No POV
"Hestia?" the goddess in the form of a small girl heard the Hebe call from her palace. She immediately left the hearth unattended and flashed to the room she placed her niece on.
"Hestia, why am I in your home? It's a lovely place but I don't remember ever coming here." Hestia did not want to talk to Hebe, she had hoped Hebe would shrug it off and not ask any questions about the matter. She did not want to have to lie to her but if she deemed it necessary she would.
"I went to Apollo and found you sleeping in a bed. He seemed very stressed about it so I told him I would take you to my palace. Did you have a good nap?"
"Yes Hestia, although I don't know why I would ever need one. I haven't slept in centuries, I don't have the slightest idea what would get me so tired." Hestia had planned in advance to answer in half truths in effort to conceal the lie but Hebe was making it very difficult.
"When I got there you were already sleeping like a baby Hebe. You'd have to ask Apollo if you don't remember."
"Ok, thanks for letting me rest in your home Hestia. I better be getting back to Apollo, from the looks of it, it is noon already and he should have his hands full." Hestia placed her hand on Hebe's shoulder forcing her to stop.
"How are you feeling about staying in his palace Hebe? Has he been treating you with respect and like a brother?" Hebe had to stop to think for a second about what Hestia was asking her. Apollo was respectful to her and he did treat her like a sister even if he did tend to get easily annoyed.
"I know that he is supposed to look out for me and teach me as his punishment but I really do feel he is looking out for me like a real sister. Obviously, I don't have a frame of reference but I think Apollo is probably the best brother a goddess could ask for." Hestia seemed content with her answer and smiled before flashing away. Zeus had entrusted her to report how Hebe was doing with Apollo a few days after she convinced him to be a more loving father.
Hebe flashed away as well, Apollo was probably waiting for her and might be getting impatient she thought.
"Apollo! Sorry I'm late! I was actually asleep, might have even slept a few decades I don't really know!" The sun god flashed to his palace and tried to give his sister his signature 'I'm happy' smile. He was happy for her, he knew how miserable his sister was and Percy brought a little happiness in her life but he also had his own neck to worry about. If Zeus ever found out about Percy having his way with Hebe with Apollo in charge oh her, his father will most likely blame him for it and Apollo was already walking on eggshells.
"It's fine Hebe, even gods need a little sleep sometimes. You did not sleep long either, I understand completely." Hebe was happy to hear that, she had thought Apollo would be a little irritated but he said he understood so it was definitely the truth.
"Apollo, I came to check on our injured damsel in distress." Said another deity that had access to the sun god's palace. The goddess of youth immediately formed a frown when she recognized the voice. What does she want? She thought to herself.
Apollo had a different reaction, he panicked. Artemis bringing up Percy could totally ruin the plan to keep Hebe's memories suppressed and that was not good. Luckily for him, after many years of only being able to say the truth made him really good with words.
"Umm, hi sis. Percy is no longer in my room." Said the sun god with a semi robotic voice. That was the truth, for all he knew Percy immediately mist traveled out of his brother's house a few hours ago.
"What you mean is you don't know where Perseus is? Oh sorry, I forgot you were a giant idiot. What about you Hebe, surely you must know where Percy is, after all you were looking after him." Artemis looked directly at Hebe and Apollo felt his fate being sealed. Fortunately for him Hera was really good at taking memories so Hebe barely remembered anything useful. The only thing she remembered clearly was that she needed to know more about demigods.
"Percy? I don't know who you're talking about. Wait you mean my brother Perseus? The one that fought Kronos?"
"What? No, yes. I'm talking about Percy Jackson, the camper I dragged in here yesterday? Wait…" Artemis held her hand up stopped breathing. "I can sense him in my domain." Artemis stood in thought for a few seconds and flashed away in front of the other deities.
"Percy… why is Artemis looking for her Apollo? And why did she say I was looking after this damsel?" Apollo felt his world crumble. Why Fates, what did I ever do to deserve this? I beg of you...
"Apollo!" Someone shouted. Apollo had not heard this voice in his palace for a few centuries. This new voice was clearly in agony but Apollo could not help but be happy since it interrupted his conversation with Hebe. He turned around to see his other half sister breathing heavily and barely holding herself together.
"Whoa Athena! What happened to you?" The goddess fell on her knees and held her belly pressing the armor against her body. On her front piece were three lined up medium sized holes and her ichor dripped on the palace's floor.
"Poseidon… practice … powerful..." Athena coughed a large amount of ichor and collapsed. Apollo realizing how serious the situation was flashed her to a room, rushed to her and hummed a song of healing to keep her stable while Hebe just spectated.
Apollo did his best to treat his half sister, he used all of the power at his disposal and bandaged her up nicely to close her wounds. He did not want her to die just because the Fates decided to play favorites and saved his neck for the time being. After doing all he could for Athena he backed away and stood next to his half-sister.
"Poseidon is really strong, probably as strong as father. Athena must be in horrible pain even after everything you've done for her, is there anything I can do to help ease it Apollo?" Apollo knew Hebe would not be of much help, she was a novice at healing and as powerful as she was, she would not be able to heal another goddess, at least not yet. In addition he already did everything that had to be done, the pain Athena was experiencing was part of the healing process and would only last a few hours.
"Athena is going to be completely healed in a few days Hebe, don't worry too much about it. I will say that Athena fighting Poseidon was not a very good idea though, Athena should have seen this coming from the start." Apollo paused to look at Hebe. Like he expected, Hebe had her thinking face on.
"Poseidon gets carried away too easily with his power, it doesn't help that his fighting style is undisciplined and erratic either. The fact Athena relies on finding patterns and inventing counter strategies only makes it that much difficult for her. Only trouble could come out of their sparring and Athena should have avoided it." Apollo shook his head and rubbed his temples and groaned as he remembered something.
"Oh by the fates, I have to leave Hebe. I have an important meeting with someone and it cannot be postponed. Keep constant watch over Athena and don't hesitate to call for me if something happens."
"Ok, I won't move from this chair." Hebe created a chair out of thin air and sat down next to the goddess of crafts. Apollo nodded and flashed away to meet a mortal he looked after. Hebe stayed with Athena watching over her for a couple of hours until the injured goddess woke up. A soon as she opened her eyes she saw the wide eyes of the goddess of truth looking directly at hers, much to Athena's discomfort.
"Umm Hebe."
"Yes Athena?"
"Were you watching over me all this time?" Hebe nodded with pride and placed her hand over her shoulder stopping Athena from trying to sit up.
"No, that wound is very serious and not completely healed yet. I'm no expert but from the looks of it you were injured by Poseidon's symbol of power and the trident causes heavy damage that is hard to fix even for Apollo. Stand up and you might undo all the work Apollo did for you." Athena relaxed back on her bed and looked at the young goddess. She never really talked to her and the situation was making her feel uneasy.
"So Hebe, umm you like working with Apollo?" Athena asked Hebe in a desperate attempt to start a conversation.
"Yes, he is really good at his job and I learn a lot." Again the conversation reached a dead end and Athena tried hard to make it less awkward.
"I might not be a goddess of healing but if you have any questions about anything feel free to ask me. I know pretty much everything about anything." Athena told her but felt bad when she realized how arrogant she sounded. Hebe scratched her chin and tilted her head to Athena before talking.
"Anything?" Athena felt her uneasiness intensify and gulped. She really did not want to talk about some things with Hebe, specially if they were sexual. Not only was she a maiden goddess but she didn't know Hebe that well to talk about intimate subjects. Carefully, Athena nodded and hoped for the best.
"Can you tell me everything you know about demigods." Athena felt like the weight of the sky was lifted from her shoulders. She gathered her thoughts and focused on Hebe's questions.
"I know that they are mortal children of gods and goddesses but what do they even do? Heracles talked about it all the time when we first got married but I never really paid attention, I didn't want to contribute to his ego. I know I had a few mortal brothers but I don't really keep track of them. I only know that they live in a camp, are heroes and wear orange shirts..." Athena was glad Hebe wanted to learn. Maybe teaching Hebe while I'm here will help me pass the time a lot easier.
"Most demigods don't really live on the camp, they only stay there during the summer but they can stay there if they want to for their safety-"
"Safety from monsters?"
"Correct, they usually train with each other but Chiron used to be their main instructor when it came to basic skills. There have been some changes recently but it is pretty much the same. Anyway, all campers must be trained in various weapons but if their parentage is strong they can just focus on one."
"Like children of Apollo becoming archers."
"Exactly, they usually go on groups of threes on journeys called quests that are given by fate itself through the Oracle of Delphi. There, they must prove their worth and return to camp whether they are successful or not."
"What happens if they aren't successful?" Athena wondered for a second and realized very few demigods have come back to camp after failing their quests, probably because if you failed you were most likely dead.
"Nothing really, you'll just have to keep doing them until you succeed. Frankly very few demigods ever fail, most of their quests are reasonable enough. Besides, the majority of their tests are of their character, not their fighting skills. They certainly do help keep you alive though."
"They sound almost fun." Hebe said, she regretted it when she realized Athena probably had children that have died on their quests.
"I know right? Too bad our children are mortal and if they die they don't reform. What seems like a dodgeball game for us ends up being nothing but a cruel war to them." Athena saddened but didn't get angry at Hebe since she thought the same way about quests. Hebe relaxed at Athena's response and asked her final questions.
"Artemis came looking for someone called Percy a few seconds before you arrived. Do you know anything about that?" Athena raised an eyebrow. Artemis actually looking for Percy? This is interesting, she must be up to something.
"No, I am as intrigued as you are. I figured Artemis would have dumped him here and oh wait, she did say she had to tell him something important yesterday." Hebe nodded and scratched her head. She thought Percy was a girl and Athena referring to Percy as him just made her more confused as to why Artemis was looking for a boy. A few seconds passed before Hebe launched her next question.
"He's a boy demigod right?" Athena looked back at her sister suspiciously and nodded.
"Aren't you interacting with him too much? I mean Father said to keep our distance between mortals and ourselves didn't he?" Athena frowned and tried to sit up only to find out she literally could not. The bandages Apollo placed on her were a little too tight.
"Well, he was given partial immortality by a god and we can interact with immortals more freely, you know like Artemis and her hunters. The main reason we couldn't interact with our children before was because they were likely to die, Zeus ordered it to prevent us grief. It's a bit different now, ever since the wars ended their life expectancy increased and Zeus became more lenient in regards to most matters." Hebe nodded in understanding and scratched her head.
"That still does not explain why she was looking for a boy. Artemis is known to be super crabby and man hating, her worrying about a boy is well ... weird."
"Well Perseus is no ordinary demigod, just yesterday he defeated Ares in a duel and I am pretty sure he is good friends with her lieutenant."
"He bested Ares in combat and he's good friends with Artemis' eternal maiden hunter? No offense Athena but that sounds a little made up." Athena laughed but winced when her breathing like that started to put pressure on her wounds.
"I do love a good story but I'm telling you the truth Hebe. Percy has done the impossible again and again. Just a few months ago he made himself a friend of a Titan and Giant, they helped him get out of Tartarus."
"Get out." Hebe joked. "A demigod that has gotten out of Tartarus and even impressed you? I find it hard to believe that you are the fierce warrior Athena." Athena frowned a bit but ended up smiling at her half sister. She realized she was actually having a good time. Hebe was like a sponge that soaked all the information she had to give. Like a real little sister… she thought. Never really had one of those. I should keep records of our future conversations.
"Not really praising, more like recognizing his strength and resolve. However I will agree that he did manage to impress me a few times, even when he was just a twelve year old seaweed brain." Hebe raised an eyebrow and looked at her sister.
"What do you mean seaweed brain? How old is he now?" Athena looked at her half sister curiously and smiled.
"Well Hebe, seeing as I'm going to be here for a while how about I just tell you most of his story?" Hebe thought about it for a second before nodding and pulled her chair closer to the bed.
"You know about the first great prophecy and the Gaea war?" Hebe made a funny face and moved her head in a semi nod.
"Just that we won both… and umm that father ordered gods like me to hide." She said softly and very ashamed. She was not a fighter so the power she did possess usually went to waste, one of the many reasons she wanted to learn how to heal.
"No matter, I'll tell you everything you need to know. For starters, the second Titanomachy started when a resentful son of Hermes stole our father's master bolt."
Sharon POV
As soon as I finished eating I stepped out of the dinning pavilion to find more campers to train with. The past few days have been so boring, the training was incredibly easy to do. Since I am a first year camper, the commander for training called Jim put me against twelve year olds that could barely hold a sword properly. The first few battles were really fun but now it feels like the camp is wasting my time.
"Good morning Sharon," said a brown haired girl with bright green eyes. This girl was called Katie, a daughter of Demeter. She wore a plain pair of jeans and a typical camp half blood shirt that was little too big for her that kind of hid her figure.
"Hi commander, good morning to you too." I replied. I knew that I had to be respectful since she carried a green commander badge. She was no warrior but she was a support commander and her word carried weight in the council.
"Are you fitting in the camp nicely? Personally I love this new system Annabeth thought of, don't you?" She placed her hands on her hips and looked at me expectantly. I did not really know the old system personally but everyone else seems to like the new one better and I really don't mind it. I only wished I was put in a better class and matched against tougher opponents so that I could see how strong Percy's blessing really made me.
"It's okay. I just thought I would not be placed in the lowest class."
"Well you're a daughter of Aphrodite and she is no warrior. Besides, it is your first year, all first year campers except for children of the big three, Ares and Athena have to do the most basic training."
"I know but I was claimed by Percy too and he was a warrior. The practice is also too easy for me, that should count for something no?" Katie moved her head a bit and nodded.
"Yeah, that's true. How did I… I remember. I'll have a word with Jim right now." As if decreed by fate Jim was passing by and Katie grabbed him by the arm with a very tight grip.
"Jim, why is Sharon in basic training. She was claimed with Percy Jackson and she says the class is too easy." Jim looked stunned for a second and then shook his head. Katie let go of his arm and placed her hands on her hips again.
"She was… but Percy was not a god Katie. She can't skip basic training, we have rules to follow." Katie looked like she was slapped across her face and glared at Jim with hatred. Jim must have noticed because he lifted his palms and took a step back.
"I think I can make an exception this time though, if she can keep up with an intermediate camper I will see what I can do. Make her fight for an early graduation, sound good?" Katie did an 'eh' face and gleamed at me.
"Think you can handle it Sharon?" I nodded and unsheathed Ripples. Jim looked around and pointed at the boy that escorted me to the big house about a week ago. The one that didn't open the door for me and had a punchable face. This was not going to be difficult at all, having to fight him was just going to make my victory all the more sweeter.
"Axel, have a sparring match with Sharon here." The boy nodded and looked at the rest of us uneasily. I could just imagine how confused he was with what was going on.
"Good, now pull out your sword." He pulled out a small sword and immediately started his attack. He tried to close the distance between us since he had a smaller sword but I knew better. I kept my distance and sure enough after only a minute he was pushed back. His sword was too small and he was obviously untrained. The only reason he was in the intermediate class was because he was a son of Ares not because he was any good. His attacks were very sloppy, he should be the one in basic training not me.
After he realized he was going to lose he started swinging his sword with no clear skill, just waving it out there hoping it would hit me. I easily dodged him and managed a chuckle that just seemed to get him angry. In a desperate attempt to get revenge on me or whatever, he used both of his arms to swing at full force but I easily dodged him again and lazily moved my sword to his neck. The boy dropped his sword in defeat and looked back at Jim.
"Sorry commander. She was a lot better than I thought." Jim nodded and signaled him to pick up his sword. He then signaled Axel away and turned to look at me.
"Well Jim? Are you going to promote her or what? I'm no great warrior but that battle seemed heavily one sided on Sharon's favor." My commander scratched his chin and shook his head.
"She is good, a lot better than most new campers but that fight didn't tell me much. Axel was not that good and he lost his temper easily. Let me put her against a much better opponent to see how good she really is." He then drew his sword and tried to stare me down. I realized he meant himself so I gripped Ripples tightly and started going at my teacher. I tried to disarm him with a cool technique I somehow knew but he was always just fast enough to avoid it. It was obvious that he had that much more practice than me and new what I was trying to do.
"Not bad Sharon, you clearly know a few things but I'm still not sure how good you really are." That really confused me, I knew our commander was supposed to be the best swordsman on the camp but he still couldn't determine how good I was? I took a deep breath and readjusted my sword.
"Sorry Sharon, this is the only way I can think of to properly test your power." Jim then launched at me, slicing at me significantly faster than the Axel boy I mopped the floor with. My hands listened to my every command and blocked every single one of his strikes the moment I saw them coming. I seemed to be doing fine until he started swinging his sword faster and harder.
Jim continued his assault and slowly escalated in power. I knew what I had to do but my body was moving too slow for me as if it was dumb and unresponsive. I found myself remembering what Percy said about training. He gave me some of his knowledge, power and skills but without physical training my body will never be fast nor strong enough to use them.
I was getting angry at myself, I knew that Jim was the commander for a reason but I refused to let myself lose even to him. Without realizing it I extended my left arm and splashed some water on his face. This distracted him enough that it made him miss a strike and I directed my sword right at his chest. The world around me seemed to stop moving and I could only see his eyes widen as the tip of my sword reached him. I wanted to stop it but again my body was not fast enough. My eyes widened in horror as I saw my blade reach his chest and again when my blade cut through his shirt but splashed like water and then reformed itself.
I opened my mouth as he stood perfectly unharmed since my sword turned to water at its tip and refused to kill him. Now don't get me wrong I was incredibly happy that he didn't die but it bothered me. I thought my weapon was supposed to be incredibly deadly and special. To find that it turned into harmless water when it hit a person was kind of disappointing. Does it only work on monsters or something?
"I did not know that my body suit could do that." Jim said. Jim touched his chest and looked under his cut but surprisingly dry shirt to make sure he was not hurt. He touched his silky undershirt and then scratched his head. He was clearly as confused as me, the only one that seemed to understand what was going on was Katie.
"This must be because Sharon's sword is made from the same material as your armor…" Katie nodded at her own remark and then slowly walked away. Jim looked at me questioningly and then gave me one strong nod.
"Sharon from now on you will train with the advanced group. You were really good, a little more practice and you'll be able to hold your own against my true power." Jim gave me one short nod and then walked towards the group of first year campers I once belonged with. His true power? Does that mean he was holding back in our fight? If he was then why wasn't he able to stop my attack?
Regardless, I turned to look around for the advanced group but couldn't really find it. I walked behind Jim until I noticed Percy's ex-girlfriend training along with nearby older students.
"Mind if I train with you?" Allie turned around and eyed me with suspicion. She wore typical camper clothes except she always had a grayish vest over her camp shirt.
"No, I could actually use a training partner." I grinned and extended my hand forwards. I had been dying to introduce myself to her but I never really had a chance. I was seriously hoping I didn't mess up and that she liked me or things would have been super weird.
"My name is Sharon Jones." Allie glanced at me, then at my sword and then back at me. She probably knew about my sword as well, it was like I was the only person who did not know anything about it.
"My name is Allie Clark. You know how to use knives?" Allie handed me two knives and I grabbed them. They were not as comfortable as my sword but I could tell they were to be my fast weapon of choice and I needed some of those ASAP.
"Sure, how hard can it be." Allie raised an eyebrow and chuckled a bit. She told me a bit about how to use knives and jokes about she being cursed. We were actually having a good time practicing our knife techniques but that's when she turned serious all of a sudden.
"Percy is alive right Sharon?" Allie gave me a stern look and watched as I didn't answer. It was the perfect plan, if I answered she would know that I am lying and if I didn't that just meant I she was right. Allie was very clever.
"It's okay Sharon, you don't have to answer. Sometimes silence speaks." Allie gave me a bright smile and I smiled too. She knew and I didn't have to break my promise, it felt so good.
Turned out I was actually good with knives, better than Allie and apparently she practices knives nonstop. Anyway, I took it easy with her and didn't let myself get caught in the moment like with Jim. I was never really competitive or had instincts to kill, it was simply not me.
After what seemed like an hour I heard a kid run behind me. He dragged out Chiron and Annabeth out of the Big house and they look worried. I walked over to Chiron, avoiding Annabeth's disapproving look, and asked him what was going on.
"Don't worry about Sharon. A few campers have arrived from their quests, that is all." Even though I didn't believe him I nodded and ran back to spar with Allie. I heard Annabeth call for a camper and a minute later they walked back with three young campers.
"What did you ask him?" Allie asked me.
"Oh nothing, I asked what was going on since they seemed in a hurry. He said it was nothing important." Allie nodded and we sparred until dinner. She invited me over to the Poseidon table and hesitantly I agreed. I knew that he was Percy's father but I was not sure he would be happy about me sitting in his table.
I sat down and nothing happened. I made sure to offer my mom food as well as Percy's father. If I was going to be invading his table this was the least I could do.
I talked with Allie about her family and we also talked about mine. I had so much to say about my dad and my aunty but I stopped myself and only talked about my mom's side of the family. Last thing I wanted was to reveal more information to Allie and the gods finding out.
Dinner soon ended and I offered Poseidon some more food as a thank you for not blasting me or Allie. She told me not to worry about it because "Percy would never forgive his father if anything happened to us as long as we properly respect the lord of the seas," but I was not totally convinced until he spoke on my mind.
Family of Percy is family of mine Sharon.
Hearing him say that certainly calmed me down. I was not really Percy's family but I guess Poseidon knew and still agreed to whatever my mom did. Thank you Lord Poseidon.
I stepped out of the pavilion to find a redhead waiting for us. She was Rachel the oracle, I would have been happy to see her because I knew she was a friend of Percy if it wasn't for the grim look on her face.
"Rachel, is there anything you need?" Allie asked her.
"No Allie, it's her I need to talk to." Rachel pointed at me and from her eyes green smoke started coming out. I never experienced this first hand but thanks to Percy I knew what it meant. I was going on a quest.
Percy POV
"So you are basically a rogue demigod now?" Thalia asked.
"Not exactly. I still am Nemesis' champion and I can't really piss off your dad without being branded a traitor of Olympus." I shrugged my arms and looked at Thalia. She had her arms crossed and was looking at me with suspicion.
"I have a funny feeling you're aren't telling me everything." She finally said. I played it cool and feigned confusion. I had told her everything that's been going on except for the lust thing I have going on since I kinda had it under control now and the sex stuff because that would make her uncomfortable with she being a hunter and everything.
"Maybe it's because I missed a few details? I can't remember everything you know."
"Sure," she said with clear disbelief. "What are you going to do now? And what's with that stupid tank top?" I looked down at my clothes and laughed. They were definitely not my style and actually quite embarrassing, almost like whoever put it on me hated my guts.
"I actually don't know Thalia, when I woke up I was at Tyson's place and this clothes were on me. I bet I look pretty funny with this clothes and me being in this body." I chuckled and noticed Thalia struggling not to laugh.
"That's an understatement." Thalia bursted out laughing and I soon followed. Sure she was making fun of me but this tank top was really bad, besides what kind of person would I be if I could not laugh at my silliness.
"Ooh! I hadn't laughed like that in ages." Thalia finally managed to say and slowly stopped laughing. The hunters were probably listening to every part of our conversation so we had to get serious or else they might think bad of Thalia. There was already that thing about me being Thalia's secret lover, gods know where that came from, and that was too much gossip already. I don't need more drama in my life.
"In all seriousness Percy, when I thought you were dead… I would never forgive my father if he ever did that." Thalia looked sad but then smiled at me. I could imagine her face when she heard I was dead and knew that she was being truthful. If I was ever told Thalia was killed by any god I would never forgive them either, probably even try to kill him. It was nice to know Thalia felt the same way.
"Me too Thalia, if anything happens to you... you are one of the remaining good things in my life. If anyone ever took you away- "
"Percy please stop, you're giving me diabetes." Thalia showed me the palm of her hand as if to stop and then smirked. I chuckled a bit as well, Thalia was really one of a kind.
"Are you going to stay for dinner? We're probably having stag today, they seem to be everywhere here." I would have loved to stay with Thalia a bit longer but Artemis did say to make it quick and staying to dine was not quick, besides those hunters probably won't be too happy about it.
"I'm fine Thalia, besides I'm not really hungry." It was at that precise moment my stomach betrayed me, it turned into a whale and started singing the song of its people. That will definitely go on to my memory as one of my most embarrassing moments ever.
"It seems like your stomach disagrees with you Percy." Thalia laughed again and stood up to exit the tent. I followed behind her, I did not want to stay in one of these tents alone. I heard the hunters can shrink them down so I could theoretically be trapped inside one and I won't be able to come out ever again.
"Hunters, Percy will be having dinner with us." Like I assumed they were all near Thalia's tent, probably eavesdropping on our conversation. One of the many reasons I avoided speaking about sexual content. Anyway to my surprise they did not complain, a couple of them groaned but they were pretty cool about it, for the most part.
"Thalia are you sure Lady Artemis won't get mad with you?" Asked the girl named Naomi. Thalia shrugged her shoulders and walked towards her.
"Artemis knows everything that goes on in the camp Naomi. If she had anything against it she would have flashed in already. Besides, she owes me." Naomi looked at me and smiled. I wonder what happened to her so she would want to join the hunters. She was clearly not scared or angry at men so it must be something besides the usual.
"Oh come on Thalia. Don't make him sit with us and if you do he better not sit next to me cause if he looks at me in a bad way I swear I cutting off his ba-" Sure enough this girl had some bad experiences with men. Nemesis let me know that she stabbed her father when she caught him trying to screw her best friend about two years ago. After that she ran away only to be almost raped by a group of local thugs. Little did they know she was in no happy mood and still had that knife so she managed to cut off their balls and cried until Artemis rescued her. She has made it her mission in life to cut the balls off men like her father. That is some hardcore mission in life, no wonder she is like that all tough on the outside.
"Oh for my father's sake Daphne! You won't be sitting next to him, Naomi and I will." I turned to look at the little girl and she just shrugged.
The hunters got to work and I took a good look at them and tried to figure out their parenthood. There was Thalia obviously then there was Ellen from Ares, Chloe from Apollo, Daphne from Aphrodite, Serena from Athena, Naomi from mortal parents and the rest I did not actually knew the names of. However I did know that there were two daughters of Hermes, a daughter of Demeter? No, daughter of Ceres, a legacy of Mars, a legacy of Athena, one water and one plant based nymph and the last three girls were also mortals.
After just a few minutes they came back with the deer and started doing this ritualistic skinning and clearing of its guts. They methodically prepared its meat and after just thirty minutes they had cooked it all in an open fire. They sat down on logs around the fire and offered a large portion of the food to Artemis. The girls gathered their food on silver plates and then looked at me expectantly.
"Well? Are you going to get food or do you want me to feed you?" said Ellen.
"I appreciate the thought Ellen but I can feed myself." I grabbed one of their plates and grabbed some of the meat. It was actually not bad, it did not have any condiments or other stuff added but it did not really need it.
"So Percy Jackson what were you talking about with Thalia?" I finished my bite and looked at Serena.
"You mean you weren't listening?" The girl gave me an annoyed look and gently put her plate down. I on the other hand took another bite and swallowed as much food as possible, the fight with Nemesis had left me hungry.
"We don't keep secrets in the hunt. We have no reason to spy on your conversation with Thalia since she is going to tell us anyway." I turned to Thalia and she gave me an 'I'm sorry' look. It was fine though, I don't have much to hide.
"Well I just talked about what happened since I left camp. You know, being blessed by your mother, and by Aphrodite. Nemesis making me her champion, killing a fair amount of monsters and training with Ares. Nothing too special." Serena looked convinced so she nodded. She grabbed her plate and continued to eat, no aggression there.
"My mom blessed you? What could her blessing ever help you with? She is no warrior, I might as well be a daughter of mortals." The girl munched on her food angrily and turned to look at me. "So? Are you going to tell me or what?"
"Well, it helped keep my identity secret from demigods. Having distinct green eyes makes me too easy to recognize."
"So you're avoiding demigods?" said a mortal hunter I did not know the name of.
"Yes and no. What your name again? I don't think I ever got it."
"My name is Kayla, I don't have godly parents, I'm a regular human hunter." I nodded and continued.
"Anyway, I don't avoid them I just don't want them to recognize me. Direct orders from Zeus, he wants the campers to keep thinking that I'm dead." I remembered the bitter memory of Aphrodite telling me that and felt the sadness resurge within me. How was it possible they forgot everything I ever did for them? I didn't deserve to be wished for dead by those who I considered family for just one mistake.
I finished my food and sat in silence between Thalia and Naomi. The rest of the hunters must have noticed how I was feeling because I grabbed myself some more food and they just kept silent. I looked at the sky and noticed it was getting dark. Today felt like the longest day ever. It was hard to believe that I visited Tyson, helped a daughter of a spirit of violent death with her quest, fought for my life against a goddess' true form who was possessed by a primordial and dined with Artemis' hunters all in the course of one day.
"It's getting late Thalia, thank you for everything. I had a great time here but-" Suddenly someone flashed into the hunters camp. She was a goddess but it was not Artemis, this goddess had fair skin and a long braid full of poppies and roman armor.
"Mother!" A hunter said. "You honor us with your presence." The goddess turned to look at the brown haired hunter and raised her eyebrow.
"Karleen, I was not aware you had joined Diana and her little huntresses." Karleen frowned and apparently corrected her mother.
"It's Artemis mother and I am a hunter not a huntress. I had no choice but to leave New Rome with all the new changes." This was certainly interesting, I'd have to ask Zeus or Jupiter if it was okay to visit New Rome, Jason and the rest of the seven that were there, I wanted to see them again. I was also curious to see what changes Karleen was talking about.
"I see... well regardless I approve of your decision Karleen. Diana will train you to be a strong warrior, I am sure of it."
"Thank you mother, I'm glad you approve." The hunter gave her a short bow and sat back on her seat. The goddess smiled at her daughter and then looked directly at me.
"I would love to say this is a friendly visit hunters but I am to bring that boy with me." The goddess pointed at me and signaled me to stand up. I was not expecting that, I had no idea what this Roman goddess needed me for, I never even crossed words with her.
"May I ask what you need Percy for Lady-" Thalia started to ask but was interrupted.
"No Thalia, this is a personal matter." The goddess walked to me and firmly placed her hands on my shoulder. She leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear, "You're in trouble Percy Jackson." With the snap of her fingers she flashed both of us away.
Wow, poor Apollo can never catch a break. As soon as he leaves Hebe asks Athena about Percy LOL. Anyways, do you guys like when I make chapters like this? When it explains a little bit of what goes on with other people on an event that already took place? (Like the Allie POV) I think it helps build the world on a deeper level. As always I'm taking suggestions so feel free to tell me what you think. :)