A forest somewhere along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A., during The Battle of the Labyrinth.

"You will never be Zoë!" Lucia snapped at Thalia. She was so fed up with their new lieutenant's pitiful attempts at wisdom, at remaining composed. That damn child was doing her best to imitate Zoë and it was disgraceful, insulting.

The circle of Hunters fell silent. Their bonfire flickered ominously. No one until that moment had dared mention Zoë too loudly for fear of upsetting the goddess, who was still somewhat emotionally unstable.

Lucia knew she shouldn't have said it, but enough was enough. She could sense the same irritation coming most strongly from Phoebe, Melissa, and, to some extent, even Demetria. She just couldn't deal with it anymore. Ever since she and Artemis had spoken about her lieutenants back in December, Lucia had not had the chance to sufficiently express her annoyance (as she would never question Artemis while her younger sisters were present) and her irritated whispers with Melissa did not exactly make her feel any better.

And, now, Lucia felt mortified. Ashamed. She turned on her heel, avoiding the goddess's eyes. The Hunters parted before her as she ran.

However, before she got far, Thalia shot back, "I'll never be Zoë? You'll never be Zoë! You try to act as stoic and brave as her, but you're just a bitter old coward!"

Lucia froze. She twitched in indecision. She had to leave, to cool off, but Thalia...

Her Stygian Iron gladius appeared in her hand and she was suddenly back next to Thalia, holding the blade to her neck. Nicole, who was standing next to Thalia, stumbled back a few steps to keep a safe distance away.

"I am a coward. I've never denied it," Lucia hissed. Whether she was truly a coward, she did not know, but those words came to her anyway.

Thalia's blue eyes glared at her with a fearsome intensity almost as great as Zeus's.

"Now, now, don't get so riled up on my account," came a smug voice. A male voice.

The Hunters all rose, drawing daggers and bows. Even Lucia and Thalia jumped into fighting stances side by side to face the intruder.

Ares walked out of the shadows by one of the tents. His dark hair was short; his flaming eyes were hidden behind sunglasses; his upper body was enveloped in a black leather jacket, rather unfitting for the summer weather; his sword was at his hip.

"Chill, ladies," Ares said, snapping his fingers.

Everyone's weapons fell to the ground.

"Hey, kid. Great to see you again," Ares continued casually to Phoebe, patting her shoulder.

"Dad, what - ?"

"I'm on an urgent mission at the moment," Ares interrupted. Then he placed his other hand on the newer Madison girl who sat next to Phoebe. "Watch out for, Madison, here, will you? She's your sister."

"What?" Madison gasped. She looked frightened and uncertain.

"Will you?" Ares asked Phoebe again, ignoring Madison and everyone else. He hadn't spared even Lucia a single look.

"Of course," Phoebe said.

"Great," Ares replied. Then he looked over at his other daughter. "Sorry, kid. Like I said, urgent mission. We'll chat some other time."

"Oh, uh, alright," Madison said, exchanging looks with Kelsey (a Hunter for only three days), who sat on her other side. "Sir."

"Ah, 'sir'. I like that. Respect is good," the god said, nodding to himself. Then he looked over at Artemis. "I need a word, Arty. A private one."

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "You come here uninvited, deprive us of our weapons, and ask for a word? I am not particularly inclined to acquiesce."

"Yeah, well, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere 'til we talk," Ares said.

The two Olympians seemed to be in a sort of staring contest. Lucia could feel the change in the air as Ares made his presence even stronger; she really felt like punching Thalia across her arrogant face now and she could tell Thalia was feeling the same way about her: the lieutenant's hand kept squeezing into a fist and she sent glares at Lucia every few seconds.

Lucia forced her attention back to Artemis with a look that screamed something along the lines of: Don't be an idiot! You'll have full-out battle on your hands if you don't talk to him and I'll kill you if that happens!

Perhaps her look was a little too angry because Artemis shot her back a reproving glare.

"Very well, Ares," Artemis said in a voice of venom-laced politeness. "Shall we walk?"

"Sure," Ares said and he followed Artemis away from their campsite.

Once the war god had vanished from sight, everyone began to relax and retrieve their weapons, but they still sent apprehensive glances at Lucia and Thalia.

Lucia sighed and made her gladius disappear. "Look, Thalia, I'm sorry. I - "

"No, you're right," Thalia said, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual. "You're totally right. I'll never be Zoë. I barely knew her."

Lucia didn't know what to say.

"Tell the goddess I'll be back later," Thalia continued. "I'm going hunting."

"Thalia - "

The lieutenant cut her off with a glare. She summoned her bow and walked off.

"Thalia!" Catherine called. "Don't - "

"I'm going."

"Just be back before sunset," Demetria said before Catherine could protest. She didn't look particularly pleased, but it seemed like she would prefer to give Thalia some time to cool off rather than risk another fight starting. "Please."

Thalia nodded. She ran off quickly before anyone else could speak up.

Lucia sighed heavily.

"Ah, she had it coming," Allie said, shrugging.

"Don't feel too bad," Lydia added.

"Well..." Ellen said, hesitantly. "You know she didn't entirely deserve it."

"I know," Lucia said quietly.

"She's tough; she can take it," Catherine said.

"She knows you didn't really mean to," Anne added. "It was Ares, not you."

"But it wasn't Ares who said it," Lucia said with a groan. "He didn't force me to say it. He just helped bring my anger to the surface."

"Thalia got angry, too," Isabel said. "If you forgive her, she'll forgive you."

"What am I supposed to forgive her for?" Lucia asked. "She did nothing wrong."

"She insulted you," Melissa said. "Called you a coward."

Lucia frowned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the new Hunters were fidgeting uncomfortably and whispering to each other. They still didn't know the rest well enough to contribute to the conversation appropriately. Lucia was glad that they knew their place enough not to get involved.

"Oh, stop it," Demetria said. "You are all being childish."

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed. "Lu, you can work things out with Thalia later."

"It'll be fine," Elaia said.

Lucia scoffed. "She'll hate me now."

The girls gave Lucia some disagreeing looks, but they didn't say anything.

"Where is Thalia?" Artemis asked, walking back to their bonfire alone.

"Hunting," answered Nicole, the girl who had been the second to join after Thalia became lieutenant. She was standing closest to the goddess.

"Hunting," Artemis repeated, looking rather stressed. She sent Lucia another quick glare, evidently blaming her for Thalia's departure.

"Is something wrong?" Anne asked.

"No, everything is fine," Artemis answered.

Lucia, for one, was thoroughly unconvinced by that statement, but she wasn't particularly willing to question it because most of the others seemed satisfied and that look the goddess had just given her suggested that she would not tolerate Lucia's blunt honesty at that moment. However, Demetria met Lucia's eyes and Lucia raised her eyebrows, doing her best to ask Do you buy it?

Demetria glanced at the goddess and shrugged with an expression that said Well, no, but if 'tis important we'll find out.

Lucia nodded slightly.

"What did Lord Ares say?" Kassandra asked.

"He merely informed me of the Titans' more recent activities," Artemis said. "Nothing you have to worry about."

Kassandra cringed somewhat and her face made it clear she wished she hadn't asked. Nearly everyone knew of her previous affiliation with the Titan Army and the goddess's comment seemed somewhat harsh when viewed with that knowledge. Whatever Ares had told her, Lucia was sure it was bothering her for she would never intentionally make one of the Hunters feel uncomfortable.

"Did Thalia say when she will be returning?" Artemis asked, still sounding irritated, but trying to hide it.

"I told her to come back by sunset," Demetria said.

Artemis growled softly, earning some uncertain looks from the newer recruits. "Very well. I wish to spend the night elsewhere. Let me know when she returns. Phoebe, with me, if you please."

She turned on her heel and entered her tent. Phoebe exchanged looks with Demetria and Lucia, but then followed the goddess.

Lucia attempted to follow as well, but Isabel grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Don't," Isabel said, shaking her head.

"But..."

"She won't listen to you," Isabel whispered. "If anything, she'll get into an even more foul mood."

Lucia groaned.

"I'll talk to her later," Anne said quietly. "I won't let her blame you for Thalia being immature."

"Thalia's acting reasonably," Lucia said bitterly. "It's my fault. The goddess is right to blame me for causing her to leave." Lucia glared at the ground. "Lydia! Get me out when the lieutenant's back."

"What?" Lydia said, confusedly.

Lucia didn't answer. She sat down, lifting her arms over her head. The earth rose into a dome to cover her. And she sat entombed in darkness and silence. Or, at least as close to darkness as she could get with the faint silver glow about her skin.