My dearest TidalMoon2003, I do not know of authors that write thoughts before the disclaimer... or by breaking the story's flow. Can you point me in the direction of some. Also, I know that almost every author on this site uses bold script for Author Notes... consider it my antisocial behavior that I don't like any: my 'Favorites List' consists of the ones that make it up in other matters. So, sorry, but I am unconventional (or at least I try to be) and will despise those not like me.
I don't wish to turn this into a irrational argument, so... I apologize for broadcasting my dislike via this medium... though I'm pretty sure that it is my right as a sentient being.
Next, if you guys and ladies think Perseus is getting through problems too easily, consider it a personal decision of mine. I can explain it two ways. (A) I had to choose between a kinda male Mary Sue and a 'Lady Of The North Star' created weakling god (No offense)... So I chose the former. My story will have emotional crises, not physical ones. And (B) My Love preached that any Mary Sue in real life will either lose the perfection soon enough... Or will cease to exist. And one of that is going to happen to our protagonist.
Finally, sorry if the last part of this chapter is bad. I just don't know romance well enough for this. For most of my life I've been trying to cope with Her death. And hence my best is seen in tragedies and spiritual agony as seen on my FictionPress profile.
About the thought and speech hybrid at the end, tell me of a better way if you don't like it. Sorry for the delay: I had to work a lot on the next chapter to convert it from a filler to a full one.
5. A Little Rough Around The Edges.
The surface under Perseus cracked and he tumbled to Gaia. Since the blunt javelin had knocked the breath out of him, he wasn't able to create another barrier. Hence he decided that it was better to make himself aerodynamic and hit the ground with terminal velocity in order to get a break from such hazardous tasks.
His plans, however, were all foiled by a smiling Titaness. Selene created a landing pad for him that was enough to bruise him badly, but not badly enough to escape her training. He stuck it at the intended speed and, in a second, pain appeared all over his body: he must've broken at least one rib and an ankle. Nothing unmendable, though.
"Perseus, that," Selene smiled, "wasn't what I expected of you. I need you to practice more."
"Oh. Okay Auntie." The teenage god said as he struggled to get up, "Would you, perhaps, help me find time in my day by contacting Kronos or Chronos? Or could you give your brother more time to traverse Ouranos and reduce your own?" He asked supposedly innocently.
"Shut up, you brat!" She hissed, "We're equals! I even have a first generation Primordial in my support!"
"Then why does he seem to be the one with all the brain cells, Lady Selene?" Perseus smirked, "Isn't it unfair- him getting the brains, the looks and the strength... and the eternal life."
"Double time for you tomorrow. Eat light tonight, for you'll all but jettison it in our next lesson." She walked away, furious.
"Wear a dress that you'd like getting rid of tomorrow, then." Perseus muttered. He turned around to greet his siblings: "Are you still convinced that she's not crazy, Apollo?"
"You're just pissed off that you're getting the worst report card this time around." Apollo said, "First time for everything, brother."
"That is not the case, Apollo." Artemis interrupted, "I fare barely better than Percy. You don't see her throwing spears at me on my first day doing stuff, do you?"
"If he does, I'm afraid Apollo has been fed some potion by her,"
"No. I know she isn't fair to you, Perseus. But that may be tough love! She may be throwing more challenges towards you to help you improve faster!"
"A fine theory," Perseus said, sarcastically, "but I suspect it has more to do with hatred for my Hecate blessing than 'tough love'."
"Why'd she hate Hecate?"
"A Titan." Percy explained to Artemis, "A powerful Titan. A powerful Titan, also a Magic deity. A powerful Titan, also a Magic deity who's better accepted by mortals. Do you understand, Arty?"
"Selene is losing her Domain?" Apollo asked, worried.
"First of all, it's 'Lady Selene'." Perseus seethed at the title, "Secondly it's not her Domain: she'd partially received it due to mortals' belief in witchcraft and magic-stuff happening by the night, of which she is the only known deity. And now it's all got to her head."
"A few questions." Apollo said, "One: how do you know all of this? Two: what about Nyx: has she faded due to lack of prayers? Three: what did you mean about her not having 'eternal life'?"
"Do you think I would suffer at her hands for a fortnight without searching for dirt on her?"
"Well, now that I think about it..."
"I communicated with Hyperion and Koios to know about her. Secondly, Primordials don't need believers to exist: they are their Domains. Ouranos is the sky, Gaia is the earth, Pontus is water, Tartarus is his Pit..."
"And what about eternal life?" Artemis asked.
"She is fading. She went overboard with her Magic: it's somewhat turned into her primary Domain now. She tied her immortality to it... and now she's losing them both."
"Then why," the goddess asked, "is spending her time training us instead of trying to gain more followers or even finding a way out of her predicament?"
"She is too stubborn to ask for help, I think. She probably thinks getting Olympians as pupils will solve her problem by getting her recognition."
"Will it?"
"No, brother, it won't. Selene is going to fade and the mortals are going to lose their moon."
"Stronger! You've got Hecate's Magic, haven't you? MAKE IT STRONGER!" Selene shrieked.
"I would, only if somebody with brains taught me how to stop a godsdamned Titan Weapon using my powers." Croaked Perseus as he fell to his knees. Artemis wanted to go help him, but the barrier the lunar deity had placed Apollo and her in to prevent them getting hurt from projectiles going the wrong way also prevented them from reaching Perseus.
So, with eyes full of tears, Artemis kept hitting the walls with all she had, and all she didn't have, and kept cursing her aunt.
Selene turned to her for a brief moment, flicked her wrist a bit and Artemis could no longer get any sound out of her mouth.
"I have no time for a melodrama." The other female said, "Will that be all for today, godling?"
In response, Perseus simply stood up and glared at her. Artemis turned to Apollo, to ask him to tell Selene to spare Perseus, or even tell Perseus to surrender, but what she saw broke her a little bit more.
Apollo lay on the ground, curled up in a ball, shaking from invisible agony. He was turned away from her, but his barely audible whimpers told her all his face would. She stifled a sob and turned towards Percy. She tried to project her thoughts to him but the barrier wouldn't allow that.
"Ten seconds, Perseus."
Perseus began to chant and jerk his fingers around. He winced as a few wounded ones got more movement than was healthy. A faint purple glow formed a wall between him and her.
"Four seconds,"
He gently swept his hand across his barrier to enchant it, though the movement became uneven and haphazard due to his aching body.
"Two seconds..." Selene drew back her summoned spear, ready to launch it at the unbeliever.
The god inhaled slowly and as normally as he could and put his hands in front of himself to catch the weapon if- when- it would bypass his barrier.
"Here it comes!" Selene sang and threw.
The weapon pierced the barrier as if it wasn't there. The only indication that it had interacted was a light silver glow that it took on: which meant that it's magic was activated.
Perseus crouched a bit, but the incoming spear, like a heatseeker, followed his direction. He tensed and spun to the side as it came within arms' reach and grabbed it with one hand and threw it back towards Selene, as he had been instructed to.
But now the barrier, enhanced by the Titaness, worked. The spear struck it hard and exploded, in order to destroy the surface using magic. The barrier did its job and, for it was enchanted by the weapon's owner, reflected all the energy directed at it away.
And all the energy hit Perseus. It shouldn't have been possible, since most should have gone around him, but the beams of blinding white were attracted to him, or rather, meant for him.
Artemis turned away: she could not bear to see this for the fifth time. But she did need to see him to hear him whimper: "Mom," and collapse to the ground, finally spent.
His eyelids pushed out the tears he'd never consciously shed, and by the time Selene reached her spear, his face of diet and grime and blood and sweat was clean in tracks they'd trace. His fingers still sizzled from where he'd touched an immortal artifact without permission, and his body was broken: a mosaic of a chocked blue and a muddy crimson.
Selene waved her hand and his body was ridden of the visuals that gave it away: the charred fingers and the scar of half-healed hole put in him by her first throw.
She turned to the other gods and dismissed the barrier. Artemis launched herself at the older immortal when she realised that it was gone. Selene used two fingers to write in the air in front of her and Artemis and Apollo lost consciousness. She continued the spell and made them lose all remembrance of this incident. A few more details like fixing their clothes and cleaning their tears and they were ready to go.
Just in time as Leto flashed to them, "Where is he?"
"Where is who, sister?"
"Perseus. He called for help."
"Calling for his mom?" Selene laughed, "Not very becoming for an almost Domained immortal."
"It's my child, okay?" Leto spat, "Just train them and leave. Don't speak of things beyond your task."
"Relax, Leto."
"Where is he?!"
"Behind you." The Titan of Delos rushed to her son, and Selene continued, "He lost a lot of energy creating a barrier and fainted before it could be completed. His siblings powered a thrust of energy at him and it got through and hit him. The younger ones are also asleep from their loss of power."
"He'd never-"
"Speaking of sleep, Leto, do you know of a place where I can enjoy and relax for a bit?"
"Yes. The central area of the western half. But-" Leto started.
Selene interrupted her, "Take care of him!" And left.
But not without projecting a single sentence to the eldest god of Delos: 'Reveal the truth and the moonlit nights'll never be safe for your family.'
It was night when Artemis woke up. She took in her surroundings: she was in her bed, tucked in the way only her mother could- creating a perfectly plane surface all around her.
She got up, unwilling breaking up the symmetry and perfection of the sheets, walked out the door and searched for her mother in order to demands food.
She found the Titan in Perseus' room, cradling his head in her lap, crying tears in a quantity enough for his funeral, which was an event that wouldn't ever occur. She was muttering something, but her sobs were making it incomprehensible.
Artemis moved to her Leto's side, "What happened to him, mother?" She couldn't see any injury on him.
"H-He's hurt... You must've passed out from exhaustion... Your blast hit him full force."
"Where is he hurt? Is it bad?"
"Internal injuries. Magic does that. Half his ribs are trying to penetrate his lungs... his ichor is freezing... I don't know what to do! Apollo hasn't come to yet and I can't leave Perseus."
"I'll get him." Artemis ran off to Apollo's room and shook the sleep out of him and brought him to their brother's prone form, all in under a minute.
Apollo quickly used some of the energy Artemis offered to summon herbs and potions and set to work. Artemis began pacing the length of the room, restless as a leopard in a cage.
Her eyes feel on a flask underneath Perseus' bed. It contained some deep blue colored liquid that had strange, sinister-looking currents flowing at random in it, as if it had a life of its own. She bent to pick it up and as soon as he hand made contact with the glass, she heard Percy's voice in her head, 'Tell Apollo to feed me this if I'm incapacitated due to magic other than my own.'
Artemis got up so fast that one might've thought she had been launched using an explosion. She rushed the flask to Apollo so quickly it was almost as if she threw it at him. He was confused only a moment before he lent the container to his mother to touch who heard the message and nodded at him.
Apollo stopped making his own remedy, only slightly annoyed that he didn't get to use it, and forced Perseus gulp down the majority of the fluid inside the bottle.
Immediately, Perseus' body began to shake. His attendants tried to steady him to no avail. A single pair of words escaping his mouth stopped them: "Take cover."
They scrambled for cover as his movements for more erratic and louder. Artemis noticed that he did not seem to be writhing in pain, but instead he seemed to be struggling to control and even his movements.
Then he exploded.
It was simple: a blast of deep green aura spread outwards from his body followed by a shockwave. It threw the immortals off their feet: their cover didn't do them much good. Artemis' auburn hair was singed at the tips. She could see that Apollo was furiously trying to stop the fires in his blonde mop and to settle it down.
"You can come out now." Perseus gasped.
"Perseus!" Leto ran to his side, "Are you okay?"
"More importantly," Artemis asked, "What was that?"
"I'm fine, mom." He turned to Artemis, whose eyes were currently sweeping him for changes in his body, "That, Arty, was me consuming a lot of liquid magic to force the other magic out of my system."
"So, did the two act like antiparticles and annihilate each other?"
"No, little brother, they didn't. Look at me through the Mist."
Artemis tried concentrating on Perseus' real image. She didn't know even gods could be fooled by Hecate's Mist: it was meant to keep mortals from intruding upon gods, or from frying their brains by knowing too much...
"WHAT THE HADES HAPPENED TO YOU?!"
Apollo's shout rang in her ears but Artemis was too busy interpreting the image in front of her to mind him potentially bursting her ear drums.
Perseus was coated in a sheet of white: no part of his body was visible. He seemed to be made up of pure light. Flames of white sprouted in random spots on him and collapse into themselves after a while and Zeus' electricity sparked at his fingertips.
Artemis quickly pulled out of the image. She shook her head a bit and blinked to get rid of the afterimage. She glanced at the other spectators to see that they too were dumbfounded.
When she looked at Perseus, intending to repeat Apollo's question, he'd disappeared!
No, he didn't. He'd just walked out of her view- towards the door leading outside. She walked to him to prevent him from overexerting his body, but he just waved her hand and she blacked out.
Leto saw her children drop unconscious. She started to rush to them but stopped on seeing that they were awake once again. However, emergency sirens went off in her head on seeing their expressions of horror.
"Mom!" Apollo shouted as soon he scrambled up, "We need to stop Perseus. He's going to fight Selene!"
"And kill her!" Artemis completed. As soon as she did, Leto told them to follow her and took off after Perseus.
As she sprinted out the main door, her mind wondered casually what would've made him do something like that. She didn't think it was due to Selene hurting the younger ones: Leto would have found out first if something like that happened.
When she saw that Perseus was out of eyeshot, she waited for Artemis and Apollo to catch up with her and poised them the same question. Apollo shivered at her query and Artemis told her to look into their memories. She did.
Apollo and Artemis had to support her to prevent her from becoming a sobbing mess on the ground. Her rage was so interspersed with pain and guilt and countless other emotions that any mind-reading satyr nearby would've'd a cardiac arrest just trying to read her.
She's wailed and sobbed and clenched her fists so hard there were streams of ichor flowing out of them steadily. Her curses and kind words of hatred could be heard across the island: she could never- no mother could in forever- go through any pain greater than seeing her child destroyed. It was a curse worse than any that Erebus himself could create, for it was Chaos herself that would blessed a person with it. So she shrieked into the night eloquent praises of the Titaness.
Which was probably why there was a sudden surge of power all around them which withdrew a moment after it started: Perseus had locked them away from himself and the criminal.
Leto got up unsteadily and nodded to Apollo. He nodded back and began scouring the island for the epicentre of the magic. He pointed to the southwest and their merry troupe took off, Artemis with a fresh batch of tears due to being reminded of the ordeal by her mother's reaction.
Selene was lounging in the pool Leto had told her about when Perseus arrived, as she had been for nearly half the day. She knew the benefits of interacting with one's Domains and hence was kinda moon-tanning herself to increase her beauty and strength and to relax.
Perseus rushed into the clearing which surrounded half the shore of the lake like a storm, which was ironic, since he was Zeus' child, not the Stormbringer's.
Selene immediately sunk into the lake to protect her modesty. She snapped her fingers and she was dressed. Then she surfaced, ready to annihilate the intruder for barging into her space.
But she never got the chance.
A tendril of solidified energy grabbed hold of her and threw her against the rock-face that was the lake's other side. It hurt a lot, but what hurt more was the hold on her throat. It burned her! 'No,' she realised, 'it isn't burning me. It's... draining my ichor!'
The choke also probably had Kronos' scythe powers, for her mind was weakening. She detachedly traced back the now stem of pure energy to a levitating figure covered in blinding white.
The figure came closer and Selene realised that it was Leto's eldest. Thinking about his magic overpowering hers made her unwillingness to struggle dissipate. She began thrashing and trying to break free as Perseus floated closer to her largely immobile body. She could see finer details about him: his aura seemed to consist purely of his excess energy vaporising out of himself, and he didn't seem to be troubled a bit by her struggles.
She saw him come closer than a usual enemy would, or even an assassin, saw him lean forward, to whisper in her ear: "Let's see how you'll like my gifts, Titan, shall we?"
And with that he forced her to commune with him sexually. He violated her body in ways no mortal could, and stripped her of her pride and dignity. Her body was stretched to its limits. She almost thought, through her tears, that fading would be better than this. However if she escaped this night, the forces of Othrys would help her get revenge.
Once her body was used to such a extent that even the most lustful Titan or god or even mortal wouldn't look at her in that way, even after knowing her powers and the benefits of having children from her, he released her. And she fell, spent, to the crystal surface beneath her.
And then she was thrown back into her body as he held it against the vertical plane of rocks. He was moving away from her, as if he'd just finished speaking in her ear.
He spoke when he was at arms' length, "How did you enjoy it?"
It was then that she realised that he'd just made her think that he'd destroyed her body: it all had been an illusion. White-hot rage rose in her and she unleased a part of her energy in raw form to break her restraints and throw the brat off.
She ended up achieving one of her goals while also obliterating the cliff behind her, though Perseus simply floated back to such a separation that her blast would have no effect on him. But Selene didn't know this. She thought he'd escaped her display of power unharmed at such a proximity.
"Struggling, Selene? Perhaps you'd like to use some of my power?"
"SHUT UP!" Selene screamed as loudly as she could, which wasn't that loud, "YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!"
"On the contrary, auntie dearest, I promise make you fade."
Selene gave a wordless battle cry and charged, shifting mid-charge into her True Form, donning her war attire and summoning her Weapon. As soon as she was in range, she teleported to a different position and threw it with all she had.
That turned out to be her mistake. She hadn't locked Perseus out of her mind, and hence he knew her plans. He easily sidestepped and the spear went flying straight into the crater she had created, further deepening and widening it.
She quickly summoned it back to herself and flashed to in front of him. He waved his hand in a peculiar fashion and her spear was swatted aside. She also lost the control of her right arm due to one of his aura's flares coming in contact with it.
The Titan of the moon began to search for a spell to buy herself time. She found one and applied it. Her Weapon divided its power into about seven parts and replicated itself. All seven became autonomous and began flying at Perseus simultaneously, while she pulled back and tried to mend her arm.
Perseus was in a tight spot. The spears attached randomly, but maintained a steady pace that neither allowed him to recover from the previous parry nor did it let him chant a spell. He saw via his peripheral vision that Artemis and the others had come to the edge of his barriers, accompanied by a crowd of dryads and naiads and satyrs.
He also saw his target, having repaired her limb, approaching him, and Perseus decided, that since it was a battle of magic and also since magic was one thing he had more than Selene, he could go without a limb for this battle.
So Perseus let go of his sword and started an incantation. He ignored the spear penetrating his left thigh and tearing through already strained muscles and completed his spell.
It worked, and before Selene could realise what he was doing and recombine her spears to save them, Perseus'd already wrecked four of them. She was now down to three-sevenths of the Weapon power she'd had.
Perseus did not wait for her to recover from the shock and charged. The glow surrounding him began to grow brighter and pulse and cover more of space. Thin lines of concentrated power raced from him to her and back. Selene tried to run or sidestep, but Perseus followed her like a magnet follows Gaia's head.
It was kind of anticlimactic for any spectators, but there weren't any: there were only witnesses, who just grew afraid of the young god. All the fighting, if any, that is, was covered by the explosion of light that lit up the area like Hyperion himself was present.
Perseus floated where Selene had been. The Titaness was not visible, and neither was the golden dust that signified an immortal's death... which led Leto to realize that Percy had made her fade. She quickly checked upon her family using complicated tracking magic and found the lunar Titaness absent. She checked all over Gaia, inside Tartarus, in Erebus and even in Ouranos' abandoned palace, but it was all in vain.
Her baby had killed a Titan permanently.
Unlike Apollo had expected, the Fates hadn't shown up to confer the Domains of Selene onto his brother. On being asked, his mother explained that the transfer of Domains on losing a fight was only applicable to the Titans: Zeus had asked of the Fates to not extend the rule to gods since he was too weak and scared that some upstart god or Titan might steal his Domains.
So, she explained, Selene's Moon was lost now, at least until some other immortal received it. The mortals, she found out for him, explained that the disappearance of the satellite was either due to dust storms or extended eclipses- fights with her brother.
Perseus had to be healed by his brother before he could be even carried back home: the wound from a Titan's Weapon, or a part of it, was so bad. So Apollo did that, though he suspected that his brother was doing this so he may be finally able to try out his healing skills on something really bad- healing Artemis' bruises wasn't that hard- and that Perseus could easily use the leftover energy to power through it and still have more than he could use in the next year.
He interrogated Perseus regarding the potion and was told that it was meant to be taken in sips, not gulped down like blood by a thirsty Simon Lewis. It, he explained, was made up of his own essence as a primary ingredient, along with several herbs to basically ruin the taste... and catalyse the process.
After answering that question of his, Perseus crashed into his bed and snored out a full week. Every day of which he was nursed by Apollo dutifully, who made up for his lack of food intake by intravenous stream of nutrients.
When Perseus finally awoke, he was bombarded with questions left unanswered from last time. Apollo had to hold the ladies back from jumping at him in rage and concern when they heard about the fight they'd missed. Perseus went through the rants and proclamations of his stupidity and recklessness with solemn nods and "Never again"s and Apollo was impressed.
They decided to call Perses as soon as possible to complete their training quickly. When Leto did, Perses agreed at once: he was always happy to help out his kin howsoever he could, whether it be by demolishing their enemies, or by teaching them politics.
"He is teaching us politics?" Apollo was flabbergasted, "The Titan of destruction is teaching us politics?"
"And strategy and mortal affairs too," Leto said.
"Seriously though, mother, you expect Destruction to reach us how to plot and scheme?"
"Yes Artemis," the Titan of Delos said calmly, "though us Titans may seem to consist of alpha males and damsels and cold-hearted old ladies only, we are immortal, and immortality helps you change and develop into a calmer being. Our rules may still resemble that of a pack of wolves but our nature molds our household into a cold war battleground.
"Perses' Domain can seem rash and hormonal, but believe me, you'd rather call him your ally than most of the other War ones."
"Like Ares?"
"Yes, Perseus. Now, you three, go off to practice or I'll call Iapetus back."
The triplets groaned in sync and left their home. As they walked out, Perseus turned to his sister, "Artemis, can I speak to you in private?"
"Yes." She didn't hesitate, "Lead the way."
Perseus turned to leave but not before he caught Apollo sending him a good luck gesture. 'That,' Perseus thought, 'is far simpler to get than what I require.'
Artemis thought of the possible reasons her brother would've requested for a private meeting when they could simply use the thought-communication thingy and block out Apollo and Leto... and found none.
She looked around herself and found that they were approaching the region of the forest where there weren't any nature spirits. This informed her that it was extremely private and sensitive, and so she made a mental note to block everyone from reading her mind about this conversation. She didn't do it now, and Perseus used that to know if her words matched her thoughts, or if she was just hiding her true words.
Perseus finally turned to face her when they achieved the maximum amount of isolation in the space available freely on Delos. No animal dared approach the area, for it was out of the jurisdiction of the satyrs- the Protectors- and that was why Percy had chosen it.
The jungle around them was silent, foreboding in a way neither god liked. If one listened hard enough though, a soft, periodic trickling of a naiad could be heard when she talked with her guests the fishes, directing them to the best spots for laying eyes. But even she knew better then to approach the two gods when they desired privacy- it could turn out worse than a kangaroo interrupting a Grand Council.
Perseus looked tired, somehow, though his body was pulsing with youth and energy. His eyes spoke of sleepless nights and tears he knew almost for certain would come knocking in the future.
"Artemis, I... I have been meaning to say this for a long time."
Now that is an obvious as Gaia sign of what this was leading to, but Artemis, or any person or non-person of that time wasn't as knowledgeable in these things as the average reader. Nor was Perseus, and so he didn't go through it elegantly enough.
"Look," he continued, "I know I said it was weird when we first talked about it, but I know now that I cannot help it any more than the average immortal.
"I thought I could live through it, but I cannot. I know you didn't like it but now I realise it's normal immortal behavior.
"I'll respect your wishes if you don't want to..." he inhaled shakily thinking of that scenario, "but that doesn't mean I will stop doing so."
Artemis felt bad interrupting his emotional mini-speech, but she was curious as Hades by now, "Perseus, please get to the point. You have had a long enough buildup."-'What're you talking about, Percy?'
"Artemis, I-I love you. I love you beyond what normal siblings share. I love you more than anything else-more them my eternal life itself. I'd happily sacrifice godhood if I could just get you for eternity."
'Perseus, what are you doing?'-"Percy, please tell me this is a joke."
He didn't.
'NO!'-"Perseus! You cannot be serious! We're brother and sister for Chaos' sake!"-'You taught me that it was wrong!'-"You cannot be in love with me! It's just that you're misinterpreting your emotions... or that it's an infatuation."-'It is anything but love.'
"I know it's not, Artemis. I know it's love and nothing else. I know for sure that I'll love you till after eternity is over, but will you love me back as a lover?"
"I cannot possibly say yes to your request."-'You know I can't and won't.'-"Perseus, I request you, please forget about this. You'll know later that it's all stupid and wrong and rushed on your part."-'It is... and you should know that it is.'-"And that it is not what it seems. Eternity is a long time for love to go unrequited, but it is sure long enough for you to realise the mistakes of your mind."
His head was bowed in sorrow and shame, "Artemis, I won't- I can't in forever lose my love for you."
Her face turned firm, "You force me, Perseus."-'Don't you understand that what you're feeling is not what you think it is?!'-"I want you to never pursue a romantic relationship with me and never speak of this conversation in my presence. I hold you to your oath." Artemis finished with a tone that burned her words into his heart with finality.
Perseus just transported them back to near Apollo with a wave of his hand in response. His face was devoid of any sorrow, but Artemis knew it was just a mask, for she knew that Perseus was right: he wouldn't in forever lose his feelings for her.
Please review. I would like to know how my writing feels like at the reading end. PM me the corrections if you feel a review is not worth it.
Recommended Books:
"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. An absolute masterpiece.
"Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn. Any lover of our language should read this one. Letter format plus progressively lipogrammatic.
"If On A Winter's Night A Traveler" by Italo Calvino Anybody who loves reading is gonna love this one.
Summary:
Training with Selene.
Selene hates Perseus because his magic is Hecate's, so she has been throwing extra hard lessons at him. Infuriated by an insult from the god after such a session, she beats him into unconsciousness at the next. After Perseus recovers and reveals what has happened, he heads out to fight Selene. He wins, for he is the protagonist, after all. The chapter ends with Perseus getting rejected by Artemis after he confesses his love.