Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The world was tearing itself apart. Pits opened into the Earth, with fire and noxious gasses erupting as Tartarus tried desperately to escape his confines.

Two women trekked through the hellscape, golden ichor seeping from their many wounds, staining the remains of armor and clothing they couldn't muster the energy to mend. 

Well, seems like their alliance didn't even last long enough to finish us off. One thought, she would have laughed at the predictability of it all if she were less beaten down, less desperate. Her sword arm was sore in a way it hadn't been in centuries, but she just needed to keep the weapon drawn a little longer.

“It should be just over the next ridge,” the other woman said, gesturing with the silver bow she carried, “I pray that we were right.” Her words pulled the swordswoman slightly out of her musings, giving her a small smile even as their old joke, ‘do gods pray? ’ died on her lips.

“Me too. If not…” she trailed off. Then Athena died for nothing remaining unsaid.

They crested the ridge, only to be faced with an eerie sight. A simple cottage surrounded by gardens.

The destruction of the world around it seemed to stop where the gardens began. Pits ended abruptly at the fence line, even as they were perfectly circular outside it. As they looked on, one pit erupted in flames, but they seemed unable to enter the garden no matter how high they reached.

“Well, we're certainly in the right place,” the swordswoman deadpanned.

The archer allowed herself a small smile of amusement as they trudged down the hill. Her sharp eyes scanned the area for threats as they approached. Finding none, she allowed herself to relax by the slightest bit.

Under better circumstances they would have marveled at the strangeness of the garden. They could have explored through the trees that had each side in a different season. Watched as the seasons slowly precessed  around everything in the garden. Picked the fruit that grew just on the sides of the trees that were about to be consumed by frost. They could have explored the small pond that froze and thawed in sections that seemed to rotate in perfect time with seasons on the trees. They could found the snakes that ate their own tails in an infinite circle, and hunted for other marvels that seemed to defy time itself, with everything somehow in all seasons at the same time. But there was no time for any of that, not yet anyway.

The pair came to a perfectly circular doorway, ringed by constellations that rotated around it so slowly, that they were only just noticeable with their divine sight.

“The wheel of the heavens,” a man's voice called out behind them, “My most sacred symbol.”

The women whirled around in perfect sync, raising their weapons to face this potential threat. They saw an old man. He wore a Greek chiton, black with pinpoints of white and blue, forming the shapes of the constellations that even now hung in the heavens. He carried no weapons, and yet radiated a power so deep and ancient that both of the goddesses in front of him knew he had no need of them.

“My lord Chronos,” the archer said as her bow disappeared and she dropped to her knees.

The Primordial gave a small smile, “Ahh, the Queens of Olympus, I expected you.”

“Oh, well, sorry to be late.” the other goddess said as she eyed the old man, never lowering her weapon 

“You'll put that weapon away, of course,” the old man said, waving his hand dismissively, “We’ll have spoken in the house, then you'll be then and now will remain.”

The old man walked past the goddesses into the house, leaving the door open and the women stunned. They eyed each other, neither sure what to make of the old man, before the sword disappeared and they reluctantly followed.

They entered the house, and found the old man in what could be best described as a living room. A holographic entertainment console in the center of the room, a stereo with cassettes piled high to one wall. Furniture from different eras filled out the room. Roman couches flanked by Victorian tables holding ancient Greek vases. An electric light on the ceiling; torches across one wall. And the final touch, a La-Z-Boy where the primordial time god, his feet up in the air and a fidget spinner whirring in one hand, “Good, good, we didn't have all day. We had only a short time together and there's much you knew that you will not.”

The swordswoman eyed the old man, “You said ‘now will remain’. You know what we intend to do? What we came to ask?”

“Of course I knew. I'll know, so I know. But ask your question, then I'll have known”

She glanced at the other goddess, silently asking her, Artemis, do you understand anything this guy's saying?

Artemis looked deep in thought as though she was puzzling out what he’d just said. She studied the old man for a while before nodding, nearly imperceptivily. “My lord, surely you see what we do, the world being torn asunder by this war between the Primordials”.

“I have seen.” The old man said simply.

Artemis waited for a moment before it became apparent that Chronos had no intention of continuing, “Then you must know why we are here, please, we beseech you, help us to prevent this fate. Help us to return the world to its proper cycle.”

Chronos’ eyes hardened. His form became decades younger as he stood. His beard disappeared. His posture straightened. He gained enough muscle to out-wrestle Ares in his prime. His eyes never left Artemis’ even as her companion  drew her sword again. “You presumed much. You will tell me the proper cycle. I am the cycle. Then, now, for all time. I ask this, Queen of Olympus, how did you presume to know the proper cycle. The world will return to the Primordials, then they will be overthrown. Was that not a cycle?”

A tear ran down Artemis’ cheek as the other goddess snarled viciously, “So it was all for nothing then? You just made up some bullshit cycle where you get all the power eventually!”

The god turned his attention to her now. Her ichor freezing in her veins as she felt his true power directed at her for the first time. “You were impertinent, Iphigenia. You ask your favor.” 

“Send us back in time.”

 Artemis glanced over at her, a look of terror on her face, “Jenny…”

Chronos held up his hand, causing her to fall silent. He walked over to the stereo picking up a cassette, R.E.M. Jenny absentmindedly noticed, before he turned back. “They will rule. They will be overthrown. You have not gone. No… No… We are therefore you have not.”

“So you won't send us then?” Jenny began, growing more angry with every word, “You think this is the way time should flow? Children inherit the world from their parents, the young overthrow the old! The cycle is broken! Our ancestors stole the world back long after their time!”

The Chronos seemed to age again as he sat back in his chair. He held up the cassette. “Time is like a tape. There is only one tape, there is only one Time. When I send you back, I record a new song. The old remains until the new catches up.”

Jenny stared at him uncomprehendingly, trying to make sense of how time and a tape could possibly be related, and what any of this has to do with his refusal. Artemis made the connection first, “So this reality will exist until we reach it. And you know you haven't sent us back yet because we still exist?”

The old man smiled, this one seeming more genuine than any so far, “Precisely. You will go back. I know not when. I'll have remembered when you go, but now I know not. You have not gone so I will not remember.”

Artemis studied him again. “So when will you send us?”

“Soon. I see all Time. I have not remembered this past but I will have remembered this future. As will the Oracle.”

“The Oracle?”

“Indeed! She has seen the future, but the future will have been this! She will not see what will be coming, only has been to come.”

Jenny sighed, “Great, so we'll be flying totally blind.”

The old man looked at them solemnly, suddenly seeming more in the present than he had until this point, “I can send you both, but there is no guarantee you will both arrive. This will take a lot of power, even for me. Pushing through time is difficult and imprecise. All I can guarantee is that if either of you arrive it will be when you both existed.”

“Great,” Jenny deadpanned, “Only about a four century window.”

“A final warning, I will only be able to send your consciousness. Pushing a body is far harder, and if it is to be both of you, I will need all my strength.”

The goddesses looked at each other for a long moment. Jenny held out her hand to Artemis and asked, ”Ready, Phoebe?”

Artemis took her hand, for possibly the last time, before turning back to Chronos.  

“Do it.”

Chapter Text

Jenny's head was pounding.

Maybe if she could think more clearly, she could remember why. Did Dio get her drunk? If he had managed to get her drunk enough for this hangover, he was getting demoted to third favorite cousin, for sure.

She could faintly hear Thalia talking through her headache, and wondered if Artemis was already awake. Oh well, she'd figure it out soon enough. Mustering the effort to focus she shunted the headache to some part of her she could send…nowhere. The headache didn't go away. How could it be bad enough that she couldn't even split her consciousness?

Then, a new voice joined Thalia’s. One she hadn't heard in centuries, but would recognize anywhere. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked over to see her mother. Her actual, biological, mother. Who must have seen the look of shock on her face and asked with a voice full of concern, “Percy, dear, are you okay?”

“Jenny,” she corrected automatically, as her shock gave way to a flood of memories. 

The wars. 

Chronos. 

Going back…

“What? What was that sweetie?”

Fuck. She really didn't have the energy for a whole coming-out conversation, but at this point, it would probably be harder to avoid it, than to just push through. She took a deep breath before beginning, “I uhh… I realized I don’t really feel comfortable, like, as a guy. I think I'm actually a girl. I'd like it if you could, like, treat me like a girl, and use the name Jenny for me.”

The car fell silent. She looked around, the headache was starting to recede now, to see Annabeth and Thalia both staring at her. The former seemed to be in deep contemplation and the latter, in shock. Jenny wasn't scared, exactly, she knew it would probably end up okay, but this conversation was so much more emotional than she wanted to be dealing with immediately upon reaching the past… 

Especially, since she remembered this being a really long drive.

After a few agonizing moments passed as everyone processed, then her mother broke the silence, “Why Jenny?”

“What?” She asked, shocked that this was the first question anybody had.

“Why did you pick the name Jenny? When I picked your… well, I guess your old name now, I wanted to pick a hero who's story had a happy ending. Is there a meaning behind being Jenny, or did you just want… a normal name?” Jenny could hear the guilt in her mother's voice. All the reactions she could be having, and her mother was worried she had hated her old name.

She really won the lottery when it came to mothers. Twice even.

“No,” She laughed, “It's certainly not wanting a normal name. It's actually, well, did anybody ever tell you the prophecy about m-, uhh Big Three kids?”

Annabeth froze. Jenny had to hold in a laugh at how much it terrified her to be found out like this. She briefly wondered if she should come up with some story to justify knowing the prophecy, or if the others would fill in the gaps themselves, before her mother pulled Jenny out of her thoughts, “Your father said that there was a prophecy about you. That you weren't fated to a long happy life... It's why I named you Perseus. I was hoping you could overcome that, somehow.”

Jenny looked up into her mother's teary eyes and hoped, in vain, that she wasn't about to make her feel even worse, “Jenny is short for Iphigenia… because I was born to be a sacrifice to the gods.”

“I see.”

Most of the drive was quiet after that. 

Occasionally, someone would ask a question, but the easy atmosphere Jenny had remembered from this trip was gone as people took in what she had said. After what felt like an eternity, they pulled up to Westover Hall. As they were getting out of the car, Sally asked for Jenny to stay inside with her for a moment.

For a few agonizing seconds, nobody spoke. Jenny just started into her mother’s stricken expression before Sally said, in a surprisingly clear voice, “I love you. No matter what, you'll always be my s- daughter . You'll always be my daughter.” 

Jenny was crying now. She threw herself into her mothers arms, and hugged her fiercely. Clinging to her for the first time in centuries, as Sally murmured, “And you're not a sacrifice. You're my baby .”

-

Nobody spoke as they trudged up towards Westover Hall. Annabeth seemed distracted, still processing Jenny's revelation. Thalia simply seemed focused. She had never been somebody who enjoyed conversations about feelings, and wanted to actively avoid any chance of them being brought up again.

Jenny, for her part, was a bundle of nerves. She wasn't certain that Artemis had made it back with her. She had assumed she would, at the very least, end up in a time where Artemis would trust her enough to take her at her word if things went wrong, but that wouldn’t be the case here. That meant she would need to avoid changing anything major until she met Artemis and could properly assess the situation at hand. If she strayed too much from the past she remembered, she risked losing the advantage going back in time provided, but if she changed too little what was the point?

She could save people, she realized. She could protect the children who died in these wars. She could help them to grow up, to live happy lives, to have the chance to be more than pawns in a game that started long before their births and had continued long after their deaths.

But, that would require a plan. One more thought out than she could afford now, on a time crunch and with the remains of her headache still making itself known. Not to mention, all the emotions that had flooded her from seeing her birth mother and Annabeth again.

Annabeth. 

She would have to let her fall and be trapped under the sky, wouldn't she. 

The quest to save Artemis had been critical in convincing the Olympians to act against Kronos, and there was no guarantee Artemis had come back too. Until they got a chance to meet, Jenny would have to assume that she was alone, and plan accordingly.

After entering the hall, they met the manticore and the mortal teacher, Ms. Gottschalk. How she hadn't been able to tell that he was a monster the first time, she would never know. Even with the Mist affecting her now partially mortal senses, she could see so many tells; the unnatural look in his heterochromatic eyes, the hunger and predatory intent on his face, and his slightly stilted gait, all betrayed his nature.

Grover appeared behind the pair and began babbling something about a dance. Thalia did her trick with the Mist, managing to get past the manticore with little trouble.

It was only then that Grover finally turned to them and greeted them properly. Jenny cringed slightly, hearing another old friend call her by a name she left behind centuries ago, but hugged him anyway after Thalia, of all people, corrected him. Ideally, she'd have a conversation about not outing people, but she was frankly too grateful at the thought of not having to do the full coming out tour again that she decided not to bother.

They proceeded to the dance without incident. After Thalia pulled Grover away from them, not at all subtly, Jenny was left alone with Annabeth for the first time in centuries. 

For a few seconds, neither said anything. One look told Jenny that Annabeth was a bundle of nerves at the prospect of being left alone with her crush. She wondered how she ever could have been so oblivious that she couldn't tell.

After a couple seconds of enjoying just seeing her alive again, Jenny decided to save her from her own thoughts and ask her the one question that had never once failed to get a positive reaction from Annabeth, “So, design any good buildings lately?”

Suddenly Annabeth's nerves seemed to disappear, as she started talking about the architecture program in her new school. All the buildings she had designed, and wished she could make real. Jenny felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her, remembering all the late nights she had sat with her head in Annabeth's lap as she went on and on about what building or monument she was working on, or issues with some construction crew or supply chain. Eventually, she learned enough that she could understand and ask relevant questions, something Annabeth was always ecstatic about. She even learned enough to teach some of the basics to So-

No. 

She couldn't let her mind go down that path. Not now, not when she already had so many things to worry about. Blessedly, a perfect distraction came in the form of Thalia, telling them that they needed to look more natural and actually dance at this dance.

The song changed seconds later, and Jenny was transported. She remembered this song at a different time, in a different place. In her first life, all she had remembered from this dance was the anxiety, and the tragic way it had ended.

But Annabeth had remembered. She would tell Jenny years later, when it came on the radio as they were moving into their first apartment together, that she had always considered it their song, because it was the first song they had ever danced to. And a few years after that, they danced to it again at their wedding.

She allowed herself to indulge in the moment, to lose herself in a dance with her long dead wife, remembering times that hadn't happened yet. Would never happen, outside of her memories. To pretend, for just a moment, that the heartbreaks she'd felt the past few centuries were just her imagination.

All too soon, reality pulled her out of her fantasies, as Annabeth suddenly froze, “They're gone.”

As Annabeth disappeared into the crowd to find Thalia and Grover, Jenny followed where she knew the Di Angelos had gone, quickly catching up to them. She couldn't see the manticore, yet, so she gave in to her maternal instincts and tried to calm the anxious children.

Her shoulder suddenly exploded in pain. She whirled around and tried to fight; but between the pain in her shoulder, not being familiar with this mortal form anymore, and her head still not quite feeling normal, she never stood a chance.

There the ‘all-powerful’ Queen of Olympus was. Being dragged around. In pain. Having failed to have protected the children in her care. 

She told herself that this was all part of the plan. That she had just been trying to avoid changing anything, but if she was truly honest with herself, it was just sloppiness. 

Boy, this guy really just won't stop monologuing Jenny though as she was being led outside. I swear with loose lips like these, it’s a wonder gramps got as far as he did in the war.

Eventually, Thalia and Annabeth caught up to her and tried, as she had, to stop the manticore.They were clearly outmatched. But there was only so much Jenny could do without risking the future. Fear began to gnaw at her gut when she realized what she was about to witness.

Then, the helicopter came. She had somehow managed to forget about that part, but she still narrowly managed to sprint and parry an attack that would have run Thalia through.

A familiar hunting horn rang out, and Jenny was overwhelmed by emotions; excitement at seeing her wife again, embarrassment that she had been bested by a mere monster, and finally abject terror. 

She desperately hoped that she wasn't alone in the past.

Everyone was still for a moment, while they processed the newcomers’ arrival. Jenny managed to pull herself out of her spiraling thoughts in time to hear the manticore say, "It cannot be…” 

A hunter’s silver arrow sprouted from his shoulder. The manticore quickly began sending volley after volley of spikes towards the woods, where the hunters returned fire from their hidden vantage points.

Jenny gave a half-hearted attack, but the manticore parried and sent her flying. The hunters came sprinting out of the woods like silver wolves, stalking the manticore with a predatory focus. Jenny still couldn't help but admire their skills and relentlessness, even after centuries spent at their patron’s side.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried out in relief.

Jenny heard Thalia muttering, but ignored her as she looked back to the hunters, desperate for any sign her wife was still the goddess she knew.

Zoë stepped forward, somehow looking even more ethereal and timeless than the portrait of her they had kept in their palace on Olympus. Her eyes held an anger and murderous intent, that Jenny didn't remember her having the first time, as she stepped forward with her drawn bow and tightly asked, "Permission to kill, my lady?”

There was definitely something different there.

The monster started whining, and Jenny had to hide a smirk at the thought of anybody , let alone a monster, telling Artemis what to do, "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," Artemis said as she stepped forward. She was terrifying and imposing, even in her younger form, and under normal circumstances Jenny would have been left breathless by her power and determination. But there was something in those argent eyes that made her pause. She didn't think anybody but her, and probably Zoë, could tell, but it felt like she was going through the motions as she said, "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast."

She gave Zoë permission to loose without looking her way. The manticore growled, "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at Thalia and Jenny. The latter froze as she realized what was about to happen .

"No.'" Annabeth yelled, as she charged at the monster. 

"Get back, half-blood!" Zoë snapped, "Get out of the line of fire!"

Jenny felt helpless as she watched Annabeth leap onto the monster's back and drive her knife into his mane. Part of Jenny hoped that he would be successful in dislodging her, but she knew the end of this.

"Fire!" Zoe ordered. 

"No!" Jenny screamed, despite herself. The Hunters let their arrows fly. Jenny's mind went blank as the manticore leaped off the cliff with Annabeth on his back.

Part of Jenny was distantly aware of the gunfire, of Artemis killing the mortals that dared to cross her. But, the majority of her was watching Annabeth fall over a different cliff.  To an even worse fate.

In her mind, she could smell the stench of the pit. Feel it burning her lungs and the shards of the ground digging into her feet.The terror and agony overwhelming her senses and her mind. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

Then, there was a hand on her shoulder. 

She could feel a calming presence touching the edge of her mind. She started focusing on her breathing, then her senses. No, she wasn't kneeling in the glass shards of the Pit, she was in snow. There wasn't oppressive heat, just cold. She could see the aftermath of a battle, a skirmish, really. She distantly heard Zoë and Thalia nearly screaming at one another.

After what felt like hours, but was realistically probably only a couple minutes at most, Jenny was calm again. She sent a silent prayer, Thank you Cyn. I'm back. You can take care of the others, I'll be along in a few minutes.

Artemis gave her shoulder one more light squeeze, the calming presence receding from her mind. 

Well, at least I'm not alone.

Jenny vaguely heard the Di Angelos get an introduction to being demigods, they were told the gods were real, one of them was their parent, and the answers to their inevitable questions and disbelief. Jenny remembered all the times she'd given that exact speech to her charges at Camp Half-blood, first as a fellow demigod, then as a goddess herself.

She forced herself not to react to Grover's fawning over Artemis. She knew it was something all the satyrs tended to do, but it hadn't stopped being annoying in three centuries. The satyr in question being her friend didn't exactly help her to stay calm, but she managed to not say anything.

Within a few minutes, the hunters had set up their camp. Grover helped Jenny tend her wounds as they talked to Nico.

Jenny remembered thinking Nico was annoying when she first met him, but his excitement and inquisitiveness reminded her of the side of So-, of her , that she had showed less and less as she got older and more closed off. There was an innocence to it she had always tried to protect in the demigods under her care.

 Eventually, his questions turned to Annabeth, and Jenny looked desperately to Grover to distract him. To the point that she was almost glad when Zoë stormed over to her with a look promising death on her face. Her voice was tightly controlled and icy, “ Iphigenia Jackson , My lady wishes to speak to thee.”

Jenny thought she leaned pretty hard into the word “my” in that sentence, but she nodded and said her goodbyes to Nico and Grover, before following the lieutenant. She debated trying to speak with her, before noticing her hand kept twitching near her hunting knife and decided she preferred keeping her blood in her body.

She was led into Artemis' tent. The familiar space calmed her slightly, even as she couldn't reach out to her wife. Zoë sat down at Artemis' side and gave Jenny a look like she was figuring out what the most painful way to end her life could be.

Bianca has a slight silvery shimmer around her that told Jenny that she had already taken the oath. Apparently Artemis wanted them alone as soon as possible, not that Jenny would complain. Pretending to be strangers, with the one person who knew her better than anyone, was already annoying.

“You wanted to speak with me, Lady Artemis.”

“Yes,” She turned to Zoë, “I’d like a chance to speak with Iphigenia about what she's seen. What we’ve heard so far has been… troubling.”

Artemis looked genuinely troubled, Jenny wondered how she managed to do it. None of this was new information to her and, compared to what they had faced in the centuries since, wasn't even that concerning. Had she split off a piece of herself to hold her more positive emotions, in order to keep a straight face? Maybe that piece was protecting girls who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. The echoes of Jenny's former (future?) divinity sang at the thought,

 Artemis’s voice pulled her out of her musings, “Zoë, would you mind introducing Bianca to her new sisters?”

Bianca left the tent with an awkward bow followed by Zoë, who stiffly bowed to Artemis before casting a hateful glare in Jenny’s direction.

Jenny sighed once the tent flap closed, “She seems to hate me even more than I remember.”

Artemis gave a sad smile, “I discussed our… situation with her this morning. I let her know that I couldn't continue in my relationship with her.”

Jenny sat for a moment, digesting this information, before whispering, “You could go back to her if you wanted. I would understand.”

Artemis raised an eyebrow, “Oh, and would you go back to your first wife, now that you have the chance?”

She let out a dry chuckle before replying, “Oh, you mean that 13 year old girl out there? That's not my wife. She grew into her before, but she would never be the exact same woman. But Zoë is… this is just before she died. We could save her, and I would understand if you wanted to go back”

Artemis’ eyes became more intense, nearly dangerous, “Are you saying this because you have some misguided feeling that you aren't enough for me, or because you would have left me for her had the situation been different?”

Jenny sighed, and took a few moments to consider her response, “No. I wouldn't. But you loved her for over a thousand years. And you weren’t even certain I would make it back. I just… I want to make sure you're doing what you want, not staying with me out of obligation.”

It was Artemis' turn to consider, Jenny knew this was outside of her comfort zone. Artemis greatly preferred to let her actions speak for her, even when she was helping Jenny through her grief she tended to prefer being a silent confidant and rock to relating her own feelings or giving advice. 

“She died. I mourned her. There is a part of me that will always love her, but I feel that part of my life has closed. Had you not come back with me, I would have needed time to grieve you as well, time to properly close that chapter.”

Jenny crawled over to where Artemis was sitting. Artemis wrapped her arm around her. Jenny laid her head on her shoulder, “I love you, Artemis. I just want you to be happy.”

“I know, dearest. I want the same for you.”

They sat for a few moments, neither feeling the need to say more, both content to be in the other's company. It was the first time, in longer than either cared to remember, that they didn't need to constantly be vigilant.

 Finally, Jenny broke the silence, “We should probably start talking about a plan.”

“Agreed,” Artemis sighed. “We may be farther back than we planned, but that just allows us more time to work with.”

Jenny bit her lip, hesitating, “I want to save them. Zoë and Annabeth, obviously, but also the others. We have the opportunity to save so many lives, to let so many children grow up. I can't throw away that chance.”

Artemis kissed the top of her head, “I know. You were always so passionate about protecting half-bloods, even before-.” 

“Before Sophia?” Jenny murmured, she paused for a while before saying, “Yeah, there's a reason I got protection as my primary domain.”

Neither spoke for a couple minutes, before Artemis asked, “Do you even want to ascend?”

“Oh? Trying to get rid of me already?”

Artemis rolled her eyes, “You never wanted godhood in the first place. You have a chance to live a mortal life, to die as a mortal.”

Jenny laughed, “No, I think I got over wanting to die a century or two ago.”

“I'm serious.”

“I am too, you're not getting rid of me that easily, Artemis.”

“Very well,” Artemis tried to hide her relief, “Then I think you should ascend after the Giant War.”

“I wouldn't be able to help your brother when he’s made mortal.”

“But,” Artemis countered, “if we reveal that prophecies are broken because of us, Father might not punish him in the first place.”

“You know how much I trust Uncle,” Jenny muttered, then she sighed and said, “Alright. Giant War it is. I'll have to really workshop my wish to get it right on the first try. What about this war, anything you think we should do different?”

“We need to let it play out largely the same, or we lose our advantage,” Artemis said, “We’ll be able to save the most people if we can predict their plans at key moments, but even then we should still be able to save some people along the way.”

“Agreed, and I might be able to convince a couple demigods who wound up betraying us later to stay loyal,” Jenny paused, a thought suddenly occurring to her, “Do you think I can force our grandfather to fade as a mortal?”

“Perhaps, that would go a long way to strengthening Olympus in the long run. I'll look into the magic behind the technique and tell you my findings,” Artemis said, standing and summoning two glasses of wine. 

She handed one to Jenny, who got a playful look in her eye before saying, “As much as I would like to have a more concrete plan now, I think I might need some time to think on my own before I can suggest anything more. I'll pray to you after my daring rescue?”

Artemis rolled her eyes, “Such a humble hero. What makes you think you would have my attention? Planning on sacrificing a tomato?”

“I could think of something,” Jenny stood and hid a smirk as she walked across the tent to where a nondescript wood and deer hide altar sat, “I still think it's cute that you drag this around on your hunts. You get a lot of sacrifices when you're out here?”

Artemis flushed, “You know as well as I do this tent is a temple of mine. Temples have altars.”

“And you need to travel with your temple, dearest? Do you have many petitioners asking you for things?”

“Not usually,” Artemis had a thought, “But if you made a sacrifice and said a prayer, I'd be able to… fix your form.”

The smirk fell off Jennys face as she considered the offer, “I think that would be too suspicious. If we act too strangely we might throw away the big advantage we have, and I haven't done anything for you to warrant that level of gift yet. Maybe after the quest, you could offer it as a reward though. Say I had asked you about it now, and you refused.”

Artemis nodded and took a sip from her wine, watching as Jenny ran her fingers along the altar. She turned towards Artemis and watched her, slowly sitting on the altar, enjoying the way Artemis seemed to be watching her every move. She laid down on her side, propping her head up on her hand. Then held eye contact as she smirked and sent a silent prayer, My lady Artemis, even though you can't grant my wish, your faithful worshiper still offers herself as a sacrifice upon your altar.

Artemis' eyes took on a predatory quality as Jenny’s blood ran cold with both fear and excitement. She began to stalk towards her, Jenny's eyes never once leaving hers, even as Artemis’ gaze raked over her, assessing the offering left upon her altar. Does this sacrifice please you, Goddess?

“Oh, my dearest supplicant. I intend to find out exactly how much this sacrifice will please me.”

Chapter Text

Jenny left the tent feeling exhausted. All she wanted was to fall asleep in her wife's arms, in her familiar tent. that hadn't changed much over the centuries they'd been together. Maybe it had been missing the small touches that had made it less hers and more theirs, but it had still been home more often than not. Even when they ruled Olympus, they did their best to keep some small part of themselves with the Hunt.

But, unfortunately, they managed to land in one of the only times where spending the night being held by her wife wasn't possible. Instead, Artemis had just laughed as she threw a glass of water into Jenny's face to get rid of any evidence. Which meant now she had to go find someplace to rest alone.

Almost immediately after exiting the tent, Thalia and Grover were next to her wanting to know what had happened. They questioned her about why she took so long and what the goddess had had to say to her. She told them it had been about the ‘Great Stirring’, that the Manticore had mentioned. When Talia pressed her she admitted that she had wanted to talk to Artemis about ‘gender things’ and ask if the protector of girls could give her the body of one.

Thalia seemed to begrudgingly accept that answer, but Jenny had noticed Grover acting strangely during their entire conversation. She remembered him being ecstatic and lovestruck about meeting the goddess of the Wild, but those emotions were nowhere to be seen. He wouldn't meet her eyes, and every time she looked at him he seemed to flush. She couldn't figure out why, but she could practically feel the embarrassment rolling off of him.

Jenny's blood ran cold. Not practically. She could literally feel the embarrassment rolling off of him.

They still had the fucking empathy link! She hadn't even considered it. It had faded in adulthood and fully severed when she ascended, but it would have been at its strongest now. Which meant that she was feeling the embarrassment from him because he felt other feelings from her.

Part of her knew he would never betray her, but she was already at risk being in this fragile mortal form. If word somehow reached her uncle of what they had done, even as a rumor, she knew he would not hesitate to vaporize her on the spot.

She couldn't risk that.

Making a note to talk to him later, she asked them if the hunters had a place where she could rest for a while. Before mercifully getting a couple hours of sleep before morning.

-

Jenny awoke to Thalia poking her with the butt of her spear. She glared at her friend who simply smirked and in the most sickly sweet voice possible said, “Wake up, sunshine!”

Jenny grumbled, as she slowly got up. Thalia cackled the entire time. Eventually Jenny sat up, still fully dressed, and in a sleepy voice asked, “What do you want, Pinecone Face?”

“Our esteemed hostesses want us out so they can tear the tent down,” Thalia said as she poked Jenny again, “Something about getting us to Camp.”

Ahh, Apollo must be coming, Jenny thought, as she stood with a groan.

They went out to meet where the hunters had gathered. Jenny looked for Artemis and saw that her face betrayed no emotions. She looked a little closer and realized she was standing perfectly straight. Her face was unnaturally still, more like a statue than a human. Jenny realized that even though everyone else saw Artemis in control and calm, she was incredibly anxious. She'd seen this side of Artemis before, as they prepared for battle and she tried to keep those under her command from seeing her nerves.

Delia, are you okay? Jenny prayed.

Artemis didn't move. Jenny would have assumed she had somehow not gotten through to her, had Artemis' eyes not snapped to hers. They stood there, staring, for what felt like an eternity, before Jenny heard a soft, almost fragile, reply in her head, I'm going to see my brother again.

Jenny’s heart broke as she took in just how significant this was for her wife. Apollo had been her twin, her opposite, the other half of her very being. They were so intertwined, it was nearly impossible to consider one without the other. 

And then Apollo had been cut down. Faded from existence, in a war that never should have happened.

Jenny looked towards the coming dawn, first rays of light just beginning to streak over the horizon. She prayed again, silently encouraging, You can do this. I'm right here.

The crowd averted their eyes as the sun chariot landed nearby. They could all feel the heat coming off of it, melting the snow around it.

Jenny opened her eyes. While everyone else was looking at the sun chariot, Jenny glanced back at Artemis, who seemed to be steeling her nerves. Satisfied that she was okay, Jenny turned back to the glowing Maserati to see Apollo emerge.

He had a massive radiant smile on his face. One Jenny remembered from the nights when she would go out with him and some of her other cousins. They had liked to frequent mortal bars when Olympian life got to be too much. Between Apollo and Dionysus, they always ended up finding a place with strong drinks and good music.

Jenny had missed that smile. 

Even before he'd faded, she hadn't seen it in a long time. The war had taken too much out of them for them to waste time and energy on having fun. It was nice to see him so light and carefree again.

“Wow,” She heard Thalia mutter near her, “Apollo is hot.”

Jenny tried to hide her smirk. She wasn't quite as oblivious this time around and said, “Eh, he's not quite my type.”

Thalia blushed as Apollo called out to Artemis, “Little sister! What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting-”

“-worried,” Artemis had stepped forward and pulled her brother into a crushing hug. Apollo's face froze, even as his arms wrapped around his sister. Then suddenly it went through several expressions in rapid succession before settling on fury. He glanced around the crowd of hunters and demigods before he asked in an icy tone, “Who?”

And there's Apollo from the war, Jenny thought as she watched the shift in her cousin.

Artemis pulled back and made expressions like she was speaking to him mentally. Jenny assumed she had decided the conversation was not for her hunters’ ears. Eventually, she spoke out loud, sounding exasperated, “I told you, nobody harmed me. I can explain more later, but for now, I have work to do.”

“Oh, and what work is that?”

“A hunt. One I must undertake on my own. That's why I called you here.”

“You want a favor, but you won't let me start a hunt of my own?” His tone sounded joking to everyone but Jenny and Artemis, who both knew him well enough to hear the threat and hurt underneath.

“Please, Apollo. I owe you an explanation, but not here. I need to leave on my hunt immediately.”

“Fine,” Apollo's jovial tone had disappeared now, “Ask your favor, and I'll drop the matter until you return.”

“I need you to take my hunters and these demigods to Camp Half-blood.”

“Very well,” His expression changed unnaturally fast, back to his good natured attitude from before, “Already, let's go! Who are these campers I'm bringing with?”

Apollo stepped towards them, checking them out. It looked casual, but Jenny knew Apollo well enough to see the calculation behind it. She wondered if it was because of the hug from Artemis or if she'd simply missed it the first time.

He looked towards Thalia, "Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you." 

“Hi, Lord Apollo,” Thalia blushed, but Jenny focused on Apollo's subtly hungry expression. She'd seen this expression before, and seeing it turned on her cousin made everything in her scream to protect her.

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you?” Apollo gave her a smile, waiting a beat before continuing, “Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—”

"Brother," Artemis said tightly, relief flooded through Jenny's body as she realized her wife saw the same thing she did. "You should get going."

“Oh, right.” He turned to Jenny, studying her, like she was a puzzle he didn't quite have all the pieces to. She knew that this was how he reacted to prophecies, so he knew something about her future, her old future at least. His eyes narrowed as he asked, “Percy Jackson?”

“Uhh, sorta. It's Jenny now, my lord,” it pained her to call him ‘my lord’, but it would look suspicious if she walked around calling gods ‘cousin’. Oh well, it would only be three years before she could go back to her old habits, and maybe some of it could be written off as her impertinence.

“What?” Apollo deadpanned. Ahh, so he had seen that bit of her life.

“Jenny Jackson. Short for Iphigenia, uhh, sir,” She hoped her discomfort made her look nervous about coming out to a god, rather than nervous about him knowing she knew that she had changed the future.

“Interesting,” Apollo murmured as he studied her, before his demeanor shifted again. He turned to the gathered crowd and said, “Well! We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way, west. And If you miss it, you miss it." 

 "Cool car," Nico said, eyeing it with appreciation and skepticism.

"Thanks, kid," Apollo preened, not seeming to understand the problem.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…" 

Apollo pulled out his keys and turned the chariot into a bus, before turning back to the assembled crowd and ordering them in.

Zoë relayed his order before picking up her pack, but Apollo reached toward it and said, “Here, sweetheart. Let me get that.”

In a flash, Zoë had a knife drawn, with murderous intent in her eyes. Apollo flashed a look of fury and seemed about to smite her when Artemis stepped in.

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

Apollo turned his glare onto his sister, “You would permit her to threaten me?”

“You are fully aware of my Hunters' vows. She threatened you because she knows how little you respect them,” Artemis' expression stoney as she stared him down.

The pair both stood there for a few moments, unwavering. Only small changes in expression betraying their silent conversation. Eventually, Apollo simply said, “Fine.”

Artemis nodded, then turned to Zoë, her expression softening, with a slight tinge of guilt, “I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the hunters”

Zoë nodded, all business, “Yes, my lady.”

Artemis knelt, as if looking for tracks, before appearing to find them and sprinting into the woods.

Apollo turned and grinned, as though nothing had happened, before asking, “So, who wants to drive?”

Jenny tried to stay out of the conversation as much as possible, until eventually Thalia was elected as their honorary sun charioteer. She felt a little bad to force her to experience the fear that driving at that height provided, but she grabbed Grover's arm and drug him to the back of the bus.

She decided that this was as much privacy as they were going to get. Grover still seemed incredibly embarrassed every time she looked in his direction, and now he seemed nervous at her dragging him to the back of the bus.

Jenny tried to make small talk with him for a while, not really paying attention to the conversation. Then her moment came, as Thalia started to crash the bus. She leaned in close to Grover's ear and whispered coldly, “You felt nothing. You know nothing. Understood?”

She felt Grover's fear spike even higher as he frantically nodded. Then they plowed into the lake.

After getting out of the bus, Zoë started walking away with nothing more than a terse, “Tell Chiron we'll be in cabin eight”, before storming off, assuming her Hunters would follow.

A look of guilt flashed across Jenny's face, but it went unnoticed by everyone but Grover.

“Take care sweethearts!” Apollo called after the Hunters. Zoë froze for a second, and Jenny thought they were about to have a repeat of the knife incident, but then Zoë continued walking towards the cabin.

Apollo turned to Jenny and regarded her with a look of suspicion. Then he cheerily said, “Watch out for those prophecies, Jenny. I'll see you soon.”

Jenny rolled her eyes, then stiffened slightly when she heard Apollo call, "Later, Thalia! And, uh, be good!”

Jenny avoided looking at Apollo, instead watching Thalia's blush with mild concern. Jenny hoped that nothing had changed that would cause her not to join the hunters, if for no other reason than to keep her away from him.

-

When they entered the Big House, Jenny immediately noticed the Christmas decorations. Her last few decades running Camp they hadn't had the luxury of putting them up, needing instead to focus their efforts entirely on the wars. She was glad to be back in a time that wasn't so dire. Hopefully the children were more worried about their Christmas presents and winter solstice trip than the upcoming war.

Chiron and Dionysus were playing cards in the parlor. Chiron looked up from the game as the demigods entered the room. He smiled as he said, “Percy! Thalia! Ah, and this must be—" 

"Nico di Angelo," Jenny said, stiffening slightly at the name, "He and his sister are half-bloods." 

Chiron gave a relieved sigh, tension leaving his body as he exhaled. "You succeeded, then." 

"Well…" 

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?" 

"Oh, dear," Dionysus said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

Jenny's jaw clenched. She tried to remind herself that this was how he coped. She had cried through drunken nights with him to know how much he cared. That he put up the apathetic act as much to try to fool himself as the people around him.

But this was Annabeth.

She was about to snap at him when Thalia asked, “What do you mean? Who else is lost?”

Before Chiron could respond, Grover entered the room, and glanced nervously at Jenny. He spoke quietly to Chiron, who stroked his beard, as if in thought.

 "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about," Chiron glanced at Nico, frowning. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film." 

Jenny couldn't help but smile at Nico's concern over what the orientation film was rated. He was such a far cry from the brooding teenager that her cousin had grown into. She hoped that this side of him would survive a little longer after she saved Bianca.

Chiron turned to Thalia and Jenny, once Nico had left, "Now, perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story." 

They told Chiron what had happened, Thalia giving Jenny a concerned glance when she mentioned Annabeth's fall. When they finished, Chiron turned to Dionysus and said, "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately." 

“I'll go,” Thalia said.

“Certainly not.”

Jenny stiffened at Dionysus’ words. How dare he abandon her like this. Forgetting herself for a moment she straightened, channeling the regal authority from her time as a queen she spat, “We will not leave her, cousin.” 

Purple fire roared in Dionysus' eyes as he stared Jenny down. She saw Thalia flinch out of the corner of her eye as Dionysus radiated pure unadulterated fury. Jenny knew from experience that meant mortals would die, but she forgot that she was part of that group once again. Dionysus growled out, terrifyingly cold, “Insolent boy.”

“Insolent girl,” Jenny corrected, matching his intensity. She saw his demeanor shift slightly. She wouldn't have noticed it had she not known him so well, but she saw his confusion. Recognition dawned on his face, and some of his anger began to melt away.

“Insolent girl,” he corrected, almost tenderly. Despite herself, Jenny couldn't help but be amused. Dionysus, for all he pretended not to care about demigods, always had a soft spot for the kids who turned out to be trans.

Jenny used to tell him when a camper came out. He usually managed to act like he didn't care for a day or two before he would coincidentally end up at camp, asking if they needed any advice. He loved talking about the options for medical transition since ‘in my day, you just cut your hair and wore a shorter chiton’.

“Nonetheless,” Dionysus continued, “we seem to have broken even on this escape. While it is regrettable that we lost-”

“Regrettable?” Jenny's fury was building again. She had to remind herself that he didn't know he was attacking her domain, and her former wife. She decided to try an approach he might respect, “you call losing one of our best tacticians on the eve of war regrettable?”

“I do. Besides, we don't even know that this Annie girl is alive.”

Before Jenny could blow her cover by telling him exactly how she knew Annabeth was alive, Chiron cut in calmly trying to diffuse the tension, “Annabeth may be alive. She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate.”

"That's right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive." 

"In which case," Jenny could tell from Dionysus’ tone that he was about to snap, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own." 

Jenny stood from the table.

“Percy,” Chiron tried to warn her.

“Jenny.” She said, then leveled her glare at Dionysus, “just because you don't want to be here doesn't mean you can let children die.”

Jenny knew that Dionysus wasn't as heartless as he pretended to be. She had held her cousin as he cried over his dead children. She knew him well enough to see the little ways he allowed himself to help, trying, in his own way, to protect them, just as she had.

So she knew her words cut deep.

Dionysus' fury was plainly visible. The purple glow grew in his eyes. He met her glare as he stood, opening his mouth to speak.

When Nico burst into the room, blissfully unaware of how close his cousins were to coming to blows. Babbling about attack points and special powers.

Before Dionysus could recover from his confusion, Chiron turned and said, “Jenny, you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the Campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

Jenny nodded tersely and stormed out of the room.

"You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded Jenny as soon as she caught up, "You need another immortal enemy?" 

Jenny didn't act like she heard her, just continuing to walk towards the cabins. Thalia was about to confront her a second time when she said, “I couldn't help it. We need to save her”

Jenny wasn't sure which ‘her’ she was talking about. Despite knowing both of them would be fine. Jenny had no intention of leaving Annabeth or Artemis under the sky, and in Kronos’ clutches, any longer than she had to.

Thalia pulled her coat tighter around her, looking over at Jenny like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.

Jenny looked at Thalia, her expression softening. She was reminded that even though Thalia looked identical even centuries later, this Thalia was still a scared child.

Jenny enveloped Thalia in a hug. 

She felt Thalia stiffen in her arms, before melting into the embrace. Jenny wasn't used to being shorter than Thalia, but she held her as best as she could as Thalia let out a sob.

Thalia whispered, “I'm scared. First I found out Luke was lost. Now Annabeth is-”

She shoved her face into Jenny's shoulder instead of finishing. Jenny stood there, running her arm up and down Thalia's back. She murmured, “it's going to be okay. We're going to get Annabeth back.”

Thalia's breathing returned to normal, and she seemed to realize what she had done. She abruptly straightened up and wiped the tears from her eyes, “If you tell anybody about this I'm gonna kick your butt.”

Jenny smirked, not pointing out the fact that they were fully in view of anybody who cared to look, “I would never tell anyone that the great Thalia Grace had an emotion!”

“Shut it, Seaweed Brain,” Thalia bit back, but she was smiling so Jenny chose to consider it a win.

“Watch it, Pinecone Face, keep being rude and you're not gonna be my second favorite cousin anymore,” Jenny said as she turned to walk away

“Wh-,” Thalia sputtered, “Who's your favorite, then?”

Jenny just laughed and winked at her over her shoulder, “By the way, you're team captain for capture the flag!”

Thalia was about to respond, but she noticed a fight breaking out between two campers. She groaned and went to break it up as Jenny walked towards the cabins.

-

Jenny collapsed on her bed. She had too much to think about.

First, she had to figure out what had and hadn't happened yet. As a goddess her memory was perfect, but her time as a human was… fuzzier. She could remember most of the events, but not necessarily the order, or the specifics.

For the quest in front of her, though, all she could really do was wait. They had originally left after getting a prophecy from the Oracle at capture the flag, and she didn't exactly intend to change that.

She wished Annabeth was here. It would be nice to have somebody who was naturally good at planning. Unfortunately not only was she currently captured, but Jenny wasn't certain about how much to tell her. As much as the gods tended to ignore their mortal children, she knew Athena liked to keep an especially close eye on her favorites. She called it ‘cataloging her assets’, but Jenny had always suspected it was just her justifying watching over her children.

So, unless she wanted all the gods to know, she couldn't risk telling Annabeth.

She needed actionable plans. For right now, there wasn't much she could do, but the war would start properly in the summer. Maybe she could convince Silena to give false information to Luke?

She spent a few hours going over plans in her head, becoming more and more frustrated by the minute.

Eventually one of the younger campers knocked on Jenny's door to inform her it was time for dinner. As she came out of her thoughts, she realized that she was famished.

And thirsty. 

And needed to use the bathroom.

She really was not used to having a mortal form anymore, and made a note to pay more attention to her physical needs. Starting with dinner… no. Starting with the bathroom.

-

When Jenny arrived at dinner, everyone was already seated.

She grabbed her food and made a sacrifice to her father. Then, after a second of deliberation, she threw a piece of potato in and prayed, Here Cyn. I'm sure you'd appreciate a little more strength.

She caught Zoë's eye as she walked to her table. Choosing to ignore the glare being leveled at her, she sat down and ordered her goblet, “Mountain Dew Voltage”.

She stared at it as it didn't fill. She was shocked, she knew the goblets could fill with any beverage on earth, how could they not fill with it?

She realized with a groan that her blue drink of choice must not have been released yet. She settled for a blue cherry Coke instead, disappointed that she had to specify ‘blue’.

She smiled a little despite herself, remembering Annabeth making fun of her when they were young because she wanted to try the blue soda. The fact that she had ended up liking it made it something Annabeth teased her about for years.

She glanced back over at Zoë. Who'd been maintaining the glare, but stopped when another hunter, Tiffany Jenny recalled, a girl who had been with the hunt since the 14th century.

She missed the Hunt, Jenny realized. It had been rocky at first, but over time those girls had become like family to her. She spent nearly every day with them for centuries, and fought beside them in multiple wars.

And now they didn't remember who she was.

It was sobering to realize everything she'd given up. She'd had to do it for the sake of the future, but it ached to have to lose her past.

She raised her glass as Zoë’s glare fell on her again, and finished the rest of her meal as quickly as possible.

-

Jenny couldn't sleep. She wasn't used to needing sleep anymore, at least not without having exerted herself significantly, or having her essence wounded.

And she had a lot to think about. A lot to do.

At this point, she didn't know how much of her power she could access. She wasn't sure how much she had gained through age and exercising her powers, and how much had always been within her, just needing the push to discover or the knowledge to use it.

She would need to figure that out. 

She was a war goddess; even if she wasn't Athena she still knew the importance of knowing one’s own capabilities. She would need to train to find her limits again. The physical limits should be fairly simple. She just needed to train and exercise. She could do that with the campers, and not arouse suspicion.

Her metaphysical abilities, on the other hand, she would need to be more subtle about.

In her first life, she'd developed a reputation for developing new powers when she was backed against the wall, or when her temper flared and she tapped into the well of power in her without abandon. Later on some of these would become her domains. Ares once joked that she should have been ‘The goddess of pulling shit out of your ass’.

Those powers would need to be trained out of sight, and they needed to be used subtly, if she could even use them in the first place. If she couldn’t… she would think of something.

Since Jenny couldn't sleep anyway, she decided there was no time like the present. She pulled on some winter clothes. She stood at the cabin door, and attempted to reach out with her senses. It took a little more focus than she thought it would, and she didn't have nearly the range she remembered from her time as a mortal, but it would do.

She could feel the blood of the demigods in a couple of the cabins near her. She couldn't tell individuals apart at that distance, but she could feel vaguely how many there were. By the time she had ascended, she could always feel the blood of the people around her. It had taken nearly a century for her to be truly comfortable with it, but eventually it felt as natural as her other senses, and with time, she grew out of her discomfort with her own domains.

Noting that there were no harpies around to spot her, she left her cabin and walked towards the woods.

Maybe it was a mistake to go somewhere that was stocked with monsters, but she knew she could handle whatever these woods could throw at her. She walked with the same calm demeanor she had when walking through forests with a wild goddess at her side. She idly wondered if Artemis would approve of what she planned to do, considering she was hoping to use it to save Zoë’s life.

Eventually, her stroll led her towards something. She felt the blood of a fairly large animal. She walked towards it, relying on its blood to lead her when her mortal senses couldn't.

She came to a small clearing, and looked across it to see a fawn staring at her, waiting to run away at the first sign of danger. The fawn's ears twitched, scanning the area for any sign of a threat. Jenny knelt in the packed snow, and held out her hand, open palmed, holding some food for it that she had collected on her walk.

The fawn stared at her for a long time, but as the minutes stretched on, it made the decision to approach her.

Once the fawn reached her it tentatively sniffed her offering before accepting it. Jenny began to softly stroke its fur as it ate of her hand, “There you are. That's a good deer.”

Jenny allowed the fawn to finish, before looking at it and softly saying, “I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm doing this for your Lady.”

The deer started to turn in alarm, before stopping mid-step. Jenny felt a perverse glee build up inside her at the thrill of exerting her power like this, which only added to her guilt at doing so to a creature that had committed no wrongs. Who wasn't a threat to anyone.

Over the next half hour, she practiced knowing the nature spirits were far less active both at night and in the winter, and that the gods were uninterested in her nighttime activities. First, she made the fawn kneel. Then she moved on to moving individual muscles. Finally, she forced it to run in circles around her. As she controlled it in more and more complicated and forceful ways, the first time she had controlled blood came, unbidden, out of her memories.

It had been the day Annabeth had-, no, it had been the last day she had been mortal. The battle raged around her. She felt something in her break, a dam releasing the power held behind it.

In a moment of clarity, Jenny tried to shunt the memories to a part of her she could send off into the world, but vaguely realized she couldn't as she fell back in.

She had held Annabeth's body in her arms, tears streaming down her face, blood, dust and flecks of ichor covering them both. She sobbed until the moment the dam broke. Then she knew nothing but fury. 

How dare these monsters take Annabeth from her, from Sophia! 

She distantly felt her tears lift off her face, the first drops of a hurricane.

She gasped, hands digging into the snow as she desperately tried to find an anchor in the storm of her memories.

She watched as the blood and ichor on her body joined her tears. Felt the storm forming as her power grabbed at anything liquid nearby. There was no water, but there was blood.

There was so much blood.

She could use that.

She watched, an observer in her own body as blood and ichor slowly gathered, spinning faster and faster, a tempest growing around her. She advanced on her enemies, monster and traitorous demigod alike, and began to tear though their lines.

She heard a sound that threatened to draw her out of the memory, but it was distant, indistinct. Some soft cry that would have to go unanswered. She had a battle to win, after all.

She slashed through a monster, golden ichor flowing from the cut until it dissolved into dust that was swept up in her storm. A raging maelstrom of crimson and gold that grew with every slash, every stab. She could feel the ground sinking with every step.

No. She could feel snow. Through her thick winter clothing. She could hear the wind rustling branches, not screams. She could smell … blood?

Jenny opened her eyes. 

The fawn was gone. She could see bits of fur and viscera strewn around her, in a circle of red snow. She realized she could feel herself panting. Her chest was on fire as she desperately sucked in air. Eventually, she was present enough to focus on getting control of her breathing. She counted her breaths in and out, forcing herself to relax when her entire body was fighting her. She could smell the metallic scent of the deer's fresh blood, but she forced herself to remain in this moment. 

The only thing that mattered right now was her breath. 

In.

Hold. 

Out. 

Each breath became slightly less painful than the last. 

In. 

Hold. 

Out. 

Eventually, she took one last shaking gasp and was finally calm when she exhaled.

She stayed like that for a few minutes. Making sure her breathing was under control and her heart wasn't threatening to beat out of her chest. She'd forgotten how… physical emotions could be in a mortal form.

She took a breath and silently thanked the deer, as the beginnings of a plan formed in her head. She hoped she was powerful enough to pull it off, but this display made it seem like she had a chance. She wouldn't, no she couldn't let Artemis relive Zoë's death. She would find a way to save her.

Once she returned to her cabin, Jenny laid down and was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

Jenny overslept and only got to the tail end of breakfast. Again, she scraped some potatoes and peppers into the fire for Artemis after sacrificing to her father. She figured if anybody asked she could say she was trying to get her to change her body, but it went unquestioned.

After breakfast, she sat in the meadow, nearly enjoying the last few hours of peace before she had to go save her wife. Well, my wives , I guess .

She was pulled out of her musings by Grover approaching and standing a couple feet from her, his eyes searching hers for permission to approach. A pang of guilt hit Jenny as she could feel his nervousness and fear through their empathy link. She looked up and said with a smirk, “I won't bite, you know.”

Grover slowly stepped forward and sat near her. She allowed him a few moments to gather his thoughts, before he eventually asked, “are you going to be okay?”

Jenny let out one harsh laugh, “depends on how you define ‘okay’, I guess.”

“Per- Jenny ,” Grover said, concern written all over his face, “you've been acting so weird the last couple days, and last night I felt-”

Jenny cut him off with a look. He gave a slight whimper, but otherwise didn't react. She considered her response before replying, “I'm going to be acting different from now on. I don't expect you to understand, but know I'm not going to hurt you or anybody else I care about.”

“But on the bus-”

“What I said on the bus stands,” Jenny snapped, causing Grover to flinch away again, “look Grover, I'm sure you can tell, but it's complicated. It'll be a long time before I can explain, too.”

Grover seemed to be gathering up his courage, “am I still your friend?”

Jenny sighed, “of course you're my friend, Grover. I just… There are things I can't talk to you about. I'll find a way to get through it, though. Don't worry about me.”

Grover nodded solemnly, “okay, as long as you're okay.”

“I will be, I promise,” Jenny said. She watched a satyr crash into a tree before adding, “by the way,  We need to get rid of the empathy link.”

“What?” Grover looked stunned.

“I… You're going to keep feeling things like last night,” Jenny refused to meet his eyes, “I'm… I'm not okay right now, and I don't want you to have to feel that.”

“But I'm your friend,” Grover bleated, “Friends help each other when things are hard.”

“Not with this.”

Grover stared at Jenny with big, sad goat eyes. 

“I want to be here for you,” Grover said, “please let me in.”

“No,” Jenny insisted, a sense of finality entering her voice, “I'm not going to put that on you”

“Please,” Grover said, “I'm worried about you, just let me-”

“I said no!”

Grover flinched. Tears started to well up in his eyes.

“Grover I-”

“I'll find a way to break it,” Grover said, so quiet it was nearly a whisper. He got up and started walking away, but he turned and said, “Please let somebody in.”

-

As Jenny was leaving lunch, she noticed she was being followed.

Her tail was trying not to be obvious about it, and obviously had skill in remaining unseen while stalking prey, but despite that she had noticed. Multiple wars and centuries of marriage to the goddess of the Hunt had made her incredibly aware of her surroundings. She decided the best way to deal with it was simply to confront it head on, so she veered off towards the woods. She sat on Zeus' Fist and called out, “How is she?”

Zoë Nightshade emerged from the barren trees and glared at Jenny. Ignoring her question, she spat, “What dost thou know?”

Jenny sighed, “I know that she either will or already has taken your father's burden.”

Zoë flinched at the mention of Atlas, “And yet thou art not worried? Thou dost not care ?”

Jenny glared at her and snapped, “Of course I care! But there's not exactly anything I can do yet.”

“Ahh, I see, thou art simply a coward,” Zoë bit back, stepping closer.

Jenny stood and closed the distance glaring up into Zoë's face, “I want nothing more than to go rescue both of them! But if I change the wrong things it could make it worse!”

“So thou chooseth to do nothing ? To let my lady suffer!”

“Yes,” Jenny said, turning cold, “I am only doing what she and I agreed on.”

Zoë glared down at Jenny for a few more seconds, before whirling in a huff and storming off.

Jenny's eyes didn't leave Zoë until she disappeared from sight. Her fists were clenched as she tried to get a hold of her fury. It wouldn't help anyone for her to pick a fight, but she desperately wanted the release. She couldn't stand being forced to do nothing, especially when people she loved were being hurt.

She desperately wished for her godhood back. She wanted nothing more than to ignore her rage. To take her negative emotions and cast them off, not having to acknowledge them, not having to feel them.

But she was mortal.

She had to sit with her anger, work through it. She desperately tried to remember what her therapists had told her when she was a mortal, using a breathing technique to try to calm down.

Eventually, her rage abated.

She knew she shouldn't let Zoë rile her up. That Zoë had been hurt by her very existence, and was naturally going to react badly.

But, she had never been good at keeping calm.

She sighed, and left the woods to rejoin the camp, glad she would be able to blow off some steam tonight. Hoping to avoid Zoë as long as possible. She should find a sparring partner, and retreat into the memory of one of her domains to find clarity and calm.

She tried to ignore the pitying look on Grover's face as she emerged from the woods.

-

Jenny debated whether she should sacrifice to Artemis again that night. She wasn't sure when exactly Artemis had been put under the sky. She decided it couldn't hurt and scraped a couple tomatoes into the fire after sacrificing to her father. She didn't pray, worried that the turmoil she'd been feeling all day would bleed over to Artemis.

She didn't need that right now.

She ate in silence, staring at the woods. She tried to focus on the upcoming game of capture the flag, but her thoughts kept drifting. She was worried for Artemis and Annabeth. Even knowing that they would be fine, that they would be rescued in just a few days, she was worried.

At least she'd get to burn off some of this restless energy soon. Judging from the constant feeling of being watched, she should at least be able to get a challenge. Zoë wasn't going to be pulling any punches tonight.

Jenny ate mechanically. She was so focused on her thoughts that she barely tasted the food. She knew that it was good, camp food always was, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She noticed she had been done for a while. Campers were walking to a gathering point near the woods, so she followed them.

Thalia turned to her, “are you sure you want me to be captain?”

“Definitely, you could use the practice,” Jenny said with a wink, thinking about the great warrior and leader Thalia would grow into. She had a chance to give her cousin some leadership experience now, before she-

Would she be the leader of the hunters if Zoë lived?

“Excuse you?” Thalia said, clearly only half joking, “you lead one quest and think you're hot stuff?”

Jenny shrugged, then with a shit-eating grin said, “I mean if you really think I'd be a better captain I can do it for you.”

“In your dreams, Seaweed Brain.”

Jenny stood back with a soft smile, listening to Thalia tell her plan to the assembled demigods. She didn't interject this time, no longer having anything to prove. Jenny would be in charge of defense, Thalia would take the offense.

Jenny arrayed her soldiers, keeping two of her best fighters by the flag. She followed a hunch and stood near the creek, at a place that was far from the flag, and far from the action, but clearly visible to the hunters on the other side.

Her hunch was shown to be correct when a single arrow came whizzing directly at her head. She caught it on her shield as her eyes began to scan the trees.

This was going to be fun .

She debated looking for Zoë's blood. She knew that would be the easiest way to find her, and she really should practice using that power again, but it also was much less of a challenge. And, it didn't feel very sportswoman-like.

Three more arrows bounced off her shield before she found her assailant moving quickly and silently among the trees, stopping every few yards to snap off a shot.

Jenny waited until she started to draw her bow before grabbing the water in the creek and sending a torrent towards the huntress’s legs. she went down with a grunt, but as she sprung back up Jenny redirected the water and pushed Zoë from behind.

Zoë was forced to catch her balance, as she stumbled forward and out into the open. Jenny split the water into balls about a foot wide. She sent them towards Zoë from all directions.

Jenny had always admired the skill and agility of the hunters. She knew part of it was the blessing they all received from Artemis, but she also knew how hard they trained. The difference between a brand new huntress and one who had a century of experience under her belt was immense .

And Zoë had millenia of experience.

She wove in between the assaults, snapping off quick shots every time she had even a second’s reprieve. She seemed to catch on to Jenny's plan, and allowed herself to be herded closer.

Zoë dropped her bow, and before it had even disappeared she had two large hunting knives in her hands that were identical to the one's Artemis favored. She charged Jenny, closing what remained of the gap in less than a second.

Jenny spun out of the way of one knife, catching the other on her shield. She swung her sword at Zoë’s back as she passed, but Zoë’s knife skimmed off the shield and caught the blow. A counterthrust came immediately from the other.

Jenny stepped back, a feral grin on her face. The pair slowly circled each other, both looking for an opening. Each was convinced they were the hunter, and the other the prey.

Zoë again made the first move. She fainted high towards Jenny's sword arm, before striking low with her other knife. Jenny stepped to the side and bashed with her shield.

Zoë staggered back and Jenny immediately pressed her advantage, raining blows with sword and shield, forcing Zoë back towards the creek.

Zoë retreated and gave just enough ground to regain her balance. Once she was stable, Zoë ducked under a sword strike and yelled as she rapidly closed the distance between them, nearly tackling Jenny and striking around her shield. It was Jenny's turn to retreat and try to regain distance, but Zoë’s attacks were relentless. Jenny found herself contorting her body and pushing desperately with her shield to try to buy herself time and room to maneuver.

Jenny felt a tree against her back and knew she had to act fast. Zoë landed a deep cut on Jenny's sword arm, and quickly moved in to try to capitalize. Jenny saw her overextend slightly around the shield, and caught her in the chin with the edge, causing Zoë’s head to snap backwards.

As her blood oozed from her arm, Jenny smirked and taunted, “Had enough yet?”

Zoë growled and readied her weapons, preparing to resume the fight, when the horn sounded. She looked like she was debating whether she wanted to continue despite the end of the game, but instead gave a wordless yell, threw her knives into the ground, and stormed off towards the gathering crowd. 

Jenny was the last one out of the woods, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Standing next to Chiron with a massive triumphant smile was Thalia, holding the hunters' flag.

“Breaking a 55 win streak, Camp Half-Blood are the victors over the Hunters of Artemis!” Chiron called out, beaming with pride at the hoard of demigods.  

Zoë stood in silence, before the gathered crowd started making noises of surprise and alarm. Jenny looked up to see the mummy that housed Oracle of Delphi walking towards Zoë.

Finally, Jenny thought, I can do something.

The Oracle stood in front of Zoë, leveling a dead-eyed stare. With difficulty the Oracle opened her mouth and spewed forth green smoke.

I am the spirit of Delphi, a voice said in their minds, Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. 

The Oracle continued staring at her before speaking again, Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoë stared at the Oracle, fists clenched. For a second, it seemed she wasn't going to speak, then she deflated and in a quiet, defeated voice asked, “What must I do to help my goddess?”

The Oracle spoke the words Jenny knew she would:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, 

One shall be lost in the land without rain, 

The bane of Olympus shows the trail, 

Campers and Hunters combined prevail, 

The Titan's curse must one withstand, 

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

 It was somehow comforting to get confirmation of Chronos’ words. Knowing that the prophecies would remain the same. Jenny hoped it meant that their previous fate could be defied, that the future was truly free of predetermination.

-

The cabin heads were asked to gather the next day to discuss the quest that had been issued. Chiron insisted that they take the night to think on it, alone, so that cooler heads might prevail.

They met in the rec room of the Big House. Jenny marveled at the innocence of it all, in what felt like no time at all they would have a proper War Room. Children wouldn't gather around a pingpong table in whatever chairs happened to be available. They would gather around a mahogany table, purpose built for the task. Each would have a chair with the symbol of their divine parent.

As she sat, Dionysus waved his hands and cheez whiz, crackers, and wine appeared on the table. Jenny was disappointed when Chiron pointed out that most of the campers were underage and they turned the wine into Diet Coke.

Zoë started the meeting off by glaring at Jenny, then turning to Chiron and in a barely controlled voice, "This is pointless." 

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped, seemingly unaware of the tension in the room. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and loading them up. 

"There is no time for talk," Zoë continued, not acknowledging Grover's antics, “Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately.”

"And go where?" Chiron asked. 

"West!" Bianca said, bright eyed and innocent, "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains . We can get five hunters and go." 

"Yes," Zoë, determination in her voice, "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her." 

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said, as she looked at Zoë smugly, "Campers and Hunters combined Prevail. We're supposed to do this together ." 

"No!" Zoë said. "The Hunters do not need your help!" 

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said diplomatically, "Campers and Hunters must cooperate." 

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. " One shall be lost. One shall perish . That sounds rather nasty , doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?" 

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, as though they had had this conversation dozens of times before, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful ."

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?" 

Zoë glared, as her fists clenched, but she kept silent. 

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered, rolling his eyes, "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë said, watching Jenny's reaction for any sign of what was to come. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing . We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked, staring intently into his Diet Coke.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus." 

Dionysus took a sip of his soda, then nodded, "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on." 

"I must agree with Zoë," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," Jenny said, leaning back in her chair. 

Chiron regarded her with interest, while Dionysus tried to hide his. The rest simply looked at her in varying states of confusion and disbelief. I've got my work cut out for me making these demigods into an army. Don't I, she thought.

"We're supposed to have five," Jenny said, her patience already wearing thin between being in a room with her wife’s murderous ex and having to explain the obvious to children, "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. As close as we can get to an even split." 

Zoë had a look of disgust on her face as Thalia seemed to be considering Jenny's words. 

"Well," Thalia said, "It does make sense.”

Zoë’s calculating eyes never left Jenny's as she said, "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers." 

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best." 

A pained expression crossed Zoë’s face at the question. She finally tore her eyes from Jenny’s and looked down, fidgeting with a ping pong paddle, "fine. I'll take two of your campers. No more." 

Desperate to fill the uncomfortable silence that followed, Connor Stoll blurted “It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die.”

Even your father has more tact than that , Jenny thought as she fought to not roll her eyes.

" One shall be lost in the land without rain " Beckendorf said, stroking his chin in thought. Jenny thought he looked exactly like Hephaestus in that moment, "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert." 

There was a muttering of agreement. 

" And the Titan's curse must one withstand ," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

Chiron and Zoë exchanged a nervous look. Zoë glanced at Jenny, who gave her a nearly imperceptible nod.

" One shall perish by a parent's hand ," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table. Zoë closed her eyes, steeling herself, before looking at Jenny again. She had a pleading look in her eye that she clearly tried to hide. Jenny had to look away before, again, she gave a small nod.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said. 

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur

magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

Jenny knew him, though. She saw the barely hidden sorrow he felt. No amount of pithy comments or feigned disinterest could hide it from her.

"Jenny is right," Silena Beauregard said, a serious look on her face. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoë bit out, rage building, "And I suppose thou wisheth to volunteer?" 

Silena’s eyes narrowed, "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoë scoffed. "What would thy 

mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Jenny said, glancing at Silena before staring Zoë down, “We're not going to save Artemis any sooner if you pick a fight.” 

Beckendorf nodded, then said, “Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?" 

Zoë refused to look away from Jenny . "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker.” 

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously, a look of mischief in his eyes.

Zoë nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added.

"Yes," Zoë snapped. "Why?" 

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store."

 He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING 

TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and other wilderness locations underneath. At one point Jenny had had an entire closet full of them, commemorating Artemis’ annual hunting competition, "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Jenny allowed the Stolls their prank, knowing it was her best way to go on the quest. Zoë sighed and took the shirt, eyeing them suspiciously, "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go." 

Jenny cringed as Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoë insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself." 

Jenny had to keep herself from sighing. She resolved to keep her safe. Her death had been easily preventable, all she needed to do was stop her from stealing from the junkyard.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. He glanced between Jenny and Thalia

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker 

crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoë looked at him with disdain. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood." 

"But he is a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!" 

Zoë wavered. Jenny was amused by the whole situation. Clearly a tracker's song would be useless when they already knew their destination, but Zoë would have to acknowledge her parentage to convince them. Apparently, her pride wouldn't let her do that.

Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have Grover continuing his search for Pan.

"Very well," Zoë said, holding her temples. "And the second camper?" 

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

That's my queue Jenny looked around, "Whoa, wait a sec, I want to go too!" 

Thalia said nothing. Chiron studied Jenny with sad eyes. Also, to Jenny's mild surprise, Dionysus seemed to be giving her a pitying look from behind his magazine.

"Oh," Grover said, blanching as Jenny felt terror come through their empathy link. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Jenny has to go. I didn't mean… I'll stay. Jenny, take my spot." 

“No!” Zoë yelled. The room was silent for a moment, all eyes on her. She took a couple seconds to compose herself, then stared Jenny down and growled out, “I will not travel with thee ”  

Before she could stop herself, Jenny retorted, "You traveled here with me.”

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by my goddess . I will not go across country and fight many dangers in thy company.” 

“Please,” Jenny said, “I just want to save Annabeth.”

Zoë flinched at the mention of Annabeth’s name, “Thou wisheth to go on this quest, and thou dost not wish to save Artemis ”

“Look, I'm so sorry I wanna save my best friend more than some goddess I met one time.”

"No," Zoë spat. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not Iphigenia ." 

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve 

their companions." 

Jenny sat, slightly pleased with herself. She saw Grover's curious look on her, ahh, he must have realized my emotions were off.

"So be it," Chiron said with a sense of finality, "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoë, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods be with you.”

-

Jenny decided that if she really wanted to sell her disappointment, she needed to sulk a bit.

So she decided to skip dinner. She was pretty sure she had some snacks hidden away somewhere in her cabin, and not having to deal with the tension from Zoë was a huge plus too.

She was sitting on her bed when there was a knock on the door. She went to answer it, assuming it was Chiron coming to retrieve her for dinner. She opened it and was greeted by the person she least expected.

“May I come in?” Dionysus asked, in a soft voice that 14 year old her would have been shocked to hear.

“Uhh, sure?”

Dionysus walked in trepidatiously, like he was afraid of starting a war just by entering the cabin. To be fair, even though he had been invited in, the cabins were still considered temples. He was officially in Poseidon's domain. He must have considered whatever he was here to say to be of utmost importance.

He didn't speak. Jenny went back to her bed, sitting on it. Dionysus slowly walked over to the bed next to it and sat down, facing her. He fidgeted awkwardly.

Jenny wasn't sure she'd ever seen this side of him before. They were close, he was even tied for her second favorite cousin, and he'd shown vulnerability with her before. But even in those moments he seemed whole hearted and self assured, not… this.

Finally, Dionysus steeled himself, or maybe just sent away the insecurity, and spoke, “do you know the stories of my time as a demigod?”

“Only a bit. I know you traveled through Persia,” Jenny answered, because you've never once been willing to talk about it .

Dionysus sighed, “that's all most of the stories will tell you. They'll tell you where I went and what I did. The thing about those stories, though, is they never tell you why. ”

“The why, cousin?” Jenny mentally kicked herself. Even in the safety of her father's cabin she was pushing things calling him that. She really needed to remember she was smite-able again.

Luckily for her; he ignored it. A distant expression crossed his face, “There was a girl.”

“A girl?” Jenny had never heard him speak about any of his lovers from his mortal life. She had always assumed he had simply moved on, but the look on his face made it seem like it had only happened hours ago, not millennia.

“Her name was Anastasia. She was a servant in the palace I grew up in,” he smiled wistfully, “she was my best friend; she was also my first love.”

Jenny was floored. How had she never heard this story before? Why would he tell her now if not in the centuries of friendship they'd had?

“As I grew older, suitors came to the palace. My adopted parents considered each one of their offers, no matter how much the idea of being some king’s wife disgusted me,” Dionysus spat. He sighed and looked at Jenny, “I had never hated the idea of marriage, but the idea of being a wife was… abhorrent to me. I'm sure you can relate”

A small smile formed on Jenny's face before she could stop it. She could practically hear Annabeth's voice, So, you like the idea of having a baby, but you hate the idea of being a father . Would you feel any better about being… a mother? She shook her head and laughed as she said, “yeah, I can relate.”

Dionysus smirked, then he got that distant expression again, “She was the first person to acknowledge me as a man. Once my parents picked a suiter for me, she asked me to run away with her. To go off somewhere and be her husband...”

He trailed off, lost in his memories. Jenny was transfixed. She still didn't understand why he was telling her this, but she knew that this was probably something precious few people knew. 

“Then what?”

“Hm? Oh yes… Well I said yes, of course. We had started making pur preparations to flee, but the city was attacked.”

“What?!”

“It was a relatively minor raid. Not at all significant to most. But they took her,” Dionysus started growing. His power radiating from him. Jenny had just enough presence of mind to look away as he continued, “they enslaved her. She was in the market, gathering supplies for our journey. She would have been safe if not for me.”

Oh. Oh. Jenny had never seen this side of Dionysus before, but she had a lot of experience dealing with it in herself. She thought back to her therapist, centuries ago, and in a calm clear voice said, “No. It wasn't your fault. She chose to be with you. And they chose to take her.”

“You dare challenge a god, girl .”

“Of course,” Jenny said, a wild laugh coming out before she could manage to get control of herself. She fought for clarity before saying, “Cousin, you need to stop blaming yourself.”

His influence receded. Jenny's mind cleared. She took it as a sign that she wasn't imminently going to be smited. She sighed, both out of relief and in exasperation.

She was great at telling other people to stop blaming themselves, maybe one day she could show herself the same grace.

“Anyway,” Dionysus continued as though nothing had happened, “I stole a sword from my adopted father, cut my hair, and ran off after them.”

Dionysus went quiet, clearly reliving his memories. Eventually, he spoke again.

“I didn't find her for years . And by then she had died, killed by one of my half-brothers, no less. I tried convincing our uncle to let her come back, but she had already chosen rebirth.” 

Dionysus stared directly into Jenny's eyes, “I created wine as a way to try to forget my heartbreak. I could have spared myself so much pain if I'd simply accepted that she was gone.”

Ahh, Jenny thought. He's trying to protect me. In his own fucked up Dio way.

“I understand,” she said solemnly, she met his eyes. “But I'll do what I feel I need to. Thank you, though. I appreciate your wisdom, cousin”

Dionysus snorted, “you're the first person to thank me for that since Woodstock”

He patted her leg paternally as he stood. He stopped at the door on his way out and said, “you should at least eat dinner before you do something stupid.”

Jenny figured she still had a little time, so she decided that she had better call her mother to inform her of her plans.

She walked up to the fountain and threw a drachma into the rainbow, calling for Sally Jackson.

The rainbow formed into an image Sally and Paul at a table stacked with textbooks. Jenny was about to greet her mother when she stopped and closed her mouth. When did Mom meet Paul again?

Paul said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?" 

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want." 

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

Ahh, young love, Jenny thought. She smirked and after Paul left the room she said in a teasing voice, “Having fun, Mom?”

Sally jumped and had to stop her textbooks from dropping off the table. She turned and looked at the message, “Per- sorry, Jenny, is everything okay?”

“Who was that ?” Jenny asked, keeping the teasing going 

Sally blushed, “Oh, that's just Paul, umm, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar.”

“Mr. Blowfish?”

“ Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Jenny. Tell me what's wrong.”

Jenny sighed, “Annabeth and Lady Artemis have been kidnapped. There's a quest to save them, and I'm going on it. I just wanted to make sure you knew where I was.”

Sally's eyes teared up, “oh, Jenny…”

“I'll be okay,” Jenny said confidently, “we'll get them back.”

Sally nodded, “Of course. Let me know if there's anything you need.”

“I will, Mom” Jenny said, then smirked, “enjoy the rest of your date!”

Then she swiped her hand through the mist, leaving her mother sputtering as the connection closed.

-

Jenny awoke to a banging sound, she opened the door a crack, only to find Blackjack behind it.

Hey boss, we got another little sea friend that needs your help.

Jenny let out a chuckle despite herself, “I'll be out in five.”

She hopped aboard Blackjack. Hugging his neck as he babbled. It took him a while to realize that Jenny hadn't been responding.

Yo boss, you okay? You been real quiet-like

Jenny laughed before responding in his head, Yeah Blackjack, it's just nice to see you again.

Whoa, Blackjack whinnied, don't you two-legged folk talk with your mouths?

Jenny laughed again, usually, but this is so much easier.

I swear you couldn't do this like a week ago, boss!

Jenny considered for a moment, ahh, fuck it. Can you keep a secret? Like a big one. Like a ‘no telling the gods’ secret.

Boss, have I ever let you down?

I mean it Blackjack, Jenny said, suddenly nervous, lives are on the line.

Blackjack paused, yeah, boss. You can trust me.

Jenny took a deep breath, I'm from the future. Like a few hundred years in the future.

Oh, Blackjack said, so something is weird with ya.

Yeah, you could say that, Jenny rolled her eyes fondly, still clinging to Blackjack's neck. I was a goddess. And there was… there was so much war.

Yeah but we got through it, right boss? Blackjack said, a slight undercurrent of nervousness under his bravado, you and me, we can take care of anything.

Jenny’s smile turned sad, not this one buddy. We couldn't before, but hopefully we can now.

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, then, out of the blue, Blackjack asked, So… future… how do we do with the ladies?

We do really well, Jenny said, you were introducing me to a different mare every few months, I swear.

How bout you boss? Blackjack insisted, bet all the two legged ladies want a piece of you.

Maybe, but it didn't matter either way.

Oh?

I'm married, Jenny said, she's my second wife, actually. She came back with me, so you'll meet her eventually.

Anybody I'd know of?

Artemis.

Blackjack reared and stopped midair, the Man-hater? Are you nuts boss?

Jenny blinked, confused. It took her a couple of seconds to realize she hadn't come out to her horse yet, I'm not nuts. Well no more than normal. I'm a woman, Blackjack.

Blackjack craned his neck to look at her, man, I really do not know humans like I thought I did.

Jenny spent the rest of the ride, and half of the ride back, explaining the nuances of gender to a pegasus. 

When they got back to camp Jenny asked Blackjack to set her down behind a column. He complied with a quick, there you go bossette

She saw Nico eavesdropping on his sister and Zoë, and slipped on Annabeth's hat as she crept up behind him.

They were talking about Phoebe being “pranked” by the Stolls. Jenny thought they went way too far, but she supposed she allowed it. But having a plausible explanation for the prophecy would help her keep a low profile.

Once they left, Jenny pulled her hat off, stared Nico down and said, “don't even think about it.”

He jumped, “woah, how did you do that?”

She held up the hat, “magic. Now. You're not coming with.”

He crossed his arms, “you can't tell me what to do.”

She sighed, “look, kiddo, I'll make you a deal?”

Nico eyed her suspiciously, “don't call me that. But… what deal?”

Jenny looked off in the direction Zoë and Bianca had gone, “I know you just want to keep your sister safe. And I understand that, I really do. But you don't have any training. You'll just get yourself hurt, would Bianca want that?”

Nico looked down at his feet as he mumbled, “no”

“So how about this: protecting people is kinda my thing , so I'll go after them and make sure she's safe. That way you know she has somebody looking out for her, and she and I get to know that you're safe too,” Jenny offered. And I can actually keep her safe this time, now that I know what killed her .

Nico thought for a minute before nodding, “okay. But I'm gonna train so next time I can go after her.” 

Jenny laughed, “good, you'll be a great warrior someday.”

Jenny looked up and saw Blackjack circling, and wordlessly called for him. She mounted up, threw a mock-salute to Nico, and said out loud, “let's go, we've got a van to catch."

Chapter Text

Jenny and Blackjack followed the camp van as best as they could. Luckily for them, Jenny still knew the city well enough to predict some of their route, even as they lost sight of the van in the dense cityscape.

She directed Blackjack to land on the Chrysler Building, not quite able to remember if they had taken a bus on this quest or simply kept driving. She watched as her targets slowly made their way through the dense holiday gridlock, finally passing by the bus station. She urged Blackjack on just before hearing a familiar voice, filled with an unfamiliar contempt.

“Do you really think it wise to tempt the Fates?”

Jenny whipped around, nearly falling off Blackjack, to find Athena standing on the roof, a look of disgust that made it seem as though she would rather encounter an arachnid than look at Jenny on her face. Jennys heart broke as she noticed a spear readied at her side. 

Storm clouds roiled in her eyes, the wind whipping at the lapel of her neatly ironed gray suit.   

This whole operation was your idea, Jenny bit back. Hoping to keep her sass to non-smitable levels, she said instead, “ five shall go west. They've only got four in that van.”

Athena scoffed, pointing the tip of her spear in Jenny's direction, “Your impulsively and lack of wisdom astounds me. Though it shouldn't, considering your parentage.”

Jenny stared, her mouth hanging open. Impulsive? Lacking wisdom? She couldn't believe Athena would speak that way about their-

Oh, she meant Jenny's father . That was… not unfair.

“Yeah, okay, I've definitely gotten myself into a few messes. Not always for good reasons,” Jenny thought of the time she and Hermes had wound up trapped in a cell on Olympus because of some over complicated prank they'd been trying to play on Apollo, involving a queen honeybee, a left converse shoelace aglet,  and a lavender scented bubblebath. She smiled slightly at the memory of simpler times, then turned serious as she met Athena's eyes, “but I will never consider anything I do to protect Annabeth to be too costly.”

She found that she meant it, even after all these centuries. She could count the number of things she wouldn't sacrifice for Annabeth in a heartbeat on one hand.

“Then you truly are a fool. She is a gifted demigoddess, certainly, but not worth paying any price for.”

Jenny knew that Athena was trying to convince herself as much as Jenny. But that didn't stop her anger from welling up inside her. Athena acting like this was too wrong for her to simply accept it.

“She's not some asset , ‘thena! She's your daughter!”

Jenny had no control of what was coming out of her mouth at this point. A distant part of her knew this was probably signing her death warrant but she needed to get through to Athena. She had held Athena as they both cried over Annabeth's death year after year.

“And what does it matter to you anyway! You clearly want me dead, so what does it matter if I'm tempting the Fates? Just let me go! You literally can't lose. Either you get your favorite asset back, or I die!”

Athena regarded her with an unnatural calm. Especially given Jenny's outburst. She was silent for long enough that it could fully hit Jenny just how dead she was. This wasn't the Athena she had spent centuries growing close to. This was the Athena who had argued in favor of killing Jenny in cold blood for the sake of strategy .

“Go then. I care not for Father's glory .” She spit the word like the concept itself disgusted her, “but swear to me that you will come back from this quest with my daughter, or not at all.”

“I swear.”

“A real oath, girl.”

“I swear it on the Styx.”

Thunder boomed in the distance.

Athena continued leveling a calculating grey-eyed gaze, one Jenny had seen countless times on both Athena and Annabeth's faces, before she started to glow.

Jenny barely remembered to avert her eyes as Athena disappeared in a flash of light.

-

Jenny found the van parked at a convenience store. She told Blackjack to land as soon as everyone had gone inside.

Blackjack seemed to be panting heavily, Jenny gave him a look of concern.

It's okay, boss, just catching my breath.

After a moment of confusion it clicked. Blackjack wasn't immortal. He hadn't become one of her divine symbols yet; He was still just a regular pegasus.

Guilt welled up inside her and she replied, it's okay, we caught up to them. I'll go invisible and hitch a ride. Good work buddy.

Blackjack didn't argue as he took off towards camp. As he left, Jenny put Annabeth's hat on her head and slipped into the van, hoping she was undetected. She sat in the back and waited until the others came back.

When they started loading up the mood was tense. Clearly Zoë and Thalia hadn't let up their fighting, but had at least managed to stop actively bickering for a few minutes.

The van took off. Once they were back on the highway they started swerving around any cars were in their way, and Jenny desperately wished she'd had a seatbelt as Zoë’s aggressive driving shook her.

I see what Artemis meant now when she said my driving wasn't that bad.

She heard a horn outside the vehicle and Thalia yelled, “ see, I told you I should drive!”

Pick your poison, I guess, Jenny though sardonically, strychnine or chlorine. Well, maybe that's not fair, Thalia’s driving isn't that bad. And it's more of a slow build. Mercury maybe?

Jenny ignored their bickering, amusing herself by trying to figure out just the right poison to describe each of their driving fairly.

She was pulled out of her musings when she heard Bianca quietly ask Grover, “are they always like this?”

Grover nodded. “Yeah, Zoë tried to get Thalia to join, but she wouldn't leave Luke and Annabeth behind.”

“Luke… that's that traitor guy, right?”

Grover froze. Jenny couldn't help feeling a little bad for him. She could feel his sadness and… guilt? Grover definitely felt guilty. She'd have to talk to him about it later, let him know it's not his fault.

“Yeah, that's him,” Grover said, not meeting Bianca's eyes, “him and Thalia were really close. Well, them and Annabeth.”

“And… is it true what people said about her being a tree?”

The answer to her question was cut off when the bickering in the front seat heated up, “what is your problem with Jenny?”

“Iphigenia is a vile-”

“ Vile? ”

“-cur! Truly, being across the country is not enough distance from her!”

“She's my friend ! Yeah, she can be annoying sometimes, but she hasn't done anything wrong!”

Thanks Thals, Jenny rolled her eyes, you're really earning that ‘second favorite cousin’ spot.

“She's done everything wrong!” Zoë shouted, swerving into another lane.

“Name one thing,” Thalia challenged, “name one thing she actually did to you, because it seems like you just hate her for no reason.”

Zoë went silent. Jenny leaned forward as she wondered how much she would dare admit.

“Zoë,” Grover asked, “are you… transphobic?”

Jenny clamped her hands over her mouth to try to keep herself from laughing. She hadn't even realized the word had been invented yet.

Apparently neither did anyone else in the car. Bianca and Thalia turned confused stares toward Grover, and Zoë met his eyes in the rearview mirror, one of her eyebrows raised.

Thalia recovered first, “yeah! You're being transfer-ic!”

Zoë blinked a few times, “I am not afraid of crossing things.”

Jenny snorted.

Before Jenny realized what she'd done, Bianca whipped around. Her eyes were wide as she scanned the back seat.

She cut off the confused bickering by yelping, “guys! I think someone's in the back seat!”

The van swerved as Zoë tried to shake the potential aggressor. Or possibly just to get past another car. Jenny wasn't really certain.

Grover flattened himself against the wall as Thalia's spear extended into the back seat. Jenny yelled as she dodged, “Dammit Grace, put that stick away before you hurt somebody!”

Everyone seemed to calm down slightly, so Jenny popped up and took Annabeth's hat off her head. She met everyone's eyes, except Zoë's, who's eyes were glued to the road, before Thalia yelled, “What the Hades, Jenny! How long have you been in here?”

Jenny raised her hands, “not too long. I hopped in at the last stop.”

“Thou shouldst not be here,” Zoë said in a tight voice, “this is not thy quest.”

“You think I was just gonna sit back and do nothing?” Jenny replied, allowing a bit of a challenge into her tone.

“I think- ”

“Stop. Both of you,” Grover said, glancing between them. It was clear he was forcing himself to speak through his nerves, even without the anxiety Jenny could feel pouring off him, “we're not going to accomplish anything by fighting.”

“Okay,” Jenny replied, before meeting Zoë's glare in the rearview mirror. It never softened, but she eventually looked away to focus on the road without saying anything, so Jenny was willing to consider that a win.

“Look, I'll put the hat back on. Just pretend I'm not here,” Jenny said as she buckled a seatbelt. She put the hat on and leaned back, hoping to get some rest before the next fight.

Thalia started to reply, but Jenny took the hat off her head, made a zipping motion over her lips, and put the hat back on. Thalia sputtered a bit, then tried to talk again, but Jenny just repeated the motion. On the third time, before she put the hat back on, she said, “I'm not here.”

“You're ridiculous,” Thalia said with a huff.

-

Jenny slipped out of the car behind the others. As she watched her questmates enter the Air and Space Museum, a part of her was tempted to follow the manticore into the Natural History Museum, but she decided against it. She hadn't done anything that should have altered the timeline significantly.

Yet.

She walked into the Air and Space Museum alone. She remembered fighting the Nemean Lion here, but wasn't sure where it had come from. She reached out with her senses and began her hunt. 

She could feel some mortals, usually in clusters. Her perception was still fuzzy , but she could get a decent picture. She wandered around for a few minutes, hoping to happen upon the lion, until finally she felt it.

The ichor that flowed through the veins of gods and monsters was very similar to blood. It had fallen under her domain when she ascended, and she could sense it just as easily as she could blood.

But it wasn't blood. It was thicker, with a power emanating from it that mortal blood didn't have. When she'd gotten more used to sensing blood, she could even tell the difference between the ichor tinged blood of a demigod and mortal blood.

Jenny followed the ichor to a small room off the main halls. The lion stood there, sniffing the air and looking around. It seems confused by the strong demigod scent, but the lack of a visible demigod.

Knowing it would figure it out soon enough, and rely on its other senses to fight her, Jenny needed to deprive it of whatever she could. She reached out to its ichor and grabbed ahold.

Ichor was far harder to manipulate than blood. It had its own power, and actively resisted her control. In the future she would be strong enough to bend monsters to her will, but not yet. Now she had to rely on precision and expertise rather than raw power.

So she grabbed a tiny bit of ichor and pushed it to the lion's nose.

Jenny couldn't remember where she learned it, probably one of Apollo's rants about medicine that she always half tuned out, but she knew that most stuffy noses were caused by swelling in the nasal cavity. So all she needed to do to blind the lion was create her own.

This is too easy Jenny thought as she approached, her footsteps as light as possible. She quietly pulled her pen from her pocket as she neared it, not pulling the cap off to avoid spooking it with the celestial bronze.

Suddenly there was a noise somewhere behind her. The lion roared as it started to run out, staying just out of Jenny's range.

She dove towards it, tackling it out of midair and landing on their sides. She buried her face in the lion's fur as it tried desperately to roll on top of her. She knew she would never be able to beat it with physical strength alone. Heracles had, but her body was younger, and less used to this type of fighting.

But she didn't need physical strength.

Jenny wrenched at the lions ichor. She reached out with her hands and grabbed its front legs, just below the massive paws. Grunting with exertion she pushed the lion onto its back. Her sweat rolled down her face, landing in its mane.

It was thrashing now, desperate to escape her hold. She pushed harder, pushing her body weight with the death grip she had on the lion's ichor.

Now for the hard part.

The lion was not dumb. It knew it had one weak point, and it was not about to expose that spot. They both knew it would be able to win if it simply outlasted her and tired her out. So it was up to her to make the move.

She focused on the massive paw beneath her sword arm directing more of her power to holding it down. She could feel the pen in her back pocket, safely returned to her. She would have to grab it and kill the lion, without letting that paw move. The wicked sharp claws flexed dangerously as the lion fought to regain control.

Jenny leaned her weight on the opposite side. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she let go of the lion's paw and grabbed for her pen.

The lion strained against her, snarling while still careful to keep it's mouth firmly shut. Jenny focused on pushing the blood in its wrist instead of the whole leg, holding with all her might as she shoved her pen into the lion's mouth.

The lion held its mouth shut, but Jenny let go of the hold she had on the ichor in loins leg ever so slightly to pry at its mouth. She managed to open it enough to get the pen cap inside when her control slipped from fatigue.

In a flash, the lion’s free paw came around and dug into Jenny's back. She screamed as she jerked in pain. She could feel the blood seeping out of her back as she wondered if she had miscalculated. Artemis will never let me hear the end of this if I die here.

Jenny pulled her hand back, focusing on the fight despite the pain. The cap caught on the lions teeth, pulling it off the pen.

Suddenly Jenny wasn't holding a pen, but a sword. A sword that buried itself in the lion's throat for agonizing seconds before the body disintegrated. All that was left was its pelt, which shifted into the form of a golden-brown duster.

Jenny let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, then gasped for another. The last time she had exerted herself this much she had been leading an army.

She laid in the golden dust while she caught her breath. Then she stood and slung her newly acquired jacket over her shoulder. She walked into the main portion of the museum looking for her questmates.

She found them standing near a rocket. When she approached them Thalia called out. “Nice jacket, where'd you get that ?”

Jenny smirked. “Picked up up off the floor. Why?”

She saw Zoë pale slightly at the sight. Jenny cringed slightly, realizing how she must have looked to Zoë right now. She decided the simplest course of action was to just skip past it, “I heard Luke talking with this General guy, and they made some skeleton things. They're coming after us, we need to go now.”

Zoë snarled, “the General can't be here!”

Thalia whirled, “are you calling Jenny a liar?”

“I am merely saying-”

“Guys, we don't have time for this. We need to get to the van and keep going.”

Jenny turned and left without waiting for the others to follow. She was hoping to be able to avoid the business with the helicopter. Luckily for her the others crawled into the van a few seconds after she did.

Then she heard a noise above them. Jenny swore under her breath as a helicopter tailed them. Bianca said something about a subway, so they dove out of the van and ran inside for cover. 

Jenny tuned out a conversation about Bianca's age. She was busy worrying about clearing her mind to see her second favorite cousin, Fred.

When they arrived he kept up the hobo act he did last time. Jenny assumed he must have been genuinely hiding from his father, despite the fact that Zeus would definitely turn a blind eye to somebody helping free his favorite daughter.

But Jenny wasn't going to complain.

They boarded the train filled with luxury cars. Jenny claimed one to relax in and try to warm up, gathering her thoughts. Well, this is as good a time as any to try to talk Thalia down.

Jenny knocked on the passenger door of Thalia's car. She could hear the music blasting from the outside, but managed to get her attention.

The window rolled down slightly and Jenny said, “hey, mind if I join you?”

Thalia nodded and awkwardly stared forward. Then seemed to remember Jenny was in the car and glanced over at her.

“Nice jacket”

Jenny smirked, “thanks, it's not really my style though. I was thinking about getting rid of it.”

Thalia rolled her eyes, “yeah, great plan, Kelp Head. You never would have finished your quests without…”

Thalia got quiet and stared blankly out the window.

“Without Annabeth? Yeah she's always been the brains of the operation.”

Thalia whipped around, “how can you be so cheery? Annabeth is gone and we don't know if she's even okay!”

Because I do know that she's okay, Jenny thought as she fought to not roll her eyes. She looked Thalia in the eye and said, “because we're going to save her.”

“If we even get there with that b-i-t-c-h Zoë ready to fight us all the time.”

Jenny smiled sadly. It was so easy for her to pretend nothing was different with Thalia. She looked nearly identical to how she would look centuries in the future, and their dynamic hadn't shifted too much even since this time.

But then sometimes Thalia would say something and Jenny would remember how young this version of her truly was. Centuries from now Thalia would have had far worse things to say about somebody acting the way Zoë had been, but here she couldn't even bring herself to say the word bitch . Jenny was suddenly forced to confront the fact that Thalia was essentially a 12 year-old, even if her body had aged while she was a tree.

“Come on Thals, she's not that bad.”

“Not that bad!?” Thalia snapped, “she's basically been trying to kill you since she showed up! And don't get me started on what she said about Luke before.”

Jenny took a breath, considering how to reply. 

“Zoë has her reasons for hating me.  I didn't do anything wrong , but I did hurt her.”

Thalia stared, “wait you two have met before?”

Jenny looked away, “it's not important Thals. Just… give her a chance. You two are more alike than you think.”

“I'm nothing like her.”

Jenny laughed, “if you insist. Please just give her a chance. Besides, it's not like she was wrong about Luke.”

“What?” Thalia asked coldly.

“Luke. He… he's not a good person, Thals. He's not trying to protect anyone, just destroy. He needs to be stopped by any means necessary.”

“Get out.”

Jenny sighed, “Thalia I just mean-”

“ Out !”

Jenny left the car hoping Thalia took at least some of what she said to heart, then found an unoccupied vehicle to sit in.

-

Jenny sat in the driver's seat of her newly commandeered Porsche doing her least favorite thing: planning.

She'd always left the plans to Annabeth when she was a demigod, and after she ascended she'd always had Athena by her side. She'd worked well with both of them, her improvisation taking over when their meticulous plans encountered an unexpected obstacle.

Come to think of it, she, Athena, and Artemis had made a surprisingly well balanced trio. Artemis' keen observations let Athena make better plans, and she reigned Jenny in when her confidence turned to recklessness.

Should we tell Athena? Jenny wondered . She would know what to do.

And if telling Athena got her a little closer to having her Athena back, that would just be a nice side benefit, right?

Of course if she told Athena it would only be fair that Artemis told Apollo . And she wasn't sure if he would be… understanding about their relationship.

“Drachma for your thoughts?”

Speak of the devil.

Jenny glanced over to see “Fred” staring at her with the same unnerving expression he'd had when she'd told him her name.

“I'm worried,” Jenny said, careful to make sure there was at least some truth to her words, “about what the future holds.”

“As am I,” Apollo said too evenly. Like he was trying to hide his suspicion behind his flat tone. “You're fascinating in that regard, you know?”

A flash of fear went through Jenny as she worried about how much he knew. Desperately she seized on the first thing she could. “Is it because of the prophecy?”

“You… could say that.”

Jenny waited, but when the god didn't continue she ventured, “do you know how it's going to turn out?”

Apollo's eyes seemed to bore into her soul. “I thought I did.”

Desperate to change the subject, Jenny blurted out, “do you know where Artemis is?”

“No.” Apollo growled. “She's blocked from my sight. Your little girlfriend too.”

Jenny cringed slightly. “She's not my girlfriend.”

“Whatever. The point is I can't see the next phases. But you seem to be a blind spot too.”

“How so?” Jenny tried to feign ignorance.

Apollo studied her for a long time. “little things. That name of yours for one.”

“My name? Sir?”

“You should not have chosen it yet. Something changed within you.” He mused, “as long as you aren't a danger you're safe. But I'll be watching you”

“Of course.” 

Apollo flashed her a grin. A playful demeanor suddenly falling into place. “Good! I'm glad we understand each other. Now, I have a couple pieces of advice for you!”

“Oh?” Jenny asked. “What would those be?”

“Number one!” Apollo held up a finger dramatically, “seek out Nereus, the Man of the Sea. He has information that even I can't see.”

He waited. Jenny stared for a second. Then raised her eyebrows questioningly. Then she realized he was going to stay like that until she asked. “What is the second piece of advice?”

“Sleep while you can!” Apollo tapped her forehead and the world went black.

-

Jenny watched the betrayal between Heracles and Zoë play out. The added context of having the misfortune of meeting Heracles added to the sense of dread she felt as she watched a young starstruck Zoë naively help the bastard.

She expected to wake up at the conclusion of the dream, just like last time. Instead she watched as the scene shifted. She was assaulted by her own emotions, grief, rage, sadness, and finally numbness.

Jenny watched helplessly as she cradled Annabeth's body in her arms. She seemed so small now. She had always seemed larger than life to Jenny, and now she was dead.

Blood and ichor was everywhere. Jenny's display of unchecked power coated the entire battlefield with it. She could still feel it. The contours of the land all within her senses just from feeling the blood against the Earth.

There was a hand on her shoulder. It helped, slightly, to ground her. To remind her she wasn't alone. She could feel the ichor singing within it.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that. It could have been seconds or hours. All she knew was that her tears had run out a while ago.

Her father spoke. “I wish you were allowed to grieve properly, but your presence has been demanded on Olympus. My brother's patience is wearing thin. Please come with me. I'll move her body somewhere safe.”

Jenny said nothing, simply closed her eyes as her father flashed her to the throne room.

She stood there as her father took his throne, not truly seeing what was in front of her. She turned to Zeus and spoke in a flat tone, completely devoid of emotion.

“What do you want?”

The king of the gods was incensed and made to speak, but was cut off by Athena. “The council has held a vote. You have the strength of a god, but you are not bound by our laws. You cannot be allowed to remain mortal.”

“I told you no.”

Zeus leaned forward and bit out. “This is no longer an offer. Ascend or die.”

“Then you might as well-”

“Wait,” Hades' voice rang out, angry but not harsh, “I would like to request the council allow Iphigenia to confer with her wife before making this decision. It affects them both, after all.”

Jenny whipped around, hope creeping into her expression. “You would do that?”

Hades nodded and waved his hand. Next to his throne Annabeth appeared in the armor she'd died in. Her wounds seemed to be gone. She was translucent, betraying her nature as a shade.

“Hi, Seaweed Brain.”

Her voice was full of sadness. Jenny walked towards her, unable to speak.

“Hades told me about the vote.”

Finally Jenny choked out, “yeah, at least I'll be with you soon.”

Anger crossed Annabeth's face for a moment, then she just looked resigned. “Jenny, you know you can't do that.”

“The fuck I can't.” 

If Annabeth had had a physical form, tears would have been streaking down her cheeks. As it was she just gave a sad smile and whispered, “what about Sophia?”

Jenny looked away. “Gods don't make good parents.”

“Do you really think she'd be better off losing both of us? At least if you're a goddess she'll be able to see you! To talk to you! And you'll be able to watch our little girl grow up!”

“And then lose you both forever.” Jenny whispered, somehow finding more tears.

Annabeth looked at Hades, who gave a solemn nod. She sighed. “My time is almost up. I love you so much, Jenny. I know whatever you decide you'll make the right choice.”

“I love you too, Annabeth.” Jenny tried to hold her wife, but her hands went through Annabeth's incorporeal form.

Annabeth started to fade, but before disappearing choked out, “Tell Sophia I love her. And if you do it, remember your promise.”

Jenny walked past Hades’ throne to the door. She stood in the entryway of the grand hall of the olympians, looking out over the city of soaring marble and gold. The city her wife had designed to outlast them both, and make sure some part of her lived on.

Her defeated voice was barely audible.

“I'll do it.”

-

Jenny woke with a start from her unwilling nap. She sat for a moment, trying to process.

She realized that this was probably the last chance she was going to get to try to talk things out with Zoë. So after a few minutes of fighting with herself, she gave a long-suffering sigh and left the relative warmth of her Porsche to find where Zoë had spent the night.

She reached her car to find Zoë staring blankly out the driver's window, while Bianca was rubbing her eyes in the passenger seat. Jenny decided that the more distance she had from Zoë the safer she probably was, and went to knock softly on the passenger window.

She saw Zoë whirl her head around and a look of fury crossed her face. As the window was rolling down she snarled, “what dost thou want?”

Bianca flinched at the level of hostility in Zoë’s voice, but she leveled a weak glare at Jenny in solidarity.

“I had a dream, I thought since you're by far the most experienced one here I should ask you for guidance,” Jenny said, stretching the truth a bit. 

“Ask then,” Zoë growled out.

“I'd prefer if Bianca wasn't here for it,” Jenny said, “it's… personal.”

Angry recognition flickered across Zoë's face, “fine.”

Bianca looked stunned at Zoë's command, “what? You-”

“I want to speak to this half-blood, yes.”

Bianca slowly climbed out of the car, a look of confusion never leaving her face. Jenny was growing more nervous the longer this situation went on, but managed to sit down and roll up the window without issue.

The instant the window was closed Zoë snapped, “Say what thou must then leave”

Jenny took a deep breath, before turning to Zoë and simply saying, “I'm sorry.”

Zoë seemed stunned for a second. Her anger didn't leave but she was more willing to hear her replacement out. “Oh? Art thou?”

Jenny sighed. “Of course I am. It was never meant to be like this, you know.”

“How courteous!” Zoë gave a dry laugh. “Thou never meant to take my ho- wife from me?”

“We both know it's not that simp-”

“Not that simple?” Zoë didn't even wait for Jenny to finish before yelling, “What could be more simple? My wife realized she didn't love me anymore, and left me for some mortal. ”

Zoë stopped in her tracks when Jenny whispered, nearly too low to hear, “She never stopped loving you.”

“What?”

“She never stopped loving you,” Jenny said again, louder this time, “You died in her arms. That's not- you don't-”

“Don't what?” Zoë pressed

“You don't forget that. Or stop loving your wife after she dies.”

“In case it has escaped thy notice, I am very much alive .”

“I know,” Jenny said, eyes unfocused as she was lost in her own memories, “but you need to understand that for us it's been centuries. We moved on. We had to”

“Am I supposed to feel better that the goddess I devoted my life to, my self to, forgot me after a few centuries,” Zoë snapped, tears starting to streak down her cheeks, “That I was nothing but a way to pass the time to her?”

Jenny stared in shock before saying, “moving on doesn't mean forgetting. We kept a portrait of you in the entryway of our palace, the one Artemis had made of you in Paris.”

Zoë deflated, her lack of sleep adding to her physical and emotional exhaustion. She didn't meet Jenny's eyes as she whispered, “what dost thou want from me. Why art thou here?”

Jenny studied her for a long time, as though considering her answer, “I considered you a friend the first time around. I know we'll probably never be that, but I would appreciate it if we could be… cordial? Can we at least agree to set our differences aside for long enough to save the woman we both love?”

“I think I can manage that,” Zoë said, exhaustion creeping into her voice, “tell Bianca to wake me when we arrive at our destination.”

Chapter Text

Their time on the train ended in a little ski town in New Mexico. Jenny knew they had passed a sign with the name but couldn't bring herself to care what it was. She pulled the Nemean Lion’s pelt tightly around her to preserve some of her heat against the winter chill.

That was another mortal annoyance. As a goddess, she had never been truly cold. Gods didn't need to adapt to something as trivial as temperature, yet here her mortal form was trying to keep itself warm.

As they walked, Jenny quickly told the others about her conversation with Apollo. Zoë seemed to be keeping her promise and simply nodded after Jenny had finished speaking, and agreed they should seek out Nereus.

Thalia glanced between the two, her mouth wide open. She walked closer to Jenny and quietly asked. “Didn't you two hate each other yesterday?”

Jenny glanced at Zoë, debating how much she should say. “It's… complicated. Honestly, I kinda wish you'd give her more of a chance.”

“I-”

“There's a coffee shop!” Grover's excitement cut her off.

“Coffee is good.” Zoë said.

“And pastries.” Grover said dreamily. “And wax paper.”

“Why don't you two get us some food.” Jenny said. “And the rest of us can check out the grocery store.”

Zoë looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded. She left silently, with Grover trotting to catch up to her.

Inside the grocery store, the bored clerk told them their best option to leave was to take a long, expensive taxi ride.

Jenny was distracted by the rubber rats the store was selling. Rats had grown on her over the years. They were one of the main targets for poison, and she couldn’t help but pity the little things. It didn't hurt that they were actually pretty adorable, something Jenny had learned after meeting one of Athena's kids' pet rats.

“Wonderful.” Thalia said as she finished her conversation. “I'm gonna walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion.”

Jenny sighed as she bought her rubber rat, then went out to the porch to check on Bianca.

Jenny leaned on the railing and Bianca seemed anxious to be alone with the girl that Zoë hated so much. Jenny decided to try to break the tension, “So, how do you like being a hunter so far?”

Bianca crossed her arms and mustered a weak glare, “I don't think I'm supposed to talk to you.”

This kid is too adorable Jenny thought as she fought not to laugh. She was definitely loyal to her new family. Jenny thought Artemis certainly could have done worse with a new Hunter. “I have a… complicated relationship with Zoë, but Lady Artemis has no issues with me.”

“What exactly happened between you two?”

Jenny sighed, fiddling with the rubber rat on the railing. “It’s hard to explain. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I still hurt her. We did talk it out a bit on the train, so hopefully we'll at least be civil until the end of the quest.”

Bianca studied Jenny, who still wasn't meeting her eyes. She nodded, then said, “it's pretty cool.”

“What?” Jenny turned and blinked at her.

“Being a hunter. It's cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality.”

“Ahh,” Jenny said. Every hunter seemed to have a different reaction to joining. Some were thrilled to have a new family, others couldn't stop worrying about what they’d left behind. Jenny was glad Bianca seemed to be reacting well. “Are the other girls treating you well?”

“Why would you ask that?” Bianca didn’t seem defensive, more genuinely curious as to why Jenny would care.

Because I care about my wife’s family “Because I was supposed to bring you to camp, I just want to make sure you ended up somewhere you're happy and being treated well.”

“Well I'm not sure happy is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone,” Bianca sighed, her expression falling.

You and me both, kiddo Jenny pictured Artemis stuck under the sky, straining against the burden that should belong to Atlas. She would make him suffer for taking her. Was there some way she could poison him without being caught? She could use something that would leave him in pain, but still strong enough to hold the sky. Maybe she should even give him something a little stronger; he was the titan of endurance, after all. She would gladly push the limits of what he could endure.

“Are you okay?”

Jenny blinked, being pulled out of her revenge fantasies to find one of her hands gripping the railing, and the other tightened around the rubber rat’s neck. “I’m fine. Just thinking about… things.”

“Yeah, It’s a lot.”

Jenny looked over at Bianca. In a lot of ways, she felt like a kindred spirit with her cousin. Both of them had taken on far too much responsibility while they were far too young. Jenny thought the Hunters would be good for her. She would still have responsibilities, yes, but they would be much smaller. She would be able to be looked after rather than having to raise her little brother.

“It'll get better though.”

“I hope so.” Bianca sighed, looking away silently while she picked at the railing. “Does it make me a bad sister if I’m looking forward to not having to look out for Nico anymore?”

“Of course not,” Jenny said. “You’re so young, Bianca. You should have had adults to look after you. I know you had teachers but… it's not the same as a parent.”

“But I'm being selfish.”

“Maybe,” Jenny smiled at her, “but you're allowed to be a little selfish sometimes. The Hunt will be good for you. You'll get to be a kid, and have people look after you. Like you always should have had.”

Bianca blinked away tears. “You’ll look out for Nico, right?”

“Of course. I promise.”

The pair sat in silence. Bianca dried her eyes as Jenny looked out over the little town.

She saw Zoë and Grover coming towards them with their drinks and pastries. Jenny let the warmth of her hot chocolate distract her from her earlier spiral.

Zoë broke the silence. “We should do the tracking spell. Grover, do you have any acorns left?”

Jenny closed her eyes and waited. She had never forgotten the first time she felt Pan’s power wash over her.

“Umm…” She heard Grover mumble. “I think so. I just need to-”

A breeze blew past them. Jenny smiled slightly as she felt the winter chill leave her and smelt the Wild on the air. It reminded her of days spent hunting with Artemis. The times when the two of them would leave the Hunt behind to bask in Artemis’ domain. After Jenny had taken her uncle’s throne those days had become few and far between. Hopefully they would be able to take more time away from their responsibilities in this timeline.

Jenny could hear Pan’s voice on the wind, but she couldn’t make out his warning. Still, she knew how much the old god had to work to communicate even this much. She sent a quick prayer of thanks as she opened her eyes.

Zoë gasped. “Grover, thy cup.”

Grover dropped his coffee cup. The pictures of birds on the sides came to life and peeled off. Jenny’s rubber rat squeaked and scampered off. She wished she was still able to bless things. The newly minted creature deserved some protection in a world so hostile to its kind.

Grover collapsed next to the coffee. You could give Uncle a run for his money, drama queen Jenny thought fondly.

“Hey!” Tally called as she ran up from the street. “I just… What’s wrong with Grover.”

“You guys ever seen those videos of the fainting goats?” Jenny asked. When everybody shook their heads she sighed. “Well, basically-”

“We don’t have time for this!” Thalia snapped. “We have to get out of here!”

They had barely gotten to the edge of town when two skeletal warriors showed up, stepping out from the treeline on either side of the road. The skeletons wore state trooper uniforms and pointed their guns at them.

Jenny felt divine wrath well up inside of her. How dare they? Among his many other crimes Atlas would pay for this affront. How dare he insult the goddess of swordsmanship by sending his minions after her with guns. Again she wondered how much he could endure.

Jenny pulled her lion skin cloak around her tightly and charged. She could not allow this sacrilege to stand. She felt a bullet glance off her cloak. She drew her sword as she closed, watching as her enemy dropped his gun in favor of a baton.

Good. Almost a proper weapon.

Jenny deflected the baton and with three quick cuts, severed the skeleton’s head from its body, cut off its forearms, and cut its legs out from under it. She watched as the skeleton began to knit itself back together.

Jenny heard a loud crash from her left. She remembered that the Erymanthian Boar was coming. Their gift from Pan that had saved them the first time. Jenny smirked as she sent a prayer of thanks to the dying god. If their ride was coming she needed to blow off as much steam as she could.

She dove back into the fray. She saw Bianca kill one of the skeletons out of the corner of her eye. Really, all the signs she was Uncle’s were right there.

Sword fighting had almost become a form of meditation for Jenny. When she had been a goddess it was a way to lose herself in one of her domains, but even before she had ascended it allowed her a chance to clear her mind. Nothing mattered but the flow of the battle. Attack. Parry. Riposte. 

Unfortunately her meditation was cut short by a massive boar crashing out of the woods.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The 

force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where 

they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. 

Then the pig wheeled around.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it.'" 

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge. 

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill 

it." 

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!" 

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoë and Bianca dived out of the 

way. Jenny shoved Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk 

Express. 

Jenny yelled. "Scatter!" 

They all ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused. 

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said. 

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!" 

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked. 

Jenny had to stop herself from laughing. Clearly she hadn't been a Hunter long enough to truly appreciate the Wild. 

"Keep moving!" Zoë yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced 

around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. Jenny groaned internally as Thalia raised Aegis next to her.

The boar squealed in rage and charged. Jenny and Thalia ran up the hill, weaving in and out of the trees as the boar thundered through them. Cresting the hill, Jenny noticed a stretch of train tracks. She grabbed Thalia’s arm and shouted. “This way!”

The boar slid down the hill, its hooves not able to find purchase on the steep snowy ground. Ahead of them was a tunnel that led to a bridge spanning a gorge. Jenny drug Thalia through with her. When they emerged a terrified Thalia screamed. “No!”

Jenny pulled her along, feeling guilty for forcing her into this situation. She tackled Thalia, keeping her shield under them. They slid down the hillside as the boar charged out of the tunnel onto the bridge. It buckled under the weight, sending the boar freefalling into a snowdrift.

Jenny and Thalia skidded to a stop, breathing hard and cut and filthy from the ride down. The boar was squealing and struggling against the snowdrift, but it seemed to be secured for now.

Thalia glared at Jenny furiously. When she opened her mouth to speak Jenny cut her off. “I’m sorry.”

Thalia seemed to deflate slightly. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you off the hillside. I was trying to save us, but I know you were afraid.”

“I’m not-”

Jenny smiled slightly. This was certainly not the first time a kid had tried to deny their fears to her. She was sure it wouldn’t be the last. “It’s okay, Thals. I won’t tell anybody. You’re still a bad bitch.”

“A what?”

Jenny chuckled. “You’re still brave, Pinecone Face.”

Thalia looked like she was about to respond when Grover called from above them. “Hello?”

Taking the opportunity to get out of the conversation, Jenny shouted back. “Down here!”

After a few minutes their questmates had made it down the hillside, much safer than Jenny and Thalia had. And not nearly as fun, in Jenny’s opinion.

“A blessing from the Wild.” Grover said. Jenny could feel his apprehension bleeding across their empathy link. She really should talk to him about that again.

"I agree," Zoë said. "We must use it." 

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing." 

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this 

boar can travel?" 

Jenny shrugged. “Faster than we can.”

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish… I wish I had more time to look 

around. But it's gone now." 

“Still.” Jenny said. “You know he’s watching you. That’s a good sign.”

Grover didn't seem to hear her. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. 

Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, 

there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and 

tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, 

and the boar went nuts, straining to get it. 

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great." 

She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover.

Zoë and Bianca walked toward the boar. Zoë gave Jenny a curious glance. At least someone listened when she talked.

They rode the boar until nightfall. Once they reached Hepheastus’ junkyard, they dismounted. Zoë said that they should wait until morning to enter, and nobody had any arguments against it. The Hunters produced sleeping bags from their packs, and Jenny curled up in hers after a quick “thank you” to Bianca.

She heard the others talking for a while, but couldn’t get out of her own head. She kept replaying Bianca’s death in her mind. All she needed to do was stop her from taking the statue. It was so simple.

So why was she so anxious?

Jenny wished she could just shunt the anxiety to some small part of her consciousness and send it off into the world, but that wasn’t something she could do anymore. Reluctantly, she tried to remember what her mortal therapists had told her, centuries ago.

After running herself through some grounding exercises, Jenny had calmed down slightly. Then she heard a loud noise, like an engine running, and her anxiety came back full force. She jumped up to see a deathly white limousine driving towards them.

Great. My two favorite people.

The limo skidded to a stop and the door flew open. Ares emerged, his eyes ablaze, and pointed his sword at Jenny’s neck. His aura flared and she felt her fury build as he pushed her back slowly. “Not so fast now, are you, punk?”

Jenny’s anger had been building for too long. Ares’ aura was able to inflame her just enough to rise to the bait. “Ahh, my least favorite cousin.”

Ares grinned viciously, clearly feeding off the bloodlust coming off of her in waves. Jenny certainly hadn’t missed him in the century since she had been the one to end his existence. Under the influence of his aura, rending his essence with her caustic blade became one of her fondest memories. 

“At ease, people.'' Ares snapped his fingers and the onlookers' weapons fell from their hands. “This is a friendly meeting.”

“I’d feel more friendly if we took ten paces.” Jenny spat.

Ares chuckled darkly, “come on, kid. I’d never leave you to bleed out in front of a lady.”

“What lady?” Thalia asked.

Ares’ gaze shifted towards her. “Well, well. I heard you were back.”

He looked her up and down, reminding Jenny of generals inspecting their troops before a battle.

“Thalia, daughter of Zeus.” He mused. “You're not hanging out with very good company.”

“What's your business Ares,” she said. “Who's in the car?”

Ares smirked. Jenny desperately wanted to wipe the grin off his face. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoë and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Jenny a few minutes." 

“But” Grover managed as he looked around for an excuse, "the taco place is closed." 

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat 

boy?" 

“Go on.” Jenny said as evenly as she could muster. “I'll be fine.”

"You heard the girl," Ares said. "She's big and strong. She's got things under control." 

Jenny watched as her questmates walked away. Then turned back towards her cousin, trying to calm herself to not antagonize him further.

"Get inside, punk," he said as he opened the door. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am.”

Jenny was shoved roughly into the limo and was about to wheel around when she saw Aphrodite.

She looked as she always did: a pale facsimile of Artemis, like somebody airbrushed her. Despite being a goddess, Artemis had always appeared so much more… human than the others. Aphrodite, on the other hand, was ethereal. Her auburn hair was too perfectly styled. Her cheekbones were too sharp. Her expressions were too… seductive. And her eyes, of course.

Aphrodite had changed over the years in Jenny's eyes. She had once looked like every random woman Jenny had ever found attractive. Then she slowly morphed. Her hair became blonder, and her eyes were the same piercing gray that Athena and all her children possessed. By the time Jenny ascended every inch of her had been identical to Annabeth, just missing the scars and blemishes her wife had earned through a hard life.

Over the centuries, Aphrodite changed again, as Jenny's devotion to Artemis grew she changed again. Gradually shifting, first to a mix of the two, then eventually she would have passed for Artemis's twin. Despite it all, though, those eyes never lighted to an ethereal silver.

Aphrodite seemed to mistake Jenny's wary stare for an appreciative one. She was used to mortals being dumbfounded around her, after all. 

“Ah, there you are, Jenny. I am Aphrodite.” She smirked in a way Jenny assumed was meant to be alluring, but simply looked wrong to Jenny. Aphrodite’s expressions had never sat right on Artemis’ face.

Jenny slipped into the seat across from her, before remembering herself. “My lady.”

She shot Jenny a scathing look, leading her to believe she hadn’t been appropriately impressed. To be fair, Aphrodite’s effect was more eerie than alluring to her at this point.

“Hold this.” She handed Jenny a mirror the size of a dinner plate to hold up. Jenny managed to obey without so much as a snide comment, something she was quite proud of. Aphrodite dabbed at her makeup, something Jenny knew was completely superfluous for any goddess, let alone the goddess of beauty.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

Because you like to fuck with me. “I can’t say I do, my lady.”

“Oh, dear.” Aphrodite pouted. “Still in denial?”

Jenny could hear Ares chuckling from outside the car. She desperately wished she could be out there taking her frustrations out on him, but alas she was stuck having Aphrodite lecture her about a love story she’d already lived.

“Of what?”

“Pft.” Aphrodite scoffed. “Well then, why are you on this quest?”

“An Olympian has been captured!”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!”

Aww, you'd rather they took the photocopy than the original. “But she was chasing a monster! Wasn’t it supposed to be the bane of Olympus?”

Aphrodite adjusted the mirror. Jenny had to keep from rolling her eyes as Aphrodite pretended there was something smudged on her eyes. “Always some monster. But my dear Jenny, that is why the others are on the quest. I’m more interested in you.”

Jenny sighed. Might as well rip the bandaid off. “They have the girl I love.”

“Maybe you aren’t as oblivious as I thought.” she mused. “Ahh, a quest for true love! It’s been so long since I had a good love story to watch. You do know Annabeth was about to join the Hunters, don’t you?”

“That’s her-”

“She was about to throw her life away! And you, my dear, can save her from that. It’s so romantic!”

“She-”

“Oh, put the mirror down.” Aphrodite waved her hand dismissively. “I look fine.”

If you call a Temu version of Artemis fine. Jenny wondered if that insult even made sense yet as she complied.

“Now listen, Jenny.” Aphrodite looked deathly serious. “The hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That’s not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving Annabeth.”

Goddess of love can't even see what's right under her nose. “I’m doing my best!”

“Oh good, it’s been ages since we’ve had a good tragic love story.”

Jenny clenched her fists. She had already lived her tragic love story. She had no intention of repeating it. Even less so for the amusement of a goddess who had always treated her as her toy. “And if I don't want to be in a tragic love story.”

Aphrodite laughed. “Oh please, who doesn’t want a love for the ages? Don’t worry, I have some wonderful surprises for you. Anguish! Indecision! Oh you just wait!”

“Oh, that’s fine. You really don't need to go to the trouble.” Jenny was suddenly reminded of a cat who left dead mice on the door despite nobody wanting them.

“You're so cute! I wish all my children could break the hearts of girls as nice as you.” Aphrodite appeared to tear up and Jenny had to desperately keep from rolling her eyes. “Now, you’d better go. And do be careful in my husband’s territory, Jenny. Don’t take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash.”

Way ahead of you Jenny thought as the door swung open and she was thrown out of the car by Ares.

"You're lucky, punk." Ares pushed Jenny away from the limo. "Be grateful." 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah. Be grateful we're being so nice. If it was up to me—" 

"You’d kill me?" Jenny laughed. “That's cute.”

Ares snarled "I'd love to kill you, seriously. But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is 

that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Someday soon, kid—real soon—you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares." 

Jenny paled, trying to pull her mind away from the curse Ares had placed on her. Ares gave a self-satisfied smirk, then he snapped his fingers as Jenny's mind raced back to the Pit.

Tartarus himself took form in front of her.

He could end them with a thought. It hadn’t taken him any effort to end the titans, and they were just half-bloods. But she had to protect Annabeth. She'd done too much, crossed too many lines, to fail her now.

“Iphigenia!”

Was someone calling her name? Oh well. Tartarus is the bigger threat.

She raised her sword to make a desperate play for time. She needed to keep him distracted, and keep herself alive, long enough for Annabeth to make it to the doors.

Her sword fell from her grasp. It was like Riptide had a mind of its own. One moment she was preparing to make a desperate last stand, the next her sword had-

Ares.

This was his curse. all she'd made it through, all she'd survived. And she would die here, failing to protect Annabeth. She should have known better than to think she could save-

“Jenny, please!”

Why would-

Five things she could see.

Thalia, tears in her eyes. Grover, pale and avoiding eye contact. The junk heap, filled with gold and treasure.

“Art thou alright, Iphigenia?”

She took a shuddering breath. “Yeah. I'll be okay.”

“You sure, Kelp head?”

Jenny smiled slightly at Thalia. Then took a steadier breath. “Yeah. Glad to know you care Pinecone Face.”

“What did the god of war want with thee?”

Jenny sighed. “He was just chauffeuring his girlfriend. And she wanted what she always wants.”

“Who?” Bianca asked, “and what did she want? Sorry, I'm still new at this.

“Aphrodite.” Zoë growled.

Jenny cringed internally at Zoë's use of the name. She'd been deliberately trying to avoid attention. “Yeah. She just wanted to fuck with my love life. Oh! And she said don't touch anything here.”

“Sound advice”

“Yeah, yeah.” Thalia said, “don't touch anything. Did she say how we’re supposed to get out of here.”

“That way.” Zoë said. “that is west.”

They started trudging west, but soon came to a mountain of junk. It gleamed gold and silver with discarded weapons, Vehicles, and anything else Hephaestus might have had a hand in crafting.

“Guys, look!” Grover said excitedly, picking up a broken crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. He brought it towards his mouth like he was about to eat it.

“Stop.” Jenny said in her ‘mom voice’. “We literally just talked about not touching things.”

“But it-”

“No ‘buts’.” Jenny crossed her arms and did her best to look disappointed. “A goddess told us not to touch anything because it's dangerous. We aren't going to touch anything.”

Grover slowly set the crown down with a mumbled “sorry.”

Zoë raised an eyebrow at Jenny, then turned and continued walking. The others fell in line behind her, with Jenny taking up the rear, watching them like a hawk.

She saw Bianca stop and look at the statue of her father. When she reached out to grab It Jenny grabbed a hold of her wrist and asked quietly. “Is it worth our lives?”

Bianca looked away, but she turned around and started walking again, so Jenny was willing to call it a win. She'd have to apologize for how she was acting later, but she was not going to let another child die in front of her.

Soon, they came to a giant metal hill.

“What is that?” Bianca gasped.

It was the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together. Jenny's hand subconsciously moved towards her pocket.

Bianca frowned. "They look like—" 

"Toes," Grover said. 

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes." 

Zoë and Thalia exchanged nervous looks. Jenny simply stared at the infernal contraption.

"Let's go around," Thalia said. "Far around”

“I agree.” Jenny said.

A metallic ping sounded from the hill.

Jenny's hand tightened on her pen as Thalia hefted her spear and Zoë drew her bow, but it was only Grover. He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow. 

"Why did you do that?" Zoë demanded. 

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?" 

"Come on." Thalia said in a commanding tone. If Jenny didn't know better she would have thought it was the Thalia from centuries later. "Around." 

After several minutes of walking, they stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt. 

"We made it out," Zoë said. "Thank the gods."

Jenny was about to breathe a sigh of relief when it happened.

There was creaking and groaning behind them as metal ground against metal. But that's…

Jenny whipped around to see the mountain of scrap metal standing. A bronze giant in full greek armor, looking down on them. But we didnt take anything.

“Talos!” Zoë gasped out, glancing at Jenny. She paled when she saw the shock on Jenny’s face. “Did you take something?”

“Why the fuck do you think I would have taken something?” Jenny snapped, pulled out of her stupor. Now was not the time to freeze. She could ponder what actually set off the robot later. Right now, they needed to survive.

Bianca needed to survive.

Jenny glanced over at the girl she’d been trying to protect. She saw Bianca’s wide eyed look of fear and shock as she glanced between Talos and Jenny.

“Run!” Grover yelled out.

They all ran in different directions. Jenny frantically tried to think of a plan, she desperately wished she’d had Athena at her side. She always had a plan.

Jenny wound up behind a broken chariot with Bianca. She was frantically running through the steps Athena had walked her through so many times.

Identify your goal: stop Talos. Or escape. That one, actually. They didn’t need to defeat the robot, just get out of his way.

Catalog your assets: Three, no two, hunters, Thalia without her centuries of experience, and a saytr. The arrows wouldn’t do much, and Bianca couldn’t be trusted with her powers yet. Grover’s magic might be worse than useless. Lighting?

Acquire intelligence on the enemy: Big ugly robot. They could get inside if they had a death wish, otherwise they'd have to stop it some other way

Ready your tactics: Distract Talos while Thalia pounded the fucker with lightning.

Update as you acquire new information.

Start executing.

A shadow blotted out the sky.

“Move!” Jenny yelled as she pushed Bianca out from their hiding spot. they tore down the hill as the giants foot left a crater where they had been moments before.

“Thalia!” Jenny shouted. “Give it all the juice you've got!”

Jenny didn't hear a reply, but the sky lit up as blue lightning arced from Thalia’s spear to the giant's knee. It buckled for a moment, then the robot righted itself and turned on her.

Less effective than I'd hoped. Maybe we can lead it into the power lines.

Talos turned towards Thalia. Grover began to play his pipes and one of the downed power line poles began to dance towards Talos. Another jolt of electricity made the giant stutter for a moment, before it resumed its attack.

As Talos lifted his foot to crush Thalia, the hatch on the bottom reading “For maintenance only” in bright red letters became visible.

“I have a plan.” Bianca said after a moment.

“Good what-” Jenny stopped talking once she realized Bianca had ran off, straight towards Talos.

Jenny realized what her plan was.

Her mind frantically began working. Trying to think of some way to stop her. 

If she distracted her the giant could turn on them. 

If she grabbed her blood the gods could notice. 

She couldn't beat her there, not with Artemis’ blessing and her head start.

So Jenny was forced to watch in horror as Bianca entered the robot, took control of it, and rammed it into the power lines.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. She was vaguely aware of hopping in the bed of a truck, but her mind was stuck on what she had just experienced.

Bianca Di Angelo was dead.

She wasn't supposed to be dead.

Jenny was supposed to save her.

What happened to the fucking cassette? Huh, Chronos? That's what he said, right? Time was like a cassette. They were supposed to rewrite the future as they got to it. They were supposed to be changing things.

Yet here she was. At the exact same place. At the exact same time. She had stopped Bianca from stealing the statue and it did nothing. the Fates still cut her-

They cut her thread.

Of course. It wasn't a cassette. She knew how fate worked. She'd met the Fates. Fate was a tapestry woven together from the individual threads of people's lives.

Threads they had already cut.

She wasn’t an expert at weaving, Minnie had barely taught her the basics. But she knew that once a thread was cut it couldn't be made longer.

They could only give people less time.

This whole thing had been an exercise in futility, then. She'd let the world down. She'd let her sister down. There wasn't anything she could do.

It was over.

They had lost.