You’d think I’d be used to people just up and announcing they were some super-powerful ancient deity, but when this apparently 12-year-old girl told me she was Artemis, I was still a bit shocked.

I mean, sure, the power radiating off this girl wasn’t exactly subtle, but you typically don’t picture literal goddesses as pre-teens.

My reaction was about as intelligent as you might be expecting from me. All I could think to say was, “um… ok.”

Grover, on the other hand, immediately fell over himself, grovelling at her feet.

Thalia growled. “Oh, get up, goat boy. We have other things to worry about. Specifically, Annabeth is gone.”

“Hang on,” Piper called.

We all turned to face her, and she shrunk back, but she still continued speaking.

“W-what exactly is going on? Like, all I know is somehow that idiot,” she pointed at me, “let me tag along for no reason, all I did was ask. And then, there’s this big monster shooting spikes or something, and then he walks us out here, then you lot show up, and start shooting at him, and then he jumps off the cliff with that same idiot’s girlfriend.”

“Wait, what? She’s not my-”

“Also, you’re Artemis? Like, the Artemis? Goddess of the hunt and whatnot?”

Artemis smiled. “Yes, I am.”

Piper sat down in the snow. “That is so cool. And the others… they’re your hunters?”

“Also yes. You seem to be well studied, young half-blood.”

Piper bristled at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Artemis raised an eyebrow. “Half-blood. Half human, half god.”

Piper growled. “Really? ‘Cause normally when people call me that, they mean something very different.”

Artemis’ eyes widened. “Oh, I see. My apologies, I did not mean to offend.”

Piper nodded. “I just don’t like the term.”

“Is anyone going to answer what is going on, because I don’t know either,” Bianca asked. “Who are… any of you people?”

Artemis turned her gaze on Bianca. “I think a better question might be, who are you? Who are your parents?”

Bianca glanced at her younger brother, who was still staring at the goddess in awe. “They’re dead,” she said. “We’re orphans. There’s some sort of bank trust paying for school, but that’s… it.”

She trailed off at the end. I guess she could tell we weren’t believing her.

“What? I’m telling the truth!” She exclaimed.

“You are a half-blood,” Zoë said.

“Can we please not use that word?” Piper interjected.

“Demigod, then,” Zoë corrected herself. “One of thy parents was mortal, the other an Olympian.”

“An Olympian… athlete?”

“No,” Zoë said. “Olympian god.”

“Cool!” Nico said.

“Not cool!” Bianca said, her voice shaky. “That is not cool, Nico.”

Nico danced around like he really needed to pee. “Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six-hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for-”

“Nico, shut up!” Bianca said. “This is not your stupid game, ok? There are no gods!”

As anxious as I was about Annabeth and all my weird feelings surrounding her, I couldn’t help but sympathise. I had said much the same thing the first time I was told about this.

Thalia must’ve been of the same mind, because the anger in her eyes died down a little. “Bianca, I know it’s hard to believe. But the gods are real. They’re still around. They still go around sleeping with any mortal that catches their eye and having kids. Kids like me… and you. And well… our lives… are often dangerous.”

“Dangerous… like the girl who fell?”

I felt a twinge at the mention of Annabeth.

Thalia turned away, but I could still see her face. Even Artemis looked a little pained.

“Do not despair for Annabeth. She was a brave maiden. If she is to be found, I will find her.”

“Then why won’t you let us go look for her?” I asked.

“She is gone. Can’t you sense it, daughter of Poseidon? Some magic is at work here. I do not know how or for what reason, but your friend has vanished.”

I still wanted to jump off the cliff to look for her, but I had a feeling Artemis was right. Annabeth was gone. If she had been down in the sea… I would be able to sense her.

“Oh! What about Dr. Thorn?” Nico raised his hand and waved it around excitedly. “That was awesome, how you shot him with your arrows! Is he dead?”

“He was a manticore,” Artemis said. “Hopefully he has been destroyed, but monsters do not truly die. They will re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they do.”

“Or they’ll hunt us instead,” Thalia muttered.

Bianca and Nico shivered.

“That explains… a lot, actually. Nico, you remember last summer, those guys in the alley who tried to attack us?”

Nico nodded. “Or that bus driver with the ram’s horns. I told you that was real.”

“That’s why Grover was watching you. So he could keep you safe, just in case you turned out to be half-” I glanced at Piper, who shot me a glare. “-Demigods.”

“Grover?” Bianca turned to him. “You’re a demigod?”

“Well, actually, I’m a satyr.” He kicked off his shoes, revealing his hooves. I thought Bianca was about to faint.

“Grover, put your shoes back on, you’re freaking her out.”

“Hey, my hooves are clean!”

“Bianca,” I said, ignoring Thalia and Grover’s back-and-forth. “We came here to help you. You and Nico need training so you can survive. Dr. Thorn won’t be the last monster who goes after you. You need to come back to camp with us.”

“Camp?” she asked, looking bewildered, which she probably (definitely) was.

“Camp Half-Blood,” I said.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Piper said. Bianca glared at her for her language.

“It’s where demigods like us learn to survive. You can join, stay year-round if you want.”

“Sweet! Let’s go!” Nico said.

“Wait, but…” Bianca shook her head. “I don’t know…”

“There is another option,” Zoë said.

“No there fu- frikkin isn’t!” Thalia shot back.

Thalia and Zoë glared at each other. I backed away, hoping to not get caught in the middle of whatever it was going on between them.

“We have burdened them enough,” Artemis said. “Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“And Bianca, I would like for you to come with me. I have a few things I wish to discuss with you.”

“What about me?” Nico asked.

Artemis regarded him. “Perhaps you can show Grover how to play your card game. I’m sure Grover would be happy to entertain you as a favour to me.”

At that, Grover just about tripped over himself, eager to comply. “You bet! Come on, Nico!” They walked off.

The Hunters began unpacking, Zoë giving Thalia one more glare before stalking off to follow the goddess and Bianca.

Once she was gone, Thalia kicked at a pile of snow. “The nerve of those hunters! They think… fuck!”

I didn’t say anything.

“And you!”

I flinched.

“What on earth were you thinking, back in the gym. ‘Oh, I’ll just take on Dr. Thorn all by myself.’”

“I was with her.” Piper said.

“You don’t count, you have no training.” She sighed. “If you hadn’t gone off on your own, Percy, we could have taken Dr. Thorn ourselves. The hunters would never have needed to get involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think about that?”

I clenched my jaw. I tried to think of some comeback, but I looked down. Lying in the snow at my feet was a navy blue baseball cap. Annabeth’s Yankees cap.

Thalia didn’t say anything else. She wiped a tear from her face, turned, and stomped off, leaving me alone with the cap.

 

The hunters camp was set up within minutes. Seven large tents, all silver in colour, arranged in a crescent around a central campfire. One of the girls, who looked about Nico’s age, blew a silver whistle, and a dozen white wolves came out of the woods. They circled the camp, like guard dogs, which I guess they were. The hunters walked among them, feeding them treats, but I decided I was good not hanging out with some apex predators. There were falcons in the trees, watching us. I figured they were probably on guard duty too. Even the weather seemed to bend to Artemis’ will. It was still cold, but the wind died down, and it was almost comfortable.

Well, except for the pain in my shoulder and the guilt over Annabeth.

She’s not dead, just gone, I thought.

You don’t know that for sure, my brain shot back at me.

Shut up, I responded.

I had a sinking feeling Thalia was right. Annabeth falling off the cliff was my fault.

Annabeth had wanted to tell me something, back in the gym. It sounded important. Now I guess I would never know. I thought about how she had offered to dance with me. I was starting to regret refusing. Yeah, sure, I am a girl now. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t dance with her, right?

I glanced over at Thalia. She was also walking among the wolves without any fear. I felt jealous of her. Jealous that she got to dance with Annabeth. Jealous that she could be so… so confident.

A hunter handed me my bag. I took it, then winced as I jarred my injured shoulder.

Grover and Nico finally came back. Grover started helping me fix my wound.

“It’s green!” Nico exclaimed, sounding delighted for some absurd reason.

“Hold still,” Grover said. “Here, eat some ambrosia.”

I winced as he started dressing the wound, but the ambrosia did help. It tasted like homemade brownies, like my mom would make.

Between that and the salve Grover was applying, I felt better almost immediately.

Nico rummaged through his own bag, which another hunter had handed to him. I had no clue how they had managed to sneak into Westover unseen. Or maybe they hadn’t been unseen and had just used that same mist trick Thalia had used.

Nico started laying out a bunch of small figurines in the snow. They were small replicas of Greek gods and heroes. I saw Zeus with his bolt, Hercules, his muscles exaggerated in size, and Hephaestus, a large blacksmith’s hammer in his hand.

“Quite the collection,” I said.

Nico grinned at me. “I’ve got almost all of them, plus their cards. Well, except for some really rare ones.”

“You’ve been playing a long time?”

Nico shook his head. “Just this year. Before that, I…” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“What?”

“I forget. Weird.” He looked unsettled, but that went away quickly. “Hey, can I see that sword you were using?”

I showed him Riptide, and explained the whole pen thing.

“Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?”

I blinked. “I, uh… I never thought of that.”

“Are you really the daughter of Poseidon?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Can you surf really well then.”

I glanced at Grover, who was trying not to laugh.

“I’ve never tried,” I said.

“I’m pretty good,” Piper said. “I used to do it with my dad every summer.”

Well, that indicated her mom was probably the godly parent.

Nico kept asking questions.

“Do you fight a lot with Thalia, since her dad is Zeus?”

“Uh…” I didn’t want to answer that. Fortunately, Nico just kept going.

“If that blonde girl’s mother was Athena, goddess of wisdom, why didn’t she know better than to fall off a cliff?”

I had to try really hard not to strangle the kid. “I don’t think she really could have prevented that, Nico.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

I groaned. “Why? Why the hell does everyone think she’s my girlfriend?”

“It’s pretty obvious you have feelings for her,” Piper said.

“Persephone Jackson.”

Zoë was calling me. She studied me, a strange look in her eyes I couldn’t quite place.

“Come with me,” she finally said. “Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee. And you as well, Piper McLean.”

Zoë led us to the last tent, which looked identical to all the others, and waved us inside.

Inside, Bianca di Angelo was seated next to the young girl who was apparently Artemis.

It was warm inside the tent. Silk rugs and pillows lay about the floor. In the centre, a golden brazier of fire was burning, seemingly without any fuel or smoke. Magical.

Behind the goddess, on display, was her bow. The walls were covered with various hunting trophies, some of more mundane animals, some of monsters. I thought she might have had another pelt laying over her lap, but then it moved. It was a dear, with glittering fur. Her sacred animal, I realised.

“Join us, Persephone,” Artemis said.

I sat across from her on the floor. She studied me, a strange look in her disconcertingly old eyes.

“Are you surprised at my age?”

I nodded. “A little.”

“I could appear as a grown woman, a blazing fire, or anything else I wish to appear as. But this form I prefer. This is the average age of my hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray.”

“Astray?”

“Grow up. Become obsessed with boys. Become silly and preoccupied. Before they forget themselves.”

“Oh,” I said.

Zoë sat on the goddess’ right. She glanced at me, that strange look in her eyes still present.

“It is rare we have our boy in our midst,” Artemis said. “Even rarer still for them to be much older than Nico is.”

I swallowed.

“Don’t be nervous, Persephone,” she said. “I do not hold the circumstances of your birth against you. What matters is who you are inside. You are no more a boy than any of my hunters.”

I nodded. “Thank you, my lady.”

Artemis smirked. “At any rate, Persephone, I have asked you here for two reasons. One is so that you may tell me more about the manticore. The other we shall get to after, and it is also relevant to young Piper.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Bianca has reported on some of the more, ah, disturbing things the monster said to you. But I feel she may not have fully understood them. I’d like to here your perspective.”

So I told her everything Thorn had said.

When I was done, Artemis rested her hand on her bow, a thoughtful look on her face. “I feared this would be the answer.”

Zoë leaned forward. “The scent, my lady?”

Artemis nodded. “Yes.”

“Wait? What scent?” I asked.

“Scent?” Piper echoed.

“Things are stirring. Things that have not stirred in many years.” Artemis murmured. “Prey so old, I have almost forgotten about them.”

She stared at me, looking me directly in the eyes. I squirmed uncomfortably.

“We came here tonight, sensing the manticore. But he was not the one we seek. Tell me, again, exactly what he said.”

“Uh… ‘I hate middle school dances.’”

Piper snorted. “I hardly think that’s something Lady Artemis cares about, although I imagine she, like every other sane person on earth, would agree with that sentiment.”

“You are right on both accounts, PIper,” Artemis responded. “What did he say after that?”

“He, uh, he said that someone called The General was going to explain things to me.”

Zoë’s face paled.

“And then, uh, he said something about the great stir pot-”

“Stirring,” Piper and Bianca interrupted.

“Right, stirring. And then he said, ‘soon we shall have the greatest monster of all, the one that shall bring down Olympus.’”

Artemis was so still she could have been a statue.

“Maybe he was lying?” I said.

Artemis shook her head. “I do not think so. I’ve been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster, immediately.”

Zoë looked slightly afraid, but she nodded determinedly. “We will leave right away, my lady.”

Artemis sighed. “No, Zoë. I must go alone.”

“But-”

“This task is much too dangerous, even for the hunters. You know where I must start. You cannot go with me.”

“As… as you wish, my lady.” Zoë bowed her head.

“I will find this monster. I shall bring it back to Olympus by the solstice. Maybe then the other gods will finally see sense.”

“You know what the monster is?” I asked.

“Let us pray I am wrong.” Artemis gripped her bow, pulling it off its display.

“Can a goddess pray?” I asked.

Artemis smiled. “Before I go, Persephone, Piper, Bianca, I must ask something of the three of you. I also must ask something of Grover and Thalia.”

“What do you wanna ask them?”

“To escort my hunters to Camp. You can stay there until I return.”

You?

“What?” Zoë exclaimed. “But, my lady, we hate that place. The last time we stayed-”

“Yes yes, I know.” Artemis said, a grimace on her face. “But I’m sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of that little, ah, misunderstanding. It is your right to use cabin 8 whenever you need to. Besides, I heard they rebuilt the cabins you burnt down.”

Zoë muttered something about foolish campers.

“And now, of course, the thing I must ask the three of you.” She turned to Bianca. “Have you made up your mind, Bianca?”

Bianca hesitated. “I- I’m not sure.”

“Wait,” I said. “Thinking about what? What are you asking us, Lady Artemis?”

“She… invited me to join the hunt.” Bianca said.

“Wait…” I trailed off. “Oh.” I looked at Artemis.

She nodded. “I wish also to extend that same invite to the both of you.”

“But- Camp. Bianca, you have to go to camp, to learn from Chiron. It’s the only way to survive.”

“It is not the only way, at least for a girl,” Zoë said.

“What do we even get for joining the hunters?”

“Well, to begin with, immortality,” Zoë said, looking smug.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Zoë rarely kids about anything,” Artemis said. “My hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are immortal… unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely. Or they break their oath.”

“What’s the oath?” I asked.

“To forswear romantic love forever,” Artemis began. “To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally.”

“Like you?”

Artemis nodded.

I tried to imagine it. Being immortal, roaming across the country with a bunch of middle-school girls forever. Never getting sick, getting older. Never attaching oneself to a boy.

Actually, I think I could get on board with this.

“So you go around recruiting demigods-”

“Not just demigods,” Zoë said. “Lady Artemis is not picky. Any maiden, demigod, mortal, nymph, or otherwise. All who honour her may join.”

“Oh.”

I turned to Bianca. “What about Nico? He can’t be a hunter.”

Artemis shrugged. “Unless he is like you, of course.”

“Right.”

“Otherwise… he can go to Camp. Unfortunately, that is the best option for boys. You can see him from time to time, whenever the hunters visit camp.” Artemis assured Bianca. “But you will be free of responsibility. The counsellors will take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us.”

“A new family? No responsibility?” Bianca looked hopeful.

Artemis nodded.

Bianca turned to Zoë. “Is it worth it?”

Zoë nodded. “It is worth it, Bianca.”

Bianca took a deep breath. “What do I need to do?”

“You say this,” Zoë said. “‘I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.’”

Bianca took another breath. “I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.”

“‘I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt.’”

Bianca finished the oath. “Is that it?”

Zoë nodded. “If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding.”

“I accept,” Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier burned brighter, casting the tent in a silvery glow. Bianca looked no different.

She took a breath. “I feel… stronger.”

“Welcome, sister,” Zoë said.

“Remember your pledge, Bianca. It is now your life.” She turned to me. I sat up straighter. “And now, Persephone, it is your turn to choose.”

I thought about it. I really did. Everything they were offering was great. Really great. Immortality, no boys, ever.

That settled it.

“I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.”

A brief moment, and then.

“I accept your pledge, Persephone.”

The flames burned brighter once again. I took a breath. I felt a newfound power in my limbs, subtle, but unmistakable. My eyesight sharpened, I could suddenly discern sounds of different animals roaming around in the woods, I could hear the heartbeats of everyone else in the room.

I looked at Zoë. She was smiling warmly at me. “Welcome, sister.”