chapter four
yer a demigod, nina.
FOR A MOMENT, everyone stared off the cliff, where the girl had disappeared. The only noise to be heard was the chopping of the helicopter, but even the machine in flight held a bated breath, as if the pilot just realized what happened. Everyone was silent. Then━
"ANNABETH!" Percy cried out. He began to run towards the cliff's edge, but the helicopter controller seemed to regain life, and shot at them.
The familiar sound of gunfire pounded in Nina's ears, and she pushed the di Angelo kids away as bullets rained down like a deadly hailstorm. Most of the silver girls scampered out of reach as little holes appeared by them in the snow, except for the younger twelve year old girl, the one Zoë had called her lady. She merely glanced up, perfectly calm. Nina could not relate.
Nina's face felt full of static, and her breathing went quicker. The feeling wasn't new for her, but it still made Nina want to curl up in a ball and cry. She took a deep, shaky breath and kept herself together.
"Mortals are not allowed to witness my hunt," the auburn-haired girl said. She raised a hand, and the helicopter exploded into . . . a flock of birds. They scattered into the night sky. Nina felt a bit sick at that.
The Zoë girl stepped forward, and the other hunters advanced along with her. When her sights landed on the black haired girl, her lips curled in distaste. "You," she greeted.
"Zoë Nightshade," the girl replied, voice shaky with barely concealed anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."
Zoë took a glance at the rest of them, and reported to her redhead friend, "Five half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."
"Yes," the girl agreed, "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."
Nina had a lot of questions right then, and most consisted of who what why how━she couldn't imagine she had been this confused ever before.
"Annabeth!" Percy shouted again. "You have to let us save her!"
"I'm sorry, Percy Jackson," the auburn-haired girl told him, turning his way. "But your friend is beyond help."
He didn't listen to her, struggling to get to his feet, but a few hunters held him down, effectively trapping him. His eyes were wild and panicked; Nina didn't think their containment was doing any good there.
"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl chided, looking very mildly amused.
"Let me go!" Percy answered. "Who do you think you are?!"
Zoë stood a bit straighter. She stepped towards him, holding up a hand and ready to smack him.
"No," said the other girl. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand." Her eyes glowed a bit brighter in the full, cold moon. "I am Artemis," she introduced. "Goddess of the Hunt."
Nina stared for a really long time. This was . . . what the fuck? This was tomfoolery. This was buffoonery. This was . . . a bunch of other words like that. This was silly and no way could it be true. Because, literally what.
Percy blinked. "Um . . . okay," he said finally. Very intelligent, ten points to him.
Grover gasped loudly, kneeling and bowing his head unnecessarily low. "Thank you, Lady Artemis!" he babbled. "You're so . . . you're so . . . Wow!"
"Get up, goat boy!" the black haired girl snapped. "We have other things to worry about! Annabeth is gone!"
Nina raised her hand. Everyone turned to her. She was pretty sure they had all forgotten that her, Bianca and Nico were even there. The trio stood, Bianca on the left, Nico in the middle, and Nina on the right. Bianca had a hand clasped on her brother shoulder, while Nico himself was staring awestruck at Artemis. Nina was standing, one hand raised in the air like she was answering a question in class, the other clamped on her bleeding ear.
"Um, I have a question," she said.
Artemis nodded. "Go on."
"What," she started, gesturing out with her hand, "and I can't stress this enough, the fuck is happening right now?"
Bianca looked like she was about to add on to that, but Nico stepped forward, hands shaking a bit in excitement as he began to ramble. "This is like a Mythomagic fight! Oh man, this is just like when we played last week, Nina, remember? Nina, remember? Except I used the Nemean lion, not the manticore, and you used Apollo, not Artemis, but it's basically the same! Artemis has more front line attack points though, so━!"
Bianca and Nina turned to him in sync, "Nico!"
"This isn't like Mythomagic!"
"This isn't about that stupid game, Nico!"
"Well, it's not stupid━"
"Nina!"
"Right."
Nico pulled a card from his sleeve, because of course he did. "Okay, one, it's not stupid, and two, it's exactly like Mythomagic, Nina. How did you kill the lion? You shot it with arrows. How did they kill the manticore? They shot him with arrows!"
Nina reached forward and put a hand over Nico's mouth to keep him from talking. "This isn't like Mythomagic because it's real life, Nico! Like the girl who fell," she reminded him, ignoring the grimaces going around the others. "This is dangerous. I've been poisoned. I could totally go not-alive right now. This is serious."
Nico licked her hand in retaliation.
Nina squealed, letting him go and shoving the smug little shit away. She rubbed a hand on her skirt, gross out. "Ew! I cannot believe━Bianca! He licked me!" She turned back to the boy. "You shouldn't lick people, Nicodemo, you'll give them rabies."
Nico gasped in affront. "Stop calling me that! I told you my full name in confidence! And I won't━!"
Bianca frowned. "That isn't how rabies works," she objected.
"Bianca," Nina said, holding out her hands. "What are you doing to me?"
Bianca mouthed 'sorry.'
Nico held out his Mythomagic trading card, a gleaming silver one with a stag and a woman on it. Below the image listed the attack point, damage points, and powers of the character. Nina sighed loudly as the youngest di Angelo gently handed the Artemis card to the goddess herself. "I have your card!"
Artemis stared at him, flabbergasted. "My . . . card?"
Bianca yanked her brother back behind her. "Anyways. Um." She looked around at the equally as troubled faces in front of her. "Who are you people?"
Artemis shook herself out of her own shock, and her face softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?" The second was also directed at Nina, who's face went blank.
Bianca nervously glanced down at her brother, then back at Nina. She answered for all of them. "Our parents are dead. All of ours. We're orphans."
"There's a bank trust that pays for our educations," Nina explained for her. "But . . ." she faltered, seeing the looks on everyone's faces. "What? I'm telling the truth! You think I would lie about that?"
"No," said Zoë. "You are a half-blood."
Nina reared back. "I'm . . . I'm sorry?"
"No," she said again, less patient. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian." Oh. What?
"An Olympian . . . athlete?" Bianca asked, a little hopeful.
"Not an athlete. One of the gods."
"Cool!" Nico exclaimed in awe.
"No!" Bianca shrieked. She put her hands to her temples like she was fighting off a migraine. "This is not cool!"
"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage?" the young boy asked. "Does he get extra movement points for━?"
"Nico, shut up!" Bianca shouted, looking far too stressed for a girl her age. Nina clutched her bloody ear a bit closer as her other arm reached out to put a hand on her friends shoulder. She was just as confused and scared, but she wanted to be a comfort for the poor girl. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"
The girl with black hair stepped forward. Her vicious blue eyes had softened ever-so slightly. "I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me." Nina could argue that there was no reason for her to trust this girl, who she didn't even know the name of, and had just met. But, sure. "They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well . . . our lives are dangerous."
"Dangerous," Bianca echoed. "Like the girl who fell."
The girl turned away, looking pained. Even Artemis seemed saddened.
"Do not despair for Annabeth," said Artemis. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."
"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" Percy asked.
"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished," Artemis told him, rather bluntly.
Percy stared at the ground.
"Ooh!" Nico raised his hand. Nina shook her head at him, grimacing as her ear (which had turned numb and cold, it was making her a bit ill-feeling) brushed against her fingers. Bianca sent her a concerned look, but Nina waved it away like it was nothing, despite the blood pooling down her head. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was so awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"
"He was a manticore," Artemis confirmed. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."
"Or they'll hunt us," the girl with black hair agreed.
Bianca shuddered. "That explains . . . Nico," she turned to her brother, who was trying unsuccessfully to balance a Mythomagic card on his nose. "You remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in D.C.?"
Nico's card fell off his nose as he agreed. "And that bus driver! The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."
Nina thought back. "One time a guy with one eye punched me and broke my arm." Another time, a girl who, now that she recalled it, had strangely metallic legs and a charmingly evil voice had tried to attack her? She wasn't sure what that was about, though.
Percy shifted awkwardly at that revelation. "Yeah. That's why Grover has been watching you," he gestured at the boy in question. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."
"Grover?" Bianca said, turning to him. "You're a demigod?"
"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes, and revealed his feet . . . but they weren't feet. Nina realized with a start that they were hooves. Like a goat.
Nina and Bianca grabbed each other's arms to steady themselves and not faint.
"Grover, put your shoes back on!" the black-haired girl chided. "You're freaking them out."
"Hey! My hooves are clean!"
"Guys," said Percy, ignoring his hoofed friend angrily putting on his shoes. "We came here to help you. You three need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."
"Camp?" Nina repeated.
"Camp Half-Blood," he clarified. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."
"Sweet!" Nico said excitedly. "Let's go!"
"Wait," Bianca started as she shook her head.
"I don't━" Nina tried.
"There is another option," said Zoë.
The girl with black hair hissed, "No, there isn't!" She and the huntress glared at one another.
"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis said. "Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."
Zoë nodded. "Yes, my lady."
Artemis turned her yellow eyes on Nina. "Take Miss Champion to our medical tent, treat her ear." It occurred to Nina that she had not openly said her name, but this was supposedly a goddess, so she probably knew everything. "Take her to me when you are done." She addressed Nina and Bianca clearly, "I would like to speak with you two."
"What about me?" Nico asked.
The goddess tilted her head in consideration. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while . . . as a favor to me?"
Damn. Nina almost laughed. She liked Artemis.
Grover nearly tripped trying to stand straight. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"
The two boys (or . . . a boy and a satyr?) walked off to the woods, Nico rambling on about how many attack points Artemis had. Nina shook her head, watching as Artemis led a stressed out Bianca along the cliff.
Zoë came over to Nina. "Come along," she held out a hand. Hesitantly, Nina let her pull her towards where a tent had already been set up. The hunter shot the girl with black hair a nasty glare as they walked away.
𖦹 nico used to be so innocent it makes me sad. also it's so strange that im writing thalia as 'the black haired girl' but she literally never introduces herself.