A/N: At last. It's done. Sorry for the delay, I type really, really slow. Now that it's done I'm gonna have a beer, you get one too, if your old enough. Cheers!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson

Chapter 7:

Phoebe:

She hadn't really known what to expect when she kicked the door in. Phoebe knew the boy would not surrender, the incident at the cliff was proof enough of that. However, a half-hearted resistance perhaps? Maybe a standoff until they could finally talk him down? She could hope, right?

Nope, absolutely not.

'Put up a fight, yeah right! More like a battle.' She thought as her and Naomi struggled to pin him down. Celyn was still recovering from her impromptu meeting with a table by courtesy of a flying chair. With just the two of them they do little more than immobilize the boy, who in the meantime did everything in his power to slip out of their grip and strike at them.

Phoebe managed to pin one his flailing arms behind his back and pushed his head into the floor when he attempted to headbutt her. "Stop fighting!" She shouted at him but to no avail. He twisted and attempted to roll, almost managing to throw her and Naomi off of him. She tried a few more times to get him to stop but he wasn't acknowledging anything. He was too busy shouting in Ancient Greek, forming every curse like a barbed whip. It was like trying to wrestle a wild animal, twisting and clawing at everything he could reach.

Finally, Celyn joined the struggle and after much more cursing and few shouts of anger from the huntresses. They had managed to remove him from the cabin and threw him outside into the snow.

A now winded Phoebe, Naomi and Celyn all looked down at the slumped figure laying in the snow.

"I told you we should've knocked." huffed Celyn.

"Screw that, I'm just glad he didn't have a weapon." replied Naomi.

Phoebe couldn't help but agree. That was a bit more than they bargained for, she honestly shouldn't be surprised. His physical appearance was ragged, and his wounds were likely dire but that didn't stop him from trying to make things as difficult as possible for them. Why she thought it could be any other way she didn't know.

In the next second all the huntresses in the perimeter and Artemis converged on the prone boy. Some of them, seeing him for the first time. Phoebe could see from the few looks of shared confusion that the boy was not what they had expected. She could empathize, who could have predicted that infamous terror that bested the Hunters of Artemis at their own game was a young teenage boy.

The boy struggled to rise, nearly collapsing in the process, his body shook with exertion. As he swayed on his feet Phoebe almost felt something close to pity, but the feeling quickly evaporated when his eyes rose to meet the huntresses. Hard, challenging eyes cast in an eerie gold luminance met each of them in turn reminding each of them in turn there was nothing pitiful about him whatsoever.

Defiance was the only emotion those eyes held. His posture was once of combative readiness and gave most of them pause and caused Phoebe to nervously clench her fist.

'He's ready to die.' the thought struck her. Suddenly the notion that before her was a young, wounded boy was quickly stripped away leaving her finely honed instincts telling her just how dangerous the boy could be. She instantly found herself reading for an attack.

Before anyone made a move, Artemis broke the tension by stepping forward to approach the boy. Who, in turn with a boldness that not even most Olympians could muster decided to spit at the goddesses feet.

Shock was the resounding response from the huntresses.

"You dare! -" Shouted one of the huntresses as she was silenced by a hand from Artemis. If Phoebe wasn't so outraged that he'd done that to Artemis in another time with another god or goddess she would have been impressed.

An orange glow began to flicker behind the group and Phoebe glanced over her shoulder and watched as the small cabin began to fill up with flames. When she looked back at the boy, she saw the horrified expression on his face and before she could react, he sprinted towards the building slamming into a distracted Celyn like a linebacker. Lighting fast he disappeared into the flames before anyone could stop him.

Phoebe looked down at a groaning Celyn, who sputtered, "I seriously hate that kid." A notable sentiment, one that Phoebe would have laughed at but apparently the boy had a death wish. Alarmed she looked at Artemis.

"What do we..." Phoebe trailed off as the boy emerged from the burning cabin holding something close to his chest. He didn't seem at all concerned with the Hunt anymore as he turned his back to them and watched the cabin burn.

Phoebe wasn't sure how to approach. Things did not go to plan; a simple effort to subdue the boy resulted in the complete destruction of his home. It was an accident, but still… the meeting of this boy and the Hunt brought forth only misfortune for both parties.

Only time could tell if the situation could be amended. What steps would need to be taken to fix the wrongs done to this boy; Phoebe didn't know. However, watching the broken boy before her watch his home burn away she could only hope that her and her sisters could undo all this damage.

Then as if the boy's legs could no longer support him, they buckled, and he slumped to the ground. Phoebe now finding her nerve got closer to him. Seeing that he was now unconscious she checked his pulse and looked over his injuries. He looked like hell, it's a miracle he was still alive.

"He looks so small, like this…" Naomi commented softly. Phoebe only nodded; he did seem so much smaller now compared to what they had been facing earlier. The presence this boy had was several times larger than his own frame. Now, he looked frighteningly thin.

Artemis kneeled over him and scanned over his injuries; Phoebe didn't need to state the obvious. The boy needed medical attention immediately. Artemis shared one look with Phoebe and the order remained unspoken between them. Then Artemis placed a hand on the boy's back and the huntresses quickly covered their eyes as she flashed away.

Phoebe retrieved what the boy had carried out of the cabin. Curious she unsheathed the sword and stared in awe.

"Woah, is that imperial gold?" Naomi asked equally stunned.

"I haven't seen it in centuries, but there's no mistaking it." Phoebe answered. The sword almost glowed. How had he gotten it? Phoebe could hardly guess. One more mystery to wrap up into this confusing mess.

"What's in the box?" One of the others asked. Upon opening it Phoebe found only a simple sealed envelope with a name neatly written on its front.

"Perseus…" Phoebe closed the box with a snap. Now the mysterious boy had a name.

Artemis:

When Artemis flashed into camp, she spotted Zoe immediately. She had left Zoe in charge of camp while she led the patrol personally.

"Milady! I see you found him…" Zoe cast her gaze at the boy and quickly looked away. "...we already built the pyre- "

"He's still alive Zoe, get me Sirona immediately!"

Zoe's eyes went wide with surprise and she quickly sprinted off to the other side of camp. Sirona was the best healer among the huntresses. Artemis knew some things but most of her expertise were in fighting, hunting and tracking. Sirona had nearly two hundred years' experience patching up the Hunt after battle; she would be the boy's only hope.

Zoe returned within a few moments with an alarmed Sirona. When she spotted the boy, she immediately dropped to his side without a second thought. Sirona may be a huntress of Artemis but first and foremost she had a healer's heart and would treat anyone regardless of who they were; for that she had always garnered Artemis' greatest respect.

"Milady, he doesn't appear to have suffered any head or neck injuries. How did he lose consciousness?" Sirona's soft professional voice was all business and could be blunt even with a goddess such as Artemis.

"Exhaustion, perhaps blood loss" Artemis answered.

"Okay, we should be able to move him. Zoe, help me carry him to my tent." Moving him was easy enough, he was incredibly light. A fact Sirona did not comment on, but her grim expression deepened as she moved him.

Once they settled him in the tent, Sirona began to cut the ragged clothing off his torso to look at his injuries. As she did, Artemis and Zoe peered warily at the boy. To their dismay they could see all of his ribs underneath pale feverous skin. The boy processed none of the body weight a healthy demigod his age should have. He was nothing but skin, bones and sinewy muscle.

Sirona closely looked at the wounded shoulder and hummed in approval. "This boy knows what he was doing at least."

"What do you mean." asked Zoe.

"Well, he didn't take out the arrowhead. It's still in his shoulder, he used it to help seal the wound. I believe he was shot in the hip as well, correct?

Zoe nodded an affirmative.

Sirona cut away part of his pants revealing the messy wound underneath. She hissed out loud upon the sight of it.

"How bad is it…" asked Artemis hesitantly judging from Sirona's reaction.

"Not good… He is clever. I will give him that. He attempted to seal it by packing it with dirt to stop the blood loss but at the risk of infection. I can't tell how deep it is yet."

"Will he survive?" That was the question, wasn't it? This entire situation would all end for naught if the boy did not survive.

Sirona gave Artemis a long-measured look before just saying, "I don't know."

"Can't we give him ambrosia to fix him?" asked Zoe uncertainty.

"Normally, yes. But given that he appears to have not eaten in many days or eaten very little, I don't want to risk it. It could immediately kill him. At the very least it's a last resort."

"What do you need?"

Sirona sighed, "Probably everything we have, most of our supplies were destroyed in the fire." Zoe nodded and left the tent immediately. Artemis paused and looked down at the boy for a moment lost in thought.

"Milady, you are welcome to stay."

"No... I'll let you focus, let me know if he begins to deteriorate." Artemis swept out of the tent and into the camp.

She couldn't be more certain than she was now. All the pieces of this puzzle seemed to have fallen neatly into place. The puzzle in question being the identity of this strange demi-god deep in the wilderness. Artemis had suspicions and watched them be confirmed over the course of the last few hours. His aura was strong for a demigod; he had to be the child of an Olympian, a particularly strong child at that. He used a bow with proficiency, not exactly strange considering the environment but evidence, nonetheless. The music. That was unique, the boy played music. Artemis had heard it echoing from the cabin before they captured him. But what was more telling was what Sirona spoke of just moments before. Knowledge of medicine. He purposely self-treated his wounds well enough to survive. Archery, music, and medicine. It could not be a coincidence. All three were her brother's domain.

The boy was her nephew, a child of Apollo.

Phoebe:

Phoebe swept into Artemis' tent after returning from the boy's cabin. "Milady, we scoured the remnants of the cabin and found very little." She fidgeted before asking, "How is he?"

"He is still alive for now, Sirona's been with him all night. She has yet to leave his side."

Phoebe winced, if Sirona was still with him after so long his life was likely teetering close to the abyss. Deciding to go with the optimistic option Phoebe askes, "Milady… Should he survive, what will become of him?"

It was an unprecedented situation; Phoebe shared a look with Zoe and could see the question lingering on her mind as well. Artemis, contemplative, seemed to mull it over but came to a conclusion rather quickly.

"As a matter of honor, the Hunt will escort him to Camp Half-Blood after he fully recovers from his injuries. I also have a vested interest in learning more about this boy."

Phoebe was satisfied with this, however Zoe had concerns, "Milady, we still know nothing about him, he may yet be an enemy. Having a boy travel with us for so long is unorthodox, the Hunt may not accept him."

"I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there. As far as the Hunt is concerned his treatment falls entirely on your shoulders lieutenant, consider him your responsibility. That will be your punishment, Zoe." Zoe seemed as though having the boy be her personal responsibility was worse than being demoted but acquiesced regardless.

Phoebe suddenly remembering that was a few details she neglected to mention added, "We did find two things though, apologies milady. We now have a name…" Phoebe pulled a small wooden box out of her bag and tossed the letter on the table. "...Perseus"

"Perseus," Artemis echoed. The nameless boy was nameless no more, the thought had a strange gravity to it.

Zoe frowned and began to reach for the letter but was interrupted by Artemis, "Zoe, don't you think we've committed enough sins against Perseus? Henceforth we'll treat him in good faith." Artemis turned to Phoebe, "See to it he gets that back. What was the other thing?"

"This…" Phoebe drew the imperial gold sword and it shimmered in the dim tent. Artemis flinched upon seeing it. An action that did not go unnoticed by Phoebe or Zoe. "Milady-"

"Concerning... Phoebe, we'll be keeping that a secret, make sure the huntresses know. He did not have that. Are we clear?"

Zoe and Phoebe stiffened at the order; Artemis' tone implied it was not to be questioned. "Yes, Milady." They echoed.

Phoebe sheathed the sword and at that moment Sirona entered the tent. All eyes turned to her as she did. Sirona uniform sleeves were stained with blood and her face the picture of exhaustion. However, despite her clear tiredness her eyes gleamed and the other three suddenly felt hopeful.

"He's stable, he came close several times, but he'll survive."

"Well done, Sirona." Artemis congratulated.

"However," Sirona's expression dimmed. "The wound to his hip was quite severe. The muscle there was destroyed and one of his tendons was severed. As a result, he will have trouble walking normally and likely be unable to run again. I'm afraid repairing them is beyond my abilities."

He will be lame. Such an injury for a demigod could be damning. A lame demigod was a dead demigod. Maybe not today but someday that injury would likely get him killed and everyone in the tent knew it.

"That's unacceptable…" Artemis muttered softly, she refocused on Sirona, "Could it be repaired?"

"Potentially, he needs a surgeon."

Artemis sighed, "I didn't want to have to do this, but we owe it to Perseus to right the wrongs we've done to him."

Artemis

Artemis ordered Sirona to rest and then dismissed Phoebe and Zoe. She had already made the decision to do this when she figured out his parentage. It was certainly interference and against the old laws, but those laws had been loosened recently and although Artemis was certainly toeing the line, she was resolute.

She called up a shimmering rainbow in the tent and tossed a single drachma into it.

"Iris, get me Apollo." The rainbow shifted and revealed Apollo. He was apparently in his chariot somewhere in the sky. Upon seeing Artemis, he smiled brightly.

"Artemis! O' Sweet sister of mine!" He sing-songed cheerfully. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid, brother." she said carefully.

"Oh? Lil' sis needs her big bro's help?" His stupid grin was beginning to piss her off.

"Cut it out Apollo, this is serious." His smile faded away. "I'm assuming you're somewhere over the east coast, please stop at the camp."

"What - "

"You will see when you get here."

Banking on Apollo's inherent curiosity was clearly an effective strategy as it would seem the sun rose in Montana two hours earlier than it should have that day.

Apollo landed his cherry-red Maserati in the middle of the camp and stepped out with an uncharacteristically straight-faced expression. Artemis moved to greet him as he surveyed the camp.

"What happened here Artemis, were you attacked? Is it the titans? Or that something you found?"

"Sort of-" broached Artemis struggling with how to explain the situation.

"Sort of what? Yes, you were attacked, or no?" Artemis hated when he got protective like this, it was incredibly annoying.

"Yes, we were attacked but there's more to it-"

"Who."

"I'll explain-"

"Artemis... who was it."

"Shut up and maybe I'll tell you!" Artemis finally boiled over. Here they were squabbling like children in the middle of camp and there more important things to tend to than his fragile male ego.

Apollo quieted but still simmered.

"Follow me to my tent and I will tell you the whole story."

When they settled in Artemis told him the whole story exactly as it had happened, start to finish. At first when she started, he seemed confused but as she went on his expression went disturbingly blank. At the end she explained the state that Perseus was currently in and her conclusion.

"...Sirona tells me he may have difficulty walking and will likely not be able to run again. I have also concluded based on our observations of him that he is likely… one of your children." Having finally confessed that part she tried to read the expression on Apollo's face but found it surprisingly closed off. "I'm sorry Apollo, we never-"

"Let me see him."

"...Of course, I was hoping you'd be able to help him." Artemis had honestly expected a blow up, but Apollo seemed surprisingly cool-headed right now. If that was a good or bad thing she didn't know.

She showed him the tent Perseus was currently in and they entered together. He was laying down, still dangerously pale and covered in bandages. The young boy's stillness was only betrayed by the shallow breaths he took that proved he was still among the living. Artemis uncomfortably tried to search her twin's face for a reaction, for some kind of tell but he remained mostly impassive as he looked at the demi-god before him.

After several drawn out moments, Apollo finally spoke.

"How could you have let this get so far out of hand Artemis?" he said softly.

Then continued, "He's starved and nearly died by your huntress's hands." The spark of anger ignited the powder keg and power began to roll off Apollo. "Look at him! He's just a kid!" He turned sharply towards her, "I thought this sort of thing was behind us."

Artemis found, despite being a powerful Olympian goddess, in that moment she could no longer meet his eyes.

"I have no excuse; it was a mistake, and the fault lies with me." The admission was apparently not what Apollo had expected as all the wind went out of his sails. He looked back towards the boy.

"Leave me, I'll tend to him. We can talk about this more later."

Percy

Percy's snapped open and flickering memories of fire and the hunt flashed through his mind. They had caught him. The Hunt tracked him down and captured him. His mind reeled at the thoughts crossing it.

'Wait, what is going on...?' He could see the tent canvas above him and the warm bedding surrounding him. His body was warm and comfortable, there wasn't any pain or damned shaking. He felt fine and the thought disturbed him more than comforted him.

Determined to figure out what was going on he attempted to free himself from the bundled bedding and sit up.

"Woah, hold it right there, kid." A single finger pushed his head back into the bedding. "Brat, I just got through fixing you."

Percy's eyes slid the man in the chair next to him. Sunshine gold eyes met amber gold. The man was extremely handsome. His blonde hair was tied back, and his teeth were blindingly white. His skin was bronze, like he had spent most of his life on a beach in the Caribbean. He looked to be about eighteen.

Percy just stared and the man raised one eyebrow expectantly.

"Huh...?" Was about all Percy's labored brain could come up with at that moment.

The man laughed out loud, and the sound rang out like a beautiful melody. Percy couldn't help but draw similarities to another, one that was much gruffer.

"You look so confused right now…" chuckles even more. "Sorry, that was too good."

Percy scowled at this; he had never taken well to anyone laughing at him. 'Who the hell was this guy and why is it bothering me so much?' His expression must have been quite clear cause the man pouted.

"Aw, come on man lighten up. I didn't mean nothing by it."

Percy didn't want to "lighten up" and he narrowed his eyes at this person he knew nothing about.

The man sighed, "Killjoy. Fine, I'm sure you have questions, ask away."

"Who are you?"

The man stood up and with a flourish introduced himself, "I am the most awesome and most magnificent Olympian god Apollo of Delos, god of the sun, archery, art, music, poetry and a whole bunch of other things." He finished with an easy smile.

The familiarity now dawned on him. "You got to be fucking kidding me." Percy deadpanned.

Percy was sure, by the dumbstruck look on the god's face he had never gotten a reaction quite like that.

"Huh...?"

A/N: Thank you for reading please let me know what you thought. Also just an FYI I have finals in two weeks so next update will be skipped see you again in a month.