Hey, guys. I'm sorry but this story is officially being placed under hiatus until- I'm just kidding, here's the 12th chapter.

Enjoy!

Of course, the side quest went splendidly. We made our to the waterpark, Annabeth scolding me the whole way, with Grover piggy-backing at everything she said.

"Are you insane, Seaweed brain?" Annabeth fumed, for what seemed like the sixth time that day. "Why on earth would you mock Ares?! You do not want that guy as your enemy. Are you trying to get yourself killed, Jackson?"

"Yeah," Grover put in weakly.

I rolled my eyes and withheld a groan of annoyance.

"What is it with you and pissing of immortals? First, it was Mr. D and then the fricking God of War?!" Annabeth asked rhetorically, still in her Percy-induced rage. "Ares will not hesitate to kill you, Percy. He lives for bloodshed and carnage. He just needs a reason, however small, to rip your arms off."

I almost snorted at that. As if the brute could beat me while dear-ol' grandpa was in his head.

Finally sighing, I turned towards my friends, before Annabeth could go into another one of her tirades.

"Okay, stop," I said. "I get it you both are worried about me, but what's done is done. You can't scold me every time I insult a god, Annie."

Annabeth opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off. "No, listen to me first," I urged, running my hands through my hair. "Look, I get it that you're worried about me and I honestly don't know why, but seriously, pissing off gods is like a second nature to me," I joked weakly.

Noticing Annabeth's eye twitch, I hastily corrected. "I mean, I have a perfectly justifiable reason for doing that and I am definitely not doing it for the sake of my own amusement and/or ego-bashing," I said solemnly, with my hand over my heart.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "And pray tell what this reason might be?"

I laughed nervously, not meeting her eyes. In a moment of desperation from being unable to think of any reasonable excuse, not involving the words: 'Gods are dumbasses', I pointed to the side of the road and blurted out, "Oh look, we're here."

"This is an appliance store, Jackson."

I blinked and blushed, noticing the neon lights shining inside for the first time. "Right... "

"So?"

"I'm working on it."

"What happened, Perce?" Grover smirked. "Cat got your tongue?"

I turned towards him and stared. I swear, he just changed his entire dynamic in a second, going from timid to challenging. Talk about mood-swings.

I shook my head and grumbled. "Shut up, Goat-boy."

"I'm still waiting, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth drawled smugly.

"Shut it, Chase."

The rest of the walk advanced in silence.

The atmosphere was quite eerie. The sun was gradually dipping below the horizon as the shadows and night slowly took over. The part of the town we were walking through was deserted, with broken beer bottles and trash littering the ground.

Empty and abandoned buildings, covered in graffiti and paint, cast an almost apocalyptic environment. For a chilling second, the entire scene reminded me of the Junkyard of Gods, where Bianca di Angelo had made her final stand. Shaking my head to rid of the guilt-filled memory, I sighed deeply before continuing my trek, with my friends trailing behind me.

Broken mannequins grinned at us from deserted stores as the wind swept past us, clearing the dust from the path.

Grover whimpered slightly as the waterpark came into our view and we trudged to a stop.

The same forsaken sight of a highly depressing park greeted us and once again, Grover did some totally intentional fancy maneuvers to get over the fence.

Raiding the souvenir shop and looking like broke hippies trying to make money, the three of us made our way to the Tunnel o' Love ride.

"You smell any monsters, Grover?" Annabeth asked, glancing at the satyr.

Grover sniffed and shook his head. "It smells weird. But I'm pretty sure there are no monsters here."

"Are you sure?"

Grover nodded confidently. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Annabeth relented and glanced towards the ride. "Alright. We're here."

In front of us was an empty pool, with curved edges and a shallow-to-deep gradient. Patches of algae and moss were spread out in it in a disgusting manner throughout the scummy water.

Inside, the tracks for a hot pink boat began from the center of the pool, going all the way to a tunnel at the opposite edge.

The words 'Tunnel Ride O' Love' were written in a faded script on the banner over the entrance of the tunnel. Water dripped down from the ceilings, splattering on the pavement below. The ride tracks elevated as they went further down the tunnel, about five meters from the ground at the end before dropping rapidly.

Statues of small pudgy cupids hung from the entrance with small cameras attached to their bows with the greek letter 'Eta' marked over them.

"Eta," Annabeth muttered. "I wonder..."

I turned towards Annabeth who had her signature, 'I'm thinking a mile-an-hour' resting face.

"It's exactly what you think, Annie," I confirmed, glaring accusingly at the mark.

"Huh," Annabeth frowned confusedly. "What do you mean?"

I pointed to the top of the tunnel where the cameras were fitted. "Look at those cameras there. The rest of the ride looks old and worn out but the cameras aren't. They look perfectly fine and functional. Moreover, the ceiling of the ride is deliberately obscured from view, and the mark of Hephaestus is branded on the side. Combine all of that and throw a little Ares and Aphrodite and you get?" I waved my hands dramatically, prompting her to answer.

Her eyes widened in realization as she breathed out. "Trap."

I whooped. "Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" I yelled, grabbing Annabeth's hand and raising it, eliciting a giggle from her.

Grover, poor Grover, was looking between me and her, sporting a bewildered look. "Huh?" He commented intelligently.

I rolled my eyes and gestured vaguely at the ride. "Hephaestus, net, trap, Ares, Aphrodite. Get it?"

Grover blinked and slowly nodded before adopting a doubtful expression. "Uhh... "

Annabeth sighed and began explaining the situation about the ride to Grover. With each word, his eyes widened and his lips began to quiver. While Annabeth was occupied with Grover, I brought my attention back to the task ahead.

There was no way I was going to climb in the boat and try taking the scarf and the shield, nor was I going to let Annabeth face spiders again. The shield was placed just in the middle of the large vessel, such that one would have to climb into it to even brush a finger against it.

Noticing the thin wire attached to the edge of the shield, I narrowed my eyes and began assessing the structure. I thought about disintegrating the trip-wire, but I quickly banished the idea, not wanting to risk anything. The chances of the thin net being thrown over our heads was very high. I could just grab the shield and vapor travel out of the nets, but I didn't want to reveal how powerful I was just yet. Moreover, the net would be a power-dampening mesh, so it'd be pretty humiliating if I just stood there, looking like a lemon and trying and failing to vapor travel.

"Percy?" Annabeth shook my arm. "Are you even listening to me?" She demanded with a scowl. "Oh, he's in trouble," Grover muttered beside her, whistling quietly.

"I- huh what?" I gabbled incoherently, my thoughts still revolving around the trap and plans to overcome our challenge. So far, I had come up with a couple of plans, but they were all flawed one way or the other.

Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms. "Unbelievable," She glared at me. "I'm the only one here, trying to actually do something, while Seaweed brain over here is probably fantasizing about cookies, not even bothering to listen!"

"Hey," I protested, pouting slightly. "I'm not doing nothing, okay. I'm trying to figure out how to get the shield without dying and/or getting humiliated."

"Also," I added defiantly, ignoring Annabeth's narrowed eyes. "I'll have you know, there's nothing wrong about fantasizing about cookies. Cookies are Elysium." I stated with a huff.

"Wrong time, Perce," Grover said sympathetically, glancing nervously at Annabeth. The blonde was giving me her most potent death-glare, gripping her dagger tightly.

I gulped and tried to divert the scary blonde's attention from myself. "Uh... I have a plan."

"And?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow dangerously. "Do enlighten me."

I nodded and started explaining. "I have already assessed the structure slightly. The shield must surely be attached to a string or a tripwire of sorts, which would ultimately lead to the activation of the trap due to the disturbance. I imagine that the cupid statues over there must have some sort of purpose in the mechanism." I said, pointing at the Eta on the statues.

Annabeth nodded, her gaze calculative.

"So," I continued, turning towards the ride. "I'm assuming that the cameras would telecast the entire scene live to someplace, presumably to Olympus. I suspect that Ares knew of the trap and wanted us to get humiliated in front of the Olympians. I also think that-"

I glanced around, checking for any excess of vapor in the nearby air. Finding no strange amount than average, I lowered my voice into a whisper and leaned forwards. "Ares has something to do with the bolt."

Annabeth's eyes widened as Grover gasped.

"What makes you say that?" Annabeth inquired, her tone not accusatory, but more curious and contemplative.

I hummed as I fiddled with my pen in my pocket. "Notice something unusual about Ares when he gave us a quest?" I questioned.

Grover frowned before shrugging, "I mean, he looked pretty smug and arrogant to me." He blinked before smirking slightly. "Well, at least he did before you gave him a verbal smack-down."

Annabeth smacked him.

I laughed slightly before a serious look made its way onto my face and I shook my head. "No no, I'm talking about his body language and posture. When he assigned us a quest and we agreed on a mutual exchange? Did he seem... different to you?" I hesitated, "Like more non-Ares?"

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows, deep in contemplation as she thought over my statement. Of course, I knew that he wasn't apprehensive because of the ride, but because he needed us to deliver the bolt without getting himself caught.

Annabeth gasped slightly, her eyes widened in realization. "He looked almost... nervous."

I nodded, prompting her to continue. She took a deep breath and began murmuring to herself.

"He was nervous, but it didn't seem he was nervous because of the trap," she stated thoughtfully, as I cracked a grin at my friend's wit. "No, he seemed nervous about something else. Something completely unrelated to the side-quest. And did you see him when he was negotiating with Percy? He was accommodating to Kelp-head's wishes!" She exclaimed in realization, as my eyes lit up.

"Correctomundo!" I sang happily, booping her on her nose. "There you are!"

"Yeah," Grover said, his face scrunched up in confusion. "But wasn't he nervous about the trap? And he agreed to Percy's demands because he wanted his shield back."

"Yes, he looked nervous, but you forget that he still is a god. A god of war. This means that he is connected to every weapon there is. So, according to his domains, he can summon any weapon from anywhere. So, if he truly wanted his shield back without creating some shit, he could've summoned it back to himself in seconds. So, no, he wasn't nervous because of the trap," I explained.

Annabeth nodded her head. "Also, that doesn't justify why he was so whipped. There has to be another reason."

I nodded.

"Yupp," I agreed. "God or not, Ares would never go to such lengths to get a seemingly menial task complete. He would've smote me in a flash in any other scenario if I dared to talk to him in such way."

"But if you knew you would've gotten blasted, then why did you urge him to flash us directly to Santa Monica pier so rudely?" Grover bleated nervously, glancing warily at the ride.

"Yes," Annabeth's eyes flashed. "That's what I want to know too, Perseus."

I cringed involuntarily at my full name and shrugged. "I mean I already knew from camp stories that he was one of the more forgiving Olympians in terms of rudeness. So, I kinda just riled him up more and more to see when he would blow-up," I said. "But he-"

"But he didn't," Grover completed. "Why didn't he?"

"He needed us," Annabeth answered grimly as I nodded. "Percy here-," She shot a glare in my direction, as I smiled sheepishly. "-noticed that and took advantage of it."

"How?"

Annabeth gave me a grudging look before she explained. "He observed that Ares was desperate to give us this quest for some reason, so he tipped the negotiations in our favor."

I shrugged. "If he wasn't an idiot, he would've seen what I was doing."

"But how does this connect to the bolt in any way?" Annabeth mused.

I hummed. "Look at it this way," I said. "Zeus probably would've sent several Olympians to search for the bolt. Ares, Athena, and Dionysus are probably the most loyal to Zeus, so he would have sent them immediately after the bolt was stolen along with the hunters. However loyal she is to Zeus, Athena does kinda get annoyed if Zeus spews too much bullshit. Ares, on the other hand, is literally Zeus's bitch. What Zeus says, Ares does without question. The only reason he would disobey Zeus is if the task causes war without interference." I explained.

"But... Ares is the god of war, so it would be likely that he could sniff out a weapon this strong," Annabeth picked up the explanation. "If he couldn't find such a colossal weapon that means that the bolt is in the underworld."

I smiled, "Or?"

Her lips pursed in thought before her eyes widened in realization and horror. "Or Ares has the bolt," She breathed out.

"Whoa whoa, what?" Grover faltered in disbelief, paling rapidly as his crutch clattered onto the pavement. "A-Ares is the lightning thief?"

Annabeth ran a hand through her blonde locks pacing furiously. "No, he had to have a hero steal the bolt for him at the Winter Solstice. With the bolt stolen, Zeus and Poseidon would have no choice but go to war. And that is what he strives for."

"But what about the Rich One? How does he fall into all of this?" Grover questioned hesitantly. "If he isn't the culprit then why did he send the Kindly Ones after us?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Annabeth turned towards Grover. "I don't know." She admitted. "But I can't believe this." She said quietly.

"Annabeth..."

"No, I can't," She insisted. "Hades is supposed to be the bad one!" She said frantically, shaking her head furiously. "Hades must have planned this somehow, Ares can't be the only one. Hades needs a war for deaths to expand his kingdom, right?" She said furiously. "Right? Which means Hades is on this plan too!"

Grover looked at her in sympathy.

I have to admit, seeing her like this, my heart broke a little. She had one of the most horrible childhoods I'd ever seen, unwanted by parents, constantly on the run from monsters. Nothing seemed stable for her seven-year-old self at that time.

Then came Luke and Thalia with an offer of a family and all the affection that came with it. In a flash, the three became inseparable.

Luke representing the mature but fun older brother and Thalia, the bad-ass best friend/sister.

The bonds between them ran so deep, that even getting chased by monsters wasn't enough to deter their spirits and camaraderie. Then came the incident that would haunt the two for the rest of their time.

The death of Thalia Grace.

Forced into an oath that killed his lover and nearly his children, Hades sent hordes of monsters after the trio, bent on making Zeus suffer from the death of his only greek child. So, when Thalia Grace made her final stand at the Half-Blood Hill, something in Annabeth shattered completely.

Her hatred for the Lord of the underworld grew immensely, blaming the god for the death of her best friend.

Right now, with the notion of Hades actually being innocent, her past emotions came forth and her logic backed off.

Seeing Annabeth hysterical shifted something in me. In a moment of courage, I pulled the blonde into a warm hug.

She stiffened at first and tried to pull away but after noticing that I wasn't gonna let go until she felt better, she melted completely into the embrace.

For a few minutes, I just held her as she cried silently, occasionally letting out wet sniffles. I chuckled silently when Grover didn't seem to meet my eyes, instead, looking far too interested in his hooves.

I ran my hands through Annabeth's curls, smiling internally at the familiar weight of my friend in my arms.

Of course, I was a little bit weirded out by Annabeth's behavior. The Annabeth I knew from my time, would never let her emotions show like this in front of a son of Poseidon, especially one, she met so recently. Even after years of going through and overcoming trauma together, Annabeth remained guarded except for a few times when I annoyed her into talking, after which she would accept friendly cuddles from me to overcome her nightmares.

Many campers had thought that we would drift away from each other after the break-up but that was certainly not the case. Even if we weren't attracted to each other as we were before, she was still my best friend and vice versa. You cannot lose such a bond just because a relationship did not work out.

I was brought out of my reverie by a quiet muffled voice.

"Why does this feel so familiar?" Annabeth mumbled into my neck.

I froze. "What?"

She shifted slightly but did not leave the embrace. "I don't know," She admitted softly, her voice small. "You feel... familiar in a way. Like I've known you for years instead of just a week."

"Huh?" I said intelligently, internally panicking at the significance of her words.

"I know I must sound stupid," She continued, seemingly embarrassed by her admittance. "But it feels that way. I started noticing this when I told you about my family on the train. I would never say something that private to someone I just met a week ago. But I was compelled to tell you everything as if I knew, somehow, that I could trust you. It just felt natural."

I stayed quiet for a while before slowly speaking. "Look, Annabeth, I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty surprised with how you treated me when I was declared the son of Poseidon." I let out a laugh, startling the blonde in my arms. "I honestly thought you were going to treat me like shit just because of my parentage like the rest of your sibling but after I stayed around you, I began to realize how incorrect I was. In the beginning, I thought you were doing so out of pity, but the more I interacted with you, I realized that everything felt way too familiar with you. It was just like you said 'It just felt natural'," I summarized, running a hand through my messy locks.

It was the truth, it just wasn't the complete truth.

Annabeth hummed. "I wanted to hate you," She admitted with a roll of her eyes. "But every time I tried it felt wrong. Like, I would feel guilty after. Since I couldn't hate you, I considered Hestia to be your main parent rather than Poseidon to tell myself that I wasn't hating you because your parent was the peaceful motherly goddess." She said sheepishly.

I snickered. "Resourceful."

"Shut up, Seaweed brain."

Only then I seemed to remember that we weren't alone and there was, in fact, a goat watching us with wide eyes.

Grover looked dumbfoundedly at us, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. I snickered in my palm at his agape expression before Annabeth elbowed me in the ribs with a glare.

"Wha-how-huh?" He spluttered intelligently.

"Not a word, Goat-boy," Annabeth threatened, which probably wouldn't have looked scary with her face still snuggled in my embrace but it did the job. I laughed at Grover's furiously nodding head and I pulled away from Annabeth.

"So," Annabeth cleared her throat and straightened her shirt, looking quite desperate to change the subject. "Let's get the shield. Plan?"

I nodded and started explaining the rather simple plan that I'd come up with, a single thought pinging around my brain.

Memories could be lost, but emotions could never be tampered with.

Stormy grey orbs stared at the small picture on the mortal newspaper hovering in the air. Intimidating eyes filled with wisdom and pride narrowed at the publication with unbridled curiosity and frustration.

With lips pulled into a tight line, the goddess of wisdom studied the picture of her daughter, a satyr, and the sea-spawn with an intent gaze.

As the goddess of wisdom, Athena loathed not knowing something. Perhaps it was her pride but every time she analyzed the Sea-spawn and come up short, her lips reflexively pulled into a sneer.

No, she didn't hate the son of Poseidon. She would never judge someone harshly just because of their parentage, nor form a biased opinion. Of course, she was prejudiced against Perseus at first, her displeasure for her uncle showing through. But when the boy did not show the inherent idiocy, she allowed herself to get intrigued by the tri-blood.

If she were to let go of her pride, she could even admit that the boy was indeed special. After all, no half-blood had the power to reverse a millennia-old curse from a second-generation Olympian like herself. Nor could they defeat the Chimera, a monster feared even by the gods.

If she were to judge from the raw energy required to reverse Medusa's curse, she had a pretty accurate estimate on just how powerful he was. Let's just say, if she were to inform Zeus of that, he would probably smite the demigod before Athena even completed her statement for being a threat to Olympus (Read: 'His rule'). Of course, he would get into a ton of shit from his brother and his terrifying older sister, but Athena knew he probably didn't have the brain cells to think that far ahead.

Athena was suspicious of the demigod. No demigod, especially one to be introduced into the world of the gods so recently, could have known about the divine this much. The knowledge that the boy had about the ways of the gods was almost... frightening.

Everything he did was utterly random but at the same time so calculated. The oxymoron about his actions was driving her nuts. Every one of his deductions was completely justifiable with the proper observations, inferences, and hypotheses, yet always coupled by humorous statements and jests.

For someone who had never met the gods, Perseus seemed to know an awful lot about them. Even if her aunt informed Perseus about the mannerisms of each of the gods, he couldn't have known the little quirks of some of them on the council. He spoke about them with an air of familiarity as if he'd known them for years.

There was something about the son of Poseidon, that was just... magnetic. With a captivating charisma and unfailing loyalty, he would grow into the leader of the demigods. While she was skeptical of the demigod's origins and story, she did not doubt his sense of loyalty to the gods. Out of all the auras, for some reason, his aura gravitated the most towards Hestia, Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite, and... Artemis?

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion at the names. She was certain that neither Apollo nor Aphrodite knew the demigod before his claiming. She could easily discern that the two were as close to the demigod as she was. But not Artemis. Her sister was a completely different story.

After knowing her sister for millennia, she could tell when Artemis was hiding something. And she was most definitely hiding something.

The fondness with which she gazed at the demigod was highly questionable. If it had been a maiden, Athena would have believed that she was just scouting out potential hunter material. But given her man-hating tendencies, Athena would have never guessed that her sister would ever be caught giving a fond look to a male demigod, one related to Orion of all people.

She knew there was some history between Artemis and Perseus, but honestly, she was flummoxed that the meeting did not end up with the Sea-spawn with antlers. Not only that but he, somehow, managed to get the approval of Artemis of all people.

Carefully mulling over her thoughts, the goddess cocked her head before disappearing into a blazing inferno.

The camp was bustling with activity. Pre-teens clad in silver and armed with bows walked leisurely in the cool and tranquil evening. Phoebus had just set his chariot, as the sky colored with radiant hues of blue, orange, and purple alike. Athena the owl, observed the scene before her eyes with a quiet hoot.

The owl flapped her wings and jumped from the branch, where it sat upon. With each flap, the owl transformed as its wings elongated into arms and plumage into raven hair.

Alerted by a new presence, the girls readied their bows before they saw the 'intruder'.

A hunter, more stoic and regal than the rest, with a silver tiara resting upon her head, stepped forward and bowed. "Lady Athena, tis a pleasure."

Athena allowed herself to crack the tiniest of smiles as she acknowledged the millennia-old hunter with a curt nod. "Greetings, Zoe Nightshade."

"How can we help thee, Milady?" She asked politely to one of the few deities respected by her.

"I am looking for my sister, Miss Nightshade," Athena spoke with a raised eyebrow. "Has she arrived yet from her evening hunt?"

Zoe shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid not, Milady. Lady Artemis is still out hunting. She hasn't hath returned."

Athena hummed. "A pity. I was hoping to converse with her."

"Wouldst thee liketh me to take a message?" Zoe inquired respectfully.

"There's no need for that, Lieutenant," A new voice spoke, interrupting Athena before she could answer.

A twelve-year-old with silver eyes tinged with yellow strolled into the pavilion, a carcass of a buck in her hand. "Naomi, would you please start the dinner preparations?" Artemis said, handing the hunter the carcass. "I have a feeling that today's venison is going to be exceptional."

The hunter bowed respectfully before retreating into a silver tent with the animal.

"Sister," Artemis greeted casually. "How can I help you?"

"I was hoping we could talk about the questers for the bolt in private," Athena stated, observing the moon-goddess with narrowed eyes.

Artemis tensed for a moment, which didn't go unnoticed by Athena who smirked ever-so-slightly.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest over them?"

Athena shrugged. "I have some interesting observations over one of the members and I'd like to speak to you about them."

"Of course," Artemis spoke icily. "Let's head on to my tent, shall we?"

Without deigning to wait for a response, Artemis turned on her heels and marched into a relatively grander-looking tent.

Athena followed her inside, absent-mindedly taking note of her surroundings. The inside of the tent certainly looked warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger. Athena recognized one of them as the Nemean lion's.

Artemis pulled a chair from the desk and plopped down on it, facing Athena.

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded, gesturing for Athena to sit in one of the spare chairs that were lying before her.

Athena obliged, making herself comfortable on the chair, all the while looking regal and proud.

"So," Artemis started, looking her in the eyes. "You wanted to speak with me about the quest for the bolt?"

Athena looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes."

"And?"

Athena hummed. "You see when the prophecy was announced for the first time in the presence of the Sea-spawn, I was quite sure that the god mentioned in the prophecy was Hades."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, not quite sure where she was going with this.

"But when the Sea-spawn laid down the various points on his innocence, I had to admit that I was in the wrong to assume Uncle to the culprit so strongly. And while I am prideful," Athena admitted, grumbling. "I am also a wisdom goddess and I have to lay down my pride sometimes to improve."

Artemis smiled and adopted a thoughtful expression, "I'll admit it too, when the prophecy reached my ears, my first thoughts went to Uncle too. But the more I pondered over it after the meeting, the more I started to believe that Hades was innocent."

"Why are you defending Hades? He is a male, is he not?" Athena inquired curiously.

Artemis nodded. "He is but, in the recent years, I have come to admit that I was wrong to form an opinion so strong against him from our father and other minor gods," She spoke slowly. "He isn't evil, he is merely misjudged."

Athena narrowed her eyes, a sly plan already forming in her brain. "What brought this change of heart, sister? I'd never have thought that the eternal man-hater would change her opinion against someone, whose kind she despises so strongly."

Artemis ignored the small barb, instead, she just gestured vaguely. "Someone advised me to look past their appearances and instead, their actions and I found out they were correct."

Athena's eyes widened slightly before she raised an eyebrow. Athena was willing to bet her left arm that the 'someone' was in fact, the sea-spawn.

Despite her neutrality towards the boy, a tiny sliver of admiration wormed into Athena's heart. Make no mistake, she did not favor the boy in any case, in fact, she still rather pledge his loyalty to Olympus before she would even trust him slightly.

If her assumptions were correct, then it was evident that Artemis trusted the boy. To such lengths, that he was able to convince her sister to admit her faults on misjudging the Lord of the Underworld.

Of course, Artemis didn't have necessarily a bad opinion of the god. No Olympian did. Well, except Demeter, but no one cared enough to listen to her, and maybe Zeus. Athena wasn't surprised that Artemis considered her uncle to be honorable, but instead, she was surprised she actually admitted it.

The sister she knew, would never admit to being proven wrong, especially if it included being incorrect about a male's conception.

The Olympians were wary and untrusting of the Dark lord. After all, he was known for carrying grudges and his gloomy and shady personality certainly didn't help matters.

Athena pondered over the new development. Either, the boy was a master manipulator, being able to sway even one of the most rigid Olympians to admit being in the wrong or he was worthy enough to be trusted by Artemis.

As much as she wanted to believe it, the first option sounded something that Ares or Zeus would suggest. In the brief time, Athena had observed the demigod, she hadn't once seen the typical 'manipulation' behavior. The demigod seemed far too oblivious and naive for that kind of task.

Athena murmured, closely observing Artemis. "Hmm, you know when the sea-spawn first suggested that the thief wasn't Hades, I had scoffed. Of course, my suspicions were quelled by his justifications for a little while, I could not help but be wary of him."

Her eyes gleamed as Artemis stiffened slightly.

"He seemingly knew what he was doing every step of the way. From the furies to Medusa to St. Louis Arch. His quick wit seemed to conquer every obstacle laid in front of him. Of course, it could've been the boy, himself, but I wonder if he was allied with the enemy here. After all, he is just a Son of Poseidon, no?"

Artemis grit her teeth as her fists clenched slightly. "Accusing the demigod of treachery, your justification being he cannot have wisdom because he is a son of Poseidon?" Artemis asked tightly. "That's awfully... unwise of you, sister," She said snidely.

Artemis looked up into Athena's eyes, prepared to see the familiar fury on being called unwise. But it never came.

Instead, she was shocked to see a smug smirk on her sister's face as Artemis' eyes widened in realization.

She had been played.

Like a fiddle. (I honestly have no idea what this means, I just took it from Captain Holt cause it seemed something that Arty would say.)

She fumed slightly at first before she sighed in defeat and let out a chuckle at being outsmarted by Athena.

The Artemis that everyone knew, would never have turned down the opportunity to accuse a male demigod of treason. In fact, if she actually didn't know Perseus, Athena would've expected her to throw in some 'See? Women are better' comments. But the fact, that she didn't, only cemented the fact that Artemis was well acquainted with the boy.

And just like that, the tension dissipated as the two relaxed.

"Honestly, I should've seen this coming," Artemis pouted and huffed childishly with a roll of her eyes. "I was waiting for someone to come knock on my door and demand some answers since day one."

Athena grinned. "Then it is only fitting that I was the first one," She stated proudly, before playfully teasing her. "But I have to say, I didn't think it would be this easy."

Artemis huffed. "Yes yes, no need to rub it in."

Athena laughed slightly before her face became characteristically serious. "So, you know why am I here?"

Artemis nodded hesitantly. "Percy," She said simply.

"Percy?" Athena asked with a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you were this familiar with him."

"You weren't even aware we were acquainted before this," Artemis pointed out.

Athena conceded. "Fair enough."

Artemis just stared at her silently. "Well?"

Athena frowned slightly as she asked. "Why are you so calm about this? I imagined it would take ages to make you confess that you're fond of a male demigod. You aren't even defensive about this. Why?"

Artemis blinked before shrugging slightly. "I suppose if you had confronted me about this matter, I would've certainly been defensive," Artemis explained. "But now I can surely say that I am not ashamed of being Percy's friend. Of course, if it were someone else, I would deny it in a heart-beat but I trust Percy," She declared.

Athena's eyes widened as her questions only grew. She had previously thought Artemis and Perseus to just be acquainted, maybe even civil. But never in her millennia-old life, she had thought that her sister would proudly announce that she was friends with a male demigod. She blinked.

"Are you sure you're Artemis?" Athena asked suspiciously.

Artemis snorted and laughed. "Of course I am, sister. I still do not trust males. But Percy has proved himself to be unlike those I despise and earned my respect," She spoke, amused.

Athena blinked owlishly (hehe) before shaking her head, "I came here to satiate my curiosity, but so far my questions have only grown," She commented dryly.

Artemis smiled, "I cannot blame you sister. We have found ourselves in a predicament that does not allow me to reveal anything of importance."

"We?" Athena echoed, confused.

"We," Artemis confirmed. "Percy and I."

Athena hummed thoughtfully. "Would you be able to answer my questions then, sister?" She inquired.

Artemis sighed. "I will try the best I can. But I'm under oath to not reveal anything of importance. So, I will answer within reason."

Athena frowned but shrugged it off. If Artemis was under oath, it would mean that this matter was much more sensitive than she thought. While she hated not knowing, she knew Aremis would tell her when it would be of relevance.

Athena took in a deep breath. "Is Perseus mortal?"

Artemis nodded. "A tri-blood, but yes, he is mortal."

"Can we trust him?"

"Yes," came the reply immediately.

"Do you trust him?"

"Yes." Again, no hesitation.

"Is he powerful?"

Artemis frowned. "Of course."

"More powerful than a god?"

Artemis smiled wryly. "I cannot say."

Athena huffed. "When did you first meet him?"

"Seven years ago," Artemis spoke, smiling slightly at the memory.

"First impressions?"

"Dumb as shit."

Athena burst out laughing. "What?"

"I'm not jesting," Artemis replied amusedly. "He was completely oblivious. But I suppose, that was slightly endearing," She conceded with a fond roll of her eyes.

Athena snorted and continued. "What did he do to earn your respect?"

Artemis cocked her head slightly. "That is a very broad question."

Athena huffed. "Fine, then. What was the biggest determinant that made you respect him."

Artemis chuckled. "When he put himself in death's clutches and rescued me."

Athena raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you cannot elaborate?"

"Nope," Artemis chirped childishly.

"Is he dangerous?"

"Very"

Athena paused and raised her eyebrow as Artemis continued. "Not to his allies, but to his enemies? Unquestionably. And dare I say, his name is fitting when he fights."

Perseus

The Destroyer

Hmmm.

"What are his motives?"

Artemis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"From what I have heard, I can conclude he is powerful," Athena explained. "But what are his motives for fighting for Olympus?"

Artemis' lips curled. "I suppose you'd have to ask him that yourself," She stated dryly. "But one of the reasons being he has no choice."

Athena flinched slightly. They truly did abuse their powers to make their own offspring fight their parents' battles under the excuse of the 'Ancient Laws'.

"Last question," Athena spoke breaking the tense silence, thinking furiously, before smirking as an appropriate question popped into her head. "What is his actual age?" She decided.

Artemis froze, mentally cursing Athena for being so cunning. "Under oath," She spoke quietly.

"So he is older than twelve and mortal," Athena mused. "The question is by how much."

Artemis said nothing.

Athena nodded to herself, seemingly satisfied with the outcome. "Thank you for answering my questions, Artemis," Athena said. "I will take my leave now."

"Athena?" Artemis called, as Athena turned around to meet her eye. "I expect this meeting will remain private?" She stated rather than asked.

Athena nodded, understanding the implication. "Of course."

Artemis wasn't worried about her reputation as a man-hating goddess. No, she was worried about Percy. If word got to Zeus or Apollo, they would surely try to kill the demigod. Zeus would have an excuse while Apollo would do so because of his over-protective attitude.

"Goodbye, sister," Athena said. "I hope to uncover the entire matter in the future."

Artemis said nothing, seemingly in her thoughts. Athena shot one last glance at the silver-clad goddess before flashing away.

Artemis stayed rooted to her seat, praying that she didn't jeopardize the quest because of this questioning.

Oh gods, I'm so sorry for the delay. With my school and tuition and a hundred other fucking things, I honestly couldn't find the time to write. But I'm back from my short hiatus now! (For gods knows how long.)

So, I don't have anything much to say about this chapter. It was slightly boring but kinda informative? Nah, definitely just boring.

I really hope that you guys aren't finding the characters incredibly OOC. I know I made Annabeth a bit too open, but please don't rip my head off in the reviews.

Speaking of reviews, please review! I honestly love reading all of yall comments about the story, regardless of them being positive or negative.

So, I'm starting this new thing, where I'll recommend some great fanfics that I personally LOVE, and you can write what you think about them (If you've already read them) in the comments.

Today's recommendations are

-Perseus Jackson: Ascension

-Road to tranquility

I highly doubt if anyone HASN'T read these awesome stories, but I honestly fucking love these two. A lesser-known fanfic that I'd highly recommend, is Percy Jackson, the missing hero. And HOLY SHIT, this story is AMAZING. It's on Wattpad and has about 60 chapters with a chapter being added every month. Honestly, If Uncle Rick had published this story, I would not have complained. Seriously, that's how great it is. It has the cliche-est topic with the uncliche-est storyline I've ever seen.

Okay, I'm gonna stop fangirling about this story and let you guys read it.

Anywho, that's it for today, please review your thoughts about this and if you want something to change or added in the future.

Hope ya'll enjoyed it and I'll see you guys next time!

Byeeeeee