The Hunter

It was the hottest day of the year. The day every single constellation was waiting for. The day they all come to life, for the first time, exactly as they were told to be.

As the sun set, the stars hummed with energy, waiting for the last light to leave the sky.

At long last, the stars swooped toward the earth, and the constellations took their places among the mortal world. You see, these clusters of stars were unaware they weren’t real, so there was one constellation that had an extraordinary adventure on this day. And his name was Orion.

“At last, I returned from the clutches of Hades,” Orion declared, stretching his sore muscles and looking around what looked like a beach, though it was dark out. “So much has changed since I was last in the mortal realm. I must find Artemis though. No doubt she’s angry at me for my absence.”

Orion wandered around the beach for a little bit, until he came upon an elderly man. “Sir, sir!” Orion cried. “You must tell me how to get to Mount Olympus, I have to find Lady Artemis,”

The man squinted, and yelled “The Olympics aren't for another year!” Then he limped away. Ah, he’s hard of hearing. Orion thought to himself. Then the man turned around and said, “But even if they were, they wouldn't be in Jersey Shore!” chuckling to himself he walked away.

“Jersey Shore,” Orion mumbled. “So, I need to get to Greece. How do I do that?” A teenage girl walked past him, and he jumped in front of her. “Ma’am, I was wondering which way Greece is?”

“Um,” The girl said. “Well, the coast is right there, and then you would take a boat if you want to go that way. But you can go west and take an airplane there.”

Across the water! Thank the gods, Poseidon is my father, and I can walk on water. “Thank you ma’am, you are a fine mortal, a fine mortal indeed.”

“Hey, who are you calling a mortal?” The girl fired back.

Not anticipating this response, Orion replied, “I am Orion, child of Poseidon, and Lady Artemis’s partner in the Hunt. I was given immortality, so you humans are, yes, considered mortal.”

“Well, excuse me, but I am Celeste Sinclair, and I- wait, did you say you are Orion?” The girl said. Orion nodded, and the girl gasped, “I am an Athena kid, and a Hunter. Lady Artemis will be thrilled to see you.”

I knew I’d be missed! “Well, thank you for your help, I’ll be going now.”

Orion turned, and started walking away, when Celeste said, “Wait,” Orion stopped and turned around. “You need to know where to go on the ocean, and I can be of help with that. I am the best navigator in the Hunters.”

“Do you get seasick?” Orion asked, a smile making its way across his face. When Celeste shook her head, Orion said, “Then we are going for a walk.” Orion bent down, motioning her to get on his back.

“No way,” Celeste cried out. “I am not climbing on your back like some sort of spider monkey!”

“You can either climb on and come with me, or not come at all.” Orion stated, tapping his foot.

“Fine,” Celeste grumbled, hopping on Orion’s back, “But this is for Artemis. Not. For. You.”

“Understood,” Orion replied, his eyes already on the ocean. Orion started running, and took a leap before he landed on the ocean, feet falling atop the waves.

“Okay, just keep straight for about 5,000 miles.” Celeste said, unsure of Orion’s ability to run for that long.

“Trust me, Hunter, as a Poseidon kid, I can run really fast on water.”

“That shouldn’t even be possible.” Celeste mumbled.

30 minutes later, Orion slowed to a stop on the coast of the Aegean sea. Looming over him was Mount Olympus.

“That took a while,” Celeste complained, cracking her knuckles.

“Shut up,” Orion said, rolling his neck. Celeste wisely took his advice and the journey to the mountain was quiet.

After a while, Orion stopped at the base of Mount Olympus, notably slower on land than he was on water. As he started the long trek to the home of the gods, the mighty demigod started to wonder, how had I escaped Hades? And why was I sent there in the first place? Orion had no recollection of dying and facing the god of the underworld. Then, an awe inspiring sight in front of him shook him out of his thoughts. Gold and white threads were weaving themselves together, then melding into a beautiful building. Orion spread his hands out and cheered, overjoyed by the prospect of rejoining Artemis, Apollo, and the Hunt. Orion straightened his sword in the hilt strapped to his hip, and strode into Olympus.

“Nephew!” Zeus boomed as Orion walked into the throne room. “What brings you here?”

“My Lord, I am here to rejoin Lady Artemis as her partner in the Hunt.” Orion declared, his voice echoing off the walls. “I have been absent too long, and I need to beg for forgiveness.”

“Orion,” Ares said with his gruff voice “Both Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo are on the island of Delos.”

“Orion,” Zeus began again. “As a penance for your absence, you must slay the Nemean lion as your cousin Heracles did before you, and then take the hide to Artemis and Apollo, all before sunrise tomorrow, which is in 5 hours.”

“And Celeste darling,” Hera added, “Since you have pledged yourself to his quest, you must help him slay the lion. Then you may rest. Good luck.”

“My Lady, I can’t sleep now, no matter how hard I try.” Celeste replied.

“Thank you, My Lord, My Lady.” Orion replied, trying with all his might to keep the bite out of his tone. Giving attitude to the gods is a one way ticket to the Fields of Punishment.

As soon as Orion was sure the gods couldn’t hear him, he roared in anger, enraged that he had climbed the entire Mount Olympus for nothing. “For the love of Aphrodite, I did not need to go to Olympus, just to find out that I need to go redo Heracles’s first labor again!” Celeste said and did nothing but watch Orion crash out with an amused expression.

After Orion had calmed down and came to his senses, he realized that he needed a map to see where exactly Nemea was.

“There has gotta be a tourist shop somewhere around here.” Orion mumbled to himself.

“Can’t you just run across water like you did from New Jersey to Greece,” Celeste finally piped up.

“I still need a map Celeste, or I’m just gonna be running around over the ocean forever, then I’m going to get tired, and fall into the ocean. And you, unlike me, cannot breathe underwater. So yes, I need a map,”

Orion remembered when he and a couple of his siblings were visiting the gods, and needed to get a map. Then he thought of a specific half-sibling of his. Pegasus. His best friend. “But maybe I don’t need a map.” Excited, and fully trusting his brother, he turned, whistled.

“What are we doing?” Celeste asked. Fear painting the plains of her face.

“Do you trust me? Cause we are gonna hitch a ride on a flying horse, my brother, Pegasus” Orion said, looking at Celeste.

“Not really, but Lady Artemis trusts you so, maybe.” Celeste said, much too fast. “But I hate heights.”

Ignoring her, he recalled the time Pegasus, child of Poseidon and Medusa, said, “If you ever need a ride brother, I’ll be there. Just whistle.” Orion then turned, grabbed Celeste, and plummeted off the nearest cliff. He was falling, until he wasn’t. He was halted midair, above a pair of strong wings.

“I knew I could count on you, brother,” Orion yelled, laughing with glee as Pegasus rocketed toward the cliff before turning sharply and speeding toward the sky.

“You and me brother, always,” Pegasus replied. “Now, I know you didn’t call me for a joy ride, so what’s going on? And what is with the girl behind you?” Concern laced each word that came out of Pegasus’s mouth, but the last statement came out of his mouth with a tease. Orion punched Pegasus, and he spun in the air. Celeste squealed with fear.

“You know me so well, brother.” Orion said, “I need a ride to Nemea, I have to slay the Nemean lion as a penance from my absence from the Hunt. And Celeste is a Hunter, so she’s coming with me. And brother, I’m also gonna need you to give us a ride to Delos. To find the twins.”

“I’m not your Uber driver,” Pegasus complained. “But yeah, I’ll help you.”

“What is the horse saying,” Celeste whispered, obviously scared.. “And how can you understand him?”

“Well, as a child of Poseidon, I’m his half-brother, so I can understand him.” Celeste nodded.

“Why not just run, Orion?” Pegasus asked, “I know you prefer that to flying. And so does Celeste. Clearly”

“Is it not believable that I want to spend time with my dear sibling?” Orion teased, knowing Pegasus would hear the smirk in his voice.

“No, brother, I know you, and you have always, and I mean always, preferred being on land versus the risk of being shot out of the sky by Zeus.”

“Well, I know Dad pardoned you from Zeus’s wrath, so I am safe,” Orion stated.

Pegasus flipped upside down and hung there for a while, making Celeste scream with terror, and say, “Just tell him,” when Orion waited, “NOW,” she yelled!

Chuckling, Orion turned and said, “I already ran from the coast of New Jersey, to the coast of the Aegean sea, and I climbed Mount Olympus. 90% of the time with Celeste on my back. So I don’t think I can go to Nemea and Delos with Celeste on my back, without collapsing.”

“Well then, Nemea, here we come,” Pegasus yelled, flying forward with bullet-like speed.

As rolling hills and mountains came into view, Orion knew they had arrived in Nemea. “Finally, let’s get this over with, and then be on our way to Delos,” he said. “Pegs, can you see where the lion might be right now?”

“Yeah, there are a couple caves up ahead, but one cave smells like blood and tears.” Pegasus said calmly.

“Bingo.” Orion answered, grabbing Celeste’s wrist he jumped from Pegasus’s back, and tumbled onto the ground.

“I hate you,” Celeste said, punching Orion. “Can’t you give a girl a little warning before you decide to do something crazy?”

“If I told you, would you have come or would you’ve stayed there frozen in fear?” Orion replied, lightly punching Celeste back. Before she opened her mouth, a deafening roar emitted from the bloody cave. “Yep, that’s our prize,” Orion said grimly, drawing his sword.

“Orion, do you even have a plan, or are you just gonna charge in there?” Celeste asked, skepticism written all over her face.

“I’m gonna charge,” Orion said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Celeste jumped in front of him, blocking the entrance to the cave, and said, “How about, you go distract him, get him to roar, and I’ll shoot an arrow down his throat?”

Orion mulled over the plan for a second, and said, “Yeah, that sounds solid.” With a loud battle cry, Orion charged into the cave.

This is disgusting, was Orion’s first thought after he crossed the threshold. Then, one second there was nothing but the stench of blood, and the next, there was the Nemean lion, roaring, and spraying spit on his face. Orion roared right back.

Make him open his mouth. Orion reminded himself. He feinted right, then left, then slid between the lion’s legs, grabbed onto his tail, and climbed onto the lion’s back. “C’mon big guy, open your mouth,” Orion grabbed a rope from his satchel, tied it to a part of the lion’s mane, then swung out in front of the lion.

The lion opened its mouth to bite Orion, “Now, Celeste!” Orion cried, he saw a bunch of arrows being fired toward the lion. The Nemean lion roared in agony, and as one of the arrows found its mark and lodged itself inside his mouth, an arrow lodged itself inside Orion’s arm. 30 seconds later, the lion fell dead, with Orion atop it. “Wow, that hurt,” Orion gasped in pain.

“Oh yeah!” Celeste cheered. “We just did that!”

“Nice shot, Celeste, but did you have to shoot me too?” Orion said, grunting.

“Sorry,”

“Do you have water?” Orion asked, his teeth gritted in pain, and his hand pressed against the wound to staunch the blood flow.

“Yeah,” Celeste took out a canteen, and Orion poured water over his wound, and then slowly, but surely, it started stitching itself back together. “Sweet,” Celeste said, nodding in appreciation. “So water heals you?”

“Yeah, Poseidon kid, remember?” Orion replied. Awkward silence. “Well, anyway,” Orion said, clapping his hands and grabbing the hide of the lion., “Are you ready to get back on Pegasus and hitch a ride to Delos?”

Celeste grew pale in reply, and Orion laughed. “There was nothing about heights in the job description for becoming a hunter,”

“That may be the case, but I’m sure there was nothing about helping me get to Artemis in the job description either.” Orion replied, smiling. Orion let out a taxicab whistle, and Celeste clutched her hands over her ears.

“First off, hunters do anything to help Artemis, that includes helping annoying people like you find her, and secondly, can’t you give me a warning before turning me nearly deaf?” Celeste grumbled.

“Eh, it’s entertaining to hear you complain. Why do you think I haven’t thrown you off Pegasus?” Orion teased as Celeste glared at him.

“Mostly because you knew Lady Artemis would be furious if you killed a hunter.”

“Well, yeah that too. And by the way, Apollo taught me that whistle.” Orion said, smirking.

“That makes sense.” Celeste wrinkled her nose at the thought of Apollo. None of the Hunters like Apollo, because he always teases Artemis, Orion thought to himself.

“That’s our ride,” Orion points to a figure flying toward them, and climbs up onto a high platform with Celeste in tow. They jumped, and Orion landed smoothly on his brother’s back.

“Where to?” Pegasus asked, flying in circles, as Celeste hyperventilated.

“Delos. The island of the twins.” Orion declared triumphantly. “Last stop tonight.”

“Thank the gods for that,” Celeste mumbled. In reply, Pegasus sped up until Celeste emitted a sufficient enough apology, while Orion roared with laughter.

“And this is where we depart brother. The island of Delos.” Pegasus said, landing softly on a field of yellow daisies.

“Thank you, Pegs. I know I can always count on you,” Orion replies, putting his forehead against his brother’s. “I have enough strength to run wherever the hunt takes me next.”

“And remember, this isn’t goodbye, simply an I'll see you later.” And with that, Pegasus took off and flew away into the night.

“We better find Lady Artemis and her brother,” Celeste said. They both spun around, and started walking deeper into the field of daisies.

30 minutes later, “Orion?” a gentle female voice called out, “Is it really you?” A silhouette of a man and a woman come into view.

“Lady Artemis,” Celeste breathes. Both Celeste and Orion drop to their knees before Artemis.

“My Lady, I am so sorry for leaving the Hunt, I don’t know what happened, I mean, I have no recollection of dying or anything.” Orion starts but is stopped when Artemis holds a hand up for silence. She and Apollo exchanged a look of remorse.

“Rise heroes.” Artemis said. “Orion, I don’t know how to tell you this but-”

“You are a cluster of stars!” Apollo burst out, cutting off his sister’s words.

“Apollo,” Artemis chided, whacking his arm. She then turned to Orion, concern etched into the lines of her face.

“What do you mean,” Orion asked confused. “How can I be a cluster of stars, I mean, if that is true then I shouldn’t be here, this shouldn’t be possible.”

“Orion, every year, starting this one, on this day, which is the hottest day of the year, all the constellations take their place among the mortal world. But none of the constellations knew about this. And none of the gods either.” Artemis explained..

“My Lady, how is it that you and Apollo could tell Orion is otherworldly, when even Zeus treated Orion like a regular hero?”

“Since I am the Goddess of the Moon, and Apollo is the God of the Sun, we are more aware about what is happening billions of miles away from earth.”

“So, you are saying,” Orion began, gritting his teeth to stop his emotion from showing, “That my whole quest was for nothing?” Orion fell to his knees, and dropped the skin of the lion at Apollo’s feet.

“Of course not Orion,” Apollo said in a gentler voice. “You found out what you are,”

“But remember, no matter if you are made of ichor, blood, or stars, you are always going to be Orion.” Artemis finished. “And thank you Celeste, for helping this dear friend of mine find his way back to the Hunt.”

“Orion, there is something else you need to know.” Apollo said. “You are only permitted in the mortal realm for tonight. You fade back into the stars when the sun rises.” Orion hung his head sadly

“Please Orion, do not be too sad, we will meet again next year.” Artemis reminded him gently.

As the sun rose upon this day, Orion saw himself start to fade. He whispered, “See you in the stars,” before becoming one with them.