Wildflowers, Percy Jackson ₁

016, hunter? i barely know her

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

After seeing successfully using her powers to attack Dr. Thorn, causing him to turn into a monster, then plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth, you'd think things would calm down for Sylvie. But now the goddess Artemis was here, taking the form of a girl Sylvie's age, with her Hunters at her side.

Sylvie was doing better than Percy, though, who said, "Um... okay."

That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then kneeled hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... Wow!"

At least he hadn't fainted again.

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

"Woah," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who... Who are you people?"

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? 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. Sylvie guessed Bianca could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her.

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

"You are a half-blood," Zoë Nightshade said. 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?"

"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. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

As anxious as Sylvie felt about Annabeth, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. Sylvie remembered what it was like for her when she first learned she was a demigod. The sadness in her eyes increased a little bit.

"Bianca," Sylvie started, "I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well... Our lives are dangerous."