Pertemis- Talking to the moon
The cold leaves crunched underfoot as Percy looked towards the sky. It was a crisp autumn night, a chilling breeze cutting through the air like a knife through butter.
"I know you're somewhere out there, Artemis," He started. The moon was too far away, behind clouds, almost like she was too far away.
" I messed up, ok? I want you back, I was-I wasn't thinking about the consequences of- Argh, why is it so hard to get my thoughts out?"
The naiads and tree nymphs looked on in confusion, they hadn't heard about what happened.
But they don't understand
"You're all I have Moonbeam, i don't think that i can make it without you."
"I'm trying to hard, you know, half the time I sit by myself at home, crying. Is that what you wanted? I just, i leave my windows open to get some moonlight in there, hoping that you can see me… i try to talk to you every night, or am i just talking to the moon?
"Are you there Artemis? Maybe it's just wishful thinking, that you'd be there, listening to me ramble on… nobody else cares enough… I'm just a fool, aren't I? You aren't listening."
Percy shuffled his feet. Why had this one person, this Goddess, the one that was the patron of Chastity, the one who was the definition of a strong woman who didn't need a man, why was she the one to make his heart tug?
It wasn't as though he wasn't popular, he had helped win two wars for the gods. He could ask out anybody, and they'd likely say yes for the chance, or at least that was before IT had happened.
Everyone knew that he had a thing for the moon goddess, and most of the whispers settled around him like dewdrops on grass, weighing him down.
'He's gone crazy… Wishful thinking… Lucky he hasn't been turned into an animal and hunted down…'
"But they don't know what we've been through, the talks at midnight, the embraces just past twilight, the long talks we've had, about hunting, about the tides, about the moon allure for the ocean, and how we care for each other."
"So when i sit in my cabin, looking up at the stars, when i see your beauty shine through in the form of the moon, can i talk to you again Artemis? I…
"Will you respond? Am i going to go crazy here? Am i talking to the open air? Or will you come down to me, respond, talk balk, even give me a little of that sass? Or am i going crazy, like the whispers say?
"I'll keep trying. Every night i'll keep trying to find you, until you tell me outright that you hate my guts, because I can't accept any other reason for you staying away. I wish we could talk this out, Artemis"
Salt dripped down his face, tears stained his roughed up jeans from months of searching and failure.
A smile graced his lips.
"I won't give up. No. Not even if it takes until i'm old and grey-haired for you to respond. I'll keep hoping that you're on the other side, listening to my voice. I refuse to believe that you don't want to talk to me.
"I know you're somewhere out there, and even if you're far away, I'll keep talking, just follow my voice and i'll be there. Thank you, and know that I'll love you till the end of my days, until the earth crumbles away to nothing and the moon is no more.