"How about, I issue a quest, and join the quest myself to get your bolt back?" Perseus said, shocking everyone.
"A God cannot join quests brother, You know that." Zeus tilted his brother.
"Any other God yes, but I'm not bounded by the Ancient laws, you know that brother. I'm the Lord of Fates, they cannot bind me by any laws." Perseus informed everyone of his leeway of the Ancient laws. They all nodded at him.
"If that is all I believe, that some of you have work to attend to." Perseus questioned his brother, the King of God.
"Meeting dismissed," Zeus announced, and flashed away.
Only Artemis and Perseus remained in the throne room.
Artemis took a deep breath and asked, "May I speak with you in Private Lord Perseus."
Artemis Pov
Perseus was silent for some time, thinking his answer over. He took a deep breath, "Alright, follow me." He said, motioning to the doors of the throne room.
He started moving towards them, without waiting for me to follow him. I steeled my nerves and followed him. He didn't say anything; minor Gods/Goddesses conversed with him. Perseus smiled and chatted back.
I realized that he looked a lot different than before. He looked younger, more powerful, more… happy. I still remember the sigh of relief he had taken, when our marriage ended. Like he could finally breathe again, was I really that awful to him? Seeing him now, laughing and teasing the residents of Olympus, being happy, I realized how unfair I was to him.
We walked towards Hera' garden and I stopped. Perseus turned to look at me, confused, raising an eyebrow. "It's Hera's garden, not even Zeus himself is allowed inside without her permission." I whispered to him so Hera doesn't hear. I wasn't afraid of her, I just didn't want to hear her yapping at me.
Perseus rolled his eyes at me, "I think my little sister would be fine with you being in her garden with me." I nodded at him as we went in.
Hera's garden was the most beautiful thing on Olympus. Flowers of every kind were planted all across, peacocks roaming everywhere. At once the birds all ran towards Perseus, and despite him being the God of Wolves, all the animals loved him.
"I see you've not lost your touch, still kind, and as handsome as ever Lord Perseus." A beautiful nymph walked up to us. Anger rushed through me at seeing her flirt with Perseus, even if we weren't married. She should know better than to flirt with a man in front of his ex-wife.
"You know you should not flirt so openly with me, I am currently single. I might just steal you away from my dear sister." Perseus flirted back, and my feelings dropped to a new low. When we were married, countless women tried to court him, to have him in their bed. He refused all of them, and stayed loyal to me. Even when I wasn't fair to him.
"And I would refute to that because?" The nymph said, winking at him, both of them flirting back and forth like I wasn't even here.
Perseus turned to me, "Melanie is the only nymph that lives in Hera's garden. She doesn't trust her husband with any of them. She has banned Zeus from being anywhere near Melanie. Thankfully, she didn't put the same ban on me, or I would be heartbroken, if I couldn't see her." Perseus said, and the nymph Melanie blushed a deep shade of green. She soon turned and went away.
"Since when do you flirt with women?" I couldn't help but ask him. Perseus' expression changed from happy to serious in a second.
"Ever since I was freed from a loveless marriage." He shot back, and I flinched at his direct accusation.
"Perseus, I would like to apologize to you. What I did to you was wrong and unmoral." I looked at him to see his reaction.
His face was serious as he looked ahead, at the wind-blown plants and bushes. His eyes held distant and deep pain. I felt my own heart slow down, waiting for his reply. I could count my own heartbeat.
"I accept." He said finally, after what felt like an eternity.
"What," I asked, thinking I heard him wrong.
"I accept your apology, do not misunderstand me, I still haven't forgiven you yet; but you should learn to forgive yourself for what happened. I while still holding some negative emotions towards you, do not like to see you sad. I would like you to be happy around me, and maybe one day in the future I could do the same." Perseus said, his eyes still trained to the horizon.
"It's been more than 2 millennia, why can't you forgive me after all this time? You've forgiven a lot more monstrous deeds our family had done in the past." I pleaded to him, a little angry that even after all this time he couldn't look at me directly, without being sad. Most of my anger stemmed from him being caring towards me. I wished that he would get angry at me. So that I could resent him a little.
Sorrow graced his expression, something that made me feel hopelessness I hadn't felt since he left all those years ago. "I am the God of Loyalty Artemis, I can't forget my own wife being unfaithful to me. I have forgiven my family, because despite their monstrous deeds, they redeemed themselves in my eyes. Maybe I can trust you once again in the near future, I would wait for that time."
"As for now I can't. You deliberately breached my faith, and violated the trust I held for you. Show me that I can trust you again. I would love to feel the same warmth fill my heart, as it did once before. I would love to sit at the tides and look at the moon, and feel the same love that used to rule my heart. Then we would hold our hands and look at the moon shining among the stars, the entire night would pass and we wouldn't notice being lost in each other's presence. Maybe one day we can have that, and I would wish for nothing more." Perseus kissed my forehead and flashed out.
I sat by myself, thinking about his words. Tears sprang from my eyes like a waterfall. I lost the time I sat there crying and sobbing. I felt a hand on my shoulder; I looked up to see Hera. She sat down by my side and tried to console me, something she had never done with any of her stepchildren.
"My brother is a simple man, but the people closest to him can see the battle he fights with himself everyday." She said to me in the softest voice I had ever heard of her.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her, Perseus always seemed fine to me.
"My siblings and I all share some trait with our parents. I got the vanity of Kronos, thinking I am better than anyone beneath me. Zeus got our father's paranoia. Poseidon has our father's rage, Hades got the trickery and the silver tongue of Kronos. Hestia inherited all of our mother's kindness, and Demeter got the extreme protective sense of motherhood." Hera said, her voice strained and soft. Like the fault of her own family was hard for her to speak out.
I thought about what she said. Hera, indeed, was vain. Zeus was paranoid, Poseidon temperamental. Hades was a master of tricks. Hestia extremely kind and Demeter overprotective. She hadn't said anything about Perseus, her big brother.
"What did m, Perseus got?" I asked, almost slipping and calling him 'My husband.'
"He got most of those traits but amplified. He got the Paranoia, Rage, and the silver tongue of Kronos. He even got his domain of Time from our father. From Rhea he got her Kindness and protectiveness of his family." She told me, and I understood most of them, except one.
"Perseus is not paranoid," I stated, scowling, of all the words I would to describe Perseus. Paranoid was not one.
"OH but he is Artemis. Most don't know but he is paranoid of being betrayed. That's why he sacrificed everything he had ever wanted because of his family. He is afraid of loving someone, and paranoid that the person he loves would break his heart." She said, looking me straight in the eye. I understood her implications.
He had loved me despite his best judgment, and I fulfilled the only fear he had. I betrayed his trust. Hera soon left me alone to deal with my grief.
Perseus Pov
Speaking with Artemis, had all the anger and pain come rushing back to me. Millions of thoughts and memories were swarming through my mind. I had a few hours left before I would have to show up at Camp Half-Blood. So I decided to visit the one place where I could find solace right now.
So here I am, standing in front of Demi-Bar, it is owned by a partially immortal demigod son of Dionysus. I went in and found that it was only filled with a couple of people. Some satyrs disguised as humans. I went to the counter and sat.
"I had heard about you, didn't knew you were real." The kid on the counter said. He looked just like his father, hair so dark it almost looked purple.
"Sometimes I wish that I wasn't real." I replied.
"So what can I get for you, Lord Perseus?" The demigod asked politely. Doing his best job as a bartender and trying to converse with others.
"Get me something strong, Dionysus level," That was the highest level of drink I could order, that stuff made even the God of Wine feel doozy.
The kid looked at me funny for a time, then nodded. He got me the drink and I gulped it down in one swing. The special drink made me feel light headed in a few minutes.
"What ails you My Lord." He asked.
"Love, Regret, pain. Love that I once loved someone so much that her mere name used to give me butterflies. Regret that I loved someone that wasn't worth it at the time. Pain that the woman I loved felt the need to find love in some other man's arms." I closed my eyes, getting lost in the memories.
"What was she like, what made you fall for her?" The kid asked, and I blinked hard for focus. The alcohol was affecting me.
"She was a warrior like no other. I was born when the Titans ruled boy. They had no respect for women, same thing happened when the Gods started ruling. Women were worth nothing more than a trophy to most, but she was the defiler of such rules. She stroked fear in the hearts of many. She made herself respected even upon immortals, not because she was a Goddess, but because her way was just. Helping the maidens that weren't able to help themselves." I revealed what made me fall for her.
"You were married to Artemis? The virgin Goddess?" He asked, shocked that Artemis was ever married.
"Yes I was, and now we are divorced." I said, and he looked at me funny.
"What happened?" He asked, genuinely interested now.
"Life happened. You love someone, they don't reciprocate your feelings, usual stuff." I said paying my bill. I turned around and decided to leave. I felt that I saw someone with auburn hair, and silver eyes. I blamed it on the alcohol that I drank and flashed to the Greek Demigod Camp.
Line-break
I arrived at what seemed like a dining pavilion, if the plates and food laying around were any indication. Kids and nature spirits were gathered in a group watching someone argue.
"My mother is the Goddess of Wisdom. Of course I know better than you." A blonde girl, with gray eyes said. I immediately recognized her as a daughter of Athena from her eyes.
"And my father is the God of Medicine. I would know better about my own father's domain." A kid with blonde hair, and blue eyes replied. A son of Apollo I thought.
"Doesn't matter what your father's domain is, my mother is smarted and knows everything." The same girl with the gray eyes answered. I rolled my eyes at her, leave it to a daughter of Athena to have pride.
"You're wrong." I said, and they all turned towards me.
"Who the hell are you?" The daughter of Athena asked.
I ignored her and turned toward Chiron; the centaur was watching me with wide eyes. "Long time no see brother." I said and embraced him in a hug. The demigods gasped, hearing me call their instructor brother.
A demigod son of Athena gasped, "You're him aren't you? You are the firstborn son of Kronos and Rhea. You're Perseus- The Lost God." I turned to the boy and smiled. Happy that there are some who remain, that have heard of me. The rest of them were whispering among themselves. Trying to figure out if they had ever heard of me.
"You know your history young godling. What is your name?" I asked smiling.
"Malcolm Pace Lord Perseus." He replied, getting on his knee; the rest of them followed soon after.
"Rise warriors," I ordered, and they all rose to their feet.
I turned towards the girl from earlier, "Your mother is the Goddess of Wisdom, and battle strategy. Meaning that her strategy and plans are unrivaled, but that doesn't mean she is the only one smart. Even after all these years Athena still craves knowledge, while Apollo on the other hand is the God of Knowledge. Everything that happens under the sun, is known to him. He just isn't the one to make them come to use. They are the opposite side of the same coin. Understand?" I asked, and she nodded, and glared at me.
"Dick," she muttered, pouting at being proven wrong.
I raised my hands at her, "Hey don't get me wrong. I didn't say that to insult you or your mother. It was the truth, even the smartest of us could be proven wrong."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it." She grumbled, still pouting. Something that I found adorable.
I chuckled and she looked at me, "You're just like how your mother was, when she was born. I still remember the day clearly, Zeus was having the migraine of millennia. Poseidon and Hades were rolling at the ground and laughing at our brother's misfortune while our three sisters were worried to death. Then she finally emerged, in full battle regalia. I was the one who announced her domains. She used to throw a temper tantrum every time someone contradicted her. She too hates being proven wrong." I said, reminiscing about my niece's birth.
The children of Athena smiled at hearing about their mother. The girl from earlier had stopped pouting and was smiling herself.
"What is your name?" I asked, something about this girl, was special. She held a distinct aura of a warrior. She straightened herself, and held her chin higher.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." She answered.
"How long have you been here?" I asked her, hoping to get more information about her.
"I have been here since I was seven. I am fifteen now." She replied with a small voice, the way she parted with her father must have been horrible.
"So you have been stuck here for 8 years now? That must be horrible." I pushed her buttons. Knowing she would be frustrated living inside a border for nearly a decade.
"You have no idea how awful it is. I want to go out there and see the world, but Chiron won't allow it. I would love to see the buildings out there." She started rambling about architecture and something of sorts.
"How would you like to get out of here?" I asked.
"How?" She asked, genuinely interested. I think she was ready to go now.
"Simple, Join me on a quest." I said to her.
Hey guys, I thought about to add Thalia and Annabeth as Perseus' partners. I am personally a Percabeth shipper. And in fanfictions I love Pertemis, and Perlia