I really need to get over the writing blocks I have for my other stories so I can update them. I also need to get my dumbass brother to get the chapters he owes me done. He's way overdue on them. As for this story, I still need to find out where I'm gonna take from here, other than through The Titan's Curse. Enjoy the chapter.

I Make New Friends And New Enemies

Percy's POV

"Get camp set up." Lady Artemis commanded to her hunters.

At that, the hunters began setting up their camp and I unwrapped myself from Grover. I then turned my attention towards the little girl that was now covered in ichor and golden dust, the girl who was nearly killed by Dr. Thorn and who was named Sophie from what I overheard. I knelt next to her and took her in my arms. Her face was also covered in tears. She looked like she was a ten year old girl or so. She had blond hair, blue eyes, and I could tell she was a little like me. She doesn't really like being in battles or fights, but despite that, wants to help her family and friends out in any way she possibly can. I could feel many pairs of eyes on me, eyes that I knew were from the hunters of Artemis, but I didn't give a fuck. Again, only Kronos really scares me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked the little girl Sophie.

She just came up and wrapped her arms around me and cried her eyes out. I was a bit shocked at this, I wasn't really expecting this kind of action from a girl who is a part of the group of girls who are complete sexists towards the entire male population just because of what a small handful of men out of approximately 3 to 4 billion throughout the entire planet did whatever was done to them. But I said nothing. I just wrapped my arms around the girl and tried to comfort her. Which I knew wasn't going to be easy. I mean, she nearly died a minute ago, and a part of the Hunt or not, she's still just a little girl. It felt weird having to have this kind of connection with a hunter of Artemis, but I knew that this little girl really needed me right now. Just holding this little girl made me long all the more to be back at camp just so I can get back to Clarisse and see how she and the baby are doing.

I just hope Clarisse hasn't had too many mood swings while I've been gone. She's been having quite a number of those lately. Not too many and not terrible ones, not anything that will have any terrible effects on our baby's health, but she has effected some others around camp to say the least. Like the time just a week ago when she got all pissed about Chiron forbidding her from camp activities. Why, she's pregnant, why else? She was born a warrior, so being told to stand down doesn't sit well for her at all. She knows Chiron is only doing it so she and I are able to protect our baby a little better and Clarisse does appreciate that Chiron understands now how much our baby means to us and that he's willing to help a little, but the way he's helping us right now isn't going well for Clarisse. Me, well, it was 50/50 for me. I don't want anything bad to happen to our baby, but at the same time, I don't want it to seem like I'm in control of Clarisse's life. I don't want to end up holding her back from what she loves and enjoys. I want her to be happy no matter what. I was basically in a situation on where I'm in the middle of a conflict and had to choose between two sides. Those kinds of conflicts are some of the worst, let me tell you.

I've been trying to make sure she's been doing okay as much as I can, though with her mood swings, which is something you do not want to be a part of, I've been giving her some space from time to time. Not the "avoid you" kind of space, but the "I'll give you some room to adjust to everything" kind of space. Eventually though, I didn't have to worry about it all as much. A girl from the Aphrodite cabin, the Aphrodite cabin's leader actually Silena Beauregard form a friendship with Clarisse. I was pretty surprised to say the least. I had no idea how Silena was able to pull it off really, but she did and I'm happy for both Silena and Clarisse. So to pass the time, I don't really know why exactly, maybe to at least get a god to support us, I took up Ares' offer to be trained to fight like a god. I have to say, I find Ares' teachings of fighting a lot more useful and better than Chiron's. He says that for a kid that doesn't really like fighting, I was a pretty fast learner. I personally think it's just luck, but Ares doesn't agree with that, so I guess making an impression with him is something I should be proud of.

I should probably just get back to the moment at hand right now. Eventually, after however many minutes this went on, the little girl's cries finally settled down and stopped. She looked at me with her tear stained, bloodshot, and puffy eyes.

"Hello." She breathed in a feared tone.

"Hi there. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." I introduced myself.

"I'm Sophie, daughter of Aphrodite and a member of the Hunt." Sophie introduced to me.

"Nice to meet you Sophie." I said while softly wiping her eyes clean with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Thank you. I've never been so scared in my life." Sophie said leaning her head against my chest.

"I can only imagine. At least you're safe and sound." I said.

She just nodded and moved closer to me. She still needed a little time to breathe and try to get over what just happened here. I can't really say that I blame her at all, though I'm still a bit surprised that I'm holding a hunter of Artemis in my arms right now. I just hope none of the other girls here try to kill me, not yet at least.

"Percy." Thalia said coming over to me, followed by Annabeth.

"Percy, where are the two demigods?" Thalia asked.

"I had them hide behind that rock over there." I said pointing to the rock that they were hiding behind.

Thalia and Annabeth went over to get them. I stayed where I was holding Sophie. As for Grover, well, let's just say what he was doing is a sign showing everyone that he must have a death wish. He was staring at all of the hunters and he was even staring at Lady Artemis herself. You could easily see the lustful and in love desires in his eyes right now. At moments like this, Grover looking at girls like that are moment I call the moments of Grover being typical Grover. I didn't really know what to call these moments at first. Back when I first arrived at camp and as Grover and Chiron were showing me around the camp, a group of Aphrodite's daughters were calling for him, and he literally went head over heels for them all right away. Chiron basically called that a typical satyr moment. As for me, well in my head, that's what I called a typical black guy moment. Nowadays, because I still haven't really forgiven him yet, the second option I had for it was typical nigga moment. Don't tell him I said that. Tyson and I have been playing a lot of Grand Theft Auto 5 lately. Anyways, since it seems that typical satyr moment and typical nigga moment might actually be an understatement, especially since he's technically both, I just decided to call it a typical Grover moment. It definitely suites him if you ask me.

"Sophie, come over here." One of the hunters commanded.

In other words, she wanted me away from Sophie. Though Sophie didn't really seem like she wanted to leave. Because as soon as that huntress said that, Sophie grabbed a handful of my shirt and leaned in closer. I didn't really like the idea too much of letting her go just yet either actually, but the last thing I wanted right now was to make the same mistake Grover was making right now, showing that he must have a death wish.

"You should head over to your friends." I said to her.

"Will you be okay?" Sophie asked me.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I promised her.

She didn't really looked convinced, not that I expected her. But she just offered a small nod and walked off to the huntress that called for her. As she went over to the huntress that called for her, I got up and made my way to Thalia and Annabeth, who now had Nico and Bianca with them at the rock. Grover just continued to look at Artemis and her hunters. It really wouldn't surprise me if at any moment right now, someone ends up shooting Grover in the head. But Grover really wasn't my concern right now. Nico and Bianca were.

"Percy!" Both Bianca and Nico exclaimed as they saw me coming towards them.

Then completely forgetting whatever it was they were talking about with Thalia and Annabeth and completely ignoring them now to, they came over to me and tackled me with a hug. They didn't literally tackle me, I was too big and they were too small for that, but they still gave me a pretty big hug, so I guess it was close enough.

"That was so scary." Bianca whispered.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said.

"Thank God you're okay." Nico said.

"Well, the manticore did leave a bit of a mark on me, but other than that, I'm perfectly fine." I said placing my arms around them as well.

"Percy Jackson, what was that about?" Thalia asked me.

"What was what about?" I responded.

"I told you we needed to stick together no matter what and that we needed to act professional in there. But you just went ahead and did the exact opposite of what I told you." Thalia said.

"Yeah, I did, so fucking what?" I responded.

"I gave you a direct order, and when I tell you to do something, you do it. I'm in charge of this group, so you do what I tell you to, when I tell you. Got it?" Thalia threw at me while starting to get agitated on the matter that I wasn't listening to her at all.

"Okay, first of all, just because you're the daughter of Zeus, that doesn't automatically make you in charge here or the strongest demigod alive. Second of all, I don't take orders from anyone unless I see any reason for an exception, especially from people who don't deserve any respect or sympathy from me. Third of all, no one elected you in charge of this group, so you have no control over me whatsoever. And lastly, I made it clear before we left camp that if I have to be a part of this, then I do things my way and I do whatever I say is the course of action I should take. So long story short, if you have a problem with me doing things my way, then go fuck yourself." I countered at her.

That left her speechless. I guess not too many people stand up to her like how I just did. Annabeth was also shocked at what I just said. If I'm the first person to ever stand up to Thalia Grace like that, well then I just earned myself an achievement.

"Damn dude. Is all of that really necessary?" Grover said coming over to us.

"If you need a name for what I just did there, it's practically a little something called "exercising freedom of speech.". So yes, it was completely necessary and it was not doing anything wrong whatsoever." I said.

Thalia was glaring at me yet again. Grover and Annabeth both just stood back so they didn't end up becoming any more of a part of this than what they were. Nico and Bianca both just stayed as close to me as they could and stayed quiet the whole time. Though before Thalia could snap at me for not only being a resistant bastard towards her, but also for being a smart ass towards her as well, I was called for.

"Percy Jackson." The voice of Lady Artemis said.

We all turned towards her. She looked like a woman in her late twenties or so. She had green eyes, hair that was naturally brown with some hints of red in it. She was dressed in hunting boots, cargo pants, a black shirt on with a bow, a quiver filled with arrows in it, and hunting knives strapped onto her clothing. Her hair went to the small of her back. In a way, she kinda reminded me of the bonus character Tauriel from the movies "The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug" and "The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies". If she was trying to look like Tauriel, she was doing a surprisingly good job.

"Lady Artemis." I said bowing down to her, which was followed by the others bowing as well and Grover blushing and having that look in his eyes again.

"Come with me. I want a word with you." Artemis demanded.

Normally I don't let myself take orders, but Artemis is a goddess, and defying a goddess isn't exactly the best course of action. So I just nodded and followed her. She led me to what I assumed was her tent. It was spacious for a tent. It was all hunting material as well. I guess I can't really expect anything else from her. She sat on a log that was right next to the fire place she had here. I sat on the log opposite of her. It was kinda weird at first. We both spent a moment just doing nothing but look at each other, trying to find something in each other.

"So who talks first? Do you talk first or do I talk first? How exactly does this start off?" I asked.

"So you're the boy who's going to be a father." Artemis stated.

'Why am I not surprised that this is how it's going to start?' I thought to myself.

"Yeah, Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, is about five months pregnant as of today. We're both really excited about having a baby." I said.

"While I am pleased to see that, I must say I find I bit hard believe that she raped you when usually it's men that rape women." Artemis said.

"I would never do that to anyone." I said.

"For your sake, I certainly hope not. Otherwise I would turn you into a jackelope just like how I did to the last male that entered my tent." Artemis said.

"With all due respect Lady Artemis, if you truly think that only men rape women and women don't rape men at all today, then you must spend too much time in the wild and not get out into cities too often." I observed.

If I didn't go through what I go through every time I sleep now, which is when Kronos invades my dreams and throws many injuries at me that I wake up feeling and seeing as soon as I wake up every night, I would've probably been scared after that. But I really wasn't. Whatever threat an Olympian throws and whatever smart ass comment I throw that could possibly get me in trouble is nowhere near as bad as that of a titan, especially if that titan is actually Kronos.

"When word got out that you and the daughter of Ares were bringing into this world a second generation demigod, no one could believe their ears as to what we learned at the time. I first thought it was a result of you raping her." Artemis said.

"Believe me, if I did rape her, I'd already be dead." I said.

"I can read many things about people just by looking into their eyes. I can see you are not afraid of dying. Are you not intimidated by me, Percy Jackson?" Artemis asked.

"With how I've practically been facing death for many years and will how I've unwillingly formed an unpleasant relationship with my father's father, our grandfather, I've pretty much gotten to a point that I've decided that dying is the least of my worries." I said.

"And my mortal half-sister Thalia Grace? She has the reputation of being one of the toughest demigods ever. And yet just a minute ago, you showed a great deal of resentment to her. Are you not afraid of her either?" Artemis asked.

"No. And I resent her because almost like everyone else, she thinks negatively of my child. If not a lot, then at least a little. It really irritates me how people think they can just go ahead and judge the worst for an innocent child, especially if that child is my own child and a child that hasn't even been born yet." I said.

"You truly have nothing but pure love for your child." Artemis said.

"Clarisse and I both want to be the parents our child need in his or her life. And I want to be the father I always wanted but never had thanks to that beer loathing fuck I had for a stepfather Gabe Ugliano." I said.

"Indeed?" Artemis asked.

"Yes." I confirmed.

She took another moment to look into my eyes. Then something weird happened. She had a small smile on her face. It was one of those happy and proud smiles. She then got up from her log and came over to me. Then she placed her hand on mine.

"Percy Jackson, I do believe I have finally found a true man. I think you and I will get along just fine." Artemis said.

In case you haven't read my stories "A Dying Romance" and/or "Love The Goddesses", Artemis is played by Evangeline Lilly and Zoe Nightshade is played by Phoebe Tonkin. I usually have a certain actress imagined for a goddess and that makes it easier for re to give a description as to what I think the goddess looks like or how she probably should look something like as such. I hope that's okay with all of you. Later.