chapter three !
IT WAS only about three o'clock, but sanju had decided that her day had been really shitty. after bruising her rib, seeing dr. thorn turn into a monster, and plummet off the edge of a cliff with annabeth, she thought she had sufficient evidence this theory of hers. then artemis and her hunters showed up, and sanju's day reached a new level of horrible.
look. sanju had nothing against the hunters of artemis. they were badass and awesome and everything she had aspired to be when she was five years old. ( pew, pew! pew! ) the problem was, they didn't like her. it was probably because of her mom, who was the goddess of (don't scream ), the oh-so-terrible love.
but here was the thing. yeah, aphrodite represented love, but it wasn't just romantic love. it was platonic love, and familial love, and self love. and she was so tired of everyone thinking that aphrodite kids were just shallow models who were obsessed with romance.
however, artemis was a goddess. she couldn't say any of those things to her without being smited, so sanju had to restrain herself to simply bowing stiffly and glaring at zoë nightshade.
she had met the hunters of artemis twice, and both times, when they found out her parentage, they had treated her with disdain and mockery, especially zoë, who acted like love had personally offended her.
while sanju was internally arguing with herself on the subject of misogyny, percy was gaping at artemis like the fish his father was the god of. "um. . . okay," he said intelligently. he glanced at her, eyes glinting, and sanju's lips quirked up, despite their serious situation. somehow, he always managed to make her laugh.
but that was nothing compared to Grover. he gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "thank you, lady artemis! you're so. . . you're so. . . wow!"
"get up, goat boy!" thalia snapped. "we have other things to worry about. annabeth is gone!" and just like that, the tiny amount of joy in sanju's eyes died down, and she looked down, mentally berating herself with guilt. how could she be so shameless? one of her best friends was gone, possibly dead, and here she was laughing.
"whoa," bianca di angelo said. "hold up. time out." everybody looked at her. she 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, nico, 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. . ."
she faltered. she could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her, and sanju felt a rush of pity for the younger girl. "what?" she demanded. "i'm telling the truth."
"you are a half-blood," zoë said. "one of thy parents was mortal. the other was an olympian."
"an olympian. . . athlete?" bianca questioned, though she seemed to know the answer already.
"no," zoë said. "one of the gods."
"cool!" said nico.
"no!" bianca's voice wavered. "this is not cool!"
nico danced around, spouting out random questions like, "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!" as anxious as sanju felt about annabeth, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the di angelos.
she remembered what it was like for her when she first learned she was a demigod. actually, it was fairly easy for her, because her mom had a long talk with her before helping her pack a bag and dropping her off at camp half-blood. it had been much worse for other people, like thalia. the anger in her eyes subsided a little.
"bianca," sanju said, and the girl's head whipped around to look at her, like a challenge. sanju smiled softly. "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," thalia finished hollowly, gazing at the cliff.
"dangerous," bianca repeated slowly, "like the girl who fell." sanju winced, and thalia turned away. even artemis looked pained.
"do not despair for annabeth," the goddess said. "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, looking upset.
artemis regarded him coolly, and sanju breathed in sharply. this felt like a test of some sort. finally, she replied, "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." the answer seemed to satisfy percy, though he still looked mildly distressed.
of course, sanju thought. annabeth was perfect. it made sense that he would like her, and not sanju. never sanju.
"ooh!" nico raised his hand. "what about dr. thorn? that was awesome how you shot him with arrows! is he dead?"
"he was a manticore," artemis said. "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," thalia said.
bianca shivered. "that explains. . . nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in dc?"
"and that bus driver," nico said. "the one with the ram's horns. i told you that was real."
"that's why grover has been watching you," percy said. "to keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."
"grover?" bianca stared at him. "you're a demigod?"
"well, a satyr, actually." he kicked off his shoes and displayed his hooves. bianca looked like she was going to faint right then and there.
"grover, put your shoes back on," thalia said. "you're freaking her out."
"hey, my hooves are clean!" grover protested. sanju threw his shoe at him, and he caught it with a slight frown.
"bianca," percy said, "we came here to help you. you and nico need training to survive. dr.thorn won't be the last monster you meet. you need to come to camp."
"camp?" she asked.
"camp half-blood," percy said. "it's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. you canjoin us, stay there year-round if you like."
"sweet, let's go!" said nico, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"wait," bianca shook her head, looking unsure. "i don't ─"
"there is another option," zoë said. sanju frowned at the implication.
"no, there isn't!" thalia said. thalia and zoë glared at each other. sanju hadn't known that they had met, but there was obviously bad history between them.
"we've burdened these children enough," artemis announced. "zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. raise the tents. treat the wounded. retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."
"yes, my lady."
"and, bianca, come with me. i would like to speak with you."
"what about me?" nico asked. artemis considered the boy. "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?"
grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "you bet! come on, nico!" the two walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and other things. artemis led a confused-looking bianca along the cliff, and sanju's eyebrows creased as she thought hard.
bianca had just discovered their world and learned she was part of it; she should have a choice in whether she wanted to join camp half-blood or the hunters of artemis, without anyone pressuring her.
sanju rubbed her forehead, feeling the splitting headache come on as percy and thalia bickered. she may have mentioned this before, but this day was not going well.
while she wasn't the biggest fan of the hunters of artemis, sanju had to admit they had a pretty cool aesthetic. wolves were walking around, guarding the camp, and falcons watched them from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight. even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. the air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire.
almost, except. . . sanju frowned in concern as percy winced, holding his shoulder. grover was trying to fix it up, but the poor boy had never been particularly good at healing. sanju tapped grover on the shoulder gently, and he moved over so she could do it instead. she gave a percy a square of ambrosia ( "it's green!" nico said with delight ), and began dressing the wound. eventually, the pain on the boy's face eased up, and he grinned at her.
"thanks, lily." sanju pushed him lightly, but rolled her eyes fondly at the nickname. nico frowned, tilting his head.
"your name is lily? i thought it was sanju." percy snorted.
"well, my dear boy ─ no, don't hit me sanju, he needs to know!" sanju crossed her arms.
"well," percy continued, nudging her, "when sanju was a little kid, then lilies used to be her favorite flowers ─"
"they still are." sanju scoffed, but internally screaming about he still remembered that. percy laughed.
"right, lilies are her favorite flowers. so during valentine's day one year, this kid went up to her and gave her a rose. she just stared at him, and said ─"
"i don't like roses," sanju chimed along with percy, smiling at the memory. "then when we were going home, percy asked me what my favorite flower was. and i told him that it was a lily. a couple of weeks later, he showed up at my birthday with an entire bouquet of them." by the end of the story, sanju was blushing scarlet, but she looked away.
nico rummaged through his own bag, laid out his figurines, and starting talking about his favorite card game, mythomagic, with percy, who humored him, asking questions and looking interested. sanju's heart fluttered at the sight, because percy looked like he cared, and somehow the sight was enough to make her want to laugh and cry all at once.
"hey, can I see that sword you were using? cool! does it ever run out of ink? are you really the son of poseidon? can you surf really well, then?"percy looked hopelessly at sanju, who was trying hard not to laugh. then nico turned his attention to her.
"are you really the daughter of aphrodite?" sanju's face paled, because it was funny when nico was asking questions at rapid-fire speed to someone else, but not her.
he went on asking questions. did percy fight a lot with thalia, since she was a daughter ofzeus? ( percy didn't answer that one. ) if annabeth's mother was athena, the goddess of wisdom,then why didn't annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? ( percy looked like he was about to strangle nico. ) was sanju his girlfriend? ( percy snorted, and sanju blushed. ) by that point, sanju and percy both felt like throwing him to the wolves, then zoë nightshade came up to them.
"percy jackson." she glowered at sanju, who glared right back. "sanjana verma. come with me. lady artemis wishes to speak with thee."
zoë led them to the last tent, and waved them inside. bianca di angelo was seated next to artemis. the inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. silk rugs and pillows covered thefloor. in the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. behind thegoddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazellehorns. the walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others. sanju looked to artemis and saw she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then she realized it was a live animal ─ a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in artemis's lap.
"join us, percy jackson, sanjana verma," the goddess said. they sat across from her on the tent floor. the goddess studied them both, making them both uncomfortable, but sanju didn't say anything.
"are you surprised by my age?" she addressed percy.
"uh. . . a little."
"i could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. this is the average age of my hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray."
"go astray?" percy asked.
"grow up. become smitten with boys. become silly, preoccupied, insecure. forget themselves." her words were bitter, and sanju scoffed quietly.
"fall in love," she muttered, looking away, anywhere other than artemis and percy. the goddess seemed to have heard her.
"indeed, daughter of. . . aphrodite." she grimaced at the name, but sanju remained quiet. percy reached for her hand and squeezed it, a silent reminder that he had noticed it too, and he was there for her. she gave him a faint smile and squeezed back. artemis' eyes zeroed in on the motion, then moved up to give them a judgmental stare and sanju immediately jerked her hand back.
sanju wasn't focused for the rest of the meeting, which was probably not the best thing to do, but her mind kept rewinding to the moment when percy had squeezed her hand, and given her that look, saying that it was gonna be all right. it was times like these when she realized she loved him more than she had previously thought.
however, the thought was snatched from her the minute bianca became a hunter of artemis. sanju despaired for the girl, because she had a strong sixth sense, something she had inherited from her mortal mother, reinforced by her demigod senses. and right now, she was getting a really bad feeling whenever she so much as glanced at the girl.
". . . so," percy was saying glumly. "we're going to be getting a ride from your brother, huh?" sanju's jaw dropped to the floor in shock. did that mean what she thought it meant. . . ?
artemis' eyes gleamed. "yes, boy. you see, bianca di angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. it's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, apollo."
───────── 𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒.
yay !! i am so sorry that this came out late, i promise i will try to get back on schedule ( every thursday ) as soon as possible. i am vv excited to expand on sanju and percy's relationship, especially in the later chapters. btw how did you like that little anecdote ? lemme know, bc i thought that was rlly funny.
<3