AN:Well then dear readers, here is the first story that I shall present to you. Fair warning, this will be a drama/romance centered tale, though action-packed fight scenes, adventures and comedy are still abundant, as the life of Percy Jackson tends to be. Pay close attention as I share with you this journey of uncertainty, this story of supposedly impossible situations, this tale of love, magic and love magic. Also, Zoe speaks normally in this for my convenience.
Disclaimer:Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series, not me.
Percy Jackson was looking down at the dying form of Zoe Nightshade, someone he could call a comrade, and maybe even a friend, with great regret. He blamed himself for this happening, he thought that if he was stronger, he could have saved her.
"Can't you heal her with magic?" He asked Artemis, goddess of the Hunt and Moon. "I mean...you're a goddess."
Artemis shook her head. "Life is fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do." She did try, but Zoe stopped her. They shared a look, and tears gathered in Artemis' eyes. Artemis could feel and hear Zoe's thoughts, her worries. "Zoe...you are my dearest friend and the greatest of all my hunters, don't forget that no matter what, I will always be proud of you," Artemis said to her.
Zoe smiled and looked at Thalia. "I'm sorry for fighting with you, I think that we could have gotten along really well." Thalia started to cry and said that everything Zoe said was true, that she was the one who should be sorry. Zoe shook her head and looked at Percy, who she could tell was feeling guilty. "There was nothing you could have done, both of you."
She looked straight into Percy's eyes. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?" He nodded and gave her the pen. "Ah, Anaklusmos, I was a fool to have given you to that bastard Herakles. But you are nothing like him, and I am truly honored that you wield my blade." She gripped the pen hard. "Stars," she whispered contently. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
Artemis knew what she meant and finally started crying. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."
Zoe did not move again. Thalia and Annabeth cried into each other's shoulders, Percy sobbed softly and Frederick Chase looked on and comforted his daughter with sadness in his eyes. Artemis closed Zoe's eyes and muttered a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke escaped her lips. It entered Anaklusmos, still in Zoe's hand, and it glowed briefly. Artemis' eyes widened in surprise before the dust exited the pen and rested on Artemis' outstretched hand. Artemis said a blessing, and blew the dust into the night sky. Nobody had noticed Artemis doing these things. As the dust ascended, Zoe's body glowed and followed it, leaving behind a slightly different looking Riptide. Zoe's glowing body caught everyone's attention, and they watched as it ascended high into the sky before disappearing in a flash of light. When they looked closely at where the body disappeared, they saw the stars shining brighter in a pattern, a new constellation was made. It depicted a girl with a bow, running across the sky. Everyone smiled.
When everyone was settled down, Artemis took the demigods to Olympus on her chariot. She transformed it into an actual sleigh with two rows of seats. Annabeth and Thalia were told to sit in the back, so that Artemis could talk with Percy. Percy was scared for his life when he heard that. Making sure that everyone was comfortable, Artemis took off into the sky. They ascended quickly, too quickly for Thalia's liking, but slowed down to a moderate speed. Thalia just closed her eyes, while Annabeth looked at Percy worriedly.
Artemis looked at Percy cowering in fear beside her said, "Percy, I want to thank you for taking the weight of the sky from me, not a lot of people would have even thought of doing something so excruciatingly painful." Annabeth saw her lips move, but couldn't hear anything. Apparently Artemis wanted her conversation private, so Annabeth settled for getting it out of Percy later and just sleeping for the meantime. Percy blinked once and opened his mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say. "Percy, Zoe seemed to think very highly of you, and she has never, in the many years that I have known her, said anything good about a man. Your adventures before also paint you as someone trustworthy and reliable. You might not know it, but the gods and goddesses you have interacted with praise you and yours abilities, even Ares and Dionysus. Your actions today have fully cemented in my mind that you are a good person and," Artemis paused as if in thought. "And I would like to be your friend, if that is alright with you."
When Artemis started talking of people praising him, Percy's eyes widened in surprise, then he proceeded to open and close his mouth like a fish, before he promptly passed out when Artemis asked to be his friend. The stress from the quest and holding up the sky, combined with the emotional state he was in due to Zoe and Bianca's deaths, was already taxing him, but the shock of what Artemis told him stretched his mind pretty thin, and being told that Artemis, the man-hating goddess herself, wanted to be his friend pushed him over his limits.
Artemis chuckled. "Rest well hero, you deserve it," she said as she put a blanket over him. She remained silent for the rest of the trip, but she often found herself thinking of Percy and even staring at hm on occasion. She thought nothing of it, simply believing that she was worried about a potential friend. Unbeknownst to her, back in Olympus, Aphrodite sensed something, something she hadn't sensed in a long time, and she smirked. 'This will be fun,' the love goddess thought.
The throne room became silent as Artemis stormed in, followed by the three demigods. Poseidon shrunk down to human size and hugged his son, while Athena checked on here daughter. "Ah Artemis, you have returned, and you brought the demigods with you," Zeus said to his daughter. Percy and Thalia didn't like the way he said demigods, making it sound like they were annoying insects, but Annabeth stopped them from doing anything that they would regret.
Artemis walked to the center of the room and looked at Zeus. "Father, these demigods saved me. Without their help, I would still be suffering under the weight of the sky, and Annabeth Chase and the Ophiotaurus would be in the hands of the Titans."
Zeus glanced at the demigods in question and grunted. "Yes, and for that I am grateful. However, the both of them are quite powerful, and are known to be rebellious. Thalia even tried to take the power of the Ophiotaurus for herself. We cannot allow such dangerous and unpredictable people to be the ones of the prophecy!"
"I say we kill them!" Ares said as he already started sharpening his sword.
"No! I had such great plans for their love lives!" Aphrodite exclaimed.
"They wouldn't have turned out like that if they just ate more cereal!" Demeter said, holding up a box of cereal.
All the other gods and goddess shouted at her, "SHUT UP DEMETER!"
Everyone continued arguing, until the throne room started shaking violently, effectively making everyone shut their mouths. The smell of the sea filled the room as Poseidon stood up, trident in hand. He had a bright sea-green aura around him. His sheer magical power, powered by his barely restrained rage, scared everyone in the room.
Zeus, despite his fear, decided to be an idiot and taunt his brother. "Something you want to say, fish-breath?" It evidently wasn't the right thing to say, as he found himself pinned to his throne with a prong of Poseidon's trident on either side of his neck, which was bleeding ichor. Everyone backed away from Poseidon, whose wrath was legendary, even among the gods.
"You will not harm my son," The god of the sea spoke evenly, in an almost calm manner. But anyone listening could hear the menace and promise of pain in his voice. His magic flared with every syllable, and the room shook with every word from the Earth-Shaker.
"Fine, have it your way Poseidon," Zeus spit out. Poseidon retrieved his trident and sat back down. Slowly, everyone followed his example.
"Now that that's out of the way, I would like to personally reward these brave heroes," Artemis said, getting her funny looks from everyone, as she generally didn't like to help out males. she approached Thalia. "Sister, it has come to attention that I am in need of a new Lieutenant." Thalia's eyes widened.
"A-are you saying t-that..."
"Yes, I am offering you the position of Lieutenant of the Hunt, my right-hand. You would be eternally young and never age. You could escape the prophecy that is supposed to come to fruition tomorrow."
Thalia started tearing up, and she looked to Percy who nodded at her. "Yes, I will be glad to serve you, my lady." Artemis smiled and told her to recite the vow. Thalia spoke clearly and in an almost whisper like voice said, "I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."
"I accept your oath, welcome to the Hunt, sister." Thalia glowed silver for a moment, before a small silver aura surrounded her her. She then turned to Percy. She pressed her finger against his forehead and he glowed a dimmer silver than Thalia, and he gained a less noticeable aura around him. Percy gave Artemis a questioning glance. "I heard that you are absolutely horrible with a bow, so I gave you my blessing, it should help," she said while smiling at him. "But remember, practice makes perfect." Artemis looked around and saw everyone was looking at her like she was an alien. "What? He's nice and he held up the sky for me, of course I would respect him." They stopped staring but would still glance at her every now and then before shaking their heads. Well, that applied to everyone except Aphrodite, who would send Artemis knowing looks that the goddess of the Hunt ignored. Soon, the demigods found themselves back in Artemis' chariot, with Percy still sitting in the front with Artemis, Thalia still having her eyes closed as they flew, and Annabeth still annoyed that she couldn't hear the conversation between Artemis and Percy.
Said conversation started when Artemis asked Percy, "So? Do you want to be friends?" Percy looked skeptical, but eventually nodded. "Great, now then, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself." And so for the rest of the journey back to Camp Half-Blood, Artemis and Percy swapped stories and little pieces of information about themselves. By the time they arrived at Camp Half-Blood, the goddess and demigod realized that they had a lot in common, and that they would be great friends.
Later, in Olympus
Apollo was on his way to give Artemis something for her sore back, when he was stopped by a rather scarcely clothed Aphrodite. She smiled at him and came within inches of him, their bodies nearly touching. Apollo's mind became fixed on the temptress in front of him. He watched her as she walked around him in her tight, low-cut dress that left little to the imagination. Apollo didn't realize that Aphrodite put on her charm magic to its max, making him little more than an obedient pup in her presence.
"So, what are you doing Apollo?" She said in a melodic voice, charmspeak lacing her every word. Apollo was hypnotized by her voice, he would do anything she said.
"I-I was going to give Artemis this tonic for her back," he said holding up a bottle. Aphrodite snatched the bottle from his hands and inspected it. She nodded before turning back to him.
"Now, dear, I'm also worried for your dear twin, after all, a goddess has to always look her best." She was pouting slightly, and her stance made it hard to focus on a single part of her. She smirked internally, 'This is just too easy.' She brought out a small vial and pored it's contents into the bottle of ointment. "Now, I just made this much more effective, but do tell her to take this while sitting down, it can be very strong." She looked him directly in the eye, and he nodded. Neither of them noticed the potion temporarily turn a bright pink before returning to its normal color. "Now then Apollo, you should hurry along, wouldn't want to keep Artemis waiting." And with that, he began walking to his twin's temple, love-potion-laced tonic in hand. Aphrodite giggled from where she stood. SHe went back to her temple, and she noticed that she took the wrong potion with her. She shrugged. 'Oh well, this just makes things more interesting.'
"Arty!" Apollo called out when he got into Artemis' temple. He narrowly dodged an arrow to the leg.
"Don't call me Arty!" The voice of his sister responded from down the hall. She took the bottle from his hands and pushed out the door.
"You should drink that while sitting down, it's pretty stro-" Apollo was cut-off as Artemis slammed the door in his face. Heading her idiot brother's advice, she went to her bedroom and sat on her bed. She took the whole bottle in one go. She suddenly started feeling light-headed and hot all over. She collapsed onto her bed. Her last thoughts were about Percy, before she blacked out.
END OF CHAPTER 1
AN:Well then, tell me what you guys think. Till next time!
