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Chapter 25: Aiden V. Artemis
Thalia's hands were shaking as she dropped to her knees beside me.
I barely registered the pressure of her palms against my face, the way she tried to lift my head, the muffled shouting in my ears.
Everything felt distant.
"Aiden, hey—hey, look at me," Thalia said, her voice cracking.
She pressed a square of ambrosia against my lips. I tried to turn my head away, but she was stronger. She practically forced it between my teeth.
The taste exploded in my mouth—sharp and painfully sweet, like biting into a live wire.
Warmth rushed down my throat.
The pain dulled, just slightly.
The world stopped spinning.
But nothing could numb the hollow ache gnawing at my chest.
"We need to go," Rey said, her voice grim. She wiped the back of her hand across her face, smearing blood and tears together.
"More of them will come."
Nobody argued.
I shifted, gritting my teeth against the pain. I bent down and, as gently as I could, lifted Zoe into my arms.
She was so light.
Like she'd always been half stardust.
No one tried to stop me.
No one said a word.
We left the clearing behind, the golden statue of the lycan standing sentinel over a battlefield of broken branches, splattered blood, and silence.
The hike back to the Hunters' camp was a blur of agony and grit.
Every step sent lances of pain up my broken leg.
My shoulder throbbed, useless and screaming.
But I didn't let go of her.
Not once.
The Hunters cleared a space near the center of the camp for her.
They lit a pyre.
The air was thick with smoke and mourning as they laid Zoe down, dressing her in silver ceremonial garb, braiding flowers into her hair, singing ancient songs in voices too hollow to sound beautiful.
I stood off to the side, unmoving, every muscle locked in place.
Watching.
Burning.
Thalia returned sometime later, her clothes streaked with ash, her face pale.
"I gave the potion and all the evidence to Lady Artemis," she said, her voice hoarse.
"Apollo will start investigating Orion's magic."
I nodded stiffly.
I didn't say anything.
I hadn't said much of anything since the clearing.
Even when Sasha tried to sit next to me. Even when Rey offered me a fresh bandage.
I stood by the dying fire, the smoke curling into the night sky like lost prayers.
The embers pulsed faintly, casting a dull red glow across the camp — the same color as the blood still staining my torn sleeves.
I stared into the flames, barely feeling the throb of my broken body anymore.
All I could think about was how different it could've been.
If I'd been stronger.
If I'd had the right weapons like the Hunters did.
If I'd been faster, smarter, better.
Zoe would still be alive.
Late into the night, after the fire burned low and the mourning songs faded into nothing, Thalia approached me.
"Lady Artemis wants to see you," she said, quietly.
I followed her without a word, limping heavily, barely feeling my body.
Artemis stood at the center of the tent, looking like a girl no older than fourteen.
Raven hair braided neatly down her back, eyes sharp and cold as winter stars.
She wore a simple white tunic, her bow slung casually over one shoulder.
She signaled Thalia to leave the room with a sharp nod, and I heard her footsteps retreating behind me.
The silver light of the full moon streamed through the open flap behind Artemis, setting her hair aglow like a halo.
She stood tall, regal as ever, with the weight of a goddess pressed into every word.
"You have done well, Aiden," she said.
"There is still much to do, but you have made progress. Your courage—"
"Don't," I said.
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Artemis's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Pardon?"
"Don't stand there and congratulate me," I said, louder now.
I clenched my fists, feeling the old, familiar anger bubbling up like acid.
"You watched," I said, my voice shaking.
"You saw everything. The full moon was out—you could see it all. You could've helped."
Artemis's expression hardened.
"Gods cannot interfere directly with mortal battles," she said coolly.
I laughed — a dry, bitter sound that barely sounded human.
"That's funny. Because gods sure as hell don't mind dragging mortals into their battles."
Her lips thinned.
"You tread dangerous ground, Aiden."
"I don't care!" I shouted, the dam breaking wide open.
"You used me. You created me. You threw me into this war and called it destiny. And then you stood there and watched while Zoe—"
My voice cracked, breaking apart.
Outside, the camp had gone silent.
I could feel the weight of a hundred ears straining to hear every word.
"You act as if you understand the burdens of a god," Artemis said, stepping closer, voice low and cutting.
"There are laws older than Olympus itself. If I had intervened—"
"Then why send mortals at all?!" I yelled.
"If you're so shackled by your sacred laws, why not fight your own wars? Why create me just to die for you?"
Her eyes flashed dangerously.
"Mind your tone."
"Or what?" I snapped.
"You'll kill me? Turn me into a stag for disrespecting you?"
I took a shaky step forward.
"Do it," I said, almost daring her.
"Kill me. Turn me into something else. I don't care anymore."
My chest heaved with ragged breaths.
The grief boiling inside me felt unbearable, like it would tear me apart from the inside out.
But I refused to let it show.
Not here.
Not in front of her.
I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing me break.
I would not shed a single tear.
Even if my vision blurred at the edges, even if my throat burned trying to choke back the sob rising inside me—
I swallowed it all down.
The tent crackled with tension.
The night itself seemed to hold its breath.
At some point, Thalia had slipped back inside — drawn by the shouting.
She hovered uncertainly near the flap, eyes wide with shock.
I didn't care.
I kept my gaze locked on Artemis. Her silver eyes met my silver and gold ones.
I wanted her to see it — the fury, the grief.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
Then I turned my back on her.
The tent flaps rustled behind me as I shoved them aside
Thalia caught up to me just outside the tent.
"Aiden, wait—"
"Don't," I said, spinning around.
She froze at the look on my face.
"I'm done," I said, breathing hard.
"I'll finish the quest on my own. You and the Hunters — do whatever you want. Just leave me out of it."
The Hunters, who had gathered at the shouting, immediately reacted.
Bows snapped up.
Arrows trained on me in perfect, synchronized motion.
Their silver tips gleamed like miniature moons in the firelight.
One breath away from releasing.
Thalia looked at them sharply.
"Stand down!"
But it wasn't her voice that stopped them.
It was Artemis.
From behind me, she said, cold and clear, "Let him go."
The Hunters hesitated — clearly not happy about it — but obeyed.
One by one, they lowered their bows.
No one tried to follow me.
No one tried to stop me.
I limped into the woods, away from the camp, away from the fires and the songs and the gods and their wars.
I didn't know where I was going.
Didn't care.
I'd made it back to Camp Half-Blood once before.
I could do it again.
Alone.
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