Hello.

My name is Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon. You might know me as the bane of Kronos and the savior of Olympus with a whole lot of other titles.

So, you might be asking, how did I find myself snogging one of my best friends and interests in front of super-powerful immortal deities that ruled the universe?

Here is the story of me almost dying (Literally and with embarrassment).

I was having a pretty crappy day so far. Ever since Queen Dirt face had won the war, we demigods were in a...compromising situation to say the least. We were being hunted left and right by monsters and minor titans and giants. A lot of my friends from both camps were captured and executed. Piper was killed in a surprise Empousa attack at night. Jason was absolutely devastated, so much so, he stopped eating altogether. His depression increased and he became sloppy and distracted. He was killed by an unsuspecting arrow to the heart by a wind spirit during one of their frontal attacks. Hazel and Frank passed away together painlessly when an earthborn threw a large boulder on them, crushing them instantly. Leo was killed during the fight with Gaea.

The remaining of us were mourning them in hiding when Artemis approached my best friend, Annabeth. She offered her a place to stay in the hunt. Annabeth refused in fear of abandoning me, but Artemis clarified that the offer extended to me as well.

Yes, the man-hating Artemis' hunt. How did I not get turned into a pincushion? Turns out, they respect me!

I was already good friends with most of the hunt with me traveling with them for a while before the Giant War.

The newer hunters were pretty skeptical of me at first but after being vouched for by Thalia and Artemis (This gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling), they quickly warmed up to me.

We would often have various competitive challenges within the hunter's rank that generally ended up with me being on the floor and the hunters' laughing their butts off. Fortunately, I didn't have hubris as my fatal flaw, so I just brushed off most of their insults and taunts. Due to this, slowly but surely, their pranks and taunts started becoming light-hearted and without the previous intent to hurt.

We were traveling west towards California to rendezvous with the rest of the surviving demigods. Artemis had become a bit more lenient towards boys because of the trying circumstances. While she had not allowed anyone else but me to travel with the hunt, she did lose some of her man-hating tendencies.

Artemis and I were walking side by side ahead of the rest of the hunt. Everyone in the hunt knew about the 'glances' that were thrown between us. Thalia and Annabeth teased me and Artemis relentlessly after an incident involving me dozing off on her shoulder and her resting her head on mine instinctively.

It was a normal morning, the birds were chirping, Thalia and Annabeth were bickering, the hunters were having an archery competition and discussing various castration methods *shudder* and of course Artemis and I were a blushing mess around each other. It was a good morning indeed.

Until it wasn't.

As I was talking with Artemis about the frequency of attacks from Gaea's forces, a hunting horn sounded.

An attack.

Our eyes widened as we sprinted towards the armory. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Thalia and Annabeth engaging with a few Earthborn.

I quickly strapped on my armor and uncapped Riptide. I saw Artemis summon her bow and start rapidly shooting at the monsters.

I let out a war cry as a dracanae lunged forward to stab me in the chest. I sidestepped and ran my sword through her midsection quickly. She vaporized with a wail and I brought my attention to the three cyclops towering before me.

They attacked me together with their hammers. I parried one swing before ducking to dodge another. I feinted a left swipe at his head and when the cyclops went to block it, I quickly changed direction and stabbed him through his eye. He disintegrated as another tried an upward swing. I dodged and swiftly decapitated him and stabbed the third one as he was sneaking behind me. The two burst into sulfurous powder.

I started running through the monsters rapidly until my eyes caught Artemis.

I looked over to her to see how she was doing.

Oh my gods...she was beautiful.

She was dispatching monsters around her with absolute finesse. Her auburn hair was flowing all around her as she dodged a swipe from an empousa. Her amazing silver eyes narrowed as she glared fiercely at a dracanae before putting an arrow through its head. She moved like a panther; sharp, agile, cold, calculating, and fierce. She was absolutely breathtaking.

She turned around and caught my gaze. She stared at me for a moment before blushing and looking away. I could practically hear my heartbeat throbbing in my chest.

I shook my head and concentrated on the battle before me.

An earthborn barreled towards me but I sidestepped and stabbed it in the back. A group of Dracanae and Empousa tried to ambush me from behind but I quickly decapitated two of them before stabbing the other three and watching them burst into yellow powder.

I looked around and saw Thalia, along with some younger hunters having problems with hellhounds. As a hellhound was about lunge on Thalia behind her, I quickly rushed to her side and swiped at the hellhound's neck. It burst into the yucky powder all over Thalia. She whirled around and wrinkled her nose. "Ew...hellhound cooties."

I rolled my eyes. "Real mature, Circuit-Breaker", I snarked.

Thalia blinked. "Circuit-breaker? Damn, I'm impressed Sea-sponge." She whistled.

I grinned and did an exaggerated mock bow. "Percy Jackson serves to please."

Thalia rolled her eyes but allowed a small smile to grace her face. (See what I did there? Grace?...No?)

I quickly scanned the field and saw just a handful of monsters left, which were swiftly sent to Tartarus by the hunters.

I panted as the adrenaline from the battle started to wear off.

I notice Artemis walking towards us with a smile. I started to smile too before I felt my instincts buzzing. My eyes widened as I saw an arrow fly towards Artemis' unsuspecting head. It was going for her neck. I tried to cry in alarm but she would never react to it in time.

In a split-second decision, I dashed forwards jumped between her and the arrow. Her eyes widened in horror as the arrow struck my chest and pierced my heart through the gap of the armor.

I fell to the ground and collapsed in a heap of blood.

Through my blurred vision, I saw Artemis, Thalia, and Annabeth cry out my name as they rushed towards me. A hunter shot an arrow towards the shooter, an empousa, sending it to Tartarus immediately.

I brought my attention to the pixie-haired girl before me.

"Percy! No, no, no I won't lose you too. Come on Kelp-Head." Tears started gathering in Thali's eyes. "Get a medic now! Come on, we don't have time!"

By now Annabeth was openly sobbing, unable to form words.

"Shh Thunderbug, it's okay. Stop crying Thals. The arrow has already pierced my heart. I am never-" I started coughing up blood and Artemis rushed to my side and cradled my head in her lap.

"Thals? Thalia look at me." Thalia turned her head towards me with tears in her eyes. "I only have a few minutes, Thals. I wanted to say that these months have been one of the best in my life. You all gave me a family and a home. With everything that was going on, I didn't think I would ever find peace but you have proven me wrong. Thalia, you are the best dam cousin a person could ask for. Don't cry for me you all. Annabeth-" I turned to her but she refused to meet my eyes.

"Hey, Wise Girl." I croaked.

Annabeth cracked a smile before her tears started falling once more.

"Hey S-seaweed brain"

I grinned weakly. "Thanks, Annabeth, for everything. You have been by my side through all of this, all the wars. You are one of my best friends and the most rational person I've ever met. So please, Annie, after I'm gone, please take care of Thalia and Artemis."

"I can take care of myself, Sea sponge" Artemis said in mock indignance but her face was streaked with tears. I laughed weakly despite the weakness.

Annabeth nodded tearfully and promised me.

I took Artemis' hand and faced her. Her disheveled hair and tear-streaked face never looked more beautiful.

I cupped her cheek and brushed away the tears tenderly.

"You idiotic male! How dare you take that arrow for me? I am immortal, I would have reformed if I died. You didn't have to do that and now because of me you are going to die and-"

I cut off her hysterical ramblings with a squeeze of my hand.

"Shh...moonbeam. Do not blame yourself. I made my decision and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, you are immortal but I would never let you get hurt if I could prevent it. Now stop crying Artemis. It hurts to see you cry." I whispered soothingly.

She gazed at me for a minute before cupping my cheek tenderly. She released a sob and leaned down slowly. Her hot breath tickled my face, her eyes filled with sadness, guilt, and...love?

She slowly brought her lips to mine and my brain short-circuited.

Oh Gods The Kiss.

It was unlike anything I had ever imagined. It was slow and soft and simple, yet it was absolutely amazing. It clicked everything into place, my feelings, my emotions, and filled me with inexplicable warmth. I had no regrets, fears, secrets for the span of the kiss. I was hers and she was mine in our own little world.

I was vaguely aware of a bright light surrounding us both and the hunters crying out in alarm but I did not even bother to acknowledge it. The only thing that mattered was the epitome of perfection before me.

We kissed until we were both breathless and our lungs screamed for the gaseous elixir. On an unsaid signal we both pulled away slowly. I was practically gasping for air by the end. I gazed into the silver eyes of Artemis and leaned in again when someone cleared their throat.

We both snapped out of our daze and scrambled to get up hastily. We were both blushing a deep crimson from embarrassment.

Only then I realized that we were not in the hunters' camp anymore and I didn't have an arrow stuck inside my heart. And I was ... healed?!

I gasped as I gave myself a frantic pat down to see I did not have a gaping hole in my chest. I nearly cried out in surprise before turning towards Artemis to ask her if she had anything to do with it.

Sure, the kiss was amazing, but I highly doubted it had healed my heart (Literally speaking).

I looked at Artemis and saw her wide-eyed, gaping at something in front of us.

I followed her gaze and nearly had a heart attack (Ironic since my heart was just attacked. hehe)

I honestly don't know how this slipped through my notice. (I blame the stupid ADHD)

We were in a magnificent throne room.

One that would put Olympus to shame. There were 14 enormous thrones spread around which were all different but extremely beautiful in their own right. The walls surrounding the chamber were intricately carved with various hieroglyphs and other cryptographs and were gilded with what seemed like gold. The floor of the throne room was a brilliant white with various floral emblems painted in the center. I looked up and gasped. The ceilings were so high up, they seemed to merge with the night sky with all the stars.

I was extremely surprised to notice the throne did not provide the air of royalty as did Olympus, instead, this had a far more homey and comfortable feel to it.

The majority of the thrones were empty and not occupied by anyone.

However, five of the thrones were occupied.

The throne, towards the far left, which was pitch black, swirling with darkness and shadows, was seated upon by a seemingly powerful lady. She was absolutely beautiful. She had a pale face, luscious red lips, and almond-shaped pitch-black eyes with a white quasar for the pupil. I vaguely recognized her from somewhere. I didn't recognize her face but her aura was familiar.

The throne next to her seemed to be made of pure gold with intricate lines placed strategically to form streams of sand. The man who rested on it was a middle-aged guy with a flowing salt-pepper beard and hair and bright golden eyes which made me wary of him. He held a golden staff with an hourglass embedded at the top in his hand.

The throne next to him screamed of terror. It was a beautiful midnight purple throne with pictures of gruesome tortures and death engraved on it I could make out some of the lesser tortures but still barely controlled myself not to hurl. A large pale muscled man with hellish purple eyes and a handsome face sat on the throne. Once again, the man seemed vaguely familiar.

The throne on the right side was a simple but beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It seemed to be made of cloth and had various tapestries embroidered on it yet it had the same luster of platinum. On it sat a regal looking woman with grey eyes and a stoic expression. She looked freakishly like Athena and was hella intimidating.

Finally on the biggest throne at the center, which looked an expanse of nothingness with galaxies and nebulae swirling in it, sat one of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her perfect complexion and mischievous black eyes swirling with power made me blush despite myself.

In my mind, however pretty she was, she was still less beautiful than the auburn-haired goddess I had come to love.

I did not know who these deities were but I could practically feel their aura pushing me down, willing me to surrender. I felt like a gnat in front of these beings.

I guess Artemis must have felt that too because she was gawking at them before taking a respectful knee.

I turned towards them to see most of them looking at me in disbelief or awe and the woman at the center smirking in my direction.

They were all staring at me which was honestly making me feel very uncomfortable.

I blushed at the silence and the attention before clearing my throat.

"Hey", I said awkwardly.

Yep...here is the second chapter as promised. I'll alternate between this story and Acceptance, so look out for that too.

I do not own PJO.