Hello! Enjoy the latest instalment of this story! While this chapter doesn't have much in the way of plot development, it is a set up towards the Hunt's next big adventure! Which book reader might know something about. Wink wink.

In any case, stay safe, I'll catch you guys again really soon!

-JASW1

THE HUNT-

Phoebe, Daughter of Ares, from Sparta

Elizabeth Mortal, from Paris (French Revolution)

Victoria, Mortal, from Paris (French Revolution)

Mara, Mortal, Newer Recruit

Kathleen, Mortal, from Paris (French Revolution)

Sarah, Mortal, the Hunt's best Healer, Newer Recruit

Emily, Mortal, the Hunt's best Cook

Angelina, Mortal, Newer Recruit

Jennifer, Daughter of Demeter, a former member of the Hunt

Winifred, Mortal

Anna, Mortal

Christina, Mortal, Newer Recruit

Zoe, Daughter of Atlas, Titan of Endurance.

Naomi, Mortal

Celyn, Daughter of Hermes

Olivia, Daughter of Hermes

******Previously in Chapters II-III******

Artemis heard Victoria and Elizabeth snort from somewhere on the left, along with the mute laughter from the other Hunters, but Artemis only had eyes for Kathleen. The blonde-haired girl smiled once, before breaking her gaze, as she flicked her green eyes towards the ground. Artemis reached forwards to grab Kathleen's shoulder, but she pressed a quick kiss to the girl's forehead.

She turned to address her hunters.

"The last three months have been hard, I know. I assure you though that I am not falling into a pitfall of despair, an endless rabbit hole into the past," Artemis nodded her head to Christina, a lover of Alice in Wonderland, "It… it has taken me out of my mind, but I've accepted the fact that Perseus is dead. That boy in Camp Half-Blood is not Perseus. The stories I have told, the messages they convey: all point to an unspoken truth."

"To enjoy life to the fullest," Artemis smiled, "I have failed to have that, but now, I can see where to go now to embrace that notion, and I have you all to thank for that."

The Hunt positively beamed back at her and the collective lot of them stormed forwards, piling on in a rare group hug that Artemis found herself smiling at even as some unknown hunter tackled her to the ground from behind her.

It took a couple of minutes to individually embrace each and every hunter, but she did so, whispering to each one about how much she cared for them.

Phoebe was last to approach her, and Artemis still found herself struggling to read her gaze.

"My Lady," Phoebe said, "You never finished your story."

Artemis felt her smile slowly fade off of her face, "No, I did not."

"You have a little time before Zoe brings them back. It's your choice, to finish your story or not."

She could leave it where it stood to her Hunters. They had seen the most of her tale already. They knew who Perseus was to her, who she had become throughout the journey. But Gaugamela… Persepolis… and Babylon… those long years at Babylon…

"To be honest… there isn't much more to tell you girls. There is the Battle of Gaugamela…. And then, the following years were quiet, until- "Artemis froze, facing a familiar lock within her mind.

"Until Perseus's death?" Christina guessed, her face falling into a noticeably somber expression.

"…Yes," Artemis sighed, the thought striking her harder than she wished it to. She had known when Athena had first approached her about telling the Saga she had gone through in the far East would not be an easy telling. The past months leading up to the solstice and… Perseus's reincarnation had proven that. But his death… even know, she didn't like to think of that horrid memory. So much so, that there was a thick fog that swirled around that memory, placed there long ago by Morpheus at her bidding.

'Would she tell the hunt of that memory? Would she unlock that memory from her mind, to relive his passing?' She could picture her mind: coiling shadowed snakes, with venom of the miasmic curse of Perseus's death. Always they hunted her, and long had she eluded their grasp.

But was she one to run from her past? For so long, she had contained her life, her tragedies from everyone she knew, everyone she loved.

Only months ago, Artemis knew she'd probably kept running, shying away from the serpents of her mind, the poisonous past that haunted her.

But now, she felt fire course through her ichor filled veins. Her strength and tenacity, things that Perseus had always drawn out of her, rushed through her mind, and she felt herself take form at those mental gates, challenging the serpents.

Snakes do not fear many things, but she conjured her thoughts and reflected the image of a cursed creature upon her shameful doubting mind.

The nimble form of a mongoose, spry, and willing to chase down anything that stood in its way.

"Hunters," Artemis sadly smiled, "It was not long before Gaugamela that Perseus and I had a talk, that would change our relationship forever…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

In a sense, she was healing.

At the same time though, she found herself bucking against it. Never before had she really questioned her aversion to telling Perseus's story. The whole story. But now… she understood.

She would heal- in a cathartic hurricane of emotions, granted- but she would heal all the same. Yet, Perseus would fade from her mind, and those long-gone moments would dissipate entirely. Perhaps she was being too paranoid and was far too afraid of anything taking away Perseus from her, even in the sense of letting others into their relationship. On the other hand, the life of a goddess was long indeed, and the far-away memories of her own mother still seemed like they were covered by a thick blanket of fog, Leto's own face barely discernable through the mists.

Of all the moments that she had told her Hunters, Artemis felt herself flush as she remembered some of the moments that were purposefully glossed over: Perseus had been a real catch too many, including most of the followers' camp, which in reality, was a part of the main Macedonian camp in most circumstances.

She had been unprepared for the… possessiveness that had dripped out of her mind like poison to all that would dare try to take him from her. It had been… mortifying to come to terms with the perils of attraction and… love.

But there were some moments that she wanted her Hunt to hear about. And it was time to draw the story towards its conclusion. To the beginning of the end, where the threads desperately holding her Expedition with the Macedonians together snapped in spectacular fashion.

"Perseus… he would've been a guardian, I suppose. However, above all else, he would've been a loyal and honest member of the Hunt, who would've never failed to do anything in his power to right a wrong situation. I learned that…at the Battle of Gaugamela. It was there I realized that I would hold Perseus as close as possible for the rest of my days," Artemis frowned.

"Of course… I had no idea that Perseus would lay down his life for mine. In Babylon."

******Recap Over******

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Artemis flushed once again after she finished recounting that particular memory; it was a memory that still caused her heart rate to flutter and her ears to burn. She could still almost taste Perseus's lips on hers along with the feeling of his hands weaving themselves into her hair and they embraced. For a moment, she was lost in the memories that followed that fateful day, as she recalled what Perseus had done to keep her from harm during the battle with Anahita-

A loud cough interrupted her musings, as Zoe's voice, of all her Hunters, breached the silence surrounding the firepit.

Artemis snapped her eyes towards the sound of her lieutenant's voice, seeing Zoe immediately. The tall, raven-haired girl stood directly behind Phoebe at her right side, with Zoe's dark eyes constantly flicking to each hunter that sat around the fire, previously listening to Artemis's own story.

The implication of what she had just told the hunters had already seeped into her mind, but Artemis disregarded that notion for the moment, as Zoe's return could mean only one thing.

She flashed to her feet, instantly striding over to Zoe, her slightly wrinkled outfit instantly flaring into an immaculate silver tunic, with all the decorative embroideries and designs that Artemis could conjure at the moment.

"How much time?" Artemis promptly asked Zoe, as she stood a little shorter than her lieutenant even in her adult Goddess form.

"Winifred stayed with them until the final turn. She will return to thy when they are minutes away," Zoe reported, a flicker of hesitation in her onyx gaze, "They did well."

Artemis felt her heart squeeze. She had been friends with Zoe long enough to know her most trusted Hunter's thoughts to a degree. And it wasn't a far leap to imagine where this conversation was likely to turn. She thought back to Phoebe, and how close Zoe and the Spartan-native girl were. It was likely that Zoe harbored some similar reservations that she buried so that the hunt wouldn't sense of unease. The idea of that being the case embodied Zoe's strength as a hunter and girl, and Artemis had to steel her expression to follow Zoe's stalwart example of leadership.

"Thank you. The ritual is prepared," Artemis paused, looking over the Hunters who had all gotten to their feet and were beginning to surround Zoe and herself. "Get into position! Naomi, Celyn, and Olivia will be arriving momentarily! We welcome three sisters to the Hunt today!"

Like a flock of birds, the hunters instantly leapt in action, their discipline cutting through any thoughts they might have had regarding her story about her and Perseus's… connection. Yet, looking over them briefly as they scurried over the grassy clearing towards the small altar that had been set up in the treeline for the ceremony, she didn't see one face full of contempt. Nor any of disgust.

Emily and Angelina dashed by, the latter a bundle of energy as she practically bounced across the long grass with her dirty blonde hair flowing behind her. The wolves followed them, likely still enamored by Emily's proximity to cooking the dinner an hour before.

Phoebe and the 'Victorians' passed by next, the older hunter leading the small group over to the fringes of the treeline. The four lit torches, some handheld, some in stakes in the ground at the altar itself. The clearing, dimmed by the long-gone afterglow of the sunset, came to light once again as the torches bathed the area in orange light. Elizabeth, Victoria, and Kathleen all carried torches of their own, as they finished lighting the area with Phoebe glancing towards the treeline where the obstacle course finished.

Mara and Sarah ran towards the actual camp, both contrasts of each other with their dark and light skin/hair colors, respectively, before they disappeared from view into one of the many tents that marked the hunter's quarters.

Anna and Christina were the last to leave, with Christina helping the older hunter to her feet before they walked over towards the ceremony, chatting about their own ceremonies, hundreds of years in the past for both of them.

Zoe still stood before her though, and the older hunter didn't even turn as the Hunt busily prepared for the coming of the three new inductees to the Hunt.

"My Lady," Zoe glanced down at the ground momentarily, before she raised her dark gaze directly into Artemis's eyes, "Thou knoweth that I abhor restlessness. I cannot put myself in thine's footsteps…but, I… I cannot reason with thy's choices in regards to Perseus." Artemis felt her vision tunnel, as Zoe looked at her, the barest hint of a shiny glean to her eyes.

"Zoe…" Artemis murmured, as she tried to step up to the tall hunter, but Zoe's olive-skinned handheld her back with an unyielding grip on her shoulder.

"Thou knows my heavy tale and the story of…of that vile beast that took my young self in a zany flight of rapture," Zoe spoke with quiet seething eloquence, as she had for thousands of years. But Artemis noticed the cracks in her posture, the ever-present self-inflicted weight bearing down on her shoulders.

There was quiet between them, for a moment, as camp sounds around them of crackling torches and muted conversations hummed in the background. The Hunt had already almost fully prepared for the ceremony and if Artemis's memory was correct then Zoe and herself had only moments before the final warning would come in the form of Winifred.

"This is about what I told you when we first met, isn't it?" Artemis broke the silence, kicking herself internally for not realizing the significance of this sooner.

"Thou told me when I quaked with the weight of the world on my shoulders that I had to escape the essence of my plights and look towards a brighter future. Thine words struck my heart and have since given my life to thine. I have a family again because of thy's words that let me o'er wrought any and all fears that haunted my past. But…but thou hypocrite thyself with thine's own tales! How long have thine's thoughts drifted back to Perseus, how long have you palled up thy thoughts in the deep recesses of thy's mind? I intend to save thy from the very terror that haunted my own shadow so long ago, I owe thy the same service offered to me!"

Zoe's knuckles tightened until her tanned skin turned white, her hands clenched at her side.

"Oh Zoe," Artemis felt her heart crack at the implication. Of course, she knew the whole truth about the affairs between Zoe and the bastard demi-god Hercules. Why the rage that filled her heart when she learned that Hercules had been granted immortality as a minor god had never abated whenever she saw the brute. She instantly recalled that Zoe's tale included an episode of Zoe giving a kiss freely to the young hero at the Garden of the Hesperides' entrance, on his way to retrieve a golden apple from the clutches of Ladon.

"My faithful lieutenant… and greatest friend," Artemis continued, turning away Zoe's hand that she had let stop her, "I should have realized sooner. Let me make one thing clear before I say anything else: I have never, nor will I, felt anything less than the deepest admiration for the strength that you display every day as my lieutenant. Your trials and tribulations have proven yourself to be one of the strongest individuals I have had the privilege to know in my immortal life."

"And you are right to be concerned," Artemis confessed, her gaze dropping momentarily, "I myself can't reason the choices I made in regards to Perseus. I felt like a skittish deer, frozen in the face of danger. And now, since I have told you, and the rest of the Hunt, I have taken away a hunter's immortality for the same act of love that I displayed to a man three thousand years ago. Truth be told Zoe, these last three months, I have never felt as weak. Perseus is dead, I accept that. Yet in some explicable way, his memory has grown, the shade that haunts me taking a real tangible form."

"Inexplicable? I was the first at your side, my Lady, I know what transpired on Mt. Olympus. I don't know why thy hath dug herself into the past to escape the realities of the present, or if the thought of another Perseus living takes too much to fathom," Zoe snapped in reply, taking on a tone that Artemis was all too familiar with when Zoe saw a hunter lagging in training, "I won't hold back my doubts about this. Perseus is dead. That runt of Poseidon is not the man that thy hath spoke of. Heavy art thou's thoughts and seldom can I alleviate them, but we have three new members of the Hunt dashing through the woods."

Artemis almost wanted to deny Zoe's words. How could Perseus be dead, when as the older hunter spoke, he was right there beside her? The dangerously onyx eyes, narrowed with determination were matched by jade green and perfectly identical black hair.

She wanted to scream that Perseus would never die, not while she had his shade cradled within the deep recesses of her mind. Her tales had awoken his spirit, she was sure of it. Zoe's words were poison, poison to his memory. Artemis felt her hackles raise, as her longest friend dared to lecture her, a Goddess of the Hunt, like a greenhorn hunter, when she blinked.

The shade of Perseus was gone, the same determined green eyes that had judged her replaced by Zoe where he had been standing. The momentary shift in her vision almost staggered her with her equilibrium suddenly tilted this way and that.

Where was Perseus? Where was the memory that he had so long kept at bay? She tried to imagine what he'd look like in this situation. He would have challenged her at every sentence, every pause in her breath, undaunted about her position or power. He would have spoken up for what was right and what needed to be done. 'Wallowing doesn't serve anyone, it only serves hose who long for what is already gone,' He'd once said to her. Perseus had always been a dreamer with a grounded sense of self.

She suddenly felt small, as the fog in her mind shifted as she replayed Zoe's words in her mind, all instead spoken by Perseus's shade.

"I say this not to trouble you my Lady," Zoe's voice continued, "I see the conflict in thine's eyes. Thy hath already spake of worries and grief. I… I needed to be here for thy. I am looking forward to our future." Zoe glanced back at the Hunt, gathered, with some looking their way.

"I told you once," Artemis began, thinking over her lieutenant's words and assertions, "that you and Perseus would've gotten along." She watched as Zoe's eyes flashed dangerously, but Artemis was quick to explain the mention of Perseus again.

"That was true, and I found It comforting to imagine a future where that came to be. A world with Perseus alive and well, along with the greatest friends I had ever had, all together so that I could never feel conflicted about my past and present," Artemis stepped forward and hugged Zoe, weaving her arms tight across her upper back. "How I should have known from your own struggles of the perils of doing so. And gods above… Perseus would have used harsher language than you did."

"Good," Artemis felt Zoe grin against her cheek and the tall hunter squeezed her back, "Never forget him, my Lady, let that be a strength for thy. I need thy; we all do."

"I can always count on you to know me best," Artemis murmured as she stepped out of their embrace, now, I believe I have a great honor to attend to tonight.

Artemis squeezed Zoe's shoulder as a parting goodbye and padded over to the alter with light footsteps. She passed by all of the assembled hunters; their faces caught by torchlight with the darkened forests behind them. At the altar, there were two small candles flickering across the dark wood. The altar itself was a relic of Delos, where Artemis had sworn the first members of the Hunt after she had received her domains. Since those days, the trees and forests od Delos had withered into ash, leaving only barren cragged hills in their place.

In some ways, this altar, and the Hunt itself, were all that remained of Artemis's home. She recalled the conversations she had with Perseus so long ago during the Macedonian expedition. She lost her mother to the decay of time during those long years, as well as Perseus.

But she was here now, and ready to carry on the traditions of the Hunt, until the day came when she faded away from this world.

The hunters around her fell into silence as if straining their senses to hear the approaching footsteps of Winifred, the last signal for the inductees being only moments away.

Minutes passed by, with the dying bonfire and the cracking embers drifting slowly by in the faint night breeze. The tiny candles endured, seemingly shielded from being extinguished by a miracle in of themselves, and Artemis had her gaze caught there, as she stared into the small flame. She stood behind the altar with perfect posture, dressed in her most simple but shimmering silver tunic. Closing her eyes for a moment, she let her sense rush outwards through the clearing, then to the treeline where the obstacle course lay, like a gust of wind. Almost instantly, she found Winifred's aura, a pulsing silver energy that surrounded her hunter. Close by her, Artemis sensed three others, dashing through the trees with accelerated heartbeats and shortness of breath.

After a few moments, Winifred's aura shot away from the three inductees and barreled straight towards the clearing. Winifred was so close, that in ten strides, Artemis snapped her eyes open in time to see Winifred's form burst out of the undergrowth a half bow's shot away. Wasting no time, the century-old hunter bounded over to the altar and her hidden sisters like a hare. Gone were Winifred's injuries and any semblance of weakness that Artemis suspected might have remained. She was impressed.

Winifred took the last two strides before she literally slid across the grass to reach a tree where Anna and Christiana were hiding. Winifred's feet slammed into Anna, and immediately, a playful argument broke out.

"AGH! Get your feet out of my face!" Anna huffed, shoving Winifred from a prone position, her dark hair almost hiding the gleam in her eyes.

"You move," Winifred puffed slightly, "It's your fat butt that is hogging all the cover." Anna scowled and the two both started to flick each other with muffled insults being slung at each other.

Artemis could only roll her eyes at the solemn display of her hunters before an age-old ceremony. She was about to quell the squabble when Angelina, of all her hunters, spoke up from down the treeline.

"Hey! Numbskulls! Don't ruin the surprise!" Artemis turned around to her left, hearing Angelina's voice. She was prepared to give a nod to Angelina in thanks, but when she saw her youngest hunter's predicament she froze.

Cinder and the other wolves had evidently moved on from begging for Emily's cooking scraps and had now formed a literal ball of fur around Angelina, trapping the hunter in a small dip in the clearing at the edge of the treeline. While hidden… slightly, Artemis counted at least six wolves wrapped around Angelina, to the point that Artemis could only see her head and one tunic clad arm sticking out.

Artemis locked eyes with Angelina and Cinder's tail thumped quietly against the grassy earth. She could feel the inductees dashing through the final part of the obstacle course, only a minute away now. The Hunt was silent around her, and she cocked an eyebrow at Angelina before a hunter broke.

A snort erupted from right behind Artemis, from a hunter who suspiciously sounded exactly like Phoebe. That seemed to break most of the others and soft chucking burst out from up and down the line of hidden hunters. Artemis sighed, and placed a hand over her forehead, shaking her head ruefully while carefully hiding her small grin.

Angelina had worried her for a couple of years, but now, she welcomed the inextinguishable comedic spirit that she brought to the Hunt. Olympus knows that she needed to smile more in this day and age.

The jolly atmosphere was silenced though when Artemis's senses rang in the back of her head. They gave her a split-second notice, and she snapped her head up at the sound of multiple footsteps on the far side of the clearing.

"Ha!" Naomi crooned; her voice ragged as Artemis saw through the darkened clearing as the stocky girl was the first to emerge from the obstacle course. A split second passed as Naomi slowly to a stop, whirling around to look behind her, as Celyn and Olivia bolted through the treeline at the exact same time. Artemis was impressed. For weeks, Celyn and Olivia had always beaten Naomi in the footraces of the obstacle course. Naomi's curly brown hair danced around as she bobbed back and forth on her heels, her back turned away from the silent camp.

"Nice," Olivia linked her hands behind her head with her elbows raised on either side of her shoulders, "Nice run, the logs didn't give you any… trouble today." Both Olivia and Celyn were at least a half a foot taller than Naomi, with their respective blonde and dirty blonde hair coming down to their upper backs in straight waves, as opposed to Naomi's curls.

"Hey… wait a minute… Hello?" Olivia spoke, as she sucked in huge breaths of air, "Guys, the camp is dark, where is everyone?"

"Wait, what?" Naomi turned around, and immediately raised her bow, an arm going back for one of the few remaining arrows in her quiver that Artemis could see.

Artemis smiled in the night air and looked up to the stars. It was a cloudless night, and the crystal-clear skies yielded the view of every star above in a glimmering field of blues, whites and orange distant flickering lights. She snapped her fingers, focusing her magics through the night sky. Her being shook as the power of the spell hit her, but she stood firm, and began the ritual of starlight around the clearing.

It was a ritual she used only for the initiation of hunters, due to its complexity and taxing nature. But no matter how weak she was, there was no way that she would negligently throw away the traditions of the Hunt. So, she looked to the night sky above, at the dozens of constellations and beings she had put amongst the stars. They would serve her for a short while.

In a dazzling flash of white light, ghostly spectral forms drifted down from the skies and constellations of the stars themselves. Deer and elk trotted down from the sky into camp, sparking with dozens of stars that formed their incorporeal shapes. A stream of salmon ran through a silver stream of starlight that wound through the camp. And intermingled among them, Artemis concentrated and remembered the Hunters of old, who had fallen in their duties. A menagerie of woodland creatures followed these brilliant images that washed the camp aglow in natural white and blue light that connected the night sky to the very clearing before them.

And with each animal, with each being of starlight, descended the memories of the Hunters of old. Nameless and faceless, Artemis bide them to assemble around the camp as guardians overlooking the weaving starlight that washed through the clearing with light, love, and life.

Artemis heard the Hunt murmur in amazement around her, as this… this was a sight that did not come around often. Artemis smiled, concentrating as she dug into her powers, drawing out all she could. It didn't matter how much energy she used in conjuring this mirage of moonlight and starlight. To remember the oaths and traditions of the Hunt was worth it.

And as she weaved together currents of starlight, Artemis drew a walkway of stars across the grassy ground of the clearing directly to the three inductees. It was as if day had come to the clearing, as dozens of deer, elk, moose, bears, and lions walked up to the walkway lines, and stood at attention, awaiting the procession of the three new members of the Hunt.

Finally, Artemis drew the pathway of starlight all the way to the altar, and as she finished carving the pathway of the silver stream of starlight which salmon swam languidly above, her eyes caught Naomi, Olivia, and Celyn's.

Artemis smiled, her energy drained, but standing firm, "Welcome, inductees, to the Hunt. If you would step forwards?"

All around her, the Hunt emerged from their hiding places. As they stepped out from the treeline, their silver tunics caught the starlight that shone all around them, turning the tunics into sparking garments of starlight themselves. Artemis had to beckon Naomi, Olivia, and Celyn forwards, as their wide eyes had frozen them to the places they stood. The constellation animals of the forest had aligned along the walkway, and at the edges of the clearing, above the treeline, giant visages of the hunters of old stood like stone guardians, donned in silver tunics.

And slowly, Naomi in the lead, followed by Celyn and Olivia, the three young girls walked along the glowing grass under their feet. Above them, salmon raced through the ethereal stream, and at their sides, the avatars of nature stood, bowing their heads as they passed. In that moment, that was all that existed around them. The glowing beings of starlight drowned out the campsite, and the treeline around the clearing.

Each inductee looked amazed at the beauty and graceful nature of everything around them, and in no time at all, the three stood before the altar in a row, their gazes catching everything around them, from the animals to the guardians of the hunters, to the Hunt itself, each girl clad in starlight.

"Naomi. Olivia. Celyn. You stand amidst the memories of the Hunt. It is what we are sworn to protect. It is what we are sworn to uphold," Artemis began in her most regal tone, "The Hunt was formed in a world that needed a burgeoning force to defend the wild places of the world from the corruptive nature of any who would dare to defile it. On a blooming Spring day in Delos, I swore my first hunters to a pact that granted them with powers to keep this peace, at the cost of romantic love. It is a hunter's duty to uphold the highest virtues of the natural world and to rid it of any monster seeking to uproot innocent lives in the world. Do you intend to take an oath to fulfil this life?"

Artemis looked over to Naomi, awaiting the girl's response.

The young girl stared directly back at her, her eyes full of starlight, "I do." Artemis glanced over to Olivia.

The blonde-haired girl bobbed her head nervously, "I do."

And finally, she glanced to Celyn, who was already nodding.

"I will, Lady Artemis."

"Take a knee then, girls, then rise as members of the Hunt," Artemis smiled, before she entwined her voice with the power that she had been given by the fates, "Repeat these words: "I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men and women, and accept eternal maidenhood. I join the Hunt, to root out corruption in the natural world."

Naomi bowed her head to the ground, and dropped to one knee, as did Olivia and Celyn. The girls began to recite the words, offbeat at first, before they all fell into a staccato rhythm in reciting the pledge, "I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men and women and accept eternal maidenhood. I join the Hunt, to root out corruption in the natural world."

Artemis felt the words flow through the earth and tremor up to her heart. She raised her hand, and concentrated on the girl's soul. Full of life and love, she latched on and poured her own silvery essence into the girl, weaving the Hunt's abilities' into the girl. After coating her soul in a warm silver light, she snapped her finger, and the bond was sealed. Instantly, each girl's form, all clad in faded white tunics, shimmered into a tunics of silver, that caught the starlight all around her. A faint silver glow accompanied this change, and shone through the glowing grass around them.

"Welcome, girls, to the Hunt," Artemis smiled. She then turned her gaze to the stars, and waved her hand. The beings of starlight all began their independent dances up towards the stars above. In this display, the Hunt surged forwards around her, to embrace their new sisters. Artemis glanced back down, as each hunter's silvery auras opened up, providing plenty of light to see by as the starlit proceedings faded away. Naomi, Olivia, and Celyn were crushed in hugs from the hunters around them, as a dozen pack wolves circled the bear hugs going on around them.

P.S.

I changed the Hunter's oath a bit for this story's purposes. Obviously, the credit goes to Rick Riordan's books for the essence of the Oath itself.