Hello to everyone and happy new year!
I hope 2017 brings you and your loved ones whatever you desire most! And health and happiness and all!
So, new chapter is here!
I want to thank everyone for reviewing and stuff! Really guys! It means a lot!
Anyway, one small note, there is a probability that the 16th chapter to be delayed, because I might refresh all the chapters and polish them, or maybe add stuff, but don't worry,i will keep you updated!
So, please enjoy!
And tell me what you think!
Nico
I shadow traveled us all in the battlefield, and the moment we appeared I noticed two things.
First, that the monsters army was quite large and second I sensed a presence of a powerful being, and the others must have felt it too, because they immediately looked uneasy.
"What can that be?" asked Jason.
"I don't know, but we can kill it together!" I said, perhaps a bit too optimistically,and Piper nodded. We parted, Jason and me to the new enemy and Piper to help the front lines.
We battled our way through Cyclops, earthborns, empousai and many more, and what awaited us was almost terrifying.
Echidna, the mother of all monsters was here, with Chimera. This was not looking good.
We both stopped dead on our tracks.
"We can do this!" I said to Jason.
"Can we? Even Percy didn't defeat her!" he remarked, not quite something I wanted to hear right now.
"Not helping, we need a plan!" I hissed, as I stabbed a telkhine.
"Deal with Chimera first! Split and hit!" he commanded and I nodded.
"Echidna! Your time is here!" I yelled over the sound of the battle.
The mother of all monsters turned to us.
"A son of Jupiter and a son of Hades!" she said. "My boy will feast greatly today!" and with that Chimera leaped on me.
At the last second I shadow traveled behind her and tried to cut of its snake tail, but Chimera was smart and simply retracted it into its body.
As it turned Jason came flying and kicked it in the head, only for the snake tail to grab its foot and slam him hard to the ground.
"You are the Heroes of Olympus? Pathetic!" Echidna roared with laughter. The Chimera snorted fire, as if in agreement.
We needed to find its weak spot.
I was thinking furiously, while I was distracting the monster from Jason who still groaned from the impact. I was dodging the attacks, but I was tiring, and the Chimera would eventually gain the upper hand.
Then it clicked.
"Piper! A little help would be great!" I called, dodging yet another spray of fire.
She came running, slicing a dracaena in half as it tried to cut her off.
"Make it sleep! Or open its mouth!" I yelled as I tried to stab its eyes, but Chimera was faster sent me into a tree with a swipe of its paw.
I groaned, pain surging over me. I had probably bruised a few ribs, if not broken.
I tried to sit up only to find Chimera running at full speed towards me. My sword was out of reach, and I was out of options.
"STOP!" yelled Piper, in a final attempt to save me, making every monster and demigod on the field freeze in their positions, deadly silence spreading in a moment.
But the Chimera didn't stop and I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst.
But instead of pain, I felt something flying past me and a familiar sound that I thought I would never hear again. The sound of a pen transforming into a sword, followed by the Chimera's agonized roar.
I opened my eyes just in time to see it, with Riptide stuck in its mouth, turning to dust as it fell to the ground.
That meant one thing.
"NO ONE HURTS MY FAMILY!" yelled Percy Jackson as he whirled, Riptide held at the ready..
We were all too stunned to move.
Percy was alive and here. And he'd saved me, yet again.
"NO, MY SON! I WILL DESTROY YOU!" yelled Echidna, the smug look melting off her face as she revealed her true form.
Her body transformed into a snake-like one, her face transformed, fangs in her mouth, bright green eyes full of blood-lust and scaly skin.
"This ends now! BEGONE!" yelled Percy. Awed, I watched as some monsters actually turned tail and fled at the sound of his voice.
But Echidna rushed Percy.
Bare handed, he met her attack.
"You will pay son of Poseidon!" she shrieked as she tried to claw him, but he just ducked and now was behind her.
"I'm also Hero of the Hunt," he added, deceptively calm,, countering with a strike from Riptide, and in an instant, Echidna was no more.
Silence around the battlefield.
"Well done,Perseus!" said a female voice behind me, and I turn to see Lady Artemis. "You remembered your position."
Percy just grinned.
Then he looked around to the demigods and the monsters, who were all looking at him.
"Romans, we have some monsters to slay!" he yelled and raised his sword. The reply was a battle cry from the Romans who attacked with renewed force and will.
Monsters on the other side scattered under the strength of their attack..
In five minutes the battle was over.
Jason was on his feet, next to Piper, and I was given some ambrosia and was starting to feel better.
We were all waiting for him, to talk to him. But right now the Roman camp had once more taken him in their shoulders, shouting his name and taking him to the city. He looked massively uncomfortable, but grudgingly allowed them to have their moment of elation at his expense.
"Come, heroes," Lady Artemis said, who was left behind with us, attending to some wounded warriors and flashed us away.
We appeared in Lady Artemis, no, Diana's cabin.
"What happened?" I asked, eager to know.
"All in time, rest until he arrives" she instructed and left us alone. The cabin doors closed with a slam.
"Always with the dramatic entrances and exits," commented Jason. "Gods."
"You wish you could be that dramatic!" I answered back and we both laughed, while Piper just rolled her eyes.
After some time Percy appeared, with Frank, Hazel and Reyna surrounding him.
"Hey guys! What's up?" he asked casually, as if he hadn't just showed up alive in the middle of a battle having been presumed dead.
That guy!
"Hey, bro!" Jason said, and walked up to him for a 'bro' hug, as they called it.
"Percy!" said Piper as she hugged and then kissed him on the cheek.
"Nico?" asked Percy once he was in front of me, waiting expectantly.
I stared at him for a moment, and then, as he started to smile, punched him in the face.
"If you ever get captured so stupidly again I will kill you myself," I warned him and then relaxed, smirking at him as he brought his hand up to his jaw. "But it's good to have you back."
"Thanks, I guess," he said, rubbing at his face. "It's good to be back."
The he looked around at us.
"Do I have something on me?" he asked, running his hand over his face. I rolled my eyes..
"They're waiting for a story!" Artemis commented as she appeared behind us, "And so are the Hunters!" She said, and Percy paled.
Percy
Killing Chimera and Echidna finally closed one of the last open matters I had with the monsters I have encountered in all these years, and I was starting getting used to this sense of completion.
After that, for the second time, the Romans took me in their hands and we all went to New Rome to celebrate yet another victory.
The moment Frank, Hazel and Reyna saw me was one of the highlights. I hadn't seen them in so long, but it seemed that beyond growing more mature, they hadn't changed much.
After I caught up with some of my fellow warriors from the cohort, I heard Artemis calling me to her cabin, instructing me to take the three heroes with me.
We arrived and there was a new round of welcoming back from Jason, Piper and Nico. It was mostly heartwarming…and a bit painful from that last friend.
And after that, there was silence, and all the attention was on me. I swallowed nervously.
"Do I have something on me?" I asked, trying to ease the tension by scrubbing my face.
"They're waiting for a story!" Artemis said, as she appeared from the hallway.
Of course they are, I thought.
"And so are the Hunters!".
Oh my Gods. I am screwed. I had almost forgotten about them. They were going to kill me.
"Don't be a child" Artemis commented laughing at my horrified expression.
Yeah, it's not a big deal. They will probably just cut off a few limbs, My brain screamed. Thanks brain!
So I started telling my story, Artemis staying with us, even though she had already heard it.
When I mentioned Annabeth Piper sobbed and found comfort in Jason's arms.
When I finished my story she rushed to embrace me
"You did the best you could, for her and you," she told me.
Jason came and looked straight into my eyes, one hand on my shoulder, the other extended for a handshake.
"You're the strongest man I've ever met," he told me truthfully. "I'm here if you ever want to talk about anything." he said.
I just nodded. I wasn't ready to talk yet, but his offer was appreciated.
Hazel, Frank and Reyna each gave me a hug. The last one surprised me, but also gave me some strength I needed.
Nico was last.
He came to me and stood in front of me.
"I can't know what exactly you went through, or even imagine," he said. "But I'll do anything I can to help." Then he hugged me also.
It was too emotional to see my friends and how much they cared about me.
"Thank you all! Really! I don't know what to say!"
They all nodded, Frank and Jason gave a thumbs up awkwardly, as unsure as I was about how to deal with emotion.
"You should be getting back to camp," Artemis reminded us, as we all stood around staring at each other.
"You guys coming?" I asked.
Nico, Jason and Piper agreed, but Frank, Hazel and Reyna had to stay since an attack had happened only hours before.
We appeared on the familiar hill and everything was just as I left them. Peace and quiet at last.
"I will tell Chiron to alert the others," Nico said, ready to shadow travel.
"No!" I called before he could disappear, making everyone look at me.
"This time I want to do it a bit differently." I announced and started walking to the big house.
As I turned my head around I saw them all looking me with a puzzled look on their face. Apart from Artemis, who looked at me smiling knowingly.
I smiled back as I turned around, not to be seen.
As I got near the Big House, the first campers spotted me and started yelling. "Percy! Percy is here!"
What followed was about to be one of my best moments from the camp.
Chiron galloping outside, tears in his eyes, while campers started coming from all around yelling my name. Happy voices filled the air.
My old teacher came to me, before anyone else, a lot of campers on his tail and I spotted Grover, Juniper, Leo, Calypso from the crowd.
"My dear boy! You are with us again and well," he simply said, and that was all I wanted to hear.
My closest friend came to greet me right after him and then a lot of campers welcomed me back.
But I had forgotten about a specific group. The Hunters. The moment I remembered about them a jolt came to me.
I simply froze, as did most of the campers.
I turned around slowly, observing Artemis laughing from afar, and I saw Thalia, with her arm extended to me and behind her the hunters.
I tried to swallow, to find that I had a lump in my throat. From nerves, from fear? Who knew.
So I tried my best to stay calm.
"Hey?" I said. It was the first thing that came to my mind, and maybe not the smartest.
"Really Seaweed Brain? Hey?" Thalia asked, not amused.
"What's up?" I tried harder.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I forgot to turn off my stove," I stammered, already having turned around and started backing away.
"First of all, you don't have a stove. And second…COME HERE!" she yelled the last part and I started running. I knew the hunters had already started chasing me, and I felt it.
To the sea. It was my only option.
I ran past the cabins, hearing laughter from behind my back, and feeling in my gut the wrath of the hunters that were on my tail.
I was almost there. I could make it.
"Percy STOP!" I heard a voice and my body froze completely, making me fall back on the sand.
I turned around, to find Artemis, Anna and Piper who had used her powers.
"Et tu, fili Brute!" I said to her, Latin just popping in my mind. She didn't seem annoyed by my answer, she just continued laughing alongside Artemis and a specific sea's god daughter, who had appeared in her side.
"Hear them out first, Fronti nulla fides." Artemis replied, her Roman aspect making an appearance for a moment.
Don't judge a book by its cover? What else could a group of bloodthirsty man-hating teenager girls mean more?
"Ave, Artemis, morituri te salutant" I said, the most logical answer that came to me.
During our small conversation, the Hunters had circled me, Thalia right in front of me, bloodlust seen in her eyes.
"It was turned off after all!" I said, trying for a joke. She didn't even crack a smile.
"Perseus Jackson!" she said.
Crap.
I am dead.
She came right in front of me.
And I closed my eyes, ready to feel some thousands volts shock my body. But instead I felt arms around me, squeezing me so tightly I could barely breathe.
I certainly didn't expect that! That's why Artemis warned me. But I was sure there was more than meets the eye.
"Please don't do this again," she whispered and I hugged her too.
"I'll try not to," I told her.
"At least not now that you've found a family!" she said as she took a step back.
This phrase took all the air out of my lungs.
"I am what?" I asked, not believing my ears.
I looked at the hunters, who all nodded.
The man hating group of immortal teenagers had accepted a guy in their group?
They must be crazier than I am!
And then the electric slap came. Hard and quick.
It took my vision a moment to clear and the buzz from my ears to wear off.
"You thought you were going to get past that without some pain?" asked Thalia
"Of course not!" I admitted sullenly. "I was just waiting for the shoe to drop."
"Welcome to the Hunt, brother!" she said, smirking at the expression on my face, and it was the cue for the rest of the hunt to come and greet me.
After a lot of welcomes and some slaps I was part of the hunt.
"Hunters!" said Artemis, walking towards us, with Anna at her side.
As I looked towards her, I saw all the campers stunned, watching a one time show. A male being accepted by the hunt.
Only my very close friends and Chiron had a proud smile on their faces.
Anna came to me, jumping up and down from happiness for a hug.
"Yes, milady!" Thalia said, after me and Anna broke off the hug.
"Now you have ended this welcoming thing, go and start helping Percy hold a bow." She instructed.
"Can I not?" I complained like a small kid, making the campers laugh.
Artemis opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it.
She turned around, looked at Chiron and said raising an eyebrow.
"Is it free time for the Campers?"
The old centaur almost paled, and he cleared his throat.
"Of course not milady! Back to your schedules!" he yelled and the crowd dispensed quickly, and the Hunters, Artemis, Chiron and Jason, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Nico and Grover were left behind.
"Girls, go ready the site, I will come along with Percy to make sure he learns more quickly!" Artemis said and the group followed her command.
"Please?" I pleaded again.
"Man up Perseus!" Artemis scolded me, as if I was a child.
"But-".
"No buts Percy!" she said, and hit me on the back of my head. It was more surprising than painful.
"What was that for?" I asked, massaging the area.
"That's the punishment for being a child," she said.
"And if I like it, is it still a punishment?" I asked innocently and the horrified look on her face was worth the pain of a new hit.
And the thing might have gotten out of hand, had Leo not intervened.
"So guys. Will you stay?" he asked Jason and Piper, and I gave him a you-saved-me-bro look!
They looked at each other. "We could!" Jason said and Leo made a weird celebrating noise, earning a slap from Calypso, the same kind Artemis used on me.
"I like it! I think I'm gonna keep it!" she said, winking at Artemis.
We all laughed, apart from Leo.
"Really sunshine?" he said smirking.
But I also noticed Artemis blush a little, but I didn't give it much attention.
"So…what will we do, now you are here?" I asked.
"We are going to help our cabins, and will get back together after dinner. And you will go practice shooting an arrow straight!" Piper said, sounding like my mother, with a bit charmspeak, earning a new wink from the goddess of the moon.
"You're all conspiring against me, aren't you?" I asked as I started walking towards the arrow targets.
This was going to be hell.
Artemis
We were walking to the archery range and I remembered something.
"Perseus." I said to him, making him stop and turn around.
"Yes?" he asked. "You will let me not shoot an arrow?" he said hopefully as I reach him.
I gave him a glance, but decided to let the comment slip away.
"Of course not. I just wanted to say thank you."
"Why? What did I do?" he said casually.
Apart from saving the world 3 times and destroying, apart from the thousands of monsters, a Titan King and a Primordial, nothing much I thought to myself.
"Well, when the Titan war ended you asked for the release of the peaceful Titans." I said.
He raised a brow.
"Among them it was my mother, Leto. I just wanted to thank you for setting her free."
It was one of the few thank yous I'd ever said and I truly meant.
"Don't mention it. It wasn't a big deal," he replied with his trademark lopsided smile on his face and turned around and continued walking.
I was stunned. Can this guy not understand how good he has done?
Gods…I thought and went after him, he is so annoying from times to times.
As we reached the girls, they were already shooting some arrows.
As they saw us they all stopped and made a circle around us.
It seems the lesson will be fun. Well, for them it will be, for someone else it's going to be hell.
"So, Hero of the Hunt. Show us what you can do!" I said, making a bow and a quiver materialize in my hand and giving them to him.
He took the quiver and passed it in his shoulder, then the arrow, hands shaking.
He turned around, notched an arrow and took aim.
His posture was so wrong that he would probably shoot a tree or something.
His body was full of tension, his fetes were unevenly parted and didn't point at the target and he was holding the arrow with force.
He took aim and the arrow flew.
To bulls-eye.
I was left with my jaw dropped, the same state with all the hunters.
He turned around with a triumph troll-face.
"You said you didn't know how to shoot!" Anna commented.
"Well…I don't, I kind of cheated just to look at your faces!" he said and started laughing, all by himself.
I face palmed myself.
He was still laughing, but put a straight face on when he saw my serious expression.
"And may you tell us how you cheated?"
"I kind controlled the humidity in the air to set the course for the arrow!" he said.
He had very good control over his father's element.
But he couldn't know that.
"Again, no tricks, or i let them teach you a lesson!" I threatened him, nodding towards the Hunters.
This time, he kinda lost the tension in his fingers. But still the whole posture was wrong.
Consequently, he managed to shoot the arrow at least 3 meters off the target and into the woods.
"Did I hit a-" he tried to say, but for his answered, a tree branch came with speed and hit him in the stomach, making him double over, the Hunters to laugh and me to roll my eyes.
"Yes, yes you did hit a tree!" I noted. "Poor dryad."
The training sections would be a nightmare.
So…that's it for now!
We saw some bonding…and the next chapter and the one after will probably be all about Percy and Artemis!
As I said in the beginning, I might go through the whole story again because I found some plot holes and maybe add a few things, but I will keep you updated!
Anyway, thanks again for all, views, reviews, favorites, follows etc!
Really guys! It means a lot! Again, I wait for your opinions!
Last but not least be sure to check my other stories as well!
That's all for me!
Bye!