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

Chapter 6 – Back And Forth

Sharp claws struck out only to be closely followed by flashes and flourishes of emerald green and obsidian black. Azazel was fast, extremely fast considering his huge size but Percy was just as quick. Artemis was lost for words, she'd fought against Dragons in the past and even Drakons but these beasts were almost an entirely new breed, she was struggling to even follow them by sight. Up above in the azure skyline the two colossal horned creatures were swiping and punching almost like humans then switching between scratching and biting like animals before they had finally found themselves fighting on a ranged battlefield.

What came next was something that Artemis hadn't even thought about, surely that wasn't even going to be possible for what she'd seen? Azazel's large maw opened up, the inside being illuminated by flickers of orange and red. Percy's draconic jaw mimicked Azazel's and before she could even think of what the two duelling Dragons were doing, both of them bellowed fire across the sky at one another.

So as a human Percy was capable of immense control over water as he was a son of Poseidon yet as a Dragon he was able to breath such intense flames. Percy's flames had come out weaker and the emerald Dragon had been forced to go into a dive through the sky in order to avoid being burnt by Azazel's stronger fire.

The silver Goddess' heart had been brutally thumping against her ribcage ever since she'd been shushed by Percy, finally understanding what he was going to do. Why was it that she was so massively conflicted about him? The danger that he was putting himself in by fighting against an Ancient Dragon, was that the reason that her chest was almost hurting from the pounding beat of her heart or was it something else, something deeper than that, what was the real reason that she was so worried about his safety? If he died now then he'd die as the greatest hero that Olympus had ever seen, she was sure that all of the Big Three would not rest until he was directly granted Elysium, but then, that would mean that Artemis would no longer see him... Was that it?

Artemis was ripped from her questioning mind and back into reality when a blaze of red caught her attention from the corner of her eye. The two Dragons had flown past her at incredible speeds and accidentally set fire to the treeline in the distance. There was nothing that she could do about that, not when they were both fighting and would probably set fire to it again right after she'd doused it.

Artemis watched but she wasn't really watching the fight between two Dragons as she was watching the man she knew as Percy Jackson engulfed in his own rage, drowning from the weight of the emotions that he'd carried on his shoulders, everything that he did, everything that he was doing for the Dragons was something that only he could do. It sounded like he was killing them to free them from the evil control that had been inflicted upon them. So why was he collecting their souls?

Another loud roar had caught her senses and when she turned she almost yelped in joy. Percy had Azazel grounded, massive claw tears could be seen in droves through the soft fibres of the black Dragon's wings, yet the fight continued, it was only over when one of them was breathless and lost of life. The green Dragon dashed around, backing Azazel up towards the water's edge, the sky was off limits with his wings in such a damaged state. Fire erupted from Percy's swollen throat before smashing straight into Azazel's body like a carpet of red death.

The Dragon Hunter tackled Azazel into the lake behind where they had both been submerged entirely before the water had stilled itself and any signs of fighting had ceased to Artemis' senses. This was where it was make or break, only one of them was ever going to emerge from the lake after such an assault and she desperately hoped that it was Percy. She was going to give him one Hades of an earful for making her stay-put during such a dangerous moment, she was a Goddess, she would NOT be spoken to like that, even if he was considered to be equal in power to Ancient Dragon's who garnered as much respect as the Gods, maybe even more because of their unfathomably high pride and power that they possessed.

After minutes of silence, the water rippled which made Artemis literally jump forwards with hope. Out of the slow tide, Percy rose looking tired, wet and ragged of breath. Tired he could deal with, short of breath? Sure, but the fact that he was wet meant that he was extremely low in strength. If his body wasn't doing something that he usually did subconsciously then he was almost past the point of exhaustion.

He sported a cheeky and triumphant grin when he saw the immense displeasure on Artemis' face. Across his chest were three huge claw marks that were fresh and had lines of blood dripping from them. No amount of water could heal the marks that had been made with the claws of an Ancient Dragon and stamped in with the flames of equal intensity.

"Percy you're hurt!" Artemis rushed forwards and caught the exhausted son of Poseidon who took the next few minutes on his knees just gathering his breath. He sent a lazy gaze towards the three claw marks on his chest that would no doubt scar up with quite a vibrant difference between the skin around them.

"Those are gonna look so awesome once they've healed. Guess I'll be resting for quite some time before taking on the next Dragon." Percy laughed to himself before looking up at Artemis expectantly. He'd been expecting something from her ever since he went into the lake to transform into his full Dragon form.

"What?" Artemis asked him, noticing his look.

"Firstly, I managed to reign myself in before going on a rampage, though, that might just be because of how much strength that fight has cost me, and secondly, aren't you going to say anything? Threaten to castrate me? Hurt me on sheer principle for speaking to you like that?" Percy began listing off things that he was highly expecting her to act upon. To his surprise she just huffed at him before pointing to his clothes. There was the slightest tint of red in her cheeks when she did so. She hated men, or, nearly all men, but she wasn't above admitting that Percy was attractive. Immensely attractive.

"I'm obviously not pleased with how you've spoken to me but seeing as you were triumphant, I guess that I can-HEY! Where are you going!?" Artemis demanded. She'd begun her speech with the intent to see whether or not Percy would register any regret on his face from talking to her like he had but instead he'd hopped over to his pile of clothes and picked up the necklace that he'd been carrying before jogging back towards the lake and just ignoring Artemis entirely.

"Getting Azazel's soul. If I don't do it soon then the soul will die with the body. If I don't get Azazel's soul then I can't revive him after I destroy the malicious power that's infiltrating their minds." Percy explained with a casual shrug before diving backwards into the lake, firmly clutching onto the necklace.

So that was it, that was why he'd been carrying that necklace and fretting over the Dragon's soul. It wasn't to make him stronger or anything like that, she doubted that as a Dragon there was any way that he could get any stronger. He wanted the soul so that he could revive the Dragons once they were no longer being controlled by whomever had stolen Pandora's Box and filled it back up with horrors of the world.

She knew, she could TELL that Percy hated the duty that was bestowed upon him by the curse of the Box. He was a Dragon now, that was what he was at heart and he had to fight every last Ancient Dragon because of his selfless act in saving the world for a third time. It wasn't fair, Artemis wouldn't have wished a life like his upon anyone but Percy Jackson was different wasn't he?

Percy was one step ahead of the game. Artemis was finding herself growing more and more impressed by everything that he did, he was saving the Dragons before he was even raising a single hand against them.

The creatures were immensely powerful and even more prideful but they were often majestic and peaceful creatures of intelligence. If they were freed of the ill will imposed on them, then they would always prefer a life of solitude that they were being allowed to live.

"You really are amazing." Artemis whispered just as Percy breached the surface of the water.

"Sorry, did you say something?" He asked her. He readjusted the necklace so that the little vial on the bottom was sitting comfortably against his nicely built chest, it swung freely across the trident tattoo that Artemis couldn't help but glance at whenever it did.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He told her. She almost screamed at him when she realized that she'd not responded to him because she'd been far too busy staring at his muscular chest. She couldn't be doing this, she couldn't keep thinking these things. For Gods sakes, she was acting like a school girl around him and she didn't even know why!

"Shut up. How are you planning on getting Azazel's head back to your trophy room?" She asked, getting him to focus on something at least remotely about everything that had happened.

"I'm not." He told her as casually as he'd been for pretty much the entire time they had been in Germany. She did a double take. He wasn't bringing the head back with him? Space was an issue to be fair, she wasn't sure how he would fit that thing inside that trophy room of his, it would take up a great deal of the space as it was.

"You're not?" She asked, prodding the conversation further.

"No. You are." He answered her with a smile of brilliant white teeth that up until this point in her life she'd always found aggravating because it had usually come from Apollo but for whatever reason when it was Percy giving her a warm smile of gleaming teeth she suddenly didn't mind it as much.

"Why am I taking it?" She asked him defensively. Her train of thought was constantly switching tracks between their conversation and her thoughts of Percy where she was on the defensive about why she was thinking about him in such a way.

"Because you're a Goddess, you can shrink it and transport it back to my home instantly. You're a kind, wonderful and beautiful Goddess that would definitely help me out instead of making me carry a one ton Dragon head from Germany to Pennsylvania. Do you need any other excuses? Because I can probably think of a few." The entire time that Percy had been speaking, he'd been moving on from one point to the next without giving Artemis any time to question his wording.

"Just... Use your instincts." She told him with a sigh. This was what he was like, he was having fun playing around with her, that much was for sure.

"Really?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. It looked like he wanted to take a step forwards but hesitated and remained where he was. "Because ever since I met you my instincts have been screaming at me to take you and make you mine. It's a Dragon thing, but I also like living without an arrow in my genitals, so I think my instincts are best left alone right now." He told her. Percy's attitude had never once changed despite the fact that he had openly just told Artemis that he wanted to make her 'his' as in make her his mate. To Dragons that was one of the most sacred things they had to share between one another, the bond that mates had.

Artemis had no words and was even more conflicted about how she actually felt about that. Instead of responding. She clicked her fingers, taking herself, Perseus and the now severed head of Azazel back to the outside of Percy's little home back in the forest closer to New York. She deserved to have some rest away from this Dragon's mind games, he may not have even been doing it on purpose but she knew she no longer held the power in their constant back and forth and that disturbed her.

AN: Hey it's been awhile. I've been pretty busy with school lately and I've been thinking about writing own story. I will finish this one first but was wondering what type of story would you want like a child of Chaos or a certain pairing let me know and I'll maybe do a poll if there is enough people actually interested.