'Linkup'

23-Jun-2030, 2245S

Thalia Grace, Lieutenant of the Hunt, Daughter of Zeus

Hunters of Artemis

Killdeer Mountains, North Dakota, USA

We were at it again, trudging through the forest extremely late at night.

My oh-so-lovely father, the almighty Zeus, had given the Hunt a mission: to take down a gathering of monsters in the Killdeer Mountains in North Dakota.

Here was the odd thing: we were supposed to meet up with another demigod that would provide support. And that demigod was a male.

But not just any male. I knew exactly who this demigod was thanks to Uncle Poseidon's visit before we started moving to the mountains...

A FEW HOURS EARLIER...

We were at the Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge when Lady Artemis arrived. She had just received her orders, and we were preparing to leave. Suddenly, there was a flash in the middle of the camp.

I raised my spear and shield, but did not attack, as I smelled a sea breeze.

"Hello? Artemis?" called Poseidon loudly.

My eyes widened as I tried to tell everyone to stand down, but it was too late. A hail of silver arrows flew at the god.

However, he was not put off by this. Without even raising a finger, he apparently used the moisture in the air to make the arrows fly off in random directions, and for all the Hunters to fall off their feet and hit the ground hard.

Everyone except for me. He turned towards me and Artemis, who had just picked herself off the ground, having also accidentally fired upon our uncle.

"Niece, for the nth time! Wait until you've confirmed a target is hostile before firing! Stop firing on people just because they're males! There are plenty of males that aren't as bad as you say they are!" he groaned.

She shrugged. "Oh well."

He rolled his eyes, and then cracked a small smile. "It's nice to see you, Artemis," he said, extending his arms for a hug.

She sighed and gave him a hug. "You too, Uncle."

She and Uncle Poseidon had a good relationship, even better than that between her and Zeus. Apparently, Poseidon and Hestia secretly visited Leto, her and Apollo's mother, from time to time before and after the twins' birth. He became somewhat of a father figure for them as well as being a cool uncle. Poseidon and Hestia were two of the nicest Olympians. However, they were also fiercely protective. If you messed with their family, you would be in for serious trouble.

He then turned to me, grinning. "Thalia! One of my favorite demigod nieces!" he exclaimed, hugging me.

I couldn't help but smile and hug him back. He really was a nice uncle. He did his best to visit Percy and all of his friends, including me. He even managed to teach me how to calm myself. This ended up being useful in countering any rage, nervousness, or fear from arguments, nightmares, and more.

"One of your favorite demigod nieces? I thought I was your favorite!" I mock-whined when I pulled away from the hug.

"You sky children and your pride," he teased. "Hazel Levesque would be the other favorite. To be frank, like my descendant, the son of Mars, she's a complete sweetheart. She reminds me of my dear sister Hestia: so pure, so kind, yet incredibly dangerous when she wants to be!"

"Lady Hestia can be dangerous?" I asked curiously.

He grinned. "Oh yes. You should've seen that time when Zeus managed to irk her... I swear, everyone, even Hades and I, were unnerved, and her anger wasn't even directed at us! As for Zeus... well... he hid in his palace for days!"

I laughed a little at that funny story. "So, Uncle, what're you doing here?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you for the reminder. Zeus told you that you're receiving support from a demigod, yes?"

"Yes," Artemis grumbled. "I told him we could handle it ourselves!"

Poseidon turned serious. "Wait, did he not tell you who it was?" he asked.

"No."

He facepalmed and groaned. "I swear, my little brother needs to get his head checked. Niece, believe me when I say that you will need help for this. I recommended this demigod personally because I want you both to be safe. If I knew that you could handle the situation, I wouldn't have made Zeus ask him to join."

"Uncle, why?" Artemis whined.

"Sorry, my dear, but that was the only way I agreed with Zeus to send you on this mission. And don't worry: you both know him and trust him. As for me, I am supremely confident in his abilities. He's a great warrior, definitely enough to support your Hunt on his own. Plus, he doesn't care about romance, if that's any comfort. His focus is, and I quote him on this, 'killing the monsters and keeping the Hunt alive.'"

"Who is this demigod?" I asked, curious.

Uncle's stoned-face expression became a mischievous grin when he spoke. "Well, Thalia, I cannot say. He asked me not to, for the sake of the surprise. He did request that I tell you to remember the authentication codes, however."

I thought about it for a second, before it hit me. Artemis seemed to have a look of realization as well.

"He's alive?" I exclaimed. "Where the Hades has he been?!?"

He simply smiled. "Do try not to kill him. Best of luck, you two," he said with a wink as he flashed out.

BACK TO THE PRESENT...

"I am going to kill him," I muttered.

"I can understand why it's him, but is he really powerful enough to provide support on his own?" said Artemis.

"To be fair... Uncle Poseidon is not one to underestimate his enemies."

She rolled her eyes.

"Milady! Lieutenant! There's something in the trees!" shouted Jocelyn.

Everyone raised their bows, when a male voice could be heard.

"Blue! Blue! Hold your fire!"

"Come out, boy!" shouted Mary.

"Easy! Easy! This is Papa-Juliett. I'm looking for Tango-Golf and Papa-Alpha-1!"

TWENTY-THREE YEARS AGO...

During the party on Olympus, shortly after I became Lieutenant of the Hunt, Percy stopped me and Artemis before we left.

"Thalia, Lady Artemis," he said with a bow. "I need a favor."

She looked at him curiously. "And what would this favor be, Perseus?"

He started looking around, then back at us. "It might be best if we do this in private," he said.

Artemis led us to a private room, and turned towards Percy.

"What's going on, Kelp Head?" I asked.

"This is regarding future joint operations."

Now I was confused. "What do you mean, 'joint operations?'"

"Let's be real. I have a feeling that our paths will cross again, and we may need each other's help. For this reason, I'd rather you not try to shoot me on sight, and I don't want to accidentally kill my cousin."

"Like you could, Perce," I teased.

"Thalia, I'm serious. Remember Capture-the-Flag at camp? If the Oracle hadn't arrived, there's no telling what would have happened. I don't want to accidentally mistake you as hostile and try to hurt you, or worse."

"Perseus, this is ridiculous. How could you mistake her as an enemy?" asked Artemis.

"Lady Artemis, we may approach each other while we are shrouded in darkness. There are also, from what I've heard, monsters that can shift to a demigod form. We need to know who's friendly, who's not."

This was a very good point. "What do we do then?" I asked.

"That's where my favor comes in. When we first make contact, we identify ourselves by a callsign. We then have our own authentication code."

"And what does this entail?" asked Artemis.

"It's simple. My callsign is Papa-Juliett, for Percy Jackson. Lady Artemis has Papa-Alpha-1, for Phoebe Artemis. The '1' is to distinguish yourself from Lord Apollo, who also would be Papa-Alpha, for Phoebus Apollo. The '1' refers to you being born a bit before him. Finally, we have a problem with Thalia."

"Meaning?" I asked, frowning.

"Thals, you never told us your surname. As curious as I am, you don't need to tell me. However, knowing just the first letter would be helpful."

I thought about this. I left that part of me behind. However, I couldn't even trust Percy with this? The one that got me out of that damn tree? One of my best friends? And my—

No, Thalia. You've joined the Hunt. You did this to forget him.

I made a decision. "G."

He nodded. "Then Tango-Golf is your callsign, for Thalia G. Here are the authentication codes: mine is Sierra-Papa—Son of Poseidon. Lady Artemis's is Mike-Golf—Moon Goddess. Finally, Thalia's is Lima-Hotel—Lieutenant of the Hunt."

"Where the Hades did you get all these names? 'Sierra-Papa?' 'Tango-Golf?'" I asked, puzzled.

"NATO Phonetic Alphabet. Very useful when you have to spell something out. You'll notice that each word corresponds to the first letter."

"And you know this, how?"

"Hey, maybe I can't read all that well, but there are some things I do like reading in the library. Military history is more interesting that people give it credit for."

"That aside, how would an interaction work, Perseus?" Artemis asked.

We proceeded to run six scenarios under his guidance:

He came across the Hunt and we both were there

He came across the Hunt and only I was there

He came across the Hunt and only Lady Artemis was there

The Hunt came across him and we both were present

The Hunt came across him and only Lady Artemis was present

The Hunt came across him and only I was present

I was impressed by his methods of thinking. So did Artemis.

"Very... impressive, Perseus," she admitted.

"Thank you, ma'am. Excuse me, but I have to leave. My father wishes to speak with me. This is goodbye," he said, giving Milady a bow and me a hug.

"Stay alive, alright Thals?" he said as he embraced me. I felt my face heat up, but I pushed it aside. There was no chance he thought of me the same way I thought of him. Now, he was nothing but a friend.

I hugged him back, thankful he couldn't see my red face. "You too, Perce."

He released me from his arms and gave us a mischievous grin.

"First Lieutenant Artemis, Second Lieutenant Thalia, good luck with Hunter Platoon... wait, that doesn't make a lot of sense. I probably just don't understand ranks. Anyway, see ya, Thals!" he said with a playful salute as he left for the party.

I turned towards Artemis, who, rather than looking annoyed for being called a lieutenant, was confused.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"I... don't know. I'll ask him next time," I said.

She nodded. "All right, let's go, Thalia."

As we left, there were two things that struck me.

One: Percy's idea and his send-off sounded oddly like something you'd hear from a soldier. And I mean a modern soldier, like the current US military.

Two: When Artemis complimented him on his thought process, she didn't say 'for a boy,' or even 'for a man' like she did to him when she left us before the pegasi arrived some hours back.

I wonder why. Well, goodbye, Percy. I hope I can get over you...

BACK TO THE PRESENT...

"Everyone hold your fire!" Artemis ordered as she and I lowered our weapons. "Papa-Juliett, this is Papa-Alpha-1. Tango-Golf is right next to me. Authenticate!"

The Hunters looked confused. I couldn't blame them.

"Sierra-Papa! Authenticate, Papa-Alpha-1!" the voice responded.

"Mike-Golf!" she replied.

"Authenticate, Tango-Golf!"

"Lima-Hotel!" I shouted.

"Copy that. Coming to you!"

From the darkness emerged a tall figure, perhaps between 5' 11" and 6' 1". He looked like a US military soldier, wearing dark green camouflage fatigues and a matching Kevlar vest, helmet, and what appeared to be night-vision goggles on his helmet. He carried an assault rifle in his hands, a pistol in a holster on his side, a knife in its sheath on his vest, and several other pouches along his vest, backpack, and belt. It looked like maybe seventy pounds of gear and weapons. I was amazed he could even walk, let alone move as stealthily as he just did when he emerged from the trees.

Making the whole thing weirder was the fact that despite my heightened senses (courtesy of the Blessing of Artemis), I couldn't feel any aura. For some reason, I had a feeling that if monsters around, there would be no scent... he was, in a way, undetectable.

I felt my stomach churn. And I don't scare easily. I wasn't sure what it was: his weaponry, his attire, or the face that he just stood there... menacingly. If I didn't know who he was, I would have ordered a retreat. He was indomitable, unkillable.

Now that I think about it, that statement is extremely accurate.

He looked at us for a few seconds before lowering his rifle and raising his night-vision goggles as he stepped closer towards us, allowing the light to shine on his face.

He still looked seventeen years old, even though he was technically in his late thirties. Ironically, it looked like he'd been through a couple of decades worth of war, given all the scars and overall roughness of his face. He wore clear safety glasses that gave me a full view of his eyes. The eyes that I woke up to after years in a tree coma. The eyes of the guy that saved my life more times than I'd care to admit. The eyes I will never forget.

The eyes I fell in love with.

The sea-green eyes of—

"Percy?"

"Hey, Pinecone Face. It's been a while," said Percy Jackson with that typical lopsided grin of his.

And that's where the trouble began. With that smile. That damned smile.

That's all for now.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them ASAP.

Stay safe, everyone.

- ADF-2