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In Which the Fates Are Not Amused
Percy watched as Thalia was enveloped in a silvery, shimmering glow as she finished her oaths to Artemis, and he turned almost unconsciously to Annabeth, who was watching with a determined look on her face. He knew that look. Annabeth had made her mind up, and there would be no changing it. Percy was even pretty sure that he knew what was going to happen. Annabeth was a good friend to him, probably his best, but Thalia was practically family to the child of Athena. Especially now, after all of Luke’s betrayals, she wasn’t going to let Thalia go. Maybe a few months earlier, Percy would have tried to get her to reconsider, hoping for a potential relationship, but they had talked about it one night, and decided to remain friends for now. So, Percy knew exactly what was happening when Annabeth strode forwards, only pausing to kneel before Artemis herself.
“My lady, if you will have me, I will join your Hunters as well,” Annabeth declared, and the gods broke out into murmurs around us. “I cannot abandon my sister in all but blood and my oldest friend, not now, not ever. And I would gladly dedicate myself to your mission of ridding the world of monsters year-round.”
Artemis gave Annabeth a broad smile, even as Athena sighed.
“Are you sure of this, my daughter?” the goddess of wisdom asked.
“I am, mother,” Annabeth said steadily. “I had been considering it even before the events of this winter. I will certainly miss some of my friends,” she admitted, half glancing back at Percy, “But I know that this is the right path for me.”
“Very well,” Athena said, sitting back. “I will not oppose you on this. I trust you to know your own mind.”
So, Annabeth began to recite the same oaths that Thalia had done just a few minutes before, the daughter of Zeus beaming at the daughter of Athena as she did so. Percy frowned. He had seen this coming, ever since he had seen the brochure with the information on the Hunters on it. Maybe it would have been different if he and Annabeth had shared a stronger emotional connection, but Percy knew that they hadn’t spent enough time together for that to really be a factor. And what was a potential boyfriend when you were fourteen compared to an eternal sisterhood who would always support you, never abandon or betray you, and you got to enjoy eternal youth with?
Percy mulled that over and realized that he really didn’t have much of a leg to stand on if he wanted to be upset about this, other than losing what had become two of his closest friends at camp. Heck, if he was in their shoes, he would be doing the same thing! It was just… unfortunate that this would leave him basically alone at camp, by himself in Poseidon’s cabin without any of the friendly faces that had understood him and supported him through thick and thin, especially now that Grover was out and about in the world, looking for Pan. No, Percy got it. In fact, if he was a girl, he would be thinking about joining up with the Hunters himself! Replace boyfriend with girlfriend in the prior scenario, and Percy knew which way he would be going.
Wait.
Wait a minute.
Percy thought back to his accidental encounter with a bathing Artemis, her threats, and some of the legends he had read up on afterward. Artemis had turned someone else into a girl. Siprites? Siprotes? Sipriotes? Whatever. The point was, she could do it. Had done it. Percy figured that other gods and goddesses could also turn him into a girl, if needed, but Artemis was the goddess that mattered here, and after taking the weight of the sky for her, he figured that he was probably in her good books and wouldn’t smite him for asking. In fact, speaking of smiting, this would get him out of the prophecy and Zeus’s crosshairs too! Nico was a little younger than he was, sure, but Percy knew that more time for training and preparation for the war with Kronos could only be a good thing. This really was the perfect solution!
Across the room, next to Artemis, Thalia must have seen his unconscious grin, because her eyes narrowed.
“Um, Lady Artemis?” Percy asked, trying to cut in before Thalia could ruin his plan, now that Annabeth’s oaths were complete.
“Yes, Perseus?” the goddess of the hunt asked.
Percy thought furiously for the best way to ask his question, but as the seconds stretched out, he realized that he was just going to have to go for it.
“Canyouturnmeintoagirl?” he asked in a rush, the words almost tripping over each other as they tumbled out of his mouth. “I also want to join the Hunters,” he managed, a little slower and more comprehensible this time.
Pandemonium ensured.
“What?!” Thalia barked, while Annabeth almost fell over as she whipped around in shock, her mouth wide open.
“Seaweed Brain?” she asked in confusion and surprise.
All around us, the gods and goddesses were shouting over each other, mostly about the implications for the prophecy and if they could wait. Some of them, mostly Apollo and Ares, were whining about Artemis getting even more powerful demigods sworn to her name, but Percy didn’t care about their opinions as much as his dad’s and Artemis’s. The god of the ocean was staring at Percy, questioningly at first, but then his gaze softened. Percy thought he understood, given some of their conversations and his fears of being alone, let alone his fatal flaw of loyalty. Was it any wonder it would drag him after his friends?
Artemis, on the other hand, had cocked her head to the side, examining him like a set of fresh tracks she needed to follow. She ignored the shouting of the gods all around her and stared deep into his eyes. Finally, she stretched out an arm, beckoning him forward. His legs shaking a little despite himself, Percy did as she bid, coming to stand in front of her.
“Kneel,” the goddess told him softly but firmly, putting her hands on either side of his face.
Percy did so, and the gods watching them quieted down as a peal of thunder crashed.
“Artemis,” Zeus began hesitantly.
“No, Father,” Artemis said in that same, soft, sure voice. “I have seen his heart. He genuinely seeks what the Hunt would offer him. He would devote himself to the Hunt and to me. You cannot deny him his choice. Or, I should say, her choice.”
At Artemis’s words, a flash of silver fire swept over Percy, and he could feel his body shifting, changing. His hair lengthened, his waist shrank, his chest grew… The changes were everywhere, and when it ended, Percy felt fairly different. Not a bad different, and Percy knew that this would take some serious adjusting to, but Percy did it for a reason. He could handle it, especially with the support of his best friends.
“Recite the oath, Persephone Jackson,” Artemis said, a brilliant smile on her face.
Percy grinned, very much liking that he, or she, rather, still had the same nickname even as the goddess renamed her.
“I pledge myself to Artemis,” she began, idly noting the changes in her voice, but before she could get any further, a blast of force threw her back.
Percy rolled, uncapping Riptide as she tumbled to her feet, feeling slightly unsteady in her new body, but still ready to defend Olympus against whatever threat this was. She refused to let the Titans get their hands on Bessy!
“Oh, no you don’t!” A familiar voice growled, and Percy realized that instead of the Titans, Luke, or another one of their minions, it was three familiar old ladies. The Fates, she realized with a gulp.
“You demigods have been showing a lot of nerve lately,” one of them snarled. “Trying to avoid the prophecy like it’s a hot potato! This is the third time in a row!”
“Sure, the Di Angelo twins had help from their father,” the Fate on the right said. “But they would have fulfilled the prophecy decades ago, like they should have, if they hadn’t been in hiding with the Lotus Eaters.”
“Then Thalia happened,” the Fate in the middle growled. “First, she got turned into a tree, which frustrated things, and then today, a single day before the prophecy would have activated, locking us in at last, she joins the Hunters.”
“Now, Percy is doing her best to duck her responsibility as well!” the first Fate exclaimed, whirling on the gods, who flinched back in fear, even Zeus.
“That’s not exactly what-” Percy volunteered weakly, but the Fates were having none of it.
“Oh, don’t bother lying to us, Persephone,” the Fates hissed in unison. “This was not how your fate was supposed to go, and you know it!”
“I do?” Percy asked, terrified but also now a little confused.
“Your feelings for Annabeth and hers for you were supposed to have developed to the point that she wouldn’t seek to join the Hunt, and the two of you would have gone on to get married, fall disgustingly in love, and have a semi-feral pack of children between you,” the Fate on the left said, sounding disgusted. “You would have leaned on each other, overcome great hardships and sacrifices, and eventually defeated the Titans, banishing Kronos. Now everything is up in the air!”
“What about Nico?” Percy asked, aware that she may be opening herself up to further criticism, but nobody else seemed willing to engage the angry Fates, and they seemed to have some fairly important information to share.
“The remaining Di Angelo is too young for the conflict that is brewing. Reality itself would strain trying to keep the conflict in tension for years more yet, and the battles would be apocalyptic in nature as a result,” the Fate on the right said. “And you were definitely thinking about pawning the prophecy off on him!”
“Now,” the middle Fate said, looking somewhat grim. “Now, things are going to get interesting. You’re not swearing to Artemis, Percy, not yet. Not until the day you turn sixteen, and not one second before. This prophecy is yours, and no one else is going to be fulfilling it. Do you understand us?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Percy squeaked, her voice definitely a higher pitch than it had been before.
“The skeins of Fate are tangled,” the Fates spoke to the gods staring at them in shock as one, their voices layering into one terrifying harmony. “What was to come has changed and untangling them will take time. The war with the Titans still approaches, however, so do not lose sight of your enemy or your goals.”
“We understand, Lady Fates,” Zeus managed. “Our war preparations will continue apace.”
“See to it that they do,” the middle Fate said, and then the trio of old women were gone.
In the background, the gods began once again shouting over each other, blaming their fellow Olympians for not stopping certain things from happening or allowing the skeins of fate to become tangled, or even for not helping Annabeth and Percy fall in love (as apparently Aphrodite felt very vindicated now), but Percy was focused on Artemis. The goddess of the hunt was looking at her with a bemused look on her face, as if she wasn’t quite sure of where to go from here.
“Well, Percy,” Artemis finally said. “It appears that your oath will have to wait a little longer. But don’t worry! I doubt that Zeus will let you stay with your sisters full time until you swear yourself to me properly, so you’ll likely be splitting your time between me and Camp Half-Blood, but that will give you plenty of time to get used to your new body, and now that you’re a girl, I can still give you my blessing, so we can start your training in earnest. Just don’t fall in love with a boy. I like you as you are now, and I don’t plan on changing you back.”
“Right,” Percy said, feeling a little dazed by it all, but happy to hear that at least Artemis had his back still, and would even be helping him train.
“We’ll talk more later,” Artemis assured him, and then she grew in size as she seated herself back on her throne to join in the fuller discussion between the gods.
“Percy?” Thalia asked, coming up from where the Fates’ blast of power had dumped her and Annabeth. “Are you okay?”
“Seaweed Brain? Do you know what you’ve gotten yourself into?” Annabeth asked dubiously, looking about as overwhelmed by everything that had just happened as Percy felt.
Percy chewed her lip for a moment as she thought over the question, and then she shrugged and grinned.
“It looks like I’ve gotten myself into sisterhood,” she said cheekily. Thalia groaned, Annabeth slugged her in the shoulder, and Percy began to believe that this whole mess might just turn out okay after all, even if it hadn’t exactly gone as she had planned. But that was nothing new.