❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝐼𝐼𝐼. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐻𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒜𝓇𝓉𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓈

𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 stood there, dumbfounded. After a moment he said, "Um... okay."

Grover on the other hand, gasped and knelt hastily in the snow, yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... Wow!"

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

"Whoa," Bianca Di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

Zoe faintly heard the group try to tell the Di Angelos about everything, but she was still in pain. One of the hunters, who introduced herself as Katie, helped her get her sword before leading her to a patch of snow. The huntress gave her some nectar and ambrosia, helping stop the bleeding. Zoe tried to smile gratefully at the blond in front of her but the action just made her wince in pain.

While Zoe was given the food of the gods (not coffee), a few of the other hunters got their stuff from inside while the remaining girls set up tents. The Hunters set up their camp site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls, Katie pointed her out as Quinn, blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. Katie pointed out a few more Hunters as they walked among the wolves and fed them treats, completely unafraid. Zoe thought they were beautiful animals and would have asked to pet one if not for the exhaustion weighing her down.

Falcons watched them from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight. Zoe got the feeling they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, which made Zoe feel a tad bit better.

Once the tents were set up, Katie brought Zoe into one closer to the center.

"How are you feeling?" The blond asked, dabbing a cloth she had grabbed, in nectar.

Zoe winced as the cloth touched her wounds, helping them heal a bit more as she tried to answer. "Been better," she shrugged, hissing as Katie pressed on the wound.

The blond nodded, her green eyes focusing on the task at hand. She skillfully put a bandage to the side of Zoe's face, before leading her out to the fire that had been started in their absence.

Zoe sat next to Percy on a log as Grover dressed his wounded shoulder, helping distract the son of Poseidon from the pain.

A hunter Zoe vaguely recognized and thought was named Emma, came by to give everyone their bags that had been in the school.

Nico rummaged through his bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him. Nico laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow—little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. Zoe recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot and a few others. It was weird how she felt a sense of familiarity looking at the cards and figurines but she couldn't place where she had seen them before.

"Big collection," Percy said.

Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game a long time?" Zoe questioned softly.

"Just this year. And a little bit before that. I started..." He knit his eyebrows.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I forget. That's weird."

He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

Percy showed him Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it.

Zoe rolled her eyes at Percy's bland response before smiling at Nico. "He's kind of a Seaweed Brain sometimes. It transforms because of magic, obviously, but," Zoe paused, lowering her voice to a stage whisper. "There's also a secret."

"Really?" Nico asked in an attempt at the same voice. It came out loud and excited, but Zoe smiled.

"Yup. It's rumored that a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, Poseidon himself used this to fight the giant Polybotes before crushing him under the island of Kos."

Percy raised an eyebrow, asking Zoe with his eyes 'Really?'

'No' Zoe mouthed, tilting her head just barely towards Nico, trying to show she was trying to distract him.

"Cool!" Nico's dark eyes sparkled in the light of the fire. "Does it ever run out of ink?"

"Um," Percy hesitated looking between Zoe and Grover before looking back at the twelve year old. "Well, I don't actually write with it."

"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well, then?"

Percy looked back at Grover and Zoe, who were both trying not to giggle.

"Jeez, Nico," the ravenette said. "I've never really tried."

"An-and you..." Nico paused, realizing he didn't know who her godly parent was. "Who's your godly parent?"

"My godly parent is Aphrodite," Zoe smiled kindly.

"Is that why you're so pretty? At least, that's what Bianca said," Nico's head tilted to the side, looking at you with a question in his eyes.

Zoe flushed as she laughed nervously. "Um... I-I don't really know, Neeks."

"Wait, so, what's your weapon?"

Zoe held out her scallop shell clip and Nico watched in fascination as it turned into a bronze sword. Turning it back into a clip, Zoe exchanged it for the rose clip in her hair, before showing Nico her dagger.

He continued asking questions, his eyes wide in curiosity.

"Do you fight a lot with Thalia, since she's a daughter of Zeus?"

Percy shrugged, but didn't answer as Zoe snickered behind her hand.

"So... if Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff?"

Zoe thought the kid was like a cute, annoying, younger brother, so when he asked this question, she tried not to react. She wasn't sure how well it worked considering the look Grover gave her.

"Is Zoe your girlfriend?"

The two older demigods burned bright red, Percy shaking his head, trying to stammer out a response, as Zoe looked away and tried to avoid Nico's eyes. As they were recovering from that last question, Zoë Nightshade came up to them.

"Percy Jackson."

She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that Zoe had to resist the urge to sit up straight and curtsy. She studied Percy distastefully, like he was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.

"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."

The young Stark grabbed Percy's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, before letting him go. Grover and Nico continued to chat as Zoe stared at the fire. After a few minutes, Thalia came over and sat where Percy had been sitting moments before. She didn't say anything, but her authoritative presence was enough to calm Zoe and Grover's nerves.

Guys, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot to publish this weekend. Here's the new chapter! Hope you enjoy!

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