Here it goes, chapter 8 and the last one in this fic!
So, at first I wanted to have seven scenes here, in which the women mentioned in the seven previous chapters would feature. But there was one scene I didn't really like how it ended up so as a result, I combined the idea of that one with the one I had for another, the last one in this chapter.
Thank you all so so much for reading! This story has been a complete pleasure to write and I'm so happy with the result. Thank you all for the support and I hope you guys continue liking my stories!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Also, there is some cursing here.
Chapter 8. "A Force Of Nature."
There was a sort of peaceful sadness that came with saying goodbye to someone. It was a feeling that Annabeth would never get used to, yet one she had learned not to fear.
Zoë Nightshade had been a force of nature. She had been a true Queen, in some ways worthy of even more recognition than the one granted to the Gods.
So large had her shadow been, so big had her influence been on those around her that though she'd never met her, not truly, Annabeth found that her life was now changed due to the leader of the Hunters, and in an irrevocable way.
After the group made it back to Camp Half Blood, Percy and Thalia had to face the excruciating task of recounting the fall of the Heroine. Excruciating because, for the honour of getting to tell everyone of Zoë's quest, it did not make up for the grief of describing her demise.
Still, they did. They had to. Their sisters needed to know what had happened.
They talked for hours. The hunters listened, withholding their grief until they were done. The campers gathered around the returning group, their heads hanging low because while they hadn't interacted with the Huntress, her story was too legendary for them to be nothing but sorrowful. Even Chiron gathered with the group, his eyes burdened, as if he had known of her fate all along.
That night, a funeral was held. A funeral worthy of a heroine such as Zoë Nightshade. A funeral honoured by the presence of Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo. A funeral held at night because it was a hunter the one honoured, and a fallen hunter deserved to have every star shining for her.
And above them, the constellation of The Huntress never stopped shining.
Annabeth should have been exhausted but somehow, her mind wouldn't stop reeling, not even for a second. So, taking the opportunity of having no harpies patrolling the Camp grounds - as Chiron had ordered a night with no curfew, for the night was the time for those who wanted to honour Zoë - Annabeth had wandered over to the lake.
And there she sat, with no company but the one of the stars.
Until she wasn't on her own anymore.
"I should have known you'd be here," Thalia commented as she plopped down beside the daughter of Athena. "Your mind knows better than to grant you any rest."
Annabeth cracked a small smile but her arms remained tightly around her bent legs. Her gaze was fixed on the starry sky above her. "And I should have known you would follow. You tend to disrupt my every attempt to seek peace."
"Disrupt? Annie, who even speaks like that?" Thalia snorted, quickly sobering up when Annabeth only rolled her eyes. "Annabeth, seriously. What is it?"
"I can't forget about Zoë," Annabeth replied, her voice softening as her mind wandered away. "Everything she's been through, everything she's sacrificed, gods, even the fate she was ready to accept. All because she was sure of the mission she had to accomplish in this world. I cannot comprehend the amount of willpower that must have taken."
"Willpower or mere stubbornness," Thalia grumbled, raising her hands in surrender when Annabeth turned to glare at her. "What? Yes, Zoë Nightshade was a heroine and the world will be a darker place without her but I won't say the woman was perfect just because I'm sad."
"So you will talk poorly about her?" Annabeth demanded, her gray eyes stormy as they ran over Thalia's features. "You will favour an ancient grudge over the fact that she sacrificed her life for us?"
Thalia rolled her eyes as she lay back on the sand. Near them, the waves of the lake were crashing softly against the smooth ripples of the beach. "She only wanted to save Artemis. She cared about nothing else and you know it."
"You can't believe that," Annabeth scoffed. "You know what she fought for. You've heard the stories, just like I have. Regardless of her denying romantic love, she still loved her sisters and all women. She did everything to save -no, that isn't what she did. What she did was help us gain enough resources so we women could save ourselves! How can you say anything negative about her!?"
It seemed as if Annabeth's accusation snapped something inside of Thalia. The daughter of Zeus jolted upright, turning towards Annabeth with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Above them, the stars were rapidly obscured by an upcoming, unnatural storm.
"I can because I knew her, Annabeth! I didn't spend an eternity with her, like Phoebe or the others did, but I was the one who witnessed as she accepted her own death." Thalia declared, her voice hard with anger and something else, something Annabeth was struggling to recognize. The daughter of Athena was almost sure it was guilt but she couldn't comprehend why Zoë's death would bring such a feeling upon her friend. "Zoë talked mostly to Percy on our journey to save you and Artemis but Kelp Head has always been too blind to recognize what's in front of him. I, on the other hand, could see. I saw as Zoë understood the implications of her own quest, I saw as she accepted her own death, I saw how she readied herself to face her own father. I stood there, and I saw, and I did nothing!"
"What could you have done?" Annabeth asked, her own anger having dissipated as she heard the brokenness in Thalia's voice. "'And One Shall Perish By A Parent's Hand.' Now we know it was talking about Zoë. It was in the prophecy. The fates decided for Zoë. What could you have possibly done against the Fates' will?"
"Because I care about the Fates?" Thalia asked, her hands moving wildly as she walked before Annabeth, stalking for a few paces in a direction before abruptly turning towards the opposite. "Zoë Nightshade, I didn't like her for most of the time I knew her. But she was a legend. She lived her life for others, never for herself. Not because she was a martyr or because she wanted the appreciation of those she helped, but because she found her calling. She wanted to help the women in need, she wanted for women to never feel what she had to feel when her own family betrayed her. Can you imagine any god, hell, can you imagine my father doing that? Caring enough about mortals? Actually doing something to help them?"
Above them, lightning struck across the sky, letting the demigods know the King of the Gods was listening.
"Thalia, not that I don't agree but-," Annabeth began, her eyes scouring the sky with apprehension.
Thalia merely shook her head, still walking in agitation. "I will not be silenced again. I was turned into a damn tree because of the gods, I was asleep for years, because of the gods! My father was not here while my mother continued to screw with my life as she pleased, he was not here when I was killed, he was not here when our Luke grew tired of the indifference of our gods and yet, he has the nerve to eavesdrop as I speak of a woman, a hunter, who had twice the balls he does! I dare him to strike me with lightning, I dare him to kill me! Let's see what the Fates have to say about it!"
"Thalia," Annabeth cut her off, standing up as quickly as she could when it became clear her friend was not about to calm down. She intersected Thalia as she turned towards her and grabbed her arms tightly. "Thals, I know that Luke's betrayal is-."
"It will wound our hearts forever," Thalia retaliated, her eyes wide with outrage as they settled on Annabeth. Again, it was as if they were back to when they met, when Annabeth was a little girl and Thalia was an angry teenager, both of them aching for a family. "But can you blame him? Can you blame him for leaving?"
Annabeth gulped, the pain of Luke's actions breaking her heart yet again. She couldn't help but wonder whether her little family would recover from this. If herself and Thalia, her sister in every way that counted, would ever heal from his departure.
"He's another example of how the Gods and the Fates have no remorse in interfering with our lives," Thalia continued bitterly as she stepped away from Annabeth's hold. Clad in her black leather jacket and her combat boots, she looked every bit like the revolutionist avenger that she was. "And Zoë...gods, to be forced to face her own trauma, to have her life twisted in such a cruel way, all because the Gods cannot live on without making enemies along way...it's so twisted, it's so fucking unfair. She deserved better, and so did Luke, and so did everyone who ever lived and died for the Gods."
"I thought you didn't agree with her work," Annabeth commented with hesitation, her eyes flickering upwards as she felt silver light falling on them again. With surprise, she realized the storm had passed, and that the stars were back.
Maybe Zeus felt sorry for Zoë's death. Maybe Artemis had convinced him to let Thalia's offense pass. Maybe Hera was planning on taking her revenge on the two demigods later on.
Out of spite, Annabeth felt inclined to assume it was the third one.
"I didn't," Thalia replied. "Until I understood. She once told me that our quest was bigger than any of us. That our needs didn't matter when in comparison to the mission we had to fulfil. I didn't understand why she said that. Now I do."
"I remember you saying Zoë had a grudge against men and that her hate was not valid," Annabeth recalled, her eyes glazed over as she remembered the time during her childhood when they encountered the Hunters.
"I said that. Because I didn't understand how she was so devoted to a god, even if it was Artemis." Thalia rubbed her temples tensely before placing her hands on her hips. "Now I understand it wasn't devotion for a goddess. It was devotion for a cause. She made her life all about the progress she could enable in the world. In an ever changing world, she became a constant through taking in new sisters and making sure that those who didn't want to join the Hunt would have a brighter future. When she said our quest was bigger than any of us, she meant our journey to save you and Artemis, but she also meant the quest she had prioritized for thousands of years. She knew her time had come and she was okay with it, because she knew her sisters would carry on the work she began."
At that, Annabeth couldn't help but smile.
"You are joining the Hunt, aren't you?" she asked, snorting when Thalia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Give me some credit, Thals. You might have been a tree for a long time but I think I still know my sister's mind."
"Always so full of yourself," Thalia smirked, even though her eyes betrayed how nervous she truly was.
"Of course," Annabeth rolled her eyes drily before smiling proudly. "If it helps, I'm happy for you. As careless as you are, I know you thought this through."
"I don't know if I did," Thalia admitted with a small chuckle. "But I need to make sure Zoë's legacy is carried. I need to be part of that change and I cannot do that if I stay here at the mercy of the Gods. Annie, I...I don't want to leave you but I find pride and accomplishment in doing this. I can't feel it if I stay here, wondering whether I'll be part of yet another prophecy. Does that make sense? I don't even understand myself."
"I do," Annabeth nodded. "Thals, you're my sister. No matter where we might be, we're family. And I get what you say about feeling proud of what we do because I thought about joining the Hunt too."
"Why don't you?" Thalia insisted, her gaze brightening with hope. "Annie it would be so fun! Can you imagine, watching Kelp Head grow old while we stay young and awesome?"
Annabeth tried to laugh along but the idea of being away from Percy's life wounded her more than she would care to admit. Of course, she had no interest in analyzing the nature of those feelings so instead, she punched Thalia in the arm. "It won't be fun if you continue to call me Annie."
"Dude, that hurt!"
"You will heal," Annabeth deadpanned before sobering up. "But to answer your question, I...I've been thinking about Zoë's legacy. She even asked me to join in, when I saw her right before I was kidnapped, so I've been thinking about what she saw in me. Was it skill? Or did she truly see the Hunt as my calling? But Thals, I need to understand what she stood for, what she fought for her entire life, and I need to know that there are people outside of the Hunt who are fighting for the same thing. I need to know that you don't need to be immortal or even a demigod to want to change the world for the better."
Thalia nodded in understanding. "And if you can't find her legacy in the world you know?"
"Then I will carry it on myself," Annabeth replied with a decision before smiling. "Whatever the case, even if we don't see each other as often, we will still be sisters under the same cause."
And as the sisters hugged, the constellation of The Huntress shone even brighter, as if encouraging the young women to carry on the legacy, yet making it their own.
oOo
"I still think we should wait."
Kamilla narrowed her eyes. "Wait for what, exactly?"
"Our leader has just died," Katerina retorted, her voice twisted in anger and pain. "Don't you think we owe Zoë some respect?"
"Careful, sister," Kamilla snarled in a low, dangerous voice. She curled her bottom lip in anger. "Or I might think you are suggesting I hold no respect for Zoë Nightshade."
"Well, if the shoe fits..."
Behind them and looking out the window of the Big House, Phoebe sighed as her sisters erupted in a fight. On any other occasion, she would have stopped the fight before it got too far - or she would have joined them - but that day, and especially considering the decision they had to make, Phoebe figured the best way for them to discuss in a relatively calm manner was to allow her sisters to vent their frustrations.
Instead, Phoebe studied the grounds of Camp Half Blood with a polite lack of interest. The day after her favorite sister's funeral had dawned lifeless, grey, dull. It was almost as if the daylight skies were mourning her sister, as if the world recognized that without Zoë Nightshade, nothing was going to be as lively, as colorful as it once was. Phoebe reckoned it to be a logical thought (besides the small fact that skies, well, they have no feelings).
As a hunter, she had learned that the night sky, with its stars and silver glow, could tell countless stories to those who knew how to look for them. Since day and night complemented one another, Phoebe assumed that as the night had illuminated them while they said goodbye to Zoë, the day reflected the heartbreaking sadness that would linger in their hearts for a long time.
Phoebe sighed and shook her head as she forced herself to lower her gaze. If she continued to think about Zoë, about the fact that her favorite sister was dead, about the fact that she was the only one remaining from the Ancient Days of the Hunt, then she would break.
That, precisely, was what she couldn't do. She had to make the decisions that needed to be made until they settled on who was going to be the next lieutenant of the Hunt. Once she was chosen, once she was back to being second-in-command, once she was given permission to feel her grief, then she would mourn.
Then, she would break.
Only then.
She owed Zoë that much.
As she tuned into the discussion (or quarrel, depending on how you might look at it) once again, Phoebe felt the strange need to laugh, a need she thought she wouldn't have again. You see, Chiron had offered them the room reserved for the meetings of the Camp' counselors so the three oldest hunters could discuss their future in peace and without being eavesdropped.
Phoebe should have known that their voice would be loud enough for the entire Camp to hear, their secretive stance be damned.
"I think that's enough," Phoebe finally intervened, turning away from the window and the sight of the gray, almost white sky to glare at her sisters. "I realize that this decision is the hardest we will ever make. As the three oldest hunters, we cannot imagine another leader other than Zoë. But foremost, it means that only we knew Zoë enough to know who she would want us to choose."
Kamilla tugged the silver sleeve peeking from under her armour with impatience. "We should wait until we've studied the possible candidates. Now that we've suffered tremendous loss, some of us are bound to naturally step up as our leaders. We should wait and see who has the skill to follow in Zoë's footsteps."
"Doesn't that mean the three of us?" Katerina questioned harshly, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Meanwhile, Kamilla paled, as if she had just realized what she had implied. "We are the ones making the decisions for now, after all. Are you telling us you want the power for yourself?"
"Of course I don't," Kamilla snorted, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous idea. Still, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she took in her sister's accusation. "What power is there anyway? We're all sisters. We're all equals."
"Yes, but Zoë was our leader. She was above us all," Katerina argued before looking at Phoebe. "I don't understand why you can't be our new leader. You have been in the Hunt for as long as Zoë, after all."
Phoebe shook her head at that, doing her best to disguise her pain as her heart clenched painfully. "I cannot be the lieutenant. I just cannot."
"But you knew Zoë the best. You two were best friends for thousands of years," Kamilla offered, her gaze growing nervous as she took in Phoebe's almost alarmed posture. "Phoebe, look, I know this is the last thing we want to discuss. Having to choose who will succeed Zoë not even a day after we said goodbye is preposterous. But she would want us to. She would say our quest is bigger than herself. And Phoebe, you knew her the best, so you would be able to lead us just like she did!"
"I have to agree," Katerina offered, nodding tensely at Kamilla before looking at Phoebe. "You have the most experience, you can't deny that."
Phoebe looked pensively at each of her sisters, who returned her look with a pleading one of their own from the long table set in the middle of the room. Then, Zoë Nightshade's second-in-command turned back towards the window, hoping she would catch a glimpse of the constellation that was now her best friend.
When her eyes fell on the same dreadful sky as a few minutes before, Phoebe sighed in defeat. She immediately knew that from then on, she would eagerly wait for every night to come so she could gaze at The Huntress and talk to her as if she sat right beside her.
"When we were in England, Zoë began to fear that the Hunt did no longer know the people," Phoebe finally began, her voice distant and her eyes glazed over, as if she had travelled to an entirely different place. "She never stopped fearing that. She feared that she'd been around for so long that she was no longer fit to lead in a world she did not know."
"I remember," Katerina commented sadly. "I always hated it when she said that. She put in so much effort in order to change things around here. She tried so hard. She was wrong, she knew the world, she knew it enough."
"Was it truly enough? Isn't there a difference between learning about the world and living in it?" Phoebe asked calmly. She once again turned towards her sisters and walked so she could sit between them by the head of the table. "We have seen so much, so many have died, so many cultures have been completely erased from this world. And still, we are living at the edge of the world, simultaneously hiding from it and being escaped by it. Our younger sisters, they may not realize that but we do. We have been through enough to know that that's where we stand."
Kamilla and Katerina exchanged a glance before the first one spoke. "I do not understand. What do you want us to do about it? How can we change that when we are almost as old as the world itself?"
"Gods, hasn't everything happened so fast, yet so slow?" Phoebe wondered with a dry, sad chuckle. "I can still remember the day I met Zoë, almost as it had been yesterday. And I had more time with her than most sisters do with each other and still, it wasn't enough. Gods, there would have never been enough time."
Her sisters allowed her to continue, the silence in the group seemingly heightening as they felt the pain of their beloved sister's sacrifice.
And when Phoebe spoke again, her voice was unsteady, even if her eyes were as dry as ever. "You two remember what Percy Jackson said about our sister. How she wanted our cause to be remembered. How she wanted the progress she had begun to be continued. But also, you remember what he said about men. How Zoë had realized that there were allies in the male sex. How some men - be it due to the modern society or due to some miraculous improvement in the male brain - would be ready to stand with us. She believed Percy Jackson to be one of them and that if we looked, we would find more."
"Well, that's a horrifying thought," Katerina shuddered in utter disgust.
"I have to agree." Kamilla scowled at the thought. "The idea that we have to trust men is just ridiculous. If it hadn't been proposed by Zoë I would discard it instantly but Phoebe...she can't have been in the right, don't you think?"
"The idea of men actually wanting equality sounds...impossible," Phoebe offered a small side smirk, her usually taunting personality making a short comeback before hiding again behind the sea of sorrow within the hunter. "But then again, the world belongs to them just as it belongs to us. Which is why we need to at least look. Not only because it's what our leader wanted, but also because we live in a modern world where it just may be possible for men and women to reach true equality."
"I cannot just forget about centuries of patriarchy," Katerina stated, her features hardening as she recounted her past. "I, like most of our sisters, joined the Hunt to escape males. My twin sister died because of a male. I cannot just forget and I'm sure most of our sisters would agree."
"Zoë did not ask you to forget and neither will I," Phoebe reassured her. She could feel Zoë's approval of her decision and, for the first time since the funeral, she felt lighter, almost as if her beloved sister was standing right beside her in support. "We will never forget and therefore, we will continue to work so that our new sisters join us for other reasons other than the need to escape abuse. But just like we need to remember, we also need a leader who comes from this modern world and who knows how to maneuver it. We need someone who knows how to lead and who has the right parentage to do so."
"Good luck finding her," Kamilla snorted.
"I already have," Phoebe replied with a smirk. "I cannot be your lieutenant. I was Zoë's second-in-command and I shall be that to her successor. But, just like Zoë was from a different world, so am I. I need to work from the sidelines, so I can offer my experience to our new leader and sister."
"New sister?" Kamilla raised her eyebrows before her eyes widened. "Oh, you don't mean...not her, right?"
"Oh, yes. Her." Phoebe's smile was reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat. "I propose Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, to be the next lieutenant of the Hunt. All those in favour?"
oOo
The Hunting Trap Pub was as jam-packed as ever, with a crowd consisting of mostly women talking animatedly as Oasis' "Don't Look Back In Anger" blared through the loudspeakers hanging on the walls.
Ever since the days of Zoë Nightshade, The Huntresses had become an activist association, formed entirely by women of all ages and backgrounds with the sole objective of promoting gender equality.
The Hunting Trap Pub remained as their meeting spot, so it continued to be a safeplace for women yet, at the same time, it became the gathering spot for The Huntresses. Debates, meetings and activities were held there, with more and more women from Brighton and the neighbouring cities joining them as their new activities were promoted.
The days of Zoë Nightshade were long gone. Her headquarters had been taken by the police. But The Huntresses remained. The delivery of food and medicine supplies to poor women and children was still carried out. The offer of shelter to those who needed it was still a thing.
You see, once upon a time, the legend was that if you joined The Huntresses, you joined a sisterhood, one in which - some said -, you received eternal youth.
Whatever the case, those myths were a thing of the past, tales sisters told one another over a pint. But the aid the group offered, that was still very much a thing.
The Huntresses had lived on.
On the night that concerns us, a rally had just finished and, as it was Friday night, most of the sisters had lingered in the cozy, edgy pub for a pint. Their voices were loud and merry, filling the place with boisterous energy.
"Oi, Katia!" one young woman with ginger hair that fell down to the small of her back in waves yelled as she noticed one of her sisters by the other end of the counter. "Come hear Gina's tale!"
"I tell you, Rose, Gina can't have more than two pints," Katia taunted as she made her way through the crowd. As she reached her sister, she twisted her raven hair into a messy bun on top of her head and offered Gina a smirk. "Unless we want her to gibber 'til dawn, that is."
"Oh, bugger off," Gina laughed, failing to notice how a quarter of her beer spilled out as she moved her pint wildly. "I tell you, I dreamed about Zoë Nightshade yesterday!"
"We don't even know whether she was real, Gina!" Rose exclaimed, her green eyes bright with hilaration as she took in Gina's sorry state. "And you spilled on your uniform again, mate. What will our fearless leader say?"
"She will say it was worth it since I'm remembering the tales of Zoë Nightshade!"
"Gina's got a point, you know," Katia shrugged, snorting when Gina performed a mini dance in celebration. "Margaret Gray and Harriet Bennett might have been the ones who made The Huntresses what it is but it is Zoë Nightshade the one that started it all."
"I would have done anything to meet her," Gina gushed as she clumsily requested another pint from the bartender. "Zoë, that is. I mean, tales say she had lived for thousands of years before she made it to England."
"Mate, that's impossible," Rose laughed, raising her hands in surrender when Gina glared at her. "I'm sorry but the fact that Zoë Nightshade was a legend does not mean that she lived since the beginning of time!"
"Not since the beginning of time. Please," Gina scoffed at her sister's ridiculous statement before lowering her eyes towards her freshened drink. "Since Ancient Greece."
"They said Zoë Nightshade worked closely with the Goddess Artemis," Katia intervened before Rose could protest.
"Well, it would make sense," Gina gushed excitedly. "Considering who Artemis is. They said that in order to enter the Hunt, you had to renounce romantic love and that men were completely banned from our lives."
"Well, who cares about men." Katia smirked. "But thank the gods we no longer have to renounce romantic love, eh?"
As Katia and Gina cheered and clinked their glasses, Rose rolled her eyes, tired of her sisters' antics. Then, she frowned exasperatedly at Gina. "Well, what did you dream about then? Did the fearless Zoë Nightshade speak to you?"
"Um, no," Gina blinked, as if struggling to remember what she had dreamed. Then, as she did, she sobered up. "She had her eyes closed and I don't remember the background, I don't remember where she was but she glowed...almost as if she was a star."
"A star," Rose deadpanned. "What does that even mean?"
"Rose, please, you are asking logic from a dream," Katia snorted. "Chill, will you?"
"Is she still alive?" Rose asked, ignoring Katia's words. "Do we know where she left after sailing from England?"
"I can answer that."
It was gradual but in what seemed to be minutes, the pub had completely silenced, every pair of eyes directed towards the elderly woman sitting by the edge of the counter. Her short hair, once upon a time ginger, was now gray, and had been cut to her shoulders in a fashionable style. Her shirt was silver, like the ones The Huntresses wore, and a silver necklace adorned her neck.
The Huntresses were looking at Harriet Bennett, former leader of the group.
"Oh my," Rose stammered before coughing as she struggled to gather her bearings. Then, she bowed her head in respect, followed by her sisters. "Ms Bennett. This is an honour."
"Thank you, sister, but I'm just a woman," Harriet replied with a smile, the kind of smile that hid secrets and knowledge not everyone would believe. "The cause, our cause, that is the honour."
"Of course," Rose hurriedly replied. "I apologize."
"Do you know what happened to Zoë Nightshade, Ms. Bennet?" Gina asked quietly, the alcohol she had consumed seemingly evaporating from her body.
"I do," Ms. Bennett replied, her smile growing slightly painful as she recalled the letter she received from Phoebe. "I am afraid Zoë Nightshade died in the United States, three weeks ago."
Murmurs were immediately drawn from the crowd as the sisters exchanged pained glances, shocked gasps and even tears of sorrow. For Zoë Nightshade had been a name that demanded instant respect, because of everything related to it. She had been a legend, the sort of legend anyone would be proud to follow their entire life, for her actions had earned that sort of worship.
Some could even say she deserved more respect than even the Gods do.
"Would you tell us about her, my lady?" Katia finally requested, encouraged by the cheers elicited from her sisters. "You did know her, right?"
At that innocent question, Harriet had half a mind to run out of the establishment. Her gaze flickered over to the counter, the same counter she had once stood behind, her apron dirty and her cheeks heated as she dealt with the frantic rhythm of the pub. She still remembered the day Zoë Nightshade strutted into her life and gave it purpose. She remembered the day she was welcomed into a sisterhood, entering a world of adventures and change.
In the end, she reckoned the pain didn't matter. Her life had been in touch with so many legends. She had to speak. She had to remember their history and she had to help others remember. Harriet owed it to Zoë, to Margaret, to all the sisters she had lost.
In England, Harriet was the last hunter from the days of Zoë Nightshade. She had to carry on their legacy before it was too late. She had to ignore her pain and grief. She had to tell them about Zoë and all the others.
She remembered Phoebe's letter perfectly. 'We must remember Zoë's actions. What she stood for, what she wanted the world to be. We must remember all of it.'
Harriet reckoned this was her last task. After fighting, after leading, after changing, after aiding, after loving, after losing.
After all of that, she was now tasked with the passing on of their heritage.
She had to tell the tales of the woman bigger than most she'd known.
Oh, she was so honoured. Despite the pain, it was such a pleasure, speaking of the sister that had saved her.
"I did," Harriet finally replied, her smile proud and her eyes filled with unshed tears. "But first, everyone, get a drink. We have a toast to make."
oOo
After her death, Hippolyta began to see how religions were rather similar between one another.
For example, take the Amazons' palace in Elysium. Hippolyta only had to glance at her battling sisters, at the food that seemed to overflow from every table in the Dining Hall. She only had to take in the rowdy training grounds as her sisters waved around swords, axes and bows expertly. It all reminded her of the Valhalla the northmen of her time would tell her about.
The tales used to say that the heroes who died in a brave way would join Valhalla, where they would dine with the All-father, Odin, and get ready for the Final Battle.
It seemed as if that only had been what Hippolyta had been doing during the centuries since her death.
Not the part of the Gods, because not even Hades felt the need to go to Elysium, but the part of getting ready for war.
It wasn't too surprising, because that was the essence of the Amazons. The Amazonian lifestyle was about weapons, war and action. It was about serving the deities related to war and, since the days after Orion's defeat, it was working with Artemis' Hunt in order to help the women in need.
In Elysium, not much had changed. As Queen, Hippolyta had been granted a seat in the Amazonian Council, where the ancient Queens of the Amazons would discuss matters of wars, while their sisters had fun outside. Other than that, the eternity since her demise had been one filled with banquets, war games, speeches, strategy, quarrels, and celebrations.
Until the day the voice arrived.
A voice that drifted through their dreams, a voice that seemed to whisper with the wind, a voice that seeped into their minds, slowly yet surely filling their every thought with a strength the most powerful of poisons would envy. A voice meant to confuse them into submission, so subtly that most of them hadn't noticed it until it was too late.
A voice that first spoke out loud through the lips of her mother, Queen Otrera, first Queen of the Amazons.
A voice that, though it had her mother's tone, had been conjured word by word by Gaia, the personification of the Earth.
And Gaia, she wanted them to fight against the Gods.
In an attempt to avoid the excited chattering as her sisters discussed the matter at hand, Hippolyta had escaped to the empty Council Room. As she arrived, she took in the countless golden thrones set in a semicircle, all of them pristine and magnificent despite the passage of time.
Oh, the perks of Elysium.
Slowly, almost reverently, Hippolyta walked across the grand room and sat in her throne, the one to Otrera's right. She glanced around, noticing how the light that usually graced the room had dimmed, as if the Gods already knew of the Amazons' possible betrayal.
Her possible betrayal.
Hippolyta slowly took off her crown and held it in her hands, her eyes shining with indecision. She had been the second Queen of the Amazons, heir to Queen Otrera herself. Hippolyta had become a legend, but she had been aided by the association she held with her mother.
So, in a way, it would make sense for her to join her mother in the war against the Gods. It wasn't as if the Gods had done much for her after all and really, Gaia's promises were rather tempting. If she joined, then mother and daughter would lead the Amazons, and more of her sisters would be willing to join them. With herself supporting her mother's cause, the faith in them would only grow, increasing their chances of succeeding.
It was the logical choice, really, and she would have already agreed to join.
If it wasn't for one thing.
The Hunters.
She knew the Amazons who betrayed the Gods would have to fight the current Amazons on Earth and the Hunters. Strangely, Hippolyta felt more ready to fight against her own sisters than against the followers of Artemis.
Of course, Zoë wouldn't be there. The news of her death had already reached them.
But she would have to fight Phoebe. And Kamilla. And Katerina.
She would have to fight the women who stood with her as they defeated Orion, the bane of Artemis.
And, as much as it made no sense for her to fight on the same side as the giant she chased for a century and a half, it wasn't even that that made Hippolyta hesitate.
Since the days after the battle against Orion, Amazons and Hunters had learned to work together. They had forgotten about their differences and, with Zoë Nightshade and Queen Hippolyta leading them, they had turned to a common cause. They had become a team. A sisterhood.
What most didn't know was that it was Zoë the one that convinced her to join arms with the Hunters. Zoë Nightshade was the one who taught her that women must fight together, not apart, and never eachother. She was the one who, by fighting against Orion - a giant she had no hopes of defeating - alone, had shown Hippolyta what it was like to give everything for a cause.
That battle, the one between Zoë Nightshade and Orion, was the best ever witnessed by the Queen of the Amazons.
The day she received the news of Zoë's death, Hippolyta had cried as if one of her own sisters had died. Zoë had lived for thousands of years, but her job had not been completed, not even close. She deserved to live for thousands of years more, in peace, knowing her work had been completed.
And as she remembered her old friend, Hippolyta suddenly stopped caring about the quarrels between Giants and Gods.
Why should she care? Was an ancient fight between immortals more important than the lives of the innocent? Was her mother's insistence worth the betrayal of a cause she gave her life for?
Really, was there much of a choice to make?
Once again, she wondered whether this was the last battle for the Amazons. She wondered whether this was what she had been training for, like the Northmen and their Valhalla.
And as her mother joined her in the Council Room, Hippolyta couldn't help but straighten proudly as she put her crown on her head.
It didn't matter.
For her choice had been made.
"I have grown tired of your hesitation, dear daughter," Otrera stated as she crossed the room towards the thrones. Her brunette hair fell down her back in perfect waves, and her dark eyes were set on Hippolyta with regal authority. "Have you come to a decision? Will you join us in the field of victory?"
"I will not," Hippolyta replied, her voice as proud as her mother's. "I cannot go against a cause I have fought for during my life. I will not jeopardize the life of innocent people in favor of an ancient fight that should have been over by now."
"I see," Otrera began, her fury making her seem taller and more intimidating than ever. "That I should have never allowed you to be Queen after me. You are no true Amazon."
"I am not like you," Hippolyta growled in return. "But that doesn't make me weaker. It makes me different. It makes me better, because I reached depths you didn't. I achieved unity with the Hunters, something you could never even hope to reach. I will not betray them or my conscience. My decision is made, mother, and I will hear no more about it."
With that, Hippolyta left the room, her heart light and her conscience clear. She could feel her dear friend with her and it was enough.
oOo
"Kamilla, our orders were clear. We're here to hunt Orion, not to receive newcomers!"
At that exclamation Katerina, who had been nursing a cup of coffee as she struggled to regain her bearings after a long night acting as guard, turned with interest towards the scene behind her.
The one who had bursted was Naomi, an Italian woman who joined them after the fascist ideology began to grow popular in the Italy of the 1920s. She was still seated by her table with a few of their sisters, but her posture was as tense as ever, clearly stating her displease.
Katerina then turned towards Kamilla, who had her arms held protectively around two little girls. The little girls were sickly pale despite their tanned skin. Their long hairs, black as coal, were dirty and full of knots. Their eyes were wide, drifting nervously from the sister protecting them to the crowd around them. Their lips, pale and thin, quivered fearfully as they clutched each other's hand.
Katerina felt herself gasping in shock.
Oh, weren't the Fates a true riot?
"What would you have me do, leave them to live in the streets?" Kamilla was retorting hotly as she did her best to comfort the fearful girls behind her. "Tell me, do you have no heart, Naomi?"
"I do but I also am loyal and obedient to our lieutenant," Naomi argued hotly as she stood. At once, the rest of the sisters having breakfast stood as well. "And Thalia's orders were clear."
"Are you Thalia to speak for her?"
"That's enough," Katerina barked, causing the room to fall into silence. She crossed the room with purposeful strides and fell to her knees before the little girls. "Hello, there. I'm Katerina. What are your names?"
The little girls exchanged a nervous glance with those big, hazel eyes, before the taller one wrapped an arm around the other little girl. "My name is Emilia. This is my little sister, Helga."
Katerina smiled, trying not to think about her own sister, her twin, lost in the war against Orion so long ago. "Those are beautiful names, Emilia. Tell me, has Kamilla explained who we are and what we do?"
"Not so much," Emilia admitted, her eyes big and filled with tears. "But we cannot go back. Please, don't make us leave. I...he cannot find us. Please. Please."
Katerina sighed, her heart burdened with grief. She remembered the day she and her sister Sophia made it to Delos after their father was killed. She remembered how scared they were as they were received by the Sisterhood. She remembered how that tremendous, paralyzing fear lasted until Zoë Nightshade gave them those silver cloaks.
With that cloak, she and Sophia had felt as if they belonged. They had been saved and for that, they had always been endlessly thankful.
Oh, she would give everything to go back to the days her sister and Zoë were still alive.
"I will take them to Thalia," Kamilla offered softly, her smile pitiful as she remembered what the sight of the little girls must have triggered in Katerina's mind. She rested a hand on the little girls' shoulders. "She is now with Queen Hylla but I'm sure she will welcome them."
Katerina shook her head. It felt like the completion of a journey, leading these innocent girls to their lieutenant, just like she and Sophia had been taken to Zoë Nightshade an eternity ago. And, if Thalia Grace was as gracious as Zoë Nightshade had been, then they would be warmly welcomed into their Sisterhood. Oh that, she was certain.
"I will take them," Katerina said, smiling reassuringly at the little girls before she turned to Kamilla. "I went through the same thing, after all."
As the trio walked away through the tunnels of the Amazons' quarters, Emilia looked at Katerina with curiosity. "You went through the same thing?"
Katerina looked at her with a smile. "I have a sister too."
oOo
The Hunters were retained in Puerto Rico as they gathered their dead and injured, for not even the greatest of foes would make them leave their sisters - fallen or not - behind.
I will not speak of the grief the Sisterhood experienced when they found the body of Phoebe, their legendary second-in-command. Some pains, they are too important, too big to be spoken of.
That night, Thalia, Katerina and Kamilla were gathered by the coast, under the moonlight, waiting for their Mistress to arrive.
Kamilla, the new second-in-command, kicked the sand below her feet and watched it go up into the sky with fury in her eyes. "So few of us remain from those days. Kallisto is gone. Zoë is gone. Phoebe is gone. This is so fucking unfair."
"Kamilla," Katerina began, but Thalia cut her off.
"She died for us," Thalia spoke, her voice wavering as she remembered the sister who had taught her the most, the sister who helped her become the respected lieutenant she was now. "She died against one of our greatest enemies. If she could have chosen her death, I'm sure she would have chosen this one."
"Zoë was the one who remembered Kallisto's death. She was the one who took that injustice and turned it into a whole movement meant to make sure not another woman would go through what our first lieutenant went through," Katerina said, her eyes on anything but on the covered body laying on a stretcher behind her. "Phoebe was the one to tell me that story when I first joined. She helped Zoë by telling us that story, by making us remember and after Zoë died, she was the one who carried on her legacy. Who will remember now that they are gone?"
"We will," Thalia assured her with passion. "We will remember the legacy of Kallisto's tragic end. We will remember the leadership and mercy of the legendary Zoë Nightshade. And we will remember Phoebe."
"Kallisto was turned into a star because of Zoë's mercy," Kamilla recalled with a sad smile. Then, she pointed at the constellations that once were Kallisto and her son Arkas. "Lady Artemis ordered for Zoë to kill her but she wouldn't, so our Lady was merciful to her."
"Now Kallisto and Zoë will dance for all eternity amongst the stars, forever remembered by those who gaze up at them," Katerina nodded approvingly before casting a small glance at Phoebe. She quickly rubbed her hand against her eyes as tears gathered, threatening to drop from her lashes. "It's such a pity that Phoebe won't join them. They used to be such good friends, they should get to spend the rest of the eternity together."
A small silence fell as they pondered over Katerina's words.
And then, Thalia looked up with a growing smile, the first smile she had casted since the battle against Orion. "Why can't they?"
Later that night, after Artemis left and the sisters retired to their Camp, Thalia looked up at the sky and smiled at the constellations of The Huntress and the Ursa Major, now joined by the one of The Healer.
And, some tales say that the reunion of the three best friends was a matter of celebration across the entire firmament.
But that's a story for another time.