A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful support! I really appreciate it. I would also like some reviews on how you like the story so far. Am I making things interesting enough? Constructive criticism, please... not destructive. :) This chapter should be another long chapter.

A/N 2: Please don't tell me "It would have been better if" and then try to tell me that I should make Harry the son of this goddess or that goddess. Thank you for your ideas, but I'm not changing my mind about Harry. My sister and I thought very long and hard about Harry's ancestors and powers. Now, it might sound like Harry's overpowered, when we get to the final reveal, but he's really not. Harry won't even know about the Greek gods and goddesses until later. I also have the next two parts of the 'series' plotted out... so don't worry. :)

Rising Storms

A Harry Potter and Percy Jackson crossover

Chapter 38:

Percy

Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia climbed into Sally's car. "Thanks for this, mom," Percy said.

"Are you sure you got everything?" Sally asked.

"I'm sure." Percy smiled.

"Thank you for driving us," Thalia said.

"It's not a problem," Sally replied. She looked into the rearview mirror. "Will you need me to give you a ride afterwards?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I think we'll be heading straight to camp after we get the demigods."

Sally nodded as she looked back to the road. She was worried, Percy saw, but he was happy that she trusted them. She drove to the school where Grover had called the trio to. She stopped the car and the three demigods got out of the back of the car. "Be careful."

"We will, mom." Percy leaned into the car to kiss her cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sally waved as they walked away, and then she drove off.

Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia walked up to the school and stepped inside. Percy looked around. "There's noise coming from the right." He turned in that direction, and they walked down the hall.

A woman came out of the shadows suddenly. "Who are you and why are you in our school?"

Thalia snapped her fingers. "We go to school here. Don't you remember?"

The woman's face relaxed from her previous scowl. "Oh, yes. Come on, you three. You're late to the dance."

Percy looked at Thalia as they followed the woman. "What was that finger snap about?"

"I was manipulating the mist. Didn't Chiron teach you?" Her eyes looked at him in confusion.

"No," Percy said. "He apparently thought that teaching you was more important." Percy left the two girls behind.

"What's up with him?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia sighed in understanding. "He's been at camp all this time, and I get taught how to manipulate the mist. It's understandable that he's upset. Come on," she said.

The three demigods followed the woman into the auditorium, where Grover met them. "Thank goodness you're here."

"What's the update, Grover?" Percy asked.

Grover smiled at Percy. "The two demigods are further in. They are a brother and sister duo... Bianca is twelve, and Nico is ten." He pointed them out to his friends. "Be careful, though, because the Vice Principal is a monster. I think he's aware of what I am," Grover stopped speaking and then cursed in ancient Greek. "The monster is taking them out of the building."

Percy and Thalia glanced at each other and said together, "Let's go." The four hurried through the crowded auditorium to reach the door by the bleachers where the siblings had been sitting.

The Vice Principal led the two younger demigods away from the school. "Come on, you two. We don't have all night."

"Where are we going," Bianca asked. She kept Nico by her side.

"Stop right there," Percy called out. He led his friends into catching up with the new demigods. "You can't take them anywhere." Percy stood in front of the siblings.

"Perseus Jackson," said the man. "We finally meet."

Percy frowned. "Why are you after these two?"

"When the General tells you to do something, you do it," the man shrugged as he spoke. "But you won't be able to get away from me now." He shot a spike out at Percy.

Percy cried out as he was unable to react in time and the spike shot into his shoulder. "What?" Where had that spike come from?

"A manticore?" Thalia asked, confused.

"He's a manticore!" Nico said excitedly. "I didn't know they really existed! I wonder what kind of attack points he has! The card doesn't say much about manticores!"

"Nico!" Bianca exclaimed. "This isn't part of your card game! This is real; This is crazy!"

The manticore chuckled. "You can't defeat me, son of Poseidon. Give up now."

"Never," Percy said. He drew the pen from his pocket and uncapped it. Riptide still felt well-balanced in his hand.

"What does he mean by 'son of Poseidon'?" Bianca asked.

Percy charged the manticore, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. He had to protect the two young demigods. His blade kept sliding off of the tail of the Manticore, which kept him away from the monster himself. Percy glanced over and saw the cliff. The sound of the sea caught his attention, and he hurried to come up with a plan. He kept trying to fight the manticore, while he thought... and Thalia jumped in when he jumped back. "Thalia!"

Thalia blocked the tail with her shield and slashed at the man/monster before her. "I've got it," she said to Percy.

Percy saw the cut that Thalia made on the monster's chest. He nodded. "You block and we both attack," he offered. When they went to follow the plan, arrows hit the manticore. He blinked, before looking at the woods. Girls were coming out of the woods, carrying bows, and some of them were getting ready to shoot again. "Hey, wait! There are people in the way!"

"Then get out of the way," one of the girls said, in a derogatory way.

Thalia scoffed under her breath. "Hunters."

"Percy, what do we do?" Annabeth asked, helping Grover protect the siblings.

"We," Percy interrupted himself when the manticore turned to attack one of the girls who didn't see it coming. Percy lunged.

"Percy!" Thalia and Grover yelled.

Percy grabbed the girl and they rolled out of the way of the Manticore's tail. He looked down at the girl. "Stay down." His eyes shone with protectiveness. Then he was gone, attacking the Manticore furiously.

The girl laid there, blinking in shock.

"Lady Artemis," said another girl, running over to the prone figure. "Did he hurt thee?"

Artemis looked up at her second in command. "No, Zoe. He didn't hurt me. I think he protected me. It's strange." She thought back to the look in his eyes. She knew those facial features... Poseidon. This was Poseidon's son.

"Boys are strange," Zoe agreed.

Percy fought the manticore, angry at the fact that the manticore would attack a girl when she wasn't looking. The tail of the monster whacked into his stomach, causing him to fly back to his friends and landing hard in front of Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover.

Thalia and Grover ran over to Percy's side, checking on him, and Annabeth had only a second to look up before her eyes widened as the manticore's tail wrapped around her neck and pulled her away from the other demigods.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled as he sat up. His back was sore from the landing and his shoulder was still sore from the spike-like thing from the manticore's tail.

Annabeth was hanging there, trying to get the tail to release her, even trying to use her knife, when Artemis ran forward to shoot a silvery arrow into the manticore's chest. The manticore growled, swiping at the goddess and grabbing her by the throat too. The monster dodged the attacks from the hunters and ran into the woods.

"No!" Percy yelled, getting up and running towards the woods.

"Stop," said Zoe. "There's nothing we can do right now. We're going to have to go to thy camp and regroup." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's a good thing we can get in touch with Lord Apollo when Lady Artemis is not with us."

"Excuse me," said Bianca, stepping up to the Hunter in front of Percy. "May I speak with you? Percy can come with us. He should hear what I have to say." At Zoe's nod, the three walked a few feet away, close to the cliff. Now the three of them were well away from the others. Bianca let out a deep breath. "How can one become one of Lady Artemis's hunters?"

"Bianca, no!" Percy started to say.

Zoe held a hand up to him, to stop him from saying anything. "If you are sure, then repeat after me."

Bianca nodded. "I'm sure."

Percy cried out, "Bianca, are you really going to do this? It's a really shitty thing to do to your brother. You can't do this without at least talking to Nico about it. He's going to feel like you're abandoning him!"

Bianca's face fell, but she said, "I have to do this. I can't keep taking care of him."

"So he's just a burden to you?" Percy sneered. "How dare you break his heart like this."

Bianca looked over at Nico, who was excitedly talking to Grover, and then she responded, "He'll be fine at the camp." She turned to Zoe.

"Say this: I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis," Zoe said.

Bianca took a deep breath. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

Percy felt his heart clench, knowing that this would not be well received by Nico.

"I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt," Bianca repeated. "Is that it?"

Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."

They waited for a few minutes, and Percy selfishly hoped that Artemis didn't accept... if only for Nico's benefit. Then Bianca straightened her spine and her eyes widened, and he knew. He felt like a failure. What was he going to tell Nico?

"I feel stronger," Bianca said with a smile.

Zoe smiled back at the younger girl. "Welcome, sister."

Percy scowled at the two, but just walked away. He had to think... about what had just happened, and about what to tell Nico. Maybe he should make it sound like Bianca was joining the Hunt to learn new skills?

"Hey, Percy," Nico asked. "Are you really the son of the sea god?" He was bouncing in place.

Percy smiled at the excitable ten-year-old. "Yes, I am."

"That's so cool! What kind of powers do you have?"

"I have powers over water." Percy glanced over at Zoe and Bianca, before looking back at Nico. "Nico, I have something to tell you."

"Okay," Nico said.

Percy took a deep breath. "Your sister has a great opportunity to learn archery from some experts," he said.

"Really?" Nico smiled.

"Yes," he replied. "She's joining the Hunt to learn some new skills, including archery. She just has to swear off boys."

Nico didn't hear anything after hearing that Bianca was going to learn new skills. He ran over to where Bianca was, and excitedly asked Bianca, "Will you still live at camp with me if you're learning such an awesome skill?" His eyes were shining in excitement, even as Percy tried to stop him from asking.

Bianca said, "I'm going to live with the hunters from now on, and I get to be immortal, too, unless I die in battle." She smiled at Zoe.

Percy saw Zoe was about to say something, and he stopped her. He shook his head at her, signaling that she shouldn't butt into the family conversation, and then he looked back at Nico worriedly.

Nico frowned. He looked back at Percy, noticing the worry on Percy's face, and then turned back to Bianca. "Well, can I live with you?"

Bianca shook her head. "No boys can live with the hunters."

Nico shook his head. This couldn't be happening. "You are leaving me?" He saw that she didn't seem to be upset at this at all. "You are abandoning me! As soon as people come to save us, you are washing your hands of me... the burden of having a younger sibling!" Tears of anger and pain slipped from his eyes. He turned and ran to Percy, wrapping his arms around Percy's waist and crying.

Percy looked at Bianca in disappointment, but didn't say anything. He just looked down at Nico and wrapped his arms around the younger boy in support. "It's going to be okay, Nico. I'll get you to camp safely."

The sky started getting lighter, and Zoe said, "Everyone, look away until he parks." As they did so, a bright light flooded the area and then faded.

Percy looked back up, and saw the car he had ridden in when leaving Olympus after returning Zeus's lightning bolt. This would be fun... Apollo hopped out of the driver's side of the car, and Percy was briefly reminded of Luke before he remembered that Apollo and Hermes were brothers.

"Hey, lady Zoe," Apollo greeted the hunter.

"He's hot," Thalia said beside Percy.

"Yeah," Percy said. He saw Thalia looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "He's the sun god."

"That's not what I meant." Thalia looked back at Apollo.

Nico removed his face from Percy's stomach and looked at the sun god. "Is he really the sun god?"

Apollo looked over at the kid. "Yes I am." Then his eyes moved over to look at Percy. He grinned brightly. "Perseus Jackson!" He walked over to Percy.

"It's just Percy," Percy told him. He noticed that everyone was looking at them.

Apollo seemed to glow in happiness. "You can call me Apollo. None of that Lord stuff." He smiled at Percy.

"Um, okay..." Percy looked around at the others. They were staring at him and Apollo in shock.

"Say it," Apollo said, drawing Percy's attention again.

"Now?" Percy asked.

"Now."

Percy swallowed. He looked at Thalia in confusion over the situation. She was wide-eyed. He looked back at the sun god. "Okay, um... A-Apollo," he said, worriedly... wondering if this was a trick.

Apollo's grin brightened immensely. He turned his head to look at Zoe. "Where's Artemis?"

Zoe looked down at her feet. "She was captured by a manticore, Lord Apollo."

"I see," Apollo said, scowling. "I suppose you are heading to Camp Halfblood with the demigods?"

"Yes, Lord Apollo," Zoe said. "We're hoping to regroup before we go searching for Lady Artemis."

Apollo nodded. "I'll take you there, then." He turned to the two groups. "Alright, let's hop into the car, everyone." When Percy and Nico walked past him, Apollo asked, "Percy, do you want to drive the chariot?"

"What?" Percy asked, his head snapping to the side to look at Apollo.

"Do you want to drive the chariot?" He smirked at Percy.

"I don't have a license. I'm only thirteen."

Apollo shrugged. "No one's going to arrest you today." He smiled.

"Okay," Percy said warily. Once the hunters, Thalia, Grover, Nico, Percy, and Apollo got into the chariot, Percy nervously looked at the dash.

Apollo walked Percy through turning on the chariot, running through the controls, and lift off. "You're doing great," Apollo said to Percy once they were up in the air.

Percy started relaxing once he had been driving for a little while. The wind ruffled his hair as he looked around briefly. Well, he wasn't scorching or freezing anything, so he was doing well.

"So, how have you been lately," Apollo asked, placing his arm on the back of Percy's seat.

"Um," Percy said, looking over at Apollo. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Thalia was covering her face. Maybe she was scared about his driving, or something else, but he turned back to face forward. "I've been good? We, uh, went on a quest to the Sea of Monsters to save Thalia's tree, which had the added benefit of bringing her back."

"Are you sure it's a benefit for you?" Came Thalia's muffled voice.

Percy chuckled, feeling a little more relaxed. "Yeah. You're pretty cool, Thalia." He tried not to tense up again when he felt the arm behind him slide closer to his shoulders.

"That sounds like a story," Apollo said cheerfully. "You're heading a little too far to the left," he mentioned.

Percy adjusted course, and took a deep breath. Why was Apollo acting like this? He couldn't be flirting with him, could he? Percy didn't even know if he was gay or straight, so he didn't know why Apollo was treating him like this.

"And there we are," Apollo said, looking down at the camp as they got closer.

Percy slowed down as he steered towards the empty training grounds. He pressed his foot just a little more onto the brake to come to a slow descent and parked.

"Well done," Apollo said, impressed. "You're a quick learner."

Percy blushed. "Thanks, Apollo."

Apollo looked stunned for a minute. "You're welcome, Percy."