A/N: I scrolled to view the works I have saved as draft a year ago and stumbled upon this, I was thinking, hey, maybe I should just post the drafts I make and so here it is. I have to warn you that you may find some wrong spellings and cringe at the how horrible this is, it's just a draft and honestly don't have any intention of completing the fanfics I would post cause usually I would go for one shots only, this fanfic would be posted because writing fanfics like these are the only past time I have, I keep getting ideas and would write it down but I would specifically just keep it to myself, that's the reason why I cannot seem to complete any of the fanfics I wish to keep on writing so yeah, this will just be as it is, just a draft I worked on that I didn't know what to do but I'm posting it cause why not, again I do not have the intention of completing this fanfic, I just put this up cause I want to. U w U Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own both PJO and LOTR, both works respectively belong to Rick Riordan and J.R.R Tolkien.
P.S: This was set after TLO.
*
Squinting her eyes, Amaranthine kneeled down as she removed the dead leaves from the muddy trail, getting sight of footprints. She curses in Greek as they were another set of footprints belonging to an animal, a deer, she had guessed.
It had been like this, catching a trail of footprints only to find that it belonged to an animal's and not of a certain demigod son of Poseidon's.
Three months. It had been exactly three months since the second Titan war had ended, the titans had been slain, once again returned to the depths of Tartarus. It had also been three months since the disappearance of Perseus Jackson.
The demigod son of Poseidon had mysteriously disappeared a few days after the war, not a single clue was left behind to know of his whereabouts and strangely enough, the Olympian gods had become silent weeks after he had disappeared.
Even her patron goddess, Artemis, had become silent and had stopped communicating to her and the rest of the hunters altogether. However, before the Olympian gods had went silent, Artemis had specifically ordered her to go on a quest in search for the son of Poseidon.
She remembered her conversation with Artemis. It was a few weeks after the said demigod's disappearance and a few days before Artemis had completely cut off all forms of communication with them.
Amaranthine had stood facing the back of Artemis, they were in the middle of the forest, quite far away from the settlement of the hunters and it was dark, only the luminescent glow of the moon was the only source of light given to them. She notices that her mistress didn't appear like she usual does for the goddess took not the form of a child like she always had, no, she appeared to her in the form of a grown woman.
The goddess stood tall. Her beautiful auburn hair of which she always kept braided had been loosened, allowing it to reach down to her waist. Amaranthine has taken notice that the goddess had not wore the attire she had always worn similar to her hunters, no, for she was now wearing a peplos, it was white in color like every traditional ones but it was different, seeming to glitter ever so slightly under the light of the moon.
Artemis had not yet moved nor turned to her, only gazing upon the moon. Being in the middle of the woods, everything was calm and silent, the trees rustling with the coming of the breeze was the only sound Amaranthine could hear and she just stood there, facing the back of the moon goddess who looked as if she were in a trance while gazing at the moon.
"Amaranthine" The goddess spoke, not even sparing a glance at her way.
Amaranthine bowed. "My lady, I have heard that you had requested for my presence"
"You already know of the disappearance of Perseus Jackson, yes?"
"Of course my lady, a word has been sent to Liutenant Grace that the son of Poseidon has disappeared not long after the war"
"Good, then you must prepare immediately"
Amaranthine raised a brow at this, what does she mean?
"My lady?"
"You are to go on a special quest to look for the son of Poseidon, search for him and find any clues of his whereabouts "
She frowned. This was not what she was expecting from the moon goddess, it was indeed known that her lady deemed that the demigod was worthy, going as far as to calling him a man, something the goddess of the moon rarely does for any males.
"I beg your pardon, but did I hear it right, my lady? A quest in search for the son of Poseidon?"
Artemis' gaze upon the moon directed it's direction to her as the goddess faced her. "Yes, you heard quite right" was what she said and before Amaranthine could even speak, the moon goddess continued. "You must think I have gone mad, if you are then I am not. Perseus Jackson has been a worthy ally and hero, therefore, to show my gratitude I would atleast like to return the favor by searching for his whereabouts, surely you have not forgotten of what he did?"
How could Amaranthine forget? Not long before the second battle against the titans, the said son of Poseidon had saved her lady from the weight of the sky itself and saved a few of her fellow hunters. The demigod received the recognition of the Lady Artemis and the hunters, including herself, as a man worthy of being a hero and was considered as their ally. It caused panic when the demigod had disappeared, she understood how important in searching for him was but she questions her lady's choice.
"But my lady, I am not appropriate for this mission, perhaps Lieutenant Grace would be the perfect one to do it?"
The moon goddess' eyes narrowed. "Are you rejecting the mission I'm giving to you?"
"No, my lady. It just makes me wonder of why you chose me out of all the hunters, I am not one of your best trackers and I am not your Lieutenant. It makes me doubt your choice in assigning this important task"
"I am amazed, you always seem to show your humbleness in such odd timing" Artemis hums. " And that is not the case, Amaranthine. I have known you since you were young, you have exceptional skills. You carry the blood of Selene, my mentor and predecessor, for many years you have fought alongside me in many battles—"
"I have, but that does not give an ample reason of why I should be the one to do this quest" She spoke, cutting of Artemis.
"Do not cut me off, I am still talking" the goddess said coldly.
Amaranthine bowed her head, slightly. "My apologies, my lady. Please continue"
The goddess turned her gaze back on the moon. "I can feel it and I know that you do too, not long from now, there would be war. I entrust this quest to you because I trust that you could do this, I know you will do fine, I could have made Thalia do this but out of all of them you have the experience, it puts me at ease to know that I can assign this quest to you and only you"
"But my lady, I—"
"Speak no more, Amaranthine. It is final, you are to search for him, whatever the cost, you must find Perseus Jackson"
Amaranthine presses her lips into a thin line, she couldn't decline.
"Yes, my lady"
"Bear in mind however" the goddess continues. "That you are not to tell this to any of your fellow hunters. I'm afraid to say that this would be our last meeting, remember what I told you"
"Ofcourse, my lady"
"The Lieutenant knows of this and shall keep it confidential. Remember, leave no stone unturned, until Perseus Jackson is found, you must not stop the search"
After that the goddess had disappeared before her, that was the last time she had seen Artemis. It had been exactly three months since she started her quest in search for the demigod, three months of wandering aimlessly,with no rest, having only a half drank bottle of moonwater and little food. She had searched everywhere but to no avail had no leads yet, there had been very little traces of the demigod's whereabouts she could find. At this point the demigod could might as well be dead, hopefully that wouldn't be the case, that would meant she failed her mission and Artemis would have had her search for the body.
She stood up, about to turn and head to another direction when all of a sudden she heard a howl from a distance, on the west part of the woods. Quickly, she went on to track down the source of where the howl came from. Following the source of where the howl came from, she spotted a trail of footprints on the mud, one belonging to a large wolf and the other belonged to most likely a child.
How odd, she thought. No child would be able to wander into this part of the woods, especially at night.
She continued to follow the muddied footprints and it led her to a secluded part in the woods where it was starting to get even darker, the trees shaded everything, only the moon had lit the way.
Stopping in her tracks, she quickly hid behind a tree as she caught sight of something, there she saw a human child who had scratches on his little legs, bleeding and cowering in fear as a large wolf circled around him, trapping him.
The wolf was bigger than an ordinary one, it was a beast.
A lycanthrope.
Cursed to eternity, transforming into a beast during the night, they feed off from the flesh of humans.
She knew one when she saw one, the beasts had killed plenty of her fellow hunters in the past, they were one of their greatest enemies.
It was not uncommon for lycanthropes to wander around the woods but a child? She guessed that the human child had been abducted by the beast not long ago as the blood on the boy's injuries were still fresh and bleeding.
She drew an arrow from her quiver, about to shoot the beast but paused. She couldn't afford any distractions, she was already running out of time, she should continue on her search but— this was a child, male or not the child did not deserve to die in the claws of a horrid beast. She had to save the child.
She raised her bow, pulling back the bowstrings and shot the beast from behind. The lycan, being shot, rolled over on the ground. Amaranthine turned to the boy who was still terrified.
"Run!"
The boy, having been utterly terrified had stood there frozen, unable to move. Meanwhile the lycan managed to be on its feet once again, the beast growled in anger and now was heading to attack the boy.
Amaranthine cursed in Greek and ran towards the boy, pushing the boy aside as the beast pounced on her, biting her hard on the shoulder.
Hissing in pain, she took an arrow from her quiver and quickly used it to stab the beast in the eye, the beast howled in pain and with this released her. She looks over to the boy and for a second time she shouted to him, "RUN! NOW!"
The boy immediately obeyed as she shouted, quickly running to another direction. Using the arrow, she draw it on her bow as she quickly turned her attention to the lycan.
By now the beast should be dead, having stabbed in the eye and getting shot by a silver arrow, the lycan would be a pile of ashes then and there but no, this lycan was different. This lycan was very strong.
"A hunter of Artemis, it has been a long time and the daughter of a moon goddess at that" the beast spoke.
"Begone foul beast" She says as she held him at an arrow point. "Unless thee wants this silver arrow to pierce thy heart next"
The lycan lets out a low laugh. "You hunters like to stick your nose into the business of lycans. I remember last I came across one of your huntress, saving a puny nature spirit and in the end she died, pity, she was very young"
Amaranthine's hold on her bow tightened, her face heated and her ears red, her blood boiled in anger as she held her glare towards the beast.
The beast continued. "I remember how she fought my pack, brave was she as she tried to kill us, she failed. Sweet was her screams of pain as we tore her body into pieces, devouring her to the bone. Her flesh tasted divine, I can still remember how she tasted, oh yes, I can never forget how delicious she was"
"Stop it"
The lycan looked at her as if he was smirking. "I wonder, will you taste the same way, daughter of Selene?"
Amaranthine had enough, she shot an arrow to the beast but it missed and the beast attacked, she was able to evade the beast by jumping over to the side.
She quickly ran to the nearest tree and started to climb up, once she was up on the branches she drew from her quiver and started to shoot arrows at the lycan. With each shot, three missed and with four she managed to hit the beast in its legs and arms.
Reaching up to get an arrow from her quiver, there was none, she ran out. The beast, seeing this, took a chance in bringing down the tree, slamming its body against the trunk, shaking the tree.
Amaranthine slings her bow on her prepared to jump, when the beast slammed into the trunk once more she leaped off, her foot though had slipped on her landing spraining her ankle.
With no time to react to the pain, she ran as fast as she could. The adrenaline coursing through her made her forget the pain in her ankle, telling her that it was more important for her to get away and deal with the sprain later.
She didn't know where to run anymore, she had to make sure that she loses the lycan that was now chasing after her.
Looking behind her as she ran, the beast seemed to have stopped following her, she saw nothing.
Thinking that she lost it, she never realized that she almost fell two thousand feet below to her death.
Suddenly she heard a low growl, turning around, she finds the lycan standing there, blocking her only escape.
Amaranthine gritted her teeth as she finds herself on the edge of a high cliff, with a bitten bloodied shoulder and a sprained ankle, she didn't think that she could last long.
"There's no way of escape huntress, you will die"
She was trapped. A dead end.
She glared at the beast in front of her. The lycanthrope seemed to be pleased as he stood at the other side, with each step, he got closer and closer to her.
"With a sprained ankle and a bleeding shoulder, it's best to give up no?" He taunted.
At this point he was right, she had no way out nor could she fight. The pain in ankle was torture as she put pressure on it, she was already out of breath and tired, her body didn't have the strength to move.
The wind harshly blew pass her and Amaranthine shivered, she never felt cold before but as she was near the edge to her death she could feel it now.
Glancing from behind her, she took in the beautiful sight from where she stood on the edge of the cliff, the view was so beautiful it was as if it was beckoning her to leap to her death.
Leap to her death.
Amaranthine turned to gaze upon the moon which lit up the darkness that was the night sky, she couldn't help but feel at ease as she stares at it.
Forgive me, my lady.
"Resistance is futile, give up now, daughter of Selene and I will make sure you would be granted a quick death"
She turned her gaze to the beast in front of her and she could only smile, everything happened fast. Amaranthine felt like her life was flashing before her eyes.
The last thing she saw was the beast standing at the edge of the cliff as she fell to her death.
--
Years of the Sun, First Age, Gondolin.
The sound of faint music could be heard through the palace gardens as Lord Ecthelion of the House of the fountain played his flute. Surrounding him were ellith servants who found delight in listening to the gentle music that he created, few sat near him and others stood from afar and watched him as he skillfully played the flute.
"So this is where you are, I had not seen you after the council, here I thought you had gone and chose to retire this early of the day"
Glancing up, Ecthelion saw his friend. With his glorious golden hair, clothed in his armor with his charming smile that made every ellith present swoon before him, the Lord of the House of the Golden Flower shines under the sunlight as he stood before him.
Ecthelion stopped playing and tucked his flute inside his sleeve. "I thought you left earlier than expected, do you or do you not have your daily rounds?"
The golden haired ellon crossed his arms. "I could say quite the same for you, mellon nin. But it seems that you forgot and decided to spend time with elliths—" He glances over to the female elf servants, who left immediately as he gestured for them to begone then continued. "Instead of your daily rounds you are here, are you or are you not the marchwarden of the great gate?"
Ecthelion chuckles. "How can I resist? The king's garden is the perfect place for me to play music"
"I thought you preferred to play in the fountain he has gifted—"
"Lord Glorfindel! Lord Ecthelion!"
Both lords turned to see one of the palace guards who seemed in a hurry due to his panting, the two lords let the guard breathe before letting him continue.
"What is it that you make haste for, Mellon nin?" asks Ecthelion.
"I'm sorry to disturb you my lords, but we received word of a trespasser found unconscious near the great gate"
Glorfindel raised a brow. "And of this trespasser?"
"I have no other information other than the trespasser is that of the race of atani "
--
As soon as Ecthelion and Glorfindel arrived to the great gate, the lords saw a crowd of guards gathered in a circle.
Getting off from their steed, they saw among the crowded guards, Egalmoth. The lord of the house of the heavenly arch stood had just arrived as soon as the word reached him and he too came forth to the great gate to look upon the said trespasser.
When the crowd of guards saw the three lordsc all of them parted and gave way for the lords to gaze upon the seemingly lifeless body of a female atani.
The woman was dressed in such strange clothing, on her head she wore a silver circlet and her bloodied hand holding a beautiful crafted silver bow. She wore some sort of short coat with fur and pants which hugged her legs, not indecent but showed her curves, an odd clothing for a lady to wear. They noticed that her shoulder had been bleeding, blood was seeping out from her. From her features and the way her ears were shaped, she looked like any other mortal but no, the seemingly lifeless mortal woman had long silver hair, something no human could ever have.
The three lords looked at each other as if they were contemplating on what to do with the unconscious woman.
"What shall we do with the trespasser my lord?" Asked a guard. "Should we throw her outside while she is unconscious?"
"We should throw her outside my lord" another guard says. "If we keep her here, it would cause us trouble—"
"No" Ecthelion cuts off the guard. "We will not throw her out, not until we question how she has managed to come to the hidden city, best we take her to King Turgon and hear his majesty's judgement"
"I agree" Glorfindel says and Egalmoth could only nod along.
"You over there" Ecthelion turned to a younger guard. "Get a cloak for her, we will be taking her to his majesty at once"
"U-understood, my lord!"
And so the three lords went to ride on their steeds, journeying back to King Turgon's palace, bringing along with them the mysterious woman
--
"She seems rather odd, in body she resembles that of a Fírimar, yet she's far from being one"
"She does not seem to resemble a sindar nor the Edain, a mystery she is"
"And it has been said that she was found at the great gates, yes?"
"Yes, your majesty"
King Turgon glances at the female fírimar laying peacefully upon the bed, the maiden had been cleaned of her wounds and dressed neatly from when the lords had saw her at the great gates not a moment long.
The maiden was strange, thought King Turgon, for she resembled an ordinary mortal yet the color of her hair differs from many of the secondborn. Silky long silver tresses were what the female atani possessed, reminding him of the hair Lady Ëarwen, wife of his uncle, Arafinwë also had.
Glancing back up to the three lords before him, the King asks, "Have you found anything strange she carries along with her?"
"We do not, aran nin" Ecthelion starts. "Other than the bow of silver she carried, we found nothing else of her keeping"
"What should we do about her, ara nin?" asks Glorfindel.
King Turgon glances back at the maiden whom was in deep slumber. "We cannot let her leave the walls of Gondolin. We must find out how she got inside the hidden city and of her intentions, she will be placed here inside the palace in these chambers until she awakens—"
The sound of a painful groan was heard cutting off the King, the lords and king Turgon turned their attention and found the maiden who was now conscious.
"Where am I?"