Thanks for leaving more reviews for me! One in particular really got to me, and I didn't even think about it! So thanks to you, and I'll be responding to the new reviews down at the end! Thanks for reading this one as well, and hope I have the motivation to continue!
(Third POV)
Percy felt strangely lonely when he woke up, and he couldn't figure out why until he took a moment and remembered the events that had transpired the day before, then he only took a breath in disappointment. Posiedon's son sat in his bed for a couple more minutes before groaning and standing up, and with a small stretch and popping from his joints, he started his day and walked into his bathroom.
Annabeth and Luke had slept in the Big House together, and when they woke up they gave each other a small kiss on the lips and blushed slightly in their close vicinity to one another. They started their day by Annabeth going into her cabin to get clothes and take a shower, and Luke was still in the Big House, the only other people being there were the traitor demigods that had been escorted back to camp that night.
All of the ex-defected demigods had slept in the Big House as well, with all of the survivors of the godly side of the war had slept in their cabins, not yet used to and trusting the traitors so soon after they had been trying to kill them.
Thalia and the hunters, surprisingly hadn't gone into their camp yet and none of them really wanted to set up camp, so they were leaving as soon as possible, or at least until Thalia or Artemis had gotten them to get up off of their asses and back into the woods. The daughter of Zeus woke up in her bed and did the same thing most of her friends had done in the morning and gone into the bathroom. Who knew that most of Camp had the same idea when they woke up.
After finishing up in the bathroom, the Son of the Sea God had gone out to breakfast, making sure to greet anyone who came up to him if they were awake and blew the conch shell to wake up all the campers. Usually an Apollo camper did the duty, but Percy wanted to make an exception for the guy today, as most of the Apollo cabin was still in mourning for their dead brothers and sisters.
Percy on the other hand tried not to show any suffering he felt as everyone slowly filtered into the room, the Hunters included. Mr. D and Chiron came into the dining area and sat down at the head table. Well, kinda. Chiron sat to the side in his wheelchair, as his legs and any other broken bone in his body needed to heal. Mr. D was in an unusually good mood, as his sentence to being here was shortened considerably. Artemis was also there as well, keeping an eye on her hunters.
Percy waited for everyone to quiet down and let Chiron make a small speech for the demigods, who he looked to with pride, though with the traitors his eyes lost some of the pride, and with Luke, his eyes lost almost all the pride in them and replaced it with sadness. Percy thought to himself, he could still see the pride Chiron had shoved down deep inside of him, and Percy could tell that he was waiting for some way to get Luke and the others to redeem themselves to the gods and demigods.
(Percy POV)
As soon as I saw the hidden pride Chiron had for the traitor campers, I knew I had to help my mentor. I couldn't focus on what my feelings felt for the moment, I had to focus on helping my teacher.
It took me a few minutes of thinking and planning, then I hit the jackpot. The gods had done this to these demigods, so they would get them out of this as well! I had a small smile on my face as I stood up and walked over to the head table, where the centaur and two Olympians sat. I quickly asked the three of them if I could talk with them somewhere else privately and they agreed, before I led them into the Big House.
"Okay, so I have an idea for the ex-traitor demigods, and how they can get back into the good graces of the demigods at camp and the gods up in Olympus!" I started to say before Chiron put up a hand to intervene.
"My boy...I have to ask, would it involve getting the gods to help in any way?" He asked and I chuckled, embarrassed he had found out a little bit of my scheme so easily. I nodded and continued.
"With permission from Lord Zeus, I want to have each of the traitor demigods take on an assignment from different gods. From their godly parents of course. Aside from the ex-traitorous gods as well, like Hecate and Morpheus. If it's okay with you and Lord Hermes, I would like you to have the girls get missions of their own and Hermes with the boys. If that's okay with you of course." I said quickly. With that, Artemis thought for a moment before nodding, giving a barely noticeable smile to the sea's son and flashing off to Olympus to get permission.
(Thalia POV)
So, apparently my seaweed brained cousin had a good idea for once. Something that actually interested my Lady Artemis. She had told me that Percy had given the gods an idea on how to let the defected demigods gain back the trust of the council and the demigods in camp. Now all I needed was to keep Annabeth away from the now happy Percy. If they talked right now, then Percy would be in a bad mood for a couple weeks at least. Hopefully less, but I know my cousin and his hellish emotion turmoil.
Just like the sea, whenever my cousin was annoyed or stressed or even simply angry, his emotions amplify multiple times. And so, I had to at least keep Annabeth away from Percy until he cools down. Or at least until he is in a good mood so he has something to look forward or back to before exploding with Annabeth. But that seemed to be harder said than done.
I had noticed Annabeth get up from the Athena table and start to walk over to the Posiedon table, or well, Percy's table. The bad part was my cousin was obviously in a good mood from whatever and I wasn't sure how long it would last, and if it would last the whole conversation.
Then I had a stupid idea. I would sit here until it looked like I should step in. That should be good enough right? I...was kinda curious how this conversation would go anyways. Just as long as neither of them hurt each other we'll be fine. I hope.
Just in case, I start praying to Aphrodite(I know, surprising right?) and asking her to keep their emotions low. She would get a sacrifice from the lieutenant of Artemis's Hunters as a present for it.
The first thing I heard from my friend was,
"Can...I ask you something?"
(Annabeth POV)
I took a breath and looked over at Percy. I had been wanting to talk to him for awhile and he seemed to be in a good mood for some reason or another, and I hoped that this would last a while.
So I breathed in once more and stood out of my seat and walked slowly over to Percy. I saw Thalia staring at me and almost move out of her seat then sit back into it and close her eyes like she was praying. Probably to Artemis, but for what? This wasn't her area of expertise! This was more of Aphrodites...but there was no way she was praying to Aphrodite right? She's the exact opposite of the Hunt and their moral- AH! ADHD! Not again! I hadn't noticed until now but I was nearing the Posiedon table, and nearing Percy.
Percy blinked and looked up from his breakfast with confusion in his sea-green eyes, but then those same eyes darkened as he noticed who was actually nearing him. I swallowed and took a shaky breath. I was doing a lot of breathing recently. Well...consciously at least.
"Can...I ask you something?" I asked. He blinked again and stared at me in confusion for a few seconds before shaking his head like he was clearing it, then nodded slightly. I leaned in and saw panic flash across his features before I whispered,
"In the Throne Room...did you like me? And do you still?"
The panic vanished and weariness replaced it, and he nodded once more as he said,
"Yeah. I've liked you for a while now. I think for a bit before Mount Saint Helens. And well...yeah. I still do. But don't do anything stupid with Luke just because of me. You two are a good couple." Percy said with a tired smile.
I was..shocked to say the least. I didn't expect this answer from him! I'd expect him to be angry, to be sad, but all I got was...just some tired weariness and some tired looks! For one of the first times in my life, I couldn't figure something out! I couldn't figure him out!
"B-but...you aren't angry?" I stuttered out. I hated how small my voice sounded in front of him.
"Angry? Heh...no, not angry. A little sad yeah, but nothing that I can't get over. Don't worry about me Annabeth. I'm just happy to see you happy. And if we could stay friends, that would be nice too." He chuckled. again, then he just sent me on my way back to the Athena table with a shocked expression on my face but not before saying,
"See you later Annabeth."
(Percy POV)
I was not okay. This was not okay. No matter what I said, this was not okay. Just talking to her hurts, but I can't seem to blame her for it. I can't blame Luke for that either. Annabeth made her choice, and who am I to blame her for making a choice? To each their own, as they say.
I sighed and finished the rest of my food before standing up and stretching my back out again. I was tired again. Nobody really minded if I slept a bit more did they..? Not like I'm really doing anything for a while, or at least until Lady Artemis gets back to deliver what the verdict was. What were they doing up there anyways? Were they still arguing and Artemis was just sitting and waiting or has she remembered my request? I don't think I would ever know until the Lady of the Hunt came back to our camp.
Eventually I made my way back to my cabin and flopped down onto my bed once again, feeling just as tired as yesterday, but not in the sense of doing exercise, but more of just plain out emotional exhaustion. Once again I had fleeting thoughts of how nobody would notice, but slowly they turned into thoughts of how they didn't care. Now that the prophecy was done and over with, I wasn't needed anymore. There were no wars to fight, no battles to stop, and no lives to save. Where does that put me now? Do people even want me here, or am I too much of an anomaly for everyone to figure out.
These were my thoughts as I entered the realm of Morpheus and fell asleep on my bed.
As I entered my dream world, I groaned as I noticed that I was in another demigod dream. Though this one seemed a bit more different than my normal ones. Instead of a dungeon or an office or anything threatening, instead I was in a slightly lit forest. The slightly lit part coming from the large full moon that peeked over the trees far above myself.
It took me a little bit, but eventually I figured out who started this dream and who's forest it was. Artemis. I suppose the Goddess of the Hunt would rather not be seen heading into a cabin with only a boy there.
"You would be correct, Perseus. I would rather not be seen like that, even only with you, a man that even my dearest friend would like. I am sorry for disturbing your sleep though, you have gone through a lot these past few days and you definitely need rest. Though I do recommend not getting too much of it, and continue to have a regular schedule." The shockingly nice Goddess of the Hunt said to me, a boy.
"Ah...well, thank you my Lady. I have to ask though, for one, why are you being so...nice to me? And also, I would like to ask if Lord Zeus approved of my plans?" I asked, inclining my head to show respect to the goddess before staring into her eyes and waiting for my answer. I was not disappointed at the quickness of the answer back to me.
"Well, you see Perseus, I am known as a man-hating goddess, correct?" I nodded as she said this, thinking that she was expecting an answer. "Well that is only slightly true. Yes, most of the male gender think themselves to be above women and treat them as they wish, but not all men are the same, and I know that. My hunters and I should all know that, but they believe that all men are the same, and no person of the male gender is an exception to their self-imposed rule." I nodded again, slightly confused now, but getting what her point is nonetheless.
"So what you're saying is you think that I am an exception to this rule?" I asked, slightly unsettled at the fact that I was having a pretty nice conversation with a goddess who I used to believe hated all males.
Artemis nodded her head and responded with,
"Yes I do. But as we do not have a lot of time left, I will answer your second question. Yes, Lord Zeus has approved of these plans, though not with a bit of bitterness as it seemed obvious that this was your idea. He is still a little bitter that you had rejected godhood. But, no matter! I will be getting back to camp soon, and you will still be asleep by the time I get there so no worries. When we go away from this plane of your dream you will be getting a dreamless sleep again, so goodnight Perseus." Artemis said with a slight smile once again on her face.
"O-oh, okay! Goodnight then my Lady!" I quickly stuttered out, a bit confused at the Goddess, but happy that the king of the Gods approved of my plans. And since he did, the rest of the council would be in on this.
'Thank you Lady Artemis…"
Well, that took longer than expected to finish! Sorry it took so long but once again I couldn't find the motivation needed to keep writing! I've been really tired these past couple days, but I'll still continue with this story of course! And just tell me if you think I'm changing POVs a bit too often! But back to the reviews! And well, you know what to do! Enjoy reading!
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Hello again! I hope you liked the somewhat short convo between those two! Sorry if it wasn't what you were expecting, but Percy just wanted to get it over with, or just not have it happen at all!
NiHaR OP: Thanks for the compliment, and I wasn't really going to do Perlia anyways, maybe in another story!
Hemera: Oh- uh, okay! I never really thought of it like that before, and thanks for the input, if I can remember, I'll try and change it into something less...objectifying? Thanks for pointing this out to me! I didn't mean for it to come off like that.
zilla boi: Yeah, I've seen a lot of fics where Chaos just comes in and suddenly Percy is more powerful than any of the Gods and Titans, and even above Primordials. And who I ship him with is up to you guys, eventually I'll start asking for votes on who I'll have Percy with and give some options.
Youngitami: Thank you, and so am I