Legacy: Orphans of Legends

A/N – I'm back from a little break, sorry.

So, I've been reading back on my chapters and I had noticed how lengthy my chapters tended to be.

I've found that shorter chapters tend to be easier to read than lengthy one's of over ten thousand words, so I decided to go through and retype them up to be shorter.

And I've shortened the paragraphs and sentences to work better with those who use the mobile app to read and prefers the font zoomed in like I do.

If you're already familiar with the story, the newest material is on Ch: 15, but I recommend rereading as a few things here and there have changed.

All original locations, characters, and events that are referenced from PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan.

Into:

Fifteen years after the second Giant War, a quiet peace has been welcomed after the harsh struggles of the Demigods of Camps Half-Blood and Jupiter.

Yet, unfortunately, peace can only last so long in the world of the Olympians.

As time goes on, new heroes and heroines are forced to take up the mantle from their predecessors.

For in the darkness of the world, evil works continuously to seek revenge against the Gods and their children.

Those children who stray outside of the protective borders of the camps are subject to being hunted and exploited by monsters and rogue immortals alike.

Deep in the mid-western wilderness in the dead of night, a group of such children struggle to outrun their enemies, who are slowly closing in on their prey.

CH-1: "Damn Mountains!"

Faith POV

I am not having a good day. I'm exhausted, hungry, beat-up all over my body (at least what little I can feel of it), and cold, really frickin cold.

When I get back to my tent, I'm going to hibernate for two whole months. No, three, definitely three, I thought to myself.

But, first things first, I've gotta get out of this problem and back home. If only it was as easy to do as it is to think.

For those just joining this little death march of mine, my name is Faith Honoré, I'm a hunter of Artemis going on two years of the Hunt.

Usually I'd stop and give you my whole life story; strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, favorite movie growing up as a child, etc…

But now is really not the best time, I'm kind of in a very bad situation at the moment.

I, along with three other hunters of Artemis, have been going across miles of rough midwestern wilderness for five days straight. Or was it six.

Of the four of us there was me (the newbie), Thalia (the lieutenant of Artemis), Carson (the oldest one of us), and Alice (my best friend).

We were barely taking anything longer than ten minutes of rest and our rations were down to a half empty canteen of water.

In truth, it would have been fine if two of our group members weren't unconscious at the moment, forcing Thalia and I to have to carry them for the last two days.

I took in another of what had to have been the millionth deep breath, and readjusted Carson on my back to get a better grip and continued alongside Thalia, who was carrying Alice on her back too.

We were both making are way over yet another gods-damn mountain.

Seriously! How many of these things are there in the Rocky Mountains? And why the hell were they "literally" so rocky?! Stupid Rocky's!

After another few hours of slow walking, we both stopped again to catch our breath, neither of us needing to ask each other since we were both tired from trying to keep our pace. But to me, each step I took was an achievement of its own.

"We'll rest for ten minutes here, check Carson out." Thalia stuttered after taking a few breaths.

She then found a soft patch of grass and set her spear down which she had been using as a walking stick.

"Okay," I said in relief, "how much farther do you think we have?" I asked while making my way over to Thalia, who looked more beat-up than me, but had kept a look of determination on her face this whole time.

"Till what?" she asked.

"Till we finally make it out of these mountains?"

"I don't know… maybe another day or two." Thalia replied absentmindedly as she slowly put Alice on the ground.

I did the same with Carson, being as careful as I could so I wouldn't increase her injuries any more than they were.

"And then what? We keep heading East?" I questioned, the exhaustion and fatigue finally starting to get to me.

Questioning Thalia was not something to do often, but I just couldn't believe that things would get any better once we were on flatter terrain.

While it would mean we could pick-up the pace without the hindrance of all this uneven terrain, but the same would go to our enemies as well.

"They'll catch up to us eventually. There must be a way to get help sooner. Carson and Alice's condition will only get worse and..."

"I KNOW ALREADY!" Thalia shouted back with a look anger at my bluntness.

I jumped back a bit at her tone, Thalia can look pretty scary when she's angry; she'll sometimes unintentionally make sparks with tiny spouts of electricity around her body, which she was doing now.

She then sighed at the ground, calming down and looking too tired to continue being angry.

"I know that there isn't much of a chance, but it's the best option I can think of without a way to contact the rest of the Hunt. We just have to keep going, and hope for the best." Thalia reasoned.

Despite her hard headedness, Thalia was a good leader. She doesn't let pressure or stress affect her decisions… most of the time.

Thalia then began checking Alice over. Seeing that she was okay (or at least not worse), she then bluntly plopped down on the ground, resting her sore legs. She took out the canteen of water and took a few small sips.

I, on the other hand, was still frustrated with our circumstances.

I hated the plans where you just keep going without a solid clue as to where you were going or how to reach your destination and hoping everything goes smoothly.

I've heard most demigod quests are like that but I was hoping the Hunt would avoid such stupid things. At least we didn't have to deal with prophecies.

But still, just trusting in your instincts never sounded like a good thing to me. In my experience, hope was never something you should rely on.

Funny since my name basically means hope! Thanks pops, way to plan ahead.

But I knew that Thalia was right. If we stopped and tried to hideout, our enemy would never give us the chance to run away again.

We were lucky the first time, and I for one didn't want to continue to press my luck till it eventually would run out. We still don't even know who our enemy is!

I took a moment after sitting down and looked up towards the pitch black of the night sky beyond the branches of the pine trees that surrounded us.

There was no moon or stars shining down on us tonight, or any of the previous night's either.

That can't be natural, something or someone must be blocking them intentionally, otherwise the Hunt would have found us by now; Or at least we could've found them.

I once again prayed to Lady Artemis, despite the lack of a moon, to send help and strength to us. But after running and hiking across the mountains of…

Where the heck were we? Idaho maybe? I've lost track.

Wherever we were, I'm beginning to doubt that continuing to pray was really any help to me or my fellow hunters, but I'll continue to do so anyway.

It can't hurt to try.

After not seeing or feeling a response, I sighed and returned my attention back to my two unconscious friends Carson and Alice. Both still looked horrible, though I'm more worried for Carson.

She's lost a lot of blood from her right shoulder wound that a spear made in battle three days ago by an empousa, as well as the various bite and scratch marks on her arms and legs.

The worst being on her right leg which had a huge gash in it that was caused by a hellhound.

I was barely able to stop it from bleeding out most of her body's blood (and yes, it was disgusting to have to do, I actually lost my breakfast when I started).

I may know basic first-aid, but I'm a hunter! Not a stupid doctor!

The main problem was that we had run out of ambrosia, so the only healing methods we had left was our body naturally healing themselves or moon light.

One of the many perks to being a hunter of the moon goddess was that whenever the moon was out, our bodies became stronger and even healed faster, but since there hasn't been a moon for days, that gift was useless to us.

Carson had been awake on and off for a few days, then she passed out yesterday due to fatigue and blood loss.

Being a Hunter may give you more strength and stamina than most mortals, but even Artemis' blessings had their limits, which we were no doubt testing.

I patched her up as best I could give the circumstances without any nectar or ambrosia, but if she didn't get help soon…

No, best not to think about that now.

As for the things we were currently running from, well even Thalia didn't know the answer to that, despite the fact that she was the one that had been given the: Secret Mission.

Originally, Artemis had sent us to Seattle to meet up with the Amazons to see if anyone wanted to be recruited into the Hunt.

Are two groups of badass warrior ladies had become very close to each other since the events of Cuba during the Giant war, which was before my time with the Hunt began.

I didn't know all the details of it, the other hunters don't talk about it. Carson had once told me they had lost too many for the battle for it to seem like a victory.

Queen Latisha, the current leader of the Amazons had always valued the partnership with the Hunt just as her predecessor, Hylla, had; she did say we could loosen up a bit when it comes to hating males.

I laughed at that remark.

Considering the Amazons treated their male members like pets and slaves (which the Hunt found very appropriate), I failed to see the brighter side of her views.

After we'd left the Amazons Wearhouse, Thalia said she had to take a detour to a place called Hells Canyon in Oregon for a scouting mission given by Lady Artemis herself.

Carson and Alice had convinced her to take us along rather than going it alone.

This may sound selfish, but right know I wish we'd not gone with Thalia, or better yet; not gone at all!

Suffice to say, the mission didn't go well.

We got caught and know found ourselves being hunted by various monsters that seemed to come out of nowhere.

I would have asked why Artemis had given us a mission like that, but I thought better of it.

The last thing Thalia needed right now was someone pushing her buttons when she already was suffering the consequences of her decision.

I checked Carson's wounded shoulder and leg, telling myself to keep my head here and not up in the clouds.

The wounds were still bloody and looking worse than the last time I saw them. Best guess was they might have become infected, despite my attempts to prevent it.

"Can't catch a break." I whispered to no one except myself.

I almost wished I was a daughter of that numb skull healer Apollo. Just almost. At least then I would have been more useful to my friends in this situation.

Over by Thalia, Alice seemed to be better than Carson, but not by much. She also donned several cuts and bruises like the rest of us.

What really got her down was when she was savagely thrown to the side of a building and smashed her head by a cyclops.

She still lasted long enough to fight the enemy off before going unconscious. That girl is as stubborn as a wild animal sometimes.

She won't bleed to death, but I still knew that kind of an injury was still serious without medical treatment.

The sooner the better, my experience in this kind of situation is limited. Three years in the hunt, and I'm still at beginner level. So frustrating.

Lady Artemis had always taught me that age and experience does help, but what matters most is your hunter's instincts and intuition to survive.

I'm not even sure if that was advice or just an opinion.

I wonder whether my intuition is what has kept me alive so far, I thought. Right now, all I'm getting from it was the command: sleep, sleep, sleep repeated.

Oh, how I wish I could oblige that advise, but right now, sleep was something I could not afford. Our enemy can't stay back forever, they'd catch up eventually.

We haven't run into any more monsters since we entered these mountains, which was strange.

While I am grateful for the break, personal experience has shown that going on for some time without monster attacks is uncommon, especially when you're with a group of demigods.

It's like instead of one annoying cell phone going off, it's a bunch more, making it harder to go unnoticed by monsters.

"Ugh…ouch." A voice said below me, breaking my train of thought.

I look down to see Carson beginning to wake up. Thank the gods, I was beginning to be afraid she'd never wake up.

"Carson! Can you hear me?" I asked. Thalia noticed her as well and walked around so she was kneeling beside me.

Carson blinked a few times and crunched her eyebrows, no doubt having a huge headache while dealing with the pain.

"Faith?" she mumbled slowly, "Yeah, I can hear you, where are we? Did we get away? Is Alice alright?"

Always right to questions with her.

Being a daughter of Athena, Carson tended to be the one for questions, always needing to know as much as possible.

"We're okay for now, Alice is pretty banged up, and we are somewhere in southern Idaho." Thalia said, trying to sound positive and gave her a kind smile, but I doubt she succeeded very well.

Carson could always call out a fake smile, it must come from reading people well. Daughter of wisdom and all.

Nevertheless, she seemed to relax somewhat at her attempt to sound positive. Guess it worked a little.

"Well that's good at least. Have we contacted help yet?" She asked, Thalia and I shook our heads sadly.

"No, we don't even know if they are looking for us or even if they know that we need help. Our best hope is to keep moving and hope they find us eventually before those hounds do." Thalia said.

Carson grunted in frustration (or in pain). "What about the moon, has that come out yet?"

"No, it hasn't. It's the fourth night in a row without one in the sky. The clouds just won't clear up. Honestly I feel like it's being blocked on purpose." I replied.

"How is that possible?" Carson asked, mainly to herself as if deep in thought. Thalia answered her anyway.

"I'm not sure, but we only have a day or so until we make it out of these mountains, at least I think we do. If we can just make it to a town somewhere, we will have better luck getting help." Thalia said.

Carson seemed to accept this, although she did not look happy about the makeshift plan we came up with.

I gave her the canteen of water to take a sip. I glanced at Thalia as she got up and went over to Alice to check her wounds as well.

She had placed a damp rag on Alice's head, wiping away her sweat and I was now noticing her heavy breathing.

She must have caught a fever, great. How much more can the Fates throw at us before their entertained enough?! I thought (or internally screamed).

I sighed at the sight. Alice has been in the Hunt for 14 years, she was my closest friend in the group, and it kills me to see her like this.

"How are you holding up Faith?" Carson asked, her voice sounded hoarse and weak.

"So far so good. It hasn't been easy keeping up with Thalia, but my legs haven't failed me just yet." I said in a joking tone.

"Cough, cough! Egh… Good to hear, it's nice to know you've still got a sense of humor." She said in a weak and shallow voice, but still earned a small smirk from me.

Humor always seemed to help cloak the danger of a situation, even if it was poor humor.

Hopefully, Thalia and I will find help before things get any worse. There must be a way to...

I suddenly froze right there, leaning my head to the side trying to hear something that had caught my ear.

Thalia and Carson seemed to catch it too.

Out of the dark and calm breeze of the night, a single noise began to dominate the wind and rose in pitch till it was the unmistakable sound of a smooth yet savage… howl.

Instantly, Thalia and I were on our feet, hands on our weapons, trying to find the direction of the howl.

Sounds like it's coming from the northwest, but it's too beastly to be a normal wolf.

Carson cringed at the sound, as if she was familiar with it and didn't like what she was remembering it from.

I tried to place it with the numerous monsters calls I knew, but not many came to mind.

Last time I checked, hellhounds don't howl. But is that a plus or is this something worse?

Probably worse.

Thalia then adorned a face of recognition that swiftly turned to her signature look that said, "I. Am. Pissed."

Carson soon followed Thalia's look of hatred. I still don't recognize it, there can't be too many monsters out there who know how to howl.

"What was that?" I asked as the sound died down just as slowly as it began, yet neither hunters gave me a response.

Instead they continued to look angry and quiet. They scanned their surroundings and tilted their heads licensing to see if the sound would come again.

My head started spinning with confusion and worry.

I had heard many stories from the older hunters that involved beasts of savagery and relentlessness unlike any other monsters.

Mutts, that's what they called them, the way they said it almost made them sound worse than males.

One thing that most hunters have in common is their hatred of men, and if they considered these enemies to be worse than males, they must be bad.

The two's silence began to make me nervous. If whatever out there made these two war veteran hunters this skittish, it couldn't be good.

Calm down Faith, you're not alone. I tried my best to soothe myself, but it wasn't going so well.

Thalia, on the other hand, still looked pissed. She was probably thinking, "damn you Fates".

I would have agreed in that remark. Thalia was nothing if not rebellious, and never took fear in the stories of old hunts, some of which she had been a part of.

I heard that she had also encountered those Mutts a few years after she became lieutenant. I heard she found a lost family member that day; a brother, I think.

Then there was another howl like the last one, but this one was more powerful, as if it was directed in their direction.

That can't be good.

"Shit." Thalia growled. "Faith quick! Grab Carson, we need to move."

Knowing it would only slow us down, I decided against asking any questions and just focus on moving, fast.

We quickly picked up our wounded girls as safely and quietly as we could. Breaks over! Back into the fire… lovely.

"This is gonna hurt a little Carson but try to work through it." I said, knowing she was not in for an easy ride.

She tried to muffle a wine as I picked her up by her good shoulder and then put her on my back.

I tried my best to not cause her pain but speed was needed. Once we were up, Thalia hurried off along the mountain side with myself right behind her.

The pace was now much quicker than before, adrenaline having been kicked in by the sudden fear and urgency of the situation.

On we went.

Neither Thalia nor I knew exactly where we were headed, all either of us thought of was getting as far away from the source of that sound.

I began to get another feeling; like we're being watched or something.

I glanced around to see if I was right but saw nothing through the dark of night. Just rouge shadows and shapes, then one shadow moved slightly.

It was swift and silent. Following us for a second, but then vanished as if it was never there to begin with.

I watched for it again while we ran but saw nothing.

I thought about alerting Thalia, but I decided to just play it off as my mind playing tricks on me.

Soon we heard another howl from behind us, once again directed at us but it didn't seem to be getting any farther from us.

Maybe a few miles away, but it's hard to tell, these stupid mountains make it hard to judge sounds and distance.

And then there were two more that joined the first.

They came from the same general direction, but sounded like they were a ways apart.

How many are there? Please do not let it be their whole frickin army, I just cannot deal with an army right now. I complained to myself.

"Augh!" Carson cried as my feat stuttered, almost tripping, and I tightened my grip on reflex.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, this unlevel and rocky terrain was really starting to mess with my balance.

"Just leave me. I'm slowing you two down. Both of you take Alice out of here. I can at least slow those things down." she pleaded.

Blood loss must be messing with her brain, she doesn't really think I'd leave her? No chance.

Thalia apparently thought the same.

"Not happening! We are all getting out of this together!" Thalia's rebuttal was firm and unquestionable.

That's our lieutenant for you, defiant and loyal as always.

We continued across the rough, rocky, and (annoying) unlevel terrain.

The mountains stood high above us as if they were daring us to challenge them. But one in particular was looming over us as we tried to make our way around its basin.

It might just be me, but I'm getting the feeling that it's watching us. The fatigue must finally be getting to me.

First shadows moving, then mountains creepily watching. What next? Trees that sing?

Carson's weight felt like it was getting heavier the farther we trekked. She continued her best to remain quiet, but her body was in a lot of pain.

"Just hold on Carson, we're going to make it." I whispered to her though it was more for myself rather than her.

"Ugh. I hope we do, but those Mutts are, guh… elite predators." She said.

But who the hell are they? No one has told me about them other than are nickname for them and that they are our "arch" enemy. Whatever that means.

The Hunt doesn't exactly have a short list of beings and groups that wish us dead.

Then, after what seemed like a lifetime of silence, more howls came from deep in the forest. There sounds like there was a lot more of them this time.

Whatever they are, they must have picked up our sent, crap! How many? Four, five, maybe six? What if they have hounds, dracaena, or cyclops like before? Please don't let them have a drakon! A drakon would suck right now.

"Damn it, NO. I'm not dying like this again." Thalia growled as she doubled her efforts, I really didn't know what she meant exactly.

I'd heard that she sort of died before she became a huntress. Something about a pine tree and a golden blanket of some kind?

I decided to ask her for the full story later, when we weren't running for our lives.

We continued on, driven by adrenaline and instinct.

Running and running through the foliage till we reached a clearing of the trees where we met a wedge in the "over watching" mountain we'd been circling.

The cliff face seemed to stretch out to the next mountain to the south as if the two were stretching out to each other, and the result formed a giant wall.

The rock formation offering no way over the obstacle.

We would have to go down the mountain slope and then up and around the next mountain if we wanted to keep going East.

"Damn mountain." was all I had to say for the situation.

There is no way for us to continue around this oversized rock. I gave the rock face my most hate filled glare.

As if the mountain was an actual living thing that was hell bent on making our lives filled with challenge after challenge.

Honestly, after the visit to the Waystation in Indianapolis, nothing would surprise me too much.

The cliff face must have been 40 meters high at the wedge. As it went on to connect to the other mountain, the lowest point barely looked no higher than 20 meters.

Not exactly what I'd call an improvement, it still leaves us no way to scale it with the girls on our backs.

Thalia heaved a groan, noticing exactly what I had, then shouted, "Great! Just great!" Not seeming to care whether our pursuers heard her or not, though at this point I doubt it mattered.

She stood there trying to find a solution.

She grunted, "There is no way this will work, we need to backtrack and find another way around th…"

She never finished as she was canceled out by a roaring sound through the forest.

Howling...

Loud and horrid howling, coming from the tree line, sounding like a chorus of rough flutes playing together.

Thalia and I turned to face the darkness between the trees and we backed up slowly to the unclimbable cliff side.

There's gotta be a dozen now, they're probably beginning to surround us.

We've been boxed in.

Seeing no way out, Thalia and I looked at each other. I could see the multiple emotions in her eyes.

Anger, determination, most of all there was that rebellious glare that she was famous for, it went well with the short, black, punk spiky hairstyle she never got tired of and those electric blue eyes that could send shivers down anyone's spine. But something else was there as well.

A question.

Her look seemed to ask if I knew and was ready for what was to come in the next few minutes.

Am I?

While I don't know what my eyes showed at that moment. Inside I was panicking.

After everything, this is how it is? After all my troubles and mistakes that lead me here. All the things I have to make up for. THIS is my fate?

.

.

.

.

.

NO!

NO!

NO!

HELL! NO! I refuse to die here willingly in this dark corner of the world without amounting to anything!

As my attitude hardened, I gave Thalia the best rebel glare I could make (Thalia, actually, had a whole introductory lesson on how to make different glares at people, she saw it as an intimidation tactic).

She smirked and nodded, accepting my answer to her unspoken question and I swear I saw a look of pride at my efforts.

Guess I can cross one skill off the bucket list.

She shared a similar look with Carson who must have given her the same, if not better, response.

We set the unconscious Alice and Carson, who looked to be having trouble staying conscious, down on the side of the cliff.

There was another blast of howling that rained through the forest directed towards us. That settles it, their coming. We might have three or five minutes.

There's no running this time.

As I began to get up, I was stopped by a tug on my sleeve. I looked down to see Carson looking up at me with renewed strength.

She looked to me then to Thalia.

"Can I borrow a blade Thalia? I'll guard Alice as best I can." Carson said.

Thalia took a second, then nodded and gave me one of her hunting daggers which I then gave to Carson.

As Carson grasped the dagger in her left hand, Thalia's hand grabbed the hilt along with mine and Carson's.

I looked at her confused at first, but I instantly understood. This was her moment of truth with us.

She looked at both Carson, me, then at Alice lying off to the side. Her face filled with a look of sorrow and regret.

The cost of command, your responsible for those under you and their safety. An honor for sure, but one I'd prefer to not have. I doubt I could handle the stress of failing.

"Whatever happens tonight, you girls are some of the best hunters there are. I wouldn't rather be with anyone else at the..."

"Don't say it." Carson interrupted her. "We are still breathing, and I don't plan on changing that."

That's Carson for you. She has been in the Hunt for over 250 years and still only looked 14.

She was my teacher as well as my friend who'd taught me almost everything about the Hunt and the skills to become a prime member.

I placed my other hand on Thalia's shoulder, giving her a light squeeze for encouragement.

"But no matter what becomes of us this night, the honor is ours Thalia Grace." Carson stated.

Thalia looked grateful and held a new determined look on her face.

I admire these two, both seeming to accept the current situation, but with an air of defiance.

With girls like these in the hunt, no wonder Artemis takes pride in having us.

I would have added in my own pit of optimism, but last stand speeches were not the kind of things I like to practice.

I just gripped the hands of my friends tighter, as my arms were beginning to shake.

I was scared, there was no real way to be ready for what might be the last fight of your life.

I let a tear or two fall, no longer having the will to hold back my fear. The two elder hunters didn't say anything to my obvious terror, but gripped my hands just as tightly.

The memory of the first time I cried in the hunt came to mind, when I broke my ankle during my training months.

Carson had said that it was okay to cry in times of hardship; so long as you kept moving forward, those tears would never be looked upon by my sisters as disgraceful.

It was probably that moment when I had really begun to become one of them.

You never need to show a brave face with those who care about you, and the Hunters cared, no doubt about it.

Our moment did not last long sadly.

"I see that you all have accepted your fates." A smooth monotone voice spoke out from the trees.

A/N – End scene one.

For those of you who are reading this story for the first time, welcome! Enjoy, comment if you like it, and recommend it to your friends.

For anyone who isn't new, I hope the shortened version is more to your liking.

Hopefully this way I can update faster.

On that note, I hope everyone's year went off with a good start, or at the very least not a bad one.

Next – Ch.2 Help… Anyone