Artemis

Looking back on it, Annabeth's move was brilliant. Wearing her cap of invisibility, she 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 Thalia, Y/N, Harris and Grover a chance to advance from behind—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis. Y/N had taken out her arrow and bow, target fixed while Harris was in front of her with his sword. Almost like, he was protecting her from getting harmed by Dr. Thorn while she was getting prepared to shoot.

Thalia uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modelled 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!" She jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, which immediate shot towards her, but was momentarily stopped by Y/N when she used her arrow to shoot his arm. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield 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. No one did. One small glance and they would be blasted off.

Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia with his tail—a leathery, scorpion-like tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.

Grover sprang forward. 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. Harris deflected off every time it came towards him and Y/N when they were running towards Percy and the kids, while she tried to aim at his eye. It would be easier to hurt him if she used her voice after that and the rest left the room.

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

"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!"

The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward them 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 wristwatch, 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, was badly damaged.

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

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, they 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!" Percy ran out to help her. He parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest. He raised his shield over them, but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

They were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. They had no chance.

Then they heard a clear, piercing sound: Y/N's voice. The room started shaking as the manticore tried to look at her direction but the soundwaves were too strong. The glasses and weeds that were lying on the ground, all flew towards him, blinding him in the process. His tail was now slashing at their direction, and Harris was trying his best to deflect it.

Y/N coughed and was about to scream again when they heard 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. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past Percy 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 their eyes must've been playing tricks on them. No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.

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 his attack and slammed his tail into his shield, knocking him aside.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about sixteen. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

[ TIME SKIP ]

Long story short, Artemis saved the day. Annabeth fell off the cliff and vanished - no one could sense her anywhere. Bianca and Nico were currently having a hard time digesting the information given to them. Well, it never came as a nice surprise to any half-bloods for the first time. Thalia was angrier than ever before while Y/N stared at the cliff.

It didn't matter how bitter she felt whenever she recalled her memory of Annabeth admitting the truth of how she knew about her feelings for Percy. In the end, their friendship was far stronger to let a boy come and break it into pieces.

She looked at Harris who was patched up and walking towards her, along with a girl beside him.

"You need to fix the rest," she said and left. Y/N was finally able to see what she was talking about when she noticed dried blood in his ears.

Oh!

She gasped and pulled him down to it beside her. He smiled at her as she closely inspected his ear and then sighed. Keeping her hands on his ears, Y/N rested her head on his shoulder and started humming a tune. He slowly brought his left hand and rubbed her back.

It was a reassurance that he felt the same way that she did. Like Percy did. Useless.

"You should've told me earlier," she said after finishing, "Can you hear me properly?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," he squeezed her cheeks and said, "I knew you were just trying to save everybody."

"Yeah, but I hurt them in the process as well. Especially you," she said sulking.

"Let's just say a little bit of sacrifice can be made for the greater good," he stared at her face and closed in, "Your friend needs some support. You should go."

Y/N blushed looking into his eyes, noticing how close they were. Clearing her throat, she got up and walked towards Percy who was talking to Nico.

"Hey," she tapped his shoulder and sat down beside him.

"Don't you have better people to hang out with now?" he said, eyes momentarily going towards Harris.

She sighed, "Look, don't take Thalia's words seriously. She's blaming herself as much as the rest of us. The difference is that blaming someone else for...that is easier to handle than to admit that all of us were practically useless in helping Annabeth."

"Really? You and Harris have time to think about her too?" Percy scoffed.

"I don't know why you're throwing your anger towards Thalia over me. The least you could do is understand how I feel cause no matter how close you're to her, I knew her way before you. I've been her best friend before you so you might wanna just shove your selfish feelings up your ass?" Y/N said and got up.

She heard one of the huntresses chuckle and whisper, "It's not Annabeth that he's feeling selfish about." But she didn't want to think about it.

As she was about to leave when Nico stopped her, "Wait."

"Annabeth is your girlfriend, right?"

Percy slowly looked at Y/N right into her eyes and said, "Yeah."

A small tinge of pain came over her heart. "Then who are you to him?" Nico asked turning to her.

Y/N fixed her eyes towards Percy and said in an unwavering voice, "Friends. We're just friends. Although, I'm starting to doubt it."