Hey, guys, I know it's been a while since my last post. (Comment section: "Duh, it's been like half a year") Yup... I know. Believe me, I do. But summer break is here, and well, I've got more time, so I'll most likely start publishing again. Yes, it's an update. I have not abandoned this story.

Once again, I don't own or wish to gain profit from writing this, all characters belong to Uncle Rick, I only own the plot.

"I already told you, go sit down and relax!" Sally assured me, her hands busy with preparing the final steps of tonight's meal. "I've got this covered."

I laughed. "I know you do, but what kind of son would I be to not help his mom prepare Christmas dinner like a responsible adult?"

"You're just doing this to get you her good graces!" Atalanta called from the living room. "Doesn't mean you're gonna get any more cookies!"

I gave up and sat back down on the sofa, flipping through various TV channels to see what was interesting. Funny thing was, most of these cartoons had ended in my world, so it was nostalgic to see them all again.

I had reminded Zoe beforehand that I would be spending the week of Christmas with my family, much to the delight of the rest of the Hunt, who still hated my guts. I also returned Artemis to Apollo's infirmary, convincing Apollo that he didn't need to stand by his sister 24/7 under his technical watch, and that I would help check on her every now and then as well.

We ended up eating at around 7:00, talking about what happened during the quest and whatnot. Conversation soon turned to me, with my mom asking me about my own life back home.

"So, Percy," Mom began. "What have you been doing in your demigod life? You're like, 20 or something?"

I nodded. "Well, I went to college in a demigod-safe location that I cannot disclose as of now. But I did, and managed four years without monster attacks and such. After finishing college, I began working as a swordsman instructor for camp year-round, and just recently, I became a Hunter for camp."

"You have a girlfriend or anything?" Sally asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I had one," I said. "Fell into hell for her too, but I'm not with her anymore. I promise!" I noticed the dangerous glint in my mom's eyes, "I promise that I didn't cheat on her or anything, she just had different goals about her life and I did the best thing a boyfriend could do: support her."

"So, you aren't dating Annabeth anymore?" Atalanta asked through a mouthful of sweet potato casserole.

"I'm single now," I said.

"For now," Atalanta chuckled, smirking knowingly. "With all that Guardian business, a certain obsidian-eyed beauty is no longer gonna be single either."

I summoned a ball of water out of thin air and splashed Atalanta in the face with it. "That, is for making fun of me. I told you, Zoe and I are just friends. What part of that do you not understand?"

Atalanta glared at me, though it was hard to take her seriously with water dripping down her face. She dried herself and huffed. "Friends, bullshit. You're obviously too blind to see how she stares at you."

"Language," Mom chuckled, before turning to me. "So who's Zoe?"

I gave Atalanta the stink-eye. "She's uh... she's a recent acquaintance."

"She's the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis," Atalanta burst out, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you should stop hiding and ask her out or something."

"The Hunters of Artemis?" Mom asked, thinking hard. "Aren't they that mythological group of virgin girls? Percy, and you're attracted to the lieutenant?!"

I winced. "I told you, we're just friends. Atalanta's just blowing everything out of proportion."

We talked into the rest of the night, with me telling Mom and Atalanta that I would be off checking on Artemis before I came back for the night. I vapor traveled straight into the Olympus airspace, then into the Infirmary, to find Apollo sleeping on an office chair next to Artemis' still body. For the god of medicine, he looked damn exhausted, his posture slumped even as he slept.

I looked at Artemis and sighed. Apollo's healing magic and her godly essence should be speeding up the healing process, so she should be okay by the time December finishes.

The sun god seemed to sense my presence and woke up, his face mirroring the rest of his body language: pure exhaustion.

"Dude, you look cooked," I said, pulling out a chunk of ambrosia that the god thankfully gulped down.

"It's been a long time since I saw her so helpless," Apollo mumbled. "I know I joke around and act like a derp, but I seriously do care about her wellbeing."

"I understand," I said. "But you're hurting yourself by moping around her bed everyday. Look, what you've done for her is already showing signs of improvement, all that she needs is time, which is something out of our control."

Apollo stared at me for a moment then nodded. "It's Christmas Eve now is it?"

"Yah," I said. "What, you want a drink or something?"

Apollo chuckled. "You said it. You're right, I've been far too depressed these days. Take me brotha, to the nearest Olympian bar!"

§§§§§

I stumbled back to my apartment at around 3 am the next day, my head feeling like it was smashed with a hammer. Apollo had downed so many mugs of Dionysus' special god level alcohol, and peer pressured me into drinking it as well, turning us both into silly drunks in an hour flat. I managed to stop myself from doing stupid crap by diluting the alcohol content that Apollo was making me drink, but Apollo on the other hand has no qualms whatsoever, singing at the top of his lungs while doing handstands on the counter. I had to haul him out of the bar and back to his room besides the infirmary, tying him up with ice chains to prevent him from leaping out and going back for more.

The apartment was quiet when I returned, clearly evident that Atalanta had obviously went to bed already, not having the strength to wait for me for so long. i vapor travelled into my room to prevent any accidental bumping into things that might wake my family up. As I lay on my bed, unable to sleep, I tried to imagine what sort of future I would hold in this world. I know I had thought about this extensively, over and over again, but I couldn't get over it. If Annabeth was dead, who would fulfill the Mark of Athena? The return of the Athena Parthenos to camp was vital in the bringing together of Greeks and Romans on the battlefield. Would Hazel be brought back to life? Nico only found her when he was wandering the Fields of Asphodel, while playing the role of ambassador of Pluto. And Jason, what was he right now, centurion of the 5th cohort? I knew from Reyna that Jason only became Praetor after he led the Roman army successfully against the Titan Krios and defeated him at Mount Orthys, so if I went to draw an alliance now, Jason wouldn't be one of the leaders that I would meet. Plus, Thalia in this reality didn't know he was still alive, so that was another thing.

I also wondered whether or not it was even a good idea to offer an olive branch to the Romans so early. Hera, I mean, Juno had made the plan behind Zeus' back, and was severely punished for it, but also helped reveal the next major enemy that we would have to fight, the Giants. If I made the trip to do the same, I would have to pull a Nico, becoming an ambassador in secret, working steadily until both camps were fine with working with each other.

I sighed. First things first would be to train Atalanta up. She was excellent with Riptide, no doubt, just as I was, but her arsenal creativity in terms of her demigod power was weak. Now that I think about it, the first time I ever used my power past the normal limits was creating my own hurricane in the battle against Hyperion, and after that one bit, I pretty much ran out of stamina instantly. Given that a hurricane does take a lot of energy and strength to control, I get that it makes sense, but I shouldn't get knocked out after using so much power. Also, the Earthshaker ability has saved my ass plenty of times, and at least enlightening Atti on how to use that power may help her as well. If I have time, I'll also teach her how to shoot a bow properly, which is probably going to be the hardest, because like me, she sucks at shooting. I mean, I shot once and got an arrow stuck in Chiron's tail, and he was standing behind me, which is pretty much the definition of big suck.

I dunno when I fell asleep but when I woke back up, I found Atti poking my forehead over and over again.

"Atti, may I ask why you are incessantly stabbing my head with your finger?" I asked.

"Getting you up," She said stubbornly. "I tried calling your name and beating your door, but that didn't work, and since I can't pull water from the air and drop it on you yet, I resorted to poking you till you wake."

I groaned. "Fine, I'm getting up now. What's got you so excited?"

"Presents!" Atalanta squealed. "And Mom won't let me open any until you get your ass out of bed."

I summoned a ball of water above my face and splashed myself awake, purposely making sure to soak Atti as well. "Whoops, sorry about that."

Atalanta huffed and instantly dried herself. "I'm sure. Now hurry, or your cookies are mine."

"Hell no!" I leapt out of bed, and yanked open the closet door, only to find it empty.

"Hehe, you seem to have forgotten, this is the guest room," Atti giggled. "You don't exist here."

I facepalmed. "I knew that. Fine then." I activated my suit, letting the nanotech transform into a casual T shirt and short pants combo. To add a bit of flair, I added a Surf's Up design on the front to make my clothes look more authentic.

"Do you keep your armor on all the time?" Atalanta asked, watching the suit color code itself accordingly.

"Yah, pretty much." I said. "You never know when someone might stab you in your sleep. Trust me, it's happened before."

"Can I have one?"

"Sure, if you wait a few years after someone figures out the recipe."

"Recipe?"

"The metal used to make this doesn't exist in this reality yet."

"Oh. Still, I think we should get you some actual clothes."

"Not a bad idea, I'll do a wardrobe restock when I have the time."

When I finished, I went straight to the kitchen to find a plate of blue waffles waiting for me that I eagerly scarfed down with Atalanta chanting next to me to eat faster.

"Geezus, calm yourself," I said, nibbling on the waffles just to annoy her. "The presents aren't going to disappear."

"But you're eating so slowly..." Atalanta whined.

I chuckled. "Here, if you're so bored, I'll teach you a little something to pass the time." I grabbed a glass and filled it halfway with water, then placed the glass in front of my sister. "You see this?"

Atalanta nodded.

"Like you, I could only control water from a visible source and have it do my bidding at the beginning. So you know, like using it to energize ourselves in a fight, or heal wounds. Or create mini hurricanes and waves." I began. While I talked, I manipulated the water out of the glass, then placed it back in.

"To practice, try forming a bubble of water out of water molecules in the air of equal volume to the amount of water in the cup. When you succeed in doing so, try manipulating that bubble of water into different shapes as you have done before with the ocean or river."

I chuckled as I watch Atalanta try and fail multiple times, which was understandable. So while she became more and more frustrated at the seemingly easy task, I enjoyed the last bites of my waffles in peace.

By the time I finished, Atalanta had only managed to conjure up a tiny ball of water in the air no bigger than an M&M.

"Why is this so difficult?" Atalanta asked as I got up to put the dirty dishes in the sink.

"For me, it was just imagining too much of the water in the air as ... well air." I said. "We're used to seeing our sources, be it a stream, an ocean, a river. Those sources of water are nearly infinite, which I guess makes the belief that controlling water is easier. This concept is more about the creation of combining many invisible water molecules in the air together, which may be why you find it so difficult to comprehend. But like many things, the skill just takes practice, that's all. Now presents?"

"YES!" Atalanta exclaimed.

"Have you always been this excited about gifts?" I asked, amused.

"Who wouldn't?" Atalanta asked. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"

I snickered as I pulled the stocking high up in the air, shaking it teasingly away from Atalanta's hands as she jumped to take it back. "I'm just checking to see if–"

"–if Mom puts blue candies in my stockings, yes she does!" Atalanta said. "Now give it back!"

"This is your payment for lessons!" I laughed as I snagged the two gift bags inside that held tons of blue sweets. "They're all mine!"

"Percy, I swear to god, give me my candies now!" Atalanta yelped, chasing me as I dodged her movements around the couch.

I promptly dissolved into water and disappeared, leaving Atalanta fuming. "Perseus, I swear on our father's swim trunks, if you don't give them back, I'm telling Mom!"

Silence.

Atalanta cursed. "Mom, Percy took my–!"

I reappeared and tossed Atalanta her share of candies, smirking at her annoyed expression. "This is too easy. I could take anything I want at any time and you would never know."

Atalanta chewed on a jellybean, sulking. "You just watch, one day, I'll be able to do that too."

I raised my hands in the air. "By all means, please do. I've got eternity to spend here after all, and it would be disappointing if myself from another universe couldn't get as awesome as me."

The girl smiled. "Okay, okay, I get it. Just don't give me paperwork and we'll be fine."

I laughed. "Sis, I'm just as dyslexic as you are. I mean, I'm better now, but that doesn't mean reading normal English is any easier."

We ended up opening the rest of the presents afterwards. Much to my surprise, Mom had gotten me two fresh sets of clothes and Atti had bought me some sort of shrimp stuffed animal. I looked at her strangely for it, to where she shrugged but smiled nonetheless. Really though I was surprised, not expecting that my family in this world would take the time to buy me something during Christmas. I had really just expected the blue candies, nothing else.

When Mom came down, we spent the rest of the morning telling old stories, mainly to laugh over the random memories we had in both our lives to see how much was actually the same. It was surprising to hear that Atti had never made enemies with Nancy Bobofit like I did, and some of the small pranks that she managed to drag Grover along made me chuckle multiple times. Besides our adventures coming straight from a cookie cutter, the "mortal" side of our lives seemed to have a few tangents here and there.

Around late afternoon was when I decided to set off for the Hunt, wanting to spend at least some of Christmas with Zoe. At this point I couldn't deny that I did like her, despite the amount of teasing Atti gave me every time I mentioned the Hunt at all.

Since Zoe had been living as a huntress for most of her life, and suffered the whole "Hercules" problem, I suspected that the poor girl had never been properly pampered before. She did say that she wanted me to treat her more like... well, a girl out of the whole Hunt stereotype, so I decided to get her a silver chained necklace with an embedded aquamarine gemstone in the center bit. It would've been expensive as hell on the mortal market, so I asked Hermes if I could get it off his catalog for a single time use with one of my spare Muffliato devices. He agreed, and with that, I was holding a maroon colored jewelry box with the necklace inside, something that would have been impossible for me to get otherwise. Atalanta made me show her so that she could approve of my choices, and when I did finally show her, she admitted after some time that she was jealous a millennia old girl was getting such a gift. I simply chuckled.

Besides that, I also wanted to give Zoe something else, but decided to save it for later, perhaps when I was officially going out with her. I know, I know, it seemed impossible, but if I was an immortal, and she was as well, I found it difficult to picture that we would still remain friends after thousands of years spending time like this together. However, it's really not Zoe I'm afraid of, but Artemis. There's a lot of feeling between Artemis and myself, and not all of the ones I'm seeing from her body language are necessarily "I hate males and I want to gut them."

Plus, I imagined that taking Zoe to an amusement park after New Years would also be just as amazing of a gift, so the big surprise could be put on the backburner for now.

After reminding Atalanta for the fiftieth time to practice her abilities, I turned into water vapor, vapor traveling straight into the Hunters' camp. To avoid any unnecessary trouble with man-hating Hunters, I teleported straight to the side of the main tent, before stepping inside, only to find it empty. It didn't matter, as I hadn't alerted Zoe earlier about my arrival, and assumed that she must have been out hunting, because after all, she loved doing so.

I didn't have to wait for long, as said girl stepped into the tent only a few minutes after I sat down on the animal fur in the center. Zoe's face of exhaustion immediately cleared, her eyes bright when she realized who was inside, and she jumped on me, smelling of sweat and the woods. I chuckled as she snuggled into my shoulders, before pushing herself up and smiling down at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "That's the first time I've seen a Hunter so enthusiastic about a male. Except Thalia."

Zoe blushed. "I've missed you."

I chuckled. "It's only been a few days, you couldn't have been suffering that much."

"It's your fault for making me fall for you," Zoe said softly.

"Geezus, when did you become such a big softie?" I asked. "Anyhow, how was the past few days? Anything happen?"

"Mostly peaceful," Zoe said, reaching behind her head to release her ponytail. "The girls were more than happy in your absence. Especially Lydia."

I shrugged. "That girl just won't see the truth. It's not her fault entirely, I mean, you were like her barely a year ago."

"Well, I'm not like that now..." Zoe said sheepishly.

I poked her on the nose. "No, you're not like that with me, but I daresay that if were to go the Camp Half Blood right now and a guy came up to you, you would pull your castration card immediately."

The girl opened her mouth then shut it. "Ummm..."

"It's okay, I'll help you get better, if you want to." I said. "And actually, I have something for you." I realized just now our closer proximity and blushed, forgetting that the ocean blessing had returned to Zoe an older more mature sense of beauty. Even though she wore the Hunter's uniform now, I couldn't get the image of her in the aquamarine dress out of my mind.

"What is it?" Zoe asked.

I exhaled, slightly nervous. "Well, you said before that you would like it if I began treating you like a normal girl for once."

"I did." Zoe nodded. "Didn't you say you would take me out somewhere?"

I grinned. "You remember. But that trip is for a later date. No, instead, I have something else. I imagined that no man has ever gotten close enough to you to treat you like an actual princess, so I decided to take matters into my own hands." With that, I withdrew the maroon jewelry box from behind me, and handed it to the girl. "Here, your first present from me."

Zoe took the box tenderly from my hands, our skin brushing for mere moments before she lifted the box up to her face.

"Open it," I coaxed. "It won't hurt you, I promise."

Zoe did so, eyes widening as she took in the contents. "Perseus...?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this... is this how males give gifts?" She asked, staring at the shimmering blue gem inside.

I laughed. "More or less. I mean, most guys wouldn't be able to afford such an expensive first present, but I thought that since you've never been pampered in your long years of life, your first one should be impressive."

"Oh." Zoe raised her head, her voice soft as she talked. "Could you... put it on me?"

"Sure." I masked my nervousness as best as I could. Sure I had embraced Zoe many times already, but there was always a strange level of intimacy involved in helping a girl with her jewelry.

We both went silent as I went behind Zoe, wrapping the necklace around her neck, my fingers brushing against the warm surface of her skin. When I spun back around to look at her, I couldn't deny how beautiful the necklace made her look, not that she was any less gorgeous without it. Zoe's cheeks were dusted pink, her obsidian colored eyes almost yearning for approval when I caught her gaze.

"What do you think?" She asked.

I breathed in and out. "I called you a princess before, and now you're even more so. Merry Christmas, Zoe."

"I haven't gotten anything for you," Zoe said guiltily. "Yet, you spent such a fortune on me."

I smirked and leaned forward to peck the girl on the cheek. "Believe me, I've gotten enough gifts from you already. Don't you worry about me. Even Atalanta's jealous about the attention I'm giving you, you know that?"

The girl sighed happily and leaned into me, catching me in warm embrace. "Merry Christmas, Perseus."

§§§§§

As promised, after New Years, I brought Zoe to an amusement park to get her a taste of entertainment in the modern world. Somehow I was able to convince Zoe to help me dupe the Hunt into staying at Camp Half Blood in order to keep them safe while we went to have fun. The lieutenant had mixed feelings with duping her own sisters, but eventually caved, after I insisted that we would only be gone for a day or so.

I didn't do much on New Years but show Zoe the fireworks that the closest city was launching. When she made a comment about how the loud explosions would disturb wildlife, I couldn't really say anything against it, as she was sort of correct. But Zoe still admitted that they were beautiful to see regardless, and even let me kiss her once beneath the stars, leaving her in a blushing mess when I mentioned about the full moon in the sky, as if Artemis herself was watching.

I had decided to take Zoe to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, because honestly, with her whole environment and animal loving nature, it made the most sense. Besides the theme though, Zoe was fascinated by everything, from the entrance to every single shop and store to literally every single ride in the whole park. She was rather surprised that no man came up to her or looked at her funny, and I chuckled to assure her once more that nobody in the right mind would do so when many of them have their own families and companions to love. And so for the first time in the modern world, Zoe was able to let loose, letting me drag her from stall to stall, from ride to ride, from section to section of the park.

Of course, Zoe had several favorites. She couldn't understand why all the game booths were so difficult for people to do, you know, the rigged basketball hoops, the ring toss on the bottle, the darts on balloons? I just watched her silently, unable to stop grinning as she decimated the booths, hitting swishes in every basket, bullseyes in every target, and pretty much winning every single prize she could get. I pretty much had to drag her off and distract her with a cup of Dippin Dots in order to get her to stop putting the poor game booths out of order.

She also loved those splash roller coasters where you ride on some sort of log shaped or banana shaped boat up real high then slammed down into a lake where water exploded around you. It might've been the return of her heritage that she enjoyed the splashing, because I would've never imagined that serious stern Zoe Nightshade would beg me again and again to let het slam into a giant lake. Actually, any ride involving water got her excited, or fast moving carts. I'm pretty sure we rode each roller coaster like 2 times before my poor head couldn't take it anymore. Meanwhile, Zoe was practically bursting with joy, so uncharacteristically unserious that I couldn't believe it was her.

It wasn't just Zoe's attitude that was different, it was also how she looked. Up to this day, I had never seen Zoe dressed casually, in both her pre-matured and matured state. The fact that the girl had agreed to don the clothing I had decided for her, which was really basic, just a simple cute yet casual outfit that left her arms and legs exposed so that she wouldn't cook underneath the sun, similar to my own outfit. At first, Zoe had admitted to feeling uncomfortable in non-Hunter clothes, but I assured her that this was what people wore normally, when they weren't concerned about work or official business or whatnot. And yet, even in simple standard day to day clothing, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful even then, and I briefly wondered how any man managed to avoid being attracted to her.

Oh wait, cause she's a Hunter. Duh. I knew that. No one would have the balls to flirt with her, and literally, no one would have their balls after flirting with her as well.

When night came, I led the huntress towards the main Disney castle, towards the giant courtyard filled with people holding glowsticks and glowing pinwheels and lights into the air, mere minutes before the fireworks went off. It was loud, packed, and filled with people, but Zoe paid no mind to them, her face lit up with a bright smile as we held hands beneath the starting show, an expression of such pure joy that I couldn't help but kiss her on the cheek, causing the girl to explode in red. We stayed all through the show, walking around the park's courtyard one last time on tired feet before the park closed, making us follow the stream of exiting people out towards the parking lot.

"So, what did you think?" I asked wearily as we headed to a secluded set of trees.

"Is this really the modern world?" Zoe asked, finally calm after being excited for ten straight hours. "Is this really the same world of people?"

I managed a laugh. "I told you, the world has changed since 2000 years ago. There's no such thing as "women are inferior to men," at least no one in the right mind would ever believe such a thing. Men aren't the monsters you imagined. Look at all the men we saw today, all those fathers and sons with their families, all those teen groups made of girls and boys, all those ride conductors that helped us know where and what to do. They aren't lustful creatures at all like the Hunt portrays them as, they are simply people living their lives... normally."

"Of course, there are still places out there, and people out there who think differently," I said. "But most of the world has changed for the better. And as long as I'm with you, or you are assertive enough, which you are, no other guy dare to approach a beauty like you."

"Since when was I yours?" Zoe giggled, punching me in the shoulder.

"I never said that," I grinned, nursing the pain. "Ow, what was that for?"

"I've learned many things tonight." Zoe said as we walked further away from the parking lot. "You were right, men are not scum."

"Now, we just have to convince the Hunt," I said. "I know that many of them find refuge in the Hunt because men hurt them, but one man doesn't represent all of us. So it's quite offensive to anyone who's called a rapist or sexual predator by a girl they've never seen in their life just because of their gender."

We walked in silence until we reached a familiar grove of trees that we had set as our return point, far away from accidental mortal sights. "Ready to go home?" I asked, holding my hand out.

Zoe took it and leaned in, pushing her lips against mine before I could even react. When we parted, I gaped at her audacity, the girl blushing and smiling softly at the same time.

"Thank you for showing me the world, Perseus." Zoe said, gripping my hand tightly. "And yes, I'm ready now."

A/N: It's been a long time hasn't it? Yah, yah I know, you guys have been extremely patient with me, and I'm glad you have, but I think I've had you all waiting for far too long. So allow me to return and continue writing and posting new chapters in the following days or so. I have not abandoned all hope on this story, heck no! I apologize for being gone so long, but I'm back now! WOOOOOO!

Peace out you legends.

~ Zayden Shade