The Male Hunter | Olympus' Traitor #1

Chapter 7: Awkward Thoughts

Artemis' eyes narrowed as she noticed Percy staring at Thalia, and her lieutenant having a small blush on her cheeks. She was going to need to have a . . . talk with Thalia later.

Percy tore his eyes away from Thalia as he cleared his throat. "Oh, um, ya. Let's go!" he stammered out. With that, the trio made their way to the place where the bus had dropped them off before. Percy thought about trying to escape many times, but stopped himself each time. He had promised not to leave Thalia, and he wasn't one to break a promise.

The three sat in the back of the bus. Percy sat in the middle of the huntresses, with Thalia on his left at the window and Artemis to his right. Just as the bus was preparing to leave three extremely attractive young women got on the bus. They almost seemed too attractive. Besides, they could never compare to Thalia. Wait, did I really just think that? Percy thought, now questioning his life's decisions. Hoping they wouldn't notice him, or the seats open in front of the trio, Percy slipped on his sunglasses. Unfortunately, they did.

"Well, hello handsome," the first one said as she reached them. Percy could feel the magic laced with the words, and groaned inwardly, he did not want to do this right now.

Thalia sat fuming beside Percy. She didn't know what the feeling in the pit of her stomach was, but she didn't like it. How dare those. . . tramps talk to Percy! she thought angrily.

"Um, hi?" Percy answered.

Thalia mentally facepalmed from beside Percy. He could be such a Kelp Head sometimes, couldn't he see that they were Empusai? That was when she saw his hand nervously twitching near his pocket.

"So, where are you going?" the same Empusai asked as they sat down in front of the trio.

Thalia interjected before Percy could say anything. "Just a camping trip in the mountains, some family is expecting us up there."

"We didn't ask you," the one next to the window sneered.

"Listen, I don't know who you think you are, or who you think I am," Percy said. "But don't talk to her that way," he finished, glaring.

Thalia blushed slightly as the Empusai exchanged nervous glances. They knew who they were dealing with, and if he wasn't under their spell, then they were screwed. As they turned around to face forward Thalia slowly got in her backpack and drew out two daggers. Handing one to Percy, and nodding to Lady Artemis, she prepared to strike. Almost simultaneously the trio lunged forward and shoved the daggers into the base of the Empusai's skulls. They barely had time to screech in surprise and pain before exploding into fine golden dust. Handing the dagger back to Thalia, Percy settled in for a long trip. Almost immediately the two demigods fell asleep, and after a while Thalia shifted and her head dropped to Percy's shoulder. Not long after, his head dropped to rest on hers.

Artemis sighed. She had known about Thalia's feelings for Percy when she joined the Hunt, and had hoped she would forget them in time. Unfortunately, seeing him again seemed to reignite them. It saddened Artemis to think that she might lose one of her best huntresses to a boy. If that is what Thalia wished, then she would accept it. As a general rule Artemis hated men, but even she had to admit that Percy was unlike the rest of the male population.

As the bus rumbled into town Thalia started to drift back towards consciousness. In her sleepy state it took a few moments to remember where she was, and a few moments to comprehend the situation she was in. Blushing furiously Thalia tried to lift her head, which caused Perxy to stir as well. Realizing the position they were in, Percy widened his eyes, and also blushing furiously. Neither dared look at Artemis, for fear of her reaction.

"Sleep well?" she asked, smirking.

Both just nodded sheepishly, gathering their things and standing up as the bus came to a stop. "Sorry," Percy muttered as they got off the bus.

"It's fine," Thalia answered softly. "It was an accident."

As they entered the forest near the town Artemis aged back down to her preferred age, and Percy tied his bandanna back around his face. Thalia gave him a questioning look, but accepted it. The trio entered camp, and the Hunters gathered around.

"Girls, I would like you to meet Periplanómenos," Artemis said, gesturing to Percy. "He will be traveling with us for the time being."

This surprised Percy, who turned to Artemis. It also brought protests from the Hunters, none of them wanted to travel with a boy. Well, all except for Thalia. She had to fight to keep a huge smile from erupting on her face.

"M'Lady," Atalanta said as she stepped forward. "Why is this boy traveling with us, I thought we were supposed to drag him to Olympus once we found him?"

"We will take him with us to the next Winter Solstice meeting," Artemis declared. "Until then, I expect you to be polite." With her piece said, Artemis strode over to her tent and went inside.

"Um, hi?" Percy said meekly as the Hunters all stood staring at him. He recognized a few of the younger ones that he had brought to the Hunt, but he still didn't want to be here. One by one, all the Hunters glared at him and returned to whatever they were doing before the trio had arrived.

"Come on," Thalia said as she walked towards one of the tents. "Let's get you a place to sleep."

"No need," Percy replied as he pulled a block of canvas about the size of a book out of his bag. "I've got a tent right here." Walking over to the very edge of the camp away from all the other tents Percy set it on the ground, pulling the corner so that it suddenly expanded into a small tent. "Welcome to my humble abode," Percy said as he walked inside.

"Where did you get this?" Thalia asked as she followed inside.

"I told you I had a contact," Percy smirked before glancing at his watch. "Why don't I introduce you, it's about time for one of our meeting times." Pulling out a water bottle and a flashlight Percy manipulated the water into a fine mist before using the light to create a rainbow. Muttering under his breath so that Thalia wouldn't hear who was calling, Percy threw a drachma into the rainbow. Thalia came and sat on the floor next to Percy as the rainbow shimmered, revealing two figures sitting on a rock in a forest.

"Hey WaterBoy," said the guy. "How are-" he suddenly froze and paled as he noticed the figure sitting next to Percy. "Oh Styx," he muttered.

A/N: This one took longer than expected, it was a little harder to write. I decided to go with Perlia as the ship in this story because reading back it felt like a more natural course for the story to progress in. So, it has started. Percy is suddenly having thoughts he hasn't had since Annabeth, and Thalia's old feelings have been reawakened.

Have a great day!