"Thank you, Lady Artemis! You were so… so… wow!", Grover knelt before the goddess, not meeting her gaze but in awe at the goddess of the hunt.
Thalia snapped at him, "Get up, goat boy! We have bigger things to worry about, like how Annabeth is… gone"
Dead. She didn't want to say it for fear of making it real but they all knew her days were numbered. If she wasn't already dead, she wouldn't last much longer. Thorn would likely just eat her but if they didn't address it, they didn't have to entertain the thought.
"Hold up, time out!" Bianca Di Angelo broke the tense silence, pointing at everyone present, one after the other, as if trying to connect the dots she knew were somewhere but she just didn't have all the pieces, "who… who are you people?"
"It would be a better question: who are you, my dear girl? Who are your parents?" Artemis crossed her arms, trying to look stern and mysterious. Her current twelve year old look didn't make that quite possible though.
"Our parents are dead, we are orphans. I'm telling the truth!"
"You are a half blood", Zoe explained. Her accent was foreign, though he couldn't place it and he could swear he had heard that name once before. Was she from some obscure myth? Zoe was Greek for life but he couldn't name the myth from which it originated, "one of your parents was mortal, the other an Olympian"
"An Olympian… athlete?" Bianca didn't quite know what to say.
"No… one of the gods"
"Cool!", Nico di Angelo's eyes sparkled with excitement, "does Zeus really have lightning bolts that deal 600 damage?"
"Nico shut up! This is real life, not your mythomagic, there are no gods. Someone spiked the punch, this is all a weird, drug filled hallucination!" Even she didn't quite believe that as it left her mouth.
Alexander laid his hand on the worked up girl and channeled his father's power. God of calmness and all that, "I know it is hard to believe but just calm down, you aren't being drugged. Sometimes gods -or goddesses- have children with mortals, demigods or half bloods. A half bloods life is dangerous, which is why we train"
"Dangerous? That girl was just thrown off a cliffside!" Despite the calmness, he was channelling inside her, she still wasn't completely calm. Probably because he didn't have as much practice with it compared to his more combat oriented powers.
"Do not despair for Annabeth. She was a brave maiden, if she can be found, I will find her. For now, we can't do anything though. She is gone, there is magic at work. I don't exactly know how but your friend vanished" Artemis explained.
"What about Dr Thorn?" Asked Little Nico, much too happy and go lucky for someone in his situation, "that was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"
"Monsters can't be killed", Alexander looked over the edge of the cliff, "not truly. They can be destroyed but they will reform in the darkest pits of the underworld. It is the hunter's job to hunt them down once they have reformed, before they can hunt half bloods. They try and keep up but for every monster they kill, three reform, which is why us half bloods need to be trained back at camp"
"That explains… Nico, do you remember those guys who who tried to attack us in that alley in D.C. a year ago?"
"That is why Grover has been watching you, protecting you in case you were half bloods. It is his sacred duty"
"You are a demigod, Grover?" Bianca looked skeptical, though she no longer denied everything.
"Well, a Satyr actually", Grover parted his locks to reveal the tiny horns growing from his skull.
"Bianca", Percy turned to the girl, "we came here to help you. A half bloods life is dangerous, you need to be trained. Thorn won't be the last monster you encounter in your life. Your scent is strong. Come to camp with us"
"Camp?"
"Camp half blood, where we learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, even year round if you'd like"
"There is another option" Zoe said, "you could always-"
"No there isn't!" Thalia seemed on edge.
After staring down the cliff for a while too long, searching the waves below, Alexander mused out loud, "Thorn wasn't destroyed"
"What would a boy know? Gods tell, why do you think he isn't destroyed?" Zoe asked, disdain dripping from her every word, talking to him as if he were mentally challenged or some kind of child, which was even more frustrating, seeing that most of the hunters around were younger than him physically. He was 14! Two more years and he could drive a car!
"When monsters are destroyed they disintegrate into golden dust", he said as if it explained everything.
"Congratulations, mr obvious. Your little boy brain must've worked really hard to remember that", a hunter commented. The girls snickered.
"What I am trying to say is that there is no golden dust down there, so it couldn't have been destroyed"
"O- of course! We knew it all along!" One of the hunters tried to play it cool but it was obvious to all those present that she was lying.
Artemis sighed, "we have burdened these children enough. Zoe, we will rest here for a couple of hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded and retrieve our guests belongings from the school"
She spoke with an authority unfit to her twelve year old form.
"Yes my lady"
"And Bianca, come with me, I'd like to speak with you" Artemis added.
"What about me?" Asked Nico.
"Why don't you show Grover how to play that card game of yours?"
Nico nodded happily and walked off with Grover talking about attack points and turns.
As soon as Zoe was out of earshot, Thalia exploded, "the nerve of those hunters! They thing they are so… Argh!" She punched a nearby tree, leaving a indentation in the wood.
Alexander grasped her hand and gently squeezed. He didn't even had to use his powers and she was already a bit calmer, "thank you…"
"No problem dear"
A/N: thank you guys so much for all the love and support! We have recently hit 1 million hits. I am overwhelmed with joy that you like my book so much