Thalia Grace
Thalia couldn't ever imagine meeting someone like Luke Castellan. She was broken-hearted and out of instinct, she wanted to avoid the feeling of losing the one thing you have left. So she joined the Hunters of Artemis; it gave her a reason, something to put her life into. At least...that's what she tells everyone.
When she heard that Luke was a traitor, she felt like there was no one left for her. She would never find someone like him. She didn't want to let her broken heart wait for another person, knowing that she would never find anyone. As a result she made an oath.
Being in the hunt never stopped the hurt or the doubt. It only suppressed her pain, so she spent everyday feeling lonely and numb. In truth, she only wanted immortality so that she could have time to wait for that feeling again. She wanted to find someone that wouldn't break a promise. Someone that she could call..."home."
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Thalia Grace woke up to the sound of another whiny hunter shaking her tent. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant! Something's wrong! They won't stop coming!" She shrieked. "And we're exhausted."
Thalia stood up firmly, and kept her weapons ready. There were always monsters ready to attack outside of camp.
She stepped outside of her tent and into the cold snowy air. Her silver parka jacket was nice and warm, but her black "death to barbie" t-shirt and ripped black jeans didn't help much against the cold blizarrd. Thankfully her boots made up for the lack of warmth on her lower body.
"Huntress...are you a boy or something?" Thalia started in her military-like voice. "Quit complaining and just tough it out through your shift like the rest of us had."
Another huntress came running up to her. "But m'lady, we're exhausted. We've been fighting for th-th-three hours. They're coming back in way too fast of intervals."
Thalia was about to yell at them for being such pansies, but she could see in their eyes that they were telling the truth. She sighed out of sympathy. "Okay...come inside. We'll wait it out for a bit. If you're telling the truth, there must be something wrong. I'll take shift for now, alone." The hunters made their way inside the main tent.
At least she now had the chance to let out her thoughts.
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Thalia paced around the house-sized tent thinking long and hard. All the other hunters were snoring in their sleeping bags. It had been only two minutes and another monster appeared. She easily defeated it, but still expelled way more energy than she expected to. Something was definitely wrong.
It was getting ridiculous how fast they recovered. She pulled out her last golden tipped arrow and blew fog in the air through her breath. "Lady Iris, please accept this offering, for I need to send an important message." she mumbled.
She looked at the splatter of mist in the air as it waited for its recording. "Lady Artemis, what's going on? My hunters keep reporting that these monsters won't die. Didn't you gods send the seven to close the doors? I need answers NOW! Please, this is getting ridiculous. End of message." The ball of mist dissappeared into the air.
Immediately another Iris-message appeared in her face.
"Lieutenant, I've got your message. And I need to let you know this soon. This is REALLY bad: the Doors of Death have been reopened," The words made her heart drop. "I don't know the details, that's just what Lord Hades has told me. You have to get to Camp immediately. Chiron will explain the details." The message ended.
Thalia immediately barged back into the tent alerting a few of the girls. She ravaged through the supply bag, packing up weapons, food, nectar,ambrosia, everything she would need for traveling. A girl tapped her shoulder.
"Lieutenant, what's going on? Is...something wrong?" the hunter asked.
"What's going on, is that we have to go back to camp."
"What...why? We're okay out here." Another girl asked.
"No we're not. The doors of death are reopened, and we need to figure what to do before this gets any worse."
"But our mission-" another hunter said.
"This scavenger run was a bust. We can't keep going on like this. We're going back to camp and figuring this out; chiron has the details. Anyone want to protest?" No one responded.
"Okay good. It's settled then. Pack up boys"
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The moment Thalia stepped into camp she was welcomed by Chiron already trudging towards her. He seemed nervous and unsettled, twitching his fingers about under his bow. He gestured for her to follow him.
"Why don't the rest of you girls get to know the camp better? Maybe have some lunch with the Aphrodite cabin?" He insisted. The girls seemed hesitant at the mention of Aphrodite children. They obliged however the second their lieutenant glared at them. With that, Thalia separated from the hunters.
"First things first," Chiron started. "Do NOT mention this to anyone."
"Mention what? I didn't even say anything yet."
"As you may have heard, the doors are open again yes?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"So what is it? Come on, I didn't come all the way here with my hunters just to listen to any riddles."
"You see, that's the thing. We NEED a riddle right now." He turned to face Thalia. "This may be another prophecy, but we haven't heard anything from the oracle yet. And we don't really know when we're going to..."
"So why do you need me again?" She asked impatiently.
"I do not know really. Hera just told us that we'd need the hunters at camp. We don't know why. Maybe for extra protection?"
Thalia didn't feel convinced yet. Since when was Chiron unsure of anything?
He sighed. "Just follow me, I'll tell you everything I can."
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