A/N
I feel elated that my story has crossed the 400 follows mark . This means a lot to me. And it is thanks to all of you that this happened. You are an awesome set of readers.
Sorry for this delay. I have no other excuse other than the fact that I have become completely hooked to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. So, I spent the time that I usually give writing, watching the amazing series. (By the way, Joey Tribbiani is and will remain my favorite character.) Comment me your reviews of the show. But please do not give spoilers. XD
Moreover, I see that there is confusion regarding the age where Percy gets his immortality. You see, Odin may be able to see the future, but even his ability can see only so far. So, he believes that after the war against Kronos is over, Percy should get his immortality back. So, he places a spell on his grandson that he will turn immortal when he turns 16. This is what I wrote in the first chapter.
But, the Fates know that without Percy, defeating the earth mother is practically impossible. So, they remove Odin's spell and place a spell of their own that Percy will turn immortal when he turns 18, so that by the time, the war against Gaia is over. Now I know that Odin is one of the strongest beings, but even he is powerless before the three old ladies with mean cudgels.
Also, let me assure you. In this story, Percy is going to be a badass. He won't be taking anyone's shit. The only reason he is wary of Artemis right now is because he doesn't know his true power. Also, won't you be scared if a thousand year old teenager held you at knife point?
Yeah, thought so. So, please bear with me. Eventually, Percy is gonna show everyone why they shouldn't mess with him.
I'll give you a hint about how I will show this. It is an event I will show during the first quest. Keep thinking about it. And review it. Will give me even more ideas to proceed the story. XD
I hope you understood this and there are no queries about this in the future.
Also, what is a beta reader? I was just checking the app when I saw it. If anyone would be kind enough to explain about it, I would really appreciate it.
Please comment any suggestions or criticism that you find in this story. It really helps me improve my writing. I have tried my best to proofread this story, but in the end, I am a human. Also, f* this auto correct. I try typing dick and it turns to duck. F* turns to fuss.
Anyways, onward with the story.
Last time:
Looking up, I saw Chloe laughing at me. Seeing her laugh made my heart warm.
My heart burst with joy when I felt the sibling relation start forming between us. That's when I vowed that I would protect my niece to the best that I can.
Using the water to propel myself, I landed beside Chloe. Seeing that she was still sweating, I placed a hand on her shoulder and willed the sweat to dry off.
She seemed surprised, but gave me a nod of appreciation. I nodded back and we started walking back to the hunters camp, talking and laughing all the way back.
By the time I got back to my tent, I was extremely tired. I changed to my pajamas and removed my shirt.
As I was about to drift to sleep, I thought,
"Maybe my time with the hunters won't be so bad after all. Well, let's at least wish it won't be. Though I will have to find out what Zoë's problem really is. I haven't personally offended her, yet she seems to want to make my life a living hell."
"Huh. Let's worry about this tomorrow."
Present time:
Percy POV
The next few days went awesome. The hunt was good to me. They treated me like their brother. They also gave me great gifts and not once did they prank me. Life was awesome. Not even Elysium could beat this.
Oh. Who am I kidding? Truthfully, staying with the hunt was even worse than being inside the Leviathan's stomach. The hunters continuously gave me the cold shoulder. Not that I minded, because I had Ikol to talk to.
But the pranks that they played on me made my life a living hell. Here, let me show you guys my schedule in the hunt.
-Wake up in the morning.
-Get pranked.
-Eat breakfast
-Get pranked
-Wash the Hunter's clothes
-Get pranked
-Cook dinner for the hunters
-Get pranked
Yeah. Currently, being me really sucked.
But as the intensity of the pranks increased, the level of my toleration decreased. Then came the day that I finally lost my cool .
It was a Sunday. I woke up at six in the morning as of habit. Yeah. I woke up on my own. Blame Aphros for that. The great ichthyocentaur believes that early morning learning is the best type of learning. So, he would take my lessons at sharp six thirty in the morning.
Getting out of bed, I stretched my arms for a bit before brushing my teeth. Taking a shower, I used my powers to dry myself. Walking towards my dresser, I grabbed a workout shirt and a pair of shorts and exited my tent.
After taking in a few breaths of the refreshing air, I looked around to see if anyone was awake. To my surprise, not a soul was visible in sight. Guess the hunters weren't really morning people. Shrugging my shoulders, I got into a ready position before sprinting towards the lake at my top speed. I reached the lake and saw two naiads sparking to each other.
As soon as they took notice of me, they immediately stopped speaking and bowed to me. I nodded my head and gave them a small smile before moving towards the water. The naiads smiled shyly and dived into the water, dissolving into it.
Shaking my head to clear it, I sat on the edge of the lake in Indian position and started to meditate. Meditation was something that really, really helped me gather my thoughts.
Being adopted, although I didn't have dyslexia, but my ADHD, unfortunately was even more severe than that of a normal demigod. The reason behind this was not known even by my father, but I believed that it was due to my parentage. But even though this high level of ADHD gave me insane level reflexes, it also didn't help my thinking process that much.
What? You think any person in his right mind will go fight a monster that even the eldest Olympians are afraid of ? Yeah. I don't even remember what I was thinking when I went off defying my father's orders and fought Leviathan.
After about half hour of gathering my thoughts together, I slowly rose from my meditation position and walked into the water. Once I was waist deep into the water, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the water around me. Concentrating on my senses, I tried to expand them as far as possible until I could feel all the movements the water caused. The tiny ripples of the waves crashing against the edge, the vibrations caused by the small fish in the sea.
After about two minutes, I was able to slowly expand my senses all the way to the Hunter's camp. I could sense the Hunter's water signature as they slept in their tents. The only tent I couldn't enter using my senses was the one where Lady Artemis was sleeping in. Well, that should have been expected. Being an Olympian goddess, she obviously had some way to ward off the senses and powers of other beings.
Resting my senses, I opened my eyes and decided to practice my water manipulation abilities. I uncapped Riptide, turning the ball point pen into the majestic celestial bronze xiphos. I called the water to do my bidding.
I wrapped the water around riptide, turning it as sharp as I could. The reason behind this was to increase the weight of the sword. Even though my hand movements were fast, I couldn't quite cope with a heavy sword yet. I was too weak for it. So, to had devised this way of training. I would keep coating my sword in layers of water to increase it's weight, till I couldn't lift the sword anymore.
While I was doing so, I failed to notice the appearance of five figures near the river. I heard the familiar sound of a bow being drawn and a 'thung' that signalled the release of an arrow. Out of instinct, I tilted my head backwards, only tilting as much as required to dodge the arrow.
The next moment, five water swords were resting at the throats of five terrified hunters. I could hear the five girls gulp. This caused a feral grin to spread across my face. Time to show the hunters why they shouldn't have messed with me.
Zoë POV
The moment I exited my tent in the morning, a sudden feeling of fear filled my heart. The reason being that five of my fellow Hunters were standing in front of Perseus's tent, with identical evil smirks on their faces. The leader in the group was Phoebe, the daughter of that vile war god.
The other hunters were Atlanta and Sophia, twin daughters of Apollo; Jamie, daughter of
Eris; and Emma, daughter of Victoria. ( The Roman form of Nike)
It was Atlanta that spoke first, saying, "I can't feel his life signal in the tent. Oh wait. I can feel it from the lake. Let's head there."
The other four hunters glanced at the tent for a few seconds, before nodding their heads. The five girls grabbed their bows and quivers before heading towards the lake. I had a really bad feeling about this. A sinking feeling in my gut suggested that the girls were planning something against Percy. The grin on Phoebe's face was one that could have even made her father nervous, and believe me, that in itself is an almost impossible task.
Pondering over the best course of action to undertake, I locked onto the idea of informing Lady Artemis. I know that me being the lieutenant, I can order the hunters, but they had already dashed off towards the lake.
Marching towards Lady Artemis' tent, I called for her, "Milady artemis, prithee cometh out f'r a second. I needeth thy assistance."
( Milady Artemis, please come out for a second. I need your assistance. )
In less than ten seconds, the flap of the tent opened and out stepped the goddess of the Hunt. Her eyes had a cold look that warmed up when she saw me. "Good morning, my dear Zoë."
I bowed my head to her in a respectful manner and spoke, "Good morning to thou as well, milady."
Nodding her head, she questioned, "What do you need my assistance for, Zoë?"
"Milady, i did see five of our hunteth'rs moving towards the lake with their bows. By the expressions on their faces, i couldst bid yond those gents w're up to something. I eke has't a humour yond this is did relate to p'rseus"
( I saw five of our hunters moving towards the lake with their bows. By the expressions on their faces, I could tell that they were up to something. I also have a feeling that this is related to Perseus.)
Lady Artemis seemed surprised at this and spoke ,"Why are you so worried about the boy, Zoë? I don't think the hunters will hurt him that bad. Maybe shoot him with an arrow or two."
I met her eyes with a serious gaze and replied, "I am not w'rri'd about the knave, milady. I am w'rri'd about the hunteth'rs. Doth not f'rget, p'rcy did beat ten cyclopes without coequal breaking a did sweat. "
( I am not worried about the boy, milady. I am worried about the hunters. Do not forget, Percy beat ten cyclopes without even breaking a sweat.)
She raised an eyebrow at the fact that I addressed the boy by his nickname, but didn't voice anything. My face flushed at the indication that her actions held and I frantically tried to divert her attention. "Shalt we moveth, milady?"
( Shall we move, milady?)
She nodded again and took off towards the lake. I followed her close behind. We reached the lake to find an astounding sight. Percy was standing waist deep in the water,
with riptide in his hands. The sword still reminded me of that vile male minor god, but it also caused a longing inside my heart. Afterall, it was infused with a part of my essence.
It took me a large amount of self control to not march of there and grab hold of my sword. Sensing my inner turmoil, Lady Artemis placed a calming, but firm hand on my shoulder. She met my eyes and nodded in understanding and sympathy, before shaking her head, signalling that it wasn't the right course of action right now.
I nodded back to her and returned my attention to Percy. What? He had asked this as a return for his gift that I call him Percy. It's not like I am fond of his entrancing blue eyes that I want to get lost in, or the messy black hair that I want to play with.
Wait. What the actual fuck? I am not supposed to be thinking this. I am a hunter of Artemis. Not just a hunter, but her freaking lieutenant. Also, I can't be attracted to any male after what that vile son of Zeus did to me. Men are vile, disgusting cheating pigs. Even Percy will turn out to be the same.
Turning back my attention to Percy, I saw him adding layers of water to the sword and practicing with it. He kept doing so for about ten minutes till he couldn't even pick the sword up, it had become so heavy.
Turning to the side, I saw Lady Artemis staring at the son of Poseidon with a hint of appreciation in her silver eyes. Even though Lady Artemis hated men with vigor, she still respected some males for their talent.
But that list was very small. You could literally count the number of men she admired on your fingers. The other male warriors that lady Artemis appreciated were the original Perseus and Achilles. Also Prince Hector of Troy.
Perseus, because he was virtuous, Achilles for his battle prowess and Hector for his love towards his family and also his bravery for fighting Achilles even though he knew he would die.
She had admired Orion's hunting skills, but she was sick of his personality, which was boastful and short tempered. So, I couldn't really count him in the list.
This was literally the fourth time Lady Artemis had given a male a look of appreciation in her immortal life.
This was when we heard the 'thung' sound of an arrow being fired nearby. Before I knew it, an arrow, fired from Phoebe's bow, was moving at an awe-inspiring speed towards the son of Poseidon, who still had his eyes closed in concentration.
At the exact same time, Perseus lost his concentration and leaned his head backwards almost negligibly, but it was just enough to dodge the arrow that would have hit him in the head.
The next moment, five swords made of water were resting at the throats of the five hunters. All this had happened within a blink of an eye, giving the hunters absolutely no time to counter react.
I could hear the five girls gulp loudly. Artemis on the other hand, was keenly studying Perseus. I tugged her arm nervously when I saw the feral grin that Percy had got on his face. "Shouldn't we interf're?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "I had informed the girls that they were to leave the boy alone. Only of he bothered them would they be allowed to hurt him. Those five girls have brought this upon themselves. So let them suffer the consequences. Do not worry, my lieutenant, for if it does go out of hand; I will interfere."
I could only nod in agreement to her sentence. As much as I hated it, the hunters were at fault for this. But I was still shocked by Artemis' reply. Not that it was bad, but she was usually biased when it came to her hunters. Even when Orion stayed with the hunt, she never punished us even if we played fatal pranks on the demigod son of Poseidon.
But I let it slide. Thinking about this was not going to get me anywhere. Sighing, I nodded my head in agreement and turned my attention back to the scene in front of us.
Percy used the water to propel him onto the land near the Hunters. He landed in a position with his right palm on the ground in a fist and the other palm facing the air. His right knee was planted on the ground and his left knee was in a crouching position. (Anyone figure out whose landing I have taken this from? XD)
Riptide was resting in his left hand. He got up slowly. His eyes never left the hunters. Slowly, he started to walk towards the girls. He seemed calm, but his eyes told another story. His normally royal blue eyes had turned to blazing blue hurricanes that swirled with his raw power.
The raw power that he was emitting now was almost equal to the power that Heracles emitted in his peak years as a demigod. This was considered impossible in itself.
He casually strolled towards Phoebe and spoke, "Can I know the reason for being shot at by your arrow?" He asked the question politely, but you could sense the hidden growl in his words. His tone was cold, almost as cold as Lady Artemis' when she got really mad.
Phoebe forgot about her predicament for a moment and she spat out, "Do you need any other reason than you being a disgusting, deceitful male? Well, if you want one, here it is. We had a son of Poseidon in the hunt before. Look at how it turned out. So, naturally, you are going to turn out just like him. A rapist. That is why, I decided to get rid of you for the better."
The water swords dissipated and the hunters gave Small sighs of relief. Confused, I turned to see Perseus. The moment I did so, I regretted it. His eyes weren't normal anymore. They had turned into snake slits.
It was so fearsome, that even I couldn't help but give out a shiver. Beside me, I could feel even Lady Artemis freeze on the spot. His eyes were similar to that of Landon's.
But the thing that I found impossible was that they had a glint in them that even Ladon didn't have. Just what was this boy hiding?
Who really are you, Perseus?
A/N
Haha. I ain't that cruel to take so much time and write so less.
Here you go.
Artemis POV
The moment the water swords dissipated, I knew that something was wrong. My prediction was proven right as I saw the hunters freeze as if paralyzed. Beside me, I could feel Zoë give a shiver as she looked at Percy.
The moment I looked into his eyes, it scared me to no end. His eyes had turned to snake slits. The eyes were terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. I know that if I weren't an immortal with vast reserves of power, even I would have been affected by it like my hunters, who seemed to have paralyzed.
That is when I felt the aura. In the whole week that he had been here, I had not been able to sense even a single ounce of his aura. But now, he was emitting his entire aura.
I am ashamed to admit this, but it was suffocating for me. Me, an Olympian goddess was being suffocated by the aura of a demigod. And the worst thing was that his aura was only as strong as a minor god. The reason I was suffocating was because of the fear that his eyes were striking inside of me.
Also, these weren't the eyes of a normal snake. They held an aura of authority and power that demanded respect and subservience. And if they were not provided it, they promised pain and suffering.
I felt a voice speak in my mind. "Holy Jupiter. That power. From such a small child. You have got to get close to him. If you don't do it, I surely will."
I groaned in annoyance and shot back at it.
"Oh come on, Diana. Just because the kid has incredible talent and raw power, doesn't mean I have to get close to him. You and your stupid Roman ways. Ughh."
Diana gave out a loud hmphh. But she spoke back, "Come on Artemis. You do know that powerful people make good leaders and lovers. And you are in desperate need of losing that pesky virginity of ours. He seems like the perfect male to me. Come on, admit it. You are attracted to him. At least a little bit?"
"No . I am not attracted to him. " I deadpanned. But even then, I wasn't really sure. But it could also be because Diana's feelings were influencing me. Afterall, she seemed to be smitten to the boy. Shaking my head to clear it of this blasphemy, I turned my attention back to the scene before me.
Within the blink of an eye, Percy was standing right in front of Phoebe. Now, I have never really seen Phoebe scared of anything, but the girlish eeep that she gave out was a proof of how shirtlessly scared she was.
The son of Poseidon stared right into her eyes, causing Phoebe to sweat profusely.
Then in an extremely cold voice, he spoke,
"Answer one question of mine, Phoebe daughter of Ares. Have I tried to take advantage of any hunter yet? Oh wait. Better yet, have I even spoken to any hunter when it was unnecessary?"
Unable to speak because of the fear, Phoebe just weakly shook her head in negative.
Perseus nodded his head in satisfaction and spoke further, "Also, have I tried to disrespect you or even do something to anger you, that is speaking other than the fact that I am a male?"
Again, Phoebe shook her head no. She seemed to be ready to faint at any moment now.
Perseus was silent for a few moments. He closed his eyes and kept them such for a few moments. Just as the girls were starting to relax, the son of Poseidon snapped his eyes open and roared in a loud voice, "Then what the actual fuck is your problem? I have been nothing but tolerant and respectful towards you and your sisters since I am staying here.
But you take undue advantage of this situation. You prank and torture me just because of the fact that I have a dick. And then you think that you have done something good. Oh how wrong you are. "
He took a moment to breath to calm down a little. But it did not have any effect as when he glanced back at Phoebe, his temper again flamed. "You are wrong. Just because I am a male doesn't mean I am a liar and a rapist.
There are decent males present outside there in the world. For your information, my mother, the queen of the seas has herself raised me to be an honourable and righteous person. So, by insulting me, you are indirectly insulting the queen of the seas. So, the next time, think before you perform any action. And you know what, judging me doesn't make you great. It just makes you judgmental and psycho bitc..."
He composed himself before he said the last word. But he continued, now in a much calmer voice. But it still held the coldness that it had before. "I truly respect what you hunters do for girls who have been abandoned by their families or hurt by some males. But the actions of some males do not give you the right to brand each and every male as a pig. The only reason I took your pranks wordlessly was because I respected you. But now, I won't take it any further. Let us make a wager, daughter of war. I challenge the hunters to a spar. I will spar against any three of your best hunters today. If you win even one of the spars, you can prank me however much you want and I won't complain. But of you lose, you have to leave me alone. I don't expect you to warm up to me. But you can at least lay off me. So, do we have ourselves a deal?"
He raised an eyebrow at Phoebe. His eyes had by now come back to normal. Phoebe seemed to contemplate the wager and eventually nodded. The boy nodded back and spoke, "Today at four in the evening. Do not be late."
The hunters nodded and turned around to leave the area. They were so shaken up the the previous events, they didn't even notice me and Zoë when they passed the tree where we were standing.
Sensing the opponents gone, Perseus calmly turn towards us and bowed his head. "Hello lady Artemis. What brings you here?"
"How did you know I was standing here, Perseus?" I asked with genuine curiosity. We, as gods could detect a person's position and presence. But, demigods didn't have the ability to do so.
He shrugged his shoulders before answering, "I used the moisture to detect any presences nearby. I sensed two bodies near me. One body radiated as much power as a really strong demigod, while the other seemed like a powerhouse. So, I figured that it was you and Miss Nightshade."
Nodding at his explanation, I asked, "Do you really think it is wise to challenge three of my hunters to a duel? All my hunters are older than you and more experienced. So, do you really think you can win? Because I don't think so."
He shrugged again and spoke, "Oh I don't think I will win. I know I am going to win. I have already hurt their egos hard. So, they will try to humiliate me today. I will use their anger against them. Speaking of which, I have a challenge for Lady Nightshade."
He turned to Zoë, who seemed to be surprised that he had some challenge for her. While the other hunters enjoyed pranking Percy, Zoë usually refrained from doing so. She said that she owes it to him for saving her life.
Zoë glanced at him suspiciously. He seemed to get her hidden worries because he immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"Relax. It is nothing major. I know that you are the strongest and best fighter amongst the Hunters. So, it is obvious that you will be one of my three opponents. So, I propose a challene. If you manage to beat me, you can have the whole week off from kitchen duty. I will take care of it on my own. But of you lose," He stopped to give a dramatic effect. Well, he surely inherited his theatrics from his adoptive father.
"If you lose, you have to learn modern English. And, I will be your teacher." He proposed. Zoë seemed to contemplate this option. She had an indifferent expression on her face, but I could tell that she had already made her decision. And it was positive.
The reason was that the situation was a win to win one for Zoë. If she won, she would be free of her duty for a week. But if she lost, she could learn modern English. None of my hunters were willing to teach her because they were too scared of her.
So, I was not a bit surprised when she nodded her head, accepting the offer. An ear splitting grin spread on Percy's face. Funny how ten minutes ago, he was so scary and angry that even I was scared. And now he was like a five year old in a candy store.
This boy surely did confuse me. Ughhhhh. What are you doing, Perseus? Not even a week and you have already impressed my Roman counterpart.
I was snapped out of it when Perseus turned to me and spoke, "If this is all, I shall get going, milady. I need to complete my chores before the fight."
I nodded and waved my hand in a dismissed motion. He turned around and started jogging towards the camp. I turned to Zoë and spoke, "Well, that went better than we expected. No violence at all."
She nodded again. But I noticed that she seemed to be lost in a stupor. Following her line of sight, I saw that she was staring at Perseus's retreating figure. Huh. That's weird.
I dismissed the thought, maybe she was thinking about how to defeat him. Yes. That's what it must be. Zoë is the most devoted man-hater after me. There is no way she will fall for a man.
"Oh really? Well, I bet ten drachmas that Zoë falls for the strong, sexy and charming son of Poseidon." Diana spoke in my mind. I could feel her attraction towards the son of Poseidon growing.
Groaning loudly, I shot back, "Shut up, Di. Nothing like that is going to happen. And what happened to you? You have never acted like this before. Does Aphrodite or Venus have anything to do with it?"
I asked suspiciously.
Diana spoke back, "No. Even you know that I hate the bitch of a love goddess as much as you do. Also, remember, she has sworn an oath on the Styx that she won't influence the lives of us or our hunters? But really though, you really don't feel anything about the son of Poseidon?"
I didn't have any counter for that. Diana was right. The council had made Aphrodite swear on the river Styx that she wouldn't influence my or my Hunter's lives. But for the second part, I replied with, "No, for the last time. I don't feel any attraction to his beautiful royal blue eyes that I want to stare at."
It was too late before I realized my slip. I could hear Diana giggle in my head. "Yeah. You can hide it, you can deny it. But it is the truth. You are attracted to the little prince of Atlantis."
Deciding that arguing with Diana was of no use, I sighed and turned our connection off. Then, I flashed off to my camp.
Once there, I could see that my hunters were glancing at Percy with wary looks. The son of Poseidon, on the other hand was happily laughing with Chloe while making breakfast for the hunters.
I may not admit it in public, but his words had hit me hard. Was I really such a bitch?
Had my hate for the disgusting men turned into simple prejudice to the whole male community. Unlike some other Olympians, (cough, father, cough) I was willing to change my wrong ways. For that matter, I admired my aunt Hestia and uncle Poseidon.
Aunt Hestia had never done anything wrong in her immortal life. And as for Lord Poseidon, he used to cheat on Amphitrite. But since the last three hundred or so years, he had stayed completely faithful with his wife.
Here, I decided that I would give Perseus a chance to prove himself. Till now, he had done nothing to anger me. Sure, he had his flaws, but he sure knew how to control them. He may not be completely obedient and openly expressed his opposition to even me, but he had never challenged me directly or insulted me or my Hunters.
If was only fair if I gave him a chance.
Deciding so, I grabbed my bow and headed to the archery range for some practice.
Truthfully, I was sure that he could beat Phoebe and Emma, but I wasn't sure about his fight with Zoë.
Zoë may have been disowned by Atlas, but she still possessed the ultimate strength and endurance that she had inherited from the Titan General. So, she was even a tough match for me. I doubted Perseus's chances against my lieutenant. Hmm. It would be an interesting match.
Time skip
Percy POV
I was heading towards the Hunter's training ground for my duel with the three hunters.
I was not at all worried of the other two hunters. The only one I was wary of was Zoë. I did not know about her heritage, just that she wasn't a complete mortal. I had felt the slight aura of immortality from her. It was as if her immortality had been stripped from her.
Shaking my head, I cleared it of it's thoughts and started to stretch my arms and warm up for the upcoming duels. I had decided that I wouldn't be using riptide as it would hurt Zoë. Even if she was cold to me, she was the only hunter other than Chloe who even bothered to speak to me. I didn't want to anger her.
So, I was going to use one of my twin imperial gold gladiī and also shield hurricane. As I reached the arena, I saw that the whole hunt had gathered there for the duel. As I had expected, Zoë, Phoebe and Emma, the daughter of Victoria were standing inside the duel arena that had been marked by the hunters.
Lady Artemis was sitting in a chair that had been placed beside the arena. The hunters were seated beside their mistress. All of them leave Chloe were glaring at me. I pointedly chose to ignore these glares.
But I did notice that the glares from the five hunters that had tried to injure me in the morning were not complete. Their eyes held fear towards me. This gave me a sense of satisfaction. The satisfaction that you get when you know your opponent is scared of you.
I entered the arena and twisted one of the rings on my fingers. It glowed golden for a second before it morphed into a beautiful Roman gladius. Next, I twisted the ring on my left hand index finger. It glowed similarly, but in a sea-green color. It elongated to form a blue coloured shield made of Atlantean silver. My shield- hurricane.
I could now see that even Zoë Nightshade was a bit intimidated by my weaponry.
Lady Artemis stood up and walked inside the arena.
I bowed before her and so did the hunters. She had now released her complete aura of power, which was weighing down on us as of now. "Welcome hunters. Today, we shall experience a duel between the three of our best hunters and Perseus. The conditions that have been set up by both the parties is that shall Perseus defeat the three huntresses, the hunt will not be allowed to prank him for the rest of his stay. But shall he lose to any of his three opponents, the hunt is free to prank him and treat him as such."
The crowd seemed to be excited at the prospect of pranking me and making me do their chores. They were completely confident that I would not last against their lieutenant.
Then, lady Artemis turned to us. "The first fight shall be between Perseus, adopted son of Poseidon; and Emma, daughter of Victoria."
Zoë and Phoebe stepped out of the arena and Emma took out her bow and quiver.
Seeing that we were ready, lady Artemis announced, "I shall be the referee for this fight. No usage of powers. This will be a duel based on purely battle prowess. No killing or maiming is allowed in the battle. The first one to surrender or fall unconscious loses. To my left, stands Emma, daughter of Victoria." There was a large cheer for their sister by the hunters.
"To my right, stands Perseus, adopted son of Poseidon and Amphitrite." Not a soul made any noise except for Chloe who gave me a small round of applause. I smiled back at her.
"Let the fight commence." Saying so, Lady Artemis flashed away to her seat outside the arena.
Not wasting a moment, I took my battle stance that I had learnt from Bythos. It was a traditional Atlantean stance that could act as both an offensive one and a defensive one.
Emma decided to make the first move. She notched an arrow and let it fly towards my head. I could tell that this was not her full strength. She was just trying to test my reflexes. Without even raising my sword, I just bent backwards, allowing the arrow to pass from above my head.
As I looked back up, two similar arrows were coming my way. I used my shield to block one, while I deflected the other one with my sword.
I knew that if I needed to take away her advantage of range, I needed to get closer to her. By doing so, I could force her to drop her bow and use a close range weapon, which is what I specialized in.
Thus, I raised my shield in front of my body and dashed forward. Most of the arrows that she sent my way were blocked my way. The few that did come my way, I deflected or cut with my gladius.
Soon, I was standing within three metres from her. Seeing no other option, she threw away her bow and drew out a pair of hunting knives. Smirking, I willed my shield to turn back into a ring.
I pulled out one of my throwing knives and git ready to face her. It was two hunting knives against a throwing knife and a gladius.
To be honest, she was good. She was really, really good. But alas, not to brag, but I was in a level of my own. Even her nearly excellent reflexes and battle prowess were nowhere near mine. She may be more experienced than me, but I had been trained by the best to become the best.
I had her disarmed in two minutes with my gladius at her throat and throwing knife at her stomach. She glared at me, but couldn't bring the intimidating factor into it. Must be the fact that she knew she had lost.
Before long, she sighed heavily and raised her arms in surrender. "I accept defeat. You are good, boy. Exceptionally good for a male, I will give you that." She spoke with a hint of appreciation and respect.
I nodded and threw her hunting knives back at her. She caught them and walked out of the arena. The hunt had been stunned into silence. I had just defeated their third best fighter within five minutes.
"Lady Artemis walked into the arena and spoke, "The first duel has been completed. Perseus has beaten Emma. Now we shall have the fight between Perseus and Phoebe."
Phoebe walked into the arena with a spear in her hand. She also had a pair of hunting knives strapped to her ankles. She would have looked intimidating to me if I couldn't sense the worry in her blazing, brown eyes.
"Let the duel commence." Saying so, Lady Artemis again flashed out of the arena. Phoebe didn't waste even a second as she rushed at me with her spear. I had decided to use my gladius and throwing knife.
I dashed forward to meet her charge. We met Midway as my gladius deflected her spear stab. She immediately swung her spear, hitting me in the face with the back of her weapon.
Taken by surprise, I staggered back a few steps as a little blood leaked out of my mouth. The hunters cheered loudly for their sister.
Being a daughter of war, Phoebe couldn't help but taunt me. "Huh. Wonder how a weakling like you defeated the Leviathan. Be prepared to taste the spear of this daughter of Ares, pig."
This angered me. Not only did she call me a pig, but also questioned my first kill. Time to show her who the boss is. I slowly placed my throwing knife back into it's sheath.
I held my blade with both my hands and dashed forward. Once I got near, she tried to stab my thigh. Anticipating her move, I jumped as high as I could. Her spear hit the ground.
Using both my hands, I raised my sword high above my head and mustered all the power that I could. Using all this power, I brought down my sword. Her spear was cut into half like butter.
She staggered back in shock, holding her now broken spear. There was pin drop silence across the arena. No demigod, however powerful he may be, was capable of breaking celestial bronze in one hit. Not even Hercules ( obviously when he was a demigod).
Artemis herself was staring wide eyed at me. But I was too out of it to even care. I just raised my eyebrows at Phoebe. This seemed to jolt her out of her stupor. She threw away the broken spear and unsheathed her hunting knives.
She got into a battle stance and I waved my hand at her, beckoning her. Overcome by rage, she charged me at the top of her speed.
Yeah. I would like to say that the fight was tough. I almost lost to her. But alas, this time's outcome was similar to my first fight.
In seven minutes, I was standing before Phoebe with my gladius at her throat and her own hunting knife at her stomach.
Now I really don't know who gave her the idea, but she tried to glare at me with all her hatred. Maybe she thought that I would drop my weapons out of fear. Whatever the case, although the glare was definitely terrifying, I was used to much worse. (You definitely don't want to be on the business end of Sally's glare.)
I decided to have some fun of my own. I closed my eyes for a millisecond and opened it immediately. The only difference, now my eyes were snake slits. I glared at her with this eyes as she immediately went stiff.
"Dude. I think you broke her. Good one, by the way. Your father had a similar glare that could affect everyone but his father." Ikol spoke in my mind.
This definitely took me by shock. "Didn't I tell you to not speak during my match?"
I asked mentally, not at all bothering to keep my irritation from showing.
"Cool down, buddy. No need to be such a dick about this. Also, like you, I don't have a super hot goddess and her lieutenant to flirt with. You are the only one I can speak to." This reply of his made me almost lose my hold on my sword.
"You know what? That doesn't even make sense. Actually...just fuck off, dude. And this is not over. We are going to have a full blown argument about this after my duel, okay?" I asked him mentally. I received a mental nod and some gibberish from him before he switched off the link between us.
Phoebe was shivering by this time. I looked around to see why no one was stopping me.
What I saw me left me awestruck. Each and every hunter had turned pale just at the sight of my eyes. It was like I was Medusa. Even Artemis' usually creamy skin had turned pale.
I closed my eyes and turned them back to normal. This seemed to snap the hunters out of it. Phoebe's eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted out of fear. Lady Artemis tried to speak something, but failed miserably as she could only squeak out some gibberish.
She cleared her throat and spoke, "This fight has been won by Perseus. Now for the final fight, Perseus will be fighting our lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade." I noticed that Artemis did not mention Zoë's parentage. Huh. She must really not like her parents.
Zoë nodded at her mistress and entered the arena. She had similar weapons to Emma. A bow and two hunting knives.
We took our positions and Lady Artemis spoke, "Let the duel commence". And flashed out.
Zoë was the first to attack. She fired an arrow at me with speeds that Emma, or any other Hunter couldn't even dream to achieve. This left me thinking about the strength that she possessed if she could fire am arrow so fast.
Now let me tell you. Zoë had a really slim figure. Not going to deny it. Her hourglass figure was drool-worthy. Her body did support muscles, but it did not show her super strength. Heck. If you saw her at a supermarket, you would ask her if she needed any help picking her stuff.
Fuck you ADHD. This pondering of mine almost got me hit by one of Zoë's arrows.
I knew that even though my shield may protect me from this, it would definitely cause jolts to run across my arm. So, I needed to deflect the arrows. I unsheathed my throwing knife and started using it to deflect the arrows.
Another thing that Zoë had an advantage over me in, she was insanely fast and flexible. Whenever I managed to get near her, she would either run and put some distance between us, or skillfully dodge my attacks and counter with her arrows, forcing me on defense.
I was starting to get frustrated of this. Blame my extra ADHD. Sigh. I needed to end this. I needed to end this fast.
Hmm. I had three more knives on my belt.
Yeah. Definitely worth the shot. I waited for her to fire an arrow. I used my gladius to deflect the arrow and immediately threw my throwing knife at her bow.
Oh fuck. No. It was supposed to hit her bow and break it. But she had to show her reflexes and dodge my knife. Before she could notch another arrow, I threw two knives at a time at her bow. But she freaking dodged both the knives. Now was my last chance.
Wait a second. I drew out the last knife and threw it in her direction. She moved herself and her bow out of it's direction at the last second. Seeing that I was out of knives, she smirked. "Looks like you are out of them, Percy. Now prepare to lose."
I returned her smirk and spoke, "Hmm. Maybe I am out of them, but...so are you."
Saying so, I lunged at her, bringing down my sword. But my intention was never to hit her. She jumped away just like she had been doing before.
She stopped for a second and checked her ankles for her knives. Sure they were there.
Smirking, I spoke, "Well, who said anything about knives?"
Shocked, she turned around to see her quiver missing. I smirked and jumped forward. Grabbing the quiver that had fallen to the ground, I threw it outside the arena, where she couldn't get it back before admitting defeat or winning.
Groaning in frustration, she pulled out the twin hunting knives. But before she attacked, she immediately grabbed something that was hidden beside her waist and threw it at me. It grazed my shoulder as I just managed to dodge it.
Cursing, I saw that it was the hunting knife that I had given her. Ignoring the pain caused by the knife made of Leviathan's nail, I charged forward. She met my strike with her knives.
My sword clashed into her twin knives and a 'clang' resonated through the weapons. This was followed by a blue of slashes and stabs from her knives that I managed to dodge using my gladius.
I knew that I was at a disadvantage if I used only one weapon. So, I summoned my other gladius. Now it was twin imperial gold gladiī to twin Olympian silver knives.
My skills may have outclassed her by some margin, but her insane strength more than covered up for it. Each of her strikes sent a jolt through my arms, numbing them for a second. I decided to use the disarming maneuver that dad had once taught me. The thing that made this maneuver the most important disarming maneuver was because using this, you could disarm both the arms in one move.
I slackened the grip on the sword in my left hand. She noticed this and thought that it was because of my arm going numb. She immediately deflected the sword in my right hand and brought both her hands down. Her knives hit my sword and it fell out of my grasp. But before, she could raise her hands back, I punched her right wrist with my left hand. She was taken by surprise and failed to notice my sword handle twist between her wrists. With a quick flick of my arms, both her knives flew out of her hands before she could even process it.
The next moment, my sword was resting at her throat. She seemed to be in a daze as she comprehended what had happened in the past few seconds. But once her eyesight cleared, she saw my sword at her throat.
I should have known that the lieutenant of the hunt wouldn't go down so easily. Before I could react, she lifted her leg and kneed me right in the family jewels. I dropped my sword and fell to the ground, clutching my balls as she casually picked up her knife. The hunt was cheering loudly as their lieutenant kicked the opponent in his balls.
"That was soooo cheap. You cruel hearted lady. That's not fair. You can't attack the balls." I groaned, almost on the verge of crying. The reason was that while kicking me, she hadn't really held her punches. She had used all her strength. And that is a lot.
"Well. You never mentioned about it being unfair before the duel. Typical male, overconfident that he will win. Hmphh" She spoke smugly, before scowling at me.
Now this is enough. In the morning, I ranted my ass out about how they weren't right in prejudicing all men. Was all my effort vain? Would all this be blown off because of a simple kick? Yeah. I don't think so.
Groaning again, I stood up slowly. I waved my hand, beckoning her.
She shrugged and charged at me, intending on finishing this fast. As she got to me, she brought both her knives down with full force. Knowing that I was in no condition to block this, I used my last option. I uncapped Riptide and deflected her knives.
Using the last of my force, I brought my sword down, hitting her knives with all my force. The result was something beyond comprehension. Her knives literally bent at funny angles. The jolt that spread through her body forced her to drop her knives.
I placed Anaklusmos at her throat and she nodded, accepting defeat.
I uncapped Riptide as Lady Artemis stepped into the arena. Even she seemed surprised by the outcome of the fight.
"Hunters, Perseus here has won all three fights fair and square. So, as per the rules, you are not allowed to prank him. Now, those who wish to speak to Perseus, stay back. The others, back to your duties." She nodded in my direction and flashed out.
That's absurd. Why would the hunters even want to talk to me? Hmm. Looks like I really shocked lady Artemis.
I turned to Zoë and spoke, "Tomorrow evening six o clock. Your lessons for modern English." She gave me a glare, but nodded anyway and stormed off.
Turning around, my jaw dropped as I saw that almost eight hunters were standing behind me, waiting to speak to me.
Four of them were the little hunters that weren't even ten years old. Then there were Sophia, Chloe, Atalanta and Emma.
Surprised, I raised my eyebrows at them.
Sophia was the one to speak. "We just came to say sorry for treating you badly all these days. We thought that you would turn out to be like those other vile males. But you have to understand, most of the members of the hunt have had bad experiences with males. So, it isn't that easy for us to accept you. But I promise that we will try. So, do you forgive us?"
I was honestly dumbstruck by this. I hadn't actually expected an apology from the hunters. I just wanted them to lay off me for a while. "Of...of course you are forgiven. I am genuinely happy that you are letting go of your prejudice for men."
The little hunters squealed and hugged me. Chloe was the one to speak next. "Umm. Percy, would you mind teaching us sword combat? It would really help us as our close range combat is not as good as our skills with the bow."
"Oh . I would love teaching you sword fighting. Shall we start tomorrow? "
The eight hunters nodded and went off to do what they wanted. Chloe was the one who stayed back.
I smiled at her and asked, "So shall we get going? Wouldn't want to miss our lessons, would we?"
She nodded and punched my shoulder playfully. "You're on, bro."
Smiling, I put my arm around her shoulder and we started walking towards the lake for our daily hydrokinetic powers practice.
'Maybe my time at the hunt won't be so bad.'
A/N
How was it? Was this 10k words chapter worth the wait?
I know that you guys think that this fic is going too slow, but please hear me out. I don't want to show Artemis and Zoë suddenly fall in love with Percy. I want to show some originality, some sense as to how their bonds are built.
And that will take time. So, I think that at least till chapter twelve, Percy will remain with the hunt. If anyone has any suggestions regarding this, please do tell me.
Also, I promise there won't be any more delays like this. Huh. I just realized that I typed 6k words in two hours.
Moving to other matters, you guys have still not suggested anything for Sally. If you guys vote, she can even be added to the harem. Afterall, I won't have any weirdness (or incest) in this fic even if Sally is in the harem. But the choice is yours.
For the number of girls in the harem, the poll standings are:
five members- 13
four members- 15
three members- 1
eight members- 25
six members- 12
two members - 2
ten members - 1
seven members - 3
eleven members - 1
The current standings of the poll for the members in the harem are:
Artemis- 69
Hestia- 65
Thalia - 52
Athena- 48
Zoë- 57
Calypso- 45
Nyx- 52
Reyna- 41
Aphrodite- 36
Annabeth- 21
Bianca- 18
Piper - 43
Hera- 24
Rhea- 16
Khione- 10
Gaia - 13
Hazel - 5
Bellona- 4
Rachel - 4
Nike- 2
Lupa- 7
Selene- 2
Clarisse- 2
Rhode- 4
Hylla - 1
Hecate- 3
Silena- 8
Leto - 2
Drew - 1
Hebe- 1
Kymopoleia- 1
Vote fast if you want any changes. The final standings will be declared after i start writing his quest to find the master bolt. That is something like two chapters from now. The max number of girls in the harem are 7 or 8.
Current standings:
1_ Artemis- 69
2_ Hestia - 65
3_ Zoë - 57
4_ Thalia - 52
5_ Nyx - 52
6_ Athena - 48
7_ Calypso - 45
8_ Piper - 43
Comment or P.M fast if you guys want any changes.
Thank you
Until next time
Peace out
Darkgamer2004