(A/N I'm pretty sure you knew this was coming...)

Thalia

"Uhh… Hey kid," Thalia stalled, wondering why exactly she was talking to the young girl at the moment. Don't get Thalia wrong, she loved the little girl, just like everybody else who'd ever met her (it was like she had all the blessings of Aurora and people couldn't help but love her) but she was in the Hunters' Camp and that shouldn't have been possible for a mortal.

"Hey, Thals!" she chirped, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "How are you?"

"I'm...doing fine. What's a little punk like you doing out of the city?"

She giggled and of course she was super cute with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes twinkling.

"I'm looking for Lady Artemis," she declared with a big smile.

"She's not here," Thalia answered slowly. "She's on a quest. With Percy, actually."

"Oh." Finally she looked surprised and worried her lip a little as she considered what to do next. "I know you can't really predict quests, but do you know if there is a deadline they're following?"

Thalia smirked, wondering how many stories of Percy's quests Estelle had grown up with. He always had a deadline for doomsday.

"Not this time. They're...undercover. So it'll take as long as it takes."

"Oh." She scowled again, looking at the ground before bouncing back up to her toes. "Wait. Aunt Hazel told me that you were the one to administer the blessing of Artemis on Reyna, right?" So much hope sparkled in her young adoring eyes.

"I was… Why do you want to know?"

"I am going to join the Hunt."

Thalia's heart broke. This little girl, this child had a mortal life. She could go to school. She could fall in love. She could have a job. She could be normal. Estelle had clear sight, yes, so normal would always be relative, but this was…

"Estelle, you have your whole life ahead of you."

"I'll be 12 in two months!" she said unhelpfully.

"Your whole life."

"Percy was 12 when he found out. I know I'm not him. I'm wholly mortal. But… I'm not normal. And I don't want to be! My friends and family are part of this world and that means I am too. And I want to be able to defend myself. This is where I can best do that. I don't belong at CHB and Camp Jupiter would coddle me or send me off to Annabeth in New Rome. Here I will be taught and I'll be able to be my own person. I want-" her voice broke. "I would love to still be tied to my family and my friends, but Percy died because of me. -"

"Oh! Estelle!" Thalia fell to her knees to hug the girl. Tears were streaming down her face, but she held her ground and kept her chin up. Her voice only wavered a little as she kept Thalia at an arm's length.

"I know he doesn't blame me. I know it wasn't actually my fault. But I will not be helpless again. I want to join the Hunt.

"Artemis requires my loyalty and she will have it. Boys are gross anyway."

"Immortality is not all... happy moments."

"I'll watch everyone die," she whispered. Thalia nodded. "That was going to happen anyway though, right?"

"Oh," Thalia reached forward and didn't allow her to keep her space this time, crushing her in a hug. This girl, this wonderful girl, should not have had such heavy thoughts on her heart.

"Does your mother know where you are?"

"I left a note."

"What will Perce say?"

"I...don't know. We'll both be immortal, so that'll be...weird. But maybe he'll take it well."

Thalia snorted.

"Alright, Starlight. Repeat after me."

.

Piper

"So this is-was-Percy's third life?"

"Yes! I had to watch them dance around each other twice. And I couldn't do it a third time, so I told Artemis she'd have a choice!"

"And she chose to no longer see the string?"

"Mmhmm! Her ring is still there. It changed, but I don't think she noticed because she hasn't said anything. I need to get it off her or she'll figure everything out! And she doesn't want this!"

"But Percy is going to figure it out eventually anyway, right? Because you promised her… Wow. This is a mess."

"I know. And I don't know what to do!"

Piper was a little taken aback. Sure, she'd seen Aphrodite be over the top dramatic before, but never catastrophize like this.

"Percy is loyal. He'll find out and he won't tell. He'd take it to his grave out of respect for her," Piper nodded as she spoke, puzzling out what needed to happen. "But you're right, we need to get the visible ring off of Artemis."

"We?" Aphrodite perked up, hopeful.

"I… I'm just a demigod. I don't know how I can help, but I'll do what I can."

Now they just had to figure out what that was.

.

Artemis

"Everything alright?" Percy asked as she stalled, entering the town.

"Hmm? Yes. The girls welcomed a new hunter."

"How do you know?"

"My blessing. It's required to join the Hunt and Thalia can offer it to recruits if I'm not there."

"Oh yeah, I guess I knew that."

She smiled at him, wanting the mission to finish as soon as possible so she could meet the new huntress upon her return.