The Forgotten One

Chapter Thirteen: The Hunter

Orion stepped over the corpse of an Amazon, a massive black arrow sticking out of her heart. More of her comrades lay strewn about the rooftops and back-alleys. The streets of San Juan were quiet, too busy protecting themselves from the heat to worry about going to the market or running errands.

He stalked closer to the Amazon base, his mind focused on his goal: find the Athena Parthenos, capture it, and kill all those who stood in his way. He would admit that he took a sort of sadistic pleasure in this; the Amazons and Hunters deserved to be destroyed for thinking they were superior to giants and men.

A rock fell off a nearby rooftop and landed on the ground, bouncing once or twice before rolling to a stop. "Hello, Orion."

Orion turned. A man with black hair and purple eyes stood above him. He wore a black jerkin and breeches. A large bow was held in his hands, and a quiver was attached to his back. Orion would've mistaken him for his brother, if not for the fact that all his brothers had dragon legs.

Orion cocked his head. "Who are you?"

"You don't know me?" The man shrugged. "I'm not surprised. But I know who you are."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, do you know about me?"

"I know that you're a giant, destined to destroy Apollo and Artemis. Maybe if I had been around at the time, you would've been my nemesis too. Who knows? I also know that you loved Artemis, and that you joined her Hunt to be with her."

Orion grit his teeth. "And do you know what happened when I told her how I felt?"

"She rejected you, and then Apollo drove you mad. Your mother, Gaea, sent you a poison scorpion to end your insanity, and now you hunt and kill girls because you can't get over the fact that my sister dumped you."

Orion's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "Your sister?" He paused. "Who are you?"

"Can't you guess? Think about it…I'm Artemis's brother, I would've been the one you were created to destroy, except that I wasn't around for that war. Who am I?"

Orion's breath caught in his throat. "You're Aita."

Aita nodded. "I'm Aita."

"Then how are you here?"

"Fate intervened," Aita said simply. "Now I'm here to stop your mother, and that means I can't let you hurt anyone else." He notched an arrow. "I'll admit, I'm going to enjoy this."

"And why is that?" Orion said, readying himself for battle.

"Because you broke Artemis's heart, and nobody hurts my big sister and gets away with it."

Orion charged; Aita let his arrow fly, enjoying the sound it made as it lodged itself into the giant's chest, just above his heart. Aita leapt down, sword flashing. Orion sidestepped, untouched. Aita turned to keep him in sight and was grazed across the chest by Orion's hunting knife. He swung his sword again in a sideways arc, but Orion rolled under it and came back up, bow notched.

Aita threw himself behind an old Camaro car just in time to avoid the fiery arrow that whizzed by his shoulder. An explosion rocked the ground, and dozens of cats hissed in annoyance and fled to the roofs of houses and under trees.

Aita sprung out from his hiding place, Spear of Diomedes elongating into shape in his hand. He slid his hand down the shaft until he was at the very end and swirled, sending the spearpoint at Orion's feet, forcing the giant back.

Aita summoned his shield and raised it just in time to block a massive black arrow from skewering him. He advanced quickly, angling himself to force Orion back toward a building. The giant seemed to sense what was happening and rolled to the side. Aita turned, keeping him in sight, and realized that Orion had angled himself so his back was to the sun, which shone brightly in Aita's eyes. Damn you, Apollo.

He heard the sounds of feet approaching rapidly and crouched, lifting his shield to his eyes. The polished metal caught a stray beam of light, and Aita tilted his shield, positioning the sun to go straight into the giant's eyes. Orion stumbled, off balance and half blind, and Aita jabbed with his spear.

Orion gave a cry of pain as the spear lodged itself in his stomach. Aita dropped his shield and, with all his might, hefted the mighty spear with both hands, throwing the giant into the side of a building.

Aita threw the spear; Orion cried out again as the spear ruptured his chest, pinning him to the wall of a nearby apartment building. "You…" he said, trying to pry the spear loose, to no avail, "…will die."

Aita shook his head, walking forward. "No, my friend, that would be you."

Orion seemed to smile, a small stream of ichor dripping down the corner of his mouth. "Fool. It takes a god and demigod working in unison to kill me."

"Then it's a good thing the Amazons and Hunters are on their way."

Orion's smile seemed to fade for a moment. "What are you talking about?"

"I sent my companion, Meg, to the Amazon base to fetch some reinforcements. With any luck, they'll be here any moment. I was only here to distract you, fool. The Athena Parthenos will reach Camp Half-Blood safely, and Gaea will fail. It's over."

"No!" Orion shouted, lurching forward. "I'll not be killed by some weakling like you! I'll—"

The rest of his sentence was interrupted by the several dozen arrows that sprouted from his—everything. He dissolved into golden dust and two glowing mechanical eyes. Aita crushed them under his boots and wretched his spear free.

He turned; over a dozen girls in silver parkas with bows were lined across the rooftops. On the street, young women in black jumpsuits and business attire held swords, spears, and shields. The one in front wore a golden belt. The Queen of the Amazons. Next to her, a girl in golden armor stood next to a pale boy in black and a scowling satyr holding a baseball bat. Meg stood in front of them all, massaging her golden rings.

"Well done, Meg," Aita said, walking forward. The women tensed. "Peace," he said, holding up his hands. "My name is—"

"—Aita?"

A girl in silver with ginger hair hopped down, putting her bow away. Several other familiar faces joined her, all looking as though they'd seen a ghost. Then again, they wouldn't exactly be wrong.

Aita smiled. "It's good to see you, Phoebe," he said. He nodded in greeting to all of the other girls. "Melonie. Cynthia. Lyanna. You've grown, Lexi."

"How…" Phoebe began.

Aita raised his arm. "There is no time for that, Phoebe. Where is Castillo? I would speak with the lieutenant."

The Hunter winced. "Aita…Castillo's dead."

A lump formed in his throat, which be begrudgingly forced down. Of course. He should have known that. Not all Hunters lived forever.

"Zoe Nightshade, then."

The silence was deafening.

"Who, then?"

A girl with spiky black hair and blue eyes stepped forward. "I'm lieutenant here. Thalia Grace, by the way."

"I'm Aita. I'm Lady Artemis's brother."

Thalia looked between Phoebe and Aita. The former raised a hand. "I'll explain everything later." She glared at him. "And so will you. I want an explanation."

There were several shouts of agreement. Aita smiled and nodded. "Fine, but not until this is over. Praetor Reyna," he called, "the way for you is clear. Get that damn statue to Camp Half-Blood soon, or there won't be a camp at all."

The praetor nodded. The queen sent him a look of gratitude and called for the Amazons to return to their base.

"Are you coming, Meg?" the queen asked.

Meg looked over sheepishly. "I think I'll stay with them for a little."

Aita nodded, fighting down the shock. "Very well, Meg. Thank you for everything."

She nodded and turned, following after the Amazons.

"If you should see my sister before I do," Aita said to the remaining Hunters, "tell her that I said hello."

-o-

Hemera was frantic when he got back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Caligula duped us!" she cried. "While you were off fighting that stupid giant, he amassed the remainder of his troops and marched on California. He's attacking Camp Jupiter! You need to stop him!"

A/N: Well everyone, I'm sorry about the late update. I'm just gonna come out and say it: I dropped the ball on this one. I've been working on this year-long project for my school, and it was due a couple of days ago. I had a major case of senioritis and was scrambling to finish it all by the deadline. Add to that the fact that I've also had to work, study, publish other fanfics, and sleep, I haven't had a whole lot of time to finish this. But good news! We're only gonna have about two chapters left and then we're done, so expect this two wrap up in early May at the latest.

Please review, favorite and follow, and I'll see you all next time!

Bye!