I do not own the Percy Jackson series, that would be Rick Riordan.

Chapter 1

The universe; endless, infinite, intriguing and random. Except, it wasn't. Not to her, to her the universe was boring, predictable and limited. To her the universe was so easily defined, so easily understood, it was pointless. Then again she was a goddess so perhaps it was understandable that she could so easily say that life was pointless.

Except she didn't think that, not anymore. Not since she met him. He was everything the universe wasn't. He was immeasurable, an anomaly. He was constantly changing, stubbornly refusing to have his moves anticipated. He was ever so different, so unique that every time she thought she had him. He would pull back another hidden layer of his fathomless personality. She ached to be with him, every second spent in his very presence was treasured. She revelled in his words. And yet she could not be with him.

It was impossible.

Inconceivable.

Why?

He knew her secret. He knew her flaw. He knew her weakness. And try as she might, no matter how many attempts, she could not, would not let him in. Not when he already knew her so well.

Not when he might hurt her.

Not when he knew of her loneliness.

Not when he knew of her longing to truly live.

Not when he knew of her battered hope.

She had vowed long ago, never to let herself be betrayed by the seemingly innocent faces that morphed into twisted masks of destruction. Betrayers that had struck when one leaves themselves vulnerable. So why was her soul so conflicted when she watched, as he was offered godhood?

When he refused his chance, showing yet another layer of previously unknown quality. This time a layer of selflessness when he single-mindedly gave up immortality and power to instead give recognition to those in the shadows, she faltered. She sat atop her throne of silver unsure of herself whilst he confidently flipped the tables on the arrogant Olympians. When she internally stumbled over her feelings, he determinedly strode on and berated the most powerful gods.

He was the biggest enigma she had ever encountered.

Whose words should she act upon, her heart or on her mind?

That he could put her in such a state of quandary with such few and simple words. Should have worried her but instead she only felt more drawn to him. The moth to the flame.

When he made his reasons for turning down godhood known, she fell. She fell from higher than she had lead herself to believe that she would. She had almost deluded herself into thinking she didn't care, she had been so close to ignorant bliss but he had unknowingly snatched that away. He had rampaged all over her tranquillity. He had broken her happiness. For the first time in centuries she felt pain, excruciating pain as any last slivers of hope that she had held slipped from her grasp. Her heart fell into a cold abyss. Never to climb out again. Never would she hope again.

He continued on. He smiled. He joked. He lived.

She stopped. She cried. She broke. She died.

She should have known. She had known. She just hadn't wanted to believe. She knew she had given in to her heart. Her soul couldn't control it. In all honesty she blamed hope. Hope had fooled her with illusions of joy. She also blamed herself, she had listened to her heart once and it had failed her. She should have known better. She had known. However she took the gamble, anything to come even an inch closer to life. The fairy tales got it wrong though, the gamble never pays off. The shining knight in armour doesn't come and rescue the princess. The shining knight in armour ignores the princess and finds another. This princess stays stuck in her prison left there by Perseus Jackson.

It was ironic she knew, he had just preached to them about Calypso. Stuck in her prison forced to fall in love with any hero who passed by and here she was, stuck in her prison falling in love with the very hero who had demanded Calypso be set free. Would he set her free? No, he wouldn't. He would leave her. Even if he had never known he had, had her heart, it still hurt. It hurt as bad as the first time.

It hurts as bad as Orion.

Another son of the sea. What a coincidence.

When Perseus disappeared she felt pain she didn't know was possible, but she had expected it. This time she hadn't deluded herself with the illusion of freedom. She had known Perseus still had her heart trapped in a silver cage. She had known she would still watch him with hidden longing. She hadn't fought it. She knew from experience it was futile. Her only comfort was that eventually it would end, but she knew that even if he were to die there would still be pain. It was an endless cycle for her. The only thing different this time was she refused to lie to herself. It was a small comfort to know that whatever he did she hadn't lied to herself.

He was back. He had brought with him the Romans. One of them was the brother of Thalia, her lieutenant huntress. Her hunters. Ever since she had stopped lying to herself she decided to stop hunting with her hunters. After all, the Hunt had just been a distraction. A way to deceive herself. She was over that now. She would never lie to herself again. Love wasn't real.

It never was.