Chapter 2: A Hellhound Eats My Toast
Author's Note: Ok, so a bit of friendly advice to my fellow writers out there. If you want to be vague and mysterious in your opening chapter, be prepared to pay for it in the second. Because I wrote the opening of this story based on feel in some really random burst of writer's clarity I didn't have to touch on much of my intended plot points. And that's mostly because they didn't exist. Elise had no past quest enemy, or much else besides a stubborn personality and missing twin brother. Anyway, since then I've pieced together two quest prophecies, a slew of support characters (past and present) and the rough details of this current mission. Half of it because it was necessary and half of it because I'm a details freak. Hopefully, all that heavy lifting makes things easier from here. I do not own the PJO universe. If I did I wouldn't have slog through all the research on names and weaponry on my own. Please stop in and review if you can!
Elise could obviously say that she'd slept better, even in this cabin of all places. She remembered coming around at least three separate times during the night, still feeling weak and slightly delirious, but also cagey and restless. An average demigod's dreams and memories were usually bad enough, but Elise's often made her want to bolt out of bed and never go back. But each time she'd jerked or lashed out in a haze of mental or psychical pain last night, Ezra had been there. He'd immediately put his book down and spring out of his camp chair to her side, either fussing to make sure she didn't pull out her IV drip or wrench her shoulder out of its new sling. If they'd briefly made eye contact, he would just smile and gently squeeze her arm until she faded off again.
At one point, Elise had been so out of it, she was convinced there was a hellhound in the cabin. She could've sworn to the gods that she'd seen a large black shape moving behind Ezra's shoulder; and thus, had clumsily brought her arm back to load an arrow into a bow that didn't exist. But instead of being alarmed, Ezra had simply pulled her back down and held her there until the wave of fear had subsided, all the while muttering soothingly about the dangers of realistic feeling dreams. But just as she'd drifted off again, she could've sworn he'd whispered something else, something like 'give her time to recover before shocking her all over again', before getting a high-pitched, un-human whine as a response.
Finally though, Elise came to for real. She felt both refreshed and hyper aware of her surroundings, which is typically how one feels after coming through an ordeal in which they are not able to take care of themselves. The cabin was essentially just two rooms on the ground floor, a large front room and a long, thin one in the back that served as the bathroom. The front room would've been very familiar to Elise, even if she'd never had the privilege of using it before. It had the same minimalistic, survivalist layout as all of Lady Artemis's various safe havens across the globe. There were several rows of folding metal camp beds, each with a green or khaki canvas stretched tight across the top of the frame. One silver fabric encased pillow and a thin, standard issue silver cotton blanket also sat on each of them, at the head and foot respectively. Also at the foot of each cot, was a small trunk for the temporary storage of a Huntress's gear bag and weapons. A quick look down at her own sleeping arrangements though, revealed that Ezra must've tied two of uncomfortable beds together, before covering them with all manner of blankets and extra pillows. Elise even recognized a couple of the spare silver sleeping bags the Hunters kept in the cabin's attic storage area. She found herself smirking a bit at his thoughtfulness before leaning back on her pillows and resuming her eyeball tour.
Three of the exposed timber walls were sparsely decorated; some skillfully done paintings and carvings of Lady Artemis's best hunts, a few antique weapons and the odd trophies won by various Hunters were spread about with an almost inexplicable randomness. The monster trophies could be rather awe-inspiring however, which was no doubt the reason some of them had been left behind. Well, that and they were simply too heavy to be trudging around the globe with.
For instance, bracketing the doorframe, Elise could admire the dark ebony tusks of an enormous black boar the Hunt had once brought down on the African plains. Even though she'd only travelled with the group for a few months upon joining up, the teen remembered that glorious three-day hunt quite vividly. It had been Zoe Nightshade, their lieutenant at the time, who had eventually been awarded credit for the kill shot that had pierced the massive beast's underbelly and travelled forward into its heart.
She was just about to recall how the intrepid Zoe had managed to set up such a remarkably angled shot, when the door creaked open. She got a quick glimpse of Ezra's light ash brown hair and grey hoodie as he carefully backed into the room… before the dark blur reappeared, bounding across the room and leaping onto the foot of her double-wide cot. Jerked forward, as the whole makeshift bed lifted a few inches off the ground, Elise let out an involuntary yell of surprise and again reached for weapons that were nowhere to be seen. When all she got was a handful of pillow, the teen felt the familiar prick of battle anxiety and her mind started to go into overdrive looking for a back-up plan. But the hellhound just licked her playfully, its massive pink tongue scrapping across the side of her head and neck like wet sandpaper. The surprised Huntress almost fell out of the bed. By all rights and logic, she ought to have been dog chow by now.
She came back to her senses to hear Ezra laughing. "Morning Princess! Bet you've never met a friendly part-hellhound before eh?" he said cheerfully.
Elise caught a glimpse of his electric blue eyes twinkling mischievously as he set a breakfast tray down on the small collapsible table he'd set up near her bed. Next, he casually plopped down into the canvas camp chair on the opposite side of the table and started pulling things out of his pockets; two cartons of milk (one chocolate, one plain), a tube of ointment, rolls of gauze and bandages, a bag of dog treats, a small red leather-bound notebook and a few gold drachmas to name most of it. But truthfully, Elise was barely paying attention to him. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she set her deep green eyes on the food. There was a tall stack of buttered toast and strawberry jam, a generous mound of scrambled eggs with vegetables and bits melty yellow cheese sprinkled through and, to top it all off, a bowl of still steaming oatmeal with fresh blackberries and cream floating in the middle.
Suddenly, the hellhound put a heavy forepaw down on her leg and licked her good arm. Elise flinched and tore her gaze from the first hot meal she'd seen in days. Ignoring Ezra's snort of renewed mirth, she forced herself to be calm as she surveyed the monster…sorry…part -hellhound with interest. The 17-year-old could honestly say she'd never been this close to one before, alive or dead. Sure she had seen pictures of them, fought them in dark forests and in sun drenched fields, but she'd never taken time to appreciate how much they looked like abnormally large mastiffs.
"She's a she by the way," Ezra commented lazily, around a mouthful of toast. Elise scowled at the fact that he was starting in on what she'd assumed was her food and suddenly darted out a hand and grabbed a toast triangle. "Re-lax princess, you can't eat all this right now anyway, even if you usually could. You'd hurl ya know?" He quirked his eyebrows and started scribbling something in his notebook before adding, "She likes toast too, just for your information." Elise grunted through her mouthful and went back to assessing the small mountain sharing her blankets.
The giant dog's eyes were a clear, intense red-orange, like a fire reflected in the surface of a pair of shining rubies. But despite the intensity of the stare, Elise was no longer afraid. For these eyes also radiated a certain honest and friendly quality that had automatically succeeded in putting her more at ease. In fact, they almost made her feel safe. The great hound also had a large head with wide, heavy features. Worry lines creased the thick fur around her eyes and she had a large, flat black nose the teenager could surely rest her whole hand on. Elise had also expected to see black fur everywhere, rolls and rolls of thick black fur as dark as the depths of Tartarus. But instead, this big girl was too light by far. A dusting of white covered her lower body, leaving an unusual slate grey base coat with uneven patches of dark and light occasionally breaking through to the surface. Elise could also see creamy spots on the backs of her half-flopped ears and a stripe of it right down the center of her brindled, muscular chest. The dog panted eagerly and wagged her long, thin tail.
"She's beautiful," murmured Elise sincerely, "Is…is she yours?"
Ezra beamed and nodded. "Since the day she was born," he added proudly.
The Huntress chewed thoughtfully on her toast. Sweet strawberry jam and rich, fresh butter assailed her tongue and made her stomach wriggle happily, almost threatening to sweep her back into the painful embrace of memory lane. Countless breakfasts by the canoe lake or the in the stands of the arena after an early morning session…She coughed loudly and intentionally. Ezra blinked and pretended not to notice that she'd gotten far away on him.
"So. So…how does one come to own a part hellhound, part…?" she asked carefully. She was immeasurably grateful when he chose to just answer the question instead of prying into her head. While he was thinking, she grabbed the carton of plain milk and balanced another piece of toast on her knee while she drank it. Thankfully, her stomach hadn't started complaining just yet.
"Part Siberian husky," he finished easily, "See that's the key to it I suppose. At home, well my mother's obviously, I've got a male Siberian husky named Shackleton. He was errrr…doing his thing, running around the property, and you know… just romanced a hellhound." Then the boy shrugged, as if to say, I know, weird shit right?
Elise measured her next question even more carefully. Obviously, the how of it was something that could be left to her imagination. I mean, they were demigods right? Weird, scientifically illogical shit was their lot in life. A Siberian husky and a hellhound shouldn't have even registered low readings on her weird-o-meter. All the same, the Huntress willed her mind to refocus onto a less gross topic. "Mmm, so…how'd you get her away from the mother?" she asked curiously, "I mean the beast was probably there to skewer you in the first place right?" There, good one. That was a mature, practical question. She caught Ezra biting back the snark he'd no doubt prepared in case she'd asked the obvious question instead. Poor bastard, she thought, he's probably had to answer that one a few times too many. He's probably rather good at it by now too.
"Yea…" he explained slowly, his eyes becoming wistful and noticeably more endearing, "Yea, I was 12 when the whole thing went down. Now I don't know when Shack had gotten her pregnant, but one day after school I was riding my horse deep on the property…no don't even go there yet (he physically waved her potential questions about his money away)…when this great bear-like motherload (Elise found that he couldn't help rising from his seat and gesturing grandly as he narrated) just came thundering out of the trees towards us. And all I remember thinking was, 'Oh Gods, I hope this thing doesn't kill Caspian'…that's my horse btw…and then, all of a sudden, I feel this weight on my back. A bow and arrows, naturally. I mean, I'm sure as shit not the only Apollo kid who's gotten those in a time of need eh? Anyway, so I managed to nock one, mid-gallop mind, and then I waited until she got innnnn rannnnn-gggge (Ezra drew back an imaginary bow for Elise's benefit)… and I shot her between the eyes. Almost like I'd been taking down hellhounds all my life." Finished, he glanced her way, his eyes afire with excitement and pride. Then, upon registering her placid, un-awed reaction, the fire in his eyes flickered out and he brought his arms up from the bow position to awkwardly rub the back of his head. He grinned almost shyly and pulled a face.
Elise thought 'almost shyly' because it occurred to her that this guy was the sort that rarely did anything that way. He only pretended he did. "Almost like you were born to it," she added readily. She found his gaze again and locked into it. She wouldn't let him get away with turning this into some 'aw shucks, no big deal' moment on her watch. When you were as battle-tested as she was, you had a way of appreciating every victory you'd ever won. That hellhound could've won that day and he could've been dead. Another young hero cut down before they could grow old. There wasn't any room in demigod's life for false modesty and indifference, at least not where monsters were concerned.
The longer they stared at each other, the more the fire re-stoked itself in Ezra's eyes. They were sharing an empathic link that was downright unnatural for two people who'd only met each other last night. In fact, Elise could hardly even say last night's weird verbal sparring match counted as meeting. She'd been so weak and dazed it was something she just barely remembered now. But yet, here they were, recognizing in each other the same instincts. She knew he understood her, but she decided to say her bit anyway.
"Don't be afraid to own your accomplishments in battle," Elise said clearly, speaking more for a change like the woman she was than the teenager she appeared as, "It diminishes the deed and, if you let it, it'll diminish you as well."
Ezra nodded solemnly and returned to his chair. His hand drummed rhythmically on the cover of his notebook. Aware that she was being ignored, the hellhound bounced off the bed without warning, propped her forepaws on her owner's lap and scoffed the last four pieces of toast in one fell swoop. The two teens glanced at each other ruefully and Ezra smiled.
"Corona!" he chided playfully, instantly more himself again, "Get your own breakfast why don't ya?" Corona whined and licked his knee. Ezra echoed his sentiments with even less conviction as she nuzzled her head between his hands so he could fondly scratch her ears.
"Ah, so that's her name," said Elise, with a small smile of her own, "I was beginning to think she didn't have one." Ezra humphed quietly and grinned back before returning his attention to his pet. Elise would've been blind not to recognize the devotion these two had for each other. Furthermore, she pitied any soul who willingly tried to harm either of them, for they'd certainly pay with their life. "So, you never really answered my question," she commented with surprising lightness (something about seeing these two together just seemed to automatically lift her spirits), "Taking down a charging hellhound isn't exactly like signing adoption papers for her unseen, unborn pups."
"Oh they were born," Ezra corrected her, "But the aftermath of my first 'battle' comes first. Now of course I didn't have a satyr or anyone with me, like most kids do after their first shocking, life-altering demigod experience, to explain what's really happening to them. So, after I dismounted Caspian and watched this giant beast I'd just felled dissolve to dust before my eyes, I didn't know what to do. All that was left of her was two massive canine teeth, both about three times as long as my little 12-almost-13 year-old boy hands! But I just knew, deep down, that I had to pick them up and keep them. This was it… this was finally going to be my proof. See, my mother had always humored me when I'd told her of something weird I'd seen… but she'd never told me I was right before. This time, I was determined to make her understand. The beautiful bow and arrows and these huge teeth couldn't be denied. Caspian, of course, had finally bolted back toward the house and stables at this point, no doubt in shock that there are dogs out there bigger than he is…so I had to walk back on my own. Well, run back actually. I'm sure as you know; a near-death experience can really get the legs working. Then finally, just as I was getting near the stables with the giant teeth rattling in my arms, I saw him. He was just there, standing in the doorway waiting for me, wearing this bright plaid shirt in all the colors of the sun and these tight, tight jeans with a ridiculously large belt buckle of a golden sun and leather boots. Fair, sun-kissed hair my mom had always longingly talked about and eyes just like mine…and in that moment I knew. Anyway, first thing he says is 'I think you might want to see this', before jerking his head and ducking back inside. Just…that. 'I think you might want to see this.' Suppose when you've got so many children…"
Ezra paused and scratched his chin. Corona's head was balanced in his lap. Elise waited patiently. Seeing one's godly parent for the first time was an experience fraught with all sorts of emotion and she didn't need to be told how hard explaining it was. Finally, Corona whined low and gave him a moony sort of glance.
The teenager started at the noise and sheepishly returned to the story. "Yea…yea so I'm still standing there, taking in the moment, when he yells 'Now son, hurry or you'll miss your chance!' That gets me going. I drop the teeth, bolt in and look around…and there, right in one of the horse stalls are two little dark grey pups sitting in the hay, one with its eyes still shut. 'Hellhounds,' Dad says, 'Wait for the moment now, wait and be the first thing she sees and you'll have her protection for life.' Now mind you, I've recently been almost killed by the grown-up version of one of these and I've got like a million questions for him…but all we do is stand there and wait. And before long (He strokes Corona's head as he talks), this beautiful girl's pretty red eyes flutter open and hone in on me…and the rest is history," Ezra explains contentedly.
Elise had to admit that it was a hell of a story. Most young demigods just got gnarly scars or dead monster parts the day they learn the truth (if they were lucky), let alone a face-to-face with their parent and a pet hellhound. "What about the other pup?" she asked curiously, "Who did it see when it opened its eyes?"
"My little sister Meg," he replied, "She'd gone running off to the house for my mother a few minutes before I arrived, according to Dad. She never saw him. But he finally addressed me. He explained what we both were, identified himself as the Sun God and our father, expressed regret over his last, almost 10 years of absence since my sister was born and asked about my mother. Then, after he urged me to tell her it was 'time for camp', he put a hand on my shoulder, took the bow and the quiver from my back and shrunk them into this notebook (He plucked it off the table as he talked) and this wooden bookmark." Elise could see a thin strip of brightly colored wood, natural grains of reddish-orange melding together inside a thin metal border of dark bronze. Two small bronze arrow insets also decorated the object, one pointing north to south and the other the inverse. This resulted in the points of both arrows nearly touching in the center. A quick look at the notebook's cover also showed her the same insignia stamped in gold.
"So the bookmark's the bow then?" guessed Elise astutely, "A part Celestial bronze, part wooden longbow I'd wager too."
The young male archer nodded in confirmation. "And the notebook's the quiver. Stroke the spine and the pages bend back around and merge into a circle. Then it hollows out and gets longer until it's the proper size and strapped to my back."
Elise frowned, remembering something from last night's haze. "But that's not the same bow you had trained on me yesterday then is it? Wasn't that a heavy metal bow with thick, blunted arrows?" she asked.
Ezra nodded and joked, "You've got some eye… for a half-dead girl. That was a cabin specialty bow. Co-designed with the Hephaestus bunch to help us shoot firework arrows. Currently, only about 6 people in the entire camp have the strength to fire the thing though. That's why I had it last night… I was out showing Cabin 9 how we Apollos have been fiddling with it."
"Wait," said the Huntress mock-seriously, "You were going to shoot me… with a firework?" She stared him down.
"Well…" began Ezra, scratching his head, "Erm…not really. It was just the closest weapon on hand, by that I mean literally in my hand already, and I thought you might just be some bloody Aphrodite stalker for Gods sakes! You know, wave a weapon at them and they usually scamper off…only then I actually met you and I realized how wrong I was."
Elise snorted. She couldn't help it. The idea of her as some love-crazed Aphrodite girl simply took the cake. "Oh so the Aphrodites favor drab colors and leather crusted in forest grime these days?" she said innocently. Ezra rolled his eyes. "You know," Elise continued thoughtfully, "I think a firework may be the only thing that's never been shot at me before."
Ezra's blue eyes widened and danced. "Hmm…well arrows, bullets and darts are obvious. What about… wads of paper? BB's? Peas?" he challenged. Elise nodded and bit back a smile as she watched his face screw up in concentration. "A torpedo? Giant rocks? Harpoons? A bazooka missile?" he peppered out earnestly.
Elise sighed. A bazooka missile? Damn, leave it to the kid to have an imagination. "Ugh alright! A bazooka missile is rather specific don't you think? Let's just say I've experienced explosive rocket-style missiles of many varieties before ok?" She watched the boy scowl and open his mouth to ask how this was possible. "No," she cut in, "Too many stories ok? Not enough hours."
The teenager closed his mouth and made an indistinct noise of frustration before nodding in defeat. "Shame…" he reflected sadly. Then, after a few seconds, he jumped back in. "But really though…full-on military warheads? That's crazy. I mean you're a Huntress, not a combat soldier! I mean, my bow can reform to shoot darts and paint balls and little stuff like that, but sometimes I just want even more fire power… you know?" he rambled. Elise was suddenly reminded how long it'd truly been since she'd spent any time with a teenage boy.
"How very Ares of you," she snarked, eyes rolling with exaggerated judgment, "Does Dad know you're a munitions junkie?"
Ezra frowned and waved her off. "Ha-ha," he dead-panned, "Watch it Wilderness Princess, you joke… but my weapon can tag you with most small to medium sized ammo from distances of over 200 ft with pin-point accuracy as it is. There's no harm in a guy wanting a little bit more pop is all."
She nodded slowly and tried to look impressed. Which was harder than she'd imagined, given the fact that she actually was. The problem though: Elise had simply dealt with far too many magical weapons and other crazy objects in her life for her to stir up any awe and wonder over them anymore. But this bow was obviously Ezra's baby, and she still remembered how to be polite. Well…sort of.
"Mmm… very nice. My weapon wasn't nearly as multi-faceted. It was an Imperial gold and adamantium longbow. Dad (it was getting easier to use that word again) had a sword like it once, did you know? Gave it to Hermes for a lyre, but apparently never forgot what a lethal combination those two elements could make. My...my brother and I (On the other hand, she couldn't believe how hard it had become to use that phrase aloud) both had one. Dad gave them to us on our 14th birthday. He said we would have had them sooner, only they were rather tricky to get right. Apparently, Hephaestus himself spent large parts of two years working on them. They were indestructible," she concluded wistfully, eyes now boring a hole in her blankets.
Just that short story had been enough to wipeout the good mood she'd been in. Elise now had a lump in her throat that felt like the boulder she'd used to anchor the weapon for its trip to the depths. She willed herself not to cry. And normally, if she concentrated hard enough, she really could bury the tears inside. She could almost pretend that it had been someone else's memory, watching as the gold metal glinted in the sunlight one last time as it disappeared…
"Was indestructible?" Ezra cut into her thoughts, his voice polite but also probing, "That's not a phrase you hear every day." He realized she was upset, but it would actually prove important that they talk about this.
Elise could feel his gaze on her and knew he wasn't letting her leave the story there. So she let out a shaky sigh and attempted to still her nerves again. After all, just a few hours of restless sleep and an IV drip didn't mean she was completely herself again. Well, she really hadn't been herself for a long time. But who was counting those days anymore? "Who knows?" she said, scowling and idly drawing circles on her blankets, "I…I dropped into Long Island Sound when I…when I…" Her voice faltered and she bit her tongue hard. She glanced up at Ezra.
"When you joined the Hunt," he finished quietly, eyes heavy with understanding. She almost got the feeling that he'd wanted to end that with another phrase. Maybe the reason she'd joined the Hunt for example. But he hadn't.
"Yea," murmured Elise gratefully, "I use one of their standard issue silver bows now."
Ezra nodded and she thought the topic was closed. That was good, considering the loss of that fine weapon haunted her almost as much as the other losses she'd suffered in the past. As if sensing her pain, Corona returned to the cots effortlessly and nudged the girl with her head. This time, Elise accepted the hellhound's company easily, gently running her hand along the beast's back and flank.
"Don't be shy about going harder," Ezra urged her, "Corona appreciates a nice rubdown."
Elise responded by pouring all her swirling emotions into it, even shifting her hand out of the sling (when Ezra had turned away) in order to get a better grip on the smooth grey dog. She noticed he'd gotten up and was moving things in the background, but remained focused on the small square of bedding in front of her like it was the only thing on Earth. Corona whined happily.
After a while Ezra cleared his throat and called out casually, "So uh… how's that Huntress bow been working out for ya?"
"Fine," replied Elise, still not looking up, "It's magical in its own right you know. Lady Artemis designed them herself."
"Yea?" he questioned, bent over a large duffel bag on the floor, "So uh…no room for improvements then?" His tone was innocent, but Elise suddenly detected another level to the conversation. She stopped patting Corona and immediately gave him her full attention. Something about petting the dog had, for the time being, succeeded in un-clouding her thoughts. He came back over to her, holding a small black silk drawstring bag.
The younger demigod's countenance was troubled. To Elise, it almost seemed like he was embarrassed. "Look uh…I'm going to give you something right now. Something we've been holding on to for a while on Dad's orders. Just…whatever you do…don't freak ok?" he asked nervously. Elise's face was blank on purpose. This wasn't going to be just any gift.
Instead of waiting for her to agree, Ezra quickly dropped the bag into her lap and hovered next to the bed. The tension coming off him was palpable, but Elise couldn't understand why. It wasn't like he could possibly have…
She drew back the strings and allowed the object to fall into her palm. Automatically she unclenched. The object in her hand was a beautiful watch. The object's dark red rectangular dial with the golden Roman numerals circling the edges was encased in gold and the deep red leather strap had gold details highlighting the crocodile pattern cracks stamped into its surface. A miniature circle in the dial's center also told the time down to the second if you needed it. Elise held the object carefully and glanced at Ezra. "What is this Cowen?" she asked suspiciously, "Another bow or something?" She certainly knew a magical object when she saw one. The only good thing was it wasn't what she had feared. Her old weapon had turned into a gold fountain pen with a black leather grip when not in use.
The teenage camper recognized the use of his last name only, and for the first time to boot, which meant she wasn't messing around. "No," he said plainly, looking her directly in the eye, "Same bow. Just repurposed a bit."
Elise's blood ran cold. She promptly dropped the watch onto the bed so that no part of it was touching her. No, she thought stubbornly, it's a sick joke is all. Stupid kid, he doesn't know the details of what happened on the quest. He doesn't know how that… that thing failed me when I needed it most. He doesn't realize how I can't as much as look at it without being reminded of Adam.
Ezra gave her a pitying look. He could tell that the old weapon was obviously tied to more than nostalgic memories for her, but she'd had to know the truth eventually.
"Prove it," she demanded suddenly, unable to keep the edge of fear out of her voice, "Let's see it as the bow." Ezra wordlessly stooped down and pressed a trigger switch on the back of the watch. The piece of jewelry rapidly sprung into action, and after a few whirs and clicks… there it lay. Her old bow. It even still had the two ding marks below the grip from what had been a particularly stubborn and vicious Stymphalian bird. A quick look at her hands confirmed that she still bore the scars from that fight as well.
She glanced sideways at the beautiful weapon again, still torn up by its sudden appearance. Yea, it had seen her through some tight scraps, but against Actaeon… disaster. Two snapped bow strings, not enough power to penetrate the revengeful hunter's magical armor, the exploding arrow…
No, she thought, visibly cringing, this is the start of that slippery slope called guilt remember? If you blame your weapon, you blame yourself for her death all over again. It was Actaeon (with Nemesis's aid) that doomed us all. But images of everything that had gone wrong 19 years ago swam through Elise's head all the same. She reached out a shaky hand and closed her fingers over the smooth leather grip. It was red leather now, instead of black. No doubt to match the watch. The weapon hummed underneath her fingers with a life that marked it as her own. It had been that way in the past too. If she'd picked up Adam's bow for example, she wouldn't have felt any hum. That had always been the easiest way to tell them apart. Well, before the Stymphalian bird attack that is.
"How is this even possible?" she murmured wondrously, turning the weapon over in her hands as she spoke. Every second she held it, Elise found that her trepidation about returning to it slowly slipped away. There was power in this bow…even more power than there had been in summer of '96.
Ezra smiled down at her, finally starting to believe that she wasn't about to go crazy or bolt out of bed to throw it back in the Sound. "Well, to be honest the whole thing was rather easy," he explained, "What with Percy and Leo around. Once they'd located it on the ocean floor, it was just a simple retrieval for Percy."
Elise pried her gaze from the weapon and stared at the boy. "Who the hell is Percy? Somebody around here train up a hippocampus or something?" I mean, she had known those friendly water creatures could be quite helpful, but this was amazing.
The 17-year-old camper's face immediately went slack with surprise, enough to tell her she was totally off base…but nothing else. Then he started to laugh, just starting with a few snickers…but ending with tears of mirth trickling out of his eyes. "Oh Gods Princess, that's a good one!" he said heartily, glancing her way. But Elise's expression remained blank, causing him to straighten up and take a turn staring her way. "You…you don't know about Percy Jackson?" he stammered incredulously, "Gods…just how deep in the woods were you woman?"
The Huntress reddened. Where she had been for the last 10 years wasn't a place one could find on any map she'd ever seen. In fact, up until 3 weeks ago, she'd been as off the grid as one could possibly be. But she didn't see any reason why she had go about explaining this to Ezra, at least not yet anyways. So, switching gears, she said, "Never mind my saga. Just tell me about this Percy Jackson…guy?"
"Uh ok…so short version," said Ezra, thinking hard, "Let's just say Percy Jackson is more than just your average demigod. In fact, he's basically the greatest hero Camp Half-Blood's produced in several generations. He defeated Lord Kronos in the Second Titan War and was part of the Seven who stopped Gaea from rising four years later."
Elise couldn't help but be taken aback. Two wars in four years? Had this been what Nemesis had meant all those years ago, about the scales being set to swing hard against Olympus? Had Actaeon really been just a taste of the power struggles to come? She shuddered to think that her old quest's failures had helped speed up two, no doubt ugly and grief-filled conflicts. Obviously, she owned this Percy Jackson fellow for more that retrieving her longbow. For he had apparently succeeded in cleaning up a mess she'd surely had a big hand in creating. Suddenly, she felt way too restless and way too guilty to be sitting in bed. She had missed two wars! There was a young man out there who had come out alive versus a Primordial and the most powerful Titan of them all. And here she was, still without a plan to save her own twin brother after all these years. It was disgraceful.
"Where can I find Percy?" she asked briskly, swinging her legs over the side of the cot and starting to untangle herself from the budding young physician's equipment, "He must be a very powerful and competent warrior to have matched wits with both the Time Lord and the Earth Mother. Is he an Athena or an Ares? Or maybe a particularly brawny and clever son of Hephaestus? A Hephaestus could drive a submarine to the bottom of the Sound I suppose." The Huntress was half-way to her feet…until the Earth lurched suddenly.
"Whoa! Steady on Princess," exclaimed Ezra, already with a hand on her good shoulder for balance, "You can't just go find Percy."
"Why on Earth not?" retorted Elise stubbornly, "I mean…alright, I got it. No sudden movements yet. But if you just help me up, I'm sure I'll be fine." Upon seeing his scowl, she added, "Look, for you, Doctor Boy, I'll promise to go slow. Huntress's honor. Now, please just tell me what cabin I'm aiming for?"
Ezra sighed and cocked his head in amusement. Elise frowned. "You really never quit, do you?" he asked incredulously, "Can't you think of a single other reason why I might be stopping you from charging out of here half-cocked? Percy Jackson isn't here. Percy Jackson, a son of Poseidon by the way, is 22 and attending college in New Rome with his girlfriend."
Elise leaned back on the cot again and forgot that she'd been looking for her boots. There was just too much information in that last sentence for her to process it all right away. A son of Poseidon? That was news. Was it possible that all of the Big Three had claimed children while she was gone? Suddenly, the Hades cabin she'd sort of seen last night was making a bit more sense Also, a college in New Rome? Where the hell was New Rome? Demigods congregated safely in a place that wasn't Camp Half-Blood?
Ezra Cowen sighed again in bemusement. Maybe it was time to really fill this girl in on some major demigod current events (well sort of current). To be honest, she wasn't going to get very far in this new and improved Camp Half-Blood without them. He shared a glance with Corona and the great dog promptly bounded over to him. The teen ruffled her head and grabbed the, now stone cold, plate of eggs off of the tray. Corona knew what to do next, breathing directly onto the bottom of the porcelain until steam started rising off the top again.
"Better than a microwave hellhound breath," the camper explained proudly, handing Elise the warmed plate. He glanced at his watch and added, "Well, breakfast is good and over at this point. But get comfortable Princess. You still need to eat some more and I need roughly half an hour to sum up the last ten years. Keep in mind though; most of the war stuff will be secondhand. I only got here a month or so after it all ended. Anyway a talk, a shower and a change of clothes and soon enough you'll be eating lunch with Chiron. I sent him an Iris message this morning and he'll be back from his business and expecting you at noon. Very surprised of course, sorry to ruin that moment for you, but he wasn't due back until tomorrow and I knew you'd flake on me if you had to wait that long. Anyway, he was also visibly pleased you're not dead. He must've liked you loads." He smirked over that last joke.
Elise gaped at him and grabbed a fork off the table. She wasn't sure if she just needed it for her eggs, in order to stab him to death... or both. But then, Corona returned to the cots and settled in at her feet and Ezra gave her his best winning smile. She growled and stuck the fork in the eggs. They were delicious and the hellhound provided enough warmth and stability that the lonely Huntress was momentarily at peace again. She supposed a quick history lesson could be beneficial. Especially if Chiron wasn't even back yet. And she already knew Ezra was a good story teller. Relax Lise, she told herself, it's alright to just relax and let the plan come in time. You have help if you accept it…you don't have to do this alone. Mentally agreeing, she looked up and gave him a grudging nod.
"Right," he said, taking his cue, "So the Second Titan War…"