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EMBARRASSED WOULD BE an understatement. Laurie could not believe that her first up-close interaction with the goddess of the hunt had ended with her conked out and face-first in the snow.
Now, the Hunters had set up camp and taken Laurie and Bianca Di Angelo in. Bianca sat around a campfire with Zoe Nightshade and the goddess herself, while Laurie's injured arm was tended to by another huntress.
Meanwhile, on the outside of the tents and in the snowy grounds, Percy was about to lose his shit on Bianca's little brother. Getting his own wound patched up by Grover, the son of Poseidon was left to entertain the younger boy, who was spilling out questions quicker than they could be answered.
Was he really the son of Poseidon? Yes. Could he surf really well? He'd never tried. Did he fight with Thalia a lot? He didn't answer, but the answer was yes. If Annabeth's mother was the goddess of wisdom, why didn't she know better than to fall off the cliff? Percy tried not to throttle the kid.
What happened to Laurie? He didn't know. Who was Laurie? A friend. Was she his girlfriend? Percy was this close to tossing the kid to one of the hunter's wolves to have for a snack.
Relieving Percy of all the questions, Zoe emerged from the tent and approached him.
"Percy Jackson." she called. "Come with me, Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."
Zoe led Percy into the farthest tent and waved him inside, where he found Bianca, Artemis, and a sleeping Laurie.
His eyes immediately fell on his old friend. He took note of the clean bandages that'd replaced the cloth around her wound, no blood visibly seeping through, which was a good sign.
He couldn't help but approach her, like a moth drawn to a dangerously beautiful flame.
"Is she ok—"
"Sleeping." Artemis interrupted him, nodding. "She will be alright, but overexhersion and blood loss do not mix well. Your friend has gone through lots of turmoil. What have you children been up to?"
Heck if he knew.
"That's a, um, good question." The boy responded, nervous under the goddess' gaze. It was taking everything in him not to refer to her as "your majesty" after hearing Zoe call her my lady. "Laurie's actually been uh . . . MIA the past months."
"I see." Artemis nodded. "Join us, Percy Jackson."
Tentatively, the boy did as he was told and sat across from the two girls with his legs crossed, squeamish under Artemis' studious gaze fixated on him.
