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One in particular, Artemis, at first she felt anger. That stupid sword was Perseus' most treasured possession. She had tried wielding it once before, and it had burned her. Like she wasn't worthy to wield it, and now it had accepted a demigod as its wielder. How was she worthier than her, Artemis didn't know. She was absolutely shocked that Perseus gave the sword to the demigod girl, and intentionally at that. Annabeth must have meant a lot to him to give up the sword.

She felt jealous when she saw him cradle her in his lap. Artemis wished it was her in that girl's place. She was particularly burning with jealousy, when she saw Perseus ask the girl for a date. She had never been on a date with him, and now the demigod girl was going on.
'Maybe I should offer her a place in the hunt' Artemis thought to herself, and smiled.

Artemis Pov

Father dismissed everyone and said to give Perseus privacy for the rest of the day. I flashed my self to my hunters' camp, but a goddess was already there. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was sitting at a log by the fire. The girls were eyeing her nervously; they were the opposite of each other. They reject love, while she appraises it.

"What are you doing here, Aphrodite?" I asked, her presence in my camp was surely unfortunate.

"Ah Artemis, I was just waiting for you. I would like to speak to you in private." She said, and my guard went up. I didn't trust her one bit, but I motioned for her to follow me to my tent, rushing so I could make her go away.

When we were inside my tent, she took a seat by the bed, while I sat on the bed myself. I looked at her to continue, her face turned serious in a matter of seconds, and she said, "Don't do it."

I frowned, I didn't know what she was talking about, and I don't like people restraining me from doing something. Staying calm, I asked her, "What are you talking about?"

"You are about to ask the daughter of Athena to join the ranks of your hunters. Don't do it." She said, and I was taken back. Anger coursed through me. How did she know of my plans, and who dared she think she was to tell me what to, or not to do?

"I will do what I wish to do, I won't listen to the likes of you Aphrodite. What makes you order me around. I am going to ask the daughter of Athena to be my hunter whether you like it or not. She's a powerful maiden, that bested Heracles. She would do well to follow me, and I will take no advice from a whore like you." I growled at her; there was no way I was going to let anyone stand in my way of getting Perseus back.

Aphrodite's body tensed, and an intense red aura surrounded her. I could feel the metals around the room melting a little, "Watch your mouth, when you speak to me girl. While I may not say or look much, I'm the oldest God alive. I may not have flashy powers like you, and your father, but don't forget. I was born from my father Ouranos' organ, and the water of Pontus. Two Primordial's essence runs through my veins, if I wanted to I could decimate you in my sleep. Show some respect, when I'm offering you the same." She growled at me, and I nearly fainted.

I had never, no one had ever seen Aphrodite this angry ever. I don't want to say it, but I'm afraid of her. The power she radiated was second only to Perseus; even my father Zeus wouldn't be a match to her in terms of power. I nodded timidly at her, to not anger her further.

"For the first time in two millennia, Perseus is finally feeling something for another woman. He is starting to love again, and if you take that away from him, he would never forgive you. So don't do something without thinking." Aphrodite said, standing up. "And don't make it seem a noble act to offer Annabeth to join your ranks, while your ulterior motive is to take out the competition for Perseus' affection." She said and flashed out.

I sat still, shocked, as I pondered over the love goddess' words.

Third Person Pov

Percy, Annabeth and Grover made their way out of the woods. They were hungry, and Annabeth wanted to eat outside, for the first time in years, so Perseus took them to a fast food joint. Annabeth and Grover were laughing, about how they had defeated a god, but Perseus kept silent. His eyes were distant, as he looked outside the windows, thinking about the war that was going to begin, and the people who were going to lose their lives.

Grover nudged Annabeth to look at Perseus. While Grover had become friends with the god, he wasn't close to him. Annabeth, on the other hand, had some sort of connection with him.
Annabeth looked at the god sitting in silence, and observed him. She couldn't believe that he was at least 8000 years old; he looked about her age. But his eyes betrayed him; they were heavy with burden, like the years had been hard for him. She had been on Olympus before, when Chiron took the cabin leaders for a tour. She had seen the entire council of gods. Yet they weren't nearly as dangerous as the god sitting in front of him.

The firstborn of Kronos and Rhea, was the most powerful being she had ever seen. With Perseus' blessing, she felt a deeper connection to him. Like his mood affected her, she could also see the golden aura surrounding him. It was deadly, to say the least, if he hadn't been concealing his aura; she believed wholeheartedly that the mortals in the room would choke from it.

He looked tired, like something was gnawing at his heart.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him with a smile, and Perseus couldn't help but smile back.

"Where do you want me to start?" Perseus chuckled humorlessly. Annabeth frowned; she didn't like this dull and sad side of him.

"Wherever do you want." She tried again, being comforting.

"When gods are born, they already possess intelligence, but get their domains later. I was in my father's stomach for more than half millennia, and I felt every second of it. I watched as 5 others of my siblings followed, that made me feel more pain, because I couldn't help them. When we were freed and defeated my bastard of a father. They offered me the kingship, but I refused. I never wanted power, so I made Zeus the king. For years, we siblings ruled, influenced the mortals. The gods were not always good, but we were far better than the Titans." Perseus said, and looked Annabeth in the eyes.

Annabeth gasped, there were tears forming in his eyes. She wasn't expecting him to feel so saddened that tears would flow from his eyes. She squeezed his hands, remaining silent, saying that it was okay.

"And now that I've returned I find out that the gods are worse than ever. Minor gods are turning against the council, because in their arrogance, the Olympians have ignored their pleas, and refused to give them respect. My brothers are worse than others, Hades and Zeus have killed, or tried to kill each other's children. They've ignored my most important rule, to never harm a child." Perseus said through gritted teeth. At the end of this the council was going to learn what his wrath was like, and why they should never harm a child.

"My biggest fear was that I would turn just like my father. That is the reason I despise power, because it turns even the purest of heart into bloodthirsty animals. However, it seems that my brother is starting to show the traits of being Kronos' son." Perseus said, as he laced his fingers in his hair. His body was shaking as he took deep breaths to control himself.

Annabeth couldn't do anything but look at him sadly. She didn't know what this kind of pain felt. The most pain she had felt was when Thalia had died, but as she looked at the god who had lost loved ones, lost the love of his life to someone else. The very beings he fought for all those millennia ago, were coming back to hurt his family once again. She couldn't comprehend what he must be feeling.

"I don't know what to say, but you have to believe that the future could get better Percy." Annabeth tried comforting him, which made him smile a little. That was a big win for Annabeth.

Percy chuckled and replied, "Well, if the world is ending, I would be glad to know that you were by my side."

Annabeth blushed, but nodded nonetheless.

Grover after seeing that Perseus was okay, decided to ask something he had picked up on, "Lord Perseus, you've said that your brothers killed or tried to kill each others children. Given that we know that Lord Hades has killed Thalia, who has the king of God tried to kill?"

Perseus cursed himself for giving away something he wasn't yet supposed to do. He also admired that Grover picked up on something that most couldn't.

"80 years ago Zeus tried to kill two children of Hades, but failed. The children were saved by Hades, and he has kept them in a hotel manned by Lotus Eaters." Perseus said, and both Grover and Annabeth frowned. Annabeth swore she had read about the Lotus eaters before, she gasped when the realization dawned on her.

"Wait the lotus eaters they were mentioned in odysseys, they are a group of individuals who indulge in pleasure and luxury, forgetting all their concern. Time also works differently around their lair." Annabeth said, widening Grover's eyes.

"Correct, the children of Hades currently are not fully conscious, and still alive. They think it has only been a week in there, while outside more than 80 years have passed." Perseus said to them with some anger. He didn't like the lotus eaters one bit, trapping people and keeping them away from their families was despicable.

"We have to do something about it," Grover shouted, standing up. That drew some unwanted attention from the other customers at the fast food joint. Perseus waived his hands and they went back to their food, with a smile on their faces.

"We are going to do something, we are going to shut down the lair of lotus eaters. But we cannot send the children to camp yet, the furies have already taken the kids out of the hotel, and are disguising them in the mortal world for the time being." Perseus' words confused them further.

"Why can't we take the children to camp now?" Annabeth asked frowning, the camp was the safest place for a half-blood. Why would Perseus not want them there?

"Because they are the children of one of the big three, they are not safe right now. First I would have to make Zeus see sense, then only can they reach camp." Perseus explained, and both of them nodded. They knew Zeus was paranoid, and if the children of Hades' existence were revealed, he would throw another hissy fit.

"So where do we go next to find the bolt?" Annabeth asked, when they finished their food and conversation. She looked around for transportation, when they got out of the food joint.

Perseus scratched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, "I forgot to tell you that the quest got more dangerous. Hades informed me that his helm was also stolen in the winter solstice, we have to look for that too."

Annabeth and Grover stopped dead in their tracks, at the sudden information. How could he forget something this big? Annabeth asked herself.

Grover gulped, "So that's two weapons of power of two big three stolen. The world is really coming to an end isn't it?" He asked as he felt dizzy. Don't blame him; satyrs are very prone to nervousness.

Perseus clapped his shoulder and said, "Yes it is, but at least you have the honor of dying by my side."

Annabeth laughed at Grover's expression and hit Percy in the arms, "Don't tease him."
Perseus too, laughed and winked at her, which caused her to blush.

"So where are we going now?" Annabeth asked, as she thought about where they could go next.

"Vegas, it's time the lotus eaters find something else to put on their resume." Perseus said, glancing at her sideways.

"So where is our ride?" Grover asked him, as he looked around for any public transport. He couldn't see one.

"That will do just fine." Perseus said, pointing to a truck on the opposite side of the road.
Annabeth and Grover followed his direction and looked at the bus, the god had graciously chosen for them. They read the name and turned to look at him incredulously.

KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT.

WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

So another chapter is done. I'm excited about Perseus and his companions shutting down the lotus casino

The update was a little late, because I was having fun writing The Hunt's Guardian.
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