The hunt continued to stay at Camp for a few weeks, waiting for Chiron to come back, and because of the timing, a capture the flag game had been planned and everyone was excited, well, all the hunters were excited. Over the time at camp, Percy had developed some of the mannerisms of the hunt. He began to understand even more that most of the males in the camp were jerks, and he had started to enjoy how the rest of the hunters treated the males around camp, but he was silently worried about himself. While he was at camp, he was always in his female form, making it easy for him to be with the hunters, as he didn’t have to worry about how he acted, but he was worried what would happen when they left camp. Artemis and Zoë had noticed a change in Percy’s behavior towards most of the hunt, as if he was slightly scared of the hunt, even though to the two of them, it didn’t seem possible, so for as long as it wasn’t a problem. The only problem with that was that it seemed like a constant problem.
Without knowing it, Percy had slowly drifted from the majority of the hunters, until he only seemed comfortable with Zoë, Artemis, and Phoebe, the three of them having the biggest influence over him, and had helped him adjust to being within the hunt.
When the hunters would head to dinner, most of the time, Percy would walk behind them, and while they were eating, he wouldn’t talk, and at other times, he would just hang out in the shadows. Over time, this became worrying to Zoë and Artemis, and finally after about a week of this, went to confront Percy about it. They had just eaten dinner, and the hunters were heading to the campfire, to prepare for another Capture the flag game on the following Friday, the third one while they were there. As they walked, Zoë and Artemis both noticed that Percy wasn’t there with them, causing them to both to worry greatly. They felt bad that they hadn’t confronted him about his behavior, and they were worried about where he was.
After some searching, they found him sitting upon the top of the Zeus’ fist surprisingly in his male form, starting at the sky above him. Artemis and Zoë sat down on either side of him. If Percy noticed, he didn’t say anything. Artemis and Zoë shared a look, and then looked down at Percy, before both of their hearts broke for him. His eyes were red and puffy, and his eyes, which Zoë found absolutely beautiful, seemed to be broken and lifeless, even though he was still alive. Zoë had no idea what could have caused this, but sadly, Artemis did. She suddenly understood what he was feeling. She knew that he felt that he was not really a part of the Hunt, as if he was just a person in the shadows. He saw what the hunters did to the men around them, and felt as if he changed back to his male form, the form that he is more comfortable in, that he would be treated the same as the males around camp.
Zoë watched the expression on Artemis’s face turn from one of sadness, to one of a little bit of guilt. She still didn’t understand why, but she knew that she needed to comfort Percy. She slowly pushed him up, and pulled him into a hug, but he tensed. Zoë frowned at this.
“Percy,” Artemis said softly, “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t be a part of the hunt. I’m a male, what happens when we leave camp and I live with you, ill just get ignored and beaten.” Percy said softly, his voice cracking by the end. After he finished speaking, he broke down into sobs. Zoë hugged him tighter, feeling horrible at the prospect of Percy not wanting to be in the hunt. Artemis and Zoë shared a look, before Artemis brought her hand up to Percy’s face, and wiped the tears from his face, and turned his face to face her.
“Percy, you are as much a part of the hunt as Zoë is. Just because you are the first male in the group does not mean that we will abandon you or hurt you.” Artemis took a deep breath. “Percy, even though you have only been part of the hunt for a few weeks, you are like a little brother to me. We will love you like family, I promise.”
Percy looked down. “I’ve heard that before.” He said softly. “My uncle.”
Zoë looked shocked, and then her shock turned to anger, but not at Percy. Her anger turned towards Percy’s uncle. He had promised him a family, but instead, he forced Percy into the complete opposite of a family, even if they lived under the same roof. Zoë immediately knew what to do.
“Percy, do you know what the river Styx is?” She asked. Artemis gave her a confused look, but Zoë gave her a look that clearly said Give me a second. Percy shocks his head, but did not say anything.
“It is a river in the underworld that separates the living from the dead. It also can be sworn upon, like a pinky promise, but if you swear on the river Styx, it is tied to your life. If you break it, you die.” Percy looked somewhat appalled at this, but nodded his head slightly, giving her the okay to continue.
“Percy, I swear on the River Styx that you will always have a real family in the Hunt and that we will never beat you physically or ignore you because you are a male.” Zoë said confidently, and Artemis nodded her head, after figuring out what Zoë said. Thunder boomed, and the oath was sealed. Percy looked shocked.
“Why would you do that?” He asked.
“Why!” Zoë said shocked. “Why not? I am part of your family Percy, if I have to put my life on the line for you, then I will.” Zoë said strictly, making sure that he understood. Percy seemed shocked by her proclamation. He looked at Artemis, who nodded.
“She is right Percy. You are family; I would put my life on the line for you or any of my hunters.” They sat there for a few minutes, before Percy seemed to cheer up a little.
“Thank you.” He said quietly, and then the conch horn sounded. Percy stood up, and offered his hand to Artemis and Zoë. They booth took his hand and stood up, only to get pulled into a hug. They hugged Percy back for a moment, before he pulled away, changed into his female form, and took their hands, before dragging them towards the dinning pavilion, all three of them feeling much better than before.
<-><-><->
Everyone was chatting in the dinning pavilion, waiting for Artemis to start the capture the flag game. No one was more excited to be there than Percy. After his talk with Artemis and Zoë, he seemed much more confident while in the presence of the hunt, even if it was still a little weird for him. The day after his talk with Artemis and Zoë, Phoebe had walked up to him crying after lunch, and gave him a hug that almost broke his chest. Percy was absolutely bewildered by this, but let it slide for the moment. After a few moments of not being able breath, Artemis had walked up to them and pulled them apart. Phoebe kneeled down next to Percy and said,
“I’m sorry for the life that you had to live and am happy know that you are with us. I will never let anyone hurt you, got that.” Percy looked confused for a moment, before he figured out that Zoë or Artemis must have told her about his uncle and the talk that they had the night before. Percy nodded and smiled, before engulfing Phoebe in a hug, and then turning around, and leading Phoebe to the archery range.
The dinning pavilion instantly calmed down when Artemis stood up at the head table, while everyone waited for what she was about to say.
“Campers, Hunters, you know the rules. No miming, killing. All magic items are allowed. Hide your flags!” The entire pavilion shouted, and everyone ran out towards the forest. Percy joined Artemis as she slowly walked towards the forest to judge the game.
“What do you want me to do?” He asked. She looked thoughtful for a moment, before speaking.
“Follow Zoë, until the stream. Stay at the stream and guard it, do not let any campers through.” Percy nodded, and ran up to join Zoë, who was walking next to Phoebe. The two older girls nodded towards Percy, and directed him to the river when he asked about the stream. He stood at the stream, bow drawn, waiting for the game to start. He didn’t really have time to be nervous because as soon as he stopped moving, the conch horn sounded, signaling the beginning of the game.
Percy waited for a moment, until he saw some of the Ares campers heading towards him. He steeled his nerves as they approached, as he knew that they would probably tease him. As they approached, he saw their faces light up in delight at seeing that the only person in the way was the newest huntress.
“Hey girl, get out of our way.” One of the older looking boys spoke, but instead of being intimidated like the boy wanted, Percy just stood his ground, completely ignoring him, as if he didn’t even hear him. The kid pushed Percy, but instead of falling to the ground, Percy’s instincts took over, as if it had happened a million times before, which it hadn’t. Percy reached out, and grabbed the kids arm, and in one swift movement, swung the arm down forcefully, right down into his family jewels. The kid doubled over in pain, while the other kids looked on now in a little bit of fear. Percy had no idea how he did it, be he was quite happy with himself for the moment, though it only lasted a moment. One of the other kids glared at Percy,
“I hear your name is Andromeda. Well Andromeda, you will pay for that.”
All three of the other kids drew their weapons, each with a sword. They all advanced at once, leaving their hurting companion on the ground. The three goons all swung their swords at once, leaving only one option for Percy. Diving backwards to avoid the swords, he stepped into the river. He immediately felt an energy boost from the river.
The three goons growled at Percy, and advanced towards the river, not knowing Percy’s parentage. At once, they all stepped into the river. Percy concentrated, and felt the familiar tug in his gut, and the river around him exploded, startling the goons in front of him. Artemis had helped him a little with his powers as they traveled to the camp, so he was pretty good with them, but even though they were pretty powerful, he was not anywhere close to happy with them.
When the river exploded, the water wrapped around the legs of the goons, trapping them in spot, even as the struggled to remove themselves from the hold of the water. Percy stepped out of the river, and felt his energy drop, but he didn’t care. In one swift movement, he slashed a hunting knife across the backs of each of the goons, removing them from the game. The only goon left was the one that he had hit in the family jewels, who was staring at Percy in complete anger, but his eyes gave away his fear. He stepped towards Percy, but froze after the first step, as Percy had his bow out and aimed at the kids’ crotch. The kid stared at Percy, before stepping backwards, and running away, just as the horn sounded. Percy looked to his left, and found most of the hunters staring at him in shock, while Artemis and Zoë looked at him with pride.
“What?” He asked.
“The game ended right about when those boys approached you, but we hid in the trees and watched.” Percy put two and two together, and figured out why most of the hunters were staring at him in shock. Only Zoë and Artemis knew that he was a child of Poseidon, and that he had slowly been training his powers. After a moment of stunned silence, the hunters ran towards Percy and tackled him in a hug; proud that their ‘little brother’ had taken out four Ares kids in his first capture the flag game. They all walked back to the cabins, most of the conversation about Percy’s fight with the four boys. Really for the first time, Percy felt like he was really a part of the Hunt, and not just an outsider who happened to travel with them, and it was a feeling he enjoyed.