*This chapter was written by Metal Pen with minor edits by me

Chapter 2 – A Fight Between Dragons

Artemis was willing to overlook the fact that Percy had dropped her honorific and simply called her Artemis, he was the three times saviour of Olympus, she could afford to give him some leeway but what she really wanted to do was to sit him down and find out everything that had happened to him in the past three years since Pandora's Box.

OK, so Pandora's Box was a nasty piece of work that had cursed him, or done something similar, in such a way that he had been transformed into a Dragon, one with the outside appearance of a Human being but with the inside works of a fierce and unstoppable determination of the winged beasts of old.

So he was a Dragon... Artemis could believe that. She knew of the sheer malevolence that Pandora's Box held and it wasn't outside the boundaries of logic that it would put such a predicament upon Percy, but why had he disappeared without a trace after all that? There had to be a reason that he had fled from the eyes of everyone and gone into solitude. Was it possibly connected to the fact that he was hunting down the Dragons indiscriminately?

Percy had said that it was his mistake that the Dragons had been released, that's what he'd called it, 'correcting his mistake'. So the son of Poseidon had taken it upon himself to slay every Dragon that did not belong in their world, she had no idea how she would report all of this back to Olympus. Perhaps she'd ask Percy to come with her and explain it all himself though he didn't exactly strike her as the type of man that would let his focus slide, he seemed so determined to constantly run down the Dragons that she doubted he'd take any time off even if it was to go to Olympus. Artemis could only grasp at theories over what Percy believed that they would all think of him being the same kind as those he was hunting.

The rain had gotten heavier, falling down in large drops that shot past Artemis' vision. Despite the cloak of water that seemed to be surrounding them, she could see it very clearly, she could see that despite three years surrounding the disappearance of the man in front of her, that even after turning into something that he should never have had forced upon him, that at his core he hadn't changed entirely. The rain instinctively darted around his body, never once managing to land on his hair or clothes, such was a passive power belonging to the kin of Poseidon.

Artemis couldn't help but just stare at him for a moment. She wanted to grill him for information yet at the same time she just wanted to let him sleep and rest all of the built up fatigue that was so obvious from the way his eyes were dulled and tired. He was full of energy in that single moment but the things he'd done in the past three years had clearly taken a toll on him, he was still only a Demi-God but here he was having not abandoned Olympus after it's third threat but directly dealing with the fourth threat while it was still within its early stages. Only he could defeat the Dragons and that was the task that he alone carried on his shoulders. Artemis couldn't even fathom the burden he was holding and it was made that much heavier by the fact that he believed the release of the Dragons to be his own mistake, that his hands were the ones to free them. If only he knew that nobody had blamed him for anything.

Artemis had finally found herself and was about to ask him to come back with her, to see the people he'd left behind on that day three years ago but Percy's head shot towards the slope of the hill that led to the basin of the lake where they believed the Dragon to be. Artemis hadn't heard a thing and she certainly hadn't felt any different vibrations in the air but with the rain increasing that would be harder for her to do.

Percy's gaze was somewhere between the trees and it wasn't difficult for Artemis to see that he was hearing something that she wasn't. Touch, smell, hearing, probably eyesight too, all of these things were so sharp in the man in front of her, so much had increased, improved, in him since they'd last met that it was almost unfathomable to believe that they were the same person.

"Lady Artemis, it has been a pleasure seeing you again, you were one of my favoured among those of the council but right now you should either take your leave or get to the safety of the canopy above." Percy told her quietly before sending her a warm, yet still tired, smile. She wasn't really sure how to respond, nobody had ever told her to leave in such a gentle yet authorized manor.

"Is that a command Perseus?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. This was her chance to see exactly how far he had strayed from Olympus. Did he still align himself with them, choosing to serve them in their time of need? He'd rejected Godhood twice and he probably would have done so a third time if he'd stayed long enough after Pandora's Box had been cast into an abyss but he was gone before the rewards ceremony had ended. How long did he plan to throw himself into the fire in the name of Olympus? Or maybe he had already stopped and this was just his way to ensure the absolute safety of the world one final time.

"No ma'am but you must understand that you are by far my favourite Goddess and I cannot fight a fast approaching Dragon if I am to worry about your safety, so please, for the sake of my duty, leave this to me and get yourself somewhere out of reach." Percy turned away from her, no longer able to ignore the building rumbling beneath their feet. The sounds, the air, the scent... It was all starting to hit Artemis as well, the Dragon was hunting and they were the prey it had in mind.

She was his favourite Goddess? That was news to her, though it was hardly surprising. He'd only ever found himself dealing with the Gods and Goddesses of the council and among those he hated Aphrodite, and then there was Hera and Athena who both hated him. That left only herself, Hestia and Demeter, the latter of whom he had only spoken to a handful of times and most of those had been about cereals and crops. It wasn't that hard to believe that herself and Hestia would be the only ones that he actually liked but in the beginning she'd been nothing but cold to him, how had she become his favourite Goddess?

Before she could answer him, he slowly pulled the long blade out of the scabbard on his back. It shined a brighter silver than any sword that she'd ever seen before. It was something that she'd be proud to carry into a battle.

Having decided that he'd done way more in the way of tracking the Dragon, she would let him have his self appointed duty and do what he had come to do. Jumping high into the shadowed branches above her she continued to watch the son of Poseidon with an eagle eyed stare. She could see a large mass further down the hill, charging straight at Percy with an impressive speed considering it's size.

It wasn't until it was almost upon Percy that she finally got a good look at the Dragon. It's body from the neck to the base of the tail was the size of a range rover and it's neck was another meter in length, the tail spanned over two from the base to the tip. It had azure coloured scales that ran the entire length of it's body with streaks of an equally vibrant shade of red that adorned the sides of it's legs and across it's spined back. It's horns were cream coloured and looked a lot softer than they should.

The Dragon came to a halt just meters away from where Percy was standing, no longer concealed by shadows. What the Hades was he doing just standing like that!? The Dragon's eyes narrowed into small horizontal slits of amber that seemed to be critically analyzing the curious case in front of it.

"That's right." She heard Percy's deep voice from below, "I'm a Dragon too." The two of them slowly started to circle one another, neither eager about the thought of being caught out. This was a battle that only a Dragon could participate in. Artemis could see between the lines of reality below her, the core instincts that Percy had were almost all entirely primal, he really was a Dragon stuck inside the body of a Demi-God.

"See this?" He asked, never once breaking his stare with the Dragon who had let its eyes dart towards the sword for a fraction of a second before once again latching on to Percy's piercing emerald gaze. "This is pure Dragon silver that I crafted with my own hands.

"It's a sword made from the scales of Mirroth, the first Ancient Dragon I ever killed. Mirroth was a very interesting existence as she was made from a strengthened type of silver, and as you're about to find out, us Dragons don't like silver that much." Percy explained, slowly waving the tip of his silver sword in a circle across the ground. The Dragon offered not even a grunt in response but it was clear from the rising tension that it felt threatened.

"Dragon silver, of course he'd be using a weapon made from the material that he's weak against." Artemis muttered quietly, sometimes he could be dense and idiotic but now he had the mind of a Dragon so why had he purposely fashioned a sword out of that dead Dragon's scales if he was weak against it?

"You see, while I am definitely a Dragon, I still have the body of a Demi-God, and my skin does pretty well against silver, so I can touch this all day long and not get hurt, you however... Well, I'll just have to show you." Percy grinned and for the first time Artemis' heart skipped a beat and she didn't know what the Hades it was from. His face was clear as day with the rain avoiding him so quickly. His eyes gained a new hue of power and almost glowed in the dark of night but it was the grin that had caused so much shock and surprise in the Goddess when she'd seen it. He had brilliant white teeth, not out of the ordinary for most people but what other people didn't have was a set of extremely sharp canines sticking out, much like that of the Dragon he was staring down.

Within the blink of an eye he pushed forwards, kicking up a trail of dust where his feet had been and leaving a silver trail of light behind where his sword had slashed through the air. The Dragon swiped out with a beefy hand lined with razor sharp claws but never managed to hit its mark as Percy had ducked and rolled under its arm before sliding his sword along the inside of the raised hand where the scales were softer and unprepared for an attack from a silver sword made from Mirroth's spine and scales.

It was true what he'd said about that sword, it had taken him nearly twelve hours of conflict to take down that Ancient Dragon who was arguably one of the most powerful ones to have been released. After he'd killed Mirroth he'd taken her head and the first meter of her spine, the latter of which he had fashioned into the beautiful silver piece that he handled gracefully as he dashed around underneath the young Dragon's body, sending slashes and lunges so fast that even Artemis was struggling to follow his movements.

The fight between Dragons had gone on for another ten minutes, if that, before the baby Dragon had fallen to the ground finally exhausted and bleeding out from all of the stabs it had received with the silver sword. "Unfortunately you aren't important enough for me to take your head as a trophy, so your horn will have to do." He muttered to himself before slicing cleanly through its horn. He had to take trophies from his kills otherwise he'd lose track of his progress.

In his humble underground home in the forests of the Allegheny national park he'd built a room dedicated to his hunts. On the walls there were ten plaques each one with a name and awaiting a head to be put on it. So far he'd only successfully tracked down one Ancient Dragon, Mirroth the one with a skeleton made from pure Dragon Silver.

Artemis dropped back down to the floor with a soft thud where her feet impacted the moist muddy earth beneath their feet. Most of the area was either covered in a sheen of dying embers or showered in wood chips and Dragon blood.

"What do you do with the body?" Artemis asked him, catching Percy's attention. He'd been so focused on the fight and enthralled by the heat of the moment that he'd forgotten she was there all together.

"Unless it's a High Dragon or Ancient Dragon then the bodies of the younglings and lesser Dragons will degrade pretty fast after the skin is dead. The organs and everything become super weak against elements such as air and rain. They're often real tough to kill but are a pushover to bury after they're dead." Percy chuckled slightly. The skeleton would be left over but that would be buried or taken by wild animals, no Humans would even be able to see the skeleton that would be left over and any Demi-Gods would just leave it well enough alone.

The only bodies that actually needed to be tended to were those that belonged to stronger Dragons and that was a long and arduous process.

"You've been gone for so long, will you please come with me to Olympus and shed some light on where you've been the last few years? The council will want answers and I cannot be the one to tell them that you've become a Dragon." Artemis reasoned. Yeah, that would be a pretty hard task for someone in her position.

He owed her at least that much after disappearing and causing her all of the trouble she'd had in trying to find him. "Fine, I'll come to Olympus to answer the council's questions but after that, will you take me to my next location? It'll be a lot quicker than crossing the ocean." Percy muttered, unsure of whether or not he truly wanted to take on his next task, after all, the next name on his hit list was an extremely volatile Dragon known for his explosive temper and ability to breath fire hotter and far more intense than Greek fire.

"I will take you to wherever you wish to go after meeting the council." She agreed quickly before placing a hand on his shoulder. This was it, she was finally finishing her hunt, the one that had evaded her for three damn years and after all that time she wasn't even sure she was doing the right thing by bringing him back. He was willingly going with her but there must have been a genuine reason that he had fallen off of their radar right?

She was about to find out that not everything had ended happily when Percy had closed Pandora's Box.