𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 - 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻¹

003.

003.
ミ★ACT 1✧
("THE HUNT")

aelia wasn't sure what to do now that annabeth was gone. she was extremely upset. the two girls had become very close over aelia's six months at camp half blood. aelia deeply enjoyed the blonde's company. but she was gone now, and aelia didn't know if she would ever see her again. she had lost annabeth, just like she had lost reyna.

percy being a complete and total idiot didn't help. when the auburn-haired twelve year old told him that she was the goddess artemis, he said something real intelligent like, "um, okay."

grover, on the other hand, gasped and hastily fell to his knees. "thank you lady artemis! you're so... you're so... wow!"

aelia had realized that artemis was kinda like her aunt. but she supposed all the gods were her aunts and uncles as well. maybe artemis was like.. her super close aunt? she wasn't sure.

"get up, goat boy!" thalia snapped. "we have other things to worry about. annabeth is gone!"

"whoa," bianca di angelo said. "hold up. time out."

aelia made a T with her hands. thalia shook her head.

bianca 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, 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..."

aelia smiled sympathetically. she felt awful for the two young half-bloods.

bianca faltered. aelia looked around and frowned when she noticed everyone else's disbelieving expressions.

"what?" bianca demanded. "i'm telling the truth."

"you are a half-blood," zoë nightshade said. her accent was hard to place. it sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "one of thy parents was mortal. the other was an olympian."

"an olympian...athlete?"

"no," zoë said. "one of the gods."

"cool!" said nico.

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

aelia felt like crying. she saw herself in bianca, a little bit. except she never had a brother.

nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom.

"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!"

aelia really was on the verge of tears now. she felt absolutely horrible for these kids.

thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. "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."