The Unclaimed

Chapter 28: Dinner with Artemis

   As we ate, the only noises were the crackling of the fire and the howling wind. I, and all the other hunters, weren't sure how to bring up what happened today to Artemis. None of us thought she would react badly, heck I believed she would be proud. The issue was just introducing it. Like how are you supposed to say, hey we saved a bunch of mortals from getting killed and narrowed the options of who my dad could be to three of your relatives. Artemis looked at all of us and it was clear on her face that she could tell that we were hiding something.
   "So, anything interesting happen on your way here," she prodded us in a not so subtle fashion. All of us hunters exchanged looks and then Thalia spoke.
   "There was one thing," she began. "When we were running we came up to a rural village that was being attacked by monsters. We all kept our faces hidden and I manipulated the mist so the images the mortals saw of us were relatively distorted. We managed to save the majority of the mortals. Also, Jessica had a facedown with a dracaena who revealed some information about the identity of her father." Artemis's eyes widened in shock but other than that she kept her composure. Artemis shifted her gaze to me.
   "May I ask to who?" She asked. "Also, did you get another note today?" I nodded before I started to speak.
   "The note actually revealed more about my father than the dracaena did." I began. "The dracaena did give me a few hints but instead of telling me exactly who my father was, she stabbed herself. It wasn't until Chloe found the note on the ground and gave it to me that I was able to narrow down the options." I said truthfully. What the dracaena had said wasn't all that useful. But the note, once it's meaning was explained by Thalia, was.
   "Well, what the clue?" Artemis prompted me. Reciting it from memory, I said,
   "Congrats to you, for you have survived this test,
    But more are to come, so do not be foolish and rest,
    Your father has fought much with the lightning thief, 
    Especially during times when this demigod was experiencing much grief." Artemis automatically seemed to know about the Lightning Thief and understand most of the hint. But I realized that that would make sense considering she already knew who my father was. Her facade of curiosity was unreal, she was only acting for my benefit. But maybe her questions were meant to help me; she might not be allowed to tell me who my father was but she had never said anything about not being permitted to provide me with hints.
   "The list of gods who Percy has fought with this is insanely high," it was clear that Artemis was thinking out loud. "But his time of most grief; when his mom was taken?" She said. The way she automatically knew made me think that the bond between Percy and his mother had to be very special.
   "That's what we're thinking," Thalia said. "I was still a tree when all this happen but I've talked to Annabeth about it, and apparently he was as distraught as he ever was. And it didn't help that when this happened he was not used to being a demigod; in his later quests he was at least used to the fact that he was a demigod." She finished.
   "So who does that narrow it down to?" Artemis asked me, which confirmed my theory. She could tell me what sounded right or wrong but I had to say my ideas first before she could say whether they seemed accurate or not.
   "Hades, Zeus, or Ares." I said. "Oh and technically Dionysus as well but he's the least likely." Artemis nodded in agreement.
   "Technicalities are rarely relevant." She stared into my eyes as she spoke. Based off of her facial expression I knew that the translation to that statement was: it's not Dionysus. For a moment we just stared at each other, I was trying to pick up on any hints that she might have been trying to give me. We didn't break eye contact until we heard Thalia clear her throat. Shifting her gaze so she was looking at Thalia, Artemis motioned so she saw that she was paying attention.
   "Sorry for interrupting m'lady," Thalia said respectfully. "I was just wondering if we should clean the dishes and head off to bed since I'm assuming we will be waking up early again tomorrow so we can start travel." Artemis took in what she said and then nodded.
   "Of course,"she said and then laughed. "What would I do without you Thalia. You are quite good at keeping me on track when I get off of it." Thalia blushed and motioned for us hunters to clear the table so we could get ready for bed. Once everything was clean we went to the tents to get some sleep. I prayed to the gods that I could have one night off from bad dreams.