THE CHRONICLES OF CHASE:

BOOK 1

WITHOUT BREATH

WRITTEN BY:

ASHEN UNKNOWN

I

WISHFULL THINKING

As I was walking around the camp I lived at, I heard a conch horn sound, signaling that it was finally dinner time. As I walked over to the dinning pavilion, I could hear people start to whisper as I passed them by. "I can't believe he's still here. I was sure that wolf would have driven him away." Someone whispered. "Wait, I remember a wolf going into his cabin, but never leaving. Do you think he killed it? He probably even ate it!" Another person said as they began to laugh. I just took a seat at my table. I could hear other people take seats at their tables and I could feel their eyes on me.

After a few minutes of whispers, a woman stood in front of the pavilion and began to speak. "Now, now children. I need you all to calm down so I can explain tomorrow's schedule with you." As the woman began to speak about the schedule she had made for us, our food began to appear and sprites could be seen floating around, serving people different beverages. I just ordered a water and plain white rice. I could see campers start to get up and walk over to a fire where they proceeded to dump a portion of their food into the blazer. When it was my turn, I dumped all of my food into the blazer and thought of only a few words. Father... I can't take it anymore. I'm going to Uncle Hades. He's the only one who would be willing to make me forget about what happened here. The only one who could make this memory leave me, even if it would cost me my sanity.

I could feel the air become colder as I had a sense that my dad heard my prayer. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to stop me. After all, the gods were forbidden from interceding in their children's lives. I knew that my father could feel my depression. Especially after my mom and step dad had died almost a year ago from a cyclops attacking the apartment where they lived. Even before that day, I had wanted to die, but no one seemed to care. All of the friends I once had at this camp had betrayed me when my ex-girlfriend started to spread rumors about my cheating on her with random girls, even to the point where she made them believe that I had gotten all of my 'romantic interests' pregnant. No one even remembered that loyalty was my fatal flaw.

I couldn't hurt anyone I cared about even if I was hypnotized, which, by the way actually happened before. No one wanted to hear my side of the story when I found my ex-girlfriend and my cousin making out, or even the time when I found them having sex in my bed. No one cared... I guess it was to be obvious. Because all of the wars were over, I held no purpose anymore. I was a veteran of three great wars. Every year I've been at this camp, I've had to find some way of saving the entire western civilization. When my father and the gods decided to grant me a wish, I only wished for a few things. My first wish had been for Hades and Hestia to get their thrones back. My second wish had been for the peaceful Titans and gods to be released from their prisons. My last wish had been for the gods to pay more attention to their children.

I was, in every sense, an empty shell. Nothing held any meaning anymore. If I had to stay here any longer, I might kill myself. I didn't exactly want to die, but I didn't want to have a constant reminder of what my life had become. Everywhere I looked around this camp, everything reminded me of the girl who had shattered my world in moments.

Around 10:30 PM, I snuck out of my cabin and made my way a few miles to a large building. As I looked up at the enormous building, I could feel my heart clench. I walked up to the receptionist and said, " I need to speak with the Olympians." The man looked up at me from his phone and said, "Sorry. We don't house anyone by that name." I just stared at him, and said, "What would Poseidon say if he found out you were keeping him from seeing me?" I asked him. I could see his face pale as he handed me a key card, saying, "Just scan the card and press the 600th floor button." I grabbed the card and slowly made my way to the elevator. I swiped the card on the key pad inside, then pressed a button that appeared. Here I come. I thought to myself. I could sense the sky, sea, and earth become restless as I made my way out of the elevator and towards a large building housing 13 large thrones with a single person adorning each throne. All of them were in a heated debate with one another. As I stepped through the doors, everyone stopped abruptly and looked at me.

"MAX!" I heard my father exclaim as he shrunk down to a normal human size and began to embrace me in a hug. "Max. We've been informed about why you've come here." Zeus said softly. To think that after all of these years, my uncle finally decides to be nice to me. It's kind of nice... I guess. I thought to myself. "We can't have a strong warrior such as yourself leave! I won't allow it!" Ares yelled. "Who else can match my strength on the battlefield?!" He continued. Everyone began to exclaim all of their reasons that I should stay alive... about why I shouldn't just die.

A little to my surprise, Hades walked up to me and said, "Max. I know that nothing we're trying to say to you is helping. No matter how much we want you to live, I can feel how close you are to death." After he said this, the entire room went silent. I just continued to stare at the floor, not wanting to look anyone in the eyes. Ever since I became known of the Gods, monsters, and other crap that shouldn't exist by normal terms, I've always been thrust into some mission to save someone. Now that there's finally peace, I have no other worth. Fighting, love, my family, and my friends were the only things I knew. To have those things taken away in a span of a couple years... I don't have anything else. I thought to myself.

"Max. If we were able to give you a purpose... Something to do for the rest of your life... would you be able to stay alive?" Someone said. I looked over to my left and could see Artemis staring at me. Even everyone around the room stared at her. "Milady... why... Why would you try to help me? I'm one of those males you preach to your hunters to hate with every fiber of their being? So...Why?" I asked her. Her silver eyes looked at me with pity. Of coarse... She's just pitying me. I thought. "Max... If we do offer you something in hopes of keeping you alive... Will you accept?" She repeated.

I sighed, then nodded. "Then swear on the Styx. Swear that you won't kill yourself while you uphold any duties you will bear." Artemis said, as if trying to force this on me. I looked at everyone just to find that all of them were looking at me with hope in their eyes, as if my doing this would take the weight of the world off their backs, which, I've held before. I really hope I don't have to do that again. That sucked. I thought to myself. "I, Max Chase, swear on the River Styx to not kill myself during whatever tasks I'm given by the Olympians." I sighed deeply, then proceeded to say, "There, happy? Now what do you want from me?" I looked at Artemis while saying this. I didn't mean to make it seem as though I was angry with her, but it kind of came out that way. Within moments, she was glaring at me, making me turn to Zeus. "What are my tasks since I believe Artemis is a little pissed off at me at the moment." I said. Zeus seemed to be deep in thought as he looked in between each of the gods. Great, my fate is decided amongst each of these people. Fuck my life. I thought. "NO! I WILL NOT HAVE A MALE IN MY HUNT! HE WAS JUST RUDE TO ME AND YOU EXPECT ME TO LET HIM TRAVEL WITH US!" I looked to see Artemis furious.

I looked at Zeus, then said. "Are you sure there isn't something else I could do? I may want to die, but if I even go near her hunters, I'm pretty sure Tartarus would have nothing on them." I could hear multiple coughs. "Is the great Max Chase scared of a couple girls? You've defeated armies before. You've taken on multiple Titans AND Giants by yourself and you're acting scared because of a few hunters?" Artemis asked with an evil smile adorning her lips. "To be fair, those hunters are pretty much immortal, hate men and would either kill me on sight or torture me so much that I'd have an even stronger desire to die. Yeah, I'd say being scared of them is obviously something I shouldn't be." I said with melancholy.

She seemed to lose her desire to torment me as I said this, but Zeus didn't seem to care as he said, "All in favor of appointing Max as the Guardian of the Hunt?" Only a few people didn't raise their hands until Artemis rose her hand. "So, I don't get a say in this? I just have to go along with whatever you say just like old times, huh?" I asked the council, only to receive a "Yep." from a couple of them. "With that, I believe our meeting is adjourned." Zeus said, then flashed out. Other council members began to flash out leaving only a few left.

Poseidon walked up to me, embracing me in a hug as he said, "I'm glade you're alive Max. I would miss having my favorite son around if you died." I forced a little chuckle. "Yeah, Dad. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry to have caused you to worry." I said. After a few moments, he let go and flashed away too. Next, Apollo walked up. "Hey Max. Look, I'm sorry about everything that's happened to you. I'm also sorry that you have to be around girls from now on. I know how much you'd rather be with Uncle Hades, but maybe this will be good for you?" He said with a little bit of hopefulness in his voice. "I doubt it, but thanks man." I said before he gave me a small smile and left.

Everyone else who had stayed had been speaking with Artemis, who when they all had left, walked up to me. "Let's go." She said with a stern voice. "What other choice do I have?" I mumbled as she grabbed my shoulder and teleported us in a campsite where a bunch of girls wearing silver camouflage attire with a bow, quiver, and daggers strapped to their sides and back were walking around, minding their own business. Within a split second, I could feel an arrow penetrate my shoulder. "Yeah, I think I was right." I looked at Artemis, then continued. "You're hunters obviously tried to kill me on sight. I think I could be physic." She just looked at her hunters who had their bows pointed at me, and said, "Girls, Zeus has ordered Max here to accompany us until, well, until her dies. He's to be our new "Guardian" and will follow any orders given to him." After she finished that, a girl with raven black hair ran up, pushing through the crowd and punched me in the face, making me fly into a tree about a few yards away.

"HOW COULD YOU! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED HER! YOU GO AND CHEAT ON HER WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER GIRLS! YOU EVEN HAD THE GAWL TO GET ALL OF THOSE GIRLS PREGNANT TOO!" The girl screamed at me. As I looked up, I could see the girl literally sparking with electricity. She had slightly tanned skin, and electric blue eyes. She was my cousin, Jodie. A daughter of Zeus. I'd known her since I had entered that camp over 11 years ago. We'd been pretty great friends, even when she left to join the hunt. It was obvious she would take my ex-girlfriend's side on this. She and my ex-girlfriend had known each other before I came to camp. They had a bond that couldn't be broken.

That was something I never had with anyone. I may have thought I had that with my "friends" or even my "girlfriend", but I didn't. They all abandoned me when I needed them most. As Jodie continued to punch me, I just continued to lie there, not moving. Not even phased. It wasn't until Artemis told her to stop, did she finally stop. By then, I could feel myself bleeding all along my body. Of course, she had to throw in one more punch before she left, screaming that all men were the same. Everyone left as I just sat there, against a broken tree.

After a few hours, Artemis came and said as she glared at me, "You can go eat now. You can have any of the left overs, if there are any." She then stormed away after I didn't even bother to look at or give her a reply. For the next few hours, I sat looking up at the stars, reminiscing about the past. I could remember all of the times I would lie underneath the stars, holding my ex-girlfriend's hand as we would just talk about the future. We had spent almost 4 years together and during that time, I thought my life was perfect. Everything was pretty much perfect when she and I were together. We'd share laughs together. She would scold me for being an idiot. There was even a time when she would even kiss me before I had to go into battle.

I could feel tears slide down my eyes at that thought. My tears even continued to flow as I remembered all of the people that had died just so a battle could be won. I could remember all of them as if it was yesterday when I had seen them die right before my eyes. That entire night as well as part of the morning I just continued to cry softly at those memories that I wished I could forget...

When the sun came up, I heard someone walk towards me. "Max! Get ready to complete your assignments! You're going to be making breakfast for the entire hunt, cleaning all of the weapons, and making sure everyone's laundry is cleaned as well as neatly folded. Understood?" Artemis yelled at me like a drill sergeant. I stood up, and just bowed in acknowledgment. She just turned and stormed away. I went into a large tent where the entire hunt was waiting for me. "FINALLY! NOW WE CAN EAT! I've been waiting here starving!" One hunter exclaimed. "What would you all like to eat? I'll make anything you wish." I said in monotone. Some of them seemed taken aback by how I handled the situation, but then shrugged as if it didn't matter. Everyone began exclaiming what food they wanted. When everyone had finished screaming their orders, I just turned and began to leave the tent. I stopped before exiting, snapped my fingers, and within an instant, all of their food was presented to them. As I left the tent, I could hear sounds of the girls enjoying their food.

For the next couple hours, I went around to all of the girls tents, picked up their laundry, cleaned their laundry, then brought it back just as it was time for them to eat lunch. Lunch began the same way as Breakfast, except for the part where they were more willing to order much more food for themselves. Even Artemis began asking for food instead of eating her ambrosia like she did during Breakfast. I then left the tent, summoned their food, and went to work on the rest of my chores.

By dinner time, I had finished cleaning as well as sharpening all of their weapons. For the next few years, everyday went by the same way, except for moving camps so often, or the addition of patrolling the camp to ensure the Hunt's safety. My only interactions with the Hunt either included my making their meals, them screaming at me for being near them, or when they'd laugh at me for getting caught in their pranks, which almost always ended in my being attacked by the wildlife in the area. I would never say anything about their torment because everyday, I became more and more depressed. On several occasions, I had tried to hang myself, cut myself, or even tried to let the wildlife continue attacking at me in an attempt to just die. No matter what I did, it never worked. The wildlife would become bored and would leave. The rope I would try to hang myself from would just break, and the knives I would use were never strong enough to cut deep enough to cause myself to bleed out.

It wasn't until my fifth year in the hunt that something happened. On one of the Hunt's attempts to torment me, their prank had gone wrong and soon enough, the entire camp was being attacked by a chimera as well as a bunch of hell hounds. Artemis was at a meeting with the council, which left me alone with the hunt and since the hunt was only able to take out a few hell hounds before they became overwhelmed, I had to finish what they started. I snapped my fingers and soon enough, the monsters had all disintegrated into gold dust. The Hunt glared at me. Some of the younger girls were crying profusely at what had just transpired, others had blank expressions on their faces as they stared into nothingness. I took this as time to continue on with my chores. Later that night, when I had finished getting the Hunt their dinner, Artemis stormed after me as she shoved me to the ground and began punching me. She then began to yell at me, "WHY WOULD YOU PUT MY HUNT IN DANGER YOU PATHETIC BOY!" I didn't do or say anything, but one of the younger girls had come to my rescue.

"Lady Artemis! It wasn't him! Jodie and some of the other girls had tried to prank him again, but it got out of hand. Please! Stop hurting him! He's the one who saved us!" The little girl exclaimed. Artemis stopped punching me, and looked at the little girl. She had blonde hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. She appeared to be, at least, 7 years old. "Haley... Are you sure? You don't need to lie for a stupid boy." Artemis said as she turned to glare at me as if I had made the little girl come to my aid. "I'm not, Lady Artemis!" Haley exclaimed.

Artemis got off of me, then walked away. I got up, and bowed slightly to the little girl, then left to the outskirts of the camp where I was able to be alone. The next day was the 1st of December. I had seen the snow fall early that morning, so now that everyone was up, there was almost a foot of snow covering the ground as more and more snow began to fall. I could see people struggling to walk through the snow as they made their way to the Mess Tent for breakfast. Finally when everyone was inside, I began taking their orders. When their food was summoned, I walked away and began doing my daily chores. Since I didn't have any other clothes to wear, I was stuck with my old black t-shirt, dark grey cargo pants, and my black boots. My cuts had become more numerous as well as more prominent over the years because now both of my arms had cuts adorning them all the way up and down the arm. The newer cuts still had droplets of blood on them because I had cut myself just hours before.

When it was Lunch time, my routine was disrupted. Haley came up to me as I began to leave the Mess Tent and asked if I would eat with her. I looked at her, then at the other hunters, then tried to shake my head no, but she started to cry. I grabbed her chin, then nodded at her, making her smile. As she sat down, she gestured towards an empty seat next to her. I then proceeded to take my seat and watched as they all began to eat. I had given up on my surprise of still being alive after going 3 years without food, that I had become accustomed to not eating. "Aren't you going to eat?" Haley asked me as she stopped eating. I shook my head no, but was surprised when she pushed her food away saying, "Then I won't eat either." She crossed her arms, making my eyes widen. I didn't want her to not eat because of me. That was stupid! Especially since it was literally -30 degrees outside. I summoned a bowl of cereal before myself and gestured for her to continue eating.

She didn't start eating until I took a bite of my cereal. After I had swallowed my cereal, I immediately felt sick. I got up from my chair, making everyone jump, and ran out of the tent holding my mouth. As I got near the outskirts of the camp, I started vomiting profusely. When I looked down, All I could see was a large red puddle covering the snow. "Max? Max? Where are you?" I heard Artemis and Haley call out for me. I turned around to see the two looking at me, then at the puddle of blood behind me. "MAX!" Haley exclaimed as she ran up to me. When she grabbed my hand, she started pulling me back towards the camp. "Lady Artemis! Max is hurt! We need to help him!" I suddenly felt dizzy as I began to wobble as I was pulled towards the Medical tent by Haley, when I collapsed on the ground.

The last thing I heard before I passed out was Haley calling out my name. "MAX!"