So, here's chapter two. I hope there aren't too many mistakes. Please forgive me if there are.

Enjoy!

Last Time:

When I finally woke up, I saw the beautiful woman standing over my bed - er, cot, rather. She seemed even prettier this time, which I was shocked was even possible. I cursed the fates for making such a perfect woman and putting her in the Hunt of all places.

Even as I cursed, my instincts cheered that she had been kept safe and untouched, just for me, all this time.

'Shut up,' I told myself. 'She's not bearing anybody's children, so stop thinking about her like that.'

I think, when she looked at me, she was reminded of what she had ordered me to do earlier.

Her eyes glanced at my mouth and then down to her feet, and if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought she blushed.

But I did know better.

That was just my imagination. I hadn't known the touch of a woman for longer than any human on earth, and suffice it to say I was getting a little lonely. That, and my instincts had been getting louder and louder over the course of the war.

I probably just projected what I wished had happened onto her.

'Huntress. She's a Huntress.' I told myself, and for once my instincts agreed.

As if to prove my point, her regal voice was steady and firm, no trace of embarrassment to be found within.

"Get up. Lady Artemis wishes to speak with you."

Now:

Having just woken up, and apparently hallucinating as well, my mind was not at its best, so I probably said something real intelligent, like, "Uh, right. Okay."

As I slung my legs over the side of the cot, I thought about what a stupid name 'The San Diego Savior' was. Mortals always took things too far. Sure, I'd been the only soldier in San Diego after Kronos had been defeated, and I sort of did save the place, but the mortals only thought I'd destroyed a cartel. How was that saving the city?

Shaking my head, I diagnosed the stinging pain in my thighs as being 'ignorable.' It hurt, sure, but using the muscles wouldn't cause the injury to worsen.

As I shakily stood up, I surveyed the room, only to find my weapons were not within. Which wasn't surprising, really. I would've taken them from me, too.

The beautiful Huntress seemed to notice my action, and urged, "All in due time. For now, follow me.

"Understood," I said gruffly, my throat being drier than I'd thought it would be. How long was I out?

As she turned, her raven hair swished enticingly. Swallowing roughly, I followed her out of the tent, ignoring the pain that shot through my legs whenever I took a step.

Outside the tent was the famous camp of the Hunt. I counted just over a dozen tents, excluding the one I'd just left. Last I'd heard, the Hunt was over thirty women strong, which meant this wasn't the entire hunt, or they had been hit hard during the war.

I'd never had a family, but I'd always wanted one, even as an immortal. I could only imagine the pain of finally finding one, only to have it ripped away. My legs didn't hurt so badly, as I became lost in thought.

But, this wasn't the time for sympathy. I had to follow the heavenly woman to Artemis and 'the Elder Sisters,' if what I'd heard in my sleep was to be believed. If I wasn't careful, I might not make it out alive.

The Huntress took me to a tent no different from the rest, but once inside, I realized it was dimensionally transcendental. Which is to say, it was bigger on the inside. I was used to such enchantments, so it didn't especially surprise me.

What did surprise me, though, was the fact that the so-called 'Elder Sisters' were in fact three women and Artemis sitting at a plastic folding table. Once the woman escorting me took her seat to the goddess's immediate right, it was four women and Artemis, with two women on either side of the Lady of the Hunt.

Artemis spoke first.

"So, young man. First things first, would you mind re-affirming your oath to Olympus?" she asked, almost too politely.

"I, Percy Jackson, vow to defend Olympus with my very life," I said solemnly. Thunder cracked, accepting my words as an oath

"Well, now that that is out of the way, Percival Jackson, please explain what it is you're doing here," Artemis said, in the same polite tone. It was honestly starting to freak me out.

"Well, your Ladyship," I began. "I recently received word that the war was over. I assume you know I am - was? - an Independent. So I was travelling to Olympus, where I left my immortal power in the hands of the Lady of the Hearth. However, I ran into trouble - literally. I collided with an invisible barrier in the woods, and when I investigated it, I discovered it was travelling in a certain direction. That direction was the same direction a group of your Huntresses was travelling. I soon realized that the barrier seemed to enclose an area around your Huntresses, and I was trapped within."

"I see." Artemis said grimly. "Are you absolutely positive you are unable to escape?"

"No, my Lady," I answered truthfully. I explained, "As I understand it, the barrier moves with the Hunt. In what manner exactly, I do not yet know. However, I do know that the barrier was constantly moving earlier, and I thought I ought to explain myself before attempting to investigate further."

"A wise decision," Artemis approved, her silver eyes blinking slowly. "A shame that decision resulted in your injuries, but your story is rather hard to accept."

I nodded in agreement, though I was still quite miffed about being shot. Twice.

"In any case," Artemis continued. "We will need you to continue your investigation. My Hunt will remain in this location while you attempt to discover all you can about the barrier."

"And if I can escape?" I asked, though the chances were slim.

"Hmm," Artemis thought, before she stood up out of her folding chair.

She snapped, and my two swords appeared in her hand. She tossed the sheathed celestial bronze weapons to me.

"If you are able, please do so. I will meet you at Olympus to discuss further. We must see that whatever has happened never happens again."

I bowed my head and said, "Understood, your Ladyship. I will take my leave. I swear upon the River Styx I will do everything in my power to escape."

Thunder rumbled in the distance as I strapped my swords to my belt and made to exit the tent.

"Thank you," said Artemis.

"Wait," the beautiful Huntress who'd brought me here commanded. I turned to look at her, my sky blue eyes clashing with her obsidian ones.

"Before you go," she began, "I have one last question. Do you want to be here?"

The question startled me a small bit, but I smiled in amusement as I answered truthfully, "Absolutely not."

I turned on my heel and left the tent. As I exited the encampment, I didn't see a single Huntress, but when you've lived as long as I have, you know when you're being watched. I was certain that every set of eyes in the camp was on me. I felt sorry for the deer in this forest.

I walked through the woods, and about a quarter mile from the Hunt I noticed a trail of dried blood. Two trails, actually. This must have been where I collapsed, and the Huntress dragged me to her friends.

My legs ached at the sight.

I quickly found the edge of the barrier, and my first order of business was to determine the nature of the barrier. I walked along the edge, eventually finding a very tall tree the force field bisected.

Even with my legs hurt, I managed to climb the tree in no time, shimmying up it without much of a problem.

At about fifty feet in the air, the problem came to me. I started brushing up against the barrier more and more. At seventy five feet, I couldn't move any further. The barrier had closed in, and it was all I could do not to fall off.

As a wind spirit, this high of a fall wasn't much, but with my aching legs, I didn't want to try jumping.

So began my slow descent.

Taking extra time to feel the barrier, it truly did seem as though it curved, as if it made a dome around the Hunt, blocking me in.

Finally reaching the ground, I began to travel clockwise around the barrier.

I realized several interesting things as I made my way in a full circle.

Firstly, the barrier was fully continuous.

Secondly, it wasn't a perfect circle.

Third, the diameter of the almost-circle was roughly two miles.

Piecing all that together, I eventually concluded that the barrier existed in a circle one mile from the nearest huntress to me.

I was not looking forward to explaining this to Artemis, but there was nothing else I could do.

I walked towards the Hunt with a defeated look on my face, and when I was within sight of the camp, the beautiful Huntress who had woken me up and sat to the right of Artemis was waiting for me.

Wordlessly, she escorted me to Artemis's tent.

After explaining my findings to Artemis, who was no longer with the rest of the Elder Sisters, she sighed deeply.

"I was afraid of this," she admitted.

"My Lady?" her Right Hand questioned from the seat next to her.

Artemis looked at me, her waist length auburn hair falling over her shoulders.

"This is an ancient curse. One I thought I would never see again."

Artemis shook her head.

"It is an evil magic. Meant to inflict as much pain as possible."

"What?" I couldn't help but ask. "It seems fairly benign for a curse."

"To you," Artemis confirmed with a nod.

She glanced at her Right Hand, before glancing back at me.

"Tell me, what do you know of Soulmates?"

"Soulmates?" I asked incredulously. "I've heard legends to do with them. That when mankind was created, they were made to be self sufficient, solitary creatures. Even reproduction was done independently. But for some reason, mankind was separated into male and female, and became dependent on each other. And that each person was born as one half of a whole, forever searching for their other half."

Artemis tapped her fingers against her thigh and let out a breath.

"Glimmers of truth. In reality, it is far more simple. Some humans are born with only half of their original soul, and half of someone else's. Almost always, two people would have half of the other's soul. These people are called Soulmates."

I furrowed my brows, and prepared to ask a question, but Artemis continued her explanation.

"For the most parts, Soulmates will never notice a difference between themselves and others. However, if they happen to meet their Soulmate and touch physically, they will become Bound. Their souls become tethered to one another, and if they separate, it causes great anguish."

I could sort of see where this was going, and I didn't like it.

"The curse afflicting you was devised by a woman, a mage, thousands of years ago. Her husband was not born whole - he had a soulmate. A soulmate who wasn't his wife. One day, he accidentally ran into his soulmate on the street, and they became inseparable. The man was torn. He had vowed to love his wife forever, but it is physically impossible to separate soulmates.

"Or, it was. The wife devised a spell to do just that. But it was not designed to help her husband. It was designed to kill him, and his soulmate, slowly, and painfully."

I looked down, my teeth set in anger.

Artemis's Right Hand looked confused, and Artemis placed her hand on the woman's shoulder as she continued, "She devised a spell to bind one to another physically. She bound her husband to herself, and bound her husband's soulmate to a random man. Then, she left the city they lived in, dragging her husband with her. Her husband's soulmate could not follow, bound as she was. Eventually, the two pined away, and died of sorrow."

Looking up, I asked, "So, how did this happen to me? How did I become bound to the Hunt? What am I being kept from?"

Artemis closed her eyes and shook her head, "I do not know. I had thought Aphrodite had something to do with your situation, but that possibility is slim."

"Why?" her Right Hand asked.

"Because, Zoe," Artemis finally named the woman, "Aphrodite was the one who spearheaded the ban on the curse. The gods were content to let the spell exist in infamy, but the love goddess would not allow it. She convinced the male gods to make a vote outlawing the spell, which passed easily. There is no love lost between her and I, but I know her well enough to be certain she had nothing to do with this."

Zoe asked, "Then who did?"

"I was about to ask the same thing," I added.

Artemis paused before admitting, "I do not know. However, my guess is that whoever or whatever did this did not want you to return to Olympus. To regain your immortality. But they did not want you dead, either. The question is, why the Hunt?"

"And why every member of the Hunt?" I asked. "Why not just one?"

"These questions will only be answered once you reach your original destination. And that is why the Hunt will be travelling to Olympus."

"My Lady?" Zoe asked, clearly stunned. "For a boy?"

"Not all men are evil, Zoe," Artemis reminded her. "And I find myself wanting to know more. This may not be the end. Imagine if, instead of a boy being bound to the Hunt, a Huntress was bound to a boy? Dependent on his grace to remain with her family?"

"I understand, Mistress," Zoe said as she closed her eyes.

Artemis hummed in approval.

"Now, Percival Jackson. You will be staying a short walk from my Huntresses while we travel to Olympus. You will not travel beside us, you will not eat with us, and you will not enter this camp without a very good reason. Zoe will fetch you whenever it is time to move on. I'll also need you to make an oath not to harm any of the Hunt along the way."

I nodded as I swore, "I, Percy Jackson, swear upon the River Styx, that I shall not harm any Huntress of Artemis, except to directly preserve my own life. Neither shall I try to lead any to break their oath. I shall endeavor to protect them, whenever possible. Until I regain my immortal power, this I vow."

Thunder rumbled more loudly than normal, sealing my oath.

"Good," Artemis acknowledged. She turned and said, "Zoe, please escort Percy away from the Hunt."

Wordlessly, I followed Zoe out of the tent, and into another. This one looked to be the equipment tent. Zoe quickly picked a silver bag and tossed it over to me.

She didn't say anything, but I assumed it was a tent.

We didn't say much as she led me just barely out of view of the Hunt, a quarter mile or so. Without a word, she left, and I set to making my tent.

When I finished, I realized there was something on the inside of the silver tent. A canteen, already filled. Nice. I thought about trying to catch something to eat, but I decided I was more tired than hungry. I'd probably been fed somehow while I was out.

Just as I'd exited the tent, I was hit with a wave of exhaustion.

Without even re-entering the tent, I sat down with my back against a tree as I drifted off into an uncomfortable, dreamless sleep.

I was woken up by the sound of a small child clumsily trudging towards me - I could tell by the sound of the leaves beneath her feet.

What with being a wind spirit and all, I was normally pretty good at sensing others through sound. Sound waves traveled through the air, and so I supposed I could feel sound, just a little.

I had no idea the hunt harbored one this young. She was probably only 6 or 7, judging by her weight.. Suddenly, the noises stopped when she was roughly forty feet away. I let the girl think I was asleep for a few more minutes, to see if she'd leave. I had no qualms, but if the others found out she was here, I'd have a hard time explaining it.

Finally, I realized she wasn't leaving without me telling her to.

I said in the gentlest tone I could muster, with my eyes still closed, "Go back to the camp, young one."

I heard her tiny gasp, and then I heard what I thought was her hiding behind a tree.

"I'm sure your big sisters are worried about you. Go back to them," I said, still gentle.

I heard a tiny noise that indicated discontentment. I didn't want her to leave upset - and on top of that, if she did, I'd look bad.

"What's wrong, little one? You can come out from behind that tree. I'm not going to hurt you."

I held up my empty hands and said, "See? I'm unarmed."

I heard confused breathing noises, and she slowly stepped out from behind her tree.

At this, I opened my eyes.

My visitor was a little Asian girl, probably around 5 or 6 years, even younger than her footsteps indicated.. I worried why she'd be in the hunt this young. Something awful must have happened. I felt my heart drop as I thought about what it could have been.

She said, in a voice I suddenly remembered from when I was semi-conscious the other day, "You don't seem like a big meanie."

I chuckled softly.

'They never do,' I thought to myself.

"Why are you here, little Huntress?" I asked softly.

She moved about ten feet closer, still thirty feet away, and told me, "Everybody said you were a big meanie. I wanted to see if it was true."

I gave her a light smile as I explained, "Well, your big sisters don't like men very much at all. Most guys… really are 'big meanies.' It's a lot easier just to believe all boys are 'meanies,' rather than have to decide which are and which aren't - especially when so many are."

"So you're not?" she asked innocently, obviously hoping I wasn't. Too cute.

"No, I'm not," I agreed. "But don't tell your sisters I said that. They'll get mad at me."

"How come? If you're not a meanie, then why would they get mad at you for saying you aren't?" This girl seriously liked to say 'meanie.'

"Well, if a 'big meanie' said he wasn't a 'meanie,' he'd be lying, right? And people get mad when meanies lie about stuff," I tried my best to explain the complicated social climate of the Hunt.

"Oh. Well, I don't think you're a meanie," the girl stated helpfully.

"Thank you, young one," I couldn't help but give a chuckle.

"My name is Ayano, not 'young one!'" she pouted cutely.

"I'm sorry, little one. I mean, Ayano," I laughed a bit. "Run along, then, Ayano. Get back to your sisters, before they get too worried."

"Okay, Mr. ... uh, what's your name again, mister?"

"I'm called Percy. Nice to meet you Ayano."

The girl had been inching closer the whole time we'd been talking, and before I realized it, she had run up to me, hugged me, and run off.

She seemed awfully trusting for a huntress, even a child Huntress. To say I was worried about her… That was an understatement.

"Bye-bye, Mr. Percy!" she called out as she ran off.

That was certainly the first time I'd heard that one. I wasn't sure I liked it, but this little girl was cute enough that it didn't matter what she said.

I drifted back to sleep before I knew it, but little did I know that when I woke up, I'd be in a heap of trouble, thanks to a child's innocence and my big mouth.

I woke up when they were the same distance Ayano had been when she first stopped to study me.

While each one was stealthier on her own, there were six in all, so they made about the same amount of noise altogether as Ayano by herself.

They clearly thought they were much stealthier than they really were, since they just kept moving forward, each one passing the tree Ayano had hid behind when I first spoke. No, that was wrong. One stayed back.

I realized the upcoming fight would be incredibly difficult if they ganged up on me. Huntresses weren't known for hand to hand combat, but five armed against one unarmed were absolutely terrible odds. My swords were in the tent, where I really should have been, too, so it wasn't like I could grab them whenever.

On top of that, I couldn't hurt them at all, thanks to my Oath. Just great.

Hopefully, they weren't here to fight. But with my luck, there was next-to-no chance of that.

A voice I didn't recognize started shouting, confirming my faith in my bad luck.

"How dare you! How could you poison the mind of a child! You're twisted. We won't allow this! Wake up, boy!" the unknown woman had an unpleasant tone, but not an unpleasant voice.

I opened my eyes to the sight of five women dual wielding hunting knives. Yep, I was in trouble, if I couldn't think of a way to even the odds.

"Stand up and prepare to fight. Or are you a coward, as well as a pedophile?"

I was starting to dislike this woman.

Still, looking at it from her perspective, she thought she was justified, and I could see it - in a way. She was trying to protect her family, and I could respect that.

But I couldn't take this lying down. Er, sitting down, at the moment, actually.

I made an oath, and I couldn't break it. Looks like I was gonna have to do this the hard way.

I slowly stood up on shaky legs, still not fully healed from the first time I'd been shot. What I wouldn't give for some ambrosia and nectar.

"I'm not a pedophile. You can insult me all you want, hate me as it pleases you, but I feel I ought to set the record straight."

I cracked my knuckles as I said slowly, "I am not, have never been, and will never be, interested in prepubescent children. Now, if you don't believe me - that's not exactly my problem, now is it?"

I got into a ready stance and raised my hands.

"So?" I asked. "Will this be a solo affair, or are you looking to get it over with right now?"

At the five Huntresses' slow looks, I urged, "What will it be? I haven't got all day."

"Fine," the one that had been speaking, seemingly the leader, roughly agreed. "We'll take this one at a time. First will be Helga. Prepare for a thrashing, boy."

One of the five stepped forward, and the leader shouted, "Begin!"

My opponent was roughly five foot eight, and wore no armor. I carefully noted the length of her blades, before she came at me with a vengeance.

Her first strike was with her main hand, and was a thrust straight to the abdomen.

I watched it in slow motion and pushed out my off hand, guiding her arm so that it barely missed me.

Her follow up was a cut across under her wayward first strike, so I just backed up enough that she didn't hit me.

I mockingly yawned, as revenge for the 'pedophile' comment from earlier, which I was honestly still pissed about. I swore an oath on the Styx to protect these girls, and this is the thanks I get?

"So slow it's putting me back to sleep," I commented rudely.

Helga seemed stunned for a second, but continued her assault.

She decided to go with a dual overhand chop, an odd choice with her weapons, and I easily moved her strikes down to my sides. How had she not seen that coming?

If this had been an actual fight, she'd already be dead, but I'd sworn not to harm a Huntress except to preserve my life. She wasn't exactly strong enough to justify harming. She wasn't what I'd call 'a threat to my life.'

She attempted to kick me in anger, but I hopped back enough to avoid it, careful of my mending thighs.

At this point, she was clearly frustrated - even if she wasn't yet tired out. Her breathing remained steady, if angry.

She tried to charge at me with both daggers, so I took a large step to the side and pulled her arms in the direction she was charging.

Overextending as a result of my pull, she lost her balance and started falling.

She rolled on the ground as she fell, before spinning around and leaping off the forest floor towards me a second time, which worked about as well as the first time.

She was getting up, which fury in her eyes, when the leader of the group said, "Enough, Helga. It's clear he has bested you. He is highly skilled in hand to hand combat. Let me take this clown."

It was obvious that Helga was fuming, but she had enough respect for her sister that she stood down. It must have been that Helga was the second strongest, as the other three hadn't participated at all before the fight with their leader.

I spoke up before the leader had a chance to start fighting.

"I never caught your name, you know. I'd like to know the name of my opponent."

"My name is Phoebe. And I'm going to put you in your place, boy."

I didn't want to be any ruder than I already had been, so I said nothing.

That was when Phoebe threw her hunting knife straight at my head.

Once again in slow motion, I grabbed the knife out of the air as easily as plucking an apple off a tree.

I swear I wasn't trying to be sarcastic when I said, "I believe I have something that belongs to you. Here, you can have it back."

I was about to toss it to the woman, but apparently someone couldn't understand that I had no intention of hurting her.

I barely managed to catch the silver arrow speeding towards my chest with my left hand, but I was now holding something in both hands, so the second arrow wasn't so easy to deal with.

I tried to dodge, which should have been easy, but my legs weren't fast enough. Damn these trigger happy silver harpies! I twisted my body frantically, barely avoiding a lethal spot.

As the silver arrow sprouted in my stomach, I dropped the other missile and the hunting knife.

I grit my teeth as I applied pressure to the wound, which hurt like Hades, and spat, "I wasn't going to hurt her. I swore an oath already. I guess… no one… told you…"

I shouldn't have been fainting, but I was. The world was losing color, and I was sinking to my knees.

"Poi...son?" I gasped before I closed my eyes and fell on my side.

"Mr. Percy!"

Ayano's here.

"Mr. Percy! Mr. Percy!" her cries were getting louder.

Ayano saw me get shot.

I wasn't sure what the five - no, six - Huntresses were doing.

I felt Ayano's presence near me, as I lay bleeding on the ground.

"Mr. Percy! I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I told them you weren't a big meanie even though you told me not to! And now you're gonna die and it's all my fault!"

I had to correct her.

"Not… dead… Not… your fault…"

I felt her sobbing against my chest as I passed out for what seemed like the hundredth time.

There it is. Tell me how I did, 'kay? Oh, and if you're looking for more to read, may I recommend my new Dungeon Siege story, 'The Highland Drake'? You definitely don't need to have played dungeon siege to enjoy it. It currently has 5 views. Now that's just sad. It's short, just 10k words so far, but I consider it some of my best writing. Better than this, anyway.