I 05. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ pinecone face ❞

     ARIADNE COLLIDED WITH PERCY AFTER BREAKFAST. They held their heads as it buzzed with pain, laying on the ground as the boy groaned in response. She sat up and notice him, deciding the boy should know about her dream and how Annabeth was in danger.

The girl grabbed one of his hands and pulled him to his feet as he stumbled. She kept a hold on his hand. "Perc, we've got a problem."

"What?" he asked. His eyes were wide as he looked at her taller height, somewhat forgetting how she was getting taller.

"Annabeth's in trouble."

Percy leaned forward, "Did you have the dream about her and Luke?"

This caught her by surprise. "Yeah. How..."

"I saw it to. I told Grover this morning. Apparently, Zoe has a dream last night about Artemis being lost."

She raised an eyebrow, "Lost?"

"That's what I said. But Grover told me she could've been kidnapped. Like, Kronos kidnapped."

Ariadne seemed deep in thought, channeling their blonde friend who was missing. Percy never really realized how much Annabeth and Ariadne do similar things. The brunette would use any knowledge or tactics she learned from the blonde. Annabeth would use fighting skills and other means of combat that she learned from Ariadne, they were close.

The brunette nodded. "If we had a nightmare the same night as Zoe, that means they're—"

"Connected," he finished off. The boy reached towards his back pocket and and pulled out a brochure for the Hunters of Artemis, handing it to her. "Grover found this in Annabeth's backpack, says they were scouting us."

"She-she wanted to join them?" Ariadne questioned, taking the brochure into her hands before looking over it. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Small pictures of maidens chasing monsters and shooting bows were in the inside, there was one of them all surrounding a fire as they smiled. Captions reading: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! And A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!

Percy's eyes turned sad. "That's what he thinks."

They both stood in silence as they looked over the brochure found in their friends backpack, wondering what she was thinking's Nd if she wanted to join. To be frank, Ariadne didn't want her to. The two girls were like sisters, and if one was gone, it wouldn't be the same.

But of course, if this was something Annabeth wanted, she would let her have it, because she loved the girl. If Annabeth would be happy as an immortal Huntress for Artemis, then that's what she could do.

Staring at that brochure was like a slap in the face—no. A punch in the gut. The original quartet could be down to a trio and their blonde friend could be gone if she agreed to join Artemis. Percy seemed to be upset over the idea that Annabeth could be leaving, and Grover didn't seem pleased, but Ariadne was torn to pieces.

Percy swallowed the knot in his throat. "Come on, we need to figure out a way to save her."

"Yeah," she nodded numbly. "Yeah, we need to..."

He noticed her pale face and the hands that crumpled the brochure. "Aidan?"

She raised her eyes to meet him before nodding, standing tall as color rushed back into her face. Her hands crushed the brochure before picking it into her pocket. "Come on, we need to figure out a plan, we can figure something out today."

"Chiron gave us separate activities."

Ariadne grabbed his hand, "Screw that."

She pulled him along and towards javelin-throwing class, neither wanting to be there. Her heart had sunk into her stomach, feeling sick anytime she thought of Annabeth, which was often through out the class.

While she focused and threw the javelin, landing it close to the bullseye, Percy ended up throwing it before an Are camper could jump out of the way. He successfully ripped a hole into the kid's pants while apologizing profusely, but they were kicked out.

Percy suggested they head to the pegasus stables, seeing as Ariadne has no clue how to deal with horses. He was going to try and help her but also figure out a plan to save Annabeth. On their way there, the brunette suggested they use Blackjack to fly off and find Annabeth, but neither knew where she was.

Silena was arguing with a Hunter in the stables, and as Percy was about to walk in, Ariadne steered him away so he wasn't verbally destroyed by two girls who could do so. He was confused by her actions but ultimately listens to her and they walked towards the chariot stands.

They sulked while sitting in them as she held her face in her hands, thinking of any way they could get their friend back. But she was no Annabeth or child of Athena.

Her eyes shifted to the strawberry fields covered in ice and snow, the girl itching to run over and see her brothers even though she knew they weren't there.

Chiron was conducting archery practice down at the archery fields, but she held off from talking with him. One this she had learned from her years at camp was that Chiron was like a two thousand year old nanny for all the demigods. He didn't want them to be out in danger when he didn't know all the details, and he would try to protect her and Percy as long as he could.

Her father and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that had been guarding the Golden Fleece, and she rolled her eyes at the sight of the man who she was related to.

Percy noticed her upset expression and nudges her shoulder. "What's up?"

She sighed before nodding at her dad who was walking along the hill with a look of distaste. The boy nodded before she shook her head. "I don't know why he's like that."

"You mean a drama queen who loves complaining?"

"No," she sent him a small smile. "I mean, why does he have to be so cruel towards everyone I'm friends with. Aside from me and my brothers, he hates everyone. And sometimes, I feel like he hates me."

The boy tilted his head. "Why would he hate you? I mean, he's nice to you and he's at camp, he gets your name right." He was referencing how Dionysus jacked up every campers name. Percy, for example, was known as Peter Johnson to the god.

She chuckled, "I guess. But at times, when I try to talk with him, he blows me off. It's like he doesn't care. And after everything with my mom, sometimes I just stop trying."

Percy watched as the girl looks back towards the chariot track which was now covered in snow, her hands on held out as a small vine poked through the thick layer of frozen water. The vines grows larger until it's crawling up her hand and nuzzling itself into her realm, as if it was a pet trying to get its owner's attention.

"You want a grape?"

He nodded with a smile on her face as a grape grew from the vine and into her palm. She handed it to him as he placed it into his Louth before chewing, watching as the vine twirled around her hand. "Can you, like, hear its thoughts?"

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Sometimes. It's living, so I guess. But, uh, most of the time it's just saying how much it loves me." Her hand lowered and the plant dove itself back through the snow and into the ground, disappearing from view.

The boy watched as no one was near the Big House and got an idea, grabbing the girl's hand before dragging her towards the structure. She clumsily followed and they both ran with blood roaring in their ears.

As they ran through and up he stairs, Ariadne realized she had never been in the attic or seen the Oracle before. As Percy pushed the trap door open and helped her in, she noticed how dark and dusty it was.

Junk was cluttered inside the room. War shields with monster bites out of them, some covered in burn or scratches. Swords were bent into the shape of daemon heads. A bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and orange python.

By the window rested a shriveled mummy in a hippie tie-dye dress, it sat upon a three-legged stool. The brunette watched as Percy stepped towards it, as if waiting for something.

"Hi," he said. "Uh, what's up?"

It felt cold in the attic, maybe because it was winter but the room had a large fire in it, nothing made sense to the girl.

"I have a question," Percy spoke a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth. How can I save her?"

There was no answer. Sunlight slanted through the dirty window, illuminating the small dust balls that floated around and Ariadne's necklace which was still empty around her neck.

Percy seemed to grow frustrated, "All right. Fine. I'll figure it out myself." He turned before bumping into a big table of souvenirs. Heroes stores all kinds of things there, she knew that Luke had stored the dragon claw which gave him his scar up there. A broken sword that read: This broke and Leroy was killed. 1999.

She noticed a silk pink scarf with a label attached, she picked it up before reading the tag:

SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO., BY ARIADNE PHOENIX AND PERCY JACKSON

"Percy," she said. He walked over and stared at it, seeming to have forgotten about it. The brunette had herself, never knowing how Annabeth got it from her. The girl had taken it from Percy on their first quest and told him no love magic, it was dangerous for him.

Annabeth stored it up here for an odd reason, all of them assumed she threw it away. The corpse across from them hadn't moved, and it looked as if she was smiling at them through the dark. The brunette did not like the attic, not one bit.

Percy seemed to drop the scarf and walk away, and the brunette threw it a glance before leaving it behind and following the boy.

Ariadne and Percy stood on the deck of the Big House while snow fell onto the ground, both of them having no plan. Annabeth was the brain of the operation, and without her, it didn't work.

Ariadne Phoenix and Percy Jackson were more lost then they had been since their first quest, and they both hated that feeling.

***

     DINNER WASN'T EXCITING UNTIL IT WAS OVER. A capture the flag game was on the move and heading towards them all, and they were prepared. Thirteen Hunters were playing, so it would be a small game. And luckily, there were about thirteen campers who were able to play as well.

Zoe seemed upset she was being forced to play, throwing hateful glances at Chiron. Ariadne thought it was because he wouldn't let her go after Artemis who she had a dream about, but the brunette was ready to crush them.

Lately, the Hunters has been getting in her nerves. Earlier after her and Percy parted ways after the visit to the Oracle, she was surprised to see a few Hunters outside Dionysus cabin. They were laughing in a huddle before stepping back to show that they had carved their names into the wood with a few arrows—Ariadne was beyond pissed.

They looked young, and seemed around the age of ten or so. She had shouted at them to leave her cabin alone, thus, scaring them half-to- death and forcing them to yell back. It soon turned into a full blown fight where they drew their bows and arrows and she swung her sword.

Zoe has to step in and order the Hunters to stand down, Percy having to grab Ariadne and pull her away. The Huntress proceeded to start scolding the brunette girl because of her need for violence, which caused Ariadne to throw a punch and sick the girl in the jaw.

Of course, that led to Chiron having to step in and ban the Hunters from coming anywhere near Dionysus cabin unless Ariadne allowed them to. Although, Zoe threw a fit and wanted the brunette to be punsihed, but she was shot down by the centaur and the other campers who stood up for the Dionysus girl.

Percy was cautious of her the rest of the day, spending every moment with her to make sure she didn't get into a fight with anyone. Surprisingly, the Ares campers backed her up and steered clear of the Hunters all day. Aphrodite cabin did the same, and a the Stolls offered to mess with them. And as much as she wanted to take them up on that offer, a disapproving look from Chiron's as enough to make her stop.

Nico launched into what seems like a billion questions ranging from her sword to if she had ever wanted to kill any of the Hunters ( she almost said yes to the boy but knew it wouldn't be the best impression ).

All the Hunters did not like her and vice versa, and so, they were intending to attack her with full force. Thalia had decided that she would be on defense of the flag seeing as she would be better protecting it then bashing some Hunter heads—even if she wanted to, Chiron said that was a 'splendid' idea.

Zoe must've told the Hunters her dream because they looked nervous and worried, some with puffy red eyes and she assumed they had been crying. They huddled together and strapped in their armor with nervous whispers and glanced in her direction.

Aphrodite cabin agrees to play when they heard they would be fighting against the Hunters. It was weird, seeing as the majority of the time they a would check their reflections in the river or chatted along the sidelines.

Ariadne's thigh and shoulder had cleared up, no pain in sight. She had removed the bandages from her wounds and took into the two circular white scars in her skin and shrugging them off.

"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena grumbled while strapping on her armor. "I'll pulverize them!"

And the brunette girl didn't doubt it.

Thalia, her and Percy were left.

"I'll take offense," Thalia volunteered. "You two tattle defense."

"Oh," Percy seemed hesitant while the brunette nodded. It seemed like he already had a plan in mind. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"

Their teammates were trying not to shake at the sight of Aegis on her arm, the bronze head of Medusa staring back at them all.

"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense," Thalia said. "Besides, you've had more practice at defense. Ariadne will be there to help you out, the Hunters will want to get a hit on her so they'll flock for the flag."

Percy seemed to glower at his memories of the game and his position as defense. The first year, Annabeth told Ariadne about her plan to put Percy on defense, and then the brunette has to kill a hellhound before it could mail him to death.

"Yeah, no problem." He was lying and Ariadne knew it.

"Cool," Thalia turned to help a few Aphrodite kids who were having trouble with their armor without breaking their nails.

Nico ran up to the other two with a large grin on his face. "Percy, Ariadne, this is awesome!" He had a blue-feathered plume on his head was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was way to big for his small frame. And once again, Nico reminded her of when Percy first came to camp.

He lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

"Well... no," Percy gave Ariadne a glance as she shrugged.

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides—" Percy told him.

"It would be awesome if we just, like; resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"

"Nico, this is serious," Percy scolded. "These can hurt."

Nico seemed a bit disappointed by being shut down, Percy pats him on the shoulder. "Hey, its  cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."

Ariadne sent Percy a raised eyebrow and smirk, "Sally much?"

The boy gave her a small glare, "Shut up."

Nico looked between them as he watched them smile at one another, "Are you two sure you're not dating?"

As the girl opened her mouth, Chiron's hoof thundered onto the pavilion floor. "Heroes! You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic are allowed. To your positions!"

"Sweet," Nico whispered. "What kind of Magic's items? Do I get one?"

As Percy was about to speak, Thalia shouted, "Blue team! Follow me!"

They all cheered, Ariadne taking off and leaving Percy to catch up. As he ran, he tripped over someone's shield, causing him to face plant. The girl let out a laugh as it echoed along the trees, catching up with Thalia.

Blue team's flag rested at the top of Zeus's Fist. It was a cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods. The top Boulder was twenty feet tall and was a hard climb to the top, the flag was visible and Percy and Ariadne weren't sighing ten feet of it.

Nico was set with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers on guard duty, he's be safe with them.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."

Everyone nodded, hoping it would work.

The daughter of Zeus looked at Percy. "Anything to add, Percy?"

It slightly bugged Ariadne that she asked Percy to be the co-captain, seeing as the brunette had down this more times than he had. It was also frustrating that Thalia stuck her on defense when she could easily grab the flag.

"Um, yeah," Percy said. "Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's  not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your posts!" Thalia followed up.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," Percy added.

Thalia sent him a scowl, "Just don't leave you post."

"Right, unless—"

"Percy!" Thalia touches his arm and shocked him. The boy seemed to flinch at the feeling of electricity before Ariadne rolled her eyes and pushed passed them to address the group.

"Silena's team, you can go." Silena nodded before taking her team into the woods, disappointing into the trees. Ariadne looked at Thalia, "I can come with you, there's no point for me to be one defense of you've got Percy. You can use my firepower to grab the flag and run."

Thalia's eyes narrowed before she gave a nod. "Sorry," she said to Percy. "Now, is everybody clear?"

They all nodded before taking off. The horn sounded and the game had begun, Ariadne throwing Percy a smile before following Thalia to the right of the woods, seeing as Silena's group went left.

Thalia led them through the woods as they watched their backs for any Hunters. Ariadne has Lunacy in hand while she made sure her powers were ready to use. Vines were sneaking behind them under the snow, she made sure of it.

She noticed the flag in the clearing with one guard, as she was ready to spring forward and grab it, the guard was knocked to groundThe guard was Bianca and the person who knocked him down was Percy who had the flag in hand.

As he ran towards the clearing, a silver cord skimmed his ankles before knocking into the tree next to him—trip wire. He couldn't stop and fell down hard against the snow.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled. "What are you doing

Before the girl could reach him, an arrow exploded at her feet and yellow smoke billowed from the arrow head and into the team's face. Ariadne quickly covered her mouth before wig could reach her as her team coughed and gagged. It was the smell of sulfur.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Fart arrows aren't unsportsmanlike!"

As Percy got up to start running again, arrows whizzed past his ears as Ariadne swatted them away with her sword. A hunter slashed at him with her knife but he worried and kept running.

On their side of the creek, Beckendorf and Nico ran out. They were chasing Zoe who was running as quick as a cheetah, blue team flag in hand.

"No!" Percy yelled.

Ariadne knocked a Hunter over the head with the hilt of her sword, but an arrow imbedded itself into her thigh—right where her bullet scar was. She screamed out before the vines sprung, and before they could reach Zoe—who was crossing her boundary line—they were cut down by a Hunter with a knife.

The Hunters cheered as both side converged at the creek. Chiron appeared with the Stolls on his back, both looking like they were ready to faint. "The Hunters win!" Chiron announced with displeasure. "For the fifty-sixty time in a row," he muttered.

Ariadne was helped up by Silena and Beckendorf who gave her a smile. The girl noticed the arrow was still sticking in her thigh, as Silena went to rip it out. She was stopped. "Don't," Ariadne grunted. "Keeps the blood in."

"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yelled, her eyes alight with lightning and electricity courses across her armor. Aegis seemed even more threatening than before, and Silena and Beckendorf pulled the brunette a bit away from the two arguing demigods. "What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?!"

Percy's fists clenched and the brunette knew that wasn't a good sign. "I got the flag, Thalia! I saw a chance and I took it!"

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" she yelled. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't bugged in, we would've won."

"You has too many on you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" Thalia pushes the boy and sparks shocked his body and sent him backward into the water. A few Hunters stifled laughs but stopped once a few vines snapped them. "Sorry!" Thalia was pale. "I didn't mean to—"

But it was too late, the brunette knew Percy was far to angry to stop. Ariadne used Beckendorf's shoulder to help herself stand as she moved towards Percy. "Perc, you need to—"

She was cut off as a wave erupted form the creek and doused Thalia from head to toe. Percy stood up with his nostrils flared and hands clenched. "Yeah," he growled. "I didn't mean to, either."

Thalia breathed heavily.

"Enough!" Chiron ordered.

Thalia held out her spear and ignored him. "You want some, Kelp Head?"

Percy didn't like the way she said the nickname, preferring when Ariadne did. "Bring it on, Pinecone Face!"

He raised Riptide, and before he could even blink, Thalia yelled as a blast of lightning struck down from the sky and hit her spear, slamming it into Percy's chest.

"NO!" Ariadne yelled. And unfortunately for her, she napped to be hit with some water and electricity courses through the water and hit the girl in her back, causing her to fall into Silena and Beckendorf's arms.

"Thalia!" Chiron said. "That is enough!"

Percy rose to his feet and wiped the whole creek to rise into a massive funnel of water. "Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

As he was about to hurl it, he dropped it at the sight of someone in the woods. Thalia whipped around to see who it was as someone approached them... shrouded in murky green mist. Campers and Hunters gasped as it grew closer.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. "It... she had never left the attic. Never."

The withered mummy body of the Oracle shuffled forward with green mist swirling at her feet. She stood in the center of the group before hissing her voice in everyone's head.

Everyone could hear it, some placing their hands over their ears. "I am the spirit of Delphi," it hissed. "Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python."

The Oracle faced Percy and Ariadne before turning to Zoe. "Approach, Seeker, and ask."

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

As the Oracle's mouth opened, they could see green mist pouring out. A vague image of a mountain appeared ahhh a girl at its peak. Artemis was wrapped in chains fettered for the rocks. She was kneeling with her hands raised to fend off her attacker, she as in pain.

"Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

Must retreated back into the mummy's mouth as they watched. The Oracle sat down on a rock and become still, as if she might sit there for a hundred years.