Three days ago, flashback.
"I travel with Artemis and hide my face because I am Percy Jackson, Guardian of the hunt, twice savior of Olympus, and god of time."
Silence, for a few moments, while everyone soaked in the information that they had just been given. Percy Jackson... Some couldn't believe he was still alive, others were astonished by how high he had climbed, others were wondering if the rumors of Artemis not being a virgin anymore were true, and thinking that Percy had to be the one that took it.
Before he could even brace for what he was sure would happen, an outburst, maybe attacks, hates peach... They did something he never would have expected, they all got down and kneeled, with their heads bowed.
All expect one, the bastard, and a few others that were probably his goonz.
"Please, don't do that, get up." Percy said, kindly.
"Why are you all on the ground? He may be a god now but this lame brat doesn't deserve any respect, he's just a coward." He spat, shaking his head and crossing his arms in disgust. In case it wasn't obvious, this was among one of the last things Percy wished to hear...
He sighed, he wasn't going to be beaten around by some punk that was as weak as a worm compared to him... So after the demigods all got up, he called out:
"So getting punched in the face and kicked into oblivion wasn't enough to set you straight? How about you just shut up, else you get beaten up more."
"Yeah, shut up asshole, Percy has done more than you could ever dream to accomplish in your pathetic life." Yelled a female voice, who Percy realized was one of the younger hunters, named Alexus. Bringing Percy into the hunt had brought many new things to the hunt, including the art of sword fighting, quite a few of the hunter's (including Artemis) were more than eager to learn, and she had been one of the best at it. The best had of course been Artemis, closely followed by Atlanta, who was just a phenomenally advanced fighter with anything she wielded... Sigh, it was times like these, reminiscing about the good times in the hunt, that he missed Zoë so much.
"John, I am the teacher here, if you don't like it then you can leave, I'm not going to put up with your shit." Percy stated, looking over at him and crossing his arms.
"Fine, I'm already better than all of you as it is!"
"Oh really?! I could kick your ass easily you male pig!" Alexus yelled, drawing both of her hunting knives with lighting quick speed. Readying herself in the huntresses pouncing stance, ready to strike out at him like lightning. She was young, but she was doing this because that he insulted Percy, and no one talks bad about Mi'Ladies lover. What's even worse, this was the pig that had called Artemis a bitch, she had already punished him for that, but a little more surely couldn't hurt. This was bad, really bad, Percy was confident that she could beat him in a fight, but he wasn't about to take the chance to find out, nor would he let her fight his battles for him.
"Kid, you're way out of your league-" He growled, stepping toward her menacingly and reaching for his sword, but Percy cut him off.
"And you're way out of your league, maybe you should pick on someone your own size you dick head, oh wait... that's right, I forgot you don't have one."
Hehe, that did it.
"AHHH!" He screamed as he threw a punch at Percy's face, which Percy dodged like it was in slow motion, then decked him in the face as hard or harder than Artemis did the other day. This time however, the punch didn't send him to the ground, he just staggered away and eventually he came back to it, but then he drew his sword and flung himself at Percy with surprising quickness. But he wasn't quick enough, because Percy sidestepped and shoved him away, giving him a moments time to draw his brand new sword. Chaos had said that it would be in effective against anything other than Primordials, but he didn't really want to kill John or seriously injure him, so that was perfect, and, he needed to get used to swinging this thing around.
By now the "students," or demigods had all gathered around to watch the two go at it, or more accurately the inevitable stomping Percy was about to give this runt.
Percy decided to first take a defensive stance, and see just how good or bad this jerk really was, because honestly, he didn't know. Percy also intensively left a small opening in his stance right by his left hip to see if he was smart enough to go for it, but it was a trap anyways so it didn't matter, but he was trying to size him up.
Believe it or not he actually went for the opening, which surprised Percy but confirmed his suspicions that this jerk actually knew what he was doing... Too bad for him he was ready for that, faster than lightning Percy parried hard and spun around, slicing a decent slash into John's left arm and before he could even recover or hiss in pain Percy shoved him forward, making him go stumbling for a good 10 feet.
"Just give up, you'll never defeat Percy!" Alexus yelled, jumping up and down in excitement, she couldn't wait to see this jerk get his ass kicked.
"Don't make me hurt you more than I already have."
"You're dreaming you coward! Ahh!" He screamed and leaped at him, their swords met in mid air with a metallic clang that rang out across the entire area.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Was heard as the two of them parried and attacked against each other, you could easily see that Percy was easily winning this, with his godly strength and stamina (Hahaaa, stamina:) and his vastly superior fighting skills making this an easy contest for him. As John got progressively more tired he got sloppy, and when he made a sloppy jab at Percy he parried easily and flung his sword off into the distance, moving faster than you can blink and putting three nice gashes into his shoulder and both legs and finishing off with a punch to the face, sending him flat on his back onto the ground.
Percy sheathed his sword as the bastard layed there bleeding and unconscious. Turning toward the watching crowd as they clapped and cheered, and Alexus came and gave him a big hug. She was so delighted that she jumped into his arms and put her arms and legs around him like a child would.
"Thank you Percy." She said to him with her arms around his neck, hanging there like it was the safest place in the world.
"He had it coming, and I wasn't going to let him ever get away with talking to you that way, little sis."
In the days following Percy 's reveal it eventually spread across camp, now everyone knew... Piper, Leo, Nico, Rachel, Katie and the Stole brothers all eventually came to him to celebrate his return and to apologize about what happened... what made him leave, but he just reassured them and gave them all the same response:
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault, you're still one of my best friends..." Etc, etc, and that would usually be the end of that, sometimes they would talk for a good while afterwards, Percy would tell them about his time in the hunt and what he went through after the breakup... And they would console him and it would be all sappy and everything, ya dee dah... Until one day he ran into Annabeth.
"Percy!" He heard called out from behind him, making him cring, he knew that voice all too well... That bitter-sweet accent of a girl that thinks she is smarter than everyone else, and the tone of a girl that he never wanted to see tone of the same girl that went against every principle that the hunter's have, everything they stand for for women. She caused him all the pain, everything in his life to be ruined, but if it wasn't for that pain then he wouldn't be where he was now, and that was in a much better life with a much better girlfriend than he had before.
"What do you want Annabeth? In case you didn't deduce it already, we're not on speaking terms anymore." Percy venomously hissed at her, he put so much disdain into the words that she flinched.
"Don't be like that, Percy-"
He cut her off, he wanted nothing more than to deck her in the face like Artemis had... But evil heartless bitch or not she was still a female, and he would never.
"And why would I be anything but? Are you so full of yourself that you thought you could just come up to me, say "Peeeeercy" in a nice voice and think I would forgive you? I'll NEVER forgive you, NO Annabeth, and I never want to talk to you, or have anything to do with you, ever again, so fuck OFF." He yelled at her with as much hatred and disgust as he could manage, which sent her running away crying like a little bitch, how cute...
He just turned around and walked along, he never even looked back, he knew where he was going... He needed to go find Arty, one of the many things he could always count on Arty for, was that she was always there when he needed someone to talk to, and/or a kiss.
End flash back.
Percy POV (I know right, what a surprise:)
I really had no idea where Arty decided to get the idea to ask Atlanta to tell her story of being trapped inside the north tower, IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE CAMP! I thought it was insane... I had heard the tale before, and knew how badly it affected her to tell it.
But of course! Like mother like daughter with these two... Atlanta was practically Artemis's daughter at this point, which was... weird to say the least with me in the picture now. But anyways, she of course agreed to do it, even though he could tell she didn't feel comfortable doing it, but he also saw that she genuinely wanted to do it, which was also weird.
"I'll do it, it's been a long time and I should share the story with people besides the hunter's. I'll tell it st breakfast today."
"Oh boy..." I thought as we walked out the door, this was not going to be a very comfortable thing to have to listen to... I really wish that Arty would have just NOT asked, but as long as Atlanta was ok with it, then he guessed that it was ok, and if she needed it he would be there to comfort her.
Dark skies, that was what they saw when they went outside... It truly was a shitty day, and their mood and the weather reflected it.
"What a shitty day!" Artemis exclaimed.
"I agree, if not for the barrier around the camp we would be getting rained on, I'm sure of it."
"But thankfully we have the barrier to keep our hair from getting frilly!" Atlanta exclaimed making a round of giggles spread through the hunters, oh yeah, this was going to be interested. Atlanta was a generally happy and fun person to be around, but she only got overly sarcastic when she had something on her shoulders, and that weight wouldn't come off until she did this speech...
As they walked into the pavilion they saw that some of the campers were already there, sitting at their respective tables. Thus was due to the fact that since the arrived st camp the hunter's had been steadily and progressively getting up later and later... That was pretty much all because of Artemis and Percy.
Back when Percy first came to the hunt, she had made him get up really early and do chores for them... Just another example of how poorly she handled the entire situation. Anyways, he got almost used to waking up really early, but she knew he silently had cursed her for it. But fortunately for him, Poseidon had NOT liked the fact that Artemis had pretty much been keeping Percy as a pet to do all her work...
Flashback (No italicization, because I am lazy, lol:)
So one day when she was out alone by the lake sitting under one of the trees, reflecting on things, but was interrupted when a bright flash and suddenly a tall man with a Hawaiian shirt was standing in front of.
"What the Hades is Poseidon doing here- Oh... shit." She knew that the only reason Poseidon would be visiting her was because of Percy, in some manner.
"Hello uncle, why are you here?" She cringed, she knew her voice came out a bit bullshitty, which completely gave away her feelings and her act of cluelessnesss.
"You know why I'm here, Artemis." Ahh shit, this wasn't good, she thought she had been ha doing the Percy situation fairly well bit apparently she to piss off Poseidon, now Artemis was not afraid of anything... Except her uncle when he was upset, like... he had after all been the one to take down Typhon, pretty much.
"How did you even know where I was encamped?"
"Don't try and change the subject."
She sighed...
"Ok uncle, I know why you came, and I'll have you know that I have been treating Percy very well."
Yeah right... Which must have been exactly what he thought because he didn't buy it for a second.
"Then why do you make him get up at five-o'clock in the morning, make him do your laundry, sharpen all your arrows, and make you all food? Along with who knows what else? Oh, and let your stupid little girl scouts prank him and shoot at him?"
Fuck
She didn't really know what to say, he was right, all of those things had been going on and she had pretty much supported the chore idea, that's why she was making him do them in the first place... and she honestly had no idea how bad the pranking was getting, but Poseidon obviously must.
"I- The hunters- We- uhh- He can't just stay here without doing anything to contribute." She attempted, which she doubted would get her very far.
"No, he doesn't have to contribute. Did you not understand the whole reason he came here in the first place?! You are supposed to be treating him with respect and giving him reasons to think life is good and happy, not make him work his ass off. And his "contribution," as you put it, is that he swore to give his life for the hunt if the need arises..." He sighed, paused for a second and then continued, "you better start laying off of him Artemis, or you can count on some very dire consequences." He warned, and then flashed away, leaving Artemis fearing for the safety of her hunters. She also decided NOT to mention this encounter to Percy, because if he knew why she was letting him odd the hook he would probably be upset.
End flashback
"Conveniently for me, that was right around the time that we started as a couple... Huh, fortunate, hehe- innocent me and my secrets do be." Artemis thought to herself, beckoning Atlanta to follow her as she walked off toward the elevated "stage" that was at the front of the dining pavilion, set aside for guests and even the occasional bands. She gestured for Percy to lead the hunter's over to all sit down at table 8, a beautiful and long, elegant stable silver table top, roughly twenty-five feet long and enamored with at least 50 chairs which, much to Artemis's dismay, the hunter's only were able to occupy half of them.
There were only 28 hunters currently in the hunt, excluding Artemis and Percy, which is down from the 37 they previously had before the Titan and Gaia wars' cost the hunt upwards of almost ten hunters... including Zoë. She also knew that Percy felt really good with himself that none had died or been I Jared since he came to the hunt.
Fast forward half an hour-
The campers had finally all showed up for breakfast, all of them were here, they all had gotten their breakfast already and sacrificed some of it to the gods (some were to either their godly parent, or surprisingly, to Artemis herself... But mostly, the sacrificed all went to Percy.)
Atlanta stood up on the stage, looking out at the gathered demigods in contempt, she had gotten to know so many new faces in the past few days, so many that she had didn't know very well at all... She met new friends and acquaintances, now she was about to tell them all something about herself that she had only ever shared with her sisters... and brother. But truth be told, she was confident in herself and she was ok with telling the tale.
She cleared her throat loudly and looked out upon them as some of the heads in the crowd looked up toward her.
"Hello everyone, my name is Atlanta as many of you have already found out, I have coveted the last few days and every chance I got to meet new people that I have neved met before, I truly had a wonderful time. With Percy having joined the hunt a couple years back it has really changed my, my ladies, and the hunts perspective on outsider, especially men, so I think you'll all find it delightful to know that the death threats and knives in tender spots, have for the most part come to an end.
Now, the reason I am standing up here today is because that today marks the 20th memorial anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center... And I know some of you may not care, and that is truly sad and disappointing, especially to me, and before I tell you why I need to say that I am not looking for your sympathy or condolences or gods forbid, your pity... I just wish that this story would open everyone's hearts up to all the lives that were lost in the two towers, and yes, there were many demigods that died as well. Now as I promised, the reason I would be so offended to someone not caring about 9/11 is because that I myself, was a survivor of the attacks and I am going to tell you the story."
*gasps*
Many gasps and shouts were heard from the assembled campers, Artemis scooted closer to Percy on the VIP couch (it wasn't a couch, it was more like a padded bench) that was at the end of the Artemis table and rested her head on his shoulder, and Chiron looked totally shocked.
"It was seven in the morning when My Lady Artemis came to me and gave me the mission to go to the north tower of the World Trade Center and retrieve a young girl and her sister and bring them back to the hunt, they were daughters of Apollo and their mother and step-father were abusive, so I set out immediately, I had no idea that I would have anything but an easy time on this mission... Little did I know how it would actually be...
Flashback, The Morning Of 9/11
(This could be traumatic, discretion advised.)
"gods' this elevator is taking forever." Atalanta exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently. Only about a dozen people had gotten on and off during the ascent, and she was still only halfway up to the 94th floor, where the two girls were located.
Once she finally got out of the elevator, ten minutes later, she spent a few minutes cursing herself for not taking the stairs, even though she knew that even for a huntress, taking 91 flights of stairs instead of the elevator was insane. She was amazed that these mortals considered working in such a large office area, at their small work places, everyday "life," but then again she wasn't there to judge, she was there to find the sisters... Who she didn't know what they looked like, but she did know roughly what they would be wearing and where they would be, but not much more than that... Artemis had told her that they were 18 and 16, so honestly she had no idea why they would be here in the first place, but then again she also didn't know anything about mortals and the "workforce."
She walked around and looked carefully at everyone she walked past, scanning for two teenage girls clad in what Artemis told her, at least, would be red shirts. Just as she was about to give up and try another floor, because maybe she heard the number wrong, she spotted two pretty blonde girls in red shirts over by a copier, and thankfully alone...
Sighing in relief, Atlanta walked over to them and introduced herself.
"Hello, girls, what are you doing here alone?"
Atlanta cringed... gods' that sounded so bad, as bad as walking up and saying "Yes, I am a pedo!"
But thankfully... They didn't seen to take it that way, thank the gods.
"Uhm..." The two girls looked back and forth, "My name is Natalie," The older one said, "And mine is Grace," The younger girl confessed, however nervous.
"Those are sweet names, my name is Atalanta."
"Atalanta is a brave name, like a hero." The younger one said, looking at her feet like she knew something that everyone else didn't but didn't want to share it. The older girl also had that look, like she knew something or made a connection that she didn't want to share...
"Thank you very much, I can already see we will become great friends."
"Why are you here? We aren't special..." The older girl asked, Atalanta would have to watch out for what she says, because she could tell that this one was a smart one.
"Oh but you are more special than you know, what all do you know about the-"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A sound like the loudest explosion Atalanta has ever heard pierced the air like a nuclear bomb, it was as loud as the bombs dropped on Belgium in World War II, into wine the sound was so loud and violent. It shook the entire building, the floor beneath them felt like it was spinning and the world around them shook with chaos and fear. Atlanta did not what it was, but she instinctively brought the two girls into her arms and covered them. Which they didn't protest to, how sweet and cute...
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" The younger girl screamed, clutching onto Atalanta like she was life itself. Which if it was up to her, and it was, she was going to get these girls to safety and let them live. They had to get out of here.
"I don't know, we have to get out of here."
CRASH!
Right before their eyes the ceiling to their left, the entrance to one of the exits fell in and crushed nearly thirty people, their screams pierced the air as they were instant crushed, instantly being the only comfort to them. Thankfully, there was another exit on the other side of the room, so she grabbed the girls and-
"Quick, run!" She screamed at them, pointing to the exit on the other side of the room. Atalanta could feel the floors above them being destroyed, she knew that this one was going to be destroyed very soon as well, she couldn't even begin to imagine how many people were dead already, and many more lives were yet to come. She would try to get as many people out as possible, but these girls were her absolute main priority.
They ran to the exit, fire spreading around them, others were swarming to the exit as well but they were being hit by debris or set on fire before they got there, she hoped that would not be their fate.
My Lady please give me strength, help us, please... She prayed, just as a massive explosion went off above them and debris came exploding out of the ceiling above them just as they got to the exit, Atalanta was the last one into the stairwell and thus she got caught in the blast, she spun around and cast a protective shield behind the girls just as they got into the stairwell, but it did nothing to protect Atalanta, and she was blasted into the stairwell and flung against the wall with the force of a mac truck. She screamed in pain, her back was sending excruciating waves of pain across her whole body, everything hurt but she didn't lose consciousness. Little did she know just how many people's lives she saved with that one spell.
"Atalanta!" They both screamed in unison, which honestly did nothing to help her situation at all, believe it or not.
She was almost three centuries old, she had survived plagues, battles, monsters, gods, titans, the most dangerous situation known to man... She was not going to be put down by this, on shaky legs she got to her feet, clutching the side rain for support.
She wiped her brow and pointed down the stairs, "Let's go, I'm fine, don't worry about me."
They didn't understand but she nodded anyways, they ran down the stairs, passing hundreds of panicked people fleeing down the stairs. It felt like forever that the stairs went on, ever and ever, floor by floor... Atalanta had stopped even trying to block out the pain in her back, and in her legs and shoulders, she let it act as a reminder to keep going, of what lay behind them already, freedom was close and she could smell it, she could see it at the end of the tunnel, and when they finally broke out of the stairs on the first floor they ran to the exit and ran as fast as they could out of the building, just to see a jet ram itself into the side of the south tower... Screams, smoke littered the air, and crushed bodies cluttered the ground, more and more joining them as they fled the building.
"Follow me, just do it, I have something I need to tell you." She told them, as she led them over to an alley around the other side of the building, in the chaos the firefighters and police failed to notice them through the smoke, which was a relief, the last thing she needed was some mortal doctors taking these girls and then bringing her to a hospital...
She told the girls what they were and where they came from, the Greek gods and everything, the usual, and told them that they have a home in the hunters of Artemis if they wish, and what the conditions were, they accepted and Atalanta prayed to Artemis to come pick them up, and she did and brought them back to the hunters camp, and then Artemis brought Atalanta to Apollos temple to get healed.
After she spent four days in the hospital, healing four broken bones and a hemorrhage in her spleen and lungs, smoke inhalation and shrapnel lodged in her skin all around her body... She walked away with five scars, the most noticeable and serious being a gigantic foot and a half long scar that touched corner to corned down her back. But she was alive, she had saved many a persons lives, and most of all, to her... She delivered both girls unharmed to Artemis to join the hunt.
(Meanwhile while Atalanta is still telling her story.)
Artemis whispered in Percy's ear and he nodded, then she got up silently and walked down the table, passing all of her hunters until she reached the girls she was looking for, who she leaned down and whispered in their ears. The girls nodded and smiled looking at each other in agreement, then they got up and slowly and silently walked up to the stage.
"... I've never been so proud and thankful to have come away successful and alive from a mission, and if I had the choice to go back and save one more life than I did, I gladly would."
The gathered Demigods all stood up and started applauding as loud as they could, the hunters all stood up and cheered, most of the sensitive campers were crying, she had told a rather gruesome and sad story, and it affected them.
As she watched the faces she did not notice the two girls walking up to her until they embraced her in a loving and warm hug, she hugged them back and knew immediately who they were. Her best friends,
Natalie and Grace.
A/N- Is that good enough for you guys? I almost cried writing this, and you can always leave it up to me to be dramatic and feelingy about everything, right? So sorry this took so long, which that is for all you people that aren't following my Witcher story... I am excited going forward for both stories, I knew that taking on two was probably a bad idea, for a young author... But I am having a lot of fun, and even though the updates are usually slow for one or the other, I hope you all are enjoying my writing as much as I am enjoying writing it.
(PSST! Please consider reading Loving Living and Forgiving, it would really make my day:)
Shout out to SilverSword12 from Wattpad for being the final bit of enthusiasm I needed to finish this chapter, thank you so much dude!
Discord: 9hDzyzMkD3
Till next time YALL!