Chapter 28: Boar 'hunting'

[David's Pov]

I would all of you imagine how an ordinary boar hunting would unfold for a second.

Did you think about it?

Now, does the image contain yourself hiking through a freezing mountain for hours, without any sunlight because the trees are too tall and clustered, your socks are beyond wet, and delving into the process of freezing over, all the while getting constantly laughed at by gaggles of minor female nature deities that throw acorns at your face?

No?

Then, my friend, I'm sorry to tell you that you're sadly wrong. Getting an incorrect image, so to speak.

Because, for the love of gods, that was exactly what I've been doing since Zoë declared the 'boar hunt'. No wonder humanity picked up farming; I'd pick grinding my hoe against the ground day after day over this horrific experience any time.

Once again, the only good facet of this activity was the 3000 years old huntress was having the time of her life.

She wasn't playing around like before. On the contrary, her stealth was neigh perfect to the point where I missed her from my sight more times than my frozen fingers could count. But there was no hiding the discernible glint of excitement behind those coffee brown eyes. She was so invested in the moment that I almost felt the entire tracking was worth it.

Emphasis on almost.

I tried to keep the grousing to a minimum. Especially since Zoë had put significant weight on how we should be quiet if we didn't want to be caught in a surprise by the prey.

"It is highly unlikely that this beast is an ordinary variant." She had said, exhilaration sparking behind the eyes. "It would need absolute precision to ever get any hope of catching it."

But, you know what? I was never good at enduring things; for that matter, none of my cabin mates were. We were, quoting off on Marcus, "The most dynamic cabin by a long shot" and "didn't do well with such paltry things as stealth or tactical maneuvers".

To this day, I still think I could take 50% of the blame, at most, for what happened afterward.

"How long do we have to wander around here?" I asked in my lowest voice.

The problem was that the nymphs were a bunch of cheeky little b-word (I'm not saying it while being right next to a hunter), and several dryads shouted "Here!", "Here!" at the top of their voices, which effectively echoed off the trees far into the woods.

Zoë cursed rapidly in a mixture of various languages as she grabbed her bow out of thin air. I only caught the ancient Greek, which translated into 'hobo', so I was more glad than curious that I missed the other words.

"Thou just had to blabber about it, didn't thee?" She hissed, aiming her arrow at the nymphs to shoo them away. I also clicked on my lighter. The black sword was barely visible with how little light we received under the sea of leaves.

"How is any of this my fault?" I protested.

Zoë never got the chance to shoot back a retort, because a giant squeal of a boar thundered across from the entire mountainside. I knew we were utterly screwed when all the color drained out of Zoë's face, leaving no trace of the wonders of the hunt behind.

"We need to hide. Hurry!" She said, and before I could ask why she grabbed my collar and started sprinting into the deeper woods.

Contrary to many beliefs, pulling a bow required a lot of your upper body strength. And as much as I underestimated Zoë's strength due to her physique, I was certainly less surprised than I should have been at the fact that she hauled me along with only one arm, no problem.

To be fair though, I was getting the full view of our 'prey' in live-action.

It was hard to make out the exact appearance—thank gods—but the implications were not thrilling either.

The height was estimated up to 40ft at the bare minimum, two sets of red bloodshot eyes bore down on my face like burning coals, and it trampled tree barks and boulders under its massive hooves like dandelions in front of a highway truck, and the tusks; oh my, the tusks. Two sets of tusks jutted out at the very front, longer than my entire sword, bristling white even at the slightest glance of sunlight, saturated with dried-up blood. Oh, and it also spiked off in like, 8 directions.

"REEEEETTTTT!"

It let out the most unholy screech I've ever heard in my life, aside from that one time Sherman tried a sing-a-long at night, and it snapped a toppling tree in half in a single bite.

The nymphs seemed to be realizing the consequences of their actions. They hurriedly fled away by a 'poof' of various shades of green, some just coward in the spot, hugging whatever eco-system they were attached to.

"Hey, if the forest is inhabited by nymphs, wouldn't they be in danger—"

"Not, the time!" Zoë panted.

She ducked under a low hanging branch and dared a glance at behind, only to look forward with a volley of yet another curse. This time, I picked up "a sack of potatoes" in Ancient Greek while she shot me a glare that suggested I was way under the rank compared to one.

Unfortunately, I was too occupied with what Zoë to realize that the boar was not merely chasing us. With another "Reet!", something sailed over our head to crash down 3 feet in front of Zoë.

"Di immortales!"

Zoë barely managed to leap over the giant log, but she was forced to roll into a stop after hand, basically dumping me in a pile of snow. Though I couldn't be sure that it wasn't intentional.

We were sprawled in the middle of a clearing in the woods. There was a word for something like this—a glade, I think. The ground was free of any snow. Instead, it had a beautifully trimmed meadow of grass and wildflowers. A series of cut-down tree trunks were huddled in a row of seats, and on the opposite side, three floral bushes were huddled like a chair. It was as if a kindergartener wanted to make a throne out of it, but ended up looking like a busted bean bag chair.

"An old clearing of those satyrs." Zoë panted, struggling up to her feet with distaste in her mouth. "Erytheia always had the worst sense of humor."

"Who is Erytheia?" I asked, standing upright as well.

Zoë pursed her lips. I could nearly hear her mental shield locking into a sturdy wall as she promptly looked in the other direction.

"She is my sister."

I recognized the name 'Erytheia' from somewhere, but the idea that Zoë Nightshade had a sister, much less alive to this day, was vastly jarring that it slid away. How could someone who lived for literally thousands of years still have any family members left?

Then again, I didn't know what she exactly was…she couldn't be a demigod, right? With how long she lived and all. But then, I've never heard of a hunter of Artemis growing old, so maybe there was some other—

Crunch!

Just then, the gigantic boar crashed through the log it had thrown. Several torn vines were wrapped around various parts of it. The nymphs had been trying to slow it down, to no avail.

Now that we were in a clearing, I could make out that the boar was in a boar-derline (heh) black shade of brown with a red mane stripped from between its eyes to the start of its tail in a Mohawk fashion.

"What is that?" I managed to ask.

"The Calydonian boar," Zoë answered, trying her very best to keep her voice even.

Oh boy.

"The one that Artemis sent to ransack Calydon? The one that needed 50+ heroes to hunt it down?" I prayed to the gods that I would be wrong, but alas Zoë nodded without hesitance, successfully signifying our doom.

You see, it's simple mathematics.

It took 50-ish well-trained heroes and a legendary huntress to take the thing down.

Zoë might be fitting in the latter, but I sure as hell didn't pack 50 men worth of heat under my belt.

The Calydonian boar seemed to note this fact as well. It let out a steamy grunt of belittlement and started to pace around by the edge of the glade—making sure that we'd never get a chance to run away.

Zoë and I put our backs together, weapons drawn, but neither of us liked the chance against that monstrosity.

"Isn't the boar sacred to Artemis? Maybe you can calm it down." I suggested, but Zoë shook her head.

"It was a scared beast at birth," She kept her eyes locked on the boar at the time she spoke. "But after its rebirth, it lost all its sanctity and became an ordinary beast. A very powerful one at that. The hunt used to go on a monthly long raids to keep it at bay."

Great. So this marks yet another monster that wanted to kill us thanks to the moon goddess herself. Even by baseball rules, this was the third strike.

"You and I really need to have a talk about your patron goddess."

"If we ever live that long, gladly."

The answer nearly knocked me off sideways. Zoë was shocked herself. Her widened eyes momentarily dropped down, away from the monster, which was exactly what it wanted.

"REEEEETTTTT!"

With a tremendous yell, the Calydonian boar charged forward.

[Line Break]

For a being so large, the Calydonian Boar was the fastest monster I've ever faced yet.

To be fair, the former mythical creature that held the title was the Nemean Lion, which wasn't exactly known for its agility, but this thing ran at us with an energy of a dump truck on a highway.

Zoë's reaction was late due to her own shocked state. I had to pull us both down, as flat against the ground as possible and the underbelly of the boar brushed over us. We'd have been squashed like pancakes if it had 2 inches of extra fat.

"βλάκας(Idiot)!" Zoë shouted as she sprang back to her feet. I wasn't sure who she was targeting with the insult. Hopefully not me.

She notched three arrows and let them fly. A triplet of silver shafts sprouted on the flank, but the boar didn't register the hit. It squealed and rushed forward once more, forcing us to roll away in opposite directions.

This time, I moved in for a strike. Before the boar had a chance to turn around, I lunged forward with a slash that would've carved a nice crescent-shaped scar on its side, but my blade bounced off in contact.

"I don't remember this thing being invincible!" I shouted.

"It has too thick skin to wound normally!" Zoë said. Another set of arrows went flying, this time landing in between the boar's back leg. It still didn't make a drop of blood, nor did the monster notice the hit.

The red coal eyes locked on the closer target; a.k.a me and swung its tusks around in a deadly arc. I stupidly raised my sword to try and parry the strike, but the force was too much for me to ever bear.

With an ear-splitting crash, my body flew into the air. I barely made out Zoë's scream over the boar's triumphant squeal as it stabbed forward, the tusks aimed straight at my chest.

The impact shook my entire body. It was as if Sherman just delivered his best shot of gut-punch in the center abdominal. The world did several loop-de-loops before I slammed on the ground, slid across the grass, and landed in a heap of pain and groans at the feet of a pine tree.

A nymph was looking over me with bewilderment.

She had shoulder-length, spiky black hair, freckles sprinkled across her nose with a semi-permanent scowl. She reminded me of 'Thalia', the punk girl that was with Percy and Annabeth at Westover Hall, except the nymph had to camo brown eyes instead of electric blue.

"Hey…." I managed to croak out. "…you should run."

My head was spinning. My ears were filled with ringing noises, and I was close to throwing up; a second-time occurrence this day. Which was two more than was desirable.

"You are not supposed to be alive. Your traitor friend is going ballistic."

"What…?"

The nymph pointed forward.

I shook off my daze and looked up.

It was the fiercest, and the most graceful anger-filled combat I had ever seen.

The Calydonian boar screeched in frustration as Zoë danced at the very edge of its striking zone, just out of reach as she weaved in and out of its weak spot. Every time she dove in her knives would flash just for a second, and then she ducked out again while a flurry of dark brown hair being the only indication that she had struck beforehand.

But the real kicker was how Zoë moved; she rolled and jumped and blocked, each action executed at the exact moment with perfect proficiency, leaving her unscathed even in the face of an enraged behemoth.

It took me several dumbfounded seconds to realize that I was staring at the fight with slacked jaws, and a few more seconds to notice Zoë's face—scrunched up in what I could only identify as pain and sorrow.

"Here, Porky!"

I rushed forward, jabbing with all my might at its right eye. The boar squealed out in surprise and swung its head sideways in a blind panic, this time sending both of them flying 20 feet away and landing in a batch of snow.

Before I could regain my spinning head, a pair of warm hands cupped my cheeks as if ready to squash my face like a presser.

"How are thee alive!?" Zoë shouted, shaking her hands.

I honestly had no idea, and I was too surprised by the sparking tears that welled in her eyes to even begin thinking up an answer. Zoë's watery eyes traveled up and down, making sure if I didn't have a large hole punctuated in my body, then they widened in shock as she gasped out.

"The pelt." She muttered. Her fingers ran over the golden lion fur coat.

Of course! I had one of the most overpowered defensive artifacts in history. The skin was tough enough to take blows from Heracles upfront—no way could a boar pierce it, no matter how strong it was.

We didn't have time to dwell on it any further. The bore-trample-express was thundering towards our way, and we barely managed to roll out of the way as it skidded into the woods, knocking over dozens of trees as it squealed in frustration.

I was about to get back up, but Zoë—again, to my surprise—locked her arms around my neck in a…hug, I had to say.

"Don't do that again." She said in a hushed voice. "Please."

For a moment, I couldn't breathe properly.

My ADHD brain scanned the area for a white dove nearby because a very similar effect took over my senses. My ears picked up her shaky breaths, the scent of a fresh fruit mixed in with pine tree, most likely thanks to the pine needles saturating her hair, and the sound of her heartbeat pulsing faster than usual—or maybe that was mine? I had no idea.

From what felt like across an entire continent, the Calydonian boar roared.

"Boar." I managed to squeak out.

"Right. The boar." Zoë hurriedly wiped across her face and let go.

There, we awkwardly sat face to face with each other under several snow-covered trees.

Zoë had a deep blush spreading across her face up to the tip of her ears. I hoped my face wasn't blushing as hard as it felt because I needed to stick my head into the snow real quick.

Also, someone just let a hoard of butterflies in my stomach. No idea what that was about.

For a tantalizing 10 seconds, neither of us said anything. Even as my battle-hardened brain noted the steady trembling of the ground as an indicator of the impending threat, I couldn't think of anything to say or do. Instead, I was too busy noticing details I never noticed; like how Zoë fiddled with the edge of her braid with her fingers, and her fingers were really sleek, and—

Zoë cleared her throat loudly. I mentally shook myself to snap out of whatever state I was in before. The butterflies in my stomach settled down…slightly, at least.

"I have an idea how to kill the boar," Zoë said. It may have been my ears playing a trick, but her voice seemed an octave higher than usual. She cleared her throat again.

"Normally we had Lady Artemis's assistance during the hunt, but in the case, we ever happen to encounter the beast in her absence, I have made a way to hopefully contain it. It would take some time to take effect, however…"

For whatever reason, her face became sour—no, no, no, that wasn't sour. It was…mournful? Whatever the case was, Zoë wasn't thrilled at the idea of using whatever she had in mind; which was probably why she didn't lead with it, come to think of it.

"I'll buy you some time," I suggested.

Zoë eyed me warily—or, maybe she was concerned? Gods, I was not good at figuring out people by default, but trying to figure out what Zoë was thinking at the moment was trying to go through a labyrinth while blindfolded.

"I have the lion pelt. I'll be fine." I tried my best to comforting grin. By the deepening concern over Zoë's expression, I think it came off more as a stiffened, forceful grimace.

Thankfully, the boar didn't give us much time to argue. It was rampaging back our way, demolishing everything and anything in its pathway. The nymphs were scattering in every direction. Then, something odd caught my eyes.

The nymphs weren't merely scattering in order to flee. On the contrary, dryads scrambled around building makeshift barricades or pelting acorns or other natural ammunitions. Other, more floral/herbal-based nymphs were just as busy making vines grow around the legs or flowers that puffed out green pollens up its eyes and snout.

The boar wailed in agony as it stomped around. But as much as the nymph's strategy held up, the monster they were up against was just too powerful to keep in check. It tore through the vines and chewed up the flowers. The barricade crumbled into pieces. The boar swung its tusks, swiping across several tree trunks and some nymphs disappeared in a cloud of green smoke with a yelp of pain.

"Why aren't they running away?" I asked out loud.

"Because many of us have our life force tied here."

A cynical voice answered from the back, making me jump at least 10ft into the air.

"We can't leave." The pine tree nymph said.

That made me feel sorry for them, but Zoë clearly didn't share the same emotion.

"Well then, maybe thou should've thought second before calling it here."

The pine tree nymph shot a glare at Zoë, who returned it with equal ferocity. I had no idea why they held each other at their respective throats, but I was more worried about the nymphs at the moment.

I guess some were responsible for calling the beast in the first place, but plenty of them had nothing to do with it. If I remembered correctly, the nymphs had their life force tied to whatever section of nature they represented. They were quite literally fighting for their lives at the moment and losing badly.

"I'm helping them."

The pine tree nymph raised her eyebrow. "Oh, are you now?"

Zoë got up as well. "I'll get ready. And David—"

She grabbed my arm right as I was about to run head-first into the raging battle of the forest. I looked back, and…

…uh….

…since when was Zoë so…uh…sparkling? Except it wasn't actually sparkling, it was…hard to explain with words. Beautiful? Can I use that word in this situation?

"Try not to get injured," Zoë said. "I'm not lugging thy injured body over the country."

I swallowed a gulp of air. Why was it suddenly hard to breathe? Again?

"Right." I barely forced the word out. Zoë gave a firm nod, before letting go of my arm and sprinting away in another direction, searching high and low for something. I found myself reaching for her, before catching myself mid-way. It also sank in, that it was the first time she called me by my name.

"REEEEETTTTT!"

The horrendous yell from the Calydonian Boar shook the site for a rude awakening. With nothing other than sheer force, it threw back the resistance of dozens of nymphs. It scanned the area with bloody eyes, determined to crush any living life force in the perimeter. I had to get its attention quickly, or it'll mow down a football stadium or two.

I turned to the pine tree nymph.

"Can you and your friends make a secure enough area to trap us in?"

The nymph's eyes widened. "You are willing to get trapped in with that thing?"

I looked at the Calydonian Boar uproot a boulder high up into the sky in its rage. The boulder arced away as if it was fired away from a cannon.

"Yes." I hoped I sounded braver than I felt. The nymph wrinkled her nose in doubt, but she hurried away to a group of nymphs.

Not a minute later, sturdy vines sprouted out in circular formation. Might just be my hyperactive brain, but the trees seemed to shift out of the way to make an opening around both the Calydonian boar and me.

The boar grunted, trotting in its spot as it scanned the arena as it unfold. It was smarter than your usual boar, which made it cautious as well. Even if it had thrown off the resistance of the nymphs, they had still managed to make considerable physiological damage to it.

But right now, I needed its attention focused on me.

"Here, piggy!"

I threw the sword in midair and followed up with my best taxi cab whistle.

The sword instantly steadied itself and flew toward the reddened eyes. The boar squealed in astonishment and swung its tusk in a wide arc. My sword flung sideways like a toothpick thrown against a fan.

Well, so much for that strategy. Time to improvise.

"REEEEETTTTT!"

The boar barreled forward with its 110-tone muscles packing full heat.

Imagine a tank rolling in full speed with an intent to squash you like a bug. Now multiply the size of the tank by 2 and a half and attack two lances at the headlight. That was the Calydonian Boar in a nutshell.

So, you know, I did the most heroic thing I could manage.

Screaming like a child as I dove sideways for my life.

I saw the ground shaking under the force of its charge even before I rolled over it and landed on my foot. I had no idea when I picked it up, but the sable blade was back in my left hand…from where a faint glow of gold escaped through clenched fingers.

I had no time to investigate. That thing was nimble and had a kicking skill in drifting. By the time I was back up, it had already swerved around and was coming in for a second attempt.

My teeth chattered along the thundering ground. I can't risk another sideways dodge; it was too close. In nothing but desperation, I ran forward. If I could get the timing right, I could slide under its belly again.

Only when it was too late, did I realize that was its entire plan. I had vastly underestimated how smart it was. The Calydonian Boar gave a small smirk with its eyes before it plunged its tusks into the ground, and overturned an entire block worth of soil.

A geyser of dirt and snow rocketed up, sending me along into the air as well.

From below, I heard the boar's squeal of delight. It must've noted that stabbing didn't work well last time, because it was looking up with its maw wide open, ready to swallow me in one gulp.

I never noticed that boars would have teeth. This one in particular; didn't have any flat ones—they were all sharp fangs with color that suggested it didn't wash them since the start of time itself.

I am not getting devoured by that.

By some miracle, I managed to flip around in the air. I gripped the sword tightly and hacked down at one of its tusks.

My idea was that I'd use the strike as a shock reducer, and I'd land safely on the ground. Sadly, the gravitational velocity was a tad bit stronger than I gave credit for.

The tusk sliced away with a loud Snap!, and my sword ricocheted away from my hand from the impact.

The Calydonian Boar reared back out of surprise, and I was caught by the edge of its snout and got flung backward. I crashed against a side of the wall, which just had to be made of thick tree barks.

No, I just couldn't land on a series of softly knitted vines 5 feet to the right. No sir, I loved getting my bones smashed into pieces.

Speaking of, if it weren't for the lion pelt, that wouldn't have been just a throwaway joke.

"Are you ok?" One of the nymphs asked.

I groaned in response as I staggered up. Now the singular-tusked boar had a new layer of anger just for me.

"I think a singular tusk is more unique."

It didn't take the compliment.

The Calydonian Boar roared out in a blind-filled rage and stampeded forward. The snow melted into wet puddles from the emitted bodily heat, and the nymphs behind me started to back away.

The wall wouldn't hold. Even I could tell that much.

The problem was, that the monster was in complete outrage. If I dodged its charge now, it would break free again, and destroy several mountainsides before someone, namely Cadmus, took notice of the situation.

I had to stop it. Now.

Stop it? How? I'm not a hero!

Yeah. It's about time I live up as one.

The sigil crackled with energy in agreement.

I could also swear I heard a far-away voice in my head whooping in encouragement, as a sudden boost of strength and, more importantly, courage coursed through my body like fever heat.

The tusk was inches away from ripping away my head.

In the slink of that moment, I reached out and grasped it with both of my hands.

At first, I thought a thunder clapped from somewhere nearby. Then I realized it was the sound of the entire force of the Calydonian Boar's charge slamming into me, milliseconds after grabbing the tusk.

Long story short; I failed to stop it.

My back slammed against the wooden wall and broke past, letting the behemoth free.

But the thing I didn't expect was, that I wasn't trampled to death. On the contrary, my feet were still standing against the ground where it skidded along the snowy ground as my body strained against the wrath of the Calydonian Boar.

And it was working. The boar was slowing down, much to its surprise as mine.

It skidded to a halt 10 feet away from the makeshift clearing. The boar squealed in fury and tried to thrash around, but I wrapped my arms around the tusk and did my best attempt at pulling it down to the ground.

It worked. Partially, at least. The boar's head drooped down, and it fumbled around with its hooves as it squealed again; but this time out of shock than murderous rage.

I could still feel strength pumped through my veins. I can do this.

I'm not going to let this thing go into a riot.

I locked my legs around its snout and forced it down, slamming the lower jaw to the ground. I could feel it burrowing down several inched into the cold ground and backed away.

The boar dug its mouth out and spit out a wad of dirtball covered with slimy liquid. It bellowed a gush of the steam out of its snout, but it was barely intimidating. I think I was smiling.

"Come on!" I shouted, clapping my hands together.

A pair of loud slaps echoed across the entire woods, effectively drowning out the squeal of the boar that came after.

The boar aimed at a high point, minding the fact how it got driven down twice just a moment ago. As I anticipated the charge, a clip of Clarisse's wrestling lesson played over my head.

When you are facing a charge, do the opposite. The opponent goes high? Attack the low. Goes low? Strike overhead.

What about the middle?

Then I got choked and slammed onto the mat. True story.

I ducked under the bristling tusk. I grabbed it by the roots of it, and with a tremendous yell, flung the boar over my head into a slope.

The force of the charge was more than enough to send the boar flying down a good 20ft before landing in a heap beneath a pile of snow, but it was far from being defeated.

It dug itself out of the pit, turned around, and tore up the slope. This time, it buried the singular tusk into the ground, ready to rip the ground open once more.

I ran towards it without hesitation. A miniature eruption of soil and snow exploded into my face, but for some reason, I made it out without getting so much as a scratch; even areas where the lion pelt didn't cover were unscathed.

No time for questions. I clasped my hands together into one and brought it down right between its eyes.

Wham!

The red eyes glazed over for a moment. I landed on the snout while it was dazed, and dropped down on the same spot with my elbow. The boar wailed in pain as I rolled back away.

I was doing quite well. It even surprised me. But strings of constant extreme action were starting to take their toll. The air tasted like fire, sweat ran down my body, and now that I stopped to breathe, various muscles throbbed in protest for overwork.

The boar noticed my fatigue as well. Or maybe it was just mad that it got bonked in between the eyes. Whatever the case was, it shook off of the daze and glowered down with a malicious glint in its eyes.

"I'd…like to argue for a leniency…"

It bellowed out a thick burst of steam from the nostrils. I never knew what the inside of a boar nose would smell like, and I could now say with confidence you're living a better life not knowing.

Right as the Calydonian Boar was about to claim my head for its victory, an unusual sound reverberated from the deep woods. A mellow, fragile aspirate carried along with the faintest breeze. I realized the identity of the instrument right away; it was an instrument that ma used to play me to sleep.

"A grass flute…" I murmured in awe.

Zoë walked out from the shadows of the trees, a lengthy leaf pressed against her mouth. I had no idea how she let a diverse selection of melodies with such elegance.

As I immersed myself in the song, myalgia all around vanished. Breathing wasn't a constant pain anymore. Even the boar was mesmerized by the tune. The red eyes were half-closed as the hulking feature swayed from side to side.

Zoë crept closer until she reached it, then jumped over in between a pause of note. Finally, he made her way to one of the pricking ears and whispered something in its ears.

The Calydonian Boar shuddered slightly. A silver glow enveloped it for a second.

"It's done." Zoë's voice was slightly hoarse; then again, she had been constantly exhaling for a full minute and a half. Even without the muscle pain, I needed Zoë's assistance to climb up to the back.

"That was amazing! Where did you learn to do that?"

"Someone taught me how. She had much better skill…" Zoë trailed away.

If I weren't so impressed and worn out, maybe I would've noticed that she was obviously not thrilled about the subject.

"Who?"

Alas, I was being an idiot. Yet again.

Zoë paused, bit her lower lip, and then exhaled.

"I learned it from my best friend." She said.

"Polyphonte."

Zoë: "Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Polyphnte the Wise?"

David: N...o?

Zoë: "I thought not. It's not a story a hunter would tell you."

David: But...you're... never mind.

(He never watched Revenge of the Sith)

XOXOXOX

Is this my longest chapter yet? If so, I sincerely hope that it will never be longer than this.

It's pain and a half to read, much less write; and reviewing it over it is a whole new level of torture itself... *shudder*

I don't even have much to say; for those who were worried about my health(A super big thanks to every one of you), I'm free from the wretched C-Virus. But another threat had arisen from the depths of University...the dreaded exam season!

Real talk, nearly all of my classes are online and half of them take online tests as well, so I hope it won't be as bad as...some people say, but please bear it in mind. if I just don't upload for..3 weeks tops. That's the worst scenario I could offer, so don't fret too much.

Oh, and one last thing, I'd like to ask how the whole dynamic between Zoë and David went by. As you'd know by now I'm more of a slow burner in these types of things, and this chapter...felt kind of a huge leap. It is supposed to be one, but I'm not sure if I over-did it or even undershoot it. So don't be afraid to leave a review on the matter. I welcome any feedback, as long as they are feedback.

And that's all! I hope you had fun reading, and take care.

Tata~