6610 words (discounting the A/N)!
Hopefully I redeemed myself in the word count.
Anyway, enjoy! Also, last chapter I didn't do a review response-I'm putting that back at the end of the story, after I finish the A/N.
Also…trigger content (attempted rape) in the later stages of the story. If you don't
She wasn't sure of what the future had in store for her. But she knew one thing-if she ever saw Nico again, she would never separate with him.
She silently swore on the Styx.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Persia glanced up at Thalia's pine tree, standing tall and proud atop half-blood hill.
The shimmering Golden Fleece fluttered lightly in the wind, with Peleus coiled contently round the pine. "Hey Thals, it's your tree," she said to Thalia who was walking besides her and a few hunters chuckled behind them.
Her cousin made a face before replying, "someday I'll find a strand of kelp and laugh at you for being a kelp head."
"Good luck then, Thals! I'll even get dad to let you in the sea for you."
Her cousin huffed, before rolling her eyes and walking towards the camp border. "Persia, you should stop teasing Thalia," Artemis said, watching in amusement as she stared at Thalia.
"I know, I know, but it's fun and good natured!" She whined, and Artemis smiled. "I know. Just don't make her feel flustered, yeah?"
"I won't. She's my cousin after all, won't want to harm my dear cuz." She grinned, and Artemis smiled. "That's alright. I like teasing her too, but…only harmless teasing. Got it?"
"You got it, Arty!" She replied, before rushing off to join her cousin atop half blood hill.
Artems grinned behind her. "By the way, tell Thalia that the hunters are all ready!"
"You got it, Artemis!" She yelled back a she reached Thalia's side. "Thals, Hunters are all ready. You can signal our arrival now."
Thalia nodded and pulled out the hunting horn from her waist belt, but before she raised it to her lips, she paused. "Actually…Persia, since you're a part of us and the Lieutenant of Artenis…do you want the honors?"
She looked at Thalia, slightly stunned. "But-"
"Hm. How about this, No more 'but's. Here," Thalia said, passing the hunting horn over, "It's time you did it."
She poked at Thalia with gratitude and confusion. "But Thalia…"
"Oh, just do it, will you? No more buts. It's ben my turn for the longest amounts of time. Now, Your turn," Her cousin said, gesturing to the horn in her hands.
She looked at Thalia again, who did an exaggerated eye roll. "Um…thank you,Thalia. Now, time to announce ourselves!' She grinned as she raised the hunting horn to her lips and blew on it.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Campers within The Valley that was camp Half-blood stood and turned to look at Thalia's Pine tree.
There stood four females, two clad fully in silver and gray. The third, slightly shorter than the others, who held the hunting horn, was dressed in a gray parka and black combat pants, and had two rings on her hands, as well as a shimmering silvery pendant hanging around her neck. Two thin silver armbands were also present on her upper arms. The final one was dressed in full black other than a silver tiara on her head, and even had two silver chains dangling out of her pockets of her ripped jeans.
It didn't take much to figure out that the fourth figure was the infamous lieutenant of Artemis, Thalia Grace, and the girls behind her and besides her were the hunters of Artemis and the goddess herself.
They all Knelt in front of the man hating goddess as Chiron trotted up to the hunters. "Lady Artemis," He greeted respectfully, bowing slightly, before turning to the emo girl, "and Thalia! Welcome back to camp half blood!"
The figure standing next to the Hut's lieutenant spoke. "Hello to you too, Chiron. Thanks for the warm welcome," She said, smiling lightly at the centaur. The millennia-old centaur seemed to be shocked at her appearance, before grinning and bending down to hug said girl.
Campers all around the clearing tensed, awaiting the moment where the girl stabbed their mentor in the chest, or when an arrow came flying from one of the hunters.
Surprisingly, nothing happened. The goddess of the hunt and the Persian princess-like figure besides her did tense up, but otherwise nothing happened to their mentor. The girl even grinned as se leaned into the hug, all while thalia and the goddess watched, the lieutenant of the hunt looking somewhat amused.
"I must say, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon," Chiron said after breaking the hug. "Neither did I," the girl replied. "Regardless, welcome back to camp. I assume you'll be using cabin 8 instead of your own?" Chiron asked, and the girl nodded. "Yeah. Thank you, Chiron!"
"No problem, Persia. Anything for my favorite student," he said, and both of them chuckled. Alright, I'll get a move on. Hunters, follow me!" The newly named Persia said as she walked down the hill gracefully, her wavy hair forming a flowing curtain that wafted slightly as she walked.
Campers parted as she approached, and in a surprising move, she thanked the as she passed…
That was, until the "newbies" decided to block their path. Persia stopped in front of them, head cocked to the side as she stared at them, curiously taking in their features.
"Haven't seen you before," some campers heard her mutter, before she straightened her posture. "Can you please let us past?" She asked, her tone polite, which made many of the capers gasp.
More so, because she spoke politely to their leader, jake. Who was a male.
"Who are you, and why should you be allowed to enter our home?" He asked arrogantly, and many stifled a gasp. Besides Persia, Artemis bristled and fumed, her hands already on the hilts of her hunting knives. Seemingly noticing this, Persia turned and placed a hand on the goddess' arm, and the goddess relaxed slightly, though her eyes were still full of anger ad annoyance.
"I'm Persia Hallie, Lieutenant of Artemis and member of the hunt. I'm asking you, on the behalf of milady and her hunters, to kindly let us past. I won't wasn't any bodily harm to come your way, no mater who you are."
Many gasped again. It was expected for Persia to whip out knives and give Jake and his goons a harsh whipping. It was definitely unexpected for her to calmly reason with these males.
Of course, Jake too no heed to the warnings offered by Persia. "I don't care wo you are. Fuck off from MY territory or I'll be beating you to a pulp." His lightning blue eyes stared defiantly into Persia's, and his goons all puffed ther chest out and flexed their muscles.
Persia's eyes widened, and she began speaking in a panicked tone. "Hey, hey now, don't say those threats in front of the hunters-"
Artemis chose to finally burst at that moment. Snarling, the goddess whipped out.a bow, nicked an arrow and pulled back the string all while aiming for Jake's family jewels.
All of that was completed in less than a second.
"-or that will happen. Yep." Persia sighed, before placing a hand on Artemis' arm and whispering to her. All the campers saw Artemis' arms trembling i rage as she gritted her teeth, before she lowered her bow, though the arrow remained nocked and the string semi-taut.
"Look, I don't want…that to happen. So…please, before milady decides to shot you and be done with this, move.'
Jake, slightly shaken by the arrow pointed towards his family jewels, had seemingly regained his arrogance, and puffed out his chest. "You dare one into MY territory and ask demands? How foolish-"
He didn't finish his sentence, as a snarl and a silver blur smashed into him and slammed all his goons out of the way. Campers scrambled away from a very angry goddess of the hunt and moon, who was currently holding a knife against Jake's throat, a knee planted on his chest. "You insolent boy, know your place when my lieutenant speaks to you. She isn't just a hunter, she's the Guardian-" the Hunt's lieutenant raised an eyebrow at this, while Persia's eyes widened slightly and a light dusting of pk settled on her face, "-and she has every right to push you around, boy. You're lucky she's nice. Next time I catch you doing that, you're not leaving with your prized organ between your legs."
"U-um, yay-y-yes, m-milady," Jake said, trembling like a leaf. His goons also seemed to be terrified, none daring to approach their leader. Huffing in annoyance, Artemis got off Jake before waving at Persia to proceed. Seemingly shaken, she put on a smile and motioned for the hunters to follow.
Campers noticed she seemed to keep her head down for the remainder of the way from the clearing to cabin 8.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Persia Sighed in annoyance as she listened to Thalia's rant.
"-I cannot believe that I have such a piece of shit for my brother!" Thalia yelled, lightning dancing across her fingers as she huffed and yelled. "That shit internally went back into my old cabin! How can I be even related to that asshat!"
"Simple, you aren't, Thals." She responded, casually fidgeting her ring on her right hand. "He may be a jerk, but you are only related to him through your godly lineage. Plus, you don't like him, you're the best cousin that I could ever have!"
Thalia grinned. "Thanks, cuz. You're the best cousin I could have asked for too."
She smiled at Thalia, before reaching for her necklace's pendant. "By the way, Thalia, wanna go shoot some targets in the archery range?"
Thalia's shit-eating grin answered her question.
Soon, oth demigoddesses were shooting arrows at inhumane speeds downrange. Artemis was off recruiting, and they were bored. A crowd of Apollo campers had grouped around them, and were watching with awe and shock filled eyes as the pair fired arrow after arrow, all hitting bulls-eyes of whatever target they aimed at.
"By the way, you got any plans for this time's CTF game?" She casually asked, letting a few more arrows down rannte as sie spoke. "Nah, we'll do the usual. Now that Zoë's back, she can keep making up plans to wipe their asses."
She grinned as the campers gawked at them. "What do you mean, 'wipe our asses'? We're demigods, you don't waltz in here and do that!"
A few of the older hunters looked ashamed and apologetic, while newer ones puffed their chests out and looked proudly at the pair. She frowned.
"The hell?"" Thalia said, annoyed. "Who said we weren't demigods now?"
"Well, if you were, you'd have been in the battle of Manhattan and the defense of olympus! But you weren't so either you're mortals or you're traitors. Like that prick who betrayed Annabeth and got her killed right after Kronos."
She nearly. Scoffed right then and there. It was only thanks to Thalia's intense glare at the demigods she didn't break out inn laughter. "Her, are you on your meds? Who told you we weren't there? We lost hour our number holding off Kronos' forces, you idiot1"
"You WEREN'T! Jake literally said so, and he lead the charge!"
She was confused. Jake? Led the charge?
What happened to camp?
She knew there were only less than 20 demigods remaining when they finally won. Still…how had it fallen this far?
"Who's this Jake guy?" Thalia challenged, and most of the campers had looks of astonishment. OOther than the few older campers that were here, of course.
"You…don't know Jake? Zeus' kid? Aren't you, like, his sister? Then how were you with us during the war? Jake led the final attack against Kronos! He literally witnessed the death of Annabeth and had to fight of that dickhead Jackson while killing Kronos!"
She withheld a grimace. Sure, her dream showed her things were bad. She just didn't know things were this bad.
"We are the hunters of Artemis, you dick! Of course we partook in the battle of Manhattan!" Thalia yelled, about to explode, but she placed a hand on her shoulder.. "Thalia, calm down. We don't need it to rain lightning."
Thalia took a deep breath, though she still looked like she wanted to blow up. "Okay, okay. I'm calm."
Shooting a look at the capers, she gently tugged on Thalia's arm and dragged her away from the shooting range. "Don't need you blowing up on day one of our arrival," She mused, "And besides you seem like you need some help to relieve stress."
"Those idiots needed it," thalia grumbled, but allowed herself to be dragged away. "C'mon Thals, let me see your combat skills, it's been a while since I've sparred. Let's do some sparring."
"Now? C'mon! Maybe later, but now I want to go to bed and sleep all day."
"Aww, poor old Thalia needs to rest her bones?" She smirked, and Thalia turned red, flustered by the comment. "P-persia, shut the fuck up."
"Oh my, Thalia. I really wonder how you somehow appear to be menacing even though you're flustered."
Thalia growled and lightly smacked Persia on the arm, earning herself a glare and an annoyed grumble. "What the hell was that for?" She asked, annoyed at Thalia. "For teasing me. Now, I'll go back to the cabin and get some rest. We can spar later if you want."
She sighed. There was no way in hell she was convincing Thalia, and…well, she didn't want her cousins ending up half dead after the spar. Nodding grudgingly, she bid goodbye to Thalia as she set off for her favorite spot in camp.
The beach.
She hadn't been near the sea for so long, she yearned for it. Even though her lineage to her father was mostly washed out, she still loved the sea.
No better place to reminisce than the beach in camp.
Sitting down in the soft sands, she tucked her knees up to her chest as she stared at the vibrant, blue-green sea that shimmered under the sunlight. The fresh sea breeze blew in her face, and she sighed as the familiar smell of the sea wafted into her nose.
She had missed camp. Even though she had only a dozen or so friends left, with much of the campers dying in the final battle, she never forgot them. But now…she felt like this place was more or less alien to her. The camp had lost its warmth, it's tightly knit connections. All it was now was just a shell of it's former homeliness and glory.
She questioned the events campers she met told her. Some older campers who fought by her side didn't believe them, but they seemed like a minority. The camp had obviously grown, with demigods on the enemy's side joining and apparently a lot of new demigods being claimed, it was back to it's old size of over 50 campers. Still…she felt like everything that was rebuilt was rebuilt on lies.
This new Jake, a son of Zeus, was rewritten as a hero. She was written down as a traitor to Olympus.
But the gods didn't bother hearing her out.
She clearly remembered the events that played out.
"Luke. Family. You promised."
"Promise…"
She watched through her former self's eyes as Luke staggered back, backbiter flying into the flames.
She watched as Kronos and Luke struggled for control.
She watched as Luke looked around to a knife to end himself.
And she watched as he grappled with Annabeth for the knife, before kicking it over to Luke.
She watched as Luke scratched his mortal point, and everything exploded into a hazy white.
Her eyes followed Annabeth as she sprinted over to Luke, crying and sobbing.
She heard Annabeth scream out her backup plan.
And then she watched as she fought Annabeth again, with herself finally disarming Annabeth and stabbing her in the heart.
She watched in slow motion as she crashed down to the ground.
Her ears caught the final whispers of Annabeth, even though they were barely audible.
"I…hate…you…"
She remembered the pain of the betrayal sinking in. She remembered kneeling in front of the body as she cried.
And then in came the gods, dressed in full battle regalia.
She remembered the hateful gazes of Ares, Athena, Zeus and Dionysus. She remembered the shocked expressions of Apollo, Artemis, Hermes and Hephaestus.
She felt the pain of her father's heart after she was convicted of her 'crimes' and banished.
She hated the gods now. More specifically, Zeus and Athena.
Ares, she understood. He was defeated by a mere child, and the memory would last forever.
His humiliation would forever be branded in his mind.
Hera, she understood. She was a demigod, a child born out of a wedlock. A bastard. As the goddess of marriage, she had every right to hate on her.
Dionysus, she understood. She was an annoyance, a thorn in his side. Getting rid of it was the best choice he made.
But Zeus, he just seemed hell bent on having her gone simply because she wasn't his child. As for Athena, she was blinded by her own hubris and ego to see the truth.
Hestia had seen the full battle. The goddess had narrated it as it was, and she had even swore in the Styx to testify that the whole narration was true afterwards.
They didn't care.
The gods were either forced to vote or abstained from voting due to their children's lives being threatened by Zeus. She didn't blame them.
She only blamed Zeus and Athena for her predicament.
Oh well, look on the bright side, she thought, if it wasn't thanks to their stupidity and egotistical nature, I wouldn't have met Artemis.
Yes, yes, their actions benefitted me a lot.
Soles crunching on the sand jolted her out of her thoughts, and she turned to see shadows looming over her.
It was Jake and a crowd of his followers, including his goons.
"Well, well," he sneered, "look at what we have here. A hunter!" He exclaimed gleefully, and much of the crowd jeered and laughed.
With a jolt, she realized most of the crowd was made up of males.
"Well? Speak up, you useless female!" Jake yelled out, waving a sword around-how did he get that? as he rallied the crowd to his side.
"Um…Jake, is it? I don't have any quarrels with you, so if you could kindly leave me alone for now, it'd be great." She replied, but the stocky boy just laughed.
"Leave you alone? Girl, you're intruding on my territory. You get out, and I'll leave you alone!" He yelled, before adding, "or should we show her how we treat naughty girls that need punishing?"
The crowd cheered, and she had a bad feeling in her gut. Artemis, if you're here right now, come here quick, she silently muttered, before shifting her stance into a guarded one. "Look. I seriously have nothing against you. Don't make me fight you."
"Ooh, is the oh-so-mighty 'Guardian' of the hunt afraid without her lost little silvery lambs and her goddess? How pathetic!" He jeered, and the crowd booed and egged him on.
She narrowed her eyes. How dare he insult the hunt and her goddess? Insulting her was fine. She could accept it. Her family and her love?
"They aren't involved, leave them alone you dick!" She yelled, and out of the corners of her eye, she noticed movement. She noticed a few guys, with new campers mixed within, run off…somewhere. But she didn't care for now as Jake and his goons surrounded her.
"They aren't involved? They're trampling our sacred grounds, those traitors!"
Traitors?
"Her, and that hunt, and that insolent goddess! Traitors!"
Anger rose within her as she heard those words. Artemis, insolent, traitor.
"Hey. Watch who you're speaking about-"
"I am right! She didn't show up to defend Olympus! She is a traitor-"
"NONE of the gods did, you idiots! They were fighting Typhon!"
"My father was there!" Jake yelled back, a smug look on his face. "What?" She said, stunned, before continuing, "He wasn't! In fact, for your information, he forbade the gods from joining the fight! He literally didn't let Athena come to join the fight because Typhon was making progress towards Olympus!"
Jake looked shocked, but he quickly recovered. "How would you know?" He said, grinning smugly at her as if he'd outsmarted her.
She merely rolled her eyes and huffed.
"I was there, you idiot! And YOU weren't! I fought kronos-"
"Oh, really?" Someone else challenged, "then why did the older campers who survived not tell anyone about what happened?"
"THEY WEREN'T ON OLYMPUS, YOU DAFT IDIOT," she yelled, frustrated. Why did no one seem to remember what exactly happened? How did this even happen?
"Oh, and you were? I-"
"I FUCKING FOUGHT KRONOS, YOU PISS SACK!" She screamed, "KRONOS WAS ABOUT TO DESTROY MY DAD'S THRONE-"
"Your dad? Who's your godly parent?"
"None of your business, idiot. Somehow you all forgot the truth, and you simply fit the puzzle as a child of Zeus. Tell me, how old are you?"
"I am sixteen this year," Jake laughed, "just had my birthday a few days ago!"
She smiled coldly. "Then, explain how the prophecy, which stated that 'a child of the eldest gods, must reach sixteen against all odds' fit you if you were less than sixteen at that time?"
Jake reddened, before he grinned. "I am sixteen now! Doesn't-"
"The prophecy ended on that day, son of Zeus." She calmly stated, and Jake began rapidly losing his cool. "No! I was the one who fought kronos! I was the one who landed the killing blow, chopped his damn head off! I-"
"Hold up, hold up." She said, raising a hand. "Chopped his damn head off? Boy, you lie worse than your father. You should know that Luke bore the curse of Achilles, or rather, the blessing of the Styx, to host that titan king, and you could only kill him by stabbing him under his left armpit. If he had the curse, pray tell, how were you able to behead him?"
"How-no-wha-I can't-I KILLED HIM!" Jake roared, "CHOPPED HIS HEAD OFF WITH HIS OWN SCYTHE!"
"Scythe? Luke fought using 'backbiter', idiot. It was a sword at that moment."
"I-You-AARG!" Jake screamed, frustrated, as his goons looked at one another in confusion. "YOU'RE LYING!" He yelled, finally deciding on a course of action as he drew his sword. "AND FOR THAT YOU-"
He paused, cocking his head to the side, before a gleeful smile spread across his face. "Kronos' mortal spot…Aha. So that's who you really are. The traitor."
Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. Oh. Oh. Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck I'm so fucked-
Crackling electricity brought her out of her panic as her eyes widened to the sizes of dinner plates. She instinctively leaned back as a Greek xiphos with lightning arching along the edge narrowly missed her neck.
Jake was laughing maniacally as he thrusted and swiped. Persia nimbly ducked, dodged and rolled away as Jake continued his offensive. She had to admit that the kid had skills to back up his words, as he could probably defeat most campers judging by his expert swordplay.
Of course, she wasn't any normal camper.
Rubbing on her rings, she willed them into existence and leapt back, avoiding a slash as her twin karambits appeared in her hands. The curved, lightly glowing dark blades unnerved some in the crowds, as their expressions turned uneasy. However, Jake's was of glee and joy.
"Oh, goodie! Another child of Hades! Your brother, or should I say cousin, disappeared days ago! Now I have no one to gloat over, and your death I'll be one that I'll be parading around for years!" He laughed, and Persia snarled. "You shut up about Nico. He's my friend, and whatever you've done to him, I'll do it to you tenfold."
"Such empty words," Jake grinned as he parried a flurry of strikes from her dagger. "Is this all you've got?"
No, it wasn't. Yet, Jake didn't know that she was simply using these moves to judge his skill. A slight grin appeared on her face as she let loose her skills and lost herself to the adrenaline rush. The smug expression on the son of Zeus' face soon turned to shock, then annoyance, and finally anger as he failed to land hit after hit, with her dodging or parrying every blow coming her way.
"Enough GAMES!" Jake roared, and once again wreathed his blade in lightning. Campers nearby who heard the commotion were gathering to watch the fight unfold, and most guys were cheering Jake on. Girls either stayed silent or shot hopeful glances towards her, and some of the veterans also looked on with fear and astonishment as she dodged and ducked, weaving in and out of Jake's guard without attempting to land a hit.
The truth was, she wasn't able to bring herself to wound Jake. As much of a shitbag he was, he was a son of Zeus, and more importantly, he was another camper. Another half blood.
If she hurt family, if she hurt her own 'kind', what would she be?
Occasionally, small cuts were opened up on Jake's arms and torso. Those cuts, especially by darkness, stung harshly and Jake yelled in pain whenever a cut opened up on his body.
Lightning danced from Jake's blade towards her, but none connected as she avoided them with inhumane speeds, almost like a blackish-gray blur mixed with streaks of tan and raven black. Jake yelled and growled with increasing frustration as he slashed at her, only for her to nimbly avoid the slash and open another cut on him.
"ENOUGH!" Jake roared, lightning wreathing his body as he sent out a powerful blast. Most of the lightning tendrils didn't connect, but those which did caused her to trip and stumble, even shocking her limbs and stunning them. She still was able to move, albeit her muscles felt slightly more sluggish and numb.
And that was enough for Jake.
Letting out a battle cry, he raised his sword and his goons charged into battle, all wielding finely crafted celestial bronze weapons. She kicked and dodged, smashed and weaved, punched and ducked, but the crowd just kept coming, coming and coming. Her combat skills were easily able to handle them if used at full potential, but she couldn't kill these campers.
She couldn't even hurt them.
She wasn't a sadist, a murderer. She didn't stoop to their level to defeat their enemies.
And so, as she took one goon out of the fight, two more came charging in. Most of Jake's supporter were ares kids, but there were also some from presumably Demeter, Apollo and Athena.
The crowd watched in awe as she subdued one camper after the other without fatally harming them. She was fighting like a demon while surrounded by a sea of campers, dishing out punish pimento and havoc as they continued to swarm her.
Still, she was one hunter. And Jake's lap dogs were numerous. The crowd could see her getting less and less room to avoid attacks, and she was also resorting to more brutal measures. Still no stab wounds or slashing, but hits to the head, temple or jabs to the neck were more or less increasing. Jake's lackeys fell, but they were still putting up a fight, and with her intentionally avoiding potentially fatal wounds, the fight wasn't ending for her soon.
Of course, Jake had recovered from his outburst, and the crowd watched as he raised his sword and lightning crackled in the sky. Clouds gathered, and her eyes widened.
She had seen this once in the camp forest, where she and thalia faced off.
And she knew what was happening next.
Before she could do anything though, a massive lightning bolt blasted down from the ku just as Jake's men charged at her, forcing her into a tight circle. She couldn't do anything but attempt to jump past the goons as the bolt hit.
A brilliant bright flash illuminated the area as the crowd shielded their eyes.
And then, a second later, mayhem broke out as Jake and his gang advanced onto her, who was badly stunned and shocked.
She attempted to stand and retrieve her daggers. The latter failed, as they were immediately knocked out of her hands, but by now only the numbness remained and she quickly settled into a fighting stance, before charging Jake and his lackeys. Her daggers returned to her fingers in their ring form, but she was fine with physical brawling-
Another blinding flash.
Before she could recover from the electric shock of the bolt directly hitting her and many of Jake's own, a hit to the head rendered her nearly unconscious. She limply collapsed onto the ground, head ringing, vision dimmed and swimming, as she felt rough hands traveling all over her and lift her. She tried kicking and struggling, but her muscles spammed and refused to obey her orders.
The guys in the crowd cheered. The girls stayed silent.
She was mobbed as she felt herself moving. Feeling was returning to her nervous system now, and all she could feel was a blinding pain from her muscles and a throbbing headache. Her head felt like it was about to explode, while her heartbeat felt irregular and her limbs felt cold.
"GET HER!"
She was roughly aware of herself collapsing onto the sand. Blurred faces and people moved around her, a glinting bronze sword flashed in front of her eyes, and she could feel someone attempting to remove her clothing articles as deafening and horrid cheers and clapping announced their precense loudly. She felt sick, her mind spun and worked overtime to process things, but her thoughts were jumbled and incoherent. She felt cold air touch exposed skin, and she resisted with all the might to whimper and cry.
She couldn't.
Where is Artemis when I need her?
Hazily, she was aware of all feelings of hands on her body abruptly leaving as a soothing silvery aura washed over her.
Her last coherent thoughts was, am I this pathetic I can't protect myself?
Warm, slender and smooth arms wrapped around her and lifted her up. A flash of glowing silvery orbs brimming with power. An auburn blur. A familiar voice spoke to her, the air from her mouth lightly caressing her ear. The voice sounded too far away though, and it was all echoey and wrong.
The strong arms around her hugged her tightly, and she heard urgent voices in the background. But she couldn't make anything out. She latched onto the person hugging her, before her vision went dark and her strained mind gave out.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Thalia sulked in cabin 8, staring aimlessly at the ceiling as she lay in bed.
Hunters all around her were marveling at the interior. It wasn't unexpected, given that most of these girls hadn't ever seen the interior of the cabin.
Some of the new recruits who were veterans from the last war marveled at how such a place existed in their home for years. Younger recruits who ran from pain, misery and abuse pranced around with excitement, happy to finally have a welcoming home in years.
There were also those who traveled with the hunt who hadn't sworn the oath yet to see if they wanted to join. They studied the cabin like how they would analyze a home for purchase.
Still, none of those were her concerns. As lieutenant, she had a room to herself, and three other bunks in case she wanted to allow close friends to sleep in the same room. Only one other bed was occupied, and it was by none other than Zoë nightshade.
"Thou art troubled by something." Zoë said, sitting on the bunk next to hers. She forced a smile onto her face and shook her head.
"No, I'm not. Don't you worry, miss old English."
Zoë cracked a smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Now, now. Thou wore feelings on thy face. Hath thou read a book? Thy emotions are as simple as the words on a page. And, ye olden shakespearean English is my manner of speech, and it will not be changed." She paused, before speaking normally, "mostly to annoy you."
"Gah!" Thalia exclaimed, pressing her hands against her temples. "Stop speaking in old English! And no, I'm not a book!"
"Thou art a book. A very fine book, might I add. Now," Zoë said, shifting into a serious tone, "you should speak up about your troubles. You wear your emotions on your face. Something is troubling you, and I will get to the bottom of this."
"I'm not telling," she said, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest and huffing like a little child.
"Stop acting like a child. You're not."
"I know." Her posture didn't change.
"Thalia. Look at me."
She turned her head slightly, looking out of the corner of her eyes. Zoë sighed, clearly resigned to having to deal with her childish behavior.
She didn't care.
Zoë wanted this shit fest. She could have this shit fest.
"Thalia. Will you tell me what the problem is?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Is it about life?"
A light nod.
"Is it about the hunt?"
Another nod.
"Is it about…your oath?"
She didn't know how to respond for a bit. It wasn't like she was going against her oath…but was it related?
A hesitated nod.
"A boy?"
She shook her head firmly. No boy in this camp was catching her eye anytime soon. Except Nico, but he was really like a younger sibling to her, and she didn't feel any spark when she was with that little emo boy.
Persia on the other hand…
"Then…girls? In the hunt?"
She didn't know what to respond. If she nodded, Zoë might figure it out. If she shook her head, Zoë would keep pestering her and might know she was lying.
Zoë's smile told her everything.
"Thalia, I've seen hunters come and go due to love. They come, to get rid of it. They go, because their hearts finally found a home. Don't be ashamed to admit it. If you need to, you can invite the girl to join your hunt…or, you could leave the hunt and live a mortal life with her."
She pondered over this. Would persia want to leave the hunt? Would she even leave artemis' side?
Did she even know her true feelings?
"Alas, I know who you're…crushing on? Is that the right term?" Zoë said, seemingly lost in her thoughts for a bit, before snapping back. "Just. person you take a liking to."
She held her breath. Please be wrong, please be wrong….
"It's Persia, isn't it?"
She froze up, stock still. "H-ho-how-"
"Don't think I didn't realize how you looked at her when you two were together. I have seen siblings interact, but none of them interact as closely and as lovingly as you two. She does it out of pure sibling love, but you do have something else mixed into it."
She sighed, resigned to her fate. "She's with Artemis. I swore to take this to the grave, since I know I can never compete. Just…let's drop this and do something else."
Someone began to shout loudly outside, but the soundproofed walls blocked most of the noise.
Zoë shook her head. "We're not dropping this, Thalia. Sooner or later, she'll realize, even though she's that dense and oblivious. Hell, maybe Milady will realize, and I don't know how she will feel about this. It's best if you come clean, and then think of how you proceed forward with this."
She sighed. "Yes, yes, I know, but…what hope is there for me? If I confess, it'll just ruin things between us. If I go to Milady, I might end up as a tiny smudge of dirt. I…I'm lost. I don9t know what to do. Love is confusing and troubling…oh my gods, I just want to not be in love."
Zoë shook her head lightly. "You can't 'not be in love', Thalia. This happened for a reason. Whether it was meant to be or not meant to be, you need to plan out something at the very least. If things become awkward, you, as siblings, will always remain close no matter what. If you take it up with Milady, she could help you by maybe allowing Persia to love you in a mortal lifespan. Maybe even share, since Ancient Greek writings don't shy away from talking about polygamy and multiple lovers loving each other,"
"But-Zoë, are you insane? Milady has never experienced love. This is her first taste of Aphrodite's domain, and now you just expect her to accept two lovers? How is that even-"
"Milady has experienced love before. She just pushes it down, hides it away. I have seen her do it time and time again. She knows of polygamy. She understands the concept of multiple lovers and how they work. From what I can conclude, Persia and Milady are bonded together by soul chains that will not break even after the end of time. Yet…this does not exclude the possibility of soulmates. I'm no love deity, but…what if you and Persia were fated to be together? Bonded by the red string of fate? Milady will understand. She will accept you, and maybe even reciprocate feelings for you."
She groaned, annoyed. "This just sounds like a massive headache waiting to happen."
"Only if you want it to be. For now, I'll leave you alone. You should…"
But she wasn't listening, for once, she realized how charged the air around her was. Something was brewing, and it wasn't an act by her father.
More like…her annoying, stupid, egotistical half brother,
A blinding flash illuminated the cabin through the windows, and all hunters stopped and looked. Some flung open the door and ran outside, bows and weapons drawn.
A second flash blinded everyone within the cabin for a moment.
"Something is going on." She declared, leaping off the bed. "Hunters, move out! Something's happening!"
She felt her lady's presence shift from someplace in the forest over to the cabins. Hunters all grabbed their weapons and dashed outside.
She noticed her goddess, literally glowing as she marched towards the beach.
Seconds later, a wave of silver rolled off her goddess at high speeds and washed over everyone. The hunters seemed to be slightly pacified, their panic gone as they regained their composure.
She and Zoë dashed forwards unanimously, and shoved through the crowd towards their goddess.
Zoë stopped some distance away, seemingly catching a horrid sight. She didn't care though. Something was happening , her lady was clutching a figure in gray and back on the sand, and-
Wait.
Gray and back.
Persia's clothing.
As she shoved past the final male, she was greeted with a scarring sight. Persia, her body bruised lightly and clothing slightly ruined, trembling slightly in Artemis' arms, grasping onto her like the goddess was her lifeline. Rough marks and handprints were seen on her arms and neck. Artemis, literally glowing silver in anger, lifted Persia up as she barged her way past the gathered crowd of males. Zoë had a hand over her mouth, and most outside seemed shocked and sorry at what had transpired.
The smell of urine permeated the air as a few guys pissed themselves, but she could care less. Right now, as she dashed out of the cabin towards her lady, she only had two thoughts.
One, Is Persia okay? Please let her be okay!
And two…I'm so fucked now. Artemis is not gonna let her anywhere near me if she knows of my true feelings.
Thank you, dickheads, for making my job a hundred times harder.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
A/N: And that's chapter 14!
The hunt finally arrives at Camp Half-blood, Persia finds out what happened to the truth and gets in a fight…and Zoë knows of Thalia's secret.
And then we discover Artemis' protective tendencies.
What's gonna happen from here? Find out in the next chapter!
Also, please review or comment depending on the platform you're viewing this on! They are my motivation, fuel and source of reflection and improvement. Plus, it'd be nice to know that people have opinions towards my story.
Regardless, the long awaited reviews:
(Chapter 12 reviews)
Ryan Fowler: Oh, don't worry. He'll have it coming for him.
thatonefangirl2987: Ahh, I see, thank you!
Sh4d0wz: Tbh I didn't see your review until I posted my last chapter. I didn't do le review response because I'm blind :skull: if I had noticed your review I'd have done a proper response, sorry for not doing it last time.
Anyway, thanks for your compliments! Yeah, I did mess up the part about Zeus and that's why I don't think it's the best chapter. I kinda fucked up on the relationship building and it was annoying, and I really, really wanna change it. Still, I did include the part where Zeus listens to Hera's plans (you know what they are) and begins plotting for…the future. No spoilers even though you know what they are. That's why he didn't rage or throw a fit-he didn't have to. Killing persia would be a 'mercy' in his opinion. Now he just wants her to suffer badly.
Now, yeah I plan for Persia to yeet Zeus off Olympus. Just…not immediately. After all, she doesn't know of his devious little schemes, and it'll take some time for her (since Olympus is gonna be closed off). Anyway, thanks, I'll take care of myself (no I won't because writing at 1am is addicting) and I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter 13 reviews-
Ryan Fowler: man, thank you for posting reviews on literally everything single chapter I've written! As for why Hestia can't just threaten to cut Zeus off from the 'flame of the west'…personal headcanon, but it might be because the flame of the west represents the entirety of Greek mythology, and if she cuts him off from the flame the Greek myths get weaker as a result. Plus, the flame is more like a physical representation of humanity's collective knowledge on the Greek myths. Every little bit of Greek/Roman related stuff, even down to the usage of Greco-Roman architecture styles, contributes to the flame. So, to remove Zeus, all the gods would have to erase literally everything related to him-which is basically everything after kronos. And…well, you know how that would end up. And yes, that includes all the gods because they, in some way or form, are related to Zeus since he's the king of gods.
Plus, Hestia's domain is the hearth, and most importantly family. She's also a peaceful goddess, and hence she isn't likely to make threats or show aggression towards her brothers. Including Zeus.
Hopefully that answers your question there!
thatonefangirl2987: yep! And it's completely intentional. I just wanna write this from another personal headcanon-Zeus got corrupted by his power, and wasn't the god he used to be. (Jupiter less so, because he is a more or less disciplined and militaristic leader.)
Guest #1 (can I call you Jeff?): Oh no, you don't get to! That honor goes to Persia. Or maybe some random primordial. Or maybe kronos.
Unless you want to be instated as a primordial. Which I'm fine with since this is a fanfiction after all.
Guest #2 (anon): thanks for your compliments! You guys are my source of motivation and why I'm writing (to share the fruits of my hobby, I guess). I'll see what I can do to make Bianca/Zoë (Zoianca?) work without twisting their characters too much…though I feel like I already am.
Also to clarify-Thalia is the lieutenant of the hunt. Persia is the lieutenant of Artemis, basically her right hand woman, while Thalia is only in charge of one of her domains. And yes, Nico will lose his memories. He'll just appear…later. Takes quite a bit of time for him to, actually.
And that's all for reviews! Again, don't forget to leave your words of advice/suggestions in the comments or in your reviews. Ich liebe euch alle, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Also-this story will be slightly similar to my other fic, 'Semper fi, Servus Romae', since it has a rome segment. But it won't be completely similar, though some minor elements like Persia (Persis in the other fic) being a centurion will remain.
Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough. See you in the next chapter!
-le idiot out
