Percy Jackson: Guardian of the Huntress

Monster Nest?

Present Day

POV: Perseus Jackson

I open my eyes and groan slightly. My entire body hurts. What am I doing here? I look around and memories begin to flood back to me. Chiron had received an Iris-message from Butch, who'd begun to notice a change in monster activity near his hometown. Chiron, being Chiron, sent me off to investigate. Now normally, I wouldn't mind going off to beat up some monsters, but Jersey? Come on.

I groan and stand up slowly, "Ow." I mutter.

Five feet from me is my spear. I pick it up and strap it to my back, still a little uncomfortable. Chiron always told me that I looked like a swordsman, but none of the blades seemed to be right for me, which suck because I would rather fight with a sword. Chiron just assures me that I would find a weapon that is "mine" eventually. Let me tell you something, eventually needs to hurry up. Sorry, ADHD.

I frown as I try to remember the details of the fight. I remember approaching the camp... There were maybe twenty monsters of varying breeds. It wasn't the main nest. Those are larger. They then noticed me, and I had to fight them. I remember defeating all of the monsters, then everything just went black and... nothing. That's it. There were no bruises on my head, and I didn't feel like I'd been drugged.

"Might as well try to get back to Camp." I mutter to myself, and begin walking north. There was clearly a nest in the area, now I just had to call in the cavalry.

The only sounds were the crunching of pine needles below my feet and the occasional bird above me. The energy of the woods swirl around me, through me, energizing me unlike I have ever been before. Think triple espresso without the downsides of caffeine. Then, I hear the crack of a stick behind me. Instantly, I whirl around and point my spear in the direction of the noise.

"Who's there?" I demand, "Show yourselves."

The woods around me begins to shuffle, and approximately thirty girls appear out of the underbrush.

"The Hunters of Artemis." I mutter under my breath, turning in a circle. How had they managed to surround me?

Yeah, I've heard of the Hunters of Artemis. Who in the mythological world hasn't? I've never actually met them, though. For some reason though, they seemed really familiar. I felt a sharp pain at the base of my skull, but that fades away quickly.

"Turn around boy." An accusatory voice barks out behind me.

Slowly, I turn a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Standing there is an auburn-haired, silver-eyed twelve-year-old girl. That wouldn't have intimidated me, if it weren't for the cold look in her eyes and the bow pointed towards my chest.

The pain skull intensifies, and doesn't go away. I know this girl. I don't know how, but I do. We've never met before, at least, I don't think we did. So why do I recognize her? The pain makes my vision go a little fuzzy.

The girl looks into my eyes, and gasps slightly, easing the tension on her bowstring, "...Percy?" She says, in complete disbelief.

She changes slightly, mirroring her appearance to my age. Her name appears in my head, even as the pain becomes unbearable. I feel my vision go dark and begin to fall forward, but the girl catches me.

"Artemis." I mutter, then slip into unconsciousness.

Three hours earlier

POV: Artemis

Gods, the monthly council meetings can be so dull sometimes. Of course, I would have skipped this one and done some hunting with my Hunters. I have done that enough times that the rest of the Olympians have become accustomed to it. For some unknown reason, I felt that I had to be at this meeting.