The True Alpha Guardian of the Hunt

Chapter 11

Scottie's POV

"We need more information than we have." Chiron said, coming up to my pack and I. "We're holding another meeting in the big house."

"That's my cue." I said with a groan.

I got up from my seat on the log at the campfire area before following Chiron. On the way I noticed a bunch of flashes happening in the big house meaning the gods are also here. When we got into the room all eyes turned to us, more specifically me.

"We know how our enemies work, but not how this nogitsune, as you called it, works." Zeus said, leaving an open silence for me to talk.

"The nogitsune is a dark spirit created from anger and suffering, and as such feeds off of it." I answered. "It will do whatever it takes to cause chaos and pain, make people suffer to grow in strength."

"Like we saw in your memories, the incident at the hospital, the bomb in the police station." Artemis said and I nodded. "So he works as a hunter who uses traps to inflict pain rather than just going for the killing blow."

"How he did it before was injuring a bunch of people who I siphoned the pain from before he injured me and siphoned all of it from me." I continued.

"How did he injure you?" Mom asked, alarmed and worried.

"He stabbed me through with a sword from an oni, twisting the blade as he siphoned the pain I took from the people." I answered, I noticed the glint in her eyes that said she wanted to hug me but had to stay professional since it's an important meeting.

"How do you think he'll strike?" Ares asked, sounding bored.

"Do you know the game Shogi?" I asked, and everybody became confused. "It's not Greek so I didn't really expect any of you to."

"All I know is that it's a board game based around strategy, but what is its relevance to the nogitsune?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Because, that's how he functions." I answered. "It's referred to as Japanese Chess by some, all of the pieces move in a specific way and it's all about capturing territories, he'll aim for places of power or importance."

"Hospital for healing, police station for protection, school for learning." Artemis listed.

"That's what he did in Beacon Hills, but what places would he aim for in the demigod world?" I asked.

"Empire State building, Mount Tam, Mount Othrys, Here, Camp Jupiter, and more that will come to mind later." Mom answered.

"What is the relevance of these places?" I asked.

"The Empire State Building is the entrance to Mount Olympus." Percy answered.

"Power, maybe leverage since it's holy ground, sanctity to us." I spoke up.

"Mount Tam is where Atlas is sealed." Artemis said, a sour look on her face.

"Allies, more pieces for him to use." I said, getting a nod from both Mom and Annabeth.

"Mount Othrys is the Titan home base." Zeus said, a dark look in his eyes.

"Power, protection, sanctity." Zeus looked angry at the last word I listed.

"How would an evil place be holy?" Hestia spoke up before Zeus could.

"To you it is evil and unholy, but to the Titans it is sacred." I answered. "Sanctity has three meanings."

"For here and Camp Jupiter, these are our base camps, our advantage is mobility." Athena spoke up. "But we still don't know where or when he'll strike first."

"In Beacon Hills he focused on himself growing in power first, then he focused on weakening my pack, then he went for allies, and finally he went for the kill." I explained. "He may have learned, or his allies might have helped him."

"Just as ours will have learned since our last fight." Annabeth spoke up.

"But here lies the true question, have you all grown stronger and learned since then?" I asked them.

"I believe we have, but there is no real way to know if it was enough until the fight." Annabeth answered, a thoughtful look on her face.

"That's where you're wrong, not about knowing if it's enough but in assuming that it will only be one fight." I spoke up, startling her.

"She's right, in chess there's multiple individual battles between every piece, all about gaining territory and ground to get a greater advantage for the next move." Mom spoke up. "We don't know if he knows about the portal between camps, but if he finds out he'll know that the best place to attack inside the US would be towards the middle since it'll take travel time giving him time to wear us down with ambushes and traps before actually getting to the fights."

"So it's best to keep him from getting that information if he doesn't already have it." Chiron said, getting nods from everybody. "But what should our first move be?"

Everybody turned towards me expectantly. I thought for a moment before a thought hit, Beacon Hills.

"I don't know if it will be the first place he strikes, but I know he will strike there at some point." I voiced, drawing confusion. "Beacon Hills, striking back at me will be one of his priorities and what better way than taking my hometown where I was born and raised?"

"You're right, he probably feels humiliated after being defeated and will try to erase that humiliation by striking at you where he thinks it will hurt you the most." Artemis said with a nod. "How will we defend all of these locations at once?"

"The camps are already protected by the barriers." Percy said after thinking for a moment.

"They're not hidden nor protected from the supernatural." I voiced, shocking everybody. "My pack was able to leave and enter both barriers at will, as proven by the hellhound incident yesterday."

"So the nogitsune could enter anytime he pleases." Annabeth said, looking alarmed. "We've never dealt with an enemy that could come into our home whenever it pleased."

"That can be fixed by putting up a mountain ash defense." I answered to reassure everybody. "But that causes another issue, if you do that then my pack and I will no longer be able to leave or enter."

"We could try to get Hecate to cast a spell that would make you and your pack immune to mountain ash." Hestia suggested.

"I don't know how I feel about that, I don't really like anything to do with spells." I spoke up, uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, but to my knowledge you've never encountered spells before." Mom said confusedly.

"She has, a hunter turned to Hecate's arts and used a couple spells on Scottie to be able to freely manipulate her however they pleased." Artemis spoke up, getting shocked looks from almost everybody. "So I can see why she's hesitant about anything to do with spells."

"I'm sorry, I was not informed about this." Hestia said sadly.

"It's not your fault." I said softly and reassuringly. "Our first move should be to confirm that the nogitsune and his allies haven't already made their first move."

"In what manner?" Mom asked curiously, probably already coming to an understanding.

"Send scouts to each location, make sure they haven't been claimed already." I answered. "The nogitsune will make the first strike, since he calls it his game he'll make the first move."

"And should we leave the scouts there to keep an eye to know when exactly he makes his first move?" Annabeth questioned.

"No, that would put them in danger and nobody is expendable." I responded without hesitation. "After he makes his move, if we don't make ours, he'll announce it with something big."

"Alright, who should we send where?" Mom asked me.

"I don't know, these aren't my people, I don't know who's best at what." I answered. "I'll leave those decisions to whoever would normally make them, as long as they aren't intending on making these decisions based on expendability."

A/N: I have bad things planned