I don't own Percy Jackson bla bla bla

Chapter 2

The Hunt Begins

Artemis's POV

A cool forest breeze brushed up against the goddess Artemis' skin. She had always liked autumn, the leaves were full of colour and it was not nearly as blistering hot as summer often was. The squirrels were running around in search of nuts for the cold and barren winter. She just loved the wholesome earthy smell that seemed to float through the forest. It was easily her favourite season.

Things had certainly calmed down since Kronos' Titan uprising during the summer. Monsters were scarce, most of them being recently slain in the battle of Manhattan and having yet reformed. With any luck it will take years for the monsters to return to carrying capacity. This of course had a down side, the Hunt was left with a rather free schedule. Not that I particularly minded, after all it would be a great time to recruit new hunters and train them all to be better than anyone in their way. All the free time and abstinence from monsters also gave me a chance to do the one thing I truly love, hunting.

I felt the leaves crumble under my small bare feet. Carefully creeping as I made my way through the thick forest. Stalking my prey from a good 50 yards behind. Peeking at it through the brush as it quietly munched at the fallen leaves. The creature gave no inclination that it knew it was being hunted. A smile crept onto my face, nothing in the world is better than a good hunt.

I carefully knocked my arrow, aimed, and fired. The target, a strong healthy buck, screamed in agony as the arrow hit its mark and lodged deep in the animal's throat. The deer fell to the ground clearly in pain but not quite yet dead. I sprinted forward and grabbed my hunting knives. I quickly put the poor beast out of its misery with a slash across the throat. I then gently took the arrow out of the kill and flashed it to my personal tent.

Thoroughly enjoyed with my success, I made my way through the thick forest and back towards the clearing where the hunt had camp set up..

When I arrived at the campsite my lieutenant Thalia came to greet me.

"How was your hunt M'lady?" she asked politely.

"I found a nice and healthy buck out in the forest," I replied back, "but I'm quite exhausted, perhaps I'll take a good long afternoon nap." Wouldn't that be a nice treat, God's don't need sleep but we can get tired. Besides sleeping is very relaxing.

Thalia smirked at me, "of course M'Lady; don't worry about us, we will be good little girls."

I rolled my eyes at her wild shenanigans before turning toward my tent. Suddenly a loud thunderclap rumbled in a otherwise clear blue sky. I looked back at my fellow daughter of Zeus.

"What? It wasn't me." She said nonchalantly.

"Fuck," I murmured it must be old daddy dearest summoning the gods for another boring council meeting, "I've got to go."

Thalia nodded and I flashed myself to my throne on Olympus. Everyone else slowly started to flash to their own respective thrones. The gods around me started to bicker, as they normally do. You try living 4,000 years, it gets boring sometimes. Apollo decided it would be a good idea to bring up the old who was born first argument. I was about ready to stick my arrow up where Apollo don't shine. Luckily for the stupid bastard Hephaestus had managed to pull himself away from his "super important" machines and finally flashed to his seat. Zeus coughed a few times and then started to speak.

"Saved by the bell," I muttered angrily.

"I have gathered you all here today to inform you that the Hero of Olympus, Perseus Jackson…" Zeus paused, most likely for effect always the drama king, "has gone missing."

I found myself gasping in disbelief. Apparently I was not the only one who was shocked by the news because nearly all of the Olympians looked just as shocked as me! Only Dionysus, Hestia and Aphrodite has a calm expecting expression on their faces. And one of them was sleeping.

"Chiron actually informed me quite some time ago," Zeus continued.

"How long ago?" Shouted Poseidon, clearly very angry.

Zeus shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "since the morning after The Battle of Manhattan"

He was gone for that fucking long and no one thought it would be appropriate to tell me about it, I thought to myself. This thought surprised me, he was a male, since when did I bother with males. Hmm on that train of thought I suppose it did make some sense why I wasn't told.

Poseidon must of had a similar thought process aligned with why the fuck because he stood up off his throne and yelled "WHAT, why has no one felt it necessary to informe me of this!"

"Brother settle down, Chiron and I agreed that he must of just wanted to take a short break, a summer holiday or something, we didn't think it was worth bothering any of you," Zeus cleared his throat, "but clearly he would have come back by now if that were the case." The king of the gods paused again, "Aphrodite, Hestia any input, you didn't look surprised at all when I said he was missing."

The two goddesses seemed to start fierce mental discussion lasting a long hard minute before Hestia finally spoke, "We know why he left, but not where he is."

"Why has he left," Poseidon asked impatiently, clearly eager to put all of his resources into finding the boy"

"We can not say," Aphrodite said, "he forced us to take an oath of secrecy and not all of us break our oaths." Everyone looked at the god of truth.

"She is telling the truth" Apollo finally said but he didn't sound super sure. However the other gods merely grumbled at this.

"Artemis!" Poseidon started, "you must search for Percy and bring him home, now I know you don't do males…"

I cut him off, "I'll do it!" Surprising everyone including myself. "The Hunt and I will find him Poseidon, he held the sky for me, and for that he has my respect"

He nodded, before glaring at his brother, sister, and Aphrodite. Then he vanished in a shroud of vapour.

"Council dismissed," Zeus said, then he too flashed away. The whole room exploded with energy and renewed vulgar. shouts erupted as the gods got into various fights with each other. Apollo started arguing with Hestia, eager to remind her that 'he can sniff out a lie from 500 yards away'. Aphrodite and Hephaestus were talking about a dinner of some sorts, one that the ugly oaf has not appeared for. And ares was starting fights with anyone else, which at the moment consisted of Demeter, Hermes, and, Athena. I sighed deeply, the other gods and goddesses can be so childish. With lovely thought complete I got off my seat and flashed away, I had a job to Finish.

When I returned to the hunt Thalia and the other hunters eagerly awaited me. After politely greeting me she asked me the Inevitably question, "What happened at the meeting?"

I simply sighed. This happens every time there is a council meeting, and knowing my Lieutenant she wouldn't take nothing important for an answer. The girls wanted a full rundown every time. For what reason I had no clue.

"Percy has gone missing," I stated simply, "we must go out searching for him.

"Oh" she said. She has a strong connection with her male cousin and I could tell that she was very clearly worried about him. Curiosity had killed the cat. The rest of the Hunt looked more or less eager to do something, although I did see some anxiety in their eyes.

"Girls pack up, and prepare to leave." I told them , "I'll be in my tent thinking." They nodded and turned away to pack up the camp.

"Oh, Thalia" I shouted. She looked back at me, "we will find him." She nodded and I headed for my tent.

I pulled open the tent flap to my magical tent. The inside looked to be at least twice as big as you would expect from the outside. Furs covered the walls and floors of the structure. A cozy cot lay to one side of the room. I layed down on it and closed my eyes. Is Percy okay I thought. Suddenly a realization hit me, Thalia wasn't the only one who was worried about what the young demigod might be facing.

Autumn soon turned to winter and winter soon turned to spring. Percy Jackson had eluded me. I couldn't pick up a scent, the wolves were also lost. I was pretty confident the Sparti would have difficulties sniffing out the damn demigod. Poseidon was confident that Percy was not anywhere underwater(not that it stopped him from obsessively looking) and Hades insisted he was not dead. A few weeks into the search Hermes said he gave Percy a list of his demigod children, along with a few other gods spawns. The offspring seemed to make it to camp but there was no mention of a boy helping them, always a satyr.

So with no leads the hunt started to search the entire continent, even the most obscure locations. No signs, no leads, nothing. The Hunt was getting rather discouraged. But Thaila and I were persistent. Thaila was intent on finding her cousin, after all they were rather close. But I was furious at Perseus Jackson, no creature in 2,000 years had truly evaded me, but this boy managed to elude me for months. It was infuriating.

The Hunt was currently travelling through a forested area in Northern California. After realizing that normal hunting methods were not working we decided unorthodox methods may hold more water. Earlier in the week I picked up a trail of some ancient beast. Knowing Perseus Jackson, he bound to somehow get involved. The boy seeks out trouble like an alcoholic searching for the nearest liquor store.

The day was slowly turning to dusk. Soon it would be dark and hunting would be extremely difficult. Besides you never truly know what is lurking in the forests. Monsters were still somewhat sparse but it is always better safe than sorry.

I turned towards the girls and spoke, "alright girls, let's find a suitable campsite and settle down for the night."

They all nodded in affirmation. Less than an hour later we had found a nice clearing near a creek. For a long term location I would have passed over it but for our single night stay it would suit our needs. The girls and I then quickly set up our camp, it was one of the things I was most proud of. The whole hunt could set up camp in under twelve minutes. Packing up was ever so slightly faster clocking in at around ten minutes on average.

When had suitably unpacked and made ourselves comfortable we all sat down around a central fire to eat our evening meal. A few girls had managed to chase down a few rabbits which were quickly skinned, cooked, and consumed. We entertained ourselves with some light conversation but there was an underlying weariness to the whole event. Perhaps, I thought, it would be best if we were to give up on this challenging task we have undertaken. But intense determination quickly etched its self into my conscience. Imagine, Lady Artemis, goddess of the Hunt failing to accomplish such a seemingly easy task. She would become the laughing stock of Olympus, disgraced and dishonoured. No, she would complete her hunt, she would not be defeated in a glorified game of hide and seek.

When dinner was completed I sent the Hunt to their tents. If the Hunt was to be successful they aught to have a good nights rest. That and cranky young girls can get quite annoying at times, best to avoid that little basket of goodies. I myself headed towards my own tent.

I opened up the flap to the humble looking dwelling. Of course the inside was much much nicer. The perks of being an immortal goddess. I layed down on the comfy mattress and closed my eyes. Tomorrow will be the day I thought to myself, just like I had for months. Then Without another thought I fell into a peaceful slumber.

The night passed into the next day. Fresh spring breezes brushed against my petite body. The sun was rising over the dew covered landscape. And another day of persistent hunting.

The entire hunt was always up and going after sunrise. After a quick meal they would pack the tents and all of their belongings. Then they would begin their daily trek through the wild forests. Midday we would rest and eat a hearty meal of whatever we managed to gather and kill. I could just will in food but the hunting builds up character. With good luck we would succeed in our hunt within the day. And if said hunt went without success we would continue forward the next day. No need for any complications. It was all very punctual.

Of course the current task did bring complications. But the hunt must be flexible. Besides I have a feeling that this particular hunt will end shortly. One way or another, either in success or failure. Not that I particularly wanted daddy dearest to order off the hunt due to lack of progress.

Just then, I heard salvation. Echoing through the dense forest was a loud aduble CRACK! I quickly raced towards that sound. The Hunt filing in behind, eager for action. We quickly found our way to a clearing. There he was, standing tall and bold, the hero of Olympus. Standing across from him was a fierce looking dragon. It had red and yellow scales and must of stood atleast 30 feet tall. This was not just any dragon I realized, this was Draco the legendary dragon. But it hasn't been spotted for millennia, after it was put it the stars it hasn't reformed. And I doubt that was a coincidence. Yet here it was, ready to squash Perseus under its claws.

For his part, the son of Poseidon looked confident. He turned towards were we entered the clearing. His eyes looked us over until they came into contact with my own. He seemed to be in deep thought for a few fateful seconds, than he gave me one of those goofy grins, winked, and charged straight for the dragon.

The dragon blew a fireball at the charging demigod but Perseus skillfully dodged the bright blue flames. He quickly approached the beast and danced between the dragons swiping claws. One of my hunters stepped up and readied her bow.

"Stand down," I told her. She obeyed but looked at me questioningly. "If we defeat the dragon for him he will be able to make an escape," I explained, "besides our arrows will have little effect on the beasts hide."

In truth, I was curious as to how he would do against such a legendary opponent. Although it was rather unlikely the demigod would succeed he had faced worse odds in the past. Besides, there was no reason to gamble my hunters lives if he did manage to defeat Draco.

Meanwhile Perseus had managed to climb the dragons spiked tail and was currently hanging on for dear life. A normal person would be terrified but even a hundred yards away I could see the smile that the idiot had plastered on his face. Using what must have been a tremendous amount of strength he hoisted himself onto the dragons back. The dragon struggled to knock him off but the son of Poseidon held on, if only just barely. Then with a massive flap of its wings the legendary dragon took flight. The grin vanished from Perseus's face as mass panic entered his conscious. As a son of Poseidon it must be rather frightening to be in my father's domain. But he still hung on.

Somehow the stupid boy managed to climb the dragon whilst it was actively trying to fling him off. He was now at the head of the beast. Marking his way to one of Draco's eyes a great gleaming sword appeared in his hand. With a great thrust Perseus stabbed the eye with great force. This succeeded in the dragon roaring loudly and rearing up its head. The son of Poseidon went flying through the air. He crashed into a tree with enough force to crack it, causing the poor plant to collapse.

Incredibly just a few seconds later he was up and facing off against the one-eyed dragon. The dragon, for its part looked furious. Steam surrounded the monster and smoke poured from his ugly nostrils.

Now swordless Perseus changed strategies. The earth began to rumble slightly as He confidently strode forward. Then he started to charge. Another large ball of fire was sent at the boy. He rolled aside without issue. Then as he approached the dragon he pounded his fist into the ground causing a powerful earthquake. The dragon stumbled and Jackson struck. A large collection of water flew towards the beast and drenched it from head to toe. Most of the water vaporised and the entire field was concealed.

Seconds later the steam dispersed and draco lay dead from a sword wound deep into its throat. Perseus was covered in a green blood and the once roaring dragon slowly turned into dust before dispersing in the wind.

I waved my hand ordering the hunters in to capture the male before he could make a sly get away. Turns out I didn't have to, the demigod feinted, collapsing to the ground in a rather uncomfortable way.

Great, now we have to carry him.