After the Storm
Percy ignored everyone as he took a quick look around, making sure his friends were fine, and walked to where Annabeth had been standing before. He crouched slightly, trying to find any clue on the ground, where the strange portal had left a mark. His hand brushed over the mark for a moment, noticing that it was still bleeding from having been pierced by Zoe's dagger.
He opened his hand for a moment, and healing magic suddenly wrapped around it before spreading through his entire body, as his wounds closed with ease.
Before, he hadn't been very good at using magic, but after defeating the hydra and feeling that strange change in his body, it seemed like everything became easier, and he could now speak after using his shout, with casting time greatly reduced.
Just as he finished healing, his gaze sharpened slightly when he saw something lying on the ground, not too far away. He walked over to pick it up. It was the tiara his master had given Annabeth. The tiara of intelligence.
He remembered that Annabeth didn't like Percy using it, because she said his smile became too fake when his emotions were pushed aside, leaving only his fully analytical side. That's why he had believed the words Thalia said earlier.
Percy held the tiara for a moment, staring at it. This hadn't fallen out of Annabeth's backpack. She took great care of it and tried not to use it too much, so she wouldn't depend on it, only using it when it really mattered. And the fact that it was lying there could only mean that Annabeth had thrown it before being dragged into that portal.
There were only two possibilities. She didn't want Luke and his people to have it, because it would be too dangerous… or she was expecting something else.
"So, how are you going to find Annabeth, and how long will it take?" Percy said, standing up, looking toward the 12-year-old girl, who seemed to be giving orders to the hunters to heal Zoe Belladona.
From the way Percy spoke, some of the hunters frowned, but they shut their mouths immediately as they hurried to heal Zoe.
"As I said when I arrived, hunting wild beasts falls under my domain, and tracking and capturing them is one of my strengths. I suppose I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Artemis, the goddess of the hunt," she said in a more serious tone, her eyes meeting Percy's, maybe expecting some kind of change in him.
But Percy kept looking at her with the same expression as before. "Yeah, I figured," he said in a cold tone. "You didn't answer my question," he added again.
Even she couldn't help but feel a slight irritation at being spoken to like that. In the past, any man who even dared to look at her would have been turned into an animal to be used as training for the hunters.
Even when, in the past, someone laughed at her mother for having so few children, she and her brother had slaughtered all of theirs in revenge for mere words.
Only Grover, who had barely heard her name, quickly made a sound and dropped to his knees at once. "Lady Artemis, it's an honor to see you," he said while trembling. "You are so… so… wow," he added, unable to stop himself from sounding like an overwhelmed fan.
Meanwhile, Clarisse, who was being healed by him, gave him a look of contempt for a moment, though it seemed like her wound was already mostly closed.
Causing Bianca, who had been a bit nervous about her, to let out a breath when she saw her wounds were no longer bleeding, sitting on the ground beside her. While Nico seemed to look around with excitement in every direction, especially toward Percy, his eyes shining like he was seeing his favorite hero.
But Bianca, finally seeing that everything was over and that they now seemed to be safe, couldn't help but clench her fists for a moment, holding the bow resting across her legs, and she opened her mouth.
"So, are you finally going to tell us who the hell you are? And why that thing was chasing us? And what the hell is going on here?" she said, drawing everyone's attention.
Artemis, who had been looking at Percy with a serious expression, turned toward Bianca as her expression shifted instantly when she spoke to her.
"Perhaps it would be better, my dear child, to first know who you are… who are your parents?" she asked gently.
"Our parents died a long time ago," Bianca said quickly, glancing toward her brother with slight concern. "We're orphans, and a fund takes care of paying for our things… after…" she closed her mouth.
"The cool guy is going to get us out of that place," Nico finished with an excited smile, holding the book in his arms happily.
Percy, who had been waiting for Artemis' answer, turned to look at Nico for a moment and the book in his arms. He had noticed it before, but didn't give it importance because he was about to fight. But now, paying close attention…
Percy couldn't help but walk toward Nico with a serious look, and he crouched slightly in front of him.
"Can you lend me that book for a moment?" Percy said, trying to sound calmer than he actually was so he wouldn't scare the boy.
Though that seemed difficult, because Nico kept looking at him with excitement, and handed him the book without hesitation, even though Bianca was about to stop him. Percy had already taken it.
Percy opened the book and read its contents for a moment, flipping through the pages. Normally, for a demigod, trying to read anything that wasn't ancient Greek would be difficult, but that changed with certain special books. The ones his master had given him before to learn magic.
"Yeah…" Percy said, confirming his suspicions. "Conjuration spells are really complicated, since the things you summon sometimes try to attack you. That's why I never liked them," Percy said lightly, lifting his gaze toward Nico for a moment. Then he looked toward Bianca, or more specifically, the bow resting across her legs. "Where did you get these things?" Percy asked, staring at them.
Bianca, who even though she knew Percy had saved them, had also just seen him almost kill someone, couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious of him.
"Why do you want to know that?" she asked quickly.
Percy placed the book back into Nico's hands, while slipping his hand inside his bag. And Bianca, seeing him reach into the place where he had stored his sword earlier, tightened her grip on her bow as she slightly moved her hand toward her quiver.
But Percy pulled out what looked like books with covers of different colors, and then a bow completely identical to the one Bianca had. Even so, she couldn't help but be surprised for a moment that such things could fit inside such a small bag.
She quickly looked at the books, noticing that their covers had symbols similar to Nico's book and seemed to be made of the same material. And the bow was identical to hers, though Bianca's seemed to have a faint blue glow surrounding it, while Percy's did not.
"That's because mine isn't enchanted. It's a pain having to keep recharging everything when it runs out of energy… though it looks like you don't even know how to use the enchantment on yours," Percy said calmly to Bianca, as if he could read her mind easily.
"Awesome…" Nico said, looking at the different books in Percy's hands. "Did you meet the super powerful guy too?" he asked, sounding a bit excited.
Percy looked at him for a moment, his eyes opening slightly. "Oh… yeah. Well, that super powerful guy is my master… and my father figure," Percy said calmly.
At once, Bianca seemed to get just as excited as Nico.
"Really? Do you know where he is?" she asked.
Percy looked at her for a moment, confused.
"How did you meet my master?" he asked before answering.
"He saved us," Nico said, full of excitement.