Here Comes The Plot

After that things pretty much went as they would have been expected to. He'd caught up to Thalia and they'd finished letting all the currently present campers know about the upcoming Capture the Flag game. Then the two of them had talked together for a bit. It had been nice for a while to be sure. The both of them were definitely committed to making sure that Annabeth came back alright, even if they still disagreed on how redeemable Luke happened to be.

Thalia had actually show some true vulnerability to him when the subject had ended up straying to her mother. Apparently she'd died two years ago drunk driving, and whether she admitted it or not, Thalia was clearly shaken up about it. For a few minutes, the two of them were united in their agreement that life wasn't fair, and that that fact sucked.

Eventually though he'd had to leave to fulfil his promise and grab that phone from the Stoll brothers. After paying a rather exorbitant rate in golden Drachma, he'd got the phone, and quickly wrote out his mother's number on a slip of paper he passed to Bianca alongside it as she was moving to take her place sat alongside her brother at the vastly over occupied Hermes table. Even now in the winter, when most campers were away, there were still enough left over that the God of Travellers table was filled. He'd smiled as he saw Bianca being drawn into conversation, and frowned as he saw Zoe glancing her way from over on Table 8. Apparently the Hunters had no intention of just leaving her to her own decision.

That night he had dreamed of Annabeth, and none of it good. Demigod dreams rarely were. She was alive, but beyond that her condition could only best be described as in urgent need of rescue, and that knowledge had plagued on him right up through the Capture the Flag game. Which brought them right up to now.

The mummified corpse kept in the Big House attic, that housed the spirit of the Oracle, had apparently decided to take a break from her regular pass time of being a corpse to just go on a wonderful jaunt through the woods, right into the middle of his little argument with Thalia about who was supposed to be where and which of the two of them was responsible for the Camp team losing to the Hunters again, for the 56th time in a row.

She'd ignored everyone else, and gone right up to Zoe herself, and just spat out a prophesy to her like it was just another Tuesday, before walking over to a nearby rock, sitting down, and retuning to her regularly scheduled programming. Now all the cabin leaders were gathered together in the Big House to discuss what was to be done about this new prophecy.

"The Hunters should leave immediately." Zoe hadn't begun the meeting in any sort of constructive way, and that seemed like it was going to be the theme for the whole damnable thing if they way she was looking at everyone else was anything to go by. "Our Goddess needs us."

"And where exactly shall you go." Chiron asked, trying to be the voice of reason to the whole affair, though that was a rather futile effort.

"West. The prophecy was clear. Five shall go west to find the Goddess Claimed. There can be little doubt. Something had claimed Artemis and now holds her hostage. We shall set out immediately, find her, and free her."

"And as usual, you miss something." Thalia cut in. "Hunters and Campers combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"Absolutely not!" Zoe all but shouted at the idea. "The Hunters do not need thy help!"

"I fear that the prophecy says that you do indeed need our help." Chiron said, a lot less smugly than Thalia would probably have put it. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate to succeed."

"Yeah. We're supposed to work together." Thalia joined in. "I don't like it either Zoe, but you know prophecies. Do you really want to be the one who tries to go against one?" That clearly struck home if the look on Zoe's face was anything to go by.

"She must be saved by the Winter Solstice. In five days time."

"Indeed. If my Lady is not present for the Solstice meeting, they will be missing one of the most vocal voices in favour of preparations for battling Kronos and his minions. If she is absent, then nothing will be decided, and an entire will be wasted when it could have been war preparations."

"I have to agree." Chiron conceded the point. "Artemis' presence at the winter council is vital, and with only a week to find her, the party sent to find her must be chosen purposefully."

"Three and Two." Percy finally spoke up at that point, and every head in the room swivelled to look at him. "Three Hunters. Two Campers. That's more than fair."

"I would prefer to take all of the Hunters. Strength of numbers could be critical."

"You will be retracing your Goddess' path west. Speed will be critical, and you must follow in Artemis' footsteps. The prophecy was quite clear in that regard. The Bane of Olympus shows the trail. Whatever such a creature is, it cannot be good, but what is certain is that a small group will be best in this regard. As your Mistress would say, too many Hunters spoils the scent."

Zoe grabbed the nearest object she could, a ping pong racket, and began to look around the room over it like she was figuring out who she was going to whack over the head first. But she still yielded the point.

"This quest sounds like it is going to be seriously dangerous." One of the Stoll brothers commented. "Two of the party members are pretty much guaranteed to die. One shall be lost in the Land without Rain."

"And One shall Perish by a Parent's Hand." Beckendorf, leader of Hephaestus cabin finished off for him morbidly. "Though what god would kill one of their own children?" There was a general feeling of unease that spread throughout the gathered councillors. None of them wanted to admit that their divine parent might in fact be willing to see them dead.

"I shall of course go." Zoe chimed up again, "And I shall take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"Is that the big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked curiously. Zoe nodded.

"The one who put the arrows into my helmet." Connor Stoll asked.

"Yes!" Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh we just wanted to give her this!" The two said together, removing a silver T-shirt from his bag, and holding it up to reveal the Artemis related slogan plastered over its front. The twins were definitely up to something with this, but given that the target was the Hunters and Percy's current feelings towards them, he decided not to speak up. Everyone else in the room joined him in the same silence.

"Fine." Zoe said, snatching up the T-shit. "And for my final choice I wish to take Bianca."

"Wait a minute, she isn't a Hunter!" Percy immediately interjected.

"She is an honorary one. My Lady would have accepted her oath already if she had not been distracted." Zoe stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, while she continued to glare at him pointedly.

"That doesn't matter. She isn't a Hunter and isn't one of your subordinates. You can't **** her to come along."

"Then I shan't. I shall ask her to come along, and I am most certain that she shall accept. She shall prove herself to my Lady by assisting in her rescue. There shall be no doubt of her loyalty, skill and commitment once she has participated in such an endeavour."

Percy was going to keep arguing back, but Chiron placed a hand on his shoulder. "Should she consent, Bianca shall be allowed to participate in the quest, but should she refuse you are not to harass her further. She has made no oaths to the hunt as of yet."

"Acceptable." Zoe nodded. Clearly she had no doubts about what Bianca would choose. Percy only hoped she would be proven wrong. "Now as for the Campers."

"I'll go!" Immediately Grover was up and offering. "Anything to help Lady Artemis!"

"Thou are not even a half-blood" Zoe immediately began to argue back, but Thalia cut in.

"But he is a Camper. And he has both a Satyr's senses and Woodland Magic. Will you really turn down his tracking spells?"

"Fine." Zoe bit out "And the second?"

"Me." Thalia said immediately, and Percy's mind quickly worked out the math that resulted.

"Wait. I want to go."

"Unacceptable. A Satyr can be tolerated, but I will not have a Boy along on the quest. Thalia will do."

"But I need to go!!!" He pressed. He needed Artemis back. She was his! He couldn't just leave her in whatever situation she was stuck in, especially when the prophecy literally called her the Goddess Claimed.

"Because of thy friend?

"No!" He burst out immediately, then realised just how callous that sounded. "I mean not entirely. Partly. I just am supposed to go!"

"No. I insist upon this. I shall not take a male Hero."

Chiron stared around the room for a moment, assessing everyone and the faces of all those gathered before him. And Percy saw the way his eyes turned sad when he looked at him, showing sympathy, but apologising all the same. "This is the Hunter's quest. They shall be allowed to choose their companions. And they have done so. So be it." He straightened out as he towered over everyone in the room thanks to his horse half. "You shall leave at first light. May the Gods be with you."