Hello everyone,

Thank you all for reading my story. Disclaimer: I don't own any excerpts from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse.

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SharkAttack719

Περσεύς 4

Bianca di Angelo Makes a Choice

I couldn't tell if everyone was shocked as the fact that two demigods had just fell off the cliff or by my calmness at the situation. Everyone stared at me in silence until Grover suddenly gasped and then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so…you're so…Wow!"

"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said breaking out of her stupor. "Hold up. Time out."

Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who…who are you people? I know him"—she pointed at me—"but who are the rest of you?"

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you?!Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"

She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.

"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a half-blood," Zoe Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?"

"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom.

"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

Before Bianca cut him off, he elicited a few snickers from me. I guess it was just because I was really worn out and tired from creating the giant fist.

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

As much as I was tired, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Bianca. I remembered the first few days of my journey after I was told I was the son of Poseidon. It was heart-wrenching, tiring, exhausting and very much hard to believe. That was, until I jumped into the ocean and realized I could breathe. It was a shock for me.

Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the two who fell."

Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained.

"Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

"Um, Lady Artemis," I said tentatively. I knew if I said one wrong word I would turn into some devilish creature that the Hunters would be allowed to hunt. "I have a feeling that the manticore may have taken them to Ethan. That traitor is the bastard who organizes it all."

Artemis stared at me curiously. "And where do you suppose the boy is at?"

I looked around nervously. "I don't know, Artemis...I mean, Lady Artemis."

You see, Ares is not a very dangerous enemy. Sure he could stomp on my face and torture me until I die, but making someone like Athena or Artemis mad would mean a sentence for eternal torture. Unlike the thick-skulled god of war, the swift goddess of the moon and the perceptive goddess of wisdom have brains.

She gave me a mischievous smirk, which I didn't think she'd ever be able to pull off, and although small, it expressed a lot. "I suppose it would be unfortunate that you are useful, and therefore cannot be turned into what is my favorite animal, the jackalope. You inherited your mother's intellect. Use it, son of Poseidon."

There was a confusing silence for a little bit until Nico raised his hand. "Oo! What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."

"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"

"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."

"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. I thought Bianca was going to faint right there.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia said. "You're freaking her out."

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

"Bianca," I said, "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," I said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't—"

"There is another option," Zoe said.

"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.

Thalia and Zoe glared at each other. I wasn't completely sure about what they were talking about, but I could tell there was bad history between them. For some reason, they seriously hated each other.

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico."

Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp.

Zoe gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things.

As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so…Argh!"

"I'm with you," I said. "I don't trust—"

She turned to me furiously. "Oh. You're with me. That's totally believable. Sometimes you don't have to act like you're the best fighter out of all of us. You're a selfish jerk, you know! Do you even care about other people's feelings? You're so heartless, you probably don't even care that Annabeth and Luke are gone. I would be able to feel their presence," she mocked. Then she breathed in to calm herself down. "You know what I am thinking right now. You should have known better."

My jaw clenched. I thought of some harsh things to say, but then I looked down and saw something navy blue lying in the snow at my feet. Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.

Thalia didn't say another word. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off, leaving me alone with a trampled cap in the snow.

The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats. I had somewhat of a staring contest with one of them. After a little while the wolf gave up and brushed against my pant leg.

Falcons watched us from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight, and I got the feeling they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it looked almost pleasant sitting by the fire. I decided to take a seat near it, just to warm myself up.

I watched Thalia pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. She stopped and looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. I wondered what she was thinking.

Finally, one of the Hunters brought me my backpack. Grover and Nico came back from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up my wounded arm.

"It's green!" Nico said with delight.

"It's kind of healed, though not completely," Grover told me. "Hold still and eat some ambrosia while I clean out your wound."

I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia square helped. It tasted like homemade brownie, dissolving in my mouth and sending a warm feeling through my whole body. Between that and the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better within a couple of minutes.

Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him, though how they'd snuck into Westover Hall unseen, I didn't know. Nico laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow—little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. I recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot.

"Big collection," I said.

Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game a long time?"

"Just this year. Before that…" He knit his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't remember. The only thing I remember before this year is...you in some sort of hotel. And you looked younger." He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

I showed him Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it.

"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"

"Um, well, I don't actually write with it."

"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well, then?"

I looked at Grover, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried."

He went on asking questions. Did I fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (I didn't answer that one.) If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? (I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Were Luke and Annabeth dating? (I said yes.) Was I dating Thalia? (I gave him a glare so intense he actually shivered.)

I figured any second he was going to ask me how many hit points I had, and I'd lose my cool completely, but then Zoe Nightshade came up to us.

"Percy Jackson."

She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that I had to resist the urge to sit up straight and say "Screw you, Zeus! I mean, Zoe!" She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.

"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."

Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Bianca di Angelo was seated next to the auburn-haired girl.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.

"Join us, Percy Jackson," the goddess said.

I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. I felt as if at any second she would change her mind and turn me into a jackalope, whatever that is. It also felt kind of weird that she was a twelve-year-old girl.

"Are you surprised by my age?" she asked.

"Uh…a little."

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray."

"Go astray?" I asked.

"Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves."

"What do you do to them if they go 'astray'?"

"You would prefer not to hear of the events that may happen. They range sometimes. It really depends on the Hunter and how she is led astray. Some may be let free without much punishment, and some may be executed painfully." Regarding the worried look that sprung on Bianca's face, she added, "Do not worry, Bianca. The last event has only happened twice in thousands of years."

Bianca calmed down slightly...only slightly.

Zoe sat down at Artemis's right. She glared at me as if all the stuff Artemis had just said was my fault, like I'd invented the idea of being a guy.

"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you," Artemis said. "It is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…" She looked at Zoe. "Which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoe said. "You turned him into a jackalope."

"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied. "I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca has reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you."

And so I told her.

When I was done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. "I feared this was the answer."

Zoe sat forward. "The scent, my lady?"

"Yes."

"What scent?" I asked.

"Things are stirring that I have not hunted in millennia," Artemis murmured. "Prey so old I have nearly forgotten."

She stared at me intently. "We came here tonight sensing the manticore, but he was not the one I seek. Tell me again, exactly what Dr. Thorn said."

"Um, 'I hate middle school dances.'"

"No, no. After that."

"He said somebody called the General was going to explain things to me."

Zoe's face paled. She turned to Artemis and started to say something, but Artemis raised her hand.

"Go on, Percy," the goddess said.

"Well, then Thorn was talking about the Great Stir Pot—"

"Stirring," Bianca corrected.

"Yeah. And he said, 'Soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus.'"

The goddess was so still she could've been a statue.

"Maybe he was lying," I said.

Artemis shook her head. "No. He was not. I've been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster."

Zoe looked like she was trying very hard not to be afraid, but she nodded. "We will leave right away, my lady."

"No, Zoe. I must do this alone."

"But, Artemis—"

"This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me."

"As…as you wish, my lady."

I will find this creature," Artemis vowed. "And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."

"You know what the monster is?" I asked.

Artemis gripped her bow. "Let us pray I am wrong."

"Can goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that.

A flicker of a smile played across Artemis's lips. "Before I go, Percy Jackson, I have a small task for you."

"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"

"Sadly, no. I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return."

"What?" Zoe' blurted out. "But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there—"

"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."

"Or Artemis could always threaten Mr. D," I suggested. "Dionysus is a lazy slob, but knows what is threatening or not, so I doubt that he wouldn't take a threat from Artemis seriously."

Zoe just glared at me. I rolled my eyes. Whatever, there's no changing the Hunters' view on boys, I thought.

Artemis, however, nodded. "Yes. And now there is one last decision to make." Artemis turned to Bianca. "Have you made up your mind, my girl?"

Bianca hesitated. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Wait," I said. "Thinking about what?"

"They…they've invited me to join the Hunt."

I gave Artemis an incredulous look. "You offered her immortality and powers with a bow and hunting knives?" When the goddess nodded, I raised my eyebrows and said, "Well, looks like you're not going to come to Camp Half-Blood. I mean, it's got cool things, but who would turn down immortality?"

"It's not permanent," Artemis said. "There is a very unlikely chance that she will fall in battle, which is the only way a Hunter can pass on, but there is still a chance."

Then I remembered Nico. "Wait, Bianca. What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter."

"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I figured I'd rather stay a human so I shut my mouth. Still, I thought that was a little sexist and discriminatory. Sure guys were bad, too, but couldn't there be a compromise, a halfway?

"You can see him from time to time," Artemis assured Bianca. "But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counselors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us."

"A new family," Bianca repeated dreamily. "Free of responsibility."

I narrowed my eyes at the demigod. That was pretty selfish of her thinking about leaving her brother like that. Sure he's annoying, but he was her brother for crying out loud. If I had the option of leaving Viola, I would never take it, even if what I was offered amounted to that of a king or a god.

She looked at Zoe. "Is it worth it?"

Zoe nodded. "It is."

"What do I have to do?"

"Say this," Zoe told her, " 'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.'"

"I…I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"'I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.'"

Bianca repeated the lines. "That's it?"

Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept it," Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. Bianca looked no different, but she took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. "I feel…stronger."

"Welcome, sister," Zoe said.

"Remember your pledge," Artemis said. "It is now your life."

I stayed silent. I tried listening to the churning water from hundreds of feet below, but the fire that crackled in the middle of the tent and the talking of the goddess, Zoe and Bianca interrupted my concentration. I felt like a trespasser at that moment...and a failure. I couldn't believe I'd come all this way and suffered so much only to lose Bianca to some eternal girls' club.

"Do not despair, Percy Jackson," Artemis said. "You will still get to show the di Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there."

"Great," I said, trying not to sound surly. "How are we supposed to get there?"

Artemis closed her eyes. "Dawn is approaching. Zoe, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother."

Zoe didn't look real happy about this idea, but she nodded and told Bianca to follow her. As she was leaving, Bianca paused in front of me. "I'm sorry, Percy. But I want this. I really, really do."

Then she was gone, and I was left alone with the twelve-year-old goddess.

"So," I said tiredly. "Apollo, huh?"

Artemis's silver eyes gleamed. "Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin."

Hey everyone,

Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to those who've put this on their favorites, followed and reviewed.

Disclaimer: I don't own any excerpts taken from Rick Riordan's book Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse.

I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above.

With best regards,
SharkAttack719