DIVINE! | percy jackson

chapter four - bianca's choice

CHAPTER FOUR
☽ 𓆉

EVEN THOUGH Estella had an idea that Artemis was someone powerful, she didn't expect her to be a Goddess. There was a strange sensation that ran through her. Though they weren't directly related, Estella felt a connection with her since they were tied by the moon.

And as shocked as she was, Estella couldn't believe Percy had such an idiotic reaction.

"Um... okay," he said.

Grover sprinted forward and knelt in the snow. "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... wow!"

"Get up goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

"Whoa," Bianca said. "Hold up. Time out."

Everyone stared at her while she accusingly pointed her fingers between each person. "Who... who are you people?"

Artemis' face softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at Nico, who was too busy gawking at the Goddess. "Our parents are dead. We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..."

She grew frustrated when she looked at everyone's unconvinced faces. "What? I'm telling the truth."

"You are a Half-Blood," Zoë told. "One of thy parents was a mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian... athlete?"

"No," Zoë said. "One of the Gods."

"Cool!" Said Nico.

"No!" Bianca shouted. "This is not cool!"

Estella expected Nico to show signs of sadness due to his sister snapping at him, but he instead danced around with glee.

"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca rubbed her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

Estella only wished that was true.

Thalia stepped forward with a soft expression. "Bianca I know it's hard to believe but the Gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well... Our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," Bianca said. "Like the girl who fell."

Estella looked to the ground, feeling bile rise in her throat. The imagery of Annabeth falling off that cliff made her sick. What would Chiron say, finding out one of his most beloved campers was gone?

"Do not despair for Annabeth," Artemis said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" Percy asked.

"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. He glanced at Estella and then back at the cliff. His muscles twitched like he was resisting throwing himself in the water and to find their friend himself.

"Ooo!" Nico raised his hand. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They reform over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."