AN: Something Something Something.
Previously:
She decided to really give Percy a chance. Who knows, maybe Percy really would show her that all men weren't bad. She slowly drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face, and warmth in her heart that could only come from making a new friend…..
Presently:
Percy woke up and got dressed. As he made breakfast and readied his sword for the hunting trip that he and Artemis had planned for the day, he thought about Artemis and the way she had warmed up to him in the past few days. She helped a lot more around the camp that she shared with Percy and he was immensely grateful for it.
It was no longer a rarity that Artemis woke up long before or long after Percy woke up. Instead they often woke up within minutes of each other and they quickly distributed the chores between them and continued on their day. Artemis typically was in charge of the catching, cleaning and cooking of their food while Percy took care of the defence of the camp, among other things. Evenings they often sat together and talked about anything and everything.
They could talk for hours on Olympian politics, the state of Artemis's domains or even emotions. Artemis would sometimes talk with him about missing her hunters, or her annoyance over her brother's actions towards women. Percy on the other hand would express his gratitude to Artemis for training him, his desire to meet his father or even his wish to have a normal mortal life. Each would offer words of encouragement to each other, although Artemis would normally just pat Percy awkwardly on the back. But Percy would appreciate it nonetheless, and he grew to treasure Artemis as a good friend.
Today however, they had planned together a hunt. There was a nearby colony of monsters that needed to be eradicated. The hunt was supposed to be a simple one, they would creep up on the northwestern side of their camp, where a armoured gate could be found. They would then shoot the monsters manning the gates before rushing into the camp to take care of the rest before an alarm could be raised. It was a simple but effective plan.
"Moring Artemis." Percy greeted as soon as Artemis stepped out of her tent. He noted that she was dressed for combat rather than her usual clothing. She was wearing a leather shirt which Percy guess was thick enough to stop arrows, but not enough to protect against a sword slash. She had a pair of silver vanbraces and greaves, along with leather pants. Her combat boots remained however. She was clearly planning on staying far away from the close range fighting for as long as possible.
Percy on the other hand was wearing a simple metal armour that Hestia had given him as a gift a while back. It was nothing to look at, nor scoff at either. Just a simple bronze cuirass, helmet and greaves. His trusty Riptide lay on his thigh as he work a whetstone over it. It may have been a simple outfit, but it served its purpose well enough.
"Morning Perseus." Artemis replied, before sitting next to Percy and she took out her quiver to sharpen her arrows. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Artemis blurted out
"Just be careful out there would you Perseus?" Percy raised his eyebrows.
"The great man-hater Artemis wants little old me, a man, to be careful? What's next, are you going to break your oath?" he asked teasingly. To his surprise, Artemis blushed before slapping him.
"Say that again and it won't just be monsters I will be killing today" She threatened. Percy just laughed. He knew by now when Artemis was being serious and when she was joking.
The pair let silence befall them once again before Percy sheathed his sword and Artemis slung her quiver over her shoulders. They walked out into the surrounding forest and talked once again about unimportant issues before Artemis lifted her finger to her lips in the universal sign for Percy to shut up.
"From now on, you do exactly as I say when I say it, understood?" she ordered. Percy nodded and they walked slowly onwards. Artemis took out her bow and Percy unsheathed his sword.
"Crouch. The slower we go, the quieter we get there" She said. Percy once again nodded. They crawled up to the Monster camp and watched the guards at the gate.
"The guards should have changed by now" Artemis murmured, more to herself than Percy. Percy's ADHD was getting the best of him as he slowly began rocking lightly back and forth, and than moved to drumming his fingers on the pommel of his sword, until he began shifting from his left foot to his right foot.
"Would you quit it?" Artemis hissed. Percy's shifting began to make some noise, and it began annoying her.
"Look, if the guards don't change within 5 minutes, I am shooting them regardless. I have neither the time nor the inclination to sit here and wait hours just for some dumb snake people to replace other dumb snake people." He muttered back
Despite her best efforts, Artemis let out a snort of laughter at Percy's description of things that would kill him without a second thought.
5 minutes past, and true to his word Percy got up with a "Screw this" and unslung his bow, took aim and shot, only for the arrow to land about 15 yards to the right of the person he was aiming for.
"Well, isn't that a bitch" he said, before grabbing riptide and running into battle. Artemis barked at him to come back, but his stubbornness wouldn't let him listen. Artemis rolled her eyes before loosing her own arrows into the gate guards. One gave a high pitched shriek before her arrow sunk into his brain.
Seeing that a kind of alarm was given, Artemis and Percy rushed through the gate and charged into the monsters that rushed to the alarm. Percy whipped around and slashed a harpy out of the air. He began hacking and slashing at every monster that his blade could reach. Artemis on the other hand stood directly in the entrance and picked off the enemies who stood at the rear of the group Percy was taking care of.
The sound of metal swords clanging against wooden shields, and the wails, screeches and shouts of pain soon filled the morning air. Artemis quickly ran out of arrows and joined Percy in close combat. The goddess of the hunt and a bastard of the sea tore through the small party of monsters, leaving dust and broken weapons and cracked armour behind them.
Even in the midst of the fighting, Percy couldn't help but be impressed at Arty's speed and agility with which she fought. She stabbed one of her daggers through the forehead of a cyclops before spinning and cutting another's throat open. She then removed her dagger from the former's body before it even had a chance to fall to the ground. A Hellhound leapt at her, but she just moved to the side and used an arrow that a empousa shot at her and jammed it into its chest.
Needless to say, Percy was extremely awestruck at the fighting ability that she had. So much so that cyclops nearly took his head off. Percy ducked and stabbed upwards and pierced the monster's heart. He stood back up and swung his sword in a wide sweeping motion, killing multiple monsters at the same time. He jumped forward and shoved his weapon through another monster, before repeating the process.
Soon, the whole camp was reduced to dust and rubble. Percy panted as he withdrew his sword from the body of a empousa. He glanced around the camp before walking over to Artemis who was wiping dust off of her bow. They looked at each other for a minute before Percy spoke.
"Well that was mildly successful, wouldn't you agree Arty?" Artemis glared at him for saying that nickname that she hated. Well, hated isn't really correct, as she both hated it but loved it. It made her feel cared for. Not just used or needed like her father or her hunters made her feel, but cared for. Zeus only needed her when he needed perceived threats to be eliminated, where as her hunters made her feel burdened. They were a great family to be sure, but at the end of the day, Artemis bore all the responsibility. Without her, they couldn't exist, and that often weighed heavily on her shoulders. She might treat them as her own sisters, but there was a clear line in the sand. She shook herself free of her thoughts.
"It went better than I expected, especially since I had to bring a male with me." She replied, smirking. Truth be told, she was both surprised and impressed with the boy's fighting today. But of course he would never hear her admit that.
They both relapsed into playful banter as they had the last couple days. That is, until a growl sounded behind them and they whipped around to investigate it. Artemis paled and Percy just looked confused. In front of them stood one of the largest lions he had ever seen. It stood proudly and for good reason. Its golden coat shined in the afternoon sun and its beautiful mane fluttered in the light breeze that blew through the remains of the enemy camp.
"Perseus that is the Nemean Lion. We need to leave" Artemis said urgently. She could have easily incinerated the lion, but she didn't want to harm the demigod next to her. And said demigod stood still and eyed the lion in front of them, looking at it strangely
The lion crouched and looked ready to pounce. "Percy lets go!" Artemis screamed. Percy still stood rooted to the spot. Seeing that Percy wasn't going to move any time soon, she threw her arms around the son of the sea and positioned herself so the lion's claws would rake across her back instead of Percy's chest. It wouldn't kill her, but it would hurt like Hades. She began to teleport with Percy in her arms, but saw the lion soaring through the air to them and recognized she would have a painful reminder of this encounter.
Percy looked shocked at Artemis's action before shaking her arms off of him. He reversed their position and he felt the steel claws of the infamous predator sink into his back. He screamed in pain and was whisked away by Artemis's teleportation technique.
As soon as they arrived back at their camp, Artemis kneed Percy in his balls for daring to hug her. She noticed the blood seeping through his shredded shirt and connected the dots. Her eyes widened, before her face reddened with anger.
"What the Hades were you doing you stupid boy! You could have died, I would have survived! You dare act as if I need you're protection. I AM GODDESS, I HAVE NO NEED FOR YOU" She shrieked. Percy just groaned in pain before responding.
"I didn't want you to get hurt Arty. I am protecting you, and will continue to do so regardless of you're approval." He managed to get out before darkness consumed him.
Artemis panicked and quickly checked his pulse. She released a sigh of relief when he still had a pulse, albeit a weak one. She picked him up, grunting under his weight, and carried him into his tent. She laid him down onto his bed and force fed him ambrosia. She looked at his back, before rushing out of the tent. The claws went deep, and might have even damaged his spinal column, possibly rendering him unable to use his legs.
She ran until she came upon a spring. She crashed to the ground let her tears flow. She liked and respected Percy more and more ever since the Hestia and Hades incident awhile back. She followed her aunt's advice and it gave her one of the best friendships that she has ever had. It was comparable to her friendship with Zoe. She didn't even see him as ´the boy´ anymore. He was just a very good friend
She could hold a conversation with him for hours, she could sleep peacefully knowing that he would never do anything unbecoming towards her, and she couldn't deny he was some what of a looker. She found his nickname for her endearing, his jokes often could get her to smile, his teasing would only make her blush and his compliments would make her heartbeat quicken.
She was, for the first time ever, afraid to lose a man. But it wasn't just any man. It was Percy Jackson. She prayed to every higher being she could think of to save Percy. All she got was a bright flash of light coming from Percy's tent, and she quickly rushed over to see what had happened.
Percy's back was completely clear of any injuries, and a small note stood on his night table. She quickly read it and her jaw dropped at the implications.
Remember this day, moon goddess. You owe us a debt that which is not easily paid. And we expect it to be paid soon.
The fates
She didn't even really take note of the last part of the note, instead she threw herself at Percy and wrapped her arms around his large frame. She was happy, practically euphoric, and she cried tears of joy for her dearest male friend she has ever had.
AN: Chapter 8! We are getting up there now kids. A bit of a longer chapter, at least I think it is. See, I don't really see the word count until I upload chapters, so yeah. Now we are really getting into the meat of this story. I am really enjoying writing this, and I hope you are enjoying reading it.
Also, side note. The Artemis program keeps getting me confused with the Artemis goddess. For those that don't know, we Americans want to put a man and a woman on the moon before the decade is over. And since the first time we landed a man on the moon was under the "Apollo" program, NASA has named this one Artemis. Everytime I hear about it, I keep thinking about this Artemis. You know, the one with red hair and a silver bow? Yeah that one.
This is also going to be the last chapter for this week. I need weekends to unwind just as much as the next guy, so yeah. Anyways, have a good weekend (or weekday if you are reading this in the future) and I hope to get another one out on either Monday or Wednesday.