"I come in peace Blake Corvinus."
The voice was strange, something about it sounded off.
I spun around to look at where the voice had come from and came face to face with a man dressed in red flowing robes. Selene didn't lower her gun, the man didn't look bothered at having it pointed at his head.
Then again, the man didn't really have a face. Instead the man had what looked like a swirling mess of colors where his face should have been.
'Probably why his voice is so fucked.' I mused.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"That is not important at the moment, I noticed your presence here and decided to take a look."
"And what of it?"
The man raised his hands placatingly. "As I've said, I am not here to fight. I am here to thank you for clearing out so many monsters."
"Oh? And why would you thank me for killing the monsters."
"It's not what you think Blake Corvinus, I am not a mere monster. Rather I am the physical manifestation of The Pit."
I snickered. "The Pit, that's a fucking stupid name."
The man frowned, it seemed I had hit a nerve. The man's aura leaked out making my instincts scream.
"I will ignore this insult, most of my consciousness still slumbers. Manifesting this physical form is quite taxing. Aside from thanking you, I also came here to warn you."
"About Gaia? I already know.
"My wife is stirring yes, the demigods will handle her. Your task lies elsewhere."
"This fucking problem is getting more and more complex. Look, Pit, Tartarus, or whatever you want to go by. I need to get out of here and the only way is that door and a monster that's currently bleeding out. So can you please get to the point and tell me what the fuck you have to tell me."
"Blake I don't think it's wise to antagonize a Primordial." Selene hissed.
"Your mate is correct, not many would insult one such as-"
"Look, I already went over this. Either fuck of or get to the point."
"YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY YOU FOOLISH GOD OR I WILL KI- SQUEEURK AAAARRGHHHHHH!"
Tartarus didn't get to finish his threat before my foot traveled at mach speed into his primordial balls.
"Y-you will regret this Blake Corvinus. I-I cast a c- ÆUGH."
Once again the Primordial was silenced when I stuffed the Elder Wand in his mouth.
"Finish that threat and I will nuke the fuck out of you. Primordial or not, no one threatens me. I will fucking end you."
Tartarus glared at me hatefully before disappearing in a swirl of colors. Selene holstered her gun and I flicked the Deathstick clean of saliva.
"Was that smart Blake? You've potentially made an enemy out of a Primordial being?"
"Love, I may not be as strong as a Primordial… yet, but that doesn't mean I'll take very kindly to idiots who waste my time and threaten me and mine."
"Waste your time? The laistrygonian is dead brother."
"Oh for fucks sake can you fucks leave me the fuck alone?!"
I turned to face the new arrival. A woman clothed in all black strutted out of a black swirling portal. Her raven hair contrasted sharply with her porcelain skin. Blood red lips twitched into a smirk of amusement when her eyes met mine.
"I see mother wasn't lying when she said she had birthed a halfbreed."
"You seem to know me, but I didn't quite get your name. So, who the fuck are you?"
"Blake!" Selene hissed again, her face showing alarm.
"I'm your sister of course but you can call me Nyx."
[Scene Break]
Lena sighed, Blake had been gone for nearly several days now. She had trained the twins in Blake's pocket dimension for a few days until she started hearing the prayers from the Hunt.
It took her a while but she managed to figure out how to travel out of Blake's dimension through godly travel. Leaving a note to Bill she teleported out without so much as a second thought.
Lena eventually gathered what little was left of the former Hunters of Artemis. Thalia, the lieutenant. Phoebe and Atalanta, senior members of the hunt.
Finally there was Grace, Sally, and Penny, three relatively new recruits. With hardly half a dozen hunters left Lena had a long way to go in regards to rebuilding the hunt.
Phoebe and Atalanta were skeptical at first when it was revealed that she was the new 'Goddess of the Hunt' and therefore their new matron but the duo eventually came to terms with the new set up.
Thalia helped by telling the senior hunters that Lena had been appointed by the Fates themselves and not just the new King of Olympus who happened to be Lena's mate.
Eventually she sent Thalia, Atalanta, and Phoebe out to go recruit more hunters. Lena stayed behind with the three newer members to try and help them cope with the loss of so many of their sisters.
Currently she had arranged for a hunt in the forest surrounding the camp. The three girls had their bows out and where scanning the woods for their quarry, an elk that Lena had summoned with her newly acquired powers.
She had blanched when Atalanta had told her that Artemis used to turn men into animals so that the hunters could 'hunt' them. Lena had mentally made a vow to never do such a thing, unless it was justly deserved of course.
Lena watched as the trio warmed their way to the forest silently stalking their prey. She remained close by but invisible so that she could observe the new hunters. She wanted to see what areas they were skilled in and what they needed to improve on.
She could already tell that Sally was the better tracker while Grace and Penny were much more stealthy. Grace seemed to also be much more aware of her surroundings than the other two whereas Penny seemed to be itching to shoot something that so much as twitched.
'Over all they'd be perfectly balanced together, but they'd be in trouble should they get separated.' Lena thought to herself.
'I need to get a proper training regiment set up. I'll talk to Atalanta and Phoebe when they get back.'
Lena continued to silently observe the trio who now seemed to be planning on surrounding the elk. They had spotted the beast grazing in a clearing not far from where they were.
Grace was to go around and flank the elk while Penny was sent to cut it off. Sally was to drive it towards Grace. While their plan had merit Lena could see several problems.
Sally was heavy footed and was sure to alert the elk before the others could get into position. Just as Lena predicted, Sally stepped on a twig and alerted the elk which looked up bolted.
Cursing, the clumsy huntress ran after the elk while calling for the other two who followed in pursuit. The trio crashed through the woods firing arrows at the elk.
Lena bit back a smile, while catching the elk was technically the 'objective' she still wanted the three to have a bit of fun. Chasing an animal through the woods while shouting and shooting arrows at it seemed to be doing it for her girls.
'When did I start thinking of them as my girls?' Lena realized. 'Must be a matron goddess of the hunt thing.'
The elk had gotten away, the girls didn't seem to care however. Grace and Penny were laughing at Sally who had somehow ended up shooting an arrow that grazed a dryad.
The dryad was now berating the huntress. Sally squeaked an apology making Grace and Penny laugh even harder drawing the attention of the dryad which glared at them.
The laughing huntresses stopped laughing and looked away while looking sheepish as they in turn got chewed out for laughing at Sally. Lena decided that the 'test' was over and made an appearance. The three huntresses immediately noticed her and ran up to her.
"My lady!" The three called out at the same time.
"Girls," Lena smiled. "What did we learn?"
Grace and Penny looked at Sally who replied. "That I should have waited for them to get into position before moving."
"Good, you noticed your mistake but you weren't the only one to make a mistake."
"My lady?"
"Penny, Grace, you two could have used the trees to get into position faster. The wind going through the branches would have covered most of the noise you made traveling through. Penny, you don't have to keep an arrow knocked on your bow, while it's good to be proactive it limits your movement. Grace, you did relatively well just don't forget to help your sisters. You seem to have a better connection to the forest."
"Yes lady Lena." The three replied.
"Now, let's get back to camp, they're about to serve the afternoon meal."
The huntresses nodded and followed her as they made their way back to camp through the woods.
"My lady is it true that you're dating Lord Corvinus?" Penny asked as her two other sisters hissed for her to shut up.
"It is Penny, Lord Corvinus is my intended." Lena turned to look at the girls. "Girls, never be afraid to ask questions. I will not reprimand you for thinking for yourself."
"But Lady Lena, what about our vows?" Sally asked with a fearful look.
"Your old vows called for trading your love in exchange for immortality and a huntress's blessing. While I understand that men have gravely wronged you and many of your sisters, the vow itself strips you of all your love. It's worded in such a way that you lose your love for everything you once held dear. May it be a sibling or a friend."
The three girls looked thoughtful before fear crept into their features. Sally looked like she was on the verge of tears while Grace's fear turned into fury.
"H-how could I forget my mother and sister."
Penny tried to console Sally, Grace looked at Lena with a determined look.
"Can you bring us to those we lost my lady?"
"I can and I will, as soon as Atalanta, Phoebe, and Thalia get back we'll work on changing the vow together so that you and all the new huntresses will no longer be forced to forget loved ones."
Grace nodded, "Thank you my lady."
"Don't thank me Grace, this is how it should have been from the beginning."