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‘Percy, Percy!’ Bowling her over in his enthusiasm, it is only thanks to Travis grabbing hold of her shoulders that she avoids a make-out session with the ground. It isn’t enough to break his momentum, leading to her landing neatly on his stomach.
Not looking overly impressed, the demigoddess crosses her arms. With all the dignity she can muster, she clambers back onto her feet. ‘Yes?’
Looking a little sheepish, the son of Hermes rubs the back of his neck. His brother saves him, smoothly stepping in between the two. ‘We have this amazing idea—’
‘—you will find it hilarious, promise!’ Travis injects.
Glaring at him, Connor continues: ‘We just need your help. It’s really time sensitive, and though we can hold it off for a little bit we kinda… really need Lou.’
Feeling way too exhausted and old for these antics, Percy merely sighs. ‘Fine,’ she says, ‘but you will be taking over kitchen duties for the entire week.’
If only she’d taken better notice of the pure delight that appeared on their faces at that admission.
Turning away from the arena she was originally heading to is somewhat of a relief. It gives her the excuse to postpone playing the mediator between the campers and Hunters. After the farce of a quest she’d just returned, she didn’t think she would have the patience to deal with antsy demigods.
Greeting people as she passes them, it isn’t long before the Hecate cabin reveals itself. There is no movement in and around the cabin, which should’ve maybe been a red flag. As happened maybe too often these past weeks, however, Percy couldn’t be bothered by keeping a lookout for them.
‘Lou?’ she asks, but there is no answer. Not wanting to enter without permission, the daughter of Poseidon decides to circle the cabin.
Nothing seems out of place. She must’ve simply gone somewhere else.
Her eye falls on a glowing purple orb. Looking at the wall, she sees two others on a plank. Wary of touching something potentially dangerous, Percy knows that the wise thing would be to just try and find Lou and inform the girl.
The curious part of her screams to pick it up, to study it, but it’s the reckless part of her that actually goes through with it.
In a disorienting wave of light-headedness where she’s sure that she passed out for a second or two, the demigoddess opens her eyes to a world that seems a sizeable bit bigger than it used to be.
She yelps, but it isn’t a yelp that comes out of her mouth—it’s a miaow.
Curse her rotten luck.
Sitting, she is faced with black fluffy paws instead of hands. Walking requires a couple of attempts, but once she figures it out, she angrily stalks to find the culprits. Small though she might be, she will make Travis and Connor regret their pranks with her claws!
She gets about fifteen metres before a squealing child picks her up. Looking rather disgruntled, she paws at the kid to let her go. Disappointedly, her cat-form isn’t strong enough to escape.
Percy miaows in protest, but of course she can’t speak English. Resigning herself to being unceremoniously dragged to wherever the boy was going, she tries to look for Lou Ellen. Not surprisingly, the daughter of Hecate is nowhere in sight.
If cats could sigh, she would’ve done so. At least now she doesn’t have to expend energy walking…
Wriggling a little, she finds a semi-comfortable way to sit in the boy’s arms. His grip is tight, but the closer he gets to the dining area, the more relaxed it gets. Realising how she can escape; she manages to become almost completely still.
Only to wriggle violently and jump from his grasp the moment his feet find themselves at their location. Percy shoots between the legs of demigods reaching out to catch her, fleeing to the Artemis table where the Huntresses have taken their seats.
As she walks over the table, she can see Zoë looking bemused. Deciding she looks least likely to coddle her to death, the demigoddess turned cat approaches her and unceremoniously drops herself on her lap.
She can be embarrassed about it later.
‘Hello little one’, the lieutenant says, gently scratching her behind her ear.
Involuntarily she finds herself purring. Damn, that feels good! Those cats are really onto something. As her shame has long since been dead and buried, she indulges her hedonistic side and stretches out. Baring her belly, she looks up with wide innocent eyes demanding a good belly rub.
Honestly, she should’ve expected this. Who knew Huntresses had such a big love for kittens?
The fact that Lou Ellen has seemingly disappeared these past two days is surprisingly not concerning her. She loves being a cat—there are no quests, and there isn’t a chance of her dying anytime soon.
What is a problem is the fact that she has gone ‘missing’. Again. She feels sad for Annabeth being so stressed, but beside giving head buts in comfort and trying to miaow her way into making the daughter of Athena understand her predicament, there’s not much she can do.
The Hunt has been… more than welcoming, playing with her and giving her the best bits of meat. She has learnt a lot of how their dynamics work. It is giving her food for thought, but food that is to be eaten at a later date.
Wanting to return the favour she attempts to catch some small animals as well, but that’s more difficult than she thought. Her control over her new anatomy still leaves much to be desired.
It’s why she’s so proud when she has finally caught a bird that’s larger than herself. She toils to drag it into the dining area, growling at anyone that attempts to take it. Making herself over to where Artemis and Zoë are sitting, she proudly puts it at their feet.
She purrs in happiness as Zoë bends to scratch her ear. The goddess is smiling, patting her lap in invitation. As Artemis gives the best belly rubs out of the whole camp, Percy naturally obeys.
Putting her paws against her seat’s belly, she looks up and miaows. ‘Look’, she says, and startles when the other seemingly understands her.
‘I see,’ Artemis says with a smile, ‘You’re a fierce little huntress.’
Glancing to the right, where Annabeth is listlessly playing with her dinner, she utters a little prayer for this to work. ‘Can you turn me back into a human again?’ She blinks up with hopeful eyes. ‘I’m Percy.’
Later, after all the excitement around her return has died down—after the Stolls have been duly punished and crushing hugs of friends been given—Percy finds herself struggling to sleep. The lights have been out for quite a while, it’s quiet, and she feels exhausted.
Yet she’s restless.
Certain Morpheus won’t be pulling her into his realm this night, Percy gets up from her bed. Pulling on her bathrobe, she walks with bare feet to the door. Peeking outside to check whether there aren’t any harpies in sight, she hurries her way over to the beach.
Only there, with her feet in the cool sand and the waves lovingly lapping her calves does she relax. It’s not that she isn’t grateful to be human again, but she does miss the freeing lack of pressure to be the celebrated heroine.
She isn’t sure how long she sits in the surf, but it must’ve been a while. The moon is high in the sky—it’s calming.
Until she realises that she isn’t alone.
‘My lady,’ she says, not turning to look behind her, ‘What brings you here?’
Artemis remains silent for a little bit, glancing out at the ocean. ‘You fascinate me.’ She shuffles a bit, almost as if she is hesitant. ‘I want to make you an offer.’ A few seconds pass. ‘To join my Hunt.’
At that Percy does turn. ‘You honour me, my lady.’ She bites her lip, uncertain how to phrase her words. Luckily, it isn’t necessary.
‘I understand that this isn’t the time, but I want you to know it’s on the table.’ The goddess smiles. ‘If you ever do feel ready to join, know that you will always have a place.’
Feeling surprisingly emotional, Percy can do nought but nod. She returns her gaze to the ocean as Artemis makes her leave. Her promise to Annabeth circles round in her mind: friends always stick together, but the promise leaves a sour taste in her mouth.
A strong feeling of apprehension has made its home in her gut, and she fears finding out why. Her intuition has never failed her, though she wishes for it to do so now.
After all they’ve been through, she doesn’t think she can cope if she loses their friendship.