chapter fifty

─── violence is a question, my answer is always yes

          𝕴 didn't get any sleep after that, spending the rest of the night sitting on the back porch of Eleven, staring at the lake and trying to process what had happened. When morning finally came, I woke the rest of the cabin and took them to breakfast, eating quietly at the end of the table.

They then went off to do their activities, whilst I found Grover, talking to him about my dream and asking whether or not he had heard anything from Andi through their empathy link, but he hadn't.

We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.

When I told Grover my nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur.

"A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm still struggling to work it out myself," I rested Backbiter across my knees, checking the blade over for nicks and cuts.

Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed—"

"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream like that?"

"I...I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."

"Wait, how do you know this?"

Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside Eight."

"What for?"

"Just to be, you know, near them."

"You're a stalker." I pointed at him.

"I am not! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in."

"What did she say?" I asked.

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout...I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—"

"How could Artemis be in trouble?"

"I...well, finally Chiron came out in his pyjamas and his horse tail in curlers and—" Grover slapped his hand over his mouth, but I waved him on. I knew about this already after a brilliant Christmas prank a few years back. Granted it then got me on chore duty for the next three months, but great all the same. "Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said..." Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

"Right," I muttered, placing the sword away. This just kept getting more and more complicated.

"Zoe thinks that she's been kidnapped," Grover chewed on his nails. "But I don't know whether or not it's because of Kronos. 

I shuddered at the thought of Kronos, still feeling his cold voice in the corner of my mind, urging me to steal the lightning bolt two years ago. Maybe Andi and Annabeth going missing was the Fates punishing me for that, once again.

"I don't know," I muttered, shaking my head. "But they're connected, I'm sure of it. I should go and talk to Zoe."

"Um, before you do..." Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said—about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might've been scouting us."

"Scouting us? What do you mean?"

He gave me the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis.

"I found that in Annabeth's backpack," Grover said.

"I see," I flicked through the brochure before tucking it into my back pocket and grabbing my sword. The horn sounded, signalling a change in activities. "I should go, make sure that my cabin isn't murdering someone."

"See you,"

 The rest of the day I tried to keep busy, but I was worried sick about Annabeth and Andi. I spent most of it keeping an eye on Eleven and steering them away from the Hunters so that they didn't get into a full blown argument like last time.

Finally, I left them with Chiron, and deemed that they were in safe enough hands for me to head for Eight to find Zoe and talk to her.

Knocking on the door, I waited for a moment, before letting myself in.

"Is Zoe here?" Phoebe appeared in front of me, her arms across her chest.

"Why do you want her?"

"Because I need to talk to her," I deadpanned.

"Phoebe, it's fine," Zoe appeared, pulling her parka on as she stepped out. "What do you want?"

"I heard you had a bad dream."

"I will stab you, Luke Castellan," I shot her a tired grin, both of us walking down to the lake. "Why do you ask?"

"I also had a dream. I saw Andi and Annabeth on a hill and, by the end of it, Andi was holding something up, like this darkness," I tried to explain as best I could. "I talked to Grover and he said that it sounded similar to yours. I was just wondering whether there were any similarities."

"We should talk about it after Capture the Flag," Zoe muttered, looking up at the preparations that were going on. "It does sound similar, and I agree, there is something going on but I need to talk to the other Hunters and see if any of them know anything."

"Great," I muttered, before pulling the brochure out of my back pocket and whacking her on the head with it. "Stop trying to recruit my little sister. She said no once, so stop bothering."

"We were not bothering," Zoe rubbed her head, trying to kick me as I dodged it. "Maybe she just wanted to get away from you!"

"Not likely. Who would want to do that?"

"That girl, Thalia."

"That's a whole other can of worms that we're not going to open tonight," I muttered, before smacking her with the brochure again. "I'll see you after dinner when we wipe your faces in the dirt."

"Ha!" She laughed, clutching her stomach in amusement. "Keep telling yourself that."

∘☽༓☾∘

That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at Capture the Flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, and about thirteen or so fighting age campers. Anyone younger than 10 wasn't allowed to participate.

On our team, we had Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from Five, though Clarisse was suspiciously missing, the Stoll brothers, Brooke and Nico from Eleven, and a few Aphrodite kids, who were sharpening spears and swords. Much like their mother, who was a war goddess in Sparta, Aphrodite's kids only ever became more war like when times were called upon.

"We'll pulverise them." Silena smacked my shoulder, chuckling darkly as she walked away. Capture the Flag, against the Hunters specifically, was a time where their war like nature was called upon.

I followed after her, shaking my head as I stood in the middle of the circle of campers. I didn't want to do this, to participate in the games, I wanted to think of where Andi and Annabeth could be, but I had to show face, for everyone else. "Alright guys. I don't really want to fight tonight, so I'm gonna take defence. Thalia's offered to take offence."

There were murmurs of agreements, a couple of thumbs up, before they turned back to their armour. Nico di Angelo ran up to me with a big grin on his face.

"Luke, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. I wondered if there was any way I'd looked that ridiculous when I'd first arrived. Unfortunately, I probably had. Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

"No, not really," I checked his armour, tightening it up so that it wasn't as oversized on him. 

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"Unless they fall in battle." I pointed out, shaking my head. The Hunters were good fighters, Artemis' elite group of warriors that she trained. She had other groups that she protected, mainly keeping watch on runaway demigods and even demigods on quests, protecting young children. That was how I had met her.

She'd watched me fall against the dragon, Ladon, where I'd got the scar on my chest and my face. She hadn't been allowed to interfere in the fight, as per godly laws, but she'd managed to heal me and make sure that I stayed alive, before getting me back to camp in one piece. I'd always respected her for that.

It was more than most of the gods did at least.

I had just been lucky that she was in the area. Normally Artemis stayed in, what is now Turkey, but used to be Ephesus, where her temple had once been before it burned. From what Zoe said, they spent most of their time hunting monsters, finding demigod children and transporting them to safe places around the world. It was a lot more peaceful than here.

"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"

"Nico," I gave him a look, before crouching down so that we were at eye level. "These are real swords, meaning this is serious. Celestial bronze will only bruise other demigods, because of our godly parents, but if you have a sword with steel or Stygian Iron, you can hurt, maim and kill both monsters and humans. You have to be careful, and respect your weapon."

"Is Luke giving you the mum speech?" Travis appeared on one side. "He's good at those."

"Yeah, they suck though," Connor appeared at the other.

"For those comments, you two are defending the flag with me," My brothers both stared at me in horror as I raised an eyebrow, daring them to challenge me. I turned away, patting Nico on the shoulder. "Look, it's cool. Follow the team, stay out of Zoe's way and we'll have a blast."

Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

"Sweet," Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"

"Gimme a moment," I shook my head, before turning back to the team. As the oldest of all of them, and having been at Camp the longest, I was default head of the team. "Blue team! Follow me!"

They cheered, running after me as we took off to the woods. We set our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist. I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," I told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!" Silena was an expert at charm speaking, something I'd seen her use on occasions.

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. Thalia will take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise." Everybody nodded. "Remember, keep sharp on defence. We've got four guards, two scouts and it's a big forest. If you need help, yell!"

Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.

Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.

I waited for something to happen. I climbed Zeus's Fist and had a good view over the forest. I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for something like that—one huge charge that could overwhelm us. But nothing happened. 

I caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts. They ran through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then I spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready. They must've spotted Thalia. 

"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.

My mind was racing. Thalia would never get through, but the Hunters were divided. With that many on either flank, their centre had to be wide open. If I moved fast...

I looked at Beckendorf. "Can you guys hold the fort?"

Beckendorf snorted, causing me to grin. "Course."

"I'm going in."

The Stoll brothers and Nico cheered as I raced toward the boundary line.

I was running at top speed and I felt great. I leaped over the creek into enemy territory. I could see their silver flag up ahead, only one guard, who wasn't even looking in my direction. I heard fighting to my left and right, somewhere in the woods. I had it made.

The guard turned at the last minute. It was Bianca di Angelo. Her eyes widened as I slammed into her and she went sprawling in the snow.

"Sorry," I yelled, not sounding very sorry, ripping the silver silk flag from the tree and taking off.  I was ten yards away before Bianca managed to yell for help. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a trip wire being shot, and grinned. Son of the god of thieves meant that I had a natural affinity for dodging traps, and this wasn't my first rodeo.

I dived, one hand going down as I rolled and sprang up again.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled, off to my left. "What are you doing ?"

Before she reached me, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed around her team. They started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods—the horrible smell of sulphur.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Unsportsmanlike!"

I didn't stop, only a few more yards to the creek. More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.

I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone—Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.

I dived headfirst into the water, rolling to my side and tripping her up for good measure, as she slammed into the water as well. The demigods all cheered as I got up from the water, shaking my hair out like a dog and shivering, but I held the flag up all the same.

Chiron appeared out of the woods, shaking his head. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.

"Camp Half-Blood wins!" Chiron announced, as I turned to Zoe, holding a hand out to pull her from the water. This would make us even now.

"No hard feelings,"

"We'll get you next time," She muttered, wringing her hair out as we exchanged flags and shook hands, in an effort to be sportsman-like.

Getting out of the creek, I accepted the towel thrown at me, shivering slightly as the others congratulated me. I looked up, catching eyes with Thalia and smiling, but her face was sour and my smile stopped.

I was about to speak to her, but something caught my attention. Someone...something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous. "It...she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the centre of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green. None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head, and my breath stopped. I'd heard that voice often enough coming from my mother's mouth.

I am the sprit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle regarded me with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, The Titan's curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So there are some changes, mainly between the Hunters and Camp, also, there's a change in certain gods and their mythology, because I wanted to include some of their actual Greek mythology parts i.e. Aphrodite being worshipped as a war god in Sparta and Artemis' place of power being Ephesus which is now Turkey. I also wanted to include that Artemis actually protected all young children, not just girls, but in this book, she only has ultimate task force of female fighters, and they protect younger demigods on quests, or on the run.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx