The Traitor's Prophecy
"Seven without a satyr,
By vice and sin, called traitor,
Cursed by boar, cursed by a dove,
Trails of Psyche lead by love,
Web of lies, kept by an oath.
Growth by death and death by growth,
Orpheus' head, won by heart's loss.
Darkness' end: pax or chaos."
One: Euna
Security Systems Do Not Discourage Monsters
Euna was fourteen when she was told her sister was going to die. At the time, they were still living in a two room apartment in Duluth, Georgia. Her friends from Hapkido were disappointed she'd be missing practice that night, but it was a special night for their family: the Spring Equinox.
Every year, her father had them take the day off from school to help sow the fields at a local farm—or church—or anywhere that had a garden. Then she and Joey were allowed to pick out a plant that would be special to them throughout the year and add that to their growing collection of potted plants scattered about their kitchenette. "You guys don't need a pantry," her friends would tease, "your apartment is your pantry."
That year was different. Joey got attacked by a dog. Everyone else said it was a stray dog, one that had been spotted begging by the H-Mart near Pleasant Hill Road, but Euna could see that wasn't what it was. She saw that it was huge and had disappeared into the shadow after the attack, like it was folding back into the pages of a popup book.
Her father rushed Joey to the hospital. Euna was left at the apartment, alone except for the plants and the woman hiding among them.
The woman didn't scare Euna. She wasn't supposed to be there, but Euna was top of her Hapkido class and didn't scare easily. Besides, the woman felt familiar.
She was beautiful. She had blond hair, enlaced with tiny flowers that dropped petals every time she tilted her head and sky-blue eyes that observed their kitchenette garden with a solemn happiness.
"Who are you?" Euna asked.
"I am Persephone," said the woman. She touched one of the pots and the bud therein burst into full bloom. "And I have a message for you, but I don't have much time."
This didn't surprise Euna: the insta-grow touch nor the friendly break-and-entry message, though she wanted to protest that a phone call would have been sufficient. As Euna liked to say, it didn't take an idiot to know she was special. Euna could do the same flower trick and saw things in the shadows that others couldn't.
"You must remember," Persephone began. The smile on her face withered when she glanced up. "What happens to our little sister will not be your fault. When she comes to me for aid, I will do what I can, but neither you nor I can change her fate. A rising god will kill her."
Euna had picked an apple tree the year she received her sister's death notice. When they moved to Virginia, the apple tree came with them. She planted it in their backyard—now picked dry from harvest—and watched it thrive for two years. When she went to Camp Half-Blood, she wondered if she would have to replant it there.
Now, a month after she'd discovered she was a demigod, a hydra politely vetoed the idea by melting the tree with acid.
The memory of Persphone flashed through Euna's head as she watched the bark disappear and felt the tree scream out at having its skin burned off. Sure, she had some bad memories associated with that tree, but not enough to wish an acid bath on its branches.
That hydra was definitely going to die.
But Euna zoned out for too long. One of the eight snake-like heads darted at her.
A shotgun went off nearby.
Half the hydra's head smattered into the one beside it. Euna figured the event must have been pretty traumatizing for the head being blasted with its companion's brain matter. Unfortunately, the splattered remains began to reform.
Joey hopped off the back porch as she reaimed the DP-12 double barrel pump shotgun. When Joey heard the commotion in their backyard, she must have pulled the weapon from their dad's gun safe. She fired again before pausing to pump two new rounds into the chamber.
"How do we kill it?!" Joey asked. Each time she fired, the hydra looked less like it was going to die and more like it was going to play pin the skewer in the half-blood.
Euna still felt half-asleep. She'd woken from a nap and wanted a quick walk through the gardens to clear the nightmare from her head. Then she'd run into a hydra, a serpentine creature, about the size of a small elephant. This might also clear her head, but she was annoyed and skeptical at the prospect.
Camp Half-Blood had loaned her a glaive—one she'd been keeping conveniently with their gardening supplies. So far though, all her strikes had done was sprout the creature an extra head.
"I don't know!" Euna said.
"I told you we should have stayed at camp!"
Before her sister's shout had died into the twilight, a volley of arrows slammed into the monster. One of the arrows had a glass jar attached that shattered on impact; another, a fiery tip.
The hydra roared as its body blazed into a conflagration.
Silvery shapes darted out of the park beside their house. Euna didn't have time to focus on them. In its panic and pain, the hydra charged her and, by proxy, her house. She was not about to let a monster set the Song dwelling on fire.
Euna could feel the root network under the yard. She felt a tug in her stomach as she found the roots of the closest oaks and pushed them up.
The hydra stumbled when the ground erupted underneath its feet. By now, at least half its heads had gone limp from burning, but the other four still wriggled, twisting and snaking to spit acid at the roots.
It was getting ready to charge again.
Euna aimed her glaive at the hydra and braced for impact. She wished she had some seeds so she could burst a tree into its path, maybe make it impale itself. Beside her, she could hear Joey scream a taunt, firing again and again to no avail. If they had more time, they could command more roots closer—
The hydra charged.
A girl behind it let out a war cry.
Lightning crackled. For a disorienting moment, everything went white. A clap shook the ground, then all Euna could hear was a loud ringing, like Zeus had decided to swirl his finger on the edge of the world's largest water glass.
She expected to be slammed by several tons of flaming monster.
Instead, when she managed to blink the dots out of her eyes, she found a girl with a silver parka standing over her.
As the dust settled around their once-beautiful garden, Euna could see there were several girls in silver parkas, all between ages 9 and—maybe the oldest—around Euna's age. They all had their hands over their ears and were glaring at the girl in front of Euna.
Her black hair was short and spiky, bracing a silver tiara. She had piercing blue eyes, ones that sparkled in the darkening sky. Her skin seemed to shimmer. Euna realized, as an afterthought, that she was beautiful.
The girl said something that Euna couldn't make out in her deafened state, though from reading her lips, it was something like, "I'm the Leia." As in Princess Leia? From Star Wars?
The girl made a face, apparently annoyed Euna didn't understand. She offered Euna a hand.
Until then, Euna hadn't realized that she'd fallen over. The lightning blast must have knocked her down. That also meant she must have zoned out in the timeframe it took this girl to walk from the dusted monster over to her, which meant she'd likely been staring at her. This never bothered Euna, but tended to make others give her a wide berth.
Euna was pleased this girl didn't care.
As she took her hand, Euna could hear the muffled shout of another girl, "Thalia—you promised you'd announce before you beckon the sky!"
Thalia rolled her eyes at the girl's comment. Once Euna was on her feet, she asked, "You okay?"
Euna nodded, staring past her at the crater in her yard. "Daughter of Zeus?" Euna guessed, remembering the counselor of Cabin One could shoot lighting as well.
Thalia nodded and jutted a thumb at the roots sticking out of the ground. "Daughter of Demeter?"
"Yep," Euna said and patted her pockets, forgetting—again—she didn't have any seeds at the moment.
"Demeter is my mom too," Joey added. She had stepped up beside Euna, shouldering her father's firearm. She held her chin high.
Thalia's eyes examined the weapon in appreciation. "And what does your dad do?"
"Garden," Euna said.
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "With a shotgun?"
Joey sighed dramatically, like the answer to Thalia's question had been obvious.
"Oh," Euna said. "He likes to keep up with his military training. He has a license for it now." She glanced around, to where the other girls in parkas were examining the ground. One of them cursed in Ancient Greek at the ruined yard. "Uh… I'm Euna. Not that I'm not appreciative about the help but… who are you guys?"
"And what are you doing in our backyard?" Joey asked.
Thalia's eyes narrowed. "We're scouting ahead for Lady Artemis. Have either of you guys seen a fox? Maybe about.. smart car sized?"
"We were a little distracted by the hydra," Joey muttered. "Also, JooYeon as an fyi."
Euna swatted at her sister who scowled. "What's going on with the fox?" she asked once she was sure Joey wouldn't retaliate.
Thalia's scowl deepened. "Someone had the audacity to tell Lady Artemis she couldn't… Argh!" She stamped her foot in frustration and cut herself off, like she was about to say something forbidden. "It's not important. We're just hunting a fox."
That was enough of an explanation for Euna. She started to contemplate whether or not their house insurance would cover… could she call it a lighting strike? In the yard? And if she could use her powers to clean up the yard before her father came home from his business meeting.
Thalia seemed, similarly, to be done with the conversation. Her eyes scanned over the other girls checking the ground for tracks and—wolves? Had the wolves always been prowling among them?
Joey cleared her throat loudly, "Artemis? As in the goddess?"
Thalia looked confused then glanced back over at Joey. Her eyes softened. "Yes. I'm sorry. It's been tense since we got the taunt—I'm forgetting my duty. I could see when I was approaching from the forest: you two fought well to defend your house. I'm sad Artemis couldn't have seen that herself. Here—" Thalia felt around the inside of her parka until she produced two brochures. "We're the Huntresses of Artemis, her troupe of immortal maidens."
As soon as her finger made contact, Joey flipped the pamphlet open in excitement. "Immortal? That's awesome! How do you get her to grant that?"
Euna took the brochure in one hand, but didn't open it. Realistically, it was going straight in the trash. Not that she wasn't interested in what the girl had to say, but she was way too lazy to read through all the material herself.
Despite her prior irritation, Thalia grinned at Joey's enthusiasm. "You take an oath to go on the eternal hunt with Lady Artemis. Unless you fall in battle, you will spend forever running through the wilderness, enjoying the wild spots left in nature and attending to the goddess." The serenity in Thalia's voice made Euna desirous. Eternity hanging out with plants? She could get behind that. "It's a pretty sweet gig." Thalia continued. She shrugged. "All you have to do is give up the company of men—"
"Oh!" Joey jumped. She put one hand to her mouth and used the other to place the pamphlet back into Thalia's hand. "Thanks for offering but uh—"
"Keep the pamphlet," Thalia said, unoffended. "I didn't become a huntress until years after I was offered."
"Right… uh—I'm going to grab some grass seed from the shed." Joey glanced at Euna. "So we can fix up the yard?"
"I'll be over in a sec," Euna told her, tapping her fingers against the brochure.
Joey's jaw dropped. "You're not serious?"
Euna scowled. "Go to the shed."
Joey stared at her for a few more seconds in disbelief. Then she huffed and stormed to a small shack, built right on the property line between the Song house and the park. They must have come from the park, Euna thought. She'd have seen them if they came from her neighbor's yard.
"Are you thinking about joining?" Thalia asked.
Euna shook her head. "Not yet. I can't…" Euna wanted to squirm as she said it, "I can't leave my sister."
Thalia glanced over to the shed, where Joey was unloading the DP-12. "I think she's got it under control."
Euna hesitated. The memory of Calex kissing her in Howe Cavern drifted through her mind, and of the Pax brothers taking off their shirts to hide celestial daggers, darts, and steel knives under their clothing. She was shocked how well she could visualize Axel Pax's back and the scars stretched across his muscles.
Feeling Thalia's eyes on her, Euna brought her attention to the present. The huntress was so relaxed and self-assured. Her eyes blazed like the lightning from her father.
"Can't you still have relationships?" Euna asked, a realization teasing the edge of her mind.
"Nope." Thalia shook her head. "No contact with men. Well, minimal. Sometime we drop by Camp Half-Blood to put the campers into their place."
Euna shrugged. "I'm not talking about with men."
Thalia blinked. Slowly, understanding brought a half-smile to her face. "I think the idea is to forswear all romantic love, but the oath doesn't specifically say that." She returned Euna's shrug. "I'll ask for you."
A wolf patted up to Thalia's side. She reached down to pet it, tilting her head as though she were listening. "Looks like our fox went that way," she nodded towards their neighbor's yard. Euna was really glad the Kims went dancing on Friday nights and wouldn't call the cops about the lightning strike or the small army of preteen and teenage girls about to run through their lawn. She just hoped the next house over would think running en masse with bows was some new thing all the kids were doing these days.
When Thalia stood up, she examined Euna. "Iris message me sometime," she finally said. "I can tell you what Artemis says and maybe you, me, and your sister can go shooting with your dad's guns."
Normally, Euna avoided leaving the house unless it was for school or one of her fighting classes, but she found herself nodding. "Sounds good."
They shook hands. A spark zapped Euna's palm. When she jumped, Thalia gave her a grin. "See you later."
As the Huntresses of Artemis and the wolves disembarked, Euna joined Joey by the shed.
"Are you done flirting?" Joey snapped. She'd already dragged a bag of seed out. The gun was still unceremoniously propped against the shed, but at least she'd put the safety on and left the ammo to the side.
Euna froze. "Was I flirting?"
Joey rolled her eyes. "Augh, you're as bad as a boy."
Euna glanced over at the destruction in the lawn. They'd need shovels to fix that crater, they'd have to use their powers to put the roots back in the ground, and… more than just grass had been ripped up. She frowned at the remains of her half-melted apple tree. "Joey…" she whispered. "Do you think joining the Huntresses could change your fate?"
They were quiet while they worked. Fixing up the roots, planting the grass, and making the grass grow: none of that took long. Though the sun did sink behind the treeline before they were done. Neither of them knew what to do about the crater. They were so exhausted from the fight and cleanup that Joey eventually broke the silence and said they should tell their dad lightning actually did strike.
Euna agreed. When Joey walked off to get refreshments, Euna went into their living room and collapsed on the couch. On the mantel above their fireplace, her dad kept all her old trophies from different tournaments and her report cards from middle school. Nothing recent. Euna knew her father did it to give her an emotional slap. These are your past successes. What happened? But she didn't care. All she could do was stare at the urn in the center of the mantel. Dad had claimed it contained their mother's ashes. She'd been too scared to open it since she found out that was a lie, that her mother, being Demeter, was probably partying it up on Mount Olympus instead of honoring their mantel with her godly presence.
Three weeks ago, Joey told their dad about the nightmares Euna and Joey had been having. He drove them to Camp Half-Blood without explanation, where a centaur told them that they were children of a goddess. Apparently, the whole camp had been having nightmares. Then some giant snake kidnapped an Oracle and they had to save her with four other demigods. Temporarily, it stopped their nightmares, but they restarted a week later.
Dad acted like nothing had happened when they came back. He didn't acknowledge how he knew about Camp Half-Blood or that their mother was a goddess or the minor important fact that Greek mythology was real. Joey argued with him about it every chance she got, and she was banned from dancing lessons until she, "remembered how to act like a respectful child."
Euna sighed and rolled onto her back. She'd forgotten the glaive on the ground outside.
"It's a red poppy flower."
She glanced up. Joey shoved a can of sikhye into her face. Euna pulled her feet down so Joey could sit beside her. Joey popped the top of her own tin can and started to sip the rice punch. "The urn. I checked. It's a pressed poppy flower."
"Cool," Euna choked out.
Their dad had lied to them since they were little. Cool was probably an overstatement, but it was the best Euna could come up with.
"I want to stay year-round at Camp Half-Blood," Joey said after a moment. When Euna looked at her, she jutted her chin forward. Recently, Joey dyed the front strip of her bob a brilliant pink, probably in defiance of Dad. The hair made her eye shadow pop. "I'm not afraid of that stupid prophecy. It never said when I'm going to die. If I'm going to die—I—I'm going to at least make this family proud before it happens. You… you said you got it a week ago?"
"Yea," Euna lied. "You shouldn't go back. It's dangerous to be around gods—"
Before she could finish her sentiment, the window to the living room shattered.
Irony, she thought, just in time!
A 200 pound Brit crashed onto their floor and crushed their basil planter. Joey screamed and grabbed for something to throw. When she realized who it was, she quickly set down the daisy planter and ran to his side. Euna followed after, carefully stepping around the shattered glass.
"Calex!" Joey yelped.
He groaned. Instead of clutching the side where he landed, he clutched his stomach. "Bloody unicorn…" he groaned.
Euna glanced up in enough time to see something sparking in their backyard. Although she couldn't get a good look at red and black stallion, she guessed Vinyl Scratch—a unicorn they'd sort of saved from centaurs—was the one nickering in the dark, rainbow sparks sputtering from its broken horn to occasionally light up his eyes. Euna felt the tension release from her shoulders when the unicorn when to graze on the grass they'd just fixed up.
"Either of you have some nectar?" Calex gasped, loud enough to be heard over the squeal of the house alarm.
He looked as okay as someone could look after crashing through a window. There was blood from broken glass shards, and he was probably going to bruise horribly from where he'd turned their planter into modern art. Fortunately, no real damage. Calex wore a bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, his black scarf, a red and black beanie with an Arsenal logo on it, and jeans. None of that was stained with blood. Just his hands.
After they shut off the alarm and gave him some nectar for his bruises, cuts, and stomach—riding Vinyl always made him nauseous—Euna asked, "What are you doing here?" This was somehow less surprising than the hydra, but she figured it was polite to inquire.
"I asked him to pick us up and bring us back to camp," Joey explained.
"Us? To camp?" Euna repeated, glaring. Next time they went to camp, Euna made a mental note to ask Chiron how much nectar it would take to heal a broken arm. If he asked why, she'd tell him it was for family stress relief.
"You didn't need to crash through my window to come get us," Joey said with a wave of the hand. She was blushing.
"I didn't exactly plan on having that mad excuse of a horse toss me," Calex grumbled. He stood, stomped over to the window and shook a fist outside. "You do that again, I'll grind you into a burger!"
Euna could hear Vinyl Scratch huff outside.
"I was fine until he picked a race with some black stallion," Calex said as he stepped back over. Euna frowned, debating on whether or not it would be rude to tell him to take off his shoes. Considering the landmines of former window on their floor, maybe she and Joey were the ones who should consider putting on slippers.
He paused, glancing around their living room. Since the tallest person Euna ever saw in this room was her father, Calex looked huge. His grey eyes stood out brilliantly against his ebony skin. "Sorry about the window but, uh, nice place you got here. You could fit a whole herd of centaurs in your backyard."
"Thanks," Euna said, staring. He seemed different, moving with more confidence. Maybe happier? She couldn't tell.
"I'll go grab my bags!" Joey exclaimed. "We need to get out of here. Dad will be home soon."
"I can't meet him?" Calex asked. He almost looked offended.
"No!" Both Song sister shouted.
They glanced at each other.
"You came in through the window," Euna explained.
"And we aren't allowed to have boy—people over when he's not here," Joey added.
An awkward moment of silence passed. Calex's mouth crinkled, like he wanted to laugh. "Right. No time for tea and cakes then."
Joey dashed up the stairs. Euna could envision the next fight Joey would start with Dad now: "Yea Dad, a son of Eros—God of Desire—came by when you weren't here. He snuck through the window. Also, he's got a hot accent!"
Euna sighed and walked into the kitchen to grab a pad and paper to write a quick, Hydra broke the window. Went to Camp Half-Blood. Will send word if we're gone for long.
"I didn't come here because of Joey's message," Calex said. He had followed her through the house, glancing in admiration at all the pictures of them in various fighting uniforms.
Ah good. You're not an idiot, she thought internally.
Aloud, she said, "Mm?"
"I Iris Messaged Axel to pick up Kally so we could all meet at camp," he continued, mentioning some of the others that had helped save the Oracle a month ago. Euna noted that Calex hadn't said Pax. "Piper and I have been chatting and… I think we know what's going on with the nightmares."
Euna set the pen down. She looked at him. From what she knew, no one had told anyone else about their nightmares. None of them had wanted to.
He nodded, like reading her thoughts. "I think they're connected to the Traitor's Prophecy."
Hey guys! This is the first chapter of the second book in the Traitors of Olympus series, though it will catch you up on the first book as you go. It takes place after the Heroes of Olympus and before Trials of Apollo. This is a teaser chapter, as I will actually start posting weekly towards the beginning of July. Please let me know what you think though! :D I hope you enjoy!