Prequel Chapter 2: I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone! This is part 2/3 of a prequel story for my upcoming "Champion of Olympus" story. This story doesn't have any action in it, that'll be next chapter, but it does provide a lot of Percy and Artemis conversations and is most of the set up to why Artemis respects Percy in such a way in my story. It also has a VERY IMPORTANT, though short moment towards the end. So still please give it a read.

Okay so Artemis is very OOC from her book form in this chapter, but I think that it's an appropriate outcome for how their friendship would build once they just sat down and had a conversation. Percy is known for being able to befriend almost anyone, so I think it's not too far fetched.

In case you didn't see the end of my last AN I asked who your godly parent would be along with your special abilities. So let me know if you haven't yet. Thanks.

Please go vote for my PJ story on my Poll, right now Naruto is winning and I want to do Champion of Olympus next.

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Prequel Chapter 2: I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess

We just made it to the outskirts of the small, snow covered town and were about to head to the nearest motel when the telltale red and blue flashing lights shown behind me. I was getting pulled over by a cop. When I had my backseat full of weapons, camping and hunting supplies, including an extra dagger and shield, a sack of gold drachma and a goddess in a twelve year old form dressed in a silver hunting cloak and tunic that had monster blood stained on it.

Yeah, this wasn't going to go well.

I pulled over as soon as I could, best not tick the guy off. Artemis gave me a confused look. "What is going on?" She asked. "What do those lights mean?"

"It means I've been pulled over by a cop." I answered. The police car stopped behind me and the door opened.

"This 'cop' would be the local law enforcement, correct?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Just follow my lead and stay quiet unless he asks you a direct question. I've dealt with plenty of cops in my life."

The goddess unsheathed her hunting dagger. "Could we not just overpower him?"

"Are you crazy?" I yelled, taking the dagger from her hand and throwing it into the back just as the officer reached my window and knocked. "You'll get us arrested. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"

"Fine." She grumbled a little grumpily as I opened my window.

"Is there a problem, officer?"

The officer, whose face was hard to determine through his beard and winter mask blinked, once, twice, then chuckled. "Ya know, I've never had anyone say that to me when I've pulled them over." He sounded genuinely amused. He looked friendly enough, also harmless, but I was skeptical that he was an actual person, since I've dealt with monsters posing as cops before. But I also figure that if Lady Artemis couldn't tell this guy was a monster then we were screwed. We were probably fine.

"Really?" I asked. "I figured you'd hear it all the time?"

"Nah," He waived off. "Not around 'ere. Most folks 'round 'ere just say "how're you doin', Bob?" when I pull 'em over."

I blinked. "Ok… Uh, why did you pull me over?" I asked politely in a tone I've mastered after dealing with cops for years. "I couldn't have been going too fast-"

He shook his head, the snow falling from his sheriff hat. "Nah, you were goin' just fine for the conditions." He pointed with his thumb further into town. "I don't recognize ya, you 'ere for the ice sculptin' festival?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, we're just heading through. Camping, you know?" I tried my best to block his view of Lady Artemis with my larger body. It would've raised some questions that I was out here in the snow with a random twelve year old girl that was way too old to be my kid and looked nothing like me so we couldn't lie and say she was my sister. I hoped Lady Artemis thought of something.

It was now when 'Bob' finally seemed to notice another person in the car with me. I guess the small town sheriffs around here weren't like the New York City cops I'm used to. He shown his flashlight past me and onto Lady Artemis. He smiled.

"Evenin' miss." And he actually tipped his hat. "You two picked the wrong weekend for campin', didn't ya?"

"That we did, but I've always liked the woods in the winter."

From next to me I heard an older sounding voice when I expected to hear a child's. I quickly turned my head to see Lady Artemis in an eighteen or nineteen year old form. She was bundled up in a more usual winter parka and hat, still wrapped up in my blanket. She noticed my sudden movement and gave me the briefest look to act natural.

Bob nodded. "I 'ere you, miss. I love the winter season." He turned back to me. "But unfortunately the road out of town in blocked for the time being."

"Why?" I asked. "Because of the snow?"

"Sorta," He started. "There was a landslide that was caused by wha' we assume was ice in the dam outside of town. From what we can tell was that the expandin' ice broke through the dam and the water caused a landslide."

"Well isn't that a dam problem?" I muttered softly, I think Lady Artemis understood me but Bob didn't.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing, just said that's a big problem." I tried my best to hide my smirk.

"It is," He nodded. "The town is full for the ice sculptin' festival and a lot of the cars are stranded because of the snow, so the motels in town are fillin' up fast." He pointed to a large brick building down the road. "Ol' Mark should still have some rooms left. But make sure to hurry before we run out of rooms. Tell him Bob sent ya and he should give ya two lovebirds a discount."

I really hoped Lady Artemis didn't fillet this guy for the comment. I tried my best to hide the blush running up my face. I couldn't say that I actually had a girlfriend, that would've raised even more questions. Better to just run with it. Hope Lady Artemis understands I had no choice.

"Thanks, we'll make sure to."

"No problem, lad." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card and handed it to me. I read it over as he spoke. It was a business card for a towing company. "Take this. Many folks have already gotten stuck in the snow. Give Larry a ring if ya two get stuck while you're in town."

"Uh, thanks." I said, shivering as a cold gust blew into the car.

"Well I'll take my leave now, let ya two get inside." Bob nodded to me and tipped his hat to Lady Artemis again. "Ya two take care now."

"You too." I replied as he walked off. I quickly closed the window to stop the heat from escaping anymore. I turned to Lady Artemis. "You surprised me." I said referring to her older form.

She gave me a look like I was an idiot. "Well it would have raised suspicions for you to be traveling with a young child, would it not?" She asked eloquently.

I nodded, pulling back on the road and heading to the motel. "Yeah."

"Well then I do not see the issue." She wore a confused look on her face. She gave her older form a look over like she wasn't sure what she looked like. "Is this form not adequate?"

I shook my head a few times. Trying my best to phrase this correctly, I didn't want her to think I was… uh, meaning something else... That might get me turned into a Jackalope. "No no, your fo- uh, looks are just fine." I gave a cautious look over to her. "I'm just not used to seeing you as… however old you are right now."

"I am eighteen." She replied "I figured that it would be best to be the same age as you."

We pulled into the the motel parking lot and drove around a few times looking for a place to park. "I didn't know that you ever made yourself look eighteen." I said, looking desperately for a spot. "I didn't think you'd make yourself look like an adult."

She uncrossed her legs on the seat and stretched lazily like a large cat. "It is not very often but I have done it before. I have never taken a form over twenty, however. I tend to take on a younger form to fit in with my hunters. But with you I guess that this eighteen year old form would be best. You would prefer it most."

I wisely chose to not make a joke. "Well it'll definitely not make anyone ask questions." I said. "Ha! Finally found a spot."

We parked the car and grabbed our bags from my back seats and headed into the motel. Lady Artemis gave me a strange look when I opened the door for her. Guess she didn't expect it. "My mom raised me to hold open doors for women." I explained. "I'm used to doing it for Annabeth."

The goddess replied with smile and a nod as we reached the front desk. An old man in a flannel shirt, whom I assumed was "ol' Mark", stood behind the front desk. He certainly was old. He looked like he'd die of old age at any second. He gave us a warm smile when we reached the desk.

"Good evenin', kids." He greeted. "You two here for the festival? You missed the first day, but it'll keep going all weekend!" He said it like we should be excited about frozen water statues.

I shook my head and took the lead in the conversation. I figured Lady Artemis wouldn't know what to do. Had she ever even stayed in a motel before? "No, we were just out camping but decided we didn't want to freeze to death in the snow so we came into town."

"That's always a good motivation for me." He nodded with a chuckle. "I'd rather sleep in a warm bed than freeze my bits off."

"Uh… We agree." I said gesturing to Lady Artemis and myself. "Can we please have two rooms? And we might be staying for a few days or at least until the road out of town is cleared." I started to pull out the wallet full of mortal money Chiron gave me for the trip but when I caught Mark's frown I stopped.

"Are you out of rooms?" I asked. "Bob, the sheriff, told us you should have some rooms left."

The wrinkly old man shook his head. "Oh no, We still have rooms but because of the festival and the blizzard almost every room in town is taken." He explained. "Because of that I'm only giving one room per group." He gestured to a man down the hall who was carrying a big suitcase. "I had to ask the last three gentlemen who came in as a group to share a room."

Well dam, I mean damn.

This wasn't going to work at all. I gave a look to Lady Artemis but her face was unreadable to me, figures. She probably wasn't too thrilled. She definitely wouldn't be fine with sharing a room with me, it was her only condition that she'd get her own room. "You can take the room," I told her. Careful to not call her 'Lady Artemis' in front of this random old man. "I can sleep in the Toyota-."

"Nonsense," She waived off, stepping up next to me at the desk. She gave Mark a warm smile. "He has lost his senses from the cold. Is this room furnished with two beds?" She asked.

Old Mark nodded his head. "Yup, each room has two double beds." He answered before handing her a blue slip of paper. "We also serve breakfast out of the lobby from six 'till ten. So make sure you two come down. My Susan's cheddar scrambled eggs are to die for."

"Lovely, we will take one room, please." She looked to me, as I stared back with a blank look on my face. She gestured to ol' Mark with her head, giving me a look. "Pay the man, Perseus, I wish to take a warm shower and change. You can stare blankly in our room."

I blinked a few times before paying for the room, making sure to get a discount, and taking the key from Mark. When we were far enough from anyone I spoke up. "Are you sure about this, Lady Artemis?" I asked in a hushed voice. "You are a goddess, a maiden goddess no less. You shouldn't be sharing a room with me."

"The mortal said that the room contains two beds. We will each take one. I assure you," She stressed. "That even if the room only had a single bed that we would have still taken the room. You would have just slept on the floor." She said in a voice that meant there was no argument on the matter.

We made it to the room in no time and laid our individual bags on our beds. I instantly went to the heater and turned it on to 'max'. Lady Artemis excused herself to take a shower in our adjoining bathroom, she didn't even make a threat on my life if I peeked on her, which surprised me. I wouldn't have anyway, of course, but it was surprising. Once she was out I was about to hop in the shower when my stomach demanded a sacrifice.

'Bllllrrrgggg!'

Silence filled our tiny room for several seconds until Lady Artemis gave me an astonished look as she dried her long auburn hair with a towel. "By the gods… Was that your stomach?"

"...Yeah," I mumbled, a little embarrassed. "I'm hungry. We should get something to eat."

The goddess nodded, removing the fluffy towel from her hair and placing it on her bed. She was wearing some baggy sweatpants and a large, long sleeve sweatshirt hoodie that read 'Train Like A Goddess' and shown a woman wearing a tiara holding a large barbell over her head on the front, but they were noticeably fluffier than normal, like they recently went through a dryer. I guess that if you're a goddess that you could just make your clothes warm. I wish I had that power this whole trip. I've nearly frozen my keister off each night sleeping in my car out in the snow.

I paused and just stared at the goddess in front of me-, wait, let me rephrase that, I was just stunned at her casual outfit, nothing else. And because the gods hate me she had to notice.

"Is there a problem, Perseus?" She asked, putting on a pair of bright pink fluffy socks that she just 'poofed' into existence. Yeah, this has been a weird day. I mentally shook my head and went to my bed to where I left my shoes and started putting them on.

"No no, nothing's wrong," I said. "I'm just not used to seeing you…" I gestured to her with both hands in an 'I got nothing' motion. "Like… this."

She looked caught off guard and gave her clothes a once over before realizing what I meant. "Oh, yes. My attire." She sat on her bed, her legs crossed under her. "You would not be used to me in 'mortal' clothing. My hunters make a point to comment on it whenever I don this type of clothing. Aphrodite sure are Hades does." She mumbled the last part.

I finished tying one shoe and started on the other. "How do you like it? The mortal clothing, I mean."

Lady Artemis swept her hand over the soft fabric on her legs, she smiled approvingly. "I must say that they are rather comfortable, not suitable for combat, but very comfortable indeed."

I smiled. "They're not for combat, Lady Artemis." I stood up and she seemed to notice that I was dressed to go out, she stood up as well. "They're sweatpants. They're just for laying around the house and being lazy. And yoga." I added as an afterthought. I gestured to the door. "Do you want to get some food?"

She nodded and her bow appeared in her hand with a silver glow. "It may be difficult to travel in this weather but we will be easily be able to find tracks in the snow." She grabbed her silver parka and put it on. "Come, Perseus. If we hurry we might be able to track something down before it gets too cold-"

I reached over and took the hunting bow from her hands and tossed it on her bed. She wore an astonished face, her mouth agape and eyes wide open. "Nuh uh, we're not hunting our dinner out in the snow. I've been eating out of my backpack all week. I want some real food." I said adamantly.

She just stared from her open hand to her bow that now lay on her bed. She looked up to me like I was a ghost, she stumbled back in shock. "H-how in Hades did you disarm me?" Her voice turned to a shriek towards the last words.

"What?" I asked, giving her a confused look as I headed to the door. "I just grabbed it?" My answer turned into more of a question towards the end.

"You took my bow from my hands." She explained. "You disarmed me… that should be impossible for a mortal to do…" Her eyes focused on me even more. "Besides that… my godly weapon should have disintegrated you on the spot… Astonishing, you are even more powerful than I perceived."

"Uh, thanks?"

She took a step closer to me and gazed deep into my eyes, thank the gods I had a good control over myself, because she was really beautiful. She'd kill me if I said that, and Annabeth wouldn't be happy either, but it's true. I don't have any feelings for her, but when you have a literal goddess standing right in front of you it's hard not to notice. Every goddess is perfection and beauty personified, everytime I ran into Lady Aphrodite I had to watch myself, she had that effect on mortals. Lady Artemis didn't have the same… effect on me, thank gods, but she was still slightly distracting.

Her voice was so soft I could barely hear it. "...No wonder my father fears you so." She seemed to be speaking to herself more than me. She then gave me one more look over before heading to the door. "You would be a very formidable adversary, Perseus. One's blade I would not wish to cross."

My eyes widened slightly, my voice careful. "...How do you mean?" I asked as I headed to the door and held it open for her.

"..." She didn't answer, however. "Let us eat. We will need to keep up our strength up for the upcoming battle."

oooOooo

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oooOooo

We braved the frozen tundra and headed to the nearest diner. Hallelujah, real food. Greasy burgers, fries, coffee, Coke, oh the joys of the American culinary arts! How I missed you!

We entered the diner and sat at the booth closest to the wall and furthest from everyone else. It was as you'd expect if you've ever seen a 50's retro American diner, I'm talking black and white checkered tile floors, white and red striped bar counter with red stools. Bright red and white booths, Coca-cola logos everywhere, fresh pies in a glass display near the cash register, milkshake and malt posters on the walls. On the far brick wall was a large painting of an old gas pump and some classic cars. A real jukebox stood against the rear wall. All in all I thought it was amazing. I gave a quick glimpse to Lady Artemis, she looked a little overwhelmed.

"I was not aware that you mortals still had establishments like this." She said as we sat across from each other at the booth. "I do not remember the last time I saw something this… colorful."

"Probably in the 50's." I joked. "Most restaurants don't look like this anymore."

"Ah." She simply replied as she took in her surroundings. An older waitress in a 50's style dress and big hairdo came over to us, offering us menus, smiling.

"Evenin', kids. Name's Nancy," She drawled. "Wha' can I get started for you two t'day?"

"I'll take some coffee please." I looked to Lady Artemis. "Artemis?"

She gave me a quick glance before smiling up to the older woman. "Same, please."

"Got it." She wrote on a little pad and paper that she pulled from her apron. "Will'ya be needin' a second to figure out what y'want?"

I looked to Lady Artemis and nodded. "Yeah, we might need some time to decide."

"Of course, hun," She nodded with a knowing smile. "I'll give y'two some privacy." She winked to me and walked off, her heels loudly clicking on the tile floor.

Why does everyone assume that we're together? 'Because it looks like you're on a date.' I answered myself. I need to stop that, it's probably not good for my mental health.

Shaking those thoughts away I picked up my menu and was about to start looking through it when Lady Artemis spoke. "So now you're calling me 'Artemis' instead of 'Lady Artemis' now?" She asked. "You do understand that I have killed men for that exact thing?"

My heart rate quickened slightly but I kept my reaction under control. I really doubted that I was in any danger, she did tell me to act normal around her. But I do know that the gods always demand respect. I shot my eyes to her briefly as I looked over the menu. "My apologies, My Lady,... But I figured it best that I didn't call you 'Lady' in front of the waitress. Lady Artemis." I added quickly.

She eyed me with her calculating eyes before nodding to with a slight smile visible at the corner of her lips. "I will allow it, Perseus. You may call me Artemis, your voice saying my name does not fill me with the same disgust as other men. Besides, I do believe that you have earned it." She picked up to the menu like it might bite her, holding it out with two fingers. "You choose our meal, I do not know anything about mortal food, as I have no need for it."

'My voice saying her name doesn't fill her with disgust?' I thought. 'Well that's good, I think.'

"Then call me Percy," I said nonchalantly. "I don't like being called 'Perseus', makes me feel old."

She burst into a sudden laugh, it was so melodious and beautiful that it caught my breath. "Makes you feel old?" She managed to stop laughing, asking with a smile on her face. "I am the oldest being in this establishment, as well as the town." She put down the menu and smiled. "Hearing you say you feel old makes me feel old."

I couldn't help but smile. "Then it's good that you can make yourself look as young as you want." I joked. "I ran into a goddess in Tartarus that looked her age. Trust me, you don't want to look a few millennia old. You don't look that bad for being over 4000 years old."

Her thin brow raised dangerously, her tone also turned more serious. She leaned into the table slightly. "Are you attempting to flirt with me, Percy?" Her eyes were a dark silver and the air around me turned cold.

Oh gods, I've finally done it… This is how I die.

I flailed in the booth, my hands flying wildly. "Wait! No no no no no! I didn't- I mean, I wasn't trying to- I'd never flirt with another-"

Her melodious laughter broke me off. It started off quite but it quickly turned almost hysterical. The goddess in front of me was trying her best to calm her laughing but to no avail. She finally managed to cover her mouth with her hand and quell her laughter. Thanks to the sudden outburst, the three old ladies at the other end of the diner looked over in our direction but quickly went back to their conversation. I just stared blankly at the goddess in front of me.

"Your face!" She cried. "Oh your face was priceless!"

The realization dawned on me slowly… she- Artemis, goddess of Olympus, known throughout the world as a hater of men… just messed with me to make me freak out so she could laugh at me. My eyes widened and she seemed to realize that I finally figured out what was going on. "You-you're messing with me, aren't you?" I asked.

She chuckled again, sighing with a smile on her face. "What gave it away, Percy?" She asked innocently.

"...Well I'm neither a charred husk on the floor or a jackalope so there's that." I said hesitantly before thinking of something that made me smile. "And you called me 'Percy'. I knew you'd warm up to me eventually!"

"Curses." She chastised herself. She shrugged once then smiled as I let out a huge sigh of relief. "I do have to admit that that was rather fun, I see why my brother and Hermes pull pranks so."

"That was less a prank and more attempting to give me a heart attack." I deadpanned.

"Oh shush, Percy," She waived off. "I am reveling in the humor of scaring your."

I grabbed the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh. "Gods… you're as hopeless at jokes as Jason…" I let out another sigh before picking up the menu again. I gave La-Artemis a look. "So, what do you want to eat?" I asked.

The goddess shrugged and leaned back in the booth, trying to find a comfortable spot. She didn't even glance at the menu. "I have no preferences, I do not eat mortal food. Only the meat that I hunt from animals." She waved at the menu in my hands. "You pick something for me, I assume that you have a great deal of knowledge when it comes to mortal food."

I raised a brow. "Are you calling me fat?" I asked jokingly, looking down at my stomach in mock hurt.

The moon goddess rolled her eyes. "I am not approaching the topic if it pertains to your body." She mumbled, resting her chin on her knuckles that stood up from the table. "I am a maiden goddess after all. We are above such things."

This time I rolled my eyes. "And Athena's still popped several hundred kids out her head." I shot back.

Artemis rolled her eyes even more. "Be that as it may, how my sister in law determines maidenhood and how I determine it are two entirely different things." She leaned back in the booth. "She has sworn off natural born children while I have sworn off love entirely. Now are you going to decide on what to eat or not? I thought that you were starving based off the sound of your stomach in our room."

"Yeah yeah yeah," I mumbled, looking over the menu. "I take it you're not vegetarian?" She only glared at me like I insulted her. I swear a tick mark appeared over her eye. "Guess not. Okay, well I think I'll be getting the 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burger'. That sound good to you?" I asked looking up from the menu.

"I guess so." She shrugged. "I have never eaten a burger or bacon before. But as they are both meat products I assume that I-"

"Wait what?" I interrupted her, a shocked look on my face. "You've never had a burger before? Or bacon?!"

"No," She simply replied, not understanding my sudden outburst. "I told you Percy that I don't eat mortal food. I only ever eat what I hunt myself-"

"But bacon!" I cried. "What about eggs? You've had eggs before, right?"

She raised one finger to her chin in thought. "My hunters once helped me cook a peacock egg once to spite Hera, but that was back in Greece."

I wore an astonished face, and it only grew more as our conversation continued. "You've never had bacon and eggs for breakfast? How do you function?" I asked confusedly. I pointed to the fires next to the burger on the menu. "You've at least eaten french fries before, right?"

The auburn haired goddess shook her head slightly.

"Oh my gods…" I breathed, my voice turning sorrowful. "You poor, poor girl-" Her brow raised slightly at my words but she let me rant. "-How do you live through life like that? Depriving yourself from such things?!"

"...Wow…" Artemis just stared at me in awe after my rant about fries and bacon. She blinked a few times. "I was unaware that I was missing out on so much."

"Oh don't you mock me." I pointed a finger at her accusingly. "You have no idea what you've been missing all these years."

She just held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay okay, jeez," She shook her head. "You're worse than my brother. Why don't you just order me one of these burgers and fries and I'll decide their value myself? If I find them to be acceptable I will thank you for the revelation."

"You've got yourself a deal!" I said quickly before putting the menu down. "Guess we'll both be ordering the 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burger'." I looked around and didn't see our waitress anywhere, only three old ladies at the far end of the restaurant. I shrugged and looked back to La-I mean, Artemis. "Once what's her face-"

"Nancy." The goddess helpfully added.

"-Yeah, her, comes back we'll order." I said. We sat for about a minute, just talking about the monster we were hunting when I caught Artemis not so subtly sniffing. I stopped talking and she just kept doing it, oblivious that I had stopped talking.

"Artemis?" I asked. "Are you okay?" When I didn't get a reply I waved my hand in her face. That seemed to do the trick. So much so that she pulled her head back in surprise and hit it on the booth behind her. She let out a low growl and I subconsciously leaned back in my seat.

"What?" She demanded as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I uh, you were sniffing." I said not at all helpfully. I raised my arm and smelled my armpit. Frowning I gave her a look. "I know I didn't take a shower before we left, but I can't smell that-"

"Don't perform such an act in my presence, Percy." The moon goddess averted her eyes from my 'indecent' act. She shook her head and I caught her slightly roll her eyes, again. "I was not smelling you. Believe me, I have many better things to do than to smell a sweaty man."

"Sweaty?" I asked indignantly. "At least my feet don't smell!" I shot back.

"What?" She cried out, her eyes widening.

'Oh I shouldn't've said that…' I tried my best to rectify the situation before I suddenly grew antlers. "W-wait, let me explain-."

"Yes, please do explain your insulting words to me." Her eyes were narrowed and her jaw set but I was able to tell that she wasn't too upset, like turning me into an animal upset, but she still wasn't too happy.

"I uh…" I tried my best to come up with a clever response. One foolproof enough to get me out of this situation. I've used my cleverness to get out of situations hundreds of times… I'd just have to do it again. Yeah, I got nothing, so I went with the truth. How stupid of me!

"Back at the motel," I started. Her brow raised, waiting to decide my fate. "When you were putting on your socks…"

"Yes?" Her voice dared me to continue.

"...your feet.." I mumbled too low to hear.

"My feet what?" Her tone rose in question.

"They… smelled…" I closed my eyes and braced for whatever she was going to do but after a good fifteen seconds when nothing noticeable happened I dared to open one eye just as she snorted.

"Zoë had been telling me that for years. No other Hunter ever dared to say it to my face." She mused with a smile on her face remembering her fallen friend. She smiled to me as I resumed a normal position in my seat. "I am rather impressed that you told me that. Even Ares dared not to say it to my face."

"Uh… so does this mean you aren't gonna turn me into an animal?" I asked hesitantly. She gave me a familiar look, like I was an idiot as she rolled her eyes.

"If I were to turn you into an animal everytime you insulted me I would have run out of animals already." She deadpanned before turning her tone more amused. "You need not fear me, Percy. You have earned my respect and I gave my word that I would not harm you. I do not go back on my word."

"Uh… ok." Was my brilliant response. I blinked a few times and tried to steer this conversation around. "So what were you smelling then?" The moon goddess seemed to notice my change of topic but said nothing about it. She sniffed again, smiling after she found whatever smell it was again. Her smile was rather goofy, if you asked me. I decided to not press my luck further and kept my mouth shut.

"Oh, I was merely trying to locate a certain smell, one… very sweet and delicious." She frantically looked around the restaurant in search for her mystery smell but seemed to not be able to locate it, she then 'humphed' and crossed her arms, leaning far back in the booth. I couldn't believe it, Artemis was pouting. I had to keep myself from laughing.

I looked around the place as well, eyeing the kitchen as best I could from our spot. "Well we are in a diner," I helpfully added. "You could be smelling a dozen things."

"No," She shook her head adamantly. "I have never in all of my years smelled something so delicious." Movement from the far end of the diner caught my eye. It was the three old ladies, they got up all at once and started for the door. Walking passed a glass display case that I swear they lingered by for an extra second. It hit me as they left the diner silently.

"It's the pie!" I cried, a smile on my face. Oblivious to everything else. "You're smelling the pie display case by the cash register." I explained.

"What?" She asked quickly, following my eyes to the the display case. "Pies?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "You must be smelling one of the fruit pies." I sniffed once and caught the faint whiff of apple thanks to my improved demigod senses. "Smells like apple pie to me."

The goddess in front of me wore a confused look, like she didn't understand what I was talking about. "You know, apple pie." I supplied. She shook her head once. "It's a kind of dessert."

She only blinked. "You know, a bowl shaped crust with apple filling in the inside?"

I only received a blank stare. "It has cinnamon and nutmeg in it?" The blank stare continued. "Lemon juice? Brown sugar?" I was getting a little desperate now.

"It's about this big?" I made a medium sized circle with my hands. She looked even more confused now, looking at me like I suddenly grew a second head. "Uh… it has apples in it?"

"I figured as much." She helpfully stated, still wearing a confused face.

"Arrrg! You're not helping." I said, she rolled her eyes at me. "It sometimes has vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on the top?"

She made another confused face. "Whipped cream?"

"Oh my gods!" I cried, putting my head in my hands, resting my elbows on the table. "I'm so glad I didn't accept immortality, you gods are hopeless!" I muttered through my hands.

I could literally hear her roll her eyes at me. "You are being unreasonable, Percy." She started. "I assume that the other gods like Apollo or Dionysus know of the food you speak of."

"Yeah but you don't." I cried, dropping my hands to the table. "Out of all of the gods I'd expect you to know what apple pie is!"

"Why is that?" She asked in a confused manner. "You know that I do not eat mortal food."

"Because you've spent the most time with mortals!" I said. "I would've figured that after being in American for what, several centuries at least that you'd know what apple pie is. None of your Hunters ever said anything about mortal food?"

The goddess shrugged. "I do not know. Most likely. But I do not remember every conversation I have ever had with them. You should not expect me, goddess of the Hunt to know of such things."

"Well we're righting this wrong right now." I said adamantly, seeing our waitress finally come back.

She gave me a questioning look. "How so?"

"I'm getting you some apple pie." I answered quickly.

She shook her head, her long auburn hair swaying from the movement. "That is really not necessary-."

"Nuh uh," I shook my head as Nancy made it to us. "As your friend it is my duty to right this wrong at all costs. I don't care if I have to shove it down your… throat-" I finally noticed Nancy standing next to us. She gave me a confused and slightly cautious look before giving Artemis a look that asked 'are you okay?'. When Artemis waved her off, Nancy held up her little notepad. Oh great, now not only did Nancy think I meant something else, Artemis did too. Why do the Fates hate me so?

Nancy cleared her throat. "Ya two decide wha' ya wanna get?" She asked, deciding that whatever she walked into wasn't her problem.

I nodded. "We'll both be getting your 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burgers'. Can you believe that she's never had a burger before?" I asked Nancy out of the blue. She gave me a confused face than an astonished one to Artemis.

"Tha' true, hun?" She asked Artemis, when she nodded Nancy wore an incredulous look. "Really?"

"Yeah," I answered in a 'can you believe it' tone. "She's also never had fries either. Or apple pie!"

"Never had apple pie?!" The older women cried, looking to Artemis like she was in need of help. "Are ya serious?"

"She had never even heard of it until today," I told her. "She could smell it but didn't know what it was!"

"My word." Nancy was holding her hand at her heart like it would go out at any second. "Are ya foreign, hun?" She asked out of the blue.

Artemis blinked once. "Well, I am technically from the Island of Delos in the Aegean Sea-"

"That explains it!" Nancy snapped her fingers before putting her hand on Artemis' shoulder, something even I'd be scared to do, and gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, hun, we'll fix ya up the best darn apple pie west of the Mississippi." She turned back to face me. "Do ya want single pieces or one large one?"

"Could we actually take a whole pie?" I asked with my best 'like a baby seal eyes' that Annabeth can't refuse.

"O' course, hun. But it'll cost ya extra." She held up her notepad, ready to write on it.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "I just need to get Artemis here some apple pie." I gave a quick glimpse and she wore an expression that read 'why me?' and stared at the ceiling as if asking the Fates why she had to be here with me."

"Oooh that's sweet!" The older woman squealed. She gave Artemis a wink before writing down on her notepad. "Oh make sure to keep this one, hun. He's a keeper!" With that she made to turn around but I stopped her.

"Wait." I called out. She turned around quickly before taking the two steps back to us. "I want to add two more things." I gestured for her to lean down so I could whisper something in her ear. I could see Artemis raise her brow, wondering what I was doing. She looked suspicious but the soft smile at the corners of her lips let me know she was more amused than anything.

Once I finished giving my order to Nancy she gave Artemis a not so subtle look and mouthed 'He's a keeper' as she walked off. "By the gods…" Artemis grumbled out, rubbing her temple. "That woman was as bad as Aphrodite."

I chose not to make a comment. Instead we talked about the trip so far and how strange it was for us to run into each other like we did.

oooOooo

Outside the diner, three women as old as time stood still in the falling snow, undeterred about the temperature and conditions. One of the women looked to the others. "The foundation has been set, sisters."

"Yes, Clotho." Started the woman to her right. "But is it enough? Is this interference enough to sew the bonds of friendship needed to protect Olympus in it's darkest hour?"

"We can only hope, Lachesis " Stated the third sister. "Even we don't see all of the thread to be sure."

The first sister spoke again. "For the sake of mortals and gods alike I do hope so, Atropos." The three sisters looked through the window in unison to see the goddess Artemis cover her barely contained laughter, supposedly from one of Percy's bad jokes. They watched in silence as she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"I think they will be fine." The three sisters said in a single voice, though none of their mouths moved. The wind began to howl and snow started to swirl around the three sisters like a cyclone, completely covering them up. In a second the flying snow dispersed and the three sisters were gone.

oooOooo

(Back to Percy and Artemis)

Within a little time Nancy came back with two burgers the size of Artemis' head, two separate baskets of fries, an entire apple pie that smelled heavenly and two tall, thin glasses filled with a pink substance on the inside. The rim of each glass sported a single strawberry and a long red straw sprouted from each glass. Artemis gave it an examining look as it was placed in front of her.

"What is this?" Her voice wasn't rude or anything, but genuinely curious. She nudged it with her spoon, examining it.

"Why it's a strawberry milkshake, hun." Nancy smiled. "You can't come to a diner like this and not get a milkshake or malt."

"Exactly what I was thinking," I told her. "You can't truly experience American food without having a milkshake with your apple pie and burger."

"Oh I like this one!" Nancy said again before winking to Artemis again. "I'll leave ya two alone, have a goodnight, y'hear?" At those words she headed back to the kitchen and left Artemis and I as the only ones in the diner at this late hour.

I tried my best to ignore Nancy's words and made short work of starting on my burger. Artemis gave the burger in front of her a quick glance before sniffing once and reaching for a slice of pie. I watched in trepidation as she brought the fork to her lips. But no one was holding their breath like Artemis was, as she was literally holding her breath.

She consumed the bite of apple pie and froze for a second, her eyes wide and a huge smile forming on her face around the fork that still stuck out of her mouth. Before I could say anything she quickly began to devour the slice of pie faster than Grover with his enchiladas. She dropped the plate as a look of realization spread across her smiling face. Her eyes turned the size of dinner plates and thrust her fork into the sky.

"Apple pie is wonderful!" She declared aloud for all the gods to hear. Before I could blink she reached for the pie and shoved another three slices onto her plate. Needless to say I only got to have a single slice of the apple pie and half of my strawberry milkshake since Artemis stole most of mine. She apologized in between shoving her face full of fries and burger, of course, but it was an apology nonetheless. I just waved it off and bought her another entire apple pie. "For the road." She said. We both left considerably more stuffed than my wallet after coming into the diner but it was worth it to just hang out with a friend and buy her some food she's never had. She made me promise that the next time we met that we'd come back for more pie and milkshakes. I quickly agreed.

We trudged through the hostile winter landscape and made to back to our room just as the food seemed to settle. As soon as I opened the door Artemis raced past me and flopped down on her bed, holding her stomach and rumbling like a kid that ate too many sweets. Which, I guess is exactly what happened.

I chuckled at her antics as I closed the door. She called out to me. "Do not laugh at me, Percy. I am a goddess!" She halfheartedly threatened me. But from her prone position on her bed as she buried her face in her pillow and clutched her stomach and mumbled to herself about "accursed pie" I didn't exactly fill with fear. I tried my best to quell my laughter though.

"Okay okay, I'll stop." I held up my hands up in mock surrender. I gestured to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower before bed, do you need to use the restroom?"

Her face appeared from a jungle of auburn hair. "I am a goddess," She mumbled. "We do not defecate like you mortals."

My brow raised. "Then where does all your food go-"

"Best to not ask such questions, Percy." She muttered before returning her face back into her pillow.

"...Okay…" I deadpanned. I took her warning and just shook my head at the goddess and smiled to myself as I grabbed a change of clothes and headed to take my shower.

I walked back out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt to find a silver tent on top of Artemis' bed, with thin ropes tying the sides to a different foot of the bed. I just stopped and stood in our small room, staring at the tent on top of the bed. Figures the goddess of the Hunt would be the only person on earth to sleep in a tent inside of a motel room.

I slowly approached the tent and realized that I didn't know what to do. Do I knock? If so, on what? The fabric? Do I call out to her? But aren't her tents sealed from temperature and noise? Would she be able to hear me? I can't just open the flap, right? She could be changing or something like that. I prefer my insides where they are, thank you very much.

I stuck my head next to the tent and called out. "Uh, Artemis? You in there?"

"No." Came the soft voice of my unexpected roommate before a barely stifled laughter caught my ear. I blinked as I realized what was going on. She was laughing at herself. She was thinking she was being clever!

I turned around and gave an overdramatized 'what can you do?' gesture and sighing. "Oh well, guess she left somewhere." I said a little louder than normal. "Guess I'll have to return her extra pie to the diner-"

No later than did the word 'pie' escape my lips, Artemis burst out of her tent with her hunting dagger drawn. "You would dare take my pie away from me?!" She cried as she stood in a fighting position, dressed in an old fashioned silver robe, her silver dagger glowing slightly. I just stood there like a deer caught in headlights as her eyes darted around the room, finding her pie still on the small table. I tried my best to keep my eyes from dropping below her face. Her robe was rather loose. Not indecently so, I doubt she'd ever wear something like that, but it was slightly distracting to say the least. She dropped her hand and the dagger vanished in a low glow, her eyes narrowed at me.

"You were joking, weren't you?" Her voice was so serious that I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Did she really think that I was being serious? She couldn't be that gullible, could she?

"Uh… yeah." I finally breathed out. I gestured to her tent. "I wasn't going to take your pie. I don't have a deathwish."

"Ah." She nodded like all of this made sense. Her features returned to normal and she gave my appearance a once over before nodding in approval. "Good, you are fully dressed."

I looked down to myself in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

The goddess shrugged. "I merely figured that you would be the type of man who sleeps without appropriate clothing on."

Oh.

"No no no." I shook my head. "Nothing like that. But I do sleep without a shirt with Annabeth in our apartment-"

Artemis covered her ears. "I do not wish to hear what you two do in bed." She interrupted me. "I am a maiden goddess. I do not wish to hear of such things!"

"That's not what I- oh never mind. I'd never walk around without a shirt in front of you anyway." I muttered as I tried my best to stop the coloring in my cheeks. Annabeth and I were already pushing the limits of the god's wishes by living with each other and sleeping in the same bed. While the gods never seemed to follow their own rules on the subject, they were very strict when it came to conduct outside of marriage, at least for us mortals. Annabeth and I wanted to do more, of course, I mean we are young adults in love after all, but we've decided to follow the ancient laws and not anger Hera or any of the gods further.

I plopped down my bed and gave Artemis a glance as she stood there. "You know, the whole point of staying in the motel was to stay in the motel." I said. "What's the point in staying in a room with such a nice bed if you don't sleep on it?

"I always sleep in my tent." She answered strictly.

"And you always only eat the food you hunt." I shot back. "Come on, just sleep on the bed."

The moon goddess raised her finger to her chin in thought. A very human-like action that I've noticed her use quite often. "I don't remember the last time I slept on a bed outside of my tent." She mused. "The only other time I sleep outside of it is when the weather is nice and my Hunters and I sleep under the stars."

"Then that settles it," I said. "You're gonna sleep on the bed. There's always a first time for everything."

"Fine." She let out a breath and turned to her tent. Within a second it collapsed into a square the size of a postage stamp and she slid it into her travel bag on the table next to her bed. She gave the large double bed a once over before lying down on it and wrapping herself in her covers like a burrito. I personally found it hilarious. She looked to me and I could barely make out her facial features from behind a wall of auburn hair.

"Normally this would be when I gave you a warning saying that if you even thought about trying anything or leaving your bed before I rise that I would turn you into a female… the hard way." Her voice turned dark suddenly. "I am very handy with a knife and my accuracy infallible, I assure you that I would not miss."

"I uh-" I started but she interrupted.

"But I won't make threat because I trust you, Percy. You are by far the most honorable man I have ever met…" Her voice trailed off into nothing. I sat on my bed waiting for her to continue but she never did. So I just shrugged to myself and turned off the bedside light next to me and pulled my own cover over myself. After several minutes of silence her soft voice spoke up again.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?" I asked, not opening my eyes or moving in any way.

"...I just wanted to give you my thanks for the wonderful day…" Her voice was so soft that I could barely hear it even in the silence in our room. "This has truly been one of the best days of my long life."

I turned my head to face her. "It's no problem-"

"No," She cut me off again. "You spent so much time and energy to make this day memorable. From your gods awful singing in the car to the apple pie…" She said apple pie like I say Annabeth. I think I found the Moon goddess' true love. "Thank you for treating me like a normal 'person'. It has been many millennia since I've had such a genuinely happy day with anyone, mortal or not."

I rolled back over and smiled into my pillow. Not giving her a reply. But little did I know how important those words were going to be until much later, when not only the mortal worlds, but Olympus' fate as well depended on our ability to work together.


(Author's Note)

Dun dun duuuunnn! Was that a little Fates foreshadowing mixed in with the seemingly normal conversation? I will neither confirm nor deny it. And you thought nothing important would happen this chapter. Tsk tsk tsk, lol. Also how about that scene at the end? Man it was so hard to keep it from getting romantic. I gotta do a true Romantic Pertemis story after this.

But I do hope that you guys liked this less actiony chapter. Not every chapter can have monsters, sorry. But I do hope that you liked it anyway. This one was harder to write than the first, hopefully the third will be easier to write.

If I can get TEN reviews on this chapter I'll release the Prophecy for 'Champion of Olympus' during the sneak peek after ch3 comes out.

Hope you guys liked it! Leave a Review and be sure to Follow me and this story so you'll be notified when 'Champion of Olympus' comes out, along with the next prequel stories.

The question for this chapter is who's your favorite character out of the entire PJ series?

Have a great day, Hephaestus