A/N: Hey guys i'm back with the seventh chapter (finally) sorry it took so long. I really hope you guys enjoy it as I am trying to write longer and better chapters but can't guarantee. Anyway here is chapter 7: Identity revealed - Nightshade Guardian


Artemis POV

I woke up in the same clearing as before with all of the hunters still lying in the ground though they looked to be in slightly better shape than before as some of the worse injuries seemed to be lessened to a point where they weren't life threatening. Unfortunately I still needed help to heal the hunters and there was only one god that could help. I stood up, swaying slightly then regaining my balance, then shouted. "Apollo!" I disliked calling my brother for help but I had no choice. A few seconds later he appeared, smiling as always. "Hey Arty, you called?" I had to resist hitting him. "Yes I called but don't call me Arty. I need you to heal the hunters" he shifted his gaze over to them and immediately shifted into a much more serious doctor mode and walked over to them.

After a few minutes he stood back up and walked over to me. "It's weird, but it seemed as if someone lessened the worst injuries" my thoughts immediately went to the mysterious man in black and the glimpse of his eye. Could it be him? Apollo carried on. "I still need to take them back to my palace to treat them properly but they should all make a full recovery" I breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok fine, let's go" I said then I flashed into my brothers palace. When I arrived the hunters were already being placed on to hospital beds and being prepped for treatment. Apollo glanced up. "Don't worry about the hunters Arty, I'll have them healed soon" I glared at him. "You better and DON'T call me Arty" I then walked away heading towards the throne room.

When I walked through the doors the throne room was empty apart from Hestia tending the hearth as always. I summoned my bow in my hand and shot a silver arrow into the sky where it exploded in silver sparks, signaling I was calling an emergency meeting. About 5 minutes later all of the council had flashed in, excluding Apollo who was still treating the hunters, all looking at me with curiosity. "Why have you called this meeting Artemis?" asked Demeter. I took a deep breath and spoke. "The hunt was attacked" at this a majority of the council became worried as almost all of them had children in the hunt. "Is my daughter alright?" Zeus asked quickly, obviously worried. I nodded. "She and the rest of the hunters will be fine and are currently being treated in Apollo's palace hence why he is absent. However most of them would be dead at this moment were it not for the mystery man in black" All of the council were suddenly paying attention as this man had saved lots of their children over the past few years. "What happened?" enquired Hera "To take a guess" I replied. "The hunt were probably walking through the forest in search of what was probably meant to be a small group of monsters When they were ambushed by a much larger group." All the gods seemed to be worried and wondering at how bad the hunters were injured. "They were not doing well but my lieutenant managed to get a message through to me. I flashed there as soon as possible and saw my lieutenant about to be killed by a cyclops" Zeus paled and listened even more intensely. "Then the man in black appeared from the trees and sent a fireball at the cyclops, burning it to ash where it stood, and then went on to slaughter all of the remaining monsters, of at least one hundred, without even a scratch" everyone seemed shocked at my revelation. "Just this one man?" asked Ares. I nodded. He grinned. "That should be fun" everyone else rolled their eyes and groaned at Ares's antics as, even though he was the god of war, he was not the toughest opponent you could face, Percy beat him when he was twelve for Zeus's sake. "Then what happened?" asked Zeus, evidently thankful that his daughter was unharmed. "Some of the hunt and I tried to stop him leaving then he just put me and the rest of the hunt to sleep with just one word" everyone seemed shocked while Athena looked in deep thought. "So you said he used fire and put you to sleep Artemis?" Athena asked. I gritted my teeth. "Yes" I replied. I dislike being overpowered. "So he used fire and what seems like magic" everyone looked at Athena, waiting for answers. "The only two gods on Olympus whose children would have control over fire would be Hephaestus and Hestia. Hestia is a sworn maiden and Hephaestus claims that Leo is his only child that is a fire user so how does he have fire powers?" at this I remembered Hestia flashing out of a meeting a few years ago and had a sneaking suspicion as to who gave this man power over fire. I decided to voice my opinion. "I think that my Aunt has some explaining to do, don't you Hestia?" everyone turned quizzically towards Hestia. She sighed and stepped away from the hearth and walking towards the council. "Yes. This person is my champion" Poseidon quickly spoke up. "Who is he?" it was evident that he was hoping it was Percy. "I will not say. We swore on the Styx we wouldn't reveal his identity without his permission" Athena then spoke up "You said we. Who is his other patron?" Hestia then slapped her head. "Styx." Hera then stepped off her throne. "I am" Zeus looked angry. "What?" he bellowed. "You became the patron of a demigod without my permission?" She rolled her eyes. "Please, you have had so many demigods I feel I can at least become one's patron" Zeus anger seemed to lessen as he seemed to think about this. He sighed. "you're right. I guess it's better than having your own demigod. I apologize" Hera looked surprised. It seemed Percy had made a bigger impact on Zeus than she thought "Thank you" I quickly spoke to Hera. "Can you summon him here, I think the council need to meet him" Hera glanced over to Hestia who nodded and then spoke. "I will bring him here but you all must swear on the Styx to not to force him to reveal his identity. I need to ask him some questions" she mumbled the last part. "Fine" Zeus said. "I swear on behalf of the council not to force Hestia and Hera's Champion to reveal his identity on the Styx" Thunder rumbled signaling it was binding Hera nodded then She then closed her eyes and concentrated.

After a few minutes a black haze formed in the middle of the throne room and out stepped the mystery man. When he saw where he was he muttered something under his breath then bowed. "Milords and Ladies" his voice still sounded multiplied like before. Hera looked startled then glared at him. "Where have you been?" she yelled. He flinched at this and I smirked. At least he seemed afraid if something. "I was about. Learning new things and helping get demigods to their camps or the hunt" before Hera could ask any more questions Hestia walked up to him. "The council would like to meet you" he nodded and then spoke. "Hello" I then walked up to him and glared. "Why were you near the hunt earlier male?" he nodded his head at me and then spoke. "Lady Artemis. I was near the hunt as I was dropping off a new recruit. That reminds me" he waved his hand and mist formed beside him and a young girl of about 8 stepped out and attempted to hide behind his leg. "Lady Artemis, this is Amy, daughter of Nemesis" I crouched down to her level. "Hello Amy, I'm Artemis, it's nice to meet you" the girl seemed to glance up at the man before gingerly moving forward. "Amy would like to join the hunt as doesn't have a good experience with men" I glanced curiously up at him and saw two sea-green eyes looking down at me. It had to be him. "If so, why does she trust you?" he shrugged. "I took care of the problem" I was slightly taken aback at this but nodded. "Ok she can join the hunt if that is what she wants." she nodded. "Ok then, repeat after me" I then went on to recite the hunter's oath and accepted her pledge when she had finished repeating. She then went back and stood behind the mystery man.

I stood up to my full height of 5'10 and looked at the man. "Just who are you?" he didn't do anything for a moment then replied in that same multiplied voice. "I'm nobody important. But if you want a name you can call me Invel" he seemed guarded. Hestia then spoke up "You should tell them your real name, you can't hide for ever" he sighed, nodded then muttered something under his breath again. "Fine" this time the voice wasn't multiplied and seemed oddly familiar. He then reached up and pulled down his hood to reveal a mop of unruly black hair and familiar sea-green eyes. "Percy?" gasped Poseidon. He had missed his son dearly these last few years. He smiled. "Hi dad, it's been a while" Poseidon then jumped off his throne, shrinking down to human size as he did, and ran forward and crushed his son in a massive hug. Percy seemed to tense up then relaxed and hugged Poseidon back. "Where were you and why did you leave camp?" Poseidon asked once they had finished hugging. as soon as he said this I noticed Percy's eyes seemed to fill with pain. Was what happened with the daughter of Athena still bothering him? "There were a few reasons that I would rather not go into" Poseidon looked sad. He obviously knew about Annabeth but he had picked up on the fact there seemed to be more than that. "We can talk about that another time then but why not come to Atlantis?" Percy cast his eyes downward. "I didn't want to cause trouble with Amphitrite and Triton" Poseidon grasped him in another hug. "Did you really think that?" he almost sobbed. "Yes." he muttered softly. "I didn't want to go somewhere I wasn't wanted" at this another flash of pain seemed to light up his eyes. I remembered then the story that was told by the campers about what Apollo's brat Ryan had done and realised how deeply this had affected him His fatal flaw was loyalty after all but had Poseidon forgotten? After Poseidon finally let go of him Percy spoke to the council again. "Now that this is over can I go now?" Zeus was about to answer when Hera butted in. "Not a chance. You have explaining to do. When did you learn magic!" Percy muttered something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like cursing. "I became the champion of Hecate after saving some of her children that would have been killed by monsters and she taught me how to use her power over magic" Hera seemed satisfied with this until she seemed to pause then glared at Percy. "Why did you introduce yourself as Invel" Percy responded quickly to that. "I had to come up with a name as lots of the kids would ask so I decided on Invel, based on the Spanish word for winter" something seemed off about that but I dismissed it. Zeus then spoke up. "I feel that this council cannot have you disappear again Perseus so we would like to give you something to do so that we know where you are and what you are doing" he nodded. That was odd, I thought he hated being called Perseus. "Ok. What would you suggest?" Zeus glanced over to me and I realised what he wanted to suggest. "No. Not a chance" I yelled Percy looked confused. "What?" He asked. Zeus then replied with exactly the suggestion I thought he might. "If the council agrees, I would like to appoint you as Guardian of the hunt" I flipped. "No. I will not have a male guarding the hunt. We can take care of ourselves perfectly fine!". "Not according to today" remarked Ares and I shut up as it was true. "All in favor of making Perseus the Guardian of the hunt" all of the council raised their hands. I scowled. "Fine. But if he so much as looks at the hunters funny I will castrate him" He seemed to pale at this. "It's decided" said Zeus. "Perseus will now serve as the Guardian of the hunt until further notice"

After this everyone flashed out apart from Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and me. Hera walked up to him and enveloped him in a hug. That was odd. Hera had said that she was one of his patrons but I had no idea they were that close. "You better Iris message me sometimes and tell me about what's going on" Percy smiled at this, he seemed much more relaxed with Hera than with Poseidon. "I will don't worry m- Hera" she smiled then flashed out. Hestia walked up next. "The same goes for me. I want to know that you haven't been killed alright?" he laughed at this. Why did he seem so much at ease with Hera and Hestia yet almost frightened of his father? "Don't worry, i'll be fine but I promise I will call you sometimes" Hestia smiled, hugged him once more then she went back to tending the hearth. Poseidon then walked up towards Percy and enveloped him in another massive hug yet again he seemed to tense up just being near his father but hugged him back nonetheless. "Remember to come and visit Percy, Amphitrite and Triton have changed since you last saw them and actually helped to search for you when you disappeared" Percy smiled. "I promise I will try and visit soon but I feel I will be very busy trying not to be castrated for a few months" Poseidon smiled as it seemed like some of the old Percy was breaking through. "Please be careful Percy, I only just got you back, I can't lose you again" Percy smiled again. "Dont worry dad, I promise to be careful" Poseidon gave his son one last hug then dissipated into a sea breeze.

Percy turned to me. "Lady Artemis" he said. I sighed. "While I am not happy about this decision I suppose I must tolerate your presence from now on. Before I go check on the hunters I want to lay down some ground rules for your stay in the hunt" he nodded. "Ok what are there rules Lady Artemis?" I sighed again. "First off just call me Artemis, I'm not fond of the titles while not being prayed to" Percy looked confused. "But the hunt always call you Lady Artemis and if I am to stay with them for a length of time without being castrated I think they would want me to show you the proper respect" I smiled at this. He wasn't as dumb as other Males. "The hunt will accept it, they just refuse to call me anything but Lady, it can get annoying. Secondly, no flirting with the hunters" at this his eyes seemed to darken slightly. "Don't worry about that La- Artemis. I swear on the styx to not flirt with any of your hunters" thunder rumbled in the sky, signifying the oath was binding. To say I was surprised was an understatement. "Why did you do that?" I asked, I was genuinely curious. "To show that I would never betray you or the hunt" Again I was surprised. Did he really care about the hunt that much? "Okay. next rule is that you have to do whatever me and Thalia say while staying with the hunt, within reason anyway" He nodded. "That is perfectly fine" I had half expected him to complain about that but it seemed not. "Last rule is that when we move you will help to pick out the camping site as when we searched for you we could never find yours so i'm assuming you know good locations" He smiled at this. "That seems fine and if you would like I can train any hunters that are willing in close quarters weapons as that currently seems to be their weakness" I was shocked. He had picked up on that from just one fight? "If any hunters are willing that's fine" He nodded. "Ok. Do you want me to wait at your campsite for you and the hunters to return?" I thought about this. The hunters would probably not take kindly to a male walking into where they were being healed especially if said male had incapacitated all of them with one word. "That is probably for the best but wait until I tell the hunt what is happening before revealing yourself. Unless you want to be used as human target practice?" He chuckled at this and I saw that underneath the mystery he was shrouding himself in, he was still one of the only men to ever gain my respect and tolerance. "No thanks, it happened before and i'm not very fond of it" as he said this he rested his hand on his left shoulder subconsciously. What was he not telling me? "If you're sure" I replied and flashed away to Apollo's palace to collect the hunters.


A/N: I am Finally done. Thank you guys for being patient with me while I wrote this chapter it took a long time for me to find the right way to introduce Percy and you can be sure that there is a reason why he chose that fake name but you will just have to wait and see. Until next time - Nightshade Guardian