The Proposal of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 6

Percy transformed his bow back into his ring and looked where the arrows came from. He knew the silver arrow was from the Hunters of Artemis, while the black arrow was either a random hunter, or the cloaked woman that can stop his powers. The silver one was angled so that he could see it came from his right, while the black one came in from his front. That meant he could either escape from his left or back away. He couldn't mist travel, if the woman was here, she would stop him, and she would then know his location.

Percy decided to back away, since that would mean he was closer to the good guys in this scenario. The hunters may not be evil, but they would probably kill him on sight, since he is a male.

Oh well, at least it would be quick.

Percy silently climbed down until he was almost level to the ground. He then jumped from the tree and rolled to his feet, his cloak absorbing most of the noise. Percy then ran as fast as he could, but kept his breathing quiet. The scenery blurred by in a mix of green. His only objective was to get far away, far enough he could safely teleport. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw a blur of clothing. He thought it was nothing, and kept on running. When he looked to his left, he saw multiple flashes of silver clothing chasing him, slowly gaining on his inhuman speed.

Hunters.

He cursed and pushed himself, his lungs burning, and his heart pumping faster. Now being chased, his adrenaline kicked in and he went almost twice as fast, the hunters still gaining, but significantly slower.

How in the world can they run this fast? How in the world can I run this fast?

He struggled to catch his breath, trying to keep up his fast pace.

✱✱✱

Percy wiped bead of sweat off his forehead, furiously pumping his arms in tandem with his legs. After what seemed like hours, the hunters had caught up to him, several right on his tail. He was almost out of energy, his systems shutting down, while his heart was beating so fast he feared it would explode. 

Multiple silver arrows with barbed tips flew past him, nailing a humongous tree branch that started falling down in front of him with a crack. Percy's eyes widened, the tree branch was falling in front of him; he would surely get crushed if he tried to outrun it. He desperately looked around, seeing if he could take another path. Unfortunately, the hunters were almost running alongside him, meaning if he moved to the side to dodge, they would catch him. There were at least fifty of them, some of them outright grinning at him as if they knew he could not escape.

Percy narrowed his eyes; he would not give up that easily. Using the last of his energy, he sped up and dove underneath the branch, barely getting to the other side in time, hearing shouts of frustration from the hunters. The branch had closed the gap between the two trees without an inch to spare. The back of his loose cloak was stuck underneath the huge, heavy, and brown piece of debris. He tried tugging it out without success. 

Like how any natural person who cared about their life would do in this scenario, Percy decided to ditch the cloak. He struggled to take it off, since he dove at an awkward angle that left him stuck, his face in the tasteless, brown earth. After a bunch of wiggling, he managed to take it off with a sigh, his body fatigued from all the running he had done. 

Percy, briefly forgetting about the hunters because of his fatigue, slowly walked away, his shoulders hunched in exhaustion, while his feet were still padding silently. He brushed some of his black hair off of his forehead, enjoying the cool, dark shadows the trees supplied. Not looking where he was stepping, his foot went underneath a raised root. When he took another step, his back foot was stuck, making him stumble sideways. When he looked back at what had tripped him, he saw multiple flashes of silver.

Again? I should just mist travel this time. 

Percy prepared to mist travel, closing his eyes in concentration. He suddenly felt an ice cold object press against the back of his neck, the person putting pressure on it, enough to threaten him, but not enough to draw blood. 

"You do anything, you die," A female voice said from behind him, commanding and firm, exuding confidence. He slowly raised his arms, recognizing defeat. Percy opened his eyes, his gaze meeting dozens of silver-clad women, their ages looking from ten to twenty, aiming bows at him, all surrounding him in a big circle.

"Before you kill me, please bring me to Lady Artemis," Percy said, acting if he was surrendering, but in reality, was gathering his energy to mist travel in case things went south. The pressure of the knife subsided a bit, as if the person was caught unaware or was surprised.

An arrow, thankfully blunt, hit Percy hard in the stomach, making him kneel over in pain. 

"You don't deserve to call her Lady Artemis, male," A hunter hissed out to him, her bow string still vibrating from the arrow she shot at him.

Even though Percy was incapacitated, he still had enough energy to snap back.

"What am I supposed to do, call her 'Artemis'?" He retorted back, his breath returning to him. He stood up tall, briefly forgetting about the person behind him, who had not threatened him, nor kill him yet. All the hunters growled at him and pulled back their bowstrings, each bow having a real, sharp arrow, not the blunt ones they had before.

He gulped. 

I'm as good as dead. Me and my big, fat mouth.