The Fourth Life: The Huntress

The story continues, and my alternator went out. Bummer.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC

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Did Cheyenne have a clue as to who was rescuing her from the hail of abnormally large arrows? Yes, this was her savior.

A young woman that appeared a few years older than her, about Arno's age, wearing dark trousers tucked into tough-looking boots that had certainly lived a full life. A silvery, sleeveless tunic that looked light and breathable, yet durable. A belt held the garment in place, and on this belt was an assortment of pouches, and at the left hip was a pair of long knives. The girl also had a bow unlike anything Cheyenne had ever seen: pure silver, streamlined, recurve, and faintly glowing. It was strung around the girl's shoulder. On her back was an ivory quiver, with a full stock of arrows, that Cheyenne wasn't entirely sure wasn't made of bone. She had a silver bracer on each wrist, and on her right shoulder was a single silver pauldron with silver feathers sprouting from underneath. Her skin was the same tan shade as Cheyenne's, her eyes were dark obsidian, and her hair was just as black, tied into a braid that went over her left shoulder, and on her brow was a silver circlet.

With all this silver, and the way her skin even shimmered ever so slightly, Cheyenne couldn't help but think of this girl as some kind of moonlight warrior.

Cheyenne was also aware of how physically inferior she was compared to her savior, considering she was putting out everything she had, living up to her reputation as the fastest Assassin in Paris, but she could tell she was slowing the other female down.

Cheyenne's EWS went off again, and she strafed to the side just as an arrow impacted the ground where she would've been had she been anyone else, and that was when her savior apparently decided to expedite the exfil process by slowing down just enough to where she could scoop Cheyenne up into her arms like she was a bride, and then speed back up.

The wind roared in Cheyenne's ears and the world turned to a colorful blur, and she whooped in exhilaration, experiencing what it was like to be on a rollercoaster two hundred years before their invention.

Zoё found the sound to be quite enjoyable, and made a note to endeavor to hear more sounds like it from the girl she just rescued.

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In passing mention in the Blood of Olympus, it's said that Zoё spent a few centuries personally hunting down Orion, and it's under that fact that the plot operates.

Now, Orion is the giant son of Gaea, born to oppose the twin archers, Artemis and Apollo. However, during the First Gigantomachy, he was dutifully serving as the royal hunter for the ancient king of Chios, but after trying to court the king's daughter, he was blinded and cast out until stumbling upon Hephaestus, who took pity on the giant and made him a set of magical mechanical eyes.

After that happened, Orion ended up on Delos, birthplace of the archers, where Artemis took note of his hunting ability, befriended him, and entered him into the hunt. Time passed, and the two got closer and closer, which made Apollo fear for his sister's vow maidenhood, so he cursed Orion with madness, and the giant went on an animal hunting spree so violent that Gaea herself, his own mother, created a giant scorpion that killed him.

Artemis eventually found his body, and the scorpion, and turned both into the constellation we know today.

Obviously, Orion went to Tartarus, still cursed with madness, and eventually revived, coming out worse for wear, even more insane after the horrors of his father's domain. Nowadays, Orion hunts down powerful women on the earth and kills them on the basis that they aren't truly strong and needed to be reminded of their place. He's killed Hunters, Amazons, demigoddesses, and other women of note throughout the centuries, which is why Zoё is on her one-woman hunt to kill him.

With things ramping up in France, particularly Théroigne de Méricourt, Orion was drawn to the conflict, Zoё coming after him. Coincidentally, when they were less than two hundred feet apart and they both knew it, that was when they witnessed Cheyenne Cormac in action, and both came to the conclusion that they wanted her.

Orion for the kill.

Zoё for the Hunters…and potentially more later on.

Oh, aye, it's revealed in the Dark Prophecy that Hunters of Artemis are forbidden from all romantic love, hetero, homo, bestial, etc., but a one-night stand that lasted for several hundred years, or just an actual one-night stand…eh, rules were made to be bent, anyway. Zoё's lady certainly wasn't shy about a night here and a night there, but that's besides the point.

After several minutes of running at a pace good enough to escape Orion, yet slow enough to not turn Cheyenne into paste, Zoё stopped upon the roof of one of the many nondescript buildings of Paris, and gently set Cheyenne down.

The girl's hair was blown backward, and she stumbled a bit as vertigo overtook her, going so fast and suddenly not anymore wreaking havoc on her equilibrium. Zoё caught her around the waist before she could fall and hurt herself, and gently sat her on the roof.

Once Cheyenne's eyes stopped spinning, she looked at Zoё with a dopey little grin. "Again!"

Zoё cracked a smile, reminded of the excitement of a child. "Verily, another time. Right now, there are important things thou doth need to share with thee."

"…huh?"

Zoё's brow furrowed and she translated into modern speech. "We shall go running again later. Now, I need to talk to you."

"Oh. You're talking to me right now."

"About what happened minutes prior."

"The giant arrows? Yeah, what's up with those?"

"What's up with those giant arrows is that they belong to the giant Orion, who has decided that you are worthy enough for him to personally kill."

Cheyenne slowly blinked. "Should I be honored, or…?"

"You should be on your toes," Zoё said gravely. "He might be a pig, but he is a dangerous and cunning swine, and for the past six hundred years, we've been locked in the struggle of me trying to kill him, and him narrowly escaping to go and kill another strong woman."

"Wow, six hundred years? You don't look a day over three hundred."

"Verily. My lady's blessing grants me eternal youth."

"Your lady gives you eternal youth? The only lady in my life gives me a headache."

And without any kind of preamble or mirth, Zoё pitched the offer. "My lady can give the same blessing and more to you, all you have to do is swear loyalty and turn away from the advances of men."

"Damn shame, that. I rather enjoy a good round of bite myself. Who is this lady of yours, anyway?"

"Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, Hunting, Archery, the Wilderness, and Childbirth."

Zoё had no problem casually admitting to following a Greek goddess that the modern world only though of as a myth, because she had the physical might to overpower anyone that tried to restrain her and take her to an asylum, the magical ability to alter memories and perceptions, and such favor in her lady's eyes that all she needed to do was pray and she would be delivered from whatever situation she found herself in. It was also highly, highly amusing to watch the reaction of whoever she revealed her allegiance to.

Cheyenne, however, was something of a disappointment in regards to a worthy reaction. The only thing she did was furrow her brows and say, "That raises some questions…"

Of course, Cheyenne was thinking is regards to the Precursors, and how it was understood by Assassins and Templars that the ones called gods, Odin, Thor, Zeus, Ra, Horus, Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Poseidon, etc., were all just Precursors that the ancient humans worshipped as gods due to their powers and the Pieces of Eden. Matching that up against the total sincerity she saw in Zoё's eyes, the fact that she just went running at who knows how fast with her held bridal-style in her arms all the way to a rooftop, and how all that remained of the Precursors were their relics and recordings, it was enough for Cheyenne to host doubts about what she and significant others knew about their world.

As far as Zoё was thinking, those questions were just the standard spiel that everyone had when told that the myths were very true and very real.

"Ask your questions then, and I will answer."

"Have you ever heard of the…Isu?"

Zoё arched a brow. "No."

"Oh, okay then. Uh, you said that being with Artemis gave you eternal youth…so, how old are you?"

"I stopped counting after three thousand." Zoё laughed when she saw Cheyenne lurch. "Yes, you could certainly say I've lived a full life."

"I'll say. So, if you've been, like twenty-something for three thousand years, do you still have—what's that new word they're using? Men-something-"

Zoё wrinkled her nose at the mention of Men-something. "If you are referring to my monthly cycle, then yes, I have had it every month ever since I became a Hunter. However, as I understand it, I am quickly approaching its end."

"There's an end to it…?" Cheyenne asked, mystified and hopeful.

It made Zoё giggle for the first time in many, many years. "Indeed, there is. But, you must live past three thousand years to begin approaching the end, something you won't accomplish unless you become a Hunter with my lady."

"…yeah, I'm not going immortal and experiencing three thousand years of bleeding, cramps, mood swings, and horniness just for the possibility of not having to experience it anymore."

Zoё reached into one of her pouches and produced a little glass bottle with a cork stopper. Inside the bottle were several little dark balls that looked like chocolate. Zoё removed the lid and dropped one into her hand, and held it out for Cheyenne to take.

She took it with a confused expression. "And what is this?"

"Perhaps the only good thing Apollo ever invented. It's a chocolate that counteracts the negative side-effects of-"

"Menstruation!" Cheyenne suddenly cried, her face lighting up. "Yeah, that's the new thing they're saying, menstruation."

"Menstruation?" Zoё said. "It is not enough for men to have oppressed women for so many centuries, but now they tag their name onto a condition only we experience? Unacceptable." Zoё put her fist into the palm of her hand. "We must determine a new name for our monthly cycle."

"Uh, okay…" Cheyenne said uncertainly, clearly not buying into Zoё's sentiment. "How about bloody hell?"

"No. Too British."

"Aunt Flow?"

"What?"

"How about period?"

Zoё blinked. "Explain."

"Well, it only happens for a few days out of a month, so a period."

The immortal hunter rubbed her chin. "Yes, that works…" she nodded to herself, pleased with this new term, and she turned her gaze toward the sun. "Henceforth, Apollo, the appropriate word used to describe a girl's monthly happening shall be period."

The sun seemed to get brighter for a second, like it was saying Yep, got it.

Thus, history was made on that day.

"M'kay," Cheyenne said. "We've established that becoming a Hunter of Artemis means eternal youth and enough periods to last hundreds of lifetimes, and that Apollo made chocolate medicine to help with period stuff, and that the giant Orion has decided to personally hunt me down because I'm a strong girl…where does that put us?"

"It puts me as your protector, so-"

"Come again?"

"Your protector," Zoё said. She could see the gears turn in Cheyenne's head as she tried to wrap her head around that concept, so Zoё helped grease those wheels. "Orion is a divine being born specifically to kill not just one, but two gods. He has thousands of years of hunting and combat experience, and by your standards, superhuman abilities, particularly in strength and stamina. He's roughly three meters tall, weighs about 230 kilograms, and his eyes are mechanical creations by Hephaestus himself. He is far too much for you alone; you will need me if you hope to survive."

Cheyenne stared at Zoё for a long time, and it made the Hunter fear she was dealing with one of those infuriatingly headstrong girls that refused to listen to reason and sound logic, but then Cheyenne just shrugged.

"Okay. If you're going to be my protector, then I guess that means we'll be spending a lot of time together, so we should know each other. My name is Cheyenne Cormac, and my grandfather was Shay Patrick Cormac…"

The reincarnation of Faris, Virgil, and Jake told Zoё her life story, everything from what Shay had told her, just appearing on his doorstep one day, and all the mischief she caused by evading her babysitters to go explore the armory and play with the guns, making Zoё giggle for the second time that day, to Shay's murder on the very day of retirement, the very day he and Cheyenne were going to forever cast off the life of the Templars and the Assassins and set sail for the world, walking across all the lands.

Cheyenne told Zoё about her kidnapping at the hands of the Assassins, the ancient struggle between them and the Templars, her ideas and philosophies regarding them, the Precursors, the Pieces of Eden, her brutal training and mistreatment at the hands of the Assassins, how much she hated them and wanted hardly anything more than to kill them all and then go figure out what to do with the rest of her life. She told Zoё about the debt she felt she owed to Arno, her grandfather being his father's killer, and she even admitted to having a fancy for the young man, to which Zoё had vehement opinions against.

"DO NOT have any romantic feelings for him. No matter how strong your bond may become, should he learn that truth, he will break your heart. Even if it remains a secret, he may break your heart yet. That is the way of men."

"Okay, time out. I've been picking up on this anti-man thing you've got going on for a while now, and what the hell?"

And so Zoё told Cheyenne her own life story…the abridged version, as three thousand years was a very, very long time. Zoё admitted she was the daughter of Atlas, the Titan of Strength and Endurance, and Pleione, one of the Oceanids, children of Oceanus and Tethys. She was one of the Hesperides, their stepsister, and she helped tend the garden, particularly Hera's sacred tree of the golden apples of immortality, Zeus' wedding gift, and how she fed the dragon Ladon with her bear hands, something none of her sisters could do.

Zoё told Cheyenne about her encounter with Heracles, how she fell for him and spent time with him, thinking they were in love, and as such, gave the demigod information on Atlas and Ladon so that he could complete his labor, and how she even gave him her sword, Anaklusmos. Heracles succeeded, Zoё's sister and father found out what she did, and was promptly exiled, being stripped of immortality and her connection to the sea via her mother, and how Heracles subsequently gave her no pity or help for what she did for him, only abandonment and a smug look as he walked away, sword and apple in hand.

"I didn't know," Cheyenne said quietly.

"There was no way you could've possibly known," Zoё said dismissively, no malice or derision in her voice.

"But…that was centuries ago. Shouldn't that have been enough time to, you know…get a different perspective?"

A testament to Zoё's experience and constitution, in the wake of such a question there was no anger or fatigue to her, only a scholarly air.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same. Not everything that happened in Ancient Greece and beyond is recorded in the texts. Across the millennium have there been heroes executing the tactic of emotional manipulation on women to achieve their goals, and once that has been accomplished, they disregard the help and the helper. I have seen this countless times, Cheyenne, and I will see it countless times more, so this is my wisdom for you: do not become a silly, lovestruck girl."

"Maybe I already am a silly, lovestruck girl," Cheyenne said with a grin.

Zoё wasn't so amused. "Then you are already lost."

"Aw, and here I was thinking you were kinda cute."

The Hunter's heart skipped a beat. "W-What?"

Yes, Cheyenne was certainly a beauty, and Zoё definitely wouldn't mind sharing the bed for a few nights across the centuries, but they had only literally just met, and Zoё did possess this thing called decency. Having sex with the girl you've only spent a few hours with, especially when you had no intention of having sex at all, was very uncouth.

"Kidding, kidding," Cheyenne laughed, making Zoё deflate just a little bit. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a sapphic."

Shortest definition of that word is that it's a precursor to the modern day understanding of lesbian.

Ironically enough, Zoё was a sapphic, and even knew the poet who the word was named after, Sappho, who's been dead for a long, long time now because Artemis did not want such a prolific sexual figure in her hunt of non-romance, and Aphrodite's petition to Zeus to have the woman as her wife was denied on account of Hera marrying her and Hephaestus together, which was one of the reasons the love goddess so frequently cheated on him with Ares.

It was a way to get back at Hera.

Just another one of those things the myths don't tell you.

Cheyenne saw the look on Zoё's face, and her pulse quickened. "I-I mean, I-I…there's nothing wrong with that—I mean, I come from an organization that's all about freedom and stuff, s-so it's not like I can judge—well, I can, but-"

She was cut off by Zoё's—third!—giggle of the day. "You're so cute when you get flustered," the Huntress said, making Cheyenne blush and get even more flustered, which made her even cuter. "Yes, I am a sapphic. My lady forbids all romantic love within the Hunt; however, a night of passion to relieve some sexual stress is not frowned upon."

"O-Oh…um, I started something kind of similar with the Assassins. They call it they Relief System, and it works by putting some parchment with a time and location on it in a box, and whoever can come along and see it, and make a marking on it, that way you know someone's accepted the offer, and then you meet up, and get to it. Identities are optional, of course."

Zoё hummed, a bit of disapproval in her eyes. "I take it you've utilized this system before?"

"Three times, actually. Hey, I told you about my life and how it typically goes. I think I'm aloud to blow off some steam every now and then with some cock…which means I'm not a maiden anymore, which means I can't join your immortal girl band. Sorry."

Cheyenne said that smugly, like it was a victory to not be admitted into the hunt because of her non-virgin status. Zoё snorted.

"At the time in which my lady fashioned her oath, maiden was synonymous with virgin, as during the time, a maiden did not give up her virtue to any but her husband. She was more valuable that way. The times may have changed, but the oath remained the same. As long as you are currently not married, how much…cock…you've had is irrelevant."

Cheyenne pouted, and Zoё smirked. "I will have you as a sister in the Hunt yet."

"Well, as your sister, we can't be having sex now, could we?"

"My family is rife with incest, and being sisters in the Hunt is more of a symbolic terminology than anything else, meaning in-between your legs is still fair game."

Cheyenne put her hands in her lap, angrily flushing. "You'd better stop thinking about my chatte right now, or else."

"Why? Is the thought of sleeping with me truly that repulsive?" Zoё only halfway teased.

"No, but…"

"You don't strike me as one to have taken up religion, so why does sleeping with a woman make you so hesitant?"

And with that comment, the whole conversation was flipped sideways.

Cheyenne made a very unladylike sound of derision. "Religion is the number one usurper to everything the Templars are trying to do, way more than whatever the Assassins could think of. Besides that, we know that all the religions are wrong, anyway, just the Precursors, and all the prophets, Elijah, Jesus, Muhammed, were just guys who got their hands on Pieces of Eden. If we could actually convince the people of that fact, the world just might be a better place."

"I am literal proof that there are, in fact, living gods."

"Yes, I'm still working that one out, but once I'm done, I'll let you know."

"I look forward to your explanations," Zoё said. "Cheyenne, I'm detecting much more hostility to religion than just an understanding of things. It has to do with your grandfather, does it not?"

The girl's sparkling green eyes darkened, reminding the Huntress very much of the odd child of Poseidon that popped up once every few hundred years. If it wasn't for the fact that Zoё couldn't detect any kind of magical presence in Cheyenne, she would've assumed her to actually be Poseidon's daughter. She certainly had the right hair color, skin tone, and eye pigment for the part.

"How can God be so good and so powerful, but do nothing to stop a six-year-old girl from watching the only person she's ever loved get violently cut down from less than ten meters away? If God's so loving, why is he allowing all of this evil and unrest to happen without appointing some other prophet or whatever, to come in and end it? God didn't have any problem with sending an angel to wipe out the firstborn population of Egypt in a single night, just because they didn't paint some blood on their door, but he's also going to let the people of France starve and resort to mobs, threatening violence and death, in order to feed themselves?"

The whole time, Cheyenne maintained an air of serious, deadly calm, and Zoё was frankly surprised.

During this time period, Christianity was the undisputed religion of Europe and her descendants overseas. There was no bad-mouthing the Bible, casting blame about anything on God. Everyone was a good little choir boy or girl, and any misfortune that fell upon them was God punishing them for their sins. So, to hear the little one before, this nineteen-year-old so brazenly speaking ill of the God, for whatever reason…was just abnormal.

Zoё liked it.

It was a nice change of pace from all the choruses of Amen! over and over again.

"I've decided that if God really is all-good, then he isn't all-powerful. If he really is all-powerful, then he isn't all-good."

Zoё hummed, her dark eyes sparkling slightly in thought of the absolute treasure she discovered today. "You become very cute when speaking about God."

Cheyenne huffed. "I go on a deep monologue about my inner-most beliefs and views, and you have to undermine all the impact with you're cute?"

"Mm-hm."

"You suck. I hate you."

"Indeed, I do suck. Many girls have told me I suck quite well on their nipples and clitorises."

Cheyenne turned red as a tomato. "M-Moving on…uh, about those knives?"

"Ah, yes, my knives." Zoё pulled them from her belt, making a mental note that mentioning her sexual escapades made Cheyenne break out in the most adorable blush and adopt an innocent little stutter. "I call them the Fatal Duet."

"Oh, cool. What's their story?"

"These are spoils from a general I killed during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. I asked my lady to bless them, and she did. As such, they have remained strong and unrusted for all these centuries, and can kill mortals and mythological beings alike."

"The Ptolemaic Dynasty? What's that?"

"The Ptolemies were the ruling family of Egypt during the time that Greece conquered the land. They usurped the Pharaohs and instead instilled themselves as rulers for several decades, until Rome came along. Cleopatra married Caesar, and that was the official end of Egypt's time as a sovereign power."

"Oh, bummer. What was that like for all those gods?"

"A nightmare."

Zoё shuddered in memory of the Ptolemaic times, the will of the Greeks bringing forth their gods, dominating the will of the Egyptians and their gods, and all the news gods that were born from the minds of the mortals, and all the gods that were changed and converted by the Greeks. Never mind all the added chaos when Rome also decided to take Egypt for themselves, bringing forth even more godly calamity.

"Damn shame. What's the story of your bow?"

"Ah, yes, my bow." Zoё sheathed her knives and pulled her bow from her shoulder. In the waning sunlight, the silver metal glowed red hot. "This is Paris' bow."

"The city has its own specific bow?"

Zoё giggled—fourth time!—and elaborated. "No, this is the bow of Paris of Troy, the one who killed Achilles in the Trojan War."

"Oh, wow, really?...What's the Trojan War?"

Instead of becoming exasperated at Cheyenne's lack of knowledge regarding events that happened over two thousand years ago, Zoё instead became excited. This was due to the fact that the company she was usually in had encyclopedic knowledge of such events, having been there themselves to witness it, and so having the opportunity to teach someone about these events was something Zoё genuinely enjoyed.

And so she taught Cheyenne all about the Trojan War, the mythological aspects, the poems written about it, their inaccuracies, etc., and about many other myths and stories. Cheyenne listened with childlike fascination, which, Zoё sadly supposed, wasn't too far from the truth.

By her own admission, she was six when Shay was murdered in front of her, and then she was pressed into the Assassins' service, being taught and trained how to kill according to their Creed, punished for any mishaps or misalignments, effectively robbed of any kind of childhood. Zoё figured Cheyenne was regressing, going from being this tough, sassy, sarcastic spitfire, to a wide-eyed, intrigued, and curious child. It fit with everything she had been asking about.

The knives and bow? Show-and-tell.

The tale of the Trojan War and all other myths? Story time.

And when Zoё felt like being done for now, Cheyenne wasted no time in telling the Huntress about her own armaments, like her Phantom Blades, something that interested Zoё seeing as they were under-wrist-mounted mini crossbows, her air rifle, something that also interested Zoё as all other guns she knew of were loud clumsy, but this one was quiet and precise, and all the little odds and ends in her belt pouches.

Zoё was enjoying and loving every second of it. It had been forever since she had any meaningful conversation with another girl, besides the odd check-in with Artemis, but that was only through magical means, never in person. Zoё could tell Cheyenne was lost in her own little world, and she could tell how much Cheyenne was absolutely over the moon right now, completely and totally thrilled at the chance to actually talk with another a girl.

Zoё could only assume that, given her reputation among the Assassins, none of the other girls in the organization were keen on just talking with Cheyenne, or interacting with her at all, and so the poor thing was starved for some positive attention.

Zoё had no problem giving such attention to Cheyenne.

'Gods above, I think I'm falling in love….Damn you, Apollo.'

As the last vestiges of the sun finally dipped out of sight, Zoё could swear it winked at her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moon was in its waning crescent phase, the last little bit of it, and it was currently high in the sky, indicating that Cheyenne had been going for several hours straight of nonstop talking about this and that, and Zoё was nothing short of happy…and impressed.

By her count, Cheyenne had been awake since yesterday morning, probably long before, and gone all that time till now, and apparently she was going to keep going, without any kind of rest—not even a little catnap—no food—not even a couple of crackers—or even a break to relieve herself—Zoё had yet to smell any broken wind in all these hours—which led the Huntress to believe that there was a lot more to Cheyenne than meets the eye.

Perhaps a legacy so, so distant that only the physical attributes remained, and nothing remotely magical?

Eh, wasn't that important.

"So, wanna go do something fun?" Cheyenne asked.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Robbing grave robbers robbing graves."

Zoё nodded. "Sounds enjoyable. Lead the way."

Cheyenne and Zoё ran freely across the rooftops without a care in the world. Within minutes, they were standing on one of Notre-Dame's many ledges, overlooking the graveyard that was adjacent to the Seine River.

"The Hôtel-Dieu," Cheyenne said. "A few hundred years older than the nuthouse we're standing on. Supposed to be a hospital, but it's so damn filthy you're more likely to die in there than get cured. Templars have been smuggling things out of Notre-Dame and are using the sewers under the shithole as a smuggler route."

Zoё cocked a brow. "We're here to prevent the theft of objects from an institution that you detest?"

"Nope. We are here to make money…or I am, anyway. Don't know how magical huntress girls function in the modern-day economy, but I need some moola every now and then."

"For what?"

"Things," Cheyenne said, dramatically splaying her hands.

Zoё decided not to question it, and instead let out a shrill whistle, one so loud that Cheyenne winced and covered her ears.

"What the hell, Zoё?"

The daughter of Atlas merely grinned, and there was the distant cry of a falcon. The origin of the sound came swooping in and alit on Zoё's outstretched arm, its talons not penetrating or cutting her skin at all. It was a beautiful bird, and since Cheyenne didn't at all know her birds, she could only say that it had very pretty silvery feathers, and some piercing silver eyes.

"So you can summon magic birds of prey by whistling?"

"Indeed. I also have a link with her. Everything that she sees, I will see."

"…neat."

Zoё grinned. "Becoming a Huntress is a pathway to many abilities, some considered to be unnatural."

Cheyenne crossed her arms. "I'm not joining your immortal band of frolicking females just for a magic bird and whatever else."

"You get to be with me for eternity."

"…that's a great perk, yeah, but period cramps."

"I shall convert you yet," Zoё said, and the little gleam in her eye told Cheyenne she was working some double meanings with that phrase.

"L-Lets just go get that treasure."

The two girls went in, they got that treasure, and throughout the whole thing, Zoё using her bow, calling targets, displaying supernatural ability in combat and athleticism, using that body of hers (and throwing in a hip-sway when she knew Cheyenne was looking), Shay's granddaughter had one recurring thought throughout the whole thing:

'Dear god, I think I'm falling in love.'

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And just because this one requires my personal attention:

Let me tell you something. You are very disgusting freak. Your obsession with fuking diapers and your obsession with gender swaps is disgusting. There is never any point for your torture, nor was there any point in the whole Aries ordeal. You constantly call other people out and act like they're the ones with the problem as if they have no room to judge you. They have the right to judge you we're just playing you're disgusting and depraved writing. For so-called Christian you sure sin a lot

-Guest

You are *a* very disgusting freak.

Your obsession with *fucking* diapers and your obsession with gender swaps is disgusting.

Wrong on both counts: there is a point for the torture, but you must possess the intellect to see it, or just not care enough to discern the reason. The *Ares* ordeal was an example for the others, and affirmation for Percy.

I cannot recall a single instance in which I've called anyone out for whatever judgement they've passed upon me, save for you.

They have a right to judge you *(insert comma here)* we're just playing *your* disgusting and depraved writing (your phrasing doesn't make sense).

For *a* so-called Christian *(insert comma here)* you sure sin a lot *(insert period here)*

To conclude: if you're going to insult me, A) use proper grammar, and B) have the balls to log in so we can do this in private. Thank you.

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I certainly did, turkey, ice cream, cookies, pie, got to see my cousin after so many months, and even got to go to work to get six hours of time-and-a-half, so I'm in for one beefy paycheck next week.

We kick off Main Story stuff next chapter.

Fav, Follow, and Review please!