Comments:

TheFourthFate4Ever: Thank you for the review! You're actually the first person outside of my friends to say they enjoy my writing, and I'm glad people like my... interesting style of writing. As for how Armani is being written, I'm glad that people are liking her so much, she's been a character that I've loved to build up and create!

In a later chapter I may go into my thought process behind her, and her character if people would like to hear the story behind my writing of her.

With her healing from death, that definitely wasn't Artemis, and it wasn't Armani. I've been dropping some tidbits of something here and there. It's definitely not something she can control.

And the claiming, I'll just say this, my in-universe rules do not function the same as the canon books. So did Artemis really claim her?

Also for power-scaling for Percy, I always got really tired of how people in the books always said they were 'afraid of him' when he used new powers and such, especially Annabeth. So I wanted to go more into his and everyone's powers, cause if you think about it for a second. Percy is really, really, really broken. Especially if his powers are written correctly.

NBAChampion2005: Thank you for your support! ;)

Armani can't catch a break

Armani P.O.V.

The punch that landed on my face wasn't a surprise, nor did it really even hurt, but the one who punched me was more of a surprise. Zoe Nightshade had somehow made her way over to me and by extension my face, at a pace that should have been impossible with her injuries.

"Zoe, mind telling me why you just punched me in the face? I already have a pounding headache, I really don't need you adding to it." I grabbed her tiny wrist and pulled her hand out of my face, my eyes trying hard and failing to focus on anything more than five feet ahead of me.

"This can't- You can't be a child of Artemis! It's not possible, she never-"

"Never had any kids? I hate to break it to you, but I'm just as in the dark here as you are," I looked in the direction of Percy's aura, and then muttered to myself, "Although it explains quite a bit…"

Zoe was about to say something else, but we were interrupted by a loud crashing in the woods. Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the rest of the campers and Hunters gasped, myself excluded.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. He sounded so, so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that I assume held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green. None of us dared move. Then her voice echoes inside my head. Painful, like it was bouncing off my already pained skull.

Apparently, everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle looked at me with its cold, dead eyes, somehow different than everything else. Then she said something in my head that made my blood run cold.

Then she spoke out loud once again.

Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade.

Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a

mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Omen's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

—

As Percy and Grover were elected to take the oracle back to its spot in the attic of the big house, I casually made my way back to Thalia's cabin to hopefully wrap my head around what just happened.

My head hurt something fierce, but after the object flew into my hand all my memories were blank until I woke up again. Speaking of the object, it was a sword, with a purple hilt and a long, intricate blade. The blade itself was a silver colour with large specks of an almost emerald colour within it.

The sword wouldn't fit in my scabbard, and my old one had been blown off somewhere where I couldn't see it, so I'd have to go back for it later. Out of curiosity, and a small whisper in the back of my head, I stabbed the sword into the ground and walked away a bit. I watched it disappear in an effect like shattering glass, but with white shards, and then reappear, floating behind my back. Not only that, but it was positively bursting with nature energy.

"Hmm, where did you come from…?"

My thoughts were interrupted as Thalia called out from behind me, "Armani!"

I didn't stop walking, "Oh, Thalia, What's up?"

"'What's up'? I- Nevermind, are you ok?"

I stopped in place, Thalia running into my back, almost falling over.

"Am I ok? Wow, I wasn't under the impression you cared, Thalia."

Thalia shuffled nervously as I turned to face her, absentmindedly kicking up some dirt with her boot, "Well, after that I thought that you could, uh, use a friend."

I stared blankly at Thalia, if I was making her uncomfortable she hid it well, "Oh, 'friends', is that what we are Thalia?" I rubbed the back of my head, the sword from earlier released from my grip, I wasn't used to people.

"Well, I don't want to force you or anything!" She backed up and waved her hands a bit nervously, "But if you want, then yeah, we can be."

She stretched her hand out towards me, I just look between her hand and her face, this was… something I wasn't used to. This was completely different than how Percy had befriended me, so the offer of choice was… interesting.

I smiled a bit, 'Well then, Thalia, welcome to the club," I reached out and took her hand, "Never expect a sane day again."

She chuckled dryly, "Oh joy, at least my days won't be boring anymore, it was getting a little boring with only monsters hunting me down, I need a bit more spice in my life, y'know?"

Apparently, I thought it was really funny, or maybe it had just been a long day, cause I laughed. I had a good, deep laugh, it felt good, amazing even.

"Thanks, Thalia, Now if you don't mind, I'd love to get some sl-"

I was interrupted by Percy running up to us from our left, the direction of the big house.

He was slightly out of breath, probably from lifting the oracle up like he had, "Hey, you guys need to come to the big house."

"Why?" I asked.

"Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy," he said. "Unfortunately, that includes you, Armani."

I scoffed, "Why? I'm not-" I stopped mid-thought, Percy seeming to catch my thought process as well.

"Ah, Remember Armani, the only Child of Artemis? Makes you a cabin leader."

I groaned loudly, the sword floating behind me vibrating, in response to my distress, I guessed, "Fine, let's see what's up then."

The three of us made our way to the big house, with me not really knowing what to expect.

All of the cabin leaders had gathered in the common room, which included me, regrettably, sitting next to Zoe. Considering she was extremely close to Artemis, and her lieutenant, it made sense, but I could tell she was still wary of me.

'As they should be.'

I groaned quietly and shook my head. If I started hearing things again I was going to lose it.

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his

hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers, the wine turned to Diet Coke.

Nobody drank that either. It was still funny though.

Mr. D and Chiron (in his magic wheelchair) sat at one end of the table. Thalia, Grover, and Percy on the other side of me. I'm sure it made a lot of those present nervous to see all of the powerful demigods being so chummy with each other, but right now I didn't particularly care.

As for the other head councilors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" I asked, "We have no frame of reference, no location."

"West!" Bianca said. I was amazed at how different she looked after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose, and her dark eyes vaguely reminded me of someone, I just couldn't remember who, "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held, hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

I leaned forward, "I don't care what you all do, but whether you agree or not, I'm going on this quest. Nothing can stop me from doing so."

Everyone else looked at me like I had just grown a second head, most likely because they weren't used to people forcing themselves on quests, but from what I'd heard, Percy was quite good at it. Almost an expert.

Zoe hesitated like she was trying to form the correct thing to say, then just giving up. "For obvious reasons, we're bringing you."

"Thank you for your unneeded approval, Zoe." I snarked, a tiny smirk crossing my face.

I thought Zoe might keel over at that exact moment, she sure looked like she wanted to.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know the prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced, but I could tell Thalia had scored a point.

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," I said.

Everybody looked at me. I guess they thought I was done speaking.

"We're supposed to have five," Percy said, speaking with a bit more conviction than usual. "Three Half-Bloods, two Hunters. I'm sure you don't need me to explain."

Zoe and I exchanged looks.

"Well," I said. "He makes a good point."

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need the strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everybody looked at Dionysus, I guess because he was the only god present, and gods are supposed to know things. Or something like that. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," I said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Poseidon would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. (I personally chuckled at how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."

"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement.

"I think we may be taking that a little too literally," I said, getting everyone to look at me again, "It says lost, it doesn't necessarily mean anyone will die. That, I'll make sure of."

Someone off to the side scoffed, "Bold claim."

I shrugged.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

I saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they

didn't share it. I narrowed my eyes a bit at them if actually mythology was anything to go by-

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table.

I saw Percy glance at Thalia and wondered if they were thinking the same thing I was. Apparently, years ago, Chiron had had a prophecy about the next child of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades—who turned sixteen. Supposedly, that kid would make a decision that would save or destroy the gods forever. Because of that, the Big Three had taken an oath after World War II not to have any more kids. But Thalia and Percy had been born anyway, and now they were both getting close to sixteen.

'Idiots' I thought.

But it made me think if people are so afraid of my power, why aren't I dead yet?

'Unless they didn't know about you.' In which case they probably do now.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy and Armani are right," Silena Beauregard said. "Three campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which two of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Bianca."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself, and you need the experience."

Bianca closed her mouth. I probably would have felt sorry for her if not for her earlier decisions.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met mine, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

I raised my hand without saying a word, a couple of hesitant nods came up around the table.

"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second and third camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

"And me," Percy said, his very aura itself wrapping around the room, daring anyone to question him. Which reminded me, I needed to ask him about earlier.

Thalia said nothing. Chiron was still studying me, his eyes studying, with a bit of sadness in them.

"As much as I hate to say it," Zoe said. "We're going to need you boy, your control over your power is too good to leave here."

"Good," I said, "Then we should head out as early as possible. In the meantime, I need to go do some things."

Not waiting for approval, I vanished into thin air.

I didn't show up for dinner that night, I didn't eat often, I could never stomach the food for long.

Luckily, Thalia had somehow managed to bring food back to her cabin, the one we were sharing momentarily (I didn't feel comfortable sharing a cabin with the hunters.), and was eating with me on the opposite bunk, keeping me company.

"So… what's with the sword?"

I looked up at her, I had been trying to read the language engraved into the hilt of the sword, but so far it wasn't yielding much. The language looked so familiar but I couldn't tell why. It didn't look like anything I'd seen before.

"I- I'm not actually sure."

"So there are things even the amazing Armani doesn't know, colour me surprised."

"Thalia…"

"I'm kidding Armani, but seriously, what's up with it?"

I hesitated a bit before speaking, "I think it's some kind of magical artifact, it's pumping out nature energy, and it has these strange properties that I can't quite discern either. Like it almost doesn't belong here."

Thalia stopped eating and tilted her head, "Nature Energy?"

I waved my hand, "A form of magic energy, there's no time to talk about it tonight."

Thalia nodded and went back to eating, while I pulled out one of my replenishing knives and began pouring energy into it.

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked

"Pouring energy into the knives so I can use them to teleport in the future, then I'll draw a little seal on it to make sure the energy doesn't leak out over time."

"So that's how you do that? What else can you do?"

I chuckled nervously, "Uh, funny thing that, I can't do much else currently. Infuse and Diffuse nature energy, teleport, and I'm a natural with a sword and bow, but…"

Thalia continued eating her food, "What makes you think you can do more?"

I reached up and gently touched one of my eyes, "Uh, I think you've seen it, the eye thing."

She shivered, "You mean the creepy purple spinning eyes?"

"That's what they look like? Huh, I've never seen them before, I can only tell when they change." I said.

"Yeah, it was hard to tell with them spinning like they were but, they were pretty menacing. That doesn't necessarily mean you have other abilities though, Armani."

I sighed, "I know but, I feel like there's more to touch upon like there's a wall I can't climb over just yet. Almost like I'm shackled, I dunno, it's a weird feeling."

I got the feeling Thalia wanted to say something else, but she ended up not saying anything instead. After a few more minutes I decided I was getting nowhere with the language on the sword or much of what happened.

'Speaking of which…'

"Hey, Thalia," I said, getting up and stretching my stiff limbs.

"Yeah?"

"What happened earlier? Why was everyone staring at me on the riverbank?"

"Ah… That's… I'm not really sure, but I got there after Percy. You'd need to ask him." She offered, a bit of hesitance in her voice.

"Hn."

"So… are you going to sleep now or-?" She said,

"'Try' would be a much more apt word, Thalia," I said, stripping off my haori, which I would need to clean at some point.

"Do you have trouble sleeping?" I wasn't facing her, but I could assume she was also getting ready to sleep. Hopefully, there won't be any problems, I usually sleep without a shirt, but with the current company…

"Sleeping and I aren't very amicable right now," I spoke in a clipped tone, internally cringing, I didn't mean to be rude, but I really couldn't help it anymore.

Thalia only hummed in acknowledgment, we both silently got ready to sleep, even when I know I won't sleep, I can't help but want it anyways. Especially with the journey that I would be starting tomorrow. I could keep up without sleeping, even if it-

"What are you gonna do when you actually see Artemis again, Armani?" Thalia said, I turned to face her, her outfit had changed from her leather jacket and jeans to a tank top and shorts.

It suddenly felt very hot in our shared cabin.

I turned towards the window, "I don't know, part of me doesn't want to see her, but on the other hand…"

"On the other hand?" She nudged me along.

"I want to know why, no, I need to know," I said, I could feel my fist clenching, making myself take a deep breath, and looking Thalia directly in the eye.

"I think I can get that." And that was all Thalia said, and I only offered a hum in return.

As I got into my bed and laid down to try and sleep, Thalia said one more thing.

"For what it's worth, Armani, I'm sorry for what I said."

I hesitated before answering, not sure how to respond to that, no one had ever apologized to her. Percy was extremely nice to her, and she was sure he loved her but…

"That's ok, you don't need to apologize, I'm used to it."

By the time my head hit the pillow, I was already out.

Thalia P.O.V.

I lay there, listening to the sound of the wind rustling against the cabin, My thoughts not allowing me to sleep, specifically Armani.

She was… amazing was a good word for it. She was great, and I hated how I had approached her in the beginning, the way I handled it was way out of line. I was glad we had gotten past it (Hopefully) and that we became friends.

Gods know I couldn't only have Percy as a friend.

I felt much happier in her presence either way, and I could see where Percy had gotten his sense of humor from. I felt like we clicked like puzzle pieces, she was just a lot of fun. Cocky as hell, but she could back it up.

My thoughts still lingered on what she had said before she had fallen asleep.

"That's ok, you don't need to apologize, I'm used to it."

I scoffed, "But you shouldn't have to be…"

It wasn't long after that I fell asleep on my own.

It wasn't long before the air in the cabin was pierced by a blood-curdling howl.

Authors Notes:

Ah, cliffhangers, my beloved.

On a serious note, I was pretty happy with this chapter, especially the small chit-chat between Armani and Thalia. It was really nice to treat them like normal teenagers for a bit, troubled ones, but teens nonetheless. But we all know I have a penchant for angst and the feels, so the next chapter should be interesting. ;)

Some interesting things may be on their way for Armani in the next chapter as well, something I've been waiting to write for a long while.

Speaking of the upcoming plot, I recently talked with my best friend/sister, and she helped me come to a decision about a plot point I had shelved for a long time, needless to say, I will now be using that plot point instead. Since I feel it sends a better message than the original, maybe not better, but it could fit more and resonate with a lot of people. Including myself.

We also got Thalia's first First-person pov, it was short, but I liked writing it, if it wasn't clear or brought up before, Armani, Thalia, Percy, and Zoe, are the main characters of this story. There will be pov's outside of them, but they are the main pieces on this board. Armani remains as the focal point, but they are all a huge part of this narrative.

I do want to also reiterate, I love all the comments you guys send in (Bar one that was made on eyes of heaven last week), and I genuinely hope you guys enjoy what I want to write. At the end of the day, however, the story I set out to tell here is something that has been in my head for a long time, it's pretty far out there, but I want to complete my original vision. If it's not something you like, I understand, feel free to leave critiques, just try not to be rude about it.

Lastly, I need to say that I will either be making the eyes of heaven chapters shorter and they come out more often (around 2,500 words), or longer but more infrequent. I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about that as well.

I also have a poll up on my profile if people wanna go check that out!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Dredgen