I 017. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ stars ❞

THEY LANDED AT CRISSY FIELD AFTER NIGHTFALL.

As soon as Dr. Chase stepped out of his Sopwith Camel, Annabeth ran to him and have him a huge hug. "Dad! You flew... you shot... oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Ariadne kept holding Zoe's hand, never letting go, incase the girl was beginning to shut her eyes. She glanced up at Thalia and Artemis, the older girl looking distraught and the goddess conflicted.

"Please tell me someone packed nectar and ambrosia," Ariadne said.

Thalia gulped. "I... I didn't."

They looked towards Artemis. When the goddess shook her head sadly, their hearts dropped into their stomachs.

Zoe looked terrible. She was shivering as if she had a deadly fever, and the blanket around her wasn't doing much good. Sweat rolled down her forehead and part of Ariadne wanted to just keep praying to anyone who would listen.

The brunette took a deep breath and reluctantly let go of Zoe's hand. She pressed her hands over to the girl's side, causing Zoe to hiss. Tears were welling in her eyes, but she refrained from letting them fall for the injured Huntress's sake.

"My mom used to sing me a song every night," Ariadne told the girl, in hopes it would distract her from her pain.

Zoe's eyes opened a tiny bit. "Can you... can you sing it..."

Ariadne hummed in a shaky voice. Her attempts to soothe the girl were much appreciated.

Percy and Annabeth stood by Dr. Chase bear is airplane a bit away, unaware of what was happening.

"Annabeth, Percy," Thalia called. Her voice was urgent. Artemis had finished binding Zoe's wound, but blood was sleeping through quickly, and it forced Ariadne to keep constant pressure on it.

There was nothing any of them could do. They had no ambrosia or nectar. No regular medicine could do good. And even though it was dark, Zoe was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading.

"Can't you heal her with magic!" Percy asked Artemis. "I mean... you're a goddess."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."

She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.

"Have I... served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."

But in that moment, Ariadne knew it wasn't just the poison that was killing her. It was her father's final blow. Zoe has known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand: and yet she's taken the quest anyway. She was stronger than Ariadne could ever be.

She saw Thalia and took her hand.

"I'm sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters."

"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men—everything."

"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at Percy. "Do you still hav ether sword, Percy."

Percy couldn't speak, but he brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like... like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword.l

Zoe looked towards the brunette girl who couldn't meet her eyes. The girl who was trying to staunch the blood pouring from her side. "Ariadne..." Zoe said.

She helped in her tears. "Yeah?"

"Lunacy..." the Hunter's eyes looked at the gold ring on her hand. "It will serve you well, you are meant to carry it. I only hope you follow your heart... trust yourself. Thee is enough."

Ariadne nodded. "Zoe—"

"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. Percy let out a shuddered breath. Ariadne pursed her lips and held in her own tears, slowly removing her hands from Zoe's side.

Artemis cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smile exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared.

The blood on Ariadne's hand was washed away in a silver light, leaving behind the thick feeling of blood and the memory of red stains.

Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.

For a moment it didn't look any different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, Ariana esas the stars were brighter. They made a pattern she had never noticed before—a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."

It wasn't easy saying their good-byes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help."

The goddess set her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

The she looked at Thalia, as if she weren't sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess's eyes. Ariadne wasn't sure what passed between them, but Artemis's gaze softened with sympathy.

The goddess looked down at the girl who was kneeled on the ground. She met her eyes and sighed. "You are not weak, Ariadne. No matter what you may think. The prophecy chose a strong one to defend us, you are enough."

Artemis turned to Percy.

"You did well," she said. "For a man."

She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. They averted their eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.

"Well," Dr. Chase sighed. "She was impressive; though I must say I still prefer Athena."

Annabeth turned toward him. "Dad, I... I'm sorry that—"

"Shh." He hugged her. "Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn't easy for you."

His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile.

Then Ariadne heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one.

Ariadne stood to her two her feet.

"Blackjack!" Percy called.

Percy told them he had brought his two companions, Guido and Porkpie, with him.

"Nah," he said aloud. "These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast."

Percy raised  his eyebrows and sighed heavily, "Yes, even Ariadne."

The girl crossed her arms and glared at Blackjack. That horse was never going to like her.

Dr. Chase stared openmouthed at the pegasi.

"Fascinating," he said. "Such maneuverability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"

Blackjack cocked his head.

"Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charged on the Crimea," Dr. Chase said, "the charge of the light brigade—"

"Dad!" Annabeth interrupted.

Dr. Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you must go."

He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. As she turned to climb aboard the pegasus Guido, Dr. Chase called, "Annabeth. I know... I know San Francisco is a dangerous solace for you. But please remember, you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."

Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr. Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in a sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field.

Thalia and Annabeth mounted their pegasi. Percy looked at Ariadne who smiled weakly, her emotions pushed deep down. He mounted Blackjack and she followed, having a bit of trouble due to the pegasus hugging dramatically.

Together they soared over the bag and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind them, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north.

Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie's back. Ariadne embed she had to be really tied to sleep in the air, despite her fear of heights, but she didn't have much to worry about. Her pegasus flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in a while so Thalia stayed safely on his back.

Ariadne has closed her eyes. She placed her head in Percy's neck, taking deep breaths to rid herself of the images of the blood on her hands and Luke's crumpled body along the rocks.

She soon fell asleep.

It wasn't a nightmare luckily, it was more of a memory she had.

Ariadne jumped over a fallen log on the ground, laughing as a body thumped behind her.

"Come in, Annie!" she yelled behind her. "You can do better than that!"

She heard a groan, "Shut up!"

Her hair blew in the wind and she stopped at the lake. She kneeled down and looked at the water's surface, and it showed how young she was

Ariadne watched herself from above, eyeing her eight year old self.

Annabeth kneeled down next to her younger self and said something to make her laugh. The blonde crossed her arms and pouted, looking at the girl who was practicing with a  vine that popped out of the ground.

"How's it going?" Annabeth asked, observing the swaying vine.

Young Ariadne groaned. "It won't listen! I've seen my dad do this so many times and I still can't get it!" she complained, throwing her arms into the air.

The blonde shrugged. "Maybe there's just something wrong with you."

A glare was sent her way. "Wow," Young Ariadne said sarcastically, "how helpful are you. Daughter of Athena my butt."

Annabeth shoved her. "I'm just saying, Ari, it's not going to work automatically. You need to practice and keep watching your dad do it. And soon, you can help him in the strawberry fields," she said.

"Yeah," Young Ariadne said. She nodded. "Practice."

The blonde smiled and stood up. "Come on, we've got archery with Chiron, you know how he is when we're late."

Young Ariadne grinned. "It's funny though. He's always scolding us, and then we just laugh," she laughed.

"That's true." Annabeth patted her shoulder. "Who knows? Maybe one day you can become so powerful that if I just yell at you from across camp then you can grow me vines from everywhere and I can eat grapes."

"Like your own personal buffet," she asked.

"Exactly like that."

The blonde and brunette laughed before throwing and arm over their shoulders. Skipping down the beach as they headed towards the archery range, knowing how ticked off Chiron would be.

Ariadne blinked her eyes open. She could hear two voices saying something, and she strained to listen in her dreary state.

"Why don't you tell her?" It sounded like Annabeth.

"Tell her what?" That was definitely Percy.

Then brunette pretended she was still asleep to hear what they were saying.

"Come on, Percy," she could hear the eye roll in the blonde's voice. "You've been looking at her for five minutes. Did... did she tell you?"

Percy seemed confused. "About what? The prophecy?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Well, Aphrodite told me. It was, uh, a short conversation."

There was a small pause.

"Have you talked about it?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not really. We've been so busy with this..." He gestured to the pegasus and herself, seeming to remind her of their quest. "It's been pretty eventful."

Annabeth smiled. "Percy, you need to talk with her."

"But-but what if she blows me off?" he asks.

"If you think she would blow you off, then you have even more seaweed in hue head than I originally thought," she told him.

He made a disgruntled sound. Ariadne e decided that was a good time to pretend to wake up.

She lifted her head up and gave them the best dazed expression she could. And for not gaining the theatre part of her father, she seemed to do well.

The girl sent Percy and Annabeth a smile. The brunette happy her best friend was safe—and she meant the blonde best friend.

"There it is." Thalia's voice: she's woken up. She was pointing toward Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. "It's started."

"What's started?" Percy asked.

Ariadne slowed to where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was it's own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.

"The winter solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."