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Chapter Text

Giving up mortality for the greater good was an easy choice. As part of some of the perks of living forever, Lee Chaeryeong got to watch the world around her blossom into something more extraordinary than it was just a decade ago — and best of all, she got to watch it all unfold with her fellow hunters of Artemis, who she considered her family. There was almost nothing in the world she would trade that for. 

Almost.

It was nearing Chaeryeong’s 87th anniversary since becoming immortal to serve under Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Unfortunately for her, instead of traveling with Artemis like she’d hoped to, she had been posted at Camp Half-Blood along with a couple of others from the group. She wasn’t fond of the camp, but having to hang around the campers was even worse.  

“Why did we have to be posted here of all places?” Hwang Yeji whined, kicking her feet like a child from the comfort of her cabin bed. “This is probably Artemis’s way of punishing me for eating the last beef jerky when we were out in the woods last week. She really likes that stuff.”

“As if she doesn’t get offerings every day,” Choi Jisu chuckled as she just finished unloading her items from her traveling bag. “But seriously, couldn’t Artemis have picked a better place for us? I would’ve been happier with literally anywhere but a place with sore losers that get petty over getting owned in a game of Capture the Flag.”

Chaeryeong laughed as the older girls endearingly made fun of the goddess. While any being on Earth with common sense would know not to tease an omnipotent Olympian, the hunters were a different story with Artemis. They had always just been a family.

A family of highly-skilled archers that hunted monsters, sure, but a family regardless. 

“Sorry, you have to spend your anniversary at this crummy camp, Chaeryeong. I haven’t been here since the late 1700s, but I don’t think it’s gotten any better,” Yeji apologetically looked at the redhead. “I can’t believe it’s been 87 years now. You’re basically still a baby.”

87 years is basically a whole lifetime in mortal terms, but for an immortal, that was like being fresh out of the womb. Yeji and Jisu were both over 400 years old, and Chaeryeong never really bothered to figure out why they hung out with her since she had literally nothing in common with them.

“It’s okay. As long as none of the gross fourteen-year-olds here talk to me,” Chaeryeong made a face at the thought of the prepubescent campers trying to make conversation with her. While immortality did slow her mental age and she didn’t have the mind of someone who is a century years old, she had become immortal when she was twenty-one. An adult in a field of gross hormonal teenagers was a nightmare.

Even if she was an immortal teenager rather than an adult, she still probably wouldn’t have enjoyed their company.

She excused herself from her cabin bed and made her way towards the door, “I’m going to go talk to Chiron for a bit and figure out what the game plan is. It’s comforting to know we’re just here for a quest, so when we get the job done, we can leave right away.”

“And Dionysus can stop giving me the stink eye for saying he looks like someone’s fat alcoholic uncle 300 years ago,” Jisu rolled her eyes. “He can hold one hell of a grudge when he can’t even remember my name.”

The three girls had one last laugh about their shared hatred of the camp before Chaeryeong finally headed outside of Cabin 8. She closed her eyes as she sucked in the fresh air and let the aroma of freshly grown strawberries from the field nearby ease her mind. 

Even if the camp was nothing but bad memories, the place itself was still as beautiful as she remembered. 

“You’re new,” a deep yet feminine voice stated, prompting Chaeryeong to open her eyes. 

It was a young woman that couldn’t have been any younger than eighteen with short platinum blonde hair. The redhead was relieved to see someone around her age for once at the camp — in biological terms at least. 

“I’m not new. I’ve been here before,” Chaeryeong replied. She kept her tone steady and eyes cold. She didn’t have any intention of making friends. “I’m just here for a mission. I’ll be gone soon enough.”

The blonde scrunched her face in confusion, “I’ve been here for over ten years and I’ve literally never seen you before.”

“You seriously can’t tell from my getup and the huge bow strapped on my coat that I’m a Hunter of Artemis? I left Camp Half-Blood when I was eighteen in the 1930s,” Chaeryeong crossed her arms in disbelief. “I was long gone decades before you were even born.”

“ Ohh , so you’re one of those hunters. Chiron told me I was supposed to introduce myself to the Hunters of Artemis and help you guys whenever needed,” Ryujin explained, flashing a smile traced with genuineness. She was very charmingly relaxed and amusing. “I’m Shin Ryujin, head counselor of the Ares Cabin. I’m one of the only adults here that haven’t left the camp for college or work, so I tend to be in charge around here.”

“I’m Lee Chaeryeong, Hunter of Artemis and former Athena cabin head counselor — not that that’s relevant.”

“With your red hair and intimidating gray eyes, I probably should’ve guessed you’re Athena’s kid, but your beauty almost had me fooled thinking you were Aphrodite’s.” Ryujin tilted her head to look at the taller girl innocently as if she didn’t just try to flirt with the huntress. 

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Chaeryeong scoffed. “Had you been a man, I would have struck you down right now. You’re lucky Artemis isn’t present at the moment too. She has plenty of fun curses up her sleeve.”

“So you hunters really are that serious about being maidens.”

“Of course we are.” 

Chaeryeong changed the subject, “So, where’s Chiron? I’d like to speak with him. Artemis didn’t brief us about the quest.”

“He’s on Mount Olympus, probably meeting with Zeus, but I can fill you in,” Ryujin began explaining. “We’re essentially at war with each other. The gods are fighting because Zeus ordered a rule that having affairs with humans be strictly prohibited from now on — even if he can’t keep it in his pants himself. Naturally, a lot of the Olympians, minor gods, and demigods are pissed and it’s caused the campers to go sour with one another. The Apollo Cabin has been at my throat all day.”

“And the hunters are here because…?” Chaeryeong was beyond skeptical about this entire situation and almost didn’t care because the only deity she would fight for was Artemis — a virgin goddess with no children. 

“The Oracle was summoned the night Zeus ordered that rule. I don’t recall the exact prophecy, but it was something about five demigods that come together to resolve the problem — three of them being Hunters of Artemis. You’ll probably need to speak with the Oracle yourself.”

“Well, there’s definitely three of us, but Artemis seriously chose me to go as one of the three. Talk about unlucky.”

“Not fond of quests, wise girl?”

Chaeryeong rolled her eyes at the nickname and shook her head, “It’s not the quest that I don’t like.”

Ryujin began to grow curious. She wanted to learn more about Chaeryeong, the taller girl standing before her that showed nothing but mystery and coldness. 

“Let me show you around,” Ryujin suddenly offered.

“Didn’t I tell you I used to be a camper myself? I don’t need a tour.”

She wasn’t sure what Ryujin was plotting, but she was not interested. 

“Please?” Ryujin was beaming with her smile. With her unique dimples that resembled a cat’s whiskers and charming aura, it was a little hard to say no.

“Fine.”

Okay, so it was really hard to say no.

“Here, I’ll show you the cabins,” Ryujin swiftly grabbed Chaeryeong’s hand and began the tour. “Campers nowadays like to change up the decorations and whatnot while still maintaining the gods’ theme. It’s pretty interesting seeing what they can come up with.”

She pointed towards Cabin Eleven, “I’m guessing you already know this, but that’s the biggest cabin. All of the unclaimed kids stay there along with the kids of Hermes, so the aesthetic is way off all of the time.”

The cabin had peeling brown paint with flowers all over, half-broken Christmas lights were laid out of the roof of the cabin, and it was all topped off with Hermes’ caduceus symbol on the front door.

“It’s almost June and they haven’t taken down the Christmas lights yet,” Ryujin chuckled to herself.

Chaeryeong knitted her brows together, feeling awful for the dozens of unclaimed demigods that had to stay cramped in the cabin. She remembered what it was like, waiting weeks for someone to finally claim her. 

Ryujin must have noticed her sour reaction because she quickly moved on, never releasing her hold on Chaeryeong’s hand. 

“Cabin Ten, Aphrodite’s Cabin. Their cabin isn’t all that special aside from the Barbie house aesthetic, so I normally wouldn’t give you a tour of the place,” Ryujin began explaining as she held the cabin door for Chaeryeong to enter. “But there’s someone I’d like you to meet. She’s my best friend, and basically a little sister to me. I think you’ll like her.”

Chaeryeong’s face scrunched up as the strong scent of cologne and perfume attacked her sense of smell the moment she stepped inside the pink cabin, “Gods, this place is really–”

“Yuna!” 

Chaeryeong was cut off by Ryujin greeting a taller girl. She was remarkably beautiful with mid-length black hair and outstanding proportions. She didn’t expect any less from a child of Aphrodite. 

“Ryeong, this is Shin Yuna. We aren’t biological siblings even though we share the same surname, but we basically are siblings.”

The child of Athena had to take a moment to process the new nickname Ryujin had just given her. There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted a few seconds too long. 

“Hey, wise girl? Earth to Ryeong.”

“I– Oh, right. Sorry,” Chaeryeong let out a huff of disappointment after realizing she had just slipped up. “Hi, Yuna. I’m Lee Chaeryeong. I’m just visiting, but you’ll probably be seeing me quite a bit for the next couple of weeks.”

Yuna glanced between Ryujin and Chaeryeong with a face that looked like she was trying to hold in a laugh. After a few seconds of her antics, she did end up releasing a slight giggle before responding, “Hi, Chaeryeong! I’m sorry if Ryujin is causing you trouble, I promise she means well. She just kind of sucks with flirting.”

The darker-haired girl received a punch from Ryujin, which looked like it genuinely hurt. “ OW! ”

“Serves you right.”

Note to self: Do not get into a fistfight with a child of Ares, Chaeryeong thought to herself, trying to hold in a small laugh as the two girls in front of her were bickering. 

They really did seem like siblings. It reminded the redhead of her time with her mortal half-sister Chaeyeon. Chaeyeon had long passed, but she wasn’t upset by that. She knew Chaeyeon’s spirit was happily residing in Elysium with the rest of her family. She was happy to relive those memories through the Shins. 

Ryujin paused her bickering with Yuna to fully take in Chaeryeong’s gaze. Her stormy gray eyes seemed to simultaneously hold thousands of thoughts yet none at all seemed to have calmed down. A small curl in the redhead’s lips was formed and Ryujin just couldn’t get enough of that smile. She had known her for no longer than twenty minutes, yet she was completely captivated by the endearing Lee Chaeryeong.

Yuna pulled Ryujin by the collar to whisper in her ear, “Making heart eyes at your crush in the middle of Aphrodite’s cabin is like asking my siblings and me to meddle. I’m sure that you don’t want that.”

“I do not have a–” Ryujin cut herself off. She knew she would be lying if she had completed that statement. “Okay, you know what, let’s get out of here before I beat the hell out of Yuna.”

The blonde’s hand made her way back to Chaeryeong’s, leaving the cabin as quickly as possible before any other child of Aphrodite could embarrass Ryujin further. 

“You two are cute, you know that?” Chaeryeong seemed to be in higher spirits all of a sudden. 

The sight of that made Ryujin’s heart warm, but her hands also felt more clammy the more she came to pay attention to Chaeryeong. She hoped the huntress wouldn’t notice or be grossed out.

Ryujin teased, “I didn’t know you could even smile.”

“You two just reminded me of my older sister, that’s all. We used to fight like that all the time.”

“Is it ever lonely being immortal?” Ryujin thought it might’ve been a bad question to ask, especially since Chaeryeong seemed to be in a good mood too. She didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere, but curiosity always kills the cat, as Ryujin’s mother would say.

Surprisingly, Chaeryeong’s face softened and her grip on Ryujin’s hand tightened, “It is. All of the mortals and demigods I grew up with have passed already, but this is the path I’ve chosen. Besides, we hunters always stick together, so it’s not too bad.”

Ryujin, struggling to find the right words to say, just simply nodded and moved on, “Do you want to see Athena’s cabin?”

To Ryujin’s disappointment, Chaeryeong finally let go of her hand and started walking off on her own accord, Ryujin following right behind her. 

Chaeryeong then shook her head, “I’ll pass. I don’t really feel that connected to demigods anymore, so it’s kind of freaky seeing kids that look the same as me. I’ve already seen a few of my half-siblings and it was weird.”

“You Athena kids seriously all have the same eyes, you know that? I could practically hear the thunder in that storm of yours.”

Chaeryeong just smiled, but it wasn’t the same smile Ryujin had seen just moments earlier in Cabin Ten. It was a face that held almost the same cold demeanor from when they first exchanged words, only masked by a smile rather than a deadpan this time. 

Did I say something wrong?

Ryujin felt that she was going to get a headache from the strange mixed signals and inconsistencies of Lee Chaeryeong. She just couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on inside of her head. There was so much more to her than Ryujin could only ever dream to know about. 

“How about I introduce you to the other two hunters that are accompanying me for the mission and take a break from your tour?” Chaeryeong was quick to change her demeanor as if nothing was wrong at all. “Besides, I think I’m allergic to this camp because walking around here for a prolonged period of time makes me feel sick.”

“You really have it out for this camp, huh?”

“I just love it here so, so much,” Chaeryeong sarcastically said. “But come on, let’s go before Jisu falls asleep or something. She’s probably getting comfortable right now.” 

As the two entered the hunters’ cabin, Yeji and Jisu, who were sitting on the latter’s bed, quickly turned their heads to face the pair. Oddly enough, there was a strange and uncomfortable shift in the atmosphere the moment Ryujin came into the cabin. 

“Chaeryeong’s back!” Jisu exclaimed. 

Yeji raised a brow, “And she’s with a friend.”

“Shin Ryujin, head of the Ares Cabin, and kind of your escort or whatever during your stay,” Ryujin bowed as she introduced herself. “Nice to meet you two. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.”

Chaeryeong took the initiative to introduce the two girls who were silently staring for too long, “They’re my best friends, Hwang Yeji and Choi Jisu. They’re also demigods, daughters of Apollo and Demeter respectively.”

Ryujin cracked a joke to lighten up the mood, “Apollo’s daughter as a Hunter of Artemis? Isn’t that like, treason?” 

Completely ignoring Ryujin, Yeji immediately cut to the chase, “I thought you weren’t making friends here, Chaeryeong.”

Jisu nervously glanced between Ryujin and Yeji, uncomfortable by how Yeji didn’t wait for Ryujin to leave before scolding Chaeryeong. 

Chaeryeong sighed, almost as if expecting this exchange, “I’m not . She just happened to introduce herself to me and we’re stuck with her anyway because Chiron’s not present at the moment.”

“Chaeryeong.” Yeji’s voice was stern. She knew Chaeryeong was lying. Yeji had sharp and intimidating characteristics in both appearance and personality that made her completely unlike her father.

Ryujin couldn’t contain her confusion and frustration anymore, “I am literally right here. If you have a problem, say it directly to me and don’t blame Ryeong for whatever you’re upset about.”

“Ryujin, it’s okay,” Chaeryeong said in a soft manner, tugging at the hem of Ryujin’s orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. 

Ryujin couldn’t help but wince. She had never seen the hunter so vulnerable before. She didn’t know Chaeryeong could be vulnerable in the way she was witnessing now.

“Since when did you two get close enough to be calling her by a nickname?” Yeji was in disbelief. 

“Yeji, maybe you should calm down. I know you’re worried, but this isn’t the way to express that,” Jisu put a hand to Yeji’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Ryujin, I can’t say I’m not doubting you too, but I’ll let you off the hook. You two should probably go. I’ll talk to Yeji.” 

Chaeryeong nodded, taking Ryujin by the hand to lead her out of the cabin. Even with the heavy argument that had just sparked in the cabin, Ryujin’s stomach couldn’t help but dance when their hands made contact. 

Outside, the sun was starting to set and campers were making their way to the Dining Pavilion to have dinner together. 

“I’m not hungry. Are you?” Chaeryeong asked. 

Ryujin shook her head, “No.”

“Let’s get out of here then. I used to skip dinner all the time to watch the sun set on Half-Blood Hill.”

“That’s cool.” That was all Ryujin could manage to say as they silently made it to the outskirts of the valley where Camp Half-Blood sat. She never was good with words. 

“Half-Blood Hill. I haven’t been here in almost a century.” Chaeryeong breathed in the cool air as the remaining sunlight from the orange-tinted sunset hit her flushed skin. She let the small breeze brush against her deep crimson red hair and Ryujin had never seen a more gorgeous sight. 

The two demigods sat together on the hill. Their hands laid side-by-side, slightly brushing against one another whenever one of them slightly shifted. It made Ryujin a little jumpy.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I probably should have expected Yeji to get mad,” Chaeryeong apologized, voice low.

“It’s okay, really. I was just a bit surprised.” Ryujin was relieved that Chaeryeong finally brought up the scene from earlier. “If she has a crush on you and is a bit jealous of me, I get it, but that was kind of intense.” 

Chaeryeong held her head back and let out a loud and hearty laugh. It was a genuine laugh that echoed into the dusk sky, not just a small chuckle or smile that Ryujin had seen previously.

“Your confidence is admirable and your sense of humor is amusing. Usually, when I’m a victim of someone’s poor attempt at flirting, I threaten or maim them, but with you — I guess I don’t mind. I’ve never met a demigod quite like you before,” Chaeryeong said, still smiling from Ryujin’s joke. “Especially being the daughter of Ares and all. I never really liked that guy or his kids.”

Ryujin was glad that it was starting to get dark out because she felt her face grow hot. She hoped it was dark enough to mask her flushed cheeks. 

Ignoring her heart progressively getting louder, Ryujin asked, “So, what was that all about anyway?” 

“I never thought I’d be telling this to someone I just met. Where do I even begin?” Chaeryeong rhetorically asked nervously. “Well, for context, we hunters don’t hate demigods if that’s what you’re thinking — most of us are demigods.”

“Almost had me fooled,” Ryujin raised a brow, chuckling a bit to herself.

Chaeryeong looked down at her hands that were brushed against Ryujin’s, smiling to herself. She then replied, “Yeah, I know. It’s mostly just an inside joke that we don’t like Camp Half-Blood anyway because the campers treat us like ass sometimes. I’m sure if Yeji just gave you a chance, you two would probably be really good friends.”

At this point, Chaeryeong started to fiddle with Ryujin’s fingers. The latter noticed how mindlessly she did it, so it probably didn’t mean much to Chaeryeong, but for Ryujin, her heart started to race even more.

“It’s just that I’m a special case.” Tears were already forcing their way out of her eyes, but she fought it. She began, “I lost a friend in battle. Jeon Somi was her name — daughter of Zeus, and my best friend. She was like a beloved leader at the camp.”

“I’m sorry to hear about that.” Ryujin finally let her hand overlap Chaeryeong’s, and scooted closer to the girl. She wanted Chaeryeong to know she could seek comfort with her.

Chaeryeong was stunned by Ryujin suddenly holding her hand, but she just continued to smile. She wasn’t sure what it was about Ryujin, but she found comfort in her like no other. It might’ve been the way Ryujin charmingly smiled with her whisker dimples or the way her eyes sparkled with no trace of malice at all, or the way Ryujin tried to console her even if she struggled with what to say.

She was just too good to be true.

With Ryujin intently listening like Chaeryeong was the only person in the world, she was encouraged to continue, “We became friends a while after I had become a hunter. We were only acquaintances when I was still a camper. Normally, hunters don’t befriend non-immortals. It’s kind of like an unspoken rule.”

“Why?”

“They all die eventually,” Chaeryeong bittersweetly answered. At some point, she was jealous of people that could die of old age or other natural causes. “Hunters can die in battle, but with a goddess watching our backs and our faster healing rate, it’s rare. For us, our only allies should only be those we know we won’t lose because it just makes living all the more difficult when our friends die. I was a complete wreck for decades after Somi’s death, and even to this day, I can’t stand to be at this camp.”

Ryujin concluded, “That’s why Yeji was upset when she realized you and I were friends.”

“Right,” Chaeryeong nodded. “I’m not even sure how she caught on because I just wanted to introduce you to her while remaining low. I guess she’s just known me for too long. It’s made her increasingly protective.”

After a short pause, Chaeryeong asked, “What made you want to show me around the camp all of a sudden anyway? I got to know you a bit better thanks to that, but you definitely knew I didn’t need one and that it was unnecessary.”

“It was obvious the camp made you uncomfortable,” Ryujin shrugged. “I know why now, but I wanted to show you the better side of Camp Half-Blood. This place has always been my home and I wanted to share a piece of that with you.”

“You definitely just wanted to be around me for longer.”

“Ugh, get over yourself. You’re already starting to sound like me .”

The two girls giggled to themselves until they fell into a comfortable silence. They happily listened to the crickets and tree leaves that would rustle every once in a while hand-in-hand. 

Suddenly, Ryujin asked, “Do you still miss Somi?” 

She couldn’t help but ponder that thought. She felt sorry for breaking the silence with the possibly uncomfortable question, but curiosity got the best of her again.

“Yeah, I do. Some days more than others.”

Ryujin hummed, “You know, I thought with the loss of your best friend, you’d probably want to avoid me at all costs. You could’ve ditched me at any time today.”

“I probably should have. Earlier today you said something about my eyes; Somi used to say the same thing. It freaked me out a little.” Chaeryeong started to laugh as she interlocked her fingers with Ryujin’s and rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder, “But I don’t know what it is about you that I like so much. I guess you’re just amusing, but I don’t mean it in a way that I just think you’re entertainment to me. I think.”

“Huh?” Ryujin burst into laughter. She found it cute how Chaeryeong could be so physically close to her nonchalantly while still unable to be genuine about how she really felt about Ryujin. “What on Olympus are you trying to say right now?”

Chaeryeong groaned as she felt her cheeks tinge red, “What I’m trying to say is that I like being your friend. I enjoy your company. Although, sometimes I wish I didn’t.”

“What you’re saying is that you like me,” Ryujin jokes.

Chaeryeong scoffed, “In your dreams where I’m not an eternal maiden by a verbal oath, maybe.”

Ryujin had almost completely forgotten that this was Lee Chaeryeong, daughter of Athena that had sworn off love forever to join the hunt. She wasn’t sure why or how she had completely ignored that fact — and she especially wasn’t sure why she felt a lump in her throat. It was just a joke after all.

“You should join the hunt. I think you would make a good fit — if you throw away your flirting tendencies of course,” Chaeryeong then suggested. “Artemis wouldn’t be happy accepting someone who would flirt with all of her huntresses.”

Ryujin squeezed Chaeryeong’s hand just lightly, which made Chaeryeong turn her head to look at Ryujin.

“Hm?” Chaeryeong hummed. 

Ryujin shook her head to dismiss Chaeryeong’s concern, “This is probably going to sound pathetic to you, but I can’t give up loving someone. I don’t know how you’ve gone a whole lifetime like that.”

“It’s not pathetic at all,” Chaeryeong argued, sitting upright to directly face Ryujin. “Look at me, Ryujin.” 

The two demigods were now sitting face-to-face with each other with their legs crisscrossed. 

Chaeryeong wasn’t sure if she was just imagining things, but the moon seemed more illuminated than usual. She could make out almost every detail of Ryujin’s face under the light. 

Chaeryeong cupped Ryujin’s face in her hands, squeezing her cheeks, “I joined the hunt because I can’t love someone like that. Not once have I ever felt for someone in the same way that comes so naturally for everyone else. Had I met the right person 87 years ago, I wouldn’t have taken Artemis’ offer. Don’t ever call that pathetic. I envy you if anything.”

“Okay, okay!” Ryujin laughed as she took Chaeryeong’s hands into her own and released her cheeks from Chaeryeong’s grip. “Thanks for that.”

“I think it’s getting late, Ryu. We should head back.” Chaeryeong finally got up and lent a hand for Ryujin to get up with her. 

“Ryu?” Ryujin was beaming.

“You kept calling me ‘Ryeong’. I thought a nickname for you would be nice too,” Chaeryeong answered. 

—

“I’m back,” Chaeryeong whispered as she quietly shut the cabin door on her way in. The lights were off, but she wasn’t sure if her roommates were even sleeping. They were all essentially night owls since they typically traveled with Artemis by night. 

“It’s late and you definitely weren’t spending two hours at the mess hall by yourself,” Yeji assumed as she flicked the lights back on. “Where were you? Were you with that Ares girl?” 

Jisu remained silent. She seemed to be letting Yeji and Chaeryeong talk it out by themselves, which made Chaeryeong all the more nervous. Though, it was probably for the best. 

Chaeryeong took a deep breath before replying honestly, “I was with Ryujin. We were just talking on Half-Blood Hill.”

Yeji motioned her hand to signal Chaeryeong to come over where she was sitting on her bed. “Come.”

Chaeryeong sat by Yeji with her nerves all scrambled. She glanced at Jisu who didn’t seem to be worried, but Chaeryeong still was. She even winced as Yeji began to start talking, expecting to be scolded.

To her surprise, Yeji instead started to stroke Chaeryeong’s red hair and spoke in a softer tone, “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Chaer. You’re a good kid and you didn’t deserve that. I was just worried.”

“I know, unnie. I understand,” Chaeryeong sniffed as tears already came trickling down. She had been withholding all of her emotions while she was with Ryujin because she didn’t want the blonde to see her vulnerable. She didn’t want anyone to see her vulnerable. 

Yeji and Jisu were always the exceptions though. They’ve seen it all.

Jisu got up to sit next to Chaeryeong and embraced her while Yeji continued to stroke her head. Jisu whispered, “We love you, Chaer. We always will. Just don’t get yourself into a mess again though, okay?”

“You were never the same after Somi’s passing, yet when I saw you with Ryujin…” Yeji paused, chuckling in between as she remembered the humorous scene. “You weren’t smiling. In fact, you even looked like you were trying to suppress it, but Jisu and I both saw it. You met someone who made you light up again for the first time in nearly a century.”

Jisu laughed with Yeji, “And here we thought you were going to avoid campers like the plague. Gods, that’s what we hoped , but you’re as stubborn as those satyrs.” 

Chaeryeong couldn’t help but laugh too as she wiped away her tears. Her fellow huntresses always knew how to cheer her up. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Yeji smiled as she joined Jisu and Chaeryeong’s embrace.

“I’m hungry,” Chaeryeong suddenly said.

Jisu groaned, “You ruined the moment, Chaer.”

Yeji rolled her eyes, “And maybe you wouldn’t be hungry if you didn’t skip dinner to be with Goldilocks.”

The three girls shared another laugh before leaving the cabin to get Chaeryeong some food.

Chapter Text

Chaeryeong approached the deck of the Big House, which was furnished with lawn chairs and tables, like a vacation home. The deck wrapped around the Big House's entire perimeter, giving a breathtaking view of the Long Island Sound and Camp Half-Blood's immense forest. She was really envious of the camp staff that lived there because the rundown cabins just weren’t working out anymore and she grew sick of it, despite only having stayed for just one night.

However, the Big House also housed the camp’s infirmary, so it was difficult for Chaeryeong to really enjoy the view on the deck when she always saw campers being escorted in and out of the building when she was once a camper. It was the same place where she found many of her own friends wounded — namely Somi, who was a regular patient there.

She silently laughed to herself, remembering how Argus would joke that Somi was the troublemaker daughter while Chaeryeong was the stressed mother. He wasn’t wrong.

Chaeryeong cautiously approached Chiron’s office just a few doors on the right of the hall in the Big House, slightly poking her head in through the door. The room was reeked of bronze metal and antiques from the 50s, which was generally in character for the centaur. 

“Hey,” someone greeted so closely behind Chaeryeong that the heat from their breath sent shivers down her spine. “You didn’t come to visit me at the arena like you said you would, so I–”

Startled, Chaeryeong instinctively pulled them by the collar and flipped them over to pin them against the floor. In that same swift motion, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and pointed it at their neck before even realizing who had just snuck up behind her. 

“Oh my gods–you–Ryujin, you are such an idiot,” Chaeryeong let out a heavy huff of annoyance and put the arrow back in its quiver.

Ryujin eyed at the way Chaeryeong was straddling on top of her and tried to suppress the oncoming smile and heat that crept up in her cheeks. She kept her head low and avoided eye contact with the redhead despite the close proximity.

“What?” Chaeryeong was confused at how quiet Ryujin was suddenly being. She expected a sarcastic remark or an outburst of laughter. The silent treatment was the last thing she thought she would receive. 

“You’re heavy,” Ryujin lied.

“I should’ve just stabbed you.”

Chaeryeong pushed herself up and almost lent a helping hand for Ryujin to take, but ultimately decided against it, so Ryujin got up herself. 

Part of the reason why was out of spite because of Ryujin’s earlier statement, but also because she felt guilty that she had avoided Ryujin all morning. She did try to greet the demigod sometime after she woke up, but instead, she felt anxious all of a sudden. She couldn’t explain why, especially since they had gotten so close last night. 

Tartarus, that might have been the exact reason why. 

It had been a while since she became close to someone so fragile, someone not biologically immortal. They saw the world differently from Chaeryeong and not only that, they could die at any moment. 

“Iced coffee?” Ryujin offered a cold can of Starbucks to her. “Jungwon from the Hermes cabin snatched it up for me. I thought you might need it since today’s your big day and all.”

“Thank you.” Chaeryeong delightedly took the can and immediately cracked it open. 

“Oh, good! You’re here,” Chiron boasted, approaching the two demigods just in time. If he had come any earlier… 

Chaeryeong didn’t want to think about it. Though, she was sure he’s probably seen worse throughout his years. Two demigods assaulting one another was not uncommon.

“Always a pleasure meeting you again, sir,” Chaeryeong greeted the centaur with a bow. 

“I really hate to put this all on you so soon, but you will have to speak with the Oracle as soon as possible. I fear that the Olympians are growing more hatred for one another and it’s starting to reflect in the mortal realm as well,” Chiron began to explain as his smile dropped. 

“Even Demeter is agitated. The crops are already starting to grow at a slower rate,” Ryujin confirmed, which surprised Chaeryeong. 

She wondered what a child of the god of war would be done paying attention to crops. Ryujin was odd. 

Chiron warned, “Now, when you talk to the Oracle, please be wary of what she says. Everything should not be taken too literally and there may be a different alternative that we just can’t see.”

Chaeryeong had a whip of nostalgia, remembering how Chiron had given her the exact same warnings on her very first quest as a camper when she was just 13-years-old. She also felt that same twist in her stomach too.

After all her years of combat and war, she was still scared.

As if reading her mind, Ryujin spoke up, “I think she gets the gist, Chiron. Taking on this quest when this problem doesn’t even concern her all that much is probably already stressing her out.”

Ryujin completely understood Chaeryeong’s situation. It was a little touching, actually.

As a Hunter of Artemis, direct interferences with Olympian affairs weren’t necessarily a regular item on their to-do list. Aside from hunting, they only occasionally helped demigods on their quests. Those who are both hunters and demigods were considered hunters before they were demigods, so they don’t lead quests. 

Chiron nodded. “Then would you mind escorting Chaeryeong to the field? I believe the other two will be there shortly as well. I had Dionysus and another cabin counselor speak with them.”

“Why isn’t the Oracle in the attic?” Chaeryeong glanced down the hall that led upstairs to the attic’s trapdoor. Even just the entrance was still as creepy looking as ever. 

Ryujin whistled, “Whew, now that is a looong story.”

“Tell me on the way?”

“Sure.”

The two waved off Chiron and went their separate ways from him.

Strangely, there was something odd in the air. Chaeryeong couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but it was completely different from yesterday. They were practically running around the camp hand-in-hand like best friends, but today, the air felt awkward like they had just met. 

Well, they did just meet. 

Chaeryeong was an overthinker.

“So?” Chaeryeong was waiting for Ryujin to tell the story. It was too awkward and silent for both of them. 

“Oh, right.” Ryujin ran her fingers through her hair the same way she always did out of habit before beginning, “It was a crazy summer, but to keep things simple, let’s just say some mortal I knew currently houses the Oracle of Delphi’s spirit.”

“A mortal?” Chaeryeong squinted at the field that was just yards away to try and find the odd one out. “How did she get mixed up with you?”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Ryujin comically strained her voice as if not wanting to remember. She pulled out the traditional camp necklace and rubbed the third-to-last bead on the string in between her fingers. It was a small ornament painted dark green with the Symbol of Pythia decorating it. “Oracles aren’t allowed to date apparently, but we were already growing apart before she took on the spirit anyway.”

Chaeryeong curiously hummed, “Ex-girlfriend, huh?”

Before Ryujin could snarkily respond to that, Yeji and Jisu immediately called over Chaeryeong when the redhead was in their view. 

Unsurprisingly, Ryujin noticed that all eyes were on them. The three huntresses were already the center of everybody’s attention since they stepped foot onto campgrounds, but to be the ones leading the quest only made them harbor more attention.

The field was crowded with campers, most of them just grouped with their own cabins. The camp hadn’t seen a quest in a while, so everybody was on the edge of their seats, excited to see who was going to be chosen for the quest.

“Ryujin,” a familiar blonde greeted her. It was none other than Jeon Heejin, current possessor of the Oracle of Delphi spirit, and Ryujin’s ex-girlfriend. “Excited for today?”

Ryujin glanced back at Chaeryeong, almost not paying Heejin any attention, “No.”

“Are you worried?”

Ryujin looked at Heejin and shrugged, “I guess. It’s not really fun making friends with someone only to send them off to potential death.”

“Well, watch this,” Heejin grinned as if she had something up her sleeve.

Ryujin curiously watched Heejin walk into the center of the crowd. 

The Oracle announced, “Huntresses of Artemis, Hwang Yeji, Choi Jisu, and Lee Chaeryeong, please gather at the center!”

“It’s starting,” someone from the crowd murmured, and it was followed by a trail of other similar phrases. 

Ryujin just crossed her arms and set her face in a deadpan, unsure of what to expect. With the way Heejin spoke with her, maybe there was some good news. She wasn’t really sure though.

It was finally starting. Green smoke escaped from Heejin’s eyes and mouth and her blonde hair stood up by some unknown breeze. Her eyes glowed as her body began to levitate just a foot off the ground.

Chaeryeong and the other hunters watched in awe. They weren’t used to the Oracle having a physically capable body like that — they were used to the rotting Oracle corpse that sat in the attic. 

Heejin’s deep voice produced a slight echo and boomed the following prophecy to the huntresses.

You shall be guided by two campers for a cause.

You shall go west and bring back what once was.

The King of Gods will change his view.

And three will turn into two.

Heejin’s glowing eyes faded back to normal and she could no longer levitate. She collapsed to the ground as she croaked out her final words before passing out in her normal voice, “And my vision tells me that Shin Ryujin and Shin Yuna are to be chosen for this quest.”

Campers from the Apollo cabin surrounded Heejin and went on with the usual protocol. They checked her vitals, ensured she was breathing properly, and immediately hustled to get her safely to the infirmary. Possessing the Oracle of Delphi was no easy task for a mortal.

Ryujin jerked her head to scan for Yuna, who seemed just as equally surprised. The two looked at each other with wide eyes and mouths formed in an ‘O’ shape. 

She was going to kill Heejin. Or at least try to. 

Ryujin and Yuna joined the three huntresses with caution, the prior still unsure if it was completely safe to be around Yeji while Yuna was just feeling shy. They figured since they were going to be a part of the quest, they might as well make friends with the ones they would be spending the next few days or weeks with.

Ryujin sympathetically looked at each of the huntresses who seemed to be shocked and confused.

The three huntresses shared glances with one another, unsure whose demise it would be. Chaeryeong kept in mind that prophecies were not always so literal, but she couldn’t have thought of any other workaround.

“And three will turn into two,” Yeji repeated. “Either Chaer, Jisu, or I are going to die.”

“You don’t know that,” Ryujin tried to calm the huntresses down. They were all on edge, which was unlike how Ryujin had initially seen them. “Let’s just break down the prophecy first before we freak out okay?”

“Well, for starters, Ryujin and I are the two campers ‘for a cause’ whatever that means,” Yuna gave her two cents. “I’m Shin Yuna by the way. I’m eighteen and I’m from the Aphrodite cabin. This is going to be my first quest, so I really hope we’re not actually killing anyone off.”

“Choi Jisu, nice to meet you!” Jisu introduced herself. She seemed really fond of Yuna right off the bat.

Yeji couldn’t help but crack a small smile at Jisu’s obvious liking to the camper. She giggled out a response, “And I’m Hwang Yeji. We’re happy to have you on this quest and please don’t mind Jisu. She’s probably just excited to add another little sister to the collection.”

“And you already know me,” Chaeryeong smiled. 

“Okay,  okay, enough with that. Let’s cut to the chase before we leave tonight,” Ryujin took the initiative. She felt sorry for having to ruin the cute moment, but there wasn’t much of a choice. She didn’t want to lose anybody on the quest. Not on her watch.

The group brainstormed a little, trying to recall Heejin’s words. Although, it was more difficult than it should have been because the last line kept bugging them. Chaeryeong was feeling especially uneasy.

“The second line — what’s west of here that you could ‘bring back something that once was?’” Jisu rhetorically asked. “The Underworld is in Los Angeles at this point in time, right? We’re stealing someone’s dead spirit right under Hades’ nose.” 

“Oh, you’re kidding,” Yeji muttered. She clasped her hands on both sides of her arms and shivered. “I do not like going down there.”

“And the third line has to mean Zeus gives in,” Chaeryeong added. “So it’ll be a successful quest.”

There was an unspoken “but.”

But someone will have to die.

The group of five had fallen silent as they all deliberately avoided the topic of the final line of the prophecy.

“Anyway,” Chaeryeong was the first to change the subject. “Pack your usual quest gear and get some rest. We leave tonight.”

Chapter Text

The five of them were now a quarter down the road of their destination, just now entering Indiana. Yeji and Jisu had taken turns switching between the shotgun and driver's seat throughout the day since they were the only two with a license. Chaeryeong never bothered to get one despite being of age to drive for a little over 90 years. 

With immortality and the blessing of the Goddess of the Moon, Hunters of Artemis didn’t need to get frequent sleep, so driving down the road for twelve hours straight wasn’t so bad. 

Except for the fact Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna were all cramped in the back of the car. It was eight in the morning and the two Shins were still sleeping with Chaeryeong sandwiched in between them. 

She was surprised at how calm and soft Ryujin’s face could be while asleep. It was a relaxing sight, but what wasn’t relaxing was Chaeryeong’s stiff muscles from staying completely still for the past hour.

The two huntresses in front were humming to what seemed to be a Taylor Swift song. While Chaeryeong did love her songs too, she was losing focus from the blonde who seemed to slowly be drifting her head onto onto Chaeryeong’s shoulder. She could only pray to Artemis that the car ride stopped soon.

Though, maybe the gods were reading in too closely to Chaeryeong’s thoughts because next thing she knew, she was flying twelve feet out from the car, harshly landing on the cement with a shard of glass lodged in her right thigh.

The car had been attacked and they crashed. Smoothly driving twelve hours down the road with no disturbances despite the five demigods descended from the twelve Olympians squeezed in one car was too good to be true. Go figure.

Chaeryeong glanced around to make sure everybody was okay, and thankfully, they were. Ryujin and Yuna seemed to have woken up with a startle, but they were more or less unscathed from the crash nonetheless, and the other two demigods were more than perfectly capable with the centuries of battle experience they had.

Chaeryeong, however, could not say the same about herself. She yelped out in pain from the immediate burning in her leg, which was then followed by an even louder yell when she yanked the glass right out. Under normal circumstances, that would be a horrible idea because that only causes someone to bleed out even faster, but she was prepared. She wasn’t the daughter of the goddess of wisdom and war for nothing.

Done watching the blood trickle down her calf, she shuffled through the bag gifted to her that was from Haseul, current counselor of the Athena cabin. It was a special quest bag blessed by Hestia herself that came with everything a demigod would need on a quest with infinite refills as long as the quest is ongoing.

She took the smallest cube of ambrosia and swallowed it whole. The burning sensation of the ambrosia that initially came was always difficult to get past, but it soon tasted like the Vietnamese spring rolls she would get just downtown from a locally owned family business — her favorite. The family there was always so sweet no matter how many generations passed and that was the best part.

With the bleeding already stopped and the pain subsiding, she immediately stood up and her silver hunter’s bow shimmered into existence from thin air in her hand.

She was scouting the area, ready to launch an arrow at any moment, and searched for the beast that had attacked the car. It was definitely something large, yet it already seemed to be completely out of sight. 

“It’s hidden in the Mist,” Ryujin concluded. Her hair was tousled messily and her eyes were tired, but the rest of her body seemed to have immediately reacted to prepare for combat with her spear and shield ready in both hands. “It’s probably going to be trailing us if it can stay hidden like this.”

While demigods could see through the Mist a lot better than mortals could, there were still things that could be unknown to them. Completely bypassing the Mist was a difficult feat.

“Great. We’re being tailed by some hidden monster and our car is wrecked. What now?” Yeji crossed her arms while her brows wrinkled together. 

Yeji was frustrated, but the sight almost made Chaeryeong break character and laugh because of how non-intimidating she looked.

“Well, for starters, we should probably leave because we have bystanders gawking at us.” Ryujin jabbed her thumb behind, pointing at the onlooking crowd that seemed to be growing. They had completely forgotten they were driving in the middle of a town in Indiana. “Come on, we can figure out a transportation alternative elsewhere.”

Jisu waved her hand to motion the other girls to follow her, “We passed by a bus stop. I’m sure it can drop us off to the next state at least.”

While the girls made their way to the bus stop, Yuna kept glancing back at the civilians every three seconds because they were still staring.

Chaeryeong let out a small laugh to herself, realizing Yuna probably doesn’t leave camp often enough to regularly deal with mortals, “They probably see our weapons as either guns or blurs that they won’t remember in a minute. We just look like regular civilians that somehow walked away from a car crash unscathed. Don’t worry.”

“And one of those ‘regular’ civilians basically pulled a glass knife right out of her leg and walked it off like nothing happened after eating a cubed snack,” Ryujin added. “They definitely think we’re madmen.”

Yuna laughed at the two older girls’ antics, but it was soon interrupted by the low growling that seemed to be coming from behind the bus that they were approaching.

The five girls backed into each other, circling together back-to-back with their weapons drawn. They were all in position, ready to strike whenever. 

However, instead of a large beast, it was a small chihuahua that came out.

“Aw, it’s just a little guy,” Ryujin cooed at the small creature. She lowered her sword and squatted down to take a closer look at it, making little clicking noises with her tongue to attract it. “Come here, I won't bite!”

As the dog slowly approached closer to the group, there was something unsightly about its face that kept flickering. Chaeryeong couldn’t seem to take a proper look at its face.

The Mist.

Chaeryeong warned, “Wait, Ryu, I don’t think that’s–”

Already, the chihuahua was rapidly growing in size and its form remained permanent now, allowing them to see its true face — or rather — faces. It was of divine stock, not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire — in other words, a Chimera. It was a beast said to be made of multiple creatures at once, the form it took was always nearly implausible.

“You called me Ryu again!” Ryujin happily chirped. 

“ That’s what you’re focusing on?” Chaeryeong frustratedly waved towards the eight foot beast towering over them with her bow, “Not the fire-breathing lion that could have gotten you killed because your sight with the Mist is ass and you mistook it for a dog?” 

“Enough bickering, you idiots! Let’s send this thing back to Tartarus,” Yeji ordered, fed up with Chaeryeong and Ryujin’s antics. Though, admittedly, she had to suppress a laugh almost every single time they exchanged words. 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jisu grunted. “Yuna, charge in with me. I have a knife; I’m not good with bows.” 

“How is a Hunter of Artemis not good with–” Ryujin shook her head and discontinued her initial statement, “Nevermind.”

“Let’s go!” Yuna excitedly shouted. She was practically waiting for this moment her entire life. 

The Chimera roared at the two girls charging at it, deflecting Yuna’s spear with the swipe of its lion paw, which resulted in completely missing Jisu. She took the chance to stab its body before falling back once the Chimera started to blow fire into her face. 

The daughter of Aphrodite was frustrated that she had yet to land a blow (even if it had literally only been a minute) and threw her spear directly in the Chimera’s eye, “Take this, dirtbag!” 

“She is not… Aphrodite-like,” Yeji stated. She was stunned at how violent a child of literal love could be. 

“Well, Jisu is not exactly all flowers and spring like Demeter either,” Ryujin retorted. She was being defensive with Yuna as per usual. 

Chaeryeong rolled her eyes, “And here we are, children of Athena, Ares, and Apollo, just watching them. You know, the kids that are most known for their battle strategies, mastery of weapons like swords and bows, natural-born fighter instinct?” 

Ryujin and Yeji gave each other one last glare before finally nodding in a silent agreement. While they naturally got on each other’s nerves, getting on Chaeryeong’s nerves was a whole different deal. 

“Seriously, are we going to help them or are you two going to kill each other first?” Chaeryeong was too tired to wait for the other two demigods and rushed towards the Chimera that was mercilessly slapping around Yuna, unsheathing her celestial bronze knife from her boot.

“Coming!” Yeji and Ryujin shouted in unison.

—

The fight was over in just ten minutes. Five demigods was a bit of an overkill for just one Chimera, especially when three of them had a lifetime's worth of experience hunting. 

Although, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t sustain any injuries because they definitely did. Yuna and Ryujin were the most reckless ones, having both been smacked towards the ground so much that they were now both weakly laying on the ground after the battle. Ryujin hardly had any feeling in her limbs while Yuna’s chest still felt as if it were being tightly constricted by the Chimera’s grab. 

On the other hand, the Hunters of Artemis were much more careful and fought more tactfully, so they were overall fine. They only suffered from minor injuries. 

Chaeryeong and Jisu kneeled by Yuna and Ryujin, tending to their wounds as quickly as possible so they could leave. They were still technically in the middle of a city street.

Yuna coughed out as Jisu spoon fed her a cube of ambrosia, “I’ve always wondered: why is Yeji the only Hunter of Artemis that actually fights with a bow? Did Artemis not teach you guys how to use one or something?”

“Yeji’s the daughter of Apollo, so she has a natural-born talent for bows. Me, on the other hand — I suck,” Jisu chuckled out of embarrassment. She wiped off the little bits of ambrosia stuck in the corners of Yuna’s lips. “I don’t know about Chaeryeong though, she seems sufficient enough with a bow.”

Chaeryeong was tending to Ryujin, just right next to the other two, so she answered after overhearing their conversation, “The knife was a gift from Athena. It can actually take the form of any weapon since children of Athena can master any weapon, much like children of Ares, but I choose to keep it as a knife. It’s portable.”

“Ryeong, you’re pressing too– Ow! ” Ryujin sucked in a breath of air and winced when Chaeryeong was dabbing the wet towel against her burn a little too roughly. 

“Suck it up, you big baby. It’s your fault for getting so severely burnt by the Chimera. The only way you’d be able to fully heal is if I push all of the poison out and I can’t exactly do that gently,” Chaeryeong scoffed. She continued to ooze the poison out of Ryujin’s burnt arm, which sounded about as gross as it did. 

“How was I supposed to know their burns had poison in them?” Ryujin looked away from Chaeryeong and pouted, “Jeez, what happened to the cute Ryeongie that was crying into my shoulder the other n–”

Chaeryeong cut her off, “I would smack you right now if I could. Jisu is literally right there. You’re lucky she’s too preoccupied babying Yuna right now to hear you.” 

Chaeryeong softly gazed down at Ryujin and guided the blonde’s head with her hand to face her, very against the lack of eye contact. “But I’m sorry, I really am. I’m just on edge right now. That was only one out of our many battles this journey and you’re already half-dead. No safe amount of ambrosia can even reverse some of the injuries you have right now unless you want the ambrosia to kill you first.”

Ryujin felt her face and ears catch on fire under the touch of Chaeryeong’s fingertips, and she worried that Chaeryeong could feel it too because at that exact moment, she swore she could see Chaeryeong’s eyes give a puzzling look. She had a face that held some sort of realization — a realization Ryujin could only hope was far from the truth.

“Do you have a fever?” Chaeryeong asked. “You’re burning up.”

Oh, thank Olympus. 

Ryujin didn’t bother to correct her — not that she even wanted to, “I–Um, yeah, maybe. It might have been the ambrosia… or something.”

“I hardly fed you enough for you to burn up like this,” Chaeryeong scrunched her face in confusion as she pressed her hand on Ryujin’s forehead. “It may be your body reacting to the poison, but I wasn’t aware a fever was one of the symptoms.”

Ryujin felt guilty that she just added another ton of stress onto the huntress when it was all a lie to cover up the reason why her face always got hot at the slightest touch from Chaeryeong, why Ryujin’s heart seemed to flutter whenever Chaeryeong praised her, or why she couldn’t seem to stop thinking of the redhead. 

Chapter Text

It was nearly pitch black with only blue torches that were hardly luminescent to illuminate the path towards what seemed to be the Doors of Death. Although Chaeryeong had never personally seen it for herself, she could still recognize it for some unknown reason.

It had a distinct entrance unlike the more underwhelming entrances to the Underworld, such as the Stygian Iron frame and silver designs on the pitch black door. It had a stark contrast with the doors in Olympus, almost like it were specifically designed to parallel it. The doors were standing well over ten feet, which had her questioning how anyone could possibly open those doors. 

As if someone heard her inner thoughts, the doors seemed to open on their own. With how heavy the metallic doors are, there was a loud echoed boom following the opening. Scorching hot air escaped from the entrance, so Chaeryeong tried to move away from the entrance before she got engulfed by the heat, but she couldn’t move. She then tried to scream, yet no sound came out.

What is going on?

While her body couldn’t move at all, the scene shifted. It felt like she was moving at lightspeed — even if she wasn’t actually moving — and it almost made her a little dizzy. It was the same feeling as riding an elevator. 

She was now standing in front of the throne of Hades, God of the Underworld. 

That was finally when Chaeryeong realized what she was being shown was a vision, most likely to guide her on her quest. She regularly received these sorts of visions in her dreams all the time and it was usually thanks to her mother, Athena. 

The black onyx throne that Hades had left unattended was decorated with many skulls, surrounded by many hellhounds, dead soldiers, and ancient warriors. None of them seemed to notice her, which was relieving. She’s had her fair share of gods and goddesses yelling at her to leave while she (involuntarily) watched them from her dreams. 

She looked around the throne room, trying to figure out what it was this vision was trying to tell her. 

There was just about nothing other than a vast emptiness until a familiar tall blonde woman approached Chaeryeong from behind the large throne with a large sword in hand. 

“Persephone,” Chaeryeong whispered. She could finally speak now. 

The Queen of the Underworld greeted her and held out the three foot Stygian Iron sword to Chaeryeong, “Hello, hero. I believe this is yours.”

“That’s not mine. I don’t fight with swords,” Chaeryeong winced. 

“I assume it's because of the daughter of Zeus? The one who perished by the hands of a fellow demigod’s sword?”

Chaeryeong just nodded. She wasn’t sure how Persephone knew any of that, but gods were always odd and paid attention to everything but their children. However, what she did know was that trusting any god was out of the question. She knew from experience. 

“Well,” Persephone began. She traced the edges of the sword with her fingertips and flickered her eyes towards the daughter of Athena. “This is the sword of Lord Hades. A single touch and you can save your dearest friend. She’s the one from your prophecy after all.”

Chaeryeong felt the room get colder as her heart dropped. After all this time, she was going to get her best friend back. Her countless nights cursing Zeus and herself for not being able to protect Somi were going to become a thing of the past. She couldn’t believe it. 

Even then, she continued to hold her poise. “Why are you helping me? Not only was Hades’ sword forged by you, you could get in huge trouble by him. You gain no merit from this.”

“He’s become a disaster lately, dear. It’s time I have the upper hand against him,” Persephone huskily said directly in Chaeryeong’s ears, which prompted a shiver from the latter.

For the goddess of springtime, she sure had a menacing aura. It was a little unsettling to say the least. 

Chaeryeong disapprovingly shook her head, “You gods never help demigods out of the goodness of your heart — if you even have one. It’s always some bullshit like revenge or something.”

“So you won’t be taking my offer?”

Chaeryeong rolled her eyes and snatched the Stygian Iron sword from Persephone’s grip, “I never said that, Sephy.”

Persephone was unamused by the nickname, but still gave the demigod a smile that held only the worst possible intentions behind it. 

“Then consider this meeting adjourned. I’ll be waiting for you in the Underworld, hero,” Persephone finished before the dream started to fade from Chaeryeong’s vision. 

Chaeryeong jolted up, gasping heavily. Her body felt a lot warmer than usual, yet she woke up in cold sweat. The condition her body was in after a single dream was unnerving. The vision felt much longer than it should have been, but at least she was back in reality now. 

To Chaeryeong’s surprise, Ryujin rushed over to her bedside to make sure that she was okay. “Woah, Wise Girl, you look like shit. Do you always wake up like you just came back from Hell?”

After being out in a daze from meeting Chaeryeong, she finally took in her surroundings and remembered what was going on. It had been two days since their encounter with the Chimera and they were moving much slower than they were in the first twelve hours of their quest. After the attack, they had only made it halfway in Illinois by bus before finally making another stop to rest at the closest motel for a few days. They all desperately needed a break, even if they had just started. 

Although, instead of a break, Chaeryeong had gotten stuck in a shared room with Ryujin. She had completely forgotten about that, so she was completely caught off guard waking up to a caring Ryujin by her bedside. 

She had Jisu to thank for that, who had suggested they play rock-papers-scissors to determine the room arrangements.

She took a mental note to beat up Jisu the next time she had the chance. 

“I’m okay,” Chaeryeong assured her friend. She pondered the thought of telling Ryujin everything that had happened in her dream. Realistically, she should be discussing it with Yeji and Jisu, but Ryujin just happened to be there first. That was all there was to it. 

So, she continued, “I had a dream. Persephone summoned me to Hades' throne room and told me exactly just what we were looking for.”

Ryujin was surprised. “Just like that? That’s awfully nice of her.”

“Yeah, well, she said it’s because she’s trying to put her husband in her place, so there’s that,” Chaeryeong said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. As grateful as she was for the help, she knew better than to think Persephone was just being nice. 

“So? What is it that we’re retrieving from the Underworld?” Ryujin was practically on the edge of her seat like a kid during bedtime stories. It was ironic considering her confident and cool persona. 

Chaeryeong looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh of content, “I’ll be able to see my best friend again. We’re going to steal Hades’ sword and bring back Somi.”

Ryujin seemed to be just as excited, if not more. She sat next to Chaeryeong on her bed and gave her a light hug. “Seriously? I’m really happy for you, Ryeong. Who would have thought?”

Chaeryeong didn’t hug back. Not that she didn’t want to, but her mind and body just couldn’t seem to cooperate at that moment for whatever reason. At least the smile plastered on her lips told it all. 

Though, there was still the last line of the prophecy that always lingered in the back of her mind. What was the point of saving Somi if it meant either she or one of her lifelong friends would die?

Yeji and Jisu had been a part of her life for so long, Chaeryeong couldn’t bear to even think about having to sacrifice one of them to save another friend. Would it even be worth it at that point? Chaeryeong spent decades learning and growing from her failure to protect Somi while Yeji and Jisu had been there for her through it all. 

Before Chaeryeong knew it, tears were overflowing in her eyes. 

“Hey, Wise Girl… Don’t go crying on me now,” Ryujin softly teased, stroking Chaeryeong’s head to calm her down. 

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want Yeji or Jisu to die, but Somi’s waiting for us. She’s waiting for me . What am I supposed to do?” Chaeryeong dug her face into the palm of her hands, so Ryujin couldn’t see her in the state that she was in.

“Prophecies can be weird, trust me, I know. What you think might not be the full truth,” Ryujin tried to console her. Yuna always told her that she was awful at comforting people, but she had to at least try. “It could mean Yeji and Jisu fuse into one person or something.”

Chaeryeong’s tears stopped and she just stared at Ryujin with her eyebrows knit together.  “Shin Ryujin, you are genuinely the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.”

“I’m being serious! Aphrodite is probably watching them right now, thinking ‘Oh wow, they would be so cute together. Too bad they can’t date,’ and then fuse them into one person,” Ryujin continued to joke. 

Chaeryeong lightly slapped Ryujin’s shoulder a few times, unable to contain her chain of giggles, “You’re so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

“And my stupidity helped you stop crying. You’re welcome.”

—

After Chaeryeong told the others about her dream, they now knew they should move as quickly as possible. The five were now three-quarters through Oklahoma after hiding in the back of a random pickup truck they had been tracking down once they discovered the driver’s destination was in Los Angeles. 

For someone who always made big scenes (even if she didn’t want to), thanks to Apollo’s flamboyant genes, Yeji sure was stealthy. Her leadership and strategies even rivaled that of Chaeryeong. 

What she didn’t think about, however, was how there were five of them. In an attempt to stay hidden under a cover, they were sprawled out with their limbs all overlapping each other. Not to mention, it was practically pitch black with the sheet covering them with the exception of some parts of the cloth being thin enough for sunlight to just barely peek through. Without context, it just looked like a bunch of drunkards having a strange cuddle fest in a cargo bed. 

Yuna groaned in the lowest volume possible to avoid the driver hearing them, “Ryujin’s feet are basically all up in my face. Couldn’t we have just taken the bus? I’m surprised the five of us can even fit in here.”

“Going stop by stop would’ve taken us at least a week. This way is faster, so just endure it and stay hidden,” Yeji sighed out, but admittedly, she was having second thoughts too. Her back and neck were in pain from laying down in the odd position with no support other than Jisu’s arm, though she was sure Jisu didn’t like that.

Ryujin suggested, “I don’t see why we can’t just knock out the poor guy and steal his truck. We can always return it… eventually.”

“Ryujin!” Chaeryeong let out a loud laugh before quickly covering her mouth after a chorus of hushes were earned from her teammates. 

Jisu raised a brow as she mumbled to Yeji, “Has our little Chaery always been this annoyingly giggly?”

Yeji narrowed her eyes on the pair. “Definitely not.”

Chaeryeong overheard the two and whined, “Oh, shut up.”

The truck had come to a complete stop suddenly, which made all of the girls slide to one end of the cargo bed. All of them groaned in discomfort as one foot would be in someone else’s face or their face would be squished between someone’s body and the rubber floor. 

Yuna huffed, pausing after every word, “This–is–the– worst .”

The car door slammed shut. The driver had gotten out of their car. 

Ryujin muttered, “We are definitely getting caught.”

“Maybe if you just shut up we wouldn’t,” Yeji hissed, giving Ryujin a light punch on the shoulder. 

“ Ow ! Just because Ryeong hits me doesn’t mean you can too!” Ryujin rubbed her shoulder defensively. It didn’t actually hurt nor was she offended, but she liked being dramatic. 

“You know,” the driver’s voice from right outside the cargo began. The cloth sheet that covered the five hiding girls was then lifted, which revealed a petite girl with mint-green hair. “If you guys wanted a lift, you could’ve either asked or at least shut up. You were all so loud I could hear you all from the driver’s seat.”

“Chaewon!” Ryujin and Yuna excitedly perked up in unison.

“ Oohhh . It’s you two.” Chaewon sighed knowingly, “Well, I guess that explains why there was annoying chatter back here.”

Chaeryeong whispered (albeit a bit loudly) to Yeji, “I thought some middle-aged mortal man was the one driving this thing. She’s obviously a demigod that definitely could have helped us out miles ago.”

“And we definitely did not need to suffer in this hunk of metal,” Jisu begrudgingly added.

“I’m sorry, okay? Jeez, how was I supposed to know Ryujin and Yuna knew her?” Yeji defended herself in a whiny voice. 

“This is Park Chaewon, daughter of Demeter. She left camp to go to college, unlike a certain someone over here,” Yuna introduced her, which prompted a protest from Ryujin. She turned to Chaewon. “I guess that makes you and Jisu half-siblings too!”

“Nice to meet you guys. I hope they haven’t been causing too much trouble.” Chaewon narrowed her eyes at the two younger girls and let out a sigh, “But the fact that you’re all crammed up in my truck tells me otherwise.”

“Hey, unnie, give us a lift to the Underworld and we’ll convince Hyeju to actually visit you for once,” Ryujin bargained. “You’re on the way to Los Angeles anyway, right?” 

“I really was thinking about just dropping you guys off on the side of the road, but that offer is a bit too tempting,” Chaewon shrugged. “Sure.”

Yeji began to offer, “You know, Jisu and I can drive all night long. We are Hunters of Artemis and all, so–“

“No one gets to drive my truck. No one.”

—

Chaewon’s truck only had five seats, so Jisu, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna volunteered to just sit in the cargo bed. They would’ve had one person left out otherwise, so they agreed to be in the back together.

Much to Yeji’s dismay, she was left to be seated alone in the front passenger's seat right next to Chaewon. Yeji had insisted that either Ryujin or Yuna sit in the front since they were already clearly close to Chaewon, but Ryujin was adamant about sitting with Chaeryeong. Yuna, on the other hand, just ‘didn’t feel like it.’

Yuna tugged at Ryujin’s shirt sleeve and leaned in to talk into her ear to speak over the breeze, “Chaewon seems a little bit cooler now, don’t you think?”

“Now that you mention it, she didn’t even seem to mind Yeji sitting next to her either and she probably hates meeting new people as much as her,” Ryujin pointed out. She raised a brow as she glanced at the back of Chaewon’s head through the back window.

Was Chaewon always like that? Maybe Ryujin just hadn’t seen her in so long that she had forgotten what Chaewon was like.

The truck had suddenly pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of Western Texas. 

“How long have we been on the road for?” Jisu asked. “I thought your friend said she would be keeping us on the road for a while.”

“About two hours,” Chaeryeong answered, also finding it unusual that they had stopped so soon and in such a random place. She examined where they had stopped at and took notice of how secluded the area was. 

She started to fidget around, glancing back between the three girls in front of her and the seat where Yeji should be.

“Something’s wrong,” Chaeryeong finally concluded. “Yeji would’ve gotten out of the car by now.”

Without skipping a beat, Jisu, Ryujin, and Yuna all nodded in unison. They all had unwavering trust in Chaeryeong’s judgment and they could feel it too.

Jisu was the first to hop out of the back and rush to Yeji’s aid. She cried out, “Yeji! Yeji, open the door. Are you okay?”

She was followed by the rest of the group, and to their horror, they found Yeji unconscious in her seat and Chaewon was nowhere in sight.

Ryujin pulled numerous times at the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. 

“We don’t have time for this!” Chaeryeong smashed the window with her elbow, ignoring the pain from the glass shards being jabbed into her flesh from impact. She prayed to Zeus that Yeji didn’t get cut in the process too, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. 

Yuna and Jisu took one arm each and successfully pulled her out of the passenger’s seat. They held her almost lifeless-like body by the same arms and decided to prop her onto Yuna’s back where she securely gripped the demigod. 

“She’s alive. Her breath is kind of tickling my neck right now,” Yuna giggled, hoping to lift the spirits of the team.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Chaeryeong cried out, collapsing to her knees from the emotional exhaustion that just occurred in the past five minutes. “I almost thought for sure this was it.”

She would never forgive herself if she had lost Yeji to the prophecy over something as stupid and miniscule as seating arrangements.

Ryujin soothed Chaeryeong by stroking her back. She angrily growled from frustration, “Where the fuck is Chaewon?” 

“Or that bitch pretending to be Chaewon,” she added after a pause. She knew Chaewon since they were preteens. She knew Chaewon would never — and could never — do anything like this to anybody, and she blamed herself for not having realized something was amiss earlier. 

“Yuna, take Yeji somewhere safe and far, far away,” Jisu ordered. “We can’t risk Chaewon taking her as a hostage and the fact our best archer is down leaves us at a huge disadvantage, especially when we don’t even know what or who it is.” 

She just silently nodded. Yuna hadn’t known Jisu for very long, but the latter was practically the embodiment of the sun. Seeing her so calm yet obviously angry was terrifying to say the least. 

Jisu, Ryujin, and Chaeryeong wistfully watched Yuna run off with an unconscious Yeji on her back. They were all angry at themselves and no one — not even gods — wants to mess with a demigod that blames themselves for someone else’s mishaps, let alone three of them. 

“Sending away that child won’t do you any good, daughter of Demeter,” a menacing masculine voice bellowed from behind the group. 

There was no physical body, but it was as clear as day that whatever that thing was, was the monster that previously took the form of Park Chaewon, even if it didn’t have the same voice anymore. 

Jisu dryly chuckled, eyes gleaming at the knife in her hand, “I just don’t want her to see me when I beat the ever-living shit out of you so badly you won’t even want to reform in the depths of Tartarus. You’re going to regret ever touching my Yeji.”

“I’d like to see you try,” the voice cackled. 

Ryujin quickly unsheathed her 3-foot Celestial Bronze sword and stood her ground. Her eyes flickered to every direction she could hear the voice coming from. “Oh, just shut your damn trap and just come out already, you coward-ass bastard.” 

Chaeryeong shook her head, “Ryujin, you dumbass, you do not provoke  someone who can shapeshift and obviously has enough intel on you to know you’re close with Gowon.” 

“Are you seriously nagging me in the middle of a fight right now?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Chaeryeong retorted as she shot an arrow in a random direction that she could only guess was where the shapeshifter was. 

As expected, it was a bullseye.

“YOU–” The shapeshifter’s physical form was unveiled, flickering between numerous identities, a few of them being Chaewon, Heracles, even Prometheus, until it finally stopped. 

It was none other than Proteus, one of the many river gods, who was known for shapeshifting and foretelling the future. He took on a large humanoid form similar to that of Poseidon with surfer-like brown curls, a beard, and held a trident (albeit it was lackluster in comparison to the God of Oceans himself). The one thing that he had that set himself aside from Poseidon was his scaley serpent-like tail.

“I knew it!” Chaeryeong celebrated, jumping up and down as if the battle were already over. She was just excited that her mere hunch about the identity of Yeji’s attacker was correct. 

“Okay, not bad, Wise Girl.” Ryujin was growing more and more impressed by Chaeryeong by the second. 

She wasn’t really sure if ‘impressed’ was the right word, but it would have to do. 

While Proteus was kneeling on the ground, wailing in pain from the arrow wedged in his eye, Jisu took that as the perfect opportunity to strike him from behind with her knife. “Tell us what you want from us, weirdo!”

“I want Hades’ sword all to myself!” Proteus dodged Jisu’s knife.

“Try again in your next life, dirtbag,” Chaeryeong agrily yelled out, shooting another arrow at Proteus. She was not going to let anybody take her only chance to bring back Somi.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, demigod,” Proteus snarkily grinned, once again dodging an attempted attack. He moved so quickly despite being a half-serpent man on land. 

His form began to flicker again until he had shrunk considerably small relative to his original form, grew flowing blonde hair, and took on the one face that Chaeryeong could never forget. 

“Somi,” Chaeryeong cried. Her lips were trembling and her knees felt like they were going to give out again. She knew it wasn’t really her, but seeing her again in the flesh was overwhelming. 

Jisu became distracted at Chaeryeong’s sudden display, now only wanting to go comfort her friend. “Ch–Chaer, it’s okay–”

She was cut off when Proteus tackled Jisu to the ground, even when he wasn’t nearly as powerful as he would be if he were in his true form. He couldn’t mimic the daughter of Zeus’ powers, but even with this disadvantage, Jisu was still physically weaker.

Ryujin took it upon herself to finally end this. She gave Chaeryeong a quick press on her forehead with her lips before whispering, “Close your eyes for this, Ryeong.”

Chaeryeong just nodded and did as told. 

The daughter of Ares had something change in her that day. Not only was Yeji harmed from her negligence of Chaewon’s odd behavior, now Proteus was disrespectfully using a dead person’s face to stir up the team and ultimately make Chaeryeong cry. 

That’s right. Chaeryeong was crying. 

Ryujin’s mentors had always told her to never be blinded by rage in battle, but that was exactly what the daughter of Ares thrived with. While that may have been the downfall of heroes as powerful as Achilles, she was very different. 

Her irises were red and her body was engulfed by flickering red flames as she approached the river god who was currently attacking Jisu. Ryujin dragged her sword across the cement, not even caring about the element of surprise. She was going to kill Proteus no matter what.

Or at least get the closest she could to killing an immortal god. 

“So you’ve decided to join us, daughter of–” Proteus couldn’t finish his sentence because the next thing he knew, a 3-foot sword had just been thrown directly into his neck like a javelin. 

Ryujin rushed to snatch Jisu’s knife out of her hand and continued to stab him. Her eyes were a fiery red and she felt nothing but bloodlust within that moment.

One, two, three, four…

It just kept going on. She just couldn’t stop stabbing him — while he was in the form of Somi no less, but she couldn’t see that. Ryujin was engulfed with rage and showed no mercy.

“Oh my gods,” Jisu muttered under her breath. She stumbled backwards away from Proteus who was now transformed in his real physical form, shimmering out of existence on the ground, spewing out gods’ blood, golden Ichor.

He wasn’t turning to dust like monsters do because he was a god, but he was definitely not going to be bothering them anymore any time soon.

“Ares’ Blessing,” Chaeryeong muttered, still processing what had just happened. “I’ve never seen it in person before.”

Ryujin turned around so quickly Chaeryeong thought her neck would snap. She whined, “Ryeong, I thought I told you to close your eyes. That was probably really traumatic to watch.”

Her tone sounded almost childish, even if she had just scarily sent a god to Tartarus with a single blow. 

Even with the horrific events that had just occurred, Chaeryeong felt… okay. Ryujin helped her feel safe. 

That was what made her so charming after all. 

“That was over so quickly. I didn’t know you were so strong.” Jisu was staggered, still watching Proteus’ body disappear. 

“I was angry,” Ryujin admitted. She slowly picked up the sword that was just laying on the ground since there was no body attached to it now. “But nevermind me. Let’s go check on Yeji and Yuna.”