Chapter two ✴ Cry of pain

TROUBLE SEEMS to follow Giselle since she met Percy Jackson. After going with him on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt, the girl couldn't catch a break for just a second. She loves her best friend, don't get her wrong, he's the person that understands her the most beside her cousins, but he really needed to stay put and not run away from them.

"He really needs to stay out of trouble," Annabeth mumbled as she, Giselle, Thalia and Grover ran though the empty halls of the school, trying to find where Dr. Thorn has taken their friend and two unclaimed demigods.

"Ann, it's Percy we're talking about," Giselle said, pushing the heavy doors of the school open.

They ran outside, following footsteps they saw were left in the snow. The woods had opened up. The four of them crouched down behind the bush, watching the monster's back. Giselle could see a cliff overlooking the sea in front of the monster and Percy, Bianca and Nico standing close to the edge.

"The package ─ it is ready to deliver." said Dr. Thorn.

There was a garbled reply from what the brunette could make out, and she realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode.

Percy glanced behind him.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."

"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.

"I'll explain later," Percy said.

"You do have a plan, right?"

The boy didn't answer.

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said, "You do not realize who I am, do you?"

Giselle's eyes went wide as she saw a flicker of movement from in front of her and a missile whistled close to Percy's ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn ─ tail.

Shit.

"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I. . ." her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."

"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

"Luke," Percy said. "You work for Luke."

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when Percy said the boys name. Giselle's jaw tightened, her face empty of any expression as she heard a name of her old friend that tried to kill them all on multiple occasions. She never wants to think about that boy again ─ someone who she used to look up to, someone who taught her what she knows, someone who she trusted first. She hated him, never wanting to see him again.

He's dead to her.

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" Percy asked in French accent that made Giselle's face slowly relax, "I mean. . . who's the General?"

Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

The girl watched as light appeared in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then she heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.

"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and ─ "

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well. . . there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great what?" Percy asked.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all ─l the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts."

"What's our plan?" Giselle asked, turning to face the rest hiding behind the bush.

"I'll get Percy and the other two out of the way," Annabeth said as she put on her invisibility hat on, "You three then charge in."

"Seems like a plan to me." Thalia said, preparing her shield and spear.

Giselle's hands went into her pocket, her fingers wrapping around a familiar object, "Let's go."

WEARING HER CAP of invisibility, Annabeth plowed into the di Angelos and Percy, knocking them to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over their heads. This gave Giselle, Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind ─ Giselle with her celestial bronze bow and arrow and Thalia wielding her magic shield. It was a shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses ─ also called Aegis ─ a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"

Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind Percy, but he didn't dare look. Dr. Thorn got to his feet after the throw and launched another volley of missiles at Thalia. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.

It gave time for Giselle to jump from behind the bush and started shooting. Daughter of Urania notched arrow after arrow to the monster, her aim precious, her shooting clear. She was one of the best ones in the Camp, battling her skills with Apollo kids. 

Grover sprang forward beside her. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play ─ a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.

Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form ─ his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she'd plowed into Percy, Bianca and Nico.

"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

Giselle didn't know what he was talking about, but she didn't have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward Percy and the rest with a snarl.

"Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow.

At the last second, Percy remembered his own shield. He hit his wrist watch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from his brother, Tyson, was badly damaged.

Percy heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to him with a thud. 

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia and Giselle yelled in union from across the field, standing next to each other with weapons drawn.

Thalia charged the monster and Giselle kept shooting arrows, and for a second, Percy thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind them. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster?

The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

"No!"

"Thalia!"

Percy parried away a spike just before it would've hit Thalia's chest. He raised his shield over the two, but Giselle knew it wouldn't be enough. The brunette notched an arrow, her right eye closed, her hand steady and breath heavy. With a deep breath in, the girl unleashed the arrow, her aim right at the monster's chest. The arrow pierced its skin, the monster stumbling a bit from the impact. 

And then a clear, piercing sound was heard around: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.

"No," Dr. Thorn said as his hand broke the arrow that was stuck in his chest in half, howling in pain. "It cannot be ─ "

His sentence was cut short when something shot past Giselle like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried.

He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but her eyes must've been playing tricks on her. She knew they weren't. She grinned.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Percy tried to swipe at him with his sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged Percy's attack and slammed his tail into his shield, knocking the boy aside.

Behind the girl, the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like Giselle herself. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They stood next to the brunette as she still had her weapon in her hands.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

Next to Percy, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. "Permission to kill, my lady?"

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws." 

"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than Giselle, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made the girl catch her breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." she looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoë, permission granted."

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at Thalia and Percy, knowing they were weak and dazed.

"No!" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.

"Ann!" Giselle screamed, her hand dropping her bow as she lunged forward towards her best friend. Her movements haltered as a pair of hands grabbed her from behind onto her biceps, preventing her from running into her death

"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said. "Get out of the line of fire!"

But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.

"Fire!" Zoë ordered.

"No!" Giselle screamed.

But the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"

And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.

"Annabeth!" Giselle yelled.

She wrestled out of the person's grip, them not expecting her strength, and started to run after her, but their enemies weren't done with them. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter ─ the sound of gunfire. Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.

"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust ─ no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds ─ ravens, which scattered into the night. The Hunters advanced on them. The one called Zoë stopped short when she saw Thalia.

"You," she said with distaste.

"Zoë Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoe scanned the rest of them. "Five half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

"Yes," the younger girl said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Annabeth!" Giselle yelled. "You have to let us save her!"

The auburn-haired girl turned toward the boy. "I'm sorry, Giselle Wright, but your friend is beyond help."

No. No. No. Giselle shook her head, hands creeping towards her hair, twisting and turning strands of it. Her mind not processing the words that escaped the girl's mouth. She didn't care about what was happening around her. She pushed her way through the crowd of girls and no matter how hard they tried to stop her, they couldn't cage her. Her breathing was heavy, her head was pounding. A ball of grief and pain shot through her chest at the mere thought of loosing her best friend, her other half. Her knees buckled and she lost footing underneath her, hitting the snow covered ground as a cry of pain echoed into the empty night.

"We should go and search for Annabeth," Percy said from somewhere behind the girl. The boy tried to struggle to his feet, but a couple of the girls held him down.

"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl said.

"Let me go!" Percy demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

Zoë stepped forward as if to smack me.

"No," the other girl ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."

The young girl looked at Percy, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon.

"I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

"Um. . . okay." 

Giselle composed herself for a bit, leaning against Thalia who had her arm wrapped around the girl's waist. Tear-stained cheeks, she was glaring at Zoë ─ the other girl staring back at her with a blank expression. She told the rest of the Hunters to shoot at Annabeth ─ Zoë was dead in Giselle's books for even thinking of doing it.

But Percy's answer was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so. . . you're so. . . Wow!"

"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped, her hand gripping Giselle's skin. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who. . . who are you people?"

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

"Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but. . ." she faltered. Giselle guessed she could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her. "What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a half-blood," Zoë Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian. . . athlete?"

"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for ─ "

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

"We're standing in front of one," Giselle mumbled, the only thought going through her head was to search for her. But she also couldn't help but feel sorry for the di Angelos. No one wanted to be a demigod, to fight monsters, to be a hero. It all sounded nice, but the reality of it is much harsher. Many didn't survive. Many were killed. Many were just lost on the quests. Their world ─ the demigod world ─ was scary as fuck.

Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well... Our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."

Thalia turned away. Giselle bit her lip to prevent herself from crying once more.

Even Artemis looked pained. "Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" Percy asked.

"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

Giselle still wanted to jump off the cliff and search for her, but she had a feeling that Artemis was right. Annabeth was gone. If she'd been down there in the sea, Percy would've be able to feel her presence.

"Oo!" Nico raised his hand. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."

"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains. . . Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"

"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

"That's why Grover has been watching you," Percy said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."

"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr, actually." he kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. Giselle thought Bianca was going to faint right there.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia said. "You're freaking her out."

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

"Bianca," Percy said, "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," Percy said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't ─ "

"There is another option," Zoë said.

"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.

Thalia and Zoë glared at each other, and all Giselle could do was sigh at the exchange.

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while. . . as a favor to me?"

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp. Zoë gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things.

As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so. . . Argh!"

Giselle kept quiet, not wanting to express her own opinion about the Hunters.

"I'm with Thalia on this one," Percy said. "I don't trust ─ "

"Oh, you're with me?" Thalia turned on the boy furiously. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster! 

"If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here." Thalia glared at Percy icily, "Did you think of that?"

Giselle bit her tongue from saying anything more to fuel the fire. A part of her was agreeing with Thalia and her outburst, but the other part was on Percy's side too. If he hadn't gone after di Angelos, they would have lost two seemingly powerful demigods. But now Annabeth is gone. She's gone from her grasp. She's out there somewhere, away from her.

Her eyes roamed around, scanning their surrounding before falling onto something. She crouched down, her fingers gracing the navy blue material that was lying in the snow at her feet. Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.

Thalia didn't say another word. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off, leaving Giselle alone with Percy and a trampled cap in the snow.