Chapter 6 – The Name Game
"Hey Viking boy, I'm supposed to be training you today. Make yourself useful for once and get some bows and a stock of arrows from the armory." Thalia told Percy as she rattled her spear loudly against the tree that Percy had created a homely hammock out of. He didn't expect to be around the hunters for an extreme amount of time, but he had heard exactly why this would be a worthy task for them to like him.
"Viking boy? What's up with that Thals?" He issued, jumping down from the tree and landing gracefully on his feet. He noticed an ever so slight blush at the use of the nickname but waved it off.
"Well what else could I call you? Sparky? It would be a bit hypocritical don't you think?" She asked quizzically. Percy could only laugh, he still hadn't quite wrapped his head around this entire idea that there were Greek gods, but he was hardly one to talk, he was the son of the god king of the Vikings.
"Yeah, I forgot that your dad is the light bulb of Olympus." He smiled happily. His grin only grew wider when he heard thunder rumble overhead, he smirked towards the graying sky as if challenging Zeus to try and strike him down.
"Hmm, he's figured out that you're basically lightning proof. He's not too happy about that." Thalia frowned, still glancing off to the side of the forest before she snapped back to her senses. "What are you still doing standing around like an idiot for? I told you to get the bows." She snapped which caused Percy to run off to the main camp without another word. Percy still got looks of disdain from many of the hunters but he had figured out where his area of safety lied. Thalia was neutral ground which was good because like him, she had her head to the ground, which was a strange sentence considering they both had a domain of power in the manipulation of lightning bolts. Lady Artemis herself was more of a curiosity to Percy and he got the feeling that she was more curious about him more often than disliking his presence. The only other two hunters that didn't try to run him through on the spot were Atalanta and Phoebe, but he'd still need to work on them before they accepted him.
Lady Artemis was sitting on a bench inside the armory, almost like she was waiting for Percy to appear. "Odinson." She stated. Percy looked over towards her and seeing as she only stated his formal title, he decided that she must just have been greeting him.
"Jackson, it's only Odinson if I succeed with my task." He responded and continued to gather two sets of everything Thalia would need for the training.
"I will be overseeing your training today. I can't have you accidentally strike down the moon or sun, as funny as it would be to see Apollo falling out of the skies." Artemis smirked slightly at the thought of Percy's arrow striking Apollo's chariot. Which was really not worthy of being called a chariot anymore.
Percy smiled at the image that Artemis gave him and decided that now he'd been claimed, he would try out his other inherited powers from the Allfather. "Well, one would have thought that a God as 'cool' as APOLLO would make a quick recovery from something like that." Percy grinned as he felt a tug in his gut as the power behind his mind started to come into play. Artemis frowned, realizing that something was up. A moment later Apollo appeared in the armory, standing between Percy and Artemis.
"Yo, did someone say my name?" He asked casually, looking at the scene from behind his sunglasses. Artemis glared at her brother then at Percy who looked back at her with fake innocence. "We shall discuss this later Percy. Apollo get out of my camp." Artemis demanded. He nodded in agreement.
"Perce, we need to hit the town one day. Those mortal girls will be all over the whole son of Odin thing, trust me." Apollo grinned, flashing out just in time to avoid a severe case of 'Silver arrow to the temple'. Percy turned to Artemis with a frown.
"What's with all of these nicknames? Perce, Viking boy. Sparky." Percy listed off. Artemis got the urge to add one more to the list, just to see his face. "Don't forget Perseus." She gave a friendly smile, but behind the smile was a grin of evil.
Percy paled instantly, "You are under no circumstances to be allowed to call me that horrendous name." He said in fear, almost flinching when she replied, "If you say so Perseus, but honestly nothing you can say or do will stop me." She grinned back at him. This time Percy seemed to have composed himself a little bit. He had the bows and arrows at the ready in his hands and he was now standing half way in the doorway to the armory before he turned back to her, his mouth formed a lopsided grin that Artemis couldn't help but feel the color rising in her cheeks from.
"Well if you want to play it like that then I suppose that I can't stop you Arty, game on." He laughed before ducking out of the way of an arrow that sailed through the open tent flap and cleared the camp. By the time Artemis had reached the outside of the armory Percy had already disappeared. "Damn him and his godly speed." She cursed. And his amazing smile. She thought before mentally slapping herself. What the Hades was that!? Did she just admit that Percy was attractive? This could not have been happening? Sure she would admit every couple of centuries that the odd male was attractive or good looking, but it was more than that, she found herself starting to respect the son of Odin for more than that. Was she starting to like Percy Jackson?