Chapter 21: New Moon Gets A Time Out [1]

(Peter) [2][3]

We were in the mountains of one of the Hawaii islands, on the edge of the western world. The Hawaiian jungle was lush with life. I could hear small animals scurrying about and birds chirping their songs in the distance. Nearby was quiet. Most of the experienced hunters were meeting to plan our next campaign. The ones not involved in that had spread out across the mountain at their leisure. I had gone to an old spot of mine. I had found it countless years ago.

It was heaven to feel the warm embrace of the only hot spring in Hawaii after such a long night of fruitless hunting.[4] Sulfur and salt tinged the tropical fragrance of the jungle air as steam around me rose up in tendrils and caressed my face with its moisture. I sighed in delight and sank deeper into the healing waters of the spring.

"You look like an old man," a familiar voice snarked.

I opened my eyes. My vision slowly readjusted to my steamy atmosphere and the slight shimmer that seemed to cover everything these days. Despite the filter of haze, the surrounding jungle was bright with color even at this time of year. By contrast, the boulders that bordered the spring were the color of a moonless night. Each one was made of pure obsidian. Their midnight black glossy faces twinkled faintly in the moonlight like a second night sky. Finally, there was the beauty of the spring itself. The steam dancing into the night air and the water clear as glass were the finishing touches to the picturesque landscape, I found myself in. It was simply extraordinary how I could make out every detail beneath the oval pool's surface including how my silver one-piece kneeskin bathing suit and my shins and feet appeared ghostly pale against the black stone bottom of the hot spring pool.

Not that I cared for my appearance. It was of no consequence.

My eyes found my best friend instead. She was sitting on one of the rocks that marked the edge of the east side of the oblong spring. Her white one-piece bathing suit was even simpler than mine and yet, it accentuated her sun-kissed skin and her slender, athletic form. I would never understand how she managed to appear so winsome in even the plainest version of our hunter equipment.

How could I not admire the way she was leaning against her chosen perch with her long princess tresses styled into a loose braid that lay about one shoulder and her architecture book hanging artlessly in one hand, covering half her face like a fan? How could I not be drawn in by the expression on what was visible of her face? Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were filled with quiet mirth. Their gleam was like the moonlight itself due to the hue of her suit and the shimmer in the air.

I could not resist. I did not try. I smiled at my dearest friend whose unconscious natural beauty eclipsed even the spring's charm and said to her, "At least I am enjoying the bath instead of courting disaster." I gestured at her book. She had refused to give up reading despite how it clashed with our hunter lifestyle. In times like these, it was especially noticeable how dangerous her hobby was for her delicate inanimate friends.

Annabeth waved her free hand dismissively. "I'll get a naiad to repair it if—"

When. For it really was only a matter of time.

"—it gets damaged," she finished.

"You are so spoiled," I informed her with a teasing smile. I had taught her how to enlist the naiads' help when her first book was ruined. Now it was standard procedure. She always had an offering prepared to the purpose in her hunter gear.

Annabeth put a hand on her chest. Her fingers lay just above her breasts. "Me?" she said with mock indignation, "What about you, Princess Serenity?"

Princess Serenity, like Lady Selene? It was probably a reference, but the specifics alluded me, so I merely said, "That is a new one." [5]

Annabeth moved her shoulders in a graceful shrug. "Do you like it?" she asked hopefully.

My smile widened. "I do." Verily, it was a pretty epithet. Though I was unsure I deserved the moniker.

"I'll keep trying then," Annabeth said. Her pink lips were pursed in a pout

"I do not know why you insist on searching for an epithet I do not like," I countered. She never would find one. I liked all the names she gave me. It made me feel normal like I was just a regular teenage girl hanging out with her best friend instead of what I was.

"Because," Annabeth said. She waved her free hand again. "I need something to call you for when I'm mad at you for being annoying or stupid."

"I really do not think…" I trailed off as I spotted someone behind Annabeth. I did not know how the daughter of Zeus had found us. I had made sure to cover our trail, but there she was, creeping from between a patch of trees already dressed to swim in a bold black two-piece bikini decorated with silver spikes and chains that she had added herself.[6]

Our eyes met:

My nickel-gray to her electric blue.

Thalia mouthed, "You rat me out and I'll make sure that Zoë puts you down for skinning duty for the next three months." [7]

She made it sound like a hard choice. It was not. Before she went another step, I cried, "Annabeth! Behind you!"

Thalia scowled at me. She had been trying to devise a threat that I would take seriously for a while now. Like Annabeth and her epithets, she had had no luck thus far.

Annabeth heeded my words and turned to see the other hunter's approach.

"Oh. It's you," Annabeth said, "Hold on a min—"

As I predicted, Thalia did not 'hold on' a single instant. She immediately without hesitation or restraint used her demi-god powers to leap an impossible distance through the air. Annabeth shrieked as Thalia tackled her into the water with a large splash.

I shook my head as Thalia and Annabeth reemerged, causing diamonds of light to launch into the air.

"Let go of me, Airhead!" Annabeth snapped, flailing her limbs about in a wild, yet elegant way. "You completely soaked my book!"

The daughter of Zeus just guffawed with wicked joy and kept her hold around Annabeth. "Come on, little sister," she said, "We both know you'll just ask one of the naiads to fix it."

"That's not the point!" Annabeth cried before slapping the wet glob of what had been a book onto a nearby rock ledge. "You always do this!" It was true. More than half of Annabeth's ruined books were due to Thalia's jests.

"And yet," Thalia replied with a puckish smirk, "you always seem surprised."

"Argh!" Annabeth pushed her adoptive sister away and got some distance between them. Though, she stayed clear of the north side of the pool where I sat, for which I was thankful. Then she ordered Thalia to, "Go bother someone else."

"But you're so fun!" Thalia teased. "And, Zoë," Thalia's best friend, "is in another one of those boring officer meetings." [8]

"I don't care!" Annabeth protested. "We joined the hunters, so there are now tons of girls for you to harass besides me."

"But little sister," Thalia began in a grating voice I knew Annabeth despised.

"I'm not your little sister," Annabeth huffed.

A demonic gleam entered Thalia's eyes as she looked Annabeth up and down. "No, you're not little anymore, are you? In fact, you look bigger than last time."

I felt my cheeks warm. Annabeth had as they say 'walked right into that one'. She was in for a sisterly inspection.

"Thalia. No!" Annabeth said. Fear tinged her voice as she backed away from the demi-goddess whose hands were crackling with small electric sparks.

"Come on," Thalia coaxed, trying to sound calm and reasonable. "Let me see how big you really are!" The daughter of Zeus added with a leer.

Annabeth splashed Thalia with water.

Thalia spluttered. Her predatory expression faded and she laughed, but I knew it was not over.

"Now you've done it," Thalia declared right before she pounced again. Annabeth splashed her once more, but that did not deter Thalia from her goal. Soon the two were a writhing mass in the water.

Annabeth was screaming like a fury. My heart thudded involuntarily. It was an effort to stay still and neutral in my corner.

The very first time Thalia had done something like this, I had come to Annabeth's immediate rescue. I had been ready to challenge Thalia to a hunter duel of honor or at the very least report Thalia's strange behavior to Lady Artemis, but before I could enter into either venture, they had explained to me actively on Thalia's part and begrudgingly on Annabeth's that this was a sibling thing. Siblings, as I had long since learned, were bizarre creatures.

Thus, that day I was taught a valuable lesson. As such, this night I knew to listen for the suppressed giggling between the horseplay and all of Annabeth's melodious shrieking. Someday, I might even find their antics amusing. There was something to be said about watching the two trained warriors act like regular girls at a pool party. Each was flushed with excitement and youth as they thrashed about.

Then, at last, Thalia managed to get behind Annabeth and lock her in an iron-clad hold around the waist.

Annabeth wiggled in a last attempt to free herself, but Thalia was having none of it. Her wandering hands moved with far too much precision.

Annabeth explained to me once that Thalia's charged hands would make even the most stoic person feel sensitive and ticklish. My best friend tried not to give into the sensation her sister was inflicting on her. Her eyes were shut tight. Her face was flushed pink with exertion and her mouth was closed in a beguiling grimace, but it was all for not.

Thalia fondled the skin on the sensitive spot near the right side of Annabeth's collarbone, and a wordless moan escaped Annabeth's lips.

I suddenly felt both very cold and very hot. My embarrassment was overwhelming. I looked away. Sometimes their antics really were too much for me.

Thalia noticed. "Hey!" she called.

I reluctantly turned back to face her and Annabeth.

My best friend lay half-limp in Thalia's arms. Annabeth's gaze was at her feet and she was giving them a small self-deprecating smile.

Thalia, meanwhile, was aglow with victory. A predatory glint reentered the daughter of Zeus's eyes as she suggestively asked, "Do you wanna make this a threesome, N—"

Her mouth formed my name, but nothing came out.

I waited.

She did not finish her sentence.

"Thalia?" I asked, not daring to come closer in case this was another one of the demi-goddess's tricks. I addressed Annabeth next, "Annabeth, is your sister alright?"

Annabeth did not look at me.

"Annabeth?" I asked again.

There was only silence and not just around the hot spring, it seemed like the entire jungle was quiet. I felt a shiver go down my spine.

"Annabeth? Thalia?" I said more urgently, hoping that one of them, probably Thalia would come alive and tell me that 'they got me good'. However, neither of them moved. Everything was so still like the whole world had paused. Even the steam seemed to have stopped moving.

The only thing that had changed was the haze. It was thicker than before, like a shimmering curtain that covered everything all around me. I swallowed. "Come on, you two, end this farce. I do not find it funny."

Still nothing.

I cautiously waded through the water. It was a slow procession east. The water was as warm as ever, but it had become thick and viscous like half-dried mud.

I reached the girls and gently caressed Annabeth's cheek. Her skin was warm and somewhat pliable, but not as soft and yielding as I imagined it should be. Annabeth, too, was being far too accommodating. I had never engaged in such an unprecedented intimacy with my best friend before now, and yet she did not tell me to stop. She did not pull away, scream, swatted my hand, or laugh and tell me my hands were too rough.

All of those dreaded reactions would be preferable to her current docility. It was like she was a doll. I waited for a time, but still, she did not react. She did not move. She did not blink. She did not even breathe.

A brief clasping of Thalia's forearm proved she too was completely unresponsive.

Faced with these new facts, the disbelief that had dulled my initial movements faded away and was replaced by a searing panic. Something was very wrong. I needed to find Lady Artemis.

Right.

Now.

Surely, she was awake and able.

With effort, I trudged over to the edge of the spring and pulled myself out. My arm strained as the water fought to hold me with the death grip of quicksand, but I was determined, and in the end, I won the battle.

The moment I was free, I ran. I sprinted. I dashed through the suddenly sinister jungle as fast as I could, but it was not fast at all. It felt like I was moving through water. Every leaf I brushed felt stiff and the ground was just as unyielding. Even the air was affected. It was hard to breathe, let alone run.

It seemed like hours had gone by before I finally reached the grass clearing where we had set up camp. The place looked vacant, save the guard wolves and falcons. The wolves appeared to be peacefully asleep by the large fire pit, so their inanimate state was less obvious than the falcons in the trees above. The usually restless birds' stern gazes were fixed and unwavering as I crossed the compound. Several birds were even frozen in midflight above me. Each was ready to change their watch-post but was denied their goal by the night's strange circumstances.

I did my best to ignore my growing disquiet. It did not matter that the animals I had grown to love looked like stuffed versions of themselves. Nor did it matter that the usually bright and welcoming silver tents of the hunters now struck me as oddly dark and foreboding. All that mattered was getting to the seventh and largest tent, Lady Artemis's tent.

I entered Lady Artemis's stronghold and was surrounded by a warmth that came from silk rugs, animal pelts, throw pillows, and a bright fire. As expected, the large tent was filled with some of Artemis's most trusted hunters. They were all gathered around a large oak table. Strone about its surface were maps and plans for our next big hunt.

The bespectacled Phylonoe was angrily gesturing at a map of Alaska, apparently arguing that we should return to the continent and explore that snowy tundra in the hopes of finding a monster to best, but Phylonoe's twin sister, Polly, had her arms crossed and from her livid expression, it was clear that she was against the idea.[9] Everyone knew she hated the cold and despised Alaska, in particular, ever since the "Incident".[10] The two siblings' argument seemed to be getting quite heated and poor Phoebe, currently our best tracker and newest officer, held an arm out beseechingly to each sister in a futile act of mediation.[11]

Meanwhile Genia, the oldest officer besides Zoë, stared at the displayed maps with a look of intense concern and concentration on her worldly face as she held the small hand of Sip who also seemed deeply worried.[12] The sweet blonde-haired blue-eyed deceptively young hunter was biting her lip and glancing over at Artemis's grand oak chair obviously deferring her opinion to the goddess and her trusty lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade.[13] On a normal night, Zoë or Artemis would tell the other hunters to settle down. Then Artemis would as they say 'lay down the law'.

However, tonight, the familiar scene of discourse and debate had become uncanny, unsettling, and unfamiliar, for everyone in the tent from little Sip to the towering Polly was as inert as Annabeth and Thalia had been. Even the fire was frozen.

And worse of all, Sip, who was so earnestly looking to our goddess for guidance, stared at nothing but empty air. For in the place of honor where Artemis should have been was nothing but air and blank space. She and her faithful lieutenant were gone.

No.

My eyes scanned the tent as if the two of them were just hiding in a corner or had just stepped out to ascertain the situation as I had.

Such a hope was unfounded. Their chairs were positioned like two women were occupying them still. They were neither pulled out nor fully tucked into the table. Instead, the chairs were the perfect distance for Artemis and Zoë to sit comfortably. Furthermore, Zoë's quill pen was still poised centimeters above a sheet of parchment ready to take down another note, like she was still holding it.

I was a hunter. I was a tracker, a warrior, and a detective. My years of experience told me, Artemis and Zoë were not hiding nor were they not exploring like I was. The goddess and her nymph had not left this room by typical mortal means.

My eyes stared at Zoë's quill pen, like it held all the answers as I stood there and tried to think. Sneakier than sleep, my mind pulled me towards a musing too dark to contemplate, and yet, it was too late to unknow such a thought. It made too much sense. Far too much sense. Terror coursed through me hot as Hawaiian lava.

No.

I turned and ran back outside.

It could not be I told myself. It did not matter that the pieces fit together better than an animal skeleton. It was not possible. It could not be possible.

With all the desperation, hope, and longing, of a fox trying to escape a trap, I looked up at the night sky. I yearned to be wrong. To see the wild smattering of constellations and wispy clouds under the tender light of a crescent moon.

It was not to be so.

As I feared, the night sky was a blank canvas of empty soul-crushing darkness. There were no clouds, no stars, and most importantly, no moon.

No!

"Artemis!" I shouted at the sky. "Lady Artemis, where are you!"

"ARTEMIS!" I screamed her name.

I called for her again and again, asking her to answer, to show herself, to explain what was happening. I sent her my prayers, my pleas, my fear, my sadness, and finally, my rage.

She did not come.

No one came.

For as long as I stood out there in the hazy Hawaiian jungle, nothing changed. Nothing moved, not even time. I was stuck in a frozen world, abandoned and alone.

Footnotes

[1] Also known as the hot springs' episode. Expect some PG-13 anime fanservice.

[2] Technically, but there's no Peter in this chapter. It is all New Moon. As such, this is a good place to look for clues for New Moon's identity.

[3] I realize fanservice and the lack of Peter might be a deterrent for some but this and Chapter 23 are some of my favorite chapters in this fic, so give it a chance.

[4] Hawaii only has "warm" springs apparently. So, I guess this place is a real find.

[5] It's a reference to Sailor Moon.

[6] This is how I guessed Bianca's underwear color in footnote 8 of chapter 13. I assumed that hunter underwear came in similar colors to their swimwear i.e., white (Annabeth), black (Thalia), or silver (New Moon).

[7] When I first read this back in the day, I assumed this was some sort of oversight or mistake and that the authors had forgotten that Thalia was the daughter of Ares in their fic. Now I can say, it is no such thing. Make of that what you will.

[8] Considering New Moon's idea of friendship when it comes to Annabeth, Thalia's behavior here, Ares Thalia's "friendship" with Drew, and the fact that this fic takes place before people learned what happened to lesbian hunter couples, I seriously have to wonder about the nature of Thalia's and Zoë's "friendship".

[9] I believe both Phylonoe and Polly are maidens of Artemis from mythology. Phylonoe and Polyboia (my best guess for Polly) are both referred to as a princess of Lakedaimonia. Sometimes they are considered to be the same person. So, it makes sense to me that they are twins here. Phylonoe means mind of the people, so maybe she's wearing glasses to show she's smart.

[10] Yeah. I have no idea, but considering the pool episode shenanigans earlier in the chapter, I bet it was something special.

[11] You all remember Phoebe from PJO Titan's Curse, right? I could not find a mythological story behind her inclusion in this group. I think her presence is just a show of continuity which is a seemingly rare blessing in this chapter.

[12] More hunters from mythology: Genia is probably Iphigeneia, a princess of Mykenai, who was made immortal by Artemis after the poor girl was offered as a sacrifice. And lastly, Sip is probably short for Sipriotes. The myth is that Sip was a little boy who accidentally saw Artemis bathing. After Artemis caught them, the goddess gave them the option of becoming a girl and joining the hunt, or dying. Sip, a smart kid, chose life.

[13] Because Sip became a hunter at a young age, I suspect she's stayed a little kid this whole time which would explain the deceptively young comment.

A/N: So that was...one of my favorite chapters...

Yeah...

It almost seemed wrong to have footnotes for this one, but as my delta reader had some serious questions for me after reading this(This is his first time experiencing this dubious masterpiece. He helps me figure out whether I need to add a footnote), I decided to keep them in. I realize this chapter raises a lot of questions. I hope you're enjoying the intrigue. Let me know with a review.

Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. It's so nice to know I'm not talking into a void.

Also thank you for the favs and follows! I feel like this fic is really starting to get seen.

:)

Next chapter we go back to Her Ladyship. This is the last chance to request that song. Also, I'll be taking more New Moon guesses. I'll reveal another incorrect guess for New Moon in Chapter 23.

See you next time!