Chapter 1: I Run Into A Goddess In The Woods

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone! You guys have NO IDEA how excited I am to start this story! This is part 1/3 of a prequel story for my upcoming "Champion of Olympus" story. There are several things that I want to include in the story that happened before the story really starts, so I figured that a few prequel stories would be a good idea to tell them.

"Champion of Olympus" is strictly a Percabeth story, so you might be wondering why this has Percy and Artemis in it. Well that's because while I am a huge Percabeth shipper I do like Pertemis as well, I really like their dynamic so I decided to make this a FRIENDSHIP Pertemis story. Artemis and her Hunters also play a big role in the main story as well so I had to do some set up for it. That's what this story is, set up for my main story. So please give this a chance and if you like it then let me know and I'll be even more motivated to get the first main chapter out.

Let me give a few clarifications for this story, they're important, so please take a second and read them:

First, I plan to write another prequel story or two that will actually take place before this one. So I will mostly be skipping over a few things that will be explained in them so that I don't give out any spoilers right now. Mostly being how Percy obtained his Title, what it is, as well as new weapon. I'll give a basic explanation in this story but you'll have to read the other stories when they come out to get the full story.

Second, I will be giving Percy the Curse of Achilles back in this story, I never really liked how Uncle Rick took it away in Son of Neptune just so that Percy wouldn't outclass the other demigods. Which he does regardless, I've done some research and do you guys have any idea how OP Percy is? He's insane. Anyway, I'll give a brief explanation for why it's back in this story. The Curse of Achilles also plays a part in the main story, so that's another reason why it's back.

I will be giving a little teaser/description for "Champion of Olympus" after the end of chapter 3, so make sure that you check that out when it comes out.

With that being said please leave a Review, Follow/Favorite and vote in my Poll on my Profile for my next stories. My PJ story is on there but since I have a general anime audience it doesn't have any votes, I wish to get a book audience as well. Hopefully you guys will vote for PJ because I want to write that story next. Hint hint, wink wink.

Enjoy the story, Hephaestus

Chapter 1: I Run Into A Goddess In The Woods

Have you ever run into someone somewhere you wouldn't expect? Like one of your old teachers at the grocery store? Maybe an ex at the gas station? Or your pastor in a speedo at the beach? Well, I'm having one of those moments right now, except the person I've ran into is more of a Goddess than a person. And by run into her I mean almost get shot in the chest by one of her arrows.

Wait, let me start at the beginning, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. This may take awhile, I've had a confusing life. You've been warned.

My name is Perseus Jackson, call me Percy. I'm eighteen years old, though I've been told by some of the Aphrodite girls that I look older. Don't know how I should take that but I'll take it as a compliment. Who's Aphrodite? Well, she's a Goddess, plain and simple. An immortal being that rules over it's own Domain. In Aphrodite's case it's Love. I'm what you'd call a demigod. What does a demigod do, you might ask. Well, as far as I've been able to piece together after eighteen years, we mostly just try to not die a horrible, painful, grizzly death. I've been pretty lucky so far, considering I've been able to reach the age of eighteen despite everything I've been through. Making it into adulthood is rare for a demigod, at least for us Greeks, the Romans have more luck in that department. Being able to reach adulthood, marry and have kids, I mean.

Which has been on my mind recently. I have a girlfriend if you can believe it. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, she's more beautiful than Aphrodite herself to me, not that I'd tell Aphrodite that, of course. A girl that I've had a crush on since I first met her six years ago. We had a... rough start, but we've been together over two years now. Now, I've never been much of a 'planning ahead' kind of guy, that's Annabeth's department, but when it comes to Annabeth I have my entire life planned out; Move in together at Camp before college in New Rome, get engaged when the time is right, never mind when or where, carry the ring at all times just in case. Marry after college, small event, only close friends and families. On the beach outside of Camp, of course, kiss at sundown. Then, when we're in a stable enough place, have kids. Only one at first, so that we can get the hang of the whole parenthood thing, but more to follow. At least one. A girl and a boy preferably. My mom wants a girl so that she can have a granddaughter. I don't disappoint my mom, if it takes seven kids we'll have a girl.

But here's the thing, I haven't exactly run this past Annabeth. Yeah, I've basically told her that I want to be with her for the rest of my life when I asked her to move in with me, more on that later, but I've had these thoughts since we've started dating and I never told her because I was worried that she'd think I was thinking too far ahead. But we've been together for slightly over two years and been through Tartarus together, meaning that nothing on or below Olympus would keep me away from her. So that's why I woke her up early this morning to talk before our daily events at Camp. Something that I'd normally never do, mind you, so I made sure to have coffee ready at our dining room table. Our dining room, it's always nice saying that. We live together in one of the newly built apartments modeled off the ones in New Rome. My idea, by the way. Annabeth was so jealous that she didn't come up with it.

Annabeth is adorable in the morning, she always has a bedhead, her long blonde hair all over the place. I think it's cute. She just grumbled at me and asked for coffee. We sat down and were about to have one of the most important conversations of our lives when the doorbell rang.

Nothing ever turns out how I plan it. Story of my life.

Long story short I was asked to go on a mission by Chiron to investigate some strange monster sightings in Wyoming. Which is why I am now slowly trudging through a frosty forest in Wyoming at dawn in early winter instead of sleeping in the same, warm bed as my girlfriend. Just sleeping, mind you. We've already pissed of Hera, the Goddess of Marriage enough, we've decided to wait until we're married.

So this where I tie in my earlier comment about almost being shot in the chest by an arrow. Sorry, ADHD, plus I've been out here for over a week and I miss my bed at Camp, I'm tired. And very cold. Here's how it happened:

I was walking through several inches of snow in some dense brush in the middle of a Wyoming forest looking for signs of a monster. Chiron had heard reports about a small mining town being attacked by what they claimed to be a 'monster'. We were skeptical, of course. Monsters don't just make themselves seen to regular humans, nor do they attack them, usually. But Chiron was asked to look into it so naturally, he asked me to do it. Look, I've had my fill of monsters, but when Chiron told me that people were getting attacked, I had to help. It wasn't an official quest, so Chiron said I had to go alone, I'd attract less attention that way. He also said that he trusted that I'd be able to handle whatever I ran into by myself, me being given the Title 'Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes' by Zeus and all. Another long story, but one day some younger Titans decided to attack the original Olympus for whatever reason, we never really figured out why. Since the gods couldn't leave the U.S they asked us to do it, of course. So Annabeth and I lead a large number of Campers to Greece to fight off the Titans. Needless to say we were no match for them without help. So my dad, against the explicit orders of Zeus, lended me his Trident to give me the power to fight the Titans one on one. I can't remember exactly what happened, because as soon as I touched the Trident my mind went fuzzy, but Annabeth said, and I quote "The earth shook as if Gaea did a belly flop and then a hurricane the size of Australia itself appeared and washed the Titans and monsters out to sea." She claims it was not an exaggeration. She also said later that while terrifying, I looked really hot. Which I'll take.

So to finish off this little tangent and get back to my story, Zeus was pissed that I used a godly weapon but had to spare my life since I saved their butts, again. He offered me Immortality for the third time, which I turned down, he wasn't happy as you would expect. Eventually they decided to give me a Title, 'Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes' as thanks. I didn't get it at first, but I was told that I was the first demigod to earn a Title like this. Not only did I earn an honorary Title, my father granted me Domain over Storms and Earthquakes, two things that he had Domain over. He also had Hephaestus craft me my own Trident that would increase my control over water that I am able to store on a Trident pendant on my necklace next to my Camp beads. So quite literally I was equal to or even above some minor gods in power. I as well received random offerings from people and spirits who wished for storms to stop. That one took some getting used to, I'd wake up with burnt food offerings on my dining table. I was told later that it was Artemis that eventually persuaded Zeus to not disintegrate me on the spot and give me a Title. She's always seemed like a daddy's girl to me, the only god who can make him do whatever she wants. I wouldn't tell that to her face if I were you. Speaking of Artemis, she just shot an arrow at my chest.

I noticed the faintest of sounds coming from some bushes to my right and was about to raise my sword when an arrow burst through the snow covered leaves straight at me. Without even realizing how I did it, I managed to catch the arrow in my left hand a few inches in front of my chest.

'Thank you Apollo Cabin for teaching me that.' I thanked inwardly, ready to attack but when a twelve year old girl dressed in silver tunic and black leggings burst out of the white bushes and started yelling at me, I lowered my sword.

"How in Tartarus did you catch my arrow so-oh, Perseus," She seemed to finally recognize me through the falling snow and trees. Her voice turned more kind, or at least as kind as it gets. "I was unaware that it was you. I apologize for my outburst."

I shook off the shock and bowed my head slightly to her. Best to not tick her off so early in the morning. "It is okay, Lady Artemis. But um… why did you shoot an arrow at me, if you don't mind me asking?" I held up the arrow to her, she walked over and took it from my hand before putting it back in her quiver. She looked at me all over, as if trying to figure me out.

"How did you manage to catch my arrow, Perseus?" She demanded but in an unaggressive way.

I shrugged, scratching the back of my neck nervously. "I've been training with some of the Apollo kids, Luis has been trying to show me how to do it for weeks. But I've never managed to do it before."

Artemis studied me before answering. "Well your life was never on the line before." She nodded to herself, thinking and her bow disappeared in a light silver glow. "Well, be that as it may, it is a very impressive feat to catch one of my arrows."

This surprised me, did Artemis just… compliment me? "...Um, thanks."

She waved it off. "Think nothing of it. I would expect nothing less of someone who has been given a Title as well as had the Curse of Achilles fully restored. It took some time after it was washed away from Roman water, but it finally returned back to you. A Curse like that cannot be removed so easily."

"You heard about that?" I asked abruptly, then I caught myself. "Sorry, I mean I didn't expect you to know-"

"Of course I know." She interrupted me. "I make it my business to keep an eye on powerful beings in my Wilds. And you, Perseus Jackson, with your abilities, training, Title as well as the Curse of Achilles, are. Very powerful indeed." She seemed to be saying it more to herself than to me, in my opinion. I decided to not say anything about it.

Again, another compliment. Today was a weird day. I looked around us but didn't see anyone. "Are your Hunters with you?" I asked. I might be able to say hi to Thalia.

The short goddess shook her head. "No, I am travelling alone at the moment. On the hunt for a Monster that was reported to be living around here."

"Really?" I asked. "Me too. Chiron sent me out here to figure out what it is and stop it if need be."

Her face was blank so I couldn't read it but I could tell she was thinking. "I have no clue as to what the Monster is yet, but it has proven itself to be elusive to track. As well as dangerous, I pulled my Hunters off the Hunt after it gravely injured several of them."

"Really?" I asked worriedly. "Is Thalia-"

She raised a hand to calm me. "Do not fear, young hero, Thalia is unharmed. My Hunters will be fine as well, they will heal soon enough."

"Good." I said, letting out a visible breath in the freezing air. "Well then we better track down this monster before it hurts anyone else. If it can take on your Hunters then the Mortals around here are in danger."

"We?" She asked skeptically, her thin eyebrow raised.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, if this Monster is as bad as you say it is, then you'll need all the help you can get-" I put my hand over my mouth, what the Hades did I just say? Did I want to die? "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis, I did not mean to-"

She interrupted me again with a raised hand. "Be thankful that I think highly of you, Perseus Jackson." I swear I saw her hide a smirk but I dismissed it. "I would punish any other male for that by turning him into a Jackalope."

I had no reply for that that wouldn't get me turned into a Jackalope. "Uh…"

Artemis ignored my inability to form a basic sentence and pulled a small silver whistle from her bag, blew on it and after a few seconds when nothing happened, grumbled to herself. "Lady Artemis?" I asked hesitantly, curious what the problem was. She looked up to me as she put the whistle back in her bag.

"My Golden Reindeer refuse to come to me. So I am without my Chariot, so I must travel on foot." She nodded to me and began to turn away. "My apologies, Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes, but I have far to travel and you could not keep up with me, in this terrain especially."

She managed to take a few steps before I called out to her. "We can take my car."

This made the goddess stop and do a double take. She gave me a slightly confused face. I found it hilarious on her normally serious face but didn't comment on it. "Pardon?"

I held up my car keys. "My pegasi, Blackjack, won't come to me either. I drove here." I pointed back where I came from. "My car is just a few minutes walk back to the road. We can take the road further into the woods. According to the map it goes for awhile. Besides, it's below freezing right now… my car has a heater and blankets. We can warm up on the way."

She gave me the look like she wasn't sure whether or not I was telling a joke. "Are you offering to give me, a goddess, a ride so that I don't have to run through the snow?"

'Well now that you say it aloud, it does sound stupid.'

"It is very generous of you. I will accept your offer." She spoke evenly.

'Well I didn't see that coming.' I mentally shook my head and decided to answer out loud this time. "Uh, ok, sure. Yeah, no problem."

Real smooth, Percy.

We started to head back to where I left my car. It was a little awkward walking in silence like that so I asked her a question. "Do you have any idea why Blackjack or your Reindeer won't come to us?"

The goddess hummed to herself, with my height advantage I could see snow accumulating on her drawn hood. "I believe that the presence of whatever monster we are hunting is scaring them off. Though," She raised her hand to her chin in thought. "My Reindeer don't normally fear other monsters like this. Whatever we are hunting must be enormously powerful."

"Sounds like fun." I joked. She frowned at me, apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"You know as well as I do how powerful some beings can be, Perseus." She surveyed the woods around us as we walked. Her eyes tracked every falling leaf and her ears followed every sound around us in the blank, colorless landscape. "The only reason why I am allowing you to travel with me is because I have faith in your abilities. I ordered my Hunters to leave because of the danger. Prove to me that you are worthy of my faith."

My head lowered a little. "Yes ma'am."

"Lovely." She nodded. "A fair amount of respect is necessary to stand beside me." She stopped walking and looked right at me, her voice turned serious and I heard her stress 'beside'. "I hold you in high regard, male or not. You have proven to me that you can be trusted and honorable. You took the weight of the sky from me, faced off Titans and giants alone. An incredibly impressive feat. I have seen you perform truly olympian tasks…"

She took a step closer, using her hand to slightly raise my chin. I found myself looking directly into her silver eyes. They were frightening and kind at the same time. "So do not turn into a spineless man." My eyes widened, a smile formed at the corner of her mouth. "Show me the respect I deserve, but don't turn into a pushover and a weakling. You will make me look foolish for endorsing you."

She then immediately turned back to where we were heading and started walking away. Leaving me a confused mess. After a few seconds I caught back up to her. I didn't want to say anything, but she was going the wrong way back to my car. When I caught back up she followed my lead without a word and walked besides me like nothing happened.

The silence was killing me. I wanted to ask something but I had no idea what game she was playing. As if she read my mind she spoke up.

"You may speak freely, Perseus. You no longer need my permission. You haven't for many years." It still shocked me that this twelve year old girl walking besides me in the woods was a goddess. It definitely took some getting used to.

"I uh, so you want me to act normal around you?" I asked hesitantly.

"If you can." She said smoothly.

I had to do a double take to make sure I heard that right. "Wait, did you just make a joke?" I asked, laughing. "I never knew you could."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I most assuredly did not." She sounded slightly affronted. "I do not joke. I am a goddess of Olympus."

I held up my hands in surrender. "Okay okay, no jokes. Got it." She looked like she was going to say something else but thankfully that's when we reached my car. She looked disapprovingly at it as I brushed off the fresh snow on my door with my coat sleeve.

"...Is there a problem, Lady Artemis?" I asked as I unlocked the doors and opened my own. I paused for a second and looked at her as she stood outside the passenger door. "What, do you want me to open the door for you? Is that proper protocol for this type of thing? I've never given a goddess a ride before."

She gave me a look like I was an idiot before promptly opening the door herself and throwing my coffee thermos and backpack into the backseat. I got into the car as well and started up the engine, turning on the heat immediately. "I have never ridden inside of a mortal vehicle before. Only the magical ones that my idiot brother drives around in." She said.

I put on my seatbelt and was about to tell her to do the same before remembering who this was. A literal goddess, she'd be fine. I started to slowly drive down the dirt road. "Well this is one hundred percent mortal technology, no fancy flying or anything."

She looked around the car as if she were evaluating it. I noticed how her eyes caught the coffee spill on the dashboard, the tear in the seat, my supplies and sleeping bag thrown haphazardly into my back seats. She sniffed once. "Have you been sleeping in here?"

Apparently my car smelled too, just peachy. "Uh, yeah. I've been out here for over a week. Living out of my car the entire time. It's way too cold to sleep outside in this snow." I grabbed a plastic water bottle off the dashboard and threw it into the back. "Sorry about the mess."

She gave the car one last glance over before returning her eyes to the front. "It is alright. All things considered, it is not too messy." Her eyes caught sight of a picture taped to my center console. It was of Annabeth and I at the beach celebrating my last birthday. "I assume that you and Annabeth are still together?" She asked evenly.

I glanced at the picture before returning my eyes to the winding road. I smiled. "Yeah, still happily together after two years."

She nodded. "Good. I would not be able to assure your safety if you were to hurt her. Be it from her mother, her hands, or my own." She clenched her fist in demonstration.

I didn't know what to say to that but I gave it my best shot. "...Well, I'd never do anything to hurt her." I assured her. "Annabeth is the best thing that's ever happened to me. There's no way in Hades that I'd ever risk losing her."

She nodded gently. "That is wise. Annabeth is one of the most extraordinary females I have ever met."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes." She said as her eyes scanned trees around us. It was still several hours to the next point on our map. "As you know I asked her to join my Hunters but she turned down my offer."

"I remember."

"..." She seemed like she was going to say something before thinking it over in her head. She looked over me as if I were a puzzle to solve. She didn't speak up for another minute. "...I would trust no other male… but with you…" She seemed like she was having trouble putting her thoughts into words. "I feel that you would honor her. Despite her being an adult she is still a maiden, meaning she is under my protection. I would do anything in my power to protect them and do what is best for them, however…"

After she didn't say anything for a few seconds I gave her a cautious look. "However?" I asked.

"...However I feel that it would be best for her to be with you." She looked me dead in the eyes with her piercing orbs. "If you were to ask for her hand in marriage I would give you my blessing as the goddess of Maidens." She ended with what I assume was a kind smile, however it was unexpected so I didn't know what to think.

It was silent in the car for a solid minute as I tried to process what I just heard. I didn't know what to say or to think. "Uh, um… thanks-I mean, we haven't talked much about getting married but thank you for giving me your blessing." I smiled in thanks. But something confused me. "I didn't know you gave out blessings for that. I thought that Hera-"

"Hera is the goddess of Marriage, yes, but since I am the goddess of Maidens I also look after young women who are going to be married." She interrupted me. Then she shrugged and leaned back into the seat, finally relaxing after constantly surveying the trees around us as we drove. "But if you were to propose to Annabeth then you would need more than my blessing, of course."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'd need to ask her dad first. Same as with her mom."

"More than that." She started as she brought her travel bag onto her lap and started digging in it. She pulled out a metal water bottle and drank from it. "As a demigod your marriage would be more complicated than a mortal one."

"How do you mean?" I asked. "Because both of our parents are gods?"

She nodded, putting the water bottle back in her bag and reaching to put it in the back with my stuff. "Yes. Your marriage would entail uniting two families. Poseidon and Athena, both of whom have had a rivalry for millennia. A child of Poseidon has never married a child of Athena. I am unaware if two of their children have ever even gotten along before. If you were to ask Annabeth to marry you then you would need to convince Athena and Poseidon to put aside their differences and unite their families."

"But aren't they already a family?" I asked. "Athena is Poseidon's niece, right? What kind of difference would it really make? I mean, we're just mortals. We'll die before the gods even blink. What's the big deal?"

She shook her head. "You forget that we gods must play by ancient laws. Marriage, for us, at least, is more definite than with you mortals." She eyed a doe that stood at the edge of the road as we drove past. "Take my father and Hera for example. They are brother and sister, family, but once they married they became something different. Their fates intertwined, became one. Marriage is sacred for us, even if most of us seem to forget that." She mumbled, probably referring to Zeus' many illegitimate children, including herself. "They united, in the eyes of the Fates, they are one. If you were to marry Annabeth then your house and hers would come together. Your parents would have to put aside their childish rivalry and unite."

"...And I'm guessing some gods won't like that?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. My father would think of it as them uniting against him. He is already suspicious of every god on the council. Your father and Athena uniting would just further his paranoia."

I was quiet for a few minutes as I took all this in. I figured that talking Athena into letting me marry Annabeth would be hard, but I didn't realize it came with a lot of other problems as well. Would my dad be willing to let me marry Annabeth? Most likely, he really liked her and always asked how she was doing whenever we saw each other. But Athena on the other hand… would not be as easy. She didn't really like me to begin with, not even taking into account who my dad is. I honestly had no idea if she would agree.

"There is more to it, actually." Artemis said out of the blue as I was still thinking. "You would also have to ask Aphrodite to give you her blessing as well. She will read your hearts and see if you really love each other." She then tilted her head in thought, touching one finger to her chin in thought. "But I assume that she would give you her blessing, she seems to like your love life. "Full of wonderful drama" as she put it when I last saw her.."

I raised my brow. "You talk to Aphrodite about my love life?" I asked, shocked.

"Pffft!" She made an unladylike noise and ended with a chuckle. "I do not discuss your love life. Nor do I have much interest in it besides making sure that Annabeth is treated correctly. Aphrodite," She said the goddess of Love's name like she recently annoyed her. "Came to my Hunters to see a daughter of hers and ended up retelling your entire "love life" to me. It was nauseating."

"I-well I always knew she-wait." I said, running what she said back in my head. "You said visiting a daughter of hers? One of your Hunters is a daughter of Aphrodite?"

"Yes." She nodded, trying her best to angle the sun visor in a way that blocked the morning sun that currently shown into her eyes. But thanks to her short stature she wasn't tall enough for the visor to block the sun from getting into her eyes. She grumbled under her breath. "Helen, one of my newest Hunters. However, she refused to see her mother, they… don't exactly see eye to eye on things, as you would imagine. So Aphrodite decided to talk to me instead, about you."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"A lot of the gods talk about you." She said offhandedly.

"Really?" I asked. "Like who?"

"Aphrodite, she's fallen in love with your love life. Says it is the "best tragic love story in history"." That didn't really fill me with confidence. She continued. "My brother, Apollo, claims that you two are "bros"." She said while doing air quotes. "He won't stop talking about how you saved him from being punished by our father."

"I told him that that wasn't a big deal. He kept trying to pay me back in favors. It wasn't his fault for what happened anyway. Even Zeus had to admit it, it took a while, of course, but he did." I said slowing my speed as I went around a sharp turn to not fall into the creek that was running along the road.

"You understate, Perseus." She replied. "Getting my father to admit wrong is a nearly impossible task. Almost no god can get my father to do that."

"You can," I added. "He seems to listen to you. You got him to not kill me, like, three plus times."

She shrugged. "My father has always had a soft spot for me. Thinking of me as some helpless child in need of his protection."

"And yet he trusts you with hunting down the strongest monsters in the world." I countered.

"True," She admitted. "I am still young, compared to other gods. So maybe he still thinks of me as his little girl." From the way she said it she didn't sound too happy to be considered a child.

"How old are you?" I asked, before instantly regretting it. If Annabeth were here she would've smacked me upside the head.

"4,617." She answered quickly. "Nothing compared to Aphrodite, believe me." She smiled. "The old hag still acts like she's a young woman."

"You don't look a day over 3,000 to me." I said with a laugh.

I barely caught her smile. "You flatter me, Perseus. Unnecessary and dangerous, though appreciated."

"Well I-" Suddenly she shifted in her seat and looked out her window.

"Stop the vehicle! I sense monsters nearby." Before I fully came to a stop she jetted out of the car into the almost knee high snow, her bow raised and hid behind the nearest tree.

I turned off the car, grabbed my bag and made my way next to her behind the tree on her left. From my position I couldn't see anything but I could hear what sounded like something eating. I hoped it wasn't one of the residents of the small town we just passed. Artemis' eyes met mine and she seemed to communicate wordlessly to me. She told me to get ready.

I nodded my head slowly as I uncapped Riptide. She held up her hand telling me to wait as she slowly inched her way around the tree, her silver bow drawn. A second later I heard something big, loud, and angry running at me from my left. I pivoted to see a large troll charging at me through the trees, swinging a Stop Sign as a club. I stood, turning my head to my right to see Artemis pointing her bow right at my face.

"Duck, Perseus!" She cried as she let her arrow fly at the monster. I luckily managed to duck just in time to feel the arrow brush past my unkempt hair.

'Flit. Flit. Flit. Flit. Flit.' The goddess of the Hunt unleashed a barrage of arrows into the troll, disintegrating it on the spot. She wasn't given a second to think, however, when the troll that was in front of us ran at her, swinging his massive fists into the tree in front of her.

"Lady Artemis!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulders to throw her out of the path of the troll's fists. We landed on the ground, my hand still on her shoulder. I blinked once before coming to my senses and removing my hand.

"I'm sorry." I apologized as we rolled backwards to avoid the troll's foot that landed where we were not a second before.

Artemis raised her bow once more. "No need, Perseus." She let loose another barrage of arrows, killing the troll instantly. "Now fight!"

"That I can do." I raised my sword just in time for an entire horde of trolls to burst out of the trees. They were dressed more for a frat party instead of killing mortals in my opinion, with beer bottles tied around their necks and their assortment of weapons that resembled pool cues and pool umbrellas instead of actual weapons. But they were still just as deadly regardless.

Lady Artemis let her bow disappear in a silver glow as she unsheathed her twin silver hunting blades, running at the nearest troll and quickly dispatching it with a wild gleam in her eye. I didn't have much time to watch her however, as I had to dodge a small charcoal grill that was thrown at me by a troll wearing the largest hawaiian shirt I've ever seen. Guess these guys were at a party before this.

I spun Riptide in a large arc around my body to deflect and deter the six trolls that ran at me. When they caught sight of the leaf-shaped celestial bronze sword some of them winced and took a few steps back.

"It's Perseus!" One yelled.

"The slayer of Kronos!" A troll with a tiki torch yelled.

"The Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes!" A female troll cried out.

"The guardian of Mount Olympus!" A terrified voice shouted.

"Mortal champion of the gods!"

I couldn't help it, I smirked slightly. Raising my sword quickly, causing them to gasp and step back in fear. "Now come on, don't let that stop you…" I pointed my sword at a very fat troll. "It's either you fight me or Lady Artemis." I said gesturing to the goddess that was currently jumping from the shoulders of several trolls as she used her twin knives to slit their throats.

The trolls didn't really seem very motivated to attack either of us. So I charged them with a yell. "Come on then!" I met the first troll before he could realize that he should've stayed at his party. He turned to dust just as the others got up the courage to attack me.

One troll with a necklace of license plates threw a crude wooden spear at me that I easily deflected with Riptide. He pulled out his club but with a lightning fast motion of my arms he suddenly became left handed, then no handed for the remaining three seconds he was alive before he burst into dust. The third troll was on me in a second, swinging his fists wildly. I managed to block his fist with the flat side of Riptide, before using all of my strength to push the smelly troll back onto his butt. A quick flick of my wrist later and he turned to dust like his brothers.

The remaining three trolls shuffled backwards to get away from me as I slowly walked towards them. "The just don't make monsters like they used to…" I muttered to myself. I was looking towards a good fight but these trolls were no threat to me. Even Lady Artemis was taking her time killing them. I could tell by the wild bursts of laughter and glee that I heard from her as she easily dodged and countered the trolls with ease.

"Why did we have to run into Perseus?" One complained to his brothers, saying my name like a slur.

"We left our party for this?" Asked another with a massive beer belly. "I don't want to go back to Tartarus."

"I knew the ogres would get the soft gig." Muttered the shortest one. I could hear the fear in his voice. "They get to have fun and hunt that mortal while we get killed by the Demigod of Storms!"

"And Earthquakes." I corrected him, shaking my head in mock disappointment. "Don't forget the Earthquakes."

"My bad," The smallest troll corrected himself. "And-"

I interrupted him however, when I used the momentary distraction to swiftly dispatch the two larger trolls with Riptide. I slammed into the smallest troll with my shoulder, sending him flying back a few yards into a large tree, causing snow to fall on his head from the limbs above. I placed Riptide at his throat, wordlessly commanding him to stay down.

"Now," I took a breath. I wasn't tired by any means, but I thought it'd sound cool with a pause. I was right. "Tell me about this "soft gig" the ogres are on. As well as this mortal you say they're hunting."

"I-I can't say!" He cried. "They'll kill me!"

"And what do you think I'll do to you if you don't tell me?" I asked him, pressing Riptide onto his skin a little harder. His eyes widened even more.

"No please, don't!" He begged.

"Then tell me what I want to know." I said calmly. "We can either do this the easy way or the hard way…"

"Don't send me to Tartarus!" He begged. "You have no idea what it's like down there!"

My mood dropped, as did my voice. "Actually I do." I paused, trying my best to not feel sorry for a monster. Too distracted to see the small troll pull a blade from his belt and swing it at my side before it was too late. I wasn't fast enough to block it as I watched the serrated knife in slow motion as it swept closer to my side. I wasn't worried though, because as soon as the blade went through my coat and made contact with my skin it shattered in the troll's hand.

For a good thirty seconds the troll only laid there, his eyes wide, hand trembling and heart rate increasing. His eyes finally moved from where his blade shattered against my skin and up to meet my eyes. His eyes were filled by so much fear that I was worried that he might pee himself.

"...What are you?" His gruff voice was barely a whisper, I only caught it because if my improved demigod senses. His body was shaking like he was about to fall over any second.

"...Just a demigod doing his duty… Sorry-" I then flicked my wrist and Riptide sliced through the troll's throat like butter. His headless body burst into shining dust as his remains scattered in the cool, icy wind.

I stood there looking at the wooden club that lay in the falling snow. A trophy from slaying the monster. Back in the day I would take the trophy but I just left it. I didn't care about the trophies anymore.

"You didn't get any information out of him." Lady Artemis' sudden voice brought me back to reality. I turned around to see her standing calmly behind me, wiping the troll blood off of her daggers in the snow. She looked up to me. "You could have interrogated them for information."

"He wouldn't have talked." I answered shortly.

She raised her brow. "How are you so sure?"

"I could see it in his eyes. He was afraid of me, but more afraid of whatever was ordering him to attack the mortals around here."

The goddess of the Hunt studied me for several seconds, her eyes not leaving my face. It kinda freaked me out, to be honest. Her eyes were a piercing silver that seemed to bore into my soul. Finally, she spoke.

"I trust your words." She stated evenly. "Now, let's get back to your vehicle and on our way. We still have a good distance to travel before we reach the epicenter of the Monster attacks."

"Okay," I said, putting Riptide back in my pocket. I rubbed my hands together to get back some feeling in them. I didn't get wet and cold from the snow thanks to snow being made of water, but my powers did nothing to help protect me from the windchill. "Let's get back to my car and most importantly the heater."

"Agreed." The goddess shivered in her hunting cloak.

oooOooo

We traveled like that for the rest of the day. Slowly driving through the narrow, winding, snow covered forest roads. We patrolled around several of the small towns and dispatched several more small groups of monsters. Nothing to write home about, only more trolls, ogres and hellhounds. None of which offered more information about this mysterious 'mortal' that they were hunting besides that they really didn't like him. We stopped every hour or so to patrol the woods and rivers for monsters, so our progress was slow. The still falling snow didn't help much either. My car wasn't too fond of plowing through it either, Lady Artemis and I had to get out and push my car a few times. If you've ever wondered what one of the strangest things I've ever had to do as a demigod then I'd say having to convince a goddess, Artemis no less, to get out of my warm car and help me push is up there near the top.

We managed to get within three or four hours drive, in these conditions at least, of where the majority of the monster attack were reported, before it started to get dark. Lady Artemis and I had just fought off some monsters and reached my car when she spoke up.

"We should start setting up camp." She said, eyeing the setting sun. "The sun sets quickly in the mountains, especially in the winter." She opened my back door and pulled her travel bag out as well as my sleeping bag. "If we start now we should be able to construct a decent snow shelter that will safeguard us from the elements and cold."

She moved to my trunk where I kept a snow shovel and started to quickly dig a hole in the now knee high snow. I blinked a few times. "Wait, you want us to sleep in the snow?" I asked.

She didn't stop her work. "Normally I would sleep in my enchanted tent, it would keep the elements out. However," She paused to push a big pile of snow out of the way. "Males are not allowed to sleep in my tent." She looked up to me. "Regardless who they are, my apologies."

She paused her work to stare at me as I just stood there watching her work. "Are you just going to stand there and make me do all the work? I thought that you were a gentleman?" She asked. "I could just sleep in my tent and force you to construct your own shelter yourself."

I rubbed my hands together to keep them warm. "Well I was kinda hoping that we could actually go into town and stay in a motel."

She pushed the shovel into the snow, letting it stand there. "A motel?" She asked.

"Yeah," I shivered. "I've been living out of my car for over a week. I'm cold, it's only going to get colder-"

"It will drop thirty seven degrees tonight." She helpfully added.

"See!" I said, waving my hands at the snow shelter she was constructing. "It's going to be unbearable out here tonight. You might be able stand the cold as a goddess but I'm just a mortal. A mortal that will freeze to death out in this snow."

She nodded. "You are correct, your mortal body would be at risk in this cold. I am able to withstand it, even though I still feel the cold." She looked up at the sky, at what, I had no idea. But as a goddess connected to the Wilds I assumed it was important. "It will also snow several more feet tonight. We very well might get snowed in if we camp out here tonight."

"That furthers my point!" I cried. "I may not get cold from the snow itself but I'd freeze to death if I tried to sleep outside while the biggest snowstorm of the century is going on."

She raised her gloved hand to her chin in thought. "If you were one of my hunters than we would just huddle together and use our body heat to keep each other warm in the night. That is what we have to do sometimes." I barely noticed her eyes widen in the blizzard that was slowly building up. She seemed to realize the implications of her statement. "But I would never perform such an act with a male." Her voice was a little sharp before her eyes met mine and she realized her tone. "I meant no disrespect, Perseus, but I-"

"I know." I interrupted her. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure-" She started to press.

"I'm fine," I waived off. "You're a maiden goddess, you wouldn't sleep next to a male like that. I understand." I rubbed my hands together again to get some feeling back into them. "Besides, I'd never do that to Annabeth. She might understand the situation and cut me some slack because of who you are, but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it."

I turned around and slowly made my way to my door and started hastily throwing everything in my backseat. "Let's just get out of this cold. We can talk about it when we're in a nice warm motel with coffee, food and hot showers."

I finished putting everything away and looked back to find the goddess right behind me, gazing into my eyes. I stumbled back a little into my car door, surprised to see her right behind me. She completely ignored my fright and looked me over like she was trying to figure me out. She wore a very thoughtful expression.

"You are a very strange man, Perseus…" She muttered, almost lost in thought. "I am used to males being very disrespectful and vulgar, though… I sense none of that in you…"

"Uh, thanks…?"

She looked right in my eyes. "Though as a maiden goddess I will require my own room when we reach the inn." She stepped away and made her way to the passenger seat. "That is my only condition."

I stood there stupidly for a few seconds before getting into the car and turning on the heat. "Works for me," I said, blowing warm air into my cupped hands. "I should be able to afford two rooms. Chiron gave me some money for the trip." I explained. I saw her shivering next to me so I reached into the back and brought up a thick blanket and handed it to Artemis. "Here, you can borrow this until we get to the motel."

She gave me a slight shocked look but took the blanket nonetheless. "Thank you, Perseus."

"No problem." I waived off. "You may be a goddess but you don't have to sit there silently while you're freezing. Just ask and I'll turn up the heat even more." I gestured to my backpack behind us. "I might still have some coffee in my thermos, help yourself."

The goddess was silent as she sat there and I guess thought about I was doing to her. I didn't see it as a big deal, she was cold, so I gave her a blanket. It doesn't matter to me if she's a goddess or not, she's still my friend, well… sorta. We might not be as close as I am with Hermes or Apollo but she's stopped threatening to end my life, so I'll take that as progress. Some of the Olympians still did that.

I turned my head to her briefly before returning it to the road. "So, you're the navigator for this trip, where are we heading?"

She picked up the map that we had been using all day. "There should be a small town up ahead, we can stay there for the night. It is a little out of our way but we can easily make up the difference by getting up an hour before dawn-"

"Nuh uh," I said adamantly, shaking my head. "I've been up before dawn all week. You might be the goddess of the dawn but we don't exactly get along. We're going to be sleeping in nice, warm beds. I'm sleeping in."

"I am not the goddess of the dawn," She corrected. "Mortals believed that I was for some time, but I am just affiliated with it. Which caused the confusion in my opinion. The Domain over the Dawn belongs to a more ancient being that I am unaware of."

I shrugged. "I stand corrected, though my point still stands."

She gave me a hard look before sighing. "Fine. We will sleep in."

"Yes!" I gave a small fistpump. "Let's just hope that this place serves breakfast too, I haven't had a decent warm meal since I've been out here."

"Males." She muttered under her breath, though loud enough for me to hear. "You would never make it as one of my hunters."

I gave a mock hurt sound. "Hey, I would like to think that I'd make a good hunter."

She laughed, very loudly. She calmed down after a few seconds when she noticed my smile drop. "I meant no disrespect, Perseus." She said, wiping a tear away with a finger. "I believe that you possess all of the necessary qualities that my hunters do besides two."

I raised my brow, careful to keep my eyes on the road in the deep snow. "And what might those be?" I asked.

"You are not female." She said quickly. "That is the biggest reason why you are not one of my hunters."

I blinked. Well, she had me there. "What's the other one?"

"You could not hit an archery target to save your life." She said evenly.

"Hey, I'm not that bad anymore." I argued in a mock hurt tone, but I was really joking. "I've been practicing!"

"Well your practice needs more practice." She said with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah yeah, make fun of the guy not bestowed with archery talent." I grumbled in jest. "Make him feel bad."

We just made it to the outskirts of the small, snow covered town and were about to head to the nearest motel when the telltale red and blue flashing lights shown behind me. I was getting pulled over by a cop. When I had my backseat full of camping and hunting supplies, including an extra dagger and shield, a sack of gold drachma and a goddess in a twelve year old form dressed in a silver hunting cloak and tunic that had monster blood stained on it.

Yeah, this wasn't going to go well.

I pulled over as soon as I could, best not tick the guy off. Artemis gave me a confused look. "What is going on?" She asked. "What do those lights mean?"

"It means I've been pulled over by a cop." I answered. The police car stopped behind me and the door opened.

"This 'cop' would be the local law enforcement, correct?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Just follow my lead and stay quiet unless he asks you a direct question. I've dealt with plenty of cops in my life."

The goddess unsheathed her hunting dagger. "Could we not just overpower him?"

"Are you crazy?" I yelled, taking the dagger from her hand and throwing it into the back just as the officer reached my window and knocked. "You'll get us arrested. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"

"Fine." She grumbled a little grumpily as I opened my window.

"Is there a problem, officer?"

(Author's Note)

Thanks so much for reading if you made it this far. This is my first PJ story so I hope I did Percy and Artemis justice. This is a three part story so in the next one we'll see them get pulled over and make it to the motel where they'll get to talk and spend some time together and slowly become friends.

This is a friendship story, so neither Percy nor Artemis will develop feelings for the other besides a close friendship, like I said. If you took their interactions as something different than that was not my intention. Sorry. Maybe if I get requests I'll write a true Pertemis romance story. Maybe.

Let me know how you liked this prequel story with a Review. More details about the story this one proceeds will be revealed more in the next chapters.

Also, before I go, I have a question:

"Who is your godly parent and what would your special abilities be?"

If you couldn't guess what mine would be then I'd be shocked. He's my username and profile picture for gods sake. I've been a fan of Greek mythology and Hephaestus long before I picked up my first Percy Jackson book. I even bought a scale model replica of the Hephaestus statue from Athens that sits in my room before I ever read the first book. I'm interested what you guys have to say so please tell me in a Review or PM.

Thanks again, Hephaestus