CHAPTER 1

Present 

“Pass!”

The ball whizzes through the air, straight from one player to another with terrifying precision. It flies from one person to another with inhuman accuracy as the team advances toward the enemy court.

Time ticks, drizzling down to zero, and the tension is palpable.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!

“Wendy!”

“Seven! Six! Five!”

The ball zips straight into her hands.

“Four! Three! Two!”

A steadying breath. A dribble. Arms up and—shoot.

“One!”

The ball smoothly goes through the hoop at the same time and everybody cheers. Well, everybody except for the losing team.

Wendy Son laughs as the pats on her back turned into enthusiastic pounding, complaining light-heartedly and brushing off exaggerated compliments.

December had just started and the dull, gray clouds hovering over Long Island Sound says a lot its terrible weather conditions. Not exactly an ideal time to be out playing basketball but that’s what’s great about Camp Half-Blood and its magical borders. The light snow from earlier that morning had already started melting and the cold is bearable even in a muscle tee. She’s Canadian, after all. Spending all her life in that place is enough to turn her into a polar bear.

“Unfair! This is exactly why I don’t like playing with you Apollo kids! A bunch of cheaters!” Joy Park complains yet links her arms with Wendy as they walk back to the cabins.

The girl had been in camp a year after Wendy did. She had been fourteen then, a brooding teenager, aloof and totally unlike her name. Joy used to be irritated with her a lot but at some point between prying and fussing, they became the closest of friends.

“I wouldn’t call it cheating.” Seulgi Kang retorts, arm around Wendy’s shoulder. She’s been in camp longer than both of them and had been a big help to Wendy in adjusting to the strange environment. “Our accuracy and precision and general awesomeness is a passive skill. It’s not like we can activate and deactivate it whenever we want. It’s just there. Isn’t that right, sis?”

“Yeah.” Wendy high-fives her waiting palm. “Besides, if we’re talking about cheating, don’t think we didn’t notice how you enchanted the ball, Joy Park.”

Joy drops her sulky façade and gives them a sly smirk. “Oh my, I got caught.”

“Having the ball chase me around an entire quarter is far from subtle!”

They pass through the forge where a bunch of Hephaestus kids pounded on glowing hot red metals and lets out a satisfied sigh from the heat the place emanates. There are quite a number of campers back for the winter break. She spots two Hermes boys sitting in the amphitheater giving them looks that made her relieved she didn’t bring her wallet as they passed by.  Overhead, Yuri Kwon from the Poseidon cabin flew by on her white pegasus, waving at them. A horde of Aphrodite girls hid beside the armory, waiting to ambush an unknowing camper and “fabulize” them. The girls are nowhere to be seen but the collective scent of their designer perfumes wafting to a ten-meter radius was telling. So obviously, they steered clear of the armory. Getting mugged is better than being forced into a makeover.

“Camp sure is cheery today.” Wendy comments.

“A bunch of campers arrived just this morning.” Seulgi replies, “Guess our big, dysfunctional family’s gonna celebrate Christmas together this year.”

Joy snorts but not missing a beat to wink at a random boy she caught staring. “It’s still ridiculous, Greek demigods celebrating the birth of Jesus.”

After dropping Joy off to Hecate cabin, Wendy and Seulgi made their way to Cabin 7—that flashy, golden, obnoxious cabin right there like a gigantic flare screaming, NOTICE ME

But then considering who their father is, it cannot be more fitting. She won’t be surprised if she finds out Apollo himself recommended that design.

Oh, and yes Apollo, Greek god of the sun, music, archery, medicine, poetry, plagues, and a bunch of other stuff that doesn’t correlate to each other, is her father. And Seulgi’s. And about a dozen more kids in camp.

Being a half-blood isn’t as cool as it sounds. There’s a constant bounty over her head, an endless threat, living in fear that at any minute, she can become a monster’s snack. Having to look over her shoulder every second of her life didn’t exactly make for a fun childhood.

Her family didn’t take her existence as a blessing either. Being born with blonde hair and blue eyes in an Asian family, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what it meant.

Camp Half-Blood had been her safe haven. It was comforting that in this place, all these kids who look nothing alike, from different races, are all related to each other and nobody questioned that. Wendy felt right at home, smack right in the middle of the weirdness of it all.

“You staying here for the holidays?” Seulgi asks as she sits on her bunk right beside Wendy’s.

She changed out of her sweaty muscle tee and into an orange camp shirt. “Yeah.”

“You’re mom’s fine with it?”

“She’s borrowing me for Christmas day. Other than that, I’m all yours until winter break is over.”

Seulgi grinned, eyes disappearing into adorable crescents. “Then you can teach me how to bake that ambrosia muffin you made me back in summer!”

Wendy hums a perfect F#3. She puts a finger on her lips. “Only if you keep hush about the secret ingredient.”

Seulgi nods eagerly, lips pressed thin as she makes a zipping gesture.

Wendy chuckles and sat beside her sister, playfully bumping her shoulder, eyes glinting. “I can’t wait to let you try this new recipe I discovered.”

Seulgi gasps, “The lava cake? Chocolate ambrosia with oozing nectar?”

Wendy nods. “With vanilla ice cream on top.”

The conch horn blew and Solar, the head councilor for cabin 7, yelled for them to line up. Cabin 8 right across theirs catches Wendy’s eye as they make their way to the dining pavilion. The silver building glowed brighter than usual. Perhaps it’s because of the full moon. But Wendy can’t help but feel like the paintings and carvings of wild animals on its walls and columns are watching her pass.

Wendy shrugs it off and continues on to the pavilion.

The camp’s dining pavilion is situated on a hill overlooking the sea, framed with Greek columns and has neither roof nor walls. Blazing torches on the columns and the flames from the bathtub-sized bronze brazier in the middle of the pavilion lit up the night.

Chiron, the half-white stallion, half-man camp activities director made some announcements and Mr. D, the camp director, said some “encouraging” words before the feast starts. Nymphs brings in heaping platters of BBQ, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, and fresh bread.

Wendy stares at her goblet. Hmm…what about…grapefruit green tea ade, 30% sugar, extra white pearls, and a little ice.

The cup fills up with her preferred drink and she grins. Now this is a feast.

They line up to scrape a portion of their food as an offering to the gods and Wendy contemplates on who to give her offering to. Apollo? She’s always been giving offerings to him. But tonight, she feels she should pick another god…

Wendy looks up at the night sky. The stars are twinkling strangely bright tonight.

“Hey,” the camper behind nudges her. “Move along.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

She scrapes the juiciest brisket to the flames and whispers, “To Apollo.” she hesitates before burning a cluster of the plumpest grapes. “To Artemis.” she lingers. “Um, I don’t know why but I just feel like I have to, so, uh, yeah. Hope you like it.”

After dinner, they gather around the campfire and sang their usual campfire songs. At some point, the guitar gets passed to Wendy’s lap and she leads the songs, singing about how their grandmother dresses for war as some of her cabin mates and other guys from Hermes cabin dances along. The flames turns bright gold and rose up to 20 feet, matching the hype.

When the festivities are finished, they head back to the cabins. Wendy walks between Joy and Seulgi, arms around their shoulders and singing and laughing their hearts out without a care. Yet as Wendy throws her head back chortling at something Seulgi said and Joy’s sardonic response to it, an uneasy feeling rises in her gut as she eyes the constellations that glowed eerily in the night sky.

Bless Artemis, the moon is bright tonight.

It’s bright enough to see clearly see the tracks—paw prints on the mud except that it’s a dozen times larger than a normal animal’s.

Irene squats down and touches the dirt.

They’re close.

She turns to the general direction of the figures in the shadows, concealed and invisible, and gives them a signal. They spur forward like a cheetah with the silence of a snake, moving shadows no more than a blur.

They near a clearing and Irene holds up a hand. Everyone halts. Crouching in a tree branch, she squints at the creature lumbering around.

“The Nemean lion.” Yeri breathes out beside her. “Cool. I’ve never seen it before.”

But there’s something odd. Instead of a golden hide, its fur is of splashes of black, purple, blue, and pink. A trail of what looked like twinkling gems are all over its body, forming a line from the top of its head, through the side, to its paw, on its backside, and on the tip of its tail. The pattern looks vaguely familiar but it’s hard to say with the beast moving around.

Unlike Yeri, Irene have seen this monster before and it did not wear jewelries nor did it have a funky hair color. It’s like the monster is suddenly going through puberty. Irene personally thought it’s a few hundred eons too late for that.

“It looks weird.” Yeri comments. “It doesn’t usually look that tacky, does it?”

Lady Artemis specifically gave them orders to keep this hunt silent. For whatever reasons, the goddess didn’t say. But the lady’s orders are never to be questioned. If she wants this to be taken care of quietly, then quiet it will be.

There are numerous ways to kill a Nemean lion. There should be at least one of them that can be done in silence.

If there isn’t, then Irene can always make one.

“Yeri,” she speaks, “Trip wire.”

The girl understands at once. She draws her silver bow, nocks the special arrow, and fires. It harmlessly zips over the lion, straight to where another Hunter is crouching. Irene makes a gesture and arrows shoot around the monster, an elaborate pattern of wires barely seen.

Irene moves through the branches until she got a clear sight. She draws her bow, nocks an arrow, and aims, bowstring pulled taut. She holds her breath.

Target locked.

She gives the signal and everything happened all at once. Wires are pulled and the trap is in motion. The monster chokes, legs and body bound.

It opens its mouth but before it can make a sound, Irene fires. Her arrow sails straight down its throat and lodged itself in its voice box. It made wheezing noises as it choked. The Hunters pull harder and soon, the lion stops thrashing and disintegrates in an unusual gleaming dust, leaving a sparkling pelt behind.

Irene leaps down and examines the spoil of war. The gems are still there and the color is the same. She places it on the ground, properly arranging it, and stands to take a look.

She gasps.

“What is it?” Yeri appears beside her along with the others and Irene snatches the fur before they can see what she found.

“We must head back to camp.” Irene says. “Lady Artemis must hear of this.”

That’s all it takes for them to melt back into the shadows, a mere blur of silver dashing through the woods with the grace of a gazelle eerily resembling ghosts drifting under the moonlight.

Irene has a hunch. The unusual fur coat lay heavily on her arm. What can this possibly mean? Artemis did mention that she feels a strange stirring nowadays and hoped she’s wrong. Can this possibly be a sign of it?

She slows to a stop and searched the night sky. If she’s right then it would be the first time in history and she should know, she had lived through said ‘history’ after all.

“Irene?” Yeri called. “Is something wrong?”

Irene shakes her head and catches up to them.

Soon, they reach the clearing where they set camp. Irene orders them to stand guard before heading to the last tent. She nodded at the two hunters standing guard as they lifted the flap and let her inside.

The goddess is seated on a patchwork of fur with a jackalope curled on her lap. She seems to be in a serious conversation with her lieutenant. Upon noticing her presence, the discussion ends.

She bows. “My lady. Forgive the interruption but I have come to give you my report.”

Artemis’s yellow-silver eyes are trained on the coat slung over her arm. “Irene. Come sit with us.”

She obeys. “The monster was a Nemean lion. We have successfully slain the beast without triggering any alarm. However, there is something disturbing…” she lays the coat on the floor between them. “As you can see, its fur was…of an interesting color. And here, there’s a strange pattern of gems. But what disturbs me is its eerie resemblance to Leo. The constellation.”

Artemis exchanges looks with her lieutenant, having a silent conversation with their eyes. The silence is charged. Irene has a feeling they’ve been talking about this before she came in.

The goddess sighs and puts her hand thoughtfully on the jackalope’s horn. “I had hoped against this possibility but it seems like I’m right. Let’s hope it ends here.”

“What is it? What does it mean?” Irene asks.

“Things are stirring.”

“Things are always stirring.”

A ghost of a smile graces Artemis’s lips. “Indeed, it is. But this one… I’m afraid a new story is about to unfold.” she says. “You’ve done well, Irene. You may go and rest now.” she turns to her lieutenant. “Tell Krystal and Luna to prepare. The three of you are coming with me.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Oh, and Jieun? Tell the rest to pack their bags. They’re going to stay in Camp Half-blood.”

“What?” Irene blurts out, “But—! Why? Artemis, we can go with you!”

“Having too many hunters will spoil the scent. You know that.”

“Yes, but—” Irene huffed. “You know well that we loath that place. We can go and search if there are other…odd monsters around. Anywhere but that place. The last time—”

“You caused an explosion that dried up the lake for an entire month, yes, I do remember. So this time you must behave yourselves well.” Artemis says. “That’s an order.” she adds when Irene opens to protest.

She slumps in defeat. “Fine. But for how long?”

“That, I cannot say.”

“May I ask where you’re going?”

Artemis frowns thoughtfully. “Down south. This must be investigated. Though I already have a feeling…” she shakes her head. “Let’s pray I’m wrong.” she stares intently at her. “Irene, you must understand that keeping silent about this is essential. We do not want unnecessary speculations regarding this oddity.”

“I understand.” Irene observes the goddess’s face. Artemis is worried. Whatever it is, it must be gravely serious. “Maybe a confused mortal just accidentally shot the lion with paintball. At least that’s what Yeri says.”

Her worry lines disappears as she smiles. “Perhaps.” Artemis allows. “That child always has a unique viewpoint of things.”

“She does.”

“Well, you must go and prepare. We are leaving before daybreak.”

“We?”

“Yes.” Artemis gives her a stern look, “In order to make sure you don’t to blow up anything, I’m dropping you off myself.”

***

Stars are falling.

Meteor showers flying across the black canvass of the night skies in a streak of blazing light. It’s mesmerizing. She had never seen anything like it. It’s like the heavens are raining with twinkling stardust.

It doesn’t take long for the whimsical dream to turn into a horrendous nightmare.

The harmless pretty lights soon becomes bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter until it lands on earth in a massive explosion.

Everything is in flames. It cackled monstrously as it devoured and left ashes in its wake. The world is in pandemonium. People jumps to the sea only to find it ablaze.

Dust settles and where the star landed, a humanoid figure arose. It’s a deformed, useless lump but it didn’t fail to send a chill down her spine.

Then it spoke, its voice as deep and cold as the depths of the universe.

He spoke three words, and it was enough to turn her blood into ice.

Vengeance is mine.

Taeyeon Kim wakes up screaming.

Her clothes are drenched with sweat yet she shivered in her sheets. She sits up, burying her face in her trembling hands.

The unnerving voice echoes over and over in her head. It bounces from one corner to another like a squeaky rubber ball. Taeyeon screams in annoyance, chucking something across the wall. CRASH!

She rests her head back on the wall and tries to regulate her breathing. She looks around the room and realizes it’s still dark. She tries to check the time but realizes she just threw her clock yet somehow she knows, it’s 3:32 A.M.

She rolls out of bed and pads out of her room that is just separated from the rest of the cave with a curtain. Pitch black greeted her eyes and the coldness of the cave floor seeps into her feet. 

“Leukós.” she mutters and the torches and braziers blazes into life, illuminating the cavern.

On one side, the wall is smooth and filled with detailed chalk drawings of scenes—some pleasant, most horrendous. A cluster of mismatched worn couches and beanbags were in one corner atop a fur rug, a shelf of ancient scrolls and books, and a table of maps and unfinished jigsaw puzzles in front of the blazing brazier where she burnt her sacrifices if need be. Stalactites hung from the wall, threatening to impale anyone tall enough. It’s the only time Taeyeon is appreciative of her meager height.

“Ouch, skatá.” she kicked the random Lego block she stepped on, picks up the chalks among scattered nail polish bottles, and starts to work. The images are still clear in her mind and it will be for the next millennia. After all, she can still think back to previous visions and feel like she got it five minutes ago. 

It haunts her in every waking hour and every time she sleeps and it gnaws on her sanity. Living for three millennia would surely drive anyone to the brink of lunacy.

She steps back to inspect her work. A heavy feeling sinks in her gut as she looks at the streaks of white and yellow, the vibrant red and orange, and the darkness in the midst of it. Something is going to happen. And it’s near.

She turns to the velvet curtains. She senses an energy. She must go out. Something is urging her to do so.

She steps out of the cavern barefoot.

Grass prickles the soles of her feet, cold winter breeze piercing her linen pajamas but she pays it no mind. On top of the hill, she can see the entire valley. Everything is quiet and still with the occasional harpy roving around hoping to catch a rebellious half-blood for a snack.

Then she sees it—the moon zipping across the dark sky. It moves unnaturally hard and fast. Panic grips Taeyeon’s heart. She flicks her wrists only to realize she had taken off her bracelets. It’s on her nightstand. She mutters a curse in Minoan.

She’s debating whether to run and grab her weapons or sound the alarm when the moon suddenly gets brighter and materializes into a majestic silver chariot pulled by four golden reindeers, their silver horns glinting as they galloped down easily from the sky.

It lands by the Big House. Numerous girls stepped out along with one with auburn hair, glowing with much more power than the others. Artemis.

She needs to speak with the goddess. Apollo would disapprove of her seeking out his twin sister before him but wounding his pride doesn’t matter as much as the dilemma at hand.

She runs to the Big House, ignoring the rocks and gravel hurting her feet. Chiron had just stepped out with his tail-rollers and pony printed pajamas when Taeyeon arrived, panting and spluttering. Her stamina had always been subpar.

Everybody looks at her.

“Taeyeon?” Chiron calls, looking worried. It’s not every day the camp oracle runs like a madwoman at 4 A.M after all.

“What a pleasant surprise, Ms. Kim.” Artemis regards her with those cold yellow-silver eyes. Her tone is pleasant but her gaze is wary. “To what do we owe this fine pleasure?”

Taeyeon eyes the Hunters before meeting Artemis’s eyes again. “There is something I wish to impart to you.”

The graveness of her tone makes the girls stand rigid and reach for their bows. She knows she mustn’t reveal everything in front of a huge audience and in such an open space like this but she must say enough to catch the goddess’s attention.

Words automatically supplied the empty spaces in her mind.

“The Day of Vengeance is near.”