Shattered

Zoe

Zoe didn't look good. She was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading.

"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy frantically asked Artemis. "I mean... you're a goddess."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."

She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.

"Have I... served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed staring at the sparkling lights in the sky. "Rest. At last."

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."

But in that moment, Percy knew it wasn't just the poison that was killing her. It was her father's final blow. Zoe had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save him, and Atlas's fury had broken her inside.

She saw Thalia, and took her hand.

"I am sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters."

"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men-everything."

"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at the son of Poseidon. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?"

He couldn't speak, but he brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like... like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword."

A shudder ran through her body.

"Zoe-" Percy said.

"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. The fading lights filled her with sorrow. The stars were so far away.... Dimming until there was void.

Ω

When Zoe opened her eyes, she expected to find herself in Elysium, or at the very least the Fields of Asphodel. But she wasn't there... She was in... Her tent?

She was lying on her own bed, in her hunters uniform. Getting off the mattress, the huntress examined herself. She was in perfect condition... She couldn't feel the blisteringly painful claw marks on her torso, neither could she feel the venomous toxin course through her blood. It was almost like she had never experienced her memories...

Praying to the gods that the whole scenario wasn't simply an elaborate trick, serving as punishment for all of her wrongdoings to the opposite sex, Zoe opened her tent flap, only to be greeted by an incredible normalcy.

Her sisters were milling about their business, a few sharpening their arrows, a few practicing with their bows and/or hunting knives. A couple were gutting and cleaning a stag, probably preparing it to be cooked for dinner.

Her lady Artemis was nowhere to be found, unfortunately. Zoe confusedly wandered around the camp, looking to find something that was out of the ordinary. Glancing up at the sky, Zoe could tell that it was probably around six in the evening.

A silver flash broke the huntress from her musing. It was her lady Artemis.

"I have received orders from Olympus, we are to hunt and capture the Manticore. We have gained some Intel that says that the Manticore is connected with Kronos, so my father has commanded that we capture and interrogation the beast."