Ink- Ayy a long boi chapter.
Scenario- a long boi ?
*1 week later*
I've only been at the hunt camp for a week, but I already have a different lifestyle now. My thin, fragile, and abused body has been whipped (not literally, thank Gods) into shape. Not by a lot, but much better than from when I arrived here. I'm lighter and now I don't look like I should be on the street begging for food.
The hunters are constantly moving and I'm trying my best to not fall behind. My goal for today is to make some new friends. There is a girl in front of me, she has wild red hair and a face covered in freckles. I'm pretty sure her name is along the lines of Phoebe. She is carrying a large backpack full of pots and pans, judging from the sound that it emits every time she takes a step.
"Uhh, hi, Phoebe, right?" I awkwardly ask. She flicks her head left and right as if searching for the sound and then finally towards me. Once she notices she narrows her eyes.
"Yeah, that's my name. How'd you know?", She questions suspiciously. I shrug and point to the platinum blonde-haired girl.
"That girl, Atlanta or something, called you Phoebe when she was going full-on banshee at me,"
"Atalanta," Phoebe corrects, "And yes. She sure does dislike you." We continue to walk east. I notice how she carefully worded her sentence.
"I don't blame her. I'm 90 percent sure the rest of the hunt hates me," I nonchalantly mention.
"I don't think they hate you, we are just annoyed," She counters calmly. We. Meaning she agrees with them.
I snort, "Yes, annoyed. Shooting me in the back is annoyed." Phoebe winces like she was the one that got hurt.
"Yeah, my bad on that. How's your back?"
"Healing. At least you called it." I smirk as I deftly avoid a low-hanging tree branch. She tilts her head.
"What?" She speeds up slightly, causing me to attempt to catch up.
"I mean," I wheeze from being out of breath," You said something was in the trees and I was. Which you were right about," I explain finally getting a steady pace again. We then both slow down so we are at the same speed as everyone else.
Zoe is at the front, doing her lieutenant duties. Mom is holding the back, slowly as we close the distance to our destination. Then Mom and Zoe switch spots and Zoe comes to the back of the group. I shift in the direction of my sister. She instantly spots me.
"Sup little brother," She exclaims. I smile and accept her hug. She has become more used to physical contact now.
"Soo first week in the hunt," Zoe says, grinning, "How do you feel?"
I shrug and half-joke, "6 out of 10, would not recommend it to the male population."
"What! What happened?" Zoe fusses, "Also of course."
"Well, I'm a boy in an all-girl camp, I feel uncomfortable," I explain. Zoe takes this the wrong way.
"Is it because you are sharing a tent with me? I can ask milady to give you your own tent." She comments in a kind of hurt tone. It was the same tone that she used when I told her about Apollo training me.
"No no, not that, but come to think of it, why were you sad when I told you about Apollo training me?" I ask. Zoe pulls me into a semi-isolated spot away from the hunt so no one can eavesdrop.
"Oh," She says, smiling sadly.
"I was just kind of hurt that you didn't ask me to train you, I mean I am your sister and we have already started. Sorry, this is silly," She apologizes. Her copper skin gleams. I silently hug her. I start to apologize as well, then a thought comes to mind and I brighten.
"You can train me when Apollo isn't," I propose. Zoe looks surprised.
"Apollo isn't training you every day?" She asks.
"Nope," I say, shaking my head, my messy hair flying everywhere.
"Alright then," Zoe says smiling from ear to ear, "I'll do it," I cheer and hug her again. She then does something that she has never done before: she kisses my forehead like Mom.
We both stare at each other for a long second and then she hastily begins speaking, "Sorry, I used to do that to my baby sister. I'll stop,"
Right, I remember she has a sister.
I shrug, "You can keep doing it, Mom does it, I don't care."
"So who is making you uncomfortable," Zoe says randomly.
"Uhh, what," I say, startled cause I'm caught off guard.
"Who is making you uncomfortable," Zoe quietly demands again.
I swing my head to answer, "Nobody, I just am," Zoe studies at me for a second then concludes.
"You are lying," She announces.
"What!" I cry, "I barely said anything." Zoe smiles smugly.
"Two reasons. 1) Your eyes darted everywhere when you said that," She explains.
"2?" I pipe up. She gives me a cocky smile.
"2) I know you, little brother," I roll my eyes and dodge the playful slap Zoe sent me.
I saw you talking with Phoebe. What's with that?" Zoe casually asks, flicking her obsidian hair out of her face.
I cock my head sideways sarcastically, "Am I not allowed to talk to people," I snap. Zoe raises her hands in a surrender motion.
"My bad, just curious," Zoe says, raising an eyebrow, suspicious of my defensive attitude. I didn't mean to snap at Zoe, but I am frustrated and my feet hurt.
"Sorry, I just don't feel like talking after what blondy told me," I say grouchily. Zoe narrows her eyes and scans the sea of hunters. Oh, shoot! In my apology, I failed to cover up the fact that Atalanta threatened me.
"Atalanta?" Zoe asks. I nod.
Zoe shakes her head in disbelief, "The same Atalanta, daughter of Athen- ohh that makes sense." She looks around, then turns to me, dead serious.
"What did she say to you," She says in her deadly, quiet voice.
I shrug, "Nothing too bad. Just the usual, 'you better leave now or else you wish you still got abused,'" I say casually. I lived with Gabe, I've heard much, much worse.
"What! Where is she?" Zoe growls. She starts hunting after the daughter of Athena but I barely manage to snag her shoulder.
"What are you doing!" I hiss at her. She faces me, full of anger.
"I'm teaching "blondy" a lesson!"
"Blondy?" I couldn't help it. Zoe turns red, I'm not sure if it's in anger or embarrassment.
"Do you want me to help or not?" I nod, still noticing she dodged the subject once again.
"Sure, I guess," Zoe scours again, then suddenly stops her pivot. Atalanta spotted. Zoe grabs my shirt and drags me. We stop our way to the blond girl. Or at least one of us did. My sister not-so-casually advances to Atalanta and practically shoves her away from the conversation that she is having with her fellow huntress.
"Hey, what the Hades?" Atalanta exclaims. She tries to say more but I complain.
"Zoe, did you have to drag me here, I could have just walked on my own."
"Tell me why Percy here," She says stopping me from talking with a murderous glint in her volcanic eyes, "Told me that you were harassing him?"
Atalanta goes into her defense instantly, "I did not!" There is an edge to her voice. It is several octaves higher. Zoe notices this as well.
"Atalanta, you are just as bad of a liar as Percy," She sighs. Atalanta and I huff, then she glares at me.
"He shouldn't be here," She mutters softly.
"What was that?" Zoe taunts. I'm not sure if she is taunting, she could merely be asking.
"He is a male. He should not be here," She spits at me. Not literally, of course, that would be gross. [Covid]
"This male," Zoe mocks, "Is milady's choice. If you don't respect her decision, feel free to have a take now or later, or you can just leave." I gape openly. You could, with a snap of your fingers, leave the hunt.
"When I joined the hunt, I thought I was getting a man-free existence," Atalanta argues. She tries to sound firm but instead, it sounds whiny.
"When you joined the hunt, you chose to be a part of a group for Lady Artemis and to defer from romance. Man hating isn't guaranteed. Plus, it is almost impossible to live a man-free lifetime, after all, the male gender makes up 50.39% of the world's population. Statistically, you are more likely to see a male than a female." Zoe corrects, stunning the blond girl.
Atalanta huffs, but regardless, defends herself. I commend her valiance, but it's annoying how people hate you for just being there.
"Just because man-hating isn't mandatory doesn't mean I can't protest against this situation," Atalanta fires back. I guess this makes sense since she is the daughter of Athena. When pride is on the line, only the children of Athena won't back down.
I didn't like one word in that sentence. Well, I dislike that whole sentence, but one word sticks out.
"Hey, I don't like being referred to as this. The name's Percy," I pipe up. She glares at me like I'm rat poisoning.
"Quiet boy!" She snaps.
Zoe counters, "See, this isn't protesting, this is harassment, verbal abuse even." Atalanta promptly ignores her.
"So Percy," She says in that sickly sweet face tone, "you said you wanted to be treated fair and equally."
I gulp, I have a low feeling in my stomach of what's about to happen.
"Yeah, I guess,"
"That's a shame because you honestly deserve everything if what, not just me, but everyone said about you. Stupid male." These words felt like throwing knives at me. All with impeccable aim. It is at this point Zoe draws her bow. She clutches the arrow tightly, suppressing her rage.
"Say that one more time about my little brother. Do it, I dare you," She growls in the menacing quiet voice. I quickly try to make peace by doing the first thing that comes to mind, beg.
"Please Zoe, calm down it's not worth it," I plead.
Atalanta laughs haughtily, "Look at this boy, begging for a woman to save him." Yeah of course I am, I'm 8 and 4'6 and you are closer to 278. Use your brain.
Of course, I didn't say this, or else I will get brained. When Zoe hears what Atalanta says she lets the arrow fly. It makes that same whistle and impales itself into Atalanta's leg.
She howls in pain and shock. She yanks out the arrow and grits her teeth in pain. Instead of glaring at Zoe, her sights snap onto me.
"Me?" I cry, "What the hell did I do?"
"If I can't get you out of my hunt," She growls, breathing heavily and wincing in pain, "I'll get rid of you physically." It was at this point she charges at me.
-Arcanine Break-
I like to say I'm prepared at all times like my mentor told me, but I'm not. I am completely stunned that Atalanta is attacking me. So stunned that I nearly got skewered by her knife.
I barely jump away before I take any damage from the small jagged blade.
"Holy Hades!" I exclaim as Atalanta takes another swing around with a murderous glint. Before she can do anything, I fish in my pocket and pull out my pen. Atalanta stops and laughs.
"A pen!" She crows, "What are you going to do with a pen? Write me up?" I say nothing and click the pen and it slowly morphs and clinks into a familiar 3-foot long sword.
"I guess you didn't see that coming?" I taunt. The first thing Apollo taught me was to make my opponent as far away from their comfort zone.
The easiest way, make them mad.
"You look surprised, so all that smart talk has a limit." The hunt is giving warning looks like one of those Beware Of Dog signs. Except for Zoe, she is grinning like a mad man, uhh, or madwoman.
Atalanta scruffily pushes her blond hair out of the way and slices my gaze in half with a cold and calculating glare. She spins her dagger in her hand, a move that I don't expect and with the skill I could never imagine myself harnessing. After checking out weapons with Zoe, I'm not sure if I'd be a whiz at daggers.
I am sure that she is going to advance again. Her dagger, like my pen, morphs into a sword that has silver-like glare glimmers. She smirks like she has the upper hand. I've seen her swordplay. It is very good, it's just very slow-paced. On the other hand, she has yet to see my sword style. Sword style? Swashbuckling fashion?
Sure, my body hums in adrenaline. For an awkward 2-3 minutes we just circle each other to find an opening and I am starting to get annoyed.
So I pray to Apollo who I know is most definitely watching. I can almost picture him in his golden throne, or whatever he calls it, bored out of his mind.
"Yoo Uncle this is getting boring, can she like to trip on a pebble or something embarrassing? I promise I'll put on a good show for you." A voice resonates in my mind as we continue to circle.
"Sure Perce."
"Yes!" He chuckles and I whoop, I guess I got a little too excited.
"Nah, I need that energy. Now win!" My mind clears up and I count down from the ten. The mind-clearing ability is a result of ADHD, something Zoe told me. [Omg no way I have that]
Saying that I have an ability sounds cool like I'm a superhero. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. She goes for one more step. And then she puts her foot down, unscathed. What, isn't that supposed to work?
She takes a couple of other steps to the left and I notice pebble rolls under her shoe. She tries to find an angle to use to her advantage with her right foot and stepping over her left leg thus balancing on her left foot. [Imagine your right leg across your left sorta like in an X]
She fell to the ground and as quickly as she fell she scrambled up. Though it was little, it created a window. I strike with my momentum like Apollo taught me and she can barely parry.
She regains her balance, but I continue with the aggression. Atalanta recovers from the initial loss and fights back with vigor. Her blond hair is flying wildly and her face is dripping with sweat. Wait, I thought our battle isn't that intense? Why is she sweating that hard?
I think these thoughts clearly in my head as I deftly dodge a swipe to my left. Oh, right, we are transporting our stuff to New York. Long Island to be exact.
I try to launch another strike but suddenly the edge of my sword turns silver and all my force behind it just evaporates. The same thing happens to Atalanta. Our glaring stops momentarily and we just stare at our weapons in confusion.
"PERSEUS! ATALANTA! WHAT ON OLYMPUS IS HAPPENING?!" A voice screams from behind me. I flinch, recognizing the voice, and I slowly turn around, already expecting who it is.
Mom shoves through the crowd of hunters that stopped walking to watch Atalanta and I duke it out. To be simple, Mom is furious.
I take a peek at Atalanta, she is ghostly pale.
"Percy, Atalanta, Zoe, my tent. NOW!" She barks, as the other hunters set down their stuff for dinner and the night.
Uh oh, suddenly I don't feel so good. We trudge our way to the Head Tent.
(Mr. Stark I don't feel so good)
As we are arriving, I whisper to Zoe, "Why you?"
She shrugs and whispers back, "Holy, milady is mad. I could be a mediator...or instigator, who knows." I didn't like the sound of Zoe being the instigator, but I kept my trap shut.
Don't want to be in trouble with another person. Once Atalanta and I practically get dragged to the Head Tent. Artemis closes the tent entrance and turns to us.
"Spill," She says plainly.
I couldn't speak. I felt like tar had poured down my throat. Like most times, Zoe comes to my aid.
"So Milady, Percy, and I were talking and he brought up the fact that Atalanta was harassing him,"
Mom raises an eyebrow at the daughter of Athena, who is trying to make herself as small as possible.
"Go on," Mom says.
Zoe swallows and continues, " Well, we walked over together and asked her about it. Then, she starts arguing with me about the purpose of the hunt."
Mom nods, "The purpose of the hunt is to give an option to girls that want to swear off males or have had bad experiences with them."
I sit on a nearby chair, making sure I'm quiet. Of course, once I sit, the chair becomes a creaking mess. Zoe glares at me as if I interrupted her.
"Anyway, the argument escalated into her just shouting and insulting Percy, so I sent a little warning."
"That warning," Atalanta spits, "Was an arrow to my leg."
Artemis turns to Zoe. "Zoe, you shouldn't have resorted to violence that quickly." Zoe looks down in shame with her eyes tightly shut. Atalanta looks like she has just won the lottery.
"But," Artemis reared to Atalanta, "There has to be a reason these actions happened. Atalanta, you provoked this, why?"
The daughter of Athena shrugs, "He," She points to me, "Shouldn't be here. He should be thrown out of the hunt and back to his stepfather." I flinch at the mention of my stepfather. Tears well up in my eyes as I think about what he did to Mom.
I raise my head to face Mom and she is staring at Atalanta. I glance at Zoe and her eyes are glaring at the blondy with eyes full of fire.
"After that she attacked Percy, and he won!" Zoe says proudly. I speedily wipe my tears away and blush.
"I did not lose!" Atalanta shouts stubbornly.
"If Lady Artemis didn't come, you would have lost," Zoe says calmly, giving me a hidden smirk.
'Her pride is getting the best of her' I think. The older girls volley insults until Artemis raises a hand to silence them both.
"I've heard from both sides and I've come to a verdict," Mom says. Surely, she can't expel her, right? I look at Zoe panicky. She gives me a serene smile and that relaxes me. Everything is going to be fine.
All three of us hang onto her words in suspense.
"Atalanta, hand over your bow and uniform," Artemis simply orders. Zoe and I gasp.
"WHAT!" Atalanta screams in outrage, "You can't do that!"
Artemis calmly replies, "Oh yes I can, You have threatened and almost killed my first and only ever child."
"Please," The child of Athena pleads, "The hunt is the only thing I have left." When she said this I flick my eyes to Zoe where it meets with a similar pair of obsidian. We had gone too far.
Mom's glare does not falter, "You say it's the only thing you have left, then almost kill the hunt's newest member?" Atalanta avoids everyone's gazes by staring at the floor.
"Hand over your bow, we will wait till tonight until you officially are leaving the hunt." Atalanta slowly rises up from her chair and takes her bow that was slung around her shoulder. She places it on a nearby bed with tears in her eyes. The girl takes one last look of sadness and regret and heads to the entrance and with every step she takes, I feel guiltier and guiltier. So guilty to the point where Atalanta is just about to go.
"Wait," I say. She stops walking.
"Percy-" Artemis and Zoe begin.
"It is my fault that this happened, so can I propose something?" Artemis ponders what I said and nods with Zoe.
"If Atalanta treats me decently from now on, she can stay," I propose tentatively, wary of the huntress's reaction. Atalanta's eyes widen, and so does Zoe's, but for a different reason.
"Percy, you realize," Zoe says carefully, eyeing Atalanta, "She tried to kill you not even 20 minutes ago?" I steal a swift glance at the child of Athena. She is in deep thought then our eyes meet, she flinches when it happens. Her eyes are full of regret.
"Yes, I know, but I'm sure she won't do it again," I say confidently. Zoe raises an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?" She asks.
"I mean if the impending threat of getting kicked out hovers over her at all times, she probably wouldn't think of crossing the line," I expand. Artemis's eyebrows are so high I think it's that they are cutting into forehead real estate.
Zoe proudly states, "Jeez Percy, I'm surprised that you aren't a son of Athena or something."
"I can't see it," I say, as I pull a clump of my jet black hair.
"Wait, Percy who is your godly parent?" Atalanta asks from the back. Zoe glares at her and goes to say something angrily but I stop her with my hand.
"It's fine Zoe," I say kindly, "My parent is Poseidon, Atalanta." She makes a face in response..
"That explains some things." My face must have said it all because Atalanta instantly explains, "Poseidon and Athena have...well, bad ties to each other." Mom groans like she just received a punch in the gut.
"Tell me about it, it's so annoying. They argue like almost all the time, they are both as irritating as Apollo, maybe even more." Everyone laughs, even Atalanta, though rather nervously as to not draw any attention.
"So, Atalanta," Mom's voice changes back to being serious, "Percy's request is that you will not be banished from the hunt." Atalanta is visibly relieved. Her shoulders relax and her posture is back to normal, instead of straight and rigid. I don't even know what a normal posture is but she looks about right. That's for the chiropractor to decide.
"But," Artemis warns, "I'm watching." Atalanta nods rapidly. I giggle openly.
"What's so funny," Mom asks in a gentler tone than to Atalanta.
"You said butt!" I choke out as I burst into a fit of giggles. Everyone has a different reaction. Atalanta smiles and Artemis kisses my forehead. Zoe slaps the back of my head.
"You are in the hunt! Stop acting so childish!" Zoe scolds. I stop giggling and frown. Mom sees my face and pulls me into a hug.
"Relax Zoe, there are times where you can be childish in the hunt," Artemis calmly tells her, letting go of me.
"Ha, told you, Zoe," I mumble.
"Oh, shut up! You are lucky that milady is here or else this would have been a completely different story," Zoe retorts. She strides up to me like she is going to hit me again. I brace myself for her to slap or hit me, or something. But the blow never comes. Instead, she wraps her arms around me into a hug.
I don't expect her to do this, I mean, c'mon Zoe hates physical contact. And the only time she did it was when she was saying goodbye. From the hug, Zoe mutters something incoherently.
"What'd you say Zo," I say softly. Zoe releases what sounds like a sob into my shoulder.
"You said it," Zoe sniffs. I whip around to see my sister with bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. It took me this long to find she was crying!
"Zoe, are you ok?" Mom says, rushing over and wiping her tears away. She pulls her into a hug.
"D-did I say something wrong?" I nervously ask. Zoe violently shakes her head, so much that her ponytail releases the position it was in from a week ago when she tied it. I know right, how do you keep a ponytail for a week? Actually, I wouldn't know since my hair is too short.
"Percy, you didn't say anything bad," She says quietly. She said the word 'bad' weirdly.
"It's just that, that's what my little sister used to call me."
Artemis sighs and wraps her tighter, "I tried to vote against it, but Ares and Zeus insisted." Zoe nods like she has heard this many times.
"Who are we talking about?" I bring up. Artemis releases Zoe and flicks her head to Zoe as if asking for permission.
"Sorry Percy, I'm not at liberty to say. Zoe will tell you when she is ready." Mom says, still looking at my sister. I turn to Zoe to confirm if this is true.
"I'll tell you someday in the future, Perseus, I promise. Just not now." Zoe says it so faintly that I have to lean in to hear what she is saying. I flinch a bit at my full name, but I know why she said it. This is important. I give her an easy smile.
"Don't worry sis. I'll wait." Zoe brightens and her copper skin glows.
"How did you set up the Head Tent so fast?" I realize as I gaze around the oddly spacious room. Mom gestures to the room.
"This? The tent can be magically packed into a handkerchief." I do a full 360. I'm not even surprised that can happen.
"What if normal people see it?" I ponder.
"Oh that won't be a problem, the mortals won't see anything thanks to The Mist." Zoe jumps in.
I raise my eyebrow confused, "What's that?" Mom is about to explain but Zoe cuts her off.
"Milady if I may, The Mist is like magic that prevents mortals from seeing monsters, our powers, and our weapons." Ooh, more magic! That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell.
"So what would the mortal see?"
Mom laughs, "I don't honestly know, probably something random like a school bus. Sometimes it's powerful enough to confuse demigods."
"Basically an illusion," Zoe adds,
I smile, "A chimera." Zoe and Mom are suddenly shaken.
"What did you just say?" Zoe asks with shock evident in her eyes.
"A chimera. You know, an illusion?" I say even more confused. What's the big deal? All I said was a synonym.
"Percy," Mom says carefully, watching her words, "Chimera is the name for a Greek monster. It's one of the most dangerous."
I gulp, "Oh." One of the most dangerous. Scary.
"Names have power, Percy. Like if I say Pasiphae's son, he'll probably attack our camp. Or if a demigod says Zeus, thunder will roll." I try and recall who Pasiphae was and her son was.
"So she's a scary lady, and let me guess, she also knows other scary people."
"Her husband is Typhon," Mom says, then adds after seeing my shocked face, "I can say people's names because I'm a god." I clutch my temples.
"You fought him," I say closing my eyes remembering, "You nearly lost, but because of Hades you won." Now it's Mom's turn to be surprised.
"Err, yes." Mom doesn't dwell on the topic.
"So it's like saying Voldemort in Harry Potter?" I say, making an analogy.
"Shh!" Zoe snaps, "You only say You-Know-Who." I burst out laughing and Zoe joins along as well. Mom stares at us weirdly.
"C'mon milady, you haven't read Harry Potter?" Zoe says, still dying of laughter.
"I have better things to do than to read about a noseless guy and obsess over a 12-year-old boy with ugly glasses," Artemis declares. Zoe and I stand there, eyes wide open.
(She basically dissed the entire Harry Potter fandom LMAO)
"Athena read it to me once, basically torture, but I like spending time with her. She still read me THE WHOLE SERIES!"
We all laugh but then the entrance of the tent suddenly opens up. All three of us turn to see who it is. At the opening is a distressed Atalanta. She walked out a long time ago.
"We have a problem milady!" She yells. Mom snaps to attention and so does Zoe.
"What is it, Atalanta!" Mom urgently demands.
"The Minotaur and others are attacking the camp while we were taking a break." She says out of breath. Zoe and Artemis curse audibly. They sprint outside, leaving me behind. Suddenly, I remember who Pasiphae's son is and I run outside to Zoe and Artemis.
Time to see if I'm right.
4867 Words
Ink- Ooooh. If you don't already know, Pasiphae's son is the Minotaur. The story is she got cursed somehow and fell in love with a bull. Then birthed the Minotaur. Eww, I don't even want to think how that happens.
