NICO: If you were to vacuum up jello through a metal tube, well I think that'd be a neat sound
                    SARAH: I beg to differ
                    NICO: Then beg

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
☠️.ೃ࿐ CHAPTER FOUR .ೃ࿐ 💎
( volume one ) the weight of living
iv ⚰️ Yeah, Apollo's Hot ⸺ Hot Headed!
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

                    THE OTHERS ARE THRILLED TO HEAR THAT BIANCA MAY BE JOINING THE HUNT, IT'S BE A FEW DECADES SINCE SOMEONE NEW HAS JOINED. Celyn Pritchard, affectionately nicknamed 'Cel', is a little Welsh girl that Malvina Waley found during the Great Depression, Mal found her on a hunt and brought her to Artemis and Cel has been with them ever since. Cel is the youngest biological hunter of the group, at the age of 9 ( and 3/4, thank you very much! ), and she had a similar disposition to what Sarah's seen Nico display, so it is no surprise that Cel takes to Bianca like a duck to water. Bianca seems to grow found of Cel just as easily.

Cel was one of the friendlier Hunters, she is like sun. Always so warm and inviting no matter what, she made this group feel like a home all on her own half the time. So, it was no surprise when she immediately starts asking to know all the little things about Bianca as they put away the tents.

"Who do you think is your Godly parent? If you are a Demigod like the Satyr must sense!" Cel questions but naturally, being as giddy as she is, forgets to wait for Bianca's answer before continuing on, "You know I'm the only one here the might be a Mortal, a little clear-sighted, of course! Although Pheebs says that she thinks my dad is Lord Apollo!"

Sarah and Zoe shoot near identical dirty looks at Phoebe, who shrinks back. Of course, the older Hunters have this running theory that Apollo is her father because of her disposition, her affinity to music and archery, and a myriad of other reasons. But they weren't supposed to say anything to Cel about it, Apollo wasn't claiming her and if Cel thought that Apollo was her dad and didn't claim her, she'd be distraught. Or at least they thought she'd be distraught, she didn't look to upset as she continued rambling on.

"But, I don't think so! I remember my dad, and he was around until he couldn't afford to take care of me! Gods don't normally stay around that long, they could get in trouble! They can only stay until their kids are three at the oldest before it starts messing with fate but even then it's really frowned upon, most don't stay long enough to meet their kids which is really sad but I guess that's the law or, whatever."

Bianca blinks, not sure what to say to that, but she looks like she's thinking hard to at least try and answer Cel's questions. After a pause, she frowns and she looks distraught "I don't know . . . I don't remember."

Sarah knows there's more to the way Bianca says she doesn't remember but she thinks it's best not to question it right now, the poor kid's already overwhelmed as it is. And, it's not like Cel gives Sarah a chance to say anything at all, the little girl continues on with her twenty questions, interrogation style, without much thought.

"That's okay, most don't know their Godly parent anyway! I thought I'd ask! It's always fun to guess! We play this game where we try to figure out who would be our Godly parent if we had one! Even Sarah and Mal play and we already know their parentage."

"Oh," Bianca says, glancing at Sarah and Mal. Sarah grins at Bianca, but Mal looks uncomfortable at the mention of her parents.

Mal is a Godling, both her parents are Olympians but she had been ordered to be sent away to Mortals by a very pissed off Ares. Just as Sarah had been, Mal was to be tried as a witch, not in Salem, this was a couple years after, Sarah found her. Actually Sarah had been lured away by a strange-looking Dove from the Hunters which lead her to finding Malvina. μαλθακός. Malthakós. The only child of Lady Aphrodite and Lord Hephaestus, as surprising as that was. Malvina, had this Godly ability to bring out the softness of others, without even trying to, she could have brought Lady Aphrodite and Lord Hephaestus closer together ⸺ Lord Ares would not stand for that.

"Ooh," Cel exclaims, bouncing up and down, "When is your birthday! I must know, half of my sisters don't even remember their's! Only Hunter, myself, and Naomi remember what ours is!"

Bianca looks slightly relieved as she answers "August 9th!"

Cel beams, immediately putting that in that wonderful little memory bank of hers, and then continues on with her questions. Bianca looks like a deer caught in headlights, her cheeks are flushed and Sarah suspects it's not just due to the cold weather but rather all this attention but she politely and patiently answers all of Cel's questions despite the rapid succession they were fired in. She handled them better than any of them could, Sarah knows it's because when Cel meets a new Hunter she asks questions very similarly to the way that Nico had with Percy.

Even though Bianca hasn't decided yet, Cel seems to like her enough to want to get to know her, and none of the other Hunters stop her. Although a few of them look skeptically at Bianca, they let it slide because Bianca seems to be very nice.

                    It doesn't take them long to pack up the campsite and Bianca excuses herself to go explain her options to her younger brother. With the job done, the Hunters disperse and await dawn and a ride from Lord Apollo in a peaceful silence. A few of the the girls went off to mingle with the wolves, feeding them and telling them that they're the 'goodest boys around' and while the wolves liked to be treated as regal creatures, they still enjoyed the attention and a good scratch behind the ear no matter what they would tell the Hunters. Cel and Mal were playing X's and O's in the snow with Cel, naturally winning as Mal grew more and more frustrated with the simple game but Mal would refuse to give up ⸺ they could and have gone on for days with these antics.

                    Sarah sits by herself, as she often does, most times she finds solace in being alone but at the moment she felt uneasy as she thought of all that has happened in a single night. It couldn't all be true but both Grover and Percy confirmed it, tears threaten to spill as she tries miserably to convince herself that it wasn't true. But why would they lie . . . But why would Lady Artemis not have informed her of Luke's betrayal? Lady Artemis is not one to keep secrets, so perhaps this must be a cruel joke. Perhaps Luke had put them up to this to get back at her for rejecting him, it had been about two years since Sarah had seen Grover . . . Perhaps he had gotten better at lying, perhaps the Hermes cabin had finally corrupted Grover ⸺ finally taught him how to be a good liar despite Sarah deeming it a lost cause all those years ago. It just doesn't make sense . . . Sarah grits her teeth as the rational part of her brain whispers that it does make sense. Luke could, would steal the Masterbolt and the Helm, he would work for Kronos but why? Why? Sarah had to know why because it couldn't be for the reason that Grover said.

                    She clenches her fists around the edge of her silver bomber jacket, he had to have a good reason to work with Kronos. There was no good reason to work with the titan as he was the worst creation ever, he was not to be trusted but Luke, he wouldn't have joined if he didn't think something good would come from it. What had Kronos promised, she had to know. If it was real ⸺ of course, it's real! You know it's real . . . Why won't you admit that to yourself?

                    "Whatever is the matter with thee," Zoe's voice calls from in front of her, Sarah looks up and scowls.

                    She couldn't discuss this with Zoe, every solution she would provide Sarah, because it involved a boy, would be 'kill him' and that would be even less helpful than it was in any other situation.

                    "What did that Satyr say to thee," Zoe questions, voice laced with venom as she spares poor Grover a murderous look.

                    Zoe wasn't letting up, any other time Sarah would revel in Zoe being soft and being protective of the lot of them but not at this moment. Sarah shakes her head, strands of her red hair fall into her face but it's not enough to hide her tears from Zoe, who softens slightly, at the sight.

                    "S'not him . . . Zo, do you think Lady Artemis would keep something from me, something that involved you . . . you know who," Sarah asks timidly, Luke had been a sore subject between the two, Zoe had never liked how close Sarah was to him, she never liked it when any of the hunters were close with boys but she despised Luke.

                    Zoe had been so certain that Sarah would leave for him, Sarah had insisted that they were just friends until Luke had confessed and everything had went to shit between them. Hearing Zoe say 'I told you so' was somehow worse over Iris Message than hearing it in person.

                    The older Hunter's eyes widened, she flashes Grover a down right chilling look full of murderous intent before turning to Sarah and nods. Zoe looks indifferent as she does so, the only indication that she feels bad at delivering the news is that her hands twitching ever so slightly.

                    "She had many reasons but she has requested I do not inform thee of any of them, I should not know them myself but I happened upon the conversation with Lady Artemis and that Satyr. Lady Artemis asked me not to tell thee and I gave her my word."

                    Zoe does not meet her eyes which breaks something within Sarah but she knows she cannot cry in front Zoe, not about this. She bites down hard on her tongue to keep from sobbing, hard enough to draw blood and her nose starts bleeding. Sarah leans forward as her nose starts to drip like a leaky faucet, like a traitor, she curses to herself. Nosebleeds were a common thing for Sarah, something to do with a bleeding disorder that would've gotten her in her early twenties more than likely if it weren't for her joining the Hunters. Her nose bleeds were triggered by many things, stress or emotional distress being one of them, and of course, it didn't help that her nose had just been freshly broken.

                    Before Sarah can even grab her own tissues from her bag, Zoe is thrusting tissues from her own jacket pocket into Sarah's lap.

                    "So it's true," Sarah chokes out, pressing a clump of tissues to her nose, "Every last word of it? Luke was the Lightning Thief."

                    Zoe nods her head, scowling at Luke's name "It would appear that way, I cannot say that I am surprised. I never liked him, there was something off about him."

                    She would, of course, say this about any boy. Although, normally, Zoe would say much worse. Which meant that Zoe must truly pity her if she was holding back from her normal tirade about how most, if not all, men were terrible.

                    Sarah chokes out a sob, which she had tried to hold back in front of Zoe but she couldn't. Her hands shake as she stuffs more tissues over her nose, accidentally stuffing some in her mouth, her hands were shaking so bad.

                    Zoe had only met Luke through Iris Messages, where he'd occasionally be in the background, waving at her. There was no way she would have known there was something off about him, he was a kid just like Sarah, only a year or two younger. He was angry then but he was still good ⸺ he's still good. Sarah refuses to accept the fact that Luke is anything but misguided and manipulated. Sarah likes to think, if Luke had not attempted to push romance onto their relationship and they were still talking by the time Sarah was able to rejoin the Hunters that Luke would've been one of the very few ( and by that she means he would've been the third ) boys that Zoe would come to tolerate. She'd never find that out because everything happened the way that it had.

                    "He's not bad . . . He can't be a bad guy," Sarah whimpers, the words slip out before she can stop them. It's childish, Sarah knew that very well, she doesn't normally act this emotionally over things. At least she likes to think that she doesn't, Sarah is sure that the other Hunters would digress.

                    Sarah sniffles loudly, blinking back tears, she just probably needed another square of ambrosia or maybe a shot of nectar. They had only given her a tiny piece to begin with and while it had helped loads, her nose still throbbed and there was a dull ache behind her eyes, meaning that the healing wasn't completed. And Sarah was always much more emotional when she was injured.

                    She stuffs two tissues into each nostril which never ends well, typically, but Sarah had this annoying habit of never learning and then shakes her head "S'pose it doesn't matter, this must be the terrible fate his father spoke of . . . We got more important matters at hand like . . . Like Annabeth."

                    Her speech comes out funny due but Zoe seems to understand her all the same because she looks relieved to be off the topic of boys.

                    "Yes, I'm sure that Lady Artemis will find her wherever she is," Zoe replies, trying to look hopeful for Sarah's sake because she knew that Annabeth was important to Sarah, even more so than Luke.

                    Sarah nods "I think that Annie was probably caught up in the reformation of the monster so wherever it was sent to when it was reformed, then that must be where Annie is."

                    It's not unlikely, some monsters when killed would be banished to Tartarus for many years, some monsters would reform immediately although never in the same location. Or perhaps, the monster had the ability of some kind of teleportation. Either could be possible, Sarah would take any if it meant that Annabeth was out there alive. If, like Percy thinks, and the Manitcore is working with Luke, than Annabeth would be safe with Luke even if he was a traitor, he would never hurt Annabeth, Sarah was sure of that. So long as the monster reforms wherever Luke was. One could never be too sure when it came to monster reformation, it was much too unpredictable.

                    Zoe gives Sarah a small smile, there's a beat and neither speak so Zoe wanders off to look over the other hunters. Sarah is relieved when Zoe leaves her side, she slumps into herself, and lets out a quiet sniffle. She's pretty sure that her nose had stopped bleeding but she leaves the tissues in her nostrils, it'll make her look as pathetic as she feels.

                    If only Sarah had taken a better shot, she should've made a killing shot, she'd been doing this for three hundred years give or take, she should've done better. If only she had then Annabeth wouldn't have had to take her own measures to defend her friends and she wouldn't have went over that cliff.

                    A heavy feeling settles on her chest, crushing and disorienting her, a feeling she's only felt once in a blue moon ⸺ a feeling that she doesn't belong. It was a rare feeling, she remembered feeling it for the first time in summer of '93 for no reason at all, it had been crippling. Then she felt it again when she and little Annie teamed up with Thalia and Luke, the last time she had felt it was when she agreed to go on the quest in Charybdis Jackson's place. Sarah had the feeling but it was one that she couldn't push away no matter how hard she tried.

                    So, all she really could do was try to focus on anything else, which was particularly hard when Sarah could truly only focus when she was practicing archery. She drums her fingers on her kneecaps, across from her on another fallen log sit Thalia, Grover, and Percy and the trio were mumbling about something amongst themselves. Thalia looks disgruntled, Grover looks nervous, and Percy looks something that's crossed between tired and confused, if Sarah had to guess, the three of them were probably talking about what unfolded in the tent with Lady Artemis.

                    Sarah glances over at Bianca and Nico ⸺ Bianca and Nico Di Angelo as Sarah's come to learn, the more she learns about the pair of siblings the more familiar they are to her. However, no matter how hard she tries, she just can't seem to place it. Nico looks distraught, although not as distraught as Bianca is as she explains to him the new situation, the possibility of her joining the Hunters.

                    Normally, Sarah loved new recruits, she loved adding to the family and gaining a new friend or sister but normally the new recruits didn't have any outside attachments. If anything they had a parent who either agreed or just didn't care. It felt wrong that to have asked Bianca to join the Hunt, which was a feeling that Sarah never thought she would feel but it couldn't be too bad, Sarah tells herself, Artemis understands family and it was Artemis who asked Bianca to join so it must be alright even if it doesn't feel that way.

                    Besides when it came down to it, it would be Bianca's decision and hers alone. Sarah made sure that Bianca knew that Camp was just as good, Bianca joining the Hunt would truly up to Bianca and that was what kept Sarah from thinking it was completely wrong. It would all work out in the end. Bianca would make the right decision when it came time too.

                    Everything would work out in the end ⸺ they would find Annabeth, Bianca and Nico would be happy with the new life they have, and Luke, well, she'll have to find him first, but Luke just needs a stern talking to from someone that he trusts, someone who's almost fallen victim to Kronos. It'll work out, just as things have always with Sarah. Yeah, she has that shit Demigod life where everything thoroughly sucked, things had never been easy, but they always, at the very last second, they always seemed to pull through into the bright side. Sarah just has to believe that this time will be no different.

                    Sarah swallows thickly, looking back at the trio of Campers, they had finished whatever conversation they were having. Grover was staring off dreamily, Thalia was staring at Sarah with what seemed like disbelief and hope which Sarah didn't quite understand but she gives Thalia a soft smile in return. Percy had also been staring at Sarah, probably following Thalia's queue, but when Sarah had smiled at Thalia, he had scowled and looked away with an almost dejected look crossing his features.

                    Weird, Sarah thinks but shrugs it off as she decides to go sit with them while they await Lord Apollo's ride which Sarah is most definitely not looking forward to. The snow crunches under her feet as she takes long strides over to the other log, she plops down between Thalia and Percy who surprisingly don't complain about her intrusion, they just make room for her.

                    They're both shivering against her, Sarah had spent so long as a hunter she had gotten used to the cold, even if she didn't like it, she didn't think it was that cold. And what she does next is probably weird in their eyes, it's certainly weird in Sarah's, but after everything that happened tonight, she supposed a little comfort was due. So, much to their confusion, especially's Percy's, Sarah wraps her arms around them.

                    Percy stills for a moment but slouches and doesn't try to shrug her arm off from around his neck meanwhile Thalia leans into Sarah's embrace.

                    "We're gonna find, Annie, okay . . . It's gonna be okay."

                FINALLY THE DARK SKY LIGHTENS UP, MEANING THAT MORNING WAS SLOWLY BUT SURELY COMING. Sarah was not looking forward to seeing Lord Apollo who did not seem to like Sarah very much. She was sure the God had put a petty little curse on her, she remembers up until about a decad, more or less, ago she could sing, she could sing really well but right after Thalia's death, her voice seemed to fall flat and she sounded like a dying bird.

                    Sarah had absolutely no clue what she had done to anger the Sun God but she clearly had done something in his eyes because he made it well known by how cold he treated her. Before Thalia's death, he had treated her the way he treated the rest of the Hunters which wasn't great but it was still better than how he treats her now. His behaviour towards her reminded her of how everyone treated her when she was accused of being a witch.

                    Hopefully with so many people here he wouldn't take notice of her and fix her with that cold, all-knowing glare. The glare that told Sarah she had done something terrible, is doing something terrible, will do something terrible.

                    When the barest sign of the sun peaks out from the horizon, Artemis mutters "About time! He's so lazy during!"

                    She puts extra emphasis on the word so, dragging it out for almost a whole minute as she rolls her eyes.

                    "So," Percy says as he stands up from the log to stretch his legs, "You're, um, waiting for sunrise?"

                    "For my brother," Artemis clarifies, "Yes."

                    Percy pauses, perplexed, there's a beat of silence as he mulls over his thoughts. Sarah is certain that he's thinking about the Sun Chariot, Artemis seems to think this as well.

                    "It's not exactly as you think." Artemis tells him.

                    "Oh, okay." Percy says, looking mildly relieved.

                    "Yeah, it's only a lil' piece of the sun not the entire sun," Sarah adds, grinning at Percy.

                    His eyes widen but before he can ask Sarah to elaborate there's a sudden burst of light on the horizon, a blast of warmth, Lord Apollo is on his way ⸺ yay!

                    "Don't look," Artemis advises the group, "Not until he parks."

                    Thankfully, Percy follows the Goddess' instructions so Sarah doesn't have to do the nice thing and shove his hood over his eyes. When the light dies down, Sarah looks to find that the Sun Chariot is now a red convertible Maserati Spyder.

                    Sarah raises her eyebrows in surprise, she had expected a Ferrari or Mercedes Benz, something a little flashier than this. Of course, who was she to judge when her favourite car has been a Volkswagen Beetle for years now.

                    When he steps out of the chariot, Sarah's breath catches in her throat because he looks so much like Luke. And for a moment, Sarah is sure he must've done this on purpose. But, he doesn't look that much like Luke upon a second glance. His hair is more golden, he has a better tan than Luke could ever achieve ( although Luke did tan far better Sarah, damn her Scottish heritage! ) and he had none of Luke's scars. This probably wasn't a petty move on the God's part but Sarah was sure that he had some up his sleeve if he even noticed she was here.

                    "Wow," Thalia gasp as she turns a delicate pink, "Apollo's hot!"

                    "More like, hot-headed." Sarah mutters.

                    "He's the Sun God," Percy says, sounding a bit stunned as he blushes as well.

                    "That's not what I meant, Fish Breath!" Thalia retorts hostilely.

                    There's a subtle cackle of electricity radiating from Thalia that tells Sarah that the hostility is just that ⸺ pure hostility. There's nothing in her features that indicate that she's teasing Percy, she's genuinely being rude to Percy. And while Sarah couldn't say that she had been the nicest to Percy, she still always made sure that Percy knew that her hostility wasn't personal or at least she tried to show him that with letting him or herself get attached. Whether that was how Percy viewed Sarah's behaviour was completely up to him ⸺ he probably thought she was a bitch but she had never been as hostile as Thalia was being.

                    Sarah shoots Thalia a reprimanding look in return Thalia shrugs her shoulders.

                    "Little sister," Apollo calls out, flashing an almost literal blinding smile, Sarah was sure his perfect teeth were shade of white that had yet to be invented, "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

                    Artemis sighs seemingly resigned with familial fussing disguised as teasing "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister. We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue ⸺"

                    'We're twins' would be valid if they were born nine minutes apart not nine days, anyone who knows this tidbit of information wisely decides not to point it out. Of course, if any of the Hunters had, Lady Artemis would surely protect them Lord Apollo's wrath. Especially since, Artemis would win this argument as she is the older twin by nine days.

                    "So what's up," He interrupts, "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

                    "As if," Sarah hears Cel mutter from somewhere behind her. Cel is, despite the being the youngest is the most skilled of Archers in the hunt, almost rivalling the Goddess herself. Several of the Hunters thought that at one point Apollo gave Cel a blessing when it came to Archery but the God had never mentioned doing so which is very unlike him so they couldn't say for certain.

                    Artemis grits her teeth "I need a favour. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

                    "Sure, sis!" He agrees then raises his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

                    The Hunters all groan, Sarah being the loudest. Lord Apollo's haikus phase is somehow even worse than his limericks phase. The God clears his throat, holding up one hand dramatically.

                    "Green grass breaks through snow. Artemis pleads for my help. I am so cool." He recites, grinning as he awaits applause.

                    He is met with an embarrassing silence. Although it's the middle of winter, Sarah swears she actually hears crickets, a laugh bubbles from her throat before she can stop it. She tries to disguise it as a cough but Lord Apollo knows better and he fixes her with that glare that she despised ever so much.

                    "That last line was only four syllables," Artemis points out in a flat tone drawing Apollo's attention away from Sarah.

                    Apollo turns to Artemis with a frown "Was it?"

                    "Yes," Artemis affirms, "What about I am so big-headed?"

                    Or hot-headed, Sarah thinks to herself and she's very thankful she didn't accidentally say that out loud.

                    "No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm," He trails off, muttering to himself.

                    From beside Sarah, she hears Zoe explain to Percy and the others about how Apollo's been obsessed with haikus since he travelled around Japan.

                    "Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick," Zoe recalls, "If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with: There once was a goddess from Sparta ⸺"

                    "I've got it," Apollo announces, "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!"

                    He bows, looking beyond pleased with himself. Still no one claps, although from the corner of her eye, Sarah sees Nico start to clap but stops when he realizes no one else is clapping.

                    "And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

                    "These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis says, pointing to Percy and his crew, "Some of Chiron's campers."

                    "No problem!" Apollo agrees as he checks them out. 'Let's see . . . Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

                    Thalia blushes and she gives what Sarah thinks is very bad attempt at a curtsy "Hi, Lord Apollo."

                    "Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister," Apollo says causing Thalia's face to fall with the realization they were technically related even though he was a God and he didn't have DNA.

                    Sarah blinks in surprise at this, but then thinks that this would only been true if Apollo and Artemis had been born Demigods before being granted Godhood. Now, Mr. D and Thalia would be actual half-siblings has he was born a Demigod much like Thalia is now. However, if Apollo sees Thalia as his half-sister than so be it, it was for the better, that meant that he cared about Thalia on some degree.

                    Lord Apollo, although an absolute dick with an huge ego did care about his family in ways that most wouldn't notice but Sarah does, because she, as much as she loathes to admit it, is very similar to him. Which is why he's the only God that Sarah is upset at the prospect of him being angry with her; she missed when he didn't act like she was the bane of his existence.

                    "Used to be a tree, didn't you?" Lord Apollo questions nonchalantly, "Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time ⸺"

                    "Brother," Artemis interrupts him before he can start talking about Daphne, "You should get going."

                    Thank the Gods, Sarah thinks, Lord Apollo was bad enough on his own but Lord Apollo wallowing in the story of what happened with Daphne was even worse.

                    "Oh, right," Apollo falls short then he fixes Percy with a very similar glare to the one that he gives Sarah, "Percy Jackson."

                    Sarah holds her breath, chewing on her lower lip as she waits for Apollo to do something terrible and drastic. What if he tells Percy about the Great Prophecy.

                    "Yeah," Percy says then realizes he's speaking to a God and then he adds uneasily, "I mean . . . Yes, sir."

                    He studies Percy for a moment longer than seems to recover from whatever the hell that was and says "Well! We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way ⸺ west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

                    Sarah looks at the car then looks to Artemis, with a flat look, as if to ask how they were related. Artemis' lips quirk upwards slightly but she shakes her head fondly as if to tell Sarah to be nice.

                    "Cool car," Nico says, eyeing it with an awed expression as if he'd never seen a car before.

                    Sarah briefly wonders if they had cars back in the time period she believed he was from but remembers they did as she recalls her dad having a very ancient-looking buggy-like car which was weird to think of her dad needing a car but the image of the car was gone just as quickly as it came. He probably wanted to visit Persephone during the summer at some location and asked Sarah to acquire him a car to do so. He was always giving her stupid little side quests when the Hunters weren't busy, Sarah justifies this weird image, that must be it. He'd asked her to help him meet up with Persephone so many times before, she probably forgot about this one time until now.

                    Apollo thanks him, puffing out his chest and gazing proudly at his car. If only he looked at his kids like that, Sarah thinks and thankfully doesn't say it out loud.

                    "But how will we all fit," Nico adds.

                    Sarah tenses, worried that the question might somehow offend the God, it doesn't thankfully, Apollo frowns, prideful stance deflating as he seems to realize this problem for the first time.

                    'Oh. Well, yeah . . . I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose . . ." He mumbles, taking out his car keys and presses the security alarm button.

                    The car makes a chirping noise and for a moment, the car glows brightly again. When the glare dies, the Maserati has been replaced by a miniature school bus of sorts.

                    "Right,'' He says, "Everybody in."

                    Zoë orders the Hunters to start loading, picking up her camping pack.

                    Apollo offers "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

                    It's more so the term 'sweetheart' that has Zoë recoiling then the offer of help, her dark eyes flash murderously.

                    "Brother," Artemis chides, "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you most certainly do not call them sweetheart."

                    Apollo spread his hands in surrender "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

                    "Hunting," Artemis replies flatly, "It's none of your business."

                    "I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

                    Artemis snorts as she shakes her head "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

                    "No, no! I never mess around." Apollo says with faux innocence.

                    Artemis rolls her eyes, then looks around at the Hunters "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

                    Zoë straightens giving a bow as she nods and says "Yes, my lady."

                    "Be safe, my lady," Sarah says softly, chewing on her lower lip as she played with her fingers.

                    Although hardly anything could touch the Goddess, Sarah still worried when Artemis would separate from the Hunters. It was even worse knowing that the titan Atlas might be involved ⸺ the only thing that could easily harm her. Artemis nods at Sarah, giving her a small smile.

                    Zoe places a light hand to Sarah's shoulder and she relaxes ever so slightly.

                    Artemis kneels, touching the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looks troubled "So much danger. The beast must be found."

                    She sprints towards the woods and melts into the snow and shadows. With that, Artemis is gone. Sarah leans into Zoe's side feeling more distraught than normal, Zoe surprisingly allows this, tightening her grip on Sarah's shoulder.

                    Apollo turns and grins, jangling the car keys on his finger "So, who wants to drive?"

                    A decade ago, he wouldn't have even asked, the driving privileges always went to Sarah as she's the only Hunter to have a legal driver's license. But, since he had decided to start treating Sarah like he was Judge in the Salem Witch Trials, he always asked someone else to drive and then normally he would end up driving because none of the other Hunters would volunteer. This happened the last two times they hitched a ride with the God.

                    They all pile into the bus after loading up their things. Bianca attempts to sit with Nico but he gives her the dirtiest look that Sarah couldn't believe was possible coming from the likes of him. Sarah offers to sit by him for Bianca's sake. Bianca says that she doesn't have to and that she should sit with the other Hunters, as she was actually part of their group, but Sarah makes up a lame excuse about needing to catch up with Grover on camp gossip which Bianca easily buys and thanks her for looking out for Nico.

                    In actuality, Sarah wants to sit with Thalia because she knows that Thalia doesn't like heights at all and she will have a panic attack about riding in the Sun Chariot if she doesn't have a hand to hold. By the looks of it, Percy is absolutely not an option, Grover could've been but he sits with Percy and Nico plops down on the driver's seat before anyone can stop him.

                    "This is so cool," Nico exclaims, looking positively giddy as he bounces up and down on the driver's seat, "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the Sun and Moon Gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

                    "Downsizing," Apollo replies easily, almost fondly, "The Romans started it, couldn't afford all those fancy sacrificial temples so so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

                    Sarah had almost forgotten about the Romans, whatever happened to their Demigods? She recalls that they had to be separated from The Greek Demigod kids because they kept pitting themselves against each other and starting wars. She knows that with the help of the Mist, the Greek and Roman Demigods have no idea about the other, even Sarah herself forgets about the Roman Demigods from time to time due to the Mist but she knows they had existed at one point. A group of the Roman Demigods had saved her once when she had got separated from the Hunters in the late 1780s but that was before the Romans had been separated from the Greeks. She wondered if there were any Roman Demigods still alive and kicking out there somewhere.

                    Sarah shrugs off the thought, she's not allowed to talk about the Roman Demigods at all, she's been sworn to secrecy by her father. And she keeps her secrets like she keeps her oaths.

                    "But how does it work?" Nico asks, "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

                    Apollo chuckles and ruffles Nico's hair "That rumour probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting!"

                    Apollo goes on a lengthy philosophical explanation about the Sun Chariot works that Sarah definitely doesn't follow along, Nico, himself, struggles to keep up with what Apollo is saying.

                    "Make sense," Apollo asks, finishing his lengthy story on what the Sun Chariot is exactly.

                    "No," Nico says as he shakes his head.

                    "Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

                    "Can I drive," Nico asks eagerly.

                    'No," Apollo laughs heartily, dragging out the word, "Too young."

                    "Oh! Ooh!" Grover exclaims, looking thrilled as he raises his hand.

                    "Mm, no," Apollo says. "Too furry."

                    He looks past Percy and Sarah, focusing on poor Thalia

                    "Daughter of Zeus!" Apollo decides with a pleased look, "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

                    "Oh, no." Thalia says, shaking her head as she pales ever so slightly, "No, thanks."

                    "C'mon! How old are you?"

                    Thalia hesitates, face falling into despair as she mutters, "I don't know."

                    Sarah wants to say twelve immediately because that's how old she was when ⸺ she shakes her head trying not to think of that, Sarah looks at Thalia and she does look older but not by much. Had she aged as a tree?

                    Apollo taps his finger to his lips then says with nothing but pure confidence "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."

                    "How do you know that?"

                    "Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."

                    "That's my birthday! December twenty-second."

                    Sixteen, she's going to be sixteen in a week? The rest of the conversation goes in one ear and out the other for Sarah as she sinks into the seat, she barely takes notice as Nico sits next to her. The great prophecy echoes in her ears and Sarah thinks that she's going to be sick. The prophecy is about Thalia, no, Sarah squirms in her seat as she can't let that be true.

                    The prophecy could mean that Thalia will die. Sarah knows it doesn't specifically say the child who reaches sixteen will perish but the choice the prophecy eludes the child will have to make, well the choice sounds like it's they either die to save Olympus or they live and destroy it. At least that's how Sarah took it when she had heard it.

                    Sarah never really had anything against the Gods or Olympus, she didn't want it to fall but if it meant that Thalia had to die than Sarah would rather have Olympus be torn down, brick by brick. She didn't care what the cost was, she didn't want Thalia to die.

                    Or Sarah could walk away from the Hunters and be the one the Prophecy but she thinks it was too late for that. She thinks she was born in early spring. It was too late, too late, too late. Is it always too late for her to protect the ones she loves?

                    Sarah is brought out of her thoughts by her body lurching forward and slamming into the seat in front of her. Thalia had been elected by Apollo to drive the Sun Chariot, she did not look pleased to be doing so.

                    Percy is shouting at her how to drive, she was shouting back at him that she had it all under control ⸺ she definitely did not have it under control! Her face was chalk white and beaded with sweat, and she accelerated way too hard, Apollo was sent flying to the back off the bus with a loud thud. Sarah, from the corner of her eye could see smoke of something rising by the windows ⸺ the trees from the clearing, no doubt.

                    Nico had grabbed onto Sarah, his face had paled considerably and he leans into Sarah's side. His arm that isn't latched onto Sarah's is gripping on tightly to the leather seat.

                    Apollo makes his way back up to the front of the bus as Grover, frightened for his life, pleads for the God to take the wheel from Thalia.

                    "No worries," Apollo says to Grover but the God actually looked like he had all the worries, "She just has to learn to ⸺ WHOA!"

                    Apollo exclaims as he spots the sight below ⸺ a little snow-covered New England town, no longer as snow-covered as the Sun Chariot passes over it. The white steeple on a church had turned brown and started to smoulder ⸺ wonder what those God-fearing Mortals will think of that sight, Sarah thinks as a small smug grin tugs at her lips. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, began popping up all over the town, Trees and rooftops catch fire.

                    "Pull up!" Percy yells.

                    Thalia, absolutely panic-stricken, yanks back on the wheel, Sarah barely has time to stop Nico from flying out of his seat. As The Sun Chariot zooms up, Sarah spots through the back window that the fires in the town are snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.

                    "There!" Apollo points out, sounding relieved, "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

                    Thalia thunder towards the coastline of northern Long Island, white-knuckling it. There, as Apollo had said, dead ahead was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. It was a sight for Sarah's sore eyes, although she would've enjoyed it much more if she wasn't hurtling towards it at an obscene speed in the Sun Chariot.

                    Thalia is muttering that she has it all under control, they're only a hundred meters or so from the camp, she should be braking now at the speed that she's at.

                    "Brake," Apollo instructs, mildly panicked.

                    "I can do this," Thalia tells herself but she doesn't brake.

                    "BRAKE!" Sarah finds herself screaming alongside Lord Apollo,

                    Thalia slams her foot on the brake, the Sun Chariot pitches forward at a forty-five-degree angle. Sarah wraps herself around Nico to protect him from the impact or worse, going through a window. The chariot slams into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge floosh-ing sound! The bus bobs to the surface along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

                     Sarah asks if Nico is okay, her voices shakes, he nods his head against her silver bomber jacket, his reply muffled in the material.

                    "Well," Apollo says with a brave smile, 'You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"

                    "By the Titanides," Hunter Kowalski voices sounds from the back of the bus, their voice is raspier than usual and Sarah turns to see that the older girl is pale and wide-eyed as they get to their feet. Hunter looks between Lord Apollo and Thalia, shaking their head "Never again, never, ever."

                    Cel, who looks just as pale as Hunter, is clutching onto Bianca while nodding her head in agreement with them "Yeah, next time, Sarah's driving."

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
( nulla ) The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging
───────── ❝ the author's commentary ❞
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

Bianca is born in the summer because Hades, Persephone, and Maria had a thing going on! Bianca and Nico are still just only Hades and Maria's kids but Persephone was considered their mother as well and she loved them very much!! Hades loved Persephone a lot which is why he doesn't have many kids or affairs compared to other married Gods so for Hades to have two kids with the same women I feel like there's no way that Persephone wasn't also interested in Maria! So yeah! Hades/Persephone/Maria for the win!! They were a big happy family before Zeus ruined it!!

okay okay so Sarah does have a prophecy which connects with the big prophecy and i still haven't really figured out what the prophecy says exactly because i am super duper bad at writing prophecies BUT i just thought of a stupid really funny reason as to why the prophecy exists and that is: the prophecy was made on accident.

SO as you know apollo has an oracle that gives out the prophecies rather than him doing it himself because he technically can't (it says he can't tell anyone the future on the wiki page but there's no explanation as to why) so what if after finding out about Luke's terrible fate Hermes begs Apollo to look into the future to see if there's anyway that Luke can be saved from whatever tragedy is supposed to befall him.

Hermes begs him for years about this and Apollo finally snaps and pulls a bullshit prophecy out of his ass that's not even supposed to happen just to get Hermes to shut up BUT by saying this prophecy, even if he made it up, as the god of prophecy, it becomes true eventually even though it shouldn't. Apollo takes inspiration from the big prophecy which is why the prophecies end up being connected even though most things don't have two prophecies.

Anyways by doing this, Apollo is super mad at himself, the fates are mad because Luke was straight up supposed to die but now he can live possibly if Apollo's bullshit prophecy comes true, and when it becomes clear that Sarah is who this bullshit prophecy is about, Apollo starts having beef with her even though she has no idea about it. And Hermes becomes very protective of Sarah,,, honestly it might not make sense but it has a percy jackson canon plot vibe to it and i'm also super proud of creating it so yeah that's how sarah's prophecy came to be!!

however i am really bad at writing prophecies so we won't be hearing it for quite some time until i perfect it but just know it exists and it's lowkey funny.

Anyway thanks for reading the chapter!! I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought of it in the comments!!!

WORD COUNT ⸺ 8,026 words