When Percy woke up, he was in a bed.
Of course, as any normal person would react to that, he got up so quickly that he fell to the grassy ground.
"Jesus." Percy muttered as the blood pressure in him returned to normal at slow pace. Why was he at a bed? Didn't he sleep outs-
Oh.
All of that happened.
Slowly the memories popped up in his head. Talking to Kelli. Torturing Kelli. Getting stabbed by Annabeth. Becoming Kelli's snack. Wonderful times.
But most important, almost cuddling with Lady Artemis while he cried his brains out.
First of all, why did he react so bad to a nightmare? It wasn't like he hadn't those before. They were quite common.
Second of all, how was he even alive after leaning over to the man-hating goddess herself and crying like a baby? Surely she would have turned into some sort of wild animal.
Shooking his head, he got out of the tent, analyzing their surroundings. They were still in the same forest, already in Pennsylvania. Percy looked around and it didn't take long for him to spot her.
Artemis was close by, apparently polishing arrows or something, and she glanced over to him just as quickly as he had done to her. Percy felt fear for the first time in... years? Probably. Artemis just rolled her eyes at his troubled expression and signaled for Percy to come closer with her left hand. He did as such, sitting beside her in the grass.
"Where is Natalie?" Was the first thing that Percy said. Artemis tried to contain herself but she didn't manage to hold a chuckle.
"Wow. After all that happened yesterday the first thing you ask is if another person of our group is okay." She said, amused. "She is just walking around, I think to fish or something. She does know a thing or two, for someone born in an urban environment."
"It figures. She had to wander around the entire country already. Wouldn't surprise me if she knew how to hunt. And also, I can be worried about my group mates, can't I?"
Artemis shrugged. "I've seen so many selfish people throughout my days." She grimaced. "Anyway. How are you feeling?" The goddess asked with a worried voice.
Percy thought for a few seconds before coming up with an answer. "I don't know."
Artemis looked at him with worry in her eyes. Even if she always appeared at her twelve year old form, her eyes, just likes Hestia's, held the weight of the world. Pain, grief, love, anger, sadness, fear. It didn't matter that she prefered to take the form of person in their late childhood to early teens. There wasn't anything that the goddess of the Hunt didn't feel throughout her immortal life. Almost anything, of course. But either way, the point remained, she most likely could read his expression better than most people.
"If we are staying together for a long period of time, which I intend to do, by the way, you're not getting away with your crimes that easily," she added with a smirk. "we shouldn't keep things hidden from one another. Of course if you don't want to share said things, it's fine, but you know, trust is important."
Percy was surprised that Artemis had made such a point. A part of him had truly expected this experience to overall be either a bad journey where he would be turned into an animal or straight up Hell on Earth. But not this.
"I... Yeah, you're right. We gotta trust one another. Have each other's backs and all." Percy answered, earning a simple nod from Artemis. He took a deep breath and started telling. "So... It's complicated, honestly. It started as a demigod dream. But it turned into a nightmare out of nowhere. I was back at that road. Torturing Kelli again." He grimaced. "I kept doing it, enjoying it, until someone called me out just like you did yesterday. But this time it was Annabeth." Percy's voice faltered. "She stabbed me. I felt it. She told me that I had become a monster. That I broke a promise I made to her. Not to control things that aren't meant to be controlled. And then Kelli attacked me. I somehow felt everything. Her fangs piercing my neck. Blood coming out. But that wasn't the worst part. It was confronting what I have made for myself. I usually can put these thoughts away, but now..."
At this point, he was shaking heavily, almost having a panic attack. Perhaps it wasn't wise to vent so much to a goddess, showing so much weakness, but at this point, he had shown then enough for him to even care.
Artemis did not let his state go unnoticed. She held his hands, squeezing them, as if to comfort him. "Look, Percy, I do not fully agree with your methods." She started. "But I know that you do this to those that deserve it. It is still you, after all, and the Percy Jackson that we all knew would not tolerate injustice."
Slowly, Percy calmed himself, taking deep and slow breaths. The shaking had stopped.
"You're right. I can say that I have not destroyed anyone that didn't deserved it." he said.
For a moment, Artemis was silent, staring at him, perhaps trying to detect any signs of deception, to see if he was lying. She was the sister of the god of truth, after all, she probably learned a thing or two as the years passed by. But she couldn't find anything in his expression that contradicted his words, because it was the truth. He did not kill or hurt innocents.
"Good to know that it is in fact still you. I still remember how much you changed from when we met in Maine and our second meeting at Othrys. But you were still as noble as ever." Percy smiled sheepishly at the compliment. "And when I say you do not tolerate injustice, I mean it." She glanced over to the sky for a few seconds, as if she was trying to glare at Zeus from the woods. Percy knew why. The incident with Apollo and Jason at the Acropolis where he was ready to jump to Jason's defense. And more things too...
"Oh, thanks for defending me at Olympus after that quest. Never actually thanked you." Percy said it, a bit out of nowhere.
Artemis looked at him in awe for a few seconds before chuckling. "If anyone had to thank anybody here, it would be me, otherwise I would still be under the damned sky. But I'm a goddess, so don't expect appreciation." She said playfully, and Percy smiled at that. "Anyway, what was your demigod dream that you talked about earlier?" Artemis questioned, her expression becoming more serious.
"Oh! Yeah, I forgot to talk about it, it is very important." Percy exclaimed, and Artemis tried hard not to roll her eyes. "Kelli talked to me. That's why the following nightmare was so weird. I went from having to deal with flirting to actively killing her." The Butcher couldn't help but shiver. Probably more because of the flirting. "Anyway, she talked to me in the so called Bunker. It is very organized. She told me it was one of the elder titans who was behind this."
Artemis widened her eyes. "An elder titan? One of the twelve? Oh, no. I thought this would be a minor titan. At worse someone like Perses or Lelantos. How many elder titans are even able to pose a threat to Olympus at this day and age?"
"That's what Kelli said to me." Percy answered. "There aren't many of them even around. Kronos is scattered, hopefully forever. Hyperion and Krios... I saw them getting destroyed by T-Tartarus." His voice faltered when saying the name of the primordial of the pit. "Not sure if they could even reform... Bob, I mean, Iapetus..." he shivered heavily when remembering Bob.
"Percy?" Artemis called. She was probably not oblivious to Bob and Damasen, Percy thought. Annabeth made sure to honour their names.
"I'm fine." He stated firmly. "Continuing... Koios. It could be Koios. I saw him in the pit. He said he..." Percy looked at Artemis with caution.
"He said what?" The goddess asked.
"He said she was going to try to recruit Leto. Your mom, you know. He also has your eyes. But I don't know if he did leave Tartarus in time before the Doors were closed." Percy commented.
Artemis seemed deep in thought for a few moments. "Weird. I know it's her father, but weird nonetheless. Hopefully he is still down there, but it could be him. But if not Koios, who else?"
"Only the female titans." Percy pointed out.
Artemis nodded. "Rhea has been seem recently, by Apollo, actually. Do you know that she dress herself like a hippie now? Father seemed like he would have a heart attack when Apollo told him."
Percy laughed out loud at that. "Wow. I can't imagine it, honestly. The hippie thing, that is. But she wouldn't plot against the camps, right?"
"Oh no, definitely not." the goddess answered, almost shocked that Percy would even conceive of that. "Oh, you actually forgot about Oceanus. But if it was him, he would be plotting against your father, right? And not here in the land."
The Butcher nodded.
"That is true. We can also exclude his wife, then, right? Themis?"
"No, you're thinking of father's ex-wife. Oceanus's wife is Thetys. " Artemis corrected, but she couldn't blame him. Gaia and Ouranos sure did not have creativity for names. "And Themis is probably out of the question too. I saw her at Olympus these days talking to father."
Percy once again nodded. "That leaves a few options... Phoebe. your namesake, right?"
"That's correct." The goddess of the Hunt agreed. One of her most known names was Phoebe Artemis, after all.
"There is also Theia, wife of Hyperion, and Nemo-sign."
Artemis blinked. "You mean Mnemosyne?" She asked, while pronouncing the titaness name like "Nemo-seegn".
"Yeah? What's the issue?" the demigod questioned.
"Nothing, just your pronunciation. I don't pronounce with the "sign" at the end, as you very well noticed." she smiled. "Anyway, I will soon go to Olympus, to notify the Council of this development. Koios, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Theia. This could be bad."
"Indeed. I don't feel like fighting titans again, honestly." Percy said. "It was bad enough holding Atlas around at Othrys."
"Ditto."
The two of them were silent for a few minutes, pondering about the possibilities and what this titan plot could actually mean. Whatever it was, Percy wasn't looking forward to it, considering how many monsters he actually saw at that underground base. After a while, a thought went through his head.
"Shouldn't Natalie be back yet?" he asked Artemis, who frowned.
The goddess looked directly at the sun, probably to see what time is it. It made Percy wonder if gods wouldn't have problems looking at extremely bright things, and it probably was the case, since Artemis stared at the sun for a while without issue before speaking. "She should be. It is almost 10 A.M. She did not go that far."
The two of them looked at each other and immediatly got up. This couldn't be a good sign. With one have of her hand, the tent was gone. Percy grabbed his rifle that was on the ground next to them and put it on his back. Both demigod and goddess ran in the direction that Artemis told him that Natalie went first. Percy's lungs ached from the sprint, it was quite a cold morning, but he kept going, right behind Artemis, who tried to track any clues of Natalie's possible location.
Eventually the goddess raised one hand, motioning Percy to stop. They were at a clearing, with birds tweeting around them.
"This is where her track ends." Artemis announced with a grimace.
"It's a trap." Percy decided. As if on cue, an arrow flew from the woods. Percy couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and the arrow hit him in his arm, but with not enough force to pierce all the way through. Nonetheless, it still made him scream in pain and fall to one knee.
"Percy!" Artemis cried, but using the other arm, Percy signaled for her to stay in place. Artemis soon noticed why. A cloaked figure, a woman, escorted by a legion of monsters, came out of the woods. Two dracaenae held Natalie, who had a gag in her mouth, and eyes widened in fear. One of the monsters held a knife against the demigoddess's throat. Even with an arrow attached to his arm, Percy wanted to jump in to save Natalie, but this wouldn't be easy without her getting hurt. Many monsters had signs of recognition on their faces when they looked at Percy.
"Greetings." the cloaked woman said.
Artemis clenched her teeth. "Who are you?"
The woman laughed softly. "Like one would say, I shall not reveal that, my dear goddess."
If possible, Artemis had her teeth even more clenched. She instantly got her bow in a speed that didn't give any time for any of the monsters to react, pointing a sharp arrow at the mysterious woman.
"You are the titan behind the Bunker." the goddess of the Hunt stated. The woman once again laughed.
"That's too obvious. Even Natalie here figured it out." she pointed to Natalie who was still looking at her companions with terror. The dracaenae who were holding her pressed the knife further into the demigoddess's throat. Percy got enraged by this, and got up to his feet. Both Artemis and the titanide glanced over to him.
"Percy, stand down, you are injured!" Artemis commanded, but Percy wasn't listening. The titaness once again laughed.
"The beast awakens." she said. "Nothing can ever stop you, right?"
"Give her to me." The Butcher demanded in a murderous throne. His wound ached and bled underneath the jacket, but he did not care. Some monsters got into defensive positions.
"She will live." the titanide didn't flinch, but her tone was more careful. She motioned with her hands for the dracaenae to give Natalie to her. The monsters begrudgingly acquiesced. "Won't that be enough?"
"I swear... You will give Natalie to me. NOW!" Percy bellowed in a incredibly feral tone. Many monsters brandished their weapons, fists, or teeth, thinking that Percy would straight up attack them, but he stood in place. The titanide, however, had taken a step back.
"B-9." she said, but not to Percy or Artemis, but to the monsters at her side. She grabbed Natalie by the shoulders and bowed her head, apparently whispering something to the demigoddess, who closed her eyes.
"NO!" Percy noticed what was happening, and tried to run to reach Natalie, but it was too late. The titanide flashed away with the demigoddess, leaving Artemis and Percy alone with the monsters, who seemed hesitant to attack. Percy was completely enraged. His mind craved for blood. Without thinking, he grabbed the arrow and pulled it at once from his arm, much to Artemis's shock. The pain was immense, but he bit his lip, not willing to scream. After some seconds, it had diminished considerably. He grabbed Riptide from his pocket and stretched one hand forward.
The earth shook.
Beneath the monsters, the ground was hit by a massive earthquake who made many of them fall to the ground and others to lose their balance. But not even the ones who managed to stay in place foresaw the Butcher running at them like at the speed of a bullet, slicing the monsters like cake. Some tried to fight back, but even the ones who had swords couldn't match his speed. He had been doing this for almost a decade now, he was quite possibly the best mortal swordsman out there, and he used it to his full advantage.
Hellhounds tried to tackle and bite, taller cyclops tried to smash him from above, dracaenae slashed their swords onto his's own or shoot arrows, but no one could touch him. One by one, they fell. The Butcher could see in the corner of his eye that Artemis was helping, shooting from afar, always managing to hurt or distract the monsters that Percy himself wasn't focusing on, specially the ones with bows. It did not take long for the entire horde to be turned into golden dust. Percy looked around at the massacre, to check if there weren't any monsters around. Since there weren't, Percy conceded to his body's demands and fell to the ground. Artemis quickly ran to him and started healing his wound.
"You absolute idiot! Why would remove the arrow like that? Don't you know anything about safety or health in general?!" the goddess yelled at him, while giving a piece of ambrosia for him to eat. Percy ate it, and moved one hand through his face, with the non-injured arm.
"I wasn't thinking. I tried to reach for her. She's gone now."
"Don't be like that." Artemis said. "If that titaness got her, Natalie has... some use to them." she pointed out carefully, not wanting to talk about the usefulness of Natalie like the demigoddess was a tool, in front of Percy. The only that Percy could think about, was for her to be a hostage. That was if Natalie didn't have a more important role that he was oblivious about.
The Butcher sat on the grass, shooking his head. "Go to Olympus."
"What?" Artemis asked in confusion.
"Notify them, whatever." He got up to his feet. "I will cover ground, get to the Bunker, and we meet there."
Artemis widened her eyes again. "Are you insane? You literally just got shot!"
To her anger, Percy insisted with the idea. "I will see you there, I'm fine, just go."
Artemis seemed to ponder for a bit. "Are you one hundred percent sure that you're going to be fine?"
"Glad to know you're worried." Percy commented, making Artemis glare at him. "And yes, I am going to be fine. If anything happens I just have to jump into a lake or something. Just go, we will meet later.
The goddess of the moon sighed, but nodded. "If you die on my watch, I'm not taking responsibility. Poseidon can go hunt you in the Underworld."
"I know." Percy simply answered, and started to walk away, looking at the position of sun so he could know where should he go. Behind him, he heard Artemis flash away, probably in a silver glow.
Luckily for Artemis, almost half of the council was already present at the throne room.
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter and for some reason Ares, were chatting quite casually for the Olympians's standards. Hestia also was present, but quiet, at the Hearth. The talking stopped as Artemis flashed in, quickly growing to her godly size and sitting at her throne, the fourth one in the woman's side of the throne room.
"Meeting." Artemis said in a simple way, and Zeus sighed before blasting the roof with his master bolt. Dramatic. A single arrow would have been enough to signal a meeting. Soon, Apollo, with clothes that she never imagined that her brother would wear, looking like an actual hipster, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Athena, Hermes and Hephaestus all appeared and went to their thrones.
"So...?" the king of the gods asked his daughter as soon as everyone was in place.
"Okay, father..." Artemis started, all eyes on her. "I've got some bad news."
Story might go on hiatus since I'm going to make a trip and might not use my PC a lot, but in no way it's getting abandoned. Anyway, 28 Days Later reference. See you guys eventually!