It took me hours, after the girls arrived, to get Zoë to calm down enough that I could understand what she was saying, but even after the third retelling, I still wasn't sure, entirely, of what was going on.
After I'd left with Percy to return to camp, the Hunt had continued on without me. A day after the incident with manticore, though, Artemis had halted the hunt somewhere in Iceland. "She came to me as she does every night, but I could tell from her demeanor that something was not right. She told me…she said that she needed to go alone. She needed to find something special…to hunt it. She would tell me nothing more," Zoë had cried into my shoulder, "Why would she not have told me, Thalia? I am her… we are…she is my world."
I tried to console her, to calm her anxieties, but it was difficult when my own nerves were still on edge. I myself was still reeling from the loss of my angel, but nonetheless I knew I had to at least try to be strong for Zoë. I had to help find my Lady – my sister – and I had to find my Annabeth.
"I'll help you find her, Zoë. We'll bring her back."
I went around to the Hunters, asked the normal questions: How long ago did Artemis leave? Which direction had she headed? Had she been acting differently? Every Hunter had the same answer to every question. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I do not know." "Sorry Thalia, I can't help you." "Dunno, boss. Sorry."
I quickly became frustrated with their lack of helpfulness. I stormed from Cabin Eight, where the Hunters had bunked down for the time being. I strode angrily straight to the arena, drawing my spear from my belt without missing a step. I flung it straight into the heart of a wooden dummy before throwing myself down on a log bench with a huff.
I knew I shouldn't be angry with them, but I was. How had they seen nothing? How had they not felt her distress? Then I realized…I hadn't felt it either. But Zoë had. How?
I stood and pulled my spear from the kebab-ed dummy. Quickly, I shrunk it back to a pepper spray can, clipped it to my belt and turned on my heel towards the cabins. When I reached cabin 8, I moved quickly up the stairs and through the pillared entrance. When I reached the sleeping quarters, I made my way directly for the bed at the back of the room. It had been isolated from the rest by curtains that smelled strangely of Annabeth. I should probably not tell Zoë that that's more than a little bit of the reason why I spend so much time at her side, I thought and smiled briefly to myself.
I pulled back the curtains with no measure of gentleness, and climbed up on the bed, hovering over the sleeping figure.
I poked her. She didn't wake. I shook her shoulder gently. Nothing. I said her name, still shaking her, now less softly than before. Finally…
"Zoë! Wake up!"
Bad idea. She jerked upright and I was flung off the bed with the force, whacking my head on the side table on the way down.
"Ow…" I whined, rubbing the bump that was quickly forming.
She peered over the edge of the bed. Then her searching gaze turned into that older-sister-who-wants-to-hit-you glare that she's way too good at. "Thalia!" she growled, "What did thou intend to do? You gave me a fright, you little imp! Why hast thou awoken me?"
I groaned at the scolding. At least she's awake, I thought.
I stood and moved back to sit on the bed. I took Zoë's hands in mine and looked at her seriously. "Zoë, you told me you knew that something had happened to Artemis, yeah?"
She nodded.
"Yet not one of the other Hunters felt or heard or saw anything."
She shrugged.
"So how did you know?"
She looked down, her eyebrows drawing together in thought. "I am not sure," she said as she looked back up to me. "I simply knew. Twas as if, in one moment, all was well and in the next…it was as though someone had robbed mine lungs of air, as though mine heart could not recall its own beat. I cannot explain it, Thalia, but I knew in that instant that something had happened." She looked up to me, with tears once again in her only recently dried eyes.
In that moment, everything fell into place. Annabeth. Me. Artemis. Zoë. Everything. All the pieces fit. I understood.
"Zoë! I think I get it now!" She looked at me like a crazy person, which I generally am with the exception of this instance right here. "The feeling. The feeling you got when Artemis was taken! It's like…a connection or something."
Okay. I'd definitely lost her by this point.
I continued, "You and Artemis. You're everything to each other: friends, companions, lovers…"
At the mention of that last word, Zoë turned a bright red. She nodded.
"I mean…you two have been together for centuries. She is your other half and you are hers. Do you disagree?" She shook her head 'no.' I went on, "Okay…when I was with Annabeth that night, I started to feel something in my chest. It was like her heart was beating right alongside mine. Every inch of me was absorbed by every inch of her and I could feel all of her. It was…beyond words.
"But when she…" I hesitated at the memory, "when she went over the cliff, it was all ripped away. I couldn't feel her heart next to mine anymore. I thought she was dead. I thought I had lost her." I hadn't realized I was crying until a lone tear dropped into my lap. I looked up at Zoë again through tear-blurred eyes.
She asked, almost in a whisper, "How dost thou know, then? How dost thou know that she is alive even when you can no longer feel her?"
"The same way that we're going to find our girls, Zoë," I smiled softly.
She looked at me like I'd grown a hydra head on either side of my neck, "What is it you are saying, Thalia? Do not fool with me, for, above all others, thou should know better than to give false hope to one with a broken heart."
"No, no, no! Just listen. This isn't false hope, Zoë! See, when I collapsed on the cliff because I thought I'd lost Annabeth, Artemis took me in her arms and told me that if I only looked inside myself, I would know the truth…that she wasn't gone. It took some digging, but I found it. It's like this…this thing at the center of everything you are, like a warm core of light at the center of your soul. I could hear her again. I could feel her again. I tried to use it to find her, but everything was dark with pain and confusion. Zoë, you need to look inside yourself and find your connection to Artemis. It would be stronger than the one I have to Annabeth because Artemis is a god. Your connection could be strong enough that it could lead us to where Luke has them. But you have to focus. You have to look inside yourself, please, Zoë, for me …for Annabeth…for your soul mate."
I finished my plea to her, out of breath and emotionally exhausted. I looked into her bright golden eyes and begged without words for her to try.
Finally, she nodded and closed her eyes. I watched as her brow furrowed and her jaw became clenched. Her eyes darted back and forth beneath the lids. Her breathing was slow and steady.
For a while nothing happened. But then…in an instant, she stopped breathing all together, pink rose in her cheeks, and a soft calm came over the whole room. I recognized the presence and settled into its embrace as easily as I had that day on the cliff. It was as though Artemis was with us, cradling each and every person in the cabin. I peeked out of the curtain to see the few girls in the cabin simply stopped. The just stood, smiling softly to themselves. They felt it too.
I closed the curtain and turned back to Zoë. I jumped when I turned to find her, sitting there as she was before, but glowing now with the same soft, white aura that was usually wrapped around Lady Artemis.
Unconsciously, my hand reached toward her…toward the light. As my fingertips neared Zoë's cheek, they began to tingle with the energy flowing around her. Finally, I pressed my palm to her cheek and whispered, "Zoë, come back to me."
For a few seconds, nothing happened. She just sat there in her meditative state.
Then, her breathing returned to normal and her eyes slowly opened as the light around her faded. She looked surprised to see me, standing there before her. She cocked her head to the sideand just sort of stared straight ahead for a second. Then, all of a sudden, something snapped.
Before I knew what was happening, a blur of dark hair and silver cloth pushed past me and out to the main area. She sprinted over to my bed, which was distinguishable by the grey and navy comforter that contrasted the silver that covered the rest of the beds. Did I steal Annabeth's blanket? Yes. Yes I did. Please don't judge me for it.
When I finally got to her side, she was digging around my rucksack, looking for something. "Zoë, what are you doing? What happened? What did you –"
I was cut off as her hand flew up to cover my mouth. She turned and looked me directly in the eye with frighteningly silver irises. Hades' balls, that's…new..
Her hand slid to my mouth and she turned back to the bag. She carefully, deliberately pulled my book of maps from the rucksack. She slowly unwound the string that bound it closed. As she opened it, the pages fell apart as though guided by some unknown force…to a map of the Western United States. She looked up to me, as though to make sure I was still following. Then she turned slowly back to the map, reaching one steady, slender finger.
"Here."
Her voice was so…different. It took me a moment just to register that it had been her that'd said it. Usually Zoë's voice had a sharp edge to it and a raspy quality to it that made it simultaneously commanding and – don't take this weirdly – sexy. But the voice that came from her with that one word was…almost bell like. It echoed without echoing. It held a depth that I'd only heard in the words of gods, before that moment.
I shook my head, shaking off the shock at her voice, to finally look to where her finger came to rest.
Fuck.
