(Longer chapter. 3k words.)

After Kurayami had gone back to Japan, Annabeth went back for a week every month. She preferred to stay at Grigori, but Thalia would not leave for Grigori. As time went on a whole year had gone by and he was happy as he was surrounded by all the girls. He still had not met Rias, but apparently, they would meet soon as a meeting of the young devils would go on.

Azazel felt it was a good idea to introduce him to devils his age and he found it dumb. He was literally a being strong enough to match a god, so why would he want to mingle with brats. He was now 15 and had grown like a bamboo shoot as he was already 6 feet tall. He had left his girls in the dust and was still growing.

Kurayami was deeply asleep with the girls and they wanted him to be shirtless as they liked to feel his body heat. Things were going great for him and Natsume had gotten over her shyness and was more clingy than before with him.. In the year the younger girls all were growing in the right places. He was being hugged by Naysume who got her turn.

They took turns on who could hug him to sleep and Natsume, Esdeath, and Akeno were the ones who got to hug him today. Things were going fine until his calm sleep was interrupted by a magic call. He frowned and answered. “Who is it?”

A frantic voice he recognized as Annabeth was freaked out. “KURAYAMI! I MAY NEED SOME HELP!” Kurayami sighed. “What is happening? She quickly explained. “We are fighting a Manticore and I may need help as trouble is brewing.” He just wanted to be with his girls and yet they were all awake with bloodshot eyes. Natsume frowned. “It’s 4 in the morning.” Kurayami got up and popped his neck. “Well get ready.”

Raynare yawned and that started a yawning fit between them all. “Well might as well go. Who’s coming.” Akeno got up and removed her nightgown as they all wore revealing clothes to sleep. In this year her body had filled out really nicely and her curves were growing in as well as her bust.

She smiled as she saw him checking her out. “Like what you see?” He nodded and the girls all got dressed. Kurayami yawned and Griffon flew in the window and landed on Natsume’s shoulder. She sighed. “Must we go?” He nodded. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

He teleported them all and what he saw pissed him off. The so-called Manticore had a human face and it was in no way cool. Annabeth was fighting it while covered in golden touki was using Blazer Shining, but it drained her stamina, but she seemed to be overwhelmed.

Natsume was still stretching and she had packed some nice muscle as Kurayami had told her if she wanted to ever achieve a balance breaker she needed more stamina. Kurayami saw how Thalia charged with a large shield and even bigger spear at the ugly Manticore he did not want. He sighed and Natsume rubbed his head. “You’re probably disappointed when you saw the Manticore right.” He nodded.

Kuroka hugged him, but her head only reached his chest. He was already 6 ft and she was only 5 ft 3. “Not to worry. We can find better.” Thalia charged the monster and for an inexperienced person, it seemed she would impose it on her spear, however they knew she would fail. They all looked over and saw a helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs.

It is a black military-style gunship, with laser-guided rockets. The helicopter was being used by humans. Lavinia looked over. “Do we destroy it?” He nodded. “Go ahead.” Raynare held her scythe and swung it launching a huge slash of black flames blowing it up. This made the Manticore freeze and gave Annabeth the chance she needed.

She drove the black blade that Kurayami gave her and Blazer Shining right into its heart. It roared in agony as its very being was being destroyed. It was torture, but Annabeth slashed up and the Manticore became dust. She panted and looked over where she saw Kurayami. “Hey, your late.” She fell to her knees deeply breathing and Kurayami helped her up.

He looked at Nico and Bianca and back to Annabeth. “So what’s the issue?” Annabeth sighed. “That was the issue. Well, we found two half-blood and we are leading back to camp.” Natsume leaned on Kurayami and frowned. “You call us as 3 in the morning for that.” The rest of the girl nodded and Annabeth forgot that Japan and America had different time zones.

Thalia stepped forward. “So how has the year been?” Kurayami smiled. “Tall and fun.” They were interrupted by a few new arrivals who did not look happy. When Thalia saw them she glared at them, especially at Zoe. From the forest, archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows.

They advanced toward them with very annoyed looks. Zoe rushed forward and pointed and Annabeth. “That was not thee’s prey.” Annabeth frowned and scoffed. “No, and now it’s dead.” Lavinia looked over to Kuryami. “Who are they?”

He explained. “Ares said that Artemis has her band of hunters. All woman and they pledge to be virgins forever and never fall in love.” Kuroka frowned. “That’s stupid.” He nodded. “Very, but immortality is a good motivation to not have sex” They shrugged as love was important to them.

Zoe glared at Kuroka.”How dare thee speak that way of our oath.” Kuroka shrugged. “Swearing off love is stupid Nya.” A few archers raised their bows yet a young girl raised her hand. This was Artemis, Goddess of the hunt. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail, eyes like the moon.

She was beautiful, but her expression was cold and distant. “My hunters have made a pledge to me. I feel all you girls are virgins and I would very much like you to join my hunt. All of you are strong and would live forever.” Kurayami frowned as she was trying to take his girls. Kuroka scoffed. “And give up my husband. No thanks, Nya.” Raynare nodded. “No way.” Esdeath shook her head.

“Giving up the one I love for immortality when I will already live for thousands of years would be stupid.” One after another they all rejected her and this made Zoe mad. They were all strong women and yet they were all marrying the same man. “This is sick. All of thee don’t need men.” Akeno giggled. “Seems you need one.”

They all laughed and Zoe looked ready to kill them. Artemis sighed. “It is regretful however that is just how it is.” When Thalia saw Zoe getting made fun of she broke out laughing. “Zoe Nightshade. The 2000-year-old bitch.” Thalias spoke with anger in her voice all too clear.

Zoe glared. “Thee is still as rude as before.” Artemis looked at Kurayami and his group. “May I ask what you are doing back here?” Kurayami slightly bowed to show a bit of respect for the goddess.

“Lady Artemis I just came to help Annabeth as she is part of Grigori. She called me asking for help and we came to help her.” Annabeth walked away from Thalia and Percy as she had learned to read between the lines. He was saying get over here. She joined his group and nodded.

Percy looked right at the small girl and did not believe it. “You. Your Artemis? You are a kid?” Zoe stepped forward to smack him, but Artemis shook her head. “No, I sense no disrespect, Zoe. He is simply confused as many believe I am young in this form.” She formerly introduced herself “I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. ”

Grover gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started praising her. “Thank you, Lady Artemis! You’re so… you’re so… Wow!” Kurayamu laughed out loud. “SIMP!” The girls with him all laughed out loud as he looked like an obsessed simp. Thalia blushed in shame and yelled at him. “Get up, goat boy! Why are all Satyr’s obsessed with lady Artemis?”

“Whoa,” Bianca di Angelo said. “Hold up. Time out. ” Everybody looked at her and it was scary as they all looked like dangerous people. She pointed her finger at everyone as she was trying to connect the dots.

“Who… who are you, people?” Kurayami coughed. “My mistake. I am Kurayami Himejima. Fallen Angel and beast tamer. These lovely ladies with me are my finances. Kuroka, Natsume, Akeno, Esdeath, Raynare, Lavinia, and Natsume. When they heard it right from his mouth it was official.

The girls all bowed when he said their names to show who they were. Percy felt it was odd that he included Akeno, but something told him to not say a thing. Akeno smiled. “Don’t forget it.”

Zoe glared at him with disgust while she looked at the girls with pity. “Please thee need reconsider. Why be with such a man?” Suddenly she felt something sharp and looked down. She saw a scythe on her neck and saw a Raynare frowning. “Do not speak badly of Kurayami.” Artemis raised her hand. “She meant no harm.” Raynare nodded. “Please, we will respect you if you return it.”

Artemis looked over to the shocked Bianca. “It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who you are! Who are your parents?” Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis and Kurayami. He rushed to Kurayami and looked up. “HEY! ARE YOU REALLY A FALLEN ANGEL?!”

Kurayami spread his wings and when they saw his 7 pairs of pitch-black wings Artemis looked impressed. “You are on the way to stand along with Azrael.” Kuroka jumped and hugged him around the neck. “My husband is great nya.” The hunters looked at this cat-eared girl with looks of disgust for being part of a harem.

Kuroka stuck out her tongue and they drew their bows. From their shadows erupted huge amounts of swords and in the sky formed over a thousand light weapons. It made everyone freeze and they put their bows down. Bianca suddenly shrieked in fear.

She took deep breaths and calmed herself. “Our parents are dead so were orphans. There’s a bank trust that pays for our school, but,” She froze and it was obvious she was not sure herself. She saw Kurayami look at her with doubt. “What?” she demanded. “I’m telling the truth. ”

Zoe spoke up to explain to her. “You are a half-blood,” Zoe Nightshade said in her old-fashioned accent. It was like she was reading from a really old book. “One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian.” Binaca was confused. “An Olympian… athlete?” Akeno shook her head. “No. A god, a Greek god.”

Nico being a kid was overjoyed. “Cool!” Kurayami patted him on the back. “Totally.” Nico smirked as he felt the fallen angel was his friend, but Binaca was far from happy. “No! This is not cool!” Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. He grabbed Kurayami and shook him. “Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—”

Kurayami looked down. ‘Dear God, he is possessed.’ Kurayami flicked him on the forehead and Nico held his forehead that was red. “HEY! What was that for?” Raynare laughed. “Because you were possessed. He saved you.” Nico pouted. “I was not!” Bianca needed quiet. “Nico, shut up!” Bianca put her hands to her face. “This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!” Kurayami scoffed.

“So how do you explain that?” He pointed to the spears of light still in the sky and she sweated bullets. “I don’t know. Drugs, hallucinating, a bad dream.” Kurayami sighed. “Being in denial is not good.”

Lavinia was the calmest and nicest looking so she tried to explain. “Bianca, I know it’s hard to believe, but gods exist. So do Fallen, magic, dragons, and the supernatural. They sometimes have kids with mortals and produce you, but as you saw it is dangerous for the demigod.” Bianca thought of Annabeth “Dangerous? Like the Manticore.”

Thalia nodded. Artemis nodded. “Was supposed to be out prey, but Annabeth triumphed.” Kurayami shrugged. “She has been trained by the best trainers and had the best weapons. Of course, she would.” Annabeth raised her head. “Of course I am.” Kurayami bonked her on the head. “Don’t be conceited, you could have done better.”

She looked down. “Yes sir.” Artemis nodded. “From what I saw Annabeth has greatly improved in her time with Grigori.” Nico raised his hand. “What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you stabbed him in the heart! Is he dead?” Kurayami was going to explain, but Artemis seemed to want to.

“He was a manticore. 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. ” Kurayami shook his head. “Under normal situations, yes, but Annabeth used one oF my blades. He is destroyed forever, or at least several centuries.”

Bianca di Angelo shivered. “That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?” Nico nodded. “And that bus driver, the one with the ram’s horns. I told you that was real.” Percy explained to him. “That’s why Grover was with you.” Bianca looked over at him. “Grover is a demigod?”

“Well, a satyr, actually.” He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. Bianca was going to faint right there. Thalia smacked his head. “Grover put your shoes back on. You just freaked her out.” Percy coughed as it seemed it was a free-for-about who would explain. “Bianca, we came here to help you. You and Nico need the training to survive. Dr. Thorn won’t be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp. ”

Kurayami raised attention to him. “Or you can come with me. Plenty of demigods went to Nephilim and you can join us. Just like Annabeth.” Binaca seemed overwhelmed “Camp? Nephilim. What?” Percy shook his head. “Ignore him Camp Half-Blood Is where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like. ”

Nico looked back and forth and moved next to Kurayami. “I join Nephilim!” Kurayami grinned. “Splendid, here’s your student card.” Nico took it with shining eyes, but Bianca rushed to him and snatched it out of his hand. He looked down. “Aww.” Bianca was pacing back and forth. “Wait, I don’t—” As if to make it worse Zoe spoke. “There is another option,” Bianca looked about ready to pass out. “HOW MANY OPTIONS ARE THERE?!”

Thalia got mad as Bianca was going to be poached by two rival groups. “No, there isn’t! Ignore the Fallen and the hunters offer.” Thalia, Zoe, and Kurayami were locked in a three-way stare-off. Percy felt that Zoe and Thalia hated each other and Kurayami was trying to poach more demigods. Artemis clapped.

“We’ve burdened these children enough. Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests’ belongings from the school and allow Kurayami and the rest to come here. Zoe bowed. “Yes, my lady” Artemis looked at Binaca.

“And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you. ” Nico raised his hand. “What about me?” Artemis thought about it. “Perhaps you can show Kurayami how to play that card game you enjoy or ask him about his pets. I’m sure he would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?” Annabeth frowned as she knew what Artemis was doing.

Kurayami looked at Artemis and frowned. “Translation. She is saying you are a boy and I am sexist and I hate all men. Please leave so I can steal your sister.” The hunters just about shot him with arrows, but the girls at his side were extremely strong, and just Raynare unleashing Viritra’s aura was enough to stop them.

Artemis seems ashamed. “No. That is not true.” He rolled his eyes. “Oh no. A feminist denies it. Ignore her and I’ll show you something cool.” Nico nodded and walked away. Bianca looked at her sad brother and wanted to go to him, however, she just watched as Nico and Kurayami walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff.

Also, she heard a few names and pets of Kurayami. Artemis looked down ashamed and led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp. Kurayami looked down at Nico and heard him speak up. “Hey, Kurayami. Did you say take my sister? What do they mean?”

Kurayami sat down on a big rock while his girls all set up camp and Annabeth checked on her swords. “The hunt is an all-female group where once you join you become immortal, swear off men, and never grow up. If she decides to join you will almost never see her again.” The girls looked at Nico who was just 12 and he looked down.

“She wouldn’t abandon me, would she?” Lavinia patted him on the back. “Take it from me. The ones you love may just be the ones who hurt you the most.” Annabeth sighed as she once loved Luke, but that was long gone. Nico sat down and was hopeful they were wrong. “You said you had pets. Is he one?” He pointed at Shin who licked him. “This is Shin. Keep a secret, but he is a god killer.”

Nico looked at the smug-looking dog and shook his head. “No way.” Raynare laughed. “Yes, way.” They spent some time where Kurayami showed Tyrant, Zhang, Aurora, Castiel, and Blitz to him, and for some reason, they took to him immediately. Nico looked up at the huge dragon and had his eyes shine. “YOU HAVE A DRAGON!?”

Tyrant looked down and created out with hot air pushing Nico back. “Hey, you are a demigod and that means if you want you can maybe have your own dragon in the future.” Nico wanted a dragon to call his own and he was having a blast as Kurayami and his group was cool.

The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. It caught Kurayami’s eye, but he liked his pets more. They began circling the camp like guard dogs.

A few of them looked at Shin who looked like a guy who just saw Vegas. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid. Falcons watched from the trees, but a single screech from Griffon sent them flying. Kurayami picked up Aurora and sighed. “Let’s see if there will be any reason to stay here.”