I have a treat for you guys, here's another chapter! Please enjoy and don't forget to review!
P.S. - It's a double treat because it's been a while since we've seen our babe-a-licous Artemis in action.
He smiled at her, "Let's get out of here."
In the blink of an eye, white winds spun around them, flying them back to reality, back home.
Perseus Jackson, the bearer of the Fate's divine will, their soldier, their champion, was going home.
She had been looking for days and there still was absolutely no sign of him. She had looked all across New York City, she even visited his apartment, or what was left of it. The entire building had burnt down.
The only clue she had found was an inn 20 miles away from his apartment. The Mystic Mermaid Inn was apparently famous for their waterbeds, but a few days ago, all the waterbeds on the first floor had spontaneously burst. It had to be him.
There were also posters everywhere warning tourists and commuters of a car thief that was in the area. Coincidentally, this thief had stolen a car, a Honda Odyssey, the same day all the beds popped. Police found the car abandoned on the side of the road a few miles out. The police report said that there was a strong smell of smoke around the car, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.
Either way, she decided to follow the highway and see if he had kept traveling on foot. Now she was camped in a small forest preserve 30 miles away from where she had found the car and there still was no trace of him.
She sighed and rubbed at her temples. She was supposed to report back to her father in a few days and she was hoping she would at least have some good news.
"Lady Artemis, the wolf scouts are back from their twilight patrol. They picked up a strong immortal scent a few miles from here. It's different from anything we found earlier. It might be him," a voice spoke hopefully from outside her tent.
She didn't answer. She understood that she needed to see if he was still alive but why couldn't Zeus just let him be? If he didn't want to be found he wouldn't.
"Lady? I know you've been losing hope lately, but we'll find him. Percy can't stay hidden forever. He'll have to come out and blow up something eventually," the voice smiled.
Artemis let a laugh escape. Knowing Perseus that was very likely. "Alright, Thalia," she said as she opened the flaps of her tent to face her lieutenant, "Let's get hunting."
Thalia beamed back at Artemis, "I'll gather a hunting party. We leave at your command." Thalia bowed her head and left towards the hunters' tents.
Artemis went back inside her tent and changed into her hunting gear. She wondered if they would actually find him tonight. If finally after all this time, her mission would be done. Part of her wanted this all to be over because Hades, why should she be reduced to a demigod babysitter? But then a small, very tiny part of her wanted to make sure that Perseus was okay.
During the Giant War he had almost died and then actually died all within 24 hours. And she had the witness the aftermath of both and neither time was pleasant. She still was haunted by the way he looked with that dagger stuck in his chest. He didn't deserve what Annabeth had done to him. Perseus was one of the kindest men- no people- she had ever met and to see him be torn apart was heartbreaking. She felt like she owed it to him to find him and bring him back home.
Artemis let loose a breath and looked into her mirror at her reflection. I will find you, Perseus. I'm going to bring you home.
She emerged from the tent wearing formfitting pants and jacket that were both a dark silvery color. On her back was her bow along with a quiver full of deadly looking arrows with silver-colored shafts and shiny black arrowheads. Her black hair was arranged in a simple braid, and the only thing separating her look from the rest of her hunters was the intricate silver circlet around her brow.
She walked to the center of the Hunter Camp and found a trio of girls waiting from her. They were her three best hunters: Thalia, Cassia, and Rhode, the daughters of Zeus, Nike, and Aphrodite respectively.
Thalia stepped forward with the other two girls flanking her, "We're ready when you are, my lady." Artemis eyed the three girl, a flare of pride sprung within her for her hunters. She had lost many girls in the Giant War, yet she still had many who were just as brave and deadly as the ones who died.
"To the wolves, girls," Artemis said as she headed in the direction of the wolf den that was placed right outside of camp. You see, while the hunters were immortally blessed and could outrun any human and probably most demigods, they still needed an even faster mode of transportation with even more endurance.
That's where the wolves came in and they weren't just ordinary wolves either. Artemis's wolves were the size of horses and much more dangerous. Their claws could easily tear through drakon skin and their jaws were capable of crushing cyclops bones effortlessly. Needless to say, they were amazing hunters and therefore the perfect match for Artemis.
The group stopped in front of a small clearing that held over a dozen sleeping wolves. Artemis whistled for her wolf. From the middle of the clearing, the largest wolf rose and trotted over. He was beautiful with a plush grey coat and amber eyes that shone in the moonlight. The wolf stopped at Artemis's feet and stared into her eyes.
"Ready for a hunt, Cato?" she asked. The wolf grinned and stomped at the ground in response. Artemis smiled back at him then turned to her hunters, "Get your wolves, girls. We have a lost demigod to find."
They mounted their wolves and faced the trees ahead of them. Artemis felt her stomach buzz in anticipation. This could be it. She could be back with Perseus on Mount Olympus before sunrise. She fisted her hands into Cato's fur to anchor herself and breathed in deeply, tensing her body in preparation, "Move out!"
The wolves took off into the night, running as swiftly as a mountain stream. Artemis could feel Cato's muscles stretch and pull under her as he jumped over boulders and dodged trees. It was on of her favorite feeling in the whole world, to ride her wolf. It was better than flying, better than drinking the best nectar, it was so good she couldn't name anything like it.
They followed the immortal's scent they found earlier, the scent of smoke, until it was so strong that even the hunters could smell it. The wolves slowed to a steady jog, their footfalls barely audible. Artemis felt Cato tense beneath and crouched on top of him, readying herself for anything that might burst from the bushes.
The group broke through a wall of trees and found themselves in an opening by a small pond. Artemis could see smoke rise from a pile of darkened wood. Whoever had been here left no too long ago.
"Thalia. Cassia. Go search the perimeter of the camp," she ordered. If the person had made a run for it, those two would definitely catch them. All of Artemis's wolves were unnaturally fast, but their wolves were even faster. Deadly in battle and perfect for hunting quick prey.
"Yes, Lady Artemis," the two said in unison as they bowed their heads. Artemis blinked and they were gone. She smirked, it was as if they were faster than light itself.
"Rhode, have Nyla sniff around the camp and see if she can find if a scent leads anywhere," Artemis said to Rhode and her wolf. Rhode nodded her head and turned her wolf towards the middle of the makeshift camp.
Artemis steered her wolf to a tiny shelter near the pond. It was so rudimentary that she could barely call it a tent. It was made up of a couple large tree branches and a dirty piece of cloth. She let Cato sniff out the abandoned tent, "Anything interesting, Cato?"
"Not much, my lady. Only smoke." He stuck his head further into the shelter and let out a huff when he came across a rumpled shirt, "Wait, this shirt has a different scent on it."
Excited, Artemis perched herself high on Cato's shoulders. "What is it? Is it him?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. It smells like... like rain." Artemis's shoulder sunk. Rain. Not the ocean. Hades, she was so stupid to think that this actually might have been him.
She let out a groan of frustration and gripped at her hair, ruining her braid in the process. The hunt had been for nothing. She raised her fingers to her lips to whistled to her hunters to return, but before she could make a sound, a flash of movement caught her eyes.
She pulled her bow out from behind her and drew an arrow, placing on the bowstring, ready to fire it at any moment. Cato's hackles rose and he readied himself for a fight.
Artemis ran her eyes across the trees and pool, looking for any sign of danger. The snap of a twig sounded from her right. She spun around and aimed her arrow at the source of the noise, but she saw nothing.
The hair on the back of her neck rose. Something was wrong. The woods had gone silent. She couldn't even hear Rhode and her wolf as they patrolled around the camp. Where were they?
Artemis made her way back to the spot where she had left the two. When she was close enough she could make out two figures lying on the ground. She stiffened. Rhode and Nyla.
Artemis swirled around looking for their attackers and found nothing. She started to panic. She couldn't lose anymore hunters. "Where are you?" she hissed as she scanned over the small camp.
She caught a glimpse of a shadow and in a heartbeat she had aimed and fired three arrows. Artemis heard a grunt in the darkness and smirked. She had hit them, not directly from the sound that they made, but it was definitely more than a scratch.
Artemis pulled another arrow and trailed it along the camp, ready to fire again. She tapped her feet at Cato's stomach, inching him forward, but he had become still beneath her.
She kicked at Cato's body a little harder, but still he made no move forward. He only started to sway back and forth as if he were asleep. "Cato," she whispered nervously, "Cato, move."
He only swayed even more and before she could try again, Cato collapsed beneath her, trapping her leg under his bulk. Shit, not good. In alarm, Artemis shoved at her wolf, trying to get some relief from his weight. The more time she took, the more vulnerable she became. She had to work quickly.
After a nerve-wracking minute, Artemis freed herself and leapt up onto her feet. She felt an ache begin to spread across her right leg. It was probably bruised from Cato's fall. She tested her weight on it. Pain flared and she sucked in a swift breath. It would slow her down, but she could still fight fine.
Artemis reached to her back for her bow and stopped when she felt nothing but air. Her bow must be stuck under Cato. She couldn't risk wasting time retrieving it so instead she pulled at the hidden hunting knives sheathed in her belt.
They flipped around in her hands as she warmed up her wrists, their beautiful black blades and silver handles shining in the moonlight. Artemis stalked around the camp as stealthy as a mountain lion.
She stilled as she heard a rustle of leaves and waited for a glimpse of a figure. Her muscles tensed as she saw a body standing in the shadows. She lunged towards in, angling her knives to incapacitate them. But when her weapons hit, it was not flesh they sunk into. It was wood.
She looked at what she had attacked. It was a tree with the same shirt she had found in the tent wrapped around its trunk. Her eyes widened and before she could make another move, she was tackled to the ground and her knives were knocked out of her hands.
The body on top of her pushed the air out her lungs and left her gasping. With them so close to her, she could feel what they were. A man. And by the smell of him, a demigod too.
Artemis growled and kicked at his stomach and chest. Surprisingly, he took the blows and didn't even hit back. He only held her wrists tightly to the ground. She tried to pull her arms away but Gods, he was strong.
She kicked out again, this time higher, aiming for his shoulder. She heard a thud against his flesh and then a gasp escaped his lips. So that's where she hit him. His pain provided a small release and she was able to throw him off her.
She hadn't even made it four steps before he caught her feet and sent her back into the dirt. This time he was smart enough to wrap his legs around her, trapping her legs. He then clamped his hands around her wrists again, but not before she landed a solid punch to his face.
Artemis writhed like a snake, trying everything to just get him off, but he was an unrelenting cage of flesh. She glared up his face, seeing what he looked like for the first time.
Tangled hair covered half of his face. It was filled with twigs and leaves, probably from their tumble on the ground. His face was bloody, but underneath it was ordinary, maybe even a bit handsome, but nothing very striking.
And then she met his eyes. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before. They were white, a shining white that reminded her of swirling rain clouds and icy snowstorms.
"Who are you?" she wondered out loud. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen any demigod or immortal with white eyes. Where did this strange man come from?
Shockingly, he grinned at her. She growled and struggled against him. He was mocking her. "Answer me, boy," she snarled.
He leaned in and stopped so close to her face that if she decided to headbutt him, she was sure that she would shove his nose right into his brain. She was tempted to do that, it did sound like a rather fun idea, but needed to know who this man was first.
Artemis could feel his breath on her face and could smell his scent. Rain and something else. Something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
His eyes bore into her own as if looking into her soul. "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?" the man whispered and then laughed, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."
Artemis froze in shock, "Perseus?"
Soooooooo, how was it? Review and tell me what you think! I hope you liked it.