Author's Note:
Here we are at part 2. Enjoy!
Cheers!
justapercyjacksonfan
Chapter 1
Caleb was annoyed. They had been going who knows where for the past three days.
He really wanted to find out who knew where they were going. They didn't even know.
At first, the motivation in the group had skyrocketed. Bri was annoyed of course, but she was at least glad they had a new target. She even seemed...excited to see the Hunters? At least she seemed to know more about them. After two days of no ideas on where to go, her little enthusiasm had dwindled back to annoyance. The only saving grace for the rest was that her leg had finally healed. It was a small mercy.
Ian had been trying to rally them. He'd even attempted to use magic to see where the Hunters might be. But his magic had seemed to dwindle. He was having a hard time doing anything besides cause madness, which had become apparent when they were waylaid by a swarm of griffons, and he wasn't able to do anything.
Jo wasn't very different in all honesty. Caleb had seen his sister through ups and downs, but her reaction was nothing short of expected. She cried, but that was just her response to the stress. He got annoyed, Bri became moody, Ian drew into himself and was more closed off, and Jo cried. At least in her case, it allowed her to get back into a proper headspace for a while.
The only one who seemed to be having little to no problems was Jess. Even further, she was a lot less closed off to everyone. She smiled more. She tried to raise everyone's spirits despite the low mood.
Everything added up to a rather dreary campfire. Their tents were set up, and they were all crouched in front of their fire, somewhere in rural Tennessee. Jo's eyes were red from a recent cry.
"Come on guys, let's go through everything we know about the Hunters." Jess said, trying to raise their spirits.
"Again?" Jo asked.
"Why not?" Ian said. "They roam around the continuous US fighting monsters and recruiting young girls."
"They are sometimes accompanied by Artemis herself, but are led by her lieutenant Thalia. They are master archers, and are immortal unless killed in battle." Jo continued in the same monotone way Ian had been speaking. They had all heard and repeated this story enough times in the past few days for it to be ingrained in their minds.
"Once a maiden swears herself to Artemis, she receives said immortality in exchange for accepting eternal maidenhood. Should she break her vow, she will be expelled from the Hunt and become mortal again." Caleb muttered.
Everyone was staring at Bri now.
"What? You all just parroted what I told you. If I knew anything else, do you think I would keep it to myself?"
"Is there any way to attract their attention?" Jess asked hopefully
"Not that I'm aware of." Caleb noted how tight her voice had gotten. For whatever reason, he tended to notice when people were lying. "Jo, keep praying to your dad. If he cares at all about the fate of his oracle, he'll ask his sister to meet up with us. Otherwise, we can only move from wild area to wild area."
"What about mountains?" Ian asked.
"Come again?"
"In the mythology. Aren't mountains sacred to Artemis?"
"Wha - oh Styx, you're right. I guess we could try heading towards the Appalacians or something tomorrow. How'd you know that?"
"Latin and mythology class last year." He was lying too. Caleb narrowed his eyes. But why? "Let's break for bed. Who has the first watch?"
"Me." Caleb answered. "I'll put the fire out too, wake Jess up at midnight for second. Who gets out of it tonight?"
"Jo." Ian answered. "Which makes me third, and Bri fourth. G'night guys."
Everyone dispersed. Caleb stayed in his place, and watched them go. He put the fire out with a blast of snow from his staff before stretching out and heading for the edge of camp to keep a lookout. He was almost there when he heard a tent unzip, and turned to find Bri stumbling out. She noticed his confusion, and stage-whispered, "Forgot my flashlight. Sorry."
It was a split second decision. "Wait!"
She turned to look at him as she was stepping back into her tent. "What is it?"
"What's the other way to make the Hunters show up?"
"What?" he could hear how unnerved she was.
"You heard me. What is it you're not telling us?"
"I don't know what you mean, but I'm going to bed. We can talk in the morning."
He grabbed her arm, stopping her from slipping into her tent and out of the confrontation. "Bri, I know you were lying when you said there wasn't any way to get their attention besides praying to Apollo. How can we get them to notice us?"
"Nothing either of us can do. But historically, Artemis seems to know when a girl is considering joining the Hunt. She likes to show up and make her offer."
"You sound bitter. But why can't we just do that?"
"I'm not bitter!"
"You totally are."
"We can't do that because we're stuck on a quest together. If Jo or Jess were to up and join the Hunters it would basically doom our fates."
"Why can't they just fake it?"
"I think Artemis could tell the difference. And her offer is tempting. I don't think either of them would be able to say no if she phrased it right."
"Jo would never just leave me like that! I'm her brother!"
"You sure about that?" Bri raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I'm sure. Why would you even say that?"
"Percy and Miss Annabeth told me lots of stories. I can distinctly remember hearing about how the Ghost King's sister left him for the Hunt with little more than a second thought."
"The Ghost King? I can see why she'd want to leave. Why can't you just do it?"
There was a distinct hesitation. "Because I couldn't say no again." she finally replied.
"What do you mean again?"
"Just what the word means, Ice Boy. The Hunters tried to recruit me two years ago, and I said no. How do you think I know how to get them to come? Now just leave me alone, Caleb. Go keep watch, or whatever. I'm done sharing tonight."
Author's Note:
That's the start of part two! Our new focus character is Caleb, the person we barely saw throughout all of part one! (yes it's later than I would have liked)
I'm so excited to show you all what's coming. But now it's shoutout time!
Hi, ArtemisJuneKat! Given your username, you might like the next part. Thank you so much for following, and favoriting! You're the best!
Flash2231! Favoriting? You're too kind!
Guest, (commented on chapter 8) Thanks so much!
ArtemisJuneKat : I like to think so, but I'm glad you validated me. (seriously though, thank you so much)
JayTuneD : Thank you! Yeah, Bri's pronouns are they/them, but none of the other five know that, so when a character is from their perspective they'll use her biological pronouns until SPOILERS (I PM'd you a more in depth explanation)
JayTuneD AGAIN: Combat is the thing I'm trying to improve on the most, so that means a lot! Sorry you hate Khione, lol, she's still not a good person, she just also happens to be Caleb's mom.
Have a lovely day!
justapercyjacksonfan
