Memories of a Hero

11

(Slight flashback)

Rachel had never officially met the Hunters of Artemis before, except for Thalia. Now, they were in Rachel's front door where Artemis is staring at her dead in the eyes.

"Um, hi?" Rachel said nervously.

"Milady," Thalia said calmly. "You're scaring her. Let me talk to her for a minute."

Thankfully, Rachel lived in a penthouse at the top of a building where the main lobby was enough to house a few dozens of immortal girls. Thalia and Rachel were in the kitchen, where Thalia was going to explain everything.

"Sorry bout that." Thalia said. "Artemis isn't really in the best of moods right now."

"I can tell," Rachel said. "Did something happen?"

Thalia bit her lower lip. "Annabeth told me you know this Percy guy?"

Rachel chuckled without humor. "I suppose you don't remember him as well, do you?"

Thalia shook her head. "I've never met him until a few days ago."

"Figures." Rachel said as she squiggled imaginary lines on the counter top. "I swear if I ever find him I'll stab him in his ear." She turned towards Thalia. "Did you remember how you got out of the pine tree, Thalia?"

Thalia frowned. "The Golden Fleece brought me back, remember?"

"Yes, but did you remember how the Golden Fleece got there in the first place?"

"Of course, Annabeth, Grover and . . . uh, someone brought it back." Thalia frowned. "Why does it all seem fuzzy?"

Rachel sighed. "Never mind." She said miserably. "Anyway, what's wrong with Artemis?"

"It's been a tough months for her." Thalia explained. "After the war with Gaia, Zeus told us to cleanup what's left of the army. It's been over a year and our job is still not done. She's getting tired and so are we."

"Must be tough," Rachel said. She really couldn't relate on how it is to be a demigod, but she could relate on having life being rough on you.

Thalia sighed. "With the job at hand not making things easy for her, she keeps having these dreams."

"What kind of dreams?"

"She's having dreams about Zoe," Thalia said. "She's our former lieutenant and basically the only human being that has ever gotten close to becoming Artemis's BFF."

"Former lieutenant?"

"Yeah," Thalia said sadly. "She died in combat during a mission where we have to rescue Annabeth and Artemis from under the sky."

"Yeah, Percy told me about that." Rachel said. Thalia wanted to respond, but she stopped herself. If Percy was there, she didn't remember.

"So Artemis wanted to know if these dreams have some kind of meaning or whether that it's some sort of sign." Thalia explained. "Since you're the Oracle of Delphi, she figured you would know."

Rachel gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I don't think I can help. Maybe she's just too tired? I don't know. Plus, a lot of things have been going on lately."

"Yeah, monster attacks have been ruthless." Thalia admitted. "I heard that Camp Half-Blood recently got attacked by a massive army."

"Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they made it." Thalia said. "Still, it's worrying."

"Yeah, it is." Rachel said. "Sorry I couldn't be more helpful."