Percy POV
I don't think things could get anymore confusing for me. One day, I'm happy. Then, I'm betrayed by my crush. Then, I try to die but am assigned to a crappy life with the hunters instead. Then, the hunters bully me. Then, they try to kill me! Then, I'm slowly healing, but have to be traumatized by nightmares every night which is always fun. Then, Artemis, the same female who has been trying to kill me decides to sleep with me? Then, she makes me so mad and embarrassed (and would've probably accused me of rape for the second time) that I had to get away. Then, the gods do something with Artemis, no idea what. After, I decide to visit my parents, oh wait, they don't even remember me. Then, the Gods try to kidnap me or whatever they were trying to achieve, with Artemis looking as if she was crying about me? Then, some random person rescues me, only for me to faint again, which was pretty embarrassing. Then, I awaken ages later, with messed up eyes, to find out that the random guy was Nico and I'm stranded on an island with a hot, immortal chick for the second time. Wow, that was a fun summary. Need I go back more than what has happened over the last month?
At least Calypso and Nico were being nice to me, which was something I had not grown accustomed to over the last few weeks with the fun hunters. Please note my sarcasm. From the first day I woke up, each of them have been talking with me and playing with me. They even give me bed in breakfast! What could be worse? However, I don't like it. I feel as if they should be getting rest, especially after the, as Nico said, days before I had woken up where the two of them had been rushing around, trying to revive me. That's why, I always made an effort to help and actually walk to the dinner table, instead of making them bring me the food. The problem with this was, each time I got out of bed or started washing the dishes, Calypso would freak and start screaming at Nico to get me back to bed. Then again, that might've just been because of the time I had accidentally mixed the reds with the whites in the wash. It wasn't my fault. I had seen Calypso dump her clothes into a bucket full of water before, and wash each one. When I had seen Calypso sleeping on a rare occasion, I had decided to do some undercover helping. I washed the dishes, made the beds and tended the flowers. This had obviously tired me out fast. I feel embarrassed, being a God, but not being able to walk for more than 5 minutes without being weakened. Calypso said that it's probably the after effects of abandoning my Godly weapon, and that my body just needed to adapt to harnessing all the power without a symbol. She said it was nothing to worry about. I mean, she did call me an idiot, and a couple of other words which I won't speak of, but it was alright. However, my eyes were something else. They wouldn't heal. I could see clearly without the potion, most of all nowadays, but my eyes were still split, one green and one gold. Nico said it made me look cool. Calypso loved it too, but I missed how they looked before. If this was a permanent feature, it would be much worse. I would be called the god of split eyes or something crazy. My goldy symbol would most likely change into an eye or something. I sincerely hoped that this eye problem, as well as the whole weak problem would clear up within a week or so.
Anyways, back to the clothes. So, I had been walking back to my bed, when I just so happened to see a pile of dirty clothes. Naturally, I was feeling tired, but decided Calypso deserved some slack to be cut. Sighing, I just picked them up and dumped them into a bowl of water, mimicking the water to swirl and churn up all the clothes. It was going pretty well. Then, I remembered how I was not meant to use my powers for a week. Too scared to ask Calypso and see how she would flip, I decided to just take some potion, hoping that would clear everything up. Well, it did, and I was in big trouble. From what I had seen, the clothes were all white. Well turns out that my eyes had been playing up again. After taking the potion, I realised that I had actually been colour blind of a couple of minutes, and had seen the light green shirt for white… I can assure you, Calypso was most displeased.
It is my fourth day of being powerless. It's horrible. When me and Nico are training (obviously in the absence of Calypso), it feels sad to see Nico using his powers, and me having to rely on a stick for a sword. Unfortunately, this island was a very anti violence place, and there were no weapons. My riptide still hadn't returned to me. I had waited ages, prayed and done all sorts of stuff, but it still hadn't returned. Nico suggested that it may just be because of my Mingetopouveior Syndrome thing. Personally, I had no idea, but I wasn't exactly a PhD doctor, unlike Calypso.
The worst thought I get is what will happen when I meet the other Gods again. It would be impossible, both mentally and physically for me to keep away from all the other Gods forever. I'm alive forever, and, one way or another, I will eventually have to meet them. What will I say? Do the Gods know that I'm innocent? Or do they think that I tried to rape Artemis again? What will Artemis be like? I doubt she would be that mean. In fact, if I recall correctly, she was crying for me, which is definitely confusing. Then again, I'm on an island which should've been impossible for anyone to get to, so confusing has become pretty normal for me. Somedays, I wake up wishing Artemis would be by my side. We could talk it out, solve our problems and go back to living normal. Otherdays, I want to put on my robe, grab a sword and charge to Olympus to turn her into chicken curry. It's almost like I have split personality disorder. Next thing I know, I'll probably be living in a cave with a ring of power that turns me invisible.
"I want to know everything."
Nico simply looked up from his food, staring at me deeply. It seemed as if this was a conversation that he had spent ages thinking about how he would respond. Putting his head down, he took another bite of his burger. Honestly, if there is one thing Calypso specializes in, it is cooking chicken burgers. Actually, it's cooking anything. Yeah she is amazing at planting and farming and sewing and all of that good stuff, but her burgers make me crave them like nothing before. They taste so good, I would never have got that weird syndrome had I been fed these. Seriously!
"Calypso, why don't you have an early sleep today," Nico said to her a little too brightly. "I'll do the washing today."
It was very obvious that Nico was just trying to get Calypso to go. That much was so obvious that even a blind man could see it. Pretty ironic seeing as I myself could barely see, eh! Calypso stared curiously at Nico. It seemed as if the two were having a silent conversation using only their eyes. From the looks of it, Nico won, as Calypso glared at him, before standing up sighing. She made her way towards the stairs, but I grabbed her hand.
"Stay please, Calypso," I whispered into her ear.
Nico raised an eyebrow as she sat down again, this time directly next to me.
"Are you sure you want her to stay here?" Nico asked, which in my opinion was a bit of a stupid question seeing as if I wasn't sure, I probably would've let her walk upstairs.
"Nico," I began, needing to make a point clear. "This woman sitting next to me is the reason we are all alive. Everyone who survived the 2 great prophecies owe their lives to Calypso, especially me. She nursed me back to health two times now. And, she helped Leo understand what the prophecy meant-"
"Wait Leo's alive?" Nico asked, shocked. "That bowl of rice actually survived!" He sounded as if he couldn't believe it himself.
"Where is he now?" Nico asked, addressing Calypso with curiosity.
"Well, after he survived the crash and came back to Ogygia with a burned top and black face, which definitely didn't suit him, we went around exploring the world in secret for about a year. Then, I started to miss Ogygia strangely, even though I had been stuck here for millennials. Eventually, we decided that we would be good friends, and he dropped me off. We still talk weekly, and he's visited me a few times, with the help of his father Hephasteus, but we're not… ya know… covalently bonded or anything."
Nico laughed so hard, and I had to admit, I did too. In the meantime, Calypso was staring deathly at us, with an extremely red face that just made me laugh even harder. It was pretty cute the way Calypso decided to explain relationships.
"So how did you get here," I asked him again, trying to stop myself from cracking up again. Nico took a sip of water before talking.
"The truth is, my father sent me," Nico started. This caused a chain reaction of screams and shouts as both me and Calypso yelled out "WHAT!". Seeing as Nico was here, I figured out that there must be a really weird story as to how he got here, but I was not prepared for that. Hades would've never helped me. Yeah sure I did give him some fame and pride after the first great prophecy, but to risk his godhood and rescue me? That was far too risky, even for the God of the Underworld.
"He owes you big time, Percy. You made him feel wanted again. You rethroned him and gave him a place at Olympus again, instead of giving yourself anything you wanted."
"Is that true!" Calypso asked, shocked. I merely nodded, still trying to understand Lord Hades. I think I just might have gained a whole lot of respect for him!
"I was vibing in the underworld, when out of nowhere, this chunky skeleton comes and gives me a crumpled black paper. On it, was a note. 'Save Perseus in Manhattan. - Hades :)"
"The God Of the Underworld gave his only son a note of paper with a smiley face!" Calypso giggled. When you put it like that, it did sound pretty hilarious. I never would've thought that Hades had any sense of humor.
"So then what?" I asked him.
Nico's forehead creased, and he looked as if he was thinking. "I shadow traveled straight away, towards you, and saw a sight enough to scare me for twelve lifetimes in seventeen parallel universes." This made no sense, especially for someone who nearly failed him SATs.
"Wait, say that last part again," I asked. Nico's face palmed.
"It made me scared!" he muttered irritated. Well why couldn't he just say that before, talking about these parallel realities and stuff?
"There was Perseus in the middle, being surrounded by Gods that looked like they hadn't had a good sleep in the last week. You should've seen Artemis." Nico started talking to Calypso. "She was crying all over him in a dress that might as well have gone through the shredder." Nico smirked, while both me and Calypso frowned.
"Since when has the Goddess of virginity worn a dress?" Calypso asked.
"Not important," I waved off.
"Artemis is turning into such a slut," Calypso growled, which shocked me and Nico. "How can she wear a dress to see you, especially after the suffering she put you through. I swear I will run her through with the sharpest stick I can find and bury here with my flowers as soon as I see her."
Nico rolled his eyes at Calypso's poor choice of weaponry.
"Anyways, I quickly grabbed him and shadow traveled away, just as Lord Zeus realised that I was there," Nico continued with his epic story.
"Wait, he recognized you?" I asked, concerned. If the Olympian council had recognized Nico, then we were all in trouble, especially Nico and Hades. It would also make me look incredibly suspicious if Hades had recruited someone to save me.
"Nah," Nico said, acting all chilled out despite the fact that his life would've been over if he had done one wrong thing. "They just figured out that I was probably someone who could save Percy. Anyways, then, I decided that I needed to actually stop the travel. We were just floating around in shadowness, if that's even a word, until I finally thought to bring you here. Truth be told, I had no idea how to get here, but Hades must've been helping because I suddenly got an image in my head. Then, I traveled here, gave Perseus to Calypso and tried healing him as best as I could."
"That's being modest," Calypso said sternly to Nico. "The only use you had was sedating him, which barely helped." In return, he just stuck his tongue out at her.
"How did you even know Calypso was here?" I asked.
"I didn't!" he replied, which confirmed that he was insane. Things would've got pretty ugly if Calypso hadn't been here. I knew from experience after seeing how tired Nico's powers made him. He nearly fell asleep on me back at the River Styx when I was getting iron skin.
"Well, at least I can thank both you and Calypso properly for saving my life."
"You must've thanked us at least fifty times each day," Calypso drily spoke.
"Not important," I said, which made Nico and Calypso burst out laughing again. "What is important," I said, raising my voice to actually be heard, "is that I know that there are two people who I can trust in this world. Four if you include my mother and father."
"Step-father," Nico cut in, trying to contain his laughter. This made my head feel all fuzzy again, as I recalled the painful memory of being rejected a week ago. I shook my head slowly, which made Nico stop laughing and look at me concerned. Tears must've been leaking out of my eyes again.
"What happened," Nico asked. "Is everything alright with your parents?"
I sighed, wiping my eyes of tears. "My parents don't remember me anymore, courtesy of Annabeth-"
"Anna-bitch" Nico growled. Calypso, on the other hand, frowned.
"Isn't Annabeth that girl who you loved?" she asked. I nodded.
"It turns out that she actually had a thing for this idiot called Eddie, and then tried to kill me. In fact, she would've succeeded had Artemis came to save me."
"From one idiot to another," Calypso muttered.
"She destroyed my family." I'd forgotten how horrible it felt to remember what Annabeth had done to me, emotionally and physically. She had tortured me in every way possible, to the point where I, the twice saviour of Olympus had begged for death. In fact, she is the only reason I haven't yeeted myself off a cliff. I need to kill her before I can do that.
Calypso, grabbed my face, and turned it to face her. She stared into my eyes, before pulling me closer, and giving me a kiss. It was a slow, lingering kiss, her first. Her lips felt so soft, sending wild tremors along my nerves, evoking sensations I had never known I was capable of feeling. And before a swimming giddiness spun me round and round, I knew that I was kissing her back, as intently and passionately. We broke up, and I sheepishly smiled at her.
"That's where you're wrong. You have a family right here, who will never abandon you and be with you forever.
Happy for the first time in months, I stood up, and walked to my room to sleep. There was nothing romantic between me and Calypso, was there? It was just two friends comfort kissing. I lay in my bed, trying to sleep, and I just couldn't help but compare how similar calypso's words of family were to what Annabeth had said to me back when we were together.
Artemis POV
My mind went on autopilot, and I cut the message, pondering on what I had just seen. No matter what I wanted, I couldn't help myself from repeating what I had seen. They looked so familiar, yet I couldn't pinpoint who they were. I felt embarrassed. I had caused this, hadn't I. Did I deserve it? Probably. It had been so painful to watch, and now, I couldn't stop watching it. Was it love, fear, jealousy or just wanting to be loved. I would never know. Sighing, I walked to the bathroom to wash my teary face. The pain I was being put through wasn't fair. I just stared at the cracked mirror which had dried gold on it. My gold. That had been my ichor at one point, probably after another fit of rage I'd been through. I've had a lot of those recently. None of the Gods speak to me. They just speak of me. I've heard that there's actually a petition to ban the hunt and another to force me to lose my virginity as punishment to what I had done to the saviour of Olympus, which has got a lot of hits. I can't even be asked to respond. Now my days are spent crying in my room. The Hunt sleep in my palace too, but they know not to speak to me, especially with how enraged and emotionally unstable I am with myself.
Aphrodite came into my palace, and looked at me, crying on the bed. She came, and sat down next to me, rubbing my back, whispering soothing words to me. Out of everyone, ironically, Aphrodite was the only God who didn't hate my guts, something which I still couldn't find an explanation for.
"What did you see," she asked after a while, once I had calmed down.
"Him," I whispered. Aphrodite nodded. After all, she had made the message, to show me.
"And what was he doing?"
There was a moment of silence before I could bring myself to talk.
"Percy was kissing some girl," I whispered. That was all I could get out before I fully broke down.
Another 3,169 word chapter. I think i's decent. What do you all think? Any good. Don't worry btw: It is going to eventually be Percy X Artemis.
Also, thanks to J915WinterKing For giving me the idea of Artemis spying of Percy kissing.