I awoke feeling warm, comfortable, and, apparently in Percy's arms on the couch. I blushed deeply, glad that Percy couldn't see my face. I tried wriggling out of my best friend's grasp, and Percy just tightened his hold on me. His mouth was near my ear, so I heard him say, "No, no, Arty, you're mine now, you have to sleep in, besides, it's good for you to sleep." I smiled and snuggled into his chest, drifting back into the realm of Hypnos. Percy was a comfortable pillow/heat provider. Eventually, I was woken up by Percy, "Hey, moonbeam," He said, not noticing my now pink-tinged cheeks. "It's 8:30 AM, I think you'd want to be up by now. After breakfast, we can start making preparations for the hunters' group Zeus gave you permission to start." I shot up and Percy laughed, partly at my enthusiasm, and partly because I still couldn't feel my limbs. He caught me and scratched the back of his head. "Right," he said sheepishly, "Forgot about that." I shot him a half-hearted glare.
He pulled me into his lap and fed me breakfast. I smirked at the thought of what I would do to any other male who tried this. I obediently ate the silver pancakes (what?! Percy has blue pancakes, why can't I have silver ones?!) as he brought the slices to my face. When we were finished, Percy snapped his fingers. Percy was wearing a cobalt blue Nike shirt and pair of shoes with jeans, while I wore a silver Nike shirt and shoes with jeans. He explained, "I'm assuming the faster you get control of your limbs the better, so I'm taking you to
see Apollo." I nodded and he picked me up bridal style, flashing us to his office, where Apollo was playing with a yoyo.
I cleared my throat, "Ahem, Apollo, I still can't use my arms or legs. Fix it." Apollo pouted and Percy glared at him while I smirked. Apollo sighed and I could feel my limbs again. I jumped out of Percy's arms and slapped Apollo, then flashed out with Percy.
I got a notepad and started brainstorming things I would need for the hunt. Percy helped, because he remembers the menial things while I think about items of importance. When we were finished, this is what I had:
Per Hunter Overall
Uniform Quiver
Bow
Hunting Knives
Tent
Daypack
Duffel bag
Dining Tent
Armory Tent
Training Tent
Kitchen Tent
Infirmary Tent
Laundry Tent
Supply Tent
Prison Tent
After we had gotten all that sorted out, we headed to the mini-forge in Percy's palace and went to craft the bows so they were indestructible. When that was done, we conjured all the 'overall' tents, magically shrinkable to the size of a letter key on a laptop. I put all the tents in my pocket and stood up. "Alright," I said, "Let's go get my first recruits. I'd say about twenty should do." Percy nodded and I concentrated for a moment. I scowled and said, "Duluth, Minnesota. There's a young girl living with her abusive uncle." Percy growled and I grabbed his arm before he could do anything too rash. "Percy, I'll decide his fate once we further assess the conditions. Remember, we don't want to scare the poor girl." Percy nodded and I flashed us outside the front door to the house she was living in.
We heard a scream from inside and Percy ran through the door to get to the sound. He didn't open the door, it wasn't even a weak one, he had just run through a five-inch thick reinforced steel and oak door. I rolled my eyes and ran in after him. I saw a little girl cowering in a corner while Percy was using the slightest of his strength to bat away all of the man's attacks. I rushed over to the girl and she flinched away. She looked either 6 or 7, and small at that. The things I saw when I sifted through her memories made my blood boil. Percy apparently grew impatient and snapped his neck, bringing him to a different room.
He saw I was having trouble gaining her trust, and walked over. "Hi," Percy said in a kind voice, "My name's Percy, and this is my friend, Artemis. We're here to help you."
The girl stuttered, " l-I don't trust you."
Percy nodded. "That's understandable, I suppose," He said. "May I see your hand?" She held it out hesitantly. Percy gently touched her hand and drew power from the water in the air to heal her. Her eyes bugged out and Percy smiled. "May I ask what your name is, young one?" Percy asked.
"Cassandra," she said, examining her now missing wounds.
"Well, Cassandra," Percy said, "My friend here, Artemis, is starting a group for girls like you. After we explain everything, Artemis can tell you more about the group. For now, I'm going to get us to my house, but you have to trust me, okay?" Cassandra nodded and Percy picked her up, flashing us to his palace.
Percy snapped his fingers, and he and Cassandra were clean and wearing new clothes. Cassandra stood up and ran over to Percy. She wrapped her small arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "Thank you, Percy," I heard her mumble.
"No problem, Cassandra," Percy said. "Hey, Cassandra, can I call you Cassie?" Cassie nodded and climbed on his shoulders, grinning. "So, Cassie, what do you want for lunch? You can pick anything."
Cassie thought for a moment and said, "Macaroni and Cheese!" Percy and I smiled at her answer.
"One more thing," Percy said, "What's your favourite colour?"
"Purple!" She half shouted. Percy smiled and walked to the dining table, setting her down in one of the seats. He pulled out a chair for me, and pushed it back in, like a gentleman. He sat down next to me and conjured three bowls of Mac Cheese. Blue for him, purple for Cassie, and silver for me. When we finished lunch, I explained the whole 'Greek Gods are real, so are the myths and monsters. You're a demigod, here are your options if you don't want to be ripped apart by monsters' thing. Cassie decided to be the first member of my hunt and took the oath I had created.
Casie and other members of the hunt Percy and I had recruited stayed at my palace until we had a good 15 hunters. They were:
Cassie McCallahan-Daughter of Hermes-7
Zoƫ Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas-16
Phoebe Douglas-Daughter of Ares-16
Samantha Dallas-Daughter of Hephaestus-12
Lori Parsons-Daughter of Demeter-9
Ana Shiao-Daughter of Apollo-10
Diana Pittman-Daughter of Aphrodite-17
Katie Edwards-Daughter of Dionysus-9
Colleen Norton-Daughter of Athena-11
Bea Velazquez-Daughter of Hades-13
Sandra Hamilton-Daughter of Poseidon-12
Roxanne Skye-Daughter of Zeus-10
Qi-Lian Tou-Daughter of Athena-15
Meredith Johnson-Daughter of Nemesis-10
Hope Montgomery-Daughter of Apollo- 7
The girls suited up in their uniforms and we scouted for a place to make camp. We found a clearing between a lake and a forest and started making camp.
Time: 7 Centuries Later
The hunt had grown over the centuries.
Total headcount not including Percy or myself was 5,739 hunters worldwide. We were all going about our business, sharpening arrows, laundry, training, etc. when lightning showered down and killed all the hunters in the camp I was currently attending to. I felt the hunters in all the other camps around the world die. Percy flashed next to me, no doubt to tell me about the hunters' demise. Before he could speak, Zeus flashed down. "Artemis," Zeus said, "Your hunt has become too powerful; a threat to Olympus. Therefore, I have killed them all. You may start over, but I will keep killing the hunt when it gets too powerful. Zeus flashed out and I let out a strangled sob. There weren't even any bodies to bury, just scorch marks where the camps used to be. Percy flashed us to his palace and pulled me into a tight hug. It was a hug that said 'I know this is gonna be hard. It isn't okay, so I'm not gonna say that. I'm here for you, and if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here'. And that's exactly what I did. I hugged him back, snuggling into his chest, as if this was all some horrible nightmare. I fell asleep crying into Percy's shoulder.
