A Beginning

Percy tried to talk to Zoe as he was escorted over to Artemis' tent, but she seemed adamant on paying him the very minimum of attention and instead just getting things done. As such he was practically frogmarched halfway across the camp grounds to the largest tent and almost literally shoved inside.

"Lady Artemis. I have brought Jackson." Zoe said a little stiffly. Artemis was in a form a little aged up from the young one she had initially appeared in, now looking like a slender young adult woman, who sat in pile of rugs and furs with what he first thought was a dear hide in her lap. After a second though the head moved to look at him, and he realised it was an actual living deer, currently reclining next to the Goddess and laying its head in her lap for pampering.

Also in the tent was Bianca, Nico's older sister. She looked to be stewing something over, and when she saw him her expression lightened slightly, becoming a little hopeful.

"Thank you Zoe. You may stay or leave as you wish." Zoe took that to mean she would step up behind Percy and nudge him further into the room, while she took up a spot behind and to the side where she could keep an eye on him.

"Perseus Jackson. I asked you here to represent Camp Half Blood in this matter. I have offered Bianca here a spot within my Hunters, and explained to her all that entails, but in the interest of fairness I agreed to let her hear from one of yours before asking for her decision. After we shall discuss the Manticore." The Goddesses silver eyes shone like moonlight and were piercing in their intensity.

Percy slowly lowered to the floor and sat across from her and Bianca. He thought for a moment, trying to clamp down on his impulse to just decry the idea on principal, and decided to approach the situation the way he thought Annabeth might, with a simple appeal to her. "The Hunters... I'll admit I don't know much about them, but what I do is that they are girls only, and their interactions with other Demigods like us isn't exactly regular. If you joined them, the time you would be able to spend with Nico would be a few days every few years or so. I'm not saying you have to devote your life to him just because he is your younger brother, but would you really be fine with just leaving him behind like that?"

"Nico is..." Bianca began, still trying to get her thoughts in order. "He is old enough now he can take care of himself without me. And even then he will be at camp with you, he would be safe."

"And you wouldn't be." Percy said. "Camp Half Blood is a safe place for Demigods like us. Out in the wild Monsters can just sniff you out and hunt you down at any time. Camp has protective barriers to keep them out, but the Hunters just rely on Artemis and their own skills. And sure that will work most of the time, but Goddesses have duties, and sometimes, no matter how good you are, it just isn't enough."

"A fairly sound argument Perseus Jackson, but the world is not just Camp. How many of your Demigod fellows actually stay there year round. Threat is simply a part of the experience of being a Demigod. What you decide is how you respond to it. There is nowhere in this world that is truly safe anymore. The Titans are stirring, no one can deny it no matter how much we wish to turn our eyes from it. Your camp may not be as safe in a few years time than it is now." The Goddess stated simple fact as she spoke, and Percy felt the cold dread in him as he considered that she might just be right. If Kronos really did rise as Luke wanted, would Camp's barrier be enough to stop him? It had the Golden Fleece reinforcing it, but would that be enough to stop the King Titan?

Bianca still looked very uncertain, the words of them both playing through her mind. Artemis seemed to notice as well, and decided to change the subject. "Perhaps allowing you more time to think would be best. Zoe, please fetch me my map." The girl did so immediately, and soon a large map of the US was laid out between them all, with a number of locations marked or highlighted in pen. "My Hunters and I have been tracking the movements of Monsters across the country, here I have marked all the encounters I have judged to be unusual. As you can see." The Goddess waved her hand at the map, and it seemed to zoom in, and begin to pan across the continent shown in much greater detail. "There is a clear and steady progression across the country. Large numbers of Monsters are appearing, and headed towards the West Coast. It is entirely possible there is an army massing somewhere in California. If that is true, then it is also the most likely location for the captured daughter of Athena to have been taken."

"Then we already know where to go? When do we leave?"

"We do not Perseus Jackson. If they are massing where I believe they are, then this is a mission far too dangerous for any mortal to undertake. I shall head west alone, and scout out this army. While I do so, the Hunters will need somewhere safe to stay. As such, they shall be going to Camp Half Blood for a time until I return." Zoe almost immediately burst out in protest but held herself back. "I know that this may not be the most popular idea amongst the huntresses, but it is what must be done. And it would allow you extra time to make your decision my dear." She said, turning again to Bianca, who nodded back at the Goddess.

"Zoe, please take Bianca to find her brother and instruct the others to make ready to break camp. We shall leave with the rising sun. I need a moment of time with this Perseus Jackson, alone."

"Of course My Lady." Zoe replied, ushering Bianca away but fixing him with a pointed stare as she left, promising destruction if he tried anything.

Once they were gone Artemis spoke again, pushing the deer away from her and standing up before walking towards him. "Stand Perseus." He did so. "Two years ago my father's bolt was stolen. My siblings and I set out to retrieve it, and yet I failed. In the end it was you who returned it to Olympus, and absolved your father of the crime, preventing a war in the process. For this reason you caught my eye."

She leaned forward towards him, and Percy was rapidly praying that he wasn't about to be turned into some sort of animal. "A jackalope perhaps?" Artemis said immediately, reading his thoughts and prayers. His heart skipped a beat. "No Perseus, I do not intend to punish you. I would however have you show me your blade."

"Umm. Of course." He tried to ignore the innuendo, and reached into his pocked to retrieve Riptide's pen form.

"This sword has been known to me for quite some time. Anaklusmos. Riptide. If not for your father and your own deeds I mentioned, I would take it from you. This weapon has a sordid history. Not knowing of that makes your every action with it unintentionally offensive to me." She plucked the pen out of his hand, inspecting it with an inquisitive stare. "I've seen it take many shapes throughout its time. It was originally a hair clip in fact. But I've never seen it as a pen before."

She passed it back to him. "Does it work?" He didn't know what was going on with the Goddess right now, but he wasn't about to just disobey her.

"Yes. I just used it outside." He replied, stooping down to the map below them and quickly scribbling his name in one corner of it. "See?"

"Indeed. Now onto more serious business again. I am going to have to request possession of your map from you. It is marked with large amounts of information that may be necessary for my hunt."

"But it is your-" He trailed off. This was exactly what had happened with Nico. He wrote his name on something and then... Could it really be that simple. "Of course you can use my map Lady Artemis." He said slowly, almost stumbling over his words. "But in return I have just one request."

"Hmm? I could just take it from you, you know? I am a Goddess. But I suppose I can listen to what you want." Artemis peered at him curiously, questioning what it was he could possibly ask for. Either she was reading his thoughts right now in which case he was done for, or she was assuming he was just like her view of all men and that he would ask for something absurd and unearned. But no. All he wanted was to write his name on something, and that thing was...