The bullets strafed across the ground as the frightened demigods huddled behind the trees, grasping their weapons tightly as shrapnel of bark and the occasional stray bullet zoomed past, each shattering and sending out even more shrapnel. There was nowhere to turn, and the heroes refused to allow innocent demigods to simply be taken away by these mortals.
"Bianca!" One of the new half-bloods yelled, his voice cracking as his sister was dragged up into the helicopter that the mortals rapelled in from. There was one more round of gunfire before it was suddenly cut off by the sound of a quick whoop from the treeline. In the heat of an almost primal frenzy, a group of young girls quickly leapt from the underbrush surrounding the Manticore and began to fire blunted arrows and weighted nets into the clearing, capturing many of the mortals, and incapacitating the rest. The Manticore itself began to hurl French obscenities before suddenly, it was attacked by a separate contingent of undiplomatic girls firing silver tipped arrows and the occasional Greek fire vial. As they surrounded him, he began to launch his poison-tipped spines in all directions, firing at everyone at once, but as the bolts were fired, they were plucked out of the air by one of two projectiles. Either an arrow or a bullet would send the needle ricocheting into the night sky, but even as the demigods gained their ground, they lost their friend, the helicopter slowly rose into the sky. Finally, three more figures stepped out of the haze, a young girl, no older than twelve, with dark, burnt-red hair and pale skin, another girl, this one slightly older, standing at five foot-two, with dark black hair and copper tanned skin, and finally, a hidden figure, whose face was covered in a wolf mask, which also served as a gas-mask, a long, stark grey parka, a long, thick scarf, and thick pants and boots which were littered with cargo pockets and sheaths for an assortment of weaponry.
The girl with the obsidian hair held a bow, aimed at the Manticore, the tip of her arrow shining in the moon, while the boy stood beside her, holding two pistols, both of which looked too big for him, and seemed to be smoking. The young girl in the middle, however, was unarmed, yet she seemed at ease among them all.
Realizing that no help was coming, and that the only other option was death, the Manticore turned from the fray and charged toward the edge of the cliff, preparing to leap, when suddenly, the boy in the wolf mask made a single quick movement, holstering his pistols and flipping the weapon he held on his back into his hands and cocking it. As soon as the weapon was in his hands, he pulled the trigger and poured a cycle of lead into the back of the retreating Frenchman, watching with deep satisfaction as he dissolved into dust.
"Role call!" The young girl yelled, listening intently as each of her handmaidens responded with a number. "Good, all here, Zoe, Perseus, begin clean-up, assess damage, and find out who we lost." Zoe, and Perseus moved with ease, Zoe tossed a coin into the air and Perseus whispered something, but as the coin landed, Zoe shook her head and Perseus nodded weakly, walking over to the campers, he let the mask slide off his face and pulled the hood of his jacket off, until the only thing on his face was a single bandanna slung across his eye. As he approached the shivering demigods, he cleared his throat and began.
"My name is Perseus Yeoman, does anyone need medical attention?"
"His name is Percy, and he's going to be joining us for a while." Artemis said calmly, holding Percy's shoulders close to her waist, Percy cowered a little as the hunters stared him down. Phoebe was the first to speak, standing beside Silena.
"Why?" Phoebe asked, looking at the unimpressive boy with obvious displeasure. Of all the man-haters, Phoebe was the boisterous voice of androphobia. "We've gone seven thousand years without a single man in our hunt, and now we've got some runt?" Phoebe said, her grip on her bow tightening. Silena looked down, unable to speak out against Perseus' persecution without a kill under her belt. Silena missed Percy, and she wanted to talk to her young confidante.
"He's…my brother." Artemis said, sighing contentedly as she said the words, her lips twitched into a smile. "He's my brother, and I love him. He needs a family, and for now, we're it." Artemis stated determinedly. She was proud to be his sister, but no more proud than Percy was of having such an amazing new family. The hunters looked him up and down and gradually, one by one, they made their decisions, some simply raised their eyebrows and walked away, some nodded mutely, and some even smiled, but it was clear that Perseus had faced suffering in his life, and suffering bound more brethren than blood, or in this case, sisters.
"Welcome to the Hunt, pup." Phoebe said, closing the gap between herself and the newest recruit. "You'll follow the rules. You'll earn your place. You'll be tired for a while, and you'll bleed, and sometimes, you'll even be tempted to give up, cry or scream, but that's not weakness, that's growth." Phoebe began, her voice quiet, but intent. "But if you want to survive, then you'll never give up. Crying doesn't make you weak, giving up does."
"It doesn't matter." Perseus said, his eyes cold and unrelenting; blood flowing like tides crashing against the edge of his mind. "I will never let them see me cry."
"Screw you, that's my sister!" The littlest boy yelled, throwing his arms around as the taller black haired boy held him around his torso. Without flinching, the girl in front of Perseus stuck a piece of a cake-like substance in the young boy's mouth, muting him for a moment. The little boy was muffled for a few moments as he chewed the cake substance for a while and began to fall asleep. The gray clad boy stepped up to the next of the demigods and instantly recoiled in recognition. It was the boy that had harassed Silena at camp, Percy had never gotten his name, and he didn't honestly care to.
"Do you remember me?" Percy announced, his voice finally beginning to betray him.
"I think I'd remember someone like you." The blonde boy stood up, his blue eyes flashing with arrogance.
"I kicked you in the balls the last time I saw you while you tried to rape my friend." Perseus recalled, his usually cold demeanor crackling like an open flame.
"Shut up! I would never do something like that!" Luke insisted, his face flushed. He began to draw his sword and Percy snarled, slammed the palm of his hand on the pommel of the blonde boy's sword. The sword slid back into the sheath and the sheath dropped to the ground, silencing everyone surrounding the two.
"That was foolish. I have the swiftest hands of the hunt, I could have beheaded you one thousand times by now. Would you care to try again?" The now enraged Perseus asked, looking up at the now stunned Luke Castellan. The other two demigods gulped, but Luke knew that he would have to try again. Perseus smiled slightly at this and turned to the other demigods there, his grin broadening. "Hello, my name is Perseus, brother of Artemis. Would you care for some tea?" The two girls looked him up and down, knowing that something about him just wasn't quite right… other than that though, he seemed likable when he wasn't in a homicidal rage.
"Hello, my name is Karma, and I'm here to help!" An Indian woman said, smiling down at Perseus as he stepped toward the forest, holding a backpack filled to the brim with supplies.
"You must be mistaken, I didn't ask for help." Perseus responded, tilting his head to the side, his left hand slowly reaching for his hatchet. The self-proclaimed Karma frowned and nodded.
"I know, that's why it took me so long to find you, those who ask for help least are often the most deserving of it." Perseus quickly pulled out his hatchet and held it aloft, prepared to hurl it into the woman's skull should she move. "If you harm me, you kill the mortal."
"Collateral damage." Perseus announced, twirling the hatchet in preparation of a possible confrontation. Karma furrowed her brow, pursed her lips and sighed.
"Damn, you're not very likable." She announced.
"Likable doesn't feed my sisters."
"It does make friends, and I'm the best goddamn friend you'll ever make, so you might want to step out of the forests little wolf boy and learn some city manners." Karma said, leaning over intimidatingly. "Unless you have someone else willing to bless you with untold power, world peace, or immense riches…? Ringing bells?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you Karma, would you care for some tea, or perhaps something more substantial?" Perseus asked, his demeanor changing in an instant. His training with Artemis slipped from the forefront of his mind, and his training with Aphrodite and Athena took over, he was now a calm and composed gentleman. Karma smiled and guided him toward a small cafe.
As soon as Perseus had turned around, Luke decided to test his luck again, and again his luck failed him. Luke swung his sword like a man possessed, slamming his sword into nothing but thin air as a nimble raven haired boy leapt to the side, spinning like a top and swinging his knee into the other boy's calf, sending the blonde to the forest floor, calling out in agony. The other two demigoddesses quickly leapt to their feet and rushed to help their fallen friend, but they were stopped by two hunters, who grabbed the blonde and the brunette roughly. A full fledged brawl was about to break out, until Perseus took a step forward and shoved his palm out onto the boy on the ground's chest, causing him to wheeze and cough. "If I were to so choose, I could decapitate you now with my bare hands, I do not acknowledge you as a person, merely a series of statistics, however, your merit as a swordsman is beyond disregard, you almost cut me, it would be unwise to kill you now, however, next time, this will be seen as a treasonous action." Perseus said threateningly, his voice deepening to a feral growl as he kept a dead look in his eye.
"My name's Luke Castellan, and don't call me a traitor, you little-..." The blonde trailed off, staring coldly into the turbulent green eyes above him, mortified. Perseus grasped his hand and helped him to his feet, wiping his hand off on his jacket as he turned around and embraced his fellow hunters. Luke trudged back to his comrades, muttering under his breath about brats and bastards when his tongue slipped onto a word that sparked hatred in the hearts of the silver-clad. "Lesbos."
"I would suggest that you watch your tongue boy, or it will be removed, forcefully." Artemis stated with a regal certainty that didn't leave any room for disagreement. "My handmaidens are all very attached to each other, that I will admit, however, their sexuallity is none of your business, therefore, shut your mouth." She said, marching straight toward Luke who began to reach for his sword, not realizing who Artemis was. However, as soon as his hand twitched for his sword, he had all of thirteen bows and two pistols aimed at him.
"Treachery, intent to attack Milady, disrespect to the hunt, is there any among us who would doubt that this is time to allow me my release?" Perseus asked, looking frightening with the shadows keeping his eyes from view and his hands so absolutely still, holding his pistols ready to fire. His arms seemed to be limp, held up by invisible strings, but that made his demeanor no less terrifying. The change between how he had acted before, and now, it was stunning, almost like watching a star turn into a black hole. He was absorbing the life from around himself.
"That's fine, but just enough to scare him, Perseus." Artemis interrupted, causing Perseus to go through one of his huge mood swings, yet again. Perseus nodded, smiled and took two steps back, reholstering his pistols. Artemis stopped beside Zoe and smirked knowingly. Perseus then reached for his glove and pulled it off harshly, causing a rush of interest from the hunters as they gathered around and pulled the two girls out of the ring they had made. Luke simply drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance. Perseus however, made no move to draw a weapon, instead he simply kept his no longer gloved hand hidden by his long and thick sleeves and began to speak.
"I believe simply my fist should be enough to-" He was interrupted by a slash to his chest by Luke, which stopped just short of his ribcage by an extremely hard and stiff shield like object, which happened to be a hand. Percy's left hand was...strange, to say the least, his entire arm had changed composition, well, actually, no it hadn't, it had always been like this. His skin was made of scales, and his flesh, marble, the bones in his entire body had been replaced by diamond, there was no blade, bullet or for that matter, club, which could even penetrate Perseus' new skin. he smiled savagely as Luke's blade began to crumble, simply the stress of an impact with such a strong material was enough to destroy the brittle bronze.
"I'd like to speak with you later, Perseus, about a few future hunts, please meet me in my tent." Artemis drawled, barely looking back, already confident in Perseus' victory. Without a moment's hesitation, Perseus nodded and smiled, looking between Artemis and Zoe before he turned his attention on Luke and lost his smile eerily. Luke took an affirmative action and sped forward, sending a punch into Perseus' stomach, only to instantly regret it as his knuckles ground between themselves and the almost metal composition of Perseus' ribs. Unbeknownst to anyone, Perseus had not activated his petra sarka beyond his forearm, the hard substance that Luke had almost broken his hand on was nothing more than Perseus' musculature.
"Surrender?"
"Never." Luke growled, clutching his hand, hunched over like a wild animal. Perseus simply smiled and lashed out with a kick to Luke's head.
Thalia and Artemis both walked into Artemis' tent, both expecting Perseus to be following soon, however, when Thalia tromped into Artemis' tent, only to be followed by Artemis, she saw Perseus lying on his side, his body fetal and his face loose, smiling, he looked about three years younger, a ten year old boy who still yearned for someone to comfort him.
Artemis walked in directly behind Thalia and saw her little brother looking exactly as he did after the surgery, a very calamitous time. Athena and Hera had to be constantly on guard duty with Perseus during those days.
The operation was long and arduous. The preparation alone took a year, and as the time passed, Perseus became weaker and weaker, soon, he was unable to stand, and they knew, it was now or never.
"Artemis, scalpel labeled seven." Apollo demanded, extending his hand toward his sister. Hecate's magic was strong, "Persi" was a cute little ten year old girl, easily one of Artemis' hunt. Artemis quickly handed the scalpel to him and stepped back, watching in awe as Apollo's hands began to move faster than the eye could follow, even an immortal one. "Thank you, now sutures labeled three."
"Three-O gold silk."
"Nurse Myrtle, Metzenbaum scissors, 18."
"Artemis, Forceps, 20."
It continued like that for a while, Apollo's usually smirking face was carved in a harsh grimace as he slowly, one by one, extracted and replaced the damaged muscles in "Persi's" body. After seven hours of standing around a gurney on Olympus, Artemis and Apollo pulled "Persi" out of the induced coma, and waited impatiently as his body attempted to readjust to the burden of his new strength. Perseus seemed to be recuperating until his eyes opened harshly and he began to stiffen, his back arching and his fists clenching. Artemis leaned over him and tried to keep him on the bed, holding down his body as he seized violently. Soon, at the sight of his pain, Artemis began sobbing, feeling her connection to Perseus falter and fail as he drifted further and further from the land of the living. Finally, Apollo could handle it no longer and he cleared his throat, humming something quietly before he began to sing.
"No one knows what it's like,
To be the bad man,
To be the sad man,
Behind blue eyes." Perseus began to glow and his seizing stopped, he slowly drew back to a calm sleep and his pulse evened out.
"Thank you…" Perseus muttered in his sleep as he began to snore lightly.
"Um...I can, uh...it's a…" Perseus began before simply throwing his hands in the air and harrumphing into the cushioned floor. "Oh, nevermind, I was tired so I fell asleep, but it's just so comfortable in here!" Perseus looked over at Artemis, whose terse smile made it clear that they would discuss it later.
"Perseus, this is Thalia, daughter of-..." Artemis cut herself off, remembering Percy's policy about judging people on their kills, not their kin. Artemis admired that about Percy, and she respected his policy...usually. "...Daughter of Zeus, and she's here to discuss what happened with the manticore earlier." Perseus straightened up when Artemis mentioned Thalia's family, noting that such information would likely be valuable eventually. Thalia calmly sat down and began to recount what happened up until the shootout in the clearing.
"If this is really happening, then why have our last two hunts been milk-runs?!" Perseus asked, his tone even, but cold. "We could have operated in two tangents and run these ops at the same time, so why are we not encountering these 'great stirring' monsters?" Perseus said, and Thalia's eyes widened. There's no way he couldn't know about Kronos rising, is there? Or about the war? Perseus could see her thinking and gave her a hard look, because Thalia was right, Perseus was being 'protected' from the information he needed more than anything else. "It doesn't matter now, I have to talk to you when you're done with Thalia, sis- Lady Artemis." Percy corrected, and then stopped suddenly, cringing at using such an informal term with Artemis around Thalia who was smiling slightly at Artemis' smirk. "I'm going to pay for that later, so don't think I'm like that with everyone." He said to Thalia and walked out.
"What's going on?! Where did those guys take my sister?! Who are you?!" Nico demanded, being held back by Annabeth who seemed like she'd rather be anywhere other than holding back a struggling child from people that she knew both Thalia and Luke hated. Zoe walked calmly toward the young boy and was tempted to kick him across the face when Perseus seemed to just, appear, from nowhere, directly beside her. Zoe held herself back in front of Perseus, not wanting to show her more sadistic side to her surrogate brother. Perseus began to speak, his voice huskier than before, taking on a tone he usually only used for intimidation.
"I'll take care of the kid, if you'd like, the wolves haven't eaten yet, and I'm sure he could help with that." Perseus stage whispered, not once looking away from Nico. Nico swallowed thickly, only slightly believing that this guy would have the guile to throw him to the wolves. "There, now he's calm. What's your name kid?"
"Nico, Nico Di Angelo."
"Italian?"
"I think so."
"I'm Perseus Yeoman, but you can call me Yeo, if I can call you Nico?"
Nico nodded.
"Good, now I want you to tell me everything you can remember about what just happened." Perseus asked, bending down so he was face to face with Nico. Nico nodded mutely again and began to take some deep breaths before he began. When Nico had finished, he yawned loudly and his eyes slowly began to close. Percy nodded slowly, his mind still processing the entire tale, but he understood the gist of it, Nico and his sister were important to someone, and that someone wasn't the kind of person who you wanted to get an anonymous love letter from. "Thanks Nico, you've been a big help."
"So, what are we going to do with him?" Zoe asked and Perseus hunched over, mulling it over in his head. He came to a conclusion.
"Tell all of the demigods, except that traitorous blonde boy that they can share my tent, and I'll just...I don't know. I'll think of something." Percy then walked away and went to report to Artemis about his findings concerning the monster attacks, however, as he neared Artemis' tent, he spotted Thalia in the distance, staring out over the edge of the cliff.
"You should join us." He said offhandedly. Thalia turned to glare at him, but he sat unaffected by her ferocity. "You're talented, you're strong, intimidating, fast, sharp, and I know that you feel unprepared." Percy paused, allowing her time to reply, but she remained silent. "It feels like there's only so much that you can learn where you are. You're...unsettled, you don't like to sit still, you feel like you'd get stronger faster if you were to challenge an actual opponent. I can tell." Perseus sat down beside Thalia and noticed that her eyes seemed to sparkle with curiosity. He smiled and looked out at the full moon mournfully.
"You presume much." Thalia said, but she laughed sourly after she spoke. "But unfortunately, I can't deny it, so please, continue your prophetic adagy." Thalia spoke with an almost apathetic tone, but her eloquence belied a royal disposition.
"I presume much because I'm a lot like you. The hunt is superior to Camp in three ways." Percy stated factually, holding up three fingers, without missing a beat he began to list them off. "Firstly, we've got the best archers in the world, more capable than any child of Apollo, and that's not all, we're also the best moving troupe of demigods in the world, unrestrained by 'Camp Borders', and unbothered by laws of time and space. Secondly, we're immortal! How is that not the best selling point that you've ever heard?" He stood up slowly and watched as the moon dipped into the sea, he turned around and tears slowly treaded down his cheeks as he walked toward Artemis' tent.
"What's the third one?"
Thalia was looking at Perseus intently, watching as his back lurched slightly, his shoulders shaking, Thalia assumed it was from the cold, but it was actually from tears. He slowly turned around and Thalia was surprised to see tears in his eyes as he smiled sadly at her.
"Family. You'll never find a happier one."