Hallo! am back, enjoy!
Sha115 - Indeed, that would be a start
Adil - Why thank you! I hope you enjoy this story and any to come!
Xerzo - Agreed, water under the bridge and all that. There do be some funky stuff going on rn, and yeah, enjoy!
Jmatrix - Im glad to hear that, friend! hope I can keep the standards high
FSI - Prison rules! LESGO!
Lunasbanana - Some edgy anakin type beat? enjoy!
SSG - Happy late birthday lol! and enjoy!
Rodrigus - tbf they didnt quite know about the whole blood thing. I think they do now lol. enjoy!
jujp - Why thank you :). and yeah, a bit of paranoia is justified
Max - Have no fear, my friend! something something apples, something something opinions. I shall deliver! and I hope you enjoy!
apancake - fair point. and theres quite a bit to go before we get to the whole stockholm syndrome lol. Enjoy!
Malgrath - yeah, well, not quite. and hes certainly not happy. Hope you enjoy!
Axccel - This feels very... spoofy. But yeah, go Percy!
Bong - Why thank you! and enjoy!
Rayga - Ok, first of all, you know how to make an author blush, had a stupid grin all day. and yeah, think ive said it a few times, but it feels lazy to have her just be 'I suddenly love Percy' and all that shniz alot of fics pull. and it wouldnt work for mine anyway, at least rn ;). and Percy definitly has some issues to work through lol, and he'll have more than a few bumps before we're done. With lemons... Im still not 100% on putting them in, but I may end up just slapping lemons for this story and any other ones together to let you pick through as you please. and Heres your update, so enjoy!
So welcome to the surprise Thalia POV and timeskip!
The hunters' camp hummed with muted activity, just as it had for the past months. Some girls set to their daily chores, others sat around the fire and the rest practiced with their bows and other weapons, all the while chatting about this and that.
It was one of the things Thalia was glad to have joined the Hunt for. The sense of family and community had pulled her from a rather dark place after Luke's betrayal, and saved her from the prophecy she feared. Now, however, was the time her family needed her.
She had heard part of what had happened from Artemis, the day Percy had arrived and lashed out at Amanda, and the rest from Annabeth the next day. Anger boiled in her gut at the thought.
Not anger at Artemis, or Percy, no the source of her vitriol was her father and the three stooges that caused the mess. If those idiots had some semblance of brainpower, Artemis would be laughing and joking right here with her hunters, Annabeth would smile for longer than a second, and Percy wouldn't be a damned near opposite of what he used to be. If her father had let them be, then everything had a chance, no matter how small, to be what it had been. But no, they had to be married for some dumbass reason.
In the days leading up to the wedding, she struggled to lead them on hunts while Artemis remained hidden away in her tent. The goddess felt shame for what had happened, that much Thalia was sure of.
She had maybe seen Percy once while she trained some of the newer recruits on patrols, even up to now. He was definitely worse for wear, deep bags under his eyes and scraggly facial hair. None of his appearance softened the fear some of the girls held for him, and he never tried to change that. For his sake, she gave him the space she thought he needed, in hopes he would slowly come around.
And when the day of the wedding came, their expressions made her want to fight. Zeus had covered the true reason behind it, of course. 'A bonding marriage between the sea and the sky'. She still scoffed at the thought.
Remembering the event itself still had sparks flickering off her skin. Annabeth hadn't even shown up, which was fairly understandable considering they had officially broken it off.
Artemis had been as subdued as Thalia had ever seen, still radiant in the dress regardless of the fresh and dried tears that had been on her face for a longer portion of the night. The other portion she had spent twitching and twisting in a very un-Artemis way, stuck in the seat beside Percy.
Percy was, in fact, the most concerning of the three. While she hadn't seen Artemis act the way she had often by any means, she had never seen her cousin sit as still as he had. His expression had been stony at times, blank at others, and a picture perfect poker face. It looked like an eidolon had possessed him, sitting almost as still as a stone.
The minor gods and nature spirits had been overjoyed for a reason to celebrate such a 'monumentus' event, though she guessed it was just another reason to get stupidly drunk and go sleep with a mortal or ten.
She pulled from the infuriating thoughts, steeling herself enough to act on her decision. She may not even be able to help her family, but she'd be damned if she didn't try.
Her stride was closer to a march, each step building the determination in her higher. With a nonchalant brush of the tent's flap, she entered Artemis' tent.
"Thalia?" Artemis asked after a beat of silence, drawing her attention to the pair of shocked silver eyes peering from her bed.
She looked worse for wear, with bloodshot eyes and matted hair. Her uniform wrinkled, as though she never changed. The glimmer of the ring on her finger brought Thalia back to focus with a vengeance.
"My Lady, permission to speak freely?" She asked, keeping her body tense. When Artemis nodded in response, she took a deep breath of preparation.
"I understand that what happened was…bad," she started diplomatically, wary of the silver flare in her eyes, "and please correct me if I misunderstand, I haven't been with you as long as Phoebe or some others. You can't blame yourself for what happened, it's eating you up, my lady. You aren't helping train recruits, you aren't leading hunts, you aren't even trying to fix what has you locked up in here. We need you."
The goddess looked shocked, which Thalia supposed was better than angry. Whether it was her guess being spot on, or that she had said anything like that at all, she hoped it was the former. Silence stretched for minutes, the walls magically blocking the sound outside.
"I- It is not- I do not-" Artemis stammered, stopping for a moment to collect her thoughts before attempting to speak again, not that Thalia let her.
"It is not your fault for trusting someone, Artemis." She pushed as much finality into her tone as she could. It seemed to have an effect too, if the watery effect in her eyes was any indication.
"Go, lieutenant." The tone wavered as she spoke, but the command was clear even if Thalia wanted to push further. She had to accept small victories unless she wanted to be a small mammal.
Now was time for the hard part. Finding and talking to Percy, even with the tracking skills she had gained thus far. As far as she knew, he was somewhere relatively close. Her mind shot to the wolf pen. One of them should be able to track him down, right? At least worth a shot.
She had chosen Maya as her guide in the end, the wolf being one of the better trackers in the pack.
"Think you can find Percy for me, girl?" She gave the wolf a few firm pats on the side, trying to project the command as much as possible. It seemed to work, because moments later the wolf sniffed the air and bolted to the woods.
Thalia kept on her tail, weaving between the trees. Her mind remained clouded with thought as she went, trying to pick a good starting point for when she found him. It all depended on how she was received.
"Dammit, why do I put up with you two." Practically echoed through the woods. That was undeniably Percy hissing at something. or someone.
"Because you want to see the extent of these 'powers' you've found yourself with." A female voice responded, followed quickly by a male,
"To see how deep the rabbit hole goes. And to train with your latest gift."
"Did… you just quote the Matrix?" Percy asked again, just in time for Thalia to spot him.
He didn't look too much better than when she last saw him, at least not from here. Wearing the same hoodie and sweatpants combo (which was, ew), and a simple, elegant trident.
"A fascinating film, certainly. I had not known the mortals capable of such machinery."
Though it took a moment to recognize his companions, it was undeniably Hecate, and the Poseidon lookalike had to be Triton. What were they doing here? Last she checked, both had no particular attachment to him. But powers?
She refocused on the conversation, only to hear silence, and see the trio staring at her. Carefully, she pushed past the brush, keeping an eye on the stoic expression on his face.
"Thalia." Percy said tonelessly. The stoic expression on his face made her twitch uncomfortably. That wasn't really something Percy did, the whole 'stoic, unfeeling' deal.
"Percy. You've looked better," She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, "I expected to have to go a bit farther to find you, if I'm honest."
He let out a sigh, backed up to the edge of the clearing, and tapped the butt of his trident to his ankle. A silvery manacle wrapped just above his foot let out a clang when the metals clashed.
"Won't let me any farther than this," He planted the trident to the dirt and leaned on it, watching her shock with tired eyes, "I've ran circles around the camp, doesn't matter what side I'm on. Why did you come out here?"
It took a second to compose herself, because what in Hades made them think that was justifiable? She forced the thoughts out of her mind, and focused on her purpose.
"Well, uh… how have you been?"
He raised a singular eyebrow, somehow managing to make the wordless response condescending.
"Fine, dumb question. I haven't exactly seen you that much lately."
"What do you want, Thalia?"
"For you to stop acting so weird!" She snapped, "For you to actually come around and say hi once and a while! I want you to be the same stupid, smug Kelp Head you were less than three months ago!"
Her hand clamped her mouth shut to stop the flow of words she hadn't quite been able to control. Everyone was just acting so…. Childish. Sulking and hiding from her, being vague and curt. She just needed people to act like adults right now.
Percy's expression hardened, and the grip on his trident turned white-knuckled. The magnitude of her blunder was made quite clear to her when the surrounding clouds started to swirl and darken. The minor gods on either side of him tensed and put themselves between Thalia and Percy in an instant.
"Calm yourself, Jackson. Anything you do will only make the situation worse." Triton warned, warningly tipping his own weapon towards his brother. Percy leveled a hard glare at the god, then at her just behind him. She felt the first droplets from the coming storm when he finally spoke up.
"Hecate, get her out of here. Triton, round 2."
The last Thalia saw of him, Percy squared off with Triton once more, dangerously blank expression on his face.
"You got sloppy, do not let your emotions take your grace!" Triton barked over the din of rainfall, the butt of his trident thumping against Percy's ribs. The anger in his system only bubbled higher, and he came back faster.
A slash. A deflect. The mud at his feet moved with his will, sliding him out of the way of a strike and giving him the opening he needed. He jabbed the blades forward in a feint, and just as he hoped, Triton fell for it.
The butt of his own trident whipped around, easily knocking Triton's head to the side and slicing a cut along his cheekbone. Both carefully backed away, staying at the ready but allowing the water to soak into their bones.
"Holding your rage in helps no one, Perseus. Let it out with control!"
The winds started to howl through the trees, warning of the oncoming storm. Rain started to obstruct sight, allowing them to see no further than the treeline surrounding them. Hecate was bound for a rough journey back, if she didn't just teleport.
They both took a ready position, and finally the rage that had been carefully hidden behind a blank expression displayed. If Triton wanted rage, then rage he would receive.