Chapter Text
Prologue
POV: Percy
“And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast’s entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says,” Zeus argued.
“You have to trust them,” Annabeth spoke up. “Sir, you have to trust them.”
Zeus scowled. “Trust a hero?”
“Annabeth is right,” Artemis said. “Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoë Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately.”
Zeus beckoned Artemis forward. He leaned down and listened as she spoke in his ear. A feeling of panic seized me.
“Annabeth,” I said under my breath. “Don’t.”
She frowned at me. “What?”
“Look, I need to tell you something,” I continued. The words came tumbling out of me. “I couldn’t stand it if … I don’t want you to—“
“Percy?” she said. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
And that’s how I felt. I wanted to say more, but my tongue betrayed me. It wouldn’t move because of the fear in my stomach. And then Artemis turned.
“I shall have a new lieutenant,” she announced. “If she will accept it.”
“No,” I murmured.
“Thalia,” Artemis said. “Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the hunt?”
Stunned silence filled the room. I stared at Thalia, unable to believe what I was hearing. Annabeth smiled. She squeezed Thalia’s hand and let it go, as if she’d been expecting this all along.
“I will,” Thalia said firmly. Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. “My daughter, consider well—“
“Father,” she said. “I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won’t let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again.” She knelt before the Goddess and spoke the words I remembered from Bianca’s oath, what seemed like so long ago.
When she finished, Artemis smiled at her warmly.
“Welcome to the hunt. Your sisters will be so excited to meet you.”
“And I them. I swear on the river Styx that I’ll be a loyal and deserving lieutenant.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
Artemis turned her attention to Annabeth as Thalia came to stand by her.
My heart began hammering in my chest again, loud and persistent.
“While the role of lieutenant has been filled, new hunters are always welcome. I understand, Annabeth, that you showed interest in joining?”
Annabeth swallowed, looking uneasy under all the attention. Her voice was a little squeaky when she spoke.
“Um, yes ma’am. I had considered it.”
She glanced at me quickly, then straight back to the floor. She looked as unsure as she did back at Westover Hall, when she’d been trying to explain her interest to me.
“You are a truly courageous maiden and have shown incredible bravery and strength in times of distress. I offer you the same question: will you join the hunt?”
No! I wanted to scream at her. Say no! Tell her you don’t want to leave! But my throat had gone dry and all I could do was wait for her answer.
She glanced at me again, almost guiltily. Swallowed once. Said nothing.
Artemis glanced between the two of us, her eyebrow arching slightly as she let out a soft hmmm.
“I see. This is a big decision, and I understand it will take time. Until then, my offer still stands. But it seems you have a choice to make, daughter of Athena.”
Everything happened in a blur. The stress and confusion seemed to completely shut down my brain. I was vaguely aware of my dad offering to build a cage for Bessie and keep him in Olympus where he’d be protected. I heard bits and pieces of an argument between the Gods regarding whether or not I was a liability to them, but I couldn’t focus on anything they were saying. I just stared at Annabeth, hoping that any minute now she’d grin and say 'just kidding! I bet you really thought I was considering joining! Like I’d ever do that!' But her gaze never wavered from the floor, even as Thalia whispered something in her ear and squeezed her hand.
“-then I suppose we should be celebrating them,” Zeus decreed. As if given an unspoken order, the olympians rose from their thrones and ushered us outside, to the main courtyard, where hundreds of minor godlings had already gathered in anticipation.
I guess word here travels fast.
I tried to catch up with Annabeth, but she was the first one out of the throne room, dodging between the crowd of godlings as the music queued up.
If I hadn’t been so completely crushed at the moment, I’m sure I would've loved the party. The food all smelled incredible, the music was just my taste and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I even spotted Mr. D arm in arm with a beautiful woman that I assumed was his wife. It might’ve been the first and only time I’d seen him genuinely happy.
But I wasn’t in the mood to party. I found a bench to sit on that was far enough from the crowd that I could actually think without the speakers threatening to blow out my eardrums. That’s where Grover found me.
“Hey Percy.” He was carrying a plate full of cutlery, and I assumed it tasted better from here than anything down in the mortal world. “This party is cool, right?” He spoke with the amount of caution one would when trying to calm a crazed maniac. I guess I couldn’t blame him for thinking I’d explode. I definitely wanted to.
“Yeah. great,” I mumbled. He eased himself onto the bench next to me and timidly began crunching on the tines of a fork. Unable to hold back the question any longer, I asked, “Do you think Annabeth will join the hunters?”
He glanced at me, uncertainty in his eyes. He swallowed the rest of the fork and pursued his lips as if he were about to tell me a truth I wouldn’t like. “Well,” he started. “She had already been considering it. Now that it’s been offered…” he let himself trail off.
“No,” I insisted, more adamant than ever. “Camp Half-Blood is her home. She’s not gonna … she wouldn’t just…” Grover eyed me sympathetically.
“She’s not gonna want to stay at camp forever, Percy. She wants to see the world.”
“The world is dangerous for half bloods. She knows that,” I snapped.
“Not if she’s a hunter.” He mumbled quietly.
I wanted to tell him he was wrong. That he didn’t know her the way I did, but I couldn’t. He’d known her a lot longer than I had. Still, I didn’t have to agree with him.
I probably would’ve argued for longer, but just then, someone cleared their throat to my right. Annabeth was standing there, fidgeting with her necklace the way she did when she was nervous.
“Oh, Annabeth!” Grover blanched. “We were just talking about… uh…”
“It’s okay Grover,” She said. “Can I talk with Percy real quick? Alone?”
He jumped up so fast that he nearly spilled his utensils all over the floor. “Yeah, I think I see some tin cans at the refreshment table, so I’ll just, um… yeah.” He scampered off as quick as his goat legs could carry him.
Annabeth sat down on the bench with me and didn’t speak for a long time.
When I couldn’t take the silence, I asked, “Well?”
It came out harsher than I’d meant it to, but in the time since Artemis’s proposal, I’d gotten increasingly annoyed; even angry. Maybe it was selfish, but I was angry that Annabeth didn’t immediately shut her down. I was angry that she’d even considered the offer. That she was still considering it.
“Well, I saw her offer to Thalia coming a mile away, but I honestly didn’t expect an invitation for me.”
“That’s what you were trying to tell me at Westover, right? That you wanted to join?”
She nodded slowly.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been considering this for a while. It does have a lot of advantages, tactical-wise-”
“But camp is your home!” I blurted out. I hated how nonchalant she was acting about this whole thing. My heartbeat had gotten more and more rapid as the panic set in that she wasn't pretending to consider the offer to be polite. She wanted this. She was going to go through with it, no matter what I said.
She stared at me, a little shocked at my outburst.
“Camp is where I’m trained. Sure, I have good memories there and I consider everyone my family, but… I don’t want to live there forever. Grover was right. Sooner or later, I want to see the world.” She was avoiding my gaze again, no doubt ashamed that she’d unintentionally eavesdropped on our conversation.
“Fine. If we’re all just your training buddies and a means to an end, then go. Go see the world if that’s what you want.” I snapped.
She gaped at me. “I never said-”
“But it’s obviously what you think, right?” I stood up and turned to face her. “If spending eternity hunting with a group of strangers is what you want, then by all means, go ahead!”
“Percy!” I could tell that some of the godlings near us had caught on to our argument and a crowd was slowly starting to gather. It may have been my imagination, but the music seemed to quiet too.
“Maybe we’re all just holding you back, is that it? Maybe your hubris has finally gotten the better of you because you’ve clearly decided we’re not worth sticking around for!”
Her eyes were rimmed with red and I could see tears beginning to pool, but the look she was giving me could only be described as loathing. “You have no idea what you’re talking about Jackson!” She stood so she could look me straight in the eyes. “But if that’s really how you feel, then maybe I should join! At least then I wouldn’t be stuck keeping an idiot like you out of trouble!”
“Last I checked, I’m the one who traveled halfway around the world to save you!”
“Because it’s your fault I was in danger!” Her voice chilled and she spoke quietly and intensely. “Maybe you should’ve left me with Luke. Then Zoe would still be alive, and none of this would be an issue.”
That stung.
I lowered my voice as much as she did and said, “At least I’m not trying to save the enemy. Because no matter what your hubris tells you, you won’t ever win that fight.”
In a move so fast it was almost imperceptible, she drew back her hand and slapped me. Hard. The sound echoed throughout the courtyard, louder than the music playing.
Even with the noise, everyone was dead silent as she stomped away. I didn’t turn back to watch her go. I just blinked to clear my blurry vision.
I couldn't say what everyone else heard, but to me, the music became slow and sad; as if the musician was playing all alone.