I do not own PJO or HoO characters or PJO and HoO story line / plot, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 2 - Hunters of Artemis

The trio was walking with the hunters. Their goal was to try and track down where Xerivalt and his gang disappeared to, but so far they had nothing. It was just a while of walking. This gave the trio time to discuss mentally, but unfortunately for Fluctus, they weren't having the most pleasing conversation. 'She's cool. Probably the leader, other than Artemis.' Fulgur said, glancing at Zoe. She was walking behind Artemis, and Fulgur was definitely taking interest. 'Yeah, well, Phoebe is even stronger and looks even cooler.' Bone said. Fluctus just rolled his eyes over the connection. It worked in a weird way. They could do actions over it, and they were still trying to develop it further so they could do more with it. 'If Artemis caught you guys crushing on her hunters, she may break the alliance and publicly castrate us.' Fluctus said. He was joking a little bit, but at the same time he wasn't joking. They were there for business only, because their rival gang was causing trouble outside of their rivalry. Mainly causing problems for mortals, but the trio felt responsible that Xerivalt and his dudes were brewing trouble everywhere they went, and felt like they needed to fix the whole issue. So, Artemis giving them the chance to team up against them was a pretty good deal. They'd been fighting for months before the hunt got involved, so hopefully, this would put an end to the whole situation.

'I wonder if Zoe would ever leave the hunt for a boy.' Fulgur wondered, and Bone immediately responded 'I think Phoebe immediately would.' Fluctus finally had enough of hearing it, so he sped up to Artemis and blocked the chat out. He was a little bit tired of hearing them argue about how their hunter crush would leave the hunt for them. Fluctus knew how crucial it was to working with the hunters now that they accepted, seeing as if they randomly dipped, they'd have two groups of people trying to kill them. Normally he wouldn't be worried, but the hunters were pretty powerful. Those were the powerful days of the gods, where they were at the height of their power. This meant the demigods were stronger too. These hunters were definitely no exception, as Artemis had trained them well. Not to mention the mortal hunters still had Artemis' blessing, so even they were stronger. It was near impossible to sneak up on them, and if you managed to, they'd discover you and next thing you knew, you're dead. Fun when there's a group of women that could probably infiltrate and destroy an entire government. Fluctus turned to Artemis and asked "My lady, where do you believe Xerivalt is hiding?" He addressed her politely, hoping to make up for his trio checking out her hunters.

Artemis kept her eyes staring directly in front of her. "I have no answer to your question, boy, other than I do not have any idea where he is located." She said. This annoyed Fluctus, as that meant she was having them wander around the forest until they came across a monster camp that belonged to the group. "Why do we walk, not knowing where we are going?" He asked. He spoke more formally, seeing as the gods spoke formally most of the time, so he intended to do the same. Artemis looked over at him, giving him a look that clearly displayed annoyance. She got annoyed easily, which Fluctus decided to note. "It is simple. We are clearing out ground. Greece is not infinite, and they would not leave it. By walking through it, slowly, we are covering ground and making sure we miss nothing. Not to mention other parts of the hunt are out searching, so should he travel to a new location, he will be found.. He is stuck where he ran off to, and until we find him, he cannot leave unless he wants to be found faster." She said. Fluctus nodded at this. It was a decent plan, but also a slow plan. It could result in the mortals being put in harm's way. Something else also occurred to him. "Other groups? What about the monsters? They may cause havoc on the mortals." He said, which caused Artemis to laugh. It was a pure laugh, something that sounded heavenly. Something Fluctus would not forget.

"Boy, do you believe this is all of the hunt? This is simply a portion. The hunt is split up into groups. Some are keeping an eye on cities, and some are actively attacking the monsters. Be assured, the mortals will not be harmed by Xerivalt." Fluctus' eyes widened. This was only a little bit of the hunt?! That was both good and bad. Good because it meant they could find Xerivalt faster, and bad because should Fulgur and Bone make the hunt turn on them because they wouldn't stop being interested in two of the hunters, it could result in their deaths.

"Tell me something, boy. What is the whole purpose of your trio? Killing these monsters, keeping Xerivalt from harming the mortals, while you could be off enjoying life at the demigod camp? " Artemis asked, looking at Fluctus curiously. He opened his mouth and then closed it, not really sure how to answer this. It was a pretty strange question, after all. Not something you'd expect to come up in a conversation while you're walking through a forest. "I don't know. It feels like the right thing to do, to protect the mortals. They can't protect themselves against the monsters, so we do it for them. We fight their battles." Fluctus said. Then he considered some of it more. "We, the trio I mean, are really good friends. Brothers, even. Life now is how we always imagined it. Sticking together, doing things for the good of others, and having a great time doing it. We're strong, and being strong is fun. It also means we have the ability to fight. Sitting around in a demigod camp, waiting for monsters to come and attack would be pretty boring. We find it better to roam the world, seeing what there is to see." Fluctus said. Artemis nodded slowly. This boy was different. The other two? They didn't come off as the type that really wanted to protect others. They were busy looking at some of the hunters they liked, which angered her, but she said nothing. But this one? He hadn't even given her hunters a glance other than to make sure they weren't about to kill him. And he admitted he fought to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. In her eyes, that was honorable.

"Do me a favor, boy. Stay that way. Protecting others is a great deed, and do not lose the will to do so. Eventually, you may be rewarded for the life you lived." She said. Then, she stopped walking, so the hunters paused. Fluctus walked back over to his two friends as Artemis began to speak. "Hunters, this is far enough for today. Begin to build the camp." With that, the hunters scattered off. Fluctus just watched, but Fulgur and Bone watched Zoe and Phoebe run off together. 'I'd be careful doing that. I just found out this is a small fraction of the hunt. Piss Artemis off, and you could be attacked by hundreds, maybe even thousands of angry hunters.' He said telepathically. Immediately Fulgur and Bone paled, causing him to grin. 'Of course you're the only one not looking at a girl, Fluctus. Don't be a loner.' Fulgur said with a grin, causing Bone to high five him. Artemis noticed this, and it dawned on her they were most likely talking telepathically. She walked off, and Fluctus pulled a Fulgur / Bone, watching her go. However, he hid it much more than the other two idiots. 'I'm a loner? You have to look at a girl's ass because you can't get a girl.' Fulgur's face was priceless, and Bone started laughing so hard he fell over, rolling around. Fluctus grinned and walked away, looking for a place to put their camp. He had no plan on staying right with the hunters, because they could kill the trio while they slept quite easily if they were that close. After some walking, he found a decent spot and sent a message telepathically to the other two to come over to the area. They arrived, carrying some wood and stones for a fire. After a few minutes, they were finished setting up their small camp.

They went back over to where Artemis picked the hunter's camp to be, and their jaws dropped. It looked less like a camp, and more like a small city. Tents were everywhere, made out of sticks, cloth, and other materials. They had several campfires started, but in the middle they had one huge one being prepared. Logs were being set around it for all the hunters to sit down. Artemis walked up next to Fluctus. "Shall you join us?" She asked, and he nodded. They walked up to the fire. Some of the hunters sneered at the boys, which was to be expected. Artemis turned to Fulgur. "I believe we need more firewood. Mind getting some?" She asked, and he groaned, however he nodded and flew off. Then she turned to Bone. "Mind grabbing a bucket and running off to the river to fill it?" Bone gave a look that said 'Do I have to?' But he went and did it anyway. Artemis walked Fluctus over to a seat, and he sat down, except away from Artemis, knowing that the hunters would see to it that the wolves ate him if he sat that close to their leader. Sounded like a great idea, being eaten alive by wolves. Yeah, he didn't really want that fate. Some of the hunters began to gather around as they ran out of jobs, but some mysteriously wandered off in the direction Fulgur went in, also in the direction Bone went in. Great.

Fulgur was walking along, using his powers over the wind to gather wood and carry it. 'Of course I got stuck doing the dirty work.' He thought. He was walking along when out of nowhere, a net was thrown. He had no time to react as he was covered and trapped by it. Hunters walked out of the bush, laughing at him as he squirmed, trying to escape. "Wanna keep staring at us, boy?" One asked, and then kicked him straight in the place where Apollo doesn't shine. He yelped in pain and tried to protect his dong from being used as a place to practice kicking as hard as you can. As they continued trying to kick him in the rough spot, he noticed that his wood was still floating. Deciding to use this to his advantage, he made them launch at the girls, causing them to yell as they were forced to dodge. The chaos provided a quick moment for him to escape, as he untangled himself and ran off. He made the wind carry the wood behind him as he flew up into the air. Arrows whizzed past him. 'Holy shit, they're actually trying to kill me!' Fulgur thought as he dodged. Then one landed straight in his butt cheek. "MY ASSCHEEK!" He screamed and released control of the wind, causing him to fall right into the camp by Artemis and Fluctus. He held his butt and screamed in pain. Hunters around began to laugh really hard, seeing the poor boy with an arrow lodged in his butt. Artemis chuckled and Fluctus walked over, yanking the arrow out of his friend's butt. "AHHHHH! FLUCTUS I SWEAR, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO YANK THAT HARD?!" Fulgur screamed, causing the hunters to launch into another round of laughter.

Meanwhile, Bone was out with a bucket, walking towards the nearby river. Was he excited to go get water? Nope. It wasn't something that was on his to do list at all, but he had no other choice if he didn't want the goddess to murder him for being disobedient. He thought about the hunter he took a liking to. She was one of the stronger hunters, showing she held a rank of power in the hunter ranks. He didn't know why that attracted him to her, but it just did. Anyhow, he reached the river, and looked at it nervously. He intentionally avoided bodies of water because Fluctus' dad, Poseidon, didn't really care how long Fluctus had been friends with Bone. He'd still most likely blast him, maybe turning him into a fish. He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. He tried to get water, but fish kept swimming into the bucket, so he had to continuously dump the water out. Finally, he was getting so annoyed at the fish that he began to scream at them. "LISTEN HERE YOU TINY FISH, LIFE ISN'T ALL ABOUT YOU SWIMMING INTO BUCKETS! PEOPLE NEED TO DRINK WATER AND YOU'RE GOING TO GET ME KILLED IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! DO ME A FAVOR AND MOVE!" All of a sudden, the water shot up and pulled him in. He struggled to get himself on the surface, but he did. He boosted himself up off a rock, launching him out of the water with his bucket. It was full now. He was happy somewhat until hunters showed up around him, laughing. He gulped. "Please don't." He said, and then they grinned and launched at him. He ran away screaming, dodging and avoiding them, his bucket sloshing everywhere. One hunter launched forward and grabbed his ankle but lost her grip, causing him to go flying forward and accidentally let go of his bucket. He and the bucket fell through a shadow, right to the camp. He landed, and then the bucket landed right on top of his head, pouring water all over him. He yanked it off, humiliated as the hunters howled with laughter at him. Fluctus was holding an arrow above a screaming Fulgur.

Artemis was now laughing, and Fluctus just gave her a look. "You set them up for this, didn't you?" He asked. She nodded. He simply shook his head and sighed. "Normally I'd be mad, but that was funny." Bone and Fulgur glared at him for that, so Fluctus said telepathically 'Not my fault you wouldn't keep your eyes off her hunters.' They still glared at him, but gathered themselves and sat by the fire with him. They were only there for a few minutes before they walked off to their own camp, deciding to leave the hunters to themselves. They arrived and Fulgur started a fire by using his lightning powers. Sitting around it, they began to eat the deer they may or may not have stolen from the hunters. Then, they started to talk. "If this is going to be our new life from now on, getting pranked and humiliated, I want out of this alliance." Fulgur said, and Bone nodded with agreement. Fluctus gave him a look. "Fulgur, you-" "No, Percy." Fulgur said angrily, cutting him off. Fluctus was taken back by this, because they rarely spoke their true names. "It's been less than twelve hours and I'm already sick of this shit. This isn't how you treat people. I don't care how much they hate men, this is not a fair arrangement. If we even touched them, we'd get the death penalty. And yet, they can shoot me straight in the ass." He said, ranting it out. Bone nodded in agreement, and said "They can douse me with water and cause me to be unable to do the job I was assigned, but if I even get near her hunters, I'm looked at like I'm committing a sin." Fluctus sighed and took a moment to think before saying "Xan, Ten, I know this isn't the greatest situation. But what other choice do we have? If we declined, we would've been killed most likely. Not to mention with this alliance, our chances of stopping Xerivalt are much higher. It also doesn't help you keep staring at her hunters. Is it too much to put up with this for a while, and stop looking at her hunters, so that we can complete our goal of putting Xerivalt, Orestes and Hunter down?" Xander and Ten took a moment to consider this, before they glanced at each other, then looked back to Percy and nodded.

"Fluctus, you better be right about this." Fulgur said and Fluctus nodded. They packed up and were about to head to bed when Fulgur said "I'll warn you now, Fluctus. You and Artemis may be alright with each other now, but it won't be long before she focuses her fire on you, too. Bone and I simply received part of the first wave. Once the wave is over, she'll target you next." With that, he laid down and fell asleep. Bone did the same, but Fluctus considered what Fulgur said. He was probably right. The only reason Fluctus tolerated Artemis was because he had to kill Xerivalt. He made a promise, and he had to keep it. He turned and looked at the river their small camp was at. He could remember it like yesterday. Images flashed through his mind, and then he was sent into a vision.

The city echoed with the screams of people fleeing, trying to escape the fire, the monsters, and most of all, trying to escape death. Laughter, pure, evil laughter flooded the air. A young boy with black hair and sea green eyes was being held by his mom, who was trying to take her son to safety. Suddenly, she was slammed by the flat of a warrior's blade, sending her flying into the side of a building. Her grip loosened on her son, and he got up and began to shake her, until she woke up. She groaned, and her vision took a moment to come back into focus. Once it did, her eyes widened and she yelled "Look out!" The boy was grabbed by the supposed leader of the monsters, the leader who was grinning evilly, ear to ear. He slammed the boy into the ground, and stomped on him. "STOP!" His mother screamed, causing the man to laugh and turn towards her. "You first." He said with the devilish smirk on his face. The young boy looked up just in time to see his mother be lifted into the air, and stabbed straight through the gut. She coughed out blood, before looking at her son and uttering one last word. "Run." She was thrown into a burning building, which collapsed and fell on top of her, causing fire to explode outwards and smoke to rise high in the air. The boy screamed, crying, calling for his mother. She did not walk out of the building. The man turned back to the boy, laughing. However, the young boy gave a glare so full of rage, so full of hate and anger that it almost startled the man. "You.. you'll pay for that." He managed to get out. "I - I promise I will destroy you." He coughed, inhaling the smoke from around. However, the man just laughed and picked the boy up by the neck. "Destroyer. The Destroyer who can't even destroy." The man laughed, but he stopped quickly when the boy began to scream, and energy suddenly exploded outwards, blinding the man and sending him flying back. Once his vision returned, he stood up and looked around for the boy, but found no sign of him. He turned to the monsters and screamed at them "Find him!" Some time passed, and a monster returned to the man, saying "We could not find him, Lord Xerivalt." He screamed in rage and slew the monster.

Far away, the boy discovered two other boys running from their home with their parents. They stopped and the boy's legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. He curled into a ball and began to cry. The other two boys walked over to him and asked "Are you okay?" He sniffled and said "My mommy.. She's gone." The two boys looked at each other before giving the boy a hug. He calmed down, and asked "Who are you?" The stronger looking of the two boys said "I'm Xander, and that's my best friend Ten. What's your name?" The boy looked at the two and said.

"My name is Percy."

Fluctus snapped out of the vision, tears leaking down his face. He was still standing where he was before. The memories.. They were horrible. And yet, they set him on the path he was happy with. Someone behind him said "Being sad won't help you defeat him." Fluctus whirled around, summoning his trident and pointing it at the intruder. He realized it was Artemis, and made his trident disappear. He turned away from her, back towards the river and said "As if it matters to you." She stepped up next to him, watching the river as well. "I do not know your past, Perseus. But-" "Do not call me that." He snarled, cutting her off. He glared at her. "You have no right to call me that." She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you did not want to have your name spoken, then why did you tell me it when I asked?" She questioned, and he responded "You gave me no other choice. Telling you my name doesn't give you the right to use it." She just turned her focus back to the river and said "Fine, Fluctus. You are the glue to this alliance. Your friends despise my hunters and I. Admittedly, they have their reasons, knowing the hunt's history when it comes to males, and with our actions today. However, you know as much as I do that Xerivalt will not fall unless we work together. I did not look forward to working with males, and I still hate that I must work with you and your friends. However, if you wish to bring him down, you will need to keep your friends from abandoning the mission."

Fluctus just gave her an angry look. "You ask me to keep my friends back, and yet you purposely set them up so your hunters can humiliate them? Tell me, where is the fairity in that? If that's only what your hunters have done today, I cannot imagine how much more they will do. You cannot expect me to hold them at bay when you yourself do not put any leash around your own pack." She gave him an incredulous look. "Fair? Tell me, Fluctus. How can you believe in something such as being fair? Demigods rarely experience such a thing in their lives. Lots of my hunters aren't even demigods, and yet they do not believe in such a thing." Fluctus simply gave her an annoyed look. "I do not care how much you believe in it. I said it once and I'll say it again, you cannot expect me to hold my friends back when you allow your hunters to do whatever they want to them." He said. Artemis simply shook her head at him. "They will not stop, and I will not stop them. If you want to slay your enemy, you and your friends will have to get used to it." Turning around, she began to walk away. Fluctus turned around to make a final comment, but saw she was gone. 'Must've teleported.' He thought. Walking over to where his friends were, he laid down and fell asleep. For once, he did not dream when he slept.

He woke up the next morning, finding Fulgur and Bone packing up. Fulgur looked over and saw him awake, so he said "Finally, the fish awakes after a long night of sleep." Fluctus rolled his eyes and sat up. He saw that Fulgur and Bone were mostly finished packing everything. Standing up, he brushed off his legs and chiton. There was a little bit of dirt on them because the hunters didn't exactly provide them with any tents. Speaking of the hunters, a hunter ran up to them. When she came into view more, Fluctus realized it was Phoebe, the girl Bone was interested in. Immediately Bone tried to look proud and tall, causing Fluctus and Fulgur to hold back laughter. "Lady Artemis wishes to see you." She said to the trio. "Yes, of course. We'll be there soon." Bone said. She nodded and ran off. Fluctus and Fulgur gave Bone a look. "What?" He asked. "You act all strong and mighty, and then she doesn't even give you a glare." Fulgur said, amazed. Bone just shrugged, just happy that he got to say something to her.

Once they were ready to go, they jogged off towards the hunters camp. Hunters were running everywhere, taking down tents and putting out campfires that were somehow still burning. 'They use so much wood for their fires that it makes them almost hypocritical when they complain people are destroying nature.' Fulgur said telepathically, and Fluctus nodded over the telepathic connection. 'I have to assume that Artemis helps grow back what they take.'Fluctus said. Speaking of Artemis, they found her standing around, giving orders to Zoe. "- make sure that the hunters there are prepared for the ambush." Artemis said. Nodding, Zoe turned for a moment and looked at Fulgur, only for a split second, before she ran off. Fulgur blinked, processing that. Fluctus just grinned, but kept walking up to Artemis. "Lady Artemis, you requested our presence?" Fluctus asked. 'You're so formal with her, it's almost like you believe she's going to kill you any second.' Fulgur noted telepathically. 'Because she has the ability to.' Fluctus responded. "I did. Our scouts have located a massive monster establishment, and it's almost impossible for it not to be where Xerivalt is located." Artemis said. Fluctus nodded. "A massive base would mean they most likely need their main leaders there to run it." He said, and Artemis nodded in agreement. "Yes, which also means that we need backup. We will be ambushing the base with another group of hunters on the other side of it. Sometime during the battle, another group will arrive to ensure that we win."

Fluctus smirked. "This should work out pretty well. Hopefully, this can bring a quick end to Xerivalt and his plans." He said. Artemis gave him a look of warning. "Do not get ahead of yourself, boy. Defeating him will still be difficult." She said, to which Fluctus responded with "I know, and I shall not get ahead of myself." The hunters gathered around, ready to go. Artemis began to walk towards the direction of the base, and everybody followed suit. After a few minutes of walking through the forest, Fulgur noticed Zoe walking on her own. 'I'm gonna try something. See you guys soon.' Fulgur said telepathically / over the mental connection. He ran off towards her, and began to walk next to her. At first, she seemed annoyed and angry that he was walking with her. But then, she started talking with him. Phoebe was not far behind Zoe, but was also walking on her own. Bone saw the opportunity and gave Fluctus a look of 'Hope I don't die' and ran off and talked to her. He got smacked, but they clearly got into a conversation. This was great. Fluctus now had no friends to talk to. Eventually, after about a half hour of walking, Fulgur slowed down and met up with Fluctus. "Zoe wants to talk to you." Is all he said, and shoved Fluctus towards her. 'Oh goody.' He thought sarcastically, and walked up next to her. "Fulgur said you wanted to talk?" He asked, and she nodded. "Yes. I must say, your friend is annoying, but interesting." She said, glancing back at him. She looked back at Fluctus though and said "Your friends are brave, but foolish. The hunters do not like them, and your conversations are never truly private. Everything you say gets back to Lady Artemis and I, along with the other hunters. They do not appreciate any of your friend's harsh words." Fluctus just shrugged and said "With all due respect, you hunter's ask for respect but do not give it in return. You pranked both of my friends yesterday, humiliating them."

It was Zoe's turn to shrug. "You should've known what would happen when you signed up to join forces." Fluctus narrowed his eyes, realizing something. "You're like Artemis in a lot of ways. Probably close to her?" He asked. Now, Fluctus wasn't trying to invade Zoe's privacy, but that question earned him a smack. All he did was ask a question. "That is none of your business." She snapped at him. He rubbed his cheek. "That was uncalled for. Besides, I'm probably right. Anyway, do you know the plan for attacking this base?" He asked, desperate to change the subject. He didn't really want to get smacked again, seeing as if he did anything against her, he would be attacked by a lot of hunters. "You ask too many questions." She said before actually answering the question. "The best archers will be positioned in the trees to shoot down as many monsters as possible, and keep an eye out for the three demigods leading the enemy army. After we launch our main assault, the other group of hunters will hit them from the back, forcing them to be trapped. Then, we will all gang right in the middle on Xerivalt and his companions." She said. Fluctus nodded. It was a pretty solid plan. Normally, if you could keep the three together and contained, it worked out pretty well. Mainly because they were prideful, so they sucked at working together. If they tried to escape, they were most likely to screw each other over. "How many casualties are you expecting from our side?" He asked curiously. She took a moment to think, and then replied "Not many, if the plan works. If something goes wrong, maybe a couple dozen. No more than thirty, as the hunters rarely even lose a companion." Nodding, Fluctus said "That's good news, at least." She gave a small smile that made him assume she felt the same. "You can go now, tell your friend that I say if he gets injured in battle, I'm not healing him." She said, which caused Fluctus to chuckle. He gave a small salute before walking back to Fulgur.

"What did she want to talk to you about?" He immediately asked, and Fluctus said "She told me to tell you if you get your dumbass hurt in battle, she isn't kissing your boo boos." Fulgur's eyes went big. "Did she really say boo boos?" Fluctus laughed. "Obviously not, though the dumbass part is pretty accurate from me. She really said that if you get injured in the battle, she's not going to heal you." Fulgur glared at him and tried to punch him, but Fluctus moved out of the way. Bone soon returned from his talk, smiling, which was something sort of rare to see, as Bone was the son of Hades. "How'd it go?" Fulgur asked, and all Bone said was "Good." They walked in silence for a while, until Artemis stopped. She gave some hand signals, and immediately the hunters split up, some going into the trees. Artemis gestured for the trio to go to her, so they did. When they reached her, they saw the huge base she was talking about. It was a big clearing, like the size of a mortal city, built just for the monsters. They were everywhere, preparing for battle. "On my mark, the four of us are going to run in there and cause a ton of problems. A minute after we enter, the hunters who aren't in the trees will run down to help us." Artemis said. The trio nodded, and they prepared. She yelled "Go", and the four ran down. The trio's god like states activated, and they immediately leaped into battle. The monsters weren't expecting the ambush, so the first wave was easily destroyed. However, it was the second wave that was more challenging.

Artemis was having no problems, slicing down monsters left and right. Fluctus fought near her, his trident becoming a symbol of fear for any of the monsters who got in range of it. Water swarmed around, drowning and killing monsters. Fulgur was going nuts with lightning, his bolt flying around and annihilating a lot of the enemies. Bone was shadow traveling around, slicing through the monster ranks, using his powers over darkness and some black fire to destroy and monster that got close to him. The four caused tons of problems for the monsters, until they were surrounded. They kept fighting until they were pushed into each other. As they were about to be completely swarmed, an evil voice yelled out "STOP!" A line of monsters parted to reveal Xerivalt, Orestes and Hunter, walking towards them. Fluctus decided to taunt them. "Sup cowards?" He asked. Xerivalt just grinned. "Better than you are right now." Fluctus returned the grin. "How are the names going? Orestes is still a copy of that one guy, and Hunter is just the most boring fucking name I've ever heard. I'm sorry but this evil mastermind has HUNTER as his name. Like what the hell dude, you've got Xerivalt, then at least Orestes sounds cool even if it's a copied name, but then you've just got Hunter. Gods damn dude, how much did your parents hate you that they wanted to embarrass you in front of your evil friend group?" Fluctus said. He was acting really cocky, but it was intentional. He wanted Xerivalt to think he was underestimating him. Also, he wanted the monsters to find humor in it so they hesitated a little to kill them, which worked. Monsters around began to laugh at the red faced Hunter.

"Shut it you sea rat!" Hunter yelled, which caused Fulgur to laugh at him. "Please, brother. Your friend Orestes there is a son of Poseidon. Is he a sea rat too? Should we dress him up and display him to the mortals?" Fulgur asked, causing another round of laughter in the monsters. Xerivalt was unaffected by all of this, and said "You're out of time, demigods. You brought a goddess with you as well. How amazing, now we have a hostage to force the gods into our bidding." He grinned, but was confused when Fluctus laughed. "We're out of time? Please, we've been stalling, you dumbass." All around them, the woods exploded with hunters. The sky began to rain arrows as Artemis formed a protective energy barrier to shield them. Monsters all around them fell, and the Xerivalt's gang went into their god-like states and summoned their own weapons, slicing the arrows that got near them. Xerivalt growled at Fluctus as Artemis dropped the barrier. The hunters crashed into the monsters, wiping them out with ease. "I thought the plan was for the other hunter group to ambush from behind?" Fluctus asked, and Artemis smirked. "Yeah, they are in about 3.. 2.. 1.." A hunting horn went off on the other side of the monster city, and hunters began to pour out, hitting the monsters right from the back and supporting the hunters already fighting there. Xerivalt, Orestes and Hunter watched as their entire monster army fell around them. Xerivalt turned towards the trio and Artemis. "This changes nothing, we will still defeat you." He launched right into battle with Fluctus, while Bone went after Orestes and Fulgur went after Hunter.

Fluctus was in the middle of fighting Xerivalt when Artemis joined him, attacking the evil demigod. Together, it only took them a minute to overpower him, the combined strength of a demigod and goddess working together. They forced him down, cuts all over his body, breathing heavily. The hunters finished off the monsters and helped Bone and Fulgur, resulting in Orestes and Hunter being thrown down right next to Xerivalt. Fulgur flew over to them, and Zoe stood next to him. Bone shadow traveled next to Phoebe. The hunters all gathered around, most with their bows drawn and the closest with their knives out. "You're outnumbered, Xerivalt. Want to think again?" Fulgur asked. Xerivalt gave him a look and responded "I don't know, though, I believe you're more in the position to rethink this all than I am." Fluctus frowned. "What do you mean?" He questioned, his eyes glowing entirely of their powerful sea green. Xerivalt laughed. "You weren't the only one stalling. I've got you all here." Fulgur's face turned into rage. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" He screamed at him. Xerivalt's lips turned into a smirk. "Before, it wasn't true. But now it is." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "You're out of time." Grabbing Orestes and Hunter, he quickly shadow traveled away. Only a split second after he disappeared, the ground shook powerfully and they could feel the energy and heat quickly rising. Fluctus instinctively grabbed Artemis and yanked her close, flipping him towards the ground so he'd receive most of the damage.

The entire earth around them exploded.

Several Days Later

Fluctus groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His body hurt like absolute hell. He blinked, unable to see. He blinked again, and saw several hunters around him, working on him. Someone forced him to eat a piece of ambrosia, and another gave him nectar. After a minute of what seemed to Fluctus as chaos, they retreated. Before, the hunters around him cast a shadow so it was easier to see. With them gone, the sun blared into his eyes. They adjusted after a moment, and he tried to sit up. His body, however, was so sore that it refused to move. "Need help?" Someone asked. He looked over to see Artemis standing there. She kneeled down and helped him sit up, and then dragged him over to a tree so he could put his back against it. He still had his chiton, except it was too nice, too new. "I made a new chiton appear for you, as a thanks." She said, though she said the 'thanks' as if it pained her to say it. Fluctus groaned and looked at her. "What happened?" He asked, and her face darkened. "It was a trap. Xerivalt set us up. He brought us all into one spot, and when we were most vulnerable, the entire area exploded." She said, though it was quiet. "How many survived?" Fluctus asked, really worried for the hunters but also for his friends. "Your friends are alive, barely clinging to life, but alive. However, only Zoe and Phoebe survived." She said, trailing off. Her voice was sad.

How was it possible? All those hunters killed and defeated? It seemed like a horrible nightmare to Fluctus. "How did Zoe and Phoebe survive, but no other hunters?" He asked, and Artemis sighed. "Fulgur protected Zoe and Bone protected Phoebe. You, on the other hand, protected me, which I am grateful for, though I ask that you avoid touching me ever again." Even though she probably meant it, that last part sounded a little less sincere than the rest. "How? How did no other hunters survive it? How was I so useless?" He was in shock. She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Lots of my hunters are mortal girls. While they are strong, and have my blessing, that does not change the fact they are not demigods. They couldn't handle such an explosion. The actual demigod hunters were mainly in the front because they are the stronger hunters, so they received the blast head on. The few hunters that did manage to walk out of the explosion died shortly after, as their wounds were too much for them." Fluctus put his head back against the tree. He couldn't believe this happened. They had them pinned, Xerivalt was at his mercy. And then it all changed within two seconds. Fluctus was strong, but it was too much for him. He didn't know the hunters that well, but he felt responsible for their deaths. He began to quietly cry.

Artemis knew how to handle situations where her hunters cried. Lots would randomly have flashbacks or remember something horrible in their past, and burst into tears. She could help them. However, a demigod like Fluctus? That was a whole different story. She hesitated for a second, but slowly gave him a hug. It was an awkward hug, but it was still a hug. He cried into her shoulder for a minute before calming down. He put his head back against the tree and adjusted so she wasn't touching him anymore, which surprised her a little bit, as she thought he might be comforted by the hug. "I'm sorry." He said. He forced himself up. He tried walking, but he was so sore he almost fell flat on his face, but Artemis caught him. "Who are the hunters here?" He asked, and she said "The group that was supposed to arrive to ensure that Xerivalt, Orestes, Hunter, and any other monsters couldn't escape. They were close when the explosion happened. They didn't have any casualties as they were far enough away." Fluctus nodded and asked for another piece of ambrosia, which Artemis gave him. They walked over to where Fulgur and Bone were at. He winced. They were in a lot worse shape than he was. They had fresh burns, which seemed pretty incredible to him because from what he was aware, the battle was a few days before. Just a feeling because he knew it had to take some time to heal him to the point he was at. All in all, they looked like shit, and he felt horrible that they were in that state. Zoe was sitting next to Fulgur, and Phoebe stood above Bone. Fluctus frowned.

"Why is Zoe and Phoebe by Fulgur and Bone?" Fluctus asked. Artemis rolled her eyes. Clearly, this boy wasn't the most intelligent sometimes. Either that or he just hit his head a little too hard from the explosion. "I think that would be obvious, Fluctus." She said, and he gave her a confused look. Then he saw the hint of disappointment in her eyes, and realized something: she believed Zoe and Phoebe might be falling for Fulgur and Bone. It seemed quick, but they did just save their lives. He doubted they would actually be falling in love or anything, just possibly developing a small crush. "We should go, to give the hunters some space to work." Fluctus said and Artemis nodded, taking him over to the river. They sat down on the grass. "Are you alright?" She asked. He snapped a bit. "Do I look fucking alright? Hundreds of hunters died because my dumbass didn't kill Xerivalt or do something about it faster." She was silent for a moment before replying. "This is not the end of the fight, Fluctus. Things went wrong but I do not blame you." "And the hunters don't?" Fluctus questioned her. He was pissed now. "You can't even try to tell me that the hunters don't blame me. The ones that were around me for a few minutes hated me. This group of hunters not only watched their fellow hunters die because of me, but then are forced to nurse me back to health. Just because you don't blame me doesn't mean they won't."

Artemis was stunned for a moment. She'd been in arguments before with demigods, but never a situation as tough as this. Was it really Fluctus' fault? Technically, yes. He should've killed or disabled Xerivalt while he had the chance. Was it really his fault though? Not necessarily, because the plan never specified to do anything to Xerivalt once they had him pinned. As much as she hated to admit it, Fluctus had a solid point if you looked from his perspective. And that was only one point. The rest of what he said was completely accurate. Her hunters hated men, a lot. They lost a good portion of her 'army' because of the explosion. She had a lot of hunters, but losing that many definitely would leave a scar for a while. She almost had like a network of groups for the hunters, so many different groups of them spread out with a leader. The groups kept in contact through Iris Messaging and other means. The main group was Artemis', the command group. The most skilled hunters were normally in this group, but because of how many new recruits they were getting, they had to spread out into groups for the proper missions and monster management. Artemis' group normally trained newer hunters, preparing to send them off into different groups. Her command group that had been destroyed was a lot of newer hunters, mixed in with older hunters as well. However, the other group only had a few new hunters, meaning they lost a lot of valuable members of the hunt that day. It was quite sad, and as Artemis thought about it more, was going to impact her entire hunt.

"The command group, my main group, is reforming so we can re-establish communications and order within the Hunt groups. However, I do not believe that using all the hunters is a good idea anymore. We will establish a strong group of hunters who are powerful, and won't be defeated so easily. They may blame you all they want, but you'll have to establish some sort of peace with them. I have no other options for you, Fluctus. You can blame yourself and put yourself down all you want, but if you don't rise up, you're just allowing Xerivalt to win. Think upon it." She got up and walked away, leaving Fluctus to himself. He looked down at the river, and, surprisingly to himself, he did think about it. Though, at the same time, he didn't have much else to think about. He could see all the hunters yelling at him, screaming at him for being stupid. For causing the death of their friends. Fluctus blocked it out, and looked at the water again. He stood, and then fell face first into it. It felt amazing, his body felt renewed. He couldn't feel his sore muscles. He swam around, looking at the fish. They were some pretty nice fish. He spent a while in the river, enjoying it. He knew he had to go find Artemis, however, so he got out. He walked out of the river, and headed towards the camp. He was still sore, but kept walking and found a group of girls gathered around Artemis. Sighing, he walked towards them.

There were about twenty or so. When Artemis noticed Fluctus walking up to them, she turned and the hunters parted. They lined up in a shoulder to shoulder line, watching Fluctus closely. He didn't take kindly to being watched like that, but knew he really had no other choice if he didn't want to be castrated by them. "This is the group I could put together, the best hunters I have. We will be travelling with them, destroying monster camps and hopefully, the end goal, eliminate Xerivalt." Artemis said. Fluctus said "That's the goal." He turned towards the hunters. He noticed that they didn't look the most pleased with him, at all. Zoe and Phoebe seemed to not be as mad as the others, but they still displayed some anger. "Girls, this is Fluctus. He will be helping lead this group. Like him or not, he's here to stay. We will depart soon." The hunters nodded and ran off, supposedly to gather all their things. Fluctus turned back to Artemis. "I hope they're prepared. I doubt Xerivalt will pull another move like that now that he's used it already, but they have to be ready for anything." He said, and Artemis just smirked. "As I already said, these are the best hunters I could gather up for it. If they are not prepared for the task, I don't know who is." She said. Fluctus nodded and they stood there, waiting for the hunters to return.

They all came back around the same time. "Put these on. It will be the sign of our group." Artemis passed out silver bracelets with a crescent moon charm on top. Fluctus put it on his right hand wrist, tying it tight so it wouldn't move around on him while he was fighting. Once the hunters were finished putting them on, Artemis said "Let's go." They walked out of the clearing and into the forest. Some of the hunters who weren't going in the group waved to them as they disappeared, the forest covering them. Fluctus was walking with Artemis, and something dawned on him. "Where are we going first?" He asked. He hadn't asked before, and it was pretty stupid of him not to. He didn't really want to be killed after all, and knowing where he was going would definitely help with that. "To the nearest monster camp. Xerivalt has established a lot of these camps, with the intent of overwhelming us. However, we have a plan." She said. Fluctus gave her a look. "A better plan than last time, I hope." He said, to which she responded with a scowl. "Sorry, but you know I'm right." Artemis sighed and nodded her head, knowing he was right. Last time, the plan set them right up to be destroyed by Xerivalt. This time, that couldn't happen. "We've figured out that Xerivalt is somehow able to force monsters to regenerate faster, and summon them. This means we can destroy camps and they'll just be back to full strength after some time." Artemis said as she stepped over a log. Fluctus looked at her, not fully surprised. He always knew that Xerivalt had to control the monsters somehow. "What's the point of attacking his camps then, if they're just going to reform?" He asked, and she smirked.

"It's quite simple, really. If he's using his power to constantly summon back his monsters, it's going to wear him out after a while. We can easily destroy the camps, and if we keep doing this for a while, eventually he will run out of power. We will know that once the camps stop popping up. When that happens, we'll track him down and immediately kill him, so he can't do what he did last time." Fluctus believed Artemis had a decent plan, but they could be killing monsters for months, even years, before Xerivalt finally ran out of gas. "Let's hope we can last longer than Xerivalt." Fluctus said, and Artemis responded "We will." They kept walking for a while, Artemis leading the way. Fluctus couldn't help but take notice of some things. He didn't really notice it that much before, but she was pretty beautiful. He didn't like her or anything, just noticed that. One of the hunters must've noticed him looking at her, because they threw a rock that hit him right in the back of the head. Annoyed, he rubbed the back of his head, because even though it was a small rock, it didn't feel great. He could hear the hunters whispering to each other, coming up with ideas. Great. They were probably coming up with ways to torture him while they were on this mission. Finally, Artemis stopped. She moved a branch, and on the other side was a monster camp. Not the biggest, not the smallest. She nodded. "What's the plan?" Fluctus asked. Artemis only responded with "This." She ran into the camp, the hunters following suit. There was a loud horn that they blew, and they launched into battle.

Fluctus rolled his eyes and summoned his trident. He avoided going into his powerful state / form, to avoid using up too much energy. He controlled the water to propel him forward, and he began to slay monsters. His trident became the weapon of death in the field. Soon, the entire camp was destroyed, and there wasn't a single hunter casualty. Artemis gave Fluctus a grin. "Is that good enough for you, son of Poseidon?" She asked, and walked into the forest, the hunt following. He sighed. 'This sure will be fun. I won't even be allowed to get that many monster kills.' He followed suit, catching up to Artemis. "Is that all we're going to be doing from now on? Hitting monster camps with attacks like that?" He asked, kind of surprised. He was hoping for something a little more exciting than just that. She nodded. "Would you prefer something else?" She asked, but Fluctus shook his head. If they could beat Xerivalt with it, he wouldn't complain. They soon arrived at another monster camp. This time, Fluctus just watched. The hunters quickly destroyed the monsters, and he had to give a small clap for them. The next camp they hit, he called dibs. Going into his godly state, he roared and launched right into the middle of the camp. Within twenty seconds, the entire camp of monsters was a dust field. The hunters walked out of the forest, rolling their eyes. "Show off, much? Just like all males." One said, glaring at him. He returned the glare.

Artemis saw this, and broke it up by leading them into the forest again. They walked for a while, and then finally Artemis said "Let's call it a day." She threw down some weird things, they were almost like little pads. All of a sudden, they expanded into tents. The hunters gaped, and so did Fluctus. "From Hephaestus. Asked him to build us high quality tents, and he delivered." Artemis said, a proud smirk on her face. He raised an eyebrow. "How did you get him to do this?" Fluctus asked, and Artemis shrugged. "He owed me a favor." The hunters began to check out their tents, one for each of them. They had their names on it. Artemis had a bigger tent, one that could also be used as a command tent, or at least part of it could be. The other part could be used as a normal tent. There was a tent for everyone, everyone except Fluctus. He figured this would happen. "I would've preferred a tent for me too." He said, and she rolled her eyes. "Make yourself one, boy. We're not going to just provide everything for you here." She walked into her tent. Fluctus was left standing there, looking at the entrance of the tent. He left, trying to find a decent area to sleep in. When he couldn't find one, he assumed he would just sleep in a tree. It wasn't that uncomfortable. In fact, sometimes they were really comfortable. It'd be fun if he could find a decent one. His tree looking experience was interrupted by Artemis walking out of her tent and calling the hunters.

He walked up next to Artemis as the hunters formed a new shoulder to shoulder line. "Since this boy does not know who you are, you should introduce yourselves." Zoe stepped forward and spoke "I am Zoe, Lieutenant of Artemis." Next was Phoebe. "I am Phoebe, Hunter of Artemis." Another girl stepped forward. "I am Atlanta, Hunter of Artemis." This process continued, until he knew all the names of the girls: Zoe, Phoebe, Atlantas, Penelope, Sophia, Katherine, Alexandra, Nicole, Mya, Angelina, Stephanie, Christina, Melany, Melina, Tiffany, Angele, Cassia, Damara, Elexis, and Evadne. A lot of hunters, a lot of expert hunters that could probably kill him any time they felt like it. That was great, as if his situation before wasn't bad enough, now he was surrounded by the best of the best. "Alright girls, you have the rest of the night to yourselves." Artemis said, and the hunters ran off to do their own thing. Fluctus was about to leave, but Artemis stopped him. "I have a task for you.." Ten minutes later, Fluctus found himself in a tent, giving wolves a bath. How wonderful. The wolves were making a huge mess, and getting Fluctus wet by splashing him. He was somewhat annoyed that he was getting put up for this job, but he did it anyway. Once he finished cleaning the wolves, he had to sharpen arrows. That took him a while, because sharpening arrows was not only difficult, but tiring. As if he wasn't sore before, he knew the next day he wasn't going to be able to use his arms.

The chores continued, stuff like washing the hunters clothes and cooking meals ahead of time, so that they could stay on the move and eat without having to stop. Fluctus didn't complain to Artemis about any of it, but it kind of sucked. It only got worse though, because once he finally finished the meals, a hunter walked in and 'accidentally' knocked over a candle just as Fluctus left, catching the food bag on fire. That meant all the little meals for the hunters completely burned up, and he had to do it all over again. He spent an hour redoing it, and once he was finally out, Artemis caught him and told him to go catch a deer for the next day's dinner. Fluctus found it pretty pointless because he just prepared a ton of food for the upcoming days, but he did it anyway. He found himself with his trident in the woods, hunting deer. He finally found one and as he was about to throw his trident, Artemis appeared and stopped him. "What are you doing? Use something smaller, like a bow." She handed him a boy and he looked with wide eyes at it. Deciding it was better to try, he made his trident disappear and he pulled the string back with an arrow. He shot it at the deer. Well, to say it went wrong was an understatement. It missed, hitting a rock and ricocheting off of it. It continued to ricochet around objects until it came back, hitting Artemis right in the leg.

Fluctus had eyes the size of dinner plates. "I am so sor-" He didn't have time to finish as he was punched so hard, he went flying through some trees. He groaned, seeing mini fish ponies circulating above him. "Ow." He muttered, and tried to stand up. Artemis appeared in front of him, her arms crossed. The arrow was gone, and she looked annoyed. "The fact that there is a boy in my hunt who is so bad at archery that he manages to hit the person right next to him is disgraceful. I will have to teach you archery if you want to remain in the group." Fluctus gave her a look of horror. "That's a really bad idea. I'm going to accidentally kill someone." She shrugged at him. "Hit one of my hunters, and we'll hang you by your hair and castrate you. So don't miss." She walked off as he was left sitting there, unsuccessful at even catching the deer. That was great. He walked back to camp, hoping to find some dinner. However, the hunters turned him down, and gave him no food. He knew the deer was long gone, so he wasn't going to be eating any dinner that night. He climbed a tree, and was slowly drifting off when something came flying at him. An axe hit the branch, chopping it straight off. Fluctus screamed as he fell, smacking into several branches before he landed on the ground, face first. He groaned, his chiton looking like a nest for tree branches and leaves. Hunters laughed at him as he slowly picked himself up. "Not cool." He said, and walked away, towards the river. He tried to go as far as possible from the camp without going so far he couldn't sense what was happening there. When he found the perfect spot, he went as high up in the tree as he could, so they couldn't reach him as easily. He yawned, thinking about the day he had. Crazy day. Went from being upset to getting axes thrown at him by hunters. Fun times, fun times that were most likely going to continue for a while. His eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep.

An auburn hair girl watched him fall asleep, and she nodded, saying "Sleep well." She disappeared into the night.