Percy Jackson - Bane of Tartarus

Chapter 5

Lester's/Apollo's POV

I felt bad for Percy and Annabeth, they have already been through so much, I mean how many couples have you heard of that made it through the literal hell. Now, Percy Jackson leaving his dream life to help me. I gave up before I even knocked on his door, I mean he made me promise that he won't be hearing from me again. But here he was making ME feel shame not by words but by his actions. Once again he proved why demigods deserve more respect than they are given and why he was probably the most deserving of them all. We walked silently for a few blocks, then I spoke, "I'm sorry Percy, if there was any other way I would have taken it."

"It's okay Apollo. I have a little sister, so I can imagine what you must be going through. Anyway, first of all we should meet the hunters. Any idea where are they camping?" He asked quickly changing the topic. I understood and decided not to press him further.

"Last I heard from them, they were camped in central park, New York." I tried to keep my replies short.

"Then we will start by looking for them there." His voice was now growing cold as he spoke.

Percy's POV

I didn't blame Apollo for all my problem but I couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards him on being torn away from my life. Although I feel bad for him and want to help him any way I can but it's difficult not to get frustrated at my luck. We left for New York in search of the hunters. I wasn't sure how were the hunters going to react at two males trying to enter their camp, although I hoped since Thalia must be the incharge right now we might be met with less severity. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus and in turn my cousin. She joined the hunt before the second Titan war and she is the lieutenant of Artemis.

We were on the edge of the park with a lot of people. We went through some of the bushes to avoid being caught. After walking for about twenty minutes we caught a glimpse of a silver tent. On getting close, we could see 20 such tents with one of them bigger than the others. As, soon as we exited the woods into the camping area four arrows pierced the land where we were about to take the next step. I staggered back, lifting my hands in submission.

I saw four hunters walking slowly in our direction with their bowstrings stretched and arrows pointed directly at us. I recognized one of them, the second one from right, Phoebe, daughter of Mars, more than a millennia old, hates the opposite gender with a dedication that would make Artemis proud.

"What are you males doing here? You are not welcome here, turn back at once or you will regret it for the rest of your very short pitiful life." Phoebe growled.

"My name is Percy Jackson and we've me...."I was cut short by an impatient Phoebe.

"I don't care, turn back at once"

"I came here on the request of Apollo and I am not leaving until I speak to Thalia Grace." I raised my voice.

"What is it Percy? Why are you bothering the hunters?" a tired voice came from behind the four hunters. I instantly recognized it as Thalia's. She has always seemed so full of energy, hearing her voice made me feel horrible. This wasn't the happy, enthusiastic Thalia, she seemed depressed. All I could think about when I looked at her was that I haven't been a good friend to her. She needed me and I didn't even check up on her for so long. Hunters of Artemis stopped aging once they became immortal or to be precise partially immortal but she looked like she have lived a decade in the last month.

"Hey, Thals. I heard about Artemis. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. What do you want and what are you doing wandering about with Lester here?"

"I'm sorry Thals, I wasn't there for you when you needed me and Lester told me about Artemis. I'm here now tell me what happened exactly"

"What's the point, it won't bring her back" she managed to looked sad and angry at the same time.

"It won't but Percy might" Apollo spoke up after remaining quiet for an hour.

"What do you mean he might? No one can bring her back. Not even the Gods. Get your head out of clouds Apollo. I know she is your sister and you are hurting but stop denying what happened. If we are lucky we will see her in a decade or two." I forgot how mean Thalia could be if she wanted to.