Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!

Thalia

Thalia ignored the guttural cries of frustration as she lounged underneath a tree. The sun was just starting to set, but Thalia didn't mind- golden light poured through the gaps in the tree branches. She closed her eyes and adjusted her position on her makeshift bed of leaves.

Fall came early this year. Thalia loved fall; the weather, the leaves, the animals, and the colors transfixed her like no other. It wasn't as harsh as winter and not as soft as summer, but nowhere near as optimistic as spring.

Her back was against the thick tree trunk as she slowly picked apart an old leaf- training her vision onto the faded, crinkled body of the leaf ripping from the stem.

"AGH! Enough of this!"

Thalia looked up (with difficulty) to see Reyna charging towards her. Reyna was holding her blindfold in her left hand, and her bow in her right hand like a sword. She looked as if she was ready to gut Thalia right then and there. When Reyna was about fifteen feet away, though, a sharp gust of wind blew against the former praetor. A wall of leaves were slung from the ground and into Reyna's face. This did not discourage Reyna, though- to Thalia's surprise, Reyna continued to walk a few more feet and stopped right in front of her.

Thalia may have been slightly more intimidated if Reyna did not have about sixteen orange and brown leaves in her hair, on her jacket, and on her face.

Reyna took a breath and blew a leaf off her cheek. She gestured towards the smattering of trees behind her in the background. "This exercise is pointless."

Thalia saw that virtually every tree had at least five silver arrows embedded in it. "Are you sure you're not just saying this because...I don't know…maybe, for once, you're not naturally good at it? Mommy's not guiding that arrow for you like she usually does."

Reyna frowned. "My skill is my own. Bellona does not control my actions. These exercises, though, they're not realistic- I would always look at something before I shoot an arrow at it. Training is meant to practice realistic scenarios, environments you would actually find yourself in. I always keep myself in a place where I can strategically interact with any adversaries around me. That includes not being inconveniently blinded in the middle of battle."

Thalia sighed and flicked her leaf stem away. Even after stepping down as praetor, Reyna seemed to have trouble learning to release control of her surroundings and adjusting to the wild nature of the world. As Thalia herself had to learn, it's virtually impossible to control every aspect of the world- especially when dealing in a world of gods and monsters.

"If I were Artemis, I'd probably say some kind of poetic response about the chaotic nature of the world or something like that and just tell you to keep going. But, if I'm being honest, you're skilled, Reyna. You and I have both been in our fair share of scraps," Thalia said as she brushed the leaves off her. She rose to her feet to come face to face with the relatively new Hunter.

"But the Hunt is not the walls of Camp Jupiter. Sometimes, you need to have eyes on the back of your head. And, on the side. And on the top. There will be attacks from all angles. Some things may attack head on while others try to catch you by surprise."

Reyna scoffed. "Lupa trained me to survive in the wild. One of the things she taught me is that there is little honor to attacking an enemy from behind. It shows a lack of respect for yourself and your adversary. "

"Most of the things we're hunting don't care about honor or respect," Thalia said as she stepped past Reyna. As she said that, for some reason, Luke's smile flashed through her head like a flash of lightning. It was gone just as quickly as it arrived.

Thalia looked to the sky to clear her head. The clouds slowly moved across the sky. Even though Reyna had joined the Hunt about two months ago, Thalia was awestruck by how much promise she showed. If Reyna kept at it, she may be able to be a leader on par with Zoe or Hemithea.

Thalia regarded the arrows in the trees. A breeze crept through the forest as she thought about her time as a pine-laden guardian of Camp Half-Blood.

When Thalia was a tree, she was in a weird space of limbo; she couldn't quite live, think, and perceive the way she could now. It was like she was in a weird coma where she couldn't wake up. Despite this, she felt every breeze, every drop of rain, and every grain of soil.

Thalia remembered, however, still being able to dream; and that was how she explored her mind and traversed her memories. She remembered having dreams about Percy, Luke, and Annabeth at one point in time. The last thing Thalia remembered feeling before she was cured by the Fleece was nothing but pure power that tore her from her dreams. That was the divine power that brought her to Half-Blood Hill.

Whenever she was dreaming, though, she would ask herself if she was destined to be a tree for all time. In this forest, now, with Reyna, she found herself asking similar questions.

Is this my fate? For all of eternity? Being a Hunter?

Am I capable of more?

Thalia pushed those thoughts out of her head- she couldn't be distracted when talking to Reyna. She had to keep her focus. As she refocused her vision to the arrows in the trees, Thalia had to admit- it was amazing how Reyna, while blindfolded, was able to hit nothing but trees. Thalia didn't know who would be prouder; Naomi or Celyn.

Thalia grabbed the shaft of the arrow and ripped it out the tree in one motion. She silently apologized to the tree, and then turned to Reyna. "People care about what they can get from you. Animals care about what their next meal will be. Monsters care about what their next kill will be. You have to be aware at all times."

Thalia beckoned towards the bow. Reyna slid the bow off her back and handed it to Thalia. Thalia nocked the arrow.

"Most people think that being aware means keeping your eyes open. While that may be true in some circumstances, you need to have multiple ways to perceive the environment around you. You don't want to be helpless in the event that you get dust in your eyes or half-deafened by an explosion," Thalia said as she hoisted the bow and drew the drawstring back until it was taut.

"You can 'see' your target-" Thalia closed her eyes, focused, and inhaled. In a second, she noticed a number of things. She noticed the breeze in the air and felt the warmth of the sunlight on her skin. She was able to smell and almost taste fur caked in sweat and blood. Thalia could tell the target was moving in a hurry, as she heard the pitter-patter of little feet running over the leaf-adorned ground. As if the source of the noise could tell Thalia was tracking it, the pitter-patter stopped.

Focus, Thalia told herself. Thalia felt a familiar impulse, and released the arrow without hesitation. Thalia heard a chunk, and a subsequent screech.

Thalia opened her eyes, turned, and returned the bow to Reyna. "-without using your sight. That's a skill Artemis taught me years ago. She always believed that it was imperative that a Hunter learn how to track a target by using all your senses rather than simply sight."

Thalia looked in the direction of her arrow and found that it had impaled what looked like a squirrel to a nearby tree. The arrow had pierced its neck and the creature was splayed out as if it was making snow angels in the bark. As Thalia and Reyna approached, they saw it was definitely not a squirrel. It was twice as big as a normal squirrel, almost like it was from New York. It had a turquoise streak down its back, and dried blood caked around its mouth and teeth. Thalia removed the arrow from the tree while the creature was still on it. The creature smelled like rotten milk mixed with sulfur. She had to fight the urge to gag.

Instead of throwing up, she managed to hold it up to Reyna. "A Ratatosk. One of the many descendants of Ratatoskr, a really smart Norse squirrel-being who serves as kind of the Hermes of the World Tree. Don't call him a squirrel to his face, though...trust me. Ratatoskr has traveled to this world a few times, and decided, to, um, mate with...our squirrels. Needless to say-"

Thalia gestured to the Ratatosk's blood-soaked claws and teeth. "-they didn't turn out quite right. They became very carnivorous, and can be very dangerous."

Thalia was about to go on, but stopped when she saw Reyna. Reyna had taken a knee; her head hung as if she was being knighted. Thalia felt the wind change directions and blow at her back rather than towards her front.

Thalia turned to see her Hunters approaching, led by a young woman that looked about eighteen. Two large wolves walked on either side of her. She looked of Native descent, and she was wearing silver and black hunting garb. Both the silver and black clothes gleamed like stars in the sky. The woman's eyes glowed with silvery-yellow moonlit power as her hair flowed in the wind.

Even if she looked a little bit older this time, Thalia recognized her immediately.

Thalia nodded. "My lady."

Thalia turned, nudged Reyna, and whispered, "Hey. We don't really kneel to Lady Artemis when she arrives."

Reyna scrambled up, understandably a little flustered. Artemis had not visited the Hunters in a while, as she was preoccupied with expanding groups of Hunters around the world. She had groups in Europe, Australia, Africa, and South America. As such, Reyna had not gotten too many chances to interact with the Goddess of the Hunt. Artemis had begun to take an older form since she had been adding more older Hunters to the group. Thalia figured it was an attempt to not alienate them; rather, make them feel welcome and not like a freak.

Artemis took a seat on the ground in front of them. The Hunters followed suit and formed two concentric circles around the goddess. Hunter put down their tents, and Reyna watched in tacit awe as Artemis waved her hand to create a small fire in the middle of them. Thalia sat in the space made for her in the first circle, directly facing Artemis.

Artemis closed her eyes and inhaled. When she did, it seemed like all the sounds seemed to drain from the forest. Thalia noticed that there was something troubling her. The air was full of expectation and it seemed like everyone was leaning in.

Artemis opened her eyes. The forest sounds returned. "I have a new hunt for you all, my Hunters. This one is different; it's not a beast without direction. Rather, it is a dangerous individual that must be prevented from returning to this world from Tartarus."

The team bristled at the mention of Tartarus. The sun began to retreat behind the woods as if Apollo himself was intimidated by the mere mention of the name.

Hunter asked, "Who are we hunting, my lady?"

Artemis said, simply, "An old enemy of Athena."

Thalia felt goosebumps on her arms. "Arachne."

Artemis' eyes flashed as the wind picked up. "Names have power, Thalia. I would not go around carelessly throwing around her name during this grim time."

Thalia felt her face getting warm. "So it is her?"

Artemis closed her eyes and gave a slight nod.

Thalia blinked. She remembered several stories from Annabeth and Percy about their run-in with the spider-woman. "Wait, I thought Annabeth and Percy had taken care of her. Monsters don't reform that quickly, do they?"

The look Artemis gave her nearly perfectly translated to, They do now!

Artemis then trained her gaze onto the fire. Thalia thought she saw a microcosm of disgust on her face, as if she was using the fire to watch what was going on in Tartarus at the moment. "They do not usually re-form that quickly. However, this enemy seems to have a cult of followers that are dedicated to bring her back to this plane of existence. They have also done their research; the rites they are doing have been long-forbidden uses of Greek and Egyptian magic. Even Hecate warned us to stay away from anyone using that kind of power. What did she call it...a 'cocktail' of magic?"

Thalia thought about Percy's stories about him working with magicians from Egypt. She wondered how powerful Greek and Egyptian magic could be when combined together.

What can Egyptian magic do?

Reyna cleared her throat. "Excuse me...my goddess….er, my lady."

Artemis nodded in approval.

Reyna stood as if she was in the military. "My lady, where is this enemy now? Where would she be able to assemble such a legion of devoted followers?"

Artemis looked to the sky. "I am not sure how she amassed such a following. According to my ravens, though, suspicious activity was spotted by the Acropolis."

Thalia looked at Artemis. The Acropolis was under special protection by Athena; any shady happenings would have alerted Athena immediately and would have been quickly met with her wrath. Thalia doubted that these followers had the gall to do something that risky. However, she figured that a group of Arachne stans would likely want to get to a respectable place before connecting with their idol. It would be like FaceTiming a rockstar in a dumpster.

"I think I know where they are," Thalia said. "Athena and Spider-Woman are, like, mortal enemies. The...enemy's followers may indeed be by the Acropolis, but not in it. That would be too conspicuous, obvious, and dangerous. Rather, they are to the north of it. They may be in the temple dedicated to Athena's child. The E-rich something."

Aretmis nodded. "The Erechtheum. Named after Erichthonius. A fine ruler- technically, the offspring of Hephaestus and Athena. Made by the combination of the sweat, tears, and skin of the two gods."

"Gross," Jackie said in the back row. Some of the younger Hunters laughed, but most of the others bristled with discomfort.

Artemis continued. "I know that you all are tracking the Teumessian Fox at the moment. This, however, takes priority. Arachne arising in an Athenian temple very well may be a blatant and intentionally crafted sign of disrespect. I fear that Arachne has some kind of plan involving Athena."

Jackson piped up from the first row, "Where you will be, my lady?"

Artemis' eyes glittered. "On Olympus. If Arachne rises, I may need to get to my sister before she does anything rash. Athena is the smartest being I know, but when emotion clouds her judgment; she can unload quite the wrath. She reminds me of my father at times."

Thalia blinked. She kept forgetting that Artemis was the daughter of Zeus, which makes Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, her half-sister. She pictured a ten-year-old Artemis playing sports with a young Jason while Thalia's mother drank a beer and read the recent tabloid magazines. The image was so weird that it made Thalia both laugh and shiver.

Artemis stood and waved her hand. Some flames tore from the fire. Several leaves started to float in the air and swirl together. The flames and leaves began to combine with one another. They began to glow and turn into sparkles until they exploded into moonlight. Thalia slightly flinched at the explosion, but it seemed to be harmless. Standing before them, suddenly, was a chariot. Not just any chariot, though.

Artemis' chariot.

The body of the seat looked to be hand-carved from silver. It seemed to have about twenty rows of seats, like a rollercoaster. The chariot had a luminescent glow in the same way that Apollo's car-chariot had a radiant shine. If his car was the sun, this was the moon. It was pulled by four eight-foot-tall golden deer with glowing silver horns. Thalia recognized the golden deer as Artemis' sacred animals, though she wasn't sure if either of the four deer were the one she was following years ago.

Artemis looked at Thalia with a twinkle in her eye that made Thalia's stomach drop.

Please don't say it.

Please don't say it.

"Thalia. You will drive the Hunters to Athens through this chariot through the air to Athens."

Thalia's hands began to get clammy. "You mean, drive it, like...in the air?"

Artemis tilted her head. "Would you rather it be a bicycle?"

She looked at the chariot, and it immediately became a long silver bicycle with golden wheels with about 25 silver seats on it.

Thalia's mouth was dry. All she could think about was being that high in the air. "No, I'm...I'm okay. I'll drive the chariot. I don't want to look like E.T."

Artemis nodded. "Fair enough."

The bicycle turned back into a chariot.

The Hunters began to pile into the chariot. Naomi piped up, "Lady Artemis? Why are we using your personal chariot? Don't you use it for special occasions only?"

Artemis had a ghost of a smile on her face. "One might say that. However, you all need to hurry. Usually, I would leave it up to you to find a way to Athens, but this hunt is a time-sensitive one. Thalia, in the front. My companions are set to take you to the Acropolis. Go!"

Leaves began to pick up and swirl around her. And, just like that, Artemis was gone.

All eyes were on Thalia as she slowly trudged to the front of the chariot. Thalia's heart was pounding through her chest. She knew they were immortal, but if anyone would find a way to kill immortal people, she'd be the one to do it with her sky-driving. Thalia sat in the front of the chariot. One of the deer turned back to her as if to say, Everything all right back there?

"Everything's fine, Rudolph," Thalia grumbled. She took the reins and felt energy hum through her wrists. She didn't know if it was the reins or her intuition, but she knew exactly how to use the reins to pilot them directly to the Acropolis.

Thalia felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Reyna nod at her. Though no words were spoken, Thalia saw Reyna's typically hard expression soften just slightly. Thalia nodded back and turned back to the front.

"What a day," she muttered. She was Artemis' lieutenant. She can't show weakness here. Thalia double checked to make sure her spear, her bow, and her Aegis bracelet was all intact and with her. Whereas most normal people did a three-pat for the wallet, keys, and phone, Thalia's three-pat was a little different.

Thalia turned forward and adjusted herself so her feet was pressing down on the chariot. She wanted as much weight on the seat as possible. She began to snap the reins. Almost as if they knew Thalia's intentions, the deer took off into the sky as soon as she moved the reins. Thalia prayed that she didn't look too gruesome when her face peeled off during this ride.

Thalia's screams were lost to the wind as they flew through the air and above the clouds like a fighter jet aggressively piloted by E.T. Her surroundings stretched and flattened around her. Thalia felt disembodied as she flew.

After a few seconds of her screaming her lungs out, Thalia heard a fwoosh as the chariot seemed to suspend in the air. Her soul and her body joined once again. Her surroundings began to rush at her until they were in clarity once more. However, it wasn't stopping- it was just slowing down.

They were here.

The first thing Thalia noticed was golden. The Acropolis and the surrounding structures were shining golden in the moonlight. Thalia didn't know if it was manmade or if Apollo had touched them, but there was one thing she had to admit.

Reyna stole the words right out of her mouth. "This is beautiful!"

The chariot slowed to a crawl as Artemis' deer started to descend. As they floated down, Thalia's stomach crawled up to her throat while her heart dropped to where her stomach was supposed to be. Thalia tried to fight the bile coming up in her throat. She silently cursed; she hated this about herself. She never knew why people need to be in the air in the first place; humans were land animals for a reason. If they were meant to be in the air, Zeus would have given everyone wings.

After what seemed like hours, the deer finally landed in the middle of the Acropolis. A very distinct odor permeated the area, seemingly getting stronger with each passing second. The ride and the odor combined was too much for Thalia; she stumbled out of the chariot and threw up in the Acropolis, tasting exactly what she had for dinner last night. Thalia washed herself off and took a swig of moonwater.

Some leader I am.

Thalia saw a few drunk kids around the area, taking pictures and Snapchatting. She thought back to a memory that was particularly salient for her in that moment.

"She smelled weird."

Thalia took a bite of her burger. "Like, good weird?"

Percy nearly choked on his drink in laughter while Annabeth shook her head. "No...I wouldn't say good. It was almost like...think about your favorite pastry."

Thalia nodded while she chewed. The McHale's sign in the window flickered on and off.

"Okay, I got it. Cinnamon rolls."

Percy wrinkled his nose. "Cinnamon rolls are your favorite pastry?! Not honey buns?"

Annabeth ignored Percy and continued. "Think about how wonderful your favorite cinnamon rolls smell."

Thalia thought back to her mother's rolls that she would make when Thalia was young. They were rare, few, and far between, but when Thalia's mom felt appreciated or felt important, that's when the cinnamon rolls would flow, along with the music and hugs.

Now that she was thinking back, those cinnamon rolls smelled pretty damn good.

Annabeth seemed satisfied with Thalia's wistful look. "Now, imagine that you decided to save it in the kitchen cabinet for later."

"Okay…"

"And left it there for a month."

"Ugh."

"Right. You can, I don't know, still smell the pastry. But you can smell the odor of the rotting as well. Just as powerfully."

"And I'm done. Thanks, you all, for wonderful burger conversation," Percy said as he put down his food. Annabeth laughed and Thalia smiled into her fries.

Percy was pretty cool when his life wasn't actively being threatened. She was glad they made McHale's a monthly tradition.

The smell was Arachne.

"Eyes up, ears open, you all. Stay sharp. She's near," Thalia barked.

Thalia and the Hunters dismounted the chariot. The Hunters immediately began preparing for the hunt.

Some of them were checking their arrows.

Others were sharpening their knives.

Hunter was checking on the wolves.

Thalia brandished her spear.

Jackson was lacing her boots (not as cool, but still important).

Thalia put her bow on her back and followed her internal Artemis-given compass until she was facing north. Sure enough, the Erechtheum stood about a stone's throw away. The smell seemed to be getting stronger as she turned there, pungent in an intoxicating way. It reminded her about how Leo described what gasoline smelled like to him.

Thalia looked at the chariot. The not-reindeer were pawing the ground and looking around, as if they were waiting for some kind of direction. Thalia focused, envisioned an excavator, and snapped her fingers. Immediately, a hazy shimmer spread over the chariot, and she knew that the Mist was in effect. Thinking about Percy's reaction when he first saw her do that almost brought a smile to her face.

Thalia turned to her Hunters. "Arachne seems to be here. Do you smell that?"

They nodded. The wolves covered their nose with their paws.

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Thalia said under her breath.

"That smell is Arachne. That means she's rising. We need to hurry. Time to go hunt."

Thalia and the Hunters began to hustle to the Erechtheum, but Hunter stopped. Thalia turned around to see Hunter trying to lead the wolves on. However, they were not having it; they seemed to be like, Uh-uh. We are staying right here. They whimpered and fought Hunter in everything she tried.

Thalia waited a few seconds, then barked, "Hunter! Leave them. Let's go."

Hunter hesitated, then turned to run back to the Hunters. The team ran to the Erechtheum. The structure looked like an incomplete building; one side was like the Acropolis with its strong columns and open entrance while another side was a solid wall. It was like the builders were rotated out halfway through, didn't exchange architecture plans, and were told to freestyle.

Thalia followed the smell to the side of the building. The side of the building had an additional piece of architecture that looked like it belonged in a different structure. It was like a well, except if the well was huge and had a roof that looked like it was being held up by pillars that looked like statues of Athena.

At this point, the smell had gotten so strong that Thalia was having trouble focusing. She turned to her Hunters, who had already wrapped cloth around their nose and mouth. She understood why the wolves had refused to come any closer.

Thalia climbed up next to one of the Athena pillars. She used one of the pillars for balance and looked downwards. While she saw nothing but a floor, she felt some slight air coming out from the ground. Thalia grabbed her spear and turned back to the Hunters.

She took two fingers and gestured downwards twice. Thalia jumped off the landing and into the architectural site. She wrapped a cloth around her nose and mouth as well while the rest of her Hunters entered the area. The walls seemed to be old marble and concrete. The Hunters circled the area, until Reyna spoke.

"I fong susmlkthign," Reyna hissed.

Jackie leaned in. "What?"

"I fong sumlknims," Reyna repeated.

Jackie shook her head. "What are you saying?!"

Reyna pulled down her cloth. "I said I found something! Look."

The Hunters moved towards Reyna and saw a puddle of dried blood in a small indentation in the ground. It looked like a tiny pool for blood.

Reyna looked at Thalia. "Blood pact, perhaps?"

Thalia frowned. "Maybe…"

Thalia put her hand perpendicular to the indentation. She took the end of her spear and slowly sliced her hand open. Thalia squeezed out a drop of blood and guided it to hit the rest of the dried blood in the indentation. Thalia began to feel woozy; she was never a fan of fresh blood. Dried blood, she could do. Fresh blood was something different.

As the blood drop hit, the indentation turned inside out, the ground gave out, and the Hunters found themselves falling through the air.

Thalia landed on her feet, but the impact nearly destroyed her knees. Some of the Hunters were not so graceful, as Jackson landed on Hunter. Jackson scrambled up while muttering creative combinations of apologies and curses.

Thalia looked around; they were in a corridor. The corridor seemed to be made of rusted bronze. On the walls were glowing hieroglyphs of Greek gods and symbols, seemingly woven together with glowing silver weavings that continued down the shadowy hall.

Thalia looked behind her, got the thumbs up from Hunter, and heard a muffled, "I'm good!"

Thalia heard footsteps approaching.

Thalia readied her spear and crouched down behind Aegis Spartan-style. She heard the Hunters preparing their weapons as well.

A group of cloaked individuals came out of the shadows and stopped about twenty feet away. From their body language, Thalia could tell that they were armed, but they were not fighters. She straightened up and pulled down her cloth. "Oh, good, you're here."

Thalia began to count the number of cloaked individuals she could see. "One, two, three, four…"

One of the cloaked individuals stepped forward and spoke in a strangled whisper. "Are you here to serve Arachne?"

"Five, six, seven, eight…"

The individual repeated, in a more irritated tone this time, "Are you here to SERVE Arachne?"

"Nine, ten…ten! Wow! That's perfect."

Thalia knew she had to somehow get behind them to trap them between her and the Hunters. Otherwise, one of them could easily run away and get help. The smell was getting strong, so she knew she had to do this quickly.

Thalia did the calculations regarding what angle she needed to execute this at. She then took Aegis, stood it on its side, and rolled it in front of her like Jason used to roll coins on desks. She followed it as it rolled and watched as Aegis' influence took hold. The followers began to cringe and duck away from Aegis. This made a clear path for Thalia to advance through their group until she passed the tenth & last one. She then picked up Aegis and swung it at the tenth member, connecting with their head with a CLANG! The follower's body crumpled to the ground.

The rest of the Hunters attacked. They unloaded a volley of sedative-tipped arrows into most of the followers while Thalia swung her spear like a baseball bat at the last one standing. With a crack, the figure fell hard.

"Not bad, you all. Just one thing- Reyna, when shooting your arrows at people who are not monsters, we usually go for non-lethal unless we're fighting for our lives," Thalia said as she removed an arrow that was dangerously close to a follower's heart.

Reyna stood up straight. "Yes, ma'am."

The Hunters heard a boom in the distance. Thalia looked down the dark corridor and back at her Hunters. She collapsed Aegis into her bracelet. "Ten of you, stay behind and line yourselves up on either side of this hall. Grab your arrows and get in position. Anybody or anything but us tries to leave this place, light them up. Nine of you, grab these cloaks and put them on."

Hunter, Reyna, Jackson, Naomi, Alex, Morgan, Jackie, Heather, Kiara, and Thalia stepped forward and began to relieve the bodies on the ground of their cloaks. Thalia snatched a cloak off one of the bodies on the ground, only to reveal a Telekhine.

For some reason, seeing it caught her off guard; it wasn't just humans attempting to bring Arachne back. Thalia threw on the cloak and almost gagged from the smell; apparently, this guy hadn't used deodorant in a while. She took this opportunity to wrap the cloth around her face once more.

She threw on the hood. "I guess we're about to crash a party."

Jackie tilted her head. "What?"

Thalia shook her head and continued down the hall. The smell was now permeating their very being, even through the cloth. Thalia couldn't help but look at the hieroglyphs on the wall; she had never seen Egyptian art portray Greek aspects before. It seemed...wrong.

After a few minutes of walking, they walked into a large circular room the size of a baseball field. This area was filled with about two hundred more followers, all chanting in a language that Thalia did not recognize. In the front of the room was a midnight black coffin adorned with the same kinds of silver weavings that were on the walls. Thalia noticed that the weavings seemed to lead from the walls onto the floor and continue until they reached the coffin. If this was not in service to bring back one of the most fearsome monsters of Greek mythology, Thalia would've thought it was cool.

The coffin was open, and they were able to see a bubbling luminescent white mass growing from inside the coffin. As Thalia and her Hunters watched, the white mass stretched, darkened, and hardened until it formed a large, muscular, hairy leg.

Thalia put her spear on her back and looked at the Hunters. She pulled her cloth up slightly. "Now or never."

Simultaneously, Thalia and her Hunters revealed their bows and began shooting arrows into the crowd of unsuspecting followers. One by one, the followers began to go down as they were knocked out by the powerful drug tipped arrows. Pandemonium erupted as the followers tried to figure out where the attacks were coming from. Every shot Thalia released felt as easy as pressing a big red button; it was impossible to miss. With each follower down, Thalia noticed Arachne's growth faltering little by little. The followers quickly began to catch on and track the location of the Hunters, and began to attack. Thalia noticed that some of them were armed while others were not.

While shooting her arrows, she sensed her Hunters moving towards her to form a circle.

Thalia sighed. Hunters only took that formation when they felt like they were outnumbered. Even though there were a lot of followers, none of them were real threats.

None of them were fighters.

Not like her.

She heard a voice in her head say, Hunt, Thalia. Go to work.

Then, something happened. Thalia felt her adrenaline beginning to pump with each arrow she let fly. Her vision began to blur as her battle cries turned into laughter. The dark air took on a slightly blue tinge. On impulse, Thalia tossed aside her bow and arrow and took out her spear.

Naomi cried out, "Thalia!"

Thalia ignored Naomi and broke the circle by charging the followers. One follower tried to throw themselves at Thalia, and she sidestepped. As she sidestepped, she shifted her spear to her left hand and threw it so it impaled another follower. Thalia felt her body in flow; where her body was moving by pure instinct and muscle memory. Thalia turned to kick the follower she sidestepped, threw another attacking from her left, elbowed someone else coming from behind, then threw Aegis like a frisbee into another's chest. Aegis hit them with a clang so strong that the follower went flying a few feet. Thalia grabbed her spear from the body she impaled, ripped it out the body, and then swung it at another follower's neck, cracking it and knocking them out. She grinned- that was one of her favorite moves.

Thalia headbutted one, flipped over another while grabbing onto their cloak, and threw them into another while scooping Aegis once more. Thalia smiled and twirled her spear and thrust it into the ground, creating a controlled explosion of force and lightning that stunned the five or so followers closest to her.

"THALIA!"

Thalia turned to see Reyna shooting arrows at the coffin. Thalia looked to see Arachne nearly fully formed. She was attempting to stand to her full height, convulsing as she got taller and taller. One hooded individual was running towards the coffin. In desperation, Thalia turned and tapped into her emotions. Her spear subsequently charged with lightning, and Thalia hefted it like a javelin. It impaled the coffin, halting the hooded individual in their tracks. Upon impact, the spear discharged a blast of lightning and sliced through the coffin. The glowing weave design dimmed, and the formation of Arachne faltered.

Like someone had stopped time, everyone was still for a few seconds. Everyone was looking towards the coffin. Arachne was posed as if she was frozen in time whilst her human-like half was contorted backwards. She looked like a grotesque, unfinished, hyper-realistic Greek statue of herself.

Reyna quickly threw a smoke capsule, which exploded and produced a thick enough smoke to obscure the vision of those around the Hunters.

What is she doing? Thalia was cooking with anger. Now wasn't the time to run. Now was the time to stop this.

She saw a space clear of smoke about ten steps away. She nocked another arrow and began to head out of the area of effect. Hunter, however, restrained her from doing so. Annoyed, Thalia was about to give Hunter a light static shock when Naomi tackled both Hunter and Thalia back into the corridor they came from. They were able to just make their way out of the corridor when Thalia saw Arachne open her eyes.

Arachne's large, animalistic, pure black eyes. As they took cover in the corridor, Thalia could only hear Arachne inhale, prompting a deafening explosion of cheers in the space.

They failed. Thalia failed.

Thalia heard (and smelled) Arachne step out of the coffin in the midst of the victorious cheering and chanting. The cheers suddenly stopped, and Thalia heard a whispery voice that sounded like pasta boiling. "Bring me that weapon."

Thalia saw one of the followers run into her line of sight to grab the smoke bomb and run back out of view. Thalia took her bow off her back and was gripping it. She had heard horror stories from Annabeth about this thing. She was not going to see if it lives up to the legend.

Thalia heard a collage of noises that sounded like hacking, spitting, and barfing. Thalia sensed something was coming towards them.

It wasn't a person, though.

The smoke canister landed in the entrance of the corridor.

Thalia yelled behind her cloth, "SCATTER!"

Thankfully, her Hunters seemed to understand. Thalia and the Hunters dove away from the canister as it exploded, releasing light green gas that somehow smelled even worse than Arachne herself. The rest of the Hunters used their cloth to cover their eyes. Once Thalia saw all her Hunters were safe, she closed her eyes and readied her bow.

Thalia then heard the quick-paced skittering she imagined Arachne's footsteps to sound like. "Now that the little huntresses are occupied, it's time, my children."

Thalia wanted to see what was going on. However, she couldn't afford to have Hunter pull another NFL move on her, lest they give away their position.

They can't see me anyway.

Thalia slowly advanced through the green smoke, and opened her eyes. It was like voluntarily pouring hydrochloric acid into her eyes. Almost immediately, her eyes burned and teared up. Thalia tried to focus her vision, though. She had one chance to do this.

Thalia reached the opening of the corridor and slowly leaned around the corner. Arachne was still not fully formed, as some of her body was sagging and drooping like melted cheese. However, she could still move some of her legs, which allowed her to move around. Arachne had moved to the center of the room, and watched as about twenty of her followers yanked a pulley that removed a circular trapdoor from the ceiling. Thalia looked up and saw that the trapdoor led straight into the open air.

Arachne lifted her head up and smiled, showing off a gruesome set of large needles for teeth.

"Athena, my old enemy. Hear me," she said. Now that Thalia was closer, her voice was just as intoxicating as the smell she gave off.

"I challenge you once more. You thought you beat me for good and, yet, here I am. So, this is my proposition, you coward. I challenge you to a weaving contest. One last one. You and me. If I win, I get your most talented child. The child who almost bested me. Almost! "

Thalia had to grab the wall to steady herself while her eyes were being tortured. Is she talking about Annabeth?!

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The air turned frigid. Thalia half-expected Zeus to open up the skies and obliterate Arachne.

Arachne tsk-tsked. "Ah, ah. If you kill me right now, you won't be able to say you beat me. I hear that I am your biggest controversy. Your biggest failure. Your only loss. Even your child believes that I am better than you at weaving. Show them that they are wrong. If I lose, I will willingly return to Tartarus for all time."

Arachne circled the center of the room like she was a defense lawyer. "I will not curse you nor any of your children. I will immediately cease any and all endeavors. And, I will admit, in front of the grandest stage that you can create, that YOU are the most premiere, wise, and wonderful goddess."

Thalia felt wind blow through the trap door and through the corridor. The wind cleared out some of the toxin in the air, relieving Thalia's eyes just slightly.

Come on, Artemis. Control her.

"Take back your seat of power with the Olympians. Take back your dignity. Earn their respect. Unless...you recognize that you are incapable of beating me."

Instantly, a bright light appeared in the cavern as if the sun decided to pay a visit. Thalia thought she was dead for a second, but instead, she opened her eyes to see most of the followers in the room disintegrated. In their place was a tall woman in black and gray robes. She shined with power, and even from the corridor, Thalia could see the woman's powerful gray eyes.

Arachne smiled. It was now Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who was circling Arachne. The old enemies were silent for a while.

Thalia could have taken the tension in her room, folded it up, and put it in her pocket.

Finally, Arachne jumped in. "No armor?"

Athena scoffed. "I do not need armor when dealing with lesser beings."

Arachne only turned her head to follow Athena.

"You could have killed me at any point while I was talking, and I'm still here. Does that mean we have a deal?"

Athena stopped walking. "The only reason I am not ripping you apart for threatening my child is that you have given a proposition that has a guaranteed outcome. I will win. And when I win, you must also announce that you owe your weaving skill to me."

Thalia's heart dropped like she was riding on Artemis' chariot. What? What did she just say?

What about Annabeth?

Arachne snarled in response. Athena shook her head.

Thalia could barely keep her eyes open; the poison had thickened once more.

Athena said with nothing but derision in her voice, "Say it, spider."

Arachne chittered, "And...that I owe my glorious weaving talent to you."

Athena stopped walking. "Swear on the River."

"I swear on the River Styx." Thunder boomed in the background.

Thalia had to shut her eyes or else her eyes would have popped out her sockets. Tears flowed freely from the noxious gas.

She heard Athena say, "Come then, spider. The Muses will serve as the judges this time, rather than a crowd of mortals."

With a flash of light, Thalia no longer smelled Arachne or heard Athena. Thalia opened her eyes with difficulty, walked into the room, and ripped her spear out from the coffin. She then pivoted and re-traced her footsteps to get to her Hunters. She helped them up and rushed to meet the other Hunters at the end of the corridor.

Even though her eyes were shut, Thalia heard a whistle in the air and felt the space bend around her. Thalia instinctively put her hand up to catch an arrow that one of the Hunters shot at them. She ripped off the cloak and the cloth covering her face. "It's me, damn it!"

Felicia put down her bow and arrow and said in a mousy voice, "Oh...sorry."

Thalia helped them climb out so they were out on the side of the Erechtheum once more. Thalia cursed when she saw that Artemis' chariot was gone.

Thalia, with fire in her eyes, looked to her Hunters. "Annabeth's in danger. We need to find her, now."

Reyna removed her cloak. "Where is she?"

Thalia took a few moonwater drops and put in her eyes. Her eyes sizzled for a bit, but her vision cleared up. Thalia prayed she didn't get an infection.

Thalia thought for a minute and let her eyes fall to the Acropolis. "Probably with Percy."