Right. This may be the last upload for a little while. I need to catch up on writing it. Big surprises coming up soon, though. :)

Part 10- Hunt to the Death

Jackie ran down the beach and through the forest. She pretended to be running away from something, or someone, so kept getting whacked in the face with branches. Luckily, the make up that Aphrodite had put on her wouldn't smear, smudge or run, so no matter how many tears fell down her cheeks, it would still look like she had perfect skin.

Soon, she reached the clearing around the river. She ran straight to the river and collapsed beside it, sobbing hard. It wasn't hard to fake. She just thought of every horrible moment she'd ever had, put them all together and let it all go.

Of course that would attract attention.

The water rippled a few metres away from where she sat. Achelous appeared, exactly as Artemis thought he would.

He seemed a little shocked to see a beautiful bride to be sitting on his river bank crying.

"My dear, are you alright?" He asked, creeping over to her, but remaining in the water.

She looked up, pretending not to be shocked that a cow had just spoken to her.

"Oh, it's horrible! My father wants to marry me off to an awful, fat boy today. I ran away before the ceremony and now he is hunting me like an animal!"

Achelous looked at her pitifully. "That is awful. Child, what is your name?"

Jackie decided not to use her own name. "My name is Helena."

Achelous looked stunned. "Helen? Helen of Troy?"

Jackie, aka Helena, shook her head and laughed sadly. "No. Helena of Athens."

He then started to flirt. "Just as beautiful, twice as nice."

Jackie stiffened a little at the word 'twice' but relaxed when she realised he hadn't said her name.

"And you must be Achelous, the god of this river. I've heard a story about you."

"Really? You really did?"

Jackie nodded. "Yes. It said that you beat Hercules in a contest for a wife."

Achelous shook his head. "As nice as that is, it is not true. He cut off my horn and stole the girl that was promised as my wife. Recently, another girl and her… boyfriend… cut off my other horn and stole it. They left me here, humiliated and alone. But, even more recently, I struck back. I stole this horn (he pointed to the one that had been refused to his head) back from Hercules. He was furious!"

Jackie laughed. "Wow. I wish my fiancé was that brave."

Achelous crept a little closer. "How about I be your fiancé."

"Really?" Jackie made her voice sound excited.

"Of course! We could live here in the river. You'd be immortal and have the most beautiful river bed you ever saw for a garden. You'd have pearl jewellery and a coral throne. You'd be queen of the river!"

She reached out and stroked the side of Achelous's face. "I would like that. I would like that a lot."

He smiled. "Jump in and it will all be yours."

Jackie took a few steps back, as if getting a run up. Suddenly, Hercules erupted from the trees and snatched Jackie away.

"You can't have her!" He roared. "She's mine!"

Achelous was in shock. Jackie screamed and struggled in Hercules' grip. Thalia shot out of her hiding place and cut the horn from Achelous's head.

The god roared in pain and fear. "Hercules! How dare you steal her!"

Jackie screamed as Hercules tightened his grip. "She's mine, Achelous! And always will be!"

Hercules turned tail and ran back towards his beach, Jackie thrown over his shoulder. She outstretched her arm.

"Achelous! Achelous, I'll come back! I promise!"

Achelous roared and screamed from his river. "Helena of the Sea! My beautiful bride!"

Hercules charged down the beach, taking Jackie out of Achelous's sight and reach. He then turned and ran into the forest, crashing through the underbrush.

He tossed Jackie to the ground and walked over to her. "You are truly beautiful."

Jackie coughed. "Yeah, that's something you say after you kidnap someone."

"You will be my wife!"

Jackie shrieked as Hercules dragged her to her feet and clutched her tightly to him. He started to fiddle with the catch on her dress, then gave up on that and tried to kiss her.

She screamed. "Artemis! Artemis, help! MOM!"

Hercules cried out in pain as The Lady of the Moon herself stabbed him in the thigh.

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" She screamed at him, snatching Jackie away from him. Jackie cried. "You're a monster, Hercules! I hate you!"

Thalia put her arm around the younger Huntress. "Hercules, you nearly ruined the plan. You were supposed to remain on the beach and wait for us to get back."

Artemis nodded. "The Hunters are going to keep the horn until we think you deserve it."

"No."

They all turned to Jackie, stunned that she had spoken.

She reached into her bag, which was slung over Thalia's shoulder. She pulled out…

"The other horn…" Artemis gasped.

Jackie nodded. "Piper gave it to me back in New Rome. She told me to give it back to the owner. I now know who she meant."

Thalia handed her the other horn. "Are you sure about this?"

"He lost a wife and his horn at the same time and suffered for eternity. I think I'm sure."

She ran off before Hercules or Artemis could argue.

Nearing the river, she saw Achelous looking down the beach, lost and upset.

"Achelous!" She cried.

He whipped around. "Helena… my word…"

She knelt next to the river, the horns still grasped in her hands. "I found one with a girl and the other I stole from Hercules. I want you to have them back."

Achelous reached up and took them from her, tears in her eyes. "My darling! Now we can be together forever!"

Jackie sighed sadly. "Achelous, there is something I must take care of first. I will return, one day, that I swear. But, I have to run. My father would find me here and kill me if he found me with you."

"Who is your father? I can take him on."

She made a quick prayer not to be vaporized. "Poseidon, King of the Sea."

A roll of thunder came from the ocean. Jackie bent down and kissed Achelous on the cheek. "I will send Iris messages every week until I return. Goodbye, Achelous."

He smiled. "I shall await your calls. Goodbye, Helena."

Jackie smiled and fled back into the forest, turning and waving before entering the trees.

Artemis waited for her. "Will you really call him every week?"

"I promised, didn't I? And I intend to keep that promise."

Thalia patted her friend on the shoulder. "You really are a brilliant Hunter."

Apollo was back at sunrise to take them all the way to Greece. Having learned his lesson from last time, he kept a respectable distance between himself and the Huntresses.

Jackie slipped the ruined bridal outfit into her bag. "I'll get Aphrodite to fix it for me later."

Artemis approached her while they set up camp in the Parthenon.

"Jackie. I want to reward you for what you did in the last Hunt. And, apologise for Hercules' actions."

Jackie shook her head. "I do not need repaying, My Lady. I…"

"Call me Mom."

Jackie stared at the goddess. "Pardon?"

"I claimed you, did I not? And, anyway… I quite like it."

Jackie nodded. "Thanks, Mom."

"Now then, about repaying you. I will give you 24 hours to decide on what you would like. If you do not choose, I will give you what I see fit, that being a pat on the back and a 'job well done.' Understood?"

Jackie nodded. "Sure. Sure."

Artemis smiled and walked away, leaving Jackie with a tough decision on her hands.

By the next morning, the Hunters were up and packed, ready to leave the Parthenon before the tourists showed up.

Jackie still had enough charge on her phone to take a 3-D scan of the Parthenon with a special app Annabeth had downloaded for her over Christmas.

Thalia called the younger girl over. "Check out this writing!"

Jackie knelt beside the marble slab that Thalia pointed to. Ancient Greek letters were engraved into the stone. It spoke of some ancient law, or rule.

Suddenly, the writing changed. It became English.

"That's not a law…" One of the Hunters stated, a little obviously.

Thalia frowned. "No. That's a prophecy."

The inscription was scanned and pondered over by all the Hunters. It read:

One child, born from forbidden cause,

Shall die her death, drowned in a lie,

Clamped within cruel death's jaws,

In impossible hands away she'll fly.

Jackie felt the blood drain from her face. "I think that's talking about… me."

Thalia rested her hand on Jackie's shoulder as the words faded back into the ancient Greek law.

"I'm sorry, mate. I'm really sorry."

Jackie stood up, her eyes teary. "Let's go. As Percy once told me; It happens when it happens."

Thalia smiled softly. "Let's see what happens, then."

The Hunters moved out, Artemis leading, with Thaila two steps behind on her right and Jackie two steps behind on her left, the others falling into their places behind them, holding their heads high.

But frightened for what was to come.

It wasn't just werewolves that were gathering in Greece. A whole lot of monsters had gathered around one cliff, all looking at something at its crest.

A rasping female voice echoed off the cliff-face. "We will kill them all! Starting with Perseus Jackson!"

The monsters roared, stamped their feet and made an all-round uproar.

Artemis pointed towards where the female voice was coming from. "That is Kampe, jailer of the Elder Cyclopes and The Hundred-Handed Ones."

The Hunters camped well away from the gathering of monsters, that way as to not attract too much unwanted attention.

Some monsters were sent as scouts, but these were slaughtered and robbed for their skins before completely dissolved.

Thalia called a council of war after the third round of attacks.

"Well, we can't just stay here and wait for all the monsters to attack us. We need a plan."

No one volunteered one.

Artemis sighed. "Well, what are we going to…?"

"Attack them head-on. If we send a majority of the Hunters to the head of the pack to disorientate them, then we can send a reserve group around the back to deal with Kampe. Once Kampe is gone, the rest of the monsters should retreat."

They all turned to Jackie, who was staring at her phone. She looked up innocently. "What?! I asked Annabeth for help!"

Thalia smiled. "Good on you, kid. Well, you heard her. Let's get moving."

Artemis put up her hand. "Kampe is not your usual monster. She has wings. She can fly out of range of the grounded fighters and pick them off, one-by-one. It is no use."

Jackie stepped forward, pale and shivering. "Unless someone keeps her busy in the air."

"How?"

"Mom, Lady Artemis… I have decided on my wish…"

Annabeth was right about the monsters being disorientated. They were in the middle of a meal when the Hunters attacked.

Kampe did what Artemis expected and retreated into the air. But, there was a surprise waiting for her.

Jackie dived out of a cloud, glossy black wings tucked against her body. That had been her wish. A pair of black raven's wings, large enough to carry her, but small enough to fold against her back and out of sight.

Kampe roared as a silver arrow hit her between the eyes. "Why do you fly?!"

Jackie grinned. "It's a gift."

Kampe swatted at Jackie with her poison blades. It brushed the tips of her feathered wings, slicing off some of the wing feather tips.

"That was too close." Jackie grumbled. She swooped at Kampe again, her khopesh outstretched.

She hit the dragon square in the chest. Kampe roared as she began to dissolve.

They started to hurtle towards the ground. Jackie tried to pull her khopesh free, but Kampe had other ideas.

In her dying moments, the dragon lady plunged her blade into Jackie's back, piercing her heart from behind.

Jackie coughed blood. "You…"

Kampe grinned. "Dead."

Jackie wrapped her arms around her khopesh as they fell. It came out of Kampe's chest in the final moments, coming fully into her grasp and control.

She was thrown away from the dying monster as they hit the ground. The other monsters ran off, just as Annabeth had predicted they would, now leaderless and without orders.

Thalia ran over to Jackie. "Jackie! Oh no… Artemis!"

The Lady ran over, but it was too late. Jackie was dead.

Artemis screamed and cried. "No! My daughter, no!"

Thalia put her arms around Artemis' shoulders. "We need to take her home."

There was a breeze of air. Artemis and Thalia stared at the sky in shock. A woman on a white horse was diving straight towards them.

Just as fast as the image had appeared, it disappeared again. Artemis resumed crying and Thalia comforted her.

But a glimmer of hope still remained.