𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 ༄ ᴘercy ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

we discuss the great stir pot

Everybody's heads snapped towards Kai's and my direction, looks of confusion and distaste on their face. Although the distaste was mainly the hunters towards Kai.

"Um. Okay." Percy piped up, turning back to Artemis. Grover, had a very different response.

He jumped into a kneeling position and began to stutter out, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... Wow!"

Mullet girl seemed to find this most distatesteful and she scowled at her friend.

"Get up, goat boy!" she snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

"Wait. could we just pause for a second? I just want to check I'm getting this straight." I turned to Artemis. "You are the greek goddess. Artemis. From like...a million years ago. And you're... twelve."

Artemis nodded her assent, although she frowned as I told her she was twelve. There was a moments pause as I met eye-contact with Kai. He was holding back a grin. I was holding back my own.

"Right." I said.

don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh.

"Who.. who are you people really?" Bianca piped up. Unlike me and Kai, she actually looked quite fearful, her voice quavering.

Artemis's expression softened as she looked at Bianca. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who you are. Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

"Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..." she faltered. All of the others, were looking at her as if she was lying. That kind of annoyed me. She was confessing her dead parents and they don't even believe her?!

"What?" she demanded, equally confused. "I'm telling the truth."

Artemis turned to Kai and I, an unspoken question on her face. Kai spoke first.

"I have parents. My mums name is Aiko. She's uh real. And my dad. Name's John."

"Are they both your biological parents?"

"Uh, John's my stepdad. But he's better than my real one. He left before I was even born." The bitterness that always came when he spoke of his real dad spilled out again.

Some of the hunters whispered amongst themselves, as if this answer made more sense. Then they turned to me.

I didn't want to tell them anything about my family.

But Artemis' eyes were burning into me.

"Mom's in a mental hospital. My other mother is dead. Saw her die. So, yeah." I tried to avoid eye-contact and looked into a different direction, only to look directly at Percy.

His expression was pitiful but he also looked as if he knew something I didn't.

I looked away.

"You are a half-blood. All of you," Zoë Nightshade spoke. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian... athlete?" Kai said, staring in scrutiny.

"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. Maybe after all the stuff with Dr. Thorn, he did. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for-"