Nico cringed, he thought he knew what the choice was.
Percy put a hand on Nico's shoulders.
After seeing Dr. Thorn…"Um…okay."
Everybody snickered.
"Hey I was in shock." Percy defended himself
"We know." Will assured him
That was nothing compared to Grover…You're so…you're so…Wow!"
"He so has a crush on Artemis." Piper snickered
Grover blushed.
"What about Aphrodite?" Travis teased
Grover turned redder.
"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped…Who are your parents?"
"Hey Chiron, now that we know what about a proper introduction like mine?" Percy asked
"For Nico?" Chiron asked
"Nico and Bianca."
Chiron chuckled and nodded.
"Demigods stand up please." Chiron said
The demigods stood up at once.
"Hey Nico, stand on the couch." Percy said
Nico nodded and stood up on the couch.
"Oh this is going to be awesome." Travis muttered.
Chiron started.
"Hades, Lord of the dead, god of the Underworld, god of darkness, the Rich one. Hail Nico and Bianca Di Angelo, son and daughter of the Lord of the Underworld." Chiron said
"HAIL!" the Greek demigods said, kneeling. The romans also kneeled and Hermes and Apollo joined the Greek demigods.
A blush crept onto Nico and Hades' face.
All the demigods got up and cheered and then they sat down.
Bianca glanced nervously…"Our parents are dead," Bianca said
Nico, Percy and Hades glared at Zeus.
"We're orphans"… "An Olympian…athlete?"
A few people chuckled.
"Well then you wouldn't have seen the Manticore." Castor chuckled lightly.
"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."... Do six hundred damage?
Nico turned bright red.
Zeus raised an eyebrow at his nephew.
"Mostly more." He finally said
A few people snickered.
Does he get extra movement points for—"…There are no gods!"
All the demigods sighed.
As anxious as I felt about Annabeth…Our lives are dangerous."
The demigods and gods sighed.
"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."
"Yeah, pretty much like that." Annabeth said, a little painfully.
Thalia turned away…feel her presence.
Percy looked down.
"You can do that too?" Leo asked
"It works best if I know the person well but otherwise if I'm near the water, I can feel a slight presence of people and I can figure if they're going to drown." Percy told him
"You'd make a good lifeguard." Leo grinned
Percy chuckled.
"Oo!" Nico raised his hand…Bianca di Angelo shivered.
The demigods shivered too.
"That explains…I told you that was real."
"Why was he there?" Chris asked
"Probably a searcher." Grover said
Chris nodded.
"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said…"Hey, my hooves are clean!"
"I don't think that was the reason." Hazel laughed.
Grover blushed.
"Bianca," I said…"There is another option," Zoë said.
Nico tried his best not to glare at Zoe, he had to get rid of that grudge.
"No, there isn't!" Thalia said…"What about me?" Nico asked.
Nico grimaced.
Artemis considered the boy...as a favor to me?"
"He's going to be overjoyed." Hermes chuckled.
Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"
"Told ya." Hermes grinned
Grover blushed.
Nico and Grover walked off…"I'm with you," I said. "I don't trust—"
Artemis looked curiously at Thalia.
"How did you join the hunters?" Luke asked
"It all got sorted out." Thalia said
Artemis nodded.
"Oh, you're with me?"… Did you think of that?"
Everybody winced at that.
"I just had to say that." Thalia muttered
"No you were right." Percy said
Annabeth froze.
"No it wasn't Percy." Annabeth told him
"Yeah, whatever, what's done is done." Percy said
The sea gang frowned.
Thalia winced.
My jaw clenched…trampled cap in the snow.
Percy looked down.
A few people looked at him worriedly.
The Hunters set up their camping…stick close to the tents
"Good choice." Travis nodded
"Yep." Connor agreed.
Falcons watched us from the trees…almost pleasant sitting by the fire.
"Almost?" Tyson frowned.
Almost…except for the pain in my shoulder
Poseidon and Percy grimaced at the pain.
And the guilt weighing me down.
Poseidon and Percy felt a tidal wave of guilt hit them.
I couldn't believe Annabeth was gone…It was my fault.
Triton glared at Thalia.
"You need to control your anger." He said coldly
Thalia winced.
"Let it be Triton, she was right." Percy said
"No, she wasn't. You saved us at the right time, if you would've gone to look for the other three then it would have been too late." Nico said
"He's right." Will said
Hades nodded too.
Percy gave the three of them a grateful look and so did Poseidon and Triton.
What had Annabeth wanted to tell me in the gym…my heart felt even heavier.
Annabeth and Percy looked at each other, with love in their eyes.
I watched Thalia pacing…you'd think she was still a tree.
"Wait really?" Thalia frowned
"It used to happen." Grover nodded.
Finally, one of the Hunters…Nico said with delight.
"That's not a good thing." Will chuckled
Nico blushed and grinned sheepishly.
I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia square helped.
Poseidon gave a small wince as well.
It tasted like homemade brownie, dissolving in my mouth and sending a warm feeling through my whole body.
A feeling of warmth spread through Percy and his dad's body as well.
Between that and the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better within a couple of minutes.
Poseidon and Percy relaxed.
Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him, though how they'd snuck into Westover Hall unseen, I didn't know.
"Skills." Thalia grinned
Percy playfully rolled his eyes.
Nico laid out a bunch of…Apollo with his sun chariot.
"Wait, you got me that for Christmas too." Apollo grinned
Nico nodded and smiled.
"Though it was a new one." He said
"Big collection," I said…few really rare ones."
Percy grimaced.
"You've been playing…"Just this year.
"That's a huge collection for one year." Leo said
Nico grinned.
Before that…"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"
"Good question." Annabeth said
"It might be able to write.." Zoe said
"Uncap the pen." Triton said
Percy uncapped it and it turned into a sword.
"Touch the cap to the tip." He continued
Percy did as Triton said and as soon as he said that, he held a pen in his hands.
Triton grinned.
He and Percy fist-bumped.
"As for if it runs out of ink, I don't think so because there isn't a way to put refills and I don't think you can buy refills for this sword." Percy said
Nico nodded.
"Understood." He said
Everybody chuckled.
"Are you really the son of Poseidon"… "Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried
"Yes, I can." Percy told a red Nico
"It's in your blood." Poseidon snickered
Percy laughed.
"What about Tyson?" Travis asked
"Never tried." Tyson shrugged
He went on asking questions… (I didn't answer that one.)
"Yes." Chiron said
Percy and Thalia grinned sheepishly.
If Annabeth's mother was Athena…(I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.)
Nico blushed and a few people laughed.
Was Annabeth my girlfriend?
"Even Nico thought that and he just met you, how did you guys not get together sooner?!" Silena laughed
Percy and Annabeth blushed.
(At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.)
Everybody laughed and this time Nico joined in.
I figured any second he was going to ask me how many hit points I had, and I'd lose my cool completely, but then Zoë Nightshade came up to us.
"I wasn't going to ask that." Nico muttered.
"Percy Jackson…"Yes, ma'am."
Everybody burst out laughing and Zoe smirked.
She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.
"Sorry Percy." Zoe said
"Eh, I don't blame you especially due to…" Percy said, coughing purposefully at the end
"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."
"Not many boys or men are allowed in her tent." Hermes said
Apollo nodded.
Zoë led me to the last tent…looking at all those rare skins
"The tent sounds beautiful." Annabeth said
Artemis smiled.
But maybe since Artemis…contentedly in Artemis's lap
"Aww." Aphrodite squealed.
"Join us, Percy Jackson," the goddess said…"Uh…a little."
"Correction- Very." Artemis snorted
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"I could appear as a grown woman…Forget themselves."
"Falling in love isn't going astray." Aphrodite scowled
"What about them getting their hearts broken?" Artemis retorted
"It's not always boys who break their partner's heart, even girls break their partner's heart." Silena said angrily
"Yeah, they used to have some shit rite of passage in the Aphrodite cabin, where the camper would have to break a heart to be a true child of Aphrodite. It was a sort of achievement to them." Piper scowled
"Oh."… I'd invented the idea of being a guy
"Well not all boys are the same." Zoe said
"You must forgive my Hunters"… "You turned him into a jackalope."
"Wow." Travis said
"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied…I'd like to hear them from you."
"I think I was just as confused." Percy snorted
Everybody chuckled or laughed.
And so I told her…"Prey so old I have nearly forgotten."
The gods paled, though they knew they won the war, it didn't stop them from worrying because they felt like it was all happening again.
She stared at me intently…"Um, 'I hate middle school dances.'"
Everybody laughed.
"Percy." Poseidon sighed exasperatedly
"I don't think that's what she asked." Triton chuckled.
"No, no. After that…the Great Stir Pot—"
"Stir pot and stirring don't sound similar at all." Thalia laughed
Percy laughed sheepishly.
Everybody chuckled.
"Stirring," Bianca corrected…could've been a statue.
"That just makes them less readable and confuses the others whether you're going to kill them or not." Annabeth said
"I swear, I know right." Percy said, shaking his head
"Maybe he was lying," I said…"No, Zoë. I must do this alone."
"NO! You know the monster is dangerous but still-." Apollo said, in panic
"Calm down brother, I'm alright." Artemis placated her brother.
"Still." Apollo grumbled
"But, Artemis—"…"Let us pray I am wrong."
"Can goddesses pray?" Connor asked
"Can goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that.
Connor and Percy grinned at each other.
A flicker of a smile played across Artemis's lips. "Before I go, Percy Jackson, I have a small task for you."
"Percy you have some serious talent, you made Artemis smile despite being a boy." Hermes said, shaking his head
"It wasn't intentional." Percy said
"Doesn't really make a difference." Apollo said
"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"… "But, Artemis, we hate that place"
"Yeah, we aren't fond of you guys coming either." Travis scowled
The last time we stayed there…they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."
"Yeah, they burned down cabins with campers in them." Connor spat
The Greek campers scowled.
"We almost lost three kids from our cabin." Silena spat
"One of ours was seriously injured and three others made it out." Luke said, voice dripping with venom
"WHAT?!" Hermes and Aphrodite yelled
"Which camper?" Will asked
"Alex." Travis said
"Oh I remember him, he was pretty critical, had a lot of burns. He was under my shift." Will said
Hermes glared viciously at Artemis and so did Aphrodite.
"Didn't they also burn a little bit of the Ares cabin for defending Aphrodite?" Chris asked
"Yes, they did." Clarisse scowled.
Ares joined Hermes and Aphrodite in glaring at Artemis and Zoe.
Nobody made a move to defend them.
"No wonder the campers aren't fond of the hunters." Hermes spat
Artemis and Zoe grimaced.
Zoë muttered something about foolish campers.
"I'm sorry what?" Travis glared
"Next time, they should figure out another place to stay, they shouldn't be allowed at camp, we can't have people dying."
"Guys, are you okay?" Hermes asked worriedly, he wasn't used to see them like this
"No dad, they almost killed Alex, we had no idea how serious his situation as until today. Camp is our home and they practically destroyed three cabins. It's supposed to be a safe space for us but they removed that privilege as if we didn't have enough to deal with. Luke was head counselor and he was super mad about the incident." Travis said
Hermes hugged his children.
"I'm sorry everybody." Zoe said
They nodded.
"And now there is one last decision to make"… "To begin with," Zoë said, "immortality."
"Like that helped her." Nico said bitterly.
Hades slung his arm around Nico's shoulders.
I stared at her, then at Artemis…which is unlikely
Thalia, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, Artemis and Zoe looked down.
All the campers' heated mood evaporated and turned into sadness.
Zoe had changed and even if she burned down cabins, they weren't cruel enough to wish her dead. They also felt really bad for Nico.
Or break their oath…"Which are you, then?"
"Percy, why..?" Thalia sighed
"I didn't know." Percy defended
Anger flashed in Zoë's eyes…Nico can't be a Hunter."
Nico smiled gratefully at Percy who gave him a side-hug.
"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."
"You know we never said that girls are below us. They are in fact equal and a lot of girls here can send ten people to the infirmary with swords sticking out of us, we know they can kick some real booty like we said before but you always think that you're better than us not equal. You don't even care how that might make us feel about ourselves. Maybe next time you and your hunters can fight any war that comes up without the campers." Connor said angrily.
Everybody was very shocked.
They had never seen the Stolls like that, they were always so cheerful and humorous but to seem them be so serious and angry just didn't make the demigods feel good.
Artemis' surprise showed on her face.
"Guys, its okay, let it be." Chris said
"It's not but whatever." Travis said
The other demigods (girls and boys) agreed with the Stolls.
"I'm sorry, you all aren't like other boys, and times have changed too." Artemis said again
The demigods nodded in satisfaction.
The gods looked at the demigods in surprise that they were able to make Artemis realize that.
"Hey!" I protested…"Free of responsibility."
Nico flinched, tears welling in his eyes.
"Bianca, you can't do this," I said…"What do I have to do?"
"Wait she didn't even talk to you before agreeing?" Silena asked
Nico shook his head.
Hades felt a little angry at his daughter for not considering Nico.
He pulled Nico into a hug which he accepted gratefully.
"Say this," Zoë told her…"I accept it," Artemis said
"See your hunt just tore apart another family." Aphrodite told Artemis
"It was her choice." Artemis said
Nobody argued, she had a point.
The flames in the brazier brightened…And a complete failure.
"Percy you aren't a failure, it was her choice." Triton said
"Still I should have tried." Percy said
"You did try brother." Tyson said
"Then I should have tried harder." Percy said
Poseidon gave Percy a hug as he looked close to crying.
The rest of the sea gang joined in.
Percy did feel better once they pulled apart.
I couldn't believe I'd come…trying not to sound surly.
"I don't think you succeeded." Luke said, trying to lighten the mood
"No, he didn't." Artemis said
There were a few snickers in the throne room.
Artemis closed her eyes…I really, really do."
Nico looked down.
Then she was gone…irresponsible twin, Apollo."
"That was plain harsh." Will said angrily, looking at his father and Nico looking down.
Lee, Michael, Hermes and Nico's friends noticed this too.
"Chapter's done." Reyna said
"I'll read." Katie said quickly, to avoid the building argument
Reyna noticed this and quickly gave her the book and Katie started immediately.