Drowning in the Siren's Song

Chapter 28

The next few weeks were pleasantly baffling. Except for the very obvious addition of the Hunters of Artemis, he had picked his routine back up and went on with his life calmly. 

He would go after the monsters with the hunters every evening in the dimming light, learning and teaching at the same time. They would study his ingenuity and ideas and he would pick up their techniques. It was a fair trade which mutually benefitted both parties. 

Because Percy was used to countering threats with only his mind and inherited powers, using weapons was a foreign concept. He would use the water and the trees and ask the animals to help, but after finding out that normal knives did nothing but slash the air, he had to get creative. 

On the other hand, the hunters were very traditional, using weapons like bows and arrows, swords, shields, and whatnot. Their go- to technique was to corner their target with the wolves and then used brute force to make then submit. 

It worked because of their vast numbers and heightened strength, but it was taxing and not full- proof, especially when they were spilt into groups or when they hunted without Artemis. They were unmatched when it came to handling their weapons, but he noticed that having all the arrows land in the center of the targets didn't mean anything in an actual fight. 

The hunters used old strategies and smart traps which worked flawlessly, but when it came to emergency situations, they were quite hopeless. They needed and were used to clear instructions and perfect formations, but were very bad at thinking on top of their heads and being innovative. 

That was where he came in. 

He wasn't influenced by modern technology so his ways were very simple and doable, and because of his size and age, even the younger hunters were able to follow along with his suggestions. They were even comparable in physical prowess.

Percy was a powerful demigod child who was blessed by nature and the hunters were blessed by Artemis and had incomparable experience. They were like night and day, similar in duties and habits, but vastly different. 

Because of their compatibility, Artemis was persuaded to extend their stay even more in the forest. She had manipulated the mist to make it seem like they were a group of students on a field trip to study the plant life in the reserve. 

Percy had heard of the veil shielding the eyes of the mortals, but seeing it personally completely shocked him. He had ceased to function for a while after seeing Delilah blatantly ignore the bronze weapons and huge wolves and still insist on giving them a tour in their jeeps. 

He'd even jumped like a cat when she'd murmured something about a 'mysterious individual' who was in the forest who 'magically' solved any problems. Poor Artemis had to prevent herself from laughing then and there after comparing Delilah's serious look to Percy's embarrassed flush. 

But it was nice to finally look her in the eyes instead of hiding up a tree, though he did get a weird look for being the only boy in the whole group. It didn't matter anyways, he was enjoying the feeling of acting like a proper 'human' and not a 'magical mysterious individual'.

Everything was going well, except for the food, though. One of the things that changed when Artemis came was that he now had his meals with the hunters. Since they were a big group with all kinds of people, Percy often ate with different girls everyday, but one thing which was common was that he was a strict vegetarian and they were not. 

Obviously, since their occupation was 'hunting' whether it be monsters or animal, prey was killed for something useful. Monsters for safety and animals for food and resources. The Hunters of Artemis were, for the most part, completely non-vegetarian, using only vegetables and fruits as side dishes or garnishes. 

Percy on the other hand, could not bear the thought of killing and consuming something sentient. Ever since Pan blessed him with the ability to perceive their basic emotions and intentions, their emotional bond had deepened to the point where he could call all the animals and birds in the forest family. The same went for the sea creatures which whom he could communicate clearly.

He had entirely shunned even the though of eating meat. Similarly, he had abandoned the practice of eating vegetables, fruits and herbs which potentially harmed the plant. His diet consisted only of the things which were offered by the dryads and the ones he got permission for. 

But he also knew that despite being gut- wrenchingly horrible, there was a balance to be maintained. For the ecosystem to survive and flourish, the hierarchy of nature was to be maintained. 

He had his beliefs but he had to no intention of forcing them on others.

Though it was painful for him, the hunters were compassionate enough to proceed with their cooking only when he was somewhere else and distracted. It was uncomfortable to eat together at first, but Percy sucked it up, knowing that similar situations were common. 

Predator kills prey, carnivores eats herbivores. That was what the wild was about, it was what Pan is about. And he held tremendous respect for the elderly satyr. It was hard to get used to, but he'd lived too much of a shy life to complain. 

But he did get the chance to learn several cooking techniques from them. Since most of them had lived decades and decades and were from across the globe, there was such a variety in the cooking process and taste. He was completely fascinated. 

He was learning something new everyday and knew that the knowledge he was currently being exposed to was not something anyone got a chance to hear.