Lord Perseus Child of Rome

Ch. 6

Ch. 6

Camp Half-Blood

Zoe had taken the hunters to Camp Half-Blood following their encounter at a boarding school in Maine with a Manticore. Annabeth, Luke, Thalia, and Grover had been trying to rescue two powerful half-bloods from the boarding school only to have Annabeth kidnapped by the Manticore Dr. Thorne. Then the female half-blood they were sent to rescue joined the hunters instead of coming to camp like her brother. Artemis had sent the hunters to camp with Thalia, Grover, and Luke Castellan along with the younger brother of the newest huntress while Artemis went out hunting an ancient and powerful monster by herself. Once the huntresses had settled in at camp it was time for the customary capture the flag game, campers versus the hunters.

Zoe raced through the forest at remarkable speeds carrying the campers flag, her millennia as a huntress had kept him in tip top shape. She knew she had to hurry though, she could hear her sisters yelling at a camper, the daughter of Zeus, who apparently had taken the hunters flag, which was a feat all in on its own. As she reached the clearing Zoe was shocked to see that Thalia was slightly closer to the creek than Zoe was. The hunters looked like they were going to lose for the first time in centuries of playing the game versus the campers. Zoe was faster than Thalia but it still might not be enough as Thalia was closer to the boundary marker.

Instead of panicking that they were about to lose, Zoe just smirked as she continued to sprint toward the creek. She began to concentrate on Thalia, slowing her down ever so slightly with her time abilities. Zoe raced to the creek, and leaped over the boundary line and back into hunter territory just before Thalia reached the creek, effectively winning the game for the hunters once again. She hadn't intended to, but she landed right in front of Thalia, sending her crashing into the daughter of Zeus and knocking them both down onto the forest floor. As Zoe pulled herself to her feet she saw a bracelet on Thalia's wrist. She had seen it earlier in Maine when fighting the Manticore. It was her shield Aegis. But as the daughter of Zeus was climbing to her feet Zoe saw a familiar wolf pendant gleamed in the moonlight. It was just like hers. A million thoughts raced through her mind like

'Why would this girl have the same pendant as me?''

'How does she know Perseus?'

Then everything came together in Zoe's head and she was overwhelmed with three emotions; anger, betrayal and heartbreak.

Thalia was dumbfounded that she had lost when she was so sure she was ahead. She was pulling herself to her feet when she saw Zoe looking at her bracelet. She saw Zoe's eyes flash dangerously and the huntress looked absolutely furious. But the anger quickly disappeared to be replaced by another emotion Thalia wasn't sure about, but it looked like Zoe had had her heart ripped out of her chest.

Thalia was confused as to why her bracelet would cause the huntress to be so upset. Then the moonlight reflected off a silver necklace that hung from Zoe's neck. She saw a wolf pendant glimmer in the moonlight. Thalia wasn't angry like Zoe was, she was just confused. Perseus had told Thalia that she was his only champion. Although he did say he had given one other person a pendant, she couldn't comprehend why he would give it to a huntress, especially, at least in Thalia's opinion, such a cold-hearted one. Perseus had seemed like such a good-hearted and relaxed guy, she couldn't figure out what connection he would have to Zoe.

As both girls stared at each other, one with confusion and the other with anger, they were interrupted by gasps from campers and hunters alike. A woman who looked like a mummified corpse walked straight up to Zoe. Green smoke began to pour out of her mouth; she spoke in an ancient voice that sounded like three voices speaking as one. She rasped:

'Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The Bane of Olympus shows the trail,