Percy Jackson: Hunter of Artemis

New Arrivals

Percy's POV

"And that, my dear sisters, is how you beat Phoebe in an archery contest," I said, happy to have won. Again. See, little competitions like this have been going on for years. Phoebe kept trying to prove to me that girls could beat guys. So far, she was both failing and succeding.

We'd had archery, sword fighting, and dagger throwing. Phoebe was better at archery and knife throwing. Unless you knew what she was planning on doing and do something better. I always win at sword fighting. I am literally the best swordsman this world has ever known. No really, even the Hunters said so. I still had confidence that I would beat Phoebe at everything someday. Well not everything. I did have this one weekness...

"Perseus Jackson, I challenge you to a brain game," Phoebe said.

Crap. My number one weakness. Being smart.

I watched as Kinzie wrote out a super long list of instructions and handed us each one. Then we stepped on either side of a curtain where various items were.

"Alright. All you have to do is complete as many instructions on your list as fast as you can within the time limit," Thalia said.

This wasn't a brain game. I would take Phoebe down!!

I looked at the list. READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN it read at the top. Screw that. I didn't have time to read the list. I skipped to the first instruction.

1. Apply Makeup. Ok. I grabbed the bag and went to the mirror. I applied all the makeup. Check.

I moved on to the next one. 2. Drench Yourself With Water. That was an easy one. I used my powers to pour water on myself and willed myself to get wet. Next.

3. Put on Dress. Crap. I didn't want to do this. But I did want to beat Phoebe at her own game. So I put on the stupid fusia pink sundress (this color did NOT go with my sea green eyes) and moved on to the next task.

4. Paint your nails. I grabbed the sea green nail polish bottle and painted my nails. Done.

5. Pat your stomach, touch your head, stand on one foot and hop in circles for ten seconds. I did as the instructions said.

6. Shoot an arrow straight up. I drew my bow and was about to fire.

"Times up!!!" Kinzie yelled.

I looked at Phoebe. She hadn't done anything.

"Looks like I won," I said, not able to hide the smug look on my face. She exploded with laughter.

"Did you read the instructions? Obviously not, since you look like an idiot!!!" she laughed.

I looked at the instructions. The last one said IGNORE ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS AND SIGH YOUR NAME. Oh. This was all a trick.

"Artemis is coming," Thalia said. I rushed to remove the makeup. I managed to get all the filthy stuff off me and ran after the girls. Kinzie stopped me though.

"Newbies. May be best if you stayed hidden. At least until they get used to the concept," she said.

My face grew serious. I knew the drill. I stay away while Artemis deals with the newcomers (unless they gave me the signal that they seriously needed my help). This way, they wouldn't freak out with the sight of a boy at the campsite. I ran to the tree that I used to stay hidden when we were at our main camp. I climbed the tree and hid myself. I watched as the events played out from the cover of the leaves.

"Where are we," a girl with fiery red hair, a splash of freckles on her face, and dark brown eyes muttered to her friends.

"You are at Artemis's top headquarters," Thalia answered.

The red head's head snapped up. Her face held a mixture of shock and fear.

"What are your names?" Kinzie asked.

"I'm Ginger and this is Rosy," the red head pointed to a girl with black choppy hair with blonde highlights. She had pale blue eyes and looked very intimadating. "and this is Kayla," she pointed to a girl with hip length black hair that seemed to fade into midnight blue. Her eyes were a piercing forest green and plants seemed to lean towards her.

As the girls came closer, I noticed details I hadn't noticed before. The one called Rosy had a scar running down her face, much like that of my old friend, Luke. Plants seemed to grow with more life when Kayla walked by and grew dull again when she left.

'Child of Persephone,' I thought automatically. I looked at Rosy. Hmmmm. She was tough to decifer. Child of Ares, I decided.

Then I looked at Ginger. She practically radiated death and darkness. It was easy to tell who her parent was. Ginger was a child of Hades.