A/N: This is a story that I and my friend, , are writing from Thalia Grace's point of view, and featuring what we hope to be a common character in future stories, Milo.

Disclaimer: We do not own the Percy Jackson novels. This is a recreational piece of fan-fiction that will use some of the characters and the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All Percy Jackson copyrights –to our knowledge- belong to Rick Riordan.

It has been seven years since the second war with the titan lord Kronos. Percy is happily living with Annabeth in Manhattan, attempting a mortal life. She is still the chief architect of the new Olympus, and Percy just earned his Master's Degree in marine biology. Grover is traveling the world, spreading the will of Pan. Camp Half-Blood has been completely renovated, and there are more demigods than ever. Nico is the head counselor and teaches swordplay. Thalia still serves Artemis as lieutenant of the hunters, but has been missing the mortal world more and more. Western Civilization has achieved a shaky sense of peace, but peace cannot last forever…

I drew back my bowstring, eyeing the monster from the trees. "Can we shoot it, yet?" I whispered.

The preteen goddess next to me whispered back, "No. Hold your bow, Thalia." I kept the string taught, and it lifted its many heads, as though sniffing the air.

"It knows we're here." The hunters behind us shifted around, ready to open fire.

"Nonsense, it's looking for food." Artemis sounded certain, but I knew better.

"We count as food." I aimed and released the silvery arrow. It pierced the creature's back leg, and it howled loudly. It stood and let us get a good look at its enormous body. It was about fifteen feet tall and had 5 heads, all of them wolves on serpentine necks. Its blood-stained claws were as long as my forearm, at least, and the bronze turtle shell it was wearing glinted in the moonlight. The closest head sniffed the air again, and then looked right at me. It snarled, and moved faster than it should've been able to with its awkward body. It slammed into the trees between us and plowed them down.

"Thalia! I told you--"Whump! The wolf-turtle careened into Artemis and sent the goddess flying. She disappeared with a small flash of light just before hitting a tree.

"Shoot it!" I yelled at the other hunters while cocking another arrow. Most of our shots glanced off its shell, and the few that hit its legs or heads didn't seem to do more than piss it off. I slapped the silver band on my wrist and Aegis spiraled out. I let the mace can I still had hidden in my belt extend to the spear I hadn't used in a few years. Electricity crackled through it when I wrapped my fingers around the shaft. The monster recoiled from the gorgon on the front of the shield, but then snarled and jumped over me. I spun around to be greeted by it mule-kicking me in the stomach. I hit the same tree Artemis did, but without the flashy exit. My back felt like it was on fire, but I stumbled back up when I heard a scream. It had slashed at one of the hunters and cut her bow in half, along with goring her hands.

I shouldered my spear and pelted it at the wolf-turtle. I heard a sickeningly wet thud as it went through its tailbone. The forest shook as the wolf-turtle hit the ground. It lay still for a few moments, as we silently approached, not expecting it to go as quietly as it did. I pulled my spear out of the monster and stepped back. The tip glistened in the moonlight. The monster turned into a satisfying gold dust pile, putting every hunter's mind at ease. Artemis came out of nowhere and stood next to me.

"I TOLD you to wait." She scolded.

"It attacked us though." I didn't like it when Artemis acted like some kind of mother.

"It attacked us because you shot it!" She grew a few feet and her eyes seemed to glow with silver fire. I stepped back, my hand quivered over the mace can. She looked at the other hunters, all of whom were frightened. She shrunk back down to her normal size. "I'm sorry Thalia. I… All these new monsters… I'm just a little high strung."

"Whatever. Tell me when you decide to set up camp." I stalked away into the forest. I started thinking of how I'd been feeling lately. The hunter thing was getting old, very old. I missed the mortal world, camp, my friends, even my dad. Something was brewing. We'd been fighting all sorts of monsters that Artemis hadn't even heard of. Then an idea came to me; a quest! The gods might be thinking about setting up a new quest to get to the bottom of it, and maybe I'd be part of it. The winter solstice was tomorrow, and if there was a time and place to give out a quest like this, it would be there. I sprinted toward the firelight of our camp and into Artemis's tent.

"Thalia, what is it?" She had been admiring her bow, but set it down and stood up when I came in panting.

I spoke between gasps for air. "Tomorrow…. the summit… at Olympus…. I want to go with you."

She looked deep in thought for a moment, then at spoke. "Very well, I suppose you could spend a little time with Zeus, and see your friends if they're there."

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you my lady, thank you." I walked out of her tent and into my own. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.