Chapter 6 – Hind is Not on the Menu

The sun had barely peaked above the horizon, staining the sky above multiple shades of yellow, orange, and violet before it melted back into the navy blue that still lingered from the night. Thalia looked at the glittering water of the canoe lake reflecting the dawning sky, leaning back into the rough bark of her tree. Beside her, the Golden Fleece sparkled from its place on the lower bough.

The girl sighed frustratingly into the chilly night air, and fiddled with the zipper on the black bag in front of her. Said bag was filled with survival supplies for the quest, the source of her frustration. Well, most of it. Most of her frustration was caused by a certain boy that she was unluckily forced to share company with.

After the semi-philosophical discussion the previous morning, the planning of the quest continued awkwardly. With the Nemean Lion and Hydra already killed, their first task was to capture the Hind of Artemis. Thalia let out yet another frustrated huff and moved from fiddling with the zipper to shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket and glaring off into the distance.

A certain dark-haired boy suggested setting a net or perhaps snagging it in a steel trap, since it was the easiest way to accomplish their first trail. She could not accept that. As a former Huntress, Thalia refused to cause any harm to the Hind of Artemis, physical or otherwise, seeing as it would be a grievous insult to her Lady.

The ensuing argument will have the offspring of the gods talking for months. If one were to look at the mess hall now, they would probably notice several new cracks in the ground and a certain bench smoked. Chiron eventually had to be called in to separate the two, and to give them the tasks of helping the harpies clean the dishes after dinner. The rest of the day for both of them was spent hacking at dummy targets or brooding in the forest.

By the time they had to clean the dishes, they had calmed down enough to at least organize how they were going to get to the Yellowstone National Park, which was where the Hind was last seen. They were to meet at the Hill before dawn, which was easiest for shadow traveling because it assured that there were shadows to appear into. The two would travel to Yellowstone and officially begin their search for the Hind.

So here she was, sitting underneath her tree, and Nico was late. Thalia huffed again and switched from having her hands in her pockets to fiddling with the zipper again. Looking around the hill, she saw Peleus, the Camp's new guard dragon relaxing deceivingly in the shadows in the copse of trees at the bottom of the hill. She knew that if she had come from the other side of the hill and not the camp's side, she would have found herself pinned underneath the dangerous claws of the dragon.

Peleus himself eyed the spiky-haired girl curiously through slit eyes that made him appear to be asleep. The dragon could tell that the girl was angry and waiting for something. Surveying his hill, he saw a movement in the shadows of the trees. Sharp eyes zeroed in on the movement and identified it as the dark boy he had seen playing with his friend, Miss O'Leary.

Nico trudged up the hill; a similar black bag to Thalia's weighing on his shoulders, irritation at the whole situation practically rolling off of him in waves. Thalia, seeing the boy, was on her feet and stomping to confront him. Nico, seeing this, smirked annoyingly and straightened his posture, rising to meet any challenge the girl would present. On his hand a ring glinted in the rising sun of the day, which was no longer touching the horizon.

However, before either one of them were close enough to exchange blows, a blazing comet raced through the sky and banished any traces of colors other than white. The comet came to a stop between the two at-odds teens and dimmed to reveal a startlingly blonde man in the front seat of a golden sports car.

"Ah! If it isn't my two favorite demi-gods!" Apollo trilled, stepping out of the car and looking at Thalia and Nico, who were both rubbing their eyes and trying to get the spots of white to disappear from their vision.

Thalia was the first to recover, "What do you want, Apollo?"

Apollo ignored her irate tone and answered the question, "I want you two, to succeed, and give those arguing idiots in Olympus something else to argue about." The sky rumbled, and the trees trembled. Apollo looked annoyed and glared up at the sky, "You know I'm right!"

"Wait, so we're really just a distraction?" Nico asked, finally rubbing the last of the spits away.

Apollo looked at him, "No. You guys are something like a new controversial TV show that everyone is watching."

The air around Thalia crackled. "You created a prophesy, threatened to end the world, and had to drag my butt into this, all for the sake of entertainment!"

The Sun god sighed, "No. I am giving Olympus a chance stop being selfish before I lose my mind and set this earth on fire by giving them something else to argue about."

"Why did you pick us?" Nico asked, crossing his arms and giving a death glare to Apollo.

"Because you two will get the most attention!" Apollo crowed.

"Why will we get the most attention?" Thalia asked.

Apollo laughed and moved to get in his car, "Now, now. I'm not going to give away all of my secrets!"

Before either of the demigods could ask another question, Apollo and his sports car chariot blazed back into the sky. Thalia and Nico stood there a moment before Nico walked up and grabbed Thalia's arm.

"Let's just go." He muttered and then plunged into the shadow world with his electric-eyed partner.