To the boss lost assasin: As you requested, this chapter is much longer than the last one. Cheers!
The hunters left the woods that very morning. Chiron and the Athena campers helped them break camp, carrying their tents and wounded to their new site next to the strawberry fields. It was strange seeing the collection of silver tents in the middle of the meadow, but at least they were now out in the open where there would be no chance of the assassin slipping in and out unseen.
Lanesra and Thalia were placed in the Big House, under twenty-four hour surveillance by Argus, head of security. The hunters had been decimated by the recent attack and Chiron feared the two injured lieutenants would be the assassin's next target.
"It was someone in black," Percy, Piper and Annabeth met with Chiron in the Big House to discuss the assassin. "Not that tall."
"How tall exactly?" Chiron asked.
"I couldn't tell," Piper shook her head. "I was too far away."
"Maybe five eight?" Percy guessed. "Um, I'm not very good at judging height, but he was definitely shorter than me."
"He?" Annabeth asked.
Percy shrugged. "I'm assuming the assassin is male."
"The height difference must have been fairly significant for Percy to notice it," Chiron noted.
"Kinda like Nico," Percy said. "We spar a lot, so I know he's about that height."
Then they all looked at each other as the implications sank in.
"He wouldn't…" Piper said tentatively. "Would he?"
"Bianca died shortly after she joined the hunt," Percy swallowed. "I know he still hates them because of that."
"But not enough to kill them, surely?" Jason frowned.
"Well where is he now?" Piper asked.
"I saw him with Thalia on the beach." Annabeth said. "He shadow-travelled away shortly before the attack began."
"That's a big coincidence," Chiron said quietly.
"Well surely he has an alibi," Piper said.
"He keeps to himself most of the time," Jason pointed out. "Usually nobody knows where he is."
"This can't be happening," Percy shook his head. "Nico wouldn't do this. I know he wouldn't."
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Annabeth said. "We'll speak to Thalia when she comes round, ask her what she knows. In the meantime I'll iris-message Nico, ask him to meet us here. Maybe he knows something."
"What?" Nico couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Twenty dead?"
"Yes," Annabeth shook her head. "By the time we got there it was already too late. Thalia and Lanesra were wounded trying to stop the assassin."
"Shit," Nico ran a hand through his hair, starting to pace back and forth in front of the iris-message. "Shit, shit, shit."
"We need you back here," Annabeth said.
"What difference is that going to make?"
"Please," Annabeth's voice took on a slightly desperate tone, something Nico rarely heard from her. "We're watching the remaining hunters round the clock. It's all hands on deck."
"All right," Nico kicked a pebble, sending it rattling down the street. "I'll be back in the evening. We can talk over dinner."
"Can't you be back any earlier?" Annabeth asked.
"What difference will a few hours make? I'm busy."
"Please," Annabeth pleaded.
Nico's eyes narrowed. Annabeth never pleaded.
"What's going on?" he snapped.
"What?" Annabeth's reaction was almost perfect, but Nico saw through it.
"I know you're up to something."
"We just want you back." Annabeth held her hands up defensively.
"I don't believe you," Nico growled. "Tell me what's going on."
"I'll tell you when you're here. But you have to come back now."
Nico glared at her with such intensity that it sent a shiver down Annabeth's back. The silence stretched.
"All right," he said at last. "But I'm warning you, I'm not in a good mood."
"Nico," Chiron greeted the son of Hades as he stormed into the Big House. "We were wondering-"
"Later," he snapped. "I need to see Thalia."
"Nico, wait." Piper blocked him at the door.
"What's this?" Nico growled.
"We just want to ask you a few questions." Jason came to stand beside her.
"Get out of my way," Nico said irritably.
Jason took a deep breath. "No."
Nico's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"
"I think we're starting this off on the wrong note," Percy held his hands up for calm.
"If you don't tell me what's going on right now," Nico took a step forward, radiating an aura so powerful that everyone else took a collective step back.
"We just want to know where you've been," Annabeth said.
"Why is that important right now?"
"It just is," Annabeth insisted.
"Stop beating around the bush." Nico glared at her.
"Where were you?" Piper asked.
"Why are you asking?" Nico snapped.
"Why are you so defensive?" Piper shot back.
"Because you won't tell me what's going on."
"Everyone stop," Percy's voice rose above the others, cutting through the growing argument. "Pointing fingers won't solve anything."
"Pointing fingers?" Nico repeated. He slowly turned in place, locking eyes with everyone in the room. "You think I killed the hunters? That's what this is about?" His stare came to Annabeth. "That's why you wouldn't tell me what's going on. That's why you insisted I come immediately. You think I'm a killer?"
The tension in the room went up several notches.
"Nobody's accusing you of anything." Chiron said.
"No?" Nico's voice was deadly quiet. "Why don't you cut the bullshit."
"Everyone should just sit down." Percy said. "There's no point arguing."
"After all I've done," Nico ignored him, his voice getting steadily louder. "To even think that I could have done this."
"Nobody thinks you did it," Annabeth insisted.
"Yes you do!" Nico shouted. "Otherwise you would have told me what was going on. Otherwise you wouldn't have insisted I come back immediately."
The room fell silent. Nobody knew what to say.
"And to think I call you my friends." Nico said bitterly.
"Nico, I'm sorry." Annabeth almost couldn't bear to look at him. "We're all on edge after what happened, but we shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." She forced herself to meet his gaze.
"What did happen?" Nico's eyes were like black fire, his face twisted with anger.
"We left the wounded hunters in the forest." Everyone turned towards the new voice.
"Thalia," Chiron said. "You're awake."
Unnoticed by anyone, the daughter of Zeus had come into the room, leaning against the doorframe.
"The assassin killed them all. A few of the other hunters were at the shrine. They died too. The rest of the hunters rushed back to the camp as soon as we heard about the attack. The assassin shot them like deer."
Thalia's eyes were full of sorrow, her voice like broken glass. Her face was deathly pale and Nico was shocked by the way she sagged limply against the doorframe, a sharp contrast to how strong she normally looked. Jason and Piper helped her to a chair.
"You shouldn't have gotten up so soon," Jason spoke in a murmur, wary of the tension in the room.
"I was in the next room," Thalia said. "Your shouting woke me up."
"You saw the assassin?" Nico asked.
"An archer." Thalia shook her head slowly, as if even that small action hurt. "She was clad in black. I couldn't even see her eyes. She tried to blast me to bits."
"The assassin was around your height," Jason said uncomfortably. "That's why we…um…" he couldn't meet Nico's gaze.
"You fucking bastards." Thalia spoke softly, but the words bit into them like blades. She turned to Nico. "The last girl?"
"Nothing," Nico growled. "We're back to square one."
"The assassin's a girl?" Percy asked.
"Yes," Nico nodded. "I was trying to find her until you lot decided to become a lynch mob."
"I never believed you'd do this." Percy shook his head.
"Do you have any other leads?" Piper asked Nico.
"Hold up." Nico's eyes widened as the realisation hit him. "You said the assassin killed hunters at the shrine."
"Yeah," Annabeth nodded. "The entire shrine was blown to bits."
"Nico turned to Thalia. "Didn't you say that only hunters could find that shrine?"
It was just past four in the afternoon, prime time for outdoor activities given Camp Half-Blood's perfect weather. Camp Half-Blood was in full swing, campers engaged in every activity available. Nico's scowl deepened as he stepped out of the Hades cabin, taking in the basketball and football games in the commons area. Another peaceful afternoon was about to come to an end.
Lisa lay sprawled on her double bed, fast asleep in her tent in the middle of the hunters' camp. The hunter had a thin line of drool coming from the corner of her mouth as she snored, completely unaware of the commotion unfolding outside.
The tranquility of her afternoon slowly faded, replaced by shouting voices and sounds of movement as the commotion grew. The sounds were beginning to reach her ears, stirring her from sleep. Lisa frowned and turned over in bed.
That was her big mistake. The careless movement jolted her broken arm, sending a sharp stab of pain up her shoulder. A cry of pain escaped her lips. The sleep vanished from her mind in an instant.
"Owww," she moaned, covering her eyes with her good hand. Carefully, she rearranged her broken arm, still throbbing with pain. Her breathing slowed as she settled comfortably back into bed.
An angry shout came from outside, rousing her again. Something knocked into the side of her tent.
"What in the world is going on?" she groaned, heaving herself into a sitting position with her good arm. She got out of bed with an unhappy sigh, crossed to the tent flap and threw it open.
"You've got to be kidding me."
An argument was going on next to the hunters' campfire. She recognised Nico di Angelo, clad in black armour over a layer of padding. The son of Hades was gesturing furiously, yelling at three hunters who were yelling back.
"What does he want this time," Lisa grumbled.
"I'm telling you," Nico shouted. "You have to listen to me!"
A hunter stuck a finger in his face. "Go f-" Lisa yanked the tent flap shut, reaching up to pull the zip down. She grabbed her headphones from her table on the way to the bed, scrolling through her playlist to find something soft and soothing. She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes.
The tent flap opened, letting in a slant of afternoon sun right in her face. Lisa groaned and lifted an arm, trying to shield her face with her good hand.
"Go away," she groaned, turning over in bed to face away from the light.
That small act of irritation saved her life. An arrow hit the middle of her palm, passing clean through her flesh to tear into her left shoulder. Lisa's eyes snapped open and she howled, pulling her legs to her chest and heaving her body backwards. Two arrows pierced the back of her leg as she rolled over her pillow and off the bed, dropping behind the headrest. The sudden pain together with the lack of one arm made her lose balance halfway and she collapsed in a heap on the floor, screaming as the movement caused the arrows to twist in her wound, sending fresh eruptions of pain through her body.
She caught sight of the attacker as she rolled; a black-clad archer with throwing knives strapped to his body. Nico di Angelo, she thought. The son of Hades had come to kill her.
The assassin, knowing that Lisa was injured and cornered, turned around to zip up the tent flap, darkening the interior of the tent as the light was cut off.
Lisa wriggled onto her back desperately, trying to pull her shorts down her legs with her injured hand. The waistband became stuck halfway down her butt, but she'd created a sufficiently large opening for her to stick her hand inside.
"What in the world are you doing?" the assassin laughed as she caught sight of Lisa struggling with her pants half off.
The wound in her hand sent sharp stabs of pain with each movement, slowing her down and making her fingers stiff. Lisa looked up as she caught movement in the corner of her vision, staring down the length of the assassin's bow.
"No," she gasped. Too late, her fingers closed around the ring and she pulled, sliding a small silver tube out of herself.
"Goodbye, little Lisa," the assassin said, although Lisa couldn't hear her with her headphones on. "Enjoy Elysium."
The tent flap suddenly opened wide, sending a blast of light into the tent's dark interior. The assassin cursed and spun around. Lisa squinted against the glare, seeing the hard outline of armour and a Roman centurion's plume.
Nico's Roman skeleton froze as it's empty eye sockets fell on the assassin. It advanced, making a clattering noise with its teeth as it drew its sword.
The assassin shot it square in the forehead, knocking it's head clean off. The skeleton collapsed to the ground, groping blindly to find its missing appendage. The assassin kicked the skull into a corner, then, deeming the headless skeleton no longer a threat, turned back to the bed just as Lisa pulled her hand out of her pants, clutching the silver tube.
"Seriously?" the assassin said, mistaking the long tube for a toy.
Lisa threw the tube at her. The assassin deflected it easily.
Lisa flicked her hand, unfolding the butterfly knife that had been concealed inside the tube. She threw it at the assassin, but the sharp movement sent a spasm of pain through her hand, making her miss completely. The knife sailed over the assassin's head and tore a hole in the side of the tent.
"Not bad," the assassin laughed. "Looks like you're not such a little girl after all." She drew back her bow. "Bye bye."
A skeletal hand groped the assassin's butt, making her jump. The arrow missed Lisa's head by an inch, tearing a small hole in the wall of the tent. Lisa turned around and stuck her finger into the hole, trying to tear it open, but the magical fabric was strong and didn't budge.
Adrenaline raced through her veins. Lisa's thoughts spun wildly. There was no way she could put up a fight without a weapon. The assassin still struggled with the skeleton, but Lisa knew that a headless skeleton would be no match for the assassin.
In utter desperation she reached down, grabbing at the arrow in her leg. She pulled hard, screaming as the arrow came free in a rush of blood. Fresh pain made her head spin as she rolled around, clutching the arrow tip in her wounded hand. She stabbed the tent wall and ripped down, creating a large diagonal gash smeared with her blood. She tore again, slicing another gash to create a triangle-shaped opening. Lisa sobbed with pain as she started to crawl through the gap.
"NO!" The assassin kicked the skeleton away and drew back her bow, two arrows nocked.
The first one hit her butt, throwing her forward with the force of the impact. The second raked down her back, slicing her shirt in half. Lisa threw herself down as more arrows whizzed above her head, crawling away.
"Help," she croaked. "Someone, please."
Against the odds she staggered to her feet, then the pain overwhelmed her and she fell to her knees.
Somebody appeared round the side of the next tent. Lisa looked up desperately, seeking salvation. Her eyes widened as she saw black armour over the padded vest, weapons strapped to the person's belt. It was Nico di Angelo.
"No," she fell back to the ground, trying to crawl away. "No, no, no."
Nico drew his sword. Lisa froze in fear, unable to tear her gaze from the sight of the black blade. "No," she sobbed.
With a howl of fury Nico leaped over her, slashing her tent wide open with a sweep of his sword. He charged inside. It was empty.
"No!" he roared. He ran out from the other side, but the assassin was long gone. "Damn it!"
He ducked back into the tent and out the torn side. Lisa lay half unconscious in a pool of blood, arrows sticking out of her like a target dummy.
Four hunters appeared from all sides, arriving to investigate the commotion. They saw Lisa slumped on the ground, a bloody mess, Nico di Angelo standing over her with a drawn sword. All four of them jumped to the most obvious conclusion.
"Murderer!" Despite being unarmed, they charged him.
Nico looked up, saw the fury in their eyes, and knew they were beyond reasoning. He would have welcomed a chance to beat some sense into them, but Lisa was losing blood by the minute. He sheathed his sword and bent down to pick her up.
The hunters howled as they saw him touch her. He shadow-travelled away just as they reached him, leaving them to collide into each other in a tangle of limbs.
Nico materialised in the middle of the infirmary, scaring the crap out of three wounded campers and Will Solace. Will's eyes widened as he caught sight of the bloody mess in his arms.
"Water and bandages," Nico barked. "Now!"
Will dropped the ice pack he'd been about to apply to a camper's sprained foot and ran to the cupboard.
"She's a hunter," one of the campers said contemptuously. "Why should we treat her?"
Nico lunged across the room and punched the camper in the face, knocking him out.
"You!" He grabbed the second camper by his collar. "Find Chiron and tell him to meet me at the hunters' camp. You!" He stabbed a finger at the third. "Tell Annabeth Chase and the Athena cabin to assemble at the strawberry fields in full combat gear. Go!"
The terrified campers ran off. Nico turned to Lisa, a sinking feeling starting in his chest as he ran his eyes over her wounds. "Will she live?"
"I don't know." Will sounded stressed. "She's lost a lot of blood."
"Fix her," Nico growled, then walked out through the doorway and almost ran into Jason.
"Whoa!" Jason threw himself backwards.
"With me. Now." Nico strode past him without a glance.
Jason, sensing the urgency in Nico's voice, followed him up the stairs.
"I need you to find Piper, Percy and Annabeth. Tell them to meet at the hunters' camp."
"What's happened?" Jason asked anxiously.
"The assassin struck again. Almost killed another hunter."
"What? When?"
"Five minutes ago, in the hunters' camp. Go find the others."
"I will." Jason nodded, rising into the air. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to round them up," Nico said. "And find out which one of them is the killer."
Nico strode into the hunters' camp, flanked by two skeleton butlers carrying baseball bats and lengths of chain. The remaining eleven hunters were assembled around the campfire, surrounded by more skeletons carrying shields and swords.
"Well?" one of the hunters spat as he walked up to them. "Go on and kill us, then."
"I'm not here to kill you," he said irritably, then raised his voice so that all of them could hear him. "There are fifteen of you. Thalia, Lanesra and Lisa are in the infirmary. My skeletons only have eleven of you. I want to know who's missing and where she is."
"Go to Hades," the hunter spat.
Chiron came galloping into the circle of tents, looking shocked.
"Nico, what on earth are you doing?"
"There are fifteen hunters," Nico told him. "Fourteen of them are accounted for. Whoever's missing is the assassin."
"Lies!" a hunter yelled. "You are the murderer!"
Chiron held up his hands for calm.
"Five hunters were found dead at the shrine. No one except a hunter can find and enter the shrine, thus it stands to reason that whoever is responsible is also a hunter."
"We are all sisters," another hunter shouted. "We wouldn't kill each other."
Jason touched down beside Chiron, Piper with him.
"This place looks like a prison yard," Piper shook her head.
"Any luck?" Jason asked.
"No."
"I could try charmspeaking one of them." Piper suggested.
"The assassin knows we're on to her." Jason guessed.
"So if you were her," Piper thought out loud. "What would you do now?"
"Endgame," Nico guessed. "Take down as many hunters as she can."
"But they're all here." Jason pointed out.
The realisation hit all three of them at the same time.
"Thalia." Piper's eyes widened.
"No." Jason lifted into the air.
Nico grabbed him. "You stay here in case the assassin attacks them."
"But Thalia!"
"I'll get her." Nico drew his sword and vanished into his own shadow.
"Gotta pee," Lanesra grunted.
"Careful," Thalia said. "I'll walk you to the door."
"I'm fine,"Lanesra insisted.
"That's what you said the last time." Thalia took her arm. Together they shuffled towards the bathroom.
There was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Thalia yelled.
"Jasmine," came the reply.
"Come in," Thalia said. She stood beside the bathroom door, waiting for Lanesra to come out.
The doorknob turned and the door started to open. A long black object was the first thing to appear around the edge of the door. Thalia's blood turned to ice as she realised it was the tip of a bow.
"Aegis!" She slapped her bracelet.
The big shield spiralled out just in time. The door swung fully open, revealing the hunter Jasmine clad in black, two explosive arrows nocked in her bow. "This time I'll finish the job," she growled, then released the shot.
The explosion blew Thalia through the bathroom door, scaring the crap out of Lanesra, who was just pulling her pants up.
"Get down!" Thalia screamed.
Another explosive arrow hit Thalia's shield, throwing her against the bathroom wall. Thalia fell to her knees, dazed.
A water pipe burst, spraying them both with water. Thalia blinked around, trying to get her bearings. Lanesra had collapsed into the bathtub, unconscious and bleeding from a cut on her head. She was out of the line of fire, but as long as Jasmine kept shooting it was only a matter of time before they were both dead.
Thalia's head swam from the repeated impacts. She remained huddled behind her shield, knowing that the moment she tried to move she'd be shot.
"What's the matter, Lieutenant?" Jasmine taunted. "Scared?"
She aimed an incendiary arrow at the wall above Thalia's head, knowing that once she released it Thalia would be engulfed in flames. "Hades will be happy to have your soul." She fired.
WHOOM.
Nico materialised between the bathroom and Jasmine just as she released the shot, resulting in the arrow detonating much closer than she'd expected. A wall of heat slammed into her, throwing her backwards. If not for her flameproof hunter's camouflage she would have been instantly roasted to a crisp.
Nico was sent flying back into the bathroom, his heavy armour absorbing the worst of the impact. He hit the wall and sat down hard on Aegis, then sprang up immediately, sword in hand. With a roar of fury he charged out of the bathroom.
Jasmine sat up and rolled to her feet, blinking white spots out of her eyes. Her vision cleared in time for her to register Nico coming toward her, his sword aimed at her throat.
Jasmine shifted aside and lunged forward, punching her bow into Nico's face. Nico reeled backwards, but managed to grab the edge of her black vest, pulling her with him. He brought the pommel of his sword down on her head, butted her with his head and punched his sword hilt into her face. Jasmine kicked him in the crotch as they broke apart, blinking stars out of her eyes.
Both of them wore heavy armour that took the sting out of the powerful blows. Nico hacked down with his sword, then reversed and parried as Jasmine lunged inside his guard with a silver knife. She parried the return strike with her bow and threw the knife from close range, aiming for the vulnerable gap between the top of Nico's chestplate and his chin.
His stygian iron stab-proof underlayer saved his life. The blade pierced through his reinforced neck guard, hitting his adam's apple square in the centre. Nico choked, gurgling slightly. Jasmine stepped back, nocked an arrow and fired from point blank range.
Nico saw the attack coming and half-managed to shift aside. The arrow glanced off his helmet and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
The two combatants were evenly matched. Nico was the better fighter, but Jasmine had trained under Artemis for a hundred years and there was no gap in her defence. She threw her bow aside and drew out two hunting knives.
Nico lunged and was blocked, saw the answering strike coming and smiled. A small throwing knife left his hand, piercing Jasmine's dark visor as she jerked backwards. Jasmine slashed at his face and stepped back, pulling her visor off and throwing it aside. Nico pulled the silver knife out of his neck and charged her.
The blades clashed and scraped. Nico fought in a whirlwind of slashes and strikes, forcing her backwards. Skilled as she was, his speed was unstoppable and she could not break his attack. Her dark eyes were narrowed to slits as she scrutinised the son of Hades, seeking a way past his flashing blades.
Nico hacked downward with his sword, a powerful blow that would have cleaved a dragon in two. Jasmine threw up her arm to block the attack and the shock ran through her arm as the two weapons connected. His blade scraped down the length of her's to be stopped by the hilt. Nico kicked her in the chest and Jasmine's second knife flashed downward in reflex.
That was her fatal mistake. The silver knife glanced harmlessly off Nico's stygian iron greave. Jasmine fell back, winded by the kick. With both her blades engaged, she had no defence as Nico stamped his foot down, lunging with his knife.
Jasmine twisted aside and half-managed to avoid the blow. The silver knife lanced across her ribs, drawing blood. Her riposte was viciously fast, but in her desperation to counterattack she lost her concentration and repeated her earlier mistake. Her horizontal slash sparked against his chestplate and bounced off. Nico's sword came around, whipping into the side of her head and across her face.
Jasmine stumbled back, half-blinded by the blood and pain. She put up her knives as Nico slashed again, managing to deflect his strike by pure luck.
The silver knife thudded into the centre of her stomach, sending a shiver through the hunter's body. Nico dropped to a crouch and lunged, stabbing her in the leg. Jasmine stumbled and fell.
"It's over." Nico disarmed her with a flick of his sword. With another flick he sliced her arm as she tried to shield herself, opening it to the bone. He put his boot down on her stomach, shifting his weight onto it. Jasmine screamed.
"That was for all the trouble you caused me," Nico growled. He upended his sword and plunged it into her ribs. Jasmine went rigid with agony.
"I can make this quick, or very slow." Nico twisted the sword in the wound. "Who put you up to this?"
Jasmine howled with pain.
"Who told you to destroy the hunt?" he roared.
"No one," Jasmine clawed feebly at the wound. "I've…been wanting to for a long time."
"Why?" Nico demanded.
"Artemis killed my family." Jasmine coughed, pink foam dribbling from the corner of her mouth.
"Why would she do that?"
"They abandoned me," Jasmine shuddered. "But they were still my family."
"Well now you can join them," Nico told her. "In the fields of punishment."
He got up and crossed to the bathroom, helped Thalia up.
"You all right?"
"I'll live." Thalia groaned. Her legs gave out and she collapsed into his arms.
"Falling into my arms?" Nico asked. "That's not appropriate for Artemis's Lieutenant."
"Shut up," Thalia mumbled. "Put me down."
Nico carried her across the room and dropped her onto the couch.
"Owwwww," Thalia moaned. "You jerk."
"Suck it up, tough girl."
The door blasted off it's hinges with a crash. Percy came charging in with a yell, sword in hand, followed by Annabeth. He lowered his sword as his gaze swept round the room, evidently realising that there wasn't a big battle going on.
"Where's the assassin?" he asked, taking a step towards them. He tripped over Jasmine's corpse and flailed for balance, waving his arms madly. Annabeth grabbed him and pulled him back to his feet.
"That answers your question,"
"My goodness," Percy shook his head at the corpse. "Overkill much?"
"No," Nico snapped. "Because I almost died."
Annabeth glanced down at the corpse. "Did you get anything out of her?"
"Artemis murdered her family, she wanted revenge, blah blah blah." Nico pulled his sword out, wiped it on the corpse and shoved it into his sheath.
"Seriously?" Thalia croaked from the couch. "That's it?"
"What a big waste of time." Nico kicked the corpse. "Tell Chiron about this, would you? I'm going back to my cabin. See you at dinner."
There was no funeral nor burial for the hunter Jasmine. Nico's skeletons dragged her corpse into the forest, dumping it close to the Myrmekes' nest.
The Hecate and Hephaestus cabins rebuilt the hunters' shrine, much larger this time to accomodate all the fallen hunters. From the outside it looked like a simple, low building, albeit made completely of silver. The interior was made of pale marble walls and polished silver tiles. Twenty-five stone coffins, neatly arranged in rows of five, took up most of the floor space. There were jars for flowers and cork boards on the walls to pen tributes to the fallen. Timber wolf and hawk sculptures watched from niches in the ceiling, concealed in the shadows. Nico stared up at them as he walked down the centre aisle, smiling grimly as he saw some of their eyes follow his movement. The next intruder who came to defile the shrine would not be able to leave so easily.
The hunters would stay for another week, waiting for Lisa to recover sufficiently enough to travel. Thalia was well on the mend, back on her feet. Her hair had grown out so a layer of black could be seen below the bright pink. Percy suggested getting a buzz cut, Annabeth wanted her to dye the roots pink to match the rest.
That night after the unveiling of the shrine, Nico dreamed.
A frozen landscape stretched out as far as the eye could see. Nico blinked, finding himself knee-deep in snow. His breath steamed in the cold air as he heaved himself up and out.
He wasn't particularly surprised that he'd appeared in a cold climate; it was winter after all. What he wanted to know was where he was and why he'd appeared here.
Nico banged his hands together, trying to fight the cold. Even though he knew he was in a dream, he had no desire to spend it freezing to death in snow. His thoughts moved sluggishly in his brain and he spaced out for a few seconds. He shook his head, trying to think.
He turned in place, trying to get his bearings. In front of him, a range of snowcapped mountains filled his view. On his right was an icy river, frozen solid. To his left was a maze of black tree trunks; a forest stripped bare by winter.
A nature reserve? That didn't narrow it down much. He glanced up and smiled.
High in the sky, the Aurora Borealis glowed, a highway of blue, green and purple, melding into one another as they danced across the sky. Now that was a significant landmark.
Something moved amongst the bare trunks. Nico's head whipped towards the movement.
A woman walked through the forest, slender and pale. Long black hair fell against a silver dress. Nico felt anger rise.
"Artemis!" he shouted.
The woman stopped.
"Where have you been?" Nico demanded, marching through the snow towards her. "Your hunters were decimated, by one of your own. They almost destroyed Camp Half-Blood. Why didn't you stop them? Where did you-"
Artemis turned and Nico recoiled. Her cold, piercing eyes glared like headlights. Her usually soft features were filled with fury and malevolence. Her entire form radiated hostility. Nico's eyes were wide with shock. "You're-"
The dream abruptly faded to black as if someone had yanked the cord out of a television screen. Nico woke with a start, sitting up in bed.
"What was that about?" he murmured.
Something hit the cabin door with a big THUMP.
"Nico!" Percy's voice yelled from outside. "Open up!" BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.
"Open it," Nico gestured to one of his butlers.
The door was pulled open, revealing Percy gasping on his doorstep, one arm holding the doorframe. Riptide was in his hand, presumably used to pound on his door.
"What's up?" Nico asked.
"Someone's kidnapped Thalia."
Well that's it, the assassin is dead. As always, thanks for the views! I have a question though, do you think I should continue the plot on this current story, or should I write it as a sequel? Tell me what you think.