Heyyy so it's been roughly around a week, so hope I keep that up. Oh, and another shoutout to Multi fandom geekerello (I've said it already, but if y'all looking for some good fics, he's the person to go to) for more awesome advice for my writing! Thank you SO MUCH. Keep it coming; it helps a ton.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer - Rick Riordan, I am not.

Chapter Seventeen - Train with no Pain (for once)

Thursday morning, Jason found himself not listening to anything that Mrs. Linda was saying. All he could think of was the training. Annabeth had pulled him over on the way to class and told him that Apollo was willing to speak with them today after school. Annabeth had explained that Apollo agreed to the training, and Jason was nervous. Of course, that's normal. It's a human feeling, but...

Oh, boy, he thought, internally shaking his head. He was going to learn how to Summon like Mediums did, and that, for whatever reason, made him feel absolutely excited. But even then, he felt a contradicting nature within his rule-abiding self versus the one that wanted to train. To rebel, against the ways and norms of society, of what the government says.

It was sort of crazy, and likewise, was driving him just as crazy.

He breathed in and then out before slapping himself a bit (much to his seatmate's surprise) in an attempt to clear his head. He was going to break some rules, and that was a bit of a big deal, but that didn't mean he could slack off in class. He was pretty sure he heard Mrs. Linda mention a test and he was also pretty sure he just missed the discussion about what was going to be on it. He was going to have to ask Piper what the test was going to be about at lunch.

He nodded to himself, determined. Alright, I'm gonna totally break a law this afternoon, but it's fine. It's fine, totally fine.

And technically, learning how to be a Medium wasn't exactly breaking any specific written law, right?

o)0(o - Linebreak

Percy didn't sleep at all. Not a wink. But-

"I still can't believe I didn't need to sleep at all," he said in awe as Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. At the moment, Percy was outside of his physical body and in the Spirit World, having begun his training with Artemis. Before that though, Apollo had taught him the basics of meditation, having Percy try to clear his mind of all thoughts.

Though, the whole clearing his brain of all thoughts thing has been difficult, especially with Blackjack proclaiming how he didn't see the purpose in meditating if all Percy had to do was nothing. But seeing this, Apollo had just laughed and instead had Percy stand in the stream just outside of the cave where the Gate was. Apollo had told Percy to stand bare feet, and feel the water flowing around his ankles.

The purpose of it was to anchor his Spirit to something other than his physical body, and in this case, it was the stream's Soul.

'Feel the essence of what it is, and understand its Soul,' Apollo had said at the time as Percy closed his eyes, feeling the water.

At first, he had no idea how to 'feel the essence of what it was' because wasn't it just, well, water? But then with some guidance from Apollo he was able to manage; the man had asked 'What is water?' Now, for some people, Percy would expect them to say something like H2O, but Percy was in the mindset of 'nature has all the answers' and the whole 'humans can learn from nature' shebang that Apollo had put into him, so instead, Percy had answered:

'Water is kind and strong.'

'It goes to the lowest of places from the highest ones to fill every place lacking its presence, but when something is in its way, it can break it down, and sometimes it takes forever, but it's strong because it doesn't relent and keeps at it. It provides a home for many, a source of life for others, but it can also take down cities.'

And then Percy felt the water beckoning him. And he followed. It was...a strange experience. It was as if he literally walked out of his own body, and when he looked back, Apollo had just caught Percy's body with wide eyes. He looked up and around, almost as if wondering where Spirit Percy was before he looked in Percy's general direction grinning.

'Good job, kid. You did that quicker than I thought you would,' Apollo had said. To Percy's surprise, instead of a colored aura like his friends had had, Apollo instead looked really really...yellow.

And no, not Asian yellow, but, golden, almost, as if his Spirit colored gold, was overlapping his physical appearance, but instead of being formless wisps that reacted to emotion, it was concrete, almost, and shaped as Apollo, just...colored. And it was there, but at the same time, physical Apollo was also visible. It wasn't exactly translucent, both Spirit and body were opaque, but...it was just...at the same time.

Weird.

But Percy assumed it was because the man's body and Spirit were 'synced.'

After that, Apollo had beckoned to where he probably thought Percy was (which was in fact not correct; it looked sort of funny, Apollo talking to Percy but looking somewhere totally different), and had Percy follow him to the Gate. There, Percy was instructed to jump in and that he'd find his Spirit self in the other world, to which he complied and indeed found himself disoriented and in the Spirit World, on the shore of the lake, Artemis looking down at him with a disapproving gaze, Poseidon next to her grinning brightly.

And that brought Percy to where he was now, Riptide in hand, still energized even if he had been training through the whole night.

"I still can't believe I didn't need to sleep at all," he repeated for the second time. He gawked at Artemis as she sighed and knocked an arrow, piercing the tree across the river. Mind you, it wasn't so big of a river as the Hudson was, but it was still pretty impressive. At the moment, the two were taking a "break," which wasn't really necessary since Spirits don't get tired, but Artemis said she was getting a migraine from being with him for so long.

He honestly doubted that, but who knows, maybe Spirits are able to have migraines. He certainly wasn't a Spirit expert, so he wouldn't know.

Percy swung Riptide experimentally, the bronze blade glinting in the sunlight of the Sun's Soul. He had been training a lot with Riptide, or more specifically sword fighting. He had asked why he had to learn that in the Spirit World, and Poseidon had told Percy that while strengthening the physical body could only be done, well, physically, learning a skill like sword fighting can be done in both, and since learning a skill takes much more practice, Percy had to learn in the Spirit World where things like hunger, bathroom breaks, and sleep wouldn't bother him.

Percy watched as Artemis knocked another arrow, hitting the tree across the river. He scrunched his nose. It was a bit weird - trees had Souls, but at the same time, they didn't feel pain or anything, but it was still strange to see its Soul being pierced by an arrow. When something had a Soul...it meant it was alive right? And Percy already knew trees were living beings but it was just sorta...weird actually being able to see its liveliness but being shot...at...

"Why are you attacking the poor tree," Percy asked, leaning on Riptide as he quirked an eyebrow at the woman. Her silver eyes - it was shocking how...metallic and glowy those eyes were - turned to gaze at him, face with a slightly irritated look. Percy cursed himself as a shiver ran down his spine. He nearly forgot she hated all forms of "the human male species" and that was surprising since all Artemis would do was glare at him, look at him with indifference, or berate him.

Quickly he tried to save himself from Artemis's fury. "Er, I mean, wow, the way you attacked that tree, was just...wow." Artemis stared at him with a raised eyebrow, and he held his breath a bit before she turned and he let it out.

"You know," she said, and Percy saw a a twitch in the corner of her lips. "I may have a dislike for men, but I won't kill you for simply asking a question."

Percy blinked before rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, heh, uh, thanks?" Honestly, he was missing Apollo's training, and that was saying something. It was so tense and quiet during his training with Artemis. It was a bit...unnerving, to say the least. At least with Apollo, he could joke around and say opinions without being talked down to just because he was a guy.

"I am training as well," Artemis said. "There is always room for growth, though...Spirits are unable to grow, but that does not mean I do not try." Percy knit his eyebrows at that.

"Wait, why do you need to train?" he asked. "And does that mean me training Spiritually means nothing?" Artemis huffed.

"Of course, my brother did not tell you of this," she said in irritation at her brother. She faced Percy, glowing wind blowing Artemis's black hair to the side. "Your Spirit and body need one another to grow. While I no longer have a physical body to be one with, you do, therefore you still have the ability to grow. Since the two are separate at the moment, however, your body will have less ease at sword fighting than your Spirit, since it has not experienced anything to incite muscle memory."

"Huh?" Percy asked confused. "But then why didn't I just learn physically if learning it spiritually wouldn't mean anything physically?"

Artemis's eyebrow twitched a bit, but instead of saying that Percy was stupid as all men are, she answered, "During your time here, in the Spirit World, we are putting into you information and the general knowledge of what you need to know for sword fighting. Later on tonight, we will be sending you back to the Physical world to Apollo who will have you practice for a short time until your body is used to the movements.

"For now we are giving you as much possible information as we can during a short amount of time," she finished.

Percy nodded a bit. "Oh," he said intelligently. "So the plan is to stuff me with knowledge, and then have me practice what I learned physically later. And that's faster because...?"

Artemis looked like she wanted to facepalm, and Percy didn't doubt it. "It is a faster process because by the time you practice the movements, you won't have to take that extra time to be learning them in the first place." Percy thought about it for a moment more before finally nodding. It made...sense. But he doubted it bought him as much time as Artemis made it out to be.

Perhaps part of it was also the whole syncing thing...

Or maybe I should stop trying to kill my brain from thinking so much, he thought as he shook his head internally.

He turned to watch the river water move. It was...an amazing sight to see, really. Like all other things in the Spirit World, the river glowed and was full of vibrancy, but what was most amazing was the life force from beneath the surface, the different colored glows that moved making the river multicolored, with an almost dreamlike haze around it. It made him want to see what the ocean would look like.

"Why do you hate guys so much?" The question was out of his mouth before his brain (Spiritual brain? Was that a thing?) knew what the words even meant. He slapped a hand over his mouth. "A - ha I meant -"

Artemis snorted. Percy's eyes bulged. She looked at him, smirk playing on her lips as her silver eyes glinted with amusement. She shook her head as he gaped. She just laughed! Or at least it was close enough to a laugh that Percy'd ever get out of the woman.

"I do not hate, men," she finally said as she turned her gaze to the lapping ripples and the current of color of the river. Percy watched her with interest. In the 12 hours he had spent with the woman thus far, he's never seen her show any emotion close to joy or amusement, and it was frankly freaking him out a bit. Throughout the vigorous instruction (and vigorous as in strict; he wasn't the least bit tired, but Artemis nit-picked at every wrong twitch he made), Artemis was cold, and perhaps could be called rude.

But now, she looked thoughtful. Kinder.

"Hate is such a strong word," she said shaking her head in disappointment. "I do not hate, though I do...distrust." Her previously clear and guarded eyes gained a slightly misted look, as if she were remembering something in the past. It looked...familiar, and perhaps it had something to do with the empathetic squeeze that his heart made, but Percy saw the eyes of someone whose trust was betrayed in the past.

He's had those eyes for a while now, himself. He was no stranger.

So he, being smart, said, "Distrust, shmistrust, I don't think it should stop you from loving again." For Percy, the love he spoke of was of friendship, family, but for Artemis, he wondered if perhaps it was another kind of love. Percy expected then and there to be skewered, but instead Artemis turned to him with a look of interest. She didn't look particularly happy, but she didn't look disapproving either.

She spoke. "While your choice of words could be changed for the better, I sense those words mean more to you than it would for many others. Tell me, Perseus, do you think you know what I feel?" Percy blinked, mouth slightly agape but no words came out, rendering him speechless. He tried to say something but stopped-

Artemis smiled.

Granted, it was small, perhaps barely recognizable as a smile, but the upward movement of the corners of her lips were undeniable, and her eyes looked like moons. Calm, serene, and...comforting, really.

"I..." he trailed off. She scowled, and the serenity and the slight smile vanished as if it never existed, but the scowl, suddenly didn't seem as menacing as it had before.

"Speechless, now are you?" she said as she straightened her back, spinning an arrow in her hand. "As expected of small-brained men, but perhaps your heart might be bigger than that brain of yours. Whether or not it makes up for it, though, is another question." With a sudden speed and graceful agility, there was a sudden gleam of silver that flashed in her hand and he flicked her wrist.

Percy's eyes widened, and if it hadn't been for his ADHD, he wouldn't have been able to notice the sudden knife that was flying toward him.

"Wh-" Just in time, he whipped Riptide in front of him, metal clanging on metal, sparks shooting as the smaller blade was deflected. Percy stared at the knife before glaring at Artemis. "What the heck, I could have died!"

Artemis simply raised an eyebrow at him again, as if she could care less.

"Spirits do not die," she said as if it were common knowledge. Well, actually, maybe it was. But -

"How was I supposed to know that?" Percy said exasperatedly. "What if I thought that if my Spirit dies then my physical body dies!"

Artemis inspected another blade that suddenly appeared in her hand again. Percy wanted to know how she was doing that, but he wasn't sure if he should ask.

"That's simply ridiculous," she commented, flicking her wrist, Percy raising up his sword, barely in time to knock it off course, but less shocked since it wasn't as sudden as the previous attack. "The Spirit is eternal, unlike the body. It is just a matter of how healthy your Spirit is when you physically die.

"If your Spirit is unhealthy when you die, then you are as such forever, suffering from wretched pain for all of eternity. If you're healthy, then you stay that way forever as well."

Percy "oh"-ed before saying, "That's a bit...harsh. What makes a Spirit unhealthy?" He blocked another knife.

"Your hold is awkward; shift your body with your arms - you are one body. Your arms are not their own entity," Artemis instructed, as she started to move around him quickly, throwing knife after knife. Percy cursed as he dodged and deflected, following her instruction. "As for what makes a Spirit unhealthy, I don't have a specific definition, but I'm assuming it's how 'good' you are, for lack of a better word."

Percy grunted when a knife skimmed the side of his face, surprised to find no injury, though he was sure he felt it slice across his skin, there was no evidence of such thing. He decided it was a Spirit World thing, and focused back on the new information as well as dodging the knives which had turned into arrows at some point.

At this point, Artemis had leapt far away enough that Percy wouldn't be able to ask her questions in a normal voice level.

"Wait," he half yelled as he rolled to the side (he had learned evading techniques as well, which he found would be extremely useful when Gabe had another hissy fit). He swung Riptide, effectively slicing an arrow in half. "But an unhealthy spirit - what if they just grew up in a bad situation and turned out bad; they don't have a chance to redeem themselves?" A knife flew past his face as he jerked away.

His cousin suddenly rushed forward, dagger flashing dangerously as she shortened the distance between them in a blink of an eye, catching him off guard, effectively causing him to stumble as she slashed at him. He was able to divert the attack with his sword, but having swung his arms up, he realized with horror that he left his torso wide open, and Artemis knew exactly that.

With a knee to the gut, and another knife being whipped out and pressed to his neck, Percy yelped. "Shoot, I yield, I yield!"

Rolling her eyes, Artemis withdrew the knife as Percy touched his neck, poking at it despite knowing already that it wouldn't have any injuries. Artemis spoke. "Good. Your technique is getting better, but your strategic foresight is lacking; you can't risk mistakes, Perseus. A mistake in battle means life or death."

Percy grumbled in agreement before Artemis spoke again. "And as for your question about whether or not unhealthy Spirits can redeem themselves or not, I do not have the answer to that. However, from what I have seen, I doubt it's possible.

"And rather than 'unhealthy' Spirits, it is more proper to call them Evil Spirits, or ES for short, for that's what they are: evil. They often times go into the Corporeal Realm and affect the way the living act, much to the living's unknowing."

"Wait, you can do that?" Percy asked bewildered at that. "Go into the Corporeal World as a Spirit?" Artemis nodded as she inspected her dagger. Percy readied himself for what was to come, and as expected, Artemis rushed forward with a stabbing motion to which Percy, ready for it, sidestepped, bringing Riptide to clash against the smaller blade before swinging it up. Artemis though, expertly dodged with the slightest of pivots ('When you fight, don't do any ostentatious, flamboyant leaping and jumping when unnecessary. You will only get yourself tired,' Artemis had told him), quickly following with a slash to Percy's arm.

As they continued in this manner, with Percy managing to not be pushed back too much, he also asked, "And, that's...unfair. That they can't" - clang - "er, that ES's can't redeem themselves." He thought back to the story of the neglected boy that Apollo had told him about back in the Corporeal World. He was almost certain that if he hadn't had his mom and only lived with Gabe, he would've grown to be a very, er, unhealthy, Spirit, and maybe even died young. He would've become an Evil Spirit without even having the chance to be a good one.

The thought made him feel a bit queasy, and strangely, the hope that he could help those ES's somehow. The thought of figuring out how came, but was immediately shaken out when he thought I have enough on my plate.

He guessed that Gabe would be an ES once the bastard died, and Percy realized that maybe some people did deserve to be unhealthy for the rest of eternity.

Percy's thoughts were interrupted when Artemis's silver blade made its way uncomfortably close to his abdomen, and he cursed as he barely managed to block the blade by bringing Riptide's hilt down.

Artemis rose an eyebrow as she continued her onslaught of stabs and slashes. "That was quite the unorthodox way of blocking; I hope you don't plan to experiment on the day of your fight." Percy grunted a bit as he knocked the dagger off course. "And I see you are still one of the dimmer bulbs of the bunch, though considering you are a boy, it was to be expected." Artemis suddenly brought out another blade, and Percy's eyes widened as she nearly skewered his mid-section.

"But I didn't think you so naive that you would think the world was fair," she said, slight disappointment tinting her voice (disappointment that Percy thought was strange for whatever reason; it had almost seemed that Artemis had been expecting something of Percy).

Percy huffed in annoyance rather than exertion (he was still not used to the fact that he didn't feel any sort of fatigue despite the many movements he was making at the moment). "Hey, being naive is good; it means I'm as pure as a baby."

"Are you using sarcasm against me, child?" Artemis asked, sounding slightly offended, though there was a slight amusement glinting in her eyes as she attacked again. "You are on the defense for far too long; try to turn the tables and make yourself the offender," she instructed. Percy grimaced. Easier said than done, he thought as he grit his teeth a bit.

"Oh yeah," he said, a thought crossing his mind as he changed tactics, ducking instead of side-stepping this time. He quickly swung his sword toward Artemis's legs, to which he internally prayed she would dodge because he wasn't sure if Apollo would appreciate him lopping his sister's legs off. Fortunately, Artemis was able to avoid the blade by jumping. Unfortunately, that meant Percy's plan failed and he was again on the defense.

"You mentioned ES's before," he said as he blocked a slice to his right. "Back when I first came here; you told Aunt Hestia that an ES tried to cross the Gate or something." A strange look crossed Artemis's face for a brief moment, causing her to hesitate slightly, though, as skilled as she was, it wasn't enough an opening for Percy to have the upperhand.

"You said you felt something that day before entering through the Gate, yes?" Artemis asked, and Percy muttered a yes as he rolled to the side, quickly swinging his sword in an arc toward her.

Artemis continued, "That feeling you had - of dread and darkness; that was the influence of an ES, and judging from the fact that you were very clearly aware of its presence, either it was extremely powerful, or you are very spiritually attuned. Let us hope it is the latter."

"But I thought you said ES's were unhealthy?" Percy said before cursing as he tripped on an uneven piece of land he hadn't noticed. Soon enough, Artemis's blade was at his neck again. He glared half halfheartedly, before standing up and dusting himself off as a force of habit. He wasn't actually dusty or anything; he wondered if Spirits even got dirty at all. "How would an ES be powerful if they're unhealthy?"

Artemis frowned in distaste, as if Percy's inability to beat her was terrible. But Percy thought he was faring pretty good for a beginner sword-fighter (could he call himself a samurai in this situation?).

She then answered as Percy stood in ready stance, though Artemis didn't make a move. "Well, yes, when I say unhealthy, I mean that regarding their...appearance as well as their inability to breathe." This was shock to Percy.

"Breathe?" he asked.

"Correct," she said. "And I do not mean breathing oxygen. However, for lack of a more accurate term, an ES looks as if someone is struggling to breathe, drowning, perhaps." Percy thought back to the oobleck with a frown. Drowning was not good feeling at all. In fact, he would rather not experience it ever again. He couldn't imagine what it'd feel like if he felt like he was drowning for eternity.

But perhaps Gabe deserved it. And maybe Percy was looking forward to that, in a slightly morbid way.

"But then what do Spirits breathe?" Percy asked. He pointed to himself. "What am I breathing right now?"

Artemis answered by flipping her knife in the air and catching it. Percy readied, but no attack came. Well, if she doesn't kill me, the anticipation will, Percy thought idly as she spoke. "Must you know everything about the world?" Percy bit back a retort, because he did wonder why he was so interested in the ins and outs of it all. He was never this curious about math. Maybe it had something to do with his life being on the line because of said topic (the topic being: Spirits, Intents, Summoning, the likes).

"But to answer your question," Artemis relented with a graceful flick, dagger slipping into its spot on her belt along with the knife. Percy wondered if she just randomly kept them on her. "I am unfortunately not entirely sure what Spirits 'breathe.' And as for why ES's can be powerful despite their...state of Spirit, they are still able to attack, and like I said previously, influence the living to doing bad things."

"So...like murder?" Percy asked, catching himself before he said 'abuse' instead of murder. Artemis nodded. Percy was still standing in ready position, watching Artemis warily, but it didn't seem like she was looking to attack anytime soon, to which he was sort of sure that it was just her trying to catch him off guard.

"Sometimes," Artemis answered which just made Percy confused. "There are many cases where people murder of their own accord, but other times, especially ones done in the heat of the moment, are caused by the influence of an ES. Other smaller things are in a similar fashion caused by ES's, like the urge to steal, the urge to burst in anger and attack someone, to bully someone, to hit someone, etc.

"In this way, they can be quite powerful in their influence, and sometimes, when the living being influenced is so synced with the intentions of the ES, it can lead to something similar to possession, except, the person would think everything is of their own accord." Percy was quiet, earning a slightly questioning glance from Artemis, but Percy avoided her eyes.

Could it be that...Gabe is...possessed? Percy started to feel sick. He didn't know if it was because he was feeling sorry for the man, or if it was because dead...dead people have such power over people. He shook his head internally. Gabe - possessed or not, f*ck him, it's his own damn fault for attracting some powerful ES. Screw him for all Percy cared, the bastard. His jaw tightened.

Evil Spirits are the cause of it.

Maybe Percy wanted someone to blame for all the things he had to go through, and he could blame Gabe for that. But maybe he wanted someone to blame for making his friends betray him in the past. For the person who killed his dad. For the wars. For everything bad happening.

It's because of them.

And he wanted to get rid of them all. That would save everyone, right? Maybe Gabe'll stop hurting his mom, him, maybe the world'll be peaceful, maybe his life wouldn't be in danger just because he was a Medium. He didn't want to help the ES's redeem themselves. He wouldn't let them if they could. They hurt people. They were why everything wrong in the world was as it was. They need to disappear.

There was a sudden hand on his shoulder, and he jolted, bringing his sword up only for his arm to be grabbed by Artemis's firm grip. He blinked at her as she watched his face with a strange wariness to her eyes. What just- Had he blacked out? He wasn't sure. He had started to think about the Evil Spirits, and suddenly that's all that was there. His thoughts. He hadn't even noticed the world around him disappearing.

"What-"

"I'm not quite sure," Artemis said, grip tightening around his wrist. Her eyes were hard as she stared at Percy. "You seem to be having slight trouble breathing." And with shock, Percy realized he was huffing a bit. It wasn't much, but his breath was quicker than usual, and that shouldn't be because he was in the Spirit World. And he wasn't an ES, so why would he- "Evil," Artemis seemed to note as she let him go. "Interesting." She didn't elaborate, leaving Percy wide-eyed. As his head cleared, his breathing was back to normal, but that did not mean he wasn't startled.

"Come," Artemis said, gesturing for him to follow. "It's time for a change in scenery; your knowledge of the techniques are enough for now; we will learn of strategy next." Percy hesitated, Riptide held loosely in his right hand as he looked toward the river. What just happened? After a moment more, he shivered - he thought it was strange; he wasn't cold - before he shook himself and followed his cousin, pushing what just happened to the back of his mind.

He would worry about it later. For the first time in a while, Riptide spoke.

Master, please, do not do that again.

o)0(o - Linebreak

Jason had trouble sneaking past his sister, but he was able to do it without raising suspicion, and soon, he was at Percy's house's doorstep, knocking. He had got a text from Annabeth that she had already arrived a few minutes ago, and that Apollo was inside with her. The door opened revealing a strangely serious looking Apollo.

As Jason always felt whenever he saw the man, he stiffened. A brother. It was still hard to wrap his head around, and though he could cope, the man still brought out a strange feeling of...longing in him. Perhaps Jason has wanted an older brother in his life before, a someone he could confide in. If his family wasn't so messed up, he and Apollo may have made good friends. The man had the makings of a good Leo Valdez, and he was one of Jason's best friends.

Apollo's eyes were slightly more guarded than usual, and he seemed wary but once he saw Jason, he grinned, flashing his bright teeth at him.

"Brother!" he said brightly as he opened the door fully and moved aside. "Come in, come in; Annabeth and I have just settled for what to eat for an evening snack." Jason raised an eyebrow, doubtful that Annabeth had actually put up with discussing what snack to eat, but he didn't comment. Following the man into the living room, Jason nearly tripped with his eyes wide from what he saw.

Apollo laughed as Annabeth nodded in greeting, saying, "Don't worry; I was shocked too."

On the couch lay Percy Jackson, eyes closed, and unmoving except his chest. Now, this shouldn't have been too shocking - maybe Percy had come back from training in the Spirit World and was sleeping, or maybe Percy was still in the Spirit world and this was just his body. But no, the reason why the body was there wasn't what shocked Jason, it was the shockingly...dead look to the body.

Jason gulped before pointing. "So...Percy's still in the Spirit World?"

"Yep," Apollo replied as he sat on the floor snatching a chip from the bowl on the tabletop.

"He looks...dead," Jason commented as he sat on the other side of the table, not taking a snack because his appetite was a bit shot at the moment from seeing his friend's body lacking a Spirit.

"Well, technically, you could say he is in a coma," Apollo supplied, eating a bit more. After swallowing, he pointed to Annabeth. "Now, Miss Chase here was a bit impatient-" Annabeth raised an eyebrow at that "-so I will ask; what is it you two want exactly?" Jason shared a look with Annabeth, and after looking into her gray eyes, he turned back to Apollo.

"Are you going to train us?" he asked.

Apollo took on a thoughtful look. "I said yes didn't I, Miss Chase?" He pointed a chip toward Annabeth who simply nodded. Before anyone could say anything else, Apollo continued to say, "And from Annabeth's explanation, this training is regarding Summoning, correct?"

"Yes," Annabeth answered. She looked at Apollo with a hard, determined gaze. "We need to back Percy up; there's no way things will go as planned if Luke is a spy. No doubt, the General will be there. Percy, no matter how hard he might have trained during the week, will not be able to defeat him. And the only way we'll be able to provide such support is if we are able to fight with Intent. Normal means, I doubt, will beat the man."

To Jason's surprise, Apollo looked amused, a grin on his face as if Annabeth said a funny joke. That made Jason narrow his eyes a bit at the man. The situation at hand, and the topic being discussed was far from a joke to be amused about, but he stifled the urge to point it out, and instead opted to observe.

Apollo nodded. "Well, I suppose that yes, the General is one of the more worrisome of the Timeless, but you underestimate your friend. He's far more capable than I had ever thought him to be, and if the plan is for him to drag the fight outside to where the police will be called, then I think he will manage. Perhaps he can't defeat him, but he can fend for himself."

Jason saw Annabeth bite her bottom lip in slight irritation. Jason wasn't by far close to Annabeth like Thalia or Grover, or even Luke were, but from the time they've spent by being in the same friend group, he's gathered that she was the prideful type, and he assumed that meant she didn't take well to her plan being shot down.

Apollo seemed to have seen something in Annabeth's disapproving face because he held his hand up and said, "But, that doesn't mean I won't train you." Then on a more serious note and tone, he stated, "Frankly, I'm attached to the boy, and I would feel at ease if he had someone to look after him while I'm busy that day." Jason perked up at this. The other day, Annabeth had said that Apollo would ignore anything work related if it were for his cousin, but perhaps that was a wrong assumption.

"Busy?" Annabeth asked. Apollo nodded.

"I have some...business to take care of that day," he said.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really," Apollo replied cheerily before saying, "So I will train you two, but I will say this, you two won't be able to Summon just like that - unlike Percy, both of you have absolutely no foundation in Summoning on Intent, so the best result would be you two being able to Summon, but with much effort.

"You also need to establish a relationship with your Intents too, and how long that takes depends entirely on those Intents of your's," he explained. "They're going to have to forgive you, and you're going to have to appeal to it and show that you won't lock them up forever again. Show that you're willing to be friends with them. To start over. To love them." He gazed at Jason and Annabeth with a serious look. "I can only help so little with that. That's all on you, so you two will have to work on that, and when you've finally made that relationship, then that's when I can train you."

With that, he grinned and said brightly, "But keep in mind I won't be here tomorrow, Friday. I'll be away then, but I'll be back Saturday. So by then, let's hope you've managed to be forgiven by your Intents." Jason felt his heart drop a bit. He knew he had been mistreating his Intent, but hearing Apollo say it...it made it so much more of a reality of what he'd done.

And he was scared he wouldn't be forgiven. How would he be? He certainly wasn't very keen on forgiving himself.

He glanced at Annabeth and found that she too had a strange expression on her face, as if she wasn't sure what to make of what she heard, or what to think. How will I ever make it up to my Intent? Jason thought, distraught. He kept his face as neutral as possible, and he wasn't sure how well it was working, because the inside of him was a pretty big storm of emotions.

"And how...do we appease to our Intents?" Annabeth asked slowly. Jason listened numbly. Was it even possible? Even if he knew, was it even possible?

"Well," Apollo said, popping another chip into his mouth. "I would suggest meditating. Listening out for your Intent's voice. Perhaps even try to talk to it a bit." He shrugged. "I'm not the best person to ask since I've been trained ever since I was little to be a Medium, so I've never had to go through the whole 'getting my Intent to forgive me' thing. You could ask Perce tomorrow though. He might have an answer."

Jason's heart sunk even deeper into the abyss that is depression and hopelessness. He stayed quiet for a bit before asking, voice subdued and strained even to his own ears, "Do you think our Intents would really forgive us? After all these years?" Apollo looked at Jason a bit, as if searching for something in his eyes, blue on blue, and finally the man gave a soft smile, having found what he was looking for, and rather than the smile being blinding like the sun, now it was...warm, like the sun.

How strange his half brother was, Jason thought idly.

"Yes," Apollo said, voice firm but reassuring. He grinned. "If it's you, brother, I think you'll be forgiven."

Jason might have felt a burning behind his eyes as tears threatened to spill, but he reigned them in as he nodded in determination. He'll do it. He'll try, at least. He might not succeed, but he wasn't going to leave his lack of a relationship with his Intent alone, he was going to change it, even if by a little.

I'll do it, he thought. I'll get you to forgive me.

Is that right, Jason Grace?

He blinked in shock. That was not Jason's own thoughts.

o)0(o - Linebreak

After another few hours of training and learning how to fight smart, Artemis led Percy to what he assumed was back to Green's Forest, where during that, he asked Riptide what she meant when she said 'do not do that again'. The Intent's answer had been a simple, 'It felt terrible.' Unsure of what she was referring to, he decided he'd ask more later. Artemis stopped and Percy looked up, only for him to realize that, Wait a minute, this is not the forest, this is-

"THE BEACH!" Percy exclaimed excitedly, and by no means did it sound unmanly. He walked forward, slowly as he watched at the scenery in awe. The sanded shores gave off a slight pulsing glow as the waters lapped across them, and in the darkening of the skies, the glow was more prominent. Everything, in fact, glowed, and everything about the beach was magical, and dreamlike. But the most magical of all, was the ocean.

Vibrant blue with swirling glows that harmonized with and clashed with other colors, shining from its depths, the waves that crashed and splashed sending sprays of light as the entirety of the expanse pulsed rhythmically.

Artemis walked up to stand next to Percy who had made his way ankle deep in the water. It was strange...what he felt wasn't the water that lapped against his feet, but instead the ocean's Soul. It seemed to caress him, beckon him but at the same time comfort him. It was refreshing. It wasn't warm, nor cool, nor hot, nor cold, but instead...it was perfect. It was as if it was the perfect temperature he needed to feel refreshed.

"It's beautiful," he murmured, a sense of deja vu filling him as Artemis hummed in agreement. The humming - it seemed to make Artemis feel younger, like a child who hasn't seen horrors that perhaps Artemis had. A pure sound that had Percy smiling. Artemis might have been frightening in many aspects, but she was still human.

"'In the beginning, God created the heavens-'" Percy looked up to the sky and his 'breath' would have been caught in his throat had he been in the Physical World. Artemis continued to speak, "'-and the Earth. Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep...

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.'" and Percy took in everything.

The moon, so full and bright shined so brilliantly that Percy wondered since when had he ever seen such utter beauty. It wasn't like the sunrise that brought to life the colors of the world, waking the sounds and livening the breeze, no this was serene. Calm. Comforting. And it made him feel, for some odd reason, wistful, as if the moon held memories of the past that he wanted to once more go back to.

And that ball of soft, yet bright light, hovered over that pulsing ocean, and as if dancing, harmonizing, as shapes swirled in the moon, the waters moved accordingly.

It seemed only natural that a tear find its way down Percy cheek as he smiled softly at the sight in front of him.

"'And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters,'" he repeated. He wasn't Christian, but he liked that line.

How blessed I am to be able to see such a sight, Percy thought as the tears continued to fall. How nice.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED :D

Multi fandom geekerello - so about the describing Percy being more buff and such, I'll be doing that next chap if that's cool with you. Right now, Percy looks dead, so that's a much more prominent feature than whether he's a bit more muscled or not. Also, Annabeth's POV didn't come out, and I wanted her to be the one to notice the change a bit. :)

Yeppp, so:

In a similar fashion that Apollo showed Percy the sun, I had Artemis show the moon. Two different things, but both so beautiful in such different ways. Oh, and I hope I didn't butcher Artemis's personality. I had no idea how to write her, and I tried but I'm not entirely satisfied but I hope you guys are. If not, it's alright though; you can let me know in the reviews in that case, and I'll work on it.

Not much Poseidon, sorry, but he'll come out more later, and Blackjack as well. He was out of the action this chap, but he'll be back. But yeah, thanks for reading!

Question: Sun or moon?

Oh, also, the thing Artemis said there, is a Bible verse from Genesis chapter one. And no, Artemis is not Christian, but I thought the verse matched the situation. From a non-religious perspective, I think it does still add to it, but if it didn't, well, I hope it wasn't too out of place.

Yeppp, well, we learned something about Evil Spirits this chap, and saw a bit of dark Percy as well (which I honestly wasn't planning to bring out at all, but it happened anyway :o)

Have a greaaaaat day!