Khione Goes to the Petting Zoo

Gods, my legs are sore…

Calypso proved once and for all just how eager she was to get me back in bed. Our time alone didn't pass in silence, and when all was said and done, she was mewling like a kitten while I was stumbling about like a drunken sailor. Piper woke up some time through it, and despite Calypso's invitation to join us, she ducked her head, declined, and left us to our own devices.

Fortunately, I didn't pass out right alongside Calypso. Blissful as that may have been, I was simply too wired, and the day was too early for me to start taking any naps. So I simply let the timeless titaness curl up with me and fall asleep before tucking her in and taking my leave.

Deciding to walk off my mild case of jelly legs, I decided to take Kinzie's advice to heart and explored some portions of the warehouse. Admittedly, a pang of regret set itself upon me when I realized just how daunting of a task that was.

Sure, it wasn't like I've never gone on long walks before. That was only how I spent, you know, the last few years of my life.

Still though, that walk of shame was certainly not my proudest. Even a couple of the Amazons took notice. None went so far as to approach me or openly mock me, but the sheer number of giggles and whispering as I passed left room for only one option really.

On the other hand, I wasn't entirely alone in the vast spaces. Drew for example rifled away through the endless shelves of clothes. Given the fact that she didn't have any money on hand to cover the costs, I really hoped she wasn't expecting me to foot the bill. Especially if the pile behind her was anything to go by.

A few miles over, at least it felt that way, Katie was perusing a section dedicated solely to books. Given Annabeth's absence, I doubted this was the archives. That didn't stop the place from looking like a library though.

Unlike Drew, Katie actually noticed my presence and greeted me with a smile, but ultimately, she had bigger priorities. Like reading up on… something. I couldn't make out the title, but the cover involved a really intricate pattern of rope.

More concerning was when I found myself in the petting zoo. Well… that's what I would prefer to call it. Otherwise, denoting it as an oversized animal pound really wouldn't sit well with me. Of course, that's also where I managed to find Mrs. O'Leary. The Amazons thankfully had taken quite good care of her. She wasn't caged up or anything, not that they really could, and she was currently chomping away at what looked like a t-rex's thigh bone. Even Aurum and Argentum paced around her, their ruby eyes gleaming as they occasionally locked in on the sounds the other animals made, or the caretakers, one of whom had what looked like an arm made of metal.

Which of course brought me to the less pleasing side of things. Rows of cages, crates, and other means of storage all ran along the walls, forming an alcove that I could only describe as an animal prison block. Most of them didn't move too much. A group of goats headbutted one another in one cage while a unicorn grazed their hay within another. My quick conversation with her revealed that not too much was rolling around her head, and that keeping her contained was likely the only thing keeping her alive.

Conversely, the Stymphalian birds screeching towards the upper levels of the room nearly left me with a nonstop ringing in my ears.

Said ringing came to a stop when a powerful voice cried out. Well… more accurately, sang out. In walked Piper, Khione at her side, letting out a string of ethereal notes which echoed about the chamber. The animals went quiet, several turning towards her.

As for myself, I began floating off the ground and drifting towards her. At least, that's what it felt like. Even the other Amazons weren't spared, and Piper managed to gather a small crowd from both inside and outside the section.

Then she stopped.

A number of the Amazons, along with several orange-clad men, shook their heads and gave Piper a baleful look of mixed awe and longing. Others, like myself, pulled myself back into my own body with relative ease, my body more relaxed than ever. Most of the animals returned to whatever they were doing, though much quieter than before.

"We really ought to get you working as a caretaker. Or hell, even a nurse."

The Amazon with a metal arm approached us, a curious expression on her face.

Piper and Khione shared a look, then spared me a glance. I simply shrugged while she smirked in return.

"I'm pretty sure my career is spoken for."

The Amazon shrugged. "Suit yourself. But we could really use someone who can keep everyone calm like that. Some of them go nuts in captivity."

"Speaking of which," Piper said. "What's with this place exactly? Is this some sort of black market for animal trading?"

"If you knew the truth, I'd have to kill you."

Piper grimaced. Honestly, I did too, though Khione looked quite unbothered. However, she did tug on Piper's wrist when she stepped forward.

"Bahaha! That face is priceless!" The Amazon wiped away a tear with her regular arm. "Seriously though, this is more of a holding place for relocation and rehabilitation. Lots of habitat destruction and such, so we step in and relocate everything to better homes."

"Huh." Piper relaxed. "That's pretty altruistic."

Khione stepped away and began examining a selection of smaller animals up close.

"Altruism is one part of it. Honestly, it's just good business. We don't get paid for things like this, so it forms a profit sink. Keeps our profits down to keep our taxes down. Otherwise, we'd start drawing a lot of unwanted attention."

Piper gave a flat stare. "I retract my previous statement. Though honestly, I can't imagine this is a safe job. What with the—"

RAWR!

A nearby mountain lion tried pouncing on an Amazon cleaning the cage next to it. All it managed was lunging into the bars.

"Yeah… It has its dangers." She rubbed her metallic arm.

"What happened to you? Was it a tiger? The Stymphalian birds?"

She shook her head, a sheepish expression on her face. "It was a horse. Honestly, I'd rather not relive that. My therapist says it won't help my recovery to dwell on it."

"Right…"

She turned to me with an expression that screamed "Help!"

I looked around, desperate for a change of pace in the conversation. With what little luck I could muster, I locked my eyes on Khione.

"What's that you've found over there?"

Smooth, I know.

Everyone turned towards the snow goddess, who knelt by one of the many cages, her hand reaching through the bars.

As I approached, dragging Piper along, Khione's animal of interest revealed itself. A small ball of fluff with two massive ears jutting out of its head nuzzled Khione, its tawny fur shifting into a stark white wherever she touched.

"Ah. A snowshoe hare," the one armed Amazon declared. "Well… sort of. Normally, they don't shift color quite so quickly. This one is another of our relocation attempts. We're just struggling to find someone who will take it. Mortal zoos are out of the question. The Mist will only cover for it so long before they notice how quickly it changes. And very few reserves are suitable for it. And anyone who's in-the-know won't take it. Aside from its fur, it's just a regular rabbit."

Regular or not, Khione seemed smitten with the little cotton ball. She stroked her fingertips between its ears and down its back. All the while, it scooted closer towards the bars of the cage, as if trying to cuddle up closer to her.

"Please be careful." The Amazon moved as if to cross her arms, but the position looked a little awkward with her prosthetic. "It is still a wild animal. It could still bite. Or worse yet, you could scare it into a heart attack. Wild rabbits… well… they aren't very well known for taking well to people."

In spite of what she said, the rabbit certainly appeared calm with Khione. Its small nose twitched as it stood on its hindquarters, placing its front paw on a bar of the cage.

"But I've been wrong before," the Amazon mumbled.

Khione rubbed the rabbit's ear, which twitched under her delicate touch. Her breath hitched, in spite of it staying in place. Not ten seconds later, she abruptly stood up and rushed out of the area, hugging her arms to herself, completely ignoring both Piper and me.

Piper shared a glance with me. A silent conversation passed between us, marked only by the slightest shift in our facial expressions. By its end, she gave me a slight nod, slipped her arm away from mine, giving my hand a squeeze as she let go, and followed after Khione.

The Amazon watched us with a perplexed expression.

"What… was that about?"

I did my best to offer a reassuring smile. "We've had a rough couple of weeks. She's just a bit overwhelmed is all."

Not to mention probably homesick…

"Uh huh… Well, whatever the case, there's plenty to do right now. So go ahead and look around, but stay out of the way. And please don't smile at the gorillas."

For what it's worth, the Amazon headquarters had a lot to offer. Walking around was less like a stroll through a work environment, rushing forklifts and the perpetual smell of bleach and sweat aside, and more like navigating a neighborhood. Hades, half a dozen "blocks" over from the animal pen setup, I managed to find myself right in front of the training facilities.

Calling it a gym would be outright insulting. Sure, there were plenty of treadmills and enough weights to capsize the Titanic, but the place offered so much more! Exercise machines I couldn't make sense of littered the area; a massive track rimmed the second floor balcony, wrapping around the entire complex; there was even an Olympic swimming pool situated towards the back, though I decided my health would be better suited not surrounding myself with a bunch of bathing suit clad Amazons.

Then again, I doubted their health was faring much better.

THUD!

"Oof!"

I meandered my way towards what looked like a dojo, complete with heavily padded floors and walls, with large rings spaced evenly across the surface to denote a sparring location.

One poor Amazon, looked up at me, her eyes glazed and head swaying. Clearly, getting judo flipped took something out of her. To be fair, when Annabeth is the one responsible for the attack, being dazed by the end means you got off easy.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth greeted, a wry grin on her lips, as if she completely forgot about the Amazon she was pinning to the floor.

At least she had a padded floor…

"Wise Girl." I looked around, taking note that quite a few of the girls in the harem were out and about practicing; the most shocking of which were Ashe and Rachel, the former doing some kettlebell exercises with Katie while the latter was climbing what looked like a treadmill style rockwall. "You all seem to be having fun."

"You could say that." She pulled the downed Amazon to her feet, then walked over to shamelessly give me a kiss. "I've been spending so much time worrying about classes and burying my head in books. One quick look through the archives had the text floating off of the pages. So I thought I'd get in some more physical training. Glad to see I haven't gotten rusty."

The Amazon snorted. "If that was you while you were rusty, then I'm glad we're on the same side."

THOOM!

Right next to us, another Amazon slammed Thalia onto the mat. Unlike Annabeth's victim, Thalia didn't go down quite so easily. Instead, her legs wrapped tightly around her partner's neck, squeezing her thighs down on the sides of her throat.

Damn, that'd be a nice way to go…

The Amazon didn't seem to think so. In spite of trying to throw Thalia off of her, her face began to slowly turn blue. After her third attempt, she collapsed on the ground and meekly tapped the floor, at which point Thalia unlocked her legs and let the poor woman breathe.

"Lucky you," Annabeth finally said, her eyes glinting.

"And here we have the sparring corner," a familiar voice called out. "Where you can do all of your hand-to-ha… Oh, well how about that?"

Kinzie pressed her hands to her hips, a broad grin on her face, staring down the Amazon who was nearly strangled to death by Thalia's thighs. Hazel stood at her side, her wide eyes full of curiosity and concern.

"Finally met your match, Daphne?"

The heaving Amazon offered a one finger salute to Kinzie.

"Don't mock me. That chick could crush a durian between her legs if she tried hard enough."

Thalia simply grinned, preening at her words. A not so subtle wink was shot in my direction. Having been exactly where Daphne was only a couple hours prior, the thought of going out like that seemed just a little too real.

"Not to mention most of them are seasoned veterans," the first of the Amazons said, rolling her shoulder back and forth. "Honestly, there isn't too much we can teach them."

Kinzie snorted. "At this rate, there might not be any trainers left when we get you in here." She elbow bumped Hazel, who tried to hide her snicker. Her attention then turned to me, and her jovial smile turned a bit more devious. "Though if anyone could show us a thing or two, it's probably you."

I scratched the back of my head with a shaky smile. "I prefer to use my sword. It always comes back to me even if I lose it, so I haven't really needed to learn much outside of that."

Annabeth and Thalia both turned to me with deadpanned expressions, though Annabeth raised her eyebrow just a tad higher.

"... But… I probably should start training in hand-to-hand combat."

Gods forbid I repeat what happened in that alley a couple weeks ago…

Kinzie's grin stretched a mile wide. "Well, you know what they say; there's no time like the—"

"Guh! Ah, shit nuggets!"

All attention turned to Rachel, who sat firmly on the ground, holding her ankle. The rockwall was still in motion, which led me to assume she fell off.

A number of Amazons rushed to her side, but none came close to reaching her quicker than me.

"What happened?"

She offered me a sheepish smile. "Just slipped is all. Vans probably weren't the best shoes to wear for this."

The Amazons around us began to disperse.

I gave her a flat look before shaking my head. "It's a good thing we're in what could be the best place to look for that kind of stuff. You could try in just your socks though. Or even barefoot."

"I don't think I'll be trying it at all anytime soon," she mumbled.

I simply raised an inquisitorial brow.

She lifted her hand off of her ankle. "I'm pretty sure I landed wrong and rolled it. Possibly sprained."

I looked down at her ankle. For the moment, it didn't look bad. But knowing what I knew, she'd probably be nice and swollen in a couple hours.

"Can you stand?"

"Let's see." She grunted as she rolled onto her side and pushed herself up. "Shouldn't be too ha- har! Nope! Nope no nope!" She fell flat on her chest, her bright green eyes locked with mine, a soft chuckle forcing past her lips.

"Do I need to carry you to the infirmary?"

"Not gonna lie, that actually sounds really nice." She rolled onto her back and reached her arms out to me.

I rolled my eyes with a wide grin and scooped her up. She offered me a peck on the cheek as I bridal carried her out of the training center to the sounds of wolf whistles, courtesy of Amazons and harem members alike. Annabeth couldn't stop her fit of laughter by the time I reached the entrance.

"My hero!" Rachel said, trying way too hard to match Calypso's voice.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble one of these days, Red."

She gave me a sardonic smile. "I guess it's a good thing I have you here to bail me out. But it would be nice to have a normal date for once, rather than one of us saving the other or you venturing off to save the world."

"That would be nice." I shifted her in my arms as I brought her near the entrance of the infirmary. "We should make a point of it when we finally settle somewhere. Until then, please no more hurting yourself."

"I make absolutely no promises." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes despite the smile stretching across her face.

"Oh, brother."

"Aww. Don't you like rescuing damsels in distress?" Her grin took on a sly nature. "Fortunately, I know how to reward my knight in shining armor."

"Pfft. Like you wouldn't get anything out of that reward."

She licked her lips. "There are a few things I wouldn't mind getting out of it…"

Shaking my head, I carried her into the infirmary and right up to the first nurse I could see.

To say that our meal was a unique affair would be the understatement of the year. While our merry band gathering around the dinner table was nothing new, the number of eyes on us surpassed that of even Camp Jupiter. And unlike Camp Jupiter, almost nobody was staring daggers at us.

"And you chose to keep that?!"

All over, various groups of Amazons swarmed us. Most for playful jabs, friendly ribbing, and even the occasional arm wrestle. Others came along for the stories. Specifically those told by the nymphs.

Word spread like wildfire regarding their status as my slaves. When some came to confront me, it wasn't Annabeth who stepped in. It wasn't the hunters. Not even I had the opportunity to stand up for myself. No. It was my handmaidens themselves. All but Sierra jumped to my defense.

Palírroia especially argued in my favor, stepping between the Amazons with more ferocity than I'd ever seen before. Tale after tale of my deeds fled not only her lips, but those of the others as well. Thŷella recalled us restoring her memory while Ashe went into explicit detail regarding the healing of her tree… and the activities which followed.

When Palírroia reached a climactic point of one of her stories, particularly regarding my fight with Aeron, she brandished the chain which caused her so much pain.

"I would sooner fade from this world before letting myself forget the pains and pleasures laid before me." She turned to me, beaming a smile equal parts proud and bashful, and clasped her hands together, despite the chain. "And he is responsible for taking away so much of that pain."

The Amazons continued to listen on, enthralled by the direction the stories went.

"That's one hell of a trophy to keep," one said.

"A whole slaver's guild?" another remarked. "Good gods."

Palírroia continued regalling the Amazons with various trials she once had to endure, and her small crowd all but ate out of her hands. The same could be said for Ashe, who was far more expressive with her own story telling, and her crowd appeared to share her tumultuous emotions.

"So they thought that they would make me pay by sticking small hooks down my throat."

I decided to pull back before getting the full brunt of what she'd endured. Gods know I'd lose my cool, march right back down to Tartarus, and kill those involved all over again.

So instead I simply made my way towards a long cafeteria table, which several of the girls were already using for their meal. While I went and grabbed myself a tray of admittedly well made cafeteria food, the last few girls trickled in. Rachel was among the last, hobbling in on a pair of crutches while guided by Piper and Calypso.

"How's the ankle holding up?"

"Couldn't be better!" she exclaimed in a faux cheerful voice. "The nurse said I'm going to be a bit of a special case, since they can't use any semi-divine remedies on me. No nectar, ambrosia, unicorn draught; zip, zilch, nada. So I get to recover the old fashioned way." She slouched down at the table and propped her foot up on my lap. "Ice, compresses, stretching, and the occasional ankle massage. Speaking of which, I could really use one right about now. These crutches are no joke."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Meanwhile, Calypso came along and sat on the opposite side of Rachel, a spare tray of dinner in hand. Both dug into the food as the last of our company settled in for the meal, minus a couple of the nymphs, who were still wrapped up in storytime.

For the record, yes, I did give Rachel an ankle massage throughout the meal.

"So this is all still part of the plan, right?"

Partway through, various conversations inevitably began turning towards our overarching situation.

There's no avoiding it, I guess.

"Coming here was definitely a last minute call," I admitted. "Hylla made us all an offer, and we weren't in much of a state to refuse."

Most of the girls tuned in to the conversation, their eyes fixed on me.

"It's certainly an improvement over these past few days," Drew said. "But hon, they can't honestly be doing this for free. What do they want in return?"

A few nodded. Annabeth merely quirked her eyebrow and smirked in my direction.

"I can think of something he could offer them," Rachel said, grinning like a madwoman. "It involves their queen getting bent over her throne while Percy absolutely ruins her for any- Eep!"

I tickled the bottom of her foot, shooting her an unamused glare. She returned it with one of her own, but ultimately pouted and took another bite of her porkchop. I returned to my own food and continued rubbing her ankle.

"We still need to work out those details," I finally said. "Let's also keep in mind that this isn't supposed to be permanent. We still have a couple days until Hestia's deadline with the goddess. Were it just about any other god or goddess, especially among the Olympians, I'd take their word with a grain of salt. But we can trust her to keep her word and try her best."

"Be that as it may, she still can't guarantee anything," Katie said. "We can trust her, but we don't know anything about this other goddess. Who's to say she refuses to take us in?"

"That's where having a contingency plan would come into play," Annabeth said. "Fortunately, I happen to be working on one. You all pointed out me designing us a home and having either the Olympian construction crews or Poseidon's builders handle putting it together. I pointed out that we needed a spot to stay in the meantime. Well, I think we can safely say that will no longer be a concern."

"So we take shelter with this mystery goddess or we get another home built for ourselves," Reyna said, chewing on a chicken skewer. "Well, it's as good a plan as any."

Annabeth nodded. "If you need me at any point over the next few days, I'll likely be either in the archives or the training center. And I'll probably send for everyone at some point just so I can incorporate any ideas you might have for the place. I might not be able to get everything, but I can try to reach a healthy balance of what everyone is looking for."

Everyone began settling in after that, breaking up into their own conversations, a couple of which involved what they'd like to see in a house of their own. Meanwhile, I simply elected to continue eating in relative peace. Annabeth picked up on that and leaned her head on my shoulder while I continued massaging Rachel's foot.

Not too long after, a tingling along my back told me I was being watched. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I noted an Amazon marching toward me, her expression neutral.

"Can I help you?"

She remained stoically quiet for a second or two, her eyes roaming over the group.

"I trust you are finished with your meal?"

I glanced down at my empty tray. "You could say that."

She jerked her head in a sharp nod. "In that case, please accompany me. Queen Hylla has requested your presence."

"Time to work out that deal," Annabeth said. "Just please don't muck it up. We've had a hard enough time as it is."

"Come on, I'm great at diplomacy!" I flashed her a grin, to which she simply rolled her eyes. "By the way," I turned to Reyna, "why don't you come along as well? Just to help put your mind at ease about what she wants from all of this."

Reyna stiffened for a moment, then looked at the Amazon behind me. "Am I even allowed to? Something tells me this meeting was supposed to just be for the two of you."

"Like anyone here would refuse the sister of the queen." I turned back to the Amazon. "That shouldn't be an issue, right?"

She remained expressionless, save for a mild tensing of her jaw.

"The queen asked for you specifically. However, if you wish to bring company, such matters can be discussed directly."

"Sounds like permission to me!" I grinned at Reyna, who merely shook her head. "After you."

"You are truly pushing the boundaries of Hylla's generosity."

In spite of that, she stood from the table and began working her way around towards our chaperone.

As I moved to get up, Rachel whined at her loss of a footrest.

"Oh, come on! I was enjoying that!"

"You'll survive a little bit without an ankle massage. Besides, you still should probably get a bit more ice on that."

"No! No, I will not ever survive!" She tossed herself back in an over dramatic fashion across Calypso's lap. "The next time you see me, I'll be nothing but a cold stiff corpse, and it's all because you wouldn't help me in this time of need!"

Calypso snickered and ran her fingers through Rachel's hair. "Maybe we can find someone else to do it in the meantime."

Rachel curled her lip, and let out a languished sigh. "Fine! If you insist. But our beloved Percy is toying with my life now! Who knows if I'll be here when he comes back?"

I simply chuckled as I lifted her foot off of me and took my leave of the bench. Despite Reyna staring with an amused expression, I simply shrugged and turned to the Amazon.

"Let's not keep the queen waiting any longer."

A/N - And and introductory chapter to get everyone properly assimilated into the ranks of the Amazons. Some just require a tad more assimilation than others. So many different story lines starting, but so little time to actually get them all out. Hopefully, things won't stay quite this chaotic forever.

While not quite as long of a wait as last chapter, I do know how patient everyone is being when it comes to the posting time, and you all have my thanks for that. I sincerely hope you all still find the wait worth it. This particular chapter may come across as a bit filler-ish, but that's the tradeoff of introductory chapters in new areas. Either very little gets established or the chapters themselves get really long. And let's be honest, you already wait long enough as it is.

Nevertheless, hope you all enjoyed the read. If so, let me know, whether it be through reviews, Discord, or P atreon. All it takes is a simple code, which you can find on my profile page. Hope to see you all around! This is Ronin signing off.