AN: I am supposed to be working on Chapter 20 of Fates Intervention, but this happened. This can be read alone, but I do intend it to fit into Fates Intervention eventually, so I suppose you can call it a prequel. Also, I'm playing fast and loose with mythology (isn't that the point?)

1. Zoe

Becoming Artemis's lieutenant was a little strange.

Firstly, there were other hunters who had been there longer than Thalia had, and yet none of them balked at being 'passed over' for the high honour. Maybe it was because Thalia was a child of the Big Three, or maybe it was because she was technically Artemis's half-sister.

Or maybe they just trusted Artemis implicitly, so much so that her decisions were unquestionable.

Secondly, Thalia's reasoning for becoming a hunter was much different than the other girls around her – and, at fifteen, she was physically older than most of the other girls, who had all been around eleven or twelve when they took the oath. They had joined because they were too young to have felt the tug of romance or attraction, and the lure of adventure was far stronger than any boy could ever be. Or they had joined because they had entrusted their heart, only to be betrayed and cast aside, leaving them with wounds that would never heal and a heavily guarded heart that would never love again.

Thalia fell most accurately into the second group, but it was not the reason that she had joined, which led neatly to number three:

Thalia was not uncomfortable around men.

Now that wasn't to say that some men didn't make Thalia uncomfortable, but – for the most part – she could be around them and hold conversations without dissolving into paranoia or anger, unlike most of her cohort.

It was this last point that was the reason she was still standing on guard, out of earshot of the camp, her bow strung and ready, watching Apollo approach her.

When he got close enough, she un-notched the arrow and bowed respectfully. "Lord Apollo, what can I do for you?"

"You can drop the 'Lord' for a start," Apollo said, dropping to sit beside her. He peered up at her through the darkness. "And relax. There's nothing for miles."

"I'm supposed to be on watch," Thalia said.

"And you are," Apollo said with a grin. "There's nothing for miles. Now sit down, I want to talk to you."

Thalia hesitated a second longer, but she knew better than to defy a direct order from a god (however relaxed that god seemed). Setting her bow aside, she sat down at the base of the tree.

"Thank you." Apollo looked at her seriously. He was glowing – not brightly, not enough to hurt her eyes, but enough that she could see his face clearly, and he hers. "Why did you take the oath?"

Thalia smiled slightly. "Do you test all your sister's hunters?"

Apollo chuckled. "No, that's not what I'm doing. I'm genuinely curious. Guilt? Fear? Anger?"

"I suppose …" Thalia said slowly. "I suppose anger would be the best description."

"God of truth," Apollo reminded her. "Try again."

Thalia huffed out an irritated breath, hugging her knees to her chest. "I am angry. Luke was supposed to be family. He was supposed to look after Annabeth when I wasn't there. He was supposed to be …" She cut herself off abruptly.

"You are angry," Apollo conceded. "But that's not why you took the oath."

"When I took the oath," Thalia said quietly, "I became immortal. I am forever fifteen, never sixteen, and that means that damn prophecy – no offence – doesn't apply to me."

"If I could stop some prophecies," Apollo said sincerely, "I would."

Thalia managed a small smile. "Thanks. I feel bad, you know, leaving Percy with it, but …"

"But …?"

Thalia sighed. "I was scared that if it applied to me. I'd have to kill Luke and I didn't want to."

Apollo nodded. "I thought that might be it."

"Then why did you ask?" Thalia asked in exasperation.

Apollo looked at her for a long moment, and she almost apologised, but then he heaved a sigh so heavy it made her own heart ache.

"It's never an easy thing," he said quietly, "having to mourn the death of someone you love. It's even harder when you were never supposed to love them at all."

Thalia frowned. "Luke's not dead. He's just …"

"Gone," Apollo finished when her throat closed up and she couldn't finish. "You've lost him, Thalia, and you're grieving. So how do you grieve in secret?"

"But you didn't say 'gone', you said 'lost'," Thalia said, her mind racing. Then it hit her, faster and harder than one of her father's lightning bolts. "Zoe. You're talking about Zoe."

Apollo closed his eyes, but not before a single golden tear rolled down his cheek.

"You loved her," Thalia whispered, testing the words in her mouth. "But she …"

"I know," Apollo said, a little bitterly. "She hated me. And I put up with it, because I knew it wasn't me, it was him, and she was happy, but … I've never dealt with grief without my sister before. I loved Daphne and I lost her, but Artemis was there. I loved Hyakinthos and I lost him, but Artemis was there. And now Zoe's gone too, but I can never tell Artemis. Never. Do you have any idea what she would do to me if she knew I fell in love with one of her hunters?"

"No," Thalia said honestly. "I assume it would have something to do with turning you into an animal of some kind."

Apollo turned his eyes skyward, to the newly formed constellation of the Huntress. "How do you grieve in secret, Thalia?"

And suddenly, Thalia realised why Apollo was here. He wasn't testing her, at least not for Artemis. He was looking for someone else who understood. Someone who was mourning a loss they shouldn't be mourning.

"It's not the same," she said quietly. "I grieve in secret because I feel like I shouldn't be grieving in the first place. You grieve in secret because you feel you have no right to your grief. And that's not right. Everyone has the right to feel grief. Even if they're gods."

"You are very wise for your age," Apollo said, turning his gaze back to her. "You're only fifteen."

"If I hadn't died, I'd be eighteen," Thalia said softly. "Plus, I had to grow up fast."

"You all do," Apollo conceded. "So I will ask you a third time – how do you grieve in secret, Thalia?"

"You don't," Thalia answered, meeting his gaze. "You acknowledge it and then you let it go. And you remember that you do have more than one sister."

For a second, he just looked at her, and she half-expected him to misunderstand her and make a quip about Athena not being the best person to talk to.

Then he smiled – not quite the radiant grin she had seen the day she crashed the sun chariot into the lake at Camp Half-Blood, but a smile nonetheless – and reached out to ruffle her hair. "I guess I do, little sister. When does the next watch come out?"

Thalia looked towards the sky, tracking the process of the moon. "I wake them in about an hour," she said, leaning back against the tree behind her. "Tell me about Zoe."