Fear of Erebus

The Argo

A thinning layer of fog rolled over the calm sea as the sun slowly melted into the sleepy sky. Dawn.

"This better be worth it, Lady Artemis!" Hylla stated, as she and her sister greeted us with sneers and unnecessary sarcasm at the docks. I didn't even bother to amuse them with a reply, instead hoping against fate that my damn resurrected ex hasn't stood me up. 'Don't worry, everything will be fine,' Oh, how reassuring that would be, however I doubted I could convince myself of it, let alone my Hunters and the two Amazon leaders.

Despite the early hours, mortal men milled about the pier; preparing their little boats for a day of fishing and such. There, however was no sign of-

"Hey, Arty, you made it!" Mental note to self: kill Orion, again, after the war is over. Before said person could make it within fifteen metres of our group, everyone had their weapons drawn. Let's just say that Orion has made a somewhat terrible reputation for killing off several female warriors over the years—long story.

Orion instantly raised his hands in surrender at the sight. "What's he doing here, Lady Artemis?" Thalia asked with a horrid snarl.

"You didn't tell them?" Orion looked pretty panicked now—almost human panicked. I rolled my eyes; of cause I didn't tell them, they would have never come had they known. 

"Girls, drop your weapons. Orion's... Well, he's on our side." The girls were reluctant, each giving Orion their personal glares. If looks could kill, Orion would be dead a billion times over.

"Have you lost your mind, Goddess? Because in case you've forgotten, this male has done some pretty terrible things over the centuries, not only to my Amazon's, but also to your Hunters! And now? You expect us to just forget that and trust him?!" Hylla did make a good argument but to survive this coming war... we needed help.

"Okay, just hear me out," I turned to make sure everyone could hear and see me. "Orion has promised to help us in this war-"

"He's a male! We don't need them!" Someone yelled from the back but I just ignored them. If they want to survive, then they need to realise that we can't do it by ourselves, at least not against an entire army of shadow creatures.

"-I'm not saying that you have to trust Orion, just work with him!"

"And how do you know he won't stab us in the back once we've let our guard down?" Amazon's have always been known to be hostile and suspicious, but I must say, Reyna might be the most suspicious Amazon I've ever had the displeasure of meeting.

"Because I've been ordered not to hurt anyone!" Orion barked back. Di immortals! I just wish he kept his damn trap shut! Regardless of my wishes, the Fates subject themselves to no one, and so Orion's comment caught the attention of everyone—the wrong kind of attention.

"Ordered by whom?" Great, there was nothing better then firing up Phoebe's distrust.

Before Orion got the chance to answer, I decided it was probably best if I explained. "Okay, okay, okay! Let's try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum," I said as I step between a worried Orion and a group of lethal Hunters and Amazons. "Orion has sworn loyalty to Olympus and at the moment he is working," I looked to the male hunter to clarify if I had used the right word; he nodded, "for Perseus Jackson-"

"Great, more males!" Someone muttered.

"-who has guaranteed his alliance with us. So, Orion is here, to take us to Perseus." I paused. "Does anyone have a problem with this plan because if you do, I swear by Zeus' beard, I'll leave you here to fend for yourselves!" No one dared speak and few were brave enough to meet my gaze. "Right. So Orion," this time I turned to him, who only now, began to lower his arms. "how are we getting to Perseus?"