The Seventh Child

Chapter 4

Percy and Artemis packed everything that morning with a blurry mind. Both of their minds kept wandering back to the moment when Artemis kissed his cheek. Sure, it was a sign of gratitude and Percy would've had no problem accepting it. But it was from Artemis, the Artemis, the goddess of virginity, maiden and all that jazz. Her main rule was to stay away from males. Percy wasn't sure if a kiss in the cheek from her was just a sign, or an achievement. But Percy didn't want to think of it as an achievement. That would make him no better than Orion. He took the kiss on the cheek as a sign of friendship.

As for Artemis, well, she was messed up. Ever seen a woman in a dilemma while on a period with her kid screaming next to her and her baby crying? That's how she felt, except it was all contained within herself, which was good because she might just blew up if she kept thinking about it. Why did she kiss Percy? Even if it's on the cheek, that does not fit in her job description as the goddess of virginity. The main thing was to stay away from males. That is the job description. Somehow, Percy was no ordinary male. Sure, he's a god that no one has ever seen before, but aside from that, he's very kind, generous and never did any harm to anyone. He even brought a new maiden to the hunt.

The only bad thing about Percy is that he was secretive. Very secretive. Artemis barely knew him. The only thing she knew about him was his name, he's good at close combat, he's insanely fast and that he's very close to Hestia. Artemis didn't like anyone keeping secrets from her, but she had to respect his wishes because he had saved them a couple of times. That's the only was she could avoid being indebted to a man.

Artemis didn't explain anything to the hunters. She just said that they had to go to Camp Half-Blood. The hunters groaned in annoyance as they moved to pack their stuff. They'd been to Camp Half-Blood before, and they made sure they maimed every camper before leaving the last time they got there. The hunter could tolerate the female campers (except for Aphrodite's children, because they're annoying), but it's the male demigods that they despised.

"What's wrong with that camp?" Julia asked Lily.

Lily shrugged. "Phoebe said that I'm too young to understand, so she just told me to do what she did."

"And what might that be?"

"It involves firing arrows at a man's-"

"Julia!" Percy called. "Come here for a second."

Julia went over towards Percy with a grin on her face. "What is it, brother?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Brother?"

Julia nodded giddily. "Yeah, you're like my brother, and I always wanted a brother."

"You do know I'm thousands of years older than you, right?"

"Not an excuse," Julia grinned. Percy chuckled as he ruffled her hair.

"Hey, I got you something."

"What is it?"

"It's from Hestia," Percy said. He took out a necklace from his pocket. Attached to it, was a pendant with a jewel shaped like a heart coloured with crimson red. It glowed when Percy put it around Julia's neck.

"It's beautiful," Julia said. "What does it do?"

Percy frowned a bit. "Actually, I don't know. Hestia just told me to give it to you, and she said that you'd know what to do with it." Julia raised an eyebrow quizzically. She examined the pendant closer and tried biting it, but nothing happened. Percy smiled. "We'll figure it out soon, okay?" Julia nodded with a smile before skipping off towards Lily.

Line Break

After packing up everything, the Hunt travelled towards where Artemis headed with Percy by her side. According to Artemis, she wanted to use the route through the city. That would take a while, since they were a few countries away from New York. By going on foot, it's going to take them a few weeks to reach camp.