Ah, another chapter that's on time and even a bit early. We love consistent updates, don't we?
This chapter starts with Artemis POV, but don't get too excited because it's split and the chapter ends with Percy's, so just a heads up.
Anything else before we get started? No? Well alright then, hope I didn't forget anything. Grab a snack, have a drink of water, and enjoy!
Chapter 25: How Was Your Hunt?
Needless to say, Artemis was not happy.
A couple of things stacked perfectly on top of each other had caused her the most infuriating headache she could remember. There was the first problem of Aphrodite's little comments that Percy had informed her of, giving Artemis the urge to rip the goddess's hair out the next time they saw each other and also ask her a million questions.
The next problem came right when she had blessed a large rabbit she had skewered with her arrow in the form of a sort of sixth sense she had. Her eternal connection to the Hunt had its perks, including a sense for when her Hunters were afraid or sorrowful or resentful. She had gotten the feeling that her Hunt was in danger, that they were confused and in fear, so she had immediately slung the animal over her shoulder and ran to the rendezvous point where she would meet Percy.
When she had finally arrived to the point, her feeling of fear had subsided, and she could tell that the Hunters were no longer in immediate danger. Their fear had been replaced with sadness, and their confusion replaced by a pleading for their mistress to return.
That's when her third problem came.
She (im)patiently for Percy to return, and eventually found him alongside her alpha wolf, slowly hobbling over with his clothes battered and ripped, his skin covered in a layer of dirt, and a deep cut of semi-dried blood in his midsection.
And then he had explained, and her expression of impatience and exhaustion turned into one of anger. Anger at Ares for being such a disgusting male with the greed of a pig and the brains of a primate. Anger at Percy for actually fighting the god instead of praying for help (literally).
She would admit to herself later that she was surprised and impressed at Percy's ability to not just keep up in a fight with the god of war but actually kill him, and maybe she was even a little pleased when Percy said that he had used the wilderness to his advantage, but in the moment she was ticked off.
Forcing herself to push their past conversation aside to deal with much much later, Artemis informed him of the Hunters being in danger causing Percy to practically sprint off in the direction of Purgatory, completely forgetting that Artemis could just teleport them there within the blink of an eye.
With a roll of her eyes, Artemis caught up to Percy with ease and yanked him by the shoulder before teleporting them to Purgatory. Unashamedly, the goddess smirked at Percy's unmanly yelp and didn't even attempt to hold back her satisfaction in her rather annoyed mood.
As it always did, the light cleared and her vision rapidly adjusted to her new surroundings.
"What the hell was that?" Percy hissed, clearly trying to not raise his voice. Artemis smiled and shrugged.
"We're here, aren't we?" Artemis asked. Percy made a noise of exasperation and groaned, which only made Artemis grin wider.
"Where're the Hunters?" Percy asked, searching the lake and the beach where the Hunt's camp was. Artemis sighed at how oblivious Percy could be in some moments and yet so intelligent in others. Artemis lazily pointed in the direction of Percy's cabin and the demigod slowly turned his head to see a group of Hunters surrounded around and inside his home. Hunters could be seen through the windows and on the porch and in the sand around his cabin, all looking after one another and tending to what looked to be fresh wounds.
Immediately, Artemis thought of her brother. The god of medicine was probably busy doing absolutely nothing important, having his sun chariot on autopilot (not that Artemis did that most of the time as well) and lounging around in his palace.
There was no doubt in her mind that she would've been better off calling Apollo for help after the first monster attack, but the grief and the distractions included made her forget. She wouldn't do it a second time.
Reaching out with her mind, Artemis called Apollo for help, pushing any pride aside with the knowledge that even though the next few minutes would be living Hades for her, her Hunters needed the help.
In an instant, Apollo appeared next to her, causing Percy to yelp once again and jump out of his boots at the sudden addition of another divine being. Another smile settled onto Artemis' face, which caused Percy to pout. Mixed emotions arose in Artemis at the expression, which she quickly squashed to deal with later in hopes that Aphrodite had somehow infected her and held an antidote.
"What can I do for ya lil sis?" Apollo asked with a wide smile. Most times, Artemis would retort or punch him in his perfect pearly whites, but she settled for swallowing any aggressive words and directed him towards the cabin.
Percy and Artemis followed as the god rushed to the cabin with a concerned look on his tanned face, a worried crease ingrained in his forehead. The son of the seas and daughter of the skies watched as the god did what he did best: heal.
With the way Apollo was moving, you would think Kronos himself would rise within minutes if any of the Hunters' wounds were left unattended. He got into a rhythm of a fairly repetitive process, asking the Hunters what their injuries were before diagnosing the specifics and healing them the best he could.
In all honesty, it was hypnotizing to watch her twin attend to her Hunters. He had no intentions of flirting or chatting, he simply did his job and moved on to the next, smiling gently at the Hunters and saying that they would be fine in no time.
She might never say it out loud, but if there was one thing Artemis respected about Apollo it was how seriously he took healing, and how good he was at being anyone's personal doctor.
Still, the smiles he displayed seemed off. Artemis had known her twin for her entire lifetime, and every smile he had she could correlate to a certain situation or emotion. When he was overcome with joy, for example, small dimples and his eyebrows shooting up would give away his positive emotion. When he was being sincere with his patients, a single crease could be seen running along his forehead. When he was being polite, small crinkles would appear at the edges of his eyes.
Each of his smiles had a tell, displaying exactly the emotion he was feeling. Artemis had had thousands of years to notice this, and she had never seen the smile he had now.
No dimples, no forehead creases, no glaring give-aways at what he was feeling could be seen, and Artemis was very observant. Instead, Apollo's eyes showed blankness, the usual mirth and mischievousness gone and in its place nothing appeared obvious.
Artemis felt the need to ask, her curiosity getting the better of her, but she would wait until Apollo was done. And even then, she would probably wait to ask until the Hunters had spilled all the information about what had happened.
But for now, she watched alongside Percy as they stood in the sand, trying desperately to get rid of the awkwardness between them. If he were anyone else and had uttered the information Aphrodite had told him, he would've been transfigured right on the spot. But this was Percy, and what reason would he have to lie? No, Aphrodite was to blame for the situation they were in, for putting a possible strain on her one current friendship with any male in existence.
When Apollo finally re-emerged from the cabin with an impassive expression on his face that Artemis couldn't identify, her urge to question him only intensified. But it seemed like a particular demigod had noticed what Artemis had observed, and asked for a moment alone with the sun god a second before Artemis could offer the same thing.
The god grimaced before reluctantly accepting, the two walking off toward the edge of the lake where nobody was near.
Artemis was half-tempted to eavesdrop on the conversation with her enhanced hearing, but a feeling in her gut told her that she shouldn't, that it was wrong. If Percy wanted to talk to Apollo alone, she would respect that desire. It wasn't anything to bicker over, the subject at hand was only a simple conversation after all.
Instead, Artemis went over to the cabin to question her Hunters and get to the bottom of why the Hunt was getting hurt so often all of a sudden.
Making sure to greet the Hunters outside and make sure they were going to be okay, Artemis made her way inside the cabin and attempted to locate her lieutenant for a report.
Percy's abode wasn't small by any means, but it was clearly built for a single person. Only two rooms were in the cabin, the larger living room that branched out to the kitchen and dining table, as well as the small bedroom that was pushed off to the side of the cabin. Hunters were scattered around the cabin, lounging on the couch, leaning on kitchen counters, slumped against the wooden walls, and yet none of them could be identified as her faithful lieutenant.
Artemis tried to remember if Thalia was outside, but when she became certain she hadn't missed her, Artemis grimaced and strode towards Percy's bedroom. Twisting the knob and softly pushing the door open, Thalia, Piper, and Calypso were revealed to be casually looking around the room.
The three were staring at the wall above Percy's headboard where framed pictures could be seen scattered across. Some were drawings, others were hastily taken selfies and polaroid photos. Immediately, Artemis knew what she was looking at.
Although she didn't immediately recognize everyone in the pictures, she began to remember each and every person.
Photos of demigods that had been honored for their bravery in the Second Titan War and others that had been killed before or after were alongside larger, more prominent and eye-catching photos.
A pair of sons of Apollo. A son of Dionysus with blonde hair and purple pupils. A dark skinned and muscular son of Hephaestus. A slim daughter of Aphrodite with sparkling blue eyes and smooth black hair. (Surprisingly) The blue eyes and sandy blonde hair of the rogue son of Hermes.
A photo of a goofily-posing son of Hephaestus with curly brown hair and a wide, mischievous smile. A selfie with a son of Poseidon and a rather bulky, Asian son of Mars. The sketched drawing of a girl with obsidian-black eyes and a quiver full of arrows slung across her back. The tightened jaw and concerned but serious expression of a blonde boy with glasses as he fidgeted with a gold coin between his fingers. A shaded sketch of a cross-legged and daughter of Hades with pale skin and a small smile in the back of a van.
In the epicenter of all the photos, with everyone else orbiting the largest framed picture, there stood two demigods, laughing and smiling as if nothing else in the world mattered.
The green-eyed son of Poseidon had his arm around his companion, staring at the girl as if she was the only thing that he needed to live. The daughter of Athena was laughing, seemingly at the expense of the other, a hand over her stomach and the other on the boy's chest. Her piercing grey eyes were squinted in her fit of uncontrollable laughter and her honey-blonde curls of hair bounced over her shoulder in a messily-tied ponytail.
The two looked truly happy just to have each other, not having a care for anything else occurring around them.
(AN: Try and guess who everyone is. It shouldn't be too hard, but some are vague and who doesn't love a little game?)
Artemis couldn't help the sad smile that settled onto her face, and from the looks of it, neither could the others. None of them had ear-to-ear grins, or looks full of joy. They all had the same feeling of understanding, of sad acknowledgment.
The silence soon became overwhelming, and Artemis quickly wished for that odd feeling of sympathy in her stomach to be discarded.
She cleared her throat, causing all three of the girls to turn around. None looked surprised or perturbed at her presence, but Artemis still felt like she shouldn't have been included in the moment.
"My Lady." Thalia greeted. The three nodded their heads in greeting, not paying mind to bow out of Artemis' own desire.
"Thalia. Piper. Calypso." Artemis returned. "Can you tell me what happened here?" Thalia bit her lip at how direct Artemis was, still quite not sure herself about what had happened and why.
"A horde of monsters not too dissimilar from the last ambushed us from the forest." Thalia sighed and leaned against a wall. "They were smaller in size, and we didn't have any casualties, but many of us didn't leave unscathed. Apollo checked on everyone and said that there'll be no long term injuries, thankfully."
"Good, good." Artemis muttered.
She nodded in satisfaction. After the last battle, the last thing she wanted was any more lost Hunters. What concerned her wasn't that the Hunters had been attacked, but that the prospect of another, and another ambush was entirely plausible.
From what Percy had relayed to her, Ares had expressed his distaste for the use of monsters, and so the possibility of the god's superior sending the monsters wasn't out of the question. But with the hypocritical patterns of Ares, she also wouldn't put it past the god to use the monsters as a distraction while he disobeyed his superior to finish off Percy himself.
The matter of the fact was that Percy was the target of whoever wanted him out of whatever plan they had, and that in turn was putting the Hunt in unnecessary danger.
"We should be more alert from now on. More shifts during the night and maybe even some more watching during the day." Artemis said.
"I'll tell the others, My Lady." Thalia nodded. Artemis gave her a small smile and nodded back.
"How was your hunt, Artemis?" Piper asked. Immediately, her jaw tensed and her lower lip disappeared under her teeth. "Not good, huh?"
"You could say that." Artemis said.
"What happened?" Thalia asked. "My cousin do something stupid again?" Artemis smirked and shook her head before she paused and nodded.
"Sort of." Artemis said. She paused once again. "You girls might want to sit down."
The girls exchanged confused looks before each made themselves comfortable in different positions and locations. Artemis took a deep breath, shook her head, and got herself ready for a story that might not include some rather personal and embarrassing details.
Percy was anxious, extremely anxious.
Apollo had that look, that look of guilt and regret that Percy had recognized from looking at his reflection so often. He saw the darkness in the god's eyes and the way he pulled back his smiles. It was obvious to Percy, and one glance at the side of Artemis' face was enough to know that she suspected something as well.
And so, his mind started to race. His ADHD coupled with his acute paranoia and knowledge of recent events forced him to pull Apollo to the side in an attempt to find out just what the Hades was going on.
The duo walked into the forest, and walked, and walked, until Purgatory wasn't visible to the mortal eye and the pair were facing each other while leaning against adjacent trees.
"You know why we're here." Percy began with. Apollo simply raised an eyebrow and stared blankly at Percy. Maybe Percy was misinterpreting his body language, but he would actually say that the god was nervous. "What did you do, Apollo?"
Percy tried his hardest not to sound aggressive as to not provoke the god. At this point, Percy was just tired. He was tired of fighting and battles and just wanted answers after everything he had been through.
"I don't know what…" Apollo trailed off, his statement absolutely unconvincing. Apollo sighed and tapped the back of his head against the tree he was leaning against. He made a clicking sound with his tongue and tilted his head, seemingly in thought about what to do.
Percy could feel the god's inner struggle from a few feet away, and Percy's ADHD was acting up just looking at the fidgeting Apollo.
"Fine." Apollo finally relented, cutting through the silence between them. Another pause came down between the two, and Percy raised his own eyebrow at Apollo's lack of explanation.
"And?" Percy asked. He had his suspicions about what Apollo was regretful about, but he wanted a confirmation straight from the god's mouth.
"I'm sorry." Apollo sighed. Percy watched as the god stared down at his feet, trying his hardest to avoid Percy's gaze.
The demigod studied the man, the god before him. His body language was piss poor, and the way his head drooped down like an ashamed little puppy just made something in Percy break. He didn't want to get on the god's ass or force him to say anything. Conflict was the last thing he wanted.
"You knew, didn't you?" Percy asked. The god's head slightly perked up at this, and Apollo slowly and reluctantly locked eyes with Percy. "You knew about the attacks, about Ares?"
"Ares?" Apollo asked.
"Yeah, Ares." Percy repeated. Apollo scrunched his eyebrows together, causing a number of creases to appear on his forehead. He shook his head.
"I don't know anything about Ares, but yeah. I knew that the attacks would happen." Apollo said. "And no, it wasn't because of the gift of prophecy."
Now that confused Percy. He thought the god had foreseen the Hunt getting attacked and didn't warn them because of distractions or something that prevented him from helping.
"Then how did you know?" Percy asked. Apollo sighed and looked up to the sky as he ran a hand through his blond hair. His hand transferred to the back of his neck, which he began to nervously rub. And in that moment, Percy had an epiphany. Everything made sense, and yet he understood absolutely nothing."You're working for him, aren't you? The same person who Ares was working for?" Apollo's eyes widened considerably and his head shot back up to meet Percy.
"How did you-?" Apollo's expression all but confirmed Percy's findings, and instead of being angry, Percy just sighed in exasperation.
"I had a little chat with Ares, and let's just say he'll be having a nice little nap in Tartarus until he reforms." Percy said with a weak, insincere smile. Apollo seemed to process the information for a moment before he gave out a soft chuckle.
"Wow. You know, that actually makes me feel a little better." Apollo said with a smile. That expression, however, almost instantly dissipated, and both people remembered the more important topic at hand.
"So, you gonna tell me why?" Percy asked. "And who this person you're working for is?"
Apollo grimaced and smiled weakly. Percy already knew what his answer was going to be.
"I can't tell you who it is, sorry. Maybe in time, but I don't trust her enough to not try anything stupid." Apollo said. Percy raised an eyebrow at the mention of his boss's gender, but if Apollo realized his slip up, he didn't care. "And as for why, I can't really tell you that either. I just want you to know that I know what's happening is wrong, and if I could stop it then I would."
"And why can't you? Stop it, that is." Percy challenged. Apollo smiled, more sincere and more confident this time.
"Can't say, bro. I truly wish I could tell you, and maybe I will later, but for now I can't." Apollo said. Maybe it was the look of helplessness in his eyes, or the desperation and rawness in his voice, but Percy wholeheartedly believed him.
Call it a feeling in his gut or simply a hunch, but Percy felt like Apollo truly had no choice in his actions, and that he felt guilty for everything that had happened and maybe future events that were going to happen.
"I believe you." Percy stated bluntly.
"Really?" Apollo asked in disbelief. Percy nodded and pushed off the tree he had been leaning on, putting himself in a standing position.
"Yep. Doesn't mean you're off the hook, but I believe you." Percy said. Apollo immediately smiled as wide as Percy had ever seen.
"Can you do me one thing?" Apollo asked, intriguing Percy. He cocked his head in curiosity and motioned for the god to continue. "Can you not tell Artemis? I'll tell her later, in due time, but for now…"
"I won't. It'll only make it worse the longer you wait, so it's your funeral." Percy joked. "But Apollo, just know that once you're ready, you can tell me what's happened. I know that you have a reason for what you're doing, and I'll listen once you're ready."
Apollo looked straight in Percy's eyes and nodded with a grateful smile. He replicated Percy's position of pushing himself onto his own two feet and stood on his own.
"I'll keep that in mind." Apollo said. "Now get going. My little sis is gonna kill you if she thinks you're doing anything suspicious with me."
Percy couldn't help the smile on his face. It didn't feel like he should be smiling due to the position he had found himself in, but his grin refused to go away. Some anonymous and powerful person wanted him dead, Apollo was being suspicious and mysterious, and Artemis very possibly hated his guts now, and yet Percy was smiling.
Well, you couldn't really blame him. After all, he had just succeeded in killing a god fair and square. Who wouldn't smile after such a feat?
Lollllllll, we love ending chapters with so many questions. To be honest, I got lazy with the ending of the chapter, but everything that I wanted to be said was said.
Also, while I'm being honest, I greatly debated revealing who the superior is at the end of this chapter, but I just love torturing you guys so much that I decided to wait a few more chapters. Your welcome!
Anyways, what did you guys think about the chapter? And if you have any guesses for the people in the picture frames, leave a review or send me a pm (preferably a review)! I'll post the answers at the beginning of the next chapter, even though I think it's fairly simple and straightforward.
Here are the review responses, see you next chapter!
Review Responses:
The Prophesied: Wow, well that was really nice to read. I love longer reviews because of how motivating they can be. I don't know, I can't really explain it, but they're just so addicting (And this one wasn't even that long lol). And yeah, what I'm doing is a little evil, but who doesn't love a bit of evil now and then? And thanks for the compliments, I'm glad you like my writing style and habits.
Darknaim: I like Lazarus for rebirth. It's in line with the theme of my story and fits nicely. I might just use that.
Percyfanjackson: Yeah, I loved having Percy use his brain to out think Ares, especially knowing the god of war isn't too bright. I also get what you mean concerning the books and fight scenes, but you have to give Annabeth credit in her battle strategy and planning. I think Percy's is definitely underrated in the books, but Annabeth makes all the plans for a reason.
NBAChampion2005: I'm glad Grey is okay too :). Looking back at the fight scene, I probably made it more suspenseful on accident by having it seem like Grey might be dead, so sorry about that.
KitKathy520: You changed your avatar, and I'm glad to say that I'm proud of myself for noticing this. A Procrastinating Writer Club sounds nice, and PWC isn't the worst acronym lol. As for the fight scene, I'm glad you liked it. I want my fight scenes to stand out in that it's not a ton of vague descriptions about Percy dominating a battlefield (although that's kinda what he did during the Hunters' ambush). I'm more into how Percy fought the Minotaur, short and sweet with a bunch of specific descriptions.
Warped12: We'll have to wait for Calypso's reaction for next chapter :). And thanks, I actually felt proud of how that fight scene turned out, so it's nice to see a lot of other people appreciate it too. Jontybh: Thanks for the kind words, and your welcome for the Artemis pov I guess. We'll have to wait and see how she really feels about Aphrodite cause she's just pushing it to the side for now, but you'll see her reaction eventually, trust me.
PerseusPeverell092: Yeah, maybe it would've been more realistic to have Percy more badly injured, but I wanted to showcase the brains of Percy considering I think a full on plain sword fight wouldn't end the best for Percy.
TheFire44: Thanks, that's exactly what I was thinking when I set up this fight. Percy did pretty well in this fight for not having any of his past advantages.
TheFiction101: I am in love with Grey now. He's just too adorable. And I agree with everything you said. I'll probably use a name for the dagger that a reviewer gave, but I'm not stressing about it.
parallaxyt: Calypso won't die… (anytime soon), you have my word. But in the far future… lol. I love being evil. And Percy will have to face repercussions, but we'll have to see just what consequences befall upon him. As for Piper, I honestly like her character. Her origin is a bit odd, and her introduction to the canon could've been done better, but I like her character arc and I think she's a fun character with a distinct personality and viewpoint.
udm17: Metanoia, sounds cool, and goes with the theme. I'll think about it, but I honestly think I'll probably go with Lazarus as the name. Maybe I'll flip a coin for it, we'll see.