My story. Not my characters.

The madness of love is the greatest of heaven's blessings. - Plato

The sun peeked over the lapping waves of the blue horizon, casting the distant clouds above in warm pastels. At the other end of the sky, the waning moon veiled its radiance, blending into the brightening cloak of day. And between, bobbing in the ocean's warm embrace was a certain Son of the Sea's fishing boat on her maiden voyage.

Prime conditions for fishing for the two people relaxing on the bow and prepping the bait.

At least until the surrounding ocean vaporized.

The boat hovered in place for a single breath before accelerating into its plummet to the ocean surface, now several hundred feet below. Percy leaped to his feet, a pull in his gut as he stretched out, arms wide, feeling more than hearing the dull roar of the ocean rushing back where it belonged. A column of water surged up from below, catching the boat in a slow brake dozens of feet later that belied the potential shipwreck that awaited them.

"What in the Styx are you doing, little sis?"

Percy glanced at the golden Maserati hovering above them, glowing too bright to look at. Then he refocused on stalling the gigantic wave of water thundering back to pulverize his ship.

"Hunting," Artemis drawled from her seat on the deck, not having moved or bothered to look up from the deer she was butchering. "And don't call me that."

The goddess cut free the intestines with a silver knife, unfazed at the smell that spilled forth. With the flat of her blade, she launched entrails at the flying sports car, though they burned up before it could touch the paint.

The car swung broadside, engine growling as the driver pulled up on their starboard. The light dimmed as the window rolled down, revealing the sun god in all his magnificent, splendid, breathtaking glory. Apollo looked back and forth, eyeing the fishing poles and nets strewn across the boat.

"You're fishing with Percy Jackson," Apollo said. Percy paused as he felt Apollo's gaze settle on him. "A man."

The waves had slowed into a rush of water, a swell that propelled them back to sea level. Capsize averted, Percy straightened up and turned to face the light. He couldn't tell if Apollo was studying him or about to cook him into seafood like the crispy sea life that was now floating to the surface.

So he shrugged and said, "Hi to you too, Apollo." He looked back at Artemis, who was still digging around inside the deer. With a wave of his hand, a stream of water came aboard and carried the leftover viscera overboard to join the sealife massacre. "Care to join us?"

"Unfortunately, my brother is busy." Artemis cut in before Apollo could open his mouth.

Let me deal with him, she spoke in Percy's mind.

Oh, gladly. Percy turned away to reset the fishing equipment jostled out of place as Artemis drew Apollo's attention.

"No, I've got time!" The god opened the door and stepped out onto the air, not coming aboard the boat. "I need to see what my little sister is doing here."

The deer bones in Artemis's hands snapped. "Why?" Artemis finally looked up, eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "Jealous?"

Percy's heart skipped a beat, but his instincts kept him moving. I trust you to go along with it, Artemis reassured him. He probably won't kill you.

That's comforting, Percy responded, moving as far away as he could without Apollo noticing.

Apollo spluttered, gesturing uselessly. "What?"

Artemis smiled, looking more like a wolf baring its fangs. "Oh?" She stood, idly spinning her knife in one hand while blood dripped from the other. "Is that a secret I smell?"

Apollo shook his head. "Don't turn this on me, I was asking-"

"You know it well … that three things cannot be hidden long," she interrupted, walking up on shafts of moonlight to Apollo. "The sun." She dragged her knife along the car, scratching the paint with a whining squeal, before bringing the tip of the blade under his chin. "The moon." She gestured at her face with her bloody hand, then drew a sanguine crescent on her cheek. "And the truth."

Artemis coiled around him, and Apollo stepped back. "So tell me, then, brother. No need to wax poetics, just a yes or no. Do you envy me, that I'm here with him?"

Apollo swallowed.

Artemis leaned in closer, sending her brother sprawling back into the car seat. "That's what I thought, little brother."

"At least tell me why you're here," Apollo whined, scrambling upright to regain his dignity.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Then you'll leave?"

"Then I'll leave," he said. "I swear."

The goddess's face blanked. "I love him."

His eyes widened. "What?" he asked, his voice tight and strained in disbelief. "You're … not lying."

Artemis hummed. "No. I'm not." She paused, tilting her head. "Now, unless you were lying about leaving …?"

With a flash of light, the only evidence Apollo was ever there was the thousands of burnt sealife belly up in the waves.

Sighing, Artemis dropped back down to the deck and picked up the deer carcass with her bloodied hand. "I believe you were talking about guinea pigs before we were interrupted?"

Percy blinked, realizing he'd been redoing the same knot over and over. "Right. Yes. Just … what did you tell him again?"

She waved her knife at him. "You are the first man in millennia that I would call a friend. Don't sweat the details."

"But …" Percy began.

Artemis looked up from the carcass and held his gaze. "What is loyalty to your friends if not love, Perseus? You should know better."

Percy frowned, face scrunched up in thought … until he shrugged. "Fair enough." He tugged the rope in his hand, and with a pull in his gut, the other end flew over to the carcass and wrapped securely around it. "Just need to drain the blood, right?"

"You've learned well. Though we are using it as bait, so no need." Artemis tossed the deer overboard and sheathed her knife. Leaning over the ship railing, she rinsed the blood from her hand in the ocean. "Still, my brother seems to have provided far more bait than I did." She nodded her head towards the waterlogged barbecue dotting the waves around them. "He can be useful at times."

"Yeah … I'm pretty sure I sense something lurking that wasn't there before," Percy said. "But maybe some fresh meat it hasn't tasted before might tempt it out."

"I can't say for sure." Artemis drummed her fingers along the casting deck. "I have less experience hunting sea creatures. Where did you store the enchanted arrows?"

"The second compartment, on the right," Percy answered. "So, is fishing hunting? You never did answer my question."

"I'm here, am I not?" Artemis pulled out the arrows and inspected them. "The important part is the process, and if the game is big enough. Sharks, whales … sea monsters."

Percy uncapped Riptide and spun around to stare into the ocean depths. "Speaking of which …"

Even far below, the monster's approach created a wake that pushed the boat several feet. First, the dorsal blade of its head breached. Then it continued up, its undulating hundred-foot-long dark blue body dripping cascades of water. Its tentacle arms thrashed around, gathering dozens of burnt sealife and bringing it up to its gaping maw, ringed with dozens of teeth the size of a man.

"Cetus Aethiopius," Artemis chuckled. "How fitting."

Percy snorted. "Let me guess. Perseus killed this thing?" He sighed, climbing off the boat to stand on the water. He brandished Riptide, and the serpent swiveled to face him, ginormous yet beady yellow eyes locking directly onto the Son of the Sea. "Y'know, looking back on things, if I'd kept Medusa's head, so many things would've been a lot easier."

Artemis smiled, drawing a bright silver arrow in her bow. "Where's the fun in that?"