Chapter 31: Best dad ever


[David's Pov]

I wished we could've taken another train.

There was no denying that the Calydonian Boar was fast. When it reached its top speed, the surroundings quickly blurred over into a mixture of vague shapes and colors. But the ride was also as comfortable as riding a motorcycle over an unpaved road without a saddle.

It was a long ride too; lasting an entire day as the sun crawled across the sky overhead. Maybe it was just my ADHD imagination kicking in, but I thought I heard a faint whinnying, perhaps from the four solar stallions that pulled the chariot.

With an entire day's worth of empty time thrust on my schedule, I took it to look over everything that had happened during the quest. Now that I had the time to actually look back, I realized that I had quite a lot dumped on my plate.

My initial thoughts landed on Rose. I hoped she was doing ok, as hypocritical as it might sound. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that she was completely erased from my memory. Why on earth Hecate would bother doing that was beyond my perception.

And there was also that tad bit where she wanted to cause a war between the gods and the Titans. I had to find a way to prevent her from doing anything drastic. But I'll have to find her first before anything else.

Or perhaps…maybe I could ask Artemis for help. If we succeed in freeing her, she'd at least be open enough to hear a request, right? Finding a maiden won't be too far off from her jurisdiction.

That idea cheered me up a bit until the train of thought shuffled over to our conversation prior. Specifically about ma.

I stand by what I said then: There was no chance in hell—or Tartarus, that ma would be a manifestation of some Greek goddess because she couldn't bother getting children on her own.

She is literally the only family member that I grew up with. She taught me how to not have a volcanic personality, how not to throw the first punch and many other important life lessons that I still keep in mind up to this day.

Many people said that I'm not like the stereotypical child of Ares. Even my cabin mates at Cabin 5 admitted it, and I whole-heartedly believed that my ma was the one who can hold credit for that.

Now that I've mentioned it, I wondered what she was doing right now. She wouldn't even have any idea where I was, what I'm doing, or that I've nearly died more times than it was healthy.

I hoped she was doing fine. At least, according to Marcus, my ma's 'date partner' I've seen was how my godly father Ares would show up, so maybe she wasn't left alone as I thought. Then again, it was notoriously well known that the gods commonly didn't give any signs that they acknowledged their 'family' after they leave, so I didn't know what to think.

As I was busy dwelling on my thoughts, the scenery had changed. The snow-covered trees and mountains were long gone behind our backs, and the boar trampled across the barren wasteland with a handful of bushes and a vast sea of sand and gravel.

When night fell, the boar finally came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. It started drinking the muddy water, drained it to a small puddle in seconds, then ripped a cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

I gawked at the sight as Zoë gracefully hoped down on the desert. I awkwardly slid down after her, only to fall down at the halfway point. Thankfully, the sand was soft enough to cushion the drop.

Zoë was gently soothing her hand over the snout of the boar.

"Thou have served us well." She said in a whisper. Something was wrong. The Calydonian boar grunted again and nudged Zoë with the edge of its tusks. The hunter nodded, stepped back a few paces, and brought out her bow.

"Whoa, wait. Hold on."

I stepped in between the two, blocking Zoë's aim. It was just one of many dumb things I did. Zoë gave me a sorrowful glance, but she nodded sideways, indicating that I should move over.

I, of course, didn't.

"Why are you trying to kill it?"

"Do not mistake my intentions, David. I don't want to kill her as much as thee do. But my…spell can go only so far."

"What spell?"

I turned around. A faint silver glow was inhabiting the boar's thick skin.

Now that I gave a closer look, I could see the silver light repelling a wad of darkness over the boar's head. Looking at it reminded me of the rampaging boar I've fought, and I also realized that the current state of the Calydonian Boar was vastly different from it.

"You did that? With a grass flute?"

Zoë grimaced. I bit my tongue inside my mouth. I had momentarily forgotten that the grass flute was a touchy subject for her.

"…It's an ancient spell. A powerful one. I lifted the curse that manifested on the Calydonian Boar to make her regain her senses so that she could help us get as far as she can.

But a spell is not meant to be permanent, and my magical prowess isn't strong enough to get rid of the curse. She of all beings know that."

She pointed at the boar with the edge of her bow. It—she grunted in approval, and gently shoved me aside with her tusks. I tried digging my feet into the ground, but it was trying to push against a forklift. I got dragged to the side easily.

Zoë murmured in ancient Greek; a prayer, perhaps. The boar lowered her head so that Zoë had a clear shot through her head.

"No. I'm not having this."

I stepped in between them again.

"David…"

"I said I'm not."

I sounded like a whining child; even in my own ears, but I didn't care at the moment. Before Zoë could protest, I turned to the boar and locked eye contact with her.

"I don't know why you changed or became cursed. Whatever. But you are supposed to be a sacred animal. You are something more than just a monster—so be like one. For your sake, more than anyone else."

The Calydonian Boar grunted. A gush of warm breath showered over my body, making me stumble back a few paces. It gave me an indifferent look, and if reading a boar's expression was as easy as it seemed, she seemed to be asking for reassurance.

"You can do it," I said, a smile from nowhere making its way up to my lips. "You are the most famous boar in history. Literally."

The Calydonian Boar snorted again. This time, perhaps it was a laugh. She gave Zoë a sideways nod, then with a thundering squeal, it trampled away into the desert night.

Zoë shuffled over to my side with a hesitant expression.

"That was…noble." She said.

Her tone made me certain that she wanted to use a different word, something more aligned to 'idiotic' or 'reckless'. You know, some words that other campers would use to describe my other cabin mates.

"Do you really believe that she could find a better fate?" Zoë asked.

"Yes," I said firmly. "Don't you?"

Zoë paused for a long time. At least, long enough for me to acknowledge that the night in the desert was much colder than I thought. In the end, she turned away from the now long gone boar.

"Come on," She said. "We'd better find somewhere to set up camp."

Zoë started to stride over the mounds of sand as easily as she did over sides of snow, with me struggling to keep up with her. But even in the dim moonlight, I could see a faint smile across her face.

[Line Break]

The initial idea was that we'd find a road first. From there, we might find a town or a car rental, or maybe we could salvage a runaway car. At worst, we could hitchhike on passing by vehicle tomorrow.

Zoë wasn't thrilled at the idea.

"I'd rather walk the entire way to San Francisco than a plea for a ride on those metal junk. It's insulting enough that I have to drive my own." She grumbled.

Personally, I thought it was cool that she knew how to drive, but Zoë scowled when I told her. By now, even I deduced that the Hunters of Artemis and technology didn't mix well.

But in the end, it didn't matter anyway. After a walking section that was much more intense than I was prepared for, we finally found a road. The problem was, that it was half-buried in the sand.

On the opposite side of the road, a cluster of buildings that looked older than Zoë stood: one was boarded-up completely, the other was a taco shop with several dead mice scattered on the floor, and finally, as a cruel joke, a car rental shop that was tilted in 50 degrees angle with the door buried underground.

"I think there are some items inside," I said, with my face pressed up against a dirty window. The specs of sand dust-coated on it made me sneeze.

Zoë looked over my shoulder and wrinkled her nose. "I doubt any of them would be in working condition."

It was a fair assessment to make, but Zoë didn't argue when I pushed on for an inspection. To be truthful, I just wanted to explore an abandoned building. It had a sense of adventure, you know? You can't just pass over something like this.

The door was buried, so we had to make it in by smashing a window. That alone made me excited enough to practically bounce around on my feet, but I composed myself the best I could as we snuck inside.

The shop wasn't big. Not that I have been to any other car rentals, but the place only harbored two cars, with one of them flipped upside down for whatever reason. At least the keys were easy to find.

Zoë picked open the other one and tried to turn on the engine. Of course, the engine didn't even shudder.

"It's no use." She said with a sigh. "Even if they had fuels, I doubt these would have survived being abandoned for this long."

Meanwhile, I was drawn to a different wheel: a motorcycle. A slick black Harley Davison that shined in the moonlight.

I was not into cars and such, mostly because their prices were too expensive for any family I was a part of, but even I knew what Harley Davison was. My fellow siblings at Cabin 5 would never shut up about it, and I enjoyed hearing about it.

I grasped the handle. The leather grip felt so natural around my fingers, it made me shudder with excitement.

"Zoë, do you have the key?"

"It won't work."

"I know. I still want to try." I said.

Zoë rolled her eyes, muttered about idiotic male beings, and tossed the key over. I eagerly put the key and turned the engine on.

For a crushing second, nothing happened. Zoë gave a small snort and opened her mouth to say something.

RRRRRRR!

"Oh, my—" Zoë jumped in her spot.

The engine had suddenly roared into life, the triumphant sound squashing over my delighted laugh. I hopped on the seat without any consideration for petty things such as not having a license or any knowledge of how to drive a motorcycle.

Before you call me out on being an irresponsible hooligan, in my defense, as soon as I properly got behind the driving seat, I instantly knew how to handle it, just like how I understood how to use any weapons that I picked up.

I would've ridden the thing straight through another window out into the open, but Zoë put her foot in front before I could get a proper spin on it.

"Aw, come on! You can't even let me go on a test ride?" I protested.

Zoë looked down at the rumbling bike as if it was a monster on its own.

"I don't trust it." She said with spite.

"Zoë, it's a motorcycle. It can't be something evil."

"Don't thee find it odd that this works properly when a car doesn't? Or that one of thou favorite vehicles just happened to be here?"

I thought it over for a second.

"No." I concluded.

Zoë sighed in exasperation. She still insisted that I get off the Harley and leave it alone, which was totally unfair, but there was no arguing with her. In the end, I managed to push enough that we'd come to check it again in the morning, just because we did need a way out of the desert.

"Can't I least bring it with us to the campsite?"

"No!" She snapped back.

If you ask me, I had a fleeting suspicion that she had a stronger distaste for this Harley because it made her jump in surprise when the engine enlightened, but I didn't accuse her of that. I liked my skin where it was, thank you.

We set up camp on the road, where there was some actual hardened ground we can reliably lie on. Oh, and by 'set camp', I meant Zoë brought out a chewing gum-sized box and threw it on the ground, which expanded into a full-sized tent in maybe 3 seconds.

I gawked at the silver tent.

"If you had this, why didn't we use it at the construction site?" I asked.

"Setting this tent over snow wouldn't go well unless thou want to wake up in a middle of a muddy puddle."

"Oddly specific."

Zoë threw a sleeping bag at my face.

Inside, the tent was equipped with a banquet table that provided fresh food and water. I was never much of a vegetarian guy, but on the other hand, a nice ripe apple was something I'd always enjoy.

"Where are these even coming from?" I asked in between munching over the apples. Zoë glanced at the small pile of apple stem that I have created with either an impressed or worried expression.

"Fundamentally, they are derived from nature. Nymphs send their products as a returning courtesy for those who we've helped. And some are sent by other hunters."

"You mean…from camp?"

Zoë shook her head.

"The Hunter of Artemis is a much larger group than what you saw, David. We are usually split into various groups across the entire world. Some hunt down monsters around the world, and some… have different missions to achieve."

She glanced up at the sky again. It was due to the south side of the sky. I could see the Orion star shining rather brightly than usual, accompanied by its two hunting dogs. I guess the lack of air pollution is paying off.

Zoë let a small grunt of disaffection. Her hands twiddled around the leaf she had used for her grass whistle. That reminds me; we still had a lot to catch up about.

"How do you even play that thing?" I asked.

Zoë slightly jumped in her seat, then looked down at the leaf. She put the leaf

"It's rather simple. If you don't attend to the magic behind it."

"You can do magic?"

"I prefer not to. It's…"

Whatever she was about to say, Zoë decided it was better to not share that information. She shook her head, said "Nothing.", and handed me a new leaf for me. It was slightly longer than my forefinger, and somehow still moist.

Playing it was much harder than I had expected it to be. I mean, when you look at someone else doing it, it just looks like they are blowing against the leaf. But when I tried to do it, it sounded like a cheap balloon expelling air out.

Still, I was persistent. I don't give up too easily.

After about half an hour of constant trials and errors, I could toot out some notes. As faulty as they were, they managed to draw out a few claps from Zoë, which was more than great in my book.

"It'll take more practice to get better. It took me weeks before I could ever catch up to…Polyphonte."

For a fleeting second, all of my muscles tensed. I didn't expect Zoë to bring out one of her presumably many trauma points. At the same time, however, I was very curious about who was this hunter that the current lieutenant had spoken so highly of.

Gladly, Zoë continued. Her coffee brown eyes stared into the flicking light of the campfire.

"She was a member of the hunt far before I was. A lieutenant, actually. If she hadn't found me after I was…abandoned,"

"Abandoned?"

Zoë shot me a glance. It wasn't a glare, but it was leagues more foreboding than any.

"…by him." She pointed at the lion coat fur draped around my shoulders.

Suddenly, the whole thing felt a lot heavier around them. I wanted to ask when and how did she meet the 'Greatest hero of all time' and eventually get abandoned, but before I could, the story kept going.

"The water nymphs would have dragged me back home otherwise. Instead, I joined the hunt. Polyphonte was my instructor. She taught me every skill I have now; archery, knife fighting, even this."

She held up the leaf between her fingers.

"She was a daughter of one of the Nine Muses. She had a knack for musical talent, and her voice was so elegant that animals would gather around just to hear her sing."

"Sounds like a Disney princess."

"If said princess could slice off a fang from a basilisk, then sure. She was the first being that I've looked up to; and the first friend I've ever had."

A small smile laced over Zoë's lips. They faded quickly after, however.

"And yet, I couldn't do anything when she was in need."

"Zoë—"

She shook her head before I had a chance to intervene. Her arms hugged around her shoulders, clutching on to them tightly. A torrent of nerve-wracking angst crashed against my senses. Whatever it was, I really hated this newfound ability to sense negative emotions.

"There was a myriad of things I could have done; at the very least, I could have stood in her defense. But I didn't do anything, anything!"

Zoë drew a shaky breath. It looked like she was going to puke, but she took several gasps of air before pushing on.

"I…I convinced, myself that she would've been fine. That she'd found her own life…even if that included a bear. Then the bear twins…"

Her rant ended in a choked sob. That was enough sign for me to pull the cord on this session of conversation.

I gently pulled away her hands from her shoulder. The nails had started to dig into her skin, drawing out blood. Zoë seemed to be surprised more than I was when she saw that her fingertips were tinged with blood, then her eyes fell even lower in shame.

"…it's quite a story, isn't it?"

"It is."

I quickly let her hands go, because of the hunter's code and all that. Zoë blinked a few times, then wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks. I suggested putting some treatment on her shoulders, but she shook her head in refusal.

We didn't say anything for a long time after that. Zoë indicated that I sit next to her, so I did, but apart from that, no conversations passed between us.

It was indeed quite a story. To say that I was lost for words would be an understatement. I kept my mouth shut because I was extra cautious not to let out off-handed comforts; those can hurt people more than any direct insult can under certain circumstances.

Telling that it wasn't her fault would be a redundant choice. Zoë had told herself the very same thing over thousands of years, and it had rotted her insides as a result.

A part of myself wondered why I even bothered; it's not that I didn't care about Zoë, but objectively speaking, I only took part in the barest of a minimum of her life—especially since she had such a long one compared to…anyone. How can I help someone like that? How could anything I say matter in the slightest when I couldn't even get my own life straight in the first place?

A tingling sensation trickled around my left palm. The sigil was faintly glowing again; just bright enough to hide its light under the dim campfire. The Voice of Cadmus rang in my head.

"You'll find a part of yourself that is still you. The most fundamental core, an unchangeable factor of who you are. The sigil will remind you of that."

"Zoë," I said. The huntress was startled in her seat like a kid caught in the middle of trying to sneak into a cookie jar. The image made me smirk despite everything.

"Remember what I told you right before we made out of….Niobe's castle?"

"I…" For a moment, Zoë's face went even darker. She handed a disapproving glance in my direction, to which I couldn't exactly blame her.

The even had only been a day or two apart, but there was a sort of unspoken mutual agreement between us that we'd rather not bring up the event ever since we left the warehouse behind.

Even now, reminding her of the event jogged my memory of Luna, and my nose lightly stung from the effort to not start spilling tears. If that was my reaction, Zoë would have it much worse.

Still, thankfully, Zoë didn't just burst into tears again.

"Thou said…" Her voice broke for a second. She cleared her throat rather shakily. "Thee have said, not to take responsibilities from Lady Artemis. To take responsibility from myself."

Then, Zoë narrowed her eyes.

"If thou are suggesting that I should be blaming Lady Artemis instead of myself—"

"No, that's not what I'm talking about." I quickly said.

"I just thought…the 'taking your own responsibilities' part should be taken in a different direction.

Whatever you do, whatever action you take, the outcome is something we can't entirely control. Sometimes, we act while meaning the best, only to come out with the worst possible result. And while I think that's still that one person's responsibility whether or not he/she meant it or not, I don't think letting the grief overwhelm you is responsible behavior."

I stopped my rant to take a breather. I wish I had Annabeth's way with words. If I make it out alive, I'll have to take some pointers from her on how to improve my skill with them. Meanwhile, Zoë went silent; possibly pondering over what I said.

"So, thou are suggesting that I should face the memories straight on. Learn what I can, and leave them as what they are. Nothing more or less from them."

"Y…eah, basically."

It was much deeper meaning than I intended, but whatever.

Zoë stared into the fire for some time, before letting out a small snort of laughter.

"I can't believe this. Of all the beings in the world; a man—a son of Ares, is giving me life lessons."

Despite what she said, Zoë didn't look spiteful. On the other hand, she looked like someone just lifted off a Calydonian Boar that was sitting over her shoulders. Her smile was different than a few previous ones I've seen.

It was…purer, cleaner; for a lack of better words in my dictionary.

But as soon as I was about to return it, Zoë suddenly tensed. In less than a second, I also noticed what she had. A faint sound of a car engine rumbling at high speed echoed across the desert.

And it was heading straight towards us.

Zoë got out her bow, and I was just drawing my sword from my pocket when a bright headlight shined down from the top of a sandhill. We both grunted in discomfort at the sudden blazing light burning into our eyes.

A sound of a door opening and closing was followed by a snap of a finger. My sword immediately retracted back into a lighter, which startled me so bad that I tripped backward over my foot.

Zoë's bow was dropped onto the ground as well. The huntress herself didn't draw her hunting knives, but was apprehensively staring at the hulking silhouette of a man standing next to a…limousine?

"Who rides a limo to a desert?" I asked out loud. Zoë hissed at me like a startled snake as the man laughed out loud.

"Ah, there's my little champion boy." He said.

His voice stirred something in my memory. It was the vaguest memory I ever remembered; nothing but an indistinct, blurry mixture of images and sounds…but I was sure that I'd heard the man's voice before.

As I struggled to get a grasp on who this was, the man clicked his key. With a light-hearted 'chirp-chirp!' the headlights went off.

First off, the man was big. Like, bigger than your average basketball player big, with a shoulder that could smash down a hard brick wall without even trying. His hair was trimmed in a crew cut, and with a pair of sunglasses, a black leather biker's jacket, a white muscle shirt, torn camouflage jeans, and combat boots, he was the most cliché badass soldier I've ever seen.

The only thing out of place was a single rose tucked in his chest pocket. But even then, my instincts warn me that this guy could kill me just by throwing it through my forehead.

The man pulled out a huge army knife that would've skinned the Calydonian Boar alive and scrapped off a pebble stuck at the bottom of his boot.

Then, Zoë dropped the biggest bomb in history out of nowhere.

"Lord Ares." She said, with a slight nodding of her head that could've passed as a bow; whatever.

My jaw nearly unhinged itself as soon as I registered what she said. I turned back to the biker, who gave me a crooked grin and waved.

"Surprised?" He said.

"Wait, so you are Ares? But—but that means—that you're—"

"Your da-da, yes." Ares—My dad—snapped his finger again, and my jaw forcefully snapped back with a nasty 'crack!'. Then, he turned to Zoë and nudged his chin toward the open door of the limousine.

Zoë looked at it as if it was an entrance straight to hell.

"I do not understand." She muttered. Dad, ugh, Ares shrugged.

"Nor do I. But since when did she ever care about that?"

A small mirror came sailing out. Ares, my…dad caught it without giving a second glance and tossed it over his shoulder. Before it hit the ground, the mirror was enveloped in a red aura and vanished.

"You should know better, Zoë Nightshade. It's best not to get this lady irritated."

He tapped the roof of the limo. Zoë suppressed a discomforted grunt and shuffled her feet over to the car. For whatever reason, before she went in, Zoë looked behind to make eye contact with me before going inside. The door closed right behind her with a small click.

Ares, my dad—I really needed to work out the pronunciation here…

….

Screw it. I'm putting off calling him 'dad' until…I get to know him.

Ares grumbled as he stepped away from the limousine.

"Dating's a pain in the &%. I don't know why I even bother."

"Why do you even bother?" I asked.

Ares let out a snort. A small scorpion crawled out from beneath the sand, and he crushed it without a second thought.

"One piece of advice on romance: never stick on one girl. It becomes a chore real quick."

"That's a horrible advice."

"Whatever. If my date is anything to go by, that's not an option."

"What?"

Ares shrugged with a smirk as if he found my disgust and confusion amusing.

It had only been less than a minute, but I was starting to dislike this god more than Dr. Thorn. Ok, maybe not that much, but it was rapidly getting close.

The war god scanned the campsite and gave a small nod of approval before snapping his fingers again. A rush of red clouds steamed out from the ground, obscuring my view.

When the clouds cleared, we were inside one of the abandoned shops I had seen prior. To be specific, a taco place that was strangely inhabited not by the mice, but…

"Are those skeletons cooking at the back?"

"Yeah, it's a bit of necromancy stuff. Corpse breath and I go way back. I get to tap into his domains as long as it is linked to my own."

A skeleton came by and handed us the menu. Ares didn't bother giving it over, instead, he ordered the two spiciest ones.

When the skeleton waiter clattered away, he stretched back against the torn apart couch, making it groan and creak against the pressure.

"So, how about some father-son catch-up talk; what do you say, kiddo?"

He asked with a crooked grin.


Hmm...let me look at the dates here.

...

Yeah, I'm a bit late, aren't I?

Sorry for that. Really. If I could've done it sooner, I would have. I mean, it's currently 3 am when I'm writing this A/N!

Still, sorry for the long delay. A nice combination of a horrifyingcollege semester (It's my first semester, and I'm still figuring things out) and burnout led to this situation. Again, sorry for that.

On topic of the burnout, believe it or not, this was the hardest chapter I ever had to write.

To be specific, the part where Zoe had a backstory to tell. The synopsis wasn't too hard; I already had them worked out by a large margin, but the little things in-between dialogs were so hard to write, and I'm not even sure if I did a good job on it.

I didn't want to make it too melodramatic, because that's how things usually go in fanfics.
But I'm also a cold-hearted with next to no feelings, and it was hard to pinpoint and land on the exact right cord of emotions. Again, not sure if I even landed correctly.

I'd chat around some more, but as I said it is 3 am here at the moment, and I still have to go to school tomorrow.

So one last thing to ask:

I've set this story up as a singular couple: as everyone would know, that's David and Zoe.

But, I am considering perhaps I can wriggle in a couple more: it'll be far, far away before we get there, and perhaps we never will, but I'm asking now because the idea would be planted here; well, the next chapter when Zoe and the not-so-secret goddess have a chat.

At maximum, I have 5 roped in, including Zoe.

I am currently considering 3(or 4), again including Zoe.

Of course, the minimum would be 1 with only Zoe.

I already have a story written about how each 'relationship' would happen, even if some are rather ruff at the moment. And as long as nothing better comes up in my mind, the story itself won't change; it's just that the emotional part would have less weight on them.

I'll put up a poll, but judging from past experiences readers rarely wanted to bother themselves on it, so feel free to just tell me via comment or pm or whatever suits you.

Gonna go sleep now. Tata~