The Guardian of Olympus (ON HOLD)

Chapter 6

Nico POV

It's been two days since I told the message of the unknown man to Lady Artemis; and it cause her to be more secretive than before. This information caused Lady Artemis to spent most of her hours in her tent or in the forest, alone, which caused some of the hunters to look at me with nuisance and some watch their mistress with worry; not that surprising from a group of male-hating girls.

Wanting to avoid some of the hateful glares from the hunters, I walked into the forest that surrounds the campsite. Wandering in the midst of the forest, I spotted Percy staring at the clear blue sky on a tree stump with a unrecognizable look on his face. Looking at Percy, who was recently released from the infirmary by Atalanta, staring at the sky on a tree stump made me feel listless and useless; especially now that I saw his dull and mirthless eyes from a distance. Couldn't stand the sudden change of behavior, I walked towards him with curiosity and confusion running through my head.

Knowing that Percy is succumbed within his own thoughts once again to recognize my presence, I cleared my throat to catch his attention back to reality. But, Percy only glanced at me with a smile before staring back at the clear blue sky in the midday of spring. Sighing at his lack of interest and at my futile attempt to get his full attention, I decided to sat beside him on the tree stump and nudged him at the side.

"Perce," I called out with concern laced in my features and tone. He snuck a confused glance at me before staring back at the sky, giving me half of his attention. "What is it that he told you about?"

Knowing who I was referring to, he avoided my stare by looking down on the ankle-length grass under our shoes. "He... He told me about your small chance of recovery and some riddles that I can't seemed to understand at all."

"What kind of riddles?" I asked, a bit intrigued and ignoring my snarky comment in my head. The man in my dreams doesn't speak riddles to me but a blunt and straight to the point sentences; sometimes his sentences hit the nerves.

"It's not literally a riddle but he spew out words that doesn't connect to each other." He shrugged a bit before looking back at the sky above us. "He said about a goddess he is tied to, and he told me to find his best male colleague."

Knowing some of what Percy is talking about, I pulled out a silver ring from my pocket; which is given by Artemis herself after our conversation the other day. Artemis knew that it is either Percy or I could meet the man who is tied to her domains, so she gave me a ring as a blessing/charm for luck and safety. Also a sign to any god that we may encounter during our stay with the hunt and during the search. "The goddess he is tied to is Lady Artemis herself and her domains," I informed him as I heard him mumble that he knows it already. "And some other domains of some gods."

I could tell that Percy doesn't know about some other gods are connected or tied to the man, by his widened eyes and stiff/tense posture. Based from his reaction to my information, he did something stupid to him or rather angered the man. Knowing that he is trying to sink in the information, Percy looked up to the sky once again but with a small smile formed on his lips.

"Now, I know why he kept on doing such things that I don't seem to understand." Percy mumbled to himself before watching a flock of birds flying across the blue sky. "Do you have any clues on this male colleague of his?"

"Nope," I admitted. "We could try to ask Lady Artemis about this, but she is somehow sensitive when it comes to the man. I think, it is better to keep this info to ourselves. Especially, now that Olympus is out of our reach."

"What do you mean Olympus is out of our reach?" Percy cocked his head to my direction in confusion. "Aren't they supposed to tell us what is going on now?"