Thalia was the first to break the silence. "Percy?" She questioned while lowering her bow Some of the hunters recognized Percy from the Second Titan War years ago and did likewise. Others trusted their sister's lead and lowered their weapons. Maybe half either didn't know Percy, didn't trust any male not at arrow point, or both."At ease girls." Lady Artimus barked and the rest grudgingly put down their weapons.
Her mistress continued, "As many of you know this is Percues. Your sister Zoe called him a good man with her dying breath. He might be traveling with us for a bit" There were many gasps at this. That was probably the closest the goddess had come to complementing a male in centuries if not longer.
"The Fates took notice of his heroism and, against his will, made him the God of Revolution, Tides, and Forged Family. "The goddess paused as if the next bit was hard for her to say. "Is there any among you who do not consider the hunter next to you your sister? What about the one across the table?" No one spoke up to fill the long pause that followed. Artemis swallowed. "As none of you are related by blood, the family you've here is a forged one. This puts you squarely in Percy's domain." This came out as a defeated sigh. It reminded Thaila of a substitute teacher asking the class not to throw paper airplanes.
Snapping back to her normal self and making direct eye contact with Percy the Olympian continued, "He will answer any questions you have, within reason. That said he is a god, and you will treat him with the same level of respect you treat me." Percy's face had a panicked look as she said this but then it fell flat so fast Thalia wasn't sure the panic was even there.
As they dished up and offerings were made to the gods, Percy seemed to sigh contently whenever an offering was made to the gods in general. That gave her an idea. When it was her turn to go up to the fire she dropped in some blueberries and whispered, "Percy, tell me about Annabeth." From across the large dining area, Percy stiffened and looked at her. With a shaky voice almost sobbed out," Not that. Please. Anything but that" Thaila looked around at her sisters questioning Percy's words. Dropping in another berry she sympathetically whispered, "Later, Kelp Head. She's my friend too."
Dinner was a borage of questions Percy didn't have the answer to. Questions as simple as what new abilities he had and what all his godly responsibilities were. After dinner Thalia cornered him. "OK Bigshot, spill. What happened to our favorite Wise girl?" Percy didn't want to talk about it but when he started to feel the splitting happening, he figured it was better to do it under his own power.
"She … left. I misread something, maybe a lot of things, I don't know. Anyway, I made her angry. I was so hurt I ran away before anything more could come of it. I found this strange bar in my wondering, and I don't know much after that. Either way, I woke up in my father's arms on Mount Olympus being made a god. I just hope I didn't make myself look like a fool in front of the council. Whatever happened Aphrodite still wants us as her playthings. She's left up our link. I guess it will make it easier for her to avoid me."
Thalia pulled him into a hug and gently whispered into his ear. "I know Annabeth. She'll use that link to find you wherever you run. "As she pulled away she pointed out, "She was still trying to save Luke throughout the war. Whatever you did to upset her I'm sure she's kicking herself for letting you run off." Percy pulled her back into a hug and softly cried into her shoulder. He couldn't help it the past few hours had been so hectic that he needed the release. Combine that with Thaila's calming tone and it was all just too much to hold back.
After a few minutes of this Percy cleaned himself up and they returned to the group. The hunters were cleaning up the camp and preparing for bed. Percy helped out where he could but mostly the hunters ignored him. When most of the others had gone to bed, he approached Artimus. "Where do I sleep?" She gave him a mischievous grin. Glancing up at the moonless sky she offered a simple. "You don't. The need for sleep is a mortal habit that you will have to get over. As long as you are training under me you will train at night. Tonight, we will spar."
She led them to a pile of rocks that reminded Percy of Zues' Fist back at camp. Artemis told him to climb the rock. As he did so she explained the plan for the night. "We are going to play a moral game they call Queen of the Hill. I give you permission to use the same lethal ish force that you used during Capture the Flag when you were at that camp."
Once he was at the top he turned and saw that Artimus was already following behind. He tried to kick at her to dislodge her from the rockface, but she simply scampered out of the way like a mountain goat or a sater. It wasn't long before she got behind him and got her footing. Percy was quick to draw his sword. The power that Riptide gave off when he uncapped it astounded him. It seemed even Artimus was thrown for a loop before giving him a knowing grin and rushing in with her knives. She quickly slipped inside his defenses and shouldered him off the rock.
He landed on the ground hard knocking the wind out of him. He was sure a mortal would have broken a bone or at least had a concussion. Artemis called down from the top. "If that's all you've got you've got no hope of overthrowing me from my perch. "As she said this Percy felt his energy renew and saw that he had started to glow a swirling reds and greens. Looking up he saw what might have been a touch of fear in the goddess' eyes. He quickly climbed the side of the rock. Effortlessly dodging the rain of arrows that came hailing down on him. Once he got to the top, he closed the distance and disarmed the stunted goddess before pushing her off. Almost instantly the burst of energy faded as he was back on the defensive. They went back and forth like this all night before the sun started to rise. Artimus stopped them and led them back to camp.
That day the hunt was heading northeast. They traveled quickly reaching the mountains by midafternoon. As they were heading into a pass between the mountains, they heard a large roar. Artemis paled a little at this and insisted that they keep moving. By sundown, many more of the unknown threats were calling back and forth across the mountains. Percy could tell that they were catching up. Artemis kept the hunt moving along, not even pausing long enough to allow the tired semi-immortals to eat.
When the instincts Percy had honed during the wars told him whatever was following them was close, he stopped and drew Riptide. "Go," he told the others, "I'll give you some time and lead them off your trail while you get some distance. "Thalia started protesting before Artimus cut her off with a glare. "He's right. We have to get moving."
Percy had seen a lot of weird things in his days. Not whatever these were. They were like large panthers made of shadow and rock. Their tails were snakes, and they had a pair of squid-like tentacles coming off their shoulder blades. "Annabeth would know what they are." He thought miserably to himself before slashing through one that pounced at him.
After twenty or so kitty deaths later, Percy was starting to feel the strain, but they were gone. That's when he heard Artemis' soft whisper of "I'm sorry." A split second later he felt the worst pain he'd ever felt from a spot on his back. The same spot his mortal tether was when he had the Cures of Achilles. Looking behind him he saw an arrow of moonlight poking out of his back before dissolving into nothing. Then the world went a painful white followed by nothingness.
Artemis approached the campfire that night. "It is done," she whispered into the flames. "The others will be expecting him to reform in Tartarus, but I sense you took him right before his essence went there. Where will he reform?" A snapping log in the fire almost sounded like an answer.
"Home"
Some of you were asking what I meant by rank of the gods. Zues is king, Hera is Queen, ect. If you want the list, I'm using Wikipedia's article on the Olympians. I hope that helps. Keep asking questions. They help me figure out what holes I need to fill in that I didn't notice.