Zoë Nightshade.
She was one of Artemis' lieutenants. Ever loyal to the goddess and the Hunt, she always prided herself for being headstrong.
But not now. Ever since she was brought back to the mortal realm, it has been that way. Don't get her wrong, she is thankful for the opportunity to serve Artemis once more. It was just that she was already dead, and have made peace with it. She doesn't need to live once more.
'Why must fates be cruel?' Pondered the lieutenant. The feeling had been too much for the girl, so much so that her duties as a lieutenant have been affected.
When Artemis learned about this problem of hers, she was given a break.
'Go ahead Zoë, see what the world has to offer.' The words said by her mistress replayed in her mind. That was just yesterday, and now she's roaming on the streets of New York, looking for something that'll spark interest.
Then her stomach grumbled.
'I'll need to grab something to eat.' Thought the daughter of Atlas. Checking her pockets, she checked how much drachma she had left. 'Not good. This will run out sooner. I hath to get something cheap.'
Luckily, the girl was in front of a convenience store.
Entering the store, she was greeted by the workers inside. "Welcome to SevenLeven." Chimed the workers unenthusiastically. Zoë grabbed a hotdog sandwich and then went to the cashier.
"Hello! Welcome to Seven-Zoë?" Whatever the cashier was going to say stopped, which made the huntress look towards the said cashier.
"Perseus?"
It was Percy Jackson, her only male friend.
"What are you doing here? Isn't the Hunt on Michigan right now?" Asked the demigod. He then noticed the girl's shoulders slumped, and quickly spoke once more. "How have you been, Zoë?" Percy paused to punch the sandwich. "Judging your face, looks like you're not feeling well."
"Yeah, Perseus, life hath not treated me well since." She replied. "Here's the payment for thy sandwich." She gave a couple of drachma to the son of Poseidon, who shook his head at her.
"That'll be on the house." He replied. "Do you want to talk about it?" Asked Percy. "Looks like you need someone who'll listen. Wait for me, Zoë." The son of Poseidon paid for the sandwich. "My shift is almost done. We could talk somewhere more private."
"Where?"
He smiled at her before replying. "My place."
She was intrigued about it, but stayed silent. 'Let's see what's special about his place.' She thought.
Zoë didn't have to wait long. Percy's shift ended right after the sun set. Quickly bidding his farewell to his co-workers, Percy walked up to the huntress.
"Sorry if I took so long Zoë, there's a lot of sorting that I went through before I got out." He rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the daughter of Atlas, apologetic.
"It's fine Perseus, thou didn't take long." He lightly glared at her for using his full name.
"Come on Zoë, you know I don't like being called Perseus." He complained, which brought a tiny smile to the lips of the huntress. 'Well, it's a start.' Thought the demigod as he planned of cheering up the woman.
The walk towards his place was silent. Occasional talks were there, but it was Zoë asking the questions, with the demigod answering. Once they reached his place, Percy stopped at the front of his door, opened it slightly and listened.
"What art thou doing, Percy?"
"Listening for something." Replied the owner of the place. "Listening if someone's inside."
Confused about what he meant, Zoë asked another question. "This is your house right? Why would someone be inside?"
Percy smiled as he fully opened the door. "You'll see." When they entered, angry grunts and determined cheering echoed.
"Almost there! Go sister!"
"Come on, get there!"
"No!" Voices echoed louder as they walked closer to the source. The other voice screamed: "I can't get over it!"
To say that Zoë was surprised was an understatement, she was not able to comprehend the reasons of why would two Olympian Goddesses, would be at his couch, acting like teens. "What?" Was all she mustered.
"I see you can't get over the church, Aunt Hestia." Voicing out his opinion, the goddesses who were focused on the game, turned around to greet the demigod.
""Good evening, Percy."" They spoke, then Hestia noticed the daughter of Atlas, whose mouth is open wide. "Close your mouth Zoë, you'll catch some flies." Hestia laughed at the sight of the girl.
Hera even smiled.
"What are they doing here, Perseus?" Zoë asked after getting her wits back together.
"Relax Zoë." Percy answered. "They're here to hang out and relax. They've been doing it for almost a month now."
"Come, Zoë, we'll teach you about video games." The goddess of the hearth motioned for her to come. Zoë complied and sat beside Hestia.
"Sister, it's my turn to play the game." Hera pouted at her older sister. "Give me the controller so I can practice how to beat Percy on Smitten."
Percy laughed at the queen of the gods. "My my, someone's eager to beat me." At this, the older daughter of Kronos laughed. "I'll see you guys later then."
Once the demigod was done with his nightly rituals, he exited his room to find the goddesses saying their farewells to the huntress.
"See you next time, Zoë." Said Hera, before she flashed away.
"Thank you for playing with us, Zoë. Let's play again later?" Hestia asked as she embraced the girl. Zoë nodded before Hestia vanished in flames.
Percy walked up to the daughter of Atlas, who was looking at the flames of the hearth. "How are you feeling, Zoë?" Asked the son of Poseidon, sitting across the girl.
"It felt good playing with Hestia and Hera."
"You know that's not what I was asking. How are you, really?" Once he asked, tears started welling up the eyes of Zoë.
"I feel empty, Perseus." She spoke as tears streamed down her face. "Ever since we Gaea's uprising, I've always felt like I don't deserve this second life of mine." Explained the girl.
"That's absurd." The demigod quickly retaliated. "We all know that you deserve this chance at life."
"But I don't!" Shouted the girl. "I really don't deserve it.
"You didn't deserve to die in the first place!" Percy argued back.
"I don't have anything else to live for!"
"What do you mean? There's the Hunt. Aren't they your family?" The son of Poseidon countered. "Lady Artemis is there for you. The hunters are there for you."
"I have fulfilled my duty!" Shouted the girl. "The Hunt doesn't need me anymore! Thalia is there, she's a much better lieutenant than I have ever been!" The bottled up emotions that have been with her since her revival, have all come out. "Tell me, Percy, what do I do?"
Percy went and sat down beside the crying huntress, giving her a warm embrace. The daughter of Atlas' eyes widened as sudden feeling of warmth spread to her.
"You live Zoë. If not for them, for yourself." He replied to the crying girl. "You can talk to Lady Artemis about it. I know that she'll understand, she's your friend." The sobs filled his place.
It got quieter as the daughter of Atlas calmed down. The sobs turned into whimpers as the demigod comforted the girl. Minutes passed and the whimpers died down.
'Guess she really was bottling up her emotions.' Thought the son of Poseidon as he brought the now sleeping huntress to the guest room. 'She looks so peaceful when sleeping.'
The fluttering rays of sunlight woke up the sleeping girl. 'Where am I?' Thought Zoë as she awakened into an unknown place. 'What was I doing last night?' She asked herself as she took a look at her surroundings. 'Right, I was talking with Percy last night.' Remembering the demigod, she got up the bed and exited the room.
The smell of bacon wafted throughout the place, making the stomach of the huntress grumble.
"Looks like someone's hungry." Teased the demigod that she was looking for. "Come, let's eat breakfast before I go to work."
Zoë didn't need to be told twice. Sitting down in front of Percy, she was given a plate of steaming bacon and eggs, with toasted bread.
"Thank you, Percy." She smiled at the son of Poseidon as he smirked at her.
"Finally, you stopped calling my real name." He pouted at her as he spoke. She giggled at what he said. This in turn made the demigod laugh too. After a minute of laughing, Percy asked her a question. "So Zoë, what are you going to do now?"
She gained a somber look before replying to the demigod. "I really don't know Percy."
"Then why not live here? I have a room to spare."
"I don't think I can do that, Percy. I don't want to be a freeloader."
"It's fine. To be honest, I really want someone else to live here aside from me. It gets lonely sometimes." The demigod replied. "Hestia and Hera just comes and goes whenever they want."
"But what do I do?" Asked Zoë.
"All up to you, Zoë." He replied. "You can even go back to the Hunt if you want to. Just don't forget to come and visit me sometime." He stood up, grabbing his work uniform. "I won't pressure you to live here. Just know that if you want to have a place to rest when you're in New York, then you are always welcome." finally done with buttoning up his polo, Percy then walked back to the daughter of Atlas. "The key's under my welcome mat, if you plan on coming back."
"Are you going to work?"
"Yeah. See you later, Zoë." With that, the demigod left the former hesperide with her thoughts about living in his place.
A/N: I can already feel the pitchforks getting pointed at me!
Right, this is inspired by Anaklusmos14's "Queen's Champion" where Zoë was taken away from Elysium by Gaea to fight against the the Olympians.
About the red and black energy on the waters... No one got it correct so no one's getting a shout out! Try again next time.
Well, time for a male to visit now.
Next is probably Apollo.
Leave a review about your thoughts, follow and fave if you like the story so far, and as always, thanks for reading!
-Jasserru out!
