Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 4
T(Percy pov)
When I pull riptide out of my pocket I'm shocked to see some design changes.
From end to end there was a golden thread spiraling around riptide in its pen form. The base color had switched to a deep sea green, and it was glowing a soft bronze, kinda like it normally does as a sword. I pull the cap off and the room is suddenly filled with a bright light that slowly fades until it's just bright enough to light up the room. I take a good look at my sword and take in all of the changes. It was still shaped like a classic Greek xiphos, but was about 6 inches longer and 1 inch wider. Starting at the pommel, spiraling up the hilt, and finally ending about 6 inches up the blade was what looked like a gold and sea green thread. The blade still seemed to be made of celestial bronze, but everywhere I looked it seemed to be showing reflections of different parts of my life. I saw myself fighting the Minotaur, giving the master bolt back to Zeus, holding the sky, and for a moment I thought I saw myself kissing Annabeth at Mount Saint Helens before that scene ended.
I took a few practice swings and found that riptide was now perfectly balanced for my new body. I let out a sigh of relief, having worried about how I'd deal with having an undersized sword, but not wanting to move on from the weapon that had served me so well since I was 12.
( Artemis pov)
After asking my father for his permission to leave I flashed out. First I went to the outskirts of our camp, which was currently in the Appalachians. Once I see that my girls are okay, I decide to head somewhere I can think. After a few minutes I settle on a location and focus on flashing out.
I materialize in my moon chariot and settle in to think about my current problem.
On one hand, Perseus was at the very least tolerable for a male. On the other though she knew that many of her hunters had had bad experiences with men that had drove them to enter my service, and that they wouldn't take this well. Not to mention the backlash she'd get from Aphrodite. Ugh, why can't she just leave me alone. It's not like I've spent millennium trying to force her into celibacy. And even if i didn't have to deal with those consequences, I'd still rather be with the hunt then teaching a new godling about his powers.
Whatever, I'll get this done fast and everything can go back to normal.
(Percy pov)
I wake up to my alarm clock going off and roll over to see that it was 7:00 am. I get up, shower, and head out for my morning jog. Not many people are up this early so I have most of the camp to myself. I run down to the beach and sit down. I love coming out to the beach in the morning and watching the waves come in. It makes me feel closer to my dad and something about being near the ocean just feels right. After a couple minutss I run back to my cabin to change and flash up to Olympus for my first lesson.
When I arrived on Olympus I looked around for a common area where I could wait for Artemis. I sat down on a bench near the throne room and before long I saw Artemis flash in. She looked around for me, but I could tell she hadn't noticed me because she had an impatient look on her face. I decide to scare her and flashed right in front of wear she was standing. As soon as I appeared in front of her she flinched and yelled , " ah, who are… PERSEUS!" I couldn't stop myself from laughing at her reaction, but after a moment I knew I had messed up. Artemis' face had turned red and she had her eyes locked on mine, showing clearly that she was pissed. She took a second to calm down before explaining what I'd learning today.
"As a god, you have the power to change yourself and others into animals. As long as they're less powerful than you it should be no problem."
I never thought about that before but it made sense. In the legends Zeus and other gods were known to turn themselves into animals as disguises, and Artemis was known for turning men into jackelopes. Excited to learn a new power I listened closely to Artemis' explanation.
"As with most godly powers, this is mostly dependent on focus and intent. You need to see yourself as the animal and picture yourself be coming the animal."
When she was done talking she quickly turned into several different animals including a doe, a kangaroo, a wolf, and a bear. I decided to give it a shot and before long as was much smaller, furry, and craving carrots. "This isn't right. I was supposed to be a wolf.", I thought. I look up and see Artemis smiling mischievously with her bow in hand. It was at this moment I knew I needed to get out of there so I did what any other rabbit would do. I hopped away as fast as possible, and tried to hide from the big, scary, huntress.