The Proposal of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 7

Percy closed his eyes, desperately trying to mist travel. Unfortunately, his strength was waning; he only had enough to stand up straight. He opened his eyes and awaited death. The hunter right in front of him had her mouth set in a wicked grin, her emerald-green eyes blazing with fury, a fury that was unfortunately kindled and aimed by and at Percy respectively. 

Percy saw her arm muscles tighten, a sure sign that she was going to let go of the bow string. He dove to his left, the arrow missing him by inches. He landed right next to a hunter who immediately kicked him and unsheathed her curved hunting knifes. 

Percy's hands instinctively caught her foot before she made contact, the Imperial Gold tipped front feeling cold and slippery. He yanked the foot violently towards himself, making the hunter desperately windmill her arms to stay balanced. He then yanked one more time, this time letting go of the foot, the hunter letting go of one of her knifes, which sailed towards Percy. The hunter fell down immediately. 

Percy sidestepped, then reached out a hand to catch the knife. He wasn't going to risk his life in case he missed. He could have killed the hunter, but did not, since she was not his enemy. He then uncapped Riptide and backed away from the hunter, away from the circle, Riptide in his right hand.

Percy set his attention back on the rest of the hunters, who now had looks of hatred on their faces. Percy did not know why, but then figured it out.

I just touched a man-hating hunter.

His inner joker was tempted to explain to them he did not actually touch her, just touched her shoe, but decided it was too risky. He let his instincts control his body, he shifting into a defensive stance, the sword in front for reach, and the knife closer to him for blocking.

The hunter he had taken the knife from scrambled to her feet and ran back to the rest of the hunters, stringing her bow in the meantime. Once the path was clear, the hunters started shooting at him. 

Percy sidestepped some of the arrows, while his blades deflected the rest, his arms a blur of movement. The arrows came in  rhythmic waves, releasing from the bowstrings about every one second, just like how the waves lap at the shore, only one at a time, whereas this was dozens of arrows at a time.

"Stop!" A feminine voice yelled out, commanding, hypnotizing, and with a tone that suggested that she was never disobeyed, a mix of confidence and warning lacing in her tone. Recognizing the melodic voice, Percy dropped to one knee while also dropping his swords, not caring about the arrows that were hurtling to him.

"Lady Artemis," The two words left his mouth a second before the arrows made contact with his body, thwacking into his hear, lungs, and chest. He felt no pain, presumably because of his nerves being overloaded. 

Percy opened his eyes, confused.

How am I not dead yet?

 His sky-blue shirt had holes where the arrows landed, but he could not find a single wound, nor the offending arrows. Percy looked to the hunters, still kneeling, aware that an Olympian was in his presence. They had unstrung their bows and were looking at something behind him. He shifted his attention to where they were looking.  He saw a fifteen-year-old, who looked like a regular hunter with her fully silver hunting garb. 

The only difference were her eyes. Those silver eyes, looking like liquid moonlight, were swirling  like a whirlpoolmwith a myriad of emotions, the three commanding ones wisdom, intelligence, and regret, which could not be gained in a mere fifteen years. The hints were her aura, a very powerful one, exuding confidence and power, and her eyes, not unlike the moons serene and beautiful color.

When he locked eyes with her, she smiled and her eyes portrayed different emotions, pride, happiness, and...affection? Percy shook it off as his imagination. It was easy to forget, since his mind was fixated on why she smiled at him. After all, he was just a male, the gender that the hunters loathed. The emotions that she was showing Percy were the opposite ones that she showed him when they first met.

Artemis was drawing near to him. 

"Just Artemis will do," She said, lifting him up out of his kneel. He just stared at her in shock. Looking at his face, Artemis smiled.

"You are like no other male I have ever known. You are respectful to females, and I look to you as a real cousin, unlike all the other pathetic excuses of gods and demigods. I realized this very late," Artemis stated, letting go of his arms and stepping back. 

This just shocked Percy even more. Artemis thought of him as a cousin? He nearly fainted in shock.

"Thank you La-Artemis," Percy corrected himself, smiling at her. Percy was pretty sure that the hunters behind him were shocked as much as he was. He looked behind him and to his surprise, they were making a huge camp instead of gawking at Artemis' strange behavior.

A chuckle escaped said person's mouth, making Percy turn back to her.

"They trust my judgement, and the hunters you have fought beside in battles agree with me," Artemis said, answering the exact question that left Percy flummoxed.

"Did she read my mind?"

"I didn't read your mind, if that's what you were thinking," She said, making Percy blush. Seeing his reaction, she knew she had guessed right and laughed. Percy had never seen this side of her, the side that was playful and friendly. It made her more cheerful and less mysterious.

"I guess you are good at body language," Percy said, letting a slight laugh free. He ran a hand through his hair which was covered in sweat, making Percy's hair stick together. Percy frowned and forced all the sweat molecules to dissipate, making him feel less sticky and warm.

"When you hunt for millennia, you tend to pick up body language to see if the target will attack, try to escape, or fake surrender," Artemis said. 

"Have targets surrendered by their own will?" Percy asked curiously.

Artemis sighed, closing her eyes, "Rarely, since we either have to kill the target, such as a monster, or they don't listen because we are females," she said, bristling in anger. She sighed once again and calmed down, her body going into neutral position. "Anyways, do you want to eat lunch? I know you are famished from running from the hunters," Her tone became playful and she sent a smirk his way.

"I should probably head off before it gets too late, but thanks for the offer," Percy said.

"You sure gave them a challenge with your speed. Maybe if you are around I will ask them to chase you for training. You get no warning next time," 

Percy groaned, reliving the chase in his head. "Maybe, far, far in the future. I think I almost died with how fast I was running. I have never ran that fast before!" Percy exclaimed, earning a laugh from Artemis. He waved goodbye to her and prepared to mist travel.

"How are things going with you and Chaos? Anything I should worry or know about?" Percy's cheeks immediately turned a tomato-red and he mist traveled away without another word, the melodic laughter of Artemis left behind in the wind.