The hunters worked with cold efficiency. Tents sprung up in the span of minutes. Alex had been camping before. He remembered how he and his mother struggled with erecting a normal tent. It took them ten minutes to attach even the simplest of rods but in the same ten minutes, the hunters had set up an entire camp of a dozen tents, the biggest of which (Artemis') being easily the size of one of the tent cabins, all made of silver silk which reflected the moonlight like silvery mirrors. One of the hunters blew into a hunting whistle and a pack of white wolves came walking out of the woods, being fed pieces of raw meat.
As they worked, Alexander went around and healed the others with his healing skill. Percy was full of holes and Nico's arm had bruised green from where Dr Thorn had gripped him. Golden light flowed out of Alexander's hands and into Nico's arm, which began rapidly healing, "whoa… are you a son of Apollo? I have his action figure!"
Nico pulled out a figurine from the backpack that the hunters had retrieved, "he has 2000 Defense and +30 health"
"No, I am not a son of Apollo, I'm a son of Boreas", he explained with a smile on his face, this kid was adorable. You would've never guessed that he was a son of Hades, he was much too cheerful.
"Boreas? He has got a plus 20 freezing modifier to his attacks!"
"Have you been collecting these for a long time? There are a lot of them in here", Alexander glanced into the backpack, it was filled to the brim with cards and small action figures.
"I have been collecting for a year, before that… that's strange… I can't remember"
Over the next hour or so, Little Nico kept asking question after question but he didn't mind answering all the kid asked and boy, there were loads of them.
"Percy Jackson, come with me, the lady Artemis wishes to speak with you" Zoe Nightshade beckoned the son of Poseidon to follow her.
"She hasn't come back… those damned hunters… another prey to their trap…", Thalia mumbled under her breath, pacing through the camp, walking right through the ranks of the wolves, not afraid in the slightest.
"Are you okay, dear?" He asked his girlfriend with concern. This was very much not like her. From knowing her, he would assume she would speak up if something bothered her with bold determination but here she was, pacing, almost… panicking?
"It is those damned hunters. They tried to recruit me, you know? Back when I was on the run with… with them", she couldn't bring herself to say either of their names, one a traitor, one kidnapped by a monster with a doctorate, "they make it sound as sweet as honey. Eternal life and youth, alongside some blessings but it is a commitment for the rest of eternity. One misstep, one kiss even and you die an oathbreaker. Nothing good awaits you in the underworld if you break such an oath. She goes after the most vulnerable ones too. The only reason we didn't join was because of him… he was older than either of us but we couldn't abandon him like that. He is a boy, which meant he couldn't become a hunter and we didn't want to leave him behind"
Alexander didn't bud into her rant, he listened and rubbed the back of her hand supportively. He knew how hard it had to be, talking about Luke. She had once upon a time told him that she used to have a crush on the blonde boy, though she never told him and he seemingly never connected the dots himself. Alexander suspected that this crush was exactly why Thalia had turned down the offer and now that she had a boyfriend, Alex himself, she had oh the more reasons to never join in the no boys allowed group. Where once it had been a tempting offer, now it seemed going in the opposite direction to her happiness.
Love was intoxicating, the sensation they felt each time they touched one another was addictive. That spark was more than just an infatuation, it was something deeper, something more primordial.
Not even the gods were immune to true love.
Love didn't always mean sex(they weren't that deep in the relationship yet) but about connecting, mutual respect and understanding. Just because Athena was a virgin goddess didn't mean she couldn't love. She loved the fathers of her brain children just as much as Poseidon does his usual lovers. A relationship didn't always mean intimacy. Sometimes it was just about being there for one another, like he was there for Thalia as she worried.
The moon was dipping down dangerously low. Soon the sun would rise.
"How about a little spar to get your mind off of things?"
A grin spread across her face, "bring it on!"
She immediately drew her spear and Aegis as Alexander drew snowstorm and activated the shield Tyson had given him, it was indented from the manticore spikes it had blocked but it still worked just fine.
He turned to Nico, "step a few feet back and observe, this is a half bloods dance"
The black haired kid nodded, still clutching the Apollo figure in his tiny hands.
Thalia rushed in, only she didn't thrust her spear, she tried a new tactic, bashing against him with Aegis. He blocked the shield with his own. The vibrations send shivers down my non dominant arm.
"anemo"
White wings sprouted from his back and he flew into the air, leaving his sword on the ground. Lightning bolts and ice lances clashed in mid air but Thalia was too focused on the battle of powers, that she didn't notice the weapon animated by his skill, swiping her feet out from under her. She yelped and fell. In seconds, needles of ice surrounded her neck, "do you yield?"
"Yes… I yield"
"So… freaking… awesome!!!" Nico looked at them with a strange shine in his eyes