With two hammering clinks, Zoë jammed the final tent piton into the ground. Sweat from exertion beaded on her forehead before she wiped it away on her jacket sleeve. The gloves she purchased last night did little to shield her numbing fingers from the cold as it blew angrily through her.
Darkness pooled at the edges of the forest clearing where she'd built her camp. The flickering light of her campfire kept it at bay. As Zoë finished the final few touches on her tent for the night, she returned to the campfire. Her food— two caught and killed rabbits— was done roasting. It smelled delicious. She devoured them, quickly following it with two swigs from her water canteen.
Once she was done, she stomped out most of the fire, keeping only the embers as she climbed into her tent.
The instant her head hit the rough surface of her sleeping bag, she fell asleep.
[;]
Chloe snapped her fingers. A wave of Infrastra spilled out from nothingness, scorched every monster in the clearing. She cleansed the area, enough for her sisters to spread out and begin to set up their camp.
A flash of silver light beamed down beside Chloe. Artemis, dressed in full battle regalia, nodded. Her malachite, hawk-shaped helmet covered most of her face, yet her eyes— as brilliant and bright as moonlight— still shone through. She cut a horrifying figure against any of her prey, as intended by her, Hephaestus, and Athena.
"Well done, Chloe."
Chloe nodded. "I'll put the field up now."
"Good."
Chloe stabbed her sword into the ground. A sphere of vermillion light began to bloom from the sword's pommel, encasing the entirety of the camp within it. The Hunters centered their camp around Chloe's sword.
Around Dikastis.
When it first ended up in Chloe's hands, Artemis had nearly broken down on the spot. But her lieutenant reassured her that she would use it well, and as Astraeus intended. There was no question in anyone's mind— not even the minds of the Olympians nor Athena's brilliance— that Chloe Chase was undeserving of Dikastis.
She was the last living remnant of Astraeus' legacy. She carried the final vestiges of him now. As she always did. As she always would.
A shadow of his past, as Zoë had put it.
Before she left the Hunt for good.
In these days, in the three years since Astraeus' death, Chloe Chase had grown up. Somehow, despite the blessing of the Hunt, she was still aging.
Chloe flipped up the flap of Artemis' tent. "Barrier is deployed and the girls have finished setting up camp." She stood at-ease, her hands folded at her lower back. "I believe it is time for the Sentinel Trials, my Lady."
"Who did you have in mind, Captain?"
"Scouts Jayde, Kara, and Irene."
Artemis hummed. But she ultimately always trusted Chloe's judgment. "Approved. Let us fetch them."
"Yes, ma'am." Chloe saluted her.
Artemis picked her helmet up from her desk, placed it under her arm, and walked with Chloe out of the tent.
Ever since the Battle of Manhattan and Kronos' defeat, the Hunters of Artemis have remained at the forefront of Olympus' reach, scouring the U.S. for any threats, monsters, or remnants of the Titans' influence.
Their numbers had swelled following the battle, especially when stories of Chloe's performance reached the ears of the demigods.
Chloe was hailed as both a hero and monster.
A hero for holding Lincoln Tunnel alone; a monster for the number of beasts and chthonic creatures she'd slain as she held that tunnel.
"The stories are exaggerated," she'd said to the campers. "The Titans had good information. They knew that I was the only one stationed there, so they didn't send many monsters my way."
"But how many did you kill?" One camper asked— a young girl, no older than Iliana when she first joined the Hunt.
"Four hundred," Chloe said. "Six hundred, if we're counting the situations where I was fighting with other people."
The Hunters gained fifteen new members that same week.
Chloe and Artemis paced through the camp in full battle armor.
"I want Kara, Jayde, Irene, and Ranger Skiosi front and center, now!" Chloe called.
In seconds, the four Hunters stood in front of her. They wore the standard uniforms of the Hunt: a set of layered and flexible leather armor, a silver-green cloak and hood with a white fur mantle, a quiver strapped around their waist and positioned against the small of their backs, and black-leather archer's gloves that were personally designed and created by Aphrodite and Athena.
The brooch of the Hunt closed their cloaks— a silver-steel emblem of a drawn bow and arrow that, combined, shaped the outline of a crescent moon.
Chloe looked at each of them. Kara, Jayde, and Irene were new recruits— Scouts, as they were called in the Hunt.
"Ranger Skiosi," Chloe called.
Avra stepped forward, in front of her sisters. "Present, Ranger Captain."
"You will be leading these three on their Sentinel Trial," Chloe announced.
Kara beamed and rested her hands at her hips.
Jayde's eyes narrowed into thin daggers, excitement glimmering like a kaleidoscope within them.
And Irene continued using an arrowhead to pick out the dirt from under her fingernails.
"Who is our target, ma'am?" Kara asked.
Chloe grinned. "Me."
[;]
"This is bullshit," Jayde grumbled. "How are we supposed to pass the Trial if we're hunting Chloe Chase?"
"Stop complaining," Irene retorted. She nocked an arrow and leaned against a nearby tree. "Stay focused. We need to keep an eye out for her."
"Agreed." Kara unsheathed her daggers.
They were in the depths of the forest, situated between six trees upon a field of tall, verdant green grass. The golden light of the setting sun illuminated the forest, bathing it in streaks of vermillion.
"Avra," Kara began. "Are we just supposed to find her, or are we supposed to wound her too?"
"The goal of all Sentinel Trials is to hunt your target," explained Avra. "And that includes trying to kill them."
"Well, shit."
A laugh echoed from above them. "'Well, shit' is precisely correct, girls!"
Irene, Kara, and Jayde all wheeled their gazes upwards.
Chloe Chase stood on the canopy above them, a sword in one hand and the other holding a branch to balance herself.
Avra's eyes narrowed. "Go! Run!" She barked at her sisters, as she swiftly nocked and fired an arrow at Chloe.
Irene, Kara, and Jayde broke off in all directions, fleeing deeper into the forest. They turned from hunters to the hunted; desperation and fear coursed through them like blood.
And Chloe could smell it.
Within two-and-a-half minutes, Chloe tracked and pinned down Kara and Jayde, binding them in chains made of Infrastra. The nature of the flames (and Chloe's ability to control it) made it a painless process. The two girls, in their panic, ended up running into one another. For Chloe, it made hunting them easier. Much easier.
Finding Irene, however, was a different story entirely. Chloe landed— toes, sole, heel— onto a high tree branch. Her eyes narrowed and she caught the slightest change of a tree's shadow, some three-hundred feet away from her.
Chloe had to give it to Irene, despite how little actual training Irene had, she had good instincts. But instincts alone could only go so far.
Chloe conjured a bow made of her— no, Astraeus'— starfire. She drew back its fiery string, an infernal arrow forming out of air and nocking itself against the string. Loosing the arrow, it spiraled out as if it were rifled, deep into the forest towards where Chloe saw the shadow.
The arrow illuminated the depths of the forest. It cast long shadows before homing in on its target: Irene. In mid-flight as it approached swiftly, the tip of the arrow split in two— into the weights of a bola that wrapped around Irene as she tried to run. They tangled up her ankles in Infrastra, and she fell to the mossy earth. She struggled to free herself, to get back up onto her feet and run away from Chloe.
"And that concludes the Sentinel Trial," Chloe announced. She snapped her fingers. The Infrastra that kept Irene, Kara, and Jayde bound evaporated, healing any wounds instantly and freeing them. "You did well. Especially Irene."
She beamed at the praise.
"But she decided to break off from her sisters."
Irene faltered.
"This will be considered a failure." Chloe folded her hands together. "Which leaves you only two more attempts to pass the Trial."
"Wa-wait!" Irene protested. "Of course we'd fail from the start: we were supposed to hunt you! That's impossible to do, especially with how strong you are. It's unfair to fail us."
Chloe raised a brow. "Are you challenging my decision, Irene?"
Fear. It sparked across Irene's eyes like lightning. "N-no! Not at all, ma'am. I just—"
"Good." Chloe smirked. "And you're right. It was unfair. But every first Sentinel Trial that each Scout attempts is always a hunt against me."
"Why?" Kara asked. "To break us?"
Chloe shook her head. "To test your reactions when facing an undefeatable enemy. And to show you my strength. The Hunt is strong. Powerful. We are the spearhead of Olympus. We seek battle. And those battles are often against legendary monsters, gods, or worse. I, as Ranger Captain, need to make sure the Hunt is ready for them."
"It seems inefficient," observed Jayde.
Avra nodded. "It is. We are brainstorming a more effective method of testing new recruits. If you are interested, then you three could be the first group we test it on."
Kara, Jayde, and Irene all glanced at each other. After a second of seemingly telepathic communication, Irene looked at Avra.
"We accept."
"I expected as much." Avra crossed her arms. She tilted her head towards Chloe. "Do you think they're ready, Captain?"
"Give them a day to rest and recover," Chloe decided. "I'll leave them in your hands, Avra. I need to speak to someone."
The trio of new recruits all saluted Chloe before she teleported away in a flash of fire.
[;]
Perseus Jackson twirled Riptide in his hand. His forehead and forearms slicked with sweat under the bright afternoon sun, he stood between Thalia and Annabeth. His gaze kept flicking between the two of them as they circled around him like a pride of lions. They were covered in sweat too; Thalia more so because she refused to ditch her black leather jacket.
Wordlessly, the girls leapt towards him at the same time. The angry points of Thalia's spear and Annabeth's dagger beared down upon Percy. He dodged to the side and raised Riptide, catching both his opponent's weapons and parrying them aside.
He quickly disarmed Thalia by slipping the end of Riptide between her hand and her spear then kicking it harshly, sending the spear tumbling seven feet away.
But Annabeth had gotten faster; instantly punished Percy for his decision, pushing toward him and unleashing a cutting barrage that left him only one option: defend. That choice bought Thalia time to grab her weapon— and that left Percy completely on the defense.
In thirty seconds, both girl disarmed Percy, backed him up against the wall of the Armillary of Swords— the arena of the Justicar's Monument of Camp Half-Blood, and had both ends of their weapons pressed against his vitals.
"Enough!" Chiron cut in, ending the spar. "Winners: Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace!"
Percy grit his teeth at the announcement. And the cheers of the small audience that has gathered to watch the three of them.
Thalia handed him his weapon. She patted him on the shoulder. "You did ask for a two-on-one spar, Perce."
"I know." He sighed, his tension and temper leaving him with his breath. "I just… I thought I would last a little longer."
"You picked the two worst opponents for that," Annabeth pointed out. "Mine and Thalia's weapons solve the other's problems. What I lack in reach, she can cover; what she lacks in speed, I make up for."
Damn it. He'd forgotten to consider that.
Percy's anger returned.
Astraeus wouldn't have forgotten.
"C'mon, Percy," Thalia said as they walked to the locker rooms underneath the arena. "You can sulk later. We all need a shower."
"Yeah, yeah." Percy waved at the girls, separating from them and heading into the men's showers.
Turning on the shower and letting the water splash onto him made thinking easier. It always did.
Despite it only being six months since Astraeus' death, he, Thalia, and Annabeth improved tremendously. Their growth seemed almost impossible, as they were now among the strongest and most skilled at Camp Half-Blood, on par with some of their oldest campers.
But still outshone by Chloe Chase.
Percy had long come to terms with that. Every time he sparred with the Hunt's Captain, it ended in his spectacular loss. Even when she didn't use her powers. Whatever blessing Astraeus had given her made her unbelieveably skilled. However, Percy was getting better. It was only a matter of time before he could last longer than thirty seconds against her.
Okay. Maybe he hadn't come to terms with the fact that she was stronger. Yet.
As he finished his shower, turning off the showerhead and letting the water drip down his body, Percy stared up at the ceiling. He stared through it.
Are you watching us, Astraeus? From wherever you are?
The only sound was the final drops of water leaking from the showerhead.
There was no response.
There never was.
Percy hadn't come to terms with that either.
[;]
"Lady Athena." Chloe flashed into existence before the goddess of Wisdom as she stood in one of the classrooms in the school of the Justicar's Monument of Olympus.
Athena wore a simple, traditional greek robe with golden scrolling along the edges. Her blonde hair was down, a rare sight for most mortals and immortals. Upon seeing Chloe, she smiled. "Chloe. Thank you for coming so quickly despite your duties to the Hunt."
"You're a friend, Athena." Chloe returned the smile with a small nod.
"Please, sit." Athena waved to one of the many empty seats in the classroom.
Chloe took one closest to her. "What do you need?"
"I have been working on something. Something that will be of great interest to you," she began. "I wanted to show it to you sooner, but not before I had something conclusive."
"What is it, Athena?"
The goddess let out a slow breath. "It is Astraeus' string of Fate."
The silence was deafening.
"Wh—what?" Chloe breathed.
Athena nodded. "I believe it may be attempting to… establish a connection, to put it in mortal terms."
Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Show me."
"I believe it would be better if your sister did."
"Iliana?"
Athena smiled softly. "She is the one that kickstarted the process, after all."
The two of them quickly flashed to Iliana's position: underneath the observatory of the Justicar's Monument. It is a place that only a few trusted individuals are granted access to. Most of them are those that were closest to Astraeus, his adopted children, Artemis, Athena, and even some campers and minor gods. The floor mysteriously appeared only a month after the Monument's completion; and it was not present in any blueprints or construction.
Iliana was the first to learn of its presence, and she quickly shared it to those she trusted most.
They had taken to calling it the Vault.
An apt name, considering what it contained: every one of Astraeus' possessions. His armor, his shield, his weapons, and his string of Fate. The one that had been cut over three years ago.
The Vault became Olympus' most guarded secret.
Iliana stood before the Celestial Bronze crucible that stored Astraeus' string of Fate. She smiled at Chloe and walked up to her, wrapping her arms around her and pressing her cheek into the older woman's chest.
"It's good to see you again, Chloe," she said.
Chloe returned the hug. "It's good to see you too. I've only been away for a few days, you know."
Iliana pulled away and lightly smacked her sister on her arm. "I can still miss you." She bowed her head to Lady Athena. "And it is good to see you as well, Lady Athena."
"You also saw me yesterday, Iliana." Athena smirked.
"What is this? Pick-on Iliana Day?"
Both of the women nodded.
Iliana pouted. But it quickly fizzled away. "I assume Athena's told you."
"Yes, she has." Chloe stepped up to the crucible. "Something about his string resonating?"
Athena and Iliana positioned themselves beside the crucible as well.
"That's one way to put it," Iliana began. "It's more complicated than that, though. With some help, I managed to pinpoint a location that the string was attempting to connect to. Or a signal to listen for." Upon seeing Chloe's confused look, Iliana continued, "When Athena saved Astraeus' string, she kept it within one of her safe houses on Olympus. She studied it because typically, when the Fates enact their punishment, the string evaporates. Vanishes. But Astraeus' didn't. That had to mean something. And it turned out that Athena's hunch was right. It did mean something. The only problem is that we don't know what it meant."
Chloe stared at her sister. Then she looked at Athena. Slowly, she let a smile form on her face. "I could kiss you both right now…"
Iliana's face turned a violent shade of red; Athena merely raised an eyebrow.
"If there's a chance— the smallest chance— that he can come back to us, I want to take it," Chloe whispered. "We have to hope. Always."
Athena nodded. "Agreed. But when you said 'help,' Iliana, who helped you?"
Iliana froze. "Hecate," she breathed.
"Hecate?!" Athena's head whipped towards Iliana like a viper. "You brought her here?"
"I… I did," Iliana said.
"She is selfish, unpredictable, powerful, and deceitful, Iliana!" Athena scolded. "A most dangerous combination. For all we know she could have sabotaged—"
"She was already in here when I went to check on him!" Iliana interjected. "The door to the Vault opened to her. Somehow. And I could see her using magic on the string. I just… I just asked her what she was doing."
Athena scoffed. "As I said: likely sabotaging it. Filling it with some accursed spell."
"She was in tears!" Iliana's voice cracked. "She was crying. She looked like she'd been crying for hours. And… and when I talked to her, do you know what the first thing she said to me was?"
Silence.
"'Why did no one tell me?'"
Athena's hands froze on the rim of the bronze crucible.
There was a time when Chloe could never imagine a goddess— an immortal— grieving. Crying. She once thought they were better than such feelings. But Astraeus' death resonated across every realm, every land beneath Mount Olympus, even the immortal mountain itself. After seeing Athena's normally flawless face wracked with tear stains, eyes red with anguish, after seeing Artemis sit in complete and utter silence beneath Astraeus' constellation, Chloe knew better.
Gods grieved worse than mortals did.
"She was alone. Completely, and utterly alone. ," Iliana said. "I don't think I need to explain to you how miserable that is."
"No," Athena replied. "You don't." She swallowed. "I'll talk to her. Apologize. Did Hecate say anything else?"
"Only that it would take time to see if anything changed," Iliana explained. "And that she wants to see him again as much as anyone else does."
Chloe turned to Athena, her arms crossed. "What did Hecate do to make you so guarded?"
"She was good to Astraeus," Iliana answered in Athena's stead. "Kind. Warm. Loving and compassionate. He was her uncle, after all. But Athena…" She trailed off, glaring pointedly at Athena.
"Hecate ruined any chance I had at fostering some kinship with Astraeus. She would rebuff every effort, and whenever I did make contact, her magic ensured that I… that I looked like a fool while doing so." Athena bit her tongue. "She made an idiot out of me."
"She embarrassed you in front of your crush, and you sti hold a grudge against her because of it?" Chloe asked, completely disbelieving.
"I was not crushing on him!" Athena flushed.
"Oh yeah?" Chloe challenged. At this point, she knew that pretty much half of all the women on Olympus had at some point been romantically interested in her adoptive father. "I find that hard to believe."
"There was a time," Athena murmured. "But that's besides the point. I… I acknowledge my hasty judgment towards Hecate."
Chloe nodded, satisfied. That was another thing that she needed to get used to. Being able to scold immortals and not only get away with it, but have them respect what she was saying.
"Is that all?" Chloe asked her sister.
"Yes." Iliana bit her bottom lip. "I wish there was more I could say."
"Nonsense." Chloe rested a hand on Iliana's shoulder. She squeezed it lightly, drawing Iliana's eyes to her own.
It's okay, Chloe said wordlessly with her gaze. You're doing good. This is good.
Thank you. Iliana rested her hand on top of Chloe's.
"Are you ready?" Chloe asked. "We need to head back to camp."
"I am." Iliana nodded.
Chloe glanced at Athena. "Lady Athena," she began. "We'll be taking our leave. Artemis has us moving north tomorrow."
"North?" Athena asked. "I thought she'd been assigned further west."
"She was." Chloe pursed her lips. "But she has other ideas."
"Other ideas?"
"She wants me to lead three other Rangers north."
"She's splitting the Hunt?!"
Chloe nodded. "She is."
"And you haven't asked her?"
"She wants to find Zoë."
Athena's eyes narrowed. "And you came to this conclusion how?"
"I've been keeping track of her," Chloe confessed. "Making sure that she's okay. That she's safe."
"Why?" Athena asked. More so out of curiosity than concern, Chloe guessed. "I thought Artemis removed her from the Hunt. And her mind."
"She did," confirmed Chloe. "But my guess is that it was hard for her to completely rid herself of Zoë. The two of them knew each other for over two millennia."
"Does she know you've been keeping an eye on her? Even without her permission?"
"I'm sure she does," Chloe said. "She hasn't made any attempts to stop me or call me out on it." A small smile made its way onto Chloe's face. "She's still hurting. She's been hurting. Ever since Astraeus died and she removed her blessing from Zoë, Artemis hasn't been the same. I'm sure you knew that, though."
Athena nodded. "I have been aware since the day Astraeus' death was announced. And I warned her of the consequences as well."
"Then you understand why she is so desperate. So miserable."
"I do," Athena confirmed. "I only wish there was something I could do about it."
"There are only two people who would have been able to," Chloe said. "And she has lost them both."
"Chloe," Iliana called. "It's time to go."
"Right." Chloe stood beside Iliana and held her sister's hand. She nodded at Athena. "I'll see you soon, Lady Athena."
"Take care, Chloe."
With a flash of Infrastra, Chloe and Iliana disappeared form the Vault.
Athena stared down at Astraeus' string of Fate within the bronze crucible.
You will come back to us, Astraeus. You always do.
[;]
Zoë hoisted her catch up to her, the fishing rod bending and flexing with the movement of her arms. A trout came flying out of the flowing river, flapping wildly and struggling against the fishing hook. It slapped down on the wet rock in front of Zoë, and she inspected its size.
It would do. She slipped the hook free from its jaw, then took out a small dagger. Zoë killed the fish, blood pooling on the rock and dripping back into the water.
With her breakfast in tow, Zoë walked the quarter-mile back to her camp.
In the six months following Astraeus' death, Zoë relearned to live without the blessings of Artemis. She relearned what it was like to be alone. Those first weeks were impossible.
She barely survived. She barely slept. After two thousand years, she'd forgotten what it was like to sleep without being surrounded by the Hunt. Without being surrounded by her sisters. It was quiet. Far too quiet for her. The steady breathing of her sisters, the sound of them shuffling in their beds, and how loudly some of them snored.
Zoë learned the hard way what it meant to be a hunter without Artemis' blessing. She used her instincts, honed her senses, refined her skills with the bow. Even without the blessing, her muscles still remembered how to shoot. She would never be as accurate, but that was fine. Her prey wasn't monsters anymore. It was animals.
Whatever monsters did cross her path, she was forced to avoid. She didn't have the ability to kill them anymore. However, through a continuous streak of sheer luck, she hadn't run into a single one in months. Several months.
Well, it obviously wasn't luck. Zoë wasn't that naïve.
Someone was watching her. Keeping track of her. Keeping her safe.
Zoë was certain she knew who it was.
[;]
Chloe flashed into Zoë's camp. The ex-Huntress' campfire flickered and wavered as Chloe walked past it and towards Zoë's tent. The flames moved with her footsteps, and when she came to a stop before the tent flaps, they stopped as well.
Chloe opened the tent.
Zoë sat in her sleeping bag, scrawling something into a page of a journal. Without looking up, she said, "What do you want?"
"Artemis is looking for you," answered Chloe. She stepped inside of the tent, letting the flap fall behind her.
"Funny."
"She is—"
Zoë snapped her journal shut. "Thanks for the warning. You can leave now."
Chloe sighed. "I just wanted to let you know."
"And I conveyed my gratitude." Zoë stood up and slipped her journal into an open pocket in her backpack. "You can leave. Don't make me say it again."
Chloe closed her eyes and counted to five. Slowly. Very slowly. "The Hunt is doing well. The Olympians have us moving further north, so head east then south if you want to avoid us."
Zoë lifted her sleeping bag and slipped herself inside of it, feet-first.
"There are no monsters within…" Chloe closed her eyes and focused her senses. "About a hundred miles."
Zoë zipped up the sleeping bag.
"Goodnight, Lieutenant."
The bundle inside of the sleeping bag flinched.
Chloe smiled. Though she did so fighting tears.
In her own ways, Zoë still showed that she cared about her. About the Hunt. About her family.
After all, she never did tell Chloe to leave again.
So Chloe didn't.