A/N: Yes yes I'm still alive and still working on the story. Imma try to be more consistent in updates. Emphasis on the word "Try". But for now, enjoy the chapter. If you are observant you may start to realize what's so special about Champions. But don't worry about it, all will be revealed at some point.
Cassandra couldn't help the twitch in her fingers, the stress of what had just happened getting to her. She was currently setting tripwires around the Artemis cabin. She cursed as the tiny wire kept slipping through her shakey grip. Worse yet, Thalia and Percy were nowhere to be found. Thankfully Leo, son of Hephaestus, had taken the reins in securing the camp. Catapults, ballista, excavators, and even cannons were used and deployed with strict efficiency. The normally carefree demigod, serious and sure in his orders.
"Finally!" She exclaimed as the wire was secure in its position. She flipped her hair out of her eyes, picking her tool bag and standing up to observe the hustle and bustle of Camp. She noticed most of her sisters now crowding around Leo, him holding up his hands and motioning for calm. 'I should probably be a part of that riot' she thought humorously and jogged to join.
As she approached she heard the tail end of his statement over the combined voices.
"-lease please as soon as I know something, you will too. But for the time being Percy and Thalia are MIA. They're two of the greatest and most experienced demigods alive. They can handle themselves and I'm sure they'll show up soon" He explained, rubbing his ear from the shouts. Her sisters once again began to uproar but he beat them to it.
"Ladies! Now is not the time to argue! Leaders or not , we were told to make this camp safe!" He shouted, any sense of decorum gone. The Hunters were stunned to silence. He pointed to a group of kids, no older than 10 helping move arrows and swords. "We have kids here. They are DEPENDING on us to protect them. We can argue after it's over but for now we have our jobs to do." He finished as he looked back to his map. Cassandra couldn't help but notice the bead of sweat run down his right cheek. Her sisters had murderous glares in their eyes but they chose to keep their thoughts to themselves. They turned to walk away before Leo spoke again.
"One last thing. Since Thalia is gone, who is in command of yall?" The hunters looked around in confusion. No one seemed willing or qualified. A tug on Cassandra's hoodie broke her stupor. A new addition to the Hunters, 13 year old Kelly, held Cassandra's arm up and pointed at her.
"I nominate Cassandra. Her and Thalia are the only ones who have some idea of what's going on." She proclaimed, proud of her speech with a toothy smile. The other hunters looked at each other and all nodded or shrugged. Cassandra's eye twitched but she smiled nervously.
"I guess I am Leo." She affirmed. Her nerves skyrocketed but she couldn't show it for the sake of her sisters. Leo nodded and scribbled her name on his wrist.
"Good I'll leave you to it then. Let me know if you need anything." He nodded to the hunters and turned back to the defenses. Her sisters looked towards her, silently asking for directions. She took a breath and met their gazes.
"Right. The elders will go and train anyone who needs it. The youngest will go and help the kids, they'll be more comfortable with you. Remember girls keep the conflicts to a minimum. That's the last thing we need. I'll be helping wherever I can. And I'm gonna see if I can find out where our leaders went." Her sisters nodded and cheered "For the Hunt" and ran off to their jobs. Cassandra sighed and looked out to the calm waters of the lake. The last calm she'd have for a bit.
She steeled herself and looked toward the Big House.
"Now time to find those two who dropped this shit on my lap."
PERCY
Percy sipped on his orange juice listening to Thalia go over some of their options and potential leads. So far not much was going their way.
"Honestly Perce, we may have sprinted into this without much thought." She gripped her cup of coffee."Maybe we should head back. We just left suddenly. It's not like us to just leave like that." Percy waved his hand dismissively.
"Not to worry. I left a note explaining what we're up to. Besides, they've got seasoned veterans there. I doubt one person could do much. Spooky, glowing, eyes or not." He assured, leaning back and taking another sip. His eyes wandered to the table where the group he ran into outside sat.
They slightly leaned towards their "leader" listening to her as she spoke. She leaned on one elbow, her hand assisting in her conversation. Her eyes glanced over and met his eyes, but she quickly turned her attention back to her group. His nose picked up a fresh bacon smell more intense than the background. He looked over toward the counter as the waiter carrying a tray, began towards them. He grinned and slapped his hands together.
"Now to more pressing matters." He exclaimed. Thalia looked behind her and hummed her agreement, unwrapping her silverware. 'I hope Annabeth isn't too upset' He hoped.
Katie quietly ate her pancakes as she tried to think about their next plan. Her team naturally cursed their luck on having their vacation possibly interrupted by the two young adults a couple of tables over. An overly dramatic sigh brought her attention back to Sarah, brushing a strand of her blond hair behind her ear.
"There's only two of them. Let's just jump them and get back to our days off. Ryan make'em pop a boner so their blood rushes to their head." Sarah joked. Katie almost choked on her food as the table was engulfed with laughter. The punchline of the joke hid his face, messing up his auburn hair. His tall friend patted him on his back, trying to stifle his laugh.
"Hey hey that's enough of the teasing. Don't worry, big Andre's got your back." Andre proclaimed in a cockney accent. Ryan's face flushed as he seemed to try and retreat further into himself. Although a smile was faintly visible. Getting over her giggles, Katie cleared her throat to speak.
"As much as we'd love to do that, they put out a B.O.L.O instead of an arrest order for a reason. For all we know they're Ultra Level. And I don't feel like getting Thanos snapped out of this earthly plane." She explained pouring more syrup on her fluffy meal. The clatter of silverware permeated the area for a bit. Ryan broke the silence first.
"So what do we do?" He asked softly. They all looked towards her. She rubbed her chin.
"Hmm for now you guys do nothing. I'm gonna call this on in and see what the deal is. Excuse me for a sec." She took a last bit and took her phone out of her pocket, heading outside. The chill hitting her cheeks sapping the warmth, but the feeling was pleasant.
Taking an icey breath, she dialed local control of the area. The phone rang only once before being answered.
"New York County Water and Power HQ. How may I help you?" A precise male voice asked. A simple cover to prevent anyone who wasn't in the know from suspecting a thing. She cleared her throat and responded.
"Hello I'm wondering if engineer Ralph is in?" She responded with a passcode.
"Standby one moment while I transfer you." The line buzzed for a few seconds before the voice came back. "Line is secure. How may I help you?"
"Yes this is Ember I have a few questions about the B.O.L.O? In particular, why not task us to catch them?" She inquired. The voice was silent for a few moments.
"Classified. However I can tell you this. They are dangerous and unpredictable." Ember sighed in disappointment.
The voice cleared his throat.
"Now I have some questions for you, Miss Ember. First I see you're near the New York Dark Zone but I have no record of you being assigned to it. Perhaps something got lost in the weeds?" He asked in a matter of fact tone. Katie felt a Cold snap rush up her spine. 'Fuck'
"Ahh yes that is quite odd. Because I haven't been transferred." She tried to clear up the confusion. Silence once again fell.
"Miss Ember? What. In. The. Fuck are you doing there?! You know it's forbidden to go there for a reason. The 300 we lost should be enough to never go there again. You and your team are way out of line and out of your league. Need I remind you of the punishment for an unauthorized Dark Zone incursion?!" He yelled into the phone so loud, Katie had to pull the phone away from her ear. He did not in fact need to remind her.
"I know sir but we aren't in the zone. We're in a city a couple of miles over. For what it's worth, we did get this trip approved by our chapter commander." She defended herself. It was true, albeit it took almost two months of back and forth. They had the same issues that the operator was reaming her for. The operator spoke again, venom in his voice.
"Oh I read your travel form 'Travel through Dark Zone approved ONLY to reach destination.' Technicalities are not gonna work on me Missy! Creeping around the border by a nut hair ain't gonna help your case. You stay where you are. I am gonna call your commander to discuss your punishment. Goodbye Miss Ember!" She heard the phone slam down and sighed.
Her team looked at her come back in and sit down. She put her head into her heads and groaned.
"That bad huh?" Andre joked. She nodded weakly.
"We've been ordered to stay where we are until punishment has been handed out." She explained. The table exclaimed in surprise and began throwing questions at her. She spoke through the barrage. "They detected us as soon as we went through New York. For them it's an unauthorized zone incursion. Yes they saw the travel approval, but being this close is apparently too much for technicalities. They're contacting our commander and probably the master Guardian for good measure." She finished, meeting their concerned eyes. The table fell into a worrisome silence. Ryan once again broke the quiet.
"So what do we do about those two?" He asked. Katie's eyes narrowed as she wracked her thoughts. 'What's another charge in our court martial. Maybe though…bringing those two in would buy us some favor.' She pondered.
"Might as well make the most of our last hours as free men. We'll follow at close distance until they leave populated areas. Then we'll pounce." She ordered. They all nodded in agreement, sparing glances at the pair.
PERCY
Percy saw the table get up and leave money on the table, thanking the waiter. They headed out, their quick glances not escaping his view. Percy released a breath he didn't even know he was holding as the group disappeared out behind the door. Thalia raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"Forget to breathe again? Damn near hyperventilating over there." She teased, shoving another piece of bacon into her gullet. Percy couldn't help but chuckle despite his nervousness.
"The group that just left was eyeing us the whole time. Just a bit worrying is all. I think we should be on the lookout for them." He finished, sipping the rest of his orange juice. The tall girl, Katie, he still couldn't get her eyes out of his head. The orbs burned into his psyche. Thalia pursed her eyebrows and tried to look out the window.
"Hmm a close eye we shall keep indeed." She agreed.
"Where should we camp for the night? We can still make pretty good progress today." He suggested. He pulled a New York map he'd picked up at a gas station. He pointed at a large forest marked at the edge of the Stateline. "Here's a good spot, outside of any city limits and far from any campsite."
She looked over and nodded.
"Good eye Perce, that's where we'll camp. Taxis and Ubers should get us close." She laid out.
"What to do if we run into that group now. Unless the mist is super uber strong, they are just mortals. Maybe cops but they are pretty young." Percy leaned back in his seat and looked out the window. Thalia laughed and leaned at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh no literal demigods against regular mortals. What ever shall we do? We totally can't beat their asses up and down the street." She joked. She was right however. Mortals really had no chance in hand to hand combat. With the exception of professional fighters. Demigods enhanced strength and speed alone put them far above most people. Thankfully he hadn't had to test it throughly. 'Maybe my nerves are getting to me more than I thought' he rationalized. He signaled the waiter while pulling out his wallet.
"Let's get out of here shall we?" He suggested.
"I'll summon- eh.. request an Uber." Thalia offered taking out her phone.
EMBER
Ember gripped the wheel a bit tighter, watching the duo enter a car and begin down the street. She put the car into gear and addressed her team.
"We're in business folks." She stated, the car leaving a wall of steam as it sped down the road.