Lieutenant

Chapter 29

Thalia was in trouble, big trouble. She'd done her best to stay out of the mess with the giants but such things couldn't be avoided. Now she was supposed to slow down Orion while some mysterious girl who knew Jason took a gigantic statue back to CHB with her cousin who was hardly more than a few wisps. Oh, and a trigger-happy satyr.

Thalia had nearly punched the girl in the face for trying to stay behind for her sister Hylla. Of course, Thalia understood how hard it was to leave a sibling behind, but it was not the time for dramatics.

A loud bang sounded behind her and a car went barreling across one of the beat-up streets and into Orion. Thalia had to admit, Hylla was one badass girl, with or without the super strength from the Amazon belt.

"This better be worth it or so help me I'm throwing hands with every Olympian I can find." Setting her jaw Thalia drew twin silver blades and charged into the fray.
—-
As much as Artemis despised it, she was trapped on the island with Apollo. Her only solace was being able to sneak away and watch events unfold in a pool of water. She'd learned a few enchanting tricks from Hecate, that and Athena may or may not have stolen a few for the sake of knowledge.

She'd seen it all from the moment Jason stuttered back into a fake reality on a sweaty school bus. Watched him slowly fall for the daughter of Aphrodite. Artemis, of course, had misgivings about the girl. She was powerful to a point that when she used charmspeak the goddess could feel its persuasion prod gently at her consciousness.

Only, this one was different and to an extent, Artemis felt sorry for her. Piper, she'd learned the girl's name relatively quick, was not interested in being attractive or manipulative. Piper wanted attention that actually mattered rather than fake sympathy.

What was the most upsetting aspect of the goddess' predicament was her inability to help. Not when Thalia was frozen by Khione, when Jason had almost been incinerated, or even when they'd been in trouble at the Grand Canyon where it all started.

The only brief reprieve was watching them celebrate the completion of their quest. From there, however, the burden of the task at hand shifted to an old friend. Percy and two new companions had to shoulder their part.

The son of Poseidon was much like his normal self despite memory loss, and though Artemis would never admit it, she was pleased to find that he remembered Annabeth. The others, Romans, were interesting to observe.

From the moment Artemis saw Frank she felt no disdain, an uncommon occurrence, but his heart was kind and gentle. Without knowing him personally the goddess could see the amount of grief he harbored in his eyes. She liked him.

The girl, Hazel, was intriguing as well. There was an innocence to her that the world seemed to forget. She was driven and creative, small but mighty. A force to be reckoned with from the amount of bravery she'd exhibited in her past life.

Artemis would have offered her a place in the hunters when the Giant situation passed over, if it weren't so obvious that the son of Mars and daughter of Pluto were head over heels for one another.

A person that made the goddess enraged was the sniveling anemic boy named Octavian. He represented the worst parts of Apollo by magnifying to an extreme. The amount of nerve in his thin body was incredible. If Artemis had it her way she'd have snapped his twig appendages and fed them to her wolves.

But the most interesting person of them all was the praetor. She was familiar in a way. With the regal air about her, the steely tone, sturdy shoulders, set jaw, and the faint recognition that she was pushing her own limits.

What surprised Artemis was the praetor's affiliation with Jason. The sad truth that he didn't remember her as Percy remembered Annabeth sent a pang of empathy through the goddess' chest.