Chapter 28

A few days earlier...

The sound of footsteps grew louder as the young lady approached. It was Zoë.

"You wanted to talk?" the Hunter said.

Irene peered over her shoulder, checking for any stalkers. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"Am I a hunter or a soldier?" Zoë replied.

"Did you come alone?"

Zoë sighed. "Yes, I came alone. Don't worry about any of the other Hunters. I know you don't trust them."

"It's not that I don't trust them," Irene said, giving the night sky a look of distaste. "It's that some of them are actively working against my plans."

The Hunter nodded. "Yes, you've spoken about this before. Phoebe, was it that you blamed?"

"I'm not lying."

"I know. You're not one to lie with such passion."

"Yet you're doing nothing to stop them."

"What do you want me to do?" Zoë leaned against the nearest tree and crossed her arms. "I lead a group of girls who have been wronged by men. They see men as evil, for the most part. How can I take the side of someone who is a physical embodiment of what they hate, apart from his lack of misogynistic tendencies? Especially because Phoebe has convinced them all. Not openly, of course. She thinks I'm still too soft on him and will disapprove."

"Compared to the others, you are soft on him."

"Not as soft as you."

"That's because I've spent intermittent periods with him and support his cause," Irene argued. "You've seen what the Romans have done to the Greeks. If Percy didn't even try to help, the Greeks would be as good as gone."

"I've never disagreed there," Zoë shot back, mildly irritated. "What I disagree with was the slaughter of all the mortals caught in between. Nero's fire? How many innocent lives were taken because of that? What about the Crete earthquake he started? How many innocent lives were taken because he wanted to destroy that legion?"

"You know very well why he had to do it," Irene said.

"I don't care if he was surrounded," Zoë scowled. "He was at the water's edge. Killing a couple of the Neptune kids trying to kill him is acceptable in an escape, but to devastate the entire region because he thought it was a good opportunity is not."

Irene could sense the nervous energy of the dryads around them. They were watching silently, though she was confident that none of them would speak of this to unrelated ears, lest they wanted to be swamped by a wall of sea water. Other than them, and the thumping beat of her heart roaring in her ears, she heard nothing. It was time. It was finally time.

"Phoebe doesn't know that I've told you of her plans, correct?" Irene asked. "She doesn't know that you know she's acting behind your back, right?"

Zoë gave her a wry smile. "Percy's actions have taught me one thing: be careful in trusting others."

"Well, I'm going to need your blind trust in me."

Zoë's expression turned serious. "What does Phoebe have to do with it?"

"Believe her."

Zoë blinked, like she didn't understand what she was hearing. "What?"

It sounded crazy, even in her own thoughts, but Irene continued forward. It was the only option possible without killing him. "Believe Phoebe. Believe that Percy is a monster who deserves to suffer. Believe that Percy should either die or suffer for eternity. Hate him with everything you have."

"...What...?"

Irene could sympathize with the dumbfounded Hunter. "I know it sounds out of the blue. But I think it's the only way. I, for the life of me, can't think of a better plan."

"To fuel his hatred?" Zoë asked, still hesitant.

"Think about it... what does Percy want? It's not just about avenging the fallen Greeks from Roman oppressors. He's using that guise to act the way he wants. He wants Apollo to suffer, and the best way to do that, because he's not powerful enough, is to keep attacking the Romans. Now, here's the thing. The Greeks would never attack the Romans without proper provocation. What would that be? Athens falling. Percy was a part of organizing that. He wanted the Greeks to have the drive for revenge that the Romans did. My brother, Aeneas, passed down a legacy that resented the Greeks because of what happened in Troy. It's why I always thought you were the only one that could stop him, because he never truly cared about the Greeks as a whole... just that they fought by his side."

"You said the Trio could help."

"If he gets personally attached to them," Irene answered. "He's always distanced himself. Who was he involved with the past thousand years? Influencers. Like Leonidas, Caesar, Augustus. Why do you think I wanted him to spend three years with them, training, not leaving Constantinople? And he has become personally attached to them. After all these years, he's always taken it the hardest when those he was close to were taken from him. That's what he's like and has always been like."

"So how does my sudden hatred for him play into this?"

"If we make him believe it's his fault that everyone he cares about is taken away from him, he'll give up... especially if it's the woman he once loved reinforcing that fact. He'll realize that the misery he's faced was his own doing."

"Are you suggesting that the Trio has to die?" Zoë gave her a dark look. "Will that not just encourage more resent and anger?"

Irene shook her head. "Not if we die by our own actions, helping his cause."

"We?"

This was the hardest part. Accepting the truth.

"Yes, Zoë. I have to die."

The Hunter straightened her posture. "Are you insane?"

She focused on her plan, ignoring any concern for her well-being. "I'll convince Percy that you know nothing about Phoebe's exploits. I'll try and make it seem like he's forcing the Trio and I to advance, make him believe and swear by the fact that he's the one leading the charge. The Trio already know some parts of my plan. They know what lies ahead. You need to be outraged at our deaths, especially mine. I don't have the power to kill myself in a way that doesn't involve poison or stabbing myself, so mine will definitely look more suspicious."

"You're sacrificing yourself on a gamble that might not even work!" Zoë exclaimed.

"And if I don't?" Irene met her eyes. "Nothing will change. If our deaths don't cause him to stop, there is no change to the world. Only that four more souls have been added to Hades' realm. If he does stop... then our sacrifice will have been worth it."

The Hunter couldn't stop looking at her incredulously. "You... you would sacrifice your life for him?"

"I guess I would."

Zoë stared into her eyes for a while, as if trying to discern what she was thinking. Irene didn't hold back. She let it all air out. She was scared, of course, but she was also determined. She had an opportunity, and she would rather die than live regretting her decision.

"You love him."

Irene blinked at the sudden remark.

"I can't tell if it's romantic or familial, but you love him," Zoë said.

She looked down. "I've never thought about it that way. But... I know I care about him. In some way. I hope he cares about me, too. At least a little."

"Yeah, otherwise this crazy plan would never work!"

Irene gave her a sad smile. "We haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but I hope that you've seen me like a younger sister. I know you aren't a big fan of my mom but..."

Zoë searched her expression for any sort of hesitation, any sign that it was all a joke. But Irene couldn't have been more sincere. Zoë's expression fell. "I... I don't know if I can act that well."

"You can." Irene put a hand on her shoulder. "Because you're as selfish as I am."

Zoë stared at her curiously.

"Why else wouldn't you have killed Percy by now unless you still cared? If you truly despised Percy, you wouldn't have held back. Instead of giving up on him, letting him do as he wishes, you would actively seek him out and destroy him. It took the Hunters breaking apart, Artemis' plea, my plan, and over a thousand years for you to finally take action. And even then, you agreed with me. We wouldn't kill him unless he tried anything on us."

There was a brief silence as Zoë eyes lingered on her for just a little longer. "You're strong, Irene. Much stronger than I am."

"You taught me a lot," Irene replied, shaking her head. "Who I am today... both you and Percy helped shape me. In my next life, if I'm not sent to the Fields of Punishment for my crimes, maybe I'll become a Hunter. You can teach me how to be strong again."

"You're thinking about your next life already?"

Irene nodded, giving her a sad smile. "It'll be a shame to leave all of this behind, forgetting everything I endured. But, even if I make it to Elysium, I'll try for rebirth. I want to see where my next life will take me. Who knows? Maybe this is my second life. Or, if it's my third, then I could be eligible for the Isles of Blest."

Zoë chuckled softly. "You never were a normal daughter of Aphrodite."

Irene laughed. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked, trying to will them away. "I always hated being controlled. It reminded me too much of my days in Troy with Deiphobus. But, in the end, I've been controlled anyway. By you. By Percy. By the gods. At least... At least this time I'm prepared. This time I'll go out on my own terms."

Zoë wrapped her in a hug. Irene hugged her back, squeezing tightly.

After a while, Zoë pulled away. She squeezed Irene's shoulders, giving her a sad but proud look. "I understand where you're coming from. I still think you're crazy, but I admire you for your guts. I hate to do it, but I'll follow your plan."

"If you ever feel hesitant... just think about me and Percy. Do it for me. Do it for him. Don't be afraid to be selfish."

She nodded, albeit hesitantly.

"And swear on the Styx that you won't tell him the details of this conversation if you run into him."

She complied.

Irene felt the weight lift off her chest.

Zoë squeezed her shoulders one last time before she let go and backed away. Irene smiled and waved as she disappeared into the woods.

She took a deep breath, thinking about Zoë's words: You love him.

"Yeah, I do. He's the only family I've got."

Present day...

No rest for the weary.

The moment Xanthe and Leon returned to Thanas, Percy and Irene, they were off to the next stage of their plan.

Attaleia had been a target for a while. It was the next city on the list after they'd taken Colossae. Much like the old Greek settlers before them, taking control of the coastline had always been an easier task. Since they had the advantage at sea, with her and Percy, it was better to let the Romans try to advance inland. The geography of Anatolia wasn't kind to advancing armies. The best they could do was raid, just like they'd done in Ankyra.

Nevertheless, when she tearfully told them about Damianos and the other Greeks at Ankyra, the five of them made a journey back for the day to honor the dead.

After that, it was back to work.

They needed to distract the Romans to give Alexandros and Viviana the time to relocate the fleeing Greek forces. The Romans, if it hadn't been orchestrated by them, would have received word that the Greek stronghold at Constantinople had fallen. They would gather their forces and march to intercept. If there was one thing about the Romans that she'd learned over the years, it was that they were experts at mobility. Cohorts of Romans could travel across long stretches of land in a fraction of the time it would take for the same amount of Greek demigods.

Bandits were the first target. The Romans had set up a network of local seafarers in Attaleia to sail up and down the coast and raid and kidnap Greek demigods. Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis and Pergamum were prime targets. Most of the kidnappings had come from those towns.

It wasn't like they hadn't dealt with bandits before, but Attaleia was their base. It wasn't like hunting them down as they fled.

Percy had advocated for converting the bandits to their side. It would provide a distraction which they could act on. But he'd also advocated moving more quickly onto the Roman position, before they could get set up.

Irene resisted as best as she could, but Percy's will always won in the end.

Xanthe and Irene were out on a scouting mission looking for any stray bandits.

"Get down and stay out of sight," Irene suddenly ordered.

Xanthe followed the order, wondering if there were bandits nearby that Irene wanted to trap.

But after a few moments, she heard a familiar, gruff voice say, "I should have known you'd be trouble."

It wasn't a bandit.

"Phoebe, leave us alone," Irene warned. "If you continue to press, you'll disrupt our plan."

"I don't care about that stupid plan of yours," Phoebe snarled. "You broke it on your own when you decided that you would switch our roles. Zoë agreed to corner Percy while you destroyed his network of spies. Not the other way around!"

"Why are you so insistent on killing Percy?" Irene shot back. "What makes you think that killing him will solve everything?"

"I don't think it will solve everything," the Hunter said darkly. "But it will solve what matters most."

Xanthe had no idea what was going on, but she stayed hidden where Irene had told her to wait. She kept her breathing soft and slow so that she could listen in on the conversation and not give up her position.

"You mean Zoë? You think killing Percy will finally free Zoë from her past?"

"It's worth a shot."

Irene let out a bark of laughter. "So you think killing Percy will make Zoë snap out of her trance, stop valuing Percy as a friend, and move on in the blink of an eye? How stupid are you?"

"As long as he lives, Zoë will always wonder what life could have been like had she not joined the Hunters. She will never reach her true potential as our lieutenant."

"And because he's dead, she will no longer think about that?"

Phoebe didn't say anything. Xanthe could understand the Hunter's argument, in part. There was more to it than just Zoë. There was the fact that Percy was leading a centuries-long war that had cost thousands of lives. There was the fact that he had slaughtered wholescale without regard for allegiances and without regard for culpability. Phoebe wanted to eliminate what she thought was a threat to humankind. In a way, she was right. But killing Percy solved nothing. That was something the gods and Irene had figured out a long time ago.

But Phoebe was desperate. It seemed like the Hunters were caught up in the war because of how involved both the Greeks and the Romans were getting. They must've been pressured and attacked and harassed by both sides simply because they weren't choosing one over the other.

"You realize that you're part of the reason why Percy is the way he is now, don't you?" Irene asked, her voice still laced with anger. "If he'd been left alone, or had been respected, instead of being tossed aside like a toy, he would never have gone down this path. Do you hate him because he's killed innocent women in his path to destruction? Because I've killed innocent women before, too. I killed my brother's wife simply for being my brother's wife. I killed maids and servants who tried to help me during my darkest days with the near-zero power they had over the situation. Does that brand me a traitor and a disgrace to you?"

Phoebe hesitated. "That's..."

"Different? Because I'm a girl and he's a boy? Because all boys must be pacified, reduced to nothing, turned to beasts, even the innocent ones, because of what the guilty do? I don't claim to be morally superior to you, Phoebe. I don't claim to know more than you about this. But I see no wrong that Percy has committed that I haven't considered or done myself. Maybe I become frustrated and angry with his decisions. But, in the end, he's capable of compassion and empathy if you give him the chance. If you never give him a chance to be kind, then how will he ever be kind?"

"You're blinded by love."

"And you're blinded by irrational hate!"

The two had a brief standoff, glaring at each other in silence. The air was rife with tension. Xanthe held her breath, waiting for whoever made the next strike. She could feel her heart thumping her chest so loud that she could hear the rush of blood in her ears, as if it was ready to explode.

"What about the lives we've saved by fighting the Romans?" Irene asked. "Do those Greek lives mean nothing to you?"

Phoebe stared at her with a conflicted expression. "I have no desire to hurt you, Irene. You have helped us over the centuries, keeping in touch with Percy and informing us of his whereabouts. But I cannot gloss over the fact that you've become infatuated with Percy for a seemingly inexplicable reason. He will only hurt you in the end. Just as he's hurt us!"

"Then I will suffer the consequences of my decisions," Irene replied. She hesitated, as if she had suddenly registered something that Phoebe had said. But she continued like she'd heard nothing. "I have no fear, no regrets. I would rather die to save him than live and hurt him. He saved me from the dark place I was in after Athena saved me and made me immortal. If I throw him aside, then I have no right to live a happy life. It is my duty to save him from his dark place."

"If you do that, I may have to kill you one day."

"We'll see if you can."

Another Hunter rushed down to Phoebe, an arrow already notched and ready to fire. Her expression was urgent. "Zoë's found the bandits' tracks. We have to go. Now!"

Phoebe turned to Irene. "I suppose you're not joining us and the Amazons."

"When it comes to those bandits, you'll need all the help you can get," Irene said grimly. She glanced in the direction where Xanthe was hiding. "But I need to take care of our matters first. We won't hunt alongside you, but Percy's caught their trail as well. The bandits are working with the Romans for now. We'll send a team of demigods to intercept the convoy, and the two of us will track down the shitheads."

"I better not see Percy," Phoebe scowled.

"Don't worry," Irene shot back. "We'll find them long before you do. You won't have a chance to see Percy."

Xanthe didn't move from her position, afraid that the Hunter would notice her presence. She waited until Irene walked up to her before letting go of the breath she'd been holding.

Irene was looking back toward where Phoebe had approached and left with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Xanthe asked.

Irene helped her to her feet. She pursed her lips and then said, "It doesn't seem like she was the one who fired the arrows that exploded in Nicaea. Or that she'd even given the orders to fire the arrows."

"If the Hunters were behind this—"

"I shouldn't be if. They were behind what happened in Constantinople. Otherwise, there's no one else. Romans would never use Greek fire."

Xanthe nodded reluctantly. "Okay, so since the Hunters were behind this, isn't it only Phoebe that would attack us? The other girl, Zoë, didn't seem like she would hunt us down. By your words and by our encounter with her three years ago."

"I..." Irene trailed off, as if considering the possibility. "Zoë wouldn't... would she?"

Xanthe wasn't sure what to say. It was difficult trying to manage two objectives at once, especially with how at odds they seemed to be. They needed to both continue the war effort and manage Percy's fate.

Irene shook her head. "Let's continue with the hunt for the bandits."

As they continued onward, Xanthe got the feeling that Irene was hiding something from her. She told her, Leon and Thanas that it would all end soon. What if that didn't mean the conflict with Percy would end? What if that didn't mean the war with the Romans would end?

Irene had the same kind of expression her mother had on the day the camp was attacked. She had the same kind of expression her brother had just a few days prior.

Like she was going to die. And she knew it.