Thalia POV
It had been over a day when Artemis left to Olympus with the man. The man that saved my life.
We had taken a while in healing the wounded. Thankfully, the second attack yielded fewer injuries than the first one so we just had to heal the Hunters already partly recovered.
It had taken us longer than usual to reach Central Park but we still arrived in the evening the next day. We had set up camp in our usual spot in Central Park and we waited. Waited for Artemis to meet us here, hopefully with news on the mysterious man.
I got to know Ava a bit better. Turns out, the man had rescued her from her uncle's house where he was constantly beating her. The man had broken into the house and removed Ava's uncle from the land of the living.
We found out Ava's parentage on the trip to Central Park. Turns out, she is a daughter of Demeter. She had told us about the names of plants and flowers and also their uses if they had any. Whenever she would walk past wildflowers, they would seem to gravitate towards her. According to Ava herself, she had apparently been claimed by her mother. Demeter had claimed her when she was in the company of the man that helped her.
Ava was pretty skilled with a bow. She couldn't hit bullseyes consistently yet but she would be able to do it in no time. She was also not bad with hunting knives but she would need practice. She was still young and she had a lot of potential. She was a fine addition to the Hunters.
I was teaching Ava some simple moves with hunting knives when Artemis appeared in the middle of our campsite.
And standing behind her was a familiar golden-eyed man.
The surrounding Hunters immediately drew their bows when they saw a male but they hesitantly dropped them when they recognised who it was.
I studied the man more carefully this time. He was pretty tall, about six foot three. His mask was on but I could still see his golden eyes behind his unruly raven-black hair. I still couldn't place where I had seen that hair before. No matter how hard I try to remember, I just couldn't find the memory of that messy black hair.
For a man that was recently run through with a spear, he looked absolutely fine. There was a hole in his sweatshirt but the wound was no longer there. He was standing just fine and I could almost believe he didn't nearly die just a day ago.
'Girls!' Artemis called out 'Gather around!'
The Hunters in the tents came out and was shocked to find a man in our camp, with our mistress no less. I was sure that the man would have been shot at had Artemis not been there with him.
'We have come to some new developments on Olympus,' Artemis explained 'It seems we have a new member for the Hunt.'
I gasped silently. Artemis was allowing a male in the Hunt? The last time that happened, it didn't end so well. The rest of my sisters took a while longer to realise who she was talking about, but when they did, shouts of outrage erupted from our assembled group and the man had about twenty arrows trained on him in less than a second.
To our surprise, Artemis stepped in front of the man protectively, which was slightly humourous since the man was about two feet taller than her.
'Stand down,' Artemis said calmly but her eyes shone defiantly 'He is here by my choice. Do not fire.'
That shocked me even more. Artemis was the one who invited him into the Hunt? Not only did she invite him but she was defending him from her own Hunters. My sisters lowered their bows while I just stood there looking at the man. I hadn't drawn my bow because he was the one who saved my life. I would not aim an arrow at my savior.
I took a deep breath and stepped forwards. Artemis had moved out of the way after she was sure the man wasn't going to die so I was standing face-to-face with him.
I gulped and looked down, 'Thank you. For saving my life.'
That had taken more effort than I wanted to admit. Thanking other people is not easy for a child of Zeus, especially if we didn't know the person.
I looked up to see the man's eyes boring into me. I began to feel a bit uncomfortable under his stare but I waited for him to say something.
The man looked around the assembled Hunters, and then back at me. He seemed to be in the middle of an internal struggle, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to put it.
It felt like forever until the man finally spoke up.
'Anything for family.'
I took a step back in surprise. The man spoke softly but I still heard it. His voice was deep like last time but now that I was closer to him, there was something familiar about his voice.
The man reached up with his hand and slowly removed his black mask. My eyes widened when I saw the smiling face of my missing cousin. A slightly older face but it was still him all the same. The mystery man was my cousin, Percy Jackson.
Relief flooded through me for a brief second before I felt indescribable rage course through my mind.
I didn't even know what happened. One second I was standing in front of Percy and the next, I was breathing heavily looking at the smoking body of my cousin laying on the smothered grass in front of a tree.
I looked around briefly to see a number of Hunters on their back, looking at the scene with wide eyes. I immediately realised what happened. I gasped and ran to my cousin, praying to all the gods that I hadn't accidentally killed him.
I slid on my knees and I ended up kneeling next to Percy. I frantically checked his body and was shocked to find no injuries. His clothes were smoking and a bit charred but other than that, he was completely fine.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt a pulse on his wrist. I felt Artemis run to my side and I could see the Hunters standing a few feet behind us.
'He should be dead,' I heard Artemis mutter 'That lightning bolt would have incapacitated a god.'
I looked down at the unconscious body of my friend as I wondered how much he developed his powers over the four years he went missing. If he could completely block the biggest lightning bolt I have ever created, then he must have been really powerful indeed.
'Atalanta, Lyra,' Artemis called the Hunt's healers 'Bring him to the infirmary tent. Pour some water over him and let him rest.'
The mentioned Hunters nodded and rushed over to carefully carry him off. Atalanta and Lyra were some of the older huntresses and they were one of the first Hunters to accept Percy as a male friend. I had heard them talk about him after the Titan War saying that he may not be as bad as most of the men out there.
The events of the Giant War confirmed their theory and now, most of the Hunt likes Percy. With a little bit of pushing in the right direction, the Hunters had started interacting with male demigods a lot more. I had convinced them that Percy was not the only exception and that a lot of the males at both camps were actually not half bad.
I watched as my cousin was carried into the infirmary tent with a small smile on my face. After all these years, we had finally found him. Even though I did blast him with lightning, I had my cousin back, and that's all that mattered.
'That was unexpected,' I heard Artemis say next to me 'I thought you would have been happy to see him.'
I turned towards my mistress, 'I am glad to see him, milady. It's just that he's been away for so long without contacting me or anyone else. I just got a bit mad, that's all.'
Artemis raised an eyebrow, '"A bit mad" is an understatement. You blasted him with a lightning bolt that looked like it was thrown by your father.'
I shrugged but I still felt a little guilty, 'I'm just glad he came back.'
Artemis nodded smiling.
I felt a tug on my sleeve and I looked down to see Ava looking at me a bit fearfully.
'Why did you blast the man with lightning?' she asked nervously.
'Sorry about that,' I said rubbing the back of my head 'I got mad he didn't show himself sooner. I've been looking for him for more than four years.'
Ava nodded but another newer girl, Leia, spoke up. 'Who is he?'
I grinned, 'That is Percy Jackson, of course.'
Leia cocked her head to the side, 'Who is that?'
My grin widened, 'Meet me at the campfire, sisters. I want to tell you a story.'
The newer Hunters that had never heard of him rushed to the campfire, curious to learn about the legend that is my cousin. The older Hunters walked behind them, excited to hear about his adventures again and why he was the first male to ever be accepted by the Hunt. His story never got old.
When everyone was seated by the campfire, I cleared my throat and looked at Artemis. She nodded her head encouragingly and I looked back towards the assembled group of eager listeners.
'So, the story of Percy Jackson,' I said dramatically 'It all started when he went on a field trip when he was twelve...'
A/N: And here is the next chapter. Yeeeeeeeeee.
This one is a bit shorter. It is more of a filler maybe, I guess.
I'm late again but thanks so much for almost 300 reads. Thats insane!
Anyways, see you all in chapter 12.
Also, changing the name of the story. 'Remember' sounds a lot better than just 'The Guardian'.
~Sacai2005