Even Later That Day
Penelope POV:
Penelope woke up to the feeling of her face meeting the ground.
She shot up to her feet, only to stumble around drunkenly for a moment as she held her head, the combination of the headrush and killer headache combining into a deadly cocktail of dizziness.
"Penny?!" She heard from beside her, Penelope glanced to her side only to see Bianca laying near the edge of the cliff, glancing with fear over to Penny's right. Penny looked over to her right watching as Thalia barely managed to get her shield up in time to block one of Thorn's… paws? Yeah, his hand had turned into a large, orange paw.
Penelope watched them in a daze, seeing a tail pop out of nowhere that looked a lot like her own.
'No way…' Penelope thought, realization overcoming her as she glanced between her tail and her… father's?
That moment of awe was cut short as her 'father' shot a wave of spines at Thalia, who managed to intercept them with her shield, managing to be knocked back slightly instead of perforated. Grover started playing some music, confusing Penelope a little until she saw the grass growing and starting to tie Thorn down.
Her newfound father began to change quickly, turning from his formerly human form to the form of a manticore, spewing deadly thorns everywhere. Penelope quickly shot down the longer, more jagged thorns with her sleeker spines, stopping herself, Bianca, and Nico from getting hurt.
"A manticore!" Annabeth shouted from beside Bianca, always one for stating the obvious. Penelope glanced at her, noticing Percy who she had missed in her dazed state standing there too.
The manticore tore the grass from its paws, snarling and turning towards Penelope and her friends.
"Ah, Penelope you're up, why don't you be a dear and help me subdue these demigods? Then we can spend some time together… as a family." The manticore said, growling slightly at the word 'demigods.'
The tiny flame of hope that sparked when she learned that this was her father quickly went out at those words, after all, what kind of father would leave her at the Dursleys, then try to convince her to abandon her friends? A poor one. So she did the only thing she could, braced herself and stuck her tongue out. Preparing for the inevitable storm of thorns.
Predictably Thorn snarled, growling out: "We'll see how you feel about being a family after spending a decade in Tartarus!" He cried, before sending a flurry of thorns at Penelope, her friends, the other demigods, and Grover.
Penelope didn't look behind her, but she heard a couple of bodies hit the ground, dodging the deadly projectiles, she also heard Grover getting hit by one and crying out in pain. She couldn't focus on any of that though, as she had enough trouble deflecting the thorns coming at her with her spines.
Her father as it turned out, could send out a lot more thorns than Penelope could spines, but Penelope was much more accurate than him, leaving her with the upper tail.
His thorn-storm stopped and he cried out, "Yield!"
"Never!" Penelope heard Thalia yell in response, charging towards Thorn, spear in hand.
It looked like she was going to skewer him, but then a helicopter of all things came flying in from under the cliff, someone inside it directed the searchlight to Thalia, blinding her before Thorn swiped her with her tail, Penelope winced in sympathy, she remembered exactly how that felt.
Penelope squinted towards the mortal craft, spying the mortal who was directing the spotlight she quickly sent a grouping of spines at him. She didn't even hear him cry out in pain before he died. The helicopter banked slightly and Thorn looked at her, clearly impressed as they realized what she had done.
Thorn quickly shook off his visible pride and sent a wave of thorns at Thalia. Luckily Percy had already started running to protect her, parrying one of the spines and raising his shield in preparation. Penelope thought that it was rather stupid, as her father could easily send some spines at his legs, and he wouldn't even see it coming.
Speaking of her father he laughed a little, it came out as a gravelly chuckle as he continued to speak in a french accent, "Now do you see how hopeless it is?" He said, clearly referring to the missile-equipped helicopter behind him before turning to face Penelope, "Join me my daughter, and together we shall hunt, as father and daughter."
As though it was waiting for a cue, a horn called through the cliffside, dread chilling Penelope's veins as she remembered the warning Kelli gave her about the Hunters of Artemis.
"Listen up Penelope," Kelli had told the 10-year-old Penelope, "If you ever see a group of demigods, the first thing you need to do is look at what they're wearing. Most demigods wear silly orange or purple shirts that tell you they're easy prey, however, some of the girls will wear silver. You need to watch out for those. If you see any of them you need to run, and fast because those are the Hunters of Artemis. On their own they aren't too big of a deal, they're fast and strong, but that isn't too big of a deal, because they aren't as fast, or as strong as you are right now. They all carry silver bows and are rather good shots, but that isn't really what matters either. No, what makes them deadly is how they hunt, and it's always in packs. Those bitches have taken more of my sisters than anyone else! There have been a couple of times that I've barely escaped them, and I've never, never been able to kill one!" Kelli ranted, before taking a few deep breaths when she saw Penelope's scared look, "Sorry sweetie, I just got a little angry. What really matters is that you don't fight with them, you don't talk to them, you run when you see them alright? There are only a dozen of them, but when they hunt their arrows rain silver on their prey." She had said, before moving on and helping Penelope with her mist illusions.
So when Penelope watched the streaks of moonlight splitting Thorn's thorns as fast as he could fire them, she was understandably afraid.
Her father howled in pain as he yanked a silver arrow out of his shoulder, breathing heavily after throwing so many spines.
Percy ran up, sword in hand to capitalize on her father's apparent exhaustion, resulting in her father slapping him away with his tail.
The silver-clad hunters stalked into the clearing from the woods. "The Hunters!" Annabeth cried, forcing Penelope to bite down a sarcastic retort.
"Oh, wonderful." Penelope heard Thalia mutter from her position next to Percy.
One of the hunters stepped forward, a silver circlet glinting on her head as she kept her eyes on the manticore. "Permission to kill, my lady?"
Thorn whined loudly, "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."
"Not so," a different, shorter girl said, clearly younger than the first, yet power pulsed off her in waves. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She finished, making Penelope gasp as she realized who it was, Artemis. Goddess of the Hunt.
"Zoë, permission granted," Artemis said, causing all the girls to draw their bowstrings back in preparation.
"If I cannot have these alive," He started, looking at Percy and Thalia murderously, "I shall have them dead!" He declared.
Penelope reacted quickly, even by her own standards as she sent a group of spines at her father's right knee, causing him to stagger. At that same moment, Annabeth shouted, "No!" She cried, charging at Thorn.
"Get back half-blood!" Zoë shouted, "Get out of the line of fire!"
But Annabeth ignored her, jumping onto the already crippled manticore's back, and stabbing her knife into her father's neck.
Thorn howled in pain, flailing about as he whipped his tail at Annabeth, Annabeth managing to hold on as he bucked wildly.
"Fire!" Penelope heard Zoë command.
"NO!" Percy screamed.
The hunters ignored him, releasing a wave of arrows, impacting Thorn's chest and driving past his mane.
"This is not the end Huntress! You shall pay!" Thorn cried as he was pierced by their silver arrows, jumping off the cliff, Annabeth still on his back. Percy started to run forward, before the helicopter rained gunfire on them, forcing the demigods to take cover.
'Another mortal?' Penelope thought, taking quick aim and firing another grouping of spines, hitting the mortal who had pushed his compatriot's body to the side. She then fired at the propeller's base denting it heavily and making the pilot lose control of his craft, sending it towards the ocean, where it crashed into the water heavily.
Artemis looked at her in slight shock, before that shock turned to amusement as she watched the hunters get up, looking between the cliffside and Artemis in confusion, before quickly dismissing it, starting to approach Penelope and the demigods.
"You," The leader, Zoë said with distaste drawing everyone's attention to Thalia.
"Perfect timing, as usual," Thalia said, her anger making her voice tremble.
Zoë's eyes scanned the rest of the group, before stopping suddenly when she met Penelope's verdant orbs, belatedly Penelope realized she forgot to re-apply her illusions. So her cat-like eyes and her tail were visible.
"Four half-bloods, a satyr, and somethi- someone else." Zoë said, clearly stopping herself from referring to Penelope as a 'something.'
"Yes," Artemis responded, glancing at Percy and Thalia, "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."
"Annabeth!" Penelope heard Percy yell, "You have to let us save her!"
"I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond our help," Artemis said calmly, turning to face Percy, and away from where I stood, next to Bianca and Nico.
Penelope watched Percy struggle briefly against the strength of some of the hunters. "You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs." Zoe declared, looking down on Percy as she spoke, disdain clear on her face.
"Let me go!" Percy demanded, "Who do you think you are?!"
Zoe stepped forward, hand cocked back like she was going to smack Percy before Artemis stopped her, "No," She ordered, "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."
Artemis looked down at Percy, her silver eyes staring impassively into his sea-green orbs. "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt." Her voice rang through the clearing, the trees shuffling lightly as a phantom breeze passed through the clearing.
Penelope was pretty sure Percy said something like, "Um… okay." But that was quickly overshadowed by Grover's sudden prostration before her.
Penelope decided she didn't want to stick around at this point, Bianca and Nico should be safe with the hunters, but that didn't mean that she was. So Penelope did what Kelli told her she should do in this situation, run. Penelope thought it was the perfect escape, her dark jacket and pants blending in in the wooded twilight as she sprinted through the woods. She heard a couple of shouts from behind her, but none that were anywhere nearby as she ran through the wooded terrain.
Penelope stopped after she had put a couple of solid miles between her and the cliffside, quickly climbing up a tree she peered through the darkness of the forest, scanning the ground for any glint of silver before she sighed, and relaxed a little as she recovered from her light sprint.
"That was a rather hasty run, one would almost think you didn't want to meet me." She heard from behind her, causing her to shoot, up, teetering on the thick branch she now stood on.
She quickly regained her balance and glanced behind her only to see the goddess, Artemis standing on a branch just above her, her silver eyes glinting in amusement as she watched Penelope panic.
Penelope tensed up a little before she realized the futility of such an action, despair poisoned her heart as she bowed her head, mumbling: "Just get it over with quickly," As she stood there, head hung low, preparing herself for her upcoming death.
"Very well," Artemis stated, jumping down to the branch Penelope stood on and grabbing her by the arm. White light filled Penelope's vision before she found herself in a… tent? She was sitting next to a fire, Zoë to her left with Artemis, and Percy who sat around the other side of it. She looked to her right only to see Bianca, who was glaring at her harshly, her eyes filled with tearful fury as she smacked her in the shoulder.
"You idiot!" Bianca berated, "Do you have any idea how worried you made me when you just ran off like that?! You could have at least said something before suddenly running off into the forest like that! A couple of hunters almost chased after you because you just started running away from them! You are lucky Lady Artemis told them to hold stay because they were all ready to hunt you down, bows in hand." Bianca huffed, her anger draining away as she finished scolding Penelope, before she suddenly embraced her, "I'm so glad you're okay, don't leave me like that again!" Bianca finished, trembling slightly in Penelope's arms.
"I won't Bianca," Penelope soothed, her earlier dread and confusion being replaced by a sudden warmth she felt as she held Bianca in her arms, "I promise."
The pair sat there by the fire for a moment, enjoying the warmth that it provided before Penelope heard an awkward cough from Percy.
"So are you guy's cool then?" He asked, interrupting their moment.
"No, I believe that they are rather warm," Zoë told Percy, looking at him in confusion, "Art thou chilly?"
"No, I meant… nevermind." Percy trailed off, causing Zoë to scoff, muttering something about foolish boys.
Percy's eyes traveled over to Artemis he stared at her for a moment, causing Artemis to ask: "Are you surprised by my age?"
"Uh… a little." He responded slowly, trying to avoid offending the deity before him.
"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of all my Hunters and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray." Artemis said calmly, glancing towards where Penelope and Bianca sat.
"Go astray?" Percy asked, his confusion obvious.
"Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves." Artemis declared, a little disgust entering her tone at the end of her speech.
"Oh," Percy said, clearly not sure how he should respond to that. Zoë glared at him harshly, clearly disgusted by his belonging to the male gender.
"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you," Artemis said, glancing at Zoë as she spoke, "It is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…" She thought for a moment, before looking at Zoë, "Which one was it?"
"That boy in Colorado, you turned him into a jackalope," Zoë answered before squinting at Percy, trying to visualize him as a horned rabbit. Penelope might have been more disturbed by this if Bianca hadn't turned around in her arms, turning back towards the conversation.
"Ah, yes, I do enjoy making jackalopes." Artemis nodded, her eyes drifting as she remembered. "At any rate Percy, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore." She said, focusing back on Percy, "Bianca reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you." She finished, looking at Percy expectantly.
Percy recounted the past few hours, explaining how Penelope was knocked out, (causing the girl to wince in remembrance) and they were forced to walk through the woods, Penelope kind of fazed him out after that, soaking in the warmth the Bianca offered, appreciating the fact that Artemis decided not to kill her. Her eyes shut slightly, and she felt a slight rumble in her chest as she started to drift off.
"Penelope Potter, I believe it would be helpful for all of us if you stayed awake for a few more moments." She heard, snapping her out of her dozing, as she looked up she saw all of the eyes except Percy's, the other exception being Bianca who was staring directly at the crackling fire, a slight blush spreading down her neck.
"Yes, as soothing as thine purring is, we would like to ask thee some questions," Zoë added, her eyes glinting in amusement at Penelope's growing blush.
"I don't purr." Penelope stated resolutely, before hesitating slightly, "Right?"
"I wouldn't know, why not ask the one sitting in thine lap?" Zoë said innocently, looking away at Bianca's glare.
"A little bit... but it's cute!" Bianca reassured, before realizing what she said and blushing some more, staring back into the fire.
"As amusing as it is to watch thine actions, we, unfortunately, do have to ask you some questions," Artemis said, her amused eyes dimming slightly as she looked towards Penelope, who stiffened slightly against Bianca. "Penelope, we have heard others' accounts of your actions however some things remain unclear, would you mind providing us with your own account of the day?"
Penelope sighed slightly, trying to relax as she thought back to her morning, explaining the feeling of foreboding that she felt, that caused her to go to the school in the first place, she described her 'infiltration' of the castle - getting a laugh out of Percy and Bianca - and how she felt drawn in by Bianca's scent, Penelope decided to skip some of the details surrounding their day, only mentioning that she had thought something was off about Thorn, and quickly moving on to when she discovered that Bianca and Nico were demigods.
"Wait, I'm confused, how did you know that they were demigods by snapping your fingers?" Percy cut in, interrupting Penelope's flow slightly.
"Because they weren't too affected by my mist-speak," Penelope said casually.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked.
"... They don't teach you this at your camp?" Penelope demanded, "How are you expected to survive if you don't know this?"
Percy flushed in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well… I mean… I think Thalia might know more than me, but Chiron hasn't gotten around to teaching me yet." He mumbled.
"Okay…" Penelope said, idly playing with Bianca's hair as she hesitantly began, "Most of it is common sense I guess, Percy, you can see my tail right now right?" She asked, receiving a nod of affirmation from Percy, "And a mortal couldn't?" She continued, receiving another nod. "Well, how about now?" Penelope said, weaving mist around her tail, hiding it from view.
"Nope, not anymore," Percy said, bouncing back from his earlier embarrassment as he watched Penelope's demonstration.
"This is one of a monster's primary uses of the mist, I use it to hide my tail, claws, and eyes so that if I happen to run into a demigod or monster in public, they don't know that I'm part monster." Penelope explained, "I'm pretty sure that Lady Artemis can still see my tail though." She said, receiving an affirming nod from the goddess.
Penelope focused harder for a moment, before slumping slightly against Bianca as she thickened the mist around her tail, trying to hide if from the Goddess of the Hunt.
"That's very impressive Penelope," Artemis stated, one of her eyebrows raised, "It's very rare that one can hide something from the sight of a god, especially at such a young age."
Penelope blushed lightly under her sudden praise, before dispelling her illusion, her tail reappearing as she caught her breath.
"The mist naturally hides most things from normal mortals, it takes some conscious effort to hide something from most demigods and monsters, it takes a lot more to hide anything from the gods, and I've been told that it's absolutely impossible to hide something from a clear-sighted mortal," Penelope said, still slightly winded from her exertion.
"Why?" Percy asked suddenly, "Why can clear-sighted mortals see through the mist?"
"No idea." Penelope responded, "Some think that it's to do with open-mindedness, but no one knows." Penelope thought for a moment before adding, "Well, maybe Lady Hecate knows."
Percy accepted this quickly, hesitating before asking, "Could you teach me how to do it? Control the mist? I'd ask Thalia but…" He trailed off, thinking about asking his semi-rival for help.
"I could, but it would take longer than I want to spend." Penelope said, before seeing Percy's expression fall, it was like kicking a puppy, that then turned it's soulful eyes at you asking 'Why?'
Penelope winced before looking away, "Fine, after this meeting I'll do my best to teach you the basics."
"Can I come too?" Bianca asked from her place in Penelope's lap, twisting around a little as she asked.
"I would like to see thine lesson as well," Zoë said, "I am curious about how monst- about how you use the mist."
Penelope rolled her eyes at Zoë's correction before responding, "Yeah, it's fine, the more the merrier right?"
"It has been my own experience that more people does not necessarily mean a more merry time, especially when it comes to teaching," Zoë answered seriously.
Penelope looked at Zoë weirdly, before Artemis spoke up, "As wonderful as your explanation was, the night grows deeper." She said, before glancing towards Bianca. "Have you made up your mind?"
"I'm still thinking about it," Bianca replied, uncertainty coloring her tone.
"Wait, thinking about what?" Percy said, unknowingly mirroring Penelope's thoughts.
"They… they've invited me to join the hunt." Bianca stated, glancing up at Penelope.
Zoë saw this and quickly cut in, "That invitation extends to you as well Penelope."
"What?" Penelope asked, struck dumb by Artemis' words.
"I agree," Artemis said resolutely, "Despite your parentage, you have proven yourself to be a brave maiden, and I would love for you to join my hunt."
Bianca thought for a moment, still clearly unsure as Percy spoke up, "But you can't! You have to come to Camp Half-Blood so Chiron can train you. It's the only way you can learn to survive."
"It is not the only way for a girl," Zoë said, her nose scrunching at the mention of Camp Half-Blood.
Percy glanced bewilderedly between Bianca, Penelope, and Zoë before pressing on, "Bianca, camp is cool! It's got a pegasus stable and a sword-fighting arena and… I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"
"To begin with, immortality." Zoë declared smugly.
"... She's kidding right?" Percy asked, staring at her, then Artemis.
"Zoë rarely kids about anything. My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal… unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely." Artemis claimed, "Or break their oath."
"What oath?" Percy asked.
"To foreswear romantic love for men forever, to never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally." She said, slyly glancing towards Bianca and Penelope at the 'for men' portion. Her slight adjustment to her normal speech drawing Zoë's attention, they shared a look for a moment before Percy commented.
"Like you?" He questioned, receiving a nod from Artemis.
Percy thought for a moment, his eyes glazing slightly before looking back towards the goddess. "So you just go around the country recruiting half-bloods-"
"Not just half-bloods, Lady Artemis does not discriminate by birth," Zoë said, sending a meaningful look towards Penelope, "All who honor the goddess may join. Half-bloods, nymphs, mortals-"
"Which are you then?" Percy asked tactlessly.
"That is not thy concern, boy." Zoë said, her irritation apparent, "The point is that Bianca and Penelope may join if they wish. It is their choice, not yours."
"Bianca this is crazy," Percy said. "What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter."
"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "But could Penny be a camper?" She riposted, striking Percy silent. "You can see him from time to time," Artemis continued assuringly, "But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counselors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Both of you will." She finished, including Penelope in her final statement.
"A new family," The pair mumbled dreamily, hope rising in Penelope's chest as she imagined her new family, one that she shared with Bianca.
"Bianca you can't do this, it's nuts." Percy tried, clearly losing the battle as Bianca turned towards Zoë.
"Is it worth it?" She asked.
"It is." Zoë declared resolutely.
Bianca turned to look back at Penelope, who squeezed her sides reassuringly before Bianca asked, "What do we have to do?"
"Say this," Zoë told them, "'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.'"
"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis." Their voices rang, Penelope's a little more confident than Bianca's.
Zoë nodded before continuing, "'I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.'"
The pair repeated the phrase, waiting for a moment before Bianca asked, "That's it?"
Zoë nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thine pledges, then it is binding."
"I accept them both," Artemis said calmly.
The flames in the brazier brightened, and a silver glow pulsed through the room. Penelope breathed in and her pupils dilated sharply, she felt stronger, more connected to the forest around her, her senses sharpened slightly, just enough to be noticeable.
"I feel… stronger." Bianca said, opening her eyes as she took a deep breath.
"Welcome sisters," Zoë said, a grin overtaking her face.
"Remember your pledge," Artemis warned, "It is now your life."
Percy was struck speechless, his eyes darkened slightly in disappointment as he looked down at his feet.
"Do not despair, Percy Jackson," Artemis comforted, "You will still get to show the di Angelos and Penelope your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there."
"Great, how are we supposed to get there?" Percy asked grumpily.
Artemis closed her eyes. "Dawn is approaching. Zoë, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother."
Zoë looked up sourly at Artemis, before nodding and gesturing at Bianca and Penelope to follow her, as they passed Percy, Bianca told him: "I'm sorry, Percy. But I want this. I really, really do."
Zoë, Penelope, and Bianca walked out of the tent, going first to a slightly larger tent, which held rows of silver bows and daggers on one side, and sets of silvery parkas and jeans. Zoë helped the two find a pair of their sizes; they then walked past a row of small, silver boxes. "Here," Zoë gestured to boxes, each small enough to pass for a pack of chewing gum. "You two will be sharing a tent unless thou have any objections?" Zoë said.
"Nope," Penelope grabbed one of the small boxes, feeling it for a moment. She could tell that there was some form of spatial manipulation involved, but couldn't really tell how or why. Zoë watched her in amusement as she tried to puzzle out the box.
"That will be thine tent, Penelope," Zoë told her, causing Penelope and Bianca to frown slightly.
"This box?" Bianca asked skeptically.
"If thee press down on one of the sides and toss it away it will expand into one of the tents we saw outside," Zoë revealed, causing Bianca's eyes to widen.
Penelope looked back down to the box in her hands and shrugged, setting it in her pocket. The trio then walked over to the rows of bows. Each of them was a tall recurve, there was a small variety of heights to the bows, but apart from that, they all shared the same silver look. They then walked over to the sets of silver hunting knives. The knives themselves had some subtle differences, some of them had longer handles or shorter blades, some exhibited slight curves while others had straight edges, they all shared two things though. Each knife had on paired to it, and all of them had a dull silvery sheen.
Zoë sized them to bows - Penelope had a slightly taller one than Bianca - and gestured towards the wide array of knives, telling them to pick a pair.
Penelope scoured the paired blades, eventually finding a slightly longer set that curved forward a little, similar to her claws. Bianca ended up choosing a set that featured a smaller handle, with a long straight blade. As soon as they made their selection their knives, and bow disappeared in their hands. Zoë explained: "The weapons of a Hunter only appear when called, focus on them and they should reappear."
Penelope focused slightly, imagining her bow appearing in her hands and soon she felt the cold silver of the bow. She watched Bianca do something similar with her knives. Penelope dismissed her bow with a thought and walked to where Zoë was standing, quickly followed by Bianca.
"It should be fine if I adjust the jacket a little right?" Penelope asked Zoë.
"Yes it is fine to make minor adjustments, but what is it that thee want to adjust?" Zoë asked, wondering what was so wrong with the jacket.
Penelope gestured back, waving her tail slightly and receiving an embarrassed blush from Zoë as she nodded. "Yes, I forgot that you may have different requirements... my apologies." Zoë bowed her head slightly and gestured for them to follow her out. As soon as they were outside the tent Zoë pulled a handle near the exit, collapsing the tent to a small box, before setting in a bag. Zoë snapped her finger, "Ah curses, I always forget something, remind me to fetch thee a quiver later, we are running late as it is."
The three of them walked outside, seeing Nico, Bianca walked towards him, speaking in hushed tones, leaving Penelope with Zoë as they watched Artemis and Percy talk. Penelope was about to step forward when Zoë grabbed her arm, "Cover thine eyes, tis not safe to watch as this god descends."
Penelope closed her eyes and saw color blooming in her lids, she quickly put a hand over them as well, blocking out most of the light.
"You may open thine eyes, Penelope," Zoë told her.
Penelope opened her eyes to see a fancy-looking car sitting in front of where Artemis and Percy stood. She wasn't really sure why it didn't have a roof but assumed there was probably a good reason for it. She saw a man walking forward, flashing them all a bright smile.
"Wow, Apollo is hot." Penelope heard Thalia say from her position next to Grover.
"He's the sun god," Percy mentioned.
"That's not what I meant."
"Little sister!" The man - Apollo called out, "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!" He claimed cheerfully, hugging Artemis briefly as he finished.
Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister."
"Hey, I was born first. We're twins, and I was born first! I helped mother birth you!"
"Agree to disagree, little sis," Apollo said, making Artemis growl. He continued quickly, "So what's up? Got the girls with you I see. You all need some tips on archery?"
"I need a favor." Artemis bit out, "I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."
Apollo agreed, before suddenly jerking his hands out dramatically, "I feel a haiku coming on."
The Hunters all groaned before Penelope's voice rang through the clearing. "What's a haiku?" She asked innocently, unintentionally causing everyone to look at her.
"What's a haiku? What's a haiku?!" He cried, his voice dripping with despair. "How can you… no! I must correct this inadequacy! Everyone should know what a haiku is! Even my sister's Hunters know what a haiku is! How do you not know what a haiku is?!" He questioned dramatically, stumbling his way over to where Penelope stood.
Penelope laughed a little at the crestfallen look on Apollo's face, before realizing he was serious. "... I don't know? I guess I just never learned?"
She watched as Apollo's eyes widened upon meeting her own, his mouth opening as he was about to continue his rant before Artemis suddenly cut in, "Brother, you should get going. These demigods will also require transportation." She said, gesturing to where Thalia, Percy, and Grover stood.
"Right, right." Apollo said absently, watching Penelope as he did so, "Penelope Potter?" He asked, suddenly serious, causing Penelope to tense. He looked at her for a moment, silent and unblinking before he suddenly sprung back into motion. "Well! Best we load up, huh? Ride only goes one way - west. And if you miss it, you miss it." He said cheerfully.
Penelope exhaled in relief as Apollo skipped back to his car, it never felt good to be under the scrutiny of a god. She watched as Apollo frowned suddenly, glancing around at the rather large group. "I hate to change out of sports car mode…" He muttered, before taking his car keys out, hitting a button. The car chirped and glowed brightly for a moment before a large bus took its place. "Right, everybody in."
Zoë ordered the Hunters to board the bus, each of them setting their bags in the space beneath the bus. "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that." Apollo said, grabbing for Zoë's bag.
"Brother," Artemis reprimanded sharply, "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."
Apollo apologized, stepping back and allowing each of the Hunters to stow their bags away. Penelope didn't have a bag, so she just set her silver parka and jeans on top of someone else's. She heard Artemis and Apollo talking behind her, but chose to ignore it in favor of standing next to Bianca.
"I will see you by the winter solstice." Penelope heard Artemis say, "Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."
"Yes, my lady," Zoë responded.
Artemis knelt and searched the ground for a moment, before rising with a troubled expression, "So much danger, the beast must be found." She sprinted off into the woods, before disappearing.
"So, who wants to drive?" Apollo asked suddenly, turning around and jangling his keys as he grinned.
A/N: Hello again everybody! Twilit Bakery here, to write another hundred words that nobody will read! Just kidding, I'm sure you guys read this... right? Anyway please review! I know that I am probably missing something, I don't know too much about bows or knives so if you want to help correct anything I may have said wrong please do! My grammar is also kind of 'eh,' and I'm a relatively new writer, so any feedback helps! Unless it's from a mic, because that kind of feedback just hurts.
I was originally going to write something witty here about my R&R in the summary that could be a lot of different things, like 'Read and Review' or 'Rest and Relax' or 'Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle!' (The third 'R' is silent.)
At any rate I hope you enjoyed my story, and hope your ready for more! I have a lot more free time on my hands now, (three guesses as to why...) so I'll be writing more. I kind of hated writing this chapter, because a lot of it is straight from the book... but it was kind of necessary to establish Penny in the story. Oh no... using necessary evils for the Greater Good... I'm turning into Dumbledore! I'm just kidding, this isn't going to be one of those fics, as much as I enjoy a bit of angst now and then I feel sick when I write it. The darkness... it's slowly poisoning my veins! SOON I SHALL BE THE ONE TRUE RULER OF FANFICTION!
... Anyway, now that I've sectioned off the corrupted section of my writing, I'll leave you with this: "What's a Hunter's least favorite fruit? The Boysenberry! Get it? 'Cause it has 'Boys' in it? I'm hilarious aren't I.