Percy looked like crap. His face was hidden under layers of bruises and scars from the only metal that could hurt him, he hung his head in exhaustion and his eyes had large dark rings around them. He had a large scratch over his mouth and his clothes were ripped and shredded exposing his bare chest. A silver knife was still implanted in his shoulder but large bruises and stab wounds decorated his torso. His breathing was ragged and his blood and sweat merged together as it ran down his face and chest. He had a gag over his scarred mouth making it even harder to breath and his wrist were bleeding from trying to escape the silver chains. The only part of his chest that remained unscathed was the part where the chains covered. He tilted his head back in an attempt to get more air to his aching lungs; every breath caused his body to scream in agony. He felt extremely warm and frustration overcame him, the entire time he was being tortured he refused to scream...until they brought out the arrows and used him as target practice.
To ensure he would keep quiet they gagged him, they threw taunts and jeers at him much to his anger and he felt terrible. He wondered when the other hunters would come, the other ones who seemed to like him somewhat, would they even heal him? He didn't know what time it was and he felt like he was going to vomit, his body hurt and to make things worse Ashley used several torturing tactics on him because she knew he wouldn't die from them. He was going to kill her. Being tortured wasn't part of the plan either. He squeezed his eyes shut as his breathing continued to wear him down. His mouth hurt from the tightness of the gag and he let out a groan, he wanted to die, he just wanted all this pain to end. He could barely see anything, stupid hunters had good punches, but he had kept a brave face on the entire time. He would laugh at them and yell insults and talk about how fun it was harming their sisters. This only aggravated them further but it was worth it.
"What the Hades!" A voice whispered. He didn't bother trying to see the person who had said it, with the sharp scent of pine filling his nostrils and the familiar voice he knew it was Artemis. He could hear her rush in and soon something cold was applied to his face, she gently roamed his face with her hands as she put the nectar on him. He clenched his jaw at the stinging sensation of the cuts and let out a fierce growl, Artemis gently removed his gag and he was surprised at her tenderness. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before hanging his head back in relief at the oxygen. It didn't feel weird that she was caressing his face but nice, he felt so pathetic and weak, something his father would beat him for. But at the moment he didn't care. He leaned into her touch and kept his eyes closed, he ignored the stinging sensation and felt warmth erupt in his cheeks once he felt one of her hands rub the nectar over his chest. He felt her put something to his lips and he hesitantly opened his mouth. She popped the square of ambrosia in his mouth and he chewed it slowly and felt some of the pain start to evaporate much to his relief. But unfortunately it only did so much.
"Who did this to you." Artemis murmured as she continued to smooth the nectar out over his stomach. He could feel himself start to heal and his bruised eyes vanished. Percy looked down at her as she continued trying to help him heal his cuts, her bright eyes held anguish as she stared up at him from her position. She bit her lip making her look adorable and vulnerable, she looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and she could feel sadness overcome her emotions.
When he didn't answer Artemis stood up and unlocked him from his chains. He didn't move and she knew why, she took off the remaining part of his torn shirt and assessed his scars. He stayed rooted to the seat, his legs were filled with arrow inflicted wounds making it so he couldn't move them. Her cold hands cupped his face and she looked at his face as if trying to memorize everything about him.
"Percy who did this?" She asked again and Percy only looked at her. He was shocked, he didn't expect her to treat him so...nicely? Worry, genuine worry, emanated from the goddess as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. Percy kept his mouth shut not bothering to rat out the pathetic hunters who partook in his torturing. He would kill them himself. Scars still marred his skin but the majority of the bruises had cleared up. The goddess sighed at his lack of response and reached down to pick up a wet washcloth, she placed it on his sweaty forehead and his eyes fluttered shut in relief. He felt nearly immobile, his arms still hurt from being tied down and the rest of his body still hadn't recovered from the torturing. She gently wiped his face before setting the washcloth down.
"I'll see if Apollo can heal you more." Her voice cracked and she clenched her jaw before turning away from the werewolf. How could she allow this to happen, because of their fight Percy didn't remember who he was and people had snuck in and tortured him. What made her even more afraid was that it was some of her girls who had done this to him. How would she punish them? The thought made her feel murderous, she had never seen Percy so physically weak before and it was terrifying. Whoever had done this to him obviously had a vendetta against him.
Percy finally spoke up,"Why are you doing this? Why would you help me?" He asked quietly and she turned back towards him. He still had long, jagged scars that ran down his face but they were now a faint white color. The bruises had faded slightly but she would need to get Apollo to heal Percy, she could only do so much but she knew Apollo didn't like Percy very much.
She couldn't help it,"Because I love you." She said abruptly and wanted to smack herself. She busied herself again, promptly chaining Percy up again and healing his legs. She didn't put the knife back into his shoulder and she stood to her feet before shooting Percy a look filled with guilt. She was infuriated with his memory loss, instead of taking it slow she wanted to speed things up because she was naturally blunt and somewhat impatient like her father.
He just laughed cruelly,"You had me going for a moment. How could-" He didn't finish when she slammed her lips onto his. Her hands went in his hair because she knew he liked that, she was rushing it and she knew it, but she was desperate to have him remember her and know that she wasn't lying.
Percy's mind went blank. This couldn't be a joke; Artemis would NEVER kiss a man to convince him that they were in love. Something was wrong. He tried to remember anything about the moon goddess but nothing came to mind, only a small buzz. Instead of staying still while the moon goddess kissed him he kissed her back, he noticed the desperation in the kiss and felt so confused. He had gained Artemis's affections? He was awesome. How had this happened? He was actually enjoying the kiss and felt like this wasn't the first time this had happened. But it was impossible; this was all a lie wasn't it? It had to be because that was the only logical explanation about what was going on.
"Lady HOLY CRAP!" A voice screamed and the two froze. Artemis quickly pulled away and saw Piper standing in the tent frozen in shock. No one moved a muscle and Percy decided to awkwardly speak up.
"Uh...well...before you try to murder me for touching your goddess I just want to say...she kissed me first!" He exclaimed and Artemis rolled her eyes before looking at Piper in worry.
The daughter of Aphrodite surprised them both by letting out a small squeal,"Finally! It was so obvious that you guys liked each other and now you're dating!" She gushed excitedly and Artemis raised an eyebrow while Percy looked at Piper in surprise. Piper noticed their confused facial expression and she blushed before awkwardly clearing her throat and giving a small shrug.
"Uh sorry...I mean as a daughter of Aphrodite I could feel that you guys loved each other-"
"What? This is the first time I've met any of you...well I guess not the first time but...ugh this is confusing!" Percy growled before his eyes started turning into a darker yellow. His jaw clenched and he gritted his teeth before glaring at both of them.
"Look Artemis, could you please go call Apollo? I feel awful. And...Piper? Can you discuss this with Artemis later?" Percy pleaded and Artemis frowned before she reluctantly left the tent. This must have been a lot for Percy to grasp so she left and Piper muttered an apology before leaving with Artemis. Once they left the tent Artemis shot the eager daughter of Aphrodite a glare.
"Not a word. We'll discuss this later." Piper's eyes widened and she nodded vigorously before a smirk adorned her lips. Artemis narrowed her eyes at her and Piper instantly stopped smiling, she smacked a hand over her mouth and jogged away. Artemis sighed before face palming, this just wasn't her day, but she couldn't help but smugly think of how Percy kissed her back. Maybe a part of him was still here, she still didn't know how to get his memories back but they'd figure out something. By the looks of it the werewolf was starting to believe them, he was part of the hunt not Lycaon's pack. She couldn't help but wonder who did that to him; it had to be someone in the hunt because she would have known if there had been an intruder in the camp. Thalia and Annabeth had stayed overnight but neither held a hatred for him to actually make him incapable of moving, who in the hunt would go as far as to...Ashley. Artemis clenched her fist in anger before she let out a calming breath, just because the hunter loathed Percy didn't mean she'd do that. She was definitely a suspect but Artemis knew she couldn't jump to conclusions.
Artemis soon forgot about summoning Apollo as she decided to go have a little chat with the hunter, if Ashley was the culprit than what would Artemis do to punish her? She couldn't help but feel murderous at the thought of Percy looking so weak. She had never seen him so beat down and it made her feel sick to her stomach. Though, it seemed like long overdue karma for everything Percy had done to the hunt. It wasn't acceptable but she thought that since Percy had done the most damage to the hunt, this definitely narrowed it down to her hunters. Which meant that the torturer was most likely Ashley.
Percy waited until the two hunters were out of hearing range before he let out a sharp whistle. He heard a rustle in the woods from behind him and suddenly Lyric was in the tent. The brown haired girl looked at him worriedly and he just shook his head before pulling at the chains.
"I'll explain later, just get me out of these chains." He grumbled and she strode over to him and pulled out a lighter. Stupid silver. She held the lighter close to it, melting it would take too long but if she could soften it slightly she could get him out of the trap.
"So she bought it? She thinks you're confused and helpless?" Lyric asked as she continued to soften the metal. Percy nodded before letting out a painful cough, gods he was going to kill Ashley, he'd be doing the world a favor.
"Of course. But Lyric...something weird happened with Artemis. She kissed me, there's no way she would take her acting so far." Percy told her while gauging her reaction. Lyric stiffened and he could hear her grind her teeth together in anger.
"The maiden goddess kissed you huh? Percy you'd be surprised at what she'd do to convince you that you're on her side. Or do you remember what I've told you?" The werewolf asked and Percy nodded slowly, it didn't seem like the man hater would ever go that far to convince him. He had been told countless of stories of her hating him and men period. Maybe he was really valuable to her hunt?
"They'll do anything to get me to be against the pack." Percy said obediently and Lyric smiled slightly before putting her hands on the now red, hot silver. She winced before ripping the chains off, her hands were charred and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. She waited for Percy to stand up but he didn't, she frowned before noticing the arrow wounds in his legs, even the nectar and ambrosia couldn't heal that very well. She reached down towards Percy and grasped him by his arms that were the only things unscathed by silver. His shoulder blade still had a stab wound but he ignored that slight pain momentarily as she slung his arm around her neck. She helped him limp out of the tent, both wary of their surroundings, Percy's eyes widened once he saw the mocha colored girl look at them. Lani, he had heard the others talk about her.
"Hey!" She screamed but before the scar-faced girl could get to them a large, brown wolf got in her way. He let out a snarl and Lani returned the snarl with a ferocious roar before a giant, blonde haired wolf took her place. Percy groaned at the pain in his legs as Lyric led him away from the hunt.
"I'm going to murder whoever did this to you." She whispered fiercely as she helped her mate limp through the woods. Percy chuckled before turning slightly and giving Lyric a kiss on the cheek. Percy was frustrated with the lack of happiness he felt when he was with Lyric, he had been with her for a year, literally as long as he could remember. But that one kiss with Artemis left him in a state of shock and that was something Lyric had never been able to do. The hunt seemed like they convinced themselves into thinking that he worked for them as well, they were nuts, especially that Ashley girl. Maybe the gods put Artemis up to kissing him so that he would be convinced that he was apart of the hunt. He guessed he should have felt honored, its not everyday he was kissed by a maiden goddess.
"Not if I beat you to it." Lyric rolled her eyes at his bravado but a smile played on her lips. This is what she had always wanted, Percy at her side, even when they were little she had had a crush for the son of Lycaon. And now he was hers. The two never went any further than kisses here and there, they were fifteen for gods sakes and although they had raging hormones they were both surprisingly in control of them. She had always cared for Percy but he had been taken away from Lupa's hunt because of Lycaon. That idiot thought he was going to live through this? He may have been her creator in a weird werewolf way, but he was the one who separated her from Percy in the first place and she was going to kill him. She would of course need to convince Percy that it would be for the best. Percy would then be the king of werewolves taking his father's title. Lyric held no loyalty to anyone but Percy, and he had been with Artemis, Artemis of all people. The virgin, man hating goddess. Lyric knew that once past Percy's hard exterior it was easy to fall for him, she just never thought Artemis would.
"We'll get you patched up before we storm Manhattan. Don't worry, soon the gods will fall and the hunt will suffer." Lyric growled angrily and Percy gave her a weak smile as she continued helping him through the woods. Maybe he should have waited for Apollo to heal him, if that's what Artemis was actually going to do. Instead of him immediately showing up Artemis had walked away from him. She didn't really love him like she had said though she was an excellent liar, he had believed her and for a moment he had cared for her. It was all a lie. All of it. That was okay though, he was bred to kill her anyway so feeling anything but hatred for the goddess was unacceptable.
"Sounds fun." Percy finally responded and Lyric flashed him a bright smile.
It took about a month for Percy to fully recover from the amount of silver wounds he endured. It started out slow, he would practice walking and ignore the pain, anytime he showed the hurt he was actually in Lycaon would add on by giving him sharp smacks to the face or hard shoves.
"Don't be weak!" He would yell and Percy would just nod. No one noticed the murderous intent in Lyric's eyes when she looked at Lycaon. She couldn't wait to kill him. Percy then would do basic training and would go on jogs to get his body back in working condition. His scars didn't fade. They marred his skin but had lightened up slightly. Lyric and Percy had gotten somewhat closer to each other, instead of acting like mates they started acting like friends. It made her more enjoyable to be around, Lyric would encourage him to run longer or do more sit ups or push himself harder. She would help him apply nectar to his wounds whenever they got any nectar; the scars had been so deep that it was taking them a long time to heal. Lycaon, as impatient as ever, set up constant matches with Percy against other werewolves. After many failed attempts to win Percy got back on his feet and was able to endure more pain, if anything the torturing had made him stronger. He could take a scratch to the chest or face and he wouldn't even blink. Soon the determined werewolf was able to win easily again, they continued training him to take down Artemis.
-Line Break-
Artemis had no time to grill Ashley once that werewolf had stormed through the camp. Lani and a couple of other hunters had killed him, when they got to the tent Percy was gone.
"That stupid mutt was just a kamikaze!" Lani had screamed, referring to the werewolf who had tried to distract them from Percy's escape. Artemis was so infuriated but she made no move to go after Percy, she had to be professional about this and handle the situation delicately. She needed to think before doing anything. She had finally gotten Lupa to ask for help, the wolf goddess had made a suggestion that Artemis hated but what choice did she have. Lani was stuck by Lupa's side and was ridiculed for it by some of the hunt. It seemed like the tension of the hunt had it bursting at the seams. The Percy supporters of the hunt, though there were few, were furious with the members of the hunt who thought Percy's torture was acceptable. The ones who thought so were fed up with the werewolf. Thalia and Annabeth had reluctantly gone back to camp; the daughter of Zeus had a sixteenth birthday she had to worry about.
"And you're sure this is a good idea?" Zoe asked Lupa worriedly and the wolf goddess nodded gravelly. Artemis and the hunt watched the wolf intently as she shut her eyes. At first nothing happened before suddenly a bright flash of light appeared. Hera stood there glaring murderously at Lupa.
"This had better be good." Her long, chestnut colored hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore a black shirt and grey pencil skirt looking extremely formal. She had on black heels and stood with perfect posture as she looked around in disdain.
"I know for certain Artemis isn't my child. How one chooses to live in these conditions is beyond me." The goddess huffed and Artemis rolled her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest. Gods she hated Hera.
Lupa bowed to the goddess,"Lady Hera, my son Perseus is in trouble-"
"Your son just seems to keep getting in trouble doesn't he? Do you know how many favors you owe me Lupa? A lot. If you would just mother your children like you're supposed to this wouldn't be happening!" Hera snapped and Lupa just stared at her emotionlessly. Maybe if she had kept Percy away from Lycaon in the first place this wouldn't be happening. She felt guilt creep its way into her before a familiar voice spoke up.
"Leave her alone!" All attention turned to Lani who walked closer to Lupa and stood next to her protectively.
Hera seemed to dial down her coldness and she gave the girl a small smile,"Lani. It's nice to see you." She said rather warmly making the girl sneer at her mother in disgust.
"Can't say the same. Don't talk to Lupa that way! She's done nothing but fulfill your orders and you treat her horribly! Give her a break why don't you?" Lani snarled, her eyes darkened and she exposed her fangs at the threat that was Hera.
Hera lost her smile and narrowed her eyes,"You don't speak to your mother-"
Lani cut her off,"Lupa is my mother. A real mother wouldn't let Zeus try to kill them, you're pathetic, and when will you tell him I'm adopted?" Hera's expression hardened even more and Artemis quickly intervened.
"Look Hera, I'll owe you the favor. We just need your help restoring Percy's memories from the Lethe." Artemis said quickly so a fight wouldn't break out.
Hera turned to her with a coy smile on her lips,"Fine. I can't get his memories back after an incident like the Lethe but I do know someone who could help. Though, it may take some force seeing as he has sided with the titans." The goddess paused before smoothing her skirt out and wet her lips, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration before a sigh escaped her lips,"However, he won't really get those memories back. But he'll see them, and if he does that should be enough to spark some remembrance." She then rubbed her temples in an exasperated gesture,"Understand that the Lethe will never allow him to get his memories back but if you can find Morpheus he can feed Percy dreams of his life. Just good luck persuading him." She said with finality in her tone and Artemis nodded slowly.
"Thank you Hera, one last thing, where could we find Morpheus?"
Hera pursed her before clearing her throat,"He's in Manhattan as we speak."
I've been extremely busy lately. My birthday was a little bit ago so I'm finally fifteen! Actually it was a couple weeks ago...whatever.
Anaklusmos14: Um... I noticed mistakes in paragraphs 2, 5, 6 and 7... I'm afraid those need to be edited, NOW! And thank you I happen to be quite wise, I suppose it would be hard for you not to notice. Glad to see you admit it so publicly.
...I'm going to shoot you...well I would but unfortunately you're a *mumble good writer mumble* so I can't kill you or my entertainment would be gone. Man, I guess I didn't realize how important you servants are, so thank you Sammy. But I'm afraid you'll have to update when I tell you to which is everyday or no imaginary candy for you.
Shadowblank: My palms are sweaty, my knees weak and my arms become heavy, there's even vomit on my sweater, 14's spaghetti! That's how I feel emotionally when I read this, it's amazing how someone of your age can write like this, it's up to snuff as I like to say. Keep em comin' and for sure I will review. Truly marvelous.
I'm nervous but on the surface I look calm and ready to drop bombs, but I keep on forgetting what I wrote down the whole crowd goes so loud I open my mouth but the words don't come out. GOSH! This has to be my favorite review of all time! A Stan I see, awesome. Well I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for reviewing and awesome Slim Shady/Eminem stuff you're throwing out. Made me smile.
Don't ask me about what happened to SOUL REAPER'S SON. I'm handling it. SO just review and tell me what you thought, this story is coming to a close in about an estimation of three chapters. SO if you want imaginary chocolate, jellybeans suck, than review!