ANNABETH POV

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"Who are you?" The 12-year-old goddess asked looking at every single one of us.

"We are demigods my lady" I spoke

"Oh, you must-" she said but suddenly stopped when she saw Percy. When she saw her eyes widened like they were going to pop. This confused me, but what confused me the most was the way she was looking at him. She looks at him like she knew who he was. I also noticed some of her hunters were giving him a weird look but I couldn't decipher it. Ughh how irritating. This gave me endless unanswered questions and confusion.

Then the silence was broke when Percy said the dumbest thing in the world, "Uh...is there something on my face?"

Thalia, Grover, and I facepalmed and yelled "YOU IDIOT"

"Huh?" was the only thing he said

I love the guy to no end...I mean he's a really good friend, but he has these moments where I just want to strangle him to death.

Then he asked a question that made me confused even more, "Um... Not to be rude or anything but you guys look very familiar. Have we met before?" Gods know how much I hate being confused...I mean hello I'm the daughter of the goddess of wisdom. Children of Athena are supposed to be really smart.

The maiden Goddess responded," No boy I am Lady Artemis maiden goddess of the moon and the hunt." Could she be lying? If she is why? What is she hiding? I know she's a goddess who should not be questioned but I can't help but be suspicious.

"We will set up camp here. My hunters will give you three spare tents. After we set up I want you all to give me a full report of what happened here in my tent. Move along demigods, and hunters set up and give them their tents. And attend to the injured ones" she said

But Percy being himself had to stubbornly ask "Are you sure we haven't met?"
"This the last time I'm answering that question boy. No! You are dismissed." She replied in the coldest tone I have ever heard before turning around.
"But-" Percy said before I interrupted him.
"Just let it go Pe-" I said warningly but was soon cut off when Percy did something incredibly stupid.

"Wait!" He shouted grabbing Lady Artemis' hand forcing her to turn around.

My gods what is he thinking. Does he have a death wish? She the maiden goddess for god's sake. The queen of hatred toward men and may I remind you that she is also the leader of the hunt which is a group of man-hating women. She can hardly tolerate the mere presence of a male imagine what she would do if a person from the male species actually touched her. Oh, Percy, you are so screwed.

"Let go boy! If you don't I'll-" She yelled but was interrupted by Percy's scream of pain.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" He screamed still holding onto her hand. He was glowing in a mixture of numerous different colors with cracks electricity forming around him. The electricity glowed blue and yellow and made the sound of lightning that only Zeus could form. After his cry of pain, he let go of her hand and fell on the ground unconscious.

I was shocked at what happened and was frozen solid where I stood. When I finally snapped back into reality I ran over to him.
I held him in my arms shaking him awake. "Wake up please, seaweed brain" I cried. Thalia and Grover also ran to my side gathering around him. Their faces were filled with worry.

My cry for him was stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Lady Artemis with an unreadable expression. But I didn't care I was worried about Percy's safety and anger and sadness filled my heart.

"What did you do to him!?" I yelled tears streaming down my face
She was taken aback by my outburst but soon had a face full of anger. I was scared of what she would do but it surprised me when she actually responded in a calm voice.

"I didn't do anything to him a child of Athena," she spoke
"That's a lie!" I cried even harder
"Believe what you want but did not do this to him." I didn't want to believe her somehow I knew her words were true.

She turned to her hunters "Get him to the infirmary now." She shouted. The hunters carried him to the infirmary tent and put him on the bed. "I'm calling Apollo"

******
Knock knock knock

Lady Artemis had just returned from her council meeting and I really wanted to speak to her

"Come in" I heard.

"Um... I-" I was interrupted when she held a hand up gesturing me to sit.

"Please sit" she pointed to the chair across from her. I followed her demand and continued what I was saying.

"Lady Artemis I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. I'm sorry for questioning you...I was just worried about Percy. I know you already don't like the fact of males being around you...let alone even touch you. I put the blame on you and I know now that it is wrong. What I did was...it cannot be forgiven easily, I will accept any punishment that you are to give me." I expected her to yell at me and start piling up work on me but she just sat there frozen.

"Did you say his name was Percy?" She asked at a loss for words.

"Yes, m'lady. He is Percy Jackson a son of Poseidon"

Another unreadable expression formed on her face. She sat in silence once more than continued "I will not punish you for anything you've done, just don't let it happen again."

"Yes m' lady"

"I admire your strong character and your courage to speak to me like that. That is something needed in the hunt"

"Lady Artemis, thank you for your kind offer but I cannot."
"I thought you might say that...well it was worth a try, but you're welcome here any time. I hope that male knows how lucky he is," she said through her grinding teeth.

"Thank you for your kind understanding. But what you say about him...it not true it's quite the opposite actually. I'm the lucky one. I mean without him I would have never come back to my dad." She raised an eyebrow and I continued to explain. "Long story short, when I was younger all he didn't accept that I was a demigod and the life that came with it. He treated me like trash like I wasn't even his daughter. Then I got fed up with it and ran away from home. I made new friends and ended up in camp half-blood. I had a better life there but something was always missing. Somewhere deep down I was still looking for his approval for his acceptance. But I knew that was never going to happen...that is until I met Percy. He managed to convince me to give my father a second chance. I thought about it and wrote a letter to him and he wrote back immediately telling me that I should come back. I flew back to San Francisco not knowing what to expect. I kept on thinking that he was going to throw me out again but he didn't. He welcomed me back with open arms, he and his new family. He apologized for what wrong he had done to me. I couldn't have been any happier that day. My father finally accepted me and now I have another family aside from the people at camp half-blood. And it's all thanks to Percy." I said fighting to hold back tears. She kept smiling at me.

"It has been like that for so long. The gods do as they please and leave their children behind with little care. Many of my hunters have experienced the same. A majority of the new ones have been placed into the foster system or were stuck with an abusive relative. In the olden days, it was much easier. At least people knew about us. We didn't have to hide behind the mist" she stated with a faraway look. "He might turn out to be a decent male but I wouldn't hold your breath. They all want something in return eventually. Any good male that existed is long gone now."

This angered me. I heard from Thalia that one of the hunters had once assumed the same thing about Luke. But I held my emotions in. If I let them take over again like last time I might not see the light of day again. Instead, I focused on the last thing she said. "You said that in the past tense. So you knew a man that you tolerated, Mlady?" I asked.

She smiled sadly, "You are very observative. Befitting of a child of Athena. But to answer your question, yes I did once. But that was a long time ago. He's no longer with us. But he was the greatest hero to ever live."

Who could she be talking about? If she called him the greatest hero then surely it would've been recorded somewhere. No historical documents speak of Lady Artemis befriending or favoring a male. Well except for Orion but many have said she actually hated him the most.

"But as I've said that kind of man doesn't exist anymore so don't put too much faith in your boyfriend."

"What! No... Just no! No...we are just friends, best friends actually. And Percy's not like that. He can be an idiot sometimes but he not like that."
"It never hurts to protect yourself young maiden. Do not be blinded by what you think you see."

There was no use in trying to get my point across. She is the maiden goddess after all.

"So what's going to happen to Percy? Is he going to be okay?" I asked breaking through the silence.
"For now I can't answer those questions."
"Can't or won't?"
"Can't. My brother arrived earlier. He said he has never encountered a case like his. He doesn't know why Perseu- Percy is in this condition. He brought this matter up in the council meeting and even your mother doesn't know what to make of it. She is researching the matter as we speak. Do not worry we are watching him very carefully. And my brother assures it shouldn't be anything too serious."
"...Percy and I have our small arguments but at the end of the day, I do care about him a lot. So please tell me anything important that involves his state. I'll do anything to help."
"I'll keep you and your friends updated." She stood up "Come on it's almost time for dinner and I'm sure you and all your friends are starving"

*****
THIRD POV

As she was walking to the dining area she saw Apollo flash in and walk into the infirmary tent.

"Apollo what took you so long," she asked as she walked behind him.

He slightly jumped at the sound of her voice. "Ohh what's this? Don't tell me you missed me already," he said smugly as he regained his composure.

The goddess of the moon whacked him upside on the head.

"Owwww" he complained while rubbing the back of his head. "If's nothing. I had to stay behind to speak to Athena. We needed a way to determine if it is an illness." As the god of truth, he couldn't lie. He could only withhold the whole truth or not speak at all. But if Artemis were to ask more specific questions he might be forced to reveal everything.

"What do you mean 'if it's an illness ?"

Still standing behind him she saw her brother's shoulders stiffen as he worked. "Well as I said earlier in the meeting. This isn't something that we've dealt with before. "

She continued to stare at the back of his head. The goddess knew her brother was hiding something but she let it go for now. "So I talked to Athena's daughter, the one on the quest. Apparently, the boy's name is Percy."

This time Apollo's whole body stiffened and froze in place.

"Apollo?"

That seemed to snap him back to reality. "So he was named after his brother."

"I don't see why. It's an insult to him. Not even Hercules was able to accomplish half of what he did. What can this mere child do?" She ranted while glaring at the still unconscious demigod on the bed.

"Artemis!" His hands were placed on top of her shoulders to calm her down. "I know how you feel. He was my best friend too. And I miss him just as much as you do. I know you're just trying to defend his honor. But this kid hasn't done anything. So give him a chance he could surprise you." He said smiling at the last part.

She shook her head, "Never. No one will compare to him. This boy is just like any other male. He may even take after his other brother." And with that, she stormed off.