Percy dryly realizes that "force to be reckoned with" is probably a bit too far considering that he is now utterly and completely surrounded on all sides by Hunters dressed in silver cloaks. His slow sweeping gaze across the forest confirms what he already knew: he's trapped between a stream and the expected but still unpleasant burning hatred present in the Huntresses' eyes. Well, except Thalia, whose facial expression remains somewhere between apologetic and grim.
Before Percy could even come up with a viable strategy for getting his way out of this, one of the Hunters barks out: "DROP YOUR WEAPON! AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Percy wishes that he could overpower them but it's clear that he can't reach the stream and start manipulating the water before his entire body turns into a human pincushion. Riptide transforms back into a pen and he lifts his arms over his head.
Slowly, the hunters move in closer to form a semi-circle around him with their bows still pointed straight at him. They just stand there, surrounding him and Percy can see the glint off the metallic tips of the arrows all ready to shoot towards him at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, a few of the hunters move aside, revealing a hunter who brings down her hood revealing auburn hair and distinctly silver eyes. Artemis steps into the semi-circle and crosses her arms over her chest and observes him cooly. Percy would crack a joke at this point but it seems best to noy over antagonize the leader of the person who controls all of the very sharp arrows pointed at him so he just remains silent, curious as to what she would say.
Artemis steps closer to him and before he even knows what's happening, reaches into his pocket and plucks his pen from his jean pocket. Percy's eyes narrow at his prized pen being taken away from him. But before he can say anything, he's struck by the crisp scent of pine and fresh dew wafting from Artemis due to her close proximity. He idly observes that it's quite pleasant and he didn't even know that he could identify those things by smell until this moment. Perhaps he should become a botanist after this is over.
Artemis gracefully steps back with his pen in her hands before she tucks it neatly into an unseen pocket of her uniform and purses her lips. "Perseus, we meet again."
Percy raises an eyebrow. "I imagined we'd be meeting under more friendly circumstances considering I helped save you from spending a few hundred years in Tartarus." He remarks dryly while his eyes motion towards his arms that are still hanging up in the air.
At this, Artemis' cheeks briefly tinge pink which stands out on her pale complexion before quickly reassembling her facial armor. The hunters behind her make noises of outrage at the audacity of such a statement insinuating that their leader even needed the help of a male.
Artemis motions for her hunters to quiet down and looks back at Percy before pulling out a scroll from yet another unseen pocket of her uniform. Percy is suddenly envious of the storage capacity of those uniforms and mentally notes to get one of those at some point—preferably not in dress form.
Artemis unfurls the scroll. "In the name of Zeus, King of the gods, I hereby declare you, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, under arrest for the crime of attacking Camp-Half Blood and espousing blasphemy of the gods." Artemis rolls the scroll back up before putting it away and then motions for a hunter to approach him and bring his arms down before placing cuffs over them.
"Wait what?! I didn't do any of those things!" Percy struggles against the modified handcuffs that have been placed around his hands and shrugs off the hunter that approached him in the first place. Suddenly, three hunters kick him onto the ground and his face ends up in the dirt. He thinks they use a little bit more force than necessary considering one of their boots is digging sharply into his back.
It's at this point that Percy realizes just how dire the situation really is. Before this, he was content to joke around and treat everything unseriously, but now that he is apparently being arrested, he realizes that he's in some really hot water this time.
He looks up from the ground and continues to try and articulate that he's innocent before a cloth is stuck in his mouth. A flash of uncertainty crosses Artemis' face before she shakes her head and gestures for him to be brought back to their camp.
A couple of hunters drag him up before prodding him with their sharp arrows to continue walking back with the rest of the group.
This is bad on a whole new level. Before, he had a squad by his side and Grover and Annabeth would help him. He suddenly realizes that he's essentially burned the bridge between all of his former friends and allies and if what that proclamation Artemis read is any indication, everyone who remotely could have tried to help him believes he betrayed them. Which he realizes is incredibly stupid because why would he do that. Surely, some of the Olympians have to have a modicum of sense to realize that there just is an extremely improbable chance he would do something like that.
Unless, he thinks with growing horror, that the Olympians know he didn't do it and are continuing to continue with this charade of an arrest and what he assumes will be a trial in the future. He doesn't have any friends, allies, and if the Olympians themselves are conspiring to off him, then what can he do? He has no one. Wait! There might be one person left willing to help him out.
Percy swings his head wildly in desperation looking for Thalia before he takes a blow to the back of the head causing him to stumble and fall. Again. A hunter is grinning down at him before yelling at him to get back up. He has the sudden urge to stand up and strike back but his body is tired from the running he's been doing, there's a gag stuck in his mouth, and his arms are bound. His vision is blurred and black spots are starting to appear in his field of view. Just how hard did she hit him? He turns back forward before his vision begins to slowly fade at the edges before moving to the center. He feels dizzy and the ground begins swirling in front of him. He sees Thalia's concerned face and the tell-tale red of Artemis' hair at the edge of his vision.
And then he sees nothing.
Author's Note: It's been a very long time since I've updated. As you can probably tell, my writing style has changed quite a bit since the last time I updated and I will work to update the rest of the chapters to reflect this change in the coming weeks. No set schedule for updating at the moment, but I will have more time on my hands soon. Since the last time I've updated, I've found that adding in details and having the character's voice shine more can add to the immersion of the story and the world that it's set in. Let me know what you think, and have a great day and stay safe!