Kuoh
A group could be seen making their way casually down one of Kuoh's main streets, blending in with the people coming and going around them without attracting any more attention than necessary. At first glance, no one would have guessed that among the people walking along the sidewalk was a Greek goddess accompanied by five demigods. That was precisely why they had left their armor and anything else that might draw too much attention behind, replacing it with ordinary clothes far more suitable for the city.
Artemis walked at the front of the group in a simple outfit that looked nothing like what she normally wore. Even so, after spending so many centuries traveling through the mortal world, blending in among humans was something she was more than accustomed to. Annabeth and Selene followed behind her, while Percy, Luke, and Thalia walked a few steps farther back, taking the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a city and culture none of them had ever experienced before.
The Hunters had not accompanied their goddess this time. Artemis had considered bringing them, but ultimately dismissed the idea before they had even left Camp Half-Blood. With demigods from other pantheons now arriving at the camp, they needed more people capable of maintaining some order and, more importantly, teaching the newcomers the basic skills the Greeks had been practicing for years.
Not all of the new demigods even knew how to properly use a weapon, not to mention that many of them were only beginning to understand what it truly meant to be descended from a deity. The Hunters were more than capable of handling that kind of training while also considerably strengthening the camp's defenses in Artemis's absence.
Of course, the Goddess of the Moon had no real concerns about her own safety either. As far as she was concerned, she could handle practically anything that crossed her path, even outside Greek territory. She had survived for thousands of years, hunted monsters that had terrorized entire generations, and taken part in enough conflicts to have complete confidence in her own abilities. She saw no reason to believe Kuoh would be any different.
"So..." Percy's voice finally broke the silence as he quickened his pace until he was closer to Artemis. "We're in Kuoh."
Artemis kept walking without giving any indication that she had heard him. Percy hesitated for a moment before finally gathering his courage. "And I'm guessing this is the part where you tell us what we're doing here."
Thalia snorted from behind him, immediately spotting an opportunity too good to pass up. "You really never learn."
Percy glanced back at her. "I don't see anything wrong with asking."
"Yeah, but asking the same thing over and over..." Thalia shook her head in mock disappointment. "Are you seriously missing brain cells, or is there just too much seaweed in there?"
Percy looked at her with obvious annoyance while Artemis felt a strange sense of déjà vu listening to the two demigods go back and forth. There was something disturbingly familiar about how easily the children of Zeus and Poseidon managed to provoke one another. Of course, in Thalia's case there was no real hostility behind it. She simply enjoyed every opportunity she got to mess with Percy.
Artemis shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside as she continued walking. "We're going hunting."
Percy frowned. "That's it?"
"That's all Damon ordered. What else do you want me to tell you?" Artemis replied, rolling her eyes.
An awkward silence fell over the group. It wasn't that the others had anything against Percy or enjoyed watching him end up looking like the clueless one whenever the Moon Goddess became irritated. It was simply much easier to ease the tension with a joke at Percy's expense than to argue directly with Artemis. Even Thalia understood that. As much as she enjoyed messing with Percy, none of them had any interest in getting on the Goddess of the Moon's bad side, especially when Artemis had a particular talent for getting under people's skin.
Percy seemed to understand that as well and decided not to push the issue. Luke, figuring it was better to change the subject before the conversation heated up again, let out a sigh just as they passed a small restaurant. The smell of food immediately caught his attention, and almost as though everyone had been waiting for the exact same signal, several stomachs began growling at once. They had left Camp Half-Blood in a hurry, and none of them had eaten anything since.
Artemis made it several more steps before realizing she could no longer hear anyone behind her. She stopped and turned with one eyebrow raised, only to find all five demigods practically rooted in place in front of the restaurant. They looked as though they were silently debating whether to follow Artemis or listen to their stomachs.
Luke was the first to speak. "Uhh... Lady Artemis, with all due respect, I know you're a goddess and this probably isn't much of a problem for you, but don't you think it might be a good idea to eat something before we keep going?" he asked as respectfully as he could while subtly gesturing toward the restaurant.
Artemis looked from Luke to the rest of the group. Annabeth tried to maintain a neutral expression, only for the growl of her own stomach to betray her.
The Goddess of the Moon looked toward the restaurant's sign. At first glance, it seemed like a fairly modest Japanese restaurant, with nothing that particularly stood out from the businesses around it. Artemis shrugged before finally giving in to the group's request. "Fine. We eat, then we continue." Percy threw both arms into the air as though someone had just announced an Olympic victory. "I knew this mission was going to get better!"
The six of them stepped inside shortly afterward and found a relatively quiet restaurant that was far more Western in style than they had expected from its exterior. Wooden tables filled much of the room, and the smell coming from the kitchen nearly had the demigods salivating. Artemis paid little attention to the establishment; as far as she was concerned, it was just another human business tucked away somewhere in Kuoh.
From behind the counter, a tall woman with long purple hair looked up at the sound of the door opening. She wore a traditional white kimono decorated with pink flowers, and the moment Percy and Luke laid eyes on her, both boys were briefly left speechless. Her beauty could easily rival that of many of the Greek goddesses they had met, to the point that even Artemis seemed slightly overshadowed beside her.
Fortunately for Percy and Luke, both had enough common sense to pull themselves together before making fools of themselves. The last thing they needed was to start drooling over a woman while traveling with the goddess who had the least patience for that sort of behavior.
The woman's reddish eyes calmly swept over the group. For the briefest moment, an unreadable gleam crossed her pupils before fading away. An amused smile formed on her lips. "Ho, ho... what an interesting group that just walked through my door," she remarked, casually resting one arm against the wooden counter.
Artemis raised an eyebrow at the comment. Her hunting instincts reacted almost automatically, but she found nothing unusual. The woman in front of her appeared completely human, without the slightest trace of divine energy, magic, or any other supernatural presence that would justify paying her any more attention.
Little did the Goddess of the Moon know that was exactly what the hostess wanted.
Countless years had passed since the fall of the ancient Celtic Pantheon, and even longer since Scáthach had begun wandering the world on her own. After spending ages among humans, gods, and supernatural creatures, concealing her true nature had become as natural as breathing. Even Artemis's senses, honed through thousands of years of hunting, were incapable of piercing the barriers of a warrior whose experience surpassed the Goddess of the Moon's by entire generations.
Scáthach, on the other hand, didn't need to reveal anything to recognize that the six people standing before her were far from ordinary customers. "Six people," she said as she stepped out from behind the counter. "I assume you're hungry."
"Very," Percy answered immediately.
Thalia gave a small snort. "Speak for yourself." Her stomach chose that exact moment to betray her.
Percy turned toward her. "What was that, Thalia?" A shit-eating grin spread across his face as the daughter of Zeus glared at him, looking slightly embarrassed.
The purple-haired woman let out a quiet laugh before gesturing toward one of the empty tables. "Have a seat. I'll see what I can do to keep you from starving to death in my restaurant."
"I like her already," Percy muttered as he started walking.
Luke nodded, completely agreeing with his friend, and the group settled around one of the tables. Artemis didn't give the situation much more thought.
The woman returned shortly afterward with several menus in hand and began placing one in front of each of them. "By the way, you can call me Scáthach. I own this place."
Annabeth's head snapped up. "Scáthach?"
The hostess stopped and focused on her, now showing far more obvious interest. "Oh?"
It took Annabeth a moment to realize how strongly she had reacted. "Sorry. It's just... that isn't exactly a common name."
"Ho, ho..." Scáthach brought one hand near her lips, clearly entertained. "Now that I wasn't expecting. It seems you know where the name comes from."
Annabeth nodded, unable to completely hide her excitement. Ever since Camp Half-Blood's library had begun filling with books about cultures beyond the Greek world, she had spent a good portion of her free time reading them out of simple curiosity. The Celts had been one of the many civilizations that had caught her interest.
"Scáthach," Annabeth repeated. "The famous Celtic warrior. The woman who trained Cú Chulainn."
"Well..." the woman replied with clear interest. "I'm surprised someone your age knows that story. Not many people remember much about the ancient Celts these days."
Annabeth smiled. "I've been reading a lot about other cultures lately."
Artemis heard the comment from her seat and couldn't help thinking that was exactly what she should have expected from a daughter of Athena. Although she considered the Goddess of Wisdom one of her closest friends, she had never fully understood Athena's obsession with spending hours shut away among books.
In Artemis's opinion, a little more fresh air, nature, and time in the woods would do anyone some good. Especially when a good portion of those books had been written by men who had probably never set foot outside their rooms.
Scáthach tilted her head slightly. "Then I have to say, you have good taste."
Annabeth gave a small laugh. "Did your mother name you after her?"
"Something like that," Scáthach replied without losing her smile. "She was always a huge admirer of old stories. She especially liked that particular warrior, so she decided her daughter should carry the same name."
Technically, nothing the purple-haired woman had said was a lie. She had simply left out a few rather important details.
"That's pretty cool," Annabeth admitted.
"I know." Scáthach finished setting down the menus before bringing one hand near her lips again. "Although I have to admit, I was expecting a slightly more impressive reaction when I introduced myself. Maybe a bow. Perhaps a 'Wow, the great Scáthach!'"
Annabeth laughed. "I think I'll survive without doing that."
"If you say so, dear," Scáthach replied with an amused smile before walking away from the table with everyone's orders.
Selene followed the woman with her eyes until she disappeared behind the counter. "What a beautiful woman..." she commented almost reflexively, still impressed. As a daughter of Aphrodite, it was inevitable that she would notice things like that, and Scáthach certainly wasn't someone who was easy to overlook.
"Yes, yes, we all noticed," Thalia replied as she settled back in her seat. "You don't have to say it again."
Selene wasn't bothered in the slightest by the daughter of Zeus's tone. Everyone knew Thalia well enough to understand that talking about beauty, clothes, or anything similar was a quick way to make her lose interest. Though in Selene's opinion, that was a little hypocritical coming from someone who took the time to maintain her punk look, wear dark makeup, and make sure her black lip gloss was always just right.
But hey, to each their own... "I was just telling the truth," Selene replied with a smile.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Sure."
From behind the counter, Scáthach caught part of their exchange while she continued preparing their orders. A small smile returned to her lips. A Greek goddess casually walking around Kuoh with five demigods wasn't exactly something you saw every day.
It seemed Kuoh was about to become even more interesting.