Abandoned- a pertemis story Ψ ☑️

Send off. Chapter 6

Another one bites the dust *song noise* another bites the du- internet head

ΦArtemisΦ
I breathed in, opening my eyes. I blinked as I sat up. I groaned and clutched my head. Major headache. What happened? I thought to myself, starting to look around. Oh yeah. Harpies. They tried to kidnap me but Annabeth stopped them... I got knocked out though... I cursed my own mortality. I sat still for a bit, trying to get my bearings and put my head on straight. When I thought I was ready I sucked in a raggedy breath and stood up. The campfire next to me was put out but there was still more light. I walked over to the light, this time more cautious as I remembered the previous situation. I lurked in the dark shadows of the trees as I ambled towards the light. I made it into a clearing and in the middle of it was a massive bonfire, two silhouettes standing in front of it. The bonfire was almost like a funeral pyre. I walked over, carefully and slowly. I stopped dead when I saw who was in front of the fire. It shook me to my core.

Percy Jackson was crying.

My mind went into overdrive. Percy Jackson didn't cry! What could make the Hero of Olympus cry? And then my mind figured it out. Where's Annabeth? That fire... there's something in it... I covered my mouth with my hand in horror. Annabeth! I liked Annabeth. Very much. There was only one explanation for what was happening. Annabeth had died. I walked over to the fire, in-between the two and put my hand on Percy's shoulder. I was typically against physical contact with males and people in general but this time I made an exception. While I swore off love and the company of men I always realized what love was. I knew that, in being a maiden goddess, I was going to miss many things in my life. The joy of love being one of them. I knew how it could influence people though. I had seen how it drove them to do things beyond themselves. Percy Jackson had survived Tartarus with and for Annabeth. Now she had died. I couldn't imagine the pain he was going through... but I could be there for him. As a huntress I never really felt too much emotion. As a goddess I was almost immune to death, having experienced the deaths of many of my hunters, and I could never grieve for long. Now I was mortal, my soul raw and un-divine. I felt on a much greater scale than any "greater being" could feel. I had only known Annabeth for a little while, to experience some of her greatest moments, but she had become something of a freind or an acquaintance. She meant something to me. I gripped Percy's shoulder as I shook. I surprised myself. I put one hand to my eye and realized that I too was crying. Percy looked at me, silent tears running down his face, and he patted my back awkwardly "she... she..." he started, obviously trying to find the right words "she can finally rest now... she's been at work for so long. Tartarus... the Labyrinth... me... she deserves to take a break." He said, his tears becoming more pronounced "but... why?" I asked. I had never understood death. Why? What was the point of dying? Why did they have to leave? I was mortal now and these questions meant more to me than they ever could when I was divine. "I couldn't save her... it's-it's my fault. I should've stayed with her, I should have protected her!" Percy clenched a fist. I couldn't reply. I wanted to say Annabeth would be fine but... obviously that wasn't the truth. The man on my right spoke up "it wasn't your fault. We had no way of knowing..." he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans "but I could've-" Percy started "-done nothing! It wasn't your fault... if I had not been so... so... weak!" I hissed out the word. It had never truly applied to me and I didn't like admitting it now but there was a deep gloomy feeling that corrected my thoughts and made me want to curl up and sob. Guilt. "Neither of you are at fault here..." the man looked down at the ground, his face flickering in the firelight "this is my fault. I could've gotten here sooner. I could've warned you. Let me take the blame." We started to protest but he stopped us "leave it be for now. Let her rest." He gestured to the fire "let her rest."

When the fire died down and we got our bearings we started to walk in no general direction, just wandering as we hoped to find the hunt. I turned to our new companion who had graciously accompanied us "who are you." I asked, always the skeptic "names Carmen. You?" He said, as he rubbed his hands together. It was very cold here, especially at night and in the wilderness where we could literally see our breath. "I'm Artemis." I replied "goddess of the hunt? Yeah. Just my luck." He muttered as he stuck his hands back into his pockets "how did you know? We don't advertise the fact that I'm a goddess turned mortal." I asked him, genuinely confused. He seemed like a ruffian who didn't know what he was doing. I didn't expect him to have much experience "you're traveling with Percy Jackson first of all. Second the name is a bit on the nose, like you don't have an alias or anything? And third you just look like you'd be a goddess." Carmen said, counting each one off his fingers "what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, my voice becoming more hostile "you'll see." Carmen laughed to himself "also! How did you know where we were? Why did you save Percy?" I jabbed at him as I was not yet ready to let him off the hook "I'd been watching you. I heard you rustling around so I decided to investigate and see if you were friend or foe. I took my eyes off of you for a minute or two and suddenly you were unconscious, Percy was fighting for his life and... you know the rest." He immediately looked sobered up, no longer in the mood for humor "but why are you here?" I pressed further "no particular reason. I thought it might be fun to kill some monsters." He shrugged "guys? We aren't making any progress on The Hunt." Percy chimed in even though he still looked like he was in anguish "you guys are looking for The Hunt? If I knew that I could've led you to them, like, an hour ago." Carmen gave us a look and Percy sighed "just lead us there." Carmen abruptly turned left and jogged ahead of us. We kept an even pace, allowing us to follow him but also keep back. We walked on in silence. I watched Percy's face as we walked, mesmerized by the human emotions on his face. He was sad and deeply wounded, that much I knew. I tugged on his sleeve and he faced me "Percy... I'm sorry." I told him, the name unfamiliar on my tongue. I didn't know why but I needed to get this off my chest. "I-i... I couldn't do anything. I felt so helpless... for the first time I was powerless. I couldn't break free, I could barely move! And then I got knocked out and then I woke up and Annabeth was dead which made everything worse because-" I rambled on, trying my best to keep more gods forsaken tears from running down my face "-Artemis!" Percy cut in, stopping me from jabbering any more "it's okay. This is just what it feels like to be mortal. We're always feeling this way. It wasn't your fault." He stopped and gripped both my shoulders softly, looking me in the eyes "I don't blame you. I just wish I could've done something. I was fully capable and I blew it. Just breath, okay? You're the man-hating goddess of the hunt, you don't cry." He gave me a watery smile with a weak attempt at humor. I looked at him, really looked at him. This man, this person, barely knew me and yet he was consoling me after his loss. I made a good choice in being claimed by him. I thought to myself as I sucked in a raggedy breath and then exhaled. I nodded to him, blinking away tears, and he propped me up as he rubbed my shoulder awkwardly. We continued to walk, trying our best to catch up to Carmen who was doing twirls and whistling while jumping around. "What was with all that shoulder rubbing?" I asked, partly to fill the silence and partly because I was genuinely curious "I read somewhere that physical contact and stuff like that helps with grief or something like that... I didn't know how to, uh, convey? how I felt so I went with my gut... I guess?" He replied, completely unsure "well I'll let it slide for now. I advise you to quit touching a, as you so elegantly put it, 'man-hating goddess'." I replied, only partially meaning it "aren't you the one I can give orders to here?" Percy said "well yes but that's besides the point-" I started "-that doesn't matter. I can give you orders so I order you to stop being so mean!" He interjected. I waited for a second, trying to figure out what was happening. Nothing. Nothing was happening. My face split into a grin. His order hadn't affected me because I wasn't being mean. "Shut up." I told him, relishing every moment that his face rippled with disbelief "aren't you supposed to stop being mean now?" He said, incredulity thick In his voice "I'm not being mean! I'm joking with you, cherish that. I don't joke with many males." I told him and it was mostly true. I hadn't really stuck around many boys since Orion. "Yes ma'am. I won't let you down." He did a sarcastic salute. I laughed. I couldn't help it. It was such a stupid yet somehow appropriate reaction. I also liked how he had taken what most people would have was an insult in stride. I laughed out loud for a quick, joyous moment and then I shut my mouth with embarrassment. I glared at Percy who's face was like a mixture of shock and happiness with a little gleam of mischief in his eyes. "Did you just laugh?" He said "no. I did not. Huntresses do not laugh." I replied which was mostly untrue, especially since I made Thalia my lieutenant "yeah she did! It's a pretty amazing laugh too, don'cha think Perc?" Carmen called from up ahead "it was okay." He gave me an actual-non-faked smile "fit for a goddess." I felt Heat creeping up my neck "s-stop! I did not laugh!" I stomped my foot for emphasis but the boys just laughed even more. Seriously... stop taking advantage of my mortality... stop making me feel things! I thought with rage and just a hint of embarrassment.

Finally we approached a clearing, the perfect place for a camp which you bet that the hunters would have taken advantage of. "Where are they?" I muttered. If anyone could find a hunter's camp in plain sight It would be me. We walked into the middle of the clearing and looked around. Things start dropping from the leaves and coming out from behind the tree trunks. By some human instinct I backed up and it appeared the boys did as well. We were in a triangle, our backs pressed against each other. I clenched my hands into fists raising them as if to fight as Percy uncapped Riptide and Carmen flicked his wrist, a sword suddenly appearing in his hand. The shadows moved forward, bows in their hands with arrows drawn. One stepped forward, the one who was a bulkier shadow than the rest. Both Percy and Carmen pressed harder inwards, both focused on protecting me. While that was nice and all it irritated me. One shadow fired an arrow, prematurely, and Carmen leaned forward and sliced it out of the air before returning to his position. The bulky shadow seemed to relax "Percy?" It said. Definitely a girls voice. Oh. I realized. "Pinecone face?" He replied, and I could feel him relaxing "ah. The Hunters." Carmen chimed in, still tense "um... who's he?" Thalia asked, not letting go of her shield "I guess you could call him a guide?" Percy said, capping Riptide. Thalia pinched the bridge of her nose as Aegis shrank back into a bracelet "we have so much to talk about." She said "oh yeah. Big time." Percy nodded and moved to follow her while the Hunters around us lowered their weapons, albeit reluctantly "nice hair." Carmen pointed to the tips of Thalia's hair, which were considerably lighter than when I had last seen her. The iris-message hadn't shown all the physical changes that had happened. Thalia ignored him but the Hunters around us glared at him. I noticed that he had not sheathed his sword, in fact he was gripping it tightly as he tapped it nervously against the back of his boots. He seemed unconcerned with how much the Hunters wanted to shove an arrow up his nose but obviously he was still alert. I wondered about him. What was with him? We walked with Thalia up to a tree at the edge of the clearing. She poked a symbol carved into the bark and it glowed a brilliant yellow. Suddenly, behind us, a full Hunter camp materialized. It appeared as though it had been cloaked using an invisible dome. I raised my eyebrows at Thalia "this is new." The daughter of Zeus grinned at me cheekily "while you were gone I picked up a few tricks. I ran into a daughter of Hecate who taught me this." I nodded "and your sure this is safe to use? If any other sorcerers find this and get in...." I started, making my concerns known "oh don't worry about that. She said she made it. And she won't be going anywhere soon..." Thalia smiled mischievously "what did you do to her?" Percy said, also smiling "I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say that you don't want to know." Carmen said, patting Percy's shoulder with mock solemness. Thalia's eyes flickered to where Carmen touched Percy. It was clear she didn't trust him. Carmen pivoted on his heel and started towards the camp but was immediately blocked off by sixteen hunters. He stopped dead and stared at them "ah. Yeah, that's a problem." He said to himself, tapping his chin with the tip of his sword. He looked back at us with pleading eyes and silently begged us to help. I was smarter than that however but Percy seemed to want to give him a chance "why... do you want to go the hunter camp?" Percy said, stepping up to him "oh me? I don't, I just wanna stick with you." Carmen said, looking at Percy with an almost blank expression "what? Why? Go back to whatever you were doing before you met us." I stepped in "there's nothing for me back there. I-i don't want to go back... I can be useful! I'm pretty resourceful in a pinch... there are things I can teach you, y'know if you wanted?" Carmen pleaded. His sword shrank and turned into something I couldn't see because it went up his sleeve. "What if you went to camp half blood? They'll take care of you." Thalia said, looking skeptical but clearly wanting to bail Percy out "I've already been there. I needed answers that they couldn't give me... I left. I don't wanna be alone anymore... I just, I just have this feeling that I can get answers if I stick with you! Please... you can trust me. The last thing I'd do is hurt one of you." He looked at us with pleading eyes "you keep saying you're looking for answers... what kind of questions have you been asking?" I said, eager to get down to the truth "yeah... what are you looking for?" Percy butted in "seriously. If you want us to trust you then you need to start talking." Said Thalia, walking up to stand in front of Percy and I "you want to know what I've been searching for?" Carmen sucked In a breath "you convinced the gods to claim all of their demigod children but... I was never claimed. I'm trying to find out who my Mother is." He said, shifting his eyes to each of our faces "and I thought I fixed that problem." Percy said darkly "okay then. I guess your good to go. C'mon, let's go see camp." Thalia said as she walked past us all and started towards the camp. This is a whole lot worse than what I bargained for.