The Story of Hunter

Ending words

2011-03-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

If you've read the whole story I'd love to hear your feedback as long as it is constructive. Please leave me a comment on this post or if you are on YourPants.org leave me a message there. Thanks for reading everyone.

EDIT: Right now I am contemplating doing another story. A sequel or even a prequel to the tale of Hunter. It might be a little while before anything is posted, but I might also be doing a separate collab at the same time. If anyone has any ideas or questions for me about the story please send them to me at huntersstory@gmail.com I love getting feedback about my stories (as long as its constructive.)

EDIT: Hunter2 has begun! You can find it here.

Again, thanks for reading.

Epilogue

2011-03-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

Hunter got out and walked to the rear of the green Chevy Impala. The trunk popped open and he grabbed the bags out and set them on the ground. The car powered down and the doors swung open. Marina, Kyle, and Marina’s mother all stepped out.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you this summer, Mrs. Goldman.” Hunter said, closing the trunk. She walked over and hugged him.

“Oh anytime, dear!” She squeezed him tightly. A similar hug had been given to him by Marina just last summer. He felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

“Tha- Thanks, Mrs. G.” He hugged her back. He gave Marina a look of terror as his air supply stopped.

“Okay, Mom! Bye!” Marina said, trying to shoo her mother away. She broke off the hug and turned to look at her daughter. Hunter gasped as air started to return to his lungs.

“Oh, Marina! Stop being so sour. I haven’t even hugged your boyfriend goodbye, yet.” She walked over and hugged Kyle. He groaned a little as his air supply was cut off.

“Tha- Thanks, Mrs. G.” He managed. Marina’s mom let him go and stepped away.

“Alright. I’ll let you kids go. Marina. Iris message me later tonight. Have a good year, kids!” She waved goodbye and then got into her car and drove off. Hunter, Marina, and Kyle all picked up their bags and made off for the camp.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to go to my grandparents’ house. I’m allergic to cats and they have 6 of them.” Kyle said. He shuddered at the thought. Marina walked up beside him and grabbed his hand.

“I’m glad you didn’t go there too.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. Hunter rolled his eyes. Kyle leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Soon enough they were flirting and giggling again. Hunter cleared his throat loudly.

“Half-Blood Hill is up here.” He said trying to get away from them. He ran up the hill and stared down at the camp, already bustling with activity. He walked down the hill and entered into the cabin area. He found the Artemis cabin and walked in. Hunter immediately dropped his stuff and plopped down onto his bed. He inhaled the smell of the cabin. ‘Fresh rain and cypress trees.’ He thought to himself. He got back up and walked out into the camp. He waved to people that he knew and caught up on how their summers were. He had just finished talking to a couple of satyrs when Will ran up to Hunter, excitedly.

“You have got to check this out. The Hephaestus kids helped me out with this.” He lifted up his shirt and revealed the belt buckle he had gotten from his father, Poseidon, last summer. He grabbed the golden horseshoe that was embedded into the brass of the buckle. He pulled the horseshoe out and it grew into a large trident. “Huh? Huh? And wait that’s not even the best part. I tried to control water, but no dice. I can talk to horses, but it took me a while to figure out my power. Let’s go to the arena and I’ll show you.” Hunter shrugged and followed Will to the arena. They stood at opposite sides of the arena. “Okay…GO!” He charged at Hunter who drew his knife and charged back. The two of them sparred for a while. Neither of them making any resounding victories over the other. Hunter had just won a match and had his knife to Will’s throat when Will gripped his trident and struck the ground with the end of it. The ground shook beneath Hunter’s feet. Nothing severe but enough for Hunter’s legs to wobble. The tremor stopped. Hunter’s eyes widened.

“What…was that?” He asked Will. Will had a big, dumb smile on his face.

“That, my friend, is proof that I am a son of Poseidon. I can cause small local earthquakes.” He said. He pretended to dust off his shoulders. Hunter punched him in the arm.

“Just be careful to not knock me on my butt the next time we’re fighting a monster.” The two of them laughed as they walked back to the Dining Pavilion. Everyone had just sat down for dinner when Chiron stood up front. He cleared his throat a couple of times.

“Before we get things started I have a few announcements to make.” Chiron slipped on his glasses and looked down at a piece of paper. “There are some new instructors this summer. First of all, Willi—“ Will glared at him. He made it clear it was ‘Will’ not ‘William.’ “Excuse me. Will Monterey will be teaching spear and sword fighting this summer.” The hall erupted in applause. Chiron motioned for them to quiet down. “Also Hunter will be teaching knife fighting and will lead small groups into the woods. FOR educational purposes.” The hall erupted in applause again. Hunter stood up and bowed. “Kyle Julius is the new Demeter cabin counselor. Finally, Marina will be in charge of the forges from now on.” Chiron motioned for the applause to begin. He let it run its course before finishing with, “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! Let’s have a great summer!”

Chapter 24

2011-03-21T22:01:00.005-07:00

It wasn’t a long journey on the back of the Pegasus. They finally arrived in Olympus and Olympus and Athena led them to the throne room. Hunter saw Kyle standing near Demeter. Hunter and Will ran over and hugged him.

“Careful! Careful!” He said, with a smile on his face. “It was a pretty deep gash in my leg, but I’m tough.” Kyle was standing with the use of a cane. It looked like a branch yanked off of a tree and it had vines wrapped around it all the way up that seemed to be moving all the time. “So is…Is he..y’know?” Hunter nodded.

“Yeah. He’s dead.” He had just finished talking when Marina ran over and jumped onto Hunter almost knocking him over.

“I thought…I was worried that…Oh thank gods.” She tightened her grip around Hunter’s neck.

“Marina…I…I can’t breathe.” She broke off the hug and nodded to Hunter then turned to Will and did the same thing. Hunter laughed and turned to Kyle.

“So what’s up with you and uh…” Hunter gestured toward Marina. Kyle simply winked and then nodded his head. Hunter started laughing again. He looked over and saw Will still being strangled by Marina. He was giving Hunter a look that screamed, ‘HELP ME!’ Hunter nodded. “Marina, maybe you should show me around. I was trying to find Artemis.” Hunter lied he knew exactly where she was. Marina let go of Will and then sighed.

“Follow me.” She grabbed Kyle’s hand and then motioned for Hunter to follow her. Hunter looked over at Will who was staring at Poseidon.

“Hey, Will.” Will turned to look at Hunter. “Good luck.” He finally walked over and hugged Will.

“Thanks, man.” Will turned and walked over to his father. Hunter finally followed Marina over to Artemis. When Hunter got there his face sank. Marina saw Hunter’s expression.

“Hey Kyle, I want you to meet my dad!” Marina got Kyle’s hand in a vice grip and dragged him over to Hephaestus, Kyle trying to pry away the whole time. Hunter turned to Artemis.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me know that the only thing that I completely trusted was the spirit of Orion trapped in a wolf’s body?” Hunter asked. He was holding back tears.

“Hunter, I knew that the time would come where it would be revealed to you. The other gods weren’t particularly happy when I placed his spirit in that wolf. If I had told you - well you know how word gets around. He just would have been killed. I kept the secret from you for so long and every time I saw you playing with him or taking care of him it pained me. I wanted to tell you, so bad. I am truly sorry, Hunter.” Artemis hugged Hunter.

“If you don’t mind me asking…why me?” He asked the goddess.

“When my Hunter’s brought your mother into the camp, and I saw that she was pregnant, I was furious. I had been promised this girl to be a Hunter and she was taken from me. So I offered her the same decision I offered your grandmother. I would get the baby girl to raise into a Hunter. So when you ended up being a boy, I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what to do. But as you grew and started training, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a long time. There was a…glow about you. I knew that you had a good heart and an unrelenting spirit. So I promised you to be a Hunter and I left you in Orion’s care.” Artemis studied the floor. She looked ashamed by what she said. “I couldn’t take care of you with the other Hunters I had to send you to Camp Half-Blood. I knew you would be safe there.”

“To be honest, ma’am, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I don’t know what I would be without living this life.” He walked up to the goddess and hugged her. Even though she didn’t appear much older than he was, Hunter still felt like she was his mother.

“No more of this sadness, okay? The party is about to start.” The gods of Olympus were throwing a party in honor of the questers that returned safely. Hunter had been mingling among the guests and the hosts, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Alex a little worse for wear.

“Hey, Hunter! Glad to see you safe!” She hugged him around the neck. “How was your quest?” Hunter laughed.

“Well, to sum up, I rode in a flying chariot, watched a smelly guy get electrocuted, killed the Manticore, rode a centaur, went to the Underworld, defeated a god, fought some giants, and then defeated another god. All before 10. How about you?” Alex’s eyes widened at the summary.

“I…wow! Well, we retrieved an instrument created by my mother. Oh and we fought a scorpion!” Alex turned when her name was called from somewhere. “That’s Phoebe. I’ll see you around!” She said.

“Sure thing! Oh and Alex. Thanks for the lesson. REALLY.” Alex smiled and then walked away. The party lasted for several hours, but after a few Hunter found Will, Kyle, and Marina slumped down against a wall, exhausted. “All partied out, guys?” The three of them nodded. Hunter sat down next to Marina. The four of them sat there watching a party held in their honor. “Let’s go back to Camp.” Hunter said, looking down the row. The three of them nodded again and then stood up. The four of them pushed their way through the crowd and found their way to the Pegasus stables. They all chose an animal and took off toward camp. In a few minutes, Hunter could see the lights from the cabins approaching in the distance. He sighed. “It’s so good to be home.”

Chapter 23

2011-03-21T22:01:00.001-07:00

5:30 struck as they reached the street. They needed to find a way to get to the Lincoln Memorial. Hunter saw a taxi drive by and realized that was their ride. He called for it, and in a few minutes the yellow car pulled up beside them. Will and Hunter got in. “The Lincoln Memorial, please.” Hunter said. The driver nodded and they were off. It was a twenty minute drive. Hunter took this time to think about the past day. It felt like so much longer, but it was only one day. Hunter looked down at himself. His body was covered in scratches from all the traveling he has done and all of the battles he had fought. His shirt was torn and his pants had another rip in it. He was tired. This had been the longest day of his entire life and sadly it wasn’t over yet. He looked over at Will who was in pretty much the same shape as Hunter. “Hey, Will. No matter how this ends, I wanted to thank you for coming along. You didn’t have to, but you did and you’ve had my back. So thanks.” Will looked back and listened to Hunter. When he was finished Will got a smile on his face. He looked over at Will and said, “No problem. We don’t have to hug now, do we?” They both laughed harder than they had in a long time. They were still laughing when they arrived in front of the monument.

“That’ll be twenty bucks.” The cab driver said, holding out his hand. Will handed him a twenty and then got out of the car. Hunter thanked the driver and followed him. They stood staring up at the memorial.

“You ready?” Will asked. Hunter nodded and the two of them ascended the long staircase and entered the memorial. The two campers entered the large building and looked for their enemy. They walked up to the gigantic statue of Lincoln and stared up at his face. From somewhere behind the two Hunter heard clapping. They turned around to see Dolos materialize in front of them.

“It’s about time you got here, boys.” He said, smiling. His body was no longer injured from the fight earlier. “It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? The biggest liar on Olympus killing two kids in a place dedicated to America’s biggest truth-teller. Old Honest Abe.” He disappeared and reappeared on top of the statue. He tapped Lincoln on the head. Hunter’s rage burned inside of him.

“Why!? Why did you call Kate?! She didn’t do anything to you!” Hunter wanted answers. He didn’t waste any time. Dolos stared at Hunter in disgust.

“Kate. That little whore deserved what she got. You made sure of that. She would have lied to you just like her mother did to me.” His expression darkened. Hunter’s fists clenched in fury. He imagined himself killing Dolos. “Aphrodite said she loved me. She promised me that we would be together I just had to do her a favor. Apparently, she was angry with some actress…Reese something. She told me that if I broke up this woman’s marriage that she would be with me. So I did it. In reality, all she wanted was to be with Reese’s husband. When I confronted her she ignored me. I was going to get back at her. I tricked you into killing that awful witch’s daughter.” Dolos chuckled. “And now, I’m gonna kill you.”

“Why keep it up, Dolos? What’s your game plan? Eris is dead.” Will said trying to avoid a fight. Hunter was too furious to speak. He wanted to kill Dolos for everything that he did. For Kate. For Kyle. He clenched his fists in rage.

“You think I need her?” Dolos laughed. “This was all my plan! I made her believe that she could take over after a little chaos. If it worked then I’m in charge. It doesn’t work, then I blame it on her and get off scot free. I can’t lose! You taking the orb from me was a…minor setback, but I’m still strong enough to hide myself from the gods and I have another trick up my sleeve.” Hunter watched as Dolos jumped down off of the statue and landed right in front of them. “When Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons, died, Athena hid his sword in the Acropolis. With the movement of Western Civilization, she has moved the sword. I know for a fact that it is here, in the Lincoln Memorial. The sword was crafted by Hephaestus himself. Anyone who wields the sword into combat is said to have guaranteed victory.” Dolos turned to the base of the statue and disappeared. Hunter summoned Kate and fired an arrow where Dolos was. It tinked off the marble of the statue. Hunter loaded another arrow as he looked around for his target. “I’m going to get the sword and then I’m going to kill you!” Dolos laughed and then appeared in front of Hunter, wielding a sword. Hunter fired an arrow at his target. Dolos disappeared before it hit. Hunter loaded another arrow. Dolos appeared again wielding a spear. Hunter fired and again Dolos disappeared before it hit.

“Come out, you coward!” Hunter shouted. “My quiver doesn’t run out of arrows! I’ve got all the time in the world!” Hunter shivered at the sound of Dolos’ laugh. He turned to Will. “Will, don’t believe anything you see in here.” Hunter whispered. Will nodded and started looking around again.

“Do you, now? How do you know this isn’t just a trick?” Dolos laughed again. Hunter looked at Will who was at the ready, sword drawn. Dolos appeared in front of Hunter. Hunter fired. Before Hunter could reload Dolos appeared again. And then again and again. In a matter of seconds, Hunter and Will were surrounded by copies of Dolos. All of the copies started to approach the two. Hunter fired an arrow into one of the copies and then dismissed Kate and summoned his knife. The arrow hit the copy of Dolos which burst into a small burst of light and then disappeared. Before it disappeared, another took its place. Will yelled and then chopped a clone in half. It shimmered and then disappeared, another taking its place. The copies were slowly moving in on Hunter and Will. Hunter stabbed one with his knife and then slashed another across the throat. They both disappeared, but again two more appeared in place. Hunter didn’t know what to do. He kept on fighting but there had to be something to this. He didn’t know if the clones could hurt him, but he wasn’t going to find out. Will swung his sword in an arc splitting 4 clones at once. They had killed dozens of the copies, but still they came. Hunter slashed through another copy and then something caught his eye. In front of the statue, was a small glint of light. He had seen a glint like this before. He saw it in the throne room of Hades’ Palace. He had also seen it in Camp Half-Blood. He remembered back to the discs Alex had shown him. They couldn’t be seen, except for a small glint of light. Hunter was staring at the light until he was interrupted by Will shouting to him.

“Hunter, c’mon! I can’t fight these alone!” Hunter shook his head and then entered back into reality. Hunter plunged his knife into the stomach of an oncoming copy and then kicked over another. He had just slashed through another, when he felt something burning his leg. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the dog tag that had been on Orion. The words of Orion entered his brain. ‘In the time of your greatest need this will transform into an arrow fashioned from the scorpion’s tail that killed me.’ Before Hunter’s eyes the small round tag transformed into an arrow. It was black and as the arrow head was a spike that seemed to have an aura of darkness around it. Hunter threw his knife into an oncoming copy and summoned Kate. He loaded the arrow into his bow and looked for the glint of light. It had moved to the left of the statue.

“Will! Cover me!” Hunter needed an angle. Will nodded and then slashed all around Hunter killing several of the copies. Hunter moved and got the angle. He took a deep breath and fired. The arrow seemed to cut through the air, making a screaming sound as it flew. It hit its target with a blood-curdling thud. At once, all of the copies froze and got pained looks on their faces. From a spot in the middle of their chest a darkness started to spread throughout their bodies. They turned completely dark like several shadows writhing in pain. They all burst and disappeared. Hunter looked and saw Dolos materialize with the arrow sticking out of his chest.

“I’m...a…god.” Dolos muttered under his breath. Ichor pouring out from the wound. It seemed corrupted though. The shining liquid wasn’t golden like it should be, it was a dark red. It poured from the wound in his chest as the venom from the arrow flowed into the body of the trickster god. “You can’t….I’m…going to….kill you!” Dolos stood up and drew a sword from inside his jacket. He knocked Will to the ground and raised the sword for an attack. Hunter loaded an arrow and fired. The arrow hit Dolos in the neck. He screamed in pain and slumped to the ground, dead. Hunter dismissed his bow and walked over to the lifeless body of Dolos. He kicked the body over and stared into the face that had haunted him for so long. He watched as the body dissolved into the pool of dark red ichor. Hunter said a silent prayer to Artemis and then closed his eyes and remembered back to Kate. A slight smile sneaked into Hunter’s face. Hunter had won.

“Hunter. Come look at this.” Hunter looked over at Will who was motioning for him. Hunter walked over to where Will was standing which was the same spot Dolos was standing when the arrow hit him. Will pointed to a spot on the back of the base of the statue. Hunter looked and saw a small divot with an olive wreath etched into it. “Hunter, one of Athena’s symbols is the olive tree. Dolos was right.” Hunter looked at the small divot. It was glowing slightly. Hunter realized that Dolos had found it. Dolos had found the hiding spot of the Sword of Peleus. If Hunter hadn’t fired that arrow, right then Dolos would have become unstoppable. Hunter looked up and thought, ‘Thanks, Orion. Even after your death you’re still saving my life.’

“Step away.” Hunter turned around and saw a beautiful woman wearing a white robe and was carrying a white headdress. “That sword is too much power for anyone to wield. You cannot tell anyone of its location.” She looked at Hunter intensely. He felt like her gray eyes were staring into his soul. “Do you swear to never divulge this information to anyone as long as you draw breath?” Hunter and Will nodded.

“I do.” Hunter and Will both said. As soon as they said it her gaze softened.

“You did it. You found the source of the curse and stopped it. On top of that, you killed two rogue gods and protected two powerful weapons. It’s possible that you saved all of Olympus. Under the curse, all of us on Mt. Olympus were about to reach a breaking point. Tempers had reached a peak and fighting had begun. If we had known that it was Dolos who had placed this curse upon us, we would have destroyed him. He had distracted us enough to create a smokescreen. It was crucial that the orb was delivered to Olympus. As soon as the orb changed hands the curse was broken, yet Dolos was still hidden from us. The orb is now safely hidden and secured in Olympus.” Athena spoke calmly and smoothly. Hunter finally remembered what else was important in Olympus.

“Kyle! How is he?” Hunter said.

“I shall take you to him. Follow me.” Athena looked at the statue of Lincoln and her face lowered. She then turned and walked out of the memorial and led the two demigods to three Pegasi. One was a sharp gray, which Athena mounted. Another was dark brown and the other was a bright silver which seemed to glow in the newly risen moonlight. Hunter knew that the silver one was his. He approached it and placed his hand on its snout. He petted it a couple of times and then jumped onto its back.

“I can hear it talking to me! This is great!” Will said as he mounted his Pegasus. Hunter had forgotten that Will had been claimed by Poseidon.

“These Pegasi will be yours and yours only to ride and care for. Treat them well. Now if there are no other delays, let’s go.” The two demigods followed Athena as they traveled to Olympus.

Chapter 22

2011-03-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

“Where could he have gone?” Hunter was heart-broken. The being that had caused him pain for so long was within his reach and he let him slip away.

“Think, Hunter. Did he say anything before he disappeared?” Marina asked him trying to figure this out. “Think hard. We don’t have all the time in the world.” Hunter tried to think if there was anything Dolos said that would tell Hunter where he was going. Hunter heard a soft moan coming from Kyle.

“Kyle! Are you okay?” Hunter said looking at Kyle trying to comprehend what mental state he was in. Hunter heard Kyle barely mutter something. “What is it, Kyle? What did you say?” No one said anything as Hunter listened for it again.

“The…prophecy. Follow.” Kyle said in a tired voice. Hunter had completely forgotten about the prophecy. He pulled out the piece of paper that Rachel Elizabeth Dare had written it down on. He unfolded it and started at the 7^th line.

“‘The Daimon of deceit will be laying in wait.’ Well, that must be Dolos. He’s the god of trickery. ‘but the heroes of name will be far too late.’ We weren’t fast enough to stop Dolos completely. He got away. ‘his former father will show them the way to get back out into the light of day.’” Hunter turned to Hermes. “I lived in your cabin in Camp Half-Blood for a long time. I guess that makes you my former father.” Hermes smiled at him.

“I was glad to have you as my son. You and Will both. Now that you’re claimed, though I’m gonna have to find another kid to take pride in.” Hermes rolled his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

“’The temple to the strategist’s greatest son is where the true enemy will be cast.’ That looks like where we need to be.” Hunter folded up the piece of paper and put it back in his pocket.

“Well the strategist it probably Athena, right? Goddess of wisdom?” Will said. “But which one of her son’s has a temple built for him?”

“I don’t know about temples, but I think I know which son it’s referring to. You know Abraham Lincoln? Well let’s say that Nancy Hanks was his stepmom. So maybe the memorial?” As soon as Hermes finished talking, Marina screamed.

“Kyle just passed out! I don’t think he’s breathing! We need to get him to a hospital.” Hermes walked over and put his finger on his neck.

“He’s still alive and I can do you one better than a hospital, but we need to leave NOW. How about Olympus?”

“Marina, go with Kyle. Go to Olympus with him. Will and I will go find Dolos.” Hunter said shifting Kyle’s weight onto her shoulder.

“But, Hunter, I-“ Hunter cut her off before she could finish.

“Go.” He turned to Hermes and pulled the orb out of his pocket. “You’re the messenger god so can you deliver something for me?” Hermes rolled his eyes and simply pointed to the label on his Uniform, which said ‘Hermes Overnight Express.’ Hunter rolled the orb around his hand in a few times before handing it to Hermes. “Deliver this to Zeus as soon as possible, okay?” He hugged Marina and Kyle goodbye and then watched as the three of them disappeared. He turned to Will. “Are you ready, Will?” Hunter put one hand on Will’s shoulder and then stared him in the eye. Will swallowed hard and then nodded. Will and Hunter left the area with the columns and started walking the path that would lead them back to the street. They could see the street in the distance and started running towards it.

“Hey, you! Kids!” Hunter turned around and saw five large biker-looking men walking toward them. They were dressed in leather jackets and had bandanas tied around their heads. “You seem to know your way around here. You mind giving us directions?” He stared at the very tattooed arms and bodies of the mountainous bikers. They were explaining how they needed to get to the Lamos hotel and needed directions.

“Sorry, gentleman. We’re only guests here. We don’t know our way around.” Will said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we are kind of in a hurry.” He grabbed Hunter’s arm and led him away from the group of men.

“Yeah we know. And that’s why you’re going to join us for dinner.” The bikers smiled toothy grins revealing their sharp teeth. “Dolos sends his regards. He wants to know how Kate is.” Hunter’s mind burned with anger. He turned around and stared into the face of the front biker.

“Why would you work for that coward?” The biker held out his hand and in it was a pile of Drachmas. Hunter reached out and grabbed one. It was fake. He could tell that these giants were under Dolos’ spell. “So you were paid, big guy? It’s a good thing you were, because you’re not smart enough to do anything that doesn’t involves those oversized hams you call fists. It’s a shame you’re not smart enough to realize that the money you were given is FAKE!” The giants smiled their jagged grin again.

“He said you’d say something like that. He also said that you would be easy to kill if you were angry.” At that moment the lead giant swung his giant fist Hunter who barely dodged the assault by rolling out of the way. Will drew his sword and entered the fray immediately. Hunter drew his knife. He gripped it tight and leapt onto the torso of the head giant. He started cutting and slashing as fast as possible. “He wanted to know how Kate was doing. How is she, kid? Hmmm?” The giant chuckled as he grabbed Hunter and pulled him off of his chest. Hunter, in response, found a heart tattoo on the giant’s arm and drove his knife into it. ‘J.B. loves Babycakes’ is what the tattoo read. Hunter smiled as the beast dropped Hunter to the ground.

“How’s Babycakes, you waste of space? Is that your girl’s name?” The giant’s eyes grew big. “I promise you that when I’m finished with you, I’m gonna find her and I’m going to slit her throat.” Hunter was done playing games. He was going to find Dolos and kill him, no matter what he had to fight in the process. The giant roared in anger. And charged after Hunter with two more giants following him. Hunter threw his knife into the face of JB. It hit him in the forehead with a ‘thluck.’ The giant toppled over and disappeared into dust. Hunter dodged the fist of one giant and the foot of the other. It took a second, but his knife returned around his neck in pendant form. By the time it returned Hunter had already summoned Kate and was firing arrow after arrow into the chest of the giants. He ducked the swing of an arm and sidestepped a downward strike. He jumped on the arm of the giant and nimbly climbed up to its shoulders where it fired an arrow straight into the top of the head of the giant. He dismissed Kate and jumped off onto the back of the other giant. He grabbed his knife and slit the throat of the remaining giant. They vanished into dust. He turned to Will to watch him topple the final giant with a slash to the back of the knee and then another to behead the beast. Hunter walked over to Will and said, “Let’s get going. We’re running out of time.”

Chapter 21

2011-03-21T21:59:00.001-07:00

The battle against the two gods drew on for a long time. Marina was just dodging a swing of the spear when a cry of pain entered her ears. She looked over and saw Kyle drop his scythe and fall to the ground. Tears streaming down her face she screamed so loud it looked like it shocked Eris. She gripped her sword and charged at Eris. Hunter watched Marina enter into battle with Eris and renewed his strength against Dolos. Hunter dodged a jab from the spear and hit it away with his knife. He took a step and elbowed Dolos in the chin. Dolos took a step back and then advanced again with a swing aimed at Hunter’s head. Hunter ducked the swing and slashed Dolos’ thigh. Dolos shouted in pain. He growled at Hunter and then raised his spear for a downward strike. Hunter took a step backward and dodged the strike and then stepped on the end of the spear. In a split second, He grabbed the orb and yanked it off of Dolos’ neck then slashed him across the chest. Ichor poured from the open wound. Hunter, still standing on top of the spear, lost his balance when Dolos pulled it back. He fell to the ground and braced himself for an attack. Dolos put away his spear and stood back away from Hunter. “I’d love to stay, but I’ve got too much to live for.” He looked over at Eris. “Oh and dear? We’re through.” He turned back to Hunter and winked. “I’ll see you around, kid.” As soon as he finished speaking, he snapped his fingers and disappeared. Eris screamed in anger. Hunter looked over and saw Will and Marina attacking Eris, unrelentingly. She had small cuts all over her body, leaking ichor onto the ground.

“This fight is unnecessary! You can’t kill me! I’m a god! I cannot be killed with your mortal weapons!” She stood back and sheathed her sword. Marina put her sword away and then knelt down next to Kyle who was still on the ground, unconscious. Will and Hunter stood, staring at the goddess as she pointed her hands in their direction. Kyle screamed out in agony. Eris cackled. “Any injury caused with my blade can be worsened by my control. I hold your friend’s life in my hands!” Eris stared at Hunter, her eyes narrowed. “So what is your plan? How will you defeat a god?” She flexed her arms and another shriek of pain came from Kyle.

“Make her stop, Hunter! He can’t take much more.” Marina said, trying to comfort Kyle. Hunter looked back at Eris. She was staring at Hunter until something else caught her eye. Hunter followed her eyes to Will. He looked above Will’s head and saw a blue trident floating above his head.

“No…it can’t be. He was right.” Eris shrieked. She lowered her arms and backed up against a wall. Will looked up and saw the trident, floating above his head. He turned to Hunter looking for an explanation. Hunter didn’t have one. Suddenly, there was a bright light. Hunter couldn’t find its source. He looked at Will and then realized that the belt buckle he had been given was now floating in front of him. In another flash of light it transformed into a trident. Will grabbed the shining blue trident out of the air and held it in his hand. It looked natural in his hands. “No! Don’t!” Eris pleaded. Will gripped the trident then threw it. The trident impaled Eris through the neck pinning her to the wall. Ichor burst from her throat. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. Golden ichor poured from her face and pooled on the ground. The trident still holding her to the wall, she slowly went limp and then dissolved into the pool of golden ichor that amassed on the ground. Will went to grab the trident but it disappeared before he could grab it. The belt buckle returned to Will’s waist.

“What…was that?” Hunter asked, putting his hand on his shoulder. Will looked down and examined the belt buckle around his waist. He looked up and smiled at Hunter.

“I’m the son of Poseidon!” Will laughed. “I never would have guessed! He wasn’t even on my list!” Will gave a great big smile and started laughing again.

“I would hate to rain on your parade, Will, but Kyle is hurt. On top of that, we still don’t have a way out of here.” Marina said, still knelt down next to Kyle. She was crying, but had still managed to tie a bandage around the wound on Kyle’s leg. “I gave him some ambrosia, but it doesn’t seem like it helped. We need to get him out of here.” Hunter realized that they didn’t have a way out of the Underworld. Why hadn’t he thought about this? He knew that there wasn’t a way out of the Underworld. He stopped and said a silent prayer to Artemis.

“Wow. He looks rough.” Hunter whipped around and saw Hermes standing in his uniform looking at Kyle. “You should really get him out of here.”

“Hermes? How did you get here? Why aren’t you still under the curse?” As soon as Hunter said it, he remembered the orb. He reached into his pocket and tapped it, making sure it was safe.

“Kid, I’m the messenger god. I travel freely through here. I still have to deliver messages to Hades, you know? So you ready to get out of here? I’ll show you the way I use.” He said, eyebrows raised. Hunter was a little surprised. He looked at Kyle and nodded to Hermes.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Hunter said calmly. He grabbed his stuff and helped Kyle to his feet. Using Hunter and Will as crutches, Kyle was on his feet. Marina was carrying his stuff. Hermes led the way down a hallway that sprouted off from the throne room. It wasn’t a very long distance, but it felt like it, carrying Kyle the whole way. Hermes stopped in front of a wall. He took out his cellphone and then held it out towards the wall. In a second, it transformed into a caduceus. Hermes grabbed it and then tapped the wall three times with it. The wall cracked and then split apart revealing a doorway that led to a staircase. He hurried everyone through and then tapped the ground with his caduceus. The wall closed and then resealed.

“Alright, this exit leads into the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. The columns that you’ll see were once part of the US Capitol Building. Russell Page was a son of Athena and arranged to have them placed here mainly to protect this entrance into the Underworld, but it also looks very nice.” Hermes said with a chuckle. They group finally got to the end of the staircase and was crouched under a door that was right above them. Hermes tapped the Caduceus again and the door pushed up and then split and created a door way. They walked out and walked across the pool of water they had emerged from. Luckily this section of the park was empty seeing as it was around 4:30 in the afternoon. Kyle was drifting in and out of consciousness. Hunter stood ready to go, but had no idea where Dolos went.

Chapter 20

2011-03-21T21:58:00.003-07:00

The four of them entered as quietly as possible. Walking lightly around the outside of the large room. They hid behind a column and examined the room. Hades was sitting at his throne, barking orders at the Furies. Beside him was not Persephone, but a woman Hunter didn’t recognize. Hades didn’t seem to notice, since he was paying her no mind. The four of them waited for the Furies to leave before moving a little bit closer for a better look. The four of them were staring at the woman posing as Hades’ queen. Marina let out a short gasp, and then retreated to her bag. A second later she pulled out a large book and started flipping through it. Hunter returned to looking at the woman when something caught his eye. A small blip of light to the left of the woman. Hunter was staring at where he had seen it when Marina tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back at her. She placed the book on the ground and pointed to a picture in it. It was a picture of the woman. She had black hair that ran to the middle of her back and greenish skin. She had thick, angled eyebrows and small, beady eyes the color of gold. He looked below the picture and read the caption. ‘Eris: goddess of discord, strife, and chaos.’

Hunter looked back at the thrones. “So that’s Eris.” Hunter said in a hushed tone. “We followed the prophecy to the tee. That must be who we’re looking for.” Hunter was trying to come up with a plan. He looked back at his group and it looked like they were doing the same thing. ‘You will find peace and an advantage if you follow what he shows.’ Those words kept ringing in his head. ‘Well, I guess I found peace, but what about the advantage?’ He thought to himself. After a couple more moments, Hunter turned to his group and said, “Follow my lead.” He dismissed Kate and his quiver and then took a few steps out from behind the column. ‘What am I doing?! I’m gonna get killed.’ He thought to himself as he approached the throne. The other three were still hidden behind the column. ‘Wow. Thanks a bunch, guys.’ Hades watched as he walked toward the throne and knelt down.

“Rise, Hunter of Artemis, and tell me what gives you the right to enter into my realm!” Hades’ eyes were glowing with anger.

“I’m here to inform you of a heinous betrayal, lord. That villain,” Hunter took a deep breath and pointed toward Eris who was snarling at him. “Is not your queen Persephone. That is the goddess Eris.” Hades looked at Hunter and then trained his gaze upon Eris. Eris turned to Hades and gave him a very pleasant smile.

“You insect! You intrude into the underworld. You kill one of my furies and then accuse my queen to be a traitor. Why should I not kill you, right now?!” Hades’ voice boomed into Hunter’s ears. From behind him, he heard footsteps. His three companions knelt down before Hades. “GRAAAH! You insult me further by bringing my nephew here?!” Hunter, Kyle, Marina, and Will looked at each other confused.

“None of us are the children of either Zeus nor Poseidon, lord.” Hunter said directing his eyes away from Hades.

“Don’t insult my intelligence. He’s standing right there.” Hades raised his arm and pointed to the right of Hunter. Hunter turned and saw Will standing there mouth open.

“I’m…I don’t have a parent, lord.” Will could barely form a sentence. “What I mean to say is, I haven’t been claimed. No god has announced their parenthood of me.” With every word Hades seemed to become angrier and angrier.

“Stop wasting my time, godlings!” Hades rose out of his throne and drew his sword. “You will not survive for your intrusion!” Marina, Kyle, and Will rose and started to back up quickly. Hunter stood his ground. He summoned his knife and prepared for an attack. Then he realized something.

“WAIT! Wait! This doesn’t make sense, Hades!” Hunter tried to explain, dismissing his knife. “That’s your queen. That’s Persephone?” Hades lowered his sword.

“Are you blind, child? She’s sitting right there.” He pointed toward Eris still smiling on the throne. Hunter spoke again.

“If that’s Persephone, then what is she doing here in the Underworld? It’s the summer.” Kyle came back and stood beside Hunter.

“My sister, Persephone, is with our mother during the summer. Demeter herself told me they had plans. Would she lie to her own son?” Hades stood there, thinking. He turned to Eris.

“What are you doing here, my queen?” Eris’ smile fell.

“Send him to Olympus.” She looked to her left. “Do it. Quickly!” Suddenly Hades stiffened up.

“I need to go to Olympus.” Hades said. He turned around to his throne grabbed his helmet and then vanished. Eris averted her gaze toward Hunter.

“You! You have no idea who you are messing with.” Suddenly beside her a person materialized. He was wearing a gray trench coat and had a very narrow face.

“Good to see you again, kid.” Hunter stared as Dolos stepped out from the darkness. “How’s life? What’s it been? 4? 5 years?” Hunter’s anger raged inside of him.

“NO! It…What do you want?” Hunter asked with one hand on his pendant. Dolos chuckled.

“Well, right now, you’re going to die.”

“Do you think that the gods won’t just kill you, right now?” Dolos laughed. His laugh made Hunter’s skin crawl.

“Gods? They’re a little busy right now being at each other’s throats.” Dolos took a bow. “That was my doing. Thank you.” Dolos smirked. Will stepped forward.

“There’s no way that you could do that. How do you keep a hold onto every single god all at once?” Will said. “You’re not strong enough.”

“On the contrary, I am. I wasn’t previously, but only recently, I stumbled upon this little doodad.” Dolos reached into his jacket and pulled out a small orb, attached to a string. “This is the remnants of Kronos’ scythe. When he was destroyed, the weapon was reduced to a pool of molten metal. I ran in and grabbed some.” He shook the orb a little the bright liquid metal sloshed back and forth inside. “This stuff improves my strength tenfold.” Eris cackled.

“With that, Dolos can make the gods even more paranoid of each other than usual. The chaos from the ensuing war,” she inhaled in delight, “is like sweet nectar. They would kill each other. And with those accursed Olympians out of the way, the two of us would take over. Me, a queen, and him,” She leaned over and kissed Dolos long and hard, making the four campers cringe, “My king. And that’s why we’re going to kill you. You can’t stop us.” Eris smiled maliciously at Hunter and the three other campers. She reached under her robe and pulled out a sword as dark as night and gnarled like a tree branch. Dolos chuckled and placed the orb around his neck. He reached into his coat and pulled out a pocket knife. He unfolded a blade and held it out toward Hunter. It transformed into a long spear. Dolos yelled and then charged at the campers. Hunter grabbed his pendant and transformed it into his knife. He raised it up blocking the oncoming attack. He pushed Dolos away and turned to his companions, who had already drawn their weapons and were charging into attack.

“We need to get that amulet. We can’t let them get away with it.” He said as he jabbed with his knife. Dolos parried his attack and with a swing knocked Hunter onto his back. Dolos stood over him and raised his spear for a killing blow. A large ball of fire collided into his chest knocking him back a few feet.

“Stay away from him!” Marina screamed, as she recharged her still smoking hand cannon. Hunter rolled backward onto his feet. He jabbed at Dolos who was still dazed from the fireball. Dolos sidestepped causing Hunter’s golden blade to cut the shoulder of the god, opening up a trickle of ichor. Hunter recovered quickly and blocked another swing of Dolos’ spear. Deadlocked with Dolos, Hunter looked over and saw Kyle and Will battling Eris. Marina, put away her cannon and drew a sword. She charged in at Dolos.

Chapter 19

2011-03-21T21:58:00.001-07:00

“Hunter?! Are you okay?!” Will was knelt down next to Hunter and was trying to wake him up. Hunter sat up and shook his head a few times in an attempt to clear it. He stood up slowly. He felt…lighter. Like a horrible weight had been lifted. Hunter thought about the dream he just had and smiled. “You’re smiling? He’s smiling. You’re asleep for thirty minutes. We assume you’ve gone into a coma and now you’re smiling.” Will sat back on the ground and sat there for a second, before laughing. He couldn’t help from laughing. Hunter started laughing too. He had never been so happy. The one dark spot in his mind was now gone.

“Alright let’s go. We’re running out of time.” Hunter was excited to keep going. He no longer had anything holding him back from fighting to the best of his ability. He grabbed the pendant and thought, ‘knife,’ just like Artemis had told him. In his mind Kate’s smiling face flashed in his mind. He opened his eyes and was holding the knife. He smiled and dropped it. In midair it disappeared and reappeared as the pendant around Hunter’s neck. “Let’s go, guys.” Hunter picked up his stuff and started jogging toward the gates of Hades’ Palace. He finally got there, and looked back to see the other three looking at him like he was insane. “I guess all I needed was a nap.” Hunter chuckled. He didn’t want to get into everything right now. It wasn’t the right time. Hunter was about to turn and enter the palace when from behind he heard a screeching voice.

“THERE! There they are! They’re at the gates! Get them!” Hunter turned and saw three furies flying toward him. They were horrible and ugly, and they were flying straight at Hunter. Hunter summoned Kate and took aim at the middle fury. The others prepared for a close range attack. He waited for the perfect moment, right before she would attack, and fired. The arrow hit the beast right between the eyes. It exploded into dust. “Alecto!” The other two cried as their companion disappeared. In a matter of seconds, Alecto was back and was ready to attack again. “This is our realm, mortal! We cannot be killed here!”

“Well, I tried.” Hunter dismissed his bow and quiver and picked up his stuff. “We need to go.” He said to the others. The four of them hurried into the palace and ran as fast as they could, taking turn after turn in the almost labyrinthine building. After the screeching died down, Hunter slowed down to a walk and then stopped completely. “We must have lost them.” He said as he slumped down against a wall, landing in a seated position. “Does anyone have any food? Not to be whiny or intrusive, but I’m dying here.”

“Yes, I do!” said Marina. She was still a little excited from the chase. She reached down into her pack and pulled out some ambrosia. She held it out to him.

“Uh…Marina. That’s ambrosia.” Hunter said staring at the substance. Marina looked at it and shrugged. “I don’t have godly parents, remember?” Marina’s eyes got big.

“Oh…yeah sorry. One second.” She put the ambrosia back and reached into her bag again. Kyle and Will took the same position as Hunter on the opposite wall. After a few minutes, Marina held out a granola bar to Hunter.

“How big is that bag?!” He said jokingly. He took the granola bar from her. “Thanks, Marina.” She smiled and nodded, still too excited to speak. Hunter devoured the granola bar like it was going to be his last meal. It’s very possible it was going to be. After he had finished eating, He stood up and stretched. Kyle, Will, and Marina were all sharing a couple of pieces of fruit that Kyle had saved from his Omni-tree. He waited for them to finish eating and then said, “Alright let’s go. Oh and guys? It’s been an honor fighting alongside you.” The four of them exchanged hugs and short words then made their way back to the main hall. They walked through and entered the throne room.

Chapter 18

2011-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hunter turned around looking for the source of Kate’s voice. He searched and searched but still he could hear it.

“Hunter! Hunter!” The voice was coming from everywhere around him. He crumpled to the ground with his hands on his head. “You killed me, Hunter! You killed me! You stabbed me to death! I trusted you and you killed me.”

“NO! NO!” Hunter screamed in agony. Will knelt down next to him and started trying to shake Hunter out of it. Hunter screamed out as the voice pierced his brain and flooded his mind. He could do nothing but hear the voice shouting curses at him. Hunter, mentally broken, passed out.

The angry words in Kate’s voice still ringing around his brain, Hunter was in darkness. He was standing in his dream and couldn’t see anything around him. Suddenly, Kate appeared in a beam of light in front of him. She was happy and smiling. She waved to Hunter who smiled back and started running towards her. She turned around and started running. Hunter remembered that this was something they did a lot those 5 years ago. She would tease him and he would run after her. She would always let him win. She was just within his grasp when the body that he carried back to the camp appeared in front of him. He jumped back in horror. He stared as the body stood up and turned to him. “YOU! You killed me! I trusted you to keep me safe! You stabbed me to death!” Hunter was too shocked to say anything. “You killed me! You murdered me! You’re a monster!” Hunter looked up and saw the living Kate, the one he wanted to remember, waving at him and motioning to him to chase her. Hunter was conflicted. He didn’t know what to do. Hunter stood there shocked. To his side he saw another Kate appear and start yelling at him. Suddenly, another appeared and started yelling. In a matter of seconds, Hunter was surrounded by the exact image that had tortured his soul for so many years. He looked up and saw the living Kate, basked in light, screaming to him. He could only barely make out what she was saying

“Come on, Hunter! I’ll save you!” She screamed. Hunter was still too scared to do anything. “Follow me! I know what to do!” Kate screamed again. This time Hunter pushed his way through his barrier and ran after Kate. Kate turned around and ran. Hunter pretty soon was running I stride with her far off in the distance he could see a little spot of light becoming closer and closer. The closer they got, however, the voices got worse. They became louder in Hunter’s ears. Hunter ran faster and faster, but the closer he got to the light the more awful the voices became. The voices became twisted, corrupted. It went from a little girl’s voice to more of a low growl. The voices roared into Hunter’s ears and Hunter ran faster and faster and with every step the worse it got. Kate and Hunter were only a few dozen yards from the light when he heard the voice change again. It wasn’t a monstrous growl and it wasn’t the voice of a little girl. It was more nasal yet smooth. It was a voice Hunter had heard before. Before Hunter could identify the voice, he hit the light.

It was silent. Hunter stood up and rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t in the Fields of Asphodel. He knew this place. He knew it well. He was back in the woods in Camp Half-Blood. He was looking around. From the 12 years he spent in these woods he knew them well. He knew exactly where he was. He was in the exact spot he killed Kate disguised as the Minotaur. Hunter was suddenly holding the knife he had hidden under his bed for so long. In a flash of light, the Minotaur appeared. Hunter was in the same situation he was in 5 years ago. Hunter felt the urge to go and attack the Minotaur, but he resisted it. He made the mistake once; he was not going to make it again. He stood there behind the Minotaur and sheathed his knife. Hunter stared at the Minotaur in a hope to find a way to see through the illusion. He watched as the Minotaur turned around and roared at Hunter. This didn’t happen before. Hunter stared as the Minotaur became more and more agitated. “What are you doing?!” Hunter turned around and saw Kate standing there.

“Wha…But you…” Hunter was too confused to make a complete sentence.

“Hunter! When you were 10, you cried when Jimmy Baker beat you in a sword fight. When you were nine, You shot an aspirin capsule out of the air with an arrow.” Kate took a deep breath and continued to speak quickly. “You’re very tidy for a guy. You speak 6 languages. You love the color blue and the smell of rain. Now would you stop staring at me and kill that!” She pointed at the Minotaur. Hunter stared as tons of personal information about him was spewed out. “How do you…Only Kate knows that. I’ve never told anyone that.” Hunter finally realized that he was talking to Kate. He turned to the Minotaur just in time to see him start to charge. Hunter waited and dove away at the last minute. Hunter unsheathed his knife and jumped onto the back of the Minotaur. He plunged his knife into the back of the beast. Again and again he stabbed his blade into the back of the Minotaur. He jumped off and the Minotaur fell to the ground. He jumped on it and slashed across its throat, killing the beast. The Minotaur let off one last growl and then turned to dust. Hunter turned to Kate who was standing there smiling. He walked up to her and hugged her.

“What are you doing here? I-“ Hunter choked up. “I held your lifeless body. I carried you back to Camp Half-Blood and brought you to the infirmary. You died. You died because you were the Minotaur and I…I killed you.” Kate looked up him and smiled.

“Hunter. You’ve blamed yourself for so long. And to be honest I’m a little insulted. You only remembered me for that one event. Every time you thought of me it was to remember me as the person that you killed. You never remembered all the good things that we did together.” Hunter knew she was right. He tried to look back on all of his memories with Kate. They hadn’t been accessed in a long time. Flashes of happiness that were associated with Kate came flooding back into the forefront of his mind.

“Kate….I’m so sorry. I was tricked. I should have known that you didn’t want to be remembered for that. You wouldn’t hold that against me.” Hunter felt tears stream down his cheeks. He walked over to Kate and hugged her again. “I never wanted to be like this. I’m so sorry.” Kate reached up and wiped the tears off his face.

“You have to go now. You’re friends are waiting for you. You’re almost there, Hunter. You cannot give up.” She put her hands on his shoulders and started shaking him. Hunter’s eyes shot open. He was back in the Fields of Asphodel.

Chapter 17

2011-03-20T16:11:00.001-07:00

He continued to look and saw a river filled with garbage. He looked back into the boat and saw that the well-dressed Charon had changed into a robed skeleton who was leading the boat down the dark, swirling River Styx. They had only been in the boat for a little while, when the shores of the underworld came into view. A few minutes later the barge landed into the sand of the underworld. The boat emptied. “I hope that old sparky isn’t hungry.” Charon gave an evil laugh as he rowed back to the lobby.

“Well, let’s get going.” Hunter said as he readjusted his bag onto his shoulder and started walking towards the entrance. Hunter looked up and saw above the gate. The words, ‘YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS.’ As they approached, the ever looming threat of the Cerberus became more evident. Hunter examined the beast from a distance. “It looks like we have to pass under the big three-headed dog to get through. Anyone have any ideas?” Will, Marina, and Kyle all stood there thinking. After a few minutes, Kyle looked at the group and then slowly raised his hand. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“I have ideas sometimes.” Hunter, Will, and Marina looked at each other. ”So what if we were able to make it fall asleep? Would that work?”

“Well…yeah. But how do you plan to do that?” Hunter asked.

“Recently, I’ve been having some trouble sleeping so I’m taking this herb called Valerian to help me sleep. I have about a dozen sprigs and with my scythe I can alter any plant at any time. If I could ju-“ Marina put her hand over his mouth.

“Look, Kyle. Don’t talk. Just do. That thing is getting closer and we don’t care about the science.” Kyle nodded with Marina’s hand still firmly over his mouth. She removed as Kyle got to work. He knelt down and reached into his bag. After a few moments, he pulled out a bag of bright green herbs. He took his trowel out of his pocket and dug a small pit in the black sand. He leaned away from the bag and opened it. Suddenly, a foul smell emerged from the bag and penetrated Hunter’s nostrils.

“That…smells…AWFUL. Like…garbage and dirty gym socks.” Hunter said, plugging his nose.

“It smells worse than Nereus and that guy smelled like death itself.” Will said, covering his mouth and nose with his hands.

“Just give me a second, okay?” Kyle buried the bottom end of the Valerian in the dirt and then changed his trowel into the scythe. Kyle stood up and took a deep breath. He slammed the bottom of his weapon into the dirt. Green vines sprouted from the bottom and moved toward the half-buried Valerian. After a few minutes the amount of Valerian had tripled. Kyle unburied it and put in the bag. “So now all we have to do is make him eat it. I made it so that the chemical that induced sleep was more concentrated and ten times stronger.” Hunter patted him on the back.

“Good job, man. I won’t underestimate you again.” Will gave him a high five and Marina ran over and hugged him.

“You’re a genius.” She said as she threw her arms around his neck. Kyle gave Hunter an almost worried look. Kyle grabbed his stuff and the four campers walked off toward the Cerberus. They got in line behind a spirit of a man in a business suit. Bluetooth headset still in his ear. As they got to the Cerberus the giant beast leaned down and sniffed the four of us. The three headed dog started growling.

“Anytime now, Kyle!” Hunter said backing away from the Cerberus. Kyle grabbed the bag of valerian out of his bag and tossed it into the air in front of the Cerberus’ face. With lightning quick speed the middle dog head snapped and grabbed out of the air. After one chew it swallowed the bag down, then returned to growling at the four of them.

“Well that didn’t work.” Will said looking around for another idea. Just as Marina had taken out her make up bag the growling stopped. Hunter turned around to see the Cerberus lying on one side, cutely snoring. The four of them burst from and sprinted as fast as they could to the Fields of Asphodel. Their…disturbance didn’t go unnoticed by the guards who were now chasing them. They finally got to the field and ducked behind a tree. “I take it all back, Kyle. Your plan worked amazingly.” Will said as he patted Kyle on the back. Marina scooted over and put an arm around Kyle’s waist.

“That’s why I chose him.” Marina smiled and planted a kiss onto Kyle’s already bright-red cheek. The two of them stood there, staring at each other, in a completely separate world. Hunter and Will pantomimed various interesting ways of death behind the two lovebirds. Finally Hunter broke the silence.

“Ahem. Let’s rest here for a few and then we can make our journey to the palace.” Will nodded. Kyle and Marina must have heard Hunter because they sat down and started flirting and giggling with each other. Will rolled his eyes as he sat down with his back up against the tree. Hunter sat down next to him.

“So…are you doing okay?” Will asked Hunter obviously referring to Orion. Hunter was surprisingly okay. The initial shock might have been the peak of his feelings on the matter, but right now Hunter just didn’t want to talk about it.

“Can we maybe talk about this later? I promise I’ll tell you, but just not right now.” Will nodded and went back to being silent. Hunter felt awkward in the silence. “So what do you think is next?” Hunter asked Will.

“You’re the one with the prophecy. YOU tell ME..” Hunter went back through the prophecy out loud to Will. “Obviously, we have had no need to kill a go so that first line combination doesn’t really matter yet.”

“The first son of the stag. That’s me. And Camp Half-Blood’s best. That’s you. We get to to go home, but we need to go west. Which we did. Alright. Batting a thousand.”

“Find the eldest son of Pontus. That was Nereus, that smelly old fisherman, right?”

“Yeah and he told us to come here. Where we will find…’peace and an advantage.’ Also the…’Daimon of Deceit.’ Whoever that is.”

“Well, since we haven’t found any of those things, shall we move on?” Will said as he stood up and grabbed his back. Hunter nodded and did the same. He gave Kyle and swift kick to the ribs.

“Hey! We’re leaving. Come on, you two.” Kyle and Marina unlocked their eyes from each other and stood up. They picked up their stuff and followed Hunter and Will, their fingers intertwined. They were walking through the fields of Asphodel, hurriedly. Hunter looked at his watch it was about 1:30 in the afternoon. Hunter wasn’t sure how much time he had left. They walked through the fields around all of the spirits standing around. They were about halfway there compared to the location of Hades palace that they could see above the crowd.

“Hunter! Hunter!” Hunter heard a distant voice from far behind him. He froze in place.

“Hunter? C’mon. We need to keep moving.” Marina said looking back at Hunter.

“Hunter! Hunter!” Hunter knew that voice. That was the same voice that had been haunting his mind for all these years. That was Kate’s voice.

Chapter 16

2011-03-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

They had been riding for about an hour and Hunter was starting to feel the effects. Hunter was about to ask for a break, when his centaur looked back and said, “Where specifically in LA do you need to be?”

“Valencia Boulevard, I think.” The centaur thought a second then got a strange look on his face.

“Are you going to the underworld, little one?”

“Yeah that’s the plan.”

“Well good luck with that.” In the next few minutes the four of them arrived in LA and stopped in front of a tall black marble building. Stuck onto the door was a sign that read, ‘NO SOLICITERS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.’ The four campers got off of the backs of their vehicles and stretched their stiff bodies. “Alright. This is where we leave. Stay safe little ones.”

“Thanks for the ride!” Marina waved goodbye to the centaurs as the rode off toward Seattle. “My butt hurts…” Marina said as she walked toward the building and leaned on it. Hunter walked up to the door and looked in. It looked relatively nice for being an entrance to the Underworld. The four of them walked in and looked around. The lobby was full of people pacing and looking agitated. Hunter turned around.

“Let me do the talking, okay?” Hunter walked up to the security guard standing at a podium. Hunter looked at his nametag. “Charon? Is it?” Hunter knew that the others in his party were actual demigods, meaning that they were both dyslexic and had ADHD. Hunter was always good at thinking quick on his feet. He figured that it might be better if he did the talking.

“Yes it is. You actually got my name right. And on the first try too. So what can I do for you four?” Charon looked at Hunter with an expressionless face.

“We’d like to go to the underworld, if you please.” Charon raised his eyebrows.

“Wow. How polite. Well how did you guys die?” He gestured toward the group.

“Well, Charon, the four of us got a little drunk and a party and Marina, here, thought she could drive us home. You know teenagers….” Hunter gave Charon a toothy smile who flashed a forced half-grin in return.

“Indeed.” Charon looked down at his podium and scribbled something down. “So we accept all major credit cards or we can tack on the fee to your next cable or cell phone bill. However since none of you seem to be old enough to do that, you can wait here in the lobby for the next few…centuries or so. Thanks, bye now.” Charon put on a fake smile and stared at Hunter.

“Would it change anything if I gave you this?” Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out a drachma and placed it on Charon’s desk. Charon eyed the golden coin greedily.

“A golden drachma. Now where did you get that?” Charon stared at Hunter in a way that looked like it was burning a hole through him.

“I found a few of these on the ground. I thought they looked valuable so I kept them. Obviously they’re valuable to you so why don’t you keep them. And in exchange you get us into the underworld? What am I going to do with a bunch of old coins?” Hunter put on his most persuasive smile. Charon eyed him very suspiciously. Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out three more drachmas and placed them on the desk. Charon couldn’t take his eyes off the golden coins. He finally looked around and then motioned Hunter to come closer.

“You’re not a dead teenager. None of you are. So this is a secret between you and me, okay?” Hunter nodded. Charon picked up the coins, put them in his pocket and then led the four of them into an elevator. He got in and put his card into a slot on the elevator panel. The elevator started to descend. Hunter had never been in an elevator before. It seemed so daunting to him. Hunter closed his eyes for the whole time. He felt the elevator whirr downward. All of a sudden Hunter felt the elevator moving forward and starting to sway back and forth. Hunter slowly opened his eyes and saw that he wasn’t standing in an elevator; he was standing in a boat. He opened his eyes completely and looked around. He was in the Underworld.

Chapter 15

2011-03-19T22:48:00.001-07:00

“Well, it looks like we’ll just wait here.” Kyle shrugged and sat down on an oil drum.

“Hey, there’s no reason that we need to just sit here doing nothing. We could walk around the nearby area a little. We’ll just make sure we’re back here in an hour.” Will said. Marina and Kyle both looked at Hunter.

“I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s go.” The four of them hadn’t been walking very long, when they found a nice park. They walked a little bit on a path, all the while making jokes and having a good time.

“Hey, follow me, I have an idea for some food.” Kyle led the three of the path off the path and behind some bushes. He crouched down and closed his eyes. Pretty soon a little plant popped up from the ground. It kept growing and growing until it was maybe four feet tall. It started growing branches that sprouted an assortment of fruits and vegetables. “Alright. Dig in.”

“This is amazing! How did you do that!?” Marina said as she grabbed and apple from the tree.

“Child of Demeter. Remember? I call it the Omni-tree. It grows pretty much.” Kyle grabbed an orange and started peeling it. Will crouched down and grabbed a banana and a couple of strawberries. Hunter grabbed an apple and watched it grow back before his eyes. He gave it to Orion and then picked another.

“I wish I had magic powers. I’d never go hungry.” Hunter said, before biting into the apple.

“Magic can be a dangerous thing, you should be careful what you wish for.” The four campers turned around to see a policeman staring at them. “You should also be more careful reading signs that say stay on the path.”

“Oh, sorry, officer. We’ll leave.” Marina dropped the banana peel on the ground and picked up her stuff. The police officer took a few steps closer to the group.

“It’s Officer Thorn or sir to you. And sorry, but you’re not getting off that easily. You’ll have to come with me.”

“For walking on the grass? Come on, man give us a break.” Kyle stepped forward.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’ve got orders to stop you from getting to the underworld.”

“The Underworld?” Hunter stared at Officer Thorn. All of a sudden, a spike from out of nowhere came and hit Marina in the arm, just grazing her. She cried out in pain. Hunter, Kyle and Will all looked back at Officer Thorn.

“That was a warning shot. The next one won’t be so…kind.” As he spoke Thorn started to look less and less human. He slowly transformed into a lion standing on its back legs with some sort of tail behind him. The tail flexed and shot out another spike headed toward Marina. Kyle slipped his trowel from his pocket, changed it into the scythe and knocked away the spike before it hit Marina. Will already had his sword drawn before the Manticore could launch another spike. Orion had been growling before he even transformed. Hunter summoned Kate and loaded an arrow backing up the whole time. He fired the arrow and then looked back at Marina who was now on the ground clutching her arm and crying out in pain. Will and Kyle charged the Manticore parrying blows and landing some of their own. Orion charged and jumped at the Manticore’s neck. The Manticore blocked the wolf’s attack and got caught on the arm. He growled out in pain as Orion let go of his arm and backed up by Hunter and prepared for another attack. Hunter loaded another arrow and fired straight for the face of the Manticore. Hunter ducked just as a flurry of spikes came flashing past his head. Hunter loaded another arrow and fired again. The Manticore traded blows with Will and Kyle while Hunter fired arrow after arrow. Will dodged around giant claw from the Manticore and slashed at it in the back of the thigh. The Manticore roared in pain. Kyle blocked and attack with his scythe and did a flurry of large swings at the chest of the Manticore before slamming the end down, creating string of vines grow out of the ground and trapping the beast’s arms. The Manticore tried to break free but the vines kept wrapping around and around and around his arms. “Let me out of this, Flower Child or I’ll break your limbs off!” Thorn shouted at Kyle, who deflected a last minute spike fired straight at his head. Hunter fired another arrow at its tail, impaling it to a nearby tree.

“I really don’t see that happening. Now that we have you tied down, though I’d like a question or two answered.” Hunter loaded an arrow and aimed straight for Thorn’s face. “Who gave you the orders to find us?” Thorn was silent. Hunter changed his aim and fired the arrow into the Manticore’s foot. The beast growled in pain. Hunter loaded another arrow. “What is causing the trouble in Olympus?” Hunter asked, looking straight into the beast’s eyes. Thorn didn’t say anything. Hunter fired the arrow into his other foot. Hunter stared at the Manticore in the eyes. All of a sudden, it seemed like a mist disappeared from behind his eyes. The Manticore’s expression softened.

“What’s going on? How did I get here?” The Manticore looked at Hunter. “I don’t know what’s going on! Please don’t kill me!” The Manticore started sobbing. Hunter nodded to Will who stabbed the beast in the heart. The monster turned to dust. Hunter put away Kate and watched as Will and Kyle put away their weapons too. They were just about to grab their stuff when they heard a soft moan. They looked back and saw Marina, still clutching her arm where the spike grazed her. Hunter was knelt down by Marina when he heard a soft whimper coming from behind a bush. He stood up. Kyle and Will stayed with Marina as Hunter followed the noise. Hunter looked behind the bush and saw Orion whimpering on his side. He looked closer and saw the Orion had three spikes poking out from his side.

“ORION!” Hunter cried running over and kneeling down to the side of his pet wolf. Hunter cradled the one friend that he has had since he was born in his arms. Hunter looked over at Will who was starting to walk toward him. Hunter waved him off. Will turned around and headed back to Marina who was still on the ground. Hunter looked back at Orion who was breathing heavily and with every breath more blood poured out of his side. “You’re gonna be okay. I promise you’ll be okay.” Hunter’s face was soaked with tears as he tossed his bag off his shoulder and started to dig through it for some bandages.

“You know that’s not true.” Hunter heard a voice. It was calm and strong. For some reason it was familiar. He looked around for the source of the voice. “The Manticore’s spikes have punctured my lungs. I won’t survive very long.” Hunter looked down at Orion.

“Orion? I can’t…“ Hunter was crying harder than he ever cried before. He was staring into Orion’s eyes. The once strong wolf was now helpless in his arms. Hunter was starting to notice Orion’s eye becoming more and more human.

“It is time. You must know.” Hunter watched as the wolf he had known for all of his life changed into a man. The man was wearing a toga and had a bow unlike any other Hunter had ever seen slung over his shoulder. “Hunter. I am Orion. The great Hunter.”

“You…but…” Hunter was speechless.

“When I was killed by the scorpion sent by Apollo, Artemis didn’t exactly put me into the night sky like the story says. In a way, she split me into two things: my body and my spirit. My body she turned into the constellation that you see in the night sky, but my spirit she placed into a wolf. The same wolf the saved your mother from her uncle. The same wolf that the lady Artemis sent to watch over you as you grew up in Camp Half-Blood. The same wolf that you grew to trust and to love. The same wolf that fought with you until the very end. However, the injuries that I have sustained are too great. I won’t live to see another day.”

“So…so what happens now?” Hunter said, his voice shaky with sadness.

“Now I must join my body up in the sky. I must return to where I belong. The lady Artemis knew that someday this would happen. That my wolf body would be broken and fractured. She couldn’t stand to be without me on earth. That’s why she put me into the wolf, but now I must return to my body so that I can enter the underworld and forever live in the fields of Elysium. But before I go I have something for you.” He held out his hand and in it lied the tag that once resided on the wolf’s collar. “In the time of your greatest need this will transform into an arrow fashioned from the scorpion’s tail that killed me. The poison is so potent it’s been said to be able to fell the mightiest enemy. Some say even a god.” Hunter took the tag from Orion’s hand and fingered it in his palm. Orion placed his large hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “I’m very proud of you. I’ve watched you grow up and I’ve never stopped being proud of you.” With that Orion took two steps back, unshouldered his bow, and loaded an arrow. He smiled at Hunter, aimed straight up, and fired. Orion disappeared. Hunter broke down and cried. He cried for what seemed like a long time. The only thing that had been consistent in his entire life was gone. He stood up and brushed the tears off his cheeks. He turned around and looked back at his friends. They weren’t moving. It was like the world around him was frozen. Hunter took a deep breath and took a step forward. Everything around him started to move again. Everything that had just taken place felt like hours to Hunter, but it was only a few seconds. He walked back to the group wiping off the tears.

“Marina, are you okay? Is it just pain?” Kyle asked as he brushed the hair from her face.

“YES! It’s a lot of pain!” Kyle set aside his stuff and stared at the ground. A minute later a fully-grown plant had popped up from the ground. Kyle took some and ground it up and then fed it to Marina. Marina gave Kyle a look of disgust as he fed her the green mush. “What are you feeding me? It tastes awful.”

“Ocimum Tenuiflorim.” Kyle said, matter-of-factly. “Or Holy Basil. It’s an herbal painkiller, I hoped it would help.” Kyle smiled and Marina smiled back.

“I hate to ruin this moment, but we need to get back and get our ride and then get to Los Angeles. So that we can save the world, remember?” Will said looking around for more monsters. Marina swallowed down the rest of the basil and stood up.

“It helped. Thanks, Kyle.” She walked over to Kyle and kissed him on the cheek. Will rolled his eyes as Kyle turned beet red.

“N-No problem.” Kyle said to Marina with a gooey look in his eyes. Marina picked up her stuff and started looking around.

“Where’s Orion?” She looked at Hunter who was still holding the tag from his collar. “Oh…I’m so sorry.” Marina walked over to Hunter and gave him a hug. Hunter couldn’t cry anymore. He had exhausted himself from crying.

“Thanks.” Hunter could barely muster the energy to speak. “He’s…where he should be.” Hunter broke the embrace. “We should go back.”

“Yeah they’ll probably be waiting for us by now.” Will said, as he elbowed Kyle in the ribs. Kyle broke from his trance and shook his head a couple of times.

“Huh? Yes! Of course. Onward!” Kyle led the way back to the meeting point and sat himself down on the oil drum he sat on, what seemed like so long ago. Hunter sat down on the ground tired from the fight and emotionally injured. They had only been there for a minute, when the four of them heard the clop of hooves on the cement. They stood up and looked toward the noise. 4 centaurs were standing there looking at Hunter.

“Are you the four little kids that need a ride to LA?” one of them asked. He took a beer helmet of his head and ran his hand through his hair. He put it back on and turned to the other centaurs. “If we leave now then we’ll get there with enough time to not miss the party.” He turned back to Hunter. “Well? Chiron said you needed help and we’ve got a party in Seattle that we plan to be there for.” Hunter nodded his head still a little stunned at the sight of them. “Alright. Then climb aboard and we’ll get going.” Hunter, Kyle, Marina, and Will all climbed onto their own centaur and in a flash they took off. Urban dock area quickly changed into forest and trees as the four campers rode on the back of the centaurs. Hunter started to think about what had happened. He thought about what Orion had said to him. He thought about everything Orion told him. He took the tag out of his pocket and looked at I in his palm. Hunter looked up and thought, ‘I miss you, buddy.’

Chapter 14

2011-03-19T22:47:00.001-07:00

“So now that we’re here, we need to find Nereus, right?” Marina asked.

“Yeah. I’ll let Kyle lead the way on this one.” Hunter turned to Kyle and punched him in the arm. Kyle took a deep breath.

“Alright then. Let’s go find him.” Hunter, Marina, and Will all followed Kyle as they searched the coastline. They had been searching for a few hours when Kyle started sniffing the air. “Something smells…fishy…”

“Really? Fishy? Well, we’re right outside of a fish market, Kyle, so yeah it should.” Marina said rolling her eyes. Kyle started looking around. He had only been looking for a minute, seemingly following the smell, when he came tiptoe-ing back to the group. ”Wha—“ Kyle shushed Will as before he could get a word out.

“He’s right over there. The one in the fisherman’s vest.” Kyle whispered in a very low register, pointing behind a storage container. All four of them leaned over to look behind the storage container to see a dirty-looking man with a messy beard and glasses. He looked like he was sleeping. Marina smiled and then started digging in her bag. She pulled out her makeup case and started examining it.

“Now really isn’t the time to be touching up your makeup, Marina.” Hunter said, still whispering making sure that Nereus didn’t wake up. He had just stopped talking when the makeup case transformed into a large cannon that Marina held in both hands. Hunter had seen her practicing with it in the arena, but he still stared as Marina made adjustments to her hand cannon. She finally finished with the adjustments and took aim at Nereus who was still sleeping soundly. She pressed a button on the side and a second later THOOM! A large net made of metallic cables came flying from the end of the cannon right towards Nereus. The noise the cannon made was a not exactly quiet. Nereus had heard the noise and dodged around the oncoming net. He was now making a run for it. Will quickly dropped his stuff and started chasing Nereus. He jumped on to his back.

“AAAGHH! Get offa me!” Nereus screamed as he tried to shake Will from his back. Orion ran over and starting barking at the screaming Nereus.

“Hold on just another second, Will!” The whole time Marina had been making adjustments again to her cannon. She aimed and fired again. THOOM! Another net came flying out towards Nereus and Will. It hit its target and trapped both of them.

“Get this net off! He smells awful!” Will screamed as he tried to pry his way out of the net. Nereus, now trapped, started transforming into various sea animals. Every time he transformed the net gave a little bit of electric shock. Just enough electricity to shock Nereus into his original shape. Every shock though made Will scream in pain. Nereus struggled in the net for about 10 minutes, then he finally gave up.

“I’ll answer your question just get this net offa me?!” Marina walked over and pressed a button on her cannon, then changed it back to the makeup case. Hunter and She pulled the net off of Will and Nereus. Kyle dragged Will away from Nereus and tried to wake him up. The electricity had rendered Will unconscious. Nereus was lying on the ground, defeated and breathing hard. Orion right next to him, growling. “What…What do you want? I don’t…have all day.”

“You get to ask him Marina. Technically, you caught him. Will’s unconscious so it’s up to you.” Marina thought for a little while and then took a deep breath.

“Where is the source of the curse that is affecting the gods?” Nereus stood up. And dusted off his pants.

“Simple. The Underworld. DOA Recording Studios.” With that, Nereus ran and jumped into the water turning into a seal in midair.

“That seemed like a lot of trouble for not that much information.” Kyle said. He looked back at Will who was just coming to. Marina knelt down and started hugging him.

“I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to get you in the net, too. I couldn’t let him go or he wouldn’t have told us where to go. And that meant getting you caught in there too. I’m so sorry!” Will opened his eyes.

“It’s okay, Marina.” Will said through pained laughing. “I knew what I was doing when I jumped on his back.” Will slowly stood up and stabled himself on Kyle’s shoulder. “Ugh…I can still smell him. Gross.”

“So what’s the plan?” Kyle asked.

“Well, fish-man said we needed to go to the Underworld in a place called DOA Recording Studios. I don’t know where that is.”

“That’s simple enough. Chiron would probably know, right? We’ll just Iris message him. And he’ll tell us.” Will explained, now standing up on his own.

“That’s…not a bad plan.” Hunter shrugged and started walking toward the beach. He found a beach shower and turned on high enough to create a mist. “Goddess, accept my offering.” He dropped a drachma into the rainbow. “Chiron. Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Long Island, New York.” Soon after Hunter could see Chiron sitting in the Big house. Hunter could hear yelling in the background. “Chiron!” Hunter shouted into the picture.

“OH! Hunter. How are things going?” Chiron put on a forced pleasant smile. Hunter had known him too long to be unable to tell when something was worrying Chiron. “What can I help you with?” Chiron was obviously hurrying.

“Well, Chiron. We were wondering if you could tell us where DOA Recording Studios was. Apparently, it’s an entrance to the Underworld, which is our next destination according to Nereus.”

“I’ll be right back.” Chiron trotted away from Hunter’s view. Hunter could hear his calm voice resolving some issue with a couple of other campers. Everything got quieter as the other campers left. A few minutes later Chiron returned. “The only location I have is Valencia Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It’s a pretty clearly marked building, though. It’ll be hard to miss.”

“Los Angeles? That’s like 6 hours away. How are we gonna get there? We don’t have a car.”

“Wait where you are. I’ll send help. Now if there is nothing else. I really need to be going.” Chiron then waved his hand splitting the connection.

Chapter 13

2011-03-18T18:32:00.001-07:00

Hunter woke up crying and sweating from the intense dreams. He was breathing so heavily he thought he was going to throw up. Sunlight was just starting to stream into the cabin windows. Hunter sat in bed and stared up at the ceiling. He was still trying to reorganize his mind after the assault it experienced last night. He finally got out of bed and got dressed. He put on a plate of armor he had never seen before. It was much lighter than his old set and it wasn’t as constricting. Hunter wondered where it came from. He grabbed his backpack and walked out of the door. Hunter, with his backpack on his back and quiver in tow, he walked to the dining pavilion for breakfast. He got in line and grabbed some food. The mess hall was mostly empty. Hunter had only been sitting there, playing with his food, for about 10 minutes when Kyle walked in. Kyle was a disgustingly pronounced example of a morning person.

“GOOD morning, Hunter!” Kyle got his food and sat down across from him at the Artemis table. “You ready for the quest, man?” Kyle looked down at Hunter’s food which had been pushed around the plate, but not eaten. “Are you not eating? Is something bothering you?” Hunter looked up.

“Hmm…Oh I’m sorry did you say something?” Kyle rolled his eyes.

“No. Nothing important. So you ready to go?” Hunter rubbed his eyes.

“Yeah I guess. I’m more worried than anything.” Hunter looked back at Kyle who was nodding in agreement just as Marina walked in.

“Ah. So you both got your new armor. I spent almost an hour forging each of those. It’s good to be a child of Hephaestus.” Marina smiled. “Do you like it? I made it help to fit your strengths and combat styles.” She sat down next to Kyle, staring intensely, alternating between Hunter and Kyle.

“You made this?” Hunter looked surprised at Marina. “I love it. It’s so much better than my old armor. That piece of junk always got in the way when I was using my bow. Thank you.”

“Mine feels a little bulky.” Marina elbowed Kyle in the ribs. “…er than my old armor. Is what I was going to say. In a good way. I mean, I didn’t feel that elbow so…well done.”

“You’re both welcome. So what exactly is the prophecy? You didn’t really tell us, and we only heard about every other word. Something about a curse?” Hunter repeated the prophecy word for word.

“Apparently, the gods are starting to get angry with each other for no obvious reason. So we need to figure out why. Nothing’s been stolen it just seems like they’re becoming very hostile towards each other. So that’s why Chiron thinks it’s a curse that’s been placed on Olympus.”

“Explains why Mr. D is no more hostile than usual.” Kyle said with a chuckle.

“Do we have any leads?”

“Well in a few hours, we’re supposed to go to San Francisco and find Nereus. He’s the ‘eldest son of Pontus’ that the prophecy talks about.”

“Yeah, I know about him.” Kyle said. Marina looked directly at him.

“How do YOU know about him?”

“Percy told me about him. Percy Jackson told me about him. Apparently, if you catch him he will answer any one question you have. See? I know stuff.”

“Catch him? What does that mean? How hard could it be to catch him?”

“Percy said that he can change into any sea animal. Making it incredibly hard to catch.” They all thought for a while. Suddenly, Marina stood up excitedly.

“I’ll meet you guys later. I have an idea.” Marina was out the door before either of them could say anything. As she was running out the door, Will was coming in. He watched Marina blow by him. He walked over to where Hunter and Kyle were still sitting.

“Where’s the fire?” Will said, motioning towards the door. Both Kyle and Hunter shrugged. “So are you guys ready to leave? I know, I am.”

“Actually, I’m not. I’ll meet you guys later.” Hunter lied, but he had reasons. Hunter, honestly, wasn’t positive that he was ready. Also, Kyle and Will needed some time to get to know each other. Will knew Marina, since she was the best smith in the camp so almost everyone knew her. Kyle was the best with plants, but was kind of a dork. Which he exhibited every day since Hunter met him. Hunter obviously knew all three of them well enough. Hunter left the dining pavilion and walked to his cabin. He double checked his backpack, picked up all his stuff, and walked to the Big house and picked up Orion. With Orion close behind he walked to the stables. He got there and saw a very ornate looking chariot parked outside of the stables and Helios brushing his horses. “So this used to be the sun chariot?”

“Yessiree! Same chariot and same horses. These mares still fly like racehorses.”

“So does this chariot change into different vehicles, like Apollo’s?” Helios’ eyes started to glow again.

“Do NOT say his name near me again, boy!” Helios took a few deep breaths. “That…piece of junk that he flies across the sky every morning is nothing compared to these horses. Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon, here are still the greatest horse to ever guide the sun. When this chariot was first created no other vehicles existed, so no. It can’t change into anything. Sorry to disappoint.” Helios went back to brushing his horses. Hunter stood around. He looked at the chariot and pet the horses on the nose. Finally Kyle and Will showed up laughing about something. It seemed that Hunter’s plan had worked.

“That’s the dumbest joke, I’ve ever heard.” Will said as they walked up to Hunter who was standing there staring.

“Why you staring like that, Hunter? You got something on your mind you need to get off your chest?” Kyle said. He looked over at Will who was looking back at him and they both started laughing again.

“You boys quiet down! You’ll scare the horses.” Helios looked over at the three of us. “Where’s the girl?” He asked looking in a way that seemed like he thought she was hiding from him. “She’s got five minutes or I’m leaving without her. I’ve got ‘Pretty Little Liars’ DVR’d at home…” Hunter, Will, and Kyle all studied the ground as they stifled their laughter. Four minutes later, Marina came running up with all of her stuff.

“Sorry, I’m late guys. I had to work on something, kind of last minute.” Marina smiled and blew her hair out of her eyes.

“Alright. We all here? Good. Then let’s shove off. Everyone on to the chariot!” Helios shouted like he had given rides like this as a gimmick at a county fair. Hunter with Orion, Kyle, Marina, and Will all got onto the chariot and Helios grabbed the reins. “You ready, kids?” All of them nodded. “Alrighty. Let’s go.” With that Helios gave a hard whip of the reins and the chariot started floating into the sky. This was the first time Hunter had ever flown anywhere in any type of vehicle. Hunter closed his eyes for the majority of the takeoff. He held on to the side of the chariot tightly until he felt the chariot even out and reach a constant speed. Hunter slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The chariot was soaring through the sky whipping past the earth below. Kyle looked sick to his stomach and Will looked a little uncomfortable. Marina seemed to be doing just fine. She had pulled out a magazine and was leafing through it. Hunter looked at their current situation and realized that the 5 people in the chariot was a cramped, but it looked like they were making great time. “We’ll be there in about 20 minutes.” Helios said looking back. He looked back and stared at Kyle who started to turn a little green. If you’re gonna hurl, wait for my signal. Helios raised his hand and then threw it downward. Like they had planned it, Kyle leaned over the rail and threw up all of his breakfast. “Don’t get any on the chariot!” Kyle came back and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“Why did I have to wait?” He asked with another wretch. Helios put a big grin on his face.

“Apollo’s Las Vegas home. It was a bull’s eye.” After saying that Helios let out a big, hearty laugh. Kyle’s eyes bugged out.

“I’m not gonna get in trouble, am I?” Kyle looked like he was thinking about jumping out of the chariot. Having noticed, Marina grabbed on to his arm.

“Nah…You think a little puke on his vacation home is a major concern of his, right now? You’ll be fine, kid.” Helios gave his hearty, belly laugh and turned his attention back to the horses.

Those 20 minutes seemed to fly by. Pardon the pun. Hunter watched as the coastline he had seen from a distance was coming closer and closer. He looked at Marina who was still holding on to Kyle, who looked like he was still going to through up. He looked over at Will who had somehow fallen asleep standing up. Hunter nudged him in the side, which roused him from his sleep.

“We’re almost there. Get ready.” Hunter turned to look at Kyle. “Did Percy say where exactly this Nereus guy likes to hang out?”

“I vaguely remember him…erp…saying something about…ugh…the docks.” Helios turned in that direction and took the flying chariot down right behind a warehouse near the docks. Kyle felt and looked better as soon as he stepped down off the chariot. “I’ve got a thing with heights, okay?” Kyle looked around, searching for reactions.

“So how do we find this guy?” Marina asked very excitedly.

“He said he’ll be dressed like a typical homeless man, but he will smell like…oh how did he describe it…smell like week-old catfish stew after being thrown up by a dog.”

“So all we need to do is find the really smelly homeless guy. Alright good.”

“I’ll see you kids later. DVR is calling.” Helios turned his chariot around and took off again. Hunter and everyone else waved goodbye at Helios.

“Thanks for the ride!” Hunter shouted to Helios. “I’ll be okay if we don’t see him again.” The four of them chuckled.

Chapter 12

2011-03-17T20:54:00.001-07:00

When he arrived at the beach he looked down the shore in both directions a couple of times before he saw Will sitting in the surf, staring out at the horizon. Marina, Kyle and Hunter ran over and sat down next to him.

“You know, I have come here a lot in the past year. I’ve always sat in this exact same spot and looked at the same section of the horizon and, sometimes, for hours prayed to the gods, hoping that I would be claimed. To feel so close, but be so far off. I need to be claimed. I need this.” Will was holding back tears. Hunter put one hand on Will’s back.

“I’ve got something that will more than likely expedite the process.” Hunter had all of Will’s attention. “You are coming with us on a quest.” Will’s eyes seemed to be almost smiling.

“A quest?! Your prophecy? And you’re bringing me along. Thanks, man. That means a lot. Hopefully, once we succeed my parent will finally claim me.” Will was glowing with anticipation.

“I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t claim a hero.” Hunter said giving Will a reassuring pat on the back. “So get ready. We leave tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll be there!” Will jumped up and sprinted off towards his cabin to pack up his stuff. The three of them sat there for a second listening to the sound of the waves. Almost simultaneously, they all stood up.

“I should go pack.” Hunter said. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.” Hunter walked back to the camp and took a shower. He realized that it had been a long time since he had taken a shower. He washed away the dirt and the grime that typically builds up around the camp. He cleaned off the sweat and the tears that had built up in the emotional roller coaster ride that was the past two day. He walked back into the Artemis cabin and shoved some clothes into a backpack. He made sure he had his watch and his pendant. Hunter sat on his bed, absorbing all of the events of the past day and anticipating all of the events of the upcoming adventure. He sat there for probably an hour before standing up and leaving. Hunter left the cabin and walked out to the dining pavilion and waited for dinner. It was probably an hour and a half before dinner was served. Hunter got his food and sacrificed some to his new parent. He sat down and devoured it like it was going to be his last meal. As soon as he was finished he walked back to his cabin and got into bed and tried to go to sleep. His eyes stayed wide open until around midnight when he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hunter woke up and slipped on some clothes. He grabbed the bag he had packed the night before, and opened the door to his cabin. What he saw terrified him. Camp Half-Blood was on fire. There was smoke pouring into the once clear sunny sky. Campers were fighting each other, and the wood nymphs and the satyrs were being slaughtered left and right by other campers. Hunter dropped his back and started running toward the Big house. As he stepped out of the cabin he tripped over something and fell down. He got up and dusted himself off and looked back. Orion’s lifeless body was lying there. Hunter ran back and cradled his loyal wolf’s body in his arms. With tears pouring down his cheeks he dropped the body and started sprinting toward the Big house. Hunter summoned his bow, Kate, and loaded an arrow. He fired into the back of an Ares camper bashing down the door to the Big house. He loaded and fired another arrow in the head of a charging Ares camper. He burst into the Big house and looked around. He got there just in time to see Mr. D standing over the bloodied body of Chiron. Mr. D scowled at Hunter and disappeared just as an arrow from Hunter’s bow zoomed through the spot where he was standing. He ran over to Chiron. He knelt down by Chiron and try to get a sense of his wounds. Hunter took off his shirt and tried to wipe off some of the blood. He was holding pressure to a wound when he noticed Chiron stirring. “Chiron! Chiron! What happened? What’s going on?!” Chiron took a deep labored breath and opened his mouth.

“HUNTER! HUNTER!” Hunter stared as a voice that didn’t belong to Chiron came from his mouth. The voice was familiar to Hunter. Hunter had heard that exact voice 5 years ago. Suddenly, he was back in the woods. Looking for Kate. He was watching his eleven year old self search for Kate. Hunter tried screaming at his younger self, but his voice wouldn’t breakthrough to him. He saw Kate standing there, her back turned to eleven year old Hunter. Hunter screamed as he watched himself five years ago jump on Kate and stab her over and over again. He looked up from the horror and saw the narrow-faced man he saw all of the times he relived the horrible event. The narrow-faced man had one hand pointed toward Kate almost as if he was pushing something at her. Hunter looked back to see his younger self looking around again then watched as his eyes fix upon Dolos.

“The name’s Dolos. Good job slaying the…Minotaur.” Hunter looked as he once again relived this tragedy. This time as Dolos said ‘Minotaur’ it almost seemed like he glanced at 16 year old Hunter. “I’m sure you’ll see me again.” Dolos stared directly at older Hunter and chuckled as he snapped his fingers and Hunter woke up.

Chapter 11

2011-03-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hunter looked around and saw Rachel Elizabeth Dare standing in the middle of the room. Chiron, Mr. D, Alex, and some other campers were all in the Big house when Hunter got there. Hunter walked in and Orion quickly trotted up next to him. Chiron turned to Alex and the other campers. “All of you will be leaving tonight. Please get yourselves ready.” Chiron watched as the Big house slowly emptied.

“Good luck, Alex. Stay safe.” Hunter said that to Alex as she passed by. Alex nodded and walked out. “So what is it? What do you have for me?” Hunter beamed with anticipation.

“Well, listen up. This one hit me like a ton of bricks. This is a big one.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then recited the prophecy.

The Ophiotaurus lies, in Olympus, safe and sound
so to kill a god a weapon must be found

The first son of the stag and Camp Half-Blood’s best
will return to their home, but first they go west

Find the eldest son of Pontus to learn where to go.
They will find peace and an advantage if they follow what he shows.

The Daimon of deceit will be laying in wait
but the heroes of name will be far too late

His former father will show them the way
to get back out into the light of day

The temple to the strategist’s greatest son is where the true enemy will be cast
But an even greater deception will be finally revealed at last.

A couple against the enemy stands
Their fates, unknown, lie in the three sisters’ hands.

“Because you probably didn’t get all that, I’ve written it down.” Rachel Elizabeth Dare handed a Hunter a slip of paper with the prophecy written down on it. Hunter had heard and lingered on every syllable.

“Oh thanks.” Hunter was already thinking about the quest ahead of him. “’Camp Half-Blood’s best.’ Who is that? I understand that I’m the son of the stag but who are Camp Half-Blood’s best?”

“Well, Hunter. Part of this is up to you. We are giving you a choice of companions, but they must be from this pool. This is a list of the best of the best of Camp Half-Blood.” Chiron handed the list to Hunter who immediately started looking through it. In every aspect of training and skill there was a list of who was the best. Everything from canoeing to controlling plants. Hunter leafed through it.

“So I can pick any of the campers on this list? How many?”

“We’re not going to limit you, but keep it reasonable.” Hunter thought back to the girl who he had just practiced archery with that morning.

“What about Alex? Is she leaving?”

“She was given a quest. She was assigned with the task of retrieving the Aulos of Athena. She cannot go with you. Any of the others on the list are open, though.” Hunter continued to look through the list in an attempt to assemble the all-star team that would accompany him on this quest. He saw Marina. He thought about how she had been there for him. He realized that this was an easy decision. He returned the list to Chiron.

“I’ve made my choice, Chiron. I’d like Marina Goldman, Kyle Julius, and Will Monterey. I want them to accompany me on this journey.” Right then Hunter heard a bark from the corner. “Oh and of course Orion.”

“Good choices. They will be loyal companions for your upcoming adventure. Make sure to inform them as soon as possible.” Hunter nodded.

“So what exactly am I doing on this quest? Am I retrieving a musical instrument, too?”

“Actually, you are calming a potential war between the gods. Hunter, for some reason the gods’ tempers are starting to near a boiling point. They are becoming untrusting of almost everyone. The effects of whatever is causing this are affecting each god differently. The…symptoms are also affecting more prominent gods more gradually. That’s why Artemis wasn’t showing many signs when she was here. No doubt she’s started to show indications of the curse or whatever it is. You’re being sent to find the source of the curse. Your first stop it seems is San Francisco. You need to find the eldest son of Pontus, Nereus. If you defeat him, he will answer any question you have. He’ll be pretty easy to pick out from the group.”

“San Francisco? By the time I get there all the gods could be dead. I’ll never get there in time.”

“Well, we’ve taken care of that.” Hunter watched as a very old looking man came strolling out from a back room. He was tall and had broad shoulders. At one time, surely, he was a great example of health, but now he had razor stubble and the start of a potbelly. He was wearing a white t-shirt under some loose-fitting golden armor with dust still clinging to it.

“The name’s Helios, kid. The best charioteer in the past 4,000 years.”

“The sun? I’m hitching a ride to San Francisco with the former sun god?”

“Hey! The downsizing those blasted Romans did may have cost me my job, but my chariot still works fine!”

“Helios has, thankfully, offered to give you and the other three a ride to San Francisco. He still has a flying chariot. It’s just not the sun. Apollo is in charge of that, now.” Helios’ eyes started to glow like an ember from a fire.

“Apollo! That…pretty boy! He’s not man enough to drive the sun! I’m twice the man He’ll ever be!” Helios, in his fuming, had tired himself and was now sitting in a chair, breathing heavily, saliva in his facial hair. Everyone in the room stood silent for a second until Chiron broke the silence.

“So we need you to leave tomorrow morning so make sure that you, Kyle, Marina, and Will are all ready to leave, by then.” Hunter nodded and turned to leave when he heard a bark. “Oh and of course Orion.” Hunter looked back and saw Orion go from angry barking to calm rest.

“Thank you, sir.” Hunter opened the door and Marina and Kyle almost fell down. “How long have you been listening in?” Hunter helped them up and then kept walking towards Hermes cabin.

“Listening in? I’m offended that you would accuse me of such an insensitive and heinous act.” Kyle said hiding his eyes from Hunter.

“I wouldn’t say that we were listening in. We were…. just walking by when we heard our names and made an extra effort to listen.” Hunter finally arrived at Hermes cabin and walked in. Will wasn’t there. Hunter thought for a second then left, heading toward the arena. “What are you looking for?” Marina asked.

“I gotta tell Will to pack up. He’s coming with us or did you miss that part?” Hunter flashed a smile back at Kyle and Marina.

“I heard it, Hunter.” Kyle said. Marina slapped him in the back of the head. “Marina. Seriously. It’s becoming tender back there.”

“You two are cute, you know that? Like a married couple.” Hunter was still walking toward the arena. Marina and Kyle turned bright red. The two of them had first met 4 years ago through Hunter. It didn’t take long for the two of them to develop feelings for each other. They had both privately expressed their feelings for the other to Hunter.

“Shut up, Hunter!” They both said, in unison. Hunter got a huge smile on his face and entered the arena. He looked around. There were some people practicing, but none of them were Will.

“Maybe we should check the beach. I’ve seen him down there before.” Hunter shrugged and headed off towards the beach.

Chapter 10

2011-03-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

“My wolf? I remind her of a wolf.” Chiron rolled his eyes.

“Your wolf was named after Orion the hunter. The only man Artemis ever loved. The two of them were hunting partners and they were the best hunters this world has ever seen. Due to the fact Orion got a big head. He boasted that he was even a better hunter than the god of Apollo. What’s rule one, Hunter?” Hunter thought for a second.

“Never say you’re better than a god.” Chiron nodded.

“That’s exactly what Orion did. He said that he could kill anything thrown at him. Apollo in an angry rage sent a scorpion to strike his heel, killing him. They say Artemis in her immense grief and sadness placed Orion among the stars. That’s why you can find the Orion constellation in the night sky.”

“Wait so that’s why Artemis hates men? Because of her brother?”

“No it’s been an accumulation of many things. Orion being boastful. Apollo’s anger. Man’s violent tendencies. Artemis spared you, though. She saw what she saw in Orion and she knew that she needed to protect you.”

“So Artemis…loves me?” Hunter cringed. The age difference bothered him.

“Well, in a way, yes. She does. She knows that she can have no part of romantic love. And because of the she hasn’t been able to have any children. This fact is part of the reason she started the Hunters in the first place. She sees a strength so prominent in you, the strength she saw in Orion, and decided that she wanted to keep you. Not in a romantic sense, but in a motherly sense. She’d never say this directly to anyone, but I see it, too.” Hunter gave a few nods and it finally sank in what Chiron was trying to say.

“Okay, so I’m a Hunter of Artemis. Now what? I have all of this stuff, now and I’m still stuck here.”

“Well, that was part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. I think you should talk to the Oracle. Miss Dare is supposed to arrive here after lunch. Rumor has it she has a new prophecy to report.”

“I have a prophecy?! You mean I’m going to be a hero?” Hunter beamed. Hunter had completely forgotten about the prophecy Artemis had warned him about.

“That’s only if you succeed. Come to the Big house after lunch and you can see Miss Dare.”

“I’ll be there!” Hunter’s mind flooded with excitement and worry as he watched Chiron turn to walk away. Hunter ran up to Chiron, the closest thing he has had to a real parent, and hugged him. “Thank you. For everything.” Chiron gave Hunter a big smile.

“That’s ‘thank you for everything,’ sir.” Hunter was practically glowing.

“Oh! Sorry, Sir.” Hunter laughed and watched Chiron leave the arena.
"Oh and sorry about the Chimera. It might have been a little too much." Chiron said, peeking his head back into the arena.
"Nothing I couldn't handle,sir." Hunter smiled. His mind was so full of thoughts and information it felt like he was going to explode. He adjusted his quiver and sprinted towards the Hephaestus cabin. He knocked on the door and waited until Marina answered.

“Look, I have so much information that I need to unload some of it on someone and I chose you because I could always talk to you, when we were working on the forge. SO I jus-“ Hunter hadn’t taken a single breath when he was interrupted by a hand put over his mouth.

“Really? I just woke up and you expect me to understand what you just said? Not gonna happen. So I’m gonna get dressed. Then you and I are going to get lunch and you can bear your soul to me or whatever.” Marina said, sleepily. Still rubbing sleep from her eyes. She was gone for about five minutes. She came out fully dressed with her jet-black hair tied up behind her head. Hunter and Marina walked to the dining pavilion, got food, sacrificed some, and sat down at the Artemis table. Hunter picked up his glass and said, “Orange Japanese Wasabi Pepsi.” As soon as he said it, the glass filled up with the bright orange liquid. Hunter took a sip and was taken aback by the taste of the drink he requested.

“The cups cannot be stumped.” He looked at Marina who had already begun eating. She looked up and noticed his gaze.

“Alright so what was it you needed to tell somebody?” Hunter took a deep breath and then told Marina everything about his recent meeting with Chiron. After the first 2 minutes Marina stopped eating and only listened. After he was done all she could manage was, “Wow. I…wow…”

“Sorry for dumping on you. I just really needed to tell someone.” Hunter felt lighter. “So after this I’m gonna go see if I have a prophecy.” Hunter started to get really nervous over the proximity of the upcoming event. He gritted his teeth and stood up.

“Hey, Hunter. Good luck.” She stood up and hugged him. Hunter nodded and then left. The walk to the Big house seemed like an eternity. It was possible that he was purposefully walking slower. Hunter couldn’t tell. He finally arrived at the door of the Big house door and waited right outside the door for what seemed like forever. He finally built up the courage and swung opened the door. Hunter stood in the doorway and saw a redheaded girl turn to look at him.

“You must be Hunter.” She said, flashing a smile in his direction. “I’m Rachel Elizabeth Dare and I have something for you.”

Character Profiles

2011-03-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get a little bit ahead of you readers in the story so I'm going to feed you another entry by giving you the character profiles of each character. Here we go.

Name: Marina Goldman

Age: 16

Godly Parent: Hephaestus

Description: About 5' 7". She has olive skin and jet-black hair that is just below her ears. Pretty, but not Aphrodite-Beautiful. She always wears jeans and usually has a long-sleeved shirt on for working in the forges.

Disposition: Very popular around the camp for being the best forger other than Tyson, the cyclops. Somewhat of a know-it-all.

Specialty: She can do wonders with raw metal, even without a forge.

Choice of weapon: She has a cannon that she invented herself, that folds down into a makeup case. Offensively, it can shoot out a fireball, but it needs time to warm up. For defensive purposes, it can fire out a virtually unbreakable steel net. If that fails or if she doesn't have it then she is proficient with a sword.

Family: Heather and Jonathan Goldman (mother and step-father.)

Name: Kyle Julius

Age: 15

godly Parent: Demeter

Description: Blonde hair that he keeps well-kept. Very skinny, but in a healthy way

Disposition: VERY sarcastic. Doesn't always think before he speaks. Loyal when it suits him, selfish when it doesn't.

Specialty: Plants. Extremely proficient with growing and harvesting plants

Choice of Weapon: A scythe that folds down into a trowel. A gift from his mother. When he has it, his control over plants strengthens tenfold.

Family: His father died recently. He was never really close with him anyway.

Name: Will Monterey

Age: 17

Godly Parent: unclaimed

Description: 6' even. Very muscular. Very strong jaw. Regularly shaves his head to keep his hair short and wears a bandana as a hairband.

Disposition: Very bold, but has a cheery personality. Somewhat sensitive about his parenthood.

Specialty: One of the best sword fighters in the camp. The best spear fighter in the camp.

Choice of weapon: prefers a sword over a spear, but is skilled either way.

Family: Rose Monterey and Julia Monterey. His mother and sister with whom he is very close.

Other: It's 'Will' NOT 'William'

Name: Hunter

Age: 16

Godly Parent: Hunter of Artemis. Explained in the story.

Description: 6' 2" broad-shouldered. Somewhat built. Medium length dark brown hair. Wears t-shirts, gray relaxed fit jeans, and a worn out pair of green low cut Chuck Taylor Converse. Very young looking but mature.

disposition: Quiet at times. The strong silent type. Very determined. Loves the wilderness and outdoors.

specialty: A strong affinity for animals and hunting.

choice of weapon: bow and arrow or a hunting knife. Has a pet wolf, named Orion

family(non-godly): none really. Mom died in childbirth.

Chapter 9

2011-03-15T14:42:00.001-07:00

It was the next morning, when Hunter was woken up by the sound of loud banging. It took him a minute to recognize that the sound was someone knocking on the door to the cabin. It also took him another minute to remember that he was the only one who could answer the door. Hunter rolled out of bed. He wiped his face off of the dried tears and drool from earlier. As he walked to the door in the same clothes he wore yesterday he heard his stomach grumble. He went to bed without getting dinner. He opened the door and squinted as the morning sun shown in his face. There stood a very tired looking Will. “Let’s go to breakfast.” Hunter closed the door, changed clothes, and came back out without saying a word. He walked with Will to the dining pavilion, completely silent. It was until they were at the table with their food when Will, finally said, “Hunter, I’m sorry about the things I said yesterday. You’re completely right. I forgot how long you’ve been here. And I forgot how long you went without a parent.” Hunter looked at Will. His face looked sincere enough.

“I’m sorry, too, man. I know what it’s like to get your hopes up and then have them be shattered with another loose end or another false lead. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. It was uncalled for and harsh. We don’t have to hug now, do we?”

“We could just shake hands.” Will’s face lightened up as he extended his hand. Hunter grabbed it and they shook hands. They both went back to eating.

“Hey so did you look at the belt buckle at all? Anything special about it?”

“It just seems to be a bronze belt buckle with a golden horseshoe on it. There’s nothing special about it. Nothing that I’ve found at least. Here take a look.” Will stood up and took off the belt buckle and handed it to Hunter.

“So you decided to wear it?” Hunter took the belt buckle.

“Well, the note said to wear it. And after what you said last night I thought about it and decided that it wouldn’t hurt.” Hunter examined the buckle. Will was right. It was just a bronze belt buckle with a gold horseshoe on it. The strangest thing about it was that it was made of bronze and gold. Other than that it was just a belt buckle.

“There’s got to be something about it. I mean Hermes only delivers stuff from the gods, so that’s gotta be something from them. I’m sure it’ll come together. The note said it. Your time will come.” Hunter gave Will a hopeful smile and returned to his meal. He finished his meal and walked out. He walked back to his new cabin to grab his bow. When he got there and couldn’t find it he facepalmed when he remembered it was on his wrist. He grabbed his quiver of arrows and headed out to the arena. He arrived to the arena, summoned his bow and loaded an arrow. He faced a dummy and aimed. He took a deep breath and released. The arrow went zooming a little to the left. His old bow had a tendency to curve his arrows. Hunter felt the weight of his silver bow. It was light and solid. It seemed that all of the small imperfections from the creation of this bow were fixed when it was reborn as the bow he held in his hand. “Kate. I’ll call you Kate.” He said to the bow. He loaded another arrow, aimed at the dummy again. He aimed straight for the dummy’s head and fired. The arrow embedded itself into the dummy right in the middle of the head. Hunter smiled. ‘Thanks, Kate’ He thought to himself.

“Nice shot.” Hunter turned to see a medium height girl, about the same age as Hunter. She had a bow on her shoulder and a quiver of arrows on her back. “Let’s see it again.” Hunter shrugged and aimed. “Stop!” Hunter looked at his new acquaintance.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” He asked.

“The name’s Alexandra Marks. You can call me Alex. Do you mind?” She said as she unshouldered her bow. Hunter didn’t mind her taking a few practice shots, but he was not expecting what she did next.

“No, not at all.” Hunter shrugged and watched as she walked over to Hunter and started tapping with one end of her bow in a dozen different places, in an attempt to ‘correct’ Hunter’s posture. Hunter stopped her in the middle of her correction. “I’m sorry, but I’ve been practicing archery, I found out recently, since the day I was born. I don’t think my posture needs ‘correction.’”

“Oh? You willing to put that to the test.” Hunter watched as a smile spread across Alex’s face. She opened up a worn out book and after a few minutes held her hand up and smiled at it. “You’re going to hit this.” Hunter looked quizzically at her.

“I’m going to fire an arrow at your hand? Are you sure?”

“No! Of course not! You’re going to aim for what I’m holding in my hand. It’s an invisible disc.”

“Okay…I’m always looking for a challenge, but I can’t do the impossible.”

“Picture it,” she said, her voice smooth. “Small, circular, flat and very fast. You'll train your eye to see it. Once thrown it has its own path. Eventually it'll latch onto something.” She smirked as she loosened her grip on the disc. “You need to hit it before it latches. So, you up for it?” Hunter tried to picture his target. A smooth disc wooshing through the air. He tightened his grip on his silver bow.

“I’m ready.” He watched as Alex’s arm snapped upward. Hunter tried to follow it and saw a short glint of light. He fired straight at it and watched as his arrow went soaring over the Arena wall. ‘Crap!’ he thought to himself. Alex tried to hide her smile

“Alright now. Would you like to accept some help and learn how to correctly hit the targets.” Hunter had always hated making mistakes, especially when he was unclaimed. Now he felt like he was letting Artemis down.

“I’m always ready to improve.”

“Good.” Alex walked over and spent 15 minutes correcting Hunter’s posture again. “Alright now here take this.” She held out one of the invisible discs. After a couple tries Hunter finally got a tight grasp. “’Know thy enemy’ you know? Feel it, touch it, memorize everything about it. Words from my mom, Athena, herself.” Hunter felt the disc. It was very smooth and surprisingly light.

“Okay, so now I shoot it?” Hunter asked.

“No first you wait while I fix your posture again!” Alex poked him into correctness again. “Alright, now I’ll show you how it’s done.” She loaded an arrow and took her stance. “It’s set on slow. Throw it.” Hunter waited, and then threw the disc up into the air and looked up in an attempt to see what she sees. He saw the glint of light, he had seen earlier. Hunter watched as Alex’s arrow hit its mark. The disc burst into a ball of light, shimmered, and then disappeared. “Alright now it’s your turn.” Hunter gritted his teeth and took the correct posture.

“Ready.” He gripped his bow and waited for his target was released.

“It’s set on slow. Be ready.” Alex snapped her arm upward, releasing the disc. Hunter waited for the glint of light he had seen before and, this time, adjusted for it. His arrow flew straight and collided with his target, which burst into a ball of light and disappeared. Hunter gave a radiant smile. “Good job. Are you ready for multiple targets?” Alex said with a smirk. The two of them took turns throwing and shooting and after a few times Hunter was able to do multiple targets on fast difficulty. He was just finishing a set of 4 when he heard a voice that didn’t belong to Alex.

“Nice shot. Just as I had expected from my star pupil.” Hunter turned around and saw Chiron trotting towards him.

“Thanks. I learned from the best.” Hunter said. He turned Kate back into his watch. “Chiron…I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Well, then I will.” He turned to Alex. “If you would excuse us, miss Marks…” Alex got the message and excused herself.

“Thanks for the help, Alex.” Hunter said. “I’ll see you around camp.”

“Anytime, Hunter. See you around.” She walked out of the arena. Chiron turned back to Hunter.

“Congratulations on your acceptance into the Hunters. How do you like your new cabin?”

“It’s fine. But I-“ Hunter was trying to word the question to which he really wanted the answer.

“And how is your new bow working out?” Chiron was dodging the question.

“I like it, but Chiron-“

“Do you feel all recovered from your fight with the chimera?

“Yeah I’m fine. Chiron I-

“And what of-“ Hunter interrupted.

“CHIRON! Slow down and let me think. I’ve always been able to talk to you. Heck, you practically raised me.” Hunter sorted through his thoughts. “Did you know?”

“Hunter, there were thousands of times I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to tell you so bad. Artemis may seem like flowers to you, but she would kill me in a heartbeat. It took thousands of years for her to trust me enough to let her Hunters be left in the camp. Do you have any idea the power she has if she gets angry? A friend of mine once tracked mud into one of her temples. She turned him into a jackalope. A jackalope!”

“Why is she so nice to me, then? I’m a man and I’ve known her for a shorter time than you have.”

“Hunter when you were a child she took care of you because you were a child. The Hunters that trained you came to trust you. She sent you away and wiped your memory for a reason. She saw something in you that she hadn’t seen in a long time, but she wanted to give it time to see it come to fruition.” Hunter thought back to his conversation with Artemis. Nothing came to mind.

“What was it? What did she see in me that came to fruition now?” Chiron got a soft look in his eyes.

“Hunter, you remind her of Orion.”

Chapter 8

2011-03-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

“Hunter!” Marina and Kyle ran over and met Hunter. “We were just coming over to see you. We came earlier, but Chiron told us to go away. Were you like, being treated or something?” Hunter looked up at his friends and blinked hard a few times, until he entered back into reality. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little shaken up. I don’t even know where to start…WAIT! Who won Capture the flag?” Hunter started walking again. He was heading towards the Hermes cabin.

“Really? You get attacked by the chimera. You’re almost killed. You’ve been pretty much asleep for the past 8 days! And you want to know who won capture the flag? Our team won, but we need to have a serious chat about your priorities.” Kyle said. Shaking his head at Hunter. Marina was walking along, chuckling.

“Good. So it was worth it. Can you guys help me with….something, though? Right now.” The three of them arrived at Hermes cabin. “Just wait here, real quick.” Hunter turned to enter his former cabin, but Marina grabbed his shoulder

“Wait, before we agree to anything, what are we helping you with?” Marina asked looking concerned.

“I’ll tell you in a second.” Hunter went inside and was prepared to pack up all his stuff, but it was gone. Hunter looked around the cabin and none of it was to be found. He walked back out.

“Hunter, please. What’s going on?” Marina looked at Hunter. Hunter had a confused look on his face.

“My stuff is gone.” Hunter looked around and saw Chiron walking by the mess hall. He ran over to talk to him. “Chiron, my stuff is gone.”

“That’s because, Hunter,” Chiron looked at him. “We’ve already moved it.” Chiron smiled down at the boy he has raised for the past 12 years. “It’s good to finally see you out of bed. Nice watch.” Chiron looked at Marina and Kyle finally arriving to where Hunter was standing. “We should talk later. Find me tomorrow.” Chiron trotted off. Hunter turned towards the Artemis cabin, but Kyle and Marina blocked his path.

“Hunter. What is going on with you?” Marina asked, staring Hunter in the eye.

“Marina I’m glad that I have friends like you that care about me so much and I will explain it to both of you.” Marina eased her gaze. “In just one minute.” Hunter took off towards the Artemis cabin. He went inside and saw his stuff organized by his bunk like he had it in the Hermes cabin. He smiled and flopped down on to his new bed. He cried short tears of joy. It was finally sinking in that he was claimed. He felt like he could just fall asleep right there, even though he had only been truly awake for about 2 hours. Hunter got up and walked back out to see Marina and Kyle staring at him like he was a crazy person. They were still staring when Will walked up.

“Hey Hunter, it’s good to see you out of bed. When I saw that your stuff was gone I thought the worst. Why IS your stuff gone, if you’re standing here?” He looked at Kyle and Marina. “And why does it look like they think you’re crazy?”

“Will. Kyle. Marina. You are looking at my new home.” Hunter smiled and nodded towards the cabin behind him. Kyle and Marina’s jaws dropped. Will’s eyes grew to twice their size.

“Wait…So after all these years of being unclaimed, you get attacked by the chimera, and then you find out that you are the only son of a goddess that was sworn to virginity for all eternity.” Marina said. Kyle was still staring at Hunter, mouth wide open. “How does that make sense?”

“Alright, man. Congrats! Maybe that means I’ll get claimed next. I’ll just go track down a big monster to fight.” Will said with a big smile on his face. He walked up beside Hunter and gave him a big pat on the back. Hunter smiled. Kyle was still staring.

“Thanks, man. I’m actually not Artemis’s son though. She accepted me into the Hunters. I’m the first and only male Hunter of Artemis. And Kyle, if you if you leave your mouth open like that, a bird is going to build a nest in it.” Kyle finally closed his mouth just to open it again.

“How is that possible? Artemis detests men. Why would she accept one into her elite corps of warriors?” Hunter smiled.

“I will tell you guys everything, but first, it’s 1 o clock. I’m going to get lunch.” Hunter started to tell the story as he ate lunch. After that he returned to the front of the Artemis cabin and relayed everything he had learned in the past 3 hours. 2 hours later

“…and now I get to live here in the Artemis cabin, unless the Hunters are in camp, then I will sleep in Hermes again, until they leave. I’m kind of like her secret hunter.” Hunter chuckled at the idea and looked up at his audience. They were all still absorbing the truckload of information that was just dumped on them. Will and Marina finally started nodding in recognition.

Kyle finally said, “Wait…so you’re a Hunter of Artemis?” Everyone turned and looked at Kyle.

“Really? Kyle? I tell you the biggest news of my life and that’s all you got out of it?” Marina slapped Kyle in the back of the head.

“Hey! I understand. I just haven’t absorbed it, yet. So watch it with the head-slapping.”

“That’s really big news, man. It’s a good thing you found out, though. Some people go their whole lives without being claimed.” Will’s head sank as he said that.

“Come on, Will. Hunter got claimed. I started to think he wasn’t even a half-blood. He can’t eat Ambrosia. He can’t drink nectar. Has never showed signs of ADHD or Dyslexia. We now have an explanation, but I had pretty much given up on him ever getting out of Hermes. We know you’re a half-blood.” Kyle said, trying to comfort Will.

“What the heck, Kyle.” Hunter was struck speechless. Marina, finally, broke the silence.

“Wait so what did you get for becoming a Hunter? Where’s your bow? Your knife?”

“Oh yeah I totally forgot about that. See this watch?” Hunter imagined himself holding a bow. The bow appeared in his hand. “See? Now, how cool is that?!”

“It’s way better than a trowel.” As he said that a thorny rose grew and poked him in the side. “OW! Sorry, mom! But I prefer it over a stupid watch.”

“What about the knife? Don’t Hunters get knives?” Marina asked.

“Uhh…Artemis didn’t really talk about it.” Hunter lied. He felt ashamed that he couldn’t summon his knife, without exhausting himself. He reached up and grabbed his pendant and rubbed it four times.

“Is there a William here? A William Monterey? Why am I asking? I know you’re here.” The four campers turned to see a man in a Postman’s uniform. In his shirt pocket you could see a cell phone and two small snake heads poking out. “I need you sign for this, man.” Hermes walked over and handed Will a pen and the form.

“Who’s it from? Am I finally being claimed?” Will brightened his face and looked at Hermes. He took the form and quickly signed it.

“I’m the messenger god. Not the ‘read-the-mail-and-dictate-it’s-words-to-young-half-bloods’ god.”

“Well, of course not. That doesn’t roll off the tongue at all.” Kyle said rolling his eyes at Hermes. Marina slapped him in the back of the head again. Hermes took the form back and handed Will a package. It was wrapped in brown paper and was no smaller than a toaster.

“I’ll see you kids, later.” Hermes said as he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

“Who’s it from?” Hunter asked.

“There’s no return address. It just says deliver to Will at Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141, Long Island, New York 11954” Will stared at the package.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting,” Marina said. “Are you gonna open it?”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what’s in this package.”

“Will, I was a mess when I didn’t know where I came from or why I was here. Now that I know though I feel…complete. I feel like I have a reason to be here. So no matter if you like the answer or not, you’ll feel better once you know.” Hunter said that and put his hand on Will’s shoulder.

“You’re right, man. Thanks.” Will took a deep breath then tore open the package. After it was completely opened, Will stared at the inside of the box. He reached his hand inside and pulled out a shiny silver belt buckle. On its face was a shining golden horseshoe. Will reached inside again and pulled out a small slip of paper. “Wear this. Your time will come. I promise. That’s what the note says. And a belt buckle. A note and a…a belt buckle. Alright now, I can move into the Pegasus stables. My dad is the COWBOY GOD! I feel so much better, Hunter! I’m so glad that I got this package.”

“Will I-“ Marina tried to comfort him.

“I’m so glad that I finally have a place here in camp half-blood! You get a new cabin, a cool watch-bow thing! I get a belt buckle and…a MYSTERY!” Will stood up and started pacing while he ranted. Tears streaming down his face. Hunter stood up and grabbed his shoulders.

“WILL! I found out that my parents are both DEAD! I was abandoned to be raised by a centaur. FOR 12 YEARS! I had absolutely no place! No belonging! Your godly parent cared enough to tell you that they’re watching over you. That you haven’t disappeared from their sight. That they didn’t ABANDON YOU! I have been waiting for 12 years to get anything from my parents. The first thing I’m told is that they are dead and not only that, but if I want to stay here I have to be ALONE my whole life! And you’re pissed, because your parent waited 6 YEARS to give you something?! Not to sound mean, but get over it! Not to mention the fact that you had a loving mortal parent at home who you could go home to whenever you wanted. You sent her an Iris message every night your first year! I would know I should you how to do them, remember?!” Hunter had tired himself and was damp from the sweat and the tears.

“I gotta go.” Will picked up his stuff and ran towards Hermes cabin. Hunter looked back and realized that Marina and Kyle had left a long time ago. Hunter yelled at the sky, went inside flopped down onto his bed, and fell asleep.

Chapter 7

2011-03-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hunter regained temporary consciousness a few times over the next several days. Usually only long enough to choke down some food and to mutter a few words. A couple times it was Kyle or Marina or both at the same time. Once Hunter even caught Will checking in on him. Every other time it was a woman. A woman he had never met before. She felt familiar. She was the first person he saw when he finally woke up from his sleep. “Welcome back to the land of the living.” she said.

“Thanks. I’m sorry, but have we met?” Hunter said as he rubbed his eyes, readjusting to the sunlight. He looked into the woman’s eyes and saw the silvery old-looking eyes he felt like he knew, but couldn’t place. “Are you…Are you my mother?” Hunter said holding back tears.

“No, I’m sorry, but I knew her. She was a very strong woman. I am the goddess, Artemis. Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and childbirth. I, along with my hunters, raised you from the age of four. Even though you are male, you were trained as a hunter.” Artemis proceeded to tell Hunter the story of his past. The tragic story of his mother. The 4 years that were taken from him. “And when I sent you off, I left you with Orion and this.” She held up Hunter’s pendant. She held it in her hand and it transformed into the knife which Hunter had used to slay the chimera. The events that occurred right before his injury came flooding back into his brain.

“You gave me that? You’re my…mother?” Hunter felt like he was going to go ahead and pass out again.

“Well, not exactly. I haven’t had any kids, but I’ve adopted many. You’re my first son. And this here is the Ceryneian dagger. When Hercules was given the task of capturing my beloved Ceryneian Hind, I was furious. In the process of its capture, Hercules broke off one of the golden antlers of the stag. I retrieved the antler and brought it to Hephaestus who forged it into this hunting knife. Its hilt is Cypress wrapped in deerskin. I knew that someday, you would have need for such a dagger.” She waved the knife around a couple of times, and then transformed it back into its original form. She handed it to Hunter who stared at it, like he had never seen it before.

“So then why are you here, after ignoring me for twelve years?”

“Hunter, I never ignored you. I had always kept my eye on you. Do you think it was your smile that calmed that bear? Sure you have a way with animals, but that was a bear that you invaded the territory of. I’m here, because my obnoxious, yet useful brother tipped me off with a prophecy. This prophecy seemed to match you perfectly. I have finally decided to claim you. Up until now I was going to let you live your life freely, but I have a feeling that you will make the right choice. There is a condition to me claiming you as one of my own.”

“What is it?! I’ll do anything!” Hunter beamed at the idea of finally having a place. Having a parent that he could claim as his own.

“You need to promise me something. You will have my blessing and all of the abilities and privileges of the Hunters, except for one, if you pledge yourself to me and swear off romantic love.”

“Romantic love? So I can’t ever have a girlfriend? I’ll never be married? I’ll never have kids?” Hunter’s heart sank a little.

“In exchange you will have immortality and will be given all of the resources of the Hunters of Artemis. Unfortunately, because of your…condition, you won’t be able to lie or hunt with the Hunters.” Artemis spoke of being male as being a condition. Hunter ignored her comment and thought about the life he would be giving up. The things he had aspired for. The times he was jealous of all of the many campers who had been claimed. The things he felt he had missed out on because he was unclaimed.

“I accept your terms. I’m ready to be claimed.”

“I accept your oath” Artemis said and then hugged Hunter. As soon as she embraced Hunter all of his memories came flushing back into his mind. The four years he had forgotten. The last time he saw her, his small 4 year old self gave, someone who he saw to be his mother, a hug. “This does not come without its…material benefits. You’ve already received the Ceryneian dagger.” She picked up Hunter’s bow which had broken in the chimera attack. She held it gently. Hunter looked at the carvings he had made in it, and then fell downtrodden. “You’ll be given a new bow, in a way.” Hunter watched as his bow fixed itself and then turned silver, right before his very eyes. She handed him the bow. He held his new bow. All of the carvings and nicks were still in it, but it was made of silver. “And here’s the really cool part.” She took the bow back and held it for a second. All of a sudden it disappeared. In her hand she held a girl’s bracelet. She gave it back to him.

“Uh…not that I’m not grateful, ma’am, but it’s not really my style.” Hunter held it like it was a poisonous snake.

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” She snapped her fingers. The watch turned into a wristwatch the perfect size for Hunter’s wrist. He slid it on. “Now think, ‘bow.’” Hunter closed his eyes and imagined himself holding a bow and suddenly the bow appeared in his hand. “See and when it comes to your pendant, just hold it, and think, ‘knife.’” Hunter grabbed his pendant and pictured himself holding a knife. Immediately he thought of himself holding his bloody knife standing over Kate’s dead body. The knife didn’t appear in his hand. He tried again and still, no luck. “You’re holding on to something. I can tell. Hunter, if you’re going to be one of my hunters you need to get move on.” Hunter tried again and still. Nothing. Hunter focused really hard. So hard that it tired him out. The pendant glowed and then transformed into the knife. Hunter laid back and the knife shrank back into the pendant which fell back around his neck. “There you go. You’ll get used to it. For now, I need to go. I’ll let you get some rest. Recognize that this might be the last time you see me in a long time.” She turned around and started to walk towards the door.

“Wait.” Hunter stood up. He steadied himself on the foot of the bed. He walked over to Artemis, and hugged her. “Thank you.” He said. Artemis smiled and kept walking toward the door.

“Oh and one last thing. Trust Orion. He’s much more than a dog. You’ll need him sooner or later.” Artemis said as she walked over and petted Orion who was staring attentively at the goddess. She stared into the wolf’s bluish-green eyes and then disappeared. Hunter stared at where she was standing. Orion hung his head and then trotted over to Hunter. He put his head on top of Hunter’s thigh and gave a few short whimpers.

“You must really miss her, huh? I’m going to do her proud.” Hunter patted Orion on the head, then stood up and grabbed his clothes. The shirt he was wearing was shredded to pieces in the fight with the chimera so he tore it up and tied some of it around Orion as a collar of sorts. He put on his pants and his shoes and grabbed a ‘Camp Half-Blood’ t-shirt and slipped it on. He walked out of the door of the Big house, with Orion close behind, and shielded his eyes from the bright afternoon sun.

Chapter 6

2011-03-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

The entire crowd, except for the defeated Ares campers, moved from the arena to the woods and then split into teams. Hunter was still realizing that he used his knife again. So when an Athena kid gave jobs to each of her teammates, all Hunter said in reply was, “Wha-huh? What am I doing again?”

“You’re going to-“ The horn blew and the many battle cries drowned out the remaining words of Hunter’s strategist. Everyone charged except for the couple of people students assigned to stay back and guard the flag which was hidden near the top of a tree to the south of the creek, which served as boundary for the game. Hunter looked around and then climbed a tree. He found his footing then leapt into another tree, bow at the ready. Down below he saw a child of Aphrodite and took out an arrow from his sheath, blunted for safety. He took aim at the camper and fired. The arrow hit and dropped the camper. Hunter shouldered his bow, found his footing and leapt into another tree. Months of practice, bruises, and concussions really paid off. He leapt from tree to tree taking out random campers with his bow. He stood out of breath in the tree he took a nap in yesterday evening. He looked around and saw action all around the forest. Groups of campers fighting each other to get to the other’s flag. Just then Hunter saw a small hint of red through the trees. Hunter leapt again to another tree and looked more closely. ‘The flag!’ Hunter thought as he leapt to another tree. Below he saw, the other team finally advancing across the creek. He leapt from tree to tree as he approached the flag. Finally he saw the flag and its guards. One by one he picked off the guards and then hopped down out of the tree. Just as he grabbed the flag he saw Marina, with a sword, and Kyle, with his scythe, entering the clearing.

“Seriously? How did you get here so fast?!” Kyle said with a surprised look on his face as he folded his scythe down into a trowel, which he slipped into his pocket.. “Is this the strategy you were talking about? Teleportation?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but do we really have the time to talk about-“ As Marina said that, 4 Ares campers came in and charged at us. Kyle, in a split second, pulled out his scythe and blocked an oncoming attack.

“RUN! MARINA! HUNTER! I’ll hold them off! RUN!” He shouted as he blocked another two attacks. Hunter grabbed the flag and took off toward the boundary, Marina following close behind. They ran for a few hundred yards when Hunter could hear the trickling water of the creek. He pushed on and kept running until he tripped over what felt like a leg, causing him to drop the flag.

“Keep going Marina! Grab the flag. I’ll catch up!” Hunter shouted as he stood up and fired an arrow at an Iris camper who was about to chase Marina. He shouldered his bow and walked back to where he tripped. He looked down and saw a giant snake. It was about to strike when he took his knife and stabbed it in the head, impaling it to the ground. As he checked to see if it died he heard a loud roar. He looked up and saw a lion’s face staring right at him. Hunter started backing up and watched as the lion rose from behind the greenery in the forest. The Lion lunged but it seemed like its tail was caught on something. Hunter rolled out of the way as a ball of fire went zooming past him. Hunter looked at the beast now fully revealed. It was a chimera. Hunter turned to run, but it batted Hunter with its massive paw. Hunter felt the blood stream from the new wound on his back as the force slammed him into a tree. The beast finally freed its snake tail which wrapped around Hunter’s leg and dragged him towards the chimera. The chimera looked down at Hunter, helpless. Hunter shouted for help, but just then the stag pendant around his neck started to glow. The glowing seemed to daze the chimera. Hunter looked at his pendant as it quickly grew and transformed into a large golden hunting knife. Hunter picked up the knife and jammed it into the Chimera’s throat. He slid the knife down the belly of the chimera, sufficiently killing the beast. The chimera collapsed into dust right on top of Hunter who passed out.

Chapter 5

2011-03-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Finally taking the knife out of its sheath after so long out of sight and out of mind made him a little emotional. He looked at the stain and looked at the scars from his hand, sheathed his weapon, put on his armor and attached the sheath to that, and walked out the door. He followed the crowd of people walking to the arena for some last-minute practicing. Once he got in he looked around to see who was there. He saw Kyle practicing with his scythe, a gift from his mother. He took a few wide swings and then slammed the ground. A streak of flowers burst from the spot where his scythe hit the ground. A few yards away from the entrance He saw Marina testing her new invention. It was a large…cannon essentially. It was light enough to be carried by one person and it packed a lot of firepower. She took aim at a dummy 20 yards away as other campers observed her. She pressed a button and a second later, FOOM! A giant ball of fire smashed the dummy to pieces as the on looking campers applauded Marina. Another look around showed Will spear fighting with two other campers. One from Athena and one from Apollo. He was winning. Hunter was still standing there when he heard a few footsteps and a small woosh coming from right behind him. He turned around and immediately rolled to the left to dodge an incoming scythe attack. Hunter grabbed a nearby spear and pointed it toward his attacker.

“How do you always do that?” Kyle asked with a smile on his face. "It’s like you’ve got a spidey sense."

“It’s not a spidey sense. It’s good hearing and quick reflexes. Oh yeah, and WHAT THE HECK!” Hunter responded angrily as he took a swing at Kyle with his spear.

“What? We need to be on the top of our game if we want to defeat the super team we’re up against.” Kyle parried the swing and used the momentum to press forward another attack.

“So how would that help prepare me for capture the flag? So that I could sit in the infirmary while you guys lost to Ares?” Hunter ducked the attack and hit Kyle hard in the ribs with the butt of his spear, knocking Kyle on his butt. He stood over Kyle and offered his hands to help him up, but Kyle knocked Hunter off his feet with a quick swing of his scythe.

“You could be attacked from behind from the start of the game to the end. You have to be prepared for a similar attack. So…You’re welcome.” Kyle stood up and raised his scythe to attack.

“With the strategy I’m taking this year, there’s no way I’ll be attacked in the back. No thanks for the attempt though.” Hunter rolled backward on to his feet and hit Kyle with a strong jab right in chest. With Kyle stunned, Hunter knocked Kyle’s scythe onto the ground and then swung low to knock him off his feet.

“Ow.” Kyle said as he rubbed his head. “That’s gonna be a bump. So what’s this strategy you’re talking about?”

“I’m not gonna tell you. I’ve been practicing this for a long time, though. I’m almost perfect, now.” Hunter helped Kyle up and then together they watched the fight between Will and the two other hunters. Fast movements and flashes of motion went on as the battle proceeded. The battle continued for another few minutes when it was considered a stalemate. Not bad for a two on one fight. Will stood up straight then looked around. He saw Hunter and immediately motioned for him to come forward. Hunter looked at Kyle who nodded at him. Hunter pushed his way through the crowd and walked up to where Will was standing. “Why am I up here? “ He asked.

“You, my friend, are going to help me take down these Ares kids. After seeing my last match they got a little bigheaded and started to talk trash on me and the Hermes cabin. So I challenged them. And you’re gonna help me win.” As Will spoke, he tossed away his spear and drew his sword.

“Will, you and I both know that with your sword you can take down a couple of Ares kids. So why do you need my help?” Hunter unshouldered his bow and held it at his side as he spoke to Will who was stretching. Hunter looked around and saw everyone surrounding us and about 9 very angry looking Ares campers.

“Who said anything about a couple? I need your help to take down those 9 brutish-looking kids. I need that knife of yours.” Will finished stretching and then was sizing up his enemies.

“9?! You challenged 9 Ares kids? Are you crazy? Or is this a temporary lapse in judgment?” Hunter had just finished speaking when he heard a shout and turned to see 9 campers charging right at him. He drew an arrow, took aim, and fired. His arrow hit the first Ares kid right in the chest knocking him back into another two. Another Ares camper took a jab with a spear. Hunter caught the spear in his bow and disarmed his attacker with a quick motion and then elbowed him in the face. He turned around and saw a camper with an arrow sticking out of his armor lift his sword for an attack. Hunter quickly fired another arrow into the helmet of the camper and dodged out of the way of another attack. Hunter looked at Will who was deftly parrying attacks and making some of his own with perfect timing. 2 Ares campers were already on the ground unconscious. The Ares camper with the arrow in his helmet and his chest came in for one more attack and hunter swept his legs out from under him with his bow. This time he stayed down. Hunter looked back and saw that Will was only fighting two of the campers. All of a sudden, Hunter felt the hilt of a sword hit him in the back. The force from the blow knocked his bow out of his hand which slid along the ground and out of his reach. He looked and saw the other four campers preparing for an attack. He was about to brace for the blow when he remembered his knife. He unsheathed his knife and blocked a sword aimed for his head. He knocked away a jab from a spear and ducked another. He swiped at a camper’s leg and kicked another’s legs out from under him. He blocked another sword and disarmed the other with a quick slap from the side of his blade. A few hilt strikes and thrown elbows later the remaining campers were on the ground, defeated. Hunter looked at Will as he was finishing off the remaining combatant. Will and Hunter stood victorious. The surrounding campers were applauding and shouting.

“Good job, Hunter! Way to go Will!” He heard people shouting.

“Who knew he was so good with a knife?” People murmured as they stared with surprised faces.

“I knew you were the right choice.” Will said. He gave Hunter a pat on the back. That same moment the horn sounded which meant that capture the flag was about to start.

Chapter 4

2011-03-13T11:45:00.003-07:00

It was his 7^th year at Camp Half-Blood. He was 11 years old. He was just starting to warm up to the idea of having friends in the camp. His first friend was a girl named Kate. She was the daughter of Aphrodite and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. They had decided one afternoon to go hiking in the woods. Hunter had just proved himself as a very proficient knife fighter. Everyone in the camp was wowed by his skill with the very knife he was holding 5 years later. They were walking when Hunter heard a whispery voice. He turned toward the voice and saw a narrow-faced man dressed in a gray trench coat. He looked like he didn’t belong there. He rubbed his eyes and when they opened again he was gone.

“What is it?” Kate said.

“Nothing. Just thought I saw something.” They kept walking and they were having fun when they got separated.

“Kate! Kate!” Hunter shouted and looked everywhere for her. He heard his name shouted in her voice from somewhere behind him. He turned and looked and saw a Minotaur standing there. Hunter was surprised then realized that Kate must be in danger. Hunter steeled himself and then charged at the Minotaur. His knife drawn. He charged and leaped on to the monsters back and stabbed furiously. The Minotaur fell and Hunter stood there breathing heavily, his knife dripping red thick blood onto the ground. Hunter started looking for Kate again when he realized the Minotaur wasn’t disappearing. He looked back and saw the man in the trench coat standing over the body of the Minotaur. He had an evil smile on his face. “Who are you?”

“The name’s Dolos. Good job slaying the….Minotaur” The way he said ‘Minotaur’ made Hunter’s skin crawl. “I’m sure you’ll see me again.” After he said that he snapped his fingers and then disappeared.

“Wait, Why…” He couldn’t get his question out before Dolos was gone. Hunter looked around for Kate. He turned around and saw the Minotaur’s body still there. He started to get worried about Kate, and approached the Minotaur to see if there was any clue to her location there. As he approached the Minotaur, he saw mist rising from the lifeless body. He got closer and saw that the mist was clearing and slowly the Minotaur was transforming from the giant bull-man creature into the body of a small girl. “KATE!” Hunter sprinted toward her lifeless body, knelt down and cradled her body in his arm. “KATE! Kate! Wake up!” He tried everything to wake her up. It was no use. Hunter picked up her lifeless body and ran towards the camp. “CHIRON! CHIRON! SOMEONE HELP!” He ran into the camp and burst into the Big house. Chiron immediately called in two campers who took Kate’s body into the infirmary.

After taking care of Kate he turned to me and said, “Hunter, you’re going to tell me exactly what happened.” Through the sobs, Hunter told everything to Chiron. “Dolos. I haven’t heard that name in a very long time.”

“Who is he? Is he a god I haven’t heard of or something?”

“Hunter, he’s the god of trickery. He tricked you into seeing the Minotaur instead of Kate. Why he did it? I have no idea. I vaguely remember some discrepancy between him and Aphrodite a few years ago. That might explain it.”

“So Dolos killed her. No…I…killed her.” Hunter burst into tears again this time he ran out the door. He walked into the bathroom of Hermes cabin, his knife in his hand, still red with Kate’s blood. Hunter looked in the mirror and saw his own reflection, dirty and tired from sweat and tears. He went to splash water onto his face and noticed again he was holding the knife. He held it in front of his face. All of the events from the past few hours flashed in his brain. He dropped the knife into the sink and started cry again. He turned on the water and started washing the blood from his blade. Rubbing furiously, his hands covered in cuts, he washed all of the blood except for one spot on the knife. He washed and scrubbed and nothing could get the spot out. After a few hours Hunter, drained of tears, Hunter put his knife into its sheath and then hid it under his bed for it to never bother him again.

Chapter 3

2011-03-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

The 9 hours of restless sleep, didn’t do good things to prepare him for Capture the flag today. He crawled out of bed, put on a dark blue shirt, a pair of jeans, and his green converse that were worn and stained, and left Hermes cabin. As he left he grabbed the pendant hanging from his neck and rubbed it three times with his thumb. This was a habit he has done ever since coming to the camp. It was symbolic for the four years he forgot. He walked to the dining pavilion and grabbed some food. He scraped some off into the fire in the middle and said a silent prayer to anyone who was listening. He sat down at the Hermes table where some of his other cabinmates were sitting.

“You ready for Capture the Flag today? We can’t without you, you know that?” Hunter looked up to see Will, a Hermes cabin resident. Will was a year older than Hunter, but he showed up about 4 years ago. Will has yet to be claimed by a god. “What do you think, Hunter?”

“Hmm…Oh yeah. I’ll be ready to go.” Hunter was still half-asleep. “What’s the game plan?”

“Well, this year we’re up against Ares, Aphrodite, Dionysus, all of the big three, and all of the minor gods. They’ve got a good amount of heavy-hitters but to be honest we’ve got numbers. I think if we play it smart we’ll win. I’m not really much of a strategist though. That’s why we have the owl kids.” Will called the children of Athena ‘owl kids.’ The owl being a sacred animal of Athena. “They always have some sort of plan. I’m sure we’ll get a job right before the horn.”

Hunter chuckled. “Yeah that’s usually how it works. We need to make sure that none of us end up in a one-on-one situation.”

Will thought and then said, “Yeah, except you or me.” Will was possibly the best swordfighter in the camp. Ever since he came here he had been training with a sword. It didn’t take long for him to become one of the best in the camp. Strangely enough, he was also the best spear fighter in the entire camp. He was better than Hunter and Hunter was one of the best.

“What do you mean? I mean I understand you. You’re one of the best fighters in the camp but, why me? I’m no good with a sword.”

Will smiled. “Oh come on, dude. I saw you demolish a dummy with a thrown spear the other day. And you’re the best knife fighter I’ve ever seen. Not to mention your pinpoint accuracy with a bow and arrow. With skills like that your ability with a sword is irrelevant.”

“I guess. I’m not sold that I could hold my own if it really mattered.”

“Trust me. You’ll do fine.” Will said that, then got up turned in his dishes and then left.

Hunter sat there, finishing his meal. He thought about what Will had said. Will wasn’t wrong. Maybe being talented with a sword wasn’t as important as Hunter made it out to be. Hunter finished his meal and then left the dining pavilion. Hunter walked back to his cabin and retrieved his bow and his quiver. He was about to leave when he remembered what Will had said. He went back to his bunk, reached under for a few seconds then came out with a very dusty looking hunting knife. It was the knife issued to him from day one. He rarely used a knife, anymore. Hunter held the knife and blew off the dust. He wiped the remaining dust off of its sheath and then pulled out the blade. The 18” hunting knife felt light in his hand. It was light but it wasn’t perfectly balanced. A problem in the forging, most likely. He tossed the blade from hand to hand as he reacquainted himself with his knife. He slashed at the air a couple of times to test his grip. He examined the blade. There a few notches in the blade and dulled places where it hit a shield a little too hard. Then near the tip there was a stain. A discoloration on the blade. Hunter’s mind fogged over as he remembered how that stain got there.

Chapter 2

2011-03-12T22:13:00.001-08:00

When Hunter woke up it was dark. His stomach grumbled a sign of hunger. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up a little in the tree. He started to refamiliarize himself with his location in the woods. He was just about to hop down when he heard Orion barking from below. He looked around the woods in the direction that Orion was growling. He didn’t see anything so he hopped down. Staying close to the base of the tree he put a hand in Orion’s collar. He crouched down and started petting Orion in an attempt to calm him down. He had just started to stand up when he heard a much louder, growl coming from somewhere behind him. He turned around to see a bear, on its back legs, staring right at Hunter. Hunter jumped back behind Orion and drew his bow. The bow was something that he was given during his first days as a camper. Nothing special about it except for his name which he carved into it at several different point in several different languages. He notched an arrow and aimed straight at the bear’s eye. If he took the shot, the bear would be dead. Something inside him told him to not fire. Every instinct said, ‘kill the bear,’ but something small, like a voice, told him that there was another way. Hunter put down his bow and took a step forward. He slowly advanced toward the bear until he was three feet away. He stared at the bear. He held out his hand. The bear dropped to all fours and stared at the hand. Hunter stood his ground, even though in his mind he was screaming. Hunter took a step toward the bear. Then another step and pretty soon his hand was right in front of the bear’s face. The bear looked at Hunter’s hand then sniffed it. Hunter looked away. If he was going to have his hand bitten off he’d rather not want to see it happen. Suddenly, he felt a very large, very wet and very rough tongue on his hand. He looked back at his hand which was being licked by the bear. The bear stopped licking and stuck the top of its head under the palm of Hunter’s hand. Hunter thought and the started petting the bear between its ears. This feeling was amazing. He had no idea why he did what he did, but it seemed natural. Off in the distance he heard a roar and the bear perked up and ran off into the woods. Hunter stood there absorbing what seemed like forever but had only been a matter of five minutes. He turned to look at Orion who looked like he was smiling. Or if he were a person he would be smiling. Hunter picked up his things and said, “Alright, boy. Let’s go get dinner.”

When Hunter got to the dining hall, he had already dropped off Orion and his stuff, people were starting to trickle out as he entered. He grabbed a plate and got in line. He scraped the bottom of every pan and pot, the dregs of what was actually for dinner. He dropped some of it into the fire and said, “Here you go…whoever you are.” He sat down at the Hermes table on the far side as to where everyone was. He was pretty much a loner. He never really got to know anyone really well in the entire camp, save Orion or Chiron. Not that he didn’t talk to anyone else, he just never made friends. He scarfed down his meal and went back to his cabin for a little while before camp fire. He sat down on his bed and opened his book. He had just started the Peter Jorgsen & the Norsemen series. It’s about a teenager who finds out the he’s the son of a Norse god. How ridiculous. It’s a good thing that could never actually happen. After a few riveting chapters he tucked the book away and left the cabin. Outside, there was the typical hustle and bustle that occurred before every campfire. He overheard all sorts of conversations that were going on. One Hephaestus camper was talking to himself about the specific threads of a screw he needed for a grappling device he was working on. 3 Apollo campers were exchanging poems and discussing lyrics for a song one of them wrote. Two Aphrodite girls were discussing the hottest guys in the camp. I couldn’t hear every word, when they saw that I was listening they walked off, giggling. I took a seat between Kyle, the son of Demeter, and Marina, the daughter of Hephaestus. He was friendly with those two. Marina was who he got help from when he forged his many test blades. Kyle was a year younger than Hunter, but he had learned about the plants found in the wilderness at the same time. Kyle took to them much easier than Hunter did being a son of Demeter, of course. He had gotten to know the two of them pretty well. He wouldn’t say that they were ‘friends,’ but if he had to choose two other campers to spend time with it would be those two.

“About time you got here.” Kyle said jokingly.

“Oh, Kyle, your razor wit never gets old. How’s the garden coming, you old lady?”

“Great, actually. I made a kind of flower that breathes fire. How’s the hunt for the perfect sword going?”

“Yeah how did that blade we forged turn out?” Marina chimed in.

“More like you forged. It didn’t really work out.”

“This is getting a little ridiculous, Hunter. I mean you do understand that at this point there are more swords than campers at the camp, because none of them are ‘comfortable’ for you. “

“I’m just trying to find where I fit here.” Hunter muttered then studied the ground. He picked up a stick and started pushing the dirt between his legs around.

“I’m sorry, Hunter. I keep forgetting you still haven’t been claimed. It’s been 12 years though. Maybe it’s time to-“

“I will be claimed. I’m not giving up. Parents don’t just give up their children. Not forever.” Hunter was choking back tears.

“You’re right, Hunter. I’m sorry.” Marina looked ashamed.

“Dude, don’t worry about it. Capture the flag is tomorrow. Try focusing on that.” Kyle said, patting Hunter on the back.

“I had a long today. I’m gonna get some shuteye.”

“Hunter, wait-“

“I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.” Hunter got up and left before they could stop him. He took a walk around camp before he went to bed just to clear his thoughts. He didn’t belong anywhere. He always had place in Hermes cabin, but he would never consider himself part of the camp. He walked to Half-Blood Hill. He looked over at Peleus, the dragon guarding the fleece hanging from the tree. Peleus was watching him closely, so Hunter kept his distance. He stood there on the hill staring out to the mortal world. He realized, he could leave and that would be that. He would start a life without all of this. Without demigods and without monsters. Without swords and bows and spears. He would live a normal life. He took a few steps outside of the boundary. He stopped. He wanted to look back one last time, and then leave forever. Never coming back. Abandoning this life. He looked back. Staring at the campfire. Looking at all the cabins. Thinking about all the people he has met in his 12 years here. Remembering all of the memories he has here. With that, he hung his head, walked back to the Hermes cabin, slipped into his bunk and fell asleep.