CHAPTER 20 IS HERE EVERYONE! What a huge milestone, hope you enjoy, this is a good and long one.
It was a warm sunny day in the capital city of the Roman camp, as she supposed you could call it since the camp was so fucking huge, it was massive... Artemis rested peacefully on her pillow, curled up under the blankets, sleeping beautifully in the light sunlight that came in through the blinds in the room, on the windows. Artemis peacefully breathed in and out, sleeping quietly and lovingly when all of a sudden there was a:
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
On the door, rudely jolting her from her long and peacefully restful nap that she had desperately needed, she had had long days the past few days, and it was really starting to wear on her, even though gods did not need as much sleep as mortals did, they still got tired... Just ask Athena, or gods forbid, Hera.
Artemis groaned but pulled herself out of the bed, she told herself that she was going to be a nicer person now, two year BP (Before Percy), Artemis would have yelled at whoever it was to just go away and leave her in peace, to let her keep sleeping, or maybes she would have got up and opened the door to see who it was just to be able to yell at them in their face, but now she was not like that anymore... So she was going to get out of bed and peacefully open the door to find out WHO THE FUCK WAS KNOCKING SO GODS DAMN LOUD!
"Ouch FUCK," she cursed as she tripped over something pathetic on the floor and stubbed her toe, "Ugh, damn, shit that hurt, who in the hell is it?!"
Not even bothering to notice that she was only in her nighttime underclothes, just a thin and small top and bottom, since she had recently gotten rid of the stupid nightgown, that she had done for a certain someone... and then opened the door.
"What?"
Standing in the doorway with a package, of all things in her hands, and a letter in a fancy blue envelope balanced on top, was Thalia... Great, what was all this about?
"Damn, Artemis, no wonder Percy likes you so much... You certainly have, erm, curves!" She exclaimed, looking her up and down, and giggling to herself like a little child, which made Arty blush bright golden. Even though she was being extremely lewd and inappropriate, Artemis till admired her for being one of the only hunters in the hunt that was happy and humorous almost all the time, she truly made out to be a good lieutenant in more than just the job, and she didn't say Lady Artemis, which was a nice change up from all the other hunters that were so fucking cliche and acted like broken records. But then again, Thalia was also not obligated under any chain of command rules to call her by a title in private, because she was the lieutenant, but then again... None of the other hunters were either, they just chose to, whether that be out of naivety or self-obligation, or if it was just by choice, she had no idea.
"Stop that! Uhm, what do you want Thalia? Are those for me?"
"Yes they are, I'll let you discover who they came from, me and the other girls were just hanging out downstairs and this loud bell sound came from the door, so we went out to check and these letters and the package were sitting there... We looked down the street, but we could not see anyone running away, but there are a lot of people in Rome so there were a lot of people walking by... I don't know, but whatever is inside is probably important, so I would open them right away, Artemis."
"I will, Thalia, thank you."
"You are welcome, Artemis, I- I am gonna go back downstairs."
What was she going to say? Artemis thought to herself in a hurry, before she replied back... Thalia always was thinking, and she knew a lot about a lot, and she was incredibly intelligent when she needed to be, almost outdoing Phoebe, so whatever she was going to say was probably important, but Artemis still decided against pushing her for the information.
"Very well, thank you Thalia, see you this evening for dinner. Has Percy returned yet?"
"No, he hasn't, I wouldn't worry about him though, he hasn't seen his friends from the giant war in... what 2-3 years? Let him have his fun." Thalia advised, crossing her arms and putting her weight on one leg.
"That is what I am going to do, have a good one, Thalia, wish me luck with this... mail."
"Oh, I am." She warned, and took off down the stairs, leaving Artemis standing there.
She walked into her room and sat down at the desk that was at the side of the room, it was about exactly opposite to the bed in the room and was on the same wall as the closet, that was sticking out on the right side of the room at the end.
"So let us start with this letter, I will get to the package later." She mused as she sat down, she opened the drawer and pulled out the letter opener, it was a celestial gold knife looking thing that probably was worth more than... Well, a lot of things.
She took the letter off the top, and read who it was from... Which made her really realize just how long it had been since she got any mail, usually whoever wanted to talk to her was either a hunter, her brother, or one of the Olympians, who all could come talk to her face to face with little effort. Why, and what was the need to send mail?
She took one look at the letter and decided to open the package first, she was NOT going to deal with that until she had to, throwing the letter off onto the table in front of her she took the package, and stopped as she caught the whiff of verbena and flowers coming from the package, which gave her a very not-so-subtle clue about who this was from...
She took the letter opener and expertly slit the package open, down the top and down the sides in three quick slices.
Laying right on top inside the package was a letter, real original... She sighed and picked it up, then opened it and pulled it out the piece of paper.
Dear Artemis-
As you might have guessed it is your friend Aphrodite, I'll make this short so that I won't bore you, I hope you and Percy are getting along, it sounds like he is a lot happier since you decided to... You know, anyways, in two days is his birthday.
I don't know if you knew about this already, since he has been in the hunt for two years now, and it would be kind of ridiculous if you didn't already know about it, but in the off chance that you didn't, he is turning twenty-one.
I added a few things in the box to maybe help you make the day a little more special for him, no one is actually asking you to use the stuff in the box, ESPECIALLY what I left at the bottom, but as your friend I am asking you to at least think about it.
Enjoy:)
"Oh great, I really don't know if I would go so far as to call that vixen my friend, or not..." Artemis mused to herself, "Wait... Percy's birthday is in two whole days? So that would be in three days, two days after today... Why in HADES name did I not already know about that? Well, I suppose that is a fault on my behalf, but Thalia should have told me about that... Unless, she doesn't know either? I'll investigate that later, I still have two days, let's see what Aphrodite left in the package." She said to herself, and moved the letter out of the way and while digging into the package, she took off the first layer and pulled out two items, two individually wrapped bags that contained something blue inside, and she already knew what it was, it was blue lingerie... "Of course! What did I expect from the love goddess, can't say I'm surprised."
She took it out and opened the bags, taking out the articles of clothing... They weren't slutty, in the least, actually quite modest if she had to say so herself, and they were blue, so Percy was sure to like them. They looked to be perfectly dry cleaned, no wrinkles, or fuzz, or anything... They also looked to be quite of expensive make, maybe even sown by a goddess herself, no demigod from this generation could weave something this good, and only a goddess could afford something of this quality and cloth, leaving Artemis impressed to say the least. Probably made out of kealzsmeir silk if Artemis had to guess, which was one of the most expensive, only outdone by one, that Olympus had to offer, the more expensive kind could not be dyed, so it was definitely kealzsmeir.
She set it down on the bed, very carefully so as not to wrinkle it, and then went back to the box where the third, mysterious item was. There was another letter sitting there on top of the divider inside the package, there were two dividers total, one that she took off to get to the lingerie that the first letter was lying on, and then another one that was covering up the third object.
She took the letter and opened it, it was just a folded piece of paper, not an envelope this time, but either way Aphrodite certainly had taken her time and put some effort into making this for her and making it professional.
Dear Artemis,
Yes, I put two letters in the package, but this next item is very special, and I wanted to let you know not to feel pressured at all when you look at the next thing in the box, if you do, then put it in a closet somewhere in your palace and save it for another time, another year, after the war, whatever. I only put it in for one reason, to let you know that there are more than a few ways to show your trust, and your love, but don't come to my palace door knocking like the mortal's FBI.
Enjoy
"Hmm, that is odd." Artemis said to herself, and pulled away the last divider inside the package, and was honestly confused when she saw the last thing that was inside the package... She took it out and held it up, there were two loops, just big enough for her wrist to fit through, and a chain connected the two rings. She held it up with her finger, using one of the rings to hold it in the air.
She gasped as she realized what it was, Aphrodite had sent her wrist shackles, now what the fuck was she supposed to do with these? What was that that Aphrodite said? There are more than a few ways to show your trust, and your love? And Artemis had read that with the emphasis on Trust, could that mean... No, surely Aphrodite knows that she would never feel comfortable with this, letting Percy put these on her? Would she? No, not now, Aphrodite said that she could just put it in a closet in her palace until the time was right that she was comfortable with this, so that is what she was going to do.
Yes, no way that I would feel comfortable with this, maybe next year, for his next birthday I'll let him do this to me, he won't feel like I don't trust him if he doesn't know what I could have let him do. She reminded herself, flashing away to her palace with the shackles, she flashed herself to the master bedroom and put the shackles in the drawer next to the bed, in the nightstand... An appropriate place for it if she would say so herself. She dropped it into the drawer and flashed herself back to the Moon Mansion in Rome to open the other two letters.
She sat back down at her desk and moved the box out of the way and then she got the other two letters and set them in front of her, she picked up the first and she looked at who it was from, it just read Poseidon on it, and a small To Artemis on the front...
"Oh great, I wonder how I managed to piss off Poseidon THIS time."
She took the letter opener and sliced it open down the sealing on the back, it smelled of the ocean, just like Percy, and it is his favorite blue, mmmmmm.
Hello Artemis, or Diana, whoever is reading this... I just wanted to let you know that my son's, Percy's, birthday is in two days... I didn't send any letters like this before because that, no offense, you weren't as close to him as you are now, and I did not whether you would have cared or not, I also haven't done this because that Percy does not exactly like people to know about his Birthday, and I know for a fact that he hasn't told you, he usually doesn't spend his birthday with the hunt, if you haven't noticed.
"No, I haven't..."
I also wanted to tell you this so that maybe you could do something special for him, the only thing he even has to look forward to on his birthday is spending the day with Hestia or myself, he doesn't have anyone else. Take care, future daughter in law.
-The King of the Sea
Poseidon
"Well that was vague, I suppose I have noticed that he asks to leave for the day once every year, and it usually was around this time... So that is what he was doing? He just spends the day with Hestia? I bet that is a lot better than staying around me and the hunt for the whole day, and I know for a fact that they did not treat him very well back then, not very well at all, and on his birthday? I should have done a better job to make things more hospitable for him, that is on me. Well I hope he doesn't think too badly of me for that, he seems to have forgiven me, which I suppose I should feel comforted by that."
"Well, that wraps everything up, I definitely now know that I have my work cut out for myself, I need to get downstairs and see what my hunters are getting into. There is wine down there that I do NOT want them to find."
First thing she did this time before she opened the door, was put some clothes on that didn't expose ninety percent of her skin, gods damn that was embarrassing, just about the most humiliating thing she can think of to happen INSIDE her own home, with Percy not around, is for one of her hunters to comment on her sex life.
"No! Phoebe, do NOT open that wine, you know the rules." Thalia scalded, crossing her arms and putting a determined expression on her face.
"Come on, Thalia, don't be a killjoy... Why would it be here if not for the hunt?" She argued, pulling out a cork opener from the cabinet.
"Absolutely not, you know the rules, Phoebe, no alcohol unless Lady Artemis allows it."
"Ugh, you two are no fun."
"Put that down, Phoebe, I agree, I really don't want to get in trouble... Besides, that looks like a really expensive bottle of wine, Lady Artemis is gonna chew your ass if you open that. I'd think you, of all people, would remember the last time we got into the wine..." Atalanta commented from the couch, internally cringing as she remembers the awful trouble the two of them and Taylor had gotten into the last time they are in Rome and got into the wine cabinet that was located in the kitchen... She was tossing a small ball of flames up in the air and catching it, she must be extremely bored, or pissed off... Probably both.
"PUT THAT DOWN!" A booming voice from up the stairs, and everyone quickly turned to look and saw Artemis, arms crossed, glaring daggers at Phoebe from across the room.
"Told you so..." Atalanta said quietly, almost under her breath, but still plenty loud enough for the hunters to hear, there was only the three of them and a few other hunters in the large living room, the rest of the hunters had gone off to bed already, like the younger ones, the only ones still up were the older, elder hunters.
Before any of them knew what happened Artemis was in front of Phoebe taking the bottle of wine from her, which even Phoebe didn't dare fight with her about it. She knew damn well that they were not allowed to get into the wine unless they were directly permitted to by Artemis herself, Atalanta guessed that not even Percy could get into the wine cabinet and not get in trouble for it.
"Go to bed, now." She told Phoebe, and Phoebe put her head down and went upstairs without a word from her mouth, or any protest, which was unlike Phoebe but then again she was turning over a new leaf.
"So... How long was it gonna take before the two of you stopped her?"
"I tried to stop her from doing it, we all know the rules, but it is hard to get Phoebe to listen to us... I'm sure you can understand?"
Artemis chuckled, "Oh yes, yes I can."
"Well, I won't open this one, absolutely not..." She said, looking down at the bottle in her hands, it was a 2003 bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac, which was worth almost two thousand of the mortals' dollars, a matter of fact this bottle must be pretty new... She had no idea where this must have come from because she hadn't been here in so long... The Preator must have had this place stocked, especially stocked up the wine cabinet in the time she was gone, with the most expensive wines. Maybe she had done that in anticipation of their arrival, the Praetor had seemed to have known that they had been coming, how long of a notice she got was really unknown, but she clearly had enough time to get everything ready around the city and restock and clean the Moon Mansion.
"But we can open a different bottle," she said, putting the expensive bottle of wine back into the cabinet and pulling out a bottle of Cabernet, worth around two-hundred dollars of the mortal's dollars.
"Lady Artemis, I'm not even old enough to drink." Thalia exclaimed, crossing her arms on her chest.
"Well... Don't tell anyone around here, but demigods are immune to the effects of alcohol, at least in the developmental side of it... Don't get me wrong you can still get drunk, but it won't affect your brain the way it does to pure mortals, and the blessing of the hunt only doubles that, so you're fine."
"Ok! That's... Interesting."
"What about you, Atalanta? Do you want some wine?" Artemis asked, walking behind the counter and took three glasses, and popped the cork.
"Hmmmm... I- Sure, I miss the taste, I haven't gotten drunk in centuries." She caved, dissipating the small ball of fire she had been tossing up in the air and walking over to the counter.
"That's the spirit!" Artemis exclaimed, pouring each of them a glass through the mine aerator that was in the cabinet, and gave it to each of them.
"Cheers!" She said, and a clang ran out through the room and they all took a sip.
"Mmmmmmmm," they all said, "That is good!"
"I agree, that is some nice wine." Artemis commented, looking at it through the glass.
"I've never had wine, or alcohol before, this... This is great." Thalia exclaimed, almost chugging another sip, she was gonna break the world record for fastest time to get drunk at this rate.
"Oh no... One sip and she is already talking like an addict." Atalanta commented, taking another sip, which Thalia and Artemis both giggled at.
"So... Do you remember the last time we were here in Rome? The wine incident?" Artemis asked Atalanta, who recoiled like she had been slapped.
"Oh yes... All too well." She claimed, sipping another chunk out of her glass and setting it back down.
"What happened?" Thalia asked, setting her glass back down on the counter and looking toward Atalanta, making her cringe.
"I got in trouble, me and Phoebe, I wasn't always such a perfect girl as I am now."
"That's a stretch... Even now." Artemis mused, taking another sip of her wine.
"Whatever, anyways, we got into the wine cabinet because we had been out in the town drinking that night... Obviously that is against the rules as well, and then we came home and got into the cabinet late at night. Well, My Lady here has a spell on the cabinet that alerts her whenever someone opens the cabinet. Long story short we got in big trouble, Phoebe almost got kicked out of the hunt, and Zoe was so furious with us that both of us were not allowed to have a single meal for the next three days, that put us into shape real quick."
"It was infuriating, that two of my three eldest hunters could be so naughty, and break the rules... Of course, we are laughing about it now, but it was disappointing... Atalanta I was disappointed more than anything when that happened."
She sighed and took a sip of wine, "How long ago was that?"
"Around a century ago, My Lady."
"We haven't been to Rome in that long? Geez, I can't believe that this place is still standing after that long, the caretakers' have been doing a good job."
(For anyone here that has played The Witcher 3 DLC Hearts of Stone, I cringed along with you, you're not alone, lol.)
"Yes they have." Thalia agreed, already slurring her words.
"I think we should move to the sofa," Artemis said.
"I agree," they both said in unison, and went to sit down on the couch in the living room, there were only like... Six of them, this place was meant to house more than a hundred people at a time, so of course the living room was huge, and there was enough places for the entire hunt to sit around and listen to Artemis tell stories about things, or Percy tell stories about his adventures with or without the hunt. And that is what they had used this place for in the past, to tell stories, Atalanta had enough tales to write a book, and Zoe in the past had been a very nice storyteller, although hearing a story from Zoe was pretty aggravating because that she can't English very well, she always used the old language.
"So, let's talk about some of the interesting things that have happened in the past few days." Artemis said, taking another sip of her glass and then filling it back up and placing the wine bottle on the table.
"What are you three doing?" A voice said, and they heard a girl coming down the stairs, "wait... What the fuck? You got into the wine!? Can I have some?"
"Come on over, Taylor, we were just getting ready to have a storytelling session."
"Oooooh, I got tons of stories to tell." She sad excitedly, getting a wine glass from the cubert and poured herself a glass of wine, Phoebe would be so unbelievably pissed right now if she knew what was going on... Oh she would be soooo pissed.
"So, Taylor, let's hear about your adventures out in the mortal world." Atalanta started.
"Let's start with my adventures in Portland, Oregon."
"What the hell were you doing all the way out THERE?!" Artemis screeched.
"Uhm... I get bored, that's my answer. So anyways, I was in Portland because there are a lot of homeless people there and I might be able to find some young girls that would want to join the hunters. However, what I didn't know was what a lot of them were drug addicts, thus why they are homeless..." She paused and took a sip of wine, and grimaced at the taste, or maybe the kick, whichever it was.
"Why must you associate yourself with drug addicts, Taylor?" Thalia asked.
"I didn't, not really, which I was getting to... The thing is about Portland that I did not know about, is how unlawful the city has become, I got corned in this parking lot, in broad daylight by three men."
"What!?" Artemis exclaimed, "did they try to rape you?" She snarled.
"Yes, but they didn't seem interested, at first, I'm not very pretty anyways but that wouldn't have mattered if they really wanted to... They wanted to rob me, and kill me, so they said "Give us all your money now, little girl, or die." I told them to fuck off, and they said "Oh, she wants to fuck, what a little slut" and then jumped at me. I know you told me not to confront or fight mortals if I didn't absolutely have to in the most extreme circumstances, so I ran away."
"Damn, Taylor why didn't you just beat the shit out of them? You know damn well that hunters don't run away." Atalanta whined.
"Because of the rules," she insisted.
"In that case the rules are out the window, I would have wanted you to beat the shit out of them, and Atalanta is right, hunters don't run away." Artemis explained, taking a big sip of her glass and crossing her arms.
"Well, I thought about it and in the moment I felt like it was the right decision, but looking back on it I probably should have..."
"You might have saved a lot of trouble for the next girl, maybe evens saved their life, because you know that those men would have tried it again."
(Carrie Underwood anyone?)
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry, you saved yourself, and chose the least violent option, there is nothing to be ashamed of, I and everyone else including Percy now, knows the danger of the job that I assigned you, and no one expects to or should ever judge you for the decisions you make out there in the mortal world, do you understand? And do you two understand as well?"
"I understand, My Lady," Taylor answered, "We understand," Thalia and Atalanta said in unison."
"Good,"
After a short moment of silence, an awkward one, Taylor continued.
"I have more stories, if you would like to hear..."
"Of course!" They all blurted out, and she went on with her unique tales of the mortal world.
A few hours later in the day, Percy.
"I am dying Percy, that is so fucking funny."
"Geez Leo, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"..."
"Good one, Percy," Pipes piped up.
"Guys it is getting late, thank you a thousand times over for dinner, but I really should get back to the Moon Mansion..."
"What in the fuck is the Moon Mansion?" Leo exclaimed, "Is that some sort of brothel?" He mused, making everyone in the room burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard, except Percy... He looks almost hurt at the comment, like it had struck a nerve somewhere deep down in him.
"NO Leo, it is not a brothel, there aren't even any brothels in Rome... You nutjob."
"Oh I love nutjobs!"
"I bet you do..." Frank muttered.
"The Moon Mansion is the hunters lodge, a massive building a few blocks down from here." Jason finally explained, folding his arms and looking at Leo with a disappointed glare.
"Yes, that is right, thank you Jase."
"No problem, Percy,"
"Anyways, I should get going, it is late... Artemis never gives me a time to be back by, but I should go back anyways, it has to be like nine or ten a'clock by now."
"Come on Percy, we haven't even gotten into the wine that Leo got a few days back..."
"Oh, I should definitely get going then."
"Why though?" Jason asked.
"Because anyone in the hunt is not allowed to have alcohol, and it is already well past dark."
"Well that is stupid... You're a god now, why can't you just do what you want?"
"Because I follow the rules, Artemis may be my girlfriend and she lets me do whatever I want, most of the time, she is still technically my patron and follow the rules just like the other hunters."
"That's cap," Leo said.
"It's my choice, I don't have to, but I choose," He explained.
"Well have a good night, Percy, we'll be here tomorrow as well if you want to come back."
"Tomorrow is training, forget about that?"
"Oh, yes, well, tomorrow night then."
"Yeah, probably see you then."
"Oh my guds! Atluntaaaa, yooou are sooo fooonny." Thalia slurred, wobbling around like a drunkard, which she was definitely drunk. They all knew that giving Thalia alcohol for the first time would be a bad experience and that she would get drunker than you could possibly imagine, which is what happened... Pretty soon she would start flashing lightning everywhere and falling on her face.
"Thalia, I t-think you've... Hahad enough." Arty croaked, taking another sip of hers in contrast to what she said, which wasn't doing much for her case, which she was drunk too.
"Look who's talking," Atalanta said, slightly slurred but nowhere near as much as Artemis, and even farther from Thalia. She was the only one that was taking it lightly and drinking very slowly, she had had less than the other two by far, but she still had three glasses, but the difference was that she drank real slowly, they had been doing this for a few hours now. Taylor had drunk so much that she had been passed out on the couch for the past half-hour.
"Quiet gurl..."
"What the hell is going on in here? You let them get into the wine?"
"Percy... I..."
"Don't, I won't take away from your fun, I am going to bed."
"Wait, Peeeerrcy, don't gooo we stoll have some eft!" She slurred as loud as she could up the stairs, hoping that he would hear her and come back. Even in her drunken state she still didn't want to piss Percy off, and yet that is exactly what she did.
It was temping, but he was not interested, he was pissed off more than anything, that he had just left his friends place where he was having fun and where he could have gotten some high-quality wine, and left because of the rules, the that SHE set, to come home to see Artemis, Thalia, and of the elder hunters, the one he respects the most and gets along with the best, the one that he sees as a sister, the one that he has almost as much of a connection with as Thalia... drinking their sanity away, That pissed him off.
XXX(())XXX
Later that night Percy was still awake, Artemis still hadn't come up to bed and it was at least an hour since he walked in on them... gods that sounded terrible.
"Screw it... I'll see her in the morning." He cursed and closed his eyes to go to sleep.
The next morning-
Sometime in the night Artemis had slipped into bed with him, which he was not overly fond of, even in her state of not having very many clothes on whatsoever, he didn't appreciate it because that was drunk.
"Fuuuuuck, I have a headache." She groaned, rolling over to lay on her back in the bed, the covers covering up to her chest.
"Because you drank a lot last night," he replied, slipping on his pants and strapping his glorious and new silver sword onto his back. He slipped on his black jacket and look to Artemis lying in the bed.
"Wait there and I'll come back with ambrosia and nectar, maybe breakfast."
"Ooooohk, Peercy, Thaenk you."
He just shook his head in disappointment and went out the door to head downstairs.
"Wait!" She called just as he went out the door, and he stopped and looked back in.
"I'm sorry Percy, that was not responsible of me, I'm sorry."
"I... This should be an easy fix." Is all he said and went out the door, he was not happy, two days from his 21st birthday and his girlfriend and probably three other hunters get drunk and act stupid.
XXX(())XXX
"Where are Thalia and Taylor?" Percy asked, coming down the stairs.
There were not very many hunters at all in the lounge, a few were in the kitchen cooking, Atalanta and a girl named Rachel, which gave him some flashbacks to the girl with the same name and red hair that he shared a few intimate moments with a few years back... Only 10 hunters were awake or in the lounge at this time in the morning, but it was like only seven in the morning, so he wasn't real surprised, but the hunters were early animals, so this was strange.
"Where is everybody?"
"Sleeping in, Atalanta, and recovering from a hangover..."
"You were drinking too, why are you alright?"
"I am more responsible than the others, obviously." She replied, as if it was an obvious answer, she almost sounded offended that he would think she would have gotten hung over too... Which was ridiculous, Percy and Atalanta had one of the strongest friendships that he had in the hunters.
"I meant no offense, Atalanta."
"I know, Percy, I'm sorry... So where is My lady?"
"Hungover just like Thalia and Taylor, I came down to get her some nectar, where is the cabinet?"
"Over here," she said indicating for him to follow, she led him to an unassuming cabinet on the left of the room right above the counter where the wine was, probably meant for this exact reason, so he got into the cabinet and pulled out a flask of nectar and a packet of ambrosia.
"Thank you Atalanta."
"No problem, Percy, go take it to your girlfriend."
"You know it," he cooed to her, int he most mischievous voice he could conjure up... Which was a pretty damn mischievous voice.
XXX(())XXX
"Atalanta is certainly acting weird, definitely different than usual, I wonder what is getting up with her... Maybe it is just the alcohol, she may say she doesn't have a hangover, but I am sure she has one, yeah... That's definitely what it is." He mused to himself as he ascended the stairs, holding the items in his hands.
But the thing was is that Percy was not so sure, he knew Atalanta... But they had only been here one day, so he couldn't make any educated assumptions.
"Arty, I have your nectar and ambrosia." He called as he walked in the room, and he sighed as he noticed that of course she was gone. gods forbid she could ever listen to him, right.
"Arty!?" He called, trying not to panic as he looked around the room, there was no sign of a fight and none of the windows were open so she couldn't have left... But then again she was a goddess, so why the hell would she need windows, she could just flash.
"In here, Percy!" A sweet voice called from another room, which is when he realized for the first time that their bedroom had a bathroom... He had thought that door went to a closet, which showed his ignorance to this place, and he never did get that tour.
"Oh no... What could she be doing in the bathroom, do I want to know? Maybe she's in the bath, that would be a pleasant surprise to brighten up my morning."
He just shrugged and opened the door to the bathroom, and of course there she was in the absolutely GIANT tub that was in the room, the bathroom was huge, it had to be a magical room because there was no way that this room fit into the building with it being so big, because they were already on the top floor of the place. She was sitting up with her back against the tub, she had one leg crossed over the other and was scrubbing herself with a bath scrubber. She was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, the beautiful and bright auburn hair streaking down her back and sticking to her shoulders made her look like the most beautiful girl in the world... And he could clearly see her curves, this is probably exactly the reason why she got into the bath, so she could get him to look at her like this. The soap was not doing a very good job concealing her features, and he was pretty sure she liked it that way.
"Hello Percy," she said delightfully, thankfully not moving in the tub at all.
"I told you to wait in the- Whatever, I'll just set these on the-"
"No! Come feed them to me yourself."
Damn her...
He didn't know whether he liked where this was going or not... She had never let him have morning sex before, so he doubted it would be any different now, and he could already feel his pants getting really tight. This was bad, he knew that she had a hangover, and she was acting really... Lewd, and if he did anything to her right now in this state he would feel like he was taking advantage of her, but maybe if he gave her the nectar to get rid of the hangover it would get rid of it. The stuff does work instantly... So he did not hesitate any longer, he did as he was instructed and walked over to the edge of the tub and leaned down.
He uncapped the flask and gave it to her.
"Thank you, Percy." She cooed and lifted it up to her mouth and as she did, the peaks of her breasts poked through the foaming soap that covered her chest and he almost groaned in pain.
She downed the entire flask, which had been enough to kill off at least four demigods, which he almost laughed at and had to stifle it, and then he gave her the ambrosia, which she thanked him for and ate all of that too... He didn't know how much there was in that cabinet, but he would bet that by the time they left Rome it would need restocking.
"Thank you, Percy... Thank you, I feel much better now, no more hangover."
"Now are you gonna tell me to leave?" He asked, which is what she would normally do if he walked in on her bathing.
"No, I-I'd actually like you to join me. I still need to wash my hair, and an extra pair of hands would be great." She said sweetly, and he could easily see the blush that came to her cheeks at the thought of what she was asking him. She didn't know if he would say yes or not, what man wouldn't want to hop in the tub with their girlfriend? But it was a little different when your girlfriend was Arty, which she didn't like.
"Alright, Artemis, I'll join you." He caved and started taking off his clothes, this was going to cause him emotional and mental pain, but he wasn't going to comment.
As he undressed Artemis couldn't help but admire his toned chest and his muscles, but the most noticeable thing were the scars that covered his back and torso. She almost gasped when he took off his boxers, and his most prominent body part showed itself to her. She didn't have a lot of time to admire just how perfect he was before he climbed into the massive bathtub with her. She knew that she was extremely blessed to have him, and she could not only see why but she knew why from just the way that he treated her. She wasn't someone to become a wet mess at the sight of a man, like Aphrodite, but she certainly could appreciate it... Now she could anyways. She certainly hadn't put in the effort required before, but now she was committed.
"Well, this is nice." He commented, stretching and cracking his back in the warm water as it relaxed his muscles.
"I know! It's so relaxing, I have always loved the bath that this place has to offer."
"I can see why, now come here." He abruptly demanded, gesturing for her to swim to him. And she did as she was told, which surprised him. He just wanted to get this tease done and over with, this girl was absolutely insufferable. She swam over to him in the tub and sat in his lap.
"What possessed you to do this? Don't get me wrong I am not complaining..."
"I-I know I haven't been a very good girlfriend, not paying much attention to you the past few days, even with this war going on I should not be ghosting you the way I have-"
"You haven't-"
"Yes I have, Percy, don't lie to me just to make me feel better. I am sorry for getting drunk and making you run around to fix it... We can start in the bathtub, but this isn't necessarily where it needs to end..."
He raised his eyebrows and she smiled at him... He grinned wickedly at her and leaned down to kiss her, to which she eagerly responded to, he was surprised at the effort she put in in the short time they had been dating to become a good kisser, it was impressive and he loved her all the more for it. Their lips battled for dominance and as they did his hands slid slowly up her sides, making her purr into the kiss and when they finally reached her breasts, and he grabbed a firm handful of both she gasped into his mouth. She didn't stop him, so he kept kneading, slowly and sensually pawing at her.
His lips ventured down to her jaw and she gasped, then to her neck and even though he really wanted to bite her to leave a mark he knew that she would get upset if he did because that there would be no easy to way to hide that unless she wore a scarf, and she really didn't want everyone to know that she gets fucked. Oh but he so badly wanted to bite her, to mark her, even though there was no chance that any other man would ever hit on her in their conscious mind, but it was a pride thing.
"How would you like me to treat you? My Lady?" He huskily groaned into her ear, the use of her title and that husky voice sending an aroused and horny shiver down Artemis's back all the way down to her core. He really knew how to turn her on, he always has...
"Arty..." He moaned, because she reached down and stroked his rock hard cock that was just aching... aching to breed her.
"Someone is excited," she commented, smiling into his lips, stroking him up and down slowly. She clearly was eager for this, just like he was.
"Can you blame me?"
"No." She simply said, and kissed him as hard as she could, he reached down and slide his hand under the water to stroke her clit. She gasped sharply into his mouth and arched her back into his hands that were still kneading her breasts, pawing at her chest, when suddenly he stopped!
"Why-"
"You said you still needed to wash your hair, so hand me the shampoo." He ordered her, again, in that voice that made her want to obey him. Artemis may not be the best of girlfriend to Percy, by any means, but she does try her best to make him happy, and please him, and she also does try her best to always obey him when they are alone. She who commands in public, should obey in private is a moto that Artemis tries to live by in this relationship... She doesn't even remember where she heard that, only that she remembers it, it would be one of those famous "advice to live by," as Artemis always finds herself saying. She knows very well how lucky and fortunate she is to have Percy, and he is a man that won't abuse the power that she gives him, so why not let him be in control? There was absolutely no threat that Percy would do something to her that she would not like, or wouldn't approve of, or would not be comfortable with, so why not? Besides there was something about finally getting ordered around after four millennia of being the one giving orders that sent a shiver down her spine, and heat to her core.
While she was fake arguing with herself she obediently turned around and swam to the shampoo, that was resting on the small little alcove shelf on the tub's rim. She picked it up and swam back over to him and gave it to him.
"Good girl," he praised and gave her a kiss for her good deed. She moaned and turned around so that he could easily reach her hair, she took a baptizing dunk into the water to get her hair wet and shook her head to frill it out for him. She just hoped that he wouldn't notice how tense and nervous she was... This was the first time that had done this and it was more than a little new to her, especially since she knew that as soon as he got done with her hair, he was going to bend her over and take her from behind, which was an exciting and exhilarating thought to her to say the least, which getting fucked from behind certainly wasn't new to her, not in the slightest.
She took the shampoo and uncapped it, it smelled like... Like elderberries, it smelled like elderberries, which was something that Percy loved because that was his favorite type of pie, and also because that even though it did not have a very loud and clearly scent, it smelled really nice... He put a nice squirt into his hands and took half into each, then he told her to turn around for him and she did, obediently and without hesitation...
"Good girl," he said and coaxed another moan from her beautiful mouth, he put his hands in her hair and stroked all down the entire length of her hair... She had long hair, just the way he liked it, and she knew that he liked her long hair... Long, red, soft and godly locks that he could play with and run his hands through all day long, making her purr. She notices time after time that the more they are like this, intimate together, the more and more dominant and comfortable he gets, which is exactly what Artemis wants.
She moaned when his hands reached the end of her long locks, sliding off the end with enough force to give a tug and pull her head back and just enough of that sweet force to make her feel a little sting, and it was so pleasureful, making her let out a whine like a little bitch.
"You like that?" He asked, his voice nice and husky, whispering in her ear and sending a chill down her spine and a heat to her core that made her want him to push her against the bathroom wall and fuck her all day long.
"gods yes..." She breathed, and he did it again, ran his hands down the entire length of her hair nice and slow and gave a sharp tug when he reached the end making her moan a little louder than she did before, and he smiled, so Arty likes it when he pulls her hair? That is certainly a nice turn of events, he never expected her to be into something like that.
He decided that he'll save the hair pulling for when he really needed to seduce her, she was already plenty seduced as it was, so he just washed her hair, which was disappointing to Artemis because she wanted more foreplay, but it did make her fucking come sooner so she didn't really care, the girl was so horny it hurt, and Percy felt the same way.
When he was done he took a bucket and filled it with water by dunking it in the tub, then he dumped it carefully and lovingly over her to wash the soap out of her hair, which also washed all the suds and soap off of her chest leaving her completely and beautifully exposed for his eyes... She didn't try to cover up though, she didn't seem embarrassed at all. He told her to turn around again, so that he could see her, all of her and she did as she was told, without hesitation, she looped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him, and he did too, their lips met with passion and love, his hands went to her breasts and pawed at her, and she mewled into his mouth and arched her back into him, telling him that she wanted more, for him to grope her harder. He was more than happy to oblige her, but not here, so he stopped.
"Why-"
"That is enough for now, I want to move to the bed for the rest." He said to her, rubbing her cheeks with his hand lightly and looking her in the eye.
"Ok, let's go then." She said enthusiastically, she must really want this after all, which was nice because he never liked it when Artemis was nervous about this stuff, he always wanted to just ease her into it, but then thing was is that she was usually the one that initiated it, so he guessed that he really shouldn't even feel guilty about it because that she was the one that seemed like she wanted it, he of course tried to seduce her quiet often, he was a young man after all... And Arty is gorgeous, so why would he NOT try? But when they really went at it, she was almost always the one to come to him, and he couldn't quite guess whether that was normal in a relationship or not. It wasn't exactly like he was very qualified to tell or not, he only had his morals, and he knew that putting pressure on your girlfriend for anything domestic was morally incorrect.
He got up from the tub first, instantly drying himself off with his powers over the water, he was strong enough that he reached down and picked her up and brought her out, he dried her off too and immediately headed out to the bedroom, she kissed his cheek then buried her neck into his while they walked the short distance, letting him know that she was more than willing and that she wanted this too... She knew that Percy really cared for her, and if he hurt her he would blame himself and he would never act the same with her again, the man was incredibly caring and loving to her, she truly was incredibly blessed to have him.
She half expected him to toss her on the bed, but instead he gently laid her on the bed, but as she expected he did not get on the bed with her. He looked down at her with an expression that made her remember about something that one of the gods on Olympus had said about her this one time... It was this minor goddess that was a real stick in the mud to her, and Artemis had gotten really short with her, and after she walked away, she could hear her say "That bitch needs a proper lay..." And it was ironic now because that Arty knew that she was about to get one, that was for sure. Artemis had not taken that very well, that goddess had been whipped for the way she acted and has never spoken to her since.
He laid her on the bed and made her lay on her back...
"Spread your legs, babe." He commanded, putting his hands on her legs, not in a way as to tell her that he would pry them apart if she didn't comply, but in a way that told her that if she wasn't comfortable with it, there was always the future and also to comfort her, tell her that she was safe to do as he asked. She blushed but did as he told her, and she spread her beautiful creamy thighs for his eye to take in all of her naked splendor, he had already been staring and pawing at her breasts for the past twenty minutes, so she wasn't as embarrassed about that as she was.
"Good girl," he told her, for what she thought was the third time, he kept getting more and more dominant every time they were intimate like this, and Arty noticed that she kept getting more and more submissive. The thing about this was is that Artemis was not very nervous, sure she was embarrassed, but she was not nervous, or not nearly as nervous as she was that first night, or the night at her palace... She wanted to experience what this was like, all the different sex positions, rough and gentle, hard and fast, and the list goes on. She wanted this, and she knew that if she wanted it, he did ten times more... She felt good about doing this for him, she knew that it was a good thing she was doing, making him happy, and she got MORE than enough pleasure to make it worth it for her, ten times over... She loved it, and she could not wait to see what he was going to do with her this morning!
He snaked his hand down to her thighs and sharply gripped them, making her yipe from the force, but the stinging on her thighs from his grip just made her even wetter. Percy was really into this, and he was not in the mood to be gentle, and Artemis said that she wanted it rough... He got down on his knees and with his tongue and licked the inside of her thighs teasingly.
"Ahhhhh, Percy... Please..."
"Please? Please what?"
"Please touch me! Pleasure me!" She pleaded, desperately trying to get some friction between her legs. She could feel her legs whipping around above his head, and he thought to himself that if she kicked him he would leave her hanging like this and let her cry about it...
There was plenty of opportunities in the future for him to tease her into insanity, he just wanted to please her and fuck her right now...
"As My Lady commands," he agreed, and dove his head between her legs. He latched his mouth onto her clit and she gasped and screamed when he put a finger inside of her too, to slowly pump in and out of her while he flicked her clit with his tongue. She was so tight, he could barely fit the finger inside of her, one finger and he had to use a bit of force to be able to slide it into her, not a lot because she was so fucking wet, but still he had to use force. She was moaning and writhing in pleasure above him, her whole body arched off the bed and her beautiful breasts and her sinfully sexy teats pointing up to the heavens, she was so fucking gorgeous and sexy. He could only think of the picture a hunter would see if they walked in the room, they would see Artemis with her back arched and her breasts shining as they reached for the ceiling, her mouth open in an O shape, and Percy on his knees in front of the bed with his head buried between Artemis's creamy thighs with his finger thrusting in and out, and her toes curled in ecstasy as her legs shook with pleasure... It would be quite the incredibly sexy sight.
He was really good, he put all his effort into making her feel incredible, into pleasing her... Even though he knew that she would never return the favor, with her tongue, he still just did it because that he loved her and because that he took enjoyment out of it, to see her like this, so sensually captured in pleasure and in the moment, the thoughts of love and affection towards him that he knew that she was having, and most of all the sexy and sex filled moans and gasps of pleasure, and the screams of satisfactions that were ripped from her plump lips.
God he is so good, I wish he would never stop...
Almost as if he heard her, and his life's goal was to torture her, he stopped.
"Why did you stop" She whispered, looking down at him with a loving and lusty look, pleading with him with her eyes to keep going... He laughed, a husky, real laugh, as if he actually took amusement out of her torture, which put a frown on her face and almost convinced her to cross her legs again, but what made her decide against it was that if she did he probably would get pissed off, and if she ever wanted to feel that sweet release, she should try and keep him in a good mood... Who knows, if she pissed him off now what was stopping him from flipping her over and railing her? But she doubted that he would do that, even thought that was precisely what Artemis wanted him to do right now.
He didn't answer her, he just got up and grabbed her by the legs and with a rough and sharp movement he flipped her over, making her let out a loud and sharp yelp in response, but she didn't resist so she must not mind, he pulled her towards him so that she was half on and half off the bed, he reached to grab her mane of red hair, but decided that he probably shouldn't push his luck... He should ask her first before he was that rough with her.
The last time I let him do whatever he wanted to me he fucked me from behind and ruined me so bad that I could barely walk all the rest of that day, and spanked me so hard I had a hand print on my ass that next morning... Does it make me a slut that I want him to do it again? Because by myself and the other gods do I want him to do it again, oh hell yes.
"Are you sure you want this Artemis? Last chance to back out..." It wasn't, but he was just giving her the warning that if she said yes she does want this, that he was going to rail her.
"Yes, Percy, I want this, go on, have your way with me." She encouraged, deciding that she needed to look back at him and make eye contact with him for her point to really get across, his eyes were dark with lust, clearly more than a couple shades darker than they usually are, and it put a shiver down her spine and yet another heat in her core to know that that was the affect she had on him.
He didn't need any more convincing, her just laid his hand on her ass, making her think that he was going to spank her again, but no such thing came... He pushed into her, just the tip and she moaned wantonly, it felt so good and all that was in her was the tip.
"Please Percy, don't be gentle, just fuck me. I've been horny all morning, I woke up horny."
"I did too..." He said, and rammed the rest of himself inside of her, making her scream into the crisp morning air. Holy shit did it hurt, but her entire body exploded in pleasure as he rammed his thick shaft into her, for the first time in days. He always woke up horny and aroused, and every-time he has tried to seduce her in the morning she always says no, and he just has to deal with it, she is such a hypocrite sometimes, and it really jerked him the wrong way too when she said things like that.
He didn't relent, immediately slamming out and back into her, she wasn't even screaming in pain, it was all pleasure coming out of her mouth.
"gods yes Percy! Just like that! Fuck me right there!" She announced, rocking her ass back into him trying to speed up the friction, it felt so sinfully good... She couldn't believe that she had been missing out on this her whole life, now she knows why she has lost so many hunters to the vows.
Her pussy felt so good, and he was having the time of his life, there was nothing better, except maybe her mouth, that could ever possibly be better than ramming her in the ass like this, it felt sooooo fucking good... He took a lot of pride in knowing that she enjoyed this so much, and he was the only man that would ever get to experience her.
"gods, you feel so good, so fucking tight... Always are." He said, and his face contorted in a way that said that the pleasure of her tight cavern really was something incredible.
"We are- ahhhh fuck, we are gods, Percy."
Completely ignoring what he said about waiting to be rough with her, he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up with him, she screamed from the feeling of him pulling her hair so hard... He dug his face into her neck and wrapped both hands around her and grabbed her breasts, which were just aching to be groped, they hadn't gotten any love in a while.
"Percy..." She gasped, the feeling was incredible, pleasure from three places on her body, her pussy, her breasts, and the sweet spot on her neck was bringing her to a whole other world of fantasy... She didn't mind his rough behavior, she told him she wanted it rough, and she really did, and she liked it when he was rough with her. She knew that he was having a ton of fun, and that was really all she truly cared about in that moment, Percy deserved it and she was more than willing to be the girl that he truly deserved, even if she did not play the role very well.
She screamed as he hit a really sensitive spot inside her, and he smiled mischievously and made sure that he hit that spot over and over. In and out, he thrust into her, making sure to rake that one sensitive spot inside of her, he was so thankful that he was able to this for her, and that she lets him... He does his best to make her comfortable and to ensure that she has fun too, and it seems to work, because he sure as hell is having the time of this life.
"Percy I am coming, yes keep fucking me right there! Oh YES!" She screamed, and buried her face into the pillow when she started orgasming, it felt so good to have her tight walls spasm around him, it was fucking heaven... Right here in this room.
He kept hitting that one spot inside of her and gave her a sharp smack on the ass making her cry out and her tight ass jiggle intensely from the shock. It was the best feeling in the world, her tight cavern gripping his cock with a death grip and then letting go just to do it even harder, he was getting so fucking close it hurt.
"Yes... Artemis, you feel so good, I am so close."
"Do it in me! Please!" She begged, the words coming out like they had this morning when she had been hungover, because she was so high on pleasure.
A few more thrusts, powerful thrusts, each getting faster and faster and he finally exploded inside of her.
She moaned louder than she had yet and kept moving against him to make him have the best experience possible while he buried himself to the hilt inside of her to breed her. He pumped rope after rope into her, enough to impregnate her a billion times over... If they were trying to have children, that is, which he hoped would come someday. He kept coming for at least a minute, slowly moving inside of her and letting her relax and get comfortable from coming down from that high, from all that abuse almost.
"That... Was in-incredible, ahhhhh." She moaned as he pulled out of her, he rubbed her on the back to make her feel better and got onto the bed with her, laying down next to her and pulling her close to him, she had to roll back over to tuck into the crook of his arm.
"You are always incredible, Arty." He complimented, rubbing her comfortingly and leaned down to kiss her on the head, she tucked into the crook of his arm and they thought about all the things that were going to happen in the next few days, but really they were both thinking of each other, of the things that they had just done to each other.
"I love you Arty," he told her, and rubbed her bare back lovingly.
"I love you too, Percy, I love you too, thank you for being here." She said to him, looking up at him and then kissing him on the cheek."Always, Arty, always."
A/N- WELL HOW WAS THAT? CHAPTER 20 IS HERE AND DONE EVERYONE! What an incredible and outstanding milestone that is, I hoped you guys really enjoyed this, I made it extra-long for everyone, and that you are as excited for the next couple of chapters as I am.
I am really getting into this, and I should get the next chapters out soon, the next chapters are gonna be intense, get ready!
I got a few shout outs to make before I leave though.
Shout out to A guy with no Milk who has recently been a huge supporter of me, leaving a lot of reviews and saying some awesome stuff about this story, thank you man and rock on, hope you stay safe and healthy.
I got a shout out for Coarvus on Wattpad, thank you so much for the support and for being a doll! Thank you so much for this review you left me, the flame for chaps 1 and 2 have been making me come to the edge of tears...
"Had to come here cause I wanted to remember what I wrote. BOI. I read another review, and it made me laugh wholeheartedly. This is your story. The Aphrodite and Artemis (and all your characters for that matter) you've made is right on the lines of what you'd assume their character would be like. Ya some people aren't gonna like that, but some people i.e. myself are gonna really appreciate the detail and depth you go to provide the chsracters with real meaning. Like the way you portrayed Aphrodite in the first few paragraphs is exactly how I think she'd be acting, and even if it wasn't you give reason to why she's doing what she's doing. Artemis is as adorable as ever, and the inner turmoil you display with her is perfect. I myself am an avid fan of Artemis finds the right guy and is warm, but I take what I can get. With yours, I love her as she is reluctant to accept that she can't have both sides of the coin, and it's not like the other stories because you show how much Artemis actually cares for Percy before she gives herself away. Gosh, I just really like your story, and I could give many more reasons, and examples of how as a writer you've turned what should be a poorly written trope and turned it into a phenomenal piece of art, rock on friend!"
I also got a shout for Silver Fang, he has really been a really nice friend and supporter to me in the past few months, thank you man!
As always, shout out to Dmoney2204 for being such a great friend, we have so much fun together and we really get along well, we are such gaming nerds, lol. I cannot even begin to tell you all how awesome Dmoney is, he is fucking amazing, and words cannot describe anything I said about his greatness would be an insult, so I am not even gonna try.
HUGE shout out to my Beta readers, who helped me A LOT with this, specifically shout out to G0DZILLA who gave me so many ideas, really helped me along with getting this moving and being my therapist for all my ideas, of course also shout out to Naeemakill11, my other beta.
Thank you guys so much for everything, I listed like one percent of the impactful people that are making this the way it is, thank you so much, of course I do have to give myself credit as well:)
I would so love if all of you would join my Discord, please join at this link: h9P5r5j9Fp
We all have a really nice time on Discord, we have all kinds of stuff, author discussion, daily questions, we got all kinds of different bots, like Dank memer and Garctic for playing games. Please consider joining, and of course you will be the first ones to know of updates if you join the discord:)
This the longest chapter I have ever written, by far the longest of this story by like, 3000 words, and the longest all time between both my stories by over five-hundred.
Thank you all so much for the support, and please wish me a happy birthday because my birthday is coming up here on the 27th of January.
Till next time everyone, and stay safe:)