Chapter Ζ The Folóï Oak Forest and Hunters

"What are we going to do?" asked Claire.

"That's a good question. That said, I do not know," said Daisy.

A bit of worry appeared on her face.

"Blaire, is there more information you can provide?" asked Jace.

"Yes, I can provide more information about what happened. A day ago, some person in black robes went through and did this to the land," said Blaire.

"Black robes…hmm. Claire, does that ring any bells for you?" I asked.

"No, nothing comes to mind at the moment. That said, I will still try to figure it out," said Claire.

"Will she do that? Let's take a look around," said Daisy, turning to Blaire.

"Is it okay to step into the area?" asked Daisy.

"Yes, it's okay. It does not affect humans," said Blaire.

"That's good to know. Do you know where the burn patches started?" asked Jace.

"This way. I started right here," said Blaire, pointing to a clearing.

"Was there some kind of machine or something that made the forest turn black? Oh, and what is the name of the forest we're in right now?" asked Jace.

"To answer your first question, yes there was a machine that did this that we destroyed. To answer your second question, we are in the Folóï oak forest in Greece," said Blaire.

"We are high above the ground, if that is the case," said Daisy.

"Yes, by 688m to be exact," said Blaire.

"Is that high above sea level?" I asked.

"Yes, that is above the sea level," said Blaire.

"Is there a way to bring this part of the forest back?" asked Sara.

"Not by human means. Though if the gods/goddess want to, I guess they can," said Blaire.

"Is there something that Artemis wants us to do?" asked Claire.

"Yes, there is something that Artemis wants you to do," said Blaire as she continued to move." Follow me back to the camp," .

"Our camp or yours?" asked Daisy.

"We can go back to mine and see what Artemis needs to say," said Blaire. The group walked back to Artemis's camp.

At Artemis' Base Camp

"Artemis, I brought them back after seeing the forest," said Blaire.

"Good, now that you saw what happened we can get down to the matter at hand. "Said Artemis.

"A plan to deal with what is going on with the forest,' said Claire.

"If you don't mind, I will speak," said Artemis. Everyone looked at Artemis. "Now that I have your attention, this is the plan. Two hunters will scout ahead of the primary groups. We need to know where their base camp is. At sunrise, two hunters will scout ahead…,"

"What about when we are at the enemy base?" asked Daisy.

"That is a good question. That is what we are going to do with a surprise attack on that base," said Artemis.

"We also should have a backup plan just in case the sunrise attack does not work," I said.

"That does make sense, but what is the secondary plan?" asked Sara.

"Hmm what about... no, that will not work," said George. "George, what are you thinking about?" asked Jace.

"Oh, nothing that I want to say at the moment," said George.  

"Suit yourself, but you will need to say that after a bit," said Jace.

"Now that we know what the plan is, what is the next step?" asked Daisy.

"The next step is to prepare to move out," said Blaire.

"But where do we start?" I asked.

"How about seeing what weapons and armor we have to start with?" asked Claire.

"That's a great place to start," said Jace. The group split up to see what armor and weapons were around.

"In addition to this, we will need more supplies for the battle," said Daisy.

"True. We have some supplies that we can provide to your group," said Artemis.

"Does everyone now have what they need for the trip?" asked Daisy.

"Yes, we have everything I need," I said.

"I'm going to scout ahead of the primary group with another hunter," said Blaire.

"Who's going to go with you?" asked Jace.

"Me," said Sydney.

"What are you doing here, sister?" asked Sara.

"I could say the same thing about you. The last time I saw you were hiding in Hera's cabin," said Sydney.

"I see that you did not change much," said Sara.

"We're off. See you soon," said Blaire. Blaire and Sydney leave to scout the area.

"That was weird. First, we ran into your sister Jace, and then we ran into your other sister, Sara," said Daisy.

"When do we start to move?" I asked.

"Once they get back here then we move," said Artemis.

"Then we wait for them to get back. Till then, let us train," said Jace.

"We have a training area right off this building," said Artemis.

"Can we use it? Should we train until the scouts return?" asked Daisy.

"Yes, you can train until they come back. We need you in top form," said Artemis.

A Little While Later

"It's been one hour since they left to scout. Where are they?" asked Jace.

"Patience is not your strong suit is it?" asked Daisy.

"No, it is not. Blaire can attest to that," said Jace.

Crash!

"We're back!" said Blaire.

"That was some entrance. Is everything alright?" asked Artemis.

"Yes, everything is alright for now. We need to put the plan into motion like right now," said Blaire.

"I agree with Blaire on this one," said Sydney.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let us get going," said Jace. The group started to move toward the enemy camp.

"From your camp to theirs, how long is it?' asked Daisy.

"3.2 kilometers," said Blaire.

"That's pretty far. Are you sure we can get there by sunrise?" asked Sara.

"Yes, I am sure that we can get there in time," said Sydney.

They begin their hike toward the enemy camp.

Daisy looked off into the distance.

"What's that?" asked Daisy.

"What is…? Oh, I do not know," said Sara.

"It looks like something from the Roman Empire, but…why? "I asked.

"Why is it still here?" asked Daisy.

"Do you mean, 'Why is it still being used?'" asked Jace.

"Yes, that's what I'm trying to say," said Daisy.

"Can you be quiet, please?" said Blaire. Everyone quieted down so that they could hear what was going on.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Just be quiet and listen," said Sydney.

"Do you hear anything?" asked a Harpy.

"No, I did not hear anything," said a cyclops.

"Keep your eye out," said a Harpy.

"On it," said a Cyclops.

"That was a close one," said Sydney.

"Do you see anything that we can use to get into the camp?" asked Daisy.

"Not at the moment. I will keep looking," said Blaire.

They kept on looking for an entrance to the camp, also looking up.

"It is getting late. What do you think we should do?" asked Claire.

"We will have to delay our attack until tomorrow morning. We can use the darkness tonight to get to the location," said Blaire.

"Heard that. We will wait till then," said Sydney.

Night Falls in the Forest

"What's the plan?" asked Daisy.

"We send to two people to act like they want to be captured and then we attack," said Artemis.

" Then who will be the two people?" I asked.

"How about Grace and Hannah?" said Artemis.

Artemis calls over Grace and Hannah.

"You want us for something?" asked Grace.

"Yes. You and Hannah go into the enemy camp and act like you are injured," said Artemis.

"So then we are off to go and do that," said Grace.

"Go and do what you need to do. Then tell us when you are inside the camp," said Artemis. The two hunters left.

"Now that they are doing that, what is the next part of the plan?" asked Claire.

"We strategies then we attack," said Daisy.

"That makes sense," said Claire. As she started thinking to herself.

"What are you thinking, Claire?" I asked.

"Oh. Just what if this goes wrong?" said Claire.

"I understand your worry, Claire. That is also why we have a backup plan that George thought up," said Artemis.

"We should focus on what we are doing at the moment," said Daisy.

"I guess that is Okay with me," said Claire A bit, weirder than before.

"looks like the two are captured," said Blaire. As she saw the signal of smoke in the air.

"Then it is time that we put the plan into action," said Artemis.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let us get a move on," I said. As he lifted his spear.

"You heard him. Let us get a move on," said Blaire. As the group started to move.

"Hmm, what is going on out in the woods?" asked the mysterious person.

"Oh sorry, ma'am it is nothing to worry about. Did you get in contact with Chris?" asked A Siren. "Yes, I did get in contact with him. Hmm something is off," said the mysterious person. Looking at the hut that the two captives were being held in.

"What is the matter?" asked the Siren.

"That is an S.O.S. They are sending a distress signal to someone, or a group of people sounds the alarm," said the mysterious person. Alarm bells rang through that camp, but by that time it was almost too late. The attack had already started at the main gate.

"Why has the attack already started?" asked the mysterious person.

"Well, we do not know why. All we know is this has started," said another Siren.

"I guess that makes sense. Wait, no, it does not make any sense whatsoever," said the Mysterious person.

Bang. Crash.

"I think I need to get down there too," said the Mysterious person.

"What is going on here? I thought you said you could handle this," said Chris.

"We have it handled Chris, you do not need to worry about it," said the mysterious person.

"Then tell me the plan you have to deal with these people," said Chris. Very annoyed.

"Injure them till they give up and leave," said the mysterious person.

"That could work. Do you have a backup plan if that does not work?" asked Chris.

"This plan is foul proof. It can not fail," said the mysterious person.

"That is not great. Do you have a backup plan if that does not work?" asked Chris.

"Um, what do you mean by that?" asked the mysterious person.

"Explain it to you will not help you at all," said Chris

. "What do you mean?" asked the mysterious person.

"I am leaving to see you soon if you do not fail," said Chris.

"Then see you soon then," said the mysterious person.

"Ma'am who was that?" asked a harpy.

"Someone who is here to help us," said the mysterious person.

"That is weird but Okay," said Cyclopes. "Where are they at the moment.?" asked the mysterious person.

" Looks like they are in the first building," said Cyclopes.

"What! Go and stop them right now," said a Harpy.

"On it. Let us move right now," said a harpy. ​​They started to move.

"What to do. Let me think," said the mysterious person.

"Henry, I have a question," said Daisy.

"What is your question?" I asked.

"What is the next part of the plan?" asked Daisy.

"Find the two people that are held captive and destroy this camp," said Artemis.

" Do you hear a noise outside the hut?" asked Grace.

"Yes, I do hear that. I wonder what is going on outside," said Hannah.

"Then let us go out there, get out weapons and armor and help them out," said Grace.

"Ma'am look, the prisoners are trying to escape," said a Cyclops.

'Wait what, go and stop them right now!" yelled the mysterious person.

"On it right away," said a Harpy. The harpies flew up into the air.

"Now that they are up in the air what to do next?" said a Cyclops.

"Then follow me and I will show you what the next part of the plan is," said the mysterious person.

"We will follow you," said another cyclops.

"Hey Sara, watch your back," said Jace.

"On it. Thanks for the heads up," said Sara.

"Did you see where Grace and Hannah were being held?" asked Daisy. Just as she said that.

"I guess that will not matter. I see them right there," I said.

"Why is that not a worry?" asked Daisy.

"Because look who I see fighting their way to us," I said.

"Oh. Okay then. I guess that is not a worry," said Daisy.

"Yes, now then, to the matter at hand. Taking down this camp and the creatures that are in here," said Artemis.

"Let us get down to business," said Blaire.

"On it. That said, there are a lot of enemies that are around here," said Claire.

"Yes, there are. Okay, split into a group of five people," said Sydney. "Roger, when you heard her, let us do this," said another, "one of the hunters.

"We are on that," said Claire. Looking at our group.

"It is going to be interesting to figure out how to do this," said Claire.

"Yes, with a group of six people, it will not work. One of us will be in a different group than the rest of us," said Daisy.

"I volunteer to be in a different group than the rest of you," said Jace.

"No, you should be in the group of five. I am the outsider in the group," said Claire.

"Then it has been decided Claire will be in one of the hunters' groups and the rest of us will be in a group together," said Daisy. We all split up into the groups that we are going to be a part of.

"Is it just me or does doing this seem a bit off to you?" I asked.

"I guess you are right. It is a bit off. That said, we do not know much about Claire at the moment," said Daisy. "True, the last time that we saw her was when she and Chris were fighting us in that area," I said."I saw that from the stands. That was amazing. "said, Jace.

"We all did Jace," said Sara.

"Oh right, my bad," said Jace. "Everyone started to laugh.

"Let us stay at the matter at hand. We need to concentrate on what we are doing," said Daisy.

"On it," I said. Started to look around the battlefield that was the enemy camp.

"Let us move over in that direction," said George."Why do you want to go that way?" asked Jace.

"There is something that I want to check out, that is all," said George.

"George, we can go over there. That said, what are we looking for?" asked Daisy. A bit confused by what George was saying.

"What do you mean you are confused? Oh, right I did not say what I am looking for," said George.

"Yes, you forgot to say that. That said, now is not the time to look for what that is," said Sara.

"I will look for it after we get through this," said George.

"Oh, it looks like we have this battle," said Blaire. A little later that night.

"That was a weird fight," I said.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Claire.

"It was like there were no defenses or nothing," I said.

"How is that weird? There were defenses; they were just not ready for us," said Daisy.

"Oh, I guess that I just did not notice them at all," I said.

"I can say at this point that is typical of you," said Jace.

"It is not like I was not paying any attention to what was going on,"I said. Everyone started to look at Henry.

"Brother, I can not help you with this one. You are on your own," said Daisy.

"Okay. Okay. I got what you are trying to say," I said.

"I'm wondering something," said George.

"Oh. What are you wondering about?" asked Daisy.

"How are you two? Claire and her brother are all related to one another?" asked George.

"Yes, we all would like to know that," said Jace.

"Their mother and our father are brother and sister," said Daisy.

"Oh, I see then that makes you four cousins then," said Sara.

"Yes, that is how that works," said Claire.

"Oh Okay, that makes more sense now. Do we know why Athena and Hades dislike each other?" asked George.

"Not that we could tell. That said, whatever happened must have been no good," I said.

"Yes, it is a weird question. That right now we do not have the answer for," said Daisy. Trees started to sway back and forth.

"Hey, are you coming a lot or not?" asked Blaire.

"Oh yes, we will follow you back to your camp," said Daisy.

"We will see you there then," said Blaire. As she turned to head out.

"We held back to where we met Artemis then," said Claire.

"Yes, I do believe that to be the case. Should we start to head in that direction, then?" asked Daisy.

"Yes, let us go and see what they want from us next," I said. We, as a group, started to head to the hunters' camp.

"I just remembered when Blaire came to get us. We forgot to pack up our camp," said Claire.

"I do not think our supplies are still there. "I said.

"Agreed. There is no way that our stuff is still there," said Sara.

"Oh. Okay, that makes sense. Why did I not think of that?" asked Claire.

Narrator: What we did not know is that some gods were watching us to see what we do.