decency to look rather ashamed for her daughter's behavior.
Zeus, having utterly no sympathy for Percy's whining, yawned boredly, and simply wanted the whole affair to be over with. "Permission granted." He was more concerned at having his actions toward Zoe be aired in front of the entirety of the council. Filthy Titan spawn… I don't know why they defend her so readily anyway. He grumbled mentally.
"Wait a minute." Apollo said quietly, a cool tone entering his voice as he seized the attention of the council. "Why exactly do you want to accompany the Hunt in particular again?"
Percy felt a faint confusion at his hostility, but explained, "Because firstly, I don't want to go to Camp Half-Blood because of… recent events. Secondly, there are only so many places in the world safe for demigods, and frankly the only one I can think of is with the Hunt."
Poseidon glanced at him strangely, and Apollo was perceptive enough to catch it. "Well, you could consider staying with your father- I'm sure he could use the help rebuilding and managing his kingdom."
"I would be happy to take you in, Percy." Poseidon said, a smile creasing his features.
"Thank you, father. I appreciate the offer and will most likely take you up on it in the future, but…" He gave a wry smirk. "I just want to go slay some things, not be staring at a mountain of seaweed-work at the bottom of the ocean."
The others laughed, Hades, in particular- "I still haven't forgotten the time you reminded me that Charon wanted a pay raise for his abominable suits. The addition of yet another thing on my to-do list… The very thought makes me shudder."
Poseidon's face visibly deflated at the thought of all the work that was waiting for him. "Do you think I can send you some to complete by mail at least?"
"I'll pass, thank you very much." Percy said, chuckling at the expression of Poseidon.
Apollo sat back and mused - perhaps he was being a little excessively overprotective. "I understand, I understand. No objections here."
Artemis stared at him for a while, then shrugged. "As long as you mind yourself, you are welcome to stay with us."
The Hunters looked at their Mistress skeptically, then took a long look at Percy before settling down.
"Thank you all." Percy said, bowing before being flashed away to where the Hunt had camped, by Artemis.
"Hunters, do not contradict me. As long as he minds himself, there is no need to mind him." Artemis said sternly, before flashing them to the camp as well with a wave of her hand.
The gods looked at each other for a short while.
"Poseidon, it seems your ploy to obtain some cheap labor has failed." Hades said amusedly.
Poseidon gave a resigned sigh, "So it would seem. And I thought I phrased it in a way such that he wouldn't be able to see through it."
"An unfortunate occurrence. Well, I should be going to investigate that disturbance in the Underworld." Hades finished, flashing away as he did so. The others flashed away, leaving behind Artemis and Apollo.
"Yes, brother? You asked me to stay behind a little?" Artemis asked inquisitively.
"I did." Apollo acknowledged. "Say, Artemis, Percy wouldn't have any ulterior motivations towards the Hunt, would he?"
Artemis narrowed her eyes. "Why, jealous that he's allowed to accompany my hunters, while you are strictly forbidden from interacting with them? Don't worry about anything on that front - if there is so much as a single flirtatious wink at one of my hunters, I shall warn him. Anything more and he will be missing something very dear to him." She mimed a slicing motion that caused Apollo to shudder in fear and glance downwards to ensure the integrity of his own equipment.
"Ah, of course, there was no need for me to worry at all. Now, I should also-"
"Oh and Apollo – before you go, do remember that the same goes for you – and that you've been warned once already." Artemis said sweetly.
Apollo froze, then promptly flashed away, wanting to get away from his devil of a sister as quickly as possible. Suddenly, he felt himself sympathizing for Percy. Being surrounded by an array of beautiful huntresses yet at the same time unable to make a move on a single one for fear of being made into a eunuch? Apollo couldn't think of a worse torture for any hot-blooded man. "Sorry, Percy, but remember that it was your own request." he remarked for no one to hear, hiding in his palace on Mount Olympus.
Meanwhile, Percy found himself teleported back to the Hunt of Artemis, just outside of the silent clearing where their silver tents had been pitched. He walked forwards, taking a moment to savor the gentle breeze, the scent of freshly sprouting leaves, and the warmth of the sun on his face. It was fortunate that the Hunt's tents were magically enchanted to be air conditioned to a temperature of your choosing, otherwise it would be far too hot to sleep in during the hot summer nights.
Zoe soon appeared beside him, while the rest of the Hunters appeared within the campsite. They shook off their dizziness quickly and began chatting with each other, bustling about the campsite doing their chores.
Zoe paused, then asked "Are you sure about this? Camp Half-Blood is where – "
"I'm sure, Zoe." He turned to look at her, noticing for the first time how starkly her black hair contrasted with her lightly tanned skin and the way her hair flowed behind her shoulders with a few stray locks coming in front across her face. "If I were to stay there, everywhere I look would be reminders of her. And of all things I want to do least, talking to her or about her is at the top of that list. All of the explanations I'd have to give, sympathies, shared resentment, drama – I just want to avoid it."
Zoe simply nodded in understanding. "Then let's go." She said, nodding her head towards the camp.
As they walked into the light, the hunters noticed him and looked towards him. Thalia was the first to speak, walking forwards towards him.
"Well, well, well, it seems you are going to be a rather permanent fixture around here, aren't you?" She clapped him on the shoulder than laughed, "I'm glad to have you here, Percy. Though, I'm not entirely sure what you were thinking when you signed up to be surrounded by the Hunters of Artemis when you can't touch any of us. Not my problem, I suppose."
Percy was about to open his mouth to speak when suddenly Thalia noticed Zoe standing by Percy and mimed an 'Aha!' moment. "Ah, though come to think of it… isn't Zoe conveniently not technically a huntress? Hmmmm, I see where this is going Percy, I see." She waggled her eyebrows at Percy.
Zoe attempted to keep a straight face but failed epically. She briefly wondered why her face was heating up so often these past few days, glancing at Percy who also was embarrassed, at least judging from the redness in his face. This elicited a few chuckles from the surrounding hunters at the hapless pair's antics. Artemis herself teleported into the middle of the pack to rub in the embarrassment.
"You know, Percy, I was a little shocked myself at first when I heard you make your decision to accompany us. But now, it is all perfectly clear to me." She said, staring, at the pair standing next to each other, faces red as tomatoes. "Ah, Ah, Ah, no need to explain to me. I have no objections so long as Zoe has no objections. Hurt her, though, and I will." She added, as she saw Percy attempt to open his mouth to object.
Artemis' words stunned him for a moment, then was finally able to voice his pent-up objections. "Oi! Since when did this relationship between me and Zoe form? I didn't even know about this! We're just friends."
Zoe felt a slight sinking of her heart at that unhesitant statement from Percy, which confused her greatly, but hurried to corroborate the story. "Yeah! We're j-just friends." There was an awkward pause as if she herself internally refused to admit such a thing was true. "A-Anyways, Spring Cleaning for the entire Hunt! I fear that you all may have had too much idle time on your hands in my absence. The Hunt I recall would never have had time for idle gossip!" Zoe said, regaining her authority after forcibly overcoming her embarrassment.
A collective groan went up from the Hunt, and a few shot glares at Thalia whom they deemed responsible for the unfortunate turn of events, while a few others sent pleading gazes to Artemis. Unfortunately, Artemis felt no sympathy.
"Zoe has spoken. Besides, with Percy being a permanent presence among us, you all should really get organized a little better." Artemis agreed.
Zoe, wanting to get out of the center of attention, roused them after they milled around, as if searching for some way out. "Well? Get to it." The huntresses sighed, but finally dispersed after a bout of grumbling and mumbling.
Percy stood around for a while with Zoe and Artemis, but Zoe, now having fully recovered from her embarrassment and feeling a little inexplicably annoyed at Percy said, "That includes you too, Percy. There are no special privileges even for friends. Go on."
He stared at her, then obediently went off to his tent. Did I say something to annoy her? Why'd she emphasize friends? Are we not? It would not be until sometime later in the evening during his work would he finally somewhat shake off the cloud of abnormal denseness that seems to plague most heroes.
In the meantime though, Zoe glared at his receding back, somehow feeling even more annoyed by him not saying anything back to her. She seemed to put extra vigor into her own cleaning, sending dust spraying into the air surrounding the tent, as if that would help vent her anger.
Artemis took a look at her Lieutenant, then laughed to herself quietly before leaving, shaking her head quietly. I'll let Zoe figure it out on her own.
A few hours later, Percy was lying down on his freshly aired out sleeping bag, staring once more up at the starry ceiling of his tent wondering if there was even a need to clean his stuff out as he had only just gotten it. He felt relaxed – doing whatever little cleaning that needed to be done let him feel as though a breath of fresh air had entered into his life, just as it did his current abode. After a few minutes of simply reveling in the peacefulness, his thoughts turned to other matters. Tonight would mark his first night with the Hunt. A start of a new life. Will I ever return to Camp Half-Blood? He took a moment to think about it, but inevitably turned his thoughts towards Annabeth. Her stormy grey eyes, like those of Athena, her friendship and affections through their adventures…. Pain came over him for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, but as he shook his head to clear his thoughts, they did not clear but turned towards another – an image of Zoe Nightshade, black hair set starkly in contrast against her pale, lightly tanned skin.
She was acting really weird today. Did she really not want us to be friends and progress forward beyond that stage? No, I don't think so, we're good friends, certainly, but I don't get the impression she likes me in that way. But…otherwise there isn't really a good explanation….
He soon drifted off to a comfortable sleep, quietly falling asleep with the image of Zoe in his brain, who was unknowingly silently washing out the deep-rooted influences of Annabeth, and slowly, but surely, and filling in the gaps with herself.
Percy awoke with a contented sigh, sitting up and stretching after languidly lounging in bed for a few minutes. The silver sleeping bag he had just awoken from was warm and comfortable and silky smooth. His room was very sparsely furnished, with a small bag in the corner containing his world possessions. There was a convenient light he could turn on and off built into the tent, allowing him to read or just see even if it were past nighttime, but beyond that, nothing else.
He got up, threw on the silver t-shirt and jeans the Hunters had provided him, and then walked on out into the camp. A few were already poking at the central fire and few smaller fires spread around the camp, while another few seemed to be carrying water back from the nearby river to be boiled.
Percy, feeling quite lost and confused went to go ask the nearby Thalia lugging a bucket of water what the commotion was about. "Hey, Thalia, um, what's going on? Did Artemis forget how to magic up food?"
Thalia turned a disdainful eye towards Percy. "Artemis generally doesn't 'magic up food' for us. She did so out of courtesy to you being a guest and to give us some time off. Normally though, we prepare it ourselves in cycles, so that we aren't completely incompetent in the wild, as she says. Of course, some days that just involves a long hike to the nearest store, but sometimes it involves that."
She gestured with her head towards a bloody pile of meat where two girls were currently crouched with silver knives, carving off the skin off a deer he hadn't noticed before. "Skinning duty's always the worst, but all for the sake of not forgetting the traditions of the Hunt."
Percy felt his face pale. Thalia noticed and chuckled at him. "The Hunters are not exactly a squeamish lot, Percy. Don't make any hasty assumptions about Zoe and her adorable embarrassment either – she's the best with the carving knife out of all of us, except Artemis."
"Anyways, go make yourself useful. Don't just stand there gawking." Thalia said, off-handedly, leaving to lug the water jug off to the campfire.
Percy was a little shocked but decided that he would be most useful in generating the water, as he was, after all, a Son of Poseidon.
"And no magic!" Thalia called as she noticed Percy heading towards the pot hanging above the campfire with nothing in hand. "The point is to develop 'traditional' skills and using your demigod powers would defeat the purpose of that."
Percy let out a silent groan internally, but obediently followed a few others to the nearby stream where heavy jugs were waiting to be carried back.
The stream was not nearby – it was at least a 15-minute hike unburdened, and so it was no walk in the park for Percy, especially as he resisted the urge to accidentally spill some of the water onto his forehead and be rejuvenated in order to make the task easier.
Artemis, watching from the shadows of the trees, faintly nodded approvingly at not seeing him complain aloud at having to do this much. His trials had only just begun, however. She would not hesitate to directly kick him out, despite their friendship, should his performance be dissatisfactory. Artemis was evaluating Percy as a potential Hunter – not some guest. She was fairly confident he could pass, but after these next few months she would be certain about the quality of his character…
Authors Note:
Thank you all for the reviews on the story! I've read all of them (several times, actually), and I really appreciate the support you all! I'm terribly sorry for not updating in so long but life catches up to you especially during the pandemic, and actually trying to dive into some more of the romance part of a story is soooo hard (especially if, you know, you don't have any personal experience to go off of (and probably even if you do)). It will indubitably end up very cringy and probably impossible for even me to read twice. But whatever ! Maybe I'll get better in the future. Anyways, up next Percy will undergo a few more secret examinations and learn to become a competent Hunter.