𝙇𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 (𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙁𝙚𝙢! 𝙊𝘾) 𝙏𝙏𝘾

I get a Once-in-a-Lifetime Offer

"So, will you join the Hunt?" Artemis finished her speech about all the benefits she could get from joining the Hunters and how much of a brave maiden Sylvia is.

"Um..." she thought about Annabeth, about Finn, about Clarisse, about Lux, about Lee, about Will, about Michael, about Austin, and about Kayla. She couldn't just leave them, could she? "Can I think about it for a bit?"

"Of course," Artemis agreed. "Take as much time as is needed."

Sylvia nodded. "Thank you."

Just then, Zoe walked in with Percy.

"Join us, Percy Jackson," the goddess said, and began to explain a few things, eventually switching from explaining to asking Percy and Bianca about what happened before she appeared.

A monster...a monster that could take down Olympus, most likely, Sylvia thought. What monster could that be?

Sylvia was pulled out of her thoughts as Artemis turned to her and asked if she would escort the Hunters to Camp Half-Blood.

"What?" Zoe blurted out. "But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there–"

Sylvia remembered that time very vividly. They'd "accidentally" burned the Demeter, Hermes, and Ares cabins down. Clarisse, Finn, Ethan (Finn's brother), Cecil Markowitz, Miranda Gardiner, and Alan Tyle had to stay in the Apollo cabin for a month, while their respective siblings stayed in various other ones.

"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Plus, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."

Sylvia nodded in confirmation. Zoe muttered something about foolish campers.

"And now there is one last decision to make." Artemis turned to Bianca and Sylvia. "Have either of you you made up your minds, my girls?"

She better not say yes, Sylvia thought. That'd just be abandoning Nico. 

Bianca hesitated. "I'm still thinking about it."

"So am I," Sylvia said.

"Wait," Percy said. "Thinking about what?"

"They've...they've invited us to join the Hunt," Bianca told him.

"What? But you can't! Well, Bianca can't, anyways. I don't care about Sylvia. I'd rather have her gone anyways. But, Bianca, you have to come to Camp Half-Blood so Chiron can train you. It's the only way you can learn to survive." (Artemis be there, knowing about Camp Jupiter, like: 👀)

"It isn't the only way for someone who isn't male," Sylvia told him, rolling her eyes at his ignorance.

Percy shook his head. "Bianca, camp is cool! It's got a pegasus stable and a sword-fighting arena and...I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"

He's just going to ask that in front of Lady Artemis? Fawkes gawped at him, open-beaked.

"To begin with," Zoe said, "immortality."

Percy stared at her, then Artemis. "She's kidding, right?"

"Zoe rarely kids about anything," Artemis said. "My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters/siblings-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal...unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely. Or break their oath."

"What oath?" Percy asked.

"To foreswear romantic love forever," Artemis said. "To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."