So this one is shorter, and the next one will be too, and then it's going to move ahead a bit… yeah. Anyway. Not as much action, but hopefully it's good anyway. =)

And now, for our feature presentation:

O-o

"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."
— Helen Keller

O-o

Eden crossed her legs, leaning up against one wall of the relatively small boat and holding her injured arm. The gentle rocking was lulling, almost hypnotic, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight.

"Swear on the river Styx." She muttered. "You won't reveal the location of camp or the identities of other rebels or our helpers. And won't look for loopholes."

"And if we don't?" One man asked.

Eden didn't even open her eyes. "Feel free to get off the boat. We'll pull over at the next dock."

"But then we'll be executed."

Sighing in irritation, she cracked one eyelid. "And what am I supposed to do about that? I wasn't the one that hit on Rhea."

"I didn't know it was her!"

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be below deck, with Willow…

No one else raised any objections. They swore.

Willow Willow Willow.

Lydia had been, by far, their best healer. Now… Dawn did the best she could. But she sent Eden back up on deck when she started to get agitated, because she didn't trust her to stay in control.

Or so Eden interpreted it.

She closed her eyes again and tried to tune out the world.

O-o

When Eden Emmerson first had a real conversation with Thalia Grace, the lieutenant had just stormed away from camp in a huff. It was a week after she'd arrived.

No one knew for sure why, but it had been easy to guess. After all, she had been talking with Lydia.

In one hundred and twenty five years, Eden had never seen the Hunters so divided. They had always functioned like a unit, like one—sometimes fighting, yes, but always together, working together.

Maybe Zoë had been the cause of that. She had been glue. She had held them together, and without her, they were splitting. Eden had tried not to pick a side, tried not to get involved. Had just wanted it all to die down…

But Thalia had looked so alone, walking away. And Eden had made the split-second decision to follow her.

It had been so dark out, and most mortals would have long since crashed into a tree. Most people without a Hunter's instincts would have fallen by now. Eden kept her hand on her bow. The darkness was a prime place for monsters to lurk… it felt like she was spinning in the dark.

She had found Thalia a few minutes later, in a small clearing, shooting at a stump. Thwack-thud. Thwack-thud.

The moon came out from behind a cloud, lighting Thalia up in an unearthly light.

And as she stood there, Eden had been struck by how different they were. Thalia, tall, dark, in her black clothes. Eden, shorter, blonde, in the standard silver hunter's jacket. Thalia, fifteen. Eden, both fourteen and a hundred and forty years old.

If Thalia knew she was there, she ignored her, loading and shooting arrow after arrow. Eden had hesitated, not sure if she should speak or just go back to camp. But that was when her lieutenant turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Thalia demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows descended—an expression that would strike terror into the hearts of many mortals.

"Warding off monsters. If they smell two of us, they might get confused, and then they're easier to shoot." Eden took a couple steps forward.

Thalia's mouth twitched, as if there was a smile in there, trying to escape. "I highly doubt anyone would care if I was eaten."

Was that her problem? Eden shook her head. "Lydia doesn't hate you."

"News to me." But she could tell that Thalia was upset she'd let that slip out. Because even then, Eden knew that Thalia didn't do emotions. She was the cool, collected lieutenant and mortal hero. And, Eden realized, if no one was able to see into her mind, no one would be able to hurt her.

That stump was really going to be sore in the morning.

"Of course not. It's just that…" Eden paused, not knowing how much to say. She looked up at the moon—it was full tonight. As if Artemis was watching them. Maybe she was. "It's that… look. They don't dislike you. They don't hate you. And in a few years, they'll probably love you, once they accept that you're…" she stopped again, not knowing how much to say.

"I'm what?" Thalia demanded, looking at her again.

"That you're not Zoë," Eden said quietly, and when she said the name it was if a small piece of her heart broke off, going into freefall. Zoë. Zoë would know how to handle this. Two weeks ago, Zoë had been there, and—and that was two thousand years of life, gone in two weeks.

Thalia stared at her, eyes wide. Clearly that wasn't what she had expected her to say. "I'm… not… Zoë." There was a duh tone in her voice.

"Thalia…" Eden shook her head, sitting down in the damp grass. "Zoë was here for thousands of years. Only one Hunter has died since I joined up—" and the whole camp had been distraught for months… "—not including Bianca. And we barely knew Bianca." She swallowed. "But Zoë was always there. She was the one that bossed us around, the one that you knew would always stop and wait for you. She talked like she was from middle earth, when even I adjusted. She was just Zoë. And then out of the blue, you show up. No one in their right mind would say you're anything alike… we had no warning. One day we were waiting for Zoë and Bianca, the next, you were lieutenant. And we barely even knew you. And it's all so different." She smiled, just a tiny bit. "It's been decades. We don't like change."

Thalia shook her head. "I don't need to be lieutenant. I could just hunt."

Eden laughed a little, winding a strip of grass between her fingers. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus, taking orders?"

"You're a daughter of Zeus. You do fine."

"I manage." What Eden didn't tell her was that either she or Rio would have been the next lieutenant had Thalia not shown up. She had seen Thalia fight in capture the flag, and against the manticore. Thalia had risked her life to rescue Artemis, and Eden trusted her to lead them. Eden trusted Artemis, and her judgment, and she wasn't sure if she could trust her own.

Years later, that was still true.

Did I make the right choice? She wondered, resting her forehead against her knees. Should I have just let them die?

No. They had saved seven people. Surely… surely that was a good thing. They had lost Sugar, but they had saved lives.

Melody, daughter of Apollo and head healer, had kicked Eden out of the hospital because she was starting to spark. Being blown up was generally not considered to be god for patient recovery. Not to mention that it was full of all of Julie's friends and families, who, for reasons best known to themselves, wanted to hang out with a woman in labor.

If it had been any other time, or any other person lying injured in their makeshift hospital, Eden would have found this a little ironic; that death and life could exist in such close proximity.

But Willow isn't going to die, she reminded herself. Of course not. It wasn't a life threatening injury, after all. Just some sort of suspicious bite, and a sword wound. Not life threatening. Right?

Damnit.

The Hunters' 'cabin'—more of a cell, with it's cement walls and short bunk beds all crammed together—was too dark. Too dark and too tiny. Eden abandoned it for the field, despite the rain that was starting to come down.

She stopped at the archery range, and shot a few arrows at the target. It was hard to see, through the rain and the dark, but she heard the thunk as each one honed in on the bulls eye.

Willow.

Thunk.

Willow.

Thunk.

Willow.

Thunk.

A stick broke behind her, and she turned, shaking her wet hair out of her face. "Hi, Greg."

"And what did the targets do to offend you?" Greg asked.

Eden snorted before nailing another target in the center. "You can say 'I told you so' now, if you want. But then I might kill you."

"Willow's not dead, Eden."

No. But she was badly injured in the hospital. Eden shivered as some rain went down the back of her neck. She was probably going to get a cold and then get, like, pneumonia or something. Then she wouldn't be able to kick anyone's ass for another two or three weeks.

She laughed a little, letting free another arrow. Thunk.

She didn't give a damn.

Thunk.

That was a lie.

Thunk.

Because if she couldn't fight,

Thunk.

The Titans might win.

Thunk.

And then how would she live with herself?

Thunk.

So shape up, she told herself. You're lieutenant here. Act like it.

Thunk-thunk-thunk.

"Those targets seem a little easy," Greg mused, staring at them.

"Maybe a little." Eden didn't laugh.

"Seems like we should make it harder. No monster stands still and lets you shoot it."

"True." She knew what he was up to, but she didn't call him on it.

"Maybe something like a tennis ball would be better." Greg wiped some water out of his eyes. "On a pendulum, maybe?

Eden sighed.

"Why look! The forges!" Greg pointed at the building next to them as if it hadn't been there for over a year but had merely just wandered by. "Let's go make a target. It is getting a little cold and wet out here." He marched purposefully towards it.

A shadow of a smile flitted across her face, and Eden followed.

O-o

Also, I updated my Nameless Novel on Goodreads. You should all go and read it. Because you are all awesome. =)

www(dot)goodreads(dot)com/story/show/228882-nameless

OK, so I had a plan for how all this was going to play out, and then I realized—even if I only devote one chapter to each thing it's going to be really, really long, and some things might require two. So, question: do you guys want something longer with more detail and subplots, or something that is more to the point and shorter?

Moonrise—Thanks! 12 should be interesting to write about. I'm working with her.

You Know Who—nah, he couldn't what? Now I'm really curious. O_o (I don't think he acts that much like Luke. But I don't know.)

Kanae—thanks

Tonycat—I hope so. I mean, I hate flat villains too.

Sybretooth—Lars is so power hungry it's not even funny. He wants to be in control. He wants to own the word, and that's one of the reasons the fight against Eden has now become more personal than political.

Wisegirl—I hope so. Her life kinda sucks right now. =( but yeah there's no space to be you.

HallowedHalls—you think I'd kill a viewpoint narrator the first time they appear? Even I'm not that bad. Though—well, I do know that several main characters will die. But yeah. And you can feel sorry for Lars. He deserves a little sympathy, but not much. More on him next chapter.

Fishpony—They sniffed her out.