Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hi, everyone! Welcome back to another Saturday posting! Not much else to say other than that.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Until next chapter,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis


~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 54: Bianca Makes A Choice~


I'd never given much thought to meeting Artemis before. Unless you're a champion like I am or have been on quests, it's actually not that common to meet the gods outside of the yearly Winter Solstice meeting and all that jazz, and even then, most campers aren't year-rounders. They're still given the opportunity to go, like Silena, but depending on where you live or how much money your parents have, it can be hard to afford a flight or drive to New York more than twice a year.

Somehow, though, Artemis didn't look like how I'd imagined her to be – and I do not mean that in a bad way! I guess having been taught that she was a daughter of Zeus my entire life, up until I'd found out that I was a demigod, had led me to expect her to look more like our uncle. But besides the shape and color of her eyes, her nose, and the texture of her curls, she looked mostly like our dad.

"...Oh," I said lamely, realizing that I needed to say something in acknowledgment of her but still in shock at the disappearance of Silena and the Koskinen twins. "Hello, Lady Artemis."

She didn't pay attention to me for long. Her eyes swept over us four, and her lips set into a hard line. "Where are the others?" she asked. "Mother told me there were two more in your group."

I knew she probably wasn't going to be too pleased about me taking the lead on this, given that I was a boy and even I knew how much she hated men, but nobody else had witnessed what I had. "They're gone, too." My throat tightened at the memory. "They disappeared when these golden bands appeared around Ausma's wrist and Lauritz grabbed her. I don't know what happened to her, and Dr. Thorn – the monster – didn't either."

Artemis' expression was impossible to read beyond her dissatisfaction. "That is...strange." Oh, no. How well did things bode for them if even a goddess thought the circumstances of them disappearing was weird? "I sense magic at work that is unfamiliar to me."

"And Silena?" Katie asked, having been brought over to us by the other Hunters who had taken care of her and Bianca. Her eyes were filled with tears.

The goddess softened. "Silena was a brave young woman." I noticed how one or two of the Hunters made faces at this, but I didn't have the context to get this inside joke. "Some other magic is at work with her. I do not know how or why she has vanished, but if she can be found, I will find her. The same is true for those other half-bloods."

Her words did not make me want to jump off the cliff and search for Silena any less, even though I had a feeling she was right. If Silena was still down in the sea, I would've been able to feel her presence. But she wasn't.

And, shit. Silena was one of my best friends. Outside of the car ride here, I hadn't talked to her all night. She was still kind of mad at me for getting back together with Luke. If we didn't find her, was that how I was going to remember at her? Being angry at me? I didn't want that.

I wanted her back. I wanted my friend, my sister in all but marriage and blood.

"We've burdened you children enough," Artemis announced, effectively ending that conversation. "Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, milady."

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

Bianca looked surprised. "Me?"

"Yes," Artemis said. She looked almost...amused.

The goddess – now the third half-sister I had met, although I didn't think it would be wise of me to think of that way again in her presence – led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp.

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

As soon as she was gone, the daughter of Zeus stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so...argh!"

Neither Katie nor I said anything. This seemed to upset her more.

Thalia whirled on me. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy?" she seethed. "You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster!"

Katie's head snapped up at this. "It's not his fault," she argued.

Thalia ignored her. "If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Did you even think of that?"

My jaw clenched. Here she was, lecturing me about my best friend. Who did she think she was? I thought of some harsh things to say, and I might've said them too, but a stern look from Katie had me keeping my mouth shut.

Thalia didn't say another word. Turning on her heel, she marched off, leaving the two of us alone.


The Hunters set up their camp in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all made of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling around the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid, but I had a feeling I should know better than to get close. 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' will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire.

A few minutes after two Hunters had come back over to us to bandage up Katie's arms and my shoulders, though they looked like they would've rather been doing anything else with me, Katie wiped at her face with her hand.

"I meant what I said," she said quietly, so quietly I almost wasn't able to hear her. "It wasn't your fault."

"Maybe not," I acknowledged. "Thalia had a point, though. If I hadn't gone off on my own – "

"Silena made her choice," she interjected hotly. "She wanted to protect you guys, don't take that away from her. You know she's going to be pissed if you do when we find her again."

"When."

I couldn't help but think that was optimistic of her.

But, I had found her before. If I could find Katie in the Sea of Monsters, why wouldn't I be able to find Silena?

We watched Thalia pacing in the snow on the edge of the 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 us our backpacks. We fished out ambrosia squares to help the healing of our wounds, which tasted like homemade brownies, dissolving in our mouths and sending a warm feeling throughout our bodies. It helped calm my nerves, if only a little bit.

After another several minutes, Zoë Nightshade stepped up to us. "Percy Jackson," she said. "Katie Gardner."

Now that I got a closer look of her, I noted that she had black eyes that almost reminded me of obsidian, or some other volcanic mineral, 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, "Yes, ma'am." She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.

"Come with me," she continued. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with you."

She led us to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved us inside. Bianca was seated next to Artemis, looking uncertain.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable, not to mention like the TARDIS from Doctor Who – it was bigger on the inside than it had any right to be, considering the laws of physics. 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 a huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others that 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 laying next to her, but then I realized it was a live animal – a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting comfortably in Artemis' lap.

"Join us, Percy Jackson, Katie Gardner," she said.

We sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess seemed to study me specifically, which made me uncomfortable. She had such old eyes for someone who looked barely any older than I was.

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

"Uh...a little," I admitted. She was even younger than how Despoina appeared.

"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 age of some of my oldest Hunters, and often the oldest age of all the young maidens I patron until they go astray."

"'Go astray?'"

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

"Oh."

Zoë sat down at Artemis' 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. Or, more importantly, like I wasn't one-hundred-percent gay.

"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you beyond what they already have, even given your nature," Artemis spoke. It made me shift uncomfortably, even though Bianca didn't seem to pick up on her meaning. Way for her to almost out me, despite me not really caring what others at camp thought about my sexuality. Everybody at camp was either bisexual or fully accepting of queer people, given who our parents were and our own sexualities. "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 Zoë. "Which one was it?"

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

"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied. "I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, Katie, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of this manticore. Bianca has already told me plenty, but from you specifically, Percy, I'd like to hear a bit more, especially on the disappearances of Lauritz and Ausma."

"...Well, on them, Lady Artemis, there's not much more to tell," I said.

Still, I told her everything that I knew, and the same went for Katie.

When we were done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. "So the mystery with those siblings remains unfulfilled. But as for Silena...I feared this was the answer."

Zoë sat forward. "The scent, milady?"

"Yes."

"What scent?" I queried.

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

She stared at me intently. "We came here tonight for you because of my mother, your patron, and we found the manticore, but he is not the one I have been seeking. Tell me again, what exactly Dr. Thorn said."

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

"No, no. After that."

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

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

"Go on, Percy," she told me.

"Well, then Thorn was talking about the Great Stirring, and he said, 'Soon we shall have the most important monster of all – the one that shall bring 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."

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

"No, Zoë. 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, milady."

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

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

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

"Can goddesses pray?" I wondered out loud. I'd never thought about that before.

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

"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"

She seemed amused by this. "No. Men like you are not the kind who often give me trouble, and more than that, you are my half-brother. Our father would be most...displeased if I were to turn you into an animal without cause." I couldn't help but think she made it sound like she was almost expecting me to give her a cause, in spite of what she'd said just before that. "I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return."

"What?" Zoë 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, ah, a little misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear that they rebuilt the cabins you burnt down."

Zoë muttered something about foolish campers.

"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 nearly felt my eyes drop out of my head. "What? But what about Camp Half-Blood? Don't you like it there? You're safe there even without an ἒνδεσμα!"

"It is not the only way for a girl to remain safe," Zoë said.

"But you love camp," I protested, because I could see from my one question that I was right. Bianca was looking even more uncertain than she had before. "You've taken care of the pegasi with me at the stables and you show a bunch of the guys who's boss at the sword-fighting arena...and what about your friends? What about Nico? I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"

"To begin with," Zoë said, "immortality."

I stared at her, then at Artemis. "She's kidding, right?"

"Zoë rarely kids about anything," Artemis responded. "My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal...unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely. Or break their oath."

"What oath?"

To my surprise, it wasn't Artemis who replied to me. "To swear off romantic love forever," Katie spoke up for the first time since we'd finished telling Artemis everything that had happened. There was a...light behind her eyes, almost hard in quality. "To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."

Artemis seemed just as surprised as I was, but also pleased. "Precisely."

I tried to imagine what Katie had just said. Being immortal. Hanging out with only middle-school girls and a couple ones my age forever. But, as much as I loved Silena, Katie, and Callie, I couldn't wrap my head around it. "So you just go around the country recruiting half-bloods – "

"Not just half-bloods," Zoë interrupted. "Lady Artemis does not discriminate by birth. All who honor the goddess may join. Half-bloods, nymphs, mortals – "

"Which are you, then?"

Anger flashed in Zoë's eyes. "That is not thy concern, boy. The point is, Bianca may join if she wishes. That is her choice."

"You will still be able to see your brother from time to time," Artemis assured Bianca, as if sensing after I'd mentioned him that he was one of the daughter of Hades' primary concerns about joining. "But you will be free of responsibility. He will continue to have the camp counselors to take care of him. You will walk your own path with us."

"'Free from responsibility,'" Bianca repeated dreamily. The uncertainty was diminishing.

And perhaps it was selfish of me, for not wanting her to join the Hunt so badly. I mean, she was fifteen, and that was three years shy of the deadline for the Great Prophecy, which she knew. I'd never really checked in with her before to see what her thoughts were on the matter. I'd always been gung-ho about how I would be the child of the Great Prophecy, not wanting the burden to fall on anyone else's shoulders but my own. But if something happened to me, and then Thalia, and then Callie...

I should've talked with her about the Great Prophecy before now. That was on me.

But I just couldn't shake this feeling that this wasn't Bianca's destiny. She wasn't meant to join the Hunt, not in this timeline.

And I had one last trick in the book to play.

"Bianca, this is crazy," I protested again. "I mean, what about Annabeth?"

It was like I'd snapped her out of a trance. Bianca blinked, realization dawning on her face: I didn't know what Annabeth's specific thoughts on the Hunt were, but obviously, the daughter of Hades had some idea it wasn't something she was interested in. That would mean leaving Annabeth behind. Forever.

"I – I'm sorry, Lady Artemis," she said after a couple of moments. "But...I don't think I can join your Hunt."

Artemis, having seen Bianca's reaction like I had at the mention of Annabeth, did not look surprised. She sighed. "You have not let men enter your heart, but you have let someone else," she noted. Zoë looked disappointed by this. But then, to my surprise, Artemis looked over at Katie. "You have not forgotten what I told you four years ago, half-sister. Does that mean you have changed your mind?"

...Wait.

Artemis had tried recruiting Katie too, before I'd even met her?

Before I could freak out about that properly, Katie laughed lightly and shook her head. "If I had changed my mind, Πότνια, I would've let you know. I like where I am at camp." She looked at me, her green eyes glittering. "I might not have had a boy enter my heart in that way yet, but I definitely care about some of them too much to qualify."

Artemis did not seem nearly as disappointed with her response as she had Bianca's. "So I suspected, but I thought I would try one more time," she murmured. Louder, "In order to get you all to camp, I suppose I must summon a ride from the brother of the three of us – my irresponsible twin, Apollo."


Word Count: 3,346

Next Chapter Title: I Get My First Driving Lesson