Chapter 61: Pranu

My little troupe saw a bright silver aura up ahead. "Is it that Artemis again? She vanished last time. What a chicken." Caiyi said in a bored tone.

"Y' think she needs help? That looks awfully similar to a barrier to me." Tim said.

"Nah, she'd probably be fine on her own. She's a goddess, remember?" Caiyi again.

"Let's check it out! We can beat up Artemis again!" Ruidi yelled, excited. "If that is her name. I don't think that's it though. I think she's lying. Maybe she's even one of Daedalus' minions! We can gather where Nick is!"

"We should go look and see anyway." I replied, ending the conversation.

When we entered the clearing, we saw a gruesome sight. Bodies, torn into shreds by claws, lay scattered on the ground. Artemis stood in the middle, silvery light radiating off of her like a beacon in the darkness, shooting arrow after arrow. The arrows seemed to have no effect- they simply dissipated before hitting their targets. The huntresses also had their bows nocked, and were trying to kill the monsters. They were being attacked by... three pairs of glowing green eyes! Only three!

I laughed. "C'mon, guys, let's go already. Soon there won't be enough monster to go around." We drew our weapons and prepared to attack.

With a battle cry, the boys charged forward and swung their heavy weapons at the green eyed demons. A very loud bang erupted as someone's sword made contact with the metallic monster skin. Tim's sword clattered to the floor as he grabbed his arm in pain. The monster just laughed evilly. Ruidi and Caiyi, who were both startled by the sound of the clash, stared at each other and nodded. They started swinging madly at their opponents. BANG BANG BANG (they each took notice to swing a little lighter than Tim). Before long, they were both exhausted.

How is this going to work? I thought.

Suddenly Artemis started shooting her arrows again. None of them hit the right spot.

I saw Alex and Shirley whispering back and forth while the others were whacking away at the monsters.

"HEY GUYS, a little help here!" I yelled at them. They stared up at me, Alex held up a finger, meaning one more minute. They lowered their heads and started whispering again.

Ugh, don't they know how much trouble we are in? I thought. As if reading my mind, Bhavana told me, "They are planning, they always do that during times of need."

I ducked as a monster clawed at me. I slashed at it. No use. The demon was moving closer, sensing that I couldn't do anything to hurt it. It leapt at me and I swung my sword, the amount force was so large that my sword flew out of my grip. The monster once again moved closer and stared at me with its cold green eyes. I was frozen of fear. That's when Alex called out, "THAT'S IT!"

"GUYS, AIM FOR THEIR EYES!" Shirley shouted.

Immediately, Artemis took her arrow and aimed for the green glow. WHOOSH. The arrow buried itself into the slimy goo.

"AGGGGHHHHHH!" The monster bellowed and collapsed onto the ground. Another monster was stabbed in its weak spot by Caiyi and Ruidi. The last one however, had no one guarding it. It sensed the danger and knew that we found their "off" button. It quickly did something and disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"I'm not sure... should we try to follow?" Ruidi replied.

"No, I think we should continue this quest. We are really off track," Alex objected.

"Actually, what if this monster can help lead us to where we want to go?" Shirley pointed out.

Everyone's face grew a small grin and nodded in agreement.

"Then we'd better hurry up if we still want to follow it," Tim stated, his broken arm healed earlier.

Chapter 62: Tim

We followed the monster's trail for days and days. The journey seemed endless and the small agile monster was hard to find. Good thing that in gratitude Artemis gave us a tracking charm- you only have to hold it in the palm of your hands and say "vreíte " then the little silver moon-shaped locket would glow and the path of where the monster went would shine like a beacon for half an hour.

I found that it was easier for me to follow the monster through the air- it decreased our chance of discovery (by the monster) while increasing our overall speed. Twice when walking on foot the thing looked back behind it as if sensing another presence. Then, appearing to shake its head, it turned away and began walking again.

Suddenly, the robotic thing turned its head around and growled. At us. Without thinking, I whipped out my sword and stabbed it in its glowing eye. It sputtered and died.

"Great going, Tim." Pranu yelled at me. "You just had to kill our only clue."

"We could refer back to the prophecy." I replied desperately, trying to get out of trouble.

Ruidi scowled. "All I remember of that ole thing is something about the moon, assistance from a child of the water, 'may time be in your favor', and seven going, six returning. And something about the summer solstice or something."

"Welp, the solstice is just two weeks and four days away." Caiyi said, taking a little wood chip thingy that was marked with scratches from his pocket.

"What's that?" I asked, curious.

"It's my calendar, Tim. Each day I make another scratch on it." he replied briskly, then, "We better get going. Two weeks and four days isn't much to complete a quest so large."

"Where to, then?" Pranu asked.

Chapter 63: Artemis

I tracked them through the dense forest, and they never seemed to know my presence. The other huntresses were healing with Thalia.

"I never knew Daedalus' minions were this strong," I said aloud.

"And I never knew that Daedalus could see Heartlesses." a familiar voice behind me said.

I whirled around. It was the young girl from before, who (though I refuse to spread the story around) had saved me. Except this time she didn't look so ragged. The girl seemed to have cleaned up.

"What are Heartlesses?" I snarled at her. "How do you know that we were attacked? And didn't I tell you before to never appear to me again?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down!" the girl gestured with her hands, then smiled, as if at some private joke. "I'm here to help. And supply the necessary information needed. After all, my grandfather does control time and space."

"What can you help me with? I am an independent goddess!" I sneered.

"Well, I can tell you where that metallic creature you're following is." she replied, as cooly and calmly as ever.

"Oh really? You? Just how do you plan to do that?" I crossed my arms.

"Watch. Or don't." she said, smiled, then vanished. Moments later, she reappeared while I stood there gaping at her. The Void. One of the only links, the only similarities between Egypt and Greece. Egyptians called it the Duat. "Artemis, the one you seek is currently being followed by those who helped you in defeating the group."

I snorted in disbelief. "Pretend all you want, child."

"Very well then. I shall have to show you." and once more she disappeared, taking me with her. We entered the Void just in time to see one of the demigods plunge a sword into the glowing eyes of the monster.

"No, you moron!" I screamed at him. "That was my only clue to-" He didn't respond to my screams. Then I realized that because we were in the void, he didn't hear me. I saw the other demigods screaming at the boy too.

He was just as mad at the others as they were at him. It looked like he was saying that he had no choice because the monster was attacking them. I just shook my head, if they were to find where the monster came from, they would first have to work together better.

"See, I told you I could do this," the girl said suddenly, startling me since I had forgotten about her. "And did I ever tell you my name? It's Alcyone."

"Well Alcyone, now I believe your powers, but how am I to trust you? You are only like, 8."

Alcyone shook her head, irritated. "No, in fact I am 12, almost 13. Why would I look like I'm 8?"

"See for yourself." I told her, pulling out a mirror from my pocket. Alcyone studied it carefully.

"I do look young." she said, surprised. "But I clearly remember celebrating my 12th birthday with a donut." Then, she looked up at me. "Maybe it's because of the Void. I spend almost one-third of all of my time there. And in the Void, there is no time."

"We really need to find out where the... Heartlesses, right? went. Either that or we have to find an entirely new Heartless."

"Those were just metal robots. The real thing is much more dangerous." Alcyone said.

"Well, we've gotta do what we've gotta do. And I... I forgive you and promise to ignore your heritage in the future."

"Then why don't we begin... the hunt." Alcyone smiled.

Chapter 64: Bhavana

"Don't look now, guys, but we're being followed," I whispered to the group.

"Took you long enough," Tim said, sarcastically. I was going to stab that boy in the heart one day.

"We're setting a trap in the clearing ahead," Caiyi said, still staring straight ahead.

"NOW!" Ruidi screamed as loud as he dared.

All of us fanned out as Artemis walked into the clearing. Then, Pranu, Ruidi, Caiyi, and Tim started whispering in some foreign language. Bonds and pillars of fire, mixed through with poison, flew up and wrapped around the goddess. Then, a dark ball entrapped her, and finally, with the final touch, Tim made a lightning storm to prevent rescue from the rest of her group. From her prison, Artemis emitted a howl of rage. Suddenly, the world seemed to darken as another person emerged, behind Artemis.

I could feel her evil aura, and it made me shiver...