Chapter 7
Malcolm sat next to Percy, his hand ruffling the younger kid's unruly strange raven hair. His eyes gazed fondly over the blueprint Percy had in his hand, his first blueprint. The older sibling prayed to his mother, Lady Athena. As if on cue, the door to the cabin opened making every occupant in the room to groan with displeasure at the unwanted sunlight.
"Sorry," a girlish reply came, and the figure huddled towards the two siblings and dragged a seat back with a 'creak' and said, "So, I was outside and Aveel, the son of Hephaestus, asked me of those designs for that cabin remodelling. He needs to make sure he has all of the materials and wants to start building."
Malcolm turned to look at his young brother who shook his head frustratingly before he stood up and said, "I give up." The girl's eyes widened, and she apologised, "I am sorry, I'll go tell him that it isn't ready."
Malcolm glared at Percy and said, "What do you mean, you give up?" Percy jumped back at the cold voice of his older brother before standing his ground and said, "Its hopeless. The design is too simple."
Malcolm's anger deflated and he laughed out loud before he responded, "Percy, don't give up. So, what if it is simple? Not everything needs to be complex. It depends how you see it. If they use the room carefully, even the simplest of the designs will look attractive," when Percy didn't look too enthusiastic, he continued, "And since when did you become a son of Aphrodite?"
That was a low blow and Malcolm knew it.
Percy's eyes blazed with fire and determination before he rushed out of the cabin, followed by Malcolm and the older sibling watched Percy catch up to Mal and say, "No, its okay. I have got an idea."
Malcolm smiled, knowing that one day, Percy would do much better than any son of Athena.
Percy shook his head of the tender memories, reminding himself of the merciless nightmare of his brother's death and exited the tent. Alpha who was curled on the ground, instantly leapt to his feet and howled loudly. Percy covered his ears before giving his new pet a glare and rushed towards his cabin.
On his way, he spotted Logan and Mal chatting animatedly and he couldn't help but shake his head at them. Sometimes, it didn't even take a child of Aphrodite to figure out the amount of tension surrounding them.
"Where you off to?" a voice spoke, making the demigod jump and his hand immediately crept into his pocket, gripping the hairpin which felt strangely cold.
A girl of age around 16 walked out of the shadows, her height of 5'4 shadowing him as he looked up at her pale skin and black onyx eyes that seemed to swirl like darkness. "Normally, I am forced to say my eyes are up here but, in your case, I don't know what to say."
Percy shook off the trance and replied to the beautiful huntress, "My apologies. I didn't mean to ogle at your face. It's just unnatural and your eyes seem to contrast with your skin and the features just seem to be refined."
Her pale skin glowed slightly, and Percy noticed a tint of red appear on her cheeks and nose. Brown hair cascaded down her back like waves and he could see the resemblance of her hair posture with her slender body.
"So, you are the demigod who is going to be looking after us hunters?"
Percy nodded as he felt his voice leave his body as his eyes fell on her lips which a dark red shade on them. Before he could react though, he felt something grip on his ankle and pull him in the air. His world turned upside down, literally, and he could feel all of his blood rushing to his head.
"You are weak to look after us, Percy," the hunter said, "you will be defeated before any camper even looks at us."
"Don't be so sure of yourself," Percy retorted, struggling to find the source of his shackles.
"You won't find it," the hunter said, and she began walking away, rocking her hips, "but I know how curious you demigods are. So, let me tell you, it's the shadows. I can control them."
With that, Percy fell down and crashed to the ground. Without hesitating, he drew the hairpin and said, "I challenge you to a duel. Powers and all." As he finished it, he regretted it because he knew that he couldn't stand against a hunter.
The hunter stopped and turned around, shadows covering her beautiful face and all he could see was her dark shaded lips as they moved in sync, "Being a son of Athena, you are pretty darn stupid."
With that, she drew a dark sword from her waist and slashed at Percy. The latter jumped back, and his hairpin transformed into a familiar celestial bronze sword and parried her attack. Defending, she lowered herself and disappeared into the ground, as if it had sucked her in.
Percy looked around before his ADHD kicked in and he swiftly threw himself to his left and within a millisecond, a silver arrow flew by from where the demigod stood. Taking shelter in a bush, he took huge puffs of breath.
"I know you are somewhere here," her voice came, and he barely caught a glint of silver before he found an arrow in front of his face. He gulped and she pulled the bow back and extended her hand, something the demigod of Athena grasped and pulled himself to his feet.
She looked him up and down and he could feel himself blush at her intent gaze and she said, "You were a worthy warrior, I'll give you that. I think you will be valuable to us, just a pity you are a boy. I'll ask Lady Artemis if she can fix that."
She winked and Percy paled and shook his head, "No, no, I am good." The hunter threw her head back and laughed, "My name is Ashley Church, Daughter of Nyx."
Percy extended his hand and Ashley shook hands, starting a friendship that would last for long and would play a crucial role in their lives.
The figure glared at the son of wisdom goddess and daughter of primordial and thought of a plan to convince the hunter to follow him. A grunt attracted his attention and he looked back to the captured goddess behind him and smirked. Walking towards the immortal, he said, "Pity isn't it?"
The goddess tried to say something, but the gag prevented her from saying anything and she resorted to glare venomously at her captor. Héctor planted a foot on her face and the latter crashed to the ground and coughed up gold ichor.
A bark alerted the figure and he turned and saw his hellhound bounding towards him, having dodged the infuriating demigod. Licking its master's feet, it barked at him and the figure's face turned into a grimace as he shook his feet and said, "How many times have I told you not to do this?"
The hellhound whined and bowed its head, making the figure feel guilty and took a step forward and hugged the beast.
"Sorry, boy. I have been on my temper. Don't take my words seriously."
The hellhound's tail wagged furiously, and the figure stood up and watched as Percy and Ashley walked out of the clearing. Soon.
A/N: I have seen multiple reviews saying that I should have introduced the villain later in the story but I feel like the earlier the villain enters, the more informative it becomes. Plus, this story isn't too long. My guess, 20 chapters if not less. Also, I'll try posting as much as I can.
