𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, p. jackson¹

three.

chapter three !

IT WAS only about three o'clock, but sanju had decided that her day had been really shitty. after bruising her rib, seeing dr. thorn turn into a monster, and plummet off the edge of a cliff with annabeth, she thought she had sufficient evidence this theory of hers. then artemis and her hunters showed up, and sanju's day reached a new level of horrible.

look. sanju had nothing against the hunters of artemis. they were badass and awesome and everything she had aspired to be when she was five years old. ( pew, pew! pew! ) the problem was, they didn't like her. it was probably because of her mom, who was the goddess of (don't scream ), the oh-so-terrible love.

but here was the thing. yeah, aphrodite represented love, but it wasn't just romantic love. it was platonic love, and familial love, and self love. and she was so tired of everyone thinking that aphrodite kids were just shallow models who were obsessed with romance.

however, artemis was a goddess. she couldn't say any of those things to her without being smited, so sanju had to restrain herself to simply bowing stiffly and glaring at zoë nightshade.

she had met the hunters of artemis twice, and both times, when they found out her parentage, they had treated her with disdain and mockery, especially zoë, who acted like love had personally offended her.

while sanju was internally arguing with herself on the subject of misogyny, percy was gaping at artemis like the fish his father was the god of. "um. . . okay," he said intelligently. he glanced at her, eyes glinting, and sanju's lips quirked up, despite their serious situation. somehow, he always managed to make her laugh.

but that was nothing compared to Grover. he gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "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!" and just like that, the tiny amount of joy in sanju's eyes died down, and she looked down, mentally berating herself with guilt. how could she be so shameless? one of her best friends was gone, possibly dead, and here she was laughing.

"whoa," bianca di angelo said. "hold up. time out." everybody looked at her. she pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "who. . . who are you people?"

artemis's expression softened. "it might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you! who are your parents?"

bianca glanced nervously at her brother, nico, who was still staring in awe at artemis. "our parents are dead," bianca said. "we're orphans. there's a bank trust that pays for our school, but. . ."

she faltered. she could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her, and sanju felt a rush of pity for the younger girl. "what?" she demanded. "i'm telling the truth."

"you are a half-blood," zoë said. "one of thy parents was mortal. the other was an olympian."

"an olympian. . . athlete?" bianca questioned, though she seemed to know the answer already.

"no," zoë said. "one of the gods."

"cool!" said nico.

"no!" bianca's voice wavered. "this is not cool!"

nico danced around, spouting out random questions like, "does zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? does he get extra movement points for ─"

"nico, shut up!" bianca put her hands to her face. "this is not your stupid mythomagic game, okay? there are no gods!" as anxious as sanju felt about annabeth, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the di angelos.