I don't own anything Percy Jackson.
Percy's breath was ragged but he kept on going, dodging and slashing whenever he could. He was battling one of the giants, he didn't even care which one right now, but everyone was busy and somehow he got left alone in this battle.
They were in Greece at the final battle in the war against Gaea. The seven and their parents were worn to the bone trying to defend the homeland of the gods without dying. Posiedon wasn't here to help Percy though. He wanted to be there but he had another job that required his attention: he was personally escorting the Greek and Roman campers across the sea.
The campers were running late due to their stupid fighting. Octavian had taken control and attacked Camp Half-Blood after the whole incident of the Argo II firing on New Rome. It wasn't like it was the Greeks fault. It had been the Eidolons. That didn't matter to Octavian however and the only reason the two camps were putting aside their rivalry long enough to make the trip to Greece was because Reyna had been able to get Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood. She hadn't returned in time to stop the many casualties on both sides.
"Puny demigod," the giant's voice rumbled as he laughed at Percy who was still fighting him, exhausted from all the previous fights and his trip to Tartarus, "you can't defeat us, Gaea will rise again."
Percy scowled and with a burst of energy pulled water from a stream a couple hundred yards away to slam into his opponent. The giant fell to his knees in shock as Percy felt the painful tug in the pit of his stomach as he focused on the water. He was tired of this war. He was tired of people dying. All his anger built up as the water formed one, massive ice stake that he proceeded to slam into the giant's head as hard as he could.
Blood and monster guts flew from the head but the giant was already starting to get up, Percy needed a god to back him up. Growling in frustration, Percy pulled the stake out of the head and slammed it into the Giant's heart. The tugging in his stomach was almost unbearable as he once more took the stake out of the enemy's body and threw it at the giant Piper and Aphrodite were struggling against. The ice pierced his side making him scream out in pain, distracting him long enough for the two girls to finish him off. Aphrodite then hurried over to stick a sword into Percy's giant, killing it once and for all.
"Thank you Perseus," she fluttered her eyelashes before going to aid her husband and Leo in their fight. How Aphrodite managed to flirt in the middle of battle was beyond him but he merely ignored her and rushed off to help the next person when he froze.
There in the middle of battle was Annabeth on her knees, cowering as an arrow was pointed at her head, point blank. Percy's eyes traveled up the arrow shaft to find Artemis with a look of pure anger getting ready to kill the demigoddess.
"Stop!" He yelled as he rushed forward, knocking the bow and arrow off target and placing himself between Annabeth and Artemis. "What do you think you're doing?" Percy yelled at the goddess.
Artemis snarled, "She's a traitor!" she pointed her bow at Percy's chest, "Move or I'll be forced to kill you too."
Percy's eyes narrowed but before he could speak he could feel Annabeth stand up and grip his shirt, "She's lying! I haven't done anything! I would never betray Olympus, you know that Percy!" Her voice rang in his ears as tears ran down her cheeks in streams.
"You lying bitch!" Artemis growled, her silver eyes blazing in fury. "She stabbed Thalia while I wasn't looking and then tried to sneak up on me too."
His heart quickened as Percy looked past the goddess to see Thalia on the ground unconscious, blood covering her side and he hesitated. Annabeth seemed to feel his indecision because her crying turned into sobs of fear, "I would never hurt Thalia! She's like a sister to me!"
Artemis let an arrow fly that barely nicked Percy's shirt and went into Annabeth's arm which had been exposed at that second. She yelled in pain and clutched her arm, "Don't you dare call her your sister, you traitor!" her anger was making her glow silver as all three of them forgot they were in the middle of a battle. The tension increased till it was palpable, "Pick a side Percy," Artemis' voice was deadly calm as her sharp eyes turned to the Hero of Olympus. Their eyes met and Percy saw a flash of sadness.
A choice had to be made. Taking a hesitant breath, Percy did what no one expected: he stepped away from Annabeth.
Annabeth's eyes widened in shock and for a second it looked like she was going to die with that look on her face but then it changed. Her mouth twisted into a sneer, "And people say your fatal flaw is loyalty," She barked a laugh, "You could fool me right now Percy."
Percy met her eyes, unshed tears making his shine, and he looked away. Sorry just didn't cut it and he knew. He didn't have time to come up with something to say as he felt a powerful presence behind him. Both he and Artemis whipped around to see a woman casually walking towards them.
The woman was dark tan with mud brown hair that went to her hips. She wore a green dress that looked more like moss than fabric and her eyes were closed. A smile made her features almost seem pretty. Percy placed himself in front of Artemis, causing Mother Nature to laugh, "Perseus Jackson," Her voice sounded like mudslides and earthquakes and everyone within earshot cringed.
"Gaea," Percy spoke calmly, no sign of nervousness in his voice, "how unpleasant meeting you here."
Her laugh caused the ground to shake, "Oh I will enjoy killing you, Son of Posiedon."
Artemis was about to step up to stand beside Percy when she felt celestial bronze slide into her skin and she screamed in pain. She fell to her knees and turned to see Annabeth smiling in triumph. Percy turned to see Annabeth holding her dagger with gold ichor dripping from the blade, pride oozing off of her.
Annabeth looked at Percy and shook her head like a mother would to a bad child, "Percy, Percy, Percy. Always too loyal for your own good- it was even supposed to get you killed," her eyes slid to the moon goddess who was starting to heal, "too bad it's going to get this frigid bitch killed instead." She slammed her blade down into Artemis' shoulder, making her cry out in pain. The goddess wasn't going down without a fight though.
A hunting knife appeared in Artemis' hand and she reached up and plunged it into Annabeth's own shoulder. The mortal stumbled back as her left arm hung limp from a stab to the shoulder and an arrow still protruding from her forearm. Both girls readjusted their grips and got ready to fight.
Percy started to head over to help Artemis when he felt his instincts kick in. He barely ducked in time to keep his head from being sliced off. Gaea stood in front of him with a sword out, already coming down for another slash at the demigod. Percy blocked her sword but the strength of the attack made his arm vibrate. He tried to step back but found earth wrapped around his feet and ankles, holding him in place.
Artemis and Annabeth were circling each other, waiting for the other to attack. "Why did you betray Percy?" Artemis asked finally.
Annabeth scowled, "Everything is all about Percy. Percy's the best. Percy saved Olympus. Percy can do everything. Well you know what? So could Luke! Luke was a great demigod and a better swordsman than Percy! He should've been the hero! And even when he was the one who killed Kronos, Percy got all the credit!" She took a breath, trying to calm down, "I'm sick and tired of being overlooked. The gods only see their accomplishments and ignore their mistakes. They never admit they were wrong and they will never give Luke the credit he deserves for killing the Titan King."
Artemis' eyes narrowed, "You are betraying Olympus for a boy?" her voice was incredulous.
The goddess flinched at the slightly crazy sounding laugh that came from the girl, "Of course that's the only thing you would get from the speech." Annabeth shook her head, "I'm not doing this just for Luke. I'm doing this for all the demigods in the past and the future who will be wrongly ignored, punished, and forgotten by you gods. If Percy was smart enough he would see that they are only using him. As soon as he isn't needed anymore they will kill him for being too powerful."
Gaea smiled at the demigod in front of her, "Annabeth is such a wise demigod, don't you think?" Percy growled at the primordial as he struggled against the earth. He couldn't see Annabeth smile proudly at the praise, he didn't need to see it because he could imagine it. Her fatal flaw was hubris after all.
"You won't be able to escape that. You'll never be able to escape me," Gaea laughed at Percy's weak attempts at breaking the earth. He glared at her as he heard metal clanging against metal as Annabeth and Artemis finally started fighting. He could hear screams from both friends and enemies in the background as the war raged on around them.
His cold eyes met Gaea's and she flinched from the hatred in them, "I'm going to kill you." The statement held no emotion and that scared the goddess more than it ever would if the words had been angry. Percy felt for the ball of power at the pit of his stomach.
The only reason Artemis even remotely struggled against the traitor was because of her wounds and being tired from her previous battle with Gration. Without Thalia she never would have defeated him. Thalia. Her anger over the wound her lieutenant suffered is what fueled her as she slowly tortured Annabeth by slicing her skin all over but never giving a fatal wound. The demigoddess stood there panting and looking like she would collapse any moment. Blood flowed freely from the many cuts, making a small pool of crimson blood at her feet. Artemis was going to finally go in for the kill when the ground shook with an earthquake so powerful she automatically looked for Poseidon.
Poseidon hadn't returned yet with the campers, instead Artemis found Percy glowing with a sea grean aura and yelling in anger. The ground under him broke into pieces and he lunged at Gaea. Artemis watched in awe as Percy moved with speed that rivaled hers. His swords slashed and stabbed, making as many wounds on the goddess as she was making on him. It was an even fight.
That's what Artemis thought at least until water burst from the ground creating four geysers surrounding the demigod and primordial goddess. Percy controlled the water to create hundreds of ice spears that all impaled Gaea at the same time. Her scream ripped through the air, making the ground shake twice as much as it did with Percy. Everyone fell as the earth continued shaking. Percy turned, his eyes searching for one god in particular.
"Hades!" he shouted, the death god barely heard him and looked at the boy in shock, "Open the ground to Tartarus!" Hades immediately understood and the ground continued to shake, not allowing anyone to stand up as a giant crack opened up under Gaea for her to fall in. She almost did until her hand latched on to Percy's ankle. He was pulled down hard and barely caught himself on the ledge.
He felt his shoulder dislocate at suddenly being pulled down by his and Gaea's combined weight. His knuckles whitened and the earth was shaking so much Percy wasn't sure if anyone would be able to save him. Gaea laughed as she clung to his ankle like a viper, "If I'm going down, you are too." Percy could barely look at her. How she was still alive was a question he didn't want to answer. The spears of ice were gone but the wounds were still there and silver ichor dripped into the dark pit below. Gods he hated that pit.
Percy's hand began to slip. He looked up at it in horror and closed his eyes, waiting for his fingers to get to the edge of the cliff, forcing him to fall to Tartarus with a psychotic Mother Earth. His fingers slipped more and he gritted his teeth in determination not to fall. A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and took some of the weight from his shoulder but not much. His automatic thought was that it was Annabeth, returning the favor from when he had grabbed her hand while she hung over Tartarus just days before.
Of course it wasn't Annabeth. Percy looked up into beautiful silver eyes and he felt a smile form on his lips. "I got you," Artemis told him and he nodded, completely trusting her words. With a groan he reached for his pocket and found riptide which he had dropped when Gaea had pulled him down. Uncapping it with one hand, he sliced downwards, cutting off Gaea's hand. Her scream made everyone but Artemis and Percy cover their ears, even the giants.
Artemis pulled Percy out of the crack to Tartarus when they heard the conch horn. They turned their heads to see Roman and Greek demigods rushing into battle, effectively killing the remaining monsters and giants. The goddess and Percy were laying on the ground panting in exhaustion as the heard the fighting around them. Neither of them had much energy left and Percy was shocked when he heard Artemis start laughing.
Percy turned to her and saw her staring at him, for some reason her laughter made him laugh and soon they were both giggling like school girls next to a one way trip to Tartarus. Finally Artemis got herself under control again and stood up, offering her hand to Percy. He took it with a grateful smile and stood up. He automatically found Annabeth laying on the ground, dead.
"It's hard to believe she would do that," Artemis ended up saying. She couldn't get herself to apologize even when she saw the heartbreak all over the boy's face. The girl had been a traitor and deserved to die.
Merely nodding, Percy turned to look at the battlefield. People were checking for the injured and gathering the dead. His heart squeezed as he saw the row of dead demigods. He didn't even want to think about the rows back at camp. They would have many shrouds to burn upon returning.
The gods were gathering their children and hugging the ones that survived, switching between their Roman and Greek forms accordingly. They would mourn the dead with the campers later. For now everyone was happy the battle was finally over.
Artemis had Apollo heal Thalia since her injuries were serious and, once everyone else was healed up as much as possible, the gods were nice enough to transport everyone back to the throne room in New York. Leo grumbled about leaving the remains of the Argus II behind, they had kind of crash landed in Greece, but his dad promised him that Festus and all salvageable celestial bronze had been returned to bunker 9. None of the gods or goddess sat in their thrones and instead stayed by their children. Today had been a close call and had they lost, they never would've been together again.
Athena looked around the room, realizing that her favorite daughter was missing, "Where is Annabeth?" she asked. Everyone was chattering and didn't hear her. She slammed her fist into the side of her throne so loud everyone automatically turned to face her, "Where is Annabeth?" She repeated.
Percy stepped forward, his face full of exhaustion and pain, "Annabeth died," He spoke softly but the whole throne room could hear his words.
"Who killed her?" Athena glared daggers into the demigod. She had never liked him much for dating her daughter even if he was a hero.
When Percy hesitated Artemis stepped up next to him, "I did," She stated with impatience.
A sword appeared in Athena's hand and she charged the moon goddess. Artemis had a hunting knife appear and was getting ready to fight when another sword blocked Athena's before it even got close to Artemis. Both goddess, shocked, turned to see Percy. His eyes were a dark stormy green as he looked at the goddess of wisdom. "Stand down," he commanded. Athena bristled at being ordered by a mortal but she still lowered her sword. "Never, and I mean never, attack Lady Artemis again," His voice was full of power, not faltering at the slightest. He capped riptide and sighed, his shoulders slumped slightly before he looked again at Athena, his eyes softer this time.
"Annabeth betrayed us," he spoke just above a whisper. He didn't let Athena interrupt him as he continued, "She stabbed Thalia and tried to stab Artemis. I didn't see it but I saw Artemis about to shoot her and I stopped them. When Gaea approached us, Annabeth took the opportunity and stabbed Artemis," this was the only time when anger was clearly evident in his voice. All other times he recounted what happened with a voice full of betrayal. "She said she did it for Luke, and all the other demigods who the gods forgot or punished without reason. Annabeth was angry at how you all treat us and she joined the other side. Artemis had no choice but to kill her."
Athena's eyes were full of tears and she stepped back, "My daughter," she muttered. It was common knowledge that Annabeth was her favorite child. To learn that she had hated the gods so much that she joined Gaea's side broke Athena's heart in places she didn't know existed. She flashed out of the throne room before the tears fell, unable to hold back her grief.
There was an awkward silence before Zeus clapped his hands, causing a thunderclap, to gain everyone's attention. He flashed to his throne and the other gods and goddesses followed suit. Eleven Olympians looked down at their kids who happened to also be their tired soldiers. "It's time for an award ceremony," Zeus declared. He would talk to Hades later about a suitable punishment for the daughter of Athena but for now even he could see that the demigods needed to see something good.
"The remaining Seven come forward!" The king of god's voice boomed. Nobody had to ask the seven of what as Percy, Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Piper stepped forward and stood before the council. "Does anyone think they are unworthy?" Zeus asked as he looked around but found all the gods and goddesses smiling. He nodded, "The council of Olympus offers immortality to each of you, it will be the same as the Hunters, you will live until you die in battle. Do you all accept?" Each of the surviving seven nodded and bowed in thanks as the gods granted the gift. Even Percy accepted it which surprised a number of people.
"Piper McLean," Aphrodite spoke happily as her daughter stepped forward for her personalized gift, "You did a fabulous job, honey. I'm so proud of you." Piper smiled at her mother, "As a reward I think I'll do something with your love life," Pipers smile dropped so fast a couple people had to hide their snorts. Aphrodite winked, "Don't worry, I'll make it smoother than normal." Piper never felt so relieved in her life. She thanked her mother and hurried back to Jason's side who smiled and gripped her hand tightly.
Percy couldn't help but think about when Aphrodite had promised him she would make his love life complicated. Had she known back then that Annabeth never loved him? That her heart would always belong to Luke no matter what Percy did for her? For gods sake, he thought, I even fell into Tartarus with her. You'd think that would mean something.
He was so filled with his thoughts on Annabeth that he missed the gifts given to each person until he heard his father boom his name: "PERSEUS JACKSON." It brought back memories of the last award ceremony he'd been to in this room.
Percy stepped forward and bowed to his father. "Percy," he father spoke kindly. He could feel the pain rolling off of his son. "We want to offer you godhood again. Will you accept?"
His son didn't seem surprised at all and simply shook his head, "Can I ask for another favor?"
"Needy, Needy," Zeus grumbled and got a glare from his brother. "What do you want this time?" he eyed the boy carefully. The last time Percy asked for a favor it turned into three different wishes.
Percy smiled slightly, he could tell what Zeus was thinking. "I want you to swear on Styx again that you will do what I ask." Zeus looked ready to kill the boy but solemnly swore for the council. "Thank you," Percy paused before taking a deep breath, "I want you to give Hades and Hestia thrones on the council. They deserve to be Olympians as much as anybody," before Zeus could reply Percy held up his hand, "And, you have promised this before but I want you all to take more action with it, save more girls who should be in the hunt. There are a lot out there and the hunt itself lost too many girls in this war," he gave a careful glance at Artemis and saw her smiling proudly. "I also want everyone who died, and fought on our side, to be honored. Even the people who died in the battle between the two camps. They should all be honored and never forgotten by anyone."
Zeus waited a moment to see if Percy would continue before asking, "Is that all?"
Percy thought for a moment, "Some doughnuts for my Pegasus would be nice, I haven't seen him in a while and he won't be happy unless I bring him some."
Zeus stared at the demigod in front of him and didn't have a clue if he was joking or not. Finally he sighed, "Fine." Was all he deemed necessary to say as he waved his hand and two thrones appeared, one red and covered in glowing, warm embers, the other was pitch black and had bones and skulls making up the armrests. Hestia and Hades flashed to their seats and smiled gratefully at the demigod who made it all possible. "As for remembering all the demigods, I'll have Athena make a statue or something for them later," Zeus dismissed the idea but Percy stepped forward again.
"Lord Zeus?" The god looked back at Percy and nodded for him to continue, "Can you give the job to Hephaestus? Athena would normally be good but with the death of… her daughter, asking her to make a monument for fallen allies seems a bit mean."
The gods nodded and Hephaestus said he could take care of it no problem. Hades called forward Nico and gave him a spot as his personal lieutenant which Nico, of course, accepted happily.
Bellona stepped forward and called forward Reyna and gave her a new spear since her last one broke. When Reyna was saying thank you a silver blur ran towards her and tackled her. Reyna started crying as she saw Argentum on top of her. The automaton dog had been damaged seemingly beyond repair during a battle with Camp Half-Blood. Seeing her dog again was the best gift Reyna could have asked for.
With those final gifts the gods called for a party. Even though everyone was tired and some were grieving, a party on Olympus was always welcomed. They needed something to take their minds off of all they lost and to have fun for the first time in months. When music started blaring and tables with food and drinks appeared, Percy snuck out of the room.
He headed out to a small garden and sat on a bench. Sitting there, he allowed himself to close his eyes and truly look at Annabeth's betrayal. To Percy she had been his best friend, his wise girl, the love of his life. To Annabeth he had been what? A pawn to use? Another demigod to kill? A temporary replacement for Luke? The thought made his heart hurt more than it did when he heard her tell why she became a traitor. Everything he had known was a lie.
Well, almost everything. Annabeth had been right about one thing: the gods covered up a lot of mistakes. Percy had often wondered how much of what they told him was true and after learning about Hercules from Zoe and then from Jason and Piper, he was more than skeptical about what the gods taught him. What other things in history had they twisted to make them look good?
Someone sat down next to him, making Percy jump. He looked up to see soft auburn hair flowing down Artemis' back as she gazed up at the stars, he was surprised to find her in her eighteen year old form. "Percy," She said without breaking eye contact with the sky.
"Lady Artemis," he joined her in looking up a the sky, he tried to keep himself from sneaking a look at the beautiful moon goddess. They both quietly found the constellation of the Huntress.
"Thank you for trusting me," She finally spoke in a soft whisper, a small pink blush crawled to her cheeks but Percy didn't notice as he looked down at his calloused hands.
He didn't look at her as he spoke, "I'll always trust you Lady Artemis." He paused and Artemis had no idea what to say. She could hear the truth in his words and could feel how happy they made her. Percy always seemed to make her happy. "Thank you for saving me," he looked at her and smiled slightly.
Artemis returned the smile, "Any time, Percy." She took one last look at the handsome boy beside her. He looked so broken at the moment but he hid it from her the best he could. Not to seem strong like normal men, but to keep her from worrying. This was the boy who had befriended her lieutenant, took the sky for her, and chose her over his own girlfriend. The hero of Olympus twice over. She smiled and leaned over, giving him a small peck on the cheek before flashing out of the garden.
Percy disappeared later that night.
A/N: so yeah. I couldn't sleep and it was like 2 in the morning and I had this idea stuck in my head and decided I might as well get it down. Please let me know what you think. I felt a bit guilty to the people in my other story (that i promise to update either later today or tomorrow) that didn't want Percabeth but got it anyways so here's some Pertemis :)
oh, and should he become a regular member of the hunt later on or just kinda do his own thing while still in love with Artemis?
sorry if there is stupid errors. I did say I started this at 2 am right? and now it's almost 5... goodnight.