Enjoy.
"It is true then?" Zeus asked. "He is dead."
"As dead as mortals can be," Lady Artemis murmured.
Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Phoebe, and Zoë all stood in the center of the throne room of Mount Olympus. The twelve massive thrones formed a "U" around the central hearth. The ceiling above glittered with constellations.
The newest one among them.
Astraeus, the Justicar, forged a path through the heavens with scales and sword in hand.
Bile curled against the inside of Zoë's throat. She was going to hurl.
All of the gods, even Lady Artemis, stood at their full godly heights at fifteen feet tall.
The news that Astraeus had died drowned the throne room in grief. No one wanted to say anything. Even the gods, it seemed, could be stunned into silence.
Guilt pooled in Zoë's core.
She wanted to speak up. To say it was her fault that he died. To tell them all that he had foolishly given his life for hers. But she couldn't. She didn't want to trample upon Astraeus' decision like that. His legacy. That would have made her feel worse.
Athena was the first to speak. "I shall order the construction of a monument in his name. His legacy."
Zoë flinched.
Hephaestus nodded along. The normally silent member of the Council did not hesitate to join the conversation. "Agreed. The honoring of Astraeus takes priority. We can let these demigods and hunters go."
"Wait—" Zeus tried.
The other eleven Olympians all glared at him. Hestia, who tended to hearth, did not turn to look at her brother, but the glowing light of the hearth dimmed with restrained rage.
Zeus sighed. "Seeing as I am outnumbered… Very well." The king of the gods turned to all of them. "You will be hailed as heroes this evening. Let the festival begin!"
Zeus snapped his fingers and the entire throne room burst with celebration. The Nine Muses played the music— whatever anyone wished it to be, Dionysus conjured a long dining table and filled it with nectar and ambrosia while Hestia populated it with mortal, home cooked foods of all kinds. It was a delicious feast.
But none of them moved to eat.
No gods. No demigods. No hunters. No one moved.
"Perhaps a festival is too hasty, Father," Athena said. "May I suggest something?"
Zeus motioned for her to continue.
"Let us all take some time to process this. This is something that has deeply affected most of us. We shall reconvene in two days' time," Athena uttered, rising from her throne room. Her voice— Zoë realized— was caught on something. Her gray eyes, eyes that were normally sharp and piercing, were hazy, shrouded in barely restrained tears. "Until then, keep one another company."
The agreement was silent. Athena was the first to leave, followed by Zeus and Poseidon.
Apollo gave one look to Artemis. Both siblings seemed to understand each other. They both lost someone they deeply cared about. Apollo disappeared in a flash of sunlight. Artemis stayed behind.
The other gods all left the throne room. Only Hestia and Artemis were left.
"What are we gonna do now?" Percy asked. There was a hollowness to his voice.
"We go back to Camp Half-Blood, I guess," Thalia said.
Annabeth nodded beside them.
"It just feels… wrong. Without him." Then, he turned to the huntresses— Phoebe, Artemis, and Zoë. "I'm sorry."
Artemis put up a hand. "No apologies from you, Perseus. This is out of all our hands." She gave a meaningful look towards Zoë.
Zoë flinched. Again.
"We shall all go to Camp Half-Blood," Artemis said. "I… must inform Chloe and Iliana."
Zoë inhaled sharply. She had forgotten entirely about them because of the quest. They…
They had no idea Astraeus was dead.
The tears that Zoë had been withholding ever since they arrived on Olympus spilled forth. The dam was broken. She dropped to her knees, unleashing a harrowing wail that echoed throughout the mostly empty throne room. Zoë collapsed; she broke. She cried, and cried, and cried until her voice was hoarse.
She hadn't noticed, but Artemis was crying alongside her.
Everyone was. They were all huddled around each other. They let their tears fall freely.
Together, they mourned the loss of Astraeus.
[;]
When they returned to Camp Half-Blood, Artemis did not waste a single second in cornering Zoë. If they didn't talk about it now, they would never get the chance. She needed to face this now. Before she talked with Chloe and Iliana because she knew that her countenance would break the moment she told them what happened to Astraeus.
She found the lieutenant sitting some ways away from her sisters. Out of earshot from the rest of them and the rest of the camp. Artemis approached. Her steps were firm and strong. "You were in love with him," she said.
"My lady, please do not do this now."
"No." Artemis crossed her arms. "We are doing this now."
Zoë shut her eyes. "Why?"
"Because if we don't face it now, we never will." Artemis sat down beside her. "I just want you to answer my questions, Zoë. You already know the consequences. They are unavoidable."
"Yes. I did love him," Zoë murmured. "I loved him deeply."
"Did you sleep with him?"
"Yes."
"Do you regret it?"
"No." Tears welled in the corners of her lieutenant's eyes.
"Then that is all I need." Artemis stood up once again, her back to her lieutenant. "Go and say goodbye to your sisters. I am not so cruel as to take that away from you."
"Yet cruel enough to remove me from the only family I have ever known, it seems."
Rage surged through Artemis. "You made your choices!"
"But you do not have to make this one!" Zoë cried. Her voice broke, catching against a trap within her throat. "My Lady, please… Do not do this to me."
Artemis turned herself away from Zoë. She could not bear to meet her gaze. She knew— she knew well— that if she did, she would not be able to do what needed to be done. "There are no exceptions, Zoë Nightshade. You fell in love with a man. You are no longer a member of my Hunt."
Zoë fell to her knees. "I…"
"Go to your sisters," Artemis said. "You have until tomorrow morning before I revoke my blessing."
Zoë got onto one foot, almost falling over as she did so. She stumbled towards her sisters. Her family. Artemis looked away.
"She is right, sister. That was cruel of you."
"Silence, Athena. I have no need for your judgments. Now more than ever."
Athena took form as a teenage girl with light brown hair and deep gray eyes beside her.
"Why are you here?"
"Is it wrong of me to visit family during this time?"
Artemis bit her tongue. She was being crass. "It is not. I apologize."
Athena waved it aside. "Walk with me, sister."
Artemis reshaped her form to more closely match Athena's. For now, they looked like two campers. No one would think otherwise. They walked into the forest around the pavilion where the demigods gathered to eat.
"What did you wish to talk about?"
"How did he die?" Athena asked.
"He… called upon Her."
"Her?"
Artemis made a hand-motion. She pointed up at the sky, then set her hands together before parting them.
Athena understood the meaning. "Of course he would. All to save your lieutenant."
"I am well aware of that, sister."
Athena hummed. She didn't believe it. She sat down against the base of a tree in the middle of a clearing. She looked around. Reminiscence guided her eyes.
"This was where Astraeus and I first properly spoke after his memories had been taken from him," she said. "He wanted to know about his past. From someone who observed him at a distance. Someone who wasn't as close to him as you or Apollo were.
"Did he ever tell you that he was afraid of his own memories? Can you imagine that?" Athena chuckled. "Living in fear of what you did in the past. Regretting it. Believing yourself a monster because of actions you did millennia ago."
"Yes. I can." The list of Artemis' regrets were numerous. Callisto. Every Hunter she scorned when they left the Hunt to be in love. Even in some parts, Orion.
"Then do not add this to your list of regrets, sister." Athena stared up at her.
"How can I not? She broke her oath, Athena. She must face the consequences of her actions."
"Is it so much a consequence to be in love?" Athena asked. "Our minds know that love is dangerous. Frightening. Foreign. But our hearts yearn for it regardless."
"Seeking to break your own oath then?"
"Do not point fingers at me like you have not considered it either. And with the same man that your lieutenant fell in love with."
Artemis' cheeks turned a violent shade of red. "I stayed those desires. I held them back because I knew that it was dangerous. That it would only end in tragedy."
"No. You did not," Athena said. "You only say that because of what has happened. You do not get the benefit of hindsight here."
"Just get to the point already."
"If you remove Zoë from the Hunt," Athena began. "You will lose yourself."
"I will survive."
"But you will not live, Artemis!" Athena shot to her feet, her hands wrapping around Artemis' shoulders. "You will not be alive. You will remain as you are now: a walking shell of a person. As much as you and I argue and fight, I do not want that. I do not want to watch you lose your sanity."
"I…" Artemis trailed off.
"You are barely holding on now," Athena pressed on. "Your Hunters may not be able to see it, but I can. I know you, Artemis. Do not go down this path. You will lose your mind before you know it."
"I must do it." Artemis pursed her lips. "Rules are rules, Athena."
"Laws mean nothing in the face of compassion and empathy." Athena stared at Artemis with narrowed eyes. A storm brewed behind them. "Even Astraeus knew that."
"Athena—"
Her sister disappeared in a blinding flash of gray light.
Artemis sighed.
She needed to talk to Chloe and Iliana.
[;]
Zoë was going to have a breakdown. She was not sure how she was going to survive this. Any of this. The whole world was still on fire. All of it. Kronos was returning. The Titans were awakening. Monsters were reforming faster and faster. Quests were becoming more dangerous.
And amidst all of that— everything— she lost Astraeus.
The person who kept her grounded.
Who made her feel safe. Secure. Calm. At peace.
Her home.
Her lover.
"Where is Astraeus?" Chloe asked her the moment she joined the rest of the hunt. "Is he with Lady Artemis?"
"Yes," Zoë said with a small smile. "He is."
"Oh. Okay." Chloe went back to eating her food. Her red-blue eyes swirled happily.
Iliana glanced up at Zoë.
Zoë smiled once again. It worked on Chloe. But it didn't work on Iliana. The young girl— the young woman, Zoë hastily corrected— was always so bright. So smart. Too smart, in most ways.
The girl's eyes slowly widened.
"He's gon—"
Zoë clasped her hands around Iliana's mouth to silence her.
Phoebe flinched.
Every member of the Hunt went silent.
Chloe dropped her fork and knife. She rose to her feet, her entire body looking like it had been frozen solid. She swiveled her head towards Zoë.
"He's dead?" she whispered.
"No, no. He's not— he's just—"
Phoebe cut in. "He is."
Zoë shot a deadly glare at her. "Phoebe!"
"You can't keep up this lie, Zoë," Phoebe said to her. "You know he is dead. Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise. And stop trying to convince other people too. They don't deserve that."
"I…" Zoë trailed off.
"I need to find Artemis." Chloe walked away. The red in her eyes burned with Infrastra. Vermillion fire danced between her fingertips.
Iliana broke free from Zoë's grip. She followed after her older sister.
"Chloe! Iliana!" Zoë reached out to them.
Phoebe stopped her. "You can't stop her, Zoë. None of us can. Except for Lady Artemis."
Zoë shut her eyes. She didn't mean for this to happen. For any of it. She just wanted to finish the quest, find Lady Artemis, return to Camp Half-Blood with Astraeus where the two of them could make the decision on whether or not to remain with the Hunt. It was supposed to be easy. Simple. But instead…
Astraeus was gone.
She was going to be removed from the Hunt.
She was going to lose her family. Lose everyone. Everything. All because she fell in love.
Maybe it was better this way.
She wouldn't hurt anyone else. She wouldn't get anyone else killed. She wouldn't lose anyone else either.
Yes.
Zoë decided it was better this way. Once Artemis removed her from the Hunt and took her blessing away, she would leave Camp Half-Blood.
Maybe a monster would make this all easier for her.
[;]
"He's really gone, isn't he?" Grover asked.
"Yeah…" Percy answered.
Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover all sat on Poseidon's table together.
Grover let out a small chuckle. "You know, I'm half expecting him to just come stumbling out of the woods."
The others cracked a smile at that.
"If he did, I don't know if I would even be surprised," Annabeth said.
"That's what the last line of the prophecy meant, wasn't it?" Grover realized. "And the lost god makes a last stand."
Percy pressed his thumb into his palm. "Do you think he knew? From the start?"
"Probably," concluded Annabeth. "It makes sense, given how friendly he was to us during the entire quest. Like he was just spending the last of his time alive with friends. Trying to enjoy it. Take his mind off the prophecy."
Thalia, who had been silent the entire time, bit her bottom lip.
"Thals?" Annabeth asked. "You okay?"
"Just… thinking about the last thing I ever said to him."
Percy tilted his head. "What'd you say?"
"Nothing I'd want to repeat again," she said. Ever. For that matter. She would take what she told Astraeus to the grave. Shame and regret washed over her like heavy rain. She would never be able to take back what she said. To apologize for it.
She felt like an idiot for not realizing what the last line of the prophecy meant. Because if she understood it, then maybe— just maybe— she wouldn't have felt the need to bitch about wanting something to do during the quest.
Astraeus was just trying to help.
Like he always was.
"He was the first person who actually sat down and trained me," Percy suddenly said. "Took the time out of his day to show me how to use this thing." He clicked open Riptide. The pen transformed into a Celestial Bronze sword. "I'm gonna keep training, Keep getting stronger. So that I when I see him again, I'll be able to kick his ass."
"Me too," Thalia echoed. She grinned, looking over at her spear as it leaned against the table's bench. "If he thinks he'll be better than me with a spear, I'll show him how wrong he is."
"Agreed." Annabeth nodded. "We'll all get stronger. Together. For him."
"For Astraeus," Grover said. He lifted up his goblet.
"For Astraeus!" They all cheered.
The rest of that night, the demigods who joined the Justicar on his quest all mourned him together, reminiscing on their shared memories, and fantasizing about where Astraeus was now— whose ass he was kicking, specifically.
[;]
Chloe spun over Artemis. Her legs kicked up with a jet of Infrastra that spewed out from her boots, blasting across the ground. In her hands, she conjured a pair of swords— English longswords with the pommels emblazoned with the Scales of Justice. Her star eyes burned with rage and fury unbidden.
She slashed at Artemis, forcing the goddess to summon her daggers to parry the blow aside.
"Chloe! I was going to—"
Chloe stepped back. She raised and pointed one of her swords at Artemis. "Do not speak."
Artemis flinched.
Chloe's voice was cacophonous. It rolled against her ears, drummed against her chest, and willed her to submit.
If she was not a goddess, she likely would have.
"Chloe, Astraeus, he—"
The end of a sword appeared in her gut. Golden ichor poured freely from the wound.
Artemis stared up at—
Chloe's eyes ignited. The corners bled liquid Infrastra. She drove the end of her sword deeper. She forced Artemis onto her knees. "DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME."
Artemis, in that instant, flashed her godly form.
Regret flooded her. She'd just killed one of her Huntresses, all because she—
Chloe stood before her. Completely unharmed. Untouched. One of her swords still embedded into Artemis. Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Afraid of death, Artemis? I wonder if my father was."
"Your… father?"
"Yes." Chloe wrenched her blade out of Artemis. "The one you didn't save."
"I couldn't save him," Artemis said. She placed a hand on her stomach to heal herself, but Chloe raised her sword to stop her.
"Do not heal yourself," she commanded. "You will heal that wound naturally as a reminder. A reminder of the semblance of the pain you have caused me. And Iliana."
Artemis put her hands up in surrender. How this young girl had made her do so escaped her.
No. That wasn't true.
Chloe— with Astraeus' blessing— was the most powerful Huntress by no small margin. She was as powerful as a minor god. Maybe even more so, considering she managed to keep even Artemis on her toes. Made her surrender.
"Why couldn't you save him?" Chloe asked.
"He… offered his life in favor of Zoë's," Artemis explained. There was no point in trying to conceal the truth from Chloe. She would eventually pry it out from the others on the quest.
Chloe's eyes drifted shut. "Of course he did." She clicked her tongue. Her eyes opened once again, still glaring at Artemis. "Is there a way to bring him back? Who do I need to talk to? Or convince."
"The most powerful entity in the universe."
"Who? The Fates?"
Artemis shook her head. "The one above them."
"Ananke?" As Chloe said the name, she flinched as if she'd heard a sound. She began to look around. "Did you hear that?"
How the young girl knew the name was beyond Artemis. She decided to chalk it up to Astraeus' blessing. "I… No."
"Anyways," Chloe continued. "She's the one who he summoned to trade his life for Zoë's?"
"Yes."
"Then all I need to do is summon her and then trade Astraeus for myself."
"No, Chloe," Artemis said. "You should not do that."
"Why? Are you gonna stop me?"
Artemis shook her head. "Astraeus will likely be disappointed in you."
"And you think you know him so well?"
"I do," Artemis said. "I've known him far longer than you. But think of it this way: for Astraeus' entire life, he has followed the orders and directions of others— other beings, other forces, other entities. Now as a mortal, he is able to make the one decision, make his own decision, to give his life for the woman he loved."
Chloe stared at Artemis. She was right. If she just brought Astraeus back, trading her life in the process, she would be undoing everything he'd worked so hard for. And… And Chloe knew that he'd loved Zoë. She knew that.
She hated that she knew it.
Zoë…
Chloe dismissed her swords. She turned her back to Artemis. "If you want to remove me from the Hunt, that's fine by me. Just don't remove Iliana."
"I won't remove either of you," Artemis said. "I… I have already done too much of that."
Chloe didn't know why she'd forgotten it. The oath. Zoë's oath. She wasn't allowed to fall in love with a man, yet she did. She fell in love with Astraeus so clearly, so deeply that Artemis would've needed to be dead to notice it.
Zoë was no longer a Huntress.
"No." Chloe whirled on Artemis. "Remove me instead."
"I can't do that!" Artemis shot to her feet. "She broke her oath, Chloe. No matter who it is, no matter the case, if a Huntress breaks her oath of chastity then they are to be removed from the Hunt."
"But Astraeus—"
"It doesn't matter who she fell in love with!" Artemis' eyes— they burned with bright silver. "I must remove her. I must. I have no choice in the matter." She sounded more and more like she was trying to convince herself that it was the right course of action.
Chloe stood taller than Artemis. She looked down on the goddess. "You really have no sympathy, do you?"
Artemis said nothing. Instead, she pushed past Chloe and slipped away, further into the woods.
[;]
Artemis pressed her lips to the back of her hand. She stared up at the sky. She watched Astraeus' constellation drift across it.
Stars sailed on an onyx sea.
She wondered, silently, where he was now. There was little doubt in her mind that he wasn't in the Underworld. He wouldn't be in Elysium. He'd called Her and spoken Her name like it was nothing. Traded his life for Zoë's in an instant.
There wasn't even a body left behind.
"Even now," Artemis murmured, speaking to the constellation. "You're still giving me headaches and causing problems."
She chuckled.
It caught halfway up her throat and turned into a choked cry.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Artemis shut them, sealed them closed like a dam against an incoming tide. It was a futile effort, however.
The goddess of the Hunt cried until her eyes were sore and puffy and red, until her nose was stuffed. Her throat bled as she screamed and screeched.
When she wandered out of the forest in the dead of night, her clothes stained with grime and dirt, her hair in an abysmal state, her face puffy, her cheeks stained with tears and snot, not a single soul in Camp Half-Blood said a thing.
Death changed people.
Even gods and goddesses.
[;]
The days that followed Astraeus' death were whirlwinds. Inside of a large canvas tent situated on the garden grounds of Athena's palace on Mount Olympus, the goddess and her children drew up the plans for the monument to the Justicar, with no small input from the Hunt, who all played an integral part in its design. Chloe Chase, in particular, was frighteningly persistent in her wishes.
"It'll be more than just a single building," she ordered, staring every member of the planning committee dead in the eyes. Even Athena. "It will be a campus. Model it after some of the universities in California. He was more than just a warrior. He was a teacher, a leader, a protector, and a father. There should be a school, a court, an observatory, an armillary, a building to cover every one of his domains.
"A father?" Athena asked.
Chloe's eyes narrowed.
"I see." Athena made note of Chloe's desires on a roll of parchment on the table.
"Could we also extend the monument to Camp Half-Blood?" Annabeth proposed. "A training arena, a sparring chamber, or something along those lines in his honor."
Chloe agreed, as did the rest of the Hunt and Athena's children.
Athena nodded her assent.
Zoë spoke up. "Perhaps, we can also build a…" She trailed off, words falling dead on her tongue. "Never you mind. I will… partake in the planning some other time." She gathered what little things she brought with her and slipped out of the tent.
No one else dared to say a word.
Once the planning was finished, Olympus mounted enough manpower to complete the monument grounds within a month.
It was the most beautiful collection of buildings on Olympus and Camp Half-Blood. It can be said that only the palace— the Palace of Gods, that is— could have rivaled the gorgeousness of the Justicar's Monument.
Taking inspiration from the timelessness of Astraeus' nature, the grounds pulled from nearly every major architectural breakthrough.
The school was classical, paying homage to Astraeus' Greek roots, constructed of strong, stark white marble and quartz. It was similar to the Parthenon, something that Athena was firm about keeping in the final designs. It contained several classrooms, lecture halls, a library, a study room, and anything else a budding scholar could possibly need in a single building.
The court was a combination of Baroque and Victorian styles. The building was impressionable, instantly capturing the attention of any who wandered the grounds of the monument. A grand set of stairs ascended up to the massive double doors, at the base of which was a statue of Astraeus' godlikeness. He was sculpted in his godly form, donning his vermillion armor and wielding Dikastis, his signature weapon.
The observatory and armillary were more modern, more neo-futuristic in its design. Designed by the more introspective and forward-thinking children of Athena, the decision to keep the design was one that they had to fight their own godly mother for. Ultimately, however, it was Annabeth who made her see reason.
"Astraeus existed in the present too, Lady Athena," she said. "That includes the present-day, in which these styles exist. He was more than just the god that you once knew. To us— to me— he was just Astraeus."
In the center of the monument grounds was a garden and small pond, a place for visitors or students to relax and take stock of themselves. It was decorated similar to gardens of gothic castles and buildings, a stark reminder of the grim origins of the monument. A hauntingly beautiful place.
On the day that the Justicar's Monument opened, nearly every god, major or minor, every demigod in Camp Half-Blood, and every other immortal being on Olympus was present.
They all knew Astraeus, the Justicar of Olympus.
It was a brilliant day. And an even more grand celebration in his honor. Drinks were had in his memory, promises scored into the souls of every one he had touched that they would redeem his name, bring pride to his legacy and fully earn the honor of calling themselves his students.
Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover were all made honorary members of the Hunt due to their connection with Astraeus— courtesy of Phoebe's glowing praise, especially for Percy, much to the surprise of every Huntress.
That night, Artemis named Chloe Chase the new Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. No one fought for the position, for Chloe's strength was unrivaled amongst the Hunt. Some even questioned whether or not she was as strong as a minor god or goddess. Maybe even an Olympian.
Zoë Nightshade was only briefly present, but she quickly slipped away from the party and found herself alone in the depths of the armillary, staring up at the stars.
There, amongst the rest of them, was the Justicar.
Her Justicar.
It was not long before Artemis found her there. Only the two of them present, and with no one else to distract them, the goddess of the Hunt approached her oldest and greatest friend.
She sat beside Zoë. "The stars are beautiful tonight."
Zoë nodded. "They are."
Artemis bit her lip. Blood flowed free. She forced the words out of her throat, coating them in crimson. "You know what must be done."
Zoë nodded. And nodded again. "I do," her voice trembled.
Artemis placed a hand on her heart. Silver light bled from between her fingers. "Zoë Nightshade, I hereby banish you from the Hunters of Artemis as punishment for your transgressions. You have willingly broken our sacred oath. The price is your immortality, your skills with the bow, and your attunement with nature." Her words trembled. It dribbled out of her mouth, slowly, almost incomprehensibly.
A choking silver light engulfed Zoë Nightshade. It pulled her up, off her feet, before dropping her onto the ground with a dull thud.
Artemis stared at her. Then, she vanished in the moonlight. "I am sorry, my dearest friend."
Zoë Nightshade laid on the smooth marble floor of the armillary.
The Justicar hung in the heavens high above her.
He was out of reach.
Even now.
The consequences of your actions, Zoë, have come to bite you.
Not sure how often I'll be updating this. Just keep an eye on it. See y'all in the next one!