Chapter 8: Artemis's request:

A/N: I'm back. Sorry it took so long. Laptop crashed couldn't start it until it got fixed. Anyway, on with the story. Please review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: the usual characters are Rick Riordan's plot mine. I don't own PJO or HoO

Last time: The hunt then turned their attention, and more importantly their bows towards the male.

Percy cursed under his breath. "Great!"

Percy raised his hands up in surrender. He was weary of the hunters and for good reasons. They were trained to be killing machines by a Goddess who was lethal in the art of combat. That and the fact that they hated males, which of course Percy was, meant that this situation could end badly for him. He quickly glanced around at the hunters before locating Artemis in her 12 year old form. He got into a low bow and stayed bowing; this was one deity he had no intention to irritate.

"My lady." That was all Percy said as he stayed perfectly still in his kneeling position. He was waiting for Artemis to tell him to stand, in case the hunters shot him for any sudden movements or worse, Artemis felt he was disrespecting her.

Artemis approached the male in front of her slowly. She was not happy that a male had witnessed the hunt, but had to grudgingly admit that he had saved them. He was obviously a demigod, as he clearly knew about the monsters and her hunt. She could also feel his aura of power. It was definitely subdued, but it was there, and it was powerful. "Stand boy."

Percy rose slowly and looked up to see the Goddess of the hunt assessing him with a calculating look. It was clear no one had recognised him and he relaxed slightly. The Goddess strode towards Percy and stopped in front of him. "Who are you boy?" Her tone insinuated that she was not messing around and that she expected Percy to answer all her questions.

Percy winced at the tone Artemis spoke in. He didn't really want to reveal himself. His internal struggle meant he had to use his fake name. Artemis had lost patience and drew her hunting knife. She gazed menacingly at the male in front of her and smirked when he gulped. "I asked you a question. What is your name?"

Percy flashed back to when he was first training in Asia and a monk had asked his name. Percy had been desperately searching for a name when he sensed Hestia's presence in his head. He could almost picture her with an amused expression on her face as she shook her head going what have you gotten into this time? "Say your name is Blaze, Percy. I think it's quite appropriate is it not?" Percy mentally thanked Hestia a hundred times in his head that day. Percy suddenly remembered the angry goddess that was awaiting his response. He cleared his throat. "My name is Blaze my lady. I was only in the area to bring another demigod like I brought the others." Upon hearing his name, a few of the hunters cautiously waved at him. He smiled inside his hood as he tentatively waved back before his arm shot to his side as he saw Artemis's narrowed eyes.

There was a few seconds silence before Percy decided to break it. "Milady, may I bring the demigod here?" The cold look in the goddess's eyes lessened as she remembered the young, maiden demigoddess. She nodded and Percy swiftly left to go find Lucy.

Percy reached the spot where he had left Lucy. He looked around before suddenly starting to panic. She wasn't there. He quickly checked the surrounding area in a desperate attempt to find his niece. "LUCY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Percy stood silently, trying to hear any sound in the hope that Lucy replied. Then, his ears picked up the sound of laughter coming from above him. He glanced at the tree that was right behind him before focusing on one of the branches. Sat right there, laughing, was his 10 year old niece who had somehow managed to climb up there. He sighed with relief. "Lucy, don't scare me like that again! Come on, Lady Artemis wants to meet you. Don't worry, they won't hurt you." Not so sure about me though.

The pair started walking towards the hunter's campsite. "Now Lucy, no one knows that my name is Percy okay. You have to call me Blaze. Can you keep that a secret?" The young demigod nodded hesitantly. "Great, and remember, be confident, they will accept you into their family." He ruffled her hair causing her to glare at him before she began to fix it. Percy chuckled. As they reached Artemis, he bowed and moments after, Lucy followed his example. Artemis waved them off. She eyed the pair in front of her. Her eyes softened as she gazed over the young girl in front of her.

Artemis walked towards the young girl in her 12 year old form. She looked over the girl, eyeing her for any injuries or wounds. When she was satisfied that there were none she spoke. "So, I assume this boy has told you about your options? You know what the requirements are to join the hunt? You will have to be a maiden forever." Lucy nodded her head. "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, amongst other things. What is your name?" Lucy looked nervously at Percy who nodded his head slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Artemis. "It's Lucy." Artemis nodded. "Do you know who your Godly parent is?" Again Lucy glanced at Percy who nodded again. "It's Triton milady."

The hunters and Artemis looked surprised. After a few seconds Artemis regained her composure. "Interesting. Very well, if you are willing to accept the terms then you must now swear the oath. Repeat this: I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

As soon as Lucy repeated the oath, she was covered in a bright, silvery aura. A bow appeared in Artemis's hand which she handed to the young recruit. Artemis then turned to face the male in her camp with a steely glare. "Now to deal with you." The effect her words had were instantaneous. Percy paled immediately as the Hunters, minus the ones he'd saved, aimed their bows at him once more. He quickly gave Lucy a look that promised he would be okay.

Percy's POV:

I cursed under my breath as I held my hands up in surrender. I should have seen this coming. I couldn't parry all those arrows if the hunt decided to shoot all at once and I couldn't use riptide as it would expose me and it wasn't like I could parry dozens of arrows with knives. Plus I didn't want to hurt them, they may not respect me but I sure as hell respected them. How could I not. The hunters' demanded respect. A bunch of teens who were killing machines (A/N: this was cooler written out than in my head which is rare for me someone put that on a t-shirt). They were skilled in combat and hunting, they were strong, fast and more accurate than average demigods. In the current heat they were all dressed in white shirts, silver jackets with matching silver camo pants and black combat boots. That along with arguably the best Olympian in combat terms meant that they had my respect.

"Now, what shall we do with you? I don't allow males to witness the hunt." Before I could think about what I was saying I replied "well it looked like you needed the help. From my point of view you were losing the battle and your lieutenant." I immediately regretted those words as the glare from the Olympian deity in front of me was frightening. To make things worse most of the hunters looked like they were about to release their arrows in places I definitely needed. Artemis gritted her teeth before she spoke again. "You will come with me to Olympus. The council is probably still gathered and you are an issue the council has recently taken an interest in." I couldn't let that happen. I wasn't ready yet.

Suddenly I felt a familiar tingly feeling in my head that alerted me of Lady Hestia's presence. I could picture her in my head laughing at my current situation. Gods Percy, how do you always end up in these situations?

You tell me Lady Hestia. Are you going to flash me out? I felt her nod. My attention returned to the pissed off 12 year old Goddess. "I'm afraid I can't do that milady. I hope the next time we meet is under better circumstances. Bye Lucy, take care of yourselves and get to know your new family. We'll see each other again." I felt my body being flashed out in a column of flames as I heard Artemis say "what are you…" I didn't hear the end of her sentence as I was transported away.

Artemis's POV:

I cursed. The male had gotten away again. The last few years had been tough for the hunt. The constant attacks from monsters had us on edge; we hadn't lost any hunters as the monsters would only stay for a short fight before retreating. The fact we hadn't been successful in our mission of finding Perseus Jackson or bringing in the man now known as Blaze, had not improved the hunt's morale. Not to mention ruin my perfect record. I began checking over the hunters for injuries and made sure everyone was okay before addressing them.

"Girls I am returning to Olympus to report this situation and also for the remainder of the council meeting. I shall be back shortly. In the meantime, get ready for dinner. Thalia as Lieutenant, show Lucy around, introduce her to everyone and show her where she will be sleeping. I think she will fit in well with Gabrielle and Megan seeing as they're both new and around her age." Thalia nodded and with that I teleported back to Olympus.

When I arrived, I felt everyone looking at me curiously. Probably because I had just left in the middle of the meeting. I stood in the middle of the throne room before I addressed my father. "Father, I have some issues that I need to discuss with urgency." A look of curiosity formed on his face that was mirrored by everybody else apart from Hestia who was still tending the Hearth. "Proceed daughter." I took a deep breath before I started. "The reason I left the meeting was because my hunters were attacked by monsters including the manticore. They are starting to attack more often and this time they were going for the kill. Thalia nearly died but a man appeared and saved her by cutting the tail of the beast before decapitating it. He had fire powers and his aura was powerful; subdued but powerful. Once the monsters were vanquished, I questioned him and found out his name was Blaze and he has been the one rescuing demigods and bringing them to either camp. When I was about to bring him here he disappeared in flames."

I could tell that Father was not happy that the man was not in front of him right now. However, after what seemed like hours he seemed to accept it and nodded. "Very well Artemis. We shall all keep a look out for this man. Is there anything else or shall we break council?" I tensed. This would be a blow for my pride but I had to swallow it for the sake of my hunters, who were definitely not going to like this.

"Actually Father, I have a request." He looked at me questioningly. I continued. "With the recent attacks on my hunters and my duties I feel as if I can't always protect them to the best of my abilities and I can't stand watching them in pain and I know it would pain me to see any of them die. So I would like to ask the permission of the council to appoint a Guardian of the Hunt."

There was silence in the throne room until that imbecile Ares started to laugh as if I had told the funniest joke in the world. But I was not playing around. This concerned my hunters and their safety so for me this was not laughing matter. I was dead serious. I drew my bow and shot him in the knee before he could react causing him to yelp. "I wasn't joking you vile scum so if you don't want the next one between your legs I would keep your mouth shut." I smirked evilly at him as he paled. Zeus looked like he was pondering my request. I was about to continue speaking but I was beaten to it by Athena.

"I do believe it is a reasonable and logical request father. There have been an increase in attacks on both the camp and the hunters, but the hunters are more vulnerable to attack as they don't have the camp borders. However, it would make sense to give them a guardian Father as they are some of our best fighters and if there is another war coming with these monsters then Artemis and her hunters need to be in full health. The only problem we face is who to assign this task to." I beamed with pride as I heard Athena praise my hunters. I gave her a look of gratitude and she nodded at me.

"Very well," Zeus stated. "Who shall we send? Heracles?" "NOOO!" I shouted. "Not him. Anyone but that, that sorry excuse of a minor God." I could see Father was about to defend his son but Hestia spoke first.

"I think I have the perfect candidate for you Artemis. I'm sure he won't disappoint you." She had a sly grin on her face as she looked up from tending the Hearth. She closed her eyes. As she opened them a column of flames appeared by the fire before it cleared revealing a familiar figure.

"What the…"

A/N: well what did you guys think? It was a decently long chapter. Was mostly a filler. Tell me what you thought. I know some of you will think that there should have been more confrontation between Perc and the hunt after the battle but I hadn't planned it like that. Hopefully I will be back soon now that holidays are about to start but I can't promise. Happy holidays! Until next time.