A/N Thanks to HS127481 and guest, for leaving really positive reviews. I will have to bed this at some point, but not just yet. And I'm glad you found it that captivating.

There were plenty of different ways that Nico could have reacted to that, from laughing bleakly and saying that she was just trying to make him feel better, to pinning her against the door with a knife to her throat until she told him what she knew. All he could do, however, was stagger weak kneed to a sofa (again) and say something that sounded like, "Whapugug?"

Artemis chuckled slightly; a musical sound. Nico shook his head like a dog ridding itself of water and tried again.

"What do you mean?"

Taking the other couch, Artemis smiled gently at him. "Have you heard the legend of Balmána's daughters?"

Nico had to admit that he had not.

It sounds like she just made that name up...

"Well, few have. She was a farmer, you see, and that sort of thing does not tend to get one noticed... she had three children, called-"

"Why?" Artemis frowned at him: he realised belatedly that interrupting a God was one of the stupid things only people like Percy did. Or people with a death wish. "Uh, I'm sorry, My Lady. I only wondered why... why you're helping me. I thought that..."

Artemis' frown softened into another dazzling smile. "That it was forbidden to help out with your dramas? It is. But I've never been great at following the rules."

"And also, if you don't mind me asking... why are you helping me. I thought you hated men." Kill me now, Nico thought.

"I hate most men, yes. But my hunters seem to view you as a little brother, and I must say I agree... besides, you're not about to try and corrupt any of them. The Hunters of Apollo, though, they'd be in trouble..." she chuckled again at Nico's beetroot of a face.

Oh, gods, please kill me now.

He managed to choke out a thanks, and Artemis continued with her story.

"Anyway, Balmána had three children, called Salia, Xanta, and Vernta. At some point, Balmána had an appointment with Persephone about the things she grew, and she left her daughters by the edge of the palace. When she came back, she found them by the banks of the Lethe, with no memories at all.

"The eldest, Salia, was returned to her fiance, with the hopes that he could help her make new memories. It drove him mad and he killed them both."

Nico flinched at the abruptness of the first daughter's death.

"The second daughter, Xanta, gained my brother's favour through guarding his cattle for him. He healed her."

She seemed to know what Nico was thinking, for she added, "You mustn't judge him too harshly. He is forbidden to help with your problems now, even when they concern his own children.

"The final daughter went several years with no memory. Finally, I recruited Vernta into my hunt." Artemis seemed lost in memories. "She was a strong warrior, good with many weapons... she died several millennia ago. I still mourn her." She shook herself.

"Anyway, there was this one monster that we fought together, the Ehtel. A ferocious beast; a worthy opponent. Vernta landed the killing blow, and as she did, the beast's silver blood splattered over her, into her eyes, her mouth. When she awoke days later, she remembered everything."

Nico's head exploded. "So... why haven't I heard about this before?"

The goddess sitting in his bone-and-velvet couch pondered this for a moment. "It was one of a kind, and took eons to reform. I am the only one still living, with a few possible exceptions, that knows of it's power, and it is deadly. One of the strongest I've ever fought."

"So... all I have to do is find this... this..."

"This Ehtel."

"Right, and give its blood to Will, and he'll be back again?"

Artemis laughed one last time. "Yes. But be warned, I do not know where the beast is. If you cannot find it, the kindest thing to do would be to let your boyfriend go."

She stood and left the cabin.

Alone in the darkened room, the only light the greenish glow of the skull sconces, Nico clenched one gist over the hilt of his sword.

"I'll find this monster. I'll find it, and kill it, and get you back, Will. I swear it on the river Styx."

Thunder rumbled overhead, and rain started to pound down on the cabins, the players of Capture the Flag, and the boy with no memories.

A/N Yes, I invented the legend of Balmána's daughters. And the Ethel. And the Hunters if Apollo (but they may become a thing) (or not.)

I did turn Nico into a beetroot and then explode his head. I've had a long day.

Reviews are always welcome, whatever time of day. Just no flaming, please.

~Fi