“You weren’t joking. There is a Goddess and a bunch of teenage warriors camping outside this house.” I say, awestruck. This is so… weird. But where’s the Goddess?
“Max, you said you would talk to the boy, and come back. Not anything about bringing a whole company of boys out,” one of the girls says. She has long, flowy auburn hair. I notice all the other girls shying away from the boys, and vaguely wonder why.
“I figured the situation changed since there was a monster sitting in there that attacked them. Also, they’re all clearsighted. Well, except those two,” She gestures to Libby and Nash. “I don’t know about them. But I thought you would be better at explaining how the Hunters work.”
“We’ll get this figured out,” another girl says. She has very short black hair and electric blue eyes.
“Sorry. But I did talk to him. So that’s taken care of.”
“Good job. Ok, everyone listen up!” The one with the auburn hair says, calling everyone to attention.
“Where’s Artemis?” I blurt. “I thought she was supposed to be here.”
“That would be me,” she says. No way that’s the Goddess. She only looks like 14.
“Oh! Sorry, I was just expecting someone a little…”
“Older?” She asks, raising an eyebrow. “I prefer to manifest in a form similar to that of my followers. But that’s unimportant. So my followers forswear all romantic love to gain immortality except during battle, and come hunt with me.”
“So, like, no dating?” Jameson asks, looking back at Xander, who’s standing a few feet away from everyone else, uncharacteristically quiet.
“No dating. But now, we must make arrangements.”
“For what?” Avery asks.
“Your security.”
“I can assure you that that is very well handled,” Oren says, stepping out of the shadows.
“I don’t doubt your capabilities to defend everyone here against mortals, but if more monsters come, then you will need a demigod on hand.”
“Why can’t Max just stay here?” Avery asks.
“In other circumstances, maybe she would be able to. But since she just joined, we need to teach her how to hunt.”
“I thought that the monsters only come for demigods? Wouldn’t stationing one here just make it worse?” Libby asks.
“Normally we wouldn’t have to, but since there are so many of you here with clearsight, they might come anyway. Thalia, would you send an Iris Message to Chiron?”
“Got it,” The one with the spiky black hair says. “Is there a fountain here somewhere?”
“There are plenty,” Jameson says.
“I’ll show you to the closest one,” Xander volunteers. They walk away, leaving the rest of us to wonder what the heck an Iris Message is. A few minutes later, they come back, and Thalia has a look on her face that says I’m so sorry for all of you.
“Leo Valdez. Chiron is sending Leo Valdez to look after them,” she says. “But he refuses to come without his girlfriend and bronze dragon.” My brain pretty much stopped functioning after she said bronze dragon, but apparently it was arranged that he would come tomorrow, and the hunters would leave then.
“So how long is this for?” Avery asks.
“That’s hard to say. It depends on how things with Leo go,” Artemis says.
“With Leo, things can never go well. Are you sure we can’t leave before he gets here?” Thalia asks.
“For the last time, no. I’ll have to talk to him.”
“I’ll be in the tents then.”
“You guys can come sleep inside, now that we know you’re here,” Avery says.
“Thank you, but most of my girls prefer to stay outdoors,” Artemis replies. This conversation is getting boring, so I go over to where Xander is sitting on a bench.
“How are you holding up?” I ask him.
“Been better. I’ve also been worse. Max broke up with me before the whole monster attack thing. I thought it was some wild excuse, or that she was hallucinating or something, but I don’t think that’s it.”
“Yeah. It looks like all of this is very real.”
“And it’s terrifying.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll make it.” I give him a hug. “You’re taking this really well.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Even though I think you’re incapable of getting mad at someone, you haven’t said one bad thing about Max.”
“Well, this is what she wants. So if I care about her at all, I should let her.”
“That’s really sweet of you. How about we go get some scones?” I say. He looks at me and gives me a small smile.
“Scones are always a good idea.”