Act II Chapter XXVII: "Remember how I used to show you all the stars"
"I can't believe you're here," Annabeth said as she hugged Thalia for the third time in the last minute. She had sent an Iris message to her a few days ago, and while the two did talk about Thalia visiting, she didn't think that Thalia would actually go through with it.
"I told you I would be," Thalia replied with a grin. She had caught up with Chiron for what felt like hours before being introduced to everyone else. The only one who didn't look too excited by the arrival of Thalia was Lupa. And the daughter of Zeus didn't even spare the wolf goddess a second glance.
"I know," Annabeth began. She smiled again and hugged Thalia a fourth time. "So, is it just you?"
"Yeah," Thalia confirmed. "I asked Lady Artemis, and she gave me permission."
"Too bad Lady Artemis didn't come with," Annabeth began. She wanted nothing more than to meet this goddess. It wasn't that she thought Thalia was lying to her. Annabeth just wanted to meet the goddess. Especially because Artemis could be the key to helping them find the rest of the gods.
"If you really want to meet her," Thalia began. Annabeth shook her head. "Hey, I'm just saying. The offer is always open."
"Not yet," Annabeth affirmed after a few moments. There were a lot of reasons why she didn't want to join the Hunters of Artemis mostly because she was focused on bringing this camp back and bringing the gods back to their former glory. "I don't want to be stuck this young forever."
"Can't blame you," Thalia admitted. "A few of my hunters keep getting stopped by adults and asking where their parents are because they look so young."
A laugh left Annabeth. She looked at Thalia, "How long are you going to be here?"
"A few days," Thalia answered. "I just wanted to check everything out. Offer some help."
"We can use all the help we can get," Annabeth smiled. Thalia smirked and looked around the camp. Her eyes seemed to focus on every single detail. "Do you think we should remake it like it was before?"
"You could," Thalia shrugged. "Though, there are a few improvements that could be made. The hill is hard to defend, but the barrier god you found should help with that."
"I'm surprised he didn't jump out at you and try to stop you. Or scare you," Annabeth commented.
"He probably sensed I was a demigod," Thalia waved off.
"Even if he did, he's just a little odd," Annabeth began. "And really strict on the rules. He also doesn't seem to like most of us."
"Most gods won't."
"He's also a bust," Annabeth added.
"Yeah. I remember you telling me that when you were recounting your adventures," Thalia retorted with a smirk. "I kind of want to see it. Should we shout for him?"
"He really won't like that," Annabeth said quickly. "I think he's still offended by what Percy said to him yesterday. Terminus doesn't stay at the border, not visible at least. He poofs in and out, and Percy asked him if 'he goes off to stretch his legs.'"
Thalia snorted, but her shoulders shook as she tried to hold in a laugh. Annabeth shook her head and looked around, "Chiron said the nature spirits could help with making food for everyone."
"Strawberries were big back in the day. The nature spirits used their powers to make strawberries that we would sell for a profit. I don't think it will be hard for Chiron to get all of those supplies again," Thalia said. "Have there been any monster attacks?"
"Yeah," Annabeth answered. "When some demigods were being escorted to the camp. There were some injuries, but we handled it."
"I don't doubt that. Just be safe," Thalia warned. Annabeth nodded. The two of them stopped walking, and Thalia looked around. She wore her parka and ripped blue jeans. A backpack hung off of one shoulder, and her bow rested on the other.
"The cabins aren't all made," Annabeth began even though it was obvious from just looking around. "There are few enough demigods that we just have the females in one cabin and males in the other."
"I can sleep in my tent," Thalia offered.
"Oh."
"I'm just kidding," Thalia laughed as she threw an arm around Annabeth. A smile infected Annabeth's face, and it made her think of the old days. Where Luke and Thalia found her. They brought her to Chiron to be able to train and stay safe.
But it was the time in between that Annabeth cherished so much. Before she met the two of them, she didn't know about any other demigods. They were her introduction to this world. And truly the first family that she had that cared about her.
Annabeth's eyes drifted down, but she forced her attention to Thalia again. She had always seen Thalia as her cooler, older, and immortal sister. Thalia spoke, "Tell me about these new demigods."
And Annabeth did. As she led Thalia to the cabin where they were staying, she told her everything she could about the new demigods. Which was pretty much just the names of them. Thalia listened with a small smile on her face. As the two made it to the cabin, Thalia glanced inside.
There was no one inside the cabin. Annabeth showed off the few beds that were inside. Upon pointing out her bed, Thalia tossed her bag on it, "When's dinner?"
"Not for a while," Annabeth replied. "We were getting ready to evaluate everyone and see where their skills stand."
"Luke is doing the evaluations," Thalia assumed. Annabeth nodded. Thalia didn't say anything, though she lost some of her smile. Annabeth cleared her throat and looked for a topic change. Thankfully, it walked right in.
"Oh, hey. Reyna, right?" Thalia questioned as she turned around. Reyna looked at her and nodded. She wore the jacket that Luke, for some reason, gave her. Her hand rested in her pocket, and with how careful she had been all day, her shoulder had to still be bothering her. "You okay?"
"She saved Percy's life," Annabeth cut in. "Jumped right in front of a Colchis bull and killed it as it tried to gore him."
"That was brave," Thalia began.
"It wasn't anything," Reyna dismissed. If there was one thing Annabeth appreciated and respected about Reyna, it was that she was always throwing herself in front of others to protect them. She had saved Percy's life about twice now.
"We could always use a brave warrior in the-"
"Thalia!"
"I'll stop," Thalia relented as she held up her hands. Reyna didn't look their way as she walked toward her bag and pulled it out. She used one hand to dig through the bag. Thalia moved in front of Annabeth, catching her attention. "We don't have to share a bunk, right?"
"We don't," Annabeth confirmed. Thalia nodded and studied Reyna for a moment. Reyna seemed to feel the gaze and met her eyes. Thalia gave her a small grin, and Reyna returned a nod. She focused back on her bag.
"Now," Thalia said as she clapped her hands together. "Let's go bother Chiron."
Annabeth smiled as she laid in the grass next to Thalia. That day had been the funnest in a long time. It started with looking at all of the progress they had made in rebuilding the camp. Thalia gave Chiron a few ideas and even helped out a little.
While Thalia was busy, Annabeth went to help Luke with the training, but he told her not to worry about it. He had it handled. Clarisse sneered at her and said she would take over for Annabeth. And to have fun on her play date.
The teasing wouldn't ruin Annabeth's mood. She just listened in on the conversation. After they were done, she sparred with Thalia for an hour and got some archery tips. Then, the two just relaxed under the stars as dinner was made.
"Remember how I used to show you all the stars?" Thalia asked in a quiet voice.
"Yeah. Those nights were the best," Annabeth stated. She sighed as she laid her head back. A twig snapped, and Annabeth turned her head to see Percy. His face was covered in sweat and grime.
"Hey," Percy greeted. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"No," Thalia answered. She patted the ground near them. "Just talking about the stars. Constellations really. Know any?"
"Not really," Percy began as he laid by them. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat, and it sounded like he was out of breath. Annabeth wasn't quite sure where he had been. Training she presumed. But Luke had been occupied. So who was he training with?
"Well, see those three stars close to each other?" Thalia asked as she pointed. Percy seemed to follow her finger and nodded. "That's Orion's belt. To the right of that is the bear Kallisto."
"What about that one?" Annabeth asked as she pointed toward stars that she had noticed so long ago, when she first met Thalia. By squinting, she could make out what seemed to be an outline of a figure holding onto a bow. "When I first asked you about it, you told me to wait until I was older."
"I thought it was a bad story or something else," Annabeth began. "But, I tried researching the constellation. I couldn't find anything about it. At least not in historical records."
"Well, that constellation was created by Lady Artemis decades ago," Thalia began. "Before the camps were destroyed, but not long before. Maybe a year or two? It should have been a warning for us to see what was to come."
Annabeth sat up slightly and studied the hunter of Artemis. Thalia sighed and laid her head back, "Percy, I don't know how much you've been told about this prophecy about a child of the Big Three. They're the eldest Olympians."
"Annabeth's mentioned it," Percy said carefully.
"Well, I'm the daughter of Zeus. I was destined to make a decision that would have destroyed or saved the world. And while on a quest to rescue Lady Artemis."
"Wait. Rescue a goddess?" Percy questioned.
"You rescued a goddess?" Annabeth repeated. Thalia smiled painfully.
"She had been captured by a Titan: Atlas. If you haven't heard of him, he is the one who holds up the weight of the world."
"That's just a story, right? He went against the gods during that war, and they cast him away. He doesn't actually hold up the weight of the sky," Percy began. "Right?"
"Wrong. They say that there is a pull between the earth and the heavens. Between the old gods Gaea and Ouranos, so someone has to hold up the weight of the sky to keep them apart. Atlas is the barrier there, but when someone went to check on him, they found it was someone else. Who had no memory. Of anything."
"So they don't know how they got there?"
"Exactly. But, another wrinkle is that it was a camper from Camp Half-Blood. One of my comrades; my friends. They hadn't arrived at camp for the summer, but we assumed they were staying with their family. Only to find them lost and confused on the mountaintop."
"I'm getting ahead of myself," Thalia resigned with a sigh. "Lady Artemis and her hunters were visiting. They used to visit Camp Half-Blood every so often, and we would play capture the flag. They always win. During that visit, Lady Artemis approached me and told me that my father wanted me to travel with the hunters for a week or two."
"The week of my birthday," Thalia continued. She shrugged and looked down. "I don't know if I was going to hit that magic number or not. I don't know what the gods would have done at the time, but Lady Artemis told me the Council of the gods had a plan. I still don't know what it was."
A sigh left Thalia, and she stared ahead. "Before we were set to leave, Lady Artemis disappeared in the middle of the night. And I had a dream about my friend being stuck under the weight of the sky. Artemis rescued them and took the weight for them. When I woke up, I found the lieutenant of the hunters: Zoe Nightshade."
"Her and I never really got along," Thalia said with a bitter smile. "We argued about what to do, and a quest was made. We traveled to Mount Othrys to find Lady Artemis. The rescue went mostly well. We saved Artemis and made Atlas take the weight of the sky again."
"Why didn't Art... Lady Artemis just drop the sky?" Percy asked.
"It's not that simple," Thalia replied as she shook her head. "You can't just drop it. Someone has to take the weight. It... um... it killed my friend. They couldn't handle it and died after Lady Artemis took the weight. It's not something meant for a demigod to bear."
"I was worried about preparing my friend to be laid to rest and about Lady Artemis. The other hunter saw something in the shadows, so they went to investigate. Zoë went to help, and I heard fighting. By the time I got there..."
Thalia fell silent and stared at the sky. Annabeth gently reached out to squeeze her arm and hopefully comfort her. Thalia shook her head, "I only saw someone darting away and couldn't make out many details. Just that they wore leather armor and had a tattoo on their forearm. With some kind of symbol I couldn't see. But I saw two smudges: tally marks.
"Lupa's Romans were given those," Thalia said coldly as she looked over at the wolf goddess. Lupa had been sulking around the edges of the camp for most of the day. Now, the goddess sat, which still looked like standing, near the hill. Reyna stood next to her but seemed to be testing her shoulder underneath the watchful gaze of Lupa.
"I took the vow to become a hunter of Artemis and became her lieutenant. I wanted to avenge the two sisters we lost, but I never found the Roman. Honestly, I hope they died here," Thalia said in a low voice. She didn't take her gaze off the wolf goddess. Lupa didn't seem to notice. Or was ignoring it.
"Do you ever wonder what the gods had planned for you?" Percy questioned after a few moments.
"No," Thalia dismissed. She sighed and pointed back at the constellation. "Lady Artemis put her lieutenant in the sky as a way to remember her. They had known each other forever."
Annabeth always knew that Thalia had a hatred for the Romans. She just never knew how deep it truly went. And that hatred festered for years. Decades really. Thalia lowered her finger and rested her arms behind her head.
"I'm glad you guys did this," Thalia said softly. She grimaced. "I wanted to, but Lady Artemis..."
Thalia trailed off. A sigh finally left her as she sat up, "Who wants s'mores?"