The next morning Thalia woke with a start. She looked at the clock in the middle of the two hotel beds and saw that it read 5:30. She knew she wouldn't get back to sleep, since she never did, so she decided to get up and take a shower. The lukewarm water, as uncomfortable as it was, was just what she needed right then. It calmed her nerves and helped her to think straight. When she stepped out of the shower, and pulled on some clean clothes she gingerly reached for the choker that person has gotten her. The thought ran through her mind, what if I had never been Hunter, what if I had never left camp, would I have been the one buying a gift for Percy instead of Annabeth, but when she heard a knock on the door these thoughts fled from her mind.
When tell you open the door, the person standing before her was not her friend Annabeth, but the knucklehead Percy Jackson in his flame print boxers. They looked each other up and down, and both their faces turned bright red. They did a quick dance of seeing who was going on which side of the door before Percy slipped into the shower and shut the door behind him. Thalia was breathing heavy, her face still the color of fresh salami. The lights weren't on in the room and Thalia could see Annabeth getting ready to take her shower. She walked up to Thalia, who was still in a towel, and greeted her good morning before knocking on the door, telling Percy to hurry up. As a result Thalia could hear Percy increase the pressure of the shower to drown out Annabeth's shouting. This brought a smile to Thalia's face, giving her fond memories of her first stay at camp, before the Titan War, before the Giant War, before her soul was crushed by the guilt of having feelings for her best friend. Percy finished his shower, leaving Annabeth with only cold water. Within 20 minutes they were out on the room, checked out, and on the road once again.
Over the course of the next few weeks the trio of demigods battled every manner of monster or beast, but every night both Thalia and Percy dreamt of Annabeth's death by each other's hands. Meanwhile, at every town they stopped in, Annabeth went by the library to research the place that might be called the devil's heart. It wasn't until they were in Kansas City, where they found themselves being chased by none other than Lycaon himself.
Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth were back to back in an alley, completely surrounded by wolves the size of large sedans. This time, however, Thalia knew the hunters would not be answering the call. it was all the demigods could do just to stay the attack; Thalia had run out of arrows long ago, and between aegis's lack of offensive capabilities and her and Percy's magic being nigh unusable in the snow, they were losing ground fast.
The wolves parted, and their leader walked forward chuckling to himself before snarling, "Ironic, isn't it? Once, child of Zeus, you hunted me with the ferocity of an injured… wolf," he grinned. "17 scars you've given me, bitch, 17. It will be my pleasure to repay each and every one of those scares tenfold."
Lycaon unsheathed a set of long black claws and slowly sauntered towards Thalia. He raised his hand, avarice filling his face. Suddenly a silver sword sprouted from his chest. His face changed from that of a hungry lust to that of shock. The black hair all over his body shriveled and fell off, his claws turned to dust, and his ichor slowly turned red.
"What? How? What manner of sorcery is this? Over 3 thousand years I've dueled with the silver goddess…"
"Well, you were never hunted by this sword," said the tall Olive skinned man standing behind Lycaon. As he did, all of the wolves around the demigods and their savior shrunk back into the mortal they had once been, seemingly untouched by time. "Today is your lucky day… I smelled Lycaon's filth from Camp and hurried to finish what I should've 3000 years ago."
"Thanks for helping us, but" began Annabeth before she was cut off for being too confrontational with the man who'd saved their lives,
"It'd be nice to know the name of our hero," said Thalia, hoping to learn his name without angering someone with the ability to strip immortality from a being.
"It seems that my name is not common talk anymore, I have become the one who failed in his great hunt… I am Orion. Sometime in the last 5 years Neptune, my father, and yours I'd wager, glancing at Percy, brought me down from the stars and returned to me on of my three greatest creations, this sword, Timoría, which in the modern tongue means retribution. I was told by my, I mean our, father that while I slept it rested in the stars with me. However, that's not really the point. Come with me to my ranch, it'll be a safe place for the night where you can regroup and restock your supplies.
Orion led Thalia and the others to a large farm surrounded by what looked like Olympiad Pines. On the property of the ranch were 6 barrack like building surrounded by other standard farm buildings and a few other mixed structures from various Greek and roman ages gone by. Once reaching the Roman villa next to the barracks Orion took them to a storeroom where he let them fill up on whatever they needed. Thalia made sure to grab extra silver arrows this time, as well as some other specialty items, just in case. Percy, however was far more interested in Orion's sword.
"So, uh, your sword killed an immortal godling… How exactly? I mean it's silver right?"
"That's where you're wrong. This sword is forged from my own invention. I furnished Vulcan's forge, I crafted the bow of Artemis, and I created antepitithium, from the word antepitithemai, which is Greek for fighting back. It is a form of mortal steel, Tempered in a concoction of Stygian water and golden Ichor, forged in charcoal made from Asphodel Poplars. The three blades were then heavily enchanted by the great sorceress Circe. There are two others like it, Antarsia and Chalasmos, Rebellion and Destruction. Timoria, strips the immortality of its victims, Antarsia cuts the very soul, leaving wounds that will not heal on the mortal, and scars on every iteration of an immortal's being, this sword was given to Alexander the great by my eternal ally Hephaestus after Alexander was betrayed by Ares. The third, Chalasmos, would cut through anything and everything the user said it should, but only if Chalasmos dubbed him worthy. This blade would be known to you as Excalibur. I created these blades because I had been betrayed by Artemis. She went with me to hunt the mighty ox Taurus, but left me to fight it alone, which nearly claimed my life, which is when Vulcan, Vesta, and Pluto helped me create Antepitithium, because they too knew the bite of betrayal. I carried one and the other two I entrusted to Hephaestus and Hestia."
"You use the names of the gods interchangeably, why?" asked Annabeth.
"In mythology, I am a constant, like nemesis or Janus. I exist in both Greek and roman worlds simultaneously; their varying names, with a few exceptions, mean nothing to me. As such this camp, Camp Olive-Grove, or Olive-Grove Ranch, is a safe haven and training facility for both Greek and Roman demigods. I was returned to earth only after my hatred for the gods had vanished and I now serve them as I did long ago, as an ally, not a servant."
With that being said, Orion left the trio to finish their packing and went to go call the camp to dinner. Dinner was not anything spectacular. It consisted of what appeared to be meatloaf and peas with a snak-pak of chips and a can of a variety of Bacchacola products. The dining area was nothing like Camp Half-blood, neither the colored shirts, which Percy assumed were cabin designations, or parentage, at least by the diversity of the groups, seemed to matter, red, white, nor black shirted people mixed all together. After dinner Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth were shacked up in the guest quarters of the villa, and for the first time since they left, neither Percy nor Thalia had nightmares. As Thalia lay beneath Percy, the smell of saltwater and his steady breathing comforted her, while Percy was so glad Thalia had chosen him for this quest, because he couldn't imagine what he would be like at camp knowing this is what they would've faced without him
In the morning Annabeth asked if Orion knew the location of the "devil's heart." He told them he'd heard rumors of a daemon graveyard in Death Valley, and so with renewed spirits they headed out for that very location.
A/N: If you guys want me to, I have ideas for a complete OC story line about Camp Olive Grove. That being said, I don't want to right an entirely OC story if no one will read it. Let me know and I will try and get that written.
