Snowfall

Get Over It

Running with the hunt was always enjoyable to Percy. He loved not being at war but just staying at camp all the time got boring. The hunt allowed him to fight, to have an adventure with his friends and not have to worry about a time limit or the end of the world. The hunt was great.

Until it wasn't.

It had just been a normal hunt. There had been reports of Lycaon and his pack running through the area, wreaking havoc on travellers and demigods. So they had gone to kill him again.

It had seemed normal at first. There was Lycaon and his pack, about ten to fifteen wolves, as there always was. The fight had been going fine up until Lycaon released the rest of his pack.

He'd never had more than those ten or fifteen, but suddenly there were dozens of more werewolves right on top of them, flooding out of the trees. The huntresses aimed their bows towards the newcomers, having to watch each other's backs due to the wolves being on both sides. Percy stayed focused on the old pack, killing them off before they could get to the hunters and attack them from behind. Artemis fought Lycaon, killing any wolf that dared try and interfere with her fight.

Then the fight turned out of their favour. One hunter dropped, and then another. Percy finished off the wolves in the middle and turned towards the ones attacking the hunters, but he was only one person. He cringed as he saw a huntress get tackled by a werewolf and his teeth sank into her neck.

If there was one thing he wasn't prepared for, it had been her fall. She screamed and he turned toward her, eyes widening and his mouth opening in a silent yell. Thalia dropped onto her knees, a werewolf on her back scratching and biting at her. An arrow struck the beast, sending it to Tartarus, but the damage was done. Thalia dropped onto the ground, panting heavily as blood flowed from her back.

Percy charged at her, slaying any wolf that dared get in his path. Bela had gotten there before him and she was trying to fend off the wolves as she dropped her pack onto the ground to try and heal her lieutenant. Percy took over keeping the wolves at bay so that she could focus on Thalia.

The wolves eventually were all dead, but at a cost that seemed almost too great. Over half the huntresses had died in that battle. He heard many of the remaining girls stifle sobs, some not even bothering to stifle their cries. Most of the hunters were injured, Jaislee handing out ambrosia and nectar to all of them as Bela worked on Thalia. Surprisingly, Thalia was the only one that wasn't immediately killed.

Percy crouched by her side, tucking her hair behind her ear. Her face was pale, one cheek pressed into the ground and her eyes half closed. Her breaths came in quick gasps, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe through the injuries in her back.

"Oh, my lieutenant," he heard Artemis exhale, kneeling by his side to take a look at Thalia.

Thalia blinked fast, locking eyes with her lady. "Don't use up all this on me," she rasped. "It's useless."

"Don't say that," Artemis gasped, resting her hand on Thalia's shoulder. "Please. We can save you."

"Mi'Lady, Thalia's right," Bela said from the girl's side. "It's pointless. She only has minutes to live."

"Thalia, no," Percy blinked back tears, watching one of his best friends slowly die in front of him. "You can't die. Please."

"It'll be okay," she smiled sadly. "I'll see Luke again."

"But what about Jason? And Annabeth? And us?" He protested, gripping her hand tightly as if it could keep her grounded.

"They'll have to live without me," she said. "It's not like it'll be any different, with me always being away with the hunt."

"But what about the hunt?" Artemis said quietly, tears of her own dropping onto Thalia's back. "You've been here for only a few years. I don't want to have to choose another lieutenant so soon."

"The hunt'll do fine," the daughter of Zeus soothed. "I trust your judgement, Artemis. You'll choose a fine replacement." Her breath shuddered, her eyelids flickering as she fought for a few more moments. It seemed she lost, as her eyelids dropped and her breathing stopped in one last puff.

Multiple hunters sobbed, and he heard Artemis whimper from his side. He reluctantly put an arm around the goddess's shoulder, trying to comfort her, and was surprised when she collapsed into his side and cried into his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut, his own tears falling into Artemis's auburn hair.

Freedom always had its consequences.