Well I'm back! I wanted to continue this story but also didn't at the same time, but after OVERWHELMINGLY positive support and feedback concerning this story, I just HAD TO! Yeaah! Thank you to all my followers, that kept with this story, I promised I wouldn't keep you waiting long... So I kept my promise:) Barely... I know you're gonna mald your asses off at this short chapter, sorry.
Thank you all so much!
BIG thank you to eessamaster1 for the incredible support and honestly for being the encouraging factor for me to continue this, or at least continue it this soon. HUGE thumbsup to him! Be sure to check out his awesome story called: "The lover of Artemis." :) Excellent Pertemis story!
Shoutouts to: DeadDredd and HellRaiderS for the stunning reviews! Thank you!
Really hope you enjoy this chapter, from all the feedback I've been getting it sounds like it has been LONG anticipated... lol, enjoy. Just... Just thank you to everyone! Incredible readers, it's amazing, all this support and appreciation! Thank you all so much!
Also, PLEASE PLEASE tell me in reviews your preference of POV: Is PJO better to read in 1st person? Percy POV? Or is it just fine the way it is with my 3rd person? Lemme know, I notice that a lot of PJO stories I've read are in first person, or very close to it, so yeah...
But maybe that just makes mine unique?
Beautiful skies shone across the horizon, crystal clear waters flowing up to the beach, the warm sun floated high into the beautiful morning sky, illuminating the land with life-giving rays of sunshine.
Birds flew high into the morning sky, thriving in their natural gift of flight, looking down onto the Earth from above.
What they saw from up there was the sight of Percy Jackson stirring from his sleep, opening his eyes to lay eyes upon the beautiful landscape that dominated the cliff face and the surrounding forests.
But that morning he couldn't care less about the surroundings, he only cared for the sight of his beautiful goddess sleeping soundly and peacefully in the crook of his arm, her straight and silky auburn hair cascading down her shoulders and over his chest. She was so beautiful, she put the love goddess to shame with her beauty, to Percy she was the most beautiful woman in creation, and more.
And she was all his.
Gazing upon the beautiful sight of her brought back blissful memories of the night before... How the not-so-maiden-anymore goddess had given herself to him, and with, came the knowledge that he occupied the entire space in her loving heart, he loved her with all his heart, and now she loved him with all her heart too.
"Last night was incredible, magical... Like a dream come true, she actually broke her oath... for me, now I know that she loves me as much as I love her..." Percy thought to himself, amongst other things, and in that moment he also vowed to himself that he would never hurt her. As if he would ever hurt a woman... pfft.
He gazed at her again, and he smiled, brightly and warmly... Something he hadn't truly done in a long time, she had made him whole again, truly given him a reason to live, truly live, and they would do it together.
Percy had his arm wrapped around her tightly, hugging her to him, her perfect nude body pressed up against his, resting her head in the crook of his arm, sleeping like it was the most comfortable place to sleep in the world... He lifted his hand that was holding her to him and gently rubbed her bareback, he brought his other hand and stroked her hair lovingly, pulling it out of her beautiful face and tucking the strands behind her ear.
He figured that they should probably get going sooner than later, the maiden goddess of the hunt naked in bed with a demigod in the middle of nowhere... Yeah, probably not the best thing for someone to find.
"Aaaarty," he whispered in her ear, kissing her head.
She stirred in his arms, mumbling something about how she detested being woken up, then she opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Good morning, love." Percy cooed to her.
She smiled up at him and replied: "Good morning, Percy, what time is it?" she asked.
Percy frowned, he expected her to say something... more romantic, whatever.
"I'd say it's roughly noon, we must have really exhausted ourselves last night." He teased.
She blushed golden, and replied: "Mhm, last night..." She murmured.
Hearing this, Percy said: "Do you... regret it?" He asked, hesitant.
"NO! Of course not." She replied frantically.
He smiled, hearing those words felt like a... Well, like the sky lifted off his shoulders, lol.
"Did you enjoy it?" He asked, sounding hopeful.
"gods yes..." she moaned.
He smirked, then he leaned down and kissed her, to which she kissed back, to the best of her abilities that is... Which was honestly pretty good, she learned fast, and she was actually eager too.
After a few moments, he pulled away, smirking, looking into her eyes with love and passion. To which she returned, Percy could visibly read the love and... desire? In her eyes.
"As much as I'd love to stay here... Forever, like this. We should probably get going, back to the hunt or something..." He said to her.
She sighed, then she brought the covers to her and sat up, looking around, that view was so obvious and perfect it doesn't even need a description...
"Yes, we should, shouldn't linger around out here like this." She agreed, and then she snapped her fingers and their clothes flashed back on them.
Percy sighed, then he asked: "Won't the hunters ask about your bedridden hair? Or more specifically, how it happened?"
"It's possible, though I really don't feel like brushing it out right now... And what? You scared? Aren't you supposed to be our fearless guardian, or somesuch?" She mocked.
"Not exactly, it's just that your hunters jump to rash conclusions and shoot silver arrows at men like me with their morning porridge." He explained.
Artemis frowned, but she replied- "My hunters don't have the same respect for you as I do, most of them have been abused or raped by men in the past, and let me tell you... As much as I try, it was easier to teach them to castrate males and see them as pigs that hurt women, than it is to get them to respect and accept you." She replied, her voice was distraught.
"It's not your fault, or theirs... I just have to get them to respect and trust me, shouldn't be too hard... I mean, I got you and Zoe to tolerate me, and besides, not all of them hate me." He joked.
She just looked at him and shook her head.
"Good speech, bravo... But come on, Percy, get up." She gestured, getting off the bed and standing beside it, waiting for him to get out so that she could flash it away and them.
He did, with some reluctance... When he was standing, Artemis gave him a kiss then snapped her fingers and their bed disappeared. She then flashed them away back to the hunters camp.
Percy and Artemis appeared just on the outskirts of camp.
"Are you going to tell the hunters what happened? Or let them figure it out on their own?" Percy asked.
"I don't know... I may not even have a hunt left, last night I lost control over one of my domains, so who knows..." She said.
"I doubt it, if I know anything about how godly magic and the gods work, it's that nothing happens over night..." He teased.
Before she could respond, he added: "Oh, and speaking of 'over night,' it was nice to finally see an Olympian doing some of the work for a change."
She blushed bright gold, "shut up!" she said, not too convincingly.
Percy just smirked and they started their walk into camp. Big surprise, everything was exactly as they had left it.
"What do the hunters usually do if they're left alone until noon?" Percy asked.
"Well, the responsibility usually gets unceremoniously dumped on my lieutenant. Meaning, they're all probably in the dining pavilion, telling stories and waiting on me, mourning their pancreas's after Thalia's cooking..." She mocked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
That got a good laugh out of Percy, gods they all knew how awful Thalia was at cooking, Artemis smiled alongside him.
They walked through camp, not a hunter in sight, so they went to the dining pavilion. No one was there either...
"Hmm, must be doing chores or at the archery range." She commented.
"Wait, don't you have a built-in-tracker system for your hunters? As their patron?" He asked, curious.
She just turned and looked at him with a thoughtful expression, she replied: "I do, but it doesn't work anything like that..." tilting her head to emphasis.
He nodded, understanding, and asked if she wanted to split up.
"Sure, you check the river where we do laundry, and I'll check the archery range. If you find them, tell them all to come to the campfire, there is something I need to tell them." She finished.
Percy raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue, he set off towards the river, and Arty set off toward the archery range.
When Percy got to the river, it was of course void of all life...
"Well, probably saved me the embarrassment of all the hunters groaning at me..." he said to himself.
"Still that bad, huh?" A familiar warm voice said from behind him.
He smiled and turned around, there she was, the goddess of the Hearth, the oldest and last Olympian. Percy's adoptive mother and patron. The kindest, most respected, and most peaceful of all the Olympians, she was the glue that held them together… In Percy's opinion, of course. Sitting with her legs kicking lightly, like she a child that just had three Hershey bars and wanted to run around like the flash, which was fitting because she was in her usual 8-9 year old form.
"I dare say it's getting better… What are you doing here?" He asked, sincere, and looking into her warm, fire filled eyes.
"Hmm, why else would I be in the hunters camp? To talk to you of course." She replied.
He chuckled, "I'm just messing with you, mom, so what's up?"
"Oh, please Percy… I know what you did last night, and I'm really happy for you."
He looked at her surprised, and asked how she knew about it.
"You're my adopted son, and my champion, of course I know what you do. Besides, the love and passion between the two of you was so powerful, the hearth in my palace went so high it almost burned the place down." she explained, as if it was obvious.
"Oh, you approve? Really?" He asked.
"Of course, I love you, and I want what's best for you and what makes you happy. You're such a good person, that not only earned the respect and love of Artemis, but so much that she broke her vow. I couldn't be more proud of you."
He smiled warmly and thanked her.
"Thank you, Hestia, really means a lot."
"You're welcome, do you love her?" She asked.
He responded without hesitation, "With all my heart, and more."
"I know you do, I just had to hear it myself. What made you pick her? Of all the goddesses you could have had, why the man-hating one? She's plenty attractive, but I know you and that's not why."
"I chose her because I knew she held the same values that I do, I knew she'd be completely faithful, just like me. I couldn't go through the same thing that Annabeth did to me, not again… The fact she's gorgeous, and that she already respected me making it easier, were just added benefits, among a long list of other things." He explained.
Hestia looked at him, nodding her head, with a smile on her face.
"I don't think she deserves you, no one does, but I do know that you deserve to be happy, and as long as you're happy with her then I approve. The other Olympians won't be as understanding, I'm sure… I love you, Percy, and watch yourself." She told him.
"Where are you going, now?"
"Don't know, really. Maybe go back to my palace and bake some cookies, and take a nap…" She said, yawning right on time for emphasis.
"You look tired… What happened?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm the hearth goddess, fire needs energy to burn, and after your... activities last night, I'm rather… ah, burnt out." She joked, and he laughed at her pun.
"haha, I thought it was funny, too. Anyway, if you need me just pray, and until the… ashes, settle in Olympus, stay close to Artemis. My little brother, sparky, won't be real happy when he figures out who took his daughters virginity." She warned.
"I will, thank you, Hestia. Love you."
"Love you, too, Percy." She replied, and with that she disappeared in an inferno, leaving a burn mark on the grass.
"You couldn't dream of a better mother than Hestia… Now, time to find Arty." Percy said to himself, then headed off in the direction of camp.
Artemis arrived at the archery range, and sure enough, there were all the hunters, competing in what seemed to be an accuracy contest of some kind...
"Pfft... Instead of practicing, this is what they get up to when I leave? Figures..." She thought to herself, sighing.
She saw Thalia sitting on the sidelines, watching them, cheering em on. At least her lieutenant had better morals than to compete in this... But then again, she's the one letting it happen, sigh...
She walked over to Thalia, who noticed her right away, and bowed her head.
"My Lady, good... er, afternoon." She said.
Artemis chuckled, "What? No: 'Where the Hades have you been all morning?' or something?" She asked.
"I-I wouldn't dare, of course, though I did wonder..." She said.
Artemis facepalmed, then she said: "Ok, whatever... That's why I need you to gather all the hunters in the dining pavilion, there's something I need to tell you all about." She said, and Thalia nodded, running off toward the group. Artemis, making sure none of them were looking at her, flashed back to the dining pavilion.
When she got there all she could think was: "How am I going to do this? What will they think?"
She sighed, and waited for them to file in.
A/N- Cliffhanger I know, and it was shit... Ugh, sorry. I needed to get this out, so that I can get a base for continuing this. This chapter is my building block, ok?
Anyway, thank you all for the continued support, and PLEASE leave reviews! These are all the things I am looking for:
Feedback, comments, praise, critique, suggestions, POV preference, and ideas. Feel free to tell me what you think, call me a shitter for not updating and then keeping you on the edge... Whatever, lol.
The best reviews will get shout outs, (because I appreciate it that much!)
Thank you all again! Don't hold your breath, but the next chapter will be out in the next week.
Maybe check out my other story in the meantime.
Hestia is getting in this, yeehee! I love Hestia, #BestGoddessHestia4life. Anyone agree? She's awesome, right?