Zoe

We had set up our camp near a school in Maine. We were sent there by Zeus together with a group of Chiron's campers to retrieve two young demigods, brother and sister.

The campers had gone inside to try and get the demigods out. We were the backup plan. If anything went wrong we'd need to help them fight whatever monster is in there.

I spotted Thalia, Annabeth and the satyr running out the front door. The children weren't with them, meaning there was probably a monster inside which they were trying to lure into our crossheirs. If everything went according to plan, the monster would come chasing after them and we'd be able to open fire. Without a word, I signaled the hunters to get ready. Next to me Phoebe whispered "Something isn't right" I knew what she meant, that boy from camp was nowhere to be seen and the monster still hadn't shown it's face.

I heard something growl behind me. I turned around, expecting it to be one of our wolves, but instead I saw a pack of Hellhounds running our way. "It's a trap!" I yelled. The Hunters turned around letting their arrows fly. I saw Tracey, a newer hunter, get tackled by a hound but I quickly shot him down before he could do any real harm. She gave me a thankful nod and quickly resumed fighting. As I was distracted, a Hellhound had snuck up on me and pounced on me from the side. It knocked my bow out of my hand and tackled me to the ground. It was about to bite down on my neck but I managed to slit it's throut with my hidden blade. (like in Assassin's Creed)

As I pushed the beast off me and stood up I saw that the rest of the Hunters had taken care of the other hounds. Some were severely wounded, but most of us were unharmed or had only sustained minor injuries. Most importantly, we hadn't lost any of our sisters. What we had lost though was time. I turned to look at the school just in time to see Thalia sprinting away.

"We must help them. Those who can't fight, treat your wounds as best as you can, then try to help the others, those who still can, follow me!" I shouted. I heard some mutter in annoyance but they followed my orders nonetheless. I lead the remaining hunters in the direction I'd seen Thalia run. I saw the campers in a clearing up ahead. I also got my first look at the monster they were fighting. It was a manticore, a class 3 monster, but apparently too much for the campers to handle. The boy was standing over Thalia, trying to block the attacks with his shield, but it didn't look good for them. They'd probably be dead before we got there.

Suddenly the Manticore was hit by a huge bolt of lightning. It looked like an attempt from Zeus to save his daughter, but instead of coming down from the sky it had shot out of the forest. As we got closer, the lightning solidified into a boy wearing silver battle armor. A mask similar to that of a ninja covered his face. He wore a Katana holder on his back and a chestplate that seemed familiar to me. But the most interesting thing was by far his sword. The blade seemed to be made purely out of lightning and it was shaped like a Katana. He stood in front of the children, cutting through the spikes being thrown at them. Then, faster than one could blink, he threw his sword at the monster and zapped away with the children.

By now we had reached them and I blew the hunting horn, signalling our arrival. After a moment of silence the manticore became frightened and started shooting his spikes randomly into the forest. Injured as he already was we easily intercepted them midair and started piercing him with our arrows. When I saw he was defeated I held up my hand to stop the attack. I stepped out with my bow drawn, keeping my eyes on the Manticore.

"Permission to kill mil..." was as far as i got before the monster came charging at me. I fired and arrow straight at his chest but he seemed unfazed. Before the other hunters could open fire the mortal helicopter, which I had assumed wouldn't pay any attention to us, started raining down bullets on them and they had to spread out. Thus, the monster managed to grab me and started running towards the cliff. I noticed Annabeth putting on her invisibility cap to help me but before she could disappear the Manticore snatched her up up with his tail and threw himself her off the cliff with us.

As I was falling I thought this was the end. That I'd die falling off a cliff. I wasn't that sad about dying but I always wanted it to be in a forest, by my sisters side. As I was still mourning that I'd die in such a dishonorable way I noticed the strange boy taking a leap of faith after us. He transformed into lightning midair and went right through the Manticore tearing off it's arm in the process. I was freefalling for a few seconds before I felt a pair of arms grab me and we seemed to be going upwards.

Under usual circumstances I would've killed the boy for touching me but seeing as he was saving my life that seemed rather unfitting.I pushed aside these thoughts and instead found myself fascinated by the fact that we were soaring through the sky. When I was a child, I had always imagined sprouting wings and flying away from the garden, into the wilderness. When I looked around I saw a flock of ravens flying past us and plants growing on the side of the cliff. I also took a closer look at the boy, specifically his chestplate. When I read the inscription, δικαιόσυνος. I suddenly knew why it seemed familiar. It was mine! With my previous fascination gone, I wanted nothing more than to get away from this guy and that thing.

Luckily we had reached the top of the cliff and I jumped out of his arms before he could set me down. As I had expected, Artemis was coming at us with a grim look on her face and an arrow notched. To my suprise, before she had even revealed herself as the goddess, much less made any threats, the boy had already bowed down before her. "My apologies, Lady Artemis, for touching your lieutenant but I saw no other way" He said. She looked as suprised as I was, but quickly regained her composure "It is alright, by coming here and kneeling before me you have proven your pure intentions. Rise, young hero, tell me your name" He seemed to hesitate for a second, then he slowly rose up and pulled down his hood and scarf. For some reason, Artemis eyes widened.

"My name is Jay, son of Zeus, wielder of σχίζω-ἀστεροπή, and heir and savior of Olympus, but my return puts this world in great danger."

My mouth was agape, as were most of the other hunters. I thought he had to be lying. There was no way he was the heir or the savior of Olympus. But something made me want to believe him. The way he had said it, he seemed so empty, so hollow, like he didn't even care. There was not a hint of boast or even pride in his words. I was suprised to see a tear escape lady Artemis eye, but what happened next shook me to the core. She dropped her bow and went to hug the boy. I think some of the hunters fainted, some others drew their bows. The boy didn't return the hug but I think I saw the slightest hint of a smile grace his lips.

As I was still staring at the scene in front of me, I saw Lady Artemis turn around. "Zoe, have the hunters..." She started "are you listening Zoe?" I shook my head wildly trying to snap out of my trance and mumbled something like "Huh, what... yeah... no... sorry... could you please repeat?" She smiled. "Have the hunters return to our camp, provide the campers with visitor tents and have someone talk to the children. I have to take Jay to Olympus immediately, if I'm not back by tomorrow morning, Apollo wil come and take you to Camp Half-Blood."

I wanted to ask so many questions or at least protest about having to go to that wretched camp, but I knew I wouldn't be able to change her mind. Instead I just nodded, turned to the hunters and started bellowing out orders. I turned around just in time to see Artemis flashing away with the boy. Seconds after they had vanished a fist connected with my jaw.

"What was that back there princess?" Thalia spat with venom in her voice.

I wanted to hit her back but could stop myself seeing as she had just lost her friend, instead I asked "What was what? I wasn't planning to fall off the damn cliff, if that's what you mean, pinecone face"

"You were supposed to be our backup! We almost died back there!" She almost screamed.

"Well so did we! While you were inside dancing the night away we were ambushed by a pack of Hellhounds!" I spat back.

"So the mighty hunters couldn't handle a few doggies?"

I was about to spit out another argument when the son of Poseidon interrupted us "Shut up, both of you! What happened to Dr. Thorn, who is this Jay person and where the hell is Annabeth?!"

I was about to punch him for his disrespect, but Thalia caught my fist with her hand. "He got knocked out when the lightning struck Thorn, I would have too if I wasn't a daughter of Zeus." She said in a calmer voice.

"Fine!" I relented "But You're explaining this to him." I said pointing at her. "I'll have one of the hunters bring you your tents" I said, before walking away.

I needed some time to think. The chestplate the boy was wearing was part of the greatest mistake I'd ever made. Seeing it again had brought back bad memories, the fact that he was a son of Zeus didn't help. Still, I was curious how he'd got it. Probably a gift from his father, but I couldn't be sure. It was probably best not to think about it. After a few more minutes I noticed I had wandered off and decided to head back to our encampment. It was getting late anyway.