Hestia's Champion

Chapter 12

"I know, right?" Percy said with a smile.

'Hey, idiot. You remember me?' A voice said inside Percy head.

"What the fuck." Percy whispered to himself, nobody heard him.

'I'm Ataegina, remember?'

"Yeah." Percy whispered again. "Now I'm almost dead, what do you want for me?"

'My blessing. You know what I'm talking about. You can use it. You can save those pesky huntresses from becoming werewolves.'

"Why would you care?"

'I don't want huntresses under my domain. They're... problematic.'

"Artemis would kill them before they turned into werewolves. Try again."

'Fuck you, brat. Just do it before I change my mind and kill you myself.'

"Alright, I'll try."

Percy saw Phoebe eyeing him from the distance. Artemis and the other huntress were still close to him, just discussing between themselves. Percy had long stopped listening to their conversation.

"Hey, Phoebe!" He called.

Artemis and the huntress turned around, glaring at him as they picked their weapons, weary about what he was going to do.

Phoebe approached, quite surprised about him calling her.

"How you holding, boy?" Her 'boy' hadn't held any malice, very different from any other huntress in the place.

"Doing my best to make my agony as long as possible." He said with a low chuckle.

Phoebe didn't laugh. "You take your death lightly, don't you?"

"Yep." Percy said. "I haven't got many strings tying me. And the ones that I have can be easily covered by the Mist." He thought about Ria, Mel and Craig. The only person that would truly hurt for his death would be Lady Hestia, his patron. But she had the eternity to forget about him.

"That's sad." Phoebe answered.

"I know." Percy said with a proud smile. "Could you make me one last favour?"

"Depends." Phoebe said. "Tell me what is it."

Percy eyed carefully Artemis and the other huntress; this was not going to be pleasant for them. "I would like to see the bitten girls."

"Absolutely not." Artemis answered. "You won't go near the wounded members of my hunt. I should smite you for asking that."

"I can help." Percy said, still sitting against the tree. He felt weaker every second.

"Lady Artemis." Phoebe intersected before anyone else could answer. "The bite he's got in his arm was meant to be for me. He took the bite for me. I would like to concede this last wish."

Artemis looked troubled by her statement. She was fearing for the safety of her wounded huntresses. However, they were as good as dead already, and the boy seemed to have proven himself trustworthy.

Was she going to make the right choice?

"He may go. But I'll go as well." She said. "I don't want you to try anything at all, understood?"

"Well, that's going to be difficult." Percy said to himself.

"You idiot! Couldn't at least do what my mistress says so you don't end up dead earlier than what you should?" Phoebe asked him angrily. "I'm vouching for you, remember?"