It had been three weeks and no attacks had occurred. Although Percy was glad whoever was behind these attacks wasn't hurting anyone or anything, he didn't like knowing that he hardly had any lead of the perpetrator. All he knew was what they discussed the night of their interviews. He also was worried that something big was going to happen. What else would this person be up to right now?
Because there weren't any recent attacks, Percy called off the 'task force'/'Scooby Gang' from patrolling the areas. He figured they could use a break, especially Artemis.
He vaporized over to the camp. Artemis was sitting on a log, watching the girls playing extreme hide and seek, where the only barrier is continental US. As he walked over to her, he noticed her baby bump was even more prominent. He felt bad for not seeing her in a couple of weeks, but he had to plan out a bunch of stuff if there was an attack, and how the Camp would respond.
Artemis looked sad. She rested her chin on her knuckles and looked towards the ground. She didn't even lift her head when he came. "Hey Percy," she mumbled.
"Hey Arty," Percy replied. He pulled, from behind his back, a bag of KFC and two huge bucket of their fried chicken. Artemis' eyes immediately darted upwards. They held the same gleam as a puppy's would when chasing after a squirrel.
"Is that for me?" she asked, eyeing up the food. Percy was laughing so hard on the inside. If she wasn't pregnant, Percy would've assumed she was crazy. He tried not to show too much amusement.
"Well, I thought that we could share what's in the bag and give the buckets to the Hu-"
Percy didn't finish his sentence quick enough. The horse races were already off, and Artemis was already a bucket and a half finished. Percy had never seen anyone eat food faster in his life. She would grab two pieces of chicken at a time, and finish them in a matter of seconds... leaving nothing but the bone. Percy watched in amusement till she moved towards the bag and stopped. She looked like something was wrong, like really, really wrong. Like 'you thought that the war with Kronos was bad?' level of wrong.
"Um, what is it Artemis?"
She looked at him with wide eyes. "Where is the whipped cream?"
Percy looked at her confused. "Um Artemis, they don't have whipped cream at K-"
Her face turned angry and she stood up, pointing a finger into his chest. "Percy Jackson, now is not the time for jokes. You're telling me that you ordered everything from the KFC menu and forgot the whip cream?" she provoked.
"Look Artemis, I'm sorry, but they don't ser-"
"GO GET IT NOW!" she shouted with the strength of a thousand moons (whatever that means lol).
Percy shook his head helplessly and started to vaporize.
Her face turned helpless, and Percy stopped. "Percy, can you please get the croutons as well?" she pleaded.
Percy teleported to the grocery store and grabbed anything that he could find. He got her the whipped cream and croutons, but decided that her cravings might want some other things. He just didn't know what, so he picked up a shmorgishborg of foods that would hit any craving of hers. Salty, sweet, spicy. You name it, he got it. He didn't have time to pay, so he left a hundred dollar bill on the cashier counter.
He teleported back to the campsite. By now, all of the Hunters were finished with their games and sitting by Artemis.
"Oh Percy, you're back," Artemis told him with a soft voice. It was like she was a totally different Percy. He looked around with a 'someone help me' face. Sadly, he would never get that from the Hunters.
"Yeah, I grabbed that whipped cream and croutons you were asking for," he told her. He grabbed them out of the bag.
Artemis looked like she just won a Grammy and put her hand to her chest. "Thank you so much Percy. Now I can finish the KFC." Percy looked at her, and, like someone who would accept a Grammy, Artemis started to cry like this was the pinnacle of her career. All the girls watched in amusement.
Thalia looked at him with a stone face. "Okay, Kelp Head, so you go and grab her some KFC but you can't afford to get us anything?" she accused. All the other girls looked at him with slight contempt, except Phoebe, who showed a lot of contempt. He looked down at Artemis who was savoring every morsel of food like it was the best thing of her life.
He stood there, speechless. He didn't want to embarrass Artemis. "You're right guys. I forgot. I'm sorry. Would you like me to go back and grab you some?" he offered. They all nodded their heads with glee.
Percy turned around and rolled his eyes. "Women," he whispered. He vaporized just in time to not get shot by Phoebe's arrow. "I HEARD THAT YOU MUTT!"
Percy spent the rest of the day with the Hunt. Well, he really only spent the day with Artemis, as the girls were playing extreme water polo, where drowning is recommended to get the ball from others and using paddles as combat weapons is a viable option.
Percy just sat there next to Artemis. Thankfully, it seemed like her mood swings and cravings were at a pretty mellow point for the moment. He wrapped his arm around her back and rubbed her shoulder with his thumb.
"How about a night for just the two of us?" Percy offered. "A date," he reiterated. Artemis looked out towards the girls playing.
"What about the Hunters?" she asked him.
"We can just have them stay here. Thalia can be in charge, and if anything bad happens, I am just a call away," he told her.
She looked down at the ground. "Alright, but I'm not dressing nice or anything."
Percy smiled. "Don't worry. We'll keep this one pretty informal.
Percy told Thalia to watch over the others and vaporized them to his palace in Olympus.
"What are we doing here?" she asked him as they walked up to the door.
"I was thinking we could have a grill out tonight," he told her.
Percy and Artemis walked through the house, and on the back end was a sliding glass door that lead to a balcony overlooking the rest of Olympus. Percy never noticed how big his backyard was.
Thankfully, there was a table out there, so Percy sat Artemis down and headed into the kitchen to grab the supplies.
Percy grilled around 8 T-bone steaks, just in case Artemis was really hungry again. The smell of the charcoal and the light of the setting sun gave Percy serious Montauk vibes. Moments like this were the best ones he could ask for.
When he finished the food, he set it in front of Artemis. She looked up at him with her big, silver eyes, and smiled softly. His heart wanted to melt. "Thank you Percy," she told him. She ate her food at a normal pace this time, and the date night was off to a great start.
Until a bolt of lightning flashed in the horizon.
"Darnet," they exclaimed in unison.
"I issue an urgent council meeting," Zeus bellowed. It looked like the other Olympians were not ready for this meeting, either. Aphrodite must've been sleeping, because her make up was smeared. Apollo was only wearing swim trunks with little sharks on it. And Demeter had dirt on her face.
Athena looked at her father with concern. "What is wrong, father?" she asked.
He sat up in his chair. "As we speak, there are fifteen air crafts in my domain with nuclear bombs. I can sense it, but I for some reason, I am unable to gather any more information or do anything about it. I don't know why," he told them. Percy could see how upset he was about it.
Everyone looked in shock. At first, Percy was hoping they were just military plans carrying cargo. But Zeus would have no problem seeing them.
Athena stood up. "Do you know their coordinates and direction of flight?" she asked. He put his chin on his knuckles and nodded his head slowly. "I can try."
She conjured a dry erase board with a map of the world on it. She handed him a marker.
"Here, put an X where you believe each plane is. Then draw an arrow from it in whatever direction it is flying."
Zeus stood up and started mapping them out. What amazed Percy was that these planes were flying from every direction. Some from South America, others Africa. And by the looks of it, they were all going towards a certain position.
After he finished, he stepped back, and Athena's eyes widened.
"My gods," she mumbled. "They're flying directly at Washington D.C. They are going to eradicate the whole city and then some. We need to stop this, fast."
Zeus looked with slight fear in his eyes. "Listen, we have around an hour before the first plane arrives. We have to split up and stop these planes. There are fifteen aircrafts and fifteen of us Olympians. I don't care what you do to stop the plane, just do it."
Hestia spoke, "Zeus, what if we-" But he was gone by now.
Athena took control. "Listen, I am sure there is a better way to handle this, but we don't have much time for a better strategy, so everyone target a plane. This map is enchanted, and the coordinates of the planes will update. When you are ready to leave, put your initials on whatever one you are going to, and it will teleport you to the ground beneath it. After that... well, I'm sure Zeus gives you permission to his domain. Do whatever it takes to stop these. Western Civilization depends on it." Everyone was left in shock.
Slowly, the Olympians lined up and started teleporting away. At the end of the line were Percy and Artemis.
"Do you think you can do this?" he asked her. She elbowed him in the stomach.
"I'm pregnant, not dead," she told him. Percy nodded, but he could see the sweat beading on her forehead. She was pretending that she wasn't nervous, but Percy could sense that she was.
They were the last two left. She grabbed the marker, but her turned her around and grabbed her by the waist and deeply kissed her. He stood back up and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I love you, Artemis. Stay safe," he told her.
At first, she wanted to tell him to not worry about her. But she just gave him a small smile. "I will." She went to the board and wrote her initials on a plane from the northwest of DC, currently in Ohio. She turned around with a smile as she teleported away.
Percy signed his initials next to the last plane which looked like it was still in New York City.
He was on the ground of a forest. He ran to a clearing and saw the plane above him.
"You need some help there, boss?"
He turned around, seeing just who he needed.
"Blackjack."
Ooh boy, fun times. Just a note, I won't make any political comments in this story. The President and ever other facet of government is irrelevant. The only point is that Western Civilization is being attacked. Have a great day!
