Zoe's menacing glare bore into his back the entire way to the creek. The two made no sound, other than the Huntress indignantly puffing hair out of her face every now and then. Percy debated whether or not to tell her that hellhound slobber didn't wash out, but decided against it. She could struggle.
At the stream, the campers were celebrating, Orion and Thalia the loudest. Thalia was even bragging to the Hunters, causing a few of them to twitch as they fought the urge to grab their bows and turn the Daughter of Zeus into a pincushion. Zoe's return seemed to set them at ease, though they were astounded by how much of a mess she looked, with dirt covering her silver parka and dog drool all over her head. They shot Percy filthy looks, silently demanding retribution, but his eyes weren't even open to notice, much to their annoyance.
When Thalia and Orion noticed the Son of Hades, they rushed over to their cousin and attempted to tackle him to the ground in a dogpile. However, the earth under his bare feet softened, and slid him a few inches to the side, allowing the two to pass by harmlessly.
Orion crawled to his knees, spitting out dirt. "Pah! What the heck? How did you do that? Your feet didn't even move!"
"Control over the earth," Percy said simply. He stomped his foot, and a pillar of hardened dirt rose next to him, six feet tall and half as wide. "It's quite convenient for dodging attacks."
"That wasn't an attack," Thalia chastised, pushing herself upright, dusting off her combat pants. "We were just gonna hug you."
"Excuse me for not wanting two armored demigods to slam into me at full speed," he drawled.
"...Oh." Thalia chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I can't blame you for that." She spread her arms wide. "Let's do it properly then," she said, walking over to Percy. Once more, he slipped to the side, and Thalia closed her arms on empty air.
"You stink of sweat," Percy said, lips curled into an amused smirk. Thalia placed her hands on her hips and huffed, but she was also smiling. Orion laughed a bit as water jumped from the creek, washing over him then evaporating with a thought.
"How about me?" he asked cheekily, holding his arms out and shooting Thalia a superior smirk. The Daughter of Zeus rolled her eyes.
"Hmm…" Percy hummed, stroking his chin, as if deep in thought. "How about no?" Thalia snickered as Orion dropped his arms, face downcast. The Son of Poseidon brightened up quickly, though.
"How'd you beat Zoe?" Orion asked excitedly, eager to hear about what was no doubt an epic battle. He was disappointed by Percy's answer.
Percy shook his head. "We did not fight."
Thalia's eyebrows furrowed. "So, what, she just surrendered?"
The Son of Hades finally opened his eyes, a spark of mischief in his dark pupils. "Something of the sort," he murmured, glancing sideways and making eye-contact with the Huntress. She scowled at him and returned her attention to her immortal sisters. Thalia noticed the interaction, and shook her head in amazement. Whatever she was going to say was cut off by numerous gasps.
"This is impossible," Chiron murmured, "It… She has never left the attic. Never." Though his voice was low, his words were easily heard due to the absolute silence of the clearing. The centaur was staring at the treeline, and out walked a figure cloaked in green fog. As it came closer, Percy saw that it was actually a dried out mummy. The lack of life he sensed from this being confirmed that it was little more than a corpse, though reanimated to serve some higher purpose. Though it should have lacked the strength to do so, the husk shuffled forward without even stumbling on the uneven forest ground. It stopped a few feet away from the group of campers and Hunters, swiveling slightly to stare at one amongst them with poisonous-green eyes.
I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Seeker, and ask.
Zoe was the only one to step forward, and even though her hair was thoroughly messed up and soaked in Mrs. O'Leary's spit, she moved with grace and dignity.
"What must I do to help my goddess?" she asked, voice unwavering. More green mist spewed from the Oracle's skeletal mouth, forming the image of Artemis, wrapped in chains weighed down by rocks. The mouth of the fog-Artemis moved, and out of it came the raspy, echoing voice of the spirit.
Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.
The green fog vanished, swept away by a gale that suddenly tore through the clearing, and the desiccated host of the Oracle sat down on a rock, unmoving, as if it had been there since the beginning of time, and would remain until the end.
For a long while, the forest was silent, everybody staring in shock at the Oracle. Finally, Chiron spoke, a hard look on his face. "Orion, Grover, please carry the Oracle back to the attic. Apollo cabin, tend to the wounded. The rest of you, return to your cabins; we will be having a Counsellor meeting immediately."
Percy stood in the dark corner of the rec room, which had been refashioned into a war room of sorts for the meeting. The cabin counsellors sat around a ping pong table, grim expressions on all of their faces. Dionysus waved his hand, making cans of Cheez Whiz and crackers appear. Grover was the only one to help himself, coating a ping pong ball with spray-on cheese and crunching on it loudly.
Zoe was the first to speak. "This is pointless. There is no time for talk. Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."
"And go where?" Chiron asked.
"West, of course. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. The Oracle was clear. I will lead a team of five hunters, and we will leave immediately."
"Not quite, Miss Nightshade. West may simply mean west of Camp Half-Blood. Considering we are currently located on the Eastern Seaboard, that leaves quite a few possible locations."
"You're missing something, as usual, Nightshade," Thalia said scathingly. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. You'll need at least one of us."
"No!" Zoe protested. "We do not need you slowing us down!"
"We have to work together!" Thalia shot back. "Do you seriously wanna fight against a prophecy!?" Zoe grimaced, but said nothing further.
"Whatever you decide, it must be done soon," Chiron said severely. "Today is Sunday. This Friday is December Twenty-First; the Winter Solstice. Lady Artemis is one of the more progressive amongst the council. If she is absent for the annual meeting, I fear little progress will be made." Many of the campers glanced at Dionysus, silently asking for confirmation. The Wine God shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I usually sleep through those meetings. Dull things, they are." Despite his lackluster response, it answered the question, and the tension in the room thickened.
"Three and two." Annabeth's voice came as a surprise to many, since she'd been content remaining silent thus far. "Three and two. The prophecy said five people total, right? Three hunters and two campers. It's more than fair, isn't it?"
Zoe scowled. "I would prefer to take all of the Hunters."
"That may not be wise," Chiron said. "The bane of Olympus shows the trail. Whatever this bane was, Lady Artemis was tracking it as she traveled west. I have no doubt that she was moving quickly- far quicker than a large group could move. Best to stick with five, as the prophecy dictates."
Zoe frowned, staring down at the table. "I have hunted by My Lady's side for many years, yet I've no clue what this bane could possibly be."
"Do you have any ideas, Chiron?" Orion asked.
The centaur seemed uncertain. "...A few," he admitted, "Though none are likely. Typhon, the storm giant, comes to mind, along with the sea monster, Keto. However, they are truly gargantuan ocean monsters. If they had awoken, I have doubt that Lord Poseidon would not have already informed Olympus. Aside from that, it is nearly impossible that they would be elusive enough as to require Lady Artemis to embark upon a solo hunt to find them. No, this monster is much smaller, and perhaps even more dangerous. Something called Olympus' bane is not something to be trifled with."
The counsellor of Hephaestus' cabin, Charles Beckendorf, spoke next. "One shall be lost in the land without rain. It'd probably be a good idea to avoid deserts."
"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena Beauregard of Aphrodite said. "What's that mean?" she wondered. Percy's eyes narrowed. Due to his prophetic dreams, he knew that the curse referred to the sky, which Atlas had been cursed to hold at the conclusion of the Titanomachy. But, to withstand such a burden… It had to have been referring to Artemis. No mortal, half-god, or half-Titan in Zoe's case, would survive bearing that curse. Not for very long, at least.
"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said around a mouthful of crackers and plastic. "Whose parent would kill them?" he asked, voice far too casual for the weight behind his words.
The room went still, the inhabitants scarcely daring to breathe. There was no interpreting such a clear-cut line. However, Percy had a sneaking suspicion as to who the most likely candidate was. The Hesperides were the only beings to reside in the Garden of the Hesperides, hence its name. Since Zoe had admitted that she had once lived there, then that made her a Hesperide, and the Hesperides were daughters of Atlas. Atlas, who was currently holding Artemis captive, and would be the biggest obstacle in the quest to rescue the Goddess of the Moon. That's when Percy felt it.
The ability to sense the life force of a person was a rather paradoxical ability for a Son of Hades to have. One could argue that death was merely an absence of life. On the flipside, one could make the case that life was the absence of death. Percy's ability seemed to agree with the latter explanation, as it measured how dead a person was, and from that information, he could extrapolate how alive they were. It was somewhat more intuitive than that, but such a concept was a bit difficult to understand without being a child of Hades oneself. Regardless, it extended past simply sensing the life force of a person. In some cases, it could also predict impending demise, or even recognize the fact that people knew they were going to die. Right now, his death-sense, for lack of a better name, was blaring whenever he directed it at Zoe. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost see the phantom of Thanatos standing behind her, his scythe hanging over her shoulder, gleaming blade pressed against her throat. Suddenly nauseous, Percy sunk backwards into the shadows, vanishing from the Big House without a sound.
There was an odd opening, buried deep in a crevice between the boulders of Zeus' Fist, that he wanted to inspect.
Zoe Nightshade woke with a gasp. Her heart hammered in her chest, and a cold droplet of sweat slid down the side of her head, getting lost in her frizzy hair. She rose into a sitting position with a groan, rubbing at her crusted eyes. Another prophetic dream.
Or rather, another nightmare.
The Huntress slipped out of bed with a sigh, tossing on her silver parka (which had to be replaced, thanks to Mrs. O'Leary) and jamming her feet into her boots, before silently exiting Cabin Eight. She wandered towards the lit campfire at the center of the residential sector of Camp Half-Blood. She didn't notice the two figures sitting on a log on the opposite side until she got closer, and was able to see over the climbing flames. One of them was familiar, the Son of Hades, while the other was someone she had not yet seen. It was a young girl, who could not have been older than ten, with brown hair that hung down to her shoulders, curling slightly at the end, and the warmest chocolate-brown eyes she'd ever seen- eyes that were looking straight at Zoe.
Zoe blinked, and the girl smiled. She patted the free space on the log to her right, between herself and Perseus. Power radiated in the girl's dancing pupils, and despite her outward appearance, Zoe knew this could only be a goddess, so she obeyed the unspoken command.
"Hello, my dear," the girl greeted, voice smoother and deeper than expected. Her motherly tone set Zoe at ease. "It is nice of you to join me at my hearth."
The words made something click in Zoe's mind. "Lady Hestia," she greeted respectfully. The goddess nodded, a smile playing at the edges of her lips.
"Indeed. It is a pleasure to meet you, Zoe Nightshade. How are you on this fine night?"
Zoe wondered what to say, glancing at Perseus, who hadn't seemed to notice her approach at all. He was staring intensely at the flickering fire in front of them, muttering under his breath at lightning speeds. Despite her sharp hearing, Zoe could pick up nothing more than the sound of his voice.
Hestia chuckled. "You need not worry about him, my dear. His mind is far too occupied to pay attention to the world around him. Please, speak your mind." Zoe took a closer look at the Son of Hades, and was startled to realize that there were tears streaming down his cheeks in a steady flow.
"Is… Is he well?" she asked hesitantly, ready to shake him from his trance.
"Hm?" The goddess leaned around Zoe's larger form to observe her nephew. "Oh, he is perfectly fine. He just hasn't blinked in the past ten minutes. I imagine that might make one's eyes dry," she said playfully. Zoe mouthed the words back to herself, more than a little concerned. Hestia nudged her with a knee, smiling up at the Huntress. "Don't be afraid to share your thoughts. We are all friends here," she said imploringly. The campfire flared up a bit, bathing Zoe in a comforting heat, and her inhibitions melted away.
"I am worried," she confessed. "This quest… It will mean my death. I am scared- terrified- but I know that if I do not go, then Lady Artemis will die, or be trapped under the sky for the rest of eternity. It is my duty to go to her aid, and more than that, I want to complete this quest, regardless of the outcome. Lady Artemis has done so much for me, and I will never be able to repay her kindness, but I can at least do this for her. However, as much I try to rationalise walking to my own death to myself… I am still scared," she finished quietly, voice no more than a whisper.
Hestia's hands clasped one of Zoe's between them, and she patted the back of the older girl's hand consolingly. "It is no shameful thing to be scared, my dear," Hestia said wisely. "Just ask my nephew; he knows fear." Her voice became hard, and a dark look passed over the kind goddess' face, but it vanished so quickly Zoe almost thought she imagined it. "However, you must not let this fear stop you from doing what you must. Your death is prophesized, yes, but that does not mean things cannot still work out in the end. I beg you to trust Percy- you may find yourself surprised." The goddess stood, only standing a few inches taller than Zoe while the Huntress was sitting, due to her slight frame. It made her the perfect height to wrap her arms around the demi-Titan's neck, resting her chin on Zoe's head, stroking her dark hair. "Please, my dear. Be the one to end his pain."
In a flare of cinders, which somehow didn't even singe Zoe, Hestia vanished, leaving her alone with the Son of Hades. They remained in silence for a few more minutes, before Perseus finally stirred. He grunted in pain, holding up a hand to cover his burning eyes. He dug around blindly in the pocket of his black sweater, and pulled out a bottle of eyedrops. Tilting his head back, the boy quickly placed four drops in each eye, flinching as every one made contact with his sclera, before stowing the bottle away.
"Why were you staring into the fire for so long?" Zoe asked curiously. Perseus rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes, wiping away the excess moisture, then squinted at Zoe.
"Don't sit so close to me. It makes me feel ill," was the first thing he said. Zoe thought about giving him a good whack, but decided against it. She didn't have Lady Artemis here to heal her wrist if it broke, so she had to settle for a more passive-aggressive form of retaliation. She chose not to move, crossing her arms and turning her nose up in the air.
"I care not for your comfort, boy," she drawled haughtily, reverting to some of her normal Hunter mannerisms. "Now, answer my question." Instead of speaking, he simply scoffed, pushing himself to his feet and moving to sit on the log on the opposite side of the fire. Squawking indignantly, Zoe followed, sitting right next to him once more. He fixed her with a filthy glare, but she simply arched an eyebrow, meeting his gaze head-on. Perseus scoffed once more, and turned back to the fire. This time, however, the Son of Hades actually spoke.
"Firewatch," he murmured. "When did Aunt Hestia leave?"
"Moments before you snapped out of that trance. What is firewatch?"
"Nothing for you to be concerned with." Zoe shoved his shoulder, making the demigod growl.
"Explain," she demanded. His hands stiffened into claws, but he exhaled deeply and relaxed his tense fingers.
"A gift from Aunt Hestia. She granted me her blessing, giving me a modicum of control over fire." He held up his right index finger, and a black flame flickered to life. Despite its color, it still gave off light. "One of the abilities I received from her was the ability to look into one fire, and see through another, almost like a window. I was monitoring the Underworld just now."
"Has it not only been a few days since your departure?" Zoe asked, intrigued.
"Yes, but holes in security can pop up at any time. It is imperative that I ensure no such holes appear in the borders of the Fields of Punishment. If the criminals imprisoned there were to find their way out, there is no telling what havoc they would unleash upon the rest of Erebus."
"Why is a mere demigod overseeing the Fields of Punishment?" she wondered, shivering at the thought of being exposed to the horrors of that hell, even if she were not the one directly receiving those punishments.
"Father ordered it. It is one of the few duties he entrusted to me, and I won't fail him. Not again." He muttered the last bit under his breath, but unlike his chanting during his so-called Firewatch, Zoe was actually able to hear him this time.
"Again?"
Percy realized his mistake, and shot to his feet. "Good night, Lieutenant," he said stiffly, making to walk back to the Poseidon Cabin, only for the Huntress to reach out and grab his hand in hers.
"Wait!" she cried, yelping in shock when he whirled around, a dark aura rolling off him. His lips were pulled back, exposing his teeth in an animalistic snarl, and skeletal hands sprouted from the earth like flowers. She let go and stumbled back, reaching for hunting knives that she didn't have on her person. She cursed at her lack of preparedness, readying herself for hand-to-hand combat. Thankfully, it seemed she didn't need to worry, because Perseus had managed to calm himself down.
Clenching his fist so hard his knuckles popped, the Son of Hades glared fiercely at the ground, wrenching his powers back under his control. The black haze surrounding him faded away, and the undead sunk back from whence they came. Nothing would ever grow in those particular spots again, but that wasn't important at the moment.
"What. Do you want?" Perseus forced out, making an effort not to snap at her. Zoe was starting to second-guess herself, but she mustered up all her courage and forged on.
"I wish for you to join my quest," she said firmly.
Percy blinked once. Then again. A sharp, humorless smile spread on his face. "Are you serious?" One look at her determined expression gave him his answer. "You're serious." The smile vanished in less than an instant, replaced by a thunderous scowl. "Absolutely not." He turned around, and this time he actually started walking. However, Zoe happened to be rather stubborn, and she followed after him.
"Why not? You are quite skilled. Very few would be able to get the upper hand over me as quickly as you did, unorthodox though your methods were. Alongside that, you are a child of Hades, which makes you powerful. That power could be the difference between success and failure on this quest."
"I already told you; your presence makes me sick. Get the hell away from me!" Suddenly, he was running, but Zoe's reflexes weren't for show. She broke into a sprint just moments after the Son of Hades, and caught up to him, like a cheetah bearing down on an antelope. She leaped forward, planting her hands on his shoulders and her feet on the back of his kneecaps, forcing his legs to bend and sending him face-first to the ground. She straddled his back, holding down his arms. In that position, it was impossible for him to get the needed leverage to throw her off. He glared up at her hatefully, half his face smothered in the dirt.
"You will pay for this," he rasped.
"Indeed?"
"A hundred curses."
"Interesting."
"A thousand deaths."
"Mm."
A moment passed in silence, before the two broke down laughing. It took a solid thirty seconds for them to calm, and Zoe had to wipe a tear out of her eye, releasing his hands.
"Don't even have the decency to act terrified," Perseus grumbled playfully, crossing his arms under his head like a pillow. He sighed, exhausted. "Do you really want me on this quest?"
"Of course," Zoe said softly. "What I said was the truth. I truly think you could be a boon on this quest. Why are you so opposed to it?"
Percy inhaled deeply, his chest expanding enough that it lifted Zoe off the ground by a few centimeters, reminding her of her precarious position. However, it was a chilly winter night, and his back was surprisingly warm, so she remained right there.
"You will die on this quest."
"...I know."
"Yes. You know. But I feel." Zoe's lips parted in surprise, and Percy saw the moment she realized what he meant. "Now do you understand why I don't want to go? Being around a person whose death is imminent literally makes me feel sick to my stomach. However… If you wish, I will go. Lady Artemis is more important than my discomfort."
"Yes, she is," Zoe muttered absentmindedly. She felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. In all honesty, she had expected her death to be over with quickly. She would die in service to her lady, be honoured by her sisters, and go to Elysium. She hadn't even entertained the thought that others would be hurt by her death. She had figured they would move on, as she had so many times over the last two thousand years. Now, she realized that her passing may very well be a source of trauma for many of her girls, who had come to love and look up to her as a big sister over the years. It was already traumatic for the male she sat on, and they'd only known each other for two days!
Perseus snorted, breaking her from her reverie. "You sure know how to make someone feel better," he drawled. "Now, get off. You're heavy." Narrowing her eyes, Zoe tugged on his locks of dark hair, eliciting a yelp of pain. "What're you doing!?" he cried, hands reaching back to slap her fingers away.
"You called me fat," she complained, rising to her feet
"I did no such thing!" Perseus defended, following her lead. He jabbed a finger into her side, making her shriek. She was surprisingly ticklish, something only Lady Artemis and Phoebe, the second oldest of the Hunters, knew. And now Perseus, apparently, who was smirking at her, amusement glinting in his eyes. Thankfully, he didn't attempt to exploit her newfound weakness. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep. Good night, Lieutenant."
"Wait! Does this mean you accept?"
He stared at her for a long moment. Zoe fidgeted under his steady gaze. He seemed to have a way of making her feel small almost all the time, and she didn't appreciate it. Finally, he nodded. "I suppose I do." He turned on his heel and began walking away, only for Zoe to call out to him once more.
"Perseus!"
He sighed, stopping in his tracks, and glancing at her over his shoulder. "Yes?"
"...Thank you."
Perseus just rolled his eyes.
OOC-cuteness for the win!