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

Chapter 8 – Fierce Loyalty

A beckoning call had reached the senses of the man who had once been somewhat Human. He'd been half God but now, so far down the line, stricken by a curse from an incredible source of malice, he was only Human in appearance. Ichor still flowed in his veins, but they were the veins of an Ancient Dragon, one who's power was almost unfathomable.

"Olympus is calling, they know you've had a fight." Artemis told him. It gave him a good enough explanation as to why she'd followed him to his room and what that wavy frequency flowing around his senses was.

"I'll put some clothes on." Percy huffed slightly before stretching his body and making his way to a large metal closet in the corner of the room. The longer Artemis spent inside the room, the more details started to come to her. The whole place felt hotter than Hephaestus' forge and nearly everything was made of metal except for the dry and arid looking mattress upon the bed.

Being a Dragon he must have needed to keep himself in a hot climate to feel comfortable but being a son of Poseidon, and one with as much incredible power as himself, he could probably still control the moisture in the air to make himself comfortable in almost any situation.

It can't have taken him more than ten seconds before he was finally clothed, though it was a loose term at best as all he'd done was put a jacket over the top of his bare body and put boots on. The whole thing seemed to be following the scheme of his leather trousers. He must have either really liked the feeling of the leather against his skin or he simply cared so little for what he wore. Unlike the trousers, his boots and coat were brown and gave a slightly different look to him. His bare but bandaged chest was still on show with a few fresh blood stains starting to pool across them. He shouldn't have been moving around while that wound was still there but she knew deep in her mind that nothing she could say or do would truly stop him from continuing in his mind-set actions. It was all part of the Dragon's pride.

"Let's go, milady. The sooner we finish our business with the council the sooner I can get some food. This Dragon is mighty hungry... Kinda fancy having Taco Bell now that I think about it." He muttered the last part under his breath once he'd found himself face to face with the silver Goddess, expecting her to be the one to take them to Olympus. He wouldn't have a problem with it himself but he was still too injured to really even get himself there.

"What's a Taco Bell?" She queried with a slightly open mouth. She could have sworn she'd heard some of her youngest hunters talking about that in recent years but it could only have been something from the mortal world or she'd at least know what it was.

"A fast food chain, don't worry about it. I'll probably just hunt something around here... Ugh, with your divine blessing of course." Worry had come across his face like lightning when he realized that he was standing in the presence of the Goddess that governed hunting. Like everything in the world of his past, SHE had to be prayed to for divine permission to hunt in her domain, that was just the way that it went.

"Let's go." Artemis smiled in mild amusement. She wasn't sure what to do in the event that he was praying to her for guidance because after seeing him hunt down not only a baby Dragon which her best hunters wouldn't be able to do alone but seeing him take on and decapitate an Ancient Dragon of legend, she wasn't sure who the better hunter out of the two of them was. What she did know was that at the very least, the gap between the two of them was so minute that at their current point, she wouldn't be able to yet tell who was better.

With a flash of silver, Percy's home was left empty, save for the braziers that let small flames give light to the gentle homestead. They were once again standing at the peak of Olympus, the huge council doors at their backs and the wondrous city of light, sounds, and multitudes of immortals all going about their daily lives in the pavilion far below them.

Most of Olympus knew about Percy's plight, most of them realized that there wasn't a way for them personally to help him and chose to just look on in pity. Others were more active with trying to show their support, so it wasn't to his excitement when he found his presence being announced by Artemis' godly flash of silver. It had basically painted a huge bullseye on his back. He heard a few girly screams from the pavilion before a dozen figures started to race up the steps.

"This is the first and only time I'm ever going to be thankful for the unnecessary amount of steps in this place. Please Artemis, get me in that council room!" He asked her desperately, his face had dropped to a sickly shade of white when he turned to her. Artemis thought he might be overreacting, just doing it because he could but in all of his life, he'd never wanted the attention that had been pushed onto him.

The Goddess of the Hunt simply nodded before ushering him inside and closing the grand doors behind her. Inside the throne room, a few Olympians had already gathered once they'd sensed Artemis returning with Percy by her side. Silently, she too took her place in her grand throne of silver and gold.

Knowing the procedure, he slowly milled into the center of the room while the others all gathered. Once they were all there, he kneeled in the center, "I'm honored to be in your presence, my lords and ladies." He honestly hated having to kiss ass to anyone but there was a time when he had to face the facts that in an all-out fight against a God in the throne room, he wouldn't last very long. If he had to fight against all twelve, he wouldn't be able to do a whole lot of damage even in his Dragon form. They'd never be able to kill him while he held the curse but they could overpower him and capture him. Torture would probably be the itinerary for a traitor of such a grand level.

"We would never ask you to stress your pride by bowing to us. You've ascended beyond nearly everything we've known, you are worthy of mutual respect Perseus." Zeus announced, sitting upright in his throne instead of slouching. Artemis noticed this, as did a few others, it was strange that her father would actually take an interest in these things. He was always the first one to reinforce the necessity to have all of the boring meetings but it was obvious that even he disliked them most of the time.

"I can think of a few better things he could do for me rather than kneeling." Aphrodite announced, placing a finger against her lips seductively. Percy slowly granted her the slightest angle of his narrowed gaze. He wasn't on the best of terms with her to begin with but the fact that she sought anyone to cross her vision just made him sick. The Goddess of Love was a whore at best, one who cared not for dignity.

Standing amidst the Olympians, he folded his arms across the bare part of his chest that hadn't been covered by his coat, as he'd chosen not to bother closing it. "Oh yeah? If it involves killing immortals, I can help, if it doesn't then you'd best try to invest in another hero." He told her coldly, not caring to lower his tone. The sheer defiance of what Aphrodite had obviously been implying was stunning. Artemis sat on her throne with a slack jaw, as most others were. Poseidon giggled quietly at the antics of his son. He could already see where this was going and couldn't wait to watch it through.

"Oh you'll definitely be killing it if my imagination is anything to go by. What do you think of the idea of beating one such immortal into a special kind of submission?" Aphrodite continued, despite the obvious warning that Percy wasn't interested. She even went so far as to get off of her throne and start swaying towards him.

Artemis wanted to shoot her in the face, on a regular day, but right now she wanted nothing more than to rip her to shreds from the way that she was moving on Percy like he was mere prey. It suddenly struck Artemis as she could see the ebb of blazing embers in his barely visible aura. Things were about to take a great turn for her and she was completely fine watching from the sidelines, though she wasn't above making a final verbal warning for the pink Goddess.

"Watch out Aphrodite, he's more than you can handle." Artemis smiled innocently as she continued to watch the unfazed Goddess saunter towards the Ancient Dragon.

"So how about it, Dragon Slayer? You and me have our own little hunt for pleasure?" She had shown her intentions to get right into his face but never got the chance as the closer she'd gotten, she'd found herself being barely held at bay by the feeling of a thin line of sharp metal pressed against her soft skin.

"This is capable of killing my species, it might not permanently kill a God but you'll be in a lot of pain if you come any closer to me." He warned her, his tone nothing other than totally neutral. It was in his eyes; a completely fair warning but to the council, they didn't see a man defending himself as though he'd been made into prey.

They saw what Aphrodite was slowly starting to understand. For the first time in her life, she wasn't the predator between them. He never closed his eyes and his vision never faded from the target in his eyes. As she slowly backed off with fear in her eyes, he slowly put his sword away, uncaring for her plans and schemes towards him. It was evident that he simply held no interest in her. That was the most bitter blow there was.

Once sat back in her throne, the color returned to her face, she wasn't prepared to give up that easily. She was the Goddess of Love, she always got what she wanted. She wondered what could have been so important that he would have literally no inclination to indulge himself in her charms. She wondered... Was it perhaps from his current company? She looked towards her eternal rival, the one who hated men rather than loved them, or, she hated nearly all men, except for the one standing amidst them, answering the summons of a council he was no longer expected to serve yet still did anyway. Was she the reason he continued to risk his sanity and health for the Gods?

"Perhaps you won't have me, ever... But would you still be so cold to me if something deeply unfortunate were to ever take dear old Artemis away from us?" Aphrodite's words were laced with venom, the kind that wasn't appreciated by anyone on the council. There was a blur of green and brown and before anyone could understand what was going on, Percy was standing on the precipice of Aphrodite's throne, both hands pushed hard into the arm rests and a foot firmly between her legs on the only available piece of throne left to stand on. His eyes were fixed with hers and he was showing her what true fear felt like.

"Your throne even with all of the added power of you being in it, cannot do so much as land a scratch on my body, whereas I-" His hands crunched down into sheer metal, sending chunks of throne flying around them. Aphrodite screamed in pain. Her seat of power was breaking down piece by piece within Percy's hands.

"If I wanted to I could rip your world a-fucking-sunder, so think very carefully about who you're threatening, Goddess, or you might find that a Dragon really is way more than you can ever handle." Percy growled viscously.

Everyone was completely stricken by the sheer show of primal instinct that had fallen over Percy the instant that Artemis had been threatened. The silver light that filled their vision brought them out of their haze of surprise when they found what they least expected, Artemis had her hand firmly on Percy's shoulder. She knew there would be questions and consequences surrounding this but there was nothing she could do about it now. He couldn't just kill Aphrodite, as much as it would please her.

With one final growl, he removed himself from her presence and returned to the centre of the throne room, bright emerald light followed his eyes wherever he moved, it was a sure sign that the animal inside was getting all fired up and the bellows of his lungs were preparing for a fiery war, unfortunately, Artemis had to get in his way and force him to calm down.

Percy stood in the throne room like a scolded child, arms folded and a face like thunder. The bandages around his body were drowning in red and blood was starting to make its way down the rest of his chest and stomach. Poseidon and Zeus were granted to a clear view of the wounds that he was harboring. A solemn look from each other was the deciding factor.

"Perseus, we can pick this meeting up another time on more personal terms, please allow Apollo to take a look at those nasty wounds of yours. Dismissed, Aphrodite, I wish for a word with you, if you please." Zeus told her through narrowed eyes. Sweat dropped down the side of her face before a number of them all disappeared. Artemis remained in her throne, eyes closed, heart thumping brutally against her ribcage.

Percy had fired off like a cannon at the thinly disguised threat that had been aimed at her.

No.

Her Dragon had shown his loyalty.

Hey everyone, it's been a while. I've been busy recently and have been struggling on how to upload the story but I'm wanting to try and get this story finished for everyone and if you are reading this it means I figured it out. Let me know if anyone is still interested in this it'd be greatly appreciated.