Scared

by Runt the Brave

Okay. Seriously. Look at this from my point of view. Some of the girls have served with Artemis for centuries. I was the new kid. A new kid in charge. Wouldn't you be nervous?

To say I was scared to become her lieutenant was an understatement.

I was terrified.

Not only of Artemis, but the other Hunters as well. The Hunters that had been with Artemis for centuries.

Artemis took me through so many corridors and doors of Olympus that I thought the walk would never end. Then we arrived at a balcony. I looked around, awestruck.

The view you would expect to see were the clouded, bright lights of New York city, right? But instead I saw a mirage. A beautiful mirage of nature and color and people and... WOW. Even now I can't find the words to describe what I saw, or the feeling of sadness and loneliness that came over me when I saw it.

Next to me, the little auburn haired girl who was now my leader, raised a hand and spread it through the air in a gesture of reverence. "Pay attention, Thalia. This is the History of the Hunt."

The mirage morphed into a specific picture. One of Artemis - still the same auburn haired little girl, dressed in the same unflattering hunting clothes, holding the same silver bow – but just by looking at it, you could tell the picture was ancient. The Artemis today had miniscule lines on her brow and around her eyes.

Marks of wisdom, I decided.

She got me staring at her, and raised an eyebrow in good humor. I hope, at least. I bit my tongue and looked back at the mirage. The colors changed. This time they played a scene, like a TV, but not like a TV. The pictures felt real. You could even tasted the freshness of the air as Artemis and a man who was obviously her father, Zeus, strolled through a dense pine forest.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the wonders of the freshness. There was no sound, not in the normal sense of the word, but... oh, why is this so difficult to explain? My worlds can hardly give this marvelous experience a fair description.

And then the pace that the pictures flashed by sped up, detailing all of history through the eyes of various Virgins of the Hunt. In fact, I'm pretty sure the mirage introduced me to every Hunter who ever Hunted with Artemis. It flashed by, in a matter of seconds it seemed. I gasped when I recognized one of the pictures.

Bianca Di Angelo bowed before Artemis with Percy and myself in the background, both Percy and myself frowning.

Then the last picture on the mirage portrayed Zoe Nightshade – the previous Lieutenant of the Hunt – dying. Artemis and I knelt above her, in perfect clarity, while the other people were blurred. A little part of me wondered what Percy would say to being blurred out of a photo like that, but my tears pushed that thought away.

All I saw was black after that. But then the lights in my mind started to turn back on. Eventually, Artemis swam into focus.

She smiled, "You lasted longer than Zoe. She cried when Aalyla gave into the other life."

My sluggish mind tried to recognize the name; it was like I had heard it before, years ago, when I was just a kid.

Artemis patted me on the arm, "The confusion will clear after awhile. Granted, I did show you several centuries more information than I showed Zoe."

I swallowed, feeling like an idiot until I could force my vocal cords to work, "Who's Aalyla?"

"She was the first Virgin of the Hunt to forsake her vows."

"Oh," I said, the memory of that one picture clearing in my mind, "that's Aalyla."

My new lady smiled, "You are Lieutenant of the Hunt now, Thalia Grace. With that duty comes responsibility. With that duty comes respect. But everyone knows that respect comes with its own responsibility. I expect the best from you Thalia. Only the best. Can you live with that?"

"I live to serve you," I said, dropping my head and shoulders into a bow.

"Then I grant you this bow. May it always remember your oath to me. And I grant you this circlet. One which has been passed down from lieutenant to lieutenant. Zoe Nightshade bore it before you. Maybe you live up to her legacy." She placed a silver circlet on my head.

I felt small and insecure as she compared me to Zoe. I had fought with Zoe. She was a formidable force, fierce and loyal and strong and goodhearted and... and... and... "I feel I will not live up to her legacy."

The Hunter's bow felt awkward on my back, and the quiver was just plain weird. I had never been a archer.

"You will do fine. Come," Artemis's voice rang with both concern and authority. "You must meet the Hunters now."

Fear raced up my spine, for some unfathomable reason. I mean, I had seen the Hunters integrated Bianca Di Angelo into their ranks in just a day or so. This would be simple, right? The more cynical side of my mind coughed, loudly. Bianca was not going in as the lieutenant. Why had I agreed to this?

Again, Artemis led me through the corridors of Olympus, so many that I got backwards and sideways and upside down and couldn't tell left from right. Did you know that that they changed the gravity in some parts of Olympus? Well it's true!

After a very long, tiring and confusing walk, Artemis halted, "This is where you will rest while I attend business on Olympus. Are you ready, my Hunter?"

I don't think butterflies described what tumbled about in my stomach at that moment. Snakes maybe, slithering around with morbid ferocity. That thought made me want to gag. I pushed it away. "I... think."

"Good luck," Artemis said, as she pushed open a door that hadn't existed two seconds ago.

Okay. Maybe I was just missing things in my nervousness. Seriously. Look at this from my point of view. Some of the girls have served with Artemis for centuries. I was the new kid. A new kid in charge. Wouldn't you be nervous?

As Artemis stepped through the door, all eleven of the Hunters jumped to their feet. And, surprisingly enough, I knew their names. All eleven. Names that I hadn't cared about. Not one wit. I swallowed again.

"Lady Artemis," one said, bowing. "How was the Solace Meeting?"

Artemis shrugged, "No more was accomplished than usual. I think that Olympus could use lessons in solving problems from the New York State Legislation Department."

I laughed. None of the other Hunters seemed to get the joke, so, naturally, that shifted all the attention to me.

Phoebe, the only Hunter than Zoe that I had interacted with, gasped and said, "Mi'lady?" Her eyes flickered constantly from the silver crown to my face. Some of the other girls had disbelief or concern or even a touch of anger or jealous etched on their faces.

"Thalia is replacing Zoe as my lieutenant," Artemis said levelly.

I swallowed. Attention swung my direction again.

One of the Hunters – Rebecka, as my memory insisted – walked up to me and bowed. "Welcome to the Hunt, Thalia."

That relieved my nerves. Somewhat. "Thank you, Rebecka."

She grinned.

"Are you sure Mi'lady?" Phoebe said, crossing her arms. "I mean, no offense, Thalia," her voice was full of contempt directed towards me, "but you have spoken rather violently about our values before."

I looked at my shoes, trying to formulate a reply. "You speak only the truth, Phoebe. I was rather negative about the Hunters before my time as a tree. And then these past couple of days, I have gotten to know Zoe Nightshade. She taught me a few things, stuff that I will never, ever forget.

"I have sworn an oath to serve Artemis. And she accepted it. But I'm only human. I'm going to fail. I don't think I'll fill Zoe's shoes, not even for a second, but if you think that I wouldn't try my hardest, then raise your hand and I will beat you in any duel under any rules that you can think up."

Phoebe raised her hand. She had a grin on her face.

I looked for Artemis, but she had disappeared. "Yes, Phoebe?"

She walked up to me, getting in my face, "I challenge you to a duel to see who can spit the farthest and most accurately."

To say I was shocked would be a bit of an understated. That was not exactly the response that I had been expecting. Several of the Hunters laughed.

"I'll officiate," Rebecka said.

"Let's do this then," I said, throwing Phoebe a cocky smile. I wasn't going to let my nerves get in the way of this.

Rebecka threw me a sympathetic glance. "Phoebe's record is back here, hitting that dot – you see the one that says 'You Are Here' – do you think you can do it?"

I gauged the wall and the distance. This gave me a chance to look at the blank room. The room was void of everything but people, a few hunting dogs. There was no furniture, but I pushed that away to focus on the challenge ahead. Ten paces. Twenty or so feet. Was Phoebe that accurate?

"I want to see it Phoebe," I said.

She smirked at me before moving her jaw back and forth. Phoebe took a spot on the line that Rebecka marked out and spit. She hit the little black dot almost perfectly.

I swallowed.

Phoebe backed away from the line with an exaggerated bow. "Try it."

I stepped up to the line, studied the distance, and then took two steps back. I turned and glanced at the wall again. That's when I desperately prayed to Artemis for help. I was not going to make this, but I was not going to back down now. Honor demanded that I go on.

The little bit of me that still held on to common sense pointed out how pointless this was, but I pushed it away.

I spat.

And I hit the target.

All eleven of the Hunters stared at me. And then Phoebe started laughing. And then we were all laughing.

From then on, I wasn't scared anymore.