PLEASE READ
I know I have other stories, but this is something I'm putting on here in the place of "Perseus: Son of Fate, Bane of Immortality". Honestly, I don't want to write that story anymore, seems to generic to me. So I wrote this.
This is going to be a Percy/Zoe story and have a Percy/Artemis friendship. Please review but do not flame. If you do I will most likely reply in a most unkind fashion.
Has anyone else checked out the game called "Guns of Icarus"? If you haven't you should definitely check it out, it is sweet.
To the story.
Chapter 1
Comforted by the Moon
Percy
He sat at the beach. Gazing into the stormy grey ocean, exactly like her eyes. His eyes were misted with tears of hurt and anger. He couldn't hear the moaning coming from the woods from where he sat anymore. They had long since died down.
His pain and rage resurfaced at the mere thought of that traitorous bitch. This had been the third time. The third time she has betrayed him. The first, she left to Greece for a year with her perfect mortal boyfriend, completely forgetting Percy.
Percy, being the trusting fool he was, waited a whole year for her to come back to him. When she came back she raced into his arms but he knew she was different, he once Iris Messaged her and saw her making out with some guy. He was torn when she came back, whether to hug her and kiss her or to yell at her before storming off.
He went with his heart in the end, which caused his destruction. A month later, he found her under a kid, making out furiously. He, being the same blind sighted fool as before, assumed the kid jumped her. After beating the guy up Percy talked to her, asking if she was alright. She went along with it. After that she continued to see that same guy, every day, behind Percy's back.
Just before Percy was brooding at the beach he caught Annabeth with that same boy, some Apollo kid whose names he doesn't care for, doing questionable activities, ones she never even thought of doing with Percy. He respected her wishes to not have sex, turns out it was just him.
He heard footsteps in the sand behind him. He turned slightly and saw the bitch herself, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, official architect of Olympus and soon to be ex-girlfriend of Percy Jackson.
She looked as elegant as ever, making him want to stab her pretty little face over and over again. He would do it, but she would stab him back and he would rather not be stabbed, especially since the curse had worn away after he she left for Greece the first time.
"Hey Seaweed Brain" Percy visibly cringed at the nickname, knowing that it was never a term of endearment, but some sick joke on her prideful part.
"What do you want?" his voice was colder than she had ever heard before, even when he spoke to Kronos.
She looked at him, gaping "W-what? Why are you acting like that?" he got up and began walking to his cabin, not even looking at her when he spoke.
"I know what you did Annabeth" he said. Her eyes held guilt but she grabbed him by his arm and forced him to look at her.
"I-I don't know w-what you're talking about?" she stuttered slightly. That just gave Percy more evidence against her. She never stutters, she was always to prideful.
"Don't lie to me!" he snapped at her. He didn't even touch her, or command water to, but she was flat on her but two meters away from Percy the next second.
"I IM'd you when you left to go to Greece for a year and saw you making out with some guy! I can't believe I trusted you when I caught you and that brat, who I just saw you fucking by the way, making out a month later!" the sky had darkened dangerously and the sea was in turmoil.
Annabeth looked into Percy's eyes and cringed. They were so dark that they were almost black and they held nothing but disgust and hatred when looking at her. She had to admit he did look handsome with his unruly hair whipping around in the harsh wind.
"This is the last time, Chase!" he turned back to his cabin and began walking. He looked over his shoulder at her as he kept walking "We. Are. Over" he whispered. It wasn't loud by any means but carried over to her through the violent storm he had conjured.
Before she could say a thing he had disappeared into the heavy rain. She could vaguely see through her tears lights coming from all the cabins, except a few, including Poseidon's.
She broke down sobbing, mourning her loss. She had been an idiot and she knows it, she had been a prideful idiot. She thought that she could do what she wants without consequences and Percy, her currently ex-boyfriend, would always be there.
Lightning streaked through the stormy sky as Percy slammed his cabin door shut behind him. He walked over to his bed and clambered onto it, ignoring the angry tears dripping from his eyes.
He rolled over to his bedside table and switched on his IPod. It was a present from the Stoll brothers; he guessed that they didn't acquire it legally. He turned a song on that he thought suited the moment; he got hooked on the band by Thalia, who was with the hunters at camp for the week. I hate everything about you by Three Days Grace began playing.
Every time we lie awake
He was lying awake right now.
After every hit we take
He took so much pain for her.
Every feeling that I get
He was feeling many indescribable things right now.
But I haven't missed you yet
He noticed when in Greece or on Olympus, he never missed her, he never noticed she was gone. Shows how much time she was with him.
Every roommate gets awake
He didn't have any room mates.
By every silent scream we make
He was screaming into his pillow now, letting out all the pain and rage on it instead of the whole camp and its inhabitants.
All the feelings that I get
Which currently don't include anything good, he only felt negative emotions.
And I still don't miss you yet
He doesn't.
Only when I stopped to think about it
Only when he thought of all the times he trusted her did the pain resurface.
I hate everything about you
He hates her.
Why do I love you?
He doesn't, not anymore.
I hate everything about you
He loathes her with a passion.
Why do I love you?
He doesn't.
Every time we lie awake
He was still awake.
After every hit we take
He felt the pain from his numerous scars.
Every feeling that I get
Include nothing but anger and hurt.
But I haven't missed you yet
He doesn't, even though he can see her crying on the beach through the rain, the water falling from the sky only enhancing his vision.
Only when I stop to think about it
He was doing that right now.
I hate everything about you
From her pride, to her love of architecture, he hates her.
Why do I love you?
He doesn't know why he ever loved her.
I hate everything about you
He does.
Why do I love you?
He still doesn't know why he did.
Only when I stop to think
He was doing that right now.
About you, I know
He knows the anger and pain so well despite only knowing it for a short time.
Only when you stop to think
She never stops thinking.
About me, do you know?
He could tell she was thinking about him, sitting out there on the beach, in the rain, salty tears mingled with rain dripping down her face.
I hate everything about you
Looking at her, he knows he does. No wonder Poseidon hates Athena and her children, they can be so heartless. They don't take others into consideration and believe that everything is logical, bunch of fools.
Why do I love you?
He doesn't anymore.
You hate everything about me
She wouldn't have betrayed him thrice if she didn't.
Why do you love me?
If she hates him why does she love him? Simple, it provides her with a challenge.
I hate
He does.
You hate
She does.
I hate
He does even more than her.
You love me
He could see it in her eye.
I hate everything about you
Everything about her he loathes.
Why do I love you?
He will never know.
The song ended, Percy's mood still dreary. He rolled off the bed and searched under his bed for a moment before he pulled out a bow and a quiver filled with arrows.
It wasn't just any bow. It was the bow of Orion, once lover of Artemis, now a constellation in the sky next to Percy's favorite, Zoe Nightshade, the huntress.
Staring through his window and through the now clear sky towards the constellation, he smiled sadly. He missed her. He didn't her for long at all, only a few days before she was killed by her father, Atlas. Half the time he knew her, she hated him, the other half she was neutral towards him and at the very end, they were friends.
Like with all his other dead friends, he never had time to really mourn them. For the first six years that he knew what he was, he had the great prophecy over his head, never able to live his childhood or grow up properly. He had the weight of the world on his shoulder, once literally.
Now? Things have changed. The only problem he had was the fact that monsters were becoming harder to kill. That and that the earth seemed to hate him.
He could still feel the hurt from Annabeth. But that was masked by a longing for a certain huntress. He began inspecting and maintaining the bow, the only one that he could use and the one that was given to him by Artemis during one of the hunters visits after she saw Thalia trying to teach Percy archery. She had a theory that the bow would work for him and gave it a try.
He knew that the bow was very important to her. He tried to give it back but she refused, stating that Orion would be proud of his little brother wielding his weapon.
He kept it and found he loved archery. As a matter of fact, under the tutelage of Chiron and Artemis on occasion, he became better than most Apollo kids, other than the very experience ones like Will Solace. He definitely couldn't hold up against a hunter of Artemis or Artemis herself but he wasn't too bad.
The only reason Artemis taught him was because she refused to let him wield Orion's bow and suck while using it, "letting down his big brothers name" as she put it. Artemis told Percy that she linked it to his immortal soul, like Zoe's is linked to Riptide.
He pulled a green parka on over his orange camp shirt, it may be summer but it was still cold at night. He strapped Riptide to his belt in sword form; he found it easier to get to, and the quiver to his back with the bow slung over his shoulder. He needed to clear his head and what better way to do that than kill stuff.
He walked off to the forest. The storm had completely died down and everyone, even Annabeth's once sobbing form, were in bed.
Artemis noticed that Percy was a more of a 'learn on the job' type of person so took him hunting to teach him, seeing as how shooting at a target worked very slowly. It surprisingly worked.
After these hunts they would talk, laugh and eat their catch. They became great friends, nothing more, he may not know him but Percy would never betray Orion like that. Besides Artemis may be more beautiful than Aphrodite, he just wasn't attracted to her; he was more attracted to a certain black haired and volcanic black eyed ex-huntress.
He unslung his bow and crept through the forest. He moved forward at a slow, silent pace, not alerting the birds in the trees or other forest critters scattered all over. He was undetectable, one of the many positives of training with Artemis for almost a year.
He saw a large pack of hell hounds, about five of them. He checked out all the things that could go right or wrong. He was downhill so they couldn't smell him. He would be able to take out two, maybe three before they reached him. He could miss with a shot, adding one to how many he has to fight in close combat. He could trip on the uneven and root littered forest floor. And a lot of other things that seem small, but can make a huge difference. Artemis taught him that all the small things usually make the biggest difference.
When he asked for an example she just pointed at him saying "If not for you, a single person, the gods would have fallen, all demigods would have been slaughtered and mortals enslaved to Kronos. Without you the world would be destroyed" as usual, he blushed and tried to downplay his role in the war.
In return she told him to pay attention before whacking him over the head, for the hundredth, probably thousandth time.
Percy noticed the hell hounds seemed to be spread out in a loose group like usual. Except for two that were prowling in the falling leaves, side by side. Percy smiled; this may be easier than he thought.
He tried something he had been practicing for a while, just so he can perfect it before the moon goddess teaches it to him so he can rub it in her face. He notched two arrows and aimed at the prowling duo.
He held the bow diagonally, knowing no one should ever hold one horizontally. Holding a bow horizontally reduces draw strength and removes the capability for the archer to look down their sight. It would be easier to get both targets with a horizontal hold because the arrows would part easier but the lack of power behind the arrows makes it not worth it.
He drew the arrows back on the string with three fingers. He drew the string back to his ear. He slowed his breathing and released the string. He instinctively grabbed another arrow from its quiver and had it resting on the bow as the two arrows impaled and dissolved the hell hounds.
By the time he drew back the arrow the remaining three hell hounds were moving. He released the arrow and it impaled one of the hell hounds in the foot. It didn't dissolve, just crashed to the ground in a heap.
He strung another arrow and shot the hell hound closest to him. It hit the hound in the forehead and it dissolved into dust. He dropped his bow and reached for his sword. As he drew his sword out of his belt he was hit in the back by a black object.
He twisted during his fall and saw his assailant. It was another hell hound. He cursed himself for not checking the perimeter properly, there was almost always a hell hound guarding around the perimeter of packs of this size or larger.
He rolled to his feet and swung his sword at the hell hound that was in his sight before. It exploded into dust. He turned just in time to cut down the other one. He relaxed his posture, which was his mistake.
He whirled around as he heard the padding of feet on the grass. He forgot about the other hell hound. His sword was knocked from his hand as he swung it. He reached for his hunting knife, a gift from Artemis after say that a hunter should never be without their knife. He was pinned under the hell hound and awaited death, which he gladly welcomed at the moment.
He heard not the goring of his flesh, but the clang of a bow and an arrow thudding against flesh. He opened his eyes when he felt the weight lessen and disappear. What he saw was scarier than the hell hounds.
Artemis stood there with her bow in hand, with his three arrows, not including the one that was in the hound's foot, in the same hand. In the other was a familiar hunting knife.
Her silver eyes were snapping with fury.
"How stupid are you?!" she stomped over to him while slinging her bow over her shoulder. She threw his arrows down next to the one that was stuck in the hound's foot and the one she used to kill it.
"Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" she threw the knife at him "A hunter must never forget his or her knife. A hunter must…" Percy cut her off.
"Assess every aspect of their surroundings, equipment and targets. I know, Artemis, I know. I was just distracted with some things…" he trailed off, looking down.
She tensed; she knew exactly what he was talking about. She sees everything that happens under her moon.
"It's Annabeth, isn't it?" his head snapped up, eyes wide. He then remembered about seeing everything under her moon. He found out when she caught him drinking coke while hunting, she had no way to see it and she confessed to looking down from the moon like an eagle looking down at its prey.
Percy unwisely made a remark about her being a pedophile and ended up being stranded in the Amazon forest for four days.
She said nothing but pulled him into a warm hug. Once you get past her barriers Artemis is very warm and kind.
"I'm sorry" she wasn't saying that only to comfort him, she knew about Annabeth's infidelity for a long time now. He looked into her eyes and knew what she meant.
His eyes were filled with betrayal "You knew" he said. She nodded, not speaking a word.
Within seconds he was out of her grasp and glaring at her "You knew that she was cheating on me this whole time and never told me?!" he was even more hurt by this than Annabeth. After the time they spent together they grew closer, much like Percy and Thalia.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just…" he cut her off again, not caring for the consequences.
"I'm sorry! That's all you can say! You sat back and let me waste a year of my life with a traitor!" he yelled "How can I trust you!" she looked at him angrily.
"You can always trust me, Percy" she managed to keep her voice calm, Percy didn't.
"How can I, Artemis! You became one of my closest friends, only to not tell me something that could change my life" Artemis snapped.
"I didn't tell you because during that year you were happiest anyone had ever seen you! I never told you because you had so much riding on you your whole life! I never told you because I wanted you to be happy for once" she pulled out the final card, the one that meant the most to both of them "I never told you because I love you like the little brother I never had and I didn't want you hurt because of me" she whispered.
Percy froze, starring at her wide eyed "Y-you d-do?" he stuttered.
Her face was a little flushed "Well, after spending a year training you and getting to know you I grew to, uh, consider you like a little brother to me" he smiled before frowning.
"What about Apollo?" his question brought a scowl to her face.
"I care about Apollo, I really do, but he is a lost cause. He treats me as if I am a delicate newborn and won't let me live my life without constantly bugging me. Besides, he and Hermes consider each other closer than me and Apollo ever were, he would be a hypocrite to be angry at me" she changed from a nonchalant look to stern one.
"Enough about that, we were talking about your problem" she forced him to sit back down "Now tell me? Everything" he sighed and began telling her everything, emphasis on everything. She knew when he was holding out on something, she called it a woman's intuition while Percy believed she was reading his mind.
She looked him in the eye, not really knowing what to say. She may consider him her little brother but she has never comforted a male before.
"I can't stay here" he broke her out of her thoughts "I have to leave camp for a while, it just brings up so many memories" Artemis nodded; she knew exactly what it was like to have bittersweet memories of what once was.
She looked towards the sky, knowing she will have to leave to bring up the moon, it was midnight. She had already postponed her duties a lot.
"I don't what to suggest to you, Percy. I'm sorry but I have to leave" he smiled sadly.
"It's alright, I need some time alone to think" she nodded and hugged him one more time before vanishing into silver mist.
He walked back to his cabin, deep in thought. When he got there he had an idea that would definitely help. He began packing things. Some clothes, ambrosia, nectar, his IPod, his phone (Which he isn't supposed to have but does anyway), a few knives, extra arrows, etc. He strapped the dagger to his belt and made sure the arrows Artemis recovered were in his quiver.
He slipped the bag onto his back and walked out the door. He needed advice from the person he trusted the most in the world at the moment, the person who he had known his whole life.
He set off to the stables in search of Blackjack.
He needed to see Sally Jackson. He needed to see his mom.
Ba ba baaaaaa!
There you have it.
There is a little bit of foreshadowing to show something important to the story. Read through it thoroughly and have a guess. I tend to subconsciously foreshadow things in my stories. It's weird because I don't notice it till I have re-read the chapter.