The New Immortals

Thalia meets some wannabes

THALIA

I let out a huff as I walked through the big glass doors and up to the reception desk. Lady Artemis was being rather cruel, in my eyes at least. Not only did I have to attend a mortal school, but I also had to recruit for the huntresses. I mean how was that fair. No one else had to actively recruit. I mean-

'Hello? Miss? Could I have your name please?'

'Thalia.' I stated in a monotone to the perky receptionist.

'I... uh... need a full name.' She replied

nervously.

I groaned inwardly.

'Thalia Grace.' I muttered. She typed a few things on her keyboard and then hit print.

She typed a few things on her keyboard and then hit print.

'Here you go.' She said much much cheerfully, handing the sheet of paper to me. 'Your student escort should arrive in a minute.' She turned back to her computer and I sighed again, sitting down on one of the plastic chairs to wait.

LARA

The girl waiting in reception was dressed very strangely. Her black Nikes, Black skinny jeans and death Barbie T-shirt very much suggested goth or emo, However, her white parka and beautiful silver circlet looked like something a modern-day Princess would wear. I stood there for a few seconds, studying her until she looked up at me.

'Are we gonna tour this school or what?'

'Umm...' I stuttered, unsure how to take her abruptness. Seeming to realise her mistake, she jumped up from her chair and held her hand out to me.

'Thalia.' She announced, slightly more calmly this time.

'Lara.' I replied. 'So do you wanna follow me?'

We talked quite a lot as I showed her around the school. About quite a lot of stuff, but mainly the Greek gods, who had very recently been revealed as real. I decided just as we were coming to the end of the tour to tell her my secret.

'I'm a huntress of Artemis.' I whispered as we exited the sports hall. She looked at me strangely.

'No, you're not.' She said bluntly. I backtracked.

'Well, not a real huntress, although that would be insanely cool... there are a load of girls at this school who shun guys, so we've started our own hunt. We meet once a week, which is today. I'm the Lieutenant.' I smiled smugly. She stared at me blankly.

'And you're telling me this... why?' I blinked.

'I was thinking maybe you might wanna join?' There was a tense silence.

'Sure.' She eventually said.

'Awesome! We have class now, but the weekly meeting is at next break so if you want to-' I was cut off by the bell. Students started pouring out of the classrooms. 'Scratch that. Follow me, and I'll take you to our Lady.' She followed me as I lead her out behind the school, but I thought I heard her scoff.

THALIA

I followed Lara behind the school where maybe fifteen girls were milling around. She pulled a plastic tiara out of her bag, nestled it in her hair and knelt before one of the other girls.

'My lady, I have found you a new recruit.' Lara announced in a reverent tone. Then she gestured for me to join her. I folded my arms and shook my head firmly.

'Why don't you bow?' The fake Artemis asked, seeming genuinely curious. I was about to reply when I heard shouts and yells from the sports field. The 'huntresses' all shared a look before legging it in the direction of the noise. I followed, but when I saw what it was, I wished I hadn't.

Fifteen marble thrones, three decorated, two occupied. Percy sat sideways in the biggest one, playing a game on his monster proof demi phone. Another, covered in hearts and rainbow glitter, was notably absent. The intended occupant was sitting on Jason's lap on the third decorated throne. It was bright sky blue and covered in jagged lightning bolts. Jason was fiddling absentmindedly with Piper's hair, and Piper was glancing warily around at the wide circle of mortals around the throne, all down on one knee. All three wore glowing Greek armour, though Percy's was green, Jason's was blue and Piper's was pink.

I fell to my knee like everyone else, although it made me feel stupid to do so. That is until I saw Lady Artemis, come out from the other side of the thrones, calmly surveying the high schoolers.

'Do we know if she's even here?' Jason asked in a bored tone.

'My lieutenant is here, young god.' Artemis replied serenely. 'She just doesn't want to be found.'

'Why?' Piper asked.

'Hey, I get her.' Percy broke in, looking up from his phone. 'Arty here had to force me up to the stage back at Goode. And the entire thing was caught on camera.' He shivered. 'I am never, ever looking at that footage again. You know, I STILL drool in my sleep! Why does that even happen! Anyway. Sorry, ADHD. My point is, Thals,' he raised his voice slightly. Oh, schist. 'The gods are done. And for whatever reason, they think we are their successors. And they will force you onto their thrones if they have to. So save us all some trouble and get up here, will ya?'

I sighed, braced myself, and stood up. And I must admit, the shock on Lara's face when I did so was amazhang. I walked steadily between the kneeling mortals and bowed low before Artemis. She smiled warmly at me.

'Before I do this, Luitenant, did you find any more girls for the hunt?' I glanced at Lara, and the rest of the so-called huntresses, who were begging me with their eyes.

'No.' Their faces fell as one. But if they were desperate enough to worship a mortal instead of a goddess, they didn't deserve to be part of the hunt.

'Ok. That's fine, there won't be suitable candidates everywhere, as I'm sure you'll learn. The more important question is this; Thalia Grace, do you accept your position as the new goddess of the hunt, virginity and the moon?' Artemis asked me.

'Yes.' The answer came much more easily than I'd originally thought. I hadn't realised that I wanted this until it was offered. But now...

Swirls of silvery glitter surrounded me, and within seconds I was outfitted in a glowing, silvery-white huntress outfit, with bow and arrows to match. Artemis guided me to one of the thrones, and as I sat down on it, it glowed silver and covered itself in animal pelts. I smiled at the goddess with whom I'd found my home and whispered a thank you just as she vanished into dust.

'Right.' Percy said, putting his phone away and rubbing his hands together. 'Next stop, my beautiful girlfriend.'

I'm really looking forward to the next one...