Act I Chapter XXXVIII: The Demigods Meet the Hunters of Artemis

All Percy could really do was stare at the group of girls in front of him. Annabeth was talking excitedly to the one that she called Thalia, and the other two were just glaring at him. All of them wore parkas and jeans, and there was this silver glow that seemed to enshroud them. Almost like moonlight was radiating off of them.

They all held bows with an arrow notched in it. Not to mention the two that were glaring at Percy looked at him like he was prey. He found his hand drifting to his pocket, but Luke clasped his shoulder and spoke, "Thank you, Thalia."

"Of course," Thalia said. A smile came to her face, but it did not meet her eyes. Her gaze moved over to Reyna. "You have an injury. Do you need nectar or ambrosia?"

"I already had some," Reyna answered after a few moments. Her hand was still gripping the makeshift sling that Annabeth had made for her.

"You still look like you're in pain," Thalia commented with a frown. "We should get you to our camp so you can get off your feet. And, the boys can stay on the outskirts."

"Why do we have to stay on the outskirts?" Percy whispered. Luke looked at him and smiled.

"I'll explain on the way," Luke promised. He looked at Thalia. "Lead the way."

Thalia nodded and started to walk along the tunnel, leaving the hole they crawled out of behind. Annabeth was right at her side, and the two other girls took up the flank. Reyna followed behind them, and when one of the girls turned back to seemingly offer help, Reyna just waved her away.

Percy and Luke followed behind the pack. A frown broke Percy's face as he looked around Camp Jupiter. All the destruction from his dream had been cleaned away by someone, maybe the Romans. Percy moved his sight to Annabeth. She seemed to have shaken off the aftereffects of that war flash she saw.

There had been a primal look in Annabeth's eyes, and Percy was just glad Reyna had been able to snap her out of it. He wanted to talk about it, but the subject was probably going to be pushed aside with Thalia there.

Luke suddenly picked up his pace, and Percy hurried to follow suit. They stopped by Reyna's side, and Luke looked at both of them. He spoke in such a low tone that Percy barely heard him, "Don't talk about Reyna being a Roman. Trust me."

"Do they not like Romans?" Percy whispered back. Luke nodded his confirmation. "Why?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later," Luke promised. "Oh, right. They also hate men."

"What?" Percy almost exclaimed aloud as he stopped walking. Luke stopped as well, and Reyna followed suit. An amused look came to her face. "They hate men?"

"Thalia is the lieutenant for the Hunters of Artemis," Luke revealed. Percy nodded as a small frown twisted his features.

"Artemis is a goddess, right?" Percy asked. He nearly jumped as he saw Thalia stop walking and turn towards them as if she knew they were talking about Artemis. Thalia studied them for a few moments and waited for them to catch up.

"I didn't get introductions," Thalia said after a moment. Percy just stared at her. Thalia had spiky black hair, and there was a silver circlet on her head. If it was possible, her silver aura shone brighter than her companions. Her eyes were a deep blue, and it almost seemed like electricity was dancing in them.

"I'm Percy. I just kind of joined the others not too long ago," Percy said awkwardly as he felt Thalia studying him like he was under a microscope.

"Reyna. I've been with them for months now," the Roman muttered as she winced in pain and grabbed at her shoulder again. Thalia turned her gaze to Reyna and seemed to be sizing her up. Sympathy softened her face.

"We'll be at the camp soon," Thalia promised. She started to walk again, but she didn't stray far from the back of the group. Annabeth still stayed by Thalia's side.

"We didn't really get your name either," Percy began. Thalia glanced back at him.

"I'm Thalia Grace," Thalia answered, and a grin came to her face. "Daughter of Zeus."

"Zeus," Percy repeated. A frown touched his face. Zeus was one of the gods who swore to not have a kid, but Thalia was right there. Was it safe for him to tell her who his father was?

"Yeah. Good old dad," Thalia added, and a wishfulness seeped into her features. "I'm the lieutenant for Artemis. Her hunters swear their lives to her and hunt monsters around the states. We also try to protect any demigods we find and send the males to Chiron."

"And the girls?" Percy asked.

"We recruit them," Thalia replied. Percy nodded at that. He watched Thalia look at Reyna and seemed to size her up again. Reyna didn't notice as she was staring at the ground, and her face had paled slightly. Luke moved to Reyna's side to steady her.

"Is Artemis actually with you?" Percy questioned. "Like is she at your camp?"

Sometimess," Thalia replied. "Lady Artemis is the only Olympian that doesn't have a conflict between her Greek and Roman sides. She is the only one still active. We are doing everything we can to restore Mount Olympus and the Olympians."

"The hunters are immortal," Annabeth chimed in. Her voice was packed with admiration. "They pledge themselves to Artemis and vow to keep their maidenhood. They are supposed to never fall in love with a man and focus solely on the hunt."

As they talked, they made it to a river. Thalia carefully wadded through it, and Percy followed behind. He really hoped that his shoes and lower pant legs would stay wet, and he was grateful that they did. They made their way back into the tunnel.

"Why were you here?" Luke asked as he looked at Thalia.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I wanted to come here," Annabeth explained. "I thought that I could find answers. About what happened here."

Thalia picked up her pace as they made it through the tunnel with ease and left it behind. They started to make their way towards the nearby thicket of trees. Thalia slowly spoke, "What happened at Camp Jupiter is simple: the Romans are power-hungry bastards."

"The augur and one of their praetors made a plan. They killed the other praetor, blamed it on the Greeks, and rallied in his name to get approval to destroy Camp Half-Blood," Thalia spat coldly. "Instead, they killed almost every damn demigod in the world and nearly got the gods destroyed."

Percy glanced to the side and saw that Reyna had grown paler, and he didn't think it was from pain. Luke positioned himself between Reyna and Thalia. The lieutenant didn't seem to notice. Percy cleared his throat, "Thalia. Or um, lieutenant. Why were you at Camp Jupiter?"

"Because my brother was the praetor that was murdered," Thalia answered heatedly after a few moments. She looked away and closed her eyes tightly. Annabeth stopped walking and turned to her in surprise and shock. Percy frowned deeply.

"That was decades ago," Percy began. "Wait. Annabeth wasn't joking about you being immortal?"

"She wasn't," Thalia confirmed. "As long as we keep our vows to Lady Artemis, we are immortal. We do not age, but we can still fall in battle."

It made sense now. Thalia just didn't age anymore, so she didn't have to worry about the prophecy despite being a daughter of Zeus. It must have been nice to be freed from that responsibility.

"I wanted to visit where my brother died," Thalia continued as she looked at Annabeth. "To pay my respects. I didn't know that he was alive. We were separated when we were younger, and I later learned that the she-wolf took him. She stole him away to Camp Jupiter."

"When I learned he was alive, I was going to visit, but it was complicated. Then, it became too late. I never got to see my baby brother again," Thalia apprised. An angry breath escaped her. "All because of those damned Romans and their thirst for power."

"Um, Thalia. Do you have any Romans in the hunters?" Percy began. Thalia's electric gaze shot to him. "It's just that you don't sound like a fan."

"We take in any maiden who wants to join us," Thalia answered. "Many of my sisters are Romans, but they weren't corrupted by that camp. With Artemis' guidance, they stay focused on keeping our group strong instead of themselves. Though, we haven't taken a Roman in since."

"Do you still work for the she-wolf?" Thalia asked as her gaze flickered towards Luke, a scowl permeating her face.

"She helps protect us," Luke answered sternly. Thalia snorted and rolled her eyes. Her gaze gravitated over to the backpack that Luke had. He followed her eyes. "Long story."

"I have time," Thalia replied. The way they spoke was awkward. It reminded Percy of when two divorced parents came together to try and act cordially for a kid's birthday, and he didn't really want to attend this party.

"We want to have a safe place for all demigods," Annabeth cut in. "We found where Camp Half-Blood used to be, and we even found the oracle."

Thalia stopped walking once again and stared at Annabeth. The lieutenant slowly spoke, "I thought the oracle was destroyed. Or something else happened to her. Did she happen to have a bead necklace?"

"A bead necklace?" Reyna chimed in for the first time in a few minutes. Some of the color had come back to her face, and she was studying Thalia. "She had a bunch of beads, but I don't think she had a necklace."

"Just bracelets," Luke confirmed. "What's so important about it?"

Thalia didn't answer. Annabeth continued her story, "With the prophecy, we had some kind of guidance on what to do. We found the head of Terminus, the god that protected the borders at Camp Jupiter. He agreed to watch over this new camp if we found his body, which is in the bag."

"Establishing a new place for demigods," Thalia muttered. "I've wanted to, but the threat of not having enough demigods there to protect everyone was too much. It might work with this border god, but how good could he actually be? Camp Jupiter was destroyed under his watch."

"It's a start," Annabeth responded. "After we return the bust, we just have to find a way to contact other demigods and bring them to the camp."

"I can talk to Artemis when she returns and see what she can do," Thalia commented. Percy studied her. Thalia mentioned Artemis' name casually, like the two of them were friends. He always thought that the gods didn't just have any friends that were humans. Mostly because they were gods.

"Thank you," Annabeth exhaled. Thalia smiled at them. Percy smelled something that made his stomach rumble, and his eyes drifted up to see smoke drifting over some trees above them.

"Only a few of us were on this hunt," Thalia explained.

"Still haven't found the cause for this Mist manipulation," one of the other hunters grumbled. Percy glanced at her, but all he saw were features obscured by a hood.

"We'll find it, Phoebe," Thalia promised. "Probably just some monster hiding among mortals."

They stepped through a thicket of trees, and Percy saw a few silver tents set up. Three girls stood outside the tents and were talking quietly. They all turned, and all three made a face as they looked at Percy and Luke.

"Lindsay, our friend here needs a new sling," Thalia announced as she motioned to Reyna. She looked back at them. "You can have some food. Our... chef is making enchiladas. Without meat of course because gods forbid we get a few nutrients."

Percy followed Thalia's hand movements towards the campfire, and his eyes widened as he saw the person standing behind the flames, "Grover?!"

Grover's head shot up, and he jumped to his feet. Percy stared at his best friend. His eyes were already bugging out of his head, but his eyes somehow got wider as he saw the lower half of his friend's body. There were no baggy pants or awkward-fitting shoes.

"Percy!" Grover exclaimed.

"You're a goat?" Percy questioned. He heard the hunters snicker, and Annabethfacepalmedd. An offended look stole the smile from Grover's face, and he made a noise that sounded like a bleat. No. It was a bleat.

"I'm a Satyr," Grover corrected.

"You know each other?" Reyna questioned as she looked at them. Her gaze shot back to the hunter named Lindsay as she helped Reyna out of her makeshift sling. It was quickly replaced with one that looked like it came straight out of the doctor's office.

"I was looking out for Percy," Grover explained. Percy looked at him in surprise. He was the one who always protected Grover from bullies, but did that mean Grover was protecting him from monsters? "Chiron asked me to visit the school because he thought that there was a demigod there that Lupa's dreams wouldn't reach."

"I'm just glad you're safe," Grover confessed as he rushed towards Percy. The hooves were going to take a little getting used to, but Percy still pulled his friend into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Grover," Percy smiled. He looked at the campfire. "I can't wait for your enchiladas."

"You can stay the night," Thalia offered as she looked at them. "We have a tent for the girls, and the boys can stay with Grover."

"We should get moving," Reyna declined. Her gaze moved to Luke. "We need to figure out the quickest way back to Lupa and Chiron."

"No planes," Percy almost pleaded.

"No planes," Luke promised. Thalia nodded her agreement even though she hadn't been there to see how Percy reacted. "If Thalia is going to be gracious enough to offer us a place to stay, we'll take it."

"Good," Thalia said. "Now, let's get some food. Then, you can all tell me more about your quest."