The Moon Illuminates

"Talking"

'thoughts'

The Other

"Mental Communication"

Armani p.o.v.

Looking back on it, me teleporting in front of Thorn instead of just immediately going for the head was a misplay on my part.

It wasn't like I could teleport too far from the mark I had on Percy either, but I could have tried to push it a bit more for once. I sighed, "Perce, I'm gonna have to put a new mark on you later, that one's all used up. I hope you used all your stupid for the night."

"Hey-"

I sent him a look, just begging for him to speak again, "We'll talk later."

Moments later I hear a commotion behind me, keeping my eyes on Thorn, I knew it was just Thalia pushing into the di Angelos and Percy, knocking them to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over our heads.

This gave Thalia and me a chance to cover the distance between us—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.

I'd never seen Thalia run into battle. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part.

Her shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses—also called Aegis—a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "Come on!"

I rushed in beside her, sword in a backward grip, "Don't get cocky Thalia, it's only gonna take one cut to take us down."

"I know, I know!"

I thought Dr. Thorn was going to be easy to take down. I jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the sword aside. The sword flew from my hand, embedding itself in the tree nearby. So I opted for the smartest choice obviously.

Punching him in the face.

He howled in pain, his hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as she blocked the slash aimed at my face.

If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia and I would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, Thalia barely managed to roll backward and land on her feet, while I teleported a small distance away.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look.

Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpion-like tail that bristled with spikes at the tip.

The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact sent Thalia into the nearest tree.

Or it would have If I hadn't been fast enough to catch her before she could.

"Stay down," I whispered, letting a small amount of Nature Energy leak from my hand, and onto her bruises. "I'll take it from here."

I stood back up, cracking my neck, ripping my sword out from the nearby tree, Changing it back into a watch. Watching as Thorn stared at me incredulously, 'probably wondering what I'm doing discarding my weapon.'

He laughed, wagging his finger at me, "Hah! You throw away your weapon demigod?"

He dashed forward, faster than before, but not too fast for most people to keep up with.

In the split second, before his tail punctured my body, Percy would later tell me my pupils had flashed lavender in color, the once white sclera becoming black.

Thorn backed up, but not before I grabbed his tail and pulled.

He flipped over my shoulder, landing on a small rock on a small rock jutting out of the ground behind me, a resounding Crack! rang through the clearing as he hit it.

I didn't waste any time as I moved, turning around and launching my fist towards his face. I wanted to end this fast, I could already feel the pressure behind my eyes and the strange sensation in the top of my head-

Thorn grabbed my second punch and shoved me away, I may have been faster without the sword, but I had to sacrifice actual reach, and power to get it.

A wet cough escaped Thorn as he laughed, "You have no idea who you're messing with do you?"

I growled, pushing down even more and leaning forward, eliciting a howl from the man- no, monster.

"A monster who enlists children? A monster who claims they fight for peace and kill innocents? No, I know who you are, Thorn."

I stepped towards Thorn again, ready to end the fight before whatever this feeling became too much for me to handle. I could already feel the pounding with each step I took. I was gonna end this now, I couldn't afford to expend any more energy.

One cut, that's all I needed.

"I knew it! You don't have the ability to kill me."

I turned faster than before, feeling the last dregs of energy escaping me, I could feel the last of the Nature Energy leaving me faster than I could build it back up.

There was another presence in the woods, a large group, but I couldn't focus on that now.

I channeled the smallest dregs of Nature Energy in my head, it was like dipping my hand in slow-moving water. This was something I had only done in training so if I messed up, it was very likely I would be out of commission for a long time.

"Kill you? No, I can't do that."

I lifted my hand, a silver flaming aura like a glove coating it. "But I can try to cripple you."

I ran forward, and Thorn did just the thing I had hoped for. He blocked instead of dodging.

'Perfect.'

"Parallel Cut!"

I stumbled to the ground as I felt something give way to my arm.

I turned around to view the damage, my eyes flared up, the pressure becoming too much as a thin trail of blood leaked from both. Causing too much pain for me to see with enough clarity.

The residual light covering my hand began to curl up into the sky, dissipating back into Nature Energy. When I could see again, albeit blurrily, I almost smiled, almost.

Thorn was obviously alive, but with a large gash from his forearm up to his shoulder. Rendering the arm completely useless.

Thorn was barely keeping himself together, "You- You filthy demigod! I'LL KILL YOU!"

I grunted, the lack of Nature Energy bringing back the side effects it normally kept at bay, "Thalia, I'd like some help now if that's all right…"

I didn't get anything else out as I felt a large tail slam into my body, sending me flying into a tree.

I couldn't see much but I could feel someone block the next attack from Thorn, it was Percy's water tendrils.

"He's getting pretty good with quality control…" I thought absently.

I had landed next to him, barely watching as Thalia and Annabeth ran forward towards Thorn, who was transforming into his original form.

Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"A manticore!" I heard someone shout as the transformation completed.

"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

I didn't know what he was talking about, I couldn't focus on it even if I wanted to.

A set of fingers began snapping in my vision, blearily I looked up, seeing Percy beside me.

I barely registered that he was speaking, concern etched on his face.

"Hey, Hey! 'Ni you gotta stay with me, don't fall asleep!"

I pushed his arm weakly, sending him a wobbly smile, "It's just some aura exhaustion, I'll be fine-"

"Last time you did that it almost-!"

"Percy, enough, go help your friends, now."

Percy obviously wasn't comfortable with my decision, but just nodded after a moment, standing up and running to his friends.

I continued to lay there, trying to stay awake and monitor the battle, re-gathering the Nature Energy I had expelled.

I sensed the person approaching me before I heard the crunching snow, no, more than one. But only one was making themselves known.

"Well, I believe you have some explaining to do, Wolfling Demigod."

I turned my head as much as I could, viewing the person beside me, only a certain set of words entered my head.

"Any chance we could all just forget the last ten minutes, Goddess?" I smiled, blood still dribbling slightly from my eyes and into my teeth, painting a gory image.

The Goddess didn't seem amused.

Percy p.o.v.

It was a bit later, Thorn had escaped and almost taken Annabeth with him, it was a good thing Armani hammered water control into my head. Any less and I wouldn't have been able to grab her in time, and even with that, it was still close. The cold air made controlling water much harder.

I continued to sit next to Armani, keeping her awake as I watched the other group, The Hunters, from a distance. Their distaste for me, or us, permeated the air. I could almost taste the disgust.

The one in the lead had a thick aura around her, I usually couldn't sense them like Armani, but this time I could. And it felt so similar to Armani-

I whipped my head to face her, she had a small look of shock and panic on her face. She mouthed two words to me when our eyes met.

"Talk later."

The Hunters advanced on us.

The one called Zoe stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she said with distaste.

"Zoe Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoe scanned the rest of us. "Five half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

"Yes," the younger girl said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Who are these guys?" I whispered, more to myself than Armani, but she answered all the same.

"Artemis' Hunters, this really isn't good."

I flicked my gaze to her before looking back, "How do you know?"

"Unlike you Percy, I actually read history." She snorted

Before I could retort, the younger brown-haired girl approached us.

The auburn-haired girl turned toward me. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend here is in dire need of healing. Move aside."

I growled, feeling Armani tense next to me, "Over my dead body."

I tried to struggle to my feet, but I was unable to move after the fight. Instead, I settled for glaring at the girl instead, eliciting an impatient sigh from her.

"You are in no condition to be defending anyone, especially when they don't need it." the auburn-haired girl said.

"Maybe if you had stepped in a bit earlier she wouldn't need it at all. I demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

Zoe stepped forward as if to hit me.

"No," the other girl ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoe. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."

The young girl looked at me, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff into a helicopter piloted by humans, I thought nothing else could shock me. But when this twelve-year-old girl told me she was the goddess Artemis, I said something real intelligent like, "Um… okay."

That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"

"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Armani is injured!"

"No," I said, causing heads to turn my way, "Not injured, just zeroed out her Nature Energy, it usually keeps some other severe symptoms at bay, or so she tells me. When did you start caring anyway, Thalia?"

This caused both groups to flinch, my friends for what had happened to Armani when she defended them. But the others… had a different reason.

Everybody looked at her. She looked Artemis dead in the eye with a blank expression, like she was trying to connect the dots.

"Artemis? Interesting appearance for a Goddess..."

Artemis's expression sparkled with something akin to recognition? Artemis stared for a minute longer before clicking her tongue and turning to face Bianca.

Armani just smiled, watching her turn away, her teeth still stained by blood.

"This is getting interesting."

While I looked at her like she'd grown a second head, Artemis had already begun questioning Biance.

"Who are your parents' child?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…" She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.

"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a half-blood," Zoe, Nightshade, if I remember correctly, said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded extremely old-fashioned like she was reading from a really old book. It honestly reminded me of some of the habits Armani slipped into when she spoke.

"One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?"

"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. Asking ignorant questions about his card game.

Bianca looked like all she wanted to do was yell at him some more, having Armani, a literal gremlin, in my everyday life made me heavily relate.

As anxious as I felt about Armani—all I wanted to do was get her somewhere besides here—I couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. I remembered what it was like for me when I first learned I was a demigod.

Thalia must've been feeling something similar because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. Even though a bit of something else remained. guilt?

"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl over there, with her eyes bleeding."

Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained.

"The girl has a name you know!" Armani mumbled indignantly, getting a small chuckle from Thalia and me.

"Do not despair for her," the goddess said. "If what her friend says is true, she shall recover in time.."

"brother," I said under my breath.

Now Artemis was looking at me like I had grown a second head, her eyes filled with something I couldn't make out this time. Worry, maybe? It was hard to tell with her eyes all… stormy… like that.

I had to physically steel myself from looking at Armani again because what had just crossed my mind was… ludicrous. Insane, it couldn't be possible. And yet…

'And yet nothing has ever been normal with Armani, even for a demigod.'

I shook my head and met Artemis's eyes, "What?"

She tilted her head, "Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? The large flux of energy around us?"

I almost snorted, almost, I was sure Artemis could see the Nature Energy fluctuating around us. After all, I could almost see it, almost three years of being soaked in the stuff would do that to you I supposed.

"Of course I can, You don't spend years around this stuff without growing accustomed to it. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone here could sense it to a certain degree."

That might have been the wrong thing to say, I realized as I watched Artemis' eyes narrow.

"What do you mean Years-?"

There was a small gust of wind as Armani stood up again, cracking her neck, and what I guessed was resetting her shoulder judging by the loud CRACK! that rang out through the forest. Causing some squeamish looks from some of our group and the di Angelos.

"I think Percy's said enough about me without my permission, yeah?"

Zoe stomped up to Armani and stabbed a finger to her chest. I tensed, not with worry for Armani, but for Zoe.

"How dare you insult Lady Artemis?!"

Armani just continued to stare at Zoe, there was a bit of difference in their height, causing Armani to have to adjust her head downwards somewhat.

Armani smiled ruefully after a moment, watching Zoe take a slight movement back at the look she was getting from the short-haired silverette.

"If I recall correctly, Zoe~, I was speaking to Percy, not your goddess. So if you would remove your hand from me, I would gladly appreciate it. Unless, of course, you would like to lose it~?"

The smile combined with her words made Zoe even angrier than before, "Why you-!"

"Zoe, Enough."

Artemis placed a hand on Zoe's shoulder, making her flinch backward, away from Armani. All while she just watched from her original watched more with keen interest than the fear that would be present in a normal demigod.

"This one has done nothing to disrespect me, not yet."

Whether this was meant as a threat or not, I couldn't tell. But it seemed like Amrani could, she tensed up almost as soon as the words were uttered in her direction.

Armani looked past Artemis and towards the cliff, speaking more to herself than to Artemis when she spoke. "So which monster was that, it looked like-

"A manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."

"No need to tell us," Thalia and Armani said almost simultaneously.

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"

"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."

"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. I thought Bianca was going to faint right there.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia said. "You're freaking her out."

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

"Bianca," I said, "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

Armani shifted off to the side, I didn't miss the reaction to my words. I almost slapped myself as well, with a goddess here now, and everything the others saw, it was gonna be hard to explain why she wasn't coming back with us.

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," I said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't—"

"There is another option," Zoe said.

"No, there isn't!" Thalia said, Armani grunted in agreement, getting an eyebrow raise from me. 'Later.' was all I got through our mental link.

Thalia and Zoe glared at each other, Armani took a casual step towards Thalia's side, which nobody missed. It just screamed don't try anything, to everyone present.

I didn't know what they were talking about, but I could tell there was bad history between them. For some reason, they seriously hated each other.

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp.

Zoe gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things.

As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… Argh!"

"I'm with you," I said. "I don't trust—"

"Oh, you're with me?" Thalia turned on me furiously. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster!"

It was Armani's turn to speak now as she spun on her heel to face Thalia, energy leaking off of her.

"Oh, really Thalia? Do you want to speak about teamwork? You want to tell Percy how you attacked me in that hallway back there, no? Maybe I should then."

Thalia paled, possibly mistaking Armani taking her side against Zoe as some form of putting the past behind her.

I struggled to speak as I got that piece of information shoved down my throat, "I'm sorry, what?"

Armani waved her hand dismissively, "I'm over it now, but I just thought it'd be fair to point out the hypocrisy in that before we continued."

"But-! I-! But Percy-!"

"Oh, I was getting to him too."

She made her way over to me, and I could only watch and sputter helplessly as she grabbed my ear, and pulled really hard.

"What the hell is wrong with you! You dumbass! How many times do I have to tell you to bring someone with you!"

Against my better judgment, I still let the next set of words leave my mouth. "Well, you always go off alone!"

She froze for a moment, and I realized that was the wrong thing to say. She just frowned at me, "That's different and you know it, Percy. You always run headfirst into these things! What would happen if you died? What would Sally do? What about me huh? Do you not care about us?"

"Of course I do-!"

She let go of my ear, slightly pushing me as I fell back into the snow, "Then get yourself together dammit!" She was flushed from all the yelling, her energy was still recovering after all. Thalia and Annabeth just watched from the sidelines, both silent.

"I get you wanted to save those kids, but you could have waited. Thorn wasn't going to kill them either way, and that helicopter took another ten minutes to get to their location. One of us," She gestured to herself, and the others. "Would have shown up in time."

She fiddled with her watch before she looked away, towards the camp that was being set up, an unrecognizable look crossing her face before it went back to its previous look.

"Just- think about it ok? I need some time to myself."

And with that, and a small flash of silver light, she disappeared. Leaving only footprints in the snow to indicate she'd been there at all.

Thalia and Annabeth apparently lost all need to lecture me as they quietly watched me make my way to the cliff's edge, and take a seat. Not another word was uttered as they watched my back, with me simply gazing out over the water.

Author's Notes:

And so we begin to see the difference in power scaling...

Armani justifiably gets annoyed with Percy, and Thalia feels a bit conflicted. The Hunters show up, how will their meeting play out?

I wouldn't say I like this one more than chapter one, I feel like it's a bit more clunky and could be changed again in some spots. Let me know what you think!

I got some nice reviews last chapter, so thank you for those! :)

As for Adyda's review, all I can say is, Interesting theory ;) As for Armani and Artemis, they have a very big and important dynamic in this series, feel free to guess at what it is, if you guys feel like it.

The next chapter will probably not be until Saturday or Sunday, as I have final projects coming up, and work. So it should allow me to edit ahead a bit more. I appreciate the patience.

If you guys have any criticism feel free to let me know! I appreciate feedback quite a bit, even if it is a bit harsh.

I may have to come back and edit this chapter soon, considering I kind of rushed it out so the next few days would be covered, and I'm pretty sure I missed a few things.

One last thing, if you're wondering why Artemis says 'Wolfling Demigod', I couldn't find the space to say it, but on the back of her haori there's greek lettering for 'like a wolf'. Hope that clears it up.

Anyways, until next time!