How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 42 || The Hunters of Artemis

LEO VALDEZ

"...But this doesn't make sense!" Thalia said after her rampage, "Why would it matter that now, Percy and Annabeth had to fall into Tartarus? There's no war!"

"We've defeated Gaia and Kronos, so I don't get it either," Leo said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"None of the gods have been alerted of any upcoming war," Artemis said, taking a sip of the tea Piper had made her. "Hunters? Have you received any news?"

"No, milady," each one said, shaking their heads.

"I noticed something with the monsters, though," Phoebe said, stepping forward, "They were more aggressive than before. And they were muttering about how they'd 'have their revenge soon' and 'the demigods would fall' and that 'we'd lose everything'."

"So you're saying they're planning a war? That's very uncommon for monsters to do," Artemis pondered, tapping her nails against the wooden table, "Normally, monsters serve higher deities like titans and primordials. They never go by themselves for a full on attack."

"It's not impossible," Frank pointed out, causing a couple of hunters to glare at him.

Honestly, if Artemis wasn't a maiden goddess... Leo thought she was pretty damn hot!

"What did you just say, boy?" Artemis's eyes flashed and she stood up.

"Huh?" Leo asked stupidly.

"You said, 'I'd say she was pretty damn hot!' in a weird way! Who are you talking about!"

"Better not be about Lady Artemis!" Atlanta glared at him.

"No... It was... It was about Calypso!" Leo blurted out a random name.

Calypso? Really, Leo?

"Calypso?" Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, please don't turn me into a jackalope!" Leo squeaked.

Artemis lowered her gaze before turning to Jason.

"Do you know anything, son of Jupiter?"

"No, milady," Jason said as respectfully as he could.

"Did you even try to rescue them?" Artemis was nose to nose with Jason now, "You know Percy is the only man I can respect, right?"

"He is?" Piper stared at her.

"Yes, Piper McLean. He's proven himself and he was a great friend of my... former lieutenant, who's death is still agonizing to think about," Artemis said before shaking her head, "Off topic! Boy, did you try and save Percy and Annabeth as they fell in that hole?"

"Of course, we did! We're his friends!" Jason exclaimed, "But a building collapsed into the crack, so nothing came in or out."

"I promised him we'd meet him at the other side."

"The Doors of Death..." Thalia breathed.

"That's in Epirus," Artemis frowned, "That'll be at least 15 hours away."

"It's been... what? 2 hours since they last fell?" Hazel asked.

"Then they've been down in Tartarus for 2 days already, Hazel Levesque. Time is ticking, and demigods never do well when they enter the realm of the pit. Not even gods do well," Artemis said grimly, "Worst case scenario, they died the moment they hit the pit's grounds."

"Don't talk about that," Leo said hurriedly, "I am not going to think about that right now."

"Best not hide from reality, boy," Artemis stared at me with scrutinizing eyes. "There is no fair game in Greek mythology.

She sighed, "I will be heading off to Olympus to discuss this with Zeus. I just came to drop Thalia off because I figured she'd like to spend some time with her cousins. Phoebe, please lead the hunters back to camp."

As Artemis disappeared, every hunter glared at Jason, Frank, and I, before getting on their winged horses and flying away. Thalia sat down in a chair, staring off into space.

"You know what?" she said after a long silence, "When that Kelp Head gets out of that pit, I'm gonna slap his face so hard that seaweed comes out of his head."

"That's... disturbing," Leo shivered, imagining the scene in his head.

"Well deal with it, Valdez," Thalia snapped, "That's what I am."

"So how do we even get in the House of Hades?"

"We just go," Jason shrugged, "Not much you can do. Wait for them while praying they come out in one piece? Run out of the House of Hades? Pray they're still alive?"

"Such hopeful talk," Nico muttered sarcastically, "If I'm to be frank--not you, Frank--I can't believe my cousin, after just getting back together with a girl he dated for a week with, would fall into Tartarus for her. I bet they're already planning their marriage or something."

"It doesn't really matter the time you've been together," Piper said, "Annabeth really helped Percy through some shit. Even people like his mother couldn't even help him. For her to come in and just change his life then and there, that's incredible. And without Percy, Annabeth wouldn't even know how sweet life was. So they have a reason to think they're gonna be together forever till the end of time."

Nico grudgingly agreed, though he still muttered under his breath about how Percy could've been a bit smarter. Well, that's what all of them thought every second they were around him.

"Percy Jackson tour cancelled!" the TV chirped out of nowhere, "A large attack happened at Percy Jackson's concert when he was in Venice, and there has been no sight of the singer or his friends at the scene. The Venice Airport even says that Percy didn't get on his plane, rather, his ticket was cancelled by his best friend, Leo Valdez, who hasn't been spotted since the attack."

"Oh gods..." he groaned.

"What?" Hazel scrambled over.

"It's on TV," Leo grumbled.

"Others say that Percy Jackson died in the attack, and that his body hasn't been found yet. Boats swarm through Venice, trying to find his body where it most likely ended up, which is in the water. However, each day, boats come back empty-handed. A total of 20 people were killed, 800 injured. Families grieve over the loss of their loved ones while the businessman and singer remains to be unfound. More news to come."

He slammed the off button on the remote, looking at everyone.

"Well, now they think we're dead," Leo sighed, "Great. That's gonna be a lot of interviews when this is all over."

"If it ends," Nico corrected.