Silver Arrows - A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

9 - Thalia Really Hates Flying Ponies

That night, I dreamed of darkness.
I was in a grand, beautiful room with a glass roof that showed the night sky. The stars were the only source of light, but as my eyes adjusted I could just make out disturbing engravings on the walls: thorny vines encircling hideous winged creatures and humanoid figures that appeared to be screaming.

Towards the back of the room was a chair - no, a throne - black as obsidian. Seated upon it was a woman so beautiful yet so horrifying that she took my breath away.

Her hair floated around her like tree branches, coloured in such a deep black that it didn't look real. Her gorgeous face was marred by her smug smirk and the look of fury in her eyes, which turned her into something terrifying. She didn't have skin, she just had... shadow. And something told me she was just that: a shadow, a fraction of her true self.

She was speaking to a crowd of creatures - some humanoid, some monstrous, but all dressed in fine clothing. They were enraptured by her words.

'For what are immortals, if not beings of power? The Olympians call us evil, but they behave atrociously. At least we drop all pretense at loving the weak. Even Ares, who thrives during bloodshed, and Artemis, who loves her little night hunts, keep up these illusions by rejecting our help.'

Her audience snarled.

'So what good do the Olympians do? I call upon all those who feel wronged, all those who are deemed too twisted for worship or love...'

At the other end of the room, a heavy door creaked open, and the shadowy woman immediately trailed off, recoiling as a group of heavily armoured figures approached the throne and kneeled.
'You have nerve approaching me after your last mistake,' she spat.
'I am sorry.' I recognised Eris' snarling voice, although now it sounded whiny and pathetic. 'I was angry...'
'DON'T MAKE EXCUSES!' The shadowy woman's words cut through the air like a knife. 'I need one of those girls, and I need them ALIVE. The Hunters are stronger than mortals. They're a threat we'll have to squash eventually, and we need to know how best to do that.'

'Mother, surely these little "experiments" aren't necessary. Those blasted Hunters are small in numbers. Can't we just wipe them all out?'
'Artemis can make any nymph, mortal or demigod into a Hunter. She has a near-unlimited supply of Hunters, unless all three groups are killed off. And we wouldn't want to do that, would we? Who would be left to worship us... me?'

The woman sat up and took a step forwards, gazing up at the sky. She stretched out with one hand, her long black nails clawing at the air.
'Soon, this flimsy excuse for a body I've constructed will be gone. Soon, I will arrive at Midnight Enclave in my true form. And when that day comes, I will personally ensure that any idiot who ruins my plans shall suffer. You do not get in the way of Night and go unpunished.'

Night.
Night...

Nyx. That was who the woman was.

The Protogenos of Night returned to her throne. 'You have captured mortals, demigods, Amazons. Nymphs, satyrs and centaurs. You should be able to do this. I need but one Hunter. One. Do not fail me.'

I woke up with a million questions running though my mind. What were Nyx's "experiments"? What was Midnight Enclave, and why did she need a Hunter of Artemis?

I looked to the left, and noticed that Thalia was standing next to me.
'Good, you're awake. We're leaving.'
'What?'
'Thanks to Lina's negotiating, they're letting us take the pegasi until we reach Pennsylvania. We'll set up camp there and let them fly back. Day by day, we'll edge west until we reach the Waystation.'
'But Artemis...'
'I know she told us to go to Camp Half-Blood, but clearly it's not safe here. However, the Waystation is protected. No one knows its location, so I doubt the so-called "Darkness" have any influence there. Trust me, if Artemis hadn't left, she would have made the same decision.'

Thalia sounded bitter. I guess Naomi and I weren't the only ones who didn't like it when she left. And Thalia had the added pressure of leading us.

Then I remembered something.

'Britomartis. She really got along with Sierra. They both loved traps. Someone has to tell her that she... tell her what happened.'
Thalia winced, then nodded bravely. 'I'll do it.'

She walked away to wake the other Hunters.

In less than an hour, all of us were awake with our gear packed. As promised, we'd be travelling by pegasi for the first day or so.

I nervously mounted a grey dappled pegasus, who seemed to recognise me from my time at Camp Half-Blood.
'Woah.' Nerita snickered. 'They don't like you, Thalia. They sat you avoided them like the plague.'
Nerita could understand Horse, so maybe Pegasus was the same.

'Yeah, um... I'm not a fan of heights.'
Thalia was trembling. Seemingly, she was having second thoughts about the plan.
'Shut your eyes, then!'
'If you shut your eyes while a Cyclops is charging towards you, do you just stop being scared?'
She closed her eyes anyway and mounted the pegasus, clinging tightly to it.
'What does mine think of me?' I asked.
'He thinks you are very small.'
I sighed. 'Of course he does.'
On Nerita's order, we took off, floating away from camp and up into the sky.

It was exhilarating, but a little scary. There wasn't a lot to stop us from falling, and each flap of my pegasus' wings hit me in the foot.
I guess it could've been enjoyable, except I was flying next to Thalia, who was hunched towards and whimpering for a whole hour. It was unusual - she was usually the bravest of us.
'First Lieutennant Thalia? Are you okay?'
'I...'
'Are you?'

'I DON'T KNOW!' she screeched. Her breaths came fast and heavy, like she was suffocating.
Panicking, she opened her eyes and turned to me, but then her jaw dropped. She looked over the side of her pegasus at the sprawling  and things got a whole lot worse.
'Nerita, I want us to land.'
'What?'
'Pegasi. Down. Now.'
'I thought you were okay!'
Thalia groaned like she was in pain. 'Tell them to land! That's an order!'

On Nerita's command, the pegasus herd descended, and I felt sick to my stomach. The drop seemed to go on forever. It was like skydiving, except you're sitting on a horse and someone nearby is screaming. (Actually, a few Hunters were screaming by then.)
We landed in an empty alleyway. Rowena, Naomi, Lexi and I agreed to travel on foot with Thalia while the others flew on ahead.

As we walked through the city, Lexi deduced that we were somewhere in New Jersey.
'I've been here a couple times, and I recognise some things. Don't expect me to know where everything is, but... well, at least we have some idea.'

Suddenly, a crowd of people ran past us, screaming.
Rowena grabbed one man's arm, stopping him in his tracks. 'What happened? What are you running from?'
He didn't seem to have any problem with a group of girls holding bows. The Mist must've made our weapons look like muffins or something.

'Rioters. They're angry at this group of hunters or something, and they can't find them. At least, that's what we heard in between the yelling and smashing. Let go of me, now!'
He pulled out of Rowena's grip and ran. I turned around and gasped.

The rioters. They were empousa.