Chapter Four: Calm Before The Storm
Thalia, 24 Hours afer Eripus
*Eighteen minutes before Annabeth appears in camp*
Thalia sat in a low branch, overlooking the clearing within which the hunters had made camp, she could see Lady Artemis's chariot as it flew across the sky in the distance. Gazing back down at the camp she struggled to remain calm.
She could smell the ozone in the air as she tried to take deep breaths, anything before she set half the forest on fire with lighting strikes. Just eighteen hours previous they had received a distress call through an iris message from Death Breath. She recalled the entire situation as she tried not to snap the bow she held in her hands out of anger.
They had been sitting around the campfire relaxing and telling stories when suddenly an image of Nico appeared hovering in the air above the campfire. He looked like hell as did the burning wreckage behind him and the other limping and clearly injured members of the seven.
Nico had explained how their ship the Argo II had been blown out of the air, during their escape attempt from a place called the House of Hades. Something to do with their quest for the Doors of Death, but they all seemed exhausted and were preparing to make camp for the night.
Everything seemed normal at least until Nico asked me to send the hunters away because something needed to be said in private. I nodded to the rest of the hunters before walking away to resume the iris message in the privacy of my tent.
Thalia sighed, remembering how much simpler her life had been prior to that fateful message yesterday.
*Flashback*
"Alright Nico, you look like shit now spill the beans. What the hell is going on and what happened to the ship?" I asked, tilting my head ever so slightly as I stared at the heap of twisted burning metal in the background.
Nico looked at me, his normally gaunt facial features were if anything more pale and drawn. His clothes were stained in blood and monster dust, and he looked like he hasn't slept since the last time she saw him. Nico was by no means ever a child of Apollo but this was rough looking even for him.
"Ourae, that's what got the ship. We were lucky Leo managed to 'Land' the Argo as well as he did…" Nico faltered and visibly paled further as he closed his eyes.
"That's not the biggest problem we have…. Percy.. He….h-h…" Nico was stuttering, his face scrunched up in pain as he clutched at his side as if he had been stabbed.
"... h-heh don't play games here death breath, your joke isn't very funny now where is Percy, before i have to tell Annabeth her boyfriend has 'disappeared again ''" i say as assuming that kelp head got injured doing something stupid, but still a slight edge of concern enters my voice.
At the mention of Annabeth, Nico goes deadly quiet, a shuddering breath taken in as he looks at Thalia and just shakes his head slowly.
"Thalia, I'm… I'm sorry you had to find out like this… But Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus… and are likely both dead at this point…" he chokes out looking at the ground.
'No, no, no, no not again' I mentally screamed as I stared at the iris message in shock.
"LADY ARTEMIS, I NEED YOU NOW, PLEASE!" i prayed to her, hoping my thoughts would reach her with urgency.
Before I could even reply a voice spoke up, from my side as Lady Artemis, her form flickering slightly as an annoyed expression crossed across her face for a moment.
She grunted in pain and slowly her form solidified, as she looked at Nico and I.
"I have but a few moments, between my father's pig headedness and my aspects fighting for control I can't stay here long, but the fate of the seven is directly tied to our fate as gods." she said as she shrugged.
"It's in our interest to aid them as best we can in any way we can. It is only my fathers foolishness that has prevented us from assisting you more. However none of the Olympians are willing to cross Zeus." she said with finality as i looked at her in slight shock.
"Now Boy, you had best explain what you mean when you say the Savior of Olympus 'Fell' into Tartarus…. And why from the sounds of it he has been there a while and we have not been informed." Artemis said her voice softer than she would normally speak to any male as she looked at Nico expectantly.
Nico nodded numbly and waved over Jason. Besides a bad cut on the side of his face and a limp seemed to be okay. Thank Hera I thought, but then immediately regretted it as how could i be thankful for my brother when Percy and Annabeth were apparently in Tartarus!
Sparks crackled off my skin as I looked at Nico and Jason "one of you needs to explain why in hades my two best friends are in Tartarus" I growled.
Together they explained the events in Rome, and Annabeth's recovery of the Athena Parthenos, at which Artemis smiled briefly. The horrifying recounting of the events under Rome and Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus.
Percy literally leaping into Tartarus after Annabeth had to be one of the dumbest and as much as I hated to admit it, romantic things i had ever heard. If Kelp head wasn't dead already I'd kill him myself when he got back.
Everything leading up to their journey to Epirus and the House of Hades, including more problems caused by the gods and their children. As to be expected.
How Frank Zhang had been field promoted to Legion Praetor and how they had fought off an army of monsters to get to the doors of death, and finally how in the final room of the once grand temple. They had fought the giant Clytius and Pasiphae who were protecting the doors whilst simultaneously recreating the labyrinth underneath the earth in order for Gaea to use in her war.
"Clytius was slain by Hecate, and hazel sent Pasiphae back to Tartarus using the mist and some quick thinking….. So we were waiting to open the doors… waiting for them to show up…. They didn't" Nico cried out, suddenly breaking down. As he collapsed to the ground his hands clutching his sides.
Artemis looked at me quickly, her facial expressions unreadable. "This wasn't supposed to happen, the Prophecy was never intended… Keep me informed Thalia, the council needs to be informed of this.. Development." Artemis said with a stern finality, her form flickered once or twice more during her short speech before she finally disappeared in a flash of light.
Nico looked horrible, as he clutched at his stomach, arms wrapped around his sides. Finally having lost the energy or the willpower to continue his story once Artemis had left. He simply sank to the ground and stared off into the distance.
"... i cant feel them Thals….I don't know if its Tartarus or some other interference but I don't even know if they're alive..." he said softly
Thalia knew she was crying, she could feel the tears rolling down her face as she listened to Nico sob on the ground while Jason called over some of the other members of the seven to help Nico away.
Jason looked at Nico and my heart broke for my little brother, who drew in a ragged breath before straightening his back and continuing from where Nico left off in a near robotic voice.
"We waited for an hour or so, hoping the doors would open and they would come on out. When suddenly the whole chamber began to shake. It was like someone had set off a bomb underneath us. The Doors of death started to fade in and out and…" he paused for a minute, his face hardening as he swallowed before continuing.
"I had to make a call, for the good of the group. The mission…. We uh- we had to cut the chains to close the doors permanently and if the doors had been buried without the chains cut Gaea would have kept full control over them." He was breathing heavily now as sweat began to break out on his face.
"Frank and I cut the chains, and then dragged the rest of the seven out with help from Hazel…. I-I'm so sorry Thals…. I left them to die…." Jason choked out as tears started to form at the corner of his eyes.
He took another breath as he continued, nearly a decade of legion training clearly kicking in "We got above the surface and thought it was safe when all hell broke loose. The ground started cracking and rolling, and the craziest earthquake I have ever seen exploded all around the House of Hades. We were lucky to even get back to the ship let alone take off."
"Gaea" I said flatly as my hatred for that clay faced bitch hit an all time high.
I angrily rubbed at my face, sparks crackling off my body as the smell of ozone in my tent grew stronger.
"Where are you?" I asked through gritted teeth as I struggled to keep my emotions in check.
He looked concerned as he stared at me, "Somewhere along the coast of the Ionian in Eripus….. We tried to cut across the mountain range. To get closer to mainland Greece and get away from whatever Gaea was doing in Eripus."
He gestured to the twisted scrap heap behind him "and well you know the rest i guess, but we don't know what to do." he said shortly, his head hanging with exhaustion and shame.
"Hazel and piper are in terrible condition and most of our supplies went down with the ship, not to mention I'm sure Gaea knows where we are and i don't know how many more monsters we can take let alone if an Ourae finds us…." he practically moaned grinding his knuckles into his eyes.
"I'm not the leader he was…. And I can't keep them together like Annabeth did… What do I do Thalia…? They are all looking to me to lead them, and I-I… I just don't know.."
I watched Jason through the iris message, he looked like he was barely holding it together and I couldn't blame him. The news that Percy and Annabeth might be dead had left me with an empty pit in my stomach as I tried to process that both of my best friends might already have been taken from me.
"Stay put little brother" I said as calmly as i could, "The hunt will be there soon, just stay alive until we get there".
Jason looked up, the smallest spark of hope in his eyes as he nodded at me once before swiping away the message.
The message had barely faded before I stalked out of the tent, the sky rumbling overhead as I put both hands to my mouth and blew an ear piercing whistle.
Within a minute most of the hunt had made their way to the campfire once more, looking at me curiously.
"The Argo II was shot down, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase are MIA, possibly in Tartarus after the doors of death were closed. Not to mention the rest of the Seven are now stranded in the mountains to the south east of Eripus." I said as calmly as I could manage, holding back tears as I announced the possible death of my best friends.
"You have five minutes, pack your gear and get your shit together." I barked out, my gaze daring one of the other hunters to question me. Several whispers about The hero of Olympus being MIA broke out amongst the hunters. He may have been a Male but even in their eyes he was somewhat of a legend.
"What about Lady Artemis? Did she approve of this course of action Thalia?" asked one of the newer hunters, Alicia; a daughter of Ares and one who could give Clarisse a run for her money in a title shot for the most arrogant and pigheaded child of the war god.
"Lady Artemis along with the other gods are currently indisposed and the group who are in charge of fixing that problem before we have to go to war with Gaea are now trapped atop a mountain.. And you want to debate if Artemis would want us to help them?`` I asked incredulously as I stared down Alicia.
She visibly paled as I stared her down before nodding fiercely and taking off with the rest of the hunters to grab her gear and break down her tent. I felt a momentary pang of regret for intimidating her like that as she wasn't wrong to question me. However, given that Artemis wasn't supposed to contact us I couldn't risk pissing my dear old dad off by letting slip that she had given us the go ahead.
I dashed back to my tent, not even bothering to put anything away. I grabbed a quiver of arrows and my knives from the table in the back corner, making sure I threw a square or two of ambrosia and a flask of nectar into the pockets of my hunting jacket. Then scooping up my bow from its rack by the entrance I stepped outside and closed the flap of the tent.
Turning around to look over the assembled hunters, several of whom were still in a mad dash about the campsite collecting the last few items before throwing them in packs or their tents for travel.
Seeing the hunters almost ready I gave a sharp whistle and was rewarded by twelve silvery furred shapes slipping from the woods to stand behind me.
Artemis's pack would hunt with us tonight.
With one final look around at the thirty or so huntresses I couldn't help but feel my chest swell with pride at the thought of leading my sisters into this battle. As much as I didn't want a repeat of Manhattan i wouldn't let Gaea lay a finger on Jason's head if i had anything to say about it.
"Let's go girls." I said quickly before taking off into the woods, some of the wolves taking the lead as the rest fell in behind or beside the hunters.
With that we disappeared quickly into the forest, ready to take the fight to Gaea and her monster children.
"Find them Thalia, the fate of the gods, demigods, even Olympus itself rests on the seven and their great prophecy. Find them my huntresses, strike fear into the hearts of Gaea and her minions." The voices of Artemis and Diana rang out at the same time in my head as i began the long journey to the foothills of Eripus.
*Flashback*
Thalia was snapped from her recollections as thunder rumbled ominously in the dark night sky, signaling the start of a downpour as the heavens opened up.
They had reached the mountain range after a harrowing twelve hour run, the blessing of Artemis granting the hunters speed and endurance. Without which they would never have made the journey, with only a few short breaks. Luckily they had avoided any encounters with monsters, that said; very few monsters would willingly take the fight to the hunters without a numerical advantage.
With the pack leading the way, they had raced across the countryside, keeping mostly to the wild places. As luck would have it Artemis had told them weeks prior to make their way to Greece, as she believed her father putting all their faith in the seven was foolish. Which had meant they were close enough to make it in time.
With a sigh, Thalia flipped her hood up and resumed scanning the woods farther down the hill from her lookout position. Currently the hunt and the seven had taken refuge with the wrecked remains of the ship. Which had dug a trench roughly one hundred feet long and thirty wide in between a series of low foothills just to the east of euripus, in the foothills of the Pindus Mountain Range. Surrounding them was a large open field and to the south and west a large forest stretched out. They had been keeping an eye on it ever since the seven had explained that the monsters hunting them had come from those woods.
The hunt had arrived with near flawless timing several hours earlier, as Jason and Frank had been the last two of the seven standing as a small army of hellhounds and cyclops had been advancing on the wounded duo.
A short but wicked battle had ensued in which the hunt had decimated the group of twenty or so monsters remaining before the survivors scattered into the woods. Thalia quickly gave the order and the hunters began spreading out to secure the crash site. Fast forwards a couple hours and here they were Thalia thought bitterly.
They couldn't risk moving Hazel who had yet to wake up, or Leo who had taken a blow meant for Piper and had suffered a concussion as well as a broken arm. So Thalia had given the order to dig in for the next day or so until the injured had recovered enough to defend themselves and then they would make their next move.
While Leo, the little elf that he was, had managed to wake up and move about. He was nowhere near capable of defending himself, and the injuries the rest of the seven had sustained had eaten deeply into the medical supplies Atlanta and Phoebe had brought with them.
However they also couldn't relax as there was the possibility that the monsters would regroup or gather more allies and attack again. So, while Atlanta and Phoebe tended to the injured members of the seven, the rest of the hunt was split between patrols, watch duty and trying to find a dry place to take a quick nap.
"Quit the theatrics old man" she grumbled looking to the sky as the heavens continued to pour down onto them. Dark clouds rolling in to obscure the moon as stars, the occasional crack of thunder booming across the heavens. Thalia was cold, wet, grumpy for certain, which added up to miserable on all counts. She was a mess, Percy was gone, Annabeth was gone, it had been at least 24 hours now since the doors had been lost to them and they had heard nothing and seen nothing of the two demigods. So with reluctance Thalia had to admit to herself that they were probably gone, Percy was the best of their generation but even he had limits and apparently Tartarus was one of them.
She quickly wiped a tear from her eye, as she shuddered to think at the horrors that had been waiting for him down there. Of course he had to be the hero and literally jump into hell. But he wouldn't have been the kelp brained idiot she loved like a brother if he didn't. However that thought did nothing to quell the anger she felt about the whole situation.
Instead her attention shifted to the statue that had somehow managed to survive the crash, the statue her two best friends had given their lives to rescue. Leaning slightly to one side, seemingly unaffected by the crash of the Argo II stood the Athena Parthenos. Gleaming in all its glory as it was illuminated by the lightning crackling across the sky. With the setting of the sun the surrounding area quickly plunged into darkness, the rain only intensifying as it became nearly impossible to see.
Thalia was slightly concerned, with visibility as it was now it would be nearly impossible to see anything sneaking up on them. The wolves and the patrol groups would have to work twice as hard to keep the crash site secure. She tucked herself closer to the tree, her legs wrapped around the branch underneath her as she did her best to stay out of the torrential downpour raging all around her.
A sharp whistle from her left drew her attention as another hunter, barely visible in the downpour rushed towards the tree Thalia was perched in. As she drew nearer Thalia made out Isabelle, a blonde haired, blue eyed French girl and daughter of Aphrodite who had joined the hunt shortly after the battle for Manhattan.
"Atlanta and Phoebe said to find you and tell you that the one they call hazel is awake '' Isabelle said as she quickly scaled the tree and sat on a branch several feet above me.
She let out a short sigh and flipped her hood up as her attitude suddenly became far more serious. "I figured you would want to speak to the seven as a group first, before we decide where we are headed, I'll watch for the remainder of the shift." she said matter of fact.
"Thanks" Thalia said as she quickly descended the tree and took off at a brisk jog back towards the campsite. The rain had made the ground muddy and slick, combined with the lack of visible moon and stars it made the short trip a hellish mud slip'n'slide as the recently upturned earth around the crash site became a swamp.
She was making headway when a sudden ear piercing scream rang out from ahead. Followed almost immediately by the barely audible sounds of shouting over the storm raging around her.
She froze for a second, her mind racing as she tried to process the fact that something had snuck through into the camp, where only a few of the hunters were sleeping or tending the wounded. "No.." she whispered as the air around her hummed with power.
Drawing her bow in a fluid motion she took off at a sprint, sliding about as she began a mad dash the last one hundred or so yards into the camp. A quick crack of lighting showed several other hunters either from patrols or watch duty rushing across the open field back towards the camp and the wreck of the Argo II.
Around fifty yards out from the camp the low brassy tone of a hunting horn rang out once, and then twice, Before repeating after a short pause. Thalia slowed her pace as she neared the camp, the hunting signals of Artemis had long ago been ingrained into her mind and the relief that came with knowing a hunter had blown the all clear was like she had just dropped the weight of the world from her shoulders.
However, she was mildly concerned about the repeat of the signal which could mean several things, but usually was used by the hunt when one of the hunters was injured.
Thalia moved past the tents warily, bow still drawn and arrow ready but not at full draw, as she came into the center of the clearing. Everything was quiet and several hunters had begun to race out of the camp almost as soon as she had come in, their faces all showing the same level of rage and concern as they had taken off with the wolves.
They shouted something but the heavy rain and thunder drowned out what the group was shouting and before she could turn back to ask them to repeat it they were gone, vanished into darkness beyond the crash site.
She moved faster now, slinging her bow over her shoulder as she moved at a brisk walk towards the medical tent, which was close to the wreck of the Argo II itself.
Thalia was about halfway there when Phoebe ran out of the tent, her hands and arms covered in blood as she dumped a bunch of soiled bloody rags by the tent entrance.
"Phoebe?" Thalia called out cautiously, as she stared at the blood soaked rags by the tent entrance in shock.
"What the hell happened?!" Thalia shouted as she rushed the last few yards towards Phoebe who noticed her with a start, and took a cautious step back drawing a knife from her hip sheathe before she recognized Thalia.
"... Annabeth happened, the twins were walking from the mess tent back towards the wreck. They said everything went dark for a second and when they could see again Annabeth was a few feet from them on the ground…. It's not good Thalia.." Phoebe muttered bitterly.
"WHERE IS SHE!" Thalia practically screamed as she felt her stomach drop, her mouth went dry at the thought of all those bloody rags.
Phoebe stepped aside and gestured through the tent door as Thalia rushed past her.
Once inside Thalia had to fight hard not to immediately be sick; laying on top of one of the small cots which was now being used as a quasi operating table was Annabeth. Thalia stifled a sob as she looked at the battered, bruised and broken body of her best friend.
Annabeth's skin was covered in muck and grime, her hair was lanky and looked like it had been burned in places. Her skin was ghostly white, likely on account of the three massive claw wounds in her stomach and lower abdomen which were oozing blood at an alarming rate.
She heard Atlanta shouting something at Valdez who was awake with his arm in a splint and doing his best to assist the trained healer as he ran about the room with Piper fetching various medical supplies.
"Oh gods Annie….. What in hades did they do to you…" Thalia muttered in horror, tears freely falling down her face as she looked at Annabeth.
"Thalia! We need my father now! You need to get in touch with Artemis, I don't know how much longer I can keep her stable, she keeps tearing her stitches and she's losing too much blood!." Atlanta said as calmly as one could while also stitching up a stomach wound.
Immediately Thalia spun around and dashed outside the tent placing both hands against the tiara that Artemis had given her as her lieutenant. "Lady Artemis, we need you! We found Annabeth but she's wounded, Atlanta says she's dying! We need Lord Apollo, please milady!" Thalia begged mentally, hoping her prayers would reach Artemis in time.
Thalia ran back towards the edge of the campsite, looking for the scouts who as luck would have it were running back to the camp like the furies were chasing them.
Thalia furiously rubbed her eyes to get rid of any tear tracks, a move that was made largely useless since she was soaked down to her undergarments within seconds of leaving the canopy in front of the medical tent.
"Report!" Thalia barked out as the five scouts came to a halt in front of her panting slightly. As the two at the back immediately drew their bows and scanned the forest several hundred feet away.
"Thalia there is a large force of Cyclops hiding in the forest, several of them were overheard talking about how they were to regroup and prepare for the next assault on the demigods." One of the girls spoke out quickly.
"Approximate numbers?" Thalia asked, the guise of the Lieutenant of the Hunt taking center stage as she immediately began threat assessment and how to get the hunters out of such a weak defensive position without risking the injured or leaving any hunters behind enemy lines.
"At least fifty, several of which are armored and have actual weapons, there may be more but I can't confirm that." The girl spoke up again.
"Alright, I need you to call the rest of the scouts in, all of them. We found Annabeth Chase, we need to know what in hades is going on before we risk anything else. So get the scouts back and prepare to move out." Thalia declared loudly before waving off the hunters and rushing back towards the medical tent.
She threw the tent flap wide open in time to watch as Jason got punched in the nose by Annabeth, Who was still lying on her back on the cot. Jason to his credit, took the punch like a man. Unfortunately for him that meant crumpling like a sack of potatoes as Annabeth knocked him into next week.
One of the other demigods, Frank, was twitching as he lay on the ground at the opposite end of the bed, drooling onto the floor of the tent.
Thalia could only watch in shock as Annabeth rolled off the table and in one fluid motion crashed into the medical cart which had several bandages, scissors and scalpels scattered across the surface.
She grabbed one and clutched it in her hand even as the blade sliced her thumb down to the bone, adding yet another injury to the half dead girl in front of her.
"I'VE GOT HER!" Roared Leo as he dashed forwards from her side and tried to tackle her to the ground, pretense on the word try, as Annabeth took him to the floor in about two seconds flat and before any of us could react she had jumped on top of his chest, her knees pinning his arms to the floor. One hand had grabbed his hair and yanked his head back to expose his throat and the other hand held the scalpel perfectly still, inches from slicing his neck.
Thalia was in awe, Annabeth had always been a skilled fighter and the smartest demigod she knew, but this level of hostility and violence was so unlike the daughter of Athena. Almost without thinking Thalia took several steps, quickly crossing the tent and reaching her hand out to grab Annabeth's shoulder.
The second Thalia's hand touched her shoulder Annabeth spun, slicing her cheek open with the scalpel, her face warped into a feral expression filled with pain, fear and anger. "...Annie….?" Thalia called out, her voice filled with uncertainty as she held her cheek, blood seeping between her fingers as she stared at her best friend who had yet to move the scalpel away from her.
For a few tense seconds the standoff held, but then Thalia saw the glimmer of recognition in Annabeth's eyes as her feral scowl was replaced by a look of utter shock as Annabeth's eyes went wide and she backed away from Leo towards one of the tent walls, looking the part of a caged animal as she began to look everywhere for an exit.
Thalia took a few tentative steps forwards, her hands raised in a sign of peace. Never taking her eyes off Annabeth she called out " Annie you've got to put the knife down …. You … you're really badly hurt. You tore your stitches and if you don't stop what you're doing and let Atlanta help you….." Thalia barely managed to choke out the sentence as she stared at Annabeth who had begun to shake like a leaf.
Thalia barely heard whatever Annabeth croaked out, her words drowned out by a short coughing fit. But what she said next nearly broke Thalia's heart.
"T-Thalia?" Annabeth called out, her whole body shaking as tears had begun to glisten in the corner of Annabeth's eyes. She was glancing about the room, visibly wincing as she spotted the unconscious forms of Jason and Frank.
Thalia stepped up to Annabeth just a few feet separating them now as she did her best to stay calm, silently willing her voice not to crack. "I-it's me Annie, you're safe i promise…. But you need to stop and lay down… please"
Annabeth was clearly in shock, tears pouring down her face as she clutched at her stomach with her free arm, while the scalpel slowly lowered until it was held at her side. Thalia could see the raw horror in Annabeth's eyes, the way that the once stormy gray orbs seemed dull and lifeless. "Gods Annie…. What did they do to you?" Thalia half sobbed out as she closed the last few feet towards Annabeth in a few steps.
She felt the presence of Lady Artemis before she opened the door. Stepping inside the medical tent she was followed closely by her brother. However Apollo's face lacked the usual jovial expression, he looked deathly serious as his gaze scanned the tent before settling on Annabeth.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING WALKING AROUND!?" Roared the sun god as he glared at the demigods around the tent.
This was followed by a low whistle as Thalia turned to see Artemis looking over the fallen bodies of Frank and Jason, before she too turned her gaze towards Annabeth.
Annabeth stared at her for a moment longer before the shock of the whole situation finally seemed to set in. the scalpel clattered to the ground and Thalia almost followed it as Annabeth launched herself at Thalia, burying her face into Thalia's shoulder as she began to sob.
Thalia for her part was just as much of a wreck as Annabeth, she was doing her best to comfort Annabeth but she was sobbing just as hard. The relief alone in knowing that her best friend, the closest thing she had to an actual sister, wasn't dead had taken a weight off Thalia's shoulders she hadn't realized was there.
Thalia was cradling Annabeth to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly as she did her best to soothe her sister in everything but blood. "It's okay…. It's okay…. I got you Annie" Thalia crooned quietly as she brushed some bloody strands of hair from her face. Annabeth for her part continued to sob like a child as she clung to Thalia desperately.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Thalia looked over to see Apollo whose golden orbs were filled with sadness and pity as he looked down on the two demigods. He reached out one hand and slowly a pulse of golden light seemed to glow around Annabeth for a second or two before fading.
"It's okay Sis, I'll take it from here" Apollo said gently as he reached down and gently picked Annabeth up in his arms, cradling her body to his chest as more golden light pulsed around her.
"...You'll Fix her right? I..I-I Can't lose her too…" Thalia stammered out, her hands clenched at her sides so tightly she could feel her nails cutting into her palms.
"It'll be close, but have a little faith. I'm me after all." Apollo said with a slight smile, throwing a wink my way before he turned and walked out of the medical tent carrying Annabeth. For a second or two there was nothing and then a burst of golden light flared out around the tent flap and Thalia felt the presence of the god vanish.
The ensuing chaos that followed the departure of the sun god was immediate and equally unwanted. Thalia was in a daze, staring at her hands and uniform, the normal silvery outfit was stained a crimson color with blood as were her hands.
"Lady Artemis, what do we do now? We have the Parthenos but the Argo won't be fit to fly anytime soon if ever. How do we get it back to the camp?" Piper spoke out, as she looked at Artemis while also trying to wake Jason up. Slowly shaking him back and forth, while glancing worriedly at Hazel who was attempting to do the same to frank.
Artemis's form flickered back and forth between her two aspects for an instant before it solidified as Artemis, once more in her 12 year old form. "The Parthenos has been lost far too long, and my father is acting the fool by risking it all in the hope that you could get my sister's statue back to the Greek camp in time." Artemis shook her head as thunder rumbled across the sky.
Piper spoke up, having seemingly lost interest in waking Jason for the moment. "So can you help us then? The laws won't restrict you? I….." Piper trailed off, noting the look of irritation that flickered across Artemis's face.
"Individually I cannot move the Parthenos, my other aspect is causing too many disruptions in my domains for me to do it alone. However my brother in one of his moments of unusual wisdom found a solution which is…. Passable for the idiot he is." Artemis explained casually.
Artemis walked over and crouched in front of Thalia, reaching out to gently cup her cheek and wipe a tear from her lieutenant's face, before slowly helping her stand up. "She should be here any minute and together we will be able to move the Parthenos. As for your question about the Ancient Laws" Artemis paused as her face took on a slightly cruel grin "the small group of monsters preparing to attack my hunters gives me every right to intervene and since my hunters have chosen to assist you. I am no longer bound by the ancient laws and prevented from assisting you." Artemis finished with a smirk before gesturing to Phoebe to follow her.
The sigh of relief from Piper and Hazel were audible as Atlanta moved over to Thalia's side, gently elbowing her and raising an eyebrow. "I'm fine Atlanta, well no I'm not, but you know what would make me feel a lot better?" Thalia asked.
A wicked grin appeared on her sister's face, as she grabbed her bow and arrows from where they lay by the tent door. "Funny thing Lieutenant, I think we both know what would make you feel better." Atlanta responded as she turned to walk towards the door.
"Take care of my little brother for me, we have a few things to discuss when he wakes up" Thalia said angrily while looking at Piper who nodded slowly in return. Her face frozen into a snarl Thalia followed her mistress and the other hunters outside, drawing her can of mace and transforming it into her spear before unleashing Aegis into its shield form. The familiar weight felt comfortable as one by one the other hunters quickly fell into line behind lady Artemis as they made their way to the edge of camp.
Sparks crackled in the air around Thalia as she could hear the sounds of battle taking place somewhere outside of camp, lost to her sight in the darkness and rain. However a quick glance around her, at the slightly hungry looks several of the hunters had and she almost felt sorry for the monsters, almost.
Authors Note: Surprise surprise, i happened to have some free time and got ahead of schedule, so yall get a chapter today and one tomorrow.
This chapter takes place at almost the same time as the last chapter just from Thalia's perspective. Love em or hate em, Hunters of Artemis are kick ass… And don't worry, in the next chapter you'll get to see them do just that.
To explain why the Hunters are in Greece, its because Artemis isnt stupid. She wouldn't risk everything on her Fathers plan, and a group of demigods, regardless of who is a member of said group. She has some freedom in regards to the ancient laws and would be abusing that in order to stack the odds in Olympus's favor.
As always, until next time folks!