¹Mσɳ Aɱσɳ Cαɾα I ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

4. When did the nickname thing happen?

♡ The next morning after breakfast, Percy told Grover about his dream. They sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow.

"A cave ceiling collapsed on Annabeth?" Grover asked.

"Yeah. What the heck does that even mean?"

Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Lady Asteria and Zoe dreamed-"

"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoë had a dream like that? Asteria had the same dream I did! She was there!" Percy asked, confused. Why would Grover call her Lady Asteria?

"I... I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning, they came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. They both looked really panicked."

"Wait, how do you know this?"

Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."

"What for?"

"Just to be, you know, near them."

"You're a stalker with hooves."

"I am not! Anyway, I followed them to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. Zoë got really upset when Argus wouldn't let them in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."

Argus rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on.

"What did they say?" Percy asked.

Grover grimaced. "Well, Zoë and Asteria start talking really old-fashioned when they get upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters."

"How could Artemis be in trouble?"

"I... Well, finally, Chiron came out in his pyjamas and his horse tail in curlers and-"

"He wears curlers in his tail?"

Grover covered his mouth, coughing.

"Sorry," Percy said, clearing his throat. "Go on."

"Well, Zoë said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoë that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And Lady Asteria said..." Grover gulped. "She said, 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

"What do you mean lost?"

"No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Percy tried to get his mind around that idea. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone."

"But she was like the goddess of flowers."

Grover looked offended.

"Springtime. Lady Persephone is the goddess of springtime." Asteria said from behind Percy, giving him an unimpressed look.

Percy turned to face her. His mind blanked. If he thought she looked prettiest under the moonlight, she looked to be glowing from within under the light of the sun.

"That's the same thing, isn't it? Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?" he questioned.

"First of all, flowers are linked to spring, yes, but to say they are the same thing is wrong," Asteria explained. "Lady Persephone controls the seasons. For the six months she is on Olympus, it is spring and summer, and when she travels to the underworld flowers wilt and wither and it becomes autumn and winter. She causes the seasons, Shark Boy. And because she married Hades, she inherited underworld abilities as well. Do not think she is some minor god just because she isn't an Olympian."