Chapter 34

Percy POV

Heather had guided us through the labyrinth of streets that made up Seattle's suburbs with relative ease and we were making our way through the forest, Artemis had told us we'd be camping in the same clearing as last night. The goddess in question was leading the way jogging a little faster than any of the hunters could keep up with but she never left our sight for long. She seemed to be deep in thought/conversation with Diana about something as she kept gesturing with her hands as she ran but as we couldn't see her face no one knew what was going on with the goddess. The rest of the hunters and I trailed behind Artemis, occasionally answering Heather's questions when she had the breath to speak.

"Do you guys always run this quickly?" She asked breathlessly.

"Usually," answered Phoebe, who wasn't out of breath at all -she was the cardio queen of the hunt- "Unless it's night, then we go quicker."

"What? Why?"

"Lady Artemis's blessing is stronger at night," Thalia explained, "It's also how we can go at this pace for so long. It's kicked in for you a little already but give it some more time to strengthen and you'll find runs like this much easier." Thalia ducked under a low hanging branch as she finished speaking.

"Cool, what else does the blessing help with?" Heather asked as she followed my cousin under the branch.

"General stamina, flexibility and reaction speed mostly, a few other minor things too." To demonstrate her point she hopped onto a fallen tree and ran along its mossy top before doing a front flip off and landed still running.

"Wow show off much?" Heather replied jokingly, she seemed to be fitting in with the hunt rather quickly.

"You'll be able to do it one day." Thalia assured her.

"How long have you been in the hunt?"

"A few years, I'm still new compared to most of the girls," Thalia told her.

"Yeah she's still a baby," Phoebe joked ruffling Thalia's hair much to her annoyance.

"Alright grandma, do you need your glasses?" Thalia shot back but Phoebe grinned.

"Grandma? You're missing a few dozen 'greats'."

"Yeah yeah, we get the point, you're old," Thalia muttered, annoyed the Phoebe wasn't insulted.

"Which way did Lady Artemis go?" Tia asked, during the banter we'd stopped and lost the goddess. Most of the hunters shrugged and looked to Phoebe as she was the only hunter skilled enough to track Artemis's almost nonexistent tracks.

The redhead looked around before walking over to a patch of leaves and crouching down. Shaking her head she stood and walked away. The hunt all watched silently as not to disturb her and eventually Phoebe turned back to us.

"This way," she said confidently, somehow sure that her patron had gone this way.

"How do you know?" Heather asked.

"Don't bother questioning her," Eva said. "I've been in the hunt for basically 500 years and I've still got no idea how she tracks Lady Artemis."

"Practice young one, practice." Phoebe told the hunter who was anything but young. "Anyway, come on."

We followed behind Phoebe, occasionally pausing for her to check for tracks. We ran silently, not wasting time or breath talking. Eventually we found ourselves in the familiar clearing that we'd spent last night in.

"Where is she?" Chloe asked as Artemis was nowhere to be seen.

"Well the tracks stop right here," Phoebe said pointing towards a broken twig. "So either she's climbed a tree," The hunters all looked up at the canopy above us, "or she's flashed away." As there wasn't any sign of a silver clad girl sitting in the trees we assumed she'd flashed away.

"Well let's set up camp," Thalia said, taking charge. "Heather come with me; I'll get you a tent."

We all split and started to pitch our tents, it didn't take long before the usual mass of silver tents had filled the clearing. When each of us had finished we congregated where Lola and Chloe were building the campfire. Heather, Maddy, Rebecca and Thalia were all sitting nearby so I went to join them.

"-so your dad's Zeus and your mom is Athena," I heard Heather say as I got closer.

"Yeah," Maddy replied.

"How will I know who my mom is?" Heather asked, I could tell she was desperate to know her godly parentage.

"Hopefully you'll get claimed, well you should've when you were 13," Thalia told her. "Was there anything strange in your childhood? Like talking to animals or controlling things?" Thalia asked.

"No not really. Who can talk to animals?" Heather sounded slightly jealous.

"I can talk to fish and horses," I said, drawing attention to my arrival as I sat on a tree stump.

"And I can talk to some of the smarter birds," Thalia said.

"There are smart birds?" Heather sounded surprised.

"No there are dumbasses and even dumberasses," Thalia grumbled leaving the newest hunter confused.

"You guys talking about Thalia's vendetta against birds?" Tia said as she walked over with Eva.

"It's the first I've heard about it," Rebecca said.

"I can guarantee it won't be the last," Tia said as she sat on the grass next to the campfire that was about to be lit.

"So I can't talk to birds or do anything special, so any other idea's who my mom is?" Heather said, directing the conversation back to her heritage.

"Not really, you'll just have to wait and see," Maddy said. I could tell that the daughter of Athena hated not knowing nearly as much as Heather did. "Your heterochromatic eyes might be a clue; I assume they've always been like that?"

"Yeah, I used to be self-conscious of them, but I quite like the purple now." Heather said twirling some of her long hair round her fingers.

"While we don't have an answer for that mystery, I have another question," Eva said causing all of us to look at her. "What the hades has been up with Lady Artemis?"

"Yeah she's been really strange lately," Tia agreed with her friend.

"Who's been strange?" Lola asked having lit the fire and joined the conversation.

"Lady Artemis," Thalia answered.

"Yeah she's been different lately," Lola thought, "Actually it's been since Percy's been here." All eyes turned towards me.

"Don't look at me, I've got no clue what's going on with her, she's your goddess after all." I defended myself, I didn't know what was up with Artemis but she did seem different from her reputation.

Artemis POV

I ran ahead of the girls, not wanting to be disturbed as I thought. Something was wrong with me and I didn't know what, Diana -like usual- wasn't helping the situation. Why was I so angry? I thought to myself but she still heard. I know why… Just shut up. I cut her off not wanting to hear her option. I ducked under a branch without slowing down and continued running on autopilot. I can't be jealous, can I? I'm Artemis, I don't do jealously. I hated to admit it but part of me was starting to think Diana was right as I couldn't think of another explanation. Well I'm also Artemis and I do 'do jealousy', Diana told me which made me pause for a second. Neither Diana or I like to admit our faults and jealousy was the last thing either of us would admit to feeling, So why would she/I be jealous? Emotions aren't our strong suite, I had to agree with her on that.

I realized that I was standing on the edge of the clearing that we spent last night in and that the hunters hadn't caught up with me yet. I knew they'd get here eventually with Phoebe's tracking skills, so I wasn't worried about where they were. I knew who I had to go to for help with emotions, but I hated the answer, I knew I had to see her but I needed to go home first.

I flashed myself to my temple on Olympus and appeared in my bedroom. It was simple and rather plain but I never spent much time here so it didn't matter to me. The walls were a pale silver, almost white but not quite and the ceiling was enchanted to show the night sky, without any of the mortals pollution. I walked past my queen size bed and went towards my closet. Unsurprisingly my closet was almost bare, with only a few articles of clothing inside it. I grabbed some mortal clothes that were gathering dust at the bottom of the closet and pulled them on.

I hated the way the jeans felt as I walked through Olympus, they were restrictive and too close fitting for my liking however it was vital that nobody recognized me and my hunters gear would be a dead giveaway. I had the hood of my black sweatshirt pulled up over my hair and kept my head down as I walked briskly, thousands of years of walking the streets of Olympus meant I could find my way through the city blindfolded.

I arrived at my target's palace and remained looking at the floor as I walked up the pathway to the door. I banged my fist roughly against the door, trying to convey my urgency to be let in. While I waited I tugged at my hood nervously, making sure my face was covered. After what felt like a millennia of waiting I heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. With a slight creak the door opened and I saw a pair of pale legs in scarlet heels on the doorstep.

"Who are you?" the woman asked but I ignored her and pushed my way inside.

"You dare-"

"Just close the damn door Aphrodite!" I snapped at the love goddess who did as I demanded. When the door had clicked shut I pulled my hood down, letting my hair tumble down my shoulders.

"Arty? What are you doing here?" Aphrodite asked in surprise. She was wearing a white blouse and dark pencil skirt that hugged her generous figure, she wore a pair of winged glasses that I knew were functionless and merely a fashion accessory.

"We need to talk,"

"Come dear, this way," She said noticing my serious expression.

I followed my least favorite goddess through the hideous pink hallways of her home and noticed small gold plaques with ornate lettering on each door, they read things such as: photo studio 2 and closet 13. How many closets does this woman need?

"Why I don't think you've visited my home in nearly a thousand years," Aphrodite said friendly, but I was in no mood for small talk.

We stopped outside a door that said, 'lounge 2' and went inside. The décor in the lounge was the same as the rest of the palace, eye wateringly pink. Two large couches faced each other with a large wood and glass coffee table in between. Dozens of mirrors lined the walls giving the room a 'fun house' feel. Aphrodite sat down on one couch and I sat opposite her, with a wave of her hand a tray of afternoon tea appeared on the table.

"Now," She started while pouring two cups of tea. "What can I do for you? I assure you I've not tried to lead any of your hunters astray."

"You've done something to me," I stated and received a raised eyebrow in response.

"You know my powers don't affect gods," she told me before taking a drink of her tea. "at least not without one of Hecate's potions." I paused with the teacup on the edge of my lips. "Oh relax! You've just seen me pour it." I took a tentative sip and had to admit the tea tasted good.

"So," Aphrodite took a sip of her own tea, "What makes you think I did something to you?"

"We are um having issues," I said vaguely, unsure of how to word my problem.

"We? I assume you're talking about Diana."

"Yes. We're having, ugh, emotional issues," I hated asking for help and I was utterly humiliated that I needed help with emotions of all things.

"Ooh, do tell and don't leave out any details." I hated how eager she was for me to spill my guts to her. She summoned a clipboard and pencil making her look like my therapist.

"Firstly none of what's said leaves this room or I will scatter you so finely through Tartarus you'll never reform," I threated, pleased at the paler shade of Aphrodite's face, she nodded in response. "Secondly get rid of that damn thing." I demanded pointing at the clipboard, I wanted no record of this conversation to exist. "Well, we've been feeling angry,"

"That's not unusual," the love goddess interrupted me earning herself a glare from me.

"It's not the anger it's why I was angry," I stopped, not wanting to continue.

"Go on,"

"There was an amazon flirting with Percy and at the same time I happened to be angry. Diana's got the stupid idea that I was jealous." I spoke quickly and nervously before hiding my face in the pink china teacup as I took a deep drink.

"Oh my GODS!" Aphrodite squealed at such a high pitch I thought her mirrors would explode. She made a big deal out of taking a few deep breaths and calming herself before she spoke again, this time much calmer. "I'm sorry, I got a little too excited there. I need more details."

I explained to her all the ways I'd been acting differently since Percy stayed with the hunt, from minor things like calling him a man to bigger things like wiping off the lipstick mark. Aphrodite was a surprisingly good listener; she didn't interrupt but prompted me when I struggled to talk. Two pots of tea and a slice of cake each later, I had finished telling her everything. Surprisingly she didn't speak immediately, she just sat there thinking for a second.

"I know you won't like it but from the sounds of it, you, especially Diana have a crush on young Percy," she told me with no hint of humor. I can't have a crush on a man. "before you say anything, this is news to me, I had nothing to do with this."

"Over 2000 years and I've never even thought about a man romantically, I can't have a crush on a man, that's ridiculous." I told her, honestly, part of me felt scared. If she was right then I had no idea why this had happened.

"Maybe in 2000 years you haven't found the right man," Aphrodite said before taking yet another drink. "Hades, there's never been a man like young Perseus before. I can see why he's caught your eye."

"He's not 'caught my eye'! You're completely wrong!" I exclaimed but I wasn't entirely convinced by my words.

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow at me. "How do you feel when he's around?"

"Relaxed, comfortable, like I am just round my hunters."

"So completely different to how you are around every other man then. How do you feel when he's not around?" With each word she spoke she convinced me a little more.

"I don't know. Kind of like something is missing I guess," I wasn't really sure how to describe what I felt in those situations.

"And you want to spend time with him," she continued for me. Thinking back to the few times we've been separated during his stay with the hunt I nodded.

"Artemis my dear," she put down her cut and looked me in the eyes. "You like Percy."

"Fine! Say I do like him, what the Hades do I do?" I asked the love goddess.

"Well the real question is how does Percy feel?"

An/: Sorry it was a little longer for this chapter, I've been writing essays and so not really wanting to spend more time typing. Hopefully the next one is out soon.
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