For three months, Perseus Jackson has been doing countless tasks to appease the goddess Athena, for permission to marry his girlfriend.
Athena did not approve of the relationship Perseus had with her daughter, Annabeth. She wanted to see if his love for Annabeth was genuine.
Many people rooted Perseus on, but then came a time when Athena fell deathly ill. She sucked in Stygian air, and she was in a comatose state. She was brought to Apollo's attention, but he had no idea how to cure it.
"I could get the golden apple from Ladon", he muttered. "But...he's impossible to defeat. Only the stupidest of people with challenge Ladon."
"I'll go", said Perseus. Without Athena, his adventure 'levels' dropped straight to 0.
"Perseus", said Apollo. "Battling Ladon...you've met him before, right? He's insanely strong, has 100 heads that can breathe fire, pois-"
"I know the risks", Perseus interrupted. "I have to do this. I have to do this to help Athena."
"Why not just ask Hera for the golden apple", asked Apollo. "Why not just let her to go the apple, let her get the apple, and then we can help Athena."
"Athena is a daughter of Zeus, and not Hera. Hera's not the fondest of children of Zeus that were conceived without her."
Apollo took a deep breath, and realized that it was the only way.
"I, Apollo, bless you with the ability of archery", said Apollo.
A warm presence entered Perseus's veins, and the gift of archery finally dawned on him, as well as the idea of how to take down Ladon.
Perseus met Ladon in his third year of being a demigod. He noted one thing at the time, 'Ladon isn't going to go away from the tree, even if it's to eat a bunch of tasty demigods? That's pretty impressive.'
Perseus knew that if he just shot Ladon and chipped away at his defense, he'd break through and be able to be the hero yet another time.
He decided to spare Ladon with one head. That way, it'd show Ladon that he was the alpha, but that he was a merciful alpha.
That's what happened. He decided (to make the time more fun) to challenge Apollo to an archery competition.
Sure enough, Ladon had 50 heads gone within the first minute.
He told Apollo to stop at the last head. He told Apollo his plan. He nodded, saying, "It's hard to show mercy in enemies you're fighting. At least you have that ability, Perseus."
They had the golden apple. They could finally give it to Athena.
According to Apollo, she was still hanging in there, but by a thread.
Perseus made the golden apple into a stew and gave it to Athena.
Athena's eyes fluttered open, gasping for fresh breath. She thanked Hera for the golden apple.
"Don't thank Hera", said Apollo. "Thank Perseus. He's the one that got the golden apple for you."
"Perseus, thank you. You know how much I hate saying those words, but thank you", praised Athena.
"No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job", replied Perseus. "What's the next job?"
"I think you've proven yourself by a long shot", said Athena. "Here. Give this to my daughter. Be strong, care for her."
Athena gave Perseus her patented death stare. "Do not fail me."
-Present Time-
Ouch.
I gave the ring to Annabeth, just like Athena said. I'm surprised, though, because Athena didn't (or maybe she did) take into account that I've been gone for three months, because instead of becoming a husband, I ended up collapsing on the floor of the forest and getting kneed in the gut.
A hard fist hit my jaw, and proceeded to pummel me into a Percy Jackson Pancake. I tried begging for mercy, tried pleading with her to understand, but she didn't care. She was trying to hurt me, to kill me. I just accepted the pain, I deserved all this. I deserved every last bit of it, from the deaths I caused to the pain I caused their loved ones. She wasn't letting up. I just let my hopes of becoming a husband fade away like Kronos.
She noticed I stopped making sounds of agony, and she snapped out of her rage to see...
A bloody, oddly-bent shell of a man was laying on the floor of the forest. She didn't even cry, she just smiled.
"Serves you right for cheating on me for three months", said Annabeth. She simply walked away. She didn't care in the slightest if I died.
Slowly dying, I prayed to Artemis. I prayed to her, pleading for forgiveness for getting her ex-lieutenant killed.
"That wasn't your fault", said a new voice.
There Artemis stood, looking around for the source of the prayer. She found me lying on the floor, and decided to take me to Apollo's temple.
"Hey, Artemi-what happened?", inquired Apollo.
A 32-year-old man replaced the happy-go-lucky 18-year-old Apollo. He picked me up and dragged me to a hospital bed. He started to give me an IV for ambrosia and nectar, and tried some of his own healing magic. I passed out while Artemis was telling Apollo what happened.
...
I woke up to the sound of Apollo muttering to himself, "What to do...what to do..."
He noticed me stirring, and exclaimed, "Percy! You're awake!"
I sleepily opened my eyes, yawned, and said, "How long was I out?"
"Three days", replied Apollo.
"Oh good. Good, I wa-THREE DAYS?", I exclaimed.
"Yeah. Look, we got a council meeting. I'll be back in a while, okay", said Apollo.
I made up my mind. "I'm coming with you", I said.
"Percy, your head, legs, and overall health are not good enough to-what are you doing?", replied Apollo.
I picked up a water bottle, opened it, and poured it on my head. I was rejuvenated, feeling like I was back to my normal self.
"Let's go", I reply.
Apollo smacked himself in the forehead and exclaimed, "Damn it! I forgot you could heal with water!"
I busted out laughing that he seriously forgot I was a son of Poseidon.
"Hey, the way you fight, you could be a son of Ares", he muttered.
That shut me up. I saw Apollo smirk and muttered, "Shut up."
He let out a chuckle, and we made it to the throne room.
"Apollo", said a powerful voice. "I told you to be here in-oh, hello."
"Lord Zeus", I said, before kneeling to him.
"After practically winning us two wars, defeating Ladon, and doing all kinds of impossible things, you still kneel to me", asked Zeus incredulously.
I glance at Athena before saying, "I don't want to get on anyone else's bad side."
"What do you mean, 'anyone else'? Did you give Annabeth the ring", asked Athena.
"Yes, but...she completely beat me up, saying I'd been gone for three months", I replied. The gods all looked like they were going to kill Athena, so I said, "It's not her fault, nor is it Annabeth's. It's mine, for not contacting her."
Apollo said, "The extent of his injuries were a broken jaw, 18 ribs shattered, a broken arm and leg, and he lost 3/5 of his blood. I managed to get it all back."
I muttered, "Ouch", but he muttered out of the corner, "Wait until you see Thalia again."
Oh gods.
Zeus cleared his throat and continued. "Artemis, you claim you've been having problems with your hunt."
"Yes", said Artemis. "We've lost half of the hunt to monster attacks. I'm suspecting there is a mole in the hunt."
"Very well. As an added precaution, I would like to instate Perseus as your new guardian", said Zeus.
"Over my dead, decrepit corpse", I said, and Artemis yelled.
"Father, you can't honestly expect me to have a male in the hunt, regardless of how skill-", Artemis exclaimed.
"Daugher", said Zeus soothingly. "You need Perseus. You can't deny you need as much help as you can get, right at this moment. I know how much you hate males, but please, try to put aside your differences for Perseus."
Artemis looked dead at me and said, "All right, fine. But don't expect this to be easy for you."
"I, Perseus Achilles Jackson, swear on the River Styx and on the name of Lady Chaos herself that I will protect Artemis and her hunt with every ounce of strength I have."
A blinding light, and a powerful presence appeared in the throne room. There stood a woman wrapped in shadows, like a mummy.
"Perseus Jackson, the third to swear on my name. Why have you chosen my name to swear upon", the mummy said.
"Because an oath in your name means certain death if you break it", I replied.
"Good", said the mummy. "In turn, I will give you something that you might like. The power to resurrect two people fro-"
"Zoe Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo", I said instantly. "They didn't deserve the death they got. Zoe, turned against by her own family, betrayed by Hercules, and one of the best lieutenants to Lady Artemis. Bianca, dead from a replica of Talos, saving our lives but sacrificing her life in the process. She never got to be a hunter. Those are the two I am bringing back."
"Very well" was all the mummy said.
A moment passed, before the mummy said, "Zoe and Bianca are at the hunt. Artemis, please go to them and tell your hunt not to shoot."
Artemis flashed away faster than you could mutter anything, even incoherent.
The mummy faded away with the words, "Do not fail me."
'Heard that before', I thought sarcastically.
"Well", I said. "I suppose I'd better start my new job."
I concentrated on my blood, freezing it, and concentrating on the latitude and longitude of Artemis's hunt.
I put up my hands in surrender. You need to be prepared for anything with her hunt.
A volley of arrows was shot at me, and it didn't look like I could dodge them all.
...
...
...
Ending on the worst cliffhanger you've ever seen? You got it!