Author's Note:
Thank you for all the reviews and interactions with the story! I really appreciate each and every one of you. From the story perspective, I've come to a conclusion to keep it in the third person but focus on the character's thoughts more. I don't really plan the chapters out and I kind of just freely write what comes to the top of my head. There shouldn't be many plot holes or confusing moments since I do go back and edit everything. I would appreciate some dialogue tips from other authors out there since I really do need help with the dialogue itself. My question for this chapter is, would you guys mind if the story jumped ahead by a few years or should I keep writing it as if each chapter is a new year in Percy's life? You can post your answers in the reviews! Sorry for the delay, I have been dealing with my relationship in real life. Enough with the long "Author's Notes", I hope you enjoy chapter-4!
Disclaimer:
Please read both Authors' notes in this chapter as I've come to dislike this chapter. I know this sounds like a dick move, but I really want to just get the chapters out and then rewrite the story completely after.
Chapter 3 Summary:
Percy finds himself in the infirmary tent with an angry Zoe Nightshade. After having a flashback about his meeting with the Titan Lord Kronos, he discusses it with Artemis. Zoe trains him throughout the day whilst Artemis is on Olympus stuck in a council meeting. After the council meeting, Apollo confirms with his sister, Artemis, that many minor gods have joined sides with Kronos against the Olympians. Artemis then brings Apollo to the hunters' camp where Percy tells his Uncle about his own nightmare that occurred only nights prior. This leaves the story to a point where Percy, Zoe, Artemis, and Apollo are the only ones who know about the great prophecy and the future for Percy himself.
Chapter 4 - Birthday Surprises | August 18th, 2000.
It has been almost a year since Artemis welcomed Percy into the Hunt. Each day flew by with the same old routine of training with Zoe, training with Zoe, and training with Zoe, with a slight chance of monster ambushes thrown in for good measure. On a bright morning, however, a birthday celebration could be heard in the hunters' camp. They currently were camped near the coastal areas of New York City.
The light summer breeze bristled through the air. Percy was sitting with Zoe on a large cliff where the vast ocean was visible. The sound of waves crashing against the sand and rocks echoed across the area. The two were conversing while the other hunters had gone off for a mission from Artemis to clear the parameters of the camp. These routine checks had become rather regular along with the ambushes from random monsters which seemed to appear around the well-protected forests.
Artemis stood on the fresh green grass, a smile across her face, watching the interaction unfold in front of her. She was proud of all of her son's accomplishments over the past few months. From being a runaway boy only trying to help his mother to being a young fierce warrior capable of wielding a variety of weapons. The best part of all of it was that she was finally a mother to a son which had her blood and features. Artemis decided she had spent enough time pondering and quickly flashed away to Olympus where another meeting was taking place.
"Happy seventh birthday, Percy!" Zoe was overjoyed, she smiled at the little boy. She had always been the most supportive and caring out of all the huntresses. She didn't only like Percy because Lady Artemis had told her to; no, there was something about him that stood out which made her somehow enjoy his company.
Percy returned her smile before running up and hugging her, "Thank you, Zo-Zo!"
"I have a surprise for thou, Percy," Zoe said as she pulled away from the embrace. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little box. It exposed a silvery ring that shone in an eerie light as she opened it to show him. "Place it on thy ring finger before twisting the little Moon-shaped stone, but preferably not near me," Zoe added, noticing his puzzled expression.
Percy swiftly snatched up the container and slipped the ring onto his finger. For a few seconds, the ring itself shone, as if it recognized its owner. He nervously twisted the crystal as Zoe instructed, and it magically reappeared as a pair of gorgeous and sharp hunting knives directly in his hands.
His eyes widened, and an even larger grin lashed out across his face. The sunlight made his smile shine all around and enlighten his facial features.
"It is a gift from Lady Artemis, the hunters, and I," Zoe remarked happily.
Percy thanked her once again with a passionate embrace. They settled into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed one another's company. Although, both of them, were absorbed with their own thoughts. They each seemed to be thinking about one shared idea. The Great Prophecy. Percy had been hoping to hear an explanation from anybody since his Mother mentioned it to Uncle Apollo, but no one, not even Zoe, would tell him.
It was difficult for Zoe to keep secrets from Percy, but it was necessary. Otherwise, the complications of his knowledge of the gods' most closely guarded truths will put him in jeopardy. After all, Lady Artemis had specifically pointed her to the role of taking care of him.
Percy had already gotten up from his seat next to her and was roaming around while she was still lost in her thoughts. He walked in circles, taking in the breathtaking scenery that he could never get enough of. Percy marveled at his Mother's ability to locate these spots every time and yet surprise him with spectacular views. However, he noticed a rather dark area near the woods where shadows seemingly pulled towards it. He heard a voice in his brain nudging him to go there. Something wasn't right; his intellect was urging him to go into the woods, but his heart was telling him to do the exact opposite.
For some reason, Percy started to walk forward like his legs had a mind of their own. He was meters away from the shadows when he heard Zoe shout behind him.
"Percy! Where are thee going?" She yelled in alarm.
During his time on the hunt, Percy had honed his hunting instincts to the point that he could feel danger from a fair distance away, and anytime those senses told him anything wasn't right, there was a guaranteed chance something was not right.
However, it was too late to turn back now. A growl emitted from the darkness. Seconds after, a rather large hellhound jumped up, paws in full glory mode soaring through the air. Except, this hellhound didn't seem like a regular one. The monster had a weird yellow glow around it that smelled like ozone. Percy raised immediately twisted the new ring Zoe gave him and as expected, the cooling silver knives appeared in his hands.
Despite the fact that he had his weapons in hand, Percy had no idea how to use them. After all, he had only received them a few minutes prior. He swung the knives like a sword, completely missing the airborne beast that was aiming its paws directly at him. The sharp claws connected with his undefended right arm, costing him dearly. As blood flowed from the fresh wound, Percy gasped in shock.
Zoe was startled at the monster's scratch before she cursed herself for not keeping a closer check on Percy. She swiftly summoned her bow, and an arrow was hurtling through the air at speeds inconceivable to mortals in under a second. The arrow linked with its target as golden dust erupted into the environment, before slowly dissipating away.
Zoe dashed through the cloud of dust to treat his wound as soon as possible before it could become infected. Her eyes widened significantly as she looked at the scene in front of her.
Percy was standing, albeit shakily, with his arm clutched, but there was no blood leaking from it. Much to Zoe's surprise, his body was coated with a soft and barely apparent golden glow. Before he could fall face-first onto the grass, Zoe leaned out and steadied him. She carefully withdrew his hand from his arm, displaying a completely closed wound. Zoe let out an audible gasp. The only trace of the deep gash was a slightly scorched patch of skin.
Percy looked up at her, worried. "What's wrong, Zoe?" completely forgetting the fact that he was scratched minutes ago.
Zoe stared back at him for a moment before attempting to speak, "thy… thy wound, it is gone."
"What?" Percy questioned quietly, shocked by her response. He moved his left hand and touched the place on his arm just a little bit below his brachial artery. Instead of the flesh-piercing wound he anticipated, all he found were scars. Percy turned back to Zoe who was staring at him as if the answer was written all over him.
Zoe was trying to make connections between the dots. Percy's body emitted a golden glow, which is unusual... and his arm was healed... Then it all came together. "Apollo…" Zoe whispered under her breath, barely audible. "Thou was cured by the sunlight, Percy." She answered, narrowing her eyes at the bright ball in the sky.
Percy followed her in gazing up at the sky, but he seemed unaffected by the dazzling brightness. Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit him, knocking him off his feet.
"Percy!?" Zoe rushed over to him and caught him before he could fall. She supported his weight by gently leaning him onto her shoulder. "Are thou alright?" Zoe asked, concerned.
A scorching feeling sliced through his body shortly after, prompting a death-curdling cry before he could respond. Percy's body felt as though it had been tossed into lava and then struck with a flaming fire repeatedly. As the anguish took hold, all of his senses faded. The last thing he heard was Zoe pleading with him to stay awake, but the agony was too intense for him to bear. He let the darkness take his vision, allowing his body to slide away into unconsciousness.
Line Break
Percy awoke to an all too familiar room. There seemed to be some company in the room as he heard two people talking. Although, it was more like one of them was yelling and the other was responding as best as they could. He instantly realized who the two were and would've laughed if his body wasn't aching like crazy. Percy decided to listen in on their conversation before letting his presence be known.
"What happened to Percy?" Artemis asked Apollo quietly, a worried expression carried on her face.
"Oh, hey there, little sis-" Apollo began before noticing her concerned expression. "It seems like his body got burnt up somehow as if his powers went out of control."
Artemis turned and faced Apollo, "is he going to be okay?"
"Percy should heal alright," Apollo answered, nodding. "It was just a little surge of energy generated up inside his body."
Artemis breathed a sigh of relief as she carefully examined her son's face, then observed Percy's eyelid was slightly open. She glared at him knowing he could see it. "Perseus, what did I say about pretending to be asleep." Artemis threatened.
Percy sprang to his feet, groaning slightly at the pain in his arm, which he was using to support himself on the bed. "Sorry, mom," he apologized innocently, hoping his mother would not find out about him walking into the woods and getting hurt.
"Oh hey Perce, you're awake." Apollo realized with a bright smile.
"Hi, Uncle Apollo!" Percy exclaimed, crushing the sun god in a hug.
Apollo chuckled at his nephew's behavior. "Could you explain what happened, Perce?"
Percy's cheerful demeanor was quickly replaced by one of surprise. He had hoped to avoid having to explain to both of them how he had found himself in this tent for the millionth time this year. Zoe had even joked that he should just move into the infirmary tent since he was already there so frequently. "Uhh... I, I'm not entirely sure... I had a headache when I passed out."
Artemis glared at him, "the truth, Percy."
Percy took a deep breath before beginning to speak, carefully picking his words. "I was enjoying my birthday with Zoe when I heard a voice in my brain telling me to walk into the forest."
"And then what did you do?" Artemis questioned, her eyes fixed on his.
Percy gulped, "I umm… I walked into the forest, and then a hellhound jumped out and scratched me." He said quietly.
Artemis, on the other hand, was not convinced. She fixed her attention on Apollo, knowing that he could never lie, even if his life depended on it. "Is he speaking the truth, Apollo? The full truth?" she added before he could respond.
After a short glance at Percy, Apollo grinned, "Perce is speaking the truth, just not the whole truth."
"Hey!" Percy cried out, "you promised you wouldn't tell secrets!"
"I did indeed promise that," Apollo chuckled, "but your Mother over here wanted to know and I rather not be smacked again," he said, shuddering at the prospect of being hunted by Artemis again.
Artemis gave them both a suspicious look, wondering what other secrets they were hiding from her. "Percy, would you mind telling your uncle and me what you did after that?" She asked in a threatening tone, daring him to try lying again and see what would happen.
"I don't remember a lot of stuff before I passed out," Percy said slowly, "But, I think my body was on fire or something. It felt like a ball of energy had blown up inside of me."
Artemis turned to Apollo who instantly nodded, recognizing what she wanted him to do.
"Percy's telling the truth, Sis," Apollo said.
"You two, come with me," Artemis grudgingly acknowledged, "I'm going to find Zoe for her to explain what occurred."
Percy attempted to get out of the infirmary bed with Artemis' assistance, but she simply ended up carrying him through the hunters' camp. The hunters had returned from their hunting mission and were all staring at the trio. Apollo was laughing the entire time until Artemis gave him a stern look, at which point he paused and chuckled quietly to himself. The sun had long risen to the center of the sky, shining a dazzling bright light across the camp.
After what felt like hours to Percy but was actually just minutes, they spotted Zoe, who was currently firing her bow relentlessly at the target several meters out in the distance. She appeared to detect their presence with one final shot and spun around, only to burst out laughing at what she saw in front of her.
Percy leaped out of Artemis' arms with a blush of embarrassment. Artemis and Apollo eventually joined Zoe in her fit of laughter. Percy tried to glare at each of them, but that just made them laugh even more.
"Sorry Percy, although, it is good to know that thou are still the little boy I remember from a year ago," Zoe joked, as the first one to calm down.
"I'm not a little boy Zoe!" Percy whined.
"Oh, really? Letting thy mother carry thou like a child?" Zoe countered, smiling.
However, before Percy could retaliate, Artemis interrupted him, "Zoe, what happened to Percy before he fainted?"
Zoe stared up towards the sky for a moment before answering, "I'm not sure how, but the sun seemed to be healing the wound from when he was scratched by the hellhound just before he passed out M'lady," she said while glancing at Apollo who was deep in thought.
"It looks like Perce is the first to possess this ability. Neither my children nor anybody else I've gifted with my awesomeness is born with this power," Apollo commented quietly.
"What do you mean, Apollo?" Artemis asked, puzzled. "What power?"
"Percy over here is the first to be able to heal under sunlight, which means that as long as he is in clear view of the sun, his body will restore his wounds at the cost of a lot of energy," Apollo said, smiling at Percy who seemed to be just as confused as everybody else in the room with the exception of Apollo himself. "I'm not quite sure how it happened though. It only happens when either the wound is fatal or he manually used it." The sun god pondered to himself.
Artemis immediately faced Percy who was staring off into the distance, "Percy, where were you scratched?" She asked gently.
Percy slid his hand gently to his right arm, where the wound had been. He revealed a completely healed piece of flesh as he raised up his sleeve. "Just below my shoulder, I got scratched."
Artemis reasoned to herself that the wound shouldn't have been fatal at all, and was mostly just a cut. That could only mean Percy used it in some way, but nobody has ever taught him any powers other than hunting-related ones? Unless the monster was under control by some person, it shouldn't even be able to kill someone unless bit in a vulnerable area of the body. She shook her head and decided to think about it another day. Artemis took Apollo away and let Zoe take care of Percy, but not without one more warning, for it was Percy's birthday and enough had already happened. "If you get yourself into another dangerous situation, Perseus, no more blue pancakes for breakfast."
"Mom!" Percy chided, "that's not fair when danger chases me everywhere."
Artemis smiled before flashing her and Apollo to Olympus, where she will be asking questions endlessly, making her appear to be an Athena child.
As soon as the two gods left, Percy found himself being dragged towards the close-quarter combat arena courtesy of Zoe Nightshade. She eyed him carefully as if he was going to somehow get himself in danger again.
"Why are we training, Zoeeeeee, it's my birthday you know," Percy complained while Zoe continued to drag him through the camp.
Zoe squeezed his hand tightly causing him to squeal in pain which made her crack a smile, "I didn't gift thou those hunting knives for no reason."
Percy pouted and decided to remain silent seeing that nothing would make Zoe change her mind.
They both got into position and summoned their weapons as they arrived in the little arena. For a few seconds, the two surrounded one another until Zoe attacked first. Both of Percy's hunting knives were disarmed in less than five seconds and dropped to the grass.
"Do thou yield?" Zoe said, her sharp blades wrapping around his throat.
Percy rapidly nodded letting her stow away the knives.
"Well, Moonboy, I see there are a lot more things I need to teach thee," Zoe smirked, "and since there is nothing else to do currently, I believe this is the perfect time to do so."
Percy groaned, not wanting to be tutored and absolutely destroyed by Zoe for hours on his birthday. However, he didn't have many other alternatives other than doing the Hunt's chores, which were far more agonizing. At the very least, he'll be able to use hunting knives to some extent after this lesson, he thought.
Author's Note:
While writing this chapter, I noticed more reviews about how too quickly the plot advances and it doesn't seem realistic enough. I've mentioned this in my second chapter author's note as well, but I'll address it here again. I really can not go back to chapter 1/2/3 to rewrite the storyline on how Percy is adopted. However, later on, once I'm either finished with this story or I have a writer's block, I will go make a new story on and completely rewrite this one in a more realistic plot. Anyways, thanks for reviewing and giving constructive feedback, I appreciate it. The next chapter is in 1 or 2 weeks.