A/N: Heya guys! I'm back with another chapter... which you could probably tell from reading this. Regardless, I have a few things to say before we begin again.
First off, I must thank you guys for the reviews. Every time I read them, I get motivated to write another chapter of this story. It really does matter that I know people enjoy this story. Secondly, I may end up switching this to an M-Rated story. Not because I intend for it to become a gore and sex filled thing, but I really enjoy the freedom, both in language and scenes. Just that one scene with Kelli in the last chapter was sorta pushing it, but I don't want to remove an idea that I think really fits in with the flow of the story because I think I might get reported for it or something like that. Not sure yet, but I may do so by next chapter, just to be on the safe side. Thirdly, I'm gonna try the whole short chapter thing, see how well it fits me. I think I might just write until I feel a good cut off point comes up. If it happens before 11 pm tonight(which is the latest I ever really type), I'll post this. If not, well, this will have become irrelevant, because I'll probably just type a normal length chapter. Meh.
Well, I think that's about it.(But seriously, you guys are a lot nicer than the Naruto crowd. For the most part, my reviews there are just votes and people criticizing my writing... negatively. T-T)
Artemis looked down at the child of Athena, disdain, if not outright hatred plain to see. None of those emotions showed on her face beyond the disapproval everyone present saw. Glancing around, she noticed that everyone still present, and even a few of those who were leaving, had turned to her to see what was happening. Aphrodite even had a camera out, though she quickly hid it when Artemis made eye contact.
Her attention was brought back to Annabeth as she growled. "Why do YOU care about anything I do with him!? Mind your own business!" Artemis froze for a moment, and everything in the clearing went completely and utterly silent.
Artemis closed her eyes for a moment and thought. 'Mind my own business? Mind my own business!?' The ground in the immediate vicinity to Artemis trembled slightly as a silver glow covered her skin. As she opened her eyes, staring at the child of Athena with hate, Annabeth couldn't help but stumble back, remembering that she'd been talking to an Olympian. One of the stronger ones at that.
When her voice came out, it was a whisper. "Mind my own business, girl?" Annabeth began to tremble at the anger concealed behind that voice. "The moment he became the guardian of my hunters, this became my business." She took a step towards Annabeth, who scrambled backwards before freezing, seeing the anger in the Olympian's eyes increase. "The moments he showed that your name still brought him a modicum of pain, this was my business." She took another step forward, making Annabeth's breath catch in her throat. "The times when he took care of my hunters like they were family, this was sure as hell my business."
Getting right in her face, Artemis stopped. "And the times when he proved himself to be my friend, I made sure, that when the time came, this would be my business."
Realizing that she was making a scene, Artemis calmed herself down. "See what your big mouth almost caused, Chase!?" She didn't even wait for a response as she continued. "Imagine what would happen if you decided to be such a dumbass in front of someone that strong; are you TRYING to get us all killed!? Because I'm sure Percy would find a way to kill a god if you set him off!"
As Annabeth pondered her words, Artemis, still angry enough to glow, stormed into the woods, wishing to be alone in her domain.
Everyone was silent, a few people sending glances at Annabeth in anger/disgust/disappointment. The rest were just shocked that Artemis openly acknowledged a male as her friend. That she even got mad at Annabeth in the first place.
Aphrodite, once this registered with her, squealed. "Ooooh, I LOVE this drama!" The Olympians just glanced at her, worried about what she had planned. Then, they separated, going off to greet their children.
Meanwhile, Percy was staring at the two children of the big three with a smirk. Deciding against summoning his swords, he made a "come hither" motion with his hand.
They were happy to, now knowing that he was the Percy Jackson that people told stories about. Perseus(Remember, Perseus will refer to Zeus' son) rubbed two rings on either hand, causing them to turn into two combat knives that were attached to celestial bronze brass knuckles on each hand. Theo rubbed a necklace he had on, making it quickly turn into a celestial bronze hatchet. Before Percy could comment on the odd weaponry, they charged him simultaneously, trying to catch him off guard.
Unfortunately for them even if they were rather fast by demigod standards, they were moving at a snail's pace for Percy. Dodging a swipe from Perseus' knives by leaning backwards, he caught the other hand as it came for a follow up. He just caught Theo's hatchet as it came it his head, grabbing its blade between his index finger and thumb. The small crowd they managed to gather whispered among themselves at that, making Percy roll his eyes before refocusing on the two demigods. 'I always manage to attract a crowd nowadays.'
He smirked as he pushed them back a good few feet, making them stumble. "Come on, you gotta be faster than that." Perseus growled and began to crackle with electricity. He charged at Percy, zigzagging across the training area as he went, lightning streaking behind him.
Theo wasn't just watching, though. Concentrating, he managed to pull water from the atmosphere, coating himself and the head of his hatchet in it. Jumping clear over Perseus' trail of lightning by pushing the water that was around him upwards, he held himself there a moment before shooting down at Percy like a bullet. Demigods began cheering for them seeing them try so hard. 'They might beat Percy Jackson' was a common thought.
Percy nodded, impressed at how strong they were. Stopping Theo midair by wrenching control of the water from him, he sidestepped Perseus' dash by tilting his body sideways, tripping him and sending him sprawling onto the floor. "Not bad, you two. But I hope that isn't all." He released Theo, letting him fall to the ground as he watched Perseus drag himself to his feet, making the crowd go silent before cheering once more, this time for Percy.
Smiling at his namesake, Perseus shook his head. "You're stronger that I thought you'd be, Lord Perseus." Percy shook his head. "Percy is fine. I hate titles." At this point, his friends had come to view the spar as well, Artemis having already left, and they could only shake their head at him.
Well, despite knowing they were outmatched, the two weren't quite ready to quit. Theo made an ice copy of his hatchet out of the water puddle his armor had become. Perseus, seeing his friend start up an attack, decided to go with his own.
Striking at Percy's position with lightning, he, along with the whole crowd, was shocked as Percy just raised his hand, blocking a bolt of lightning like it was simple. They were further shocked as Percy raised his other hand to Theo, who just began to charge him, shooting out an even stronger one, hitting him right in the chest.
As Theo lay on the floor, spasming, Percy melted his ice hatchet and brought it to encircle Perseus' neck, trapping him. "Well, boys, I think that's my win." His eyes shone slightly with mirth no one in camp had seen in a while. Applause began to pour in as the match was officially over. "Who knows, maybe next time you'll make me move both feet. Maybe even move from where I started."
When he pointed it out, everyone stopped clapping and gaped, realizing that, indeed, they only made him move one foot from where it started, and that was only to trip Perseus. Clarisse was the first person to speak. "No way. Those two were our best." Piper nodded, still looking at Percy in shock.
As Theo recovered from his seizure, Percy released Perseus from his trapped position in the water wring, returning the water to the atmosphere. As the two approached him, he smirked. "So, did you have fun?"
Perseus scowled lightly while Theo chuckled before responding for both of them. "If you can have fun while getting the crap kicked out of you, then yes, I'd say we did." Perseus looked at him before nodding reluctantly and giving just about the same response.
Percy laughed at the two. "Well, I'm gonna go catch up with some old friends. Make sure you two keep training; I want a better match next time I'm around." He turned and waved at them as he walked towards his friends, the crowd dispersing while sending glances at Percy and whispering.
"Hey guys! Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about not visiting." They all stared at him a moment, not believing he just said that. "What!? I said I was sorry! Tartarus kinda slows you down." They just stared at him for a while longer, not believing that he was saying that.
Percy turned his head to the side with a "Hmph!", crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine, be that way! I guess I'm not sorry about visiting!" The Stolls were the first to crack up, but the rest weren't far behind. Even Chiron began to chuckle, though he had a few tears in his eyes.
As everyone came down, Chiron trotted up to him and, after kneeling down, gave Percy a hug. "Percy, my boy..."
Percy had frozen up at the hug, not used to much contact besides his general groping from Kelli. He played it off as surprise, though. Wrapping his arms around Chiron as well, he let himself enjoy the feeling of warmth. The last time he remembered getting a hug was when Nico broke down in front of him.
Once Chiron finished, he stepped back and took Percy in. "My, how you've grown, child..."
Percy could only chuckle and rub his neck, embarrassed at the attention he was receiving. Thankfully for him, he didn't start blushing. "Well, I wanted to here how things had been up here, so how's about we get going on that." When Chiron still held him, as though he would disappear, Percy sighed. "I'm real, Chiron. I've returned from Tartarus before, you know."
At that, Chiron let go, shaking his head at Percy. "Only you, Percy."
At dinner, Percy entered the pavilion, looking at his old table with an indiscernible look as everyone got seated around him, even the gods, the minor gods having arrived a while back. As he stared, he saw a projection of Annabeth and him sitting there, the cupcake she and Tyson had made.
Despite all his bravado, every time he thought of their first kiss, he wanted to break something. Everything around him faded to black, leaving only the image of his past, of a happier time for him. The time he was truly at peace with his life, when he was content on that instant with Annabeth, connecting for the first time... it was a bit too much for him.
A single tear fell from his face as he was turning around, exiting the dining area. Everyone was confused as to why he was leaving, as he let none of the emotions within him show on his face, but Artemis caught the tear that fell from his face.
Sighing, she looked around, making sure no one was really paying attention to her, and got up to go after him. She was stopped by Zeus, though. "Where are you going, Artemis?"
Not wishing to lose track of him, she quickly thought up an acceptable reason, not even bothering to stop walking. "To stop Perseus from doing something stupid." Zeus, thinking she knew something he didn't, just nodded, letting her be.
After Artemis stepped outside, she saw Percy walking through camp, winds slowly picking up around him. He was walking down the river that lead from the lake in camp to the ocean when Artemis spotted him, though she felt the winds long before then. He was almost to the ocean, having left a little while back.
Jogging up to him while becoming her older form on reflex, an arm in front of her face to block the dust that was beginning to get kicked up from the winds, she called out to him. He whipped around, shocked, but that didn't compare to the shock Artemis was feeling when she saw him.
Well, more specifically, his eyes. They were back to being a normal sea green, like they used to be, but that wasn't the shocker. Percy's eyes always showed his emotions. When he was happy or amused, they'd sparkle. When he was angry, they'd glow. When he was sad, falling into despair, they'd dim. Right now, it was like they couldn't make up their mind. One moment they're bright as a sea green sun, the next, they looked like he was becoming a child of Athena, dull grey with only the barest hints of green visible.
She noticed his hair was back to how it was before, the grey streaks in his hair completely visible. Then she saw his tattoo, glowing an eerie black.
All the while, as she took in his appearance, the winds had been getting stronger, storm clouds gathering overhead. Snapping out of her revere when she saw him keep walking, she called him again. "Perseus!"
He stopped in his tracks for the second time, though this time he responded, though his voice came out in a bit of a hiss. "Yes, Artemis?" She couldn't help but flinch back at the tone in his voice, even knowing she wasn't the cause of this.
Steeling herself, she began to walk towards the water, seemingly trying to stop the waves that were coming at her. Percy, momentarily distracted from his feelings, made a conscious effort to stop the winds making them slow to halt as she walked on the water, reaching him somewhat shakily.
When she reached him, she stared for a moment before sucker punched him in the stomach. Oddly, he didn't even react beyond looking on, somewhat amused. "You called me, Artemis?"
She looked at him in surprise, before hardening her gaze. "What do you think you're doing, Perseus!?"
His eyes regained their look, bringing him back to the state he was in. The winds began to swirl around them once more. He averted his eyes from her before turning around and restarting his trek. "I'm blowing off some steam. Go back; I'll be there in a few minutes." His wings, midnight black right now, sprouted from his back as he began to walk away.
With a glance backwards, he made a path of ice back to shore, giving her am easy way back as he took off, going rather far away, though she only felt the winds return, stronger than before. Sighing, she returned to her normal, 12 year old form and made her way back down the path, watching as it broke down behind her.
Walking back into the dining area, she found that they'd been waiting for her to begin. Zeus, thinking she'd brought him back, began speaking. "Now we may begin. To the- where is Perseus, daughter?"
When all eyes turned to her, she made sure to ignore the questions that came with them, wondering why she would know. "He is, ah, "blowing off some steam" at the moment, Lord Zeus. He promised to return in a few minutes, when he's done. He was going out over the ocean, last I saw."
Zeus nodded. "Okay, we shall begin without him. To the-" This time, he wasn't cut off by a person, but by roaring winds, barely audible but growing stronger at an oddly fast pace. "What is that noise?" He looked to Poseidon, thinking he had a hand in this, but in his eyes, he saw nothing but confusion.
The widening of Artemis' eyes was the only explanation they got as she dashed out of the mess hall, heading towards the ocean. As the winds grew in intensity, and they noticed trees beginning to bend, they all headed outside, concerned.
What they found was Artemis staring off in the distance, astonishment plain to see on her face. As they followed her line of sight, they, every god, demigod, dryad, naiad, satyr, centaur, etc., joined her in said state.
Over the ocean was what looked like a hurricane, though that may have been an understatement. From what they could tell, the eye of the hurricane was at least ten miles away, but it was hard to judge distance on such a magnitude. It easily covered them in a dense cloud, rain beginning to fall heavily on them.
That was enough to snap them back to reality, watching the funnel like shape get larger and larger. Zeus looked over to Poseidon, fear evident in his eyes. Shouting over the winds, he asked, "ARE YOU DOING THIS, POSEIDON!?"
He got a shake of the head as a response. "I CAN'T MAKE SOMETHING THIS STRONG AT THE DROP OF THE HAT, ZEUS!"
They were interrupted in their shouting by Artemis. "IT'S PERSEUS! HE TOLD ME THIS MIGHT HAPPEN, BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS BAD!" Focusing on Poseidon, she shouted even louder, the winds having increased. "CAN YOU STOP IT, UNCLE?"
She got a shake of the head as her response, making her worry. Thinking about her options for a few seconds, she looked at both her uncle and father. "LORD ZEUS, UNCLE POSEIDON! TRY AND HOLD BACK THE WINDS AS BEST YOU CAN!" As the winds calmed down a bit around the group of demigods, she took off in a dead sprint, running across the water much to the shock of everyone there, mainly the hunter, the Poseidon cabin, Poseidon himself, and Zeus.
Zeus looked at Poseidon, his normal bravado absent due to his shock. "Did you know she could do that?" Poseidon just stared at her as she got smaller and smaller, approaching the funnel. He didn't even answer verbally, just shook his head.
This whole time, Percy had just been in the sky, miles off shore, thinking to himself. The massive natural disaster whirling around him barely registered for him, his thoughts more focused on Annabeth. By that point, he'd already been thinking for a while, his thoughts having died down a bit. 'Why can't I just... forget about her.'
Purge, his ever present but lazy as all hell voice in his head, decided to help him out. 'Well, everything at that camp reminds you of her. It makes sense you can't just forget about her if everything in your surroundings are constantly reminding your time together.' Percy could only sink further in on himself at that.
Sighing as he began to despair, he made an excessively strong flap of his wings, unknowingly bombarding the camp with (more) hurricane force winds. 'Well, I refuse to let her actions cripple me. Controlling my emotions was the first thing I had to learn, and she's throwing all of that practice out the window.' He didn't get any advice from Purge that time, making him think that he had no advice to give.
'Well, I guess I'm on my own for this one... Fucking fatal flaws. If memory serves, mine is loyalty. How ironic, as I place no trust in people's so called "loyalty" anymore. Changes the moment an easier path comes along, at least for demigods.' Shaking his head, he brought himself back on topic. 'I can't just distract myself from this anymore!... Maybe I could just kill her...'
For a while, he legitimately pondered the idea. 'No, no. That wouldn't solve anything, only cause more problems... Maybe I should just talk to her about it... No, she has a silver tongue.'
He then got a bright idea from Purge. 'Well, how about you just think about it for a while? A before and after, you know? To be honest, if she hadn't done that, all your friends would've outlived you by eons, you would never have had the chance to meet all of the Protegenoi and Titans, not to mention help out the monster. Shit, you would've never been hired to protect the hunters!' He had to agree there.
Then he thought for a moment. 'Well, I do enjoy working with the hunters, despite their hate, as annoying as it is. And then there's Artemis... not sure if that part is good or not.'
As the winds began to die down, a laugh from Purge was his response. 'Why? 'Cause you're getting attached? C'mon, Perce! It isn't that bad! Just go with the flow, bro.' Those words were what made him freeze.
'Hell. Fucking. No. I'm neutral in this world, and you know that! Backing up my friends is one thing, but what you're suggesting...' He shook his head as the winds picked up again, reflecting his inner turmoil. 'No. I refuse to cause another Annabeth. The moment I start, I KNOW the fates will find a way to fuck it up. That is my fate.' Purge's scoff was the last thing he was able to make out as another voice rang out.
"PERCY!" Opening his eyes for the first time since the hurricane began to form, he saw Artemis, looking to be 18 again, on the water below him. In the eye of his own personal hurricane, things were calm, meaning that she didn't need to contend with the winds. At the same time, they were surrounded by clouds, so she was soaking wet, making Perseus force back a blush.
Descending gracefully, he landed on the water, his wings still outstretched. As Artemis approached him, he felt alarms go off in his head, a sixth sense developed through years of studying people telling him that something was off.
He was proven to be correct as, the moment she got within a foot of him, she took a swing. As he dodged backwards, he could hear Pontus, Thalassa, AND Purge laughing at him. Looking down, he started shouting at the water. "Now is NOT the time, you two!" 'Unfortunately, I CAN'T get rid of you, Purge.' In a surprising show of power, he managed to block the two out, preventing them from sensing anything within a section of their domain, a section he occupied.
Looking back up at Artemis, noticing that she was panting, he gave her a questioning look, his eyes having returned ti their rainbow state after he went through all his anger and rationalized his feelings with Purge. She just growled and crossed her arms, staring at him for a while before answering, making him get nervous.
When she finally addressed him, she sighed, dropping her arms. "You had the world's biggest hurricane going a few moments ago, Perseus. It took me forever to get here at top speed, yet you would've destroyed camp if you'd continued."
Now, Percy was shocked at this. "Uh, I only had a small one going on to help release some anger. I'm not sure what YOU'RE talking about." The hardening of her eyes was his only warning as a knife came sailing at his head.
Catching it between his finger reflexively, he could only sigh. "Okay, what is it?"
She growled at him. "Well, maybe you had A LOT more anger that you thought, because, before I left, TREES WERE BEGINNING TO BEND!" Percy's confused face was all she needed as an explanation. "You did all of that... by ACCIDENT!" Her hand and face impacted with a loud boom as the clouds around them dissipated. "My father is gonna have a fit."
Percy could only laugh sheepishly. "Sorry?"
She just looked at him angrily before letting it drop once more, seemingly too tired to pursue the matter. "I'm *pant* not the *pant* one you should be *pant* apologizing to. *pant* *pant* Hades, *pant* I don't know if *pant* an apology *pant* will even come close *pant* to being enough." She began grumbling as best she could as she began walking back to the camp, only to stumble, her foot dipping into the water a bit.
Percy looked on, concerned as her panting got worse by the time she got up. It suddenly dawned on him. "You're not used to these powers yet, are you?" She gave him a look that said "NO REALLY!?" before she fell to one knee.
Getting back up a Percy approached her, she put up a strong front, not wanting to appear weak in front of him. "Let's go." She took off running before Percy could protest, so he just sighed and followed.
As they ran at a somewhat slow, by BOTH their standards, pace, Percy noticed that she'd stumble every so often, slowing down. She even fell down completely twice, but brushed his help off. When she recovered from another stumble, bringing them to a brisk walking pace, she fell forward, utterly exhausted.
When Percy appeared in front of her, she didn't deny his support this time, just accepting it with wordless thanks. As she began to push off once more, seeking to finish on her own power. The moment she left him, she began to fall again.
He was in front of her in an instant, this time facing away from her in a crouch. As she fell onto him, he got up, grabbing her legs. She was forced to hold onto his neck or fall backwards, and she did the former, choosing to not get soaked beyond her current state.
With as much anger as she could muster at that moment, she tried to yell at him, though it didn't come out like one. "What *pant* *pant* the *pant* *pant* Hades!"
Percy just ignored her and began running at a light pace. She grit her teeth and tried to squeeze his neck to make him put her down, but she was too weak at that moment to put up much of a fight. Percy noticed the attempt, though, and sighed. "You're too tired to travel right now, so I'm doing it for you. Accept it, 'cause I ain't letting you drown yourself." With that, he fell silent once more.
Artemis, as thankful as she was, didn't want to rely on him. Sadly, she WAS too tired at that moment, so she decided to let it slide so she could take a while to rest. An uncharacteristically cute yawn escaped her lips as she leaned forward, burying her chin in the space between his shoulder and neck. "Slow down." It was a simple command, one which he followed easily, slowing to a somewhat fast walk.
With the running over, he noticed something he would rather not be the case: Artemis. More specifically, he noticed her body pressing into his from behind, specifically her breast. As he walked, he tried to not focus on the feeling, he really did, but failed. "Could you become a twelve year old again, Arty? It's..." It was then that he noticed she was out cold, her breathing having evened out a little while back.
Resigning himself to the awkward travel, he kept walking towards camp. Purge to the opportunity to tease him. 'Oh no! What ever will you do, with breast pressed into your back!? Woe unto thee!' A quick 'Shut up, Purge.' was enough to end that, but the small blush that covered his face, if only for a few seconds, was enough.
Looking up, he glared at the sky, knowing that the Primordials were watching him, somehow. "I will find a way to block your vision. And when I do, I will laugh. Laugh in your faces. I will enjoy it far more that I should, but I won't care about that and laugh some more." He swore he could here Nyx laughing at him in her dark way, Erebus' chilling laughter not far behind. "I WISH ACHERON HADN'T LET YOU OUT!" The laughter only grew.
Making his way on shore, he saw that everyone was staring at him, something that was becoming a common occurrence. He laughed sheepishly, but before he could say a thing, he started getting cheers from the Poseidon cabin, each of them beyond impressed by the storm he just made. Even Poseidon had an impressed look on. "Good job, son. I think we need to have a storm off sometime... after you finally have that surfing contest with me.
Percy just laughed nervously once more before confessing something that made Poseidon's jaw drop. "To be honest with you, I was only intending to make a small one to blow off some steam. I didn't even notice that it grew so big; it only felt like it grew a bit." Poseidon stared at him in shock before laughing.
Once he finished, he pat Percy on the shoulder that didn't have Artemis, choosing that one by pure coincidence. "Never mind on the storm off; I feel like you'd win if that felt small to you."
Zeus broke in at that moment, his eyes narrowed slightly. "It's great that you two are so relaxed about this, but I would much rather know WHAT THE TARTARUS WAS THAT!" Many of the camper mumbled an approval.
Shifting in place, Percy looked down. Zeus, who'd moved right in front of him, continued on, his eyes widening. "AND WHY ARE YOU CARRYING MY DAUGHTER!?" When he said it, everyone noticed, their eyes widening right along with Zeus'.
Percy resumed his nervous laughter, trying to shake Artemis awake. What he got didn't help his situation. She blearily opened her eyes a crack, groaning. "Five more minutes..." She then proceeded to press herself into him further, making him blush lightly.
Forcing it down a moment after it appeared, though it was too late, as it was seen, he began to try and talk his way out of this situation, the hunters' murderous gaze doing nothing to help. "Ah, yes. Well... my bad?" Zeus did not look amused.
A/N: And that's a wrap, people. I decided to keep this chapter short, since I'm actually working on my other story with some major concepts going on in the background that I have to make sure I don't screw up. Seriously, it's annoying when you wanna put an idea in your story but you can't because of your other ideas. I have to sort those things out and get that typed, but I figured I may as well take a break from that story and indulge you guys. I typed this all in one day, so I hope it's pretty good, because I spent a good few hours on it. Enjoy!... Or not. I have no power outside my stories.