AN: Chapter 7! Sorry for not updating faster… I'll spare you my excuses.
Thanks so much for reviewing!
dragonfinder533: Ok.
x Theseus: Thanks! I like Percy with Zoe too. :D
L. Lawliet-Rue Ryuzaki: I tried. I didn't seem to work. But I'll keep it up anyway.
werewolves1999: Thanks, and yeah, that's planned.
Bacon Powder: How about a mixture of good and evil Annabeth?
Mythology212: Thanks. Gaea would tell you to be patient. ;) I'll try to update faster.
xXChild-of-DemonXx: Thanks for the long review. :D
Bacon Powder: Yeah, I'm trying to work that out.
Sarcastickay: I don't know. It's supposed to be on my profile. And it's spelled "sarcastically."
n99chang: Yay! One for Bianca! :D
zsouthwell: Yeah, everyone seems to like Zoe.
followingmydreams123: Thanks.
BlizzardBlader: Thank you!
werewolves1999: Well, whoever Percy's with next is not going to cheat on him.
: Ok.
Mythology212: Evil Annabeth… :D
1973: Thank you.
1973 (again): Is the "wtf" for the poll? Is it not there? I'm still trying to fix that.
SaviorOfOlympus: Thanks. The main reason I ask what people want out of my story is that I can think of so many different ways this story can turn out. So, I'm going with the way you guys like the most. :D
Naomi (Guest): Sure. ;)
just2skilled: Wow, lots of ideas there.
And thanks to "Guest."
The vote so far:
Percy x Hestia: 3
Percy x Zoe: 9
Percy x Thalia: 2
Percy x Clarisse: 3
Percy x Bianca: 3
Percy x OC: 2
As for Annabeth, I think it will be some sort of mixture of good and evil. Any suggestions?
But if you guys want pure good or pure evil, it'd be:
Evil Annabeth: 7
Not Evil (Good) Annabeth: 7
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Percy Jackson, and I never will.
Chapter 7: The Hunters Arrive
Mystery Person's POV
This was harder than I expected. I should have assigned someone else to tutor these demigods. I could have spent the day elaborating the battle plan or wakening the older sea monsters. But seeing how I'm the only one in this monster camp who looks human, I have to be the one teaching myths to children.
There are ten demigods. Two are eleven, a boy and a girl. Three are nine, two boys and a girl. Two are eight, both girls. Two are seven, both boys. And the last little girl is six.
I had a strict schedule with them. First, tell them who they really were. Second, teach them Greek mythology and the truth about the gods. Third, tell them about the war. And finally, start training them. Hopefully I would find out their godly parent somewhere between the steps. Mother warned me not to get too attached. Why would I?
I wasn't off to a good start. I hadn't realized that the demigods had all been shoved inside a cell as soon as they were brought here. I led them to a room that was almost like a classroom, complete with desks, chairs, and a whiteboard. Why that would be here in a monster camp, I don't know.
As I talked, I could tell that they were afraid. They kept staring at me. I never would have thought that would ever be annoying, but at the moment, all I wanted to do was pull out my sword and kill all of them. Unfortunately, they were essential for the war.
When I told them they were demigods, their frightened expressions didn't change. The eleven-year-old girl was hugging the six-year-old on her lap. The eleven-year-old boy obviously thought I was crazy, but tried not to show it.
I was about to storm out of the room when the dirt wrapped around my legs and prevented me from moving.
I heard my mother's voice in my head. Patience. You must be patient.
"Patient?" I yelled. "How am I supposed to be patient? I have battle plans to make, and these demigods are preventing me from doing it!"
Enough! There was a pause. I realized that I had spoken out loud, and that the demigods had heard me. You may leave and attend to your… battle plans. I will teach the demigods… for now. But they must see that we are better than the gods. You will apologize to them. Later, if you do not feel your apology will be accepted now.
I nodded, and as the dirt retreated back into the ground, the door swung open. A middle-aged woman with soft brown hair, chocolate-colored eyes, and a kind expression stepped inside the room. It was my mother. She completely ignored me and headed towards the demigods.
"Good morning, children!" she exclaimed. When they didn't say anything back, she continued. "You're perfectly safe. We brought you here to help you."
The eleven-year-old boy interrupted her. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
She smiled at him. "Because we'll protect you. You all had at least one parent abandon you, right?" She received hesitant nods. "That one parent is either a god or a goddess. I will teach you about them, and the situation between them and me."
"What situation?" the eleven-year-old boy asked.
She just smiled again. "In time, you shall know."
The boy looked skeptical at first, but seemed more convinced when she said, "I swear on my life, I'll tell you."
"Okay…" The boy nodded.
"Now," said my mother, "That man over there," she pointed at me, "is my son. He is usually grumpy in the mornings, so he didn't mean to yell at you wonderful children." I tried to nod convincingly.
The demigods turned their attention back to my mother as she began to talk again. I heard her in my head. I believe you said you had some battle plans to attend to?
As I backed out of the room, I heard my mother say, "Let's start with the basics. What are your names?"
Thalia's POV
"Hunters, I have news," said Artemis. We all looked up to see what she was going to say next. "You will be going to Camp Half-Blood."
We all groaned. Most of us weren't happy with it. We saw a camp full of boys who would betray us and girls who didn't want to join us. But I was fine with going back to camp. I'd get a chance to see Percy, Nico, Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron again.
"Why?" asked Phoebe.
Artemis sighed. "My annoying twin has found out that the next Great Prophecy has been recited. He thinks the first line of the prophecy has already been fulfilled."
"What?" I asked. "No. There can't be another Great Prophecy right after one has been fulfilled." Apollo can't be right.
The next words she said pushed those thoughts right out of my head. "Athena agrees with him."
Athena agreed with him? My eyes widened. Athena was the goddess of wisdom. She was always right. That meant that I could be in another Titan war!
"But how does that mean you have to leave?" asked Phoebe.
"The titans will be gaining power. They will be raising monsters, convincing anyone to switch sides. Yet, we still do not know who their leader is. Father wants me to find out," said Artemis. "You must go to the camp." She paused and looked at us.
We all nodded.
"Good," she said. "At least we are close enough to Camp Half-Blood that we do not have to ask Apollo for transportation again."
We all let out sighs of relief. That last time we had been in Apollo's sun chariot on the way to Camp Half-Blood… I had been driving. Let's just say there were a lot of accidents involving fire.
"All right, Hunters," said Artemis. "Get packed, and we will be on our way to the camp soon. Thalia, I must speak to you."
She led me away from our camp in the clearing.
"What do you want to talk to me about, my lady?" I asked.
"Thalia… The first line of the prophecy is: A camper is lost who shall never return."
"And Athena thinks it has already been fulfilled?" I asked. Please say no. Please.
"Yes," she said.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no," I said. "Percy… That Kelp Head. Is he still at camp?"
Artemis hesitated. "It is not for me to say."
"What?" My voice grew louder. "You can't just tell me?"
She looked at me calmly. "Thalia… I'm sorry. I cannot tell you."
Is this her way of telling me Percy left? I was confused. Why couldn't she just tell me? I wanted to press her for more details, but I trusted her reasons for not telling me.
Artemis looked at me sadly this time. "Beware what you find at camp. You may not like it. But another war is coming, and we have no time for sorrow." Now I was sure that Percy had left camp. Why, though? And why is Artemis being so… careful about the topic? She looked down. "I… I cannot lose… another lieutenant."
I thought I understood. Not long after Zoe died, Artemis chose me as her lieutenant. I knew for a fact that she still missed Zoe, looking up at The Huntress every night. I also knew that Artemis loved me almost like a sister. And to me, she was like the big sister I never had, which was ironic because we were technically half-sisters.
I put my hand on her arm, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry," I said. "I will not die."
Artemis smiled. "Good. We should go back now." I followed her as she turned and started walking to the camp.
"Hunters!" she called through the trees. "I expect you to be finished packing now."
We broke out of the undergrowth to see the Hunters standing around a campfire, chatting with each other. Their silver wolves lay at each of their sides. They had packed up all the tents, but two: Artemis's and mine. Vara, my wolf and hunting partner, got up from where she lay next to my tent and padded over to me. Artemis's wolf, Aria, sat by her side.
Artemis snapped her fingers, and the tent folded in on itself, leaving her with a silver rectangle of smooth cloth about the size of a pack of gum. I started to pack my own tent, but she snapped her fingers again, and my tent folded itself as well. We were ready to go to Camp Half-Blood.
Artemis took one last look around, making sure we were all ready. Then, light-footed, she leaped through the trees without making a sound. We all followed her, not perfectly silent like she was, but quiet enough.
Annabeth's POV
The first thing we did when Argus dropped us off was argue.
"So… where are we supposed to go now?" muttered Clarisse, still sounding bored.
"We go west," snapped James. "Pretty obvious, isn't it?"
Clarisse sighed. "It's pretty vague. Do you want us to just start walking?"
"No," growled James. "I just answered your question. You don't have to be so cocky about it."
"Well," Clarisse snarled back. "If you weren't so stupid-"
"Guys!" I shouted. "Stop arguing! We're on a quest. We need to figure out where to go!"
"That's what I was trying to do, Wise Girl."
I looked down sadly. Only Percy called me that.
"Come on," said James, gently laying a hand on my shoulder. "Let's just get on that bus."
I looked back up to see James smiling at me. He was gesturing towards a bus that had just pulled up. Clarisse was smirking at us.
We got on the bus. Clarisse held her electric spear in one hand and several daggers in her belt. James was carrying a short sword in a sheath. I had a celestial bronze dagger in my hand. And the mortals still saw three normal teenagers getting on a bus. I will never underestimate the power of the Mist.
We hadn't been on the bus for even ten minutes when Clarisse, who had been glancing suspiciously at the woman sitting in front of us, leaned forward and stabbed the woman through the seat with her spear.
"What the hell?" screamed James. "You're killing mortals!"
The woman screamed once before busting apart. Into monster dust. We were on a bus full of monsters.
"They're not mortals, you idiot!" Clarisse yelled. "They're monsters!"
She kicked a monster in the face and disintegrated it by thrusting her spear through where its heart should be.
I looked out the window. We weren't on the highway yet. That was good. I started to carve a hole in the side of my bus with my dagger. But it was too short to do fast enough.
Clarisse was still defending us from the monsters. She glanced back at me, and understanding flooded her eyes. "Take his sword! The moron's not using it!" she yelled.
I wanted to yell back that James wasn't a moron, even if he was just sitting there. Percy would've helped me fight.
I suddenly realized that on my first quest, something similar to this had happened. But back then, Percy had been with me.
I pushed the thought out of my head and pulled James's sword out of its sheath. It was longer than my dagger, and would get the job done. I carved a hole in the side of the bus.
"Come on, James!" I screamed. "Jump!"
Without looking to see if he would follow me, I jumped out of the bus.
I landed on my side, rolling on the ground to end up on my back. I sat up and almost doubled over from pain, but I kept my eyes on the bus. I could see James leaning over the edge, scanning the ground. He was probably seeing if it was safe to jump.
"Just jump," I called, sucking in a breath as the pain hit again.
When he still didn't, Clarisse roughly shoved him off, threw something behind her into the bus, and jumped out after him. As they hit the ground, the bus exploded behind them.
I ran over to them, wincing at every step, and helped James up. He was covered in dirt. Clarisse stood up herself, refusing my help. She looked fine.
"What did you do?" I asked.
She grinned. "Greek fire."
She rummaged around in the backpack we had been given and tossed a bag of ambrosia to me. I ate a square and felt the pain in my chest lessen. I passed the bag to James and watched as he ate a piece.
"Where did you get it?" I asked Clarisse.
"Stopped by the Hephaestus cabin before leaving. Got a couple jars."
I nodded, and then turned on James. "Why didn't you do anything? You could've been killed! You-"
He hugged me. I sighed and hugged him back.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he murmured against my ear. "But when the monsters attacked, and I looked at you… I saw you were in danger. And that froze me up. I couldn't move. I was just so afraid… I didn't want to lose you."
I pulled away and looked at him, my anger draining away. "It's okay," I said, smiling. "I won't die."
Off to the side, Clarisse cleared her throat. I had almost forgotten she was there.
"We shouldn't have gotten on that bus," said James.
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "You should've figured that out before you got on."
"Well, I was kind of busy comforting my girlfriend," he countered. My heart skipped a beat. I'm his girlfriend?
Clarisse snorted. I interrupted before they could get into another argument. "Stop arguing. Let's just focus on the quest." I paused. "We need a ride."
"Yeah," said Clarisse. "Yeah, we do."
Thalia's POV
After a little over an hour, we arrived at Camp Half-Blood. I hadn't been there in such a long time that I didn't realize I missed it until I walked up Half-Blood Hill, past my pine tree.
I couldn't see the cabins from there, but I could see demigods by the lake, some chatting with water nymphs. I could smell breakfast from the dining pavilion, although I was sure it was already over because of the sound of swords clanging in the arena.
Artemis was her usual twelve-year-old self. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them again.
"Chiron is at the archery range," she said.
As we walked towards the archery range, campers stopped and stared. We were a group of girls walking forwards with wolves at our sides, wearing silver clothes and carrying silver bows and arrows. Most of them knew who we were. The girls were looking at us in awe. Most of the boys were glaring at us. We glared right back.
One boy, who I could tell was a son of Ares, strutted up to us, and crossed his arms. "Who do you think you are? You can't just walk into camp like that."
Artemis glanced at him, disgust in her eyes. "Learn to show some respect, boy," she said, flicking her hand towards him.
Where the bulky son of Ares stood just a moment before sat a large jackalope with fur the color of mud. The demigods backed off as it ran around squeaking loudly. No one else got in our way while we headed to the archery range.
"Chiron," called Artemis.
Chiron turned. When he saw Artemis, he bowed as best as he could. The campers he had been teaching kneeled.
"Rise."
The campers stood and watched us carefully. Chiron straightened. "Lady Artemis," he said. "What do you need?"
"I must hunt alone," said Artemis, her eyebrows furrowing. "The Hunters will stay in my cabin here. I presume that is all right with you?"
Chiron nodded. "Of course." He smiled. "The Hunters are always welcome here. You came just in time. I was about to call a meeting for all the cabin counselors to discuss something urgent." Chiron looked down at the jackalope. "Unfortunately, that boy was the counselor for the Ares cabin. Can you turn him back?"
Artemis reluctantly nodded. She flicked her hand at him, and the son of Ares was a boy again.
"Thank you," said Chiron, looking at the camper in disapproval. "When must you leave?"
"Now," she said, before starting to glow brightly.
We all turned away as she showed her true godly form, and teleported away.
Percy's POV
I woke to the sound of growling and barking. I sat up to see Mrs. O'Leary playfully wresting another hellhound. Nico was leaning against a rock, fast asleep. I vaguely remembered fighting monsters with him the night before. And him telling me he would keep watch. I grinned. Great job.
Blackjack landed beside me. Hey boss. You're alive!
"Yeah, Blackjack. Don't call me boss."
Sure, boss. He paused. You remember last night?
"Yeah, we were fighting monsters and Nico came. You remember Nico?"
Yeah. He snorted. I still don't like him. He smells like death.
I rolled my eyes. "He's a son of Hades. Of course he smells like death. And haven't we already had this conversation?"
This time it's worse. The hellhound smelled like death too. Now there are two of them. All I can smell is death.
"What if I go get you a donut later?"
He instantly perked up. Did you say donut, boss? Covered in chocolate and sprinkles?
"Yeah, but only if you stop whining about Nico and Mrs. O'Leary. And stop calling me boss."
Sure, boss. When do I get the donut?
I sighed. "As soon as I find a store that sells donuts."
I'll find it for you, boss!
As Blackjack flew away, Nico groaned and sat up. His hellhound immediately stopped playing around with Mrs. O'Leary and went to his side.
"Nice job keeping watch, Zombie Dude," I said.
He grinned sheepishly and yawned. "Yeah… But I made it to around three in the morning."
His hellhound pounced on him and started licking his face.
"Raven!" he yelled. "Get off me!"
Raven stared at him for a second, and then got off of him. Nico grumbled something under his breath. I watched him vainly try to wipe the dog saliva off himself before making it evaporate.
He stood up. "Thanks, Perce."
"No problem." I looked at Raven. "So that's Raven?"
He smiled. "Yeah, my hellhound… She's kind of friends with Mrs. O'Leary."
"How do they know each other?" I asked, reaching down to scratch her behind her ears.
"Long story." He glanced down at Raven. "Shut up, Raven."
My jaw dropped. "You guys can communicate?"
"Yeah," he said. "Kind of like you and Blackjack." He sighed. "She keeps calling me chief."
I laughed. "Just like Blackjack…"
"No way." He snorted. "Raven's more annoying."
We laughed together for a while before he said, "Percy, you are so screwed."
"Why?" I asked.
"I had a dream." He started to grin. "The Hunters are going to Camp Half-Blood."
The Hunters? Why would I be screwed? Then it clicked.
I swore.
Nico's grin widened. "Thalia's going to hunt you down and kill you when she finds your note."
AN: So, I tried to make two polls: one for Percy's pairing, and one for good/evil Annabeth. For some reason, it won't let me show the two at once. So, I'm going to switch the polls every now and then, at least every day. Some people put their votes in their reviews (which I'm perfectly ok with :D) so what I'll probably end up doing is adding up the votes in the reviews and the results of the poll. I haven't added them yet, but I will when it's over. I hope that works for you guys! If anyone has a better suggestion, or can fix my poll problem, please tell me.
I would also like some OCs for the demigod children on the titan's side. There will be ten, and I described them up there^. I just need names, godly parent (probably no gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, but maybe possible), personality, and a bit of their background, like how they grew up. I can't guarantee that they will all be used. And if I want to make some changes, if it's ok with you, I'll PM you first.
Well? Who liked this chapter?