Chapter 3- I tried!
"Hey mum" greeted Percy with a wary look on his face what looked out of place.
"That's all you have to say?" Asked Artemis in a deadly silent voice.
"What else could I do?" Fired back Percy in desperation.
"You could have retreated" responded Artemis with a raised eyebrow.
"That's a coward's way out" snarled Percy. He would never think of doing such an action.
"Sometimes, it is the most logical and safe course of action" Artemis advised him.
"I was surrounded and there was no way out" exclaimed Percy with raised arms.
"There is always a way out, you just have to look for it" informed Artemis with a slight smile on her face.
"What?" Questioned Percy, seeing the smile.
"You act so cool and emotionless a lot of the time and yet here you are, acting like a five year old child" chuckled Artemis to herself as she observed him.
"I still stand by my point" muttered Percy as he looked anywhere but at Artemis.
"We shall have to agree to disagree then" chuckled Artemis as her demeanour changed from angry to one of amusement in a flash.
"Indeed" responded Percy with raised eyebrows.
"And there you go again" observed Artemis as she continued to stare at him. Percy only looked over at her but didn't say anything. That's when Artemis noticed the bags under his eyes.
"Have you been sleeping properly?" Asked Artemis as she strode over to him to get a better look at him.
"Yes" lied Percy as he didn't look her straight in the eyes, only in her general direction.
"I think not" argued Artemis with concern written all over her face.
"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. It doesn't matter" snapped Percy as he walked away from her.
"It does matter, if you are having nightmares or are under some type of stress then as a parent it is my job to try and help you" said Artemis who tried to go over to him but he just reversed back again, out of her reach.
"You weren't there for the whole of my childhood where you didn't care but now all the sudden you do. I find that hard to believe" snarled Percy as his anger started to cloud his judgement.
"You know that I was forbidden by ancient law to see you" snapped back Artemis as her anger took over as well.
"Here come the excuses" muttered Percy but Artemis heard him. She just looked at him with sadness in her eyes and walked sharply out the tent with the flap flapping behind her.
"Did you have to be that harsh to her?" Asked Annabeth as she re-entered the tent.
"You can't deny what I said was true" snapped Percy, still blinded by anger.
"And you can say the same about her. Damn it, Percy. You need to learn to open up and let people help you" insisted Annabeth as she slowly approached him.
"I never have and I never will do."
"Look where that's got you" snapped Annabeth, growing tired of his illusiveness.
"Why do you care?" Asked Percy, whirling around to look at her.
"Because you are my friend and I care about you" replied Annabeth with raised eyebrows.
"If you were truly my friend then you would leave me in piece" shouted Percy.
"And then what? Come back in in a months' time only to see half the furniture destroyed and a depressed Percy rocking back and forth on the floor. I don't think so" shut down Annabeth with a raised voice as she glared daggers at the stubborn Percy.
"I was doing perfectly fine before I was introduced to this whole world" growled Percy under his breath.
"This is most likely the best thing that has ever happened to you" said Annabeth who had heard him from across the tent.
"That's hard to believe" replied Percy with an emotionless face.
"You know what, I'm not doing this anymore. You obviously can't be reasoned with" said Annabeth, shrugging her shoulders and letting them slouch in defeat.
"Where are you going?" Asked Percy at seeing her walk out of the tent flap.
"To someone I can actually have a civilised conversation with and who won't shut me down at every corner" replied Annabeth with venom laved through her usually kind and welcoming voice. She then sauntered out of the tent and away into the whistling wind outside.
Percy just stared at the flap for a couple of minutes before making his way over to the bed. He then curled up into a fatal position and buried his head in his arms to muffle the silent sounds of sobbing what could be heard if someone were to get close enough.
It had been years since he had let it all out but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He didn't care who walked in on him like this, he just continued to weep in the privacy of the tent.
He looked up as he saw Zoe re-enter.
"I heard you from outside, only just though" aid Zoe as she came towards him.
"I'm sorry" said Percy as he sat up in the bed, his anger completely forgotten.
"Its fine, come here" said Zoe as she pulled Percy into a hug and he rested his head on her shoulder as tears still kept falling.
"I thought you hated boys?"
"I think I can make one exception for you" smirked Zoe down at him. It wasn't long before Percy fell asleep and Zoe laid him down. She then got off the bed and walked out of the tent in deep thought.
A/N- That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. The next one should be out a little quicker than this one was.
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Signing off,
Chaser10