Chapter Five: Born For This
Thalia, 24 Hours After Eripus
Thalia picked up the pace, following Artemis as she began to run nimbly across the muddy field towards the battle ahead of them. Thalia could just make out the silvery forms of several of the huntresses engaged in melee combat with the horde of cyclops's and nearly two dozen earthborn.
The battle had been joined just outside the camp, with the two forces split by the thirty foot wide trench that had been carved by the Argo during its crash. Already the trench was filled with bodies locked in combat, mostly the scouts and the few hunters who had been posted to sentry duty. As they advanced group of twelve hunters stayed behind atop the hill to rain arrow fire into the trench with deadly accuracy, they were so used to fighting as a unit they did this almost without commands.
Reaching the battle first Artemis drew her bow back and moving faster, now nearly sprinting she began to pepper the still unclear battle ahead with dozens of arrows. Like bolts of silver lighting they began to slam into the looming shapes ahead of them, drawing screams of pain as several of the large creatures fell under the onslaught of arrows from the huntress.
Like miniature versions of their mistress, nearly twenty hunters lifted their bows and let fly arrows, the silver fletched barbs of death finding the weak points in the little armor the cyclops did wear. Drawing roars of anger and pain as the monsters were slowly turned into pin-cushions. Then almost as one a dozen or so hunters drew weapons and charged into battle, a diverse array of hunting knives, swords and several other more exotic weapons spread throughout their ranks. Thalia along with several of the more experienced hunters were in the first wave of reinforcements, they threw themselves into battle immediately, some going as far as to leap from the top of the trench.
Within seconds of landing in the muddy quagmire Thalia was locked in combat with a large cyclops wielding a mace, she worked her way through a complicated offensive maneuver as she used a series of measured thrusts and worked the cyclops she was fighting backwards. Slowly forcing him to raise his mace higher and higher to protect himself against the lightning fast thrusts Thalia was pressuring him with. She saw Artemis, moving so fast she appeared as no more than a silver blur, racing past her towards the middle of the battle. The movement distracted the cyclops for a second as his head turned to trace the path of the goddess, giving Thalia an opening.
Thalia's eyes glinted maliciously as she leapt into the air and swung her spear downwards aiming for the cyclops's eye as he was forced to raise his mace horizontally above his head to block. Thalia's grin widened as the monster fell for her trap, seconds after her spear impacted the haft of the mace Thalia seemed to spin in the air. She used the spear for leverage and spun her body around in the opposite direction and launched her shield off her hand into the chest of the cyclops.
The impact blasted the air from the monster's lungs and she began to fall, landing with a roll as she spun in a circle, stabbing her spear clean through the ankle of the cyclops as he stumbled backwards a scream of pain and anger nearly deafening her. A quick yank pulled her spear free with a gush of blood and a tearing sound, the end result sent him crashing to the ground with a shout, which was cut short immediately as Thalia jumped onto his chest, and drove her spear into the soft ground underneath the creature.
Several thousand volts accompanied this thrust as the cyclops twitched beneath her for a few moments, before his steaming corpse began to dissolve into golden dust. Thalia snatched up Aegis and spun, flashing the face of the shield towards a Hellhound who skidded to a stop and began backpedaling at the appearance of Medusa, the shield's embossed cover.
Thalia was quick to capitalize on the moment's hesitation as she ran it through the chest, the blade of her spear buried to the wings, a celestial bronze haft seemingly sprouting from the center of its chest, if only for an instant. Thalia was already focused on the next monster when the hellhound exploded into dust.
On her left Isabelle and Karina were a deadly pair, an elegant blade paired with the customary twin hunters knives. Isabelle was not a master swordsman by any means, but her swordplay was second best in the hunt, only behind Phoebe. The pair had cut a path of death and destruction through the monsters, they almost glowed given how much golden dust they were covered in.
Karina, clearly a child of Hermes with her brown hair and intelligent green eyes, was an inseparable companion for Isabelle, the two having joined the hunt at nearly the same time. They had bonded as sisters and had become closer than any in the hunt, besides perhaps Phoebe and Atlanta who had known each other for centuries.
It reflected in their ability to fight together, each movement complementing the next. Isabelle unleashed a flurry of slashes against a cyclops, forcing him backwards as he frantically worked his club back and forth attempting to block the strikes. Meanwhile Karina was back to back with her sister in arms, busy dealing with an earthborn. "Isabelle, let's trade!" Thalia heard Karina shout.
What followed next was flawless, and Karina threw one of her knives into the earthborn in front of her, the blade buried hilt deep in its gut. The monster bent over grunting in anger as Karina doubled over at the waist her empty hand planted on the ground in front of her, just in time for Isabelle to transition between the monsters. Throwing a kick at the chin of the cyclops she literally rolled across Karina's back, using the force of the kick to help her clear the other side. Immediately as her feet touched the ground Isabelle was on the offensive, her sword flashing quickly in a series of heavy two handed slashes. In a heartbeat the earthborn had been caught off guard and two of its four arms now lay on the ground as it stared at the new opponent in shock.
Karina, now without her second blade, was on the defensive against the cyclops, however the speed with which the daughter of Hermes moved was unbelievable as the Cyclops couldn't seem to land a blow near her let alone on her. A particularly vicious swing ended with the cyclops trying to yank his weapon from where it was buried two to three feet deep in mud.
That was all the opening Karina needed as she nimbly jumped onto the club, and dashed up the monster's arm. Leaping as she reached the elbow she threw herself forwards, hunting knife leading the way. The silvery blade sunk into the creature's chest as Karina's momentum carried her over its shoulder, her leap carrying her clean over its back as she dragged the knife with her.
Tearing the monster's shoulder open to such a degree that Thalia was surprised it didn't lose its arm in the process. Karina unfortunately had to let go of her knife or risk tearing her arm out of its socket as she rapidly approached the ground. Dropping into a roll she came to her feet a short distance away, covered in mud wiping rain water from her eyes.
Isabelle continued a brilliant offensive as Thalia stepped forwards to join her sister in arms. Isabelle, seeming to sense her intentions, drove the earthborn towards her with renewed fury, her sword hacking bits and pieces of stone and mud off the creature in a blur.
As the earthborn was driven towards her Thalia drove her spear through its back, as Isabelle cleanly sidestepped it, twirling away from the creature's flailing remaining arm as it writhed in pain for a second before exploding into dust.
The Cyclops facing Karina was roaring in pain, flailing about with its club as it tried to hit anything, Thalia smirked and raised her spear to the sky, feeling the usual tug in her gut as the storm clouds funneled above her head. As she thrust the spear into the air, several bolts of lighting raced down to meet it. With a roar Thalia leveled the spear in the direction of the cyclops and the group of monsters charging in behind him.
Then her vision went white for a second, as a massive bolt of lighting leapt from the tip of her spear, carving a path of ruination across the ground until it slammed into the first cyclops, who imploded instantly. However the carnage the lighting did to the closely packed ranks of monsters was even more satisfying, as a half dozen were reduced to charbroiled smoking husks that slowly began to dissolve into dust. While several more laid on the ground, stunned looks on their faces as their bodies smoked.
As the smoke cleared away from the carnage, both Isabelle and Karina looked at Thalia, a look of incredulity plain as day on both of their faces. "THALIA!" they screamed in unison as they recovered from the shock, shaking their heads and knuckling their eyes to try and drive away the white spots in their vision.
Thalia flashed a feral grin, sprinting towards them before she tossed her spear into the air, catching it again in a javelin grip as she threw it with all the force she could muster at one of the cyclops who was attempting to stand. The spear hit him in the chest, with the impact knocking him onto his back with an audible crash.
"Come on girls, don't be mad. Just because I got them first doesn't mean I wont leave any for you" Thalia said with a grin, as she looked at the two hunters visibly shaking in rage.
"The second one was mine!" Karina shouted as she bent down to pick up her blade from the pile of dust that was the cyclops, as Isabelle handed her the one from the earthborn, while ruffling Karina hair and grinning.
"Thalia can get her own… I worked hard for that one.." The daughter of Hermes said with a slight pout as she panted. The two older girls looked at her serious expression for a moment before they began to laugh at her expense.
"ITS NOT FUNNY!" the fourteen year old daughter of Hermes shouted in anger. "Go steal someone else's kill, you overrated lighting rod."
Thalia smiled "Well i owe you one, so maybe we can even up the score a little" Still grinning she took several steps forward before yanking her spear free of the now dying cyclops's chest. Pivoting on the spot she threw her spear into the chest of an earthborn as it rushed towards them. Isabelle stepped to the side with a graceful pirouette before her sword launched into a flurry of slashes and sliced one set of the earthborn arms off, sending the monster barreling forwards as Thalia dove out of its reach.
The monster stumbled forwards past the two demigods with a roar at having missed his target, only to enjoy the feeling as both of Karina's knives plunged into its body, hitting it dead center in the forehead and the other still in Karina's hand as she drove it into the creature's gut. A quick and savage twist of the knife pulled it free of the monster as it crumbled into dust.
"See, all better" Isabelle chimed in with a giggle, looking at Thalia and Karina. Casually wiping her sword off on her pants as she cast a glance around the battle.
Suddenly a roar caught their attention as they looked to see Phoebe grinning ear to ear as she was literally covered in blood. She had one dagger sunk deep into the chest of a cyclops, the other arm was pumping back and forth furiously as she stabbed it in a frenzy.
To its credit the monster did attempt to knock Phoebe off, which resulted in a single hand flying free as Phoebe saw the punch coming, rolled to the side still clinging to the knife in its chest and slashed upwards viciously with her free dagger. The Roar of pain was what had caught Thalia's attention as the daughter of Ares returned to her bloody execution of the cyclops. Within seconds her weight and the repeated stabs caused it to crash to the ground on its back.
In one fluid motion Phoebe rolled forwards in time with the creature hitting the ground, freeing her knife at the same time, she finished her roll on the ground next to the creature's head. Then with a sadistic giggle of glee, she drove both her knives into the monster's single eye. Causing it to thrash about for a second before it stopped moving and dissolved into dust.
The two younger hunters were staring in open mouthed shock as Phoebe stood up, spitting some blood out of her mouth as she looked about the battle for her next target. Thalia whistled and gave a short wave as Phoebe looked in her direction.
"Little bit of overkill there Phoebs?" Thalia shouted mockingly, placing one hand on her hip as she looked over the scarlet dyed huntress.
Phoebe looked at her briefly and then shrugged before shouting "Seven" and flashing another wicked grin before she charged towards what Thalia could only assume would be number eight.
Thalia looked back at Karina and Isabelle, the former had gone a ghastly shade of white, and looked slightly ill. Isabelle was doing her best not to laugh, while at the same time was pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers.
"You guys got everything here?" Thalia asked as she saw the battle beginning to turn heavily in their favor. Not that she had expected anything less, The hunt did not lose to monsters.
"We got it Thalia, thanks for the assist" said Isabelle, all traces of the joking behavior between them gone as the horde of monsters seemed to find a second wind. A new course of roars and shouts came from a group of twenty or so Cyclops and Earthborn who had looped around the edge of the battle, and were now charging a group of six hunters who had taken up positions by the camp in order to unleash volley after volley of arrows at the battle from the better vantage point on the hill.
"Crap" Thalia said as she took off at a sprint, the monster's progress had slowed as the archers had noticed the group approaching them and had unleashed a withering hailstorm of arrow fire in their direction. Several of the monsters fell, but the Cyclops were heavily armored and it looked like they would reach the hunters before Thalia could intercept them.
She raised her arm tiredly, preparing to call on the powers of her father when she suddenly saw several silver shapes, low to the ground rushing at the monsters from behind. A grin split her face as she realized the Wolves had taken to the field.
The group of monsters charging the hill had been thinned out, around thirteen were left as they reached the foot of the hill, their battle cries turning into screams of horror as suddenly a dozen wolves appeared in their midst. The wolves leapt upon the monsters, teeth and claws flashing as they dragged them down and ripped them apart. All the while the never ending stream of arrows began to target any of the monsters who remained standing.
Seeing the charge had been thoroughly crushed Thalia turned her attention back to the battle at hand, The Cyclops to their credit managed to maintain some form of cohesion. A deep gravelly voice rang out as a particularly large cyclops who appeared to be commanding his brethren took charge of the situation and continued to rally those who had taken the chance to flee.
Thalia could feel more than see Artemis in the middle of the battle. Admittedly spotting the twelve year old goddess in the middle of the remaining thirty or so monsters would have been a feat in and of itself, but in reality all you had to do was look for the monsters that were sprinting away with looks of abject terror on their faces.
Thalia knew where Artemis was headed and at least a dozen or more monsters stood between her and the opposite hill on which the commander of the monsters had situated himself. She cursed inwardly as she tried to find the best path to get to her mistress.
The hunters for their part, were dismantling the small army with ease, the field around them was a muddy mess, as the ground refused to soak in any more water, the result was a golden swamp that filled the trench left from the crash of the Argo II. The only reason they had not routed the monsters yet was entirely due to the difficulty in navigating the terrain in the midst of this storm.
A group of four hunters had done their best to climb the opposite side of the trench and were now in position to flank the monsters who had gathered atop the hill at the other side of the battle.
They began to open fire, arrows rapidly peppering the flanks of the cyclops commander and his remaining troops. Several of them dropped immediately as the arrows found chinks in the armor, the roars of pain and confusion from the hill were immediately replaced by the gravely voice of the commander.
It looked like he had taken notice of the hunters, seeming to understand the danger to their position and showing some semblance of tactical knowledge which concerned Thalia. His voice rang out clearly, it was speaking some sort of Greek dialect that Thalia wasn't entirely familiar with. However, when you hear the words 'Demigod' and 'Kill' in the same sentence, it's not hard to guess what's going to happen next.
A group of eight or so Cyclops, wearing heavy armor peeled away from the main fight and immediately began to charge the hunters who had no cover and were completely exposed. However, Hunters of Artemis were not to be cowed and they seemed to increase the speed at which they were shooting. Forcing the advance of the monsters to slow to a crawl as the hunters began to retreat slowly.
Thalia growled, sparks jumping off her body as she rushed towards the opposite side of the trench, doing her best to not fall over as she rushed through the mud which was knee deep in some places. However the press of monsters around her was becoming too much, she didn't have room to maneuver and if she kept pushing ahead she ran the risk of cutting herself off in the middle of the battle.
Raising her spear she felt the familiar tug in her gut as the smell of ozone permeated the air as she focused with everything she had. The clouds above her began to swirl as arcs of electricity leapt off her spear, filling the air with the smell of charr and heat as the rain hitting her spear sizzled.
The power building around her felt uncontrollable and she held it in as long as she could, until it felt like a hot iron was being pushed into her chest. A few monsters had seemingly noticed her concentration and took it as a chance to kill her. She could feel their eyes on her, sense the weapons being raised to end her life.
Then she let go of the power she had gathered and held inside.
With a roar like a cannon going off dozens of bolts of lighting began to slam into the ground all around them, bolts arcing from her spear and wrecking absolute devastation on anything they touched. Her nerves felt like the were on fire as her eyes were screwed shut in concentration. Not that she needed them to see at the moment. The lighting felt like a part of her, bolts spreading out around her as the monsters closest felt the power of a child of Zeus.
Leveling her spear she guided the arc of destruction across the monsters gathered between her and the opposite edge of the trench, explosions going off all around her as the lighting strikes hit the water soaked earth and threw massive clumps of it into the air.
The lighting threw arcs of electricity everywhere and Thalia struggled to contain the power flowing through her, she couldn't let this get out of control and to be entirely honest she had not intended to call down this much. She couldn't let go without risking the lighting hitting some of the hunters and the act of controlling this much raw power was staggering.
Her skin steamed, as every muscle and bone in her body felt like it was on fire, yet still gritting her teeth she guided the tip of her spear with a shaking hand, moving the arc of destruction further across the line of enemy monsters. Part of her was bone numbingly tired, the exhaustion of calling down so much lightning catching up with her, but a not so small part of her was screaming with joy at the feeling of power that coursed through her veins.
Finally with a loud crackle and some sparks the lighting fizzled out, it had felt like a lifetime but the entire barrage had taken maybe thirty seconds. The wave of exhaustion that hit her when she finally released her hold on her powers caused Thalia to collapse to the ground. Barely able to stay upright thanks to her spear which she was now using as a crutch. All around the battlefield was a haze of steam and smoke from the barrage of lightning. That when Thalia noticed the ringing sound that dominated her hearing.
As the haze cleared, all that remained of the monsters were a measly dozen cyclops and a few earthborn who had been standing at the top of the trench on the opposite side. The trench itself was filled with the charred and still dissolving bodies of monsters, and several hunters who were stumbling about in a bit of a daze, mud covered shaking their heads to clear the ringing from them. Several monsters who had somehow escaped the blast lay stunned or dying as the hunters near them began the bloody business of dealing with the survivors. Thalia let out a breath of relief as most of the destruction had been aimed away from the hunters and she didn't see any signs of her having injured anyone.
A quick glance showed that the monsters who had been charging the group of archers had been halted, mostly due to the giant trench Thalia had carved with her blasts of lighting. It had taken several of the leaders in charge and reduced them to ash all the while digging a deep trench and cutting the monsters off from any further advance.
The four remaining cyclops beat a hasty retreat back towards the last of their forces, rallying around the massive armor-clad figure that stood at the top of the ridge. "FOR THE EARTH MOTHER! KILL THEM ALL!" Roared the cyclops commander from the top of the hill as he and his remaining monsters prepared to charge down the hill into the trench, where several dazed and tired hunters prepared themselves to face the onslaught.
With less than a hundred feet separating them Thalia picked out her target and prepared to summon her powers, the pain of the attempt nearly made her pass out as the smell of ozone became overpowering. Her vision swam with black spots as she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Phoebe still covered in blood followed by Atlanta who looked spotless, yet the blood that dripped from her knives made it clear she had been just as involved as any other hunter.
"Just wait Lieutenant, no need to over exert yourself, the reinforcements are here." Atlanta said with a wide grin. As Atlanta dug about in the pockets of her hunting jacket, fishing out a large square of ambrosia. The three huntresses looked up at the monsters who had begun their charge down into the trench, Thalia looked at her strangely and was about to ask who Atlanta meant by 'reinforcements'.
However she didn't need to, the first sign something was wrong was when one of the cyclops simply collapsed in the middle of the charge, followed by another and then another.
Suddenly the air was split by a bone chilling howl as several massive wolves began to charge into the fray from all directions. Dozens of them ran in and threw themselves at the monsters, dragging them down with teeth and claws flashing as they ripped through the group of cyclops like a knife through butter.
Thalia felt a grin split her face as she looked at the sight, Lady Lupa had arrived and with her came her great hunting pack. The wolf in question, a massive red and brown specimen standing nearly six feet at the shoulder, walked forwards and locked eyes with Artemis. Who had appeared at the edge of the melee, her silver uniform stained with mud and blood. They seemed to converse for a few seconds before Lupa nodded her head in Artemis's direction and bounded back into the fight.
With a grin still on her face Thalia gratefully accepted the piece of ambrosia Atlanta wordlessly offered her. The three veteran hunters all quickly ate a few bites to restore their energy. A few bites later and the exhaustion seeped from her muscles, she was tired, but she could deal with it. With a quick look at her companions who matched her grin with equally feral ones they charged forwards.
Thalia leapt into the air as she joined the fray. The reek of ozone permeated the air for a split second before Thalia plunged her spear into the chest of a cyclops. Followed almost immediately by a massive bolt of lighting that dropped from the sky, smiting the cyclops and driving it to its knees as steam billowed off its body before it collapsed to the ground and dissolved.
Thalia was glad for the opportunity to distract herself from everything in the heat of battle. Her Demigod sense's left no room for anything else as the battle took front and center in her mind. She dashed into the middle of the fray, her spear a blur as she whipped it about in tandem with her shield. First the spear slashed across a Cyclops's eye, blinding it. Followed quickly by aegis thrown from her wrist as it sailed through the air, before crashing into the monster's throat crushing it.
With a roll, Thalia collected her shield from where it had fallen on the ground, extending her arm as she did so and plunging her spear into the gut of the cyclops. Who flailed about in pain for a second or two, then Thalia's eyes flared with power and the cyclops was blasted with several thousand volts and thrown nearly twenty feet backwards, his body a charred smoking husk.
The hunters fired arrows into the fray from every direction, the monster's roars of anger quickly turned to wails as they attempted to flee. However it wasn't an option as arrows flew in every direction finding their marks with unerring accuracy and anything the hunters did not target the wolves were quick to tear apart in brutal fashion.
Phoebe quickly joined Thalia in the middle of the battle, wielding both her hunting knives with deadly efficiency; she and Thalia cut deep into the center of the group of monsters, fighting together as they covered each other's weak points. A whirlwind of death and destruction the two veteran Huntresses carved a path through what remained of the monster host.
The Cyclops leader was attempting to rally up his few remaining followers, swinging about a large studded club as heavily armored bulk seemed to deflect most of the arrows that were fired at him. Several wolves had engaged him in close combat but his large bulk had kept him on his feet so far.
"IS THAT ALL HUNTRESS?!" He roared out into the night.
Artemis responded with several arrows that streaked out of the darkness. The bolts of silver slammed into the Cyclops, passing through the armor as if it wasn't there. In seconds he had taken perhaps a half dozen arrows when a final one came in like a rocket. Slamming into his chest before it exploded in a ball of silver fire, accompanied by a roaring sound which could be felt as much as heard.
The haze from Artemis's explosive barrage cleared and it was evident that the battle had turned against the monsters. Within minutes the battlefield was silent save for the occasional bark or growl from Lupa's pack as they patrolled the battlefield. Losses had been completely negligible as not a single hunter or wolf had fallen in the fight, and while some injuries were more serious the majority were minor scratches and bruises.
The next five minutes were filled with the groans and screams of wounded monsters, all of those cries were cut short by a knife, arrow or the fangs of a wolf. The hunters were filthy, many of them looking like they had decided to take up mud wrestling as a sport. However the pride she felt swelling in her chest when she looked on her fellow hunters brought a smile to her exhausted features.
Thalia looked at Artemis, who nodded once in grim satisfaction in her direction. Before turning to Lupa and beginning to discuss something animatedly, to which the wolf gave no indication of a response. Thalia took that to mean the hunters were free to rest until Artemis called on them.
The walk back to the tents was grueling, the hundred or so yards felt like miles as the exhausted hunters dragged themselves out of the trench and staggered back into camp. Some of them stumbled into tents, others were so exhausted they simply collapsed against various rocks or trees, sleep taking them nearly instantly.
For her part, Thalia was exhausted beyond measure, but her duties meant she had other priorities beyond her pressing need to sleep for the next year. She signaled to Phoebe and Atlanta who walked over, their features clouded by exhaustion as dark bags showed under their eyes. "I need you to find one hunter each, someone who is awake enough to work sentry duty. Split the watch between the four of you, two awake at all times. We have no idea if any more of them are out there."
Raising her fingers to her mouth Thalia blew a sharp whistle, within thirty seconds or so a smaller silver furred wolf loped up to them. Thalia crouched down to ruffle the scruff of her neck as she looked at the She-Wolf. "Keep an eye out for us Luna, you and the rest of the pack run laps till morning and i promise you ill find you a few deer."
The wolf did not respond in any meaningful way, but a slight line of drool escaped the corner of her mouth at the mention of deer.
Thalia chuckled humorlessly at the sight, if it weren't for the blood and gore currently staining the wolf's muzzle and claws it could pass for a regular dog given the way they sucked up to the hunters for extras from the table or the hunt.
After a minute or so of scratches, the wolf turned and took back off into the night, Thalia just caught a glimpse of several more silver shapes slinking after her into the darkness. Nodding to herself, safe in the knowledge that if anything decided to go bump in the night; she would at least have a few minutes warning.
Thalia was about to head to the medical tent when she saw Hazel step out, the girl was timidly holding a Spatha in her left hand, while the other was shielding her eyes as she peered out into the storm before she spotted Thalia, immediately she began to make her way over.
With an internal groan Thalia looked at Atlanta and Phoebe and gave them a look that clearly said 'Get going, I'll talk to you later', both huntresses nodded to her before heading off into the camp in search of the least exhausted hunters to spend the rest of the night on sentry duty with, she didn't pity them.
"What happened?" Hazel asked, her hair plastered about her face by the heavy rain as she squinted at Thalia.
"We did, a group well maybe more like a small army of maybe fifty, a mix of hell hounds, cyclops and earthborn. There isn't an army left to worry about now." Thalia said flatly. "To be honest we have far more pressing concerns, Annabeth and the Parthenos" Thalia grimaced slightly at the mention of Annabeth and sent a silent prayer to Apollo.
"Oh…" squeaked Hazel.
"Yea… oh…." Thalia replied without humor.
Hazel looked at the ground, clearly embarrassed and slightly intimidated by Thalia's aggressive behavior. Thalia didn't care, she stepped right up into Hazel's face, she could feel the crackle of energy pulsing through her veins.
"Unless you had something important, today has been a shitty day. I need to speak to my brother, then I need food and some sleep. So ….?" Thalia enquired, crossing her arms as she looked at the younger girl.
"Listen, I know you're angry but that's not a reason to take it out on me... this hasn't exactly been a vacation for us." Hazel said firmly. Hazel for her part, seemed to have a little fire in her as she glared at Thalia before sighing and shaking her head.
Thalia scoffed in her face as she pointed a finger at her accusingly. "I don't know if you understand what is actually at stake here 'cousin', " Thalia spat the word out angrily.
"Me and my fellow hunters ran halfway across Greece to rescue you. We put ourselves at risk to keep you safe, laws, rules and prophecies be damned. Something that the five of you clearly have no concept of." Thalia snarled as a low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, Thalia proceeded to flip of the sky.
Hazel looked confused for a second before a look of anger crossed her petite features. "If you think for a second that I wouldn't have tried to save Percy or Annabeth if I could have they are just as much my friends as they are yours...and for your information I'm older than you are" Hazel started to say before Thalia cut her off.
"Then explain to me why you're here, and not with your 'friends', explain to me how you live with yourself... " the bone numbing exhaustion seemed to fly away as it was replaced with a rage unlike any Thalia had felt before, except this time she didn't have a dozen monsters to turn to ash.
Hazel looked at her, tears starting to fall down her face as she suddenly seemed to find the ground incredibly interesting. Her shoulders shaking ever so slightly.
"That's what I thought" Thalia said with a scoff as she stepped back from the younger demigod, who to her credit managed to bite back her tears before she turned back towards the medical tent and quickly stepped inside.
Thalia had half a mind to head to her own tent, she was tired and could use the rest. However the daughter of Hades had rubbed her the wrong way at the wrong time, Thalia had a bone to pick with the people who abandoned her best friends to their deaths, one of whom was her brother.
She could forgive it when it had been a noble sacrifice, she could forgive it before she had seen her best friend reduced to a sobbing mess, her body nearly broken by whatever hell she had been through.
However, Annabeth was back, she was hurt and nearly half dead. But she was back, and there would be a reckoning for the hell she had gone through, Thalia would be certain of that as she stormed towards the medical tent, sparks leaping off her skin as she struggled to contain the rage she felt.
Taking a deep breath doing her best to calm herself before she stepped into the tent, ready to demand answers. However she was greeted instead by the sound of several laughing demigods and Leo who from the sounds of it was making fun of 'Annabeth and Jason's scary sister's reunion'. If she was mad before, she was enraged now.
Her eyes narrowed to slits in rage and her teeth clenched so hard she felt like they would shatter as she nearly ripped the tent flap off and stormed inside.
Author's Note: Hello again, happy Friday weekend is almost here folks. (Thank the gods.)
I had a wack load of fun writing this chapter and hopefully you all enjoy seeing the hunt get some screen time on this website actually kicking something ass besides Percy's.
Wanted to say thank you to anyone who has reviewed, I love the feedback! As always, until next time!