Percy
"So Jackson, get a good rest, a nice breakfast, I'll let you stock up on weapons and you can use your powers, alright? Like I said, I don't want you dead. Meet you at noon, outside of the store. So, good night" Athena said.
With that cheerful thought, she vanished in a flash of light. Everyone was staring at me with a mix of pity, horror and fear. Pity cause I have to kill Ladon, horror cause I'm most likely gonna get ripped to bits, and fear because Athena thinks I can do it. I myself was glaring at the place where Athena had just disappeared. Why couldn't she tell me this after I woke up? Nooo, its 'Hey, go kill the strongest monster to ever live, undefeated, and get a good sleep!' How am I supposed to sleep after that?
Suddenly, all the Amazons began crying and sobbing, while I looked on in shock. Then I heard snippets, like, "Percy's gonna die!" or "How can Athena be that mean?"
"QUIET!" Reyna and Hylla bellowed together.
Everyone instantly shut up and looked at the two, even though they were still wiping their cheeks.
"Look, while I must admit that the chances of surviving an encounter with Ladon is slim, there's a chance. He's not the greatest hero to ever walk this Earth for no reason." Hylla said.
Reyna nodded. "His skills are unmatched, and he's a Son of Poseidon, and it's kinda close to the sea there, so he could call on its power if he must."
"So, let us put those three in our executive rooms, and we shall help Percy with his equipment, supplies, everything and send him off with our best wishes." Hylla announced.
The Amazons gave a cheer again, and picked all three of us up, and carried us to a huge room that had three doors in it.
"The rooms are identical, just super comfy, ultra quiet, with all the amenities you could ever wish for. We'll wake you at around eight ok Percy?"
"Yeah, thanks a lot Hylla, and you, Reyna." I said, still in a slight shock that I had to find some way to kill Ladon.
They gave a nod, and turned to walk out, but before they could leave, Kinzie whirled around and asked me, "Are you sure you don't want a massage? I mean, you'd probably be all tense right?"
"Kinzie, not now, he's not in the mood" Hylla said, grabbing Kinzie's arm and pulling her out.
I took a shower and crashed onto bed, surprisingly, I fell asleep quickly. And I had one of the weirdest dreams ever.
I was walking among the stars, staring at the universe I had created, thinking on just how bad some planets were, and how good some others. He turned his attention to Earth, the first planet he had created and started with life. Now that planet intrigued him. Not the fight between the gods and the titans, not the mortals, who were destroying the planet they were living. No, what intrigued him was a demigod called Perseus Jackson. He had defeated the titans, the giants, and defied Gaea and all he asked for his reward was an extra sword and two thrones for two gods. He felt a deep amount of respect for him, and sincerely wished that he could recruit him and ask him to be his successor. He was powerful, and extremely skilled, even though his upcoming fight with Ladon would prove to be his hardest. He was pondering on whether to enter his dream when Zoe Nightshade, a recently made constellation, came up to him and begged him to allow him to enter the young demigods dream. I nodded, and as she shot down towards Earth, I realized with a start that Percy had just witnessed and heard all my thoughts!
"Well, Perseus Jackson, I must admire you for your ability to see, hear, and think what I'm thinking. But now you must go, for that Zoe girl is going to give you advice, but know this: I will recruit you and make you my successor, even if I have to wait several more millennia. Even though your life is not mine to decide, its the Fates, but I will be waiting for you. Now, off you go.
He waved his hand, and I was instantly transported into a pitch black room, with a girl in silvery hunter's clothes waiting.
"Percy Jackson"
"Zoe Nightshade. Long time no see" I replied.
She smiled, "I do not have much time, boy, but I know that you need to defeat Ladon in order for you to prove your love to that Annabeth girl. I don't have much time, so I'll tell you this: Don't give him any warning that you are going to attack him, just go and make a surprise attack. You'll need all the advantages you can get. Try to cut off his tail first, it is a very deadly weapon. Also, do not attempt to fight him with brute strength only, you must use trickery and cunning. Which leads to my last advice: He is ordered to guard the tree and the apples with his life. Remember that, Jackson. It will help you. Especially if you use your water abilities. And don't try to crush him like you did with Porphyrion, it is useless."
"Um, alright, thanks for telling me this, but why are you telling me how to defeat Ladon? I thought you hated men?" I asked.
"I do hate men. But you, you are an exception, you are a male worth saving. And a last request: Please, don't kill Ladon, as long as you cut down all the heads until only one remains, you will have won. He will obey you without question. Please, don't kill him, I still love the dragon." Zoe more or less begged.
"Alright Zoe, I'll try to kill him, if he doesn't kill me first, that is." I said.
Zoe smiled, and disappeared in a swirl of stars.
I woke with a start, and looking at the clock, realized that it was almost eight a.m. and hurriedly took a shower and dressed in comfy jeans and a t shirt that said 'Death to Green Day'. I grinned. This was sure to piss Thalia off.
I walked out of the room, and promptly bumped into Nico, who was about to knock on my door to wake me up.
"Oh good, you're awake, c'mon, I don't want those Amazons to start swarming over us." He said. Then he stopped and looked at my shirt.
"Oh gods, um, I think I'll go by myself alright?" With that, he ran off to the mess hall. I grinned again. This was going to get an excellent reaction from Thalia. I walked over to her room and knocked on the door. There was a scuffling sound, and the door opened to reveal Thalia dressed in hunters garb, her head bobbing to a song she was listening to. Thalia gave me a cheerful smile,
"Hey Percy I can't wait to see you get your as- WHAT IN HADES ARE YOU WEARING?" she screamed. Her eyes, just moments ago a bright electric blue, instantly turned into a harsh laser blue, glaring at me as if I'd killed her grandma.
"Whoa Thals, calm down, I'm just wearing a shirt." I said.
"JUST A SHIRT? I DEMAND THAT YOU TAKE IT OFF JACKSON!" She shrieked.
I laughed. "uh uh. No way. I love your reaction too much to take off my shirt. And do you mean to change my shirt? I don't think Artemis'll be happy if I take off my shirt you know." I replied, smirking.
Thalia blushed an intense red, and tried to cover it up by growling "Fine, change your shirt, whatever, but don't you dare wear that again in front of me."
"Or what. You gonna shock me?"
Thalia gave me a super sweet smile that instantly creeped me out. "No. I'm going to follow you around the whole time, everywhere, forcing you to listen to 'Jam' or 'Friday'."
I paled. The last time I had annoyed Thalia, she had literally followed me everywhere, even when I was making out with Annabeth, she'd pop out playing 'Friday' or 'Jam' on her iPod, full blast.
"Alright, alright, I'll go change my shirt. Just please don't play those awful songs." I said.
Thalia smirked. "Get going, Seaweed Brain."
Resignedly, I went into my room and changed into a sea green shirt. I walked out, and Thalia nodded. We walked to the mess halls, and sat down on either side of Nico, who gave me a questioning look when he saw me wearing the sea green shirt instead of the Death to Green Day shirt.
"I changed my shirt because Thalia, being a mean huntress, bullied me into changing it" I whined, while smiling at the same time.
Nico smirked. "What did Thalia threaten you with?"
"I said that I'd follow him everywhere, playing 'Jam' and 'Friday' full blast." Thalia said with a triumphant grin.
Nico shuddered. "Wow, I'd rather face my dad when he's grumpy than listen to those songs. Hey, that can be used as a punishment in the Underworld!"
"Glad I could be of use Nico… " I mumbled while just poking at my food.
"Hey, Hylla's going to speak, let's see what she's gonna give you eh? Thalia said.
That was true. A Amazon tapped a gong, and everyone instantly quieted down.
"Amazons, as you know, Percy Jackson must go and face Ladon in his quest to prove his love." At this, Reyna rolled her eyes and muttered just loud enough, "Any blind idiot can see he loves Annabeth"
"Reyna, while I agree with your sentiments, it would be better if you stay silent, since you most likely insulted the wisdom goddess seeing as you more or less called her a blind idiot" Hylla glared at Reyna.
Reyna merely mumbled a few words in Latin that made Hylla glare at her even more. Finally she gave up.
"Whatever, now, while Athena has said that our young hero cannot receive any help from his companions, doesn't mean that we can't give him a belt of greek fire throwing knives. Or miniature jars of greek fire. Or nectar and ambrosia." Hylla smiled. "Come on up and get your stuff, Jackson"
I walked up and Hylla gave me a belt that that had many, many daggers and a couple of vials on them. I took them and strapped them to my waist.
"Be careful with those daggers. The blade is coated in a thin layer of greek fire, once it hits something, it'll explode. So try not to bump them around. And those vials are plain greek fire. Pretty explosive."
"So, basically, I'm armed with a exploding knives and a couple of grenades that explode on impact" I said.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jackson, that's what you're armed with. And all of your supplies for healing and whatnot are in that bag. We'll send you out, and if you succeed, stop by before you go to your Camp, will you?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course I will, if I do succeed, it's all thanks to your training." I said.
The Amazons cheered again and made some sort of honour guard as we walked up to their "store". Athena was already there, waiting, with a strange expression. Worried? Excitement? I couldn't tell.
"Hello Percy, you had a good night's rest?" She asked in a slightly stiff tone. Did she intercept my dream? Did she know that Zoe had given me tips on defeating Ladon? Or that creepy, big dude, who I thought was Chaos had talked to me? I kept my face as neutral as possible when I answered.
"yeah, well enough." I mumbled.
"Very well. I will transport you to the mountain, and then you will choose where to attack." Athena said.
The Amazons instantly began crushing me with hugs and words, like "Bye Percy" or "I hope I'll see you again". I even saw a couple of Amazons hug Nico. Kinzie tackled me with a hug that I tried to squirm out of, while Hylla and Reyna clapped me on the shoulders.
"What's the point in saying good bye when we'll see each other again, eh?" Reyna said.
"No point. That's why I'm going to say see you later" I replied, smiling slightly.
"That's the spirit, Percy" Hylla said.
"Alright you three, ready?" Athena asked. We nodded. She clapped her hands, and we were once again blinded by the golden light. This time, when the light faded, none of us even felt like throwing up.
"You are very close to the garden, so I bid you luck and farewell for now." Athena said. And with that, she vanished in a flash of light.
I looked at Thalia and Nico, who just looked back at me.
"Well, I guess this is it. It's been nice knowing you guys." I said.
"Don't talk like that! We'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes." Thalia said.
"Yeah, even if I feel your soul in the Underworld, I ain't moving anywhere, even if the gods come to move me." Nico said stubbornly.
I was quite touched and very grateful to have such good friends.
"Thanks guys, I'll be back before you know it." I said, trying to sound confident.
Suddenly, Thalia tackled me in a tight hug, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't leave me alone, Seaweed Brain." She said.
I blushed. "Artemis is gonna turn me into a jackalope.."
"Nope, she won't, she'll understand this situation." Thalia replied with a defiant look.
Nico gave me a hug, "Don't leave me either, you're my closest friend."
I gave him a small grin, "Even if I die, you'll just see me again in the Underworld, right?"
"That's not what I mea-!"
"I know you meant, Nico, and believe, that meant a lot. Well, I got an appointment to keep, so see you guys later." I said, walking off towards the garden.
I walked as carefully and quietly as I could, so as not to alert the Hesperides that I had arrived. When I got in sight of the Garden, I quickly ducked behind a bush and did a short recon of it. To my slight delight, I noticed that Ladon's tail was only 50 some feet away. The bad news was that Ladon was awake. And gods, his breath smelled terrible. It smelled like all things rotten mixed together, with a slight touch of sickly sweet mint. Ugh. Seeing that he was awake, and having witnessed his reaction times before, I decided to use the ocean to temporarily crush and stun him while I went in to cut off that tree trunk thick tail. I silently pulled out both of my Riptides, and concentrated on the ocean.
I felt it all around me, and I willed it to come over to where I was and come crashing down. I felt a tug in my gut, and a massive, airborne tidal wave came in, destroying almost everything, except for the tree, which I had made a temporary shield for it. The instant the wave hit, I leaped forward, swing my left hand sword with all my strength. It sank deep into the tail, near the rump, about halfway down, then I quickly pulled it out and hacked at it with my other sword. I finally cut straight through, and the tail fell, the wound spurting with black blood.
There was a loud roar that shook the ground, and probably carried all the way to Olympus, and Ladon whirled around, its one hundred heads spitting poison, death, and a really, really bad breath. Dang, he needed breath mints. Without a second thought, I leaped forward, swing both of my swords at high speed, slashing off four heads with relative ease since he was still a bit surprised.
Yay! 96 heads to go! I thought. Then Ladon began attacking so fast, it felt as if I were fighting Kronos times 100. Oh hell… I thought as I barely dodged a couple dozen pair of teeth that would have ripped me apart. I rolled, and decided to keep moving, that way it would also have to keep moving. The bad thing was that I forgot how long Ladon's necks were. As I leapt into the air and did an aerial strike, one his heads slammed into me so hard I created a miniature crater when I landed. If it hadn't been for the fact that I took the lightning bolt for Artemis and nearly broke all my bones when I hit the side of that mountain, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have survived this blow.
I gave a slight groan and rolled away instinctively, just as Ladon's teeth snapped mere centimeters away from my body. I leaped up, and decided to close in, since if his neck was so long, it might tangle him if I went closer. I pushed forward, and since Ladon was spitting poison and snapping and attacking almost everywhere at once, I decided to use my last stance that I had learned from the Amazons. I called it the 360. 360 degrees of offense and defense at once. It was only good when you were surrounded. Such as this case. I attacked like a whirlwind, while Ladon fought right back like a tornado. I cut everywhere, causing black blood to fly through the air, while the air itself was thick with poison, since my swords were magical, they weren't affected by the poison, so the poison just flew right back at Ladon due to the speed I was swinging the swords.
I was making progress, but I knew that I couldn't last much longer, because this type of attack required lots of energy. And I still had about seventy some heads to go through. I lunged forward, attempting to attack the base of its neck, where all the other heads sprouted from. That I did, taking off ten heads with both of swords, but unfortunately, I forgot about Ladon's foot.
His clawed foot slammed into me, crushing me against the ground with so much force that I sank two inches into the ground and stars began swimming in my eyesight. Stars! Zoe Nightshade! I almost forgot what she told me about using water powers to distract Ladon! And what was the other clue? He is ordered to guard the tree with his life. As I blinked my eyes, I saw the remaining 60 or so heads hissing over me, ready to bite my head off. I thought fast, and concentrated on the water around me, and willed it into a warrior shape, moved it right next to the tree, and made a hand out of water as if to pluck an apple off. Just as Ladon was about to bite my head off, one of the Hesperides screamed.
Ladon instantly leaped off me, and lunged towards the warrior. Success! I now knew Ladon's weakness thanks to Zoe! I took the opportunity to jump up, took three Greek fire throwing knives in each of my hands, and threw it, aiming for the base of its many necks. As it hit, six large balls of Greek fire burst into life, burning up at least twenty of Ladon's heads. Ladon screamed, and instantly came at me, I leaped backwards, and made my water warrior rush forward, and Ladon whirled around to attack it. I grinned. Once you know the monsters weakness, it's too easy. I calmly took out six knives, and threw them at the same spot. Again, the burst of Greek fire, and another ten or so heads fell to the ground, burnt up. Now Ladon had about thirty heads, but he was smart. He split his attention, so that fifteen took my water warrior, and the other fifteen came at me. Time for a new approach. I deflected Ladon's poison and teeth, and summoned more water. I quickly made an Atlas like water giant, complete with a large spear, and made it stomp towards the tree. When Ladon saw it, he hesitated.
That was all I needed. I quickly pulled out all of the Greek fire vials on my belt, and tossed it underneath Ladon. Then, I broke down the water Atlas, and used it to shoot me up. I did a flip, so my swords were pointing downwards. I slammed into Ladon, both of my swords piercing his huge body, let go of my swords and quickly jumped off. Not a moment too soon. The force with which I landed on him was great enough that his body sank to the ground, enough to crack the Greek fire vials. A large explosion of Greek fire sent Ladon flying up several feet, and I took the chance to slice off four more heads. Ladon landed on his side, and I could see how hideously charred his underside was. I collected all the water around me, and threw it at Ladon, slamming into him with enough force to topple him over. I leapt in and slashed and hacked as fast as I could, black blood staining the water, I then leapt backwards, drew back my arms, and let both of my swords fly straight into him. Ladon roared, and attempted to fight through my water cloud. I began throwing my knives as fast as I could, sending them in one after another, until my belt was completely empty. I paused, panting, my muscles on fire. There was silence. No roaring, no stomping, not even a whiff of smelly breath. I approached cautiously, pulling out both Riptides. What I saw surprised me. Ladon's massive body was terribly burned, and large parts seemed to have completely burnt off. I looked at the base of his necks and to my surprise, only one head remained. The rest were badly burnt stumps that gave off a rancid smell. When Ladon saw me, he cowered and whimpered, slowly retreating.
"You have won against Ladon, Perseus Jackson" a voice said.
I whirled around and found the Hesperides staring at me with a mix of hate, awe, and fear.
"How do I know that he won't bite me from behind?" I asked.
"He knows you have the power to destroy him. Which means that he will follow any order you give him. In his eyes, you rank even higher than Atlas himself." A Hesperide replied.
"Oh. So you mean I can go pick an Golden Apple(Lol, reminds of those 24k gold plated Apple MacBooks) ?" I asked.
"No. Not yet. You must swear by the Styx that you will not eat the Apple unless given permission from the gods. Then you may pick as many as you wish." She replied.
"Alright. I swear on the River Styx that I will not eat a Golden Apple from the Garden of the Hesperides without the permission of the gods." I said.
Thunder boomed, and the Hesperides nodded.
"You may pick as many as you wish, and should you want to, you can always come back here later to pick more. I suggest you pick all there is on the tree, since it takes a long time for them to grow."
I walked up to the tree, a strange giddiness over me. I could finally date Annabeth! I was so happy. I was about to pick the apples, when I realized I didn't have a bag. I turned.
"Um, do you have a bag?" I asked, embarrassed.
"No need, here you god, Jackson." Another voice said behind me.
I turned and found Lady Athena standing there. The Hesperides and I bowed.
"Well, Jackson, you have proved yourself worthy of Annabeth, so I give you full permission to court her, propose, Hades, even marry her." She said, handing me a bag.
I looked at her and said with true gratitude, "Thank you, Lady Athena. This means a lot to me." I turned to the tree, and counted, there were sixteen Golden Apples. I carefully reached up and plucked them all from the branches, putting them carefully in the bag.
"Finished, Lady Athena. What should I do with the apples?" I asked.
"Keep them. I'll shrink the bag's size, so that it's not noticeable, and you can decide what to do with them. Just remember, whoever eats those apples, will turn into an immortal." Athena said. She waved her hand, and my bag shrunk into a tiny, palm sized little bag that I could easily hook onto my belt.
"Wait, he did not kill Ladon for fame? He was doing it for love?" A Hesperide asked. (I don't know Old English, so yeah…)
Athena nodded. "He has earned my approval, and I think that my dear Annabeth will have a very good boyfriend. Although I hate to admit it, she is very lucky. Perseus here is the first Barnacle Beard's spawn that I actually approve of."
I blushed. "Thanks Athena." I said Then I asked," Lady Athena, I have a favor to ask of you actually."
Athena narrowed her eyes just slightly, and asked, "What."
"Well, now that Ladon is defeated, could you protect, or at least keep an eye out on the tree? And can you also keep the fact that I defeated Ladon secret? Because if word goes out, a LOT of people will come over here and take advantage of Ladon's temporary incapacitation." I explained.
Athena had a thoughtful look on her face. "Yes, that is an excellent idea. I will keep my lips sealed on the Styx, and so shall you, yes?"
"I swear on the Styx that I am not going to let anyone else know that Ladon is defeated." I said. Thunder rolled and the oath was made.
"And of course, you cannot let anyone know that you have the Apples. Not even Nico or Thalia. Oh, and I'll take care of the Amazons, don't worry." Athena said.
"Of course" I replied.
"Well, Percy Jackson, perhaps we were mistaken of you, you truly are a hero. We thank you for your consideration and generosity" The Hesperides told me, bowing slightly.
"No problem." I said, smiling. I turned to Athena. "Alright, since I'm finished, I wanna go back home and yeah, you know."
Athena nodded and snapped her fingers. Golden light washed over us, and we materialized in front of Thalia and Nico, who were staring at the Garden, wide eyed. They shrieked when we appeared, then both of them gave me Ladon strong hugs.
"Oh my gods Percy, I swear that I have never been that worried before in my life!" Thalia practically screamed in my ear.
Even Nico was too happy to give me a "man hug", deciding to crush me in a huge hug instead.
"So, did you get an Apple?" Nico asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I picked an apple off, Athena came, gave me her approval, then took the apple with her." I lied, feeling slightly guilty that I was lying to two of my closest friends.
"Oh, and also, for security reasons, I need you two to swear on the River Styx that you won't tell anyone that I defeated Ladon or that Ladon has been defeated, ok?" I asked.
"I swear" both of them said. Thunder boomed again.
Athena spoke up. "Well, now that your reunion is complete, I'll teleport you three to the Amazons, so you can tell them that you are alright, since they are quite worried. Camp is currently eating dinner, and I suspect that you don't want to propose to Annabeth in front of everyone, so once you are done talking to the Amazons, Nico can shadow travel you and Thalia to camp."
"Thank you, Lady Athena" all three of us said, bowing.
Athena nodded, raised her hand, and then lowered it. "I forgot Jackson, you cannot properly propose to Annabeth without a ring, so, here you go."
She tossed me a box, and inside, was a fantastic ring, made of Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold mixed together, and a very sparkly looking stone that had grey and green mixing beautifully together. On the inside of the band, was the inscription, Yours, forever and after. Seaweed Brain.
I looked up, trying to form words, but failing miserably.
Athena gave me a true smile. "You deserve it, Jackson. And don't thank me, thank Hephaestus, he made it himself." Before I could say anything, she snapped her fingers, and we were instantly transported in front of the Amazon store. We had barely gotten our sense together when there was a lotof screaming. We were instantly yanked into the store as blinds rolled down the windows, and the lights turned on. We were surrounded by Amazons, and they were screaming like crazy, saying things like 'OH MY GOD, HE'S ALIVE', and 'I KNEW HE WOULDN'T FAIL' it was so loud, my eardrums almost got blown out.
"Alright everyone, I'm delighted to see you guys also, but can you please be quiet!" I yelled.
Instantly, everyone quieted down, even though they were still staring at me. Not knowing what to say, I turned to Reyna.
"Well, I'm back. Didn't let you down, did I?" I asked, with a grin crossing my face.
Reyna walked towards me, slapped my face, then pulled me into a hug.
"Glad to see your whole body, Percy, not just bits of you." She said, smiling.
I rubbed my cheek. "Did you have to hit that hard?" I whined.
She rolled her eyes. "You want me to hit hard?"
"Eh, no thanks." I said, hurriedly.
She smirked. "Thought so."
Hylla came over and gave me a hug too. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad you're alive, Jackson. If anyone told me that a year ago, I'd say they needed to get their heads checked." She said, grinning.
Kinzie came over, a hopeful look on her face. "Give me a kiss?" She asked, puckering her lips.
I merely gave her the you-think-I'm-going-to look, and she pulled me into an extremely tight hug instead.
I quickly detangled myself from her, and addressed Hylla.
"I know that we just go back, but I'm afraid that I have to go back to camp. I've been away for a while, and well, don't think I can wait much longer. I hope you understand." I said, in a slight pleading tone.
Hylla nodded. "Of course. You've stayed with us for a long time, and that was enough fun for like, another century. But if you have time, come visit us, won't you?" She asked.
The room was instantly full of 'Yes!' and 'Please visit us!'.
"Yeah, don't worry, if I manage to find some time, I'll definitely come visit." I said.
The Amazons cheered, and I excused myself, Thalia and Nico.
We walked outside, and Nico said "Alright, hold tight, this is gonna be real fun." Giving us a wicked grin.
I grabbed Nico's hand, and Thalia took hold of my arm with a vice like grip. Suddenly, everything disappeared, and I could literally feel myself zooming across the country. I saw buildings, fields, animals, the Sears tower, a lake, and then we were at the bottom of Half Blood Hill.
"Wow. That was actually pretty cool." Thalia said. I had to agree. Before we could say anything more, the hair on the back of my neck rose, and I whirled around, drawing my two Riptides. Nico and Thalia followed suit, Thalia with her bow and arrow, and Nico with his Stygian Iron sword. We formed a small circle, watching warily.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" I commanded.
"Rather rude, aren't you, young man." A female voice said.
"Yes! Very rude! Even though you can't blame him, since we did surprise him." A very familiar voice cackled out.
"Lady Artemis? Mrs. Dodds?" I asked, uncertainly.
Out of the woods near us, the hunters sprang out, with Artemis at the front, and Mrs. Dodds cackling overhead.
"Well, Thalia, haven't seen you in five months and a week. Had fun with the Amazons?" Artemis asked.
"Erm, yes, my lady. Very fun." Thalia stammered out.
"I can only guess at what type of fun they'd do…" Artemis muttered. "Anyways, you are five months behind on your training and chores, so say your good byes and hurry up."
Thalia blushed, gave me a last hug, and said "Good luck with your proposal, Kelp Head"
"Yeah, thanks, see you later too, Pinecone Face."
Artemis gave me a nod, and the hunters and Thalia disappeared in a flash of light.
"Well, Nico boy, your father is quite grumpy that he has had to patrol the Underworld without your help. So I suggest you hurry up too, before he calls Persephone in to turn you into a tulip." Mrs. Dodds said.
Nico paled, and gave me a handshake. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, Perce, see you later when I have time."
"Bye Nico, and thanks for your companionship."
Nico nodded, and he and Mrs. Dodds melted into blackness, and disappeared.
I gave a small sigh and stretched. Annabeth, here I come.