Alright I don't have too much to say this time around so I'll make it quick. This story only has three more chapters before I run out, I haven't had the time to write anymore for two reasons. One next week is finals so I'm extremely busy, especially with my job. Two I have two other stories I want to focus on as well. Phantom Spell is an extremely high priority not only for me but also because so many people are clamoring for it. Wings Of Freedom is a story that I personally really wanted to write so that's also high on my to do list. I would like to mention something that I might have mentioned earlier, I have a lot of story ideas and I will be trying my best to finish them, but I also really want to get them out so I'll post whatever I feel like once I run out of chapters for something. I'm sorry but writing should be fun for me, don't get me wrong this story is fun, it's just some things are more fun. :) Regardless I'd like to hear what everyone thinks on that as I'm hoping that you all might understand my own standpoint.
Review Time!
Kimera20 & Penny Lu - Your reviews are extremely similar so I thought I'd address you two together. I'd like to thank you both for your continued support as it makes me happy to have two regular reviewers. So I hope you enjoy what I have in store for today.
ShadowPillow - I'm glad that I'm eagerly looked forward too. As I'm sure that the authors of the stories that I read must feel pretty similar. As for the short review, don't worry about it. You usually leave a longer review than almost all the others combined.
Skas - Keep in mind that the majority of Huntresses just hate boys, it wasn't that Danny was a ghost. As for the remainder of the statues... most would be filled with bones. The Huntresses are immortal unless killed in battle, since they were turned to stone they weren't necessarily 'killed' in battle thus why they could be saved. Nymphs are also mostly immortal beings thus why Honey could be saved. Every other statue was not an immortal being. As far as meeting them all again... The Huntresses will definitely meet Danny again, but I haven't really decided what to do with Honey yet. Though thinking about it now gives me a small idea I can use much later.
Dekei - Yes there shall be a pairing! I won't go spoiling it here, but I would like to mention how most of my stories will contain a pairing of some sort. I feel that romance is a good element to have in stories as it adds to character dynamics and development. Though Project Phantom has in some way given Danny a Harem of four people... I won't spoil who they are, but there is one character from each dimension. Oh I should probably apologize to all Danny X Sam fans here. I personally thought she was a little clingly so I sort of killed or off in The Ultimate Enemy. Or perhaps she'll appear within a portion of Project Phantom who can say?
The 6th Spectral King - First off I'd like to ask what you did to the previous five spectral kings. I won't judge you XD. As for as the Project Phantom timeline... Blame Clockwork and time paradoxes. All of Project Phantom occurs mostly at the same time, while their might be some variances you can still think of these as different stories. The only connections between them will occur at the beginning and end of each story.
With that out of the way welcome back to Blood Of The Phantom! Enjoy and tell me what you think.
Chapter 04: Reunion of the Hunt
New York – Huntresses Camp
Thalia Grace sighed, Artemis had left them in the middle of a hunt for the Biannual Council meeting. Supposedly the Nemean Lion had reformed and was roaming around New York looking for any other Demigods that hadn't yet made it to Camp Half-Blood yet.
Phoebe walked up to her superior with a sneer on her face, "What's the matter lieutenant? Missing those male friends of yours again?"
Thalia just sighed again, "What do you want this time Phoebe?"
Phoebe sneer faded at the lack luster response. "What the hell is wrong with you? It's not like you to just mope around the camp. Especially in the middle of a hunt."
"In case you haven't noticed, we're not hunting right now. Artemis said to wait for her return. As for how I'm feeling… I've never been happier, can't you tell?"
Phoebe shook her head, "Even your sarcasm is lack luster now. Seriously what's eating you?"
"I can't help but feel that something is about to happen… And then there's the matter that some of the titans are still unaccounted for. And now, our newest member has fallen into a coma! Even Apollo couldn't heal her…"
"Well cheer up, oh fearless leader. Your morale is starting to affect the others, and I'd rather try to have everyone motivated for when we continue going after the Lion. Besides I'm sure she'll be fine, remember when we first found her? She was wrestling a cyclops!"
Thalia gave a small laugh, "You're right, sorry."
As Phoebe helped Thalia up from the stump she was sitting on, a bright flash filled the camp as Artemis returned. Thalia quickly ran over to her but after seeing the enraged expression on her face, she abruptly stopped.
Artemis' voice boomed throughout the camp, "Huntresses! Pack up, we're returning to Camp Half-Blood." She then quickly made her way back to her own tent, no doubt getting ready herself.
Phoebe turned to Thalia, "What do you think happened?"
"No idea, but it can't be good."
New York – Camp Half-Blood
The campers were happily talking to their friends around the warm bonfire. Many of the campers had made the return trip to the camp for Winter Break, seeing as how some of the monsters were more active during the Holiday season for whatever reason. The camp itself had changed since the victory against the Titans. There were now twenty ornate cabins scattered across the camp, in addition to the Big House. The tree on top of Half-Blood hill stood proudly protected by a rapidly aging dragon, while the tame hellhound Mrs. O'Leary was bounding around the coliseum. The stables were quiet, the horses were often more tired during the winter while the Pegasi had flown south, wanting to stay warm.
Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron were talking quietly in the Big House when Dionysus flashed in. "Ah good, you're here Chiron."
They all stared at him for a moment before Chiron responded, "Yes I'm here… What do you need?"
"Apparently a Primordial has decided to use us for entertainment again." Percy and Annabeth stared at them in confusion as Chiron paled at the mention of the word Primordial. "Another demigod will be making his way to the camp within a day or two, and then all the gods will be stuck up on Olympus until he is properly claimed, with the exception of yours truly of course."
Annabeth, being a daughter of Athena, quickly began to question the short god. "What's a Primordial Mr. D?"
Dionysus gave a small jolt as if he hadn't realized that the two were in the room with him. "Well, Annabelle –"A faint muttering of 'not my name' could be heard but Dionysus continued on regardless. "The Primordials are beings that came before even the Titans. They left the world millennia ago, the last one being the Primordial of Time, he called himself Clockwork. Tonight was the first time he's been seen in centuries."
Percy decided to interrupt, "What would bring him back now?"
Dionysus bristled for a second before he said, "Be quiet Johnson, I was just getting to that." Percy bristled, but stayed silent. "Apparently Clockwork had taken the very first demigod with him through time when he left. Now he has brought the little bugger back, and he's on his way here."
"Well isn't that a good thing?"
"Personally I couldn't care less. But Clockwork has decided that as soon as he reaches the camp all the gods and goddesses will be summoned to Olympus, and we won't be able to leave until he has been claimed. The problem being that none of us could possibly remember a kid from that long ago."
Annabeth chimed in then. "But he was the first one. So wouldn't the one responsible remember that at least?"
Chiron answered for Mr. D then. "That's just it, back then Zeus had a premonition that a demigod would be the one to destroy Olympus and usurp the gods. So any demigods that were found were killed. Until the Giant War began, and the demigods helped the gods save Olympus. Thus it's unlikely that the one responsible will take the blame of being the first one to disobey Zeus."
"It's not going to be very fun, Artemis herself looked murderous. Apparently one of her huntresses is dying of some unknown disease. Even Apollo couldn't help her." Dionysus paused for a second before he continued, "Speaking of which her huntresses are on their way here. Clockwork himself recommended that they stay here while Artemis is stuck up on Olympus."
Percy thought carefully before he said, "So we're going to have a bunch of angry huntresses and an extremely old demigod here for who knows how long?"
Annabeth slapped the back of his head before she said, "No kelp-for-brains he said he was taken through time, he could very easily be a baby."
Dionysus coughed lightly as he said, "The brat's fifteen, and supposedly has enough powers that it'll throw off most of our guesses."
Annabeth just sighed in relief. "That's good, I really didn't want to babysit a little kid."
"You all make sure to warn the other campers about the huntresses. I'd prefer you keep the Primordial and time travelling business a secret though.
The three of them nodded as they left the Big House. Dionysus just sighed while rubbing his temples. "This is going to take a while…"
New York – Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium
Artemis held out her hand to halt her huntresses, "Medusa's lair is up ahead, we've been asked to get rid of her before we continue." She then turned to them with haunted eyes. "The last time my huntresses faced Medusa she claimed three of our members in stone. Take her down before she even knows we're here."
The Huntresses nodded solemnly, those who remembered the battle shivered involuntarily. Medusa's Gorgon sisters had also been revived at the time and had thrown the Huntresses into disarray. They quietly crept up to the building where they found the destroyed remains of multiple statues.
Thalia stared at the rumble in shock before they heard a loud crash noise from inside the building. With a quick signal to the others, she led them to the door, all of them with their bows drawn back with an arrow notched and ready. Thalia kicked the door open ready to charge in to battle, only to be greeted by the most bizarre sight she'd ever seen.
A young nymph was dancing around a stone Minotaur head, while three huntresses hoisted a statue into the air using a rope. Artemis was staring at the three wide-eyed, as one of the girls behind Thalia gave a light squeal. The three huntresses jumped and the statue crashed to floor… breaking into a million little pieces.
The girl on the left with strawberry blonde hair turned towards the group with wide eyes. With a stuttering voice she asked, "La- Lady Artemis… Is it really you?"
Artemis could only dumbly nod as she stared at the three huntresses. The three huntresses that had been turned to stone by Medusa more than ten years ago. A girl with bright blond hair walked straight up to Thalia with a questioning look on her face, "What happened to Zoe?"
The tension in the air rose exponentially, and Artemis was the one to break it, albeit quietly. "She is being honored in the stars. She fell by her father's hand a few years ago… But how? What happened here?"
The little nymph ran up to them and shouted happily, "Phantom happened! He saved all of us and killed Medusa!" The bright haired girl was muttering darkly to herself, but Thalia caught the words 'stupid' and 'male' more than once.
Artemis just looked at the nymph curiously, "Who is this Phantom?"
The strawberry blonde girl spoke up, "He was…strange. He was floating in the air when we woke up. He claimed to be a ghost. But he spoke of his battle with Medusa as if it was no problem at all."
Thalia stared in shock at that. Percy and Annabeth had told her of their own battle with Medusa, and they had barely won after she had nearly turned them into stone. The third girl laughed then, "You should've seen the video surveillance. He was toying with her while she flung herself around trying to find him." Thalia couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image of Medusa wildly flinging herself across the room.
The blonde haired girl quickly interjected though, "He still got turned to stone before he figured out she was Medusa though."
Artemis looked at her questioningly, "What do you mean? He got turned to stone before he defeated Medusa?"
The three girls nodded before the third girl said, "Yeah, but the camera showed his statue's eyes and hands glowing green before the stone exploded."
"How did you get free from the stone yourselves though?"
She grumbled a bit before she admitted, "We didn't. He somehow reached into the statue and pulled each of us out."
Artemis looked troubled for a moment before she shook her head. "As much as I'd love to hear more about this new entity, we have bigger things to worry about."
"My lady?"
"Soon I'll be called to Olympus, and I suspect that I'll be stuck there for a long time." She scowled for a moment. "You will all be stuck at Camp Half-Blood for a while."
The girl scowled even deeper, as the other two exchanged smiles. When Artemis questioned this, the bright blonde haired girl who finally introduced herself as Sabrina Gold said, "That's were Phantom said he was going."
Artemis looked even more troubled before she said, "What exactly did this Phantom look like?"
One of the smiling girls happily answered before Sabrina could even open her mouth. "He had snow white hair and his eyes glowed neon green." Most of the hunt stared at her confused, how could someone's eyes glow? "Oh, and he was pale skinned too!" She cracked an even wider smile as she said, "As if he'd seen a ghost!" The other smiling huntress cracked up with her and they both fell to the ground laughing.
Artemis merely shook her head as she spoke, "Enough, we have ground to cover. And I could be called back to Olympus at any time."
No one noticed the curious look on Phoebe's face.
I did it again! Another 700 word add on with the review discussion XD